Elizabeth A. Frank

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White Paper: Commercial Space & Planetary Science

September 15, 2020 by Elizabeth Frank in Commercial Space, Space Exploration

We describe the relationship between mission cost and risk, examine the state of low-cost missions in the PSD, list the benefits of further commercial involvement to planetary exploration and its community, and provide a set of incentives that would evolve beyond the CLPS program by attracting further engagement by commercial space companies.

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September 15, 2020 /Elizabeth Frank
missions, NASA, commercial space
Commercial Space, Space Exploration
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Appearance on the WeMartians podcast

May 01, 2020 by Elizabeth Frank in Space Exploration

I joined Jake Robins on the WeMartians podcast to discuss the changing paradigm of how we explore the solar system.

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May 01, 2020 /Elizabeth Frank
NASA, engineering, planetary science, podcast
Space Exploration
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Want to Lead a NASA Mission? Here’s What It Takes!

April 14, 2020 by Elizabeth Frank in Space Exploration, Career

How do those in leadership roles on NASA missions manage their teams? How did they prepare for the role they’re in? How did they build teams that work together well? How do they foster a healthy team culture? Here’s the panel discussion I organized to get answers to these questions.

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April 14, 2020 /Elizabeth Frank
missions, NASA, career advice, video
Space Exploration, Career
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Five Steps to Go from Science to Product

July 10, 2019 by Elizabeth Frank in Space Exploration

After a few years of working with engineers, I look back on my MESSENGER experience with a fresh perspective and an appreciation for the engineers I never met who created and operated the spacecraft. Now at First Mode, I use this experience to bridge the communication gap between scientists and engineers.

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July 10, 2019 /Elizabeth Frank
NASA, spacecraft, commercial space
Space Exploration
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"Space is hard." But why?

April 16, 2019 by Elizabeth Frank in Space Exploration

Every time a spaceflight failure occurs, the phrase “space is hard” will invariably be uttered in response. What is it that makes space so hard?

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April 16, 2019 /Elizabeth Frank
NASA, planetary science, spacecraft, systems engineering
Space Exploration
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Questioning the status quo in pursuit of lowering planetary mission costs

March 18, 2019 by Elizabeth Frank in Space Exploration

The first step in effecting change is admitting that there is a problem. In order to disrupt the status quo, the planetary science community must first make changes in our culture and assumptions regarding missions.

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March 18, 2019 /Elizabeth Frank
NASA, spacecraft, systems engineering, planetary science
Space Exploration
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Where to start your NewSpace job search

February 01, 2019 by Elizabeth Frank in Commercial Space

Interested in working in commercial space but not sure which companies to target in your job search? Check out this map of the NewSpace ecosystem.

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February 01, 2019 /Elizabeth Frank
newspace, NASA, job search, career advice
Commercial Space
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Faster, Better, Cheaper: A maligned era of NASA's history

January 28, 2019 by Elizabeth Frank in Space Exploration

With the advances in small satellite technology and the success of the MarCO CubeSats at Mars, it's time to revisit lessons from NASA's 1990s Faster, Better, Cheaper era.

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January 28, 2019 /Elizabeth Frank
NASA, engineering, spacecraft, missions
Space Exploration
6 Comments