Hello, technical communication enthusiasts! I know, it’s been a while since I wrote here, so let’s get to it. On assignment for my job, last week I attended the annual American Astronautical Society (AAS) von Braun Space Exploration Symposium in my old stomping grounds, Huntsville, Alabama. While I picked up only a few useful tidbits for my employer, I came away with a lot of good discussion points for tech writing students, engineers, space communicators, and anyone looking to stand out as a job candidate. Lucky you, I’m here to share.
Critical Skills for a Future in the Space Industry
The workforce panel was a mix of students, academics, and industry people who were there to discuss what industry needs from new employees, what academia needs to teach to meet industry (and student) needs, and what students need to do to prepare themselves for a career in the space industry. Among other topics, these folks offered up their thoughts on what skills they felt were needed. Please note the first one on the list, which was suggested by a Marshall Space Flight Center engineer just starting her career.
- Writing – While many engineers treat written English as an opponent to be overcome, it’s better to think of it as a tool for accomplishing goals you need to achieve. For example, your company might be submitting a proposal to NASA or some other government agency to help them solve problem X. Your job as an engineer is to explain clearly–in writing–why your particular technology is a good solution for problem X. Or you might need to explain to your boss why your technology needs more funding.
- Internship(s)
- Flexibility
- Knowledge transfer/finding a mentor
- Critical thinking
- Coding
- Showing up on time
- Passing a drug test
- Putting your phone down
- Paying attention
- Communication – This one was mentioned twice as a separate topic from writing. In this case, your other forms of communication should receive attention as well, such as verbal, effective body language, and easy-to-understand illustrations or graphs.
- Presentations – Presentations are where you combine all of your communication skills, from verbal to nonverbal and from written to visual design.
- Math
- Experiential learning
- Cyber
- Artificial intelligence/Machine learning (AI/ML)
- Additive manufacturing
- Innovating safely
- Leadership
What Helps a Resume/Candidate Stand Out?
- Concise – This was mentioned twice. What the participants meant by this is to keep your resume clear and focused. You don’t need to include every task you’ve ever performed, nor do you need to pad your resume with a lot of extra verbiage to look impressive. A one-page resume is not a sin.
- Customized for the job – This answer was offered by three out of the six panelists. The point being that you should not just send out generic resumes to every job you want but take some time to review the job description and tailor the language of your job history so it (accurately) reflects the needs of the employer.
- Has on-the-job training/internship
- Community involvement
- Put important information up front
- Simplified formatting
- Experience
- Know your customer
- Social media presence/behavior
- Making a personal connection/getting a mentor
- Relationships
- Grit
- Knowledge
How Can Engineers Best Convey Their Intent to Astronaut Users?
Another panel during the conference featured three astronauts and was moderated by a friend I consider the best space reporter in the business, Jeff Foust. Most of the discussion focused on what being an astronaut will be like in the Artemis era, where Americans and others once more will be exploring beyond Earth orbit. However, during the Q&A session, one of the engineering students in the audience asked the question that forms the heading above. The responses ranged from amusing to serious, and really they could apply to any users, not just astronauts.
- “Use small words, speak slowly”
- Make the transition (in your thinking) from engineering to operating
- Take the jargon out
- Use good documentation
- JPE – Just Plain English (new acronym to learn)
- “When their eyes glaze over, you might have reached their limit of comprehension, but it’s okay to dig in more if it’s safety related”
We Need to Communicate Why Space is Hard
This is more of a philosophical topic than the others because it focuses on the “why” of space exploration, which not all of my readers will care about, but it still goes to effective technical communication. Communicating “why space is hard” is an ongoing challenge with Congress and others when things don’t happen as expected or on the planned schedule or budget. Every industry has its challenges. Space just has a few very significant extras. These topics were covered in the last session of the conference in a “fireside chat” between NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free and former Space Shuttle Flight Director and Program Director Wayne Hale.
Communicating complexity and risk depends on your audience. For people in the space business, the primary stakeholders are congressional staffers and industry partners.
For example, it takes a thousand times more energy needed to go from Earth to 30,000 feet in a 737 vs. going to low Earth orbit (LEO) in the SpaceX Dragon capsule. Likewise, getting to the planet Mars is probably 1,000X harder than LEO.
Mr. Hale noted in his Southern gentlemanly manner that “The general public aren’t engineers, bless their hearts.” Given that reality, it is important for anyone communicating on behalf of the space enterprise to connect the public to the value of space. For example, NASA recently released its economic impact report, which lays out the specific dollar amounts NASA spends and how they translate into economic outcomes.
And while my parents might not believe it, every aspect of our lives is improved by what we do in space. Just as a couple of examples:
- Planetary exploration helps our understanding of Earth by allowing us to compare our planet’s environment with others
- Heliophysics, the study of how the Sun functions, helps us better understand its effects on our planet’s climate and its impacts on our space hardware, such as the satellites that transmit your emails, bank transfers, or DirecTV feeds
And here’s a little factoid that warrants the attention of every space advocate: public approval of Apollo never exceeded 50%. The decision makers of the 1960s understood the necessity of doing it anyhow. If future leaders are going to continue funding an enterprise that advances U.S. technological leadership and standard of living, they and the members of the public who elect them are going to need to receive messages that are clear and easy to understand.
That’s all for now. Keep striving to do great things!