St. 太空之旅

Space Pioneer Returns Home to Encourage Students to Pursue Dreams with Optimism, Self-Confidence

文章及图片由 梅根·史诺德科达伦大学(university of Coeur d 'Alene)

尽管他的工作是开创性的, what 汤姆米勒 ’85 actually does is connect one thing to another — tools and technology to the lower earth orbit, 将货物运往遥远的星际目的地, 人们利用空间，学生利用他们的潜力. 

穆勒, a renowned rocket engineer and pioneer in the space travel industry who grew up in rural North Idaho and earned his 机械工程专业本科以上学历 来自365滚球官网, has spent his days since graduating from 莫斯科 working toward those dreams. 今年2月, he talked with U of I Coeur d’Alene and North Idaho College students about how even the stars aren’t the limit of a person’s potential. 

“I want to make sure that these kids have the opportunities that I almost missed,穆勒说。. “If it hadn’t been for my math teacher telling me, ‘Hey, 你可以成为一名工程师,’ I might have missed this opportunity and not pursued the dream that I really wanted.” 

对梦想的追求导致了 在太空前沿的传奇和成功的事业 for 穆勒, specifically in rocket propulsion development. After signing on as co-founder with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., 也被称为SpaceX, 穆勒 spent more than 18 years as propulsion chief technology officer for the revolutionary company, playing an important role in developing methods of space travel. 

现在他要自立门户了. 

访问的空间

随着SpaceX发射 星际飞船 建立了 我们 satellite network using the propulsion technology he helped develop, 米勒将目光投向了一个新的梦想——他自己的公司, 现在被称为脉冲空间.

Since its inception in 2021, Impulse has developed and launched an 轨道转移飞行器 they call Mira that can send payloads — such as cameras, 雷达及其他通讯设备, defense and science industries — into lower earth orbit. Impulse sent its first Mira into space in November 2023 and regularly shuttles payloads into the nearest reaches of space.

穆勒和他的公司现在是 开发太空飞行器 that can take payloads from the lower earth orbit to geostationary orbit, 大约22,距离地球赤道1000英里. 这个火箭, 被称为太阳神, is set to launch in 2026 and could travel potentially as far as Mars.

“I just realized SpaceX’s 星际飞船 is going to fly often, and it can take hundreds of tons to lower earth orbit every time it flies,穆勒说。. “My thought was there’s going to be a lot of cargo going to space, 它需要到处移动, 有点像集装箱船进港. All those things that go on a container ship don’t want to stay in port; they want to go other places. What Impulse can do is provide the tractor trailer to move the specific cargo pieces to where they really want to go in space.”

As the space industry advances and as scientists look to the stars for resources, 穆勒 said the frontier of near-earth space is becoming less nebulous and more accessible.

“I really want to help get the next level of activity in space going — manufacturing in space, 太空栖息地, 月球上的基地,穆勒说。. “It all sort of feels like science fiction 正确的 now, but we want to make it real. There’s just a whole bunch of startups all over the country and all over the world that are doing activity in space that 20 years ago wouldn’t have been considered.”

把目标定得高

As a small-town kid who came from a family of loggers in St. 玛丽, 穆勒 said the value of belief and self-confidence is not lost upon him and is a lesson he wants to help students learn.

“Between high school and going into college, I was pretty unsure of myself,穆勒说。. “I didn’t know I had the capability of being a world-class rocket engineer, so looking back what I would love to have had would be the belief in myself and the optimism, which have been the main component of my success going forward. When I talk to students, they often ask, ‘What’s the main secret to success?我认为这只是一种乐观. 如果你认为你能做到，你就能做到. 你只需要克服自己去做事情.”

That was a message that 穆勒 delivered to a packed lecture hall of STEM students from U of I Coeur d’Alene and North Idaho College and a handful of community members at the NIC campus in February.

Chris Sanchez, an NIC student who plans to transfer to the 工程学院 2024年秋天在莫斯科的电气工程项目, said the local background and connection makes big goals and dreams like 穆勒’s seem more tangible.

“I’ve heard of SpaceX before — it’s hard not to have heard of SpaceX — but to hear of somebody coming from our own backyard who was so involved from the jump was pretty incredible,桑切斯说. “It’s also nice to hear those real-life stories of former students and people who paved the way so far. I’ve always loved — from an engineering standpoint — asking, 我们能做什么，我们如何推动它?’ This kind of technology is only going to get better from here.”