CMA Presents "Sea Launch Behind the Scenes"

Did you know there is a rocket launch pad just 33 miles south of JPL in Long Beach? It's not your ordinary launch pad, however, it's a ship! This self-powered launch pad requires the crew to suffer beautiful weather in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii. To be sure, these people have earned their "vacations," given the difficulty of their assignments.

Bo Bejmuk will tell us about the incredible challenges faced while developing this ambitious new approach to launching satellites. Beginning during the era of Perestroika, the Sea Launch team persevered through times of extraordinary economic and political upheaval.

Sea Launch, an international partnership of Boeing (U.S.), Energia (Russia), Yuzhnoye/Yuzhmash (Ukraine), and the Anglo Norweigian Kvaerner Group (Norway), launches commercial communication satellites on a Zenit rocket from an equatorial launch site in the Pacific Ocean. This innovative collaboration required a unique melding of management cultures and processes to succeed in bringing a new mode of space launch to market.

Bo Bejmuk came to Sea Launch in 1997 from an extensive career on the Space Shuttle Program and the International Space Station, beginning in 1974. After supervising Vehicle and System Dynamics, he was appointed Program Manager of System and Cargo Integration for the Space Shuttle Program. Bejmuk has twice received the NASA Public Service Award and has been recognized by his peers by being nominated for Engineer of the Year.

This event is free. All JPL/Caltech personnel are welcome.

For questions about this event, send e-mail to [email protected] or call Michael Eastwood, (818) 354-9273.