New SRTI director sets precedent to create and cultivate space industry partnerships
by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal
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The relatively new institute, which is administrated by the University of Central Florida, was created by ASRC Aerospace Corp. as part of its spaceport technology development contract with NASA.
SRTI is designed to promote and foster collaborative research relationships between KSC and universities in the areas of launch operations, ground support equipment, payload processing and range operations.
"KSC researchers have successfully worked with universities on projects in the past but there's been no infrastructure to encourage such relationships and ease the way," Ketcham said.
He and other KSC leaders are waiting to hear NASA Administrator Mike Griffin's announcement about the new architecture for the space program, including the roles of the various centers, based on results of the Exploration Systems Architecture Study Griffin mandated. The report is due out in the middle of this month.
The study will address the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle as well as the development of various space exploration technologies for NASA's Moon and Mars initiatives. KSC's research areas will expand, contract or shift depending on Griffin's announcement.
"But it's likely KSC will take on more responsibility" in the research arena, Ketcham said.
The new SRTI director has extensive experience in helping create and strengthen partnerships in the space industry. Most recently he served as director for space and defense programs for Enterprise Florida and as a board member for the Florida Space Research Institute.
Ketcham grew up in Cocoa Beach. After high school, he attended Brevard Community College then majored in philosophy at the University of Florida in Gainesville. After graduating he returned to Brevard County to work in business development at Rockwell Collins in Cape Canaveral.
His first assignment was to assist in proposal development, marketing and lobbying for the $3 billion Shuttle Processing Contract. After almost a decade with Rockwell Collins he became district director for Congressman Jim Bacchus.
"In everything I've done in my career, even in my work with Congressman Bacchus, I've tried to help make the best use of our space program," Ketcham said.
He sees his new post as another opportunity to help enhance the space program here.
NASA KSC's push to cultivate additional and stronger university relationships first emerged under the leadership of former KSC Director Roy Bridges Jr. Bridges, who championed the concept of KSC's role as the nation's Spaceport Technology Center, believed that stronger university ties would enrich and expand the center's research capabilities.
Current director James Kennedy is also a firm believer in the value of university relationships, Ketcham pointed out.
"KSC is a operations center, but because of all the engineering challenges face day by day at the center, there's a constant need for applied research and new technology development," he said.
KSC researchers, in fact, generate more technology and licensing patents than any other NASA Center except the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
But the strong R& D program at KSC could soar to new heights by leveraging its resources with those of the nation's best universities, Ketchum said.
"We're trying to make the most efficient use of tax payer dollars and get the public the most benefit for the money that's invested in the space program," Ketcham said.
KSC laboratories and test bed programs being targeted by SRTI for university partnerships are applied chemistry; applied physics; electrostatics and surface physics; launch systems; advanced technology development; cryogenics; corrosion technology; mechanical, structural and controls development; advanced network development; spaceport processing systems development; advanced electronics and technology development; and range technologies.
Ketcham took on the new position knowing there was no precedent for how the institute would function and that it faced the challenge of evolving in a conservative Shuttle program culture.
"The good news is it's primarily up to me to shape how this institute functions but the bad news is that it's primarily up to me," Ketchum said with a laugh.
Ketcham is able to pull from UCF's Office of Research and Commercialization and ASRC Aerospace resources. His one staff member, Kristin Horan, serves as coordinator for SRTI.
As part of its initial efforts SRTI has formed contractual relationships or is in the process of creating them with UCF, Florida Institute of Technology, Florida State University, University of Florida, Michigan State University, Virginia Tech, Case Western Reserve University, Purdue University, Texas Tech University, Penn State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lehigh University, Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Tech and Colorado School of Mines.
SRTI is forming agreements that will allow KSC researchers to bypass contending with stacks of paperwork that slowed the development of fecund research relationships in the past.
"It takes time to lay the groundwork, but our efforts should pay off in many more valuable research partnerships for KSC," Ketcham said.
Currently KSC is working with UCF on nanotechnology, University of Florida on catalysts for carbon dioxide scrubbers and Colorado State on the propagation of neutral ion beams over interplanetary distances.
Scientists are looking at whether ion beams generated from a Moon base could be used to push space sail vehicles over interplanetary distances, a promising alternative to nuclear-powered probes.
"KSC research primarily addresses the operational challenges we're dealing with now, but it also looking at the challenges will face as the space program continues to evolve," Ketcham said.
For more information, visit www.ksc.nasa.gov
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