UH Cullen College of Engineering faculty and students celebrated the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Symposium Community day on Wednesday, October 16.

The day-long event featured discussions and class visits with astronauts, who shared their passions for space exploration, and described the opportunities and challenges of returning to the Moon and traveling on to Mars.

The UH Cullen College’s space architecture program, which is administered by the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA), recently welcomed Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa.

Thomas Lagarde has a prediction for us: “In 20 years we are all going to be astronauts.”

“All of us?”

“Yes, you, me, the guy in the office over there, all of us,” he continues.

“But you’re getting your master’s in space architecture, not me!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he persists. “In 20 years the space program will be so privatized that you will buy a ticket for Mars as easily as for Europe.”

Gulp.

On Wednesday, November 18, the University of Houston’s Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) hosted an invitation-only reception that brought together leaders in the space and aerospace industries across the Houston region to promote the center, its academic programs, and the success of its students and alumni.