$80 Million Monday

So with a blog entitled “Aloha Fridays” you will rightly think I have a bias about my favorite day of the week.  But this past week I must say Monday was my favorite day because that is when NASA awarded us $80 million dollars to continue the development of the Dream Chaser (http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011/apr/HQ_11-102_CCDev2.html), a potential replacement for the Space Shuttle, which only has two flights left.  Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), where I work, won the second largest award for the Commercial Crew Development program with Boeing winning the largest at $92.3 million, then Space X with $75 million, and finally Blue Origin at $22 million.  With March Madness having just ended we have been using the analogy a lot at work that we are in the Final Four for the next phase of human spaceflight.  Attached is an image of the Dream Chaser vehicle docking with the International Space Station.  We hope to make that artist’s rendering a reality in the next 3-4 years.

Dream Chaser docked at the International Space Station

For the team I work with and me personally, this is an amazing professional achievement.  However, the elation of winning was quickly followed by the reality of realizing we have a lot of work to do.  A 60 hour work week, my third week without exercise (I have been dormant since the Lavaman Triathlon), and a nasty cold (likely the result of the stress and lack of exercise) leads me back to the constant struggle of trying to seek balance in the adventure of life.  So with the goal of “chasing the dream” still alive for at least the next 14 months of the new contract, the balance of this professional challenge with the other aspects of my life will continue on so keep reading on how I do.