Our Space Future Depends on What We Teach Kids Today

Space Force Association: The future of American space power isn't built in orbit. It's built in classrooms. Every guardian, every engineer, every mission planner who will defend and expand America's presence in space started somewhere. A teacher who made it click, a concept that sparked something. The pipeline from K through 12 curiosity to national security capability is longer than most people realize and more fragile. Today's conversation sits at that intersection where Space Force officer managing how America gets to orbit. and a STEAM educator shaping the next generation of happen to share a last name and a dinner table. I'm Bill Wolfe and this is Space Power. joined by Colonel Eric Zarubninski of the United States Space Force and Dr. Emily Zarubninski, a STEAM teacher recently selected as one of the Space Foundation's 2026 International Teacher Liaisons. Your careers are uniquely connected, one managing the programs that ensure our national security space capabilities get to orbit, the other inspiring students who may one day work on the nation's next challenges in space. Could you share how your professional paths led you to your current roles? Emily, we'll start with you. I was thinking about this earlier and thinking about all of the moves that we've made and what I set out for dreaming about my own career and how that has shifted over time. I think about all of the experiences that we've had because we're a military family and the kinds of things I've been able to do because I've moved with the military so many times. And so ⁓ when an opportunity falls into my lap, I tend to just run with it and enjoy the heck out of it. And so to transition from a classroom teacher to a STEAM resource teacher has really allowed me the chance to dig into some of my passions ⁓ and in a way that I hope to, as you mentioned, inspire the next generation. you. Colonel Z? Started in the Air Force and hoped to fly, had some medical issues, and then pivoted to space and haven't looked back. And it's been amazing. And you as we've done the moves to wake my kids up at two o'clock in the morning so we can watch a rocket launch from Vandenberg, right? And, they struggled with that and said, well, why would I want to do this? Like, this is a unique experience to be able to see. And I think that's one thing we can share with students is as I go into her classrooms or go talk to kids about this is a great time to be alive, right? To see the Artemis launch in your lifetime, Artemis 2 launch, just amazing to watch and see as we return to the moon and really go places with this nation that we haven't done in almost half a century. Yeah, you're talking about rocket launches. What an impact is that to sit there and watch a rocket launch? Can you describe it for folks who might not have seen one yet? It is a great conversation. I was standing at one of the NASA buildings for the Artemis II launch, and there folks that had seen a Falcon 9 launch. And I said, well, this is going to be different because it has solids. And so you can't even just say that you've seen a rocket launch. Just all the different sizes and the crackle you've with a solid, it's just, it's moving, or the sonic booms from a flyback, right? It's just, it changes your perspective on just being here on Earth and seeing what we're putting into space. Yeah, it really is, Maraako. Go ahead, Emily. I think that to build on that exact feeling, being tied to the space community and the launch community as a family member and that sense of pride and wonder and awe that when you stand there and watch this, ⁓ I mean, it's awe inspiring and this culminating event of the rocket lifting off and to know all of the collaboration and the intention and all of the work, teamwork, everything that goes into that to make it happen. And then the feeling of pride to know the people who are involved. Yeah. It's a huge team effort. I think is the understatement of the day. Dr. Z, congratulations on your selection as a teacher liaison. Could you tell us more about this program and what it means to be chosen? And how do you plan to leverage this opportunity to make space and STEM concepts more tangible and exciting for your students? I am very excited to be part of this group. And on Monday, I had the opportunity to spend a day in professional development with a team of the teacher liaisons. And what I walked away with was this. feeling of being, again, part of a greater community where it's a group of like-minded educators, some currently in the classroom, some retired, people with different experiences, and they're bringing together, we all meet with a similar passion, and that is space, and getting space awareness to our kids. And to be able to have conversations and excitement and share resources with people. to be part of that community is a great honor. And I think as I go back to my school next week and with the experience of having been here for the week and listening to some very technical conversations and to see some of the latest technologies and displays and conversations with people, ⁓ military, industry, fellow teachers, I think to be able to go back with a sense of just how ⁓ enormous the space community is while being also a small community that is, again, that shared passion. And to be able to go back and tell the kids about the experience to get them excited about whether they're interested in designing a rocket or engineering or the launch day or designing a patch for a mission patch. to know that anyone who wants to be in space has a place. Yeah, regardless of whether they're designing different capabilities or just drawing pictures about being in space. And then here's what I love about talking to young kids these days. You ask them, are you going to space someday? And guess what they say? Yes. Yes. Could you imagine growing up and having somebody ask you if you're going to go to space someday and being able to say yes? Yeah. It's remarkable. It's the most exciting. time to be in the space domain. You say that and in the fall we had an incredible opportunity to have an astronaut visit our school. And so in the work that we prepared ⁓ at the school to have and welcome the astronaut and talking to the kids about space and getting them excited about space and showing them pictures that the James Webb had sent back and afterwards one of my students had written a note. to say thank you for the visit to the Space Foundation or to the astronaut visit. And when she wrote this note, she talked about all of the things that she was going to go to space to explore. And some of them I'm pretty sure have already been discovered. And some of them may not have been. And to see her excitement, you know, she's nine or 10 years old, and to be so confident in knowing that's where she's headed. Yeah, it's phenomenal. Colonel Z, from your perspective in the Space Force, you see the direct need for skilled future workforce. Why is investing in K through 12 STEM education a matter of national security? And what are the most critical skills students should be developing now to be part of the future space industry? Yeah, absolutely. And I'll expand from STEM to STEAM and I'll explain why in just a second. I'm a mathematician. I love math, but that's not all we need, right? So engineers, technicians that are working on the rocket and as Emily mentioned, We've got to focus on design the patches and design all the artwork that goes with these things. So kids that have different ideas and different passions can all come together in the space enterprise and really make the mission successful. Somebody's got to go build those simulations that help people like me understand exactly what's going to happen on orbit. That's a skill I don't have. And somebody that's got more of a passion for design and art is going to have great skills to bring that to the table. So think it's engaging with students and as they find their passion, It may be in mathematics, it may be in engineering, it may be elsewhere. They can all come and help us get into space and do great things for both the nation and humanity. Yeah. So I bet you get this question a lot. Is the Space Force real? Space Force is real. Of course it's real. And Guardians are real. Guardians are real. I turn in my rental car and more than once I've been asked when they look at my ID, said, Space Force, what's that? I've never seen one of these before. And in fact, we were in Dunkin' Donuts two mornings ago, getting our morning cup of coffee. Gentlemen stopped me and said, hey, what is this uniform? I've never seen this before. And this is in Colorado Springs, right? So many guardians here. We've got to get the word out of it. Space Force is real. We're doing great things for the nation. Yeah, and we start with our youth. And it's not to recruit. I talk to people a lot. It's not to recruit people into Space Force. Space Force is a small and agile force, very powerful. It's to allow kids to understand how critical the space force is and how it fits into the civil and professional or commercial and private sectors. And so it's really exciting times. Colonel Z and Dr. Z, one of you is shaping the future of how America gets to space, the other shaping young minds who will have to tackle our future challenges there. How do your different professional worlds influence your conversations at home? Do you find that Emily's experience in the classroom shapes your strategic thinking and vice versa? So there have been ⁓ multiple conversations as we walk around the neighborhood that involve, could you explain this part of quantum physics to me? Or when they talk about whatever, insert technical term here, what does that mean? And so our conversations are often geared towards me getting a ⁓ very detailed scientific understanding of what is happening. And there have been moments, and I have picture proof of it, When my kids will ask a question and it can be a really simple question. What makes a car stop? I don't know. Maybe it's not that simple, but all of a sudden you see textbooks coming out of basement and they're laid across the kitchen table. And all of a sudden we are having college level lectures at our dinner table. And for the audience's perspective, how old are your kids? Well, now they actually are in college. Our oldest is graduating from University of Rhode Island next month. Our middle is a sophomore at Northwestern. Both, by the way, math, data, science, Claire's also, marine biology. No doubt that can be attributed to the textbooks coming out during those discussions in early adult lives. That's right. Or there was a conversation, we were at Vandenberg and ⁓ we were just staying on base seeing some friends. So my kids stayed at home. knew they were. perfectly fine there and daughter called us and said, hey, the fridge is making noises. What's going on here? And of course we pulled out a textbook and we explained there are more dynamics at the dinner table. So, I mean, but it's how you get kids understanding what's going on and excited about it, right? So many people are scared of, I'm not a good at math, I'm not good at engineering. Find what you're good at, right? And I bet you can connect to that, right? If you can understand those kind of relatively simple principles. and you put them together, you can come up with great ideas. are your thoughts on being able to foster learning by just simply answering questions? Meaning at some point in our respective lives, we all just sat there and asked our parents the same question over again. Why? Why? Why? And our parents either continued to answer the questions or they just got tired and walked away and said, because I said so. So talk a little bit about that. parenting approach and how important is it to keep people motivated to learn by simply answering the questions? Yeah, I think that as an educator, we talk a lot about early conversations with kids. And that leads to academic success as they continue to grow. And I think about the kinds of questions that my kids asked when they were really little. And I love to tell you that at 21, 19, and 16, they still ask all of those questions. And so to be able to see that curiosity thrive. And I think on some level, it's what I try to take back into the classroom. And I would spend all day letting my kids ask questions if I could do it. And to be able to share that. And sometimes I'm like, I need to go ask, hold on. Right. I've gotten that phone call. She'll have one of the kids ask a question, and she picks up the phone and calls me and says, How does this work? And there are times I don't know, right? And I'll go phone a friend and find somebody who does know. And that's the great thing about this community. know physicists. know folks that know these things, right? And they're more than happy to have conversation. It's great. It's a great community to really learn and explore with. How often, Hemali, have you been in the classroom and a student's asked a space question, and you've called your husband up and just put him on speakerphone? Oh, many times. It used to be a little bit easier than it is now, but when I was still in my classroom, after a launch, he would come home and I would say, okay, so what day are you coming in? And we would replay the launch for the kids. And I think about all of the time that we talk to kids about needing to be good communicators or good collaborators, or you really need to be organized in your thinking or what you're doing and you need to be responsible for your work. And I can tell them that all day long as a teacher. And to be able to show them the impact of that by playing a replay of a launch. And when it goes, you see the rocket on the pad and you see the command center where everything is happening and you see how many people are saying yes or no to whatever the next step on the checklist is. And they sit in awe of being able to see that communication, that collaboration, that attention to detail. Yes, I do really mean I want you to show me what your thinking is. now, you know, and here's a real life grownups using that, that same strategy. And I think it's to be able to bring that reality to them is such a powerful message to send to the kids. Colonel Z, in your position as a PAE for short access to space, you're educating on a regular basis as well. Can you talk about how you demonstrate educational technology or techniques that you probably get from Emily in your workplace? So one of the classes she took a while ago was coaching, right? And as a leader, I'm not doing a lot of the work. I'm leading and encouraging the teams to be successful. And so she's brought a lot of good techniques as I work with many senior leaders that have been in the government for 20 plus years. How do we shift our thinking, right? If I take anything away from what Secretary Mink talked about here, we've got to go faster, right? And how do I encourage folks to think through the same kind of processes that we've probably done for 30 or 40 years, but we've got to get faster. We've got to respond to the demand that the nation needs from us. And so those coaching conversations are hugely helpful. Yeah. And I bet that happens on a regular basis in your household. Oh yeah. Hopefully you set time aside and you have deliberate discussions about it. We actually, yesterday in the car, had one. It's something we do with our kids when they have a problem. And I think this idea of, I'm not going to be able to solve all of them. Well, maybe my own. Not his problems, not my kids' problems, and not my students' problems. But what I can do is help the thinking to help them come to whatever next step makes sense. Colonel Zee, Dr. Zee, you both have hands-on experience bringing space concepts to students. For other educators, parents, or leaders listening, what are one or two effective strategies you've used to connect complex topics like space launch to K through 12 learning and inspire genuine interest in STEAM? So the first one we did with a relatively young group of kids was the classic Diet Coke and Mentos. Just to show them that this chemical reaction, you wouldn't expect that they know what Mentos are, they know what Diet Coke is. put them together and something amazing happens, right? And they can then envision that through diet coke into the air, now let's convert that into making a rocket fly. It's just really seeing tangible things that they can then kind of latch onto and understand and say, ⁓ I can kind of see that next step. I could see where that goes. I think along that same exact thing, think putting things in kids' hands and letting them experiment and to try, and I think inviting that curiosity. perpetually and seeing what they get excited about, what questions do they have, and it goes back to that why or what if. And I think when we can encourage kids to be able to think that way, then it goes from Diet Coke and Mentos to leading the nation's next space generation. Speaking of the next space generation, let's talk about your on-ramp. How did you get involved in space? Again, I was in pilot training, had some medical issues. The doctor said, hey, you got to go find something else to do. And so I joined the space community as a relatively young captain and really never looked back. It's been a phenomenal ride, buying satellites, working in the rocket industry, and just having a great time moving around the country and being involved in this community. really, I asked that question because there's no deliberate pathway to a career in space when we were in the space community. and you're in the space community. So Emily, what are you seeing from students who are now showing interest in space? What do you tell them about, this is your space pathway to get involved? I think really just going back to letting them walk with me through a hallway and ask me a million questions. And again, I may not have those answers, but I will absolutely listen and cheer them on and point them in directions of, hey, maybe you should go look for this or go look at this. type of career and see if this is something you're interested in. And just to keep that conversation going and to build that excitement for these kids as they go from elementary school to middle school and beyond. And I get them so young and excited about it. I hope to be able to ⁓ build on that and help them build on that and their interest and excitement in finding their passion. So that as they get to high school and find robotics teams or art clubs or service clubs or whatever that passion might be, I think it's exciting to see where they end up. Let's talk about challenges. What are some of the biggest challenges you experienced in the classroom today? I always wish I had more time. I think we have so many great things to teach kids and that we're expected to teach kids and so many things that are so important for them to be successful as they go on. And there are a lot of... ⁓ a lot of different initiatives that are happening ⁓ in classrooms and a lot of other things outside factors that we can't necessarily control of what we're being told to teach or how to teach it or when to teach it. So I think that finding that time to let the kids be creative is probably the hardest. It's doable, but you have to be really creative yourself to fit it in. I think that's probably the biggest challenge right now. Yeah. And just from an education perspective, Colonel Z, can you talk a little bit about the need for PAE versus PEO? And Space Systems Command has gone through organizational changes as it evolves to figure out the best and efficient, most efficient ways to procure capabilities. So just for the audience, just kind of walk through that. Yeah. So really laid out by Congress in the law and the authorities that are expecting us to take on, but I think it's more important than just kind of the tactical changes of what we're doing, it's the why, right? Clearly there is a demand signal to go faster across the Department of War to deliver to the war fighter. know, I'm lucky to be in this position where I could help drive those changes. And I think it's an interesting transition back to the education question of senior leaders who have been engineers or physicists for most of their careers. And as they start to step into program management positions, you have to change how you think. And you have to think about Really some of the conversations you had as a young child of how can I think about this differently? What's the so what behind this? And so I think that's my big challenge is working with the team that works for me and that we work with in industry to make sure we're delivering what the nation needs. I'm getting new authorities. I'm going to be able to do that faster, but it's really engaging the team to make sure we can get there together. Yeah, that's tremendous. Challenges you're facing. Time. same exact. More hours in the day, right? We've been empowered to do so many things. It's also the encouragement of folks to take on the new authorities that we've been given. I've been given so much more authority by the leadership within the Department of War, within the Department of the Air Force, and now it's convincing folks that work for me, take those mantles and run. I'm giving you the opportunity to go fast, and folks are somewhat risk averse. We launch rockets in our DNA. or risk averse, but there are areas we can take on acquisition risk to deliver to the warfighter faster. It's just encouraging folks to go take those acquisition risks. And if we need to iterate on things, okay, mission success matters, right? We've got to deliver my customer satellites to orbit, but on the front end, we can work through things and just encourage them to go run. sir, you've been in the classroom talking about space. have. What happens after you present that information? The questions. So one of the, one of the classic things that we like to show, I was the mission director for the last Delta four heavy, right. And you talk about that, that checklist and I was the final government say, yes, we're ready to launch this rocket. have permission to launch. And then the questions come right. And there's questions of how did you make that decision or what, you know, what were you thinking about? How was the pressure? How many TV screens were you looking at? Cause of course they think about all the cool movies, but some of them are, Hey, who else was there, right? Who was helping you? I have. the press team that's helping me as we go out and talk about the missions. I've got the public affairs team that helps build all of the great brochures and all of the media that we have with those. It's just such a team effort. It's great as I talk in the classroom to help encourage everyone in that classroom to really come to the table with what they're passionate about. And Emily, as you present information in the classroom and talk about space as kids ask questions, What are you seeing the kids' response to learning more about space? Are they excited? Are they not interested? Do see kids really getting excited about what's happening in space? Or talk a little bit about that. I think anytime you can tap into a real-world application, whether it's space, we've done it with the ocean, and adopting an endangered animal. And I think no matter what path you take, when you can bring a real-world situation or a problem or an issue, something that really is meaty to talk about and to have the kids see themselves as part of that future. so if you're, if you are tasked with getting a rocket into space or you are tasked with saving the North Atlantic right whale, right, whatever that is, that excitement builds when as an educator, I can bring that to the classroom and let them think, like, I am part of this. This is my future, and I have a meaningful role in our world's future. And it's great when you can connect those two worlds. So we had the opportunity to be at the Goddard Dinner about a month ago, and one of the award winners was from NOAA, and she was taking space. sensing data and applying it to the oceans. Right? So find that passion. It may be in the oceans and environmental concerns. How do you, how does space enable that? Right? So you find those connections that the kids are passionate about this. How do we connect that with something else? And that's where you find kids that are just doing great things. And I talk about the space native generation. This is a generation of kids who have never known not having space technologies at their fingertips. They touch space 50 times a day. When they post on Instagram, they're using space architectures. They have no idea how connected they are to space. so how do you talk to them about, do you know how much you use space or do they not really care about it? I'm not sure that that specifically has come up, but now I know what I'm going to do next week. But this idea of helping, and again, contextualizing what's going on. And I think if to go back to kids and pose questions like, when have you used space technologies? And they might actually look at me and say, I never have. They might say GPS. Yeah. Yeah, if we're lucky, they'll say GPS. Or they'll say, yeah, there's a blue dot on my map. Not realizing that GPS is providing that. Right. And you know, that's just what my car does or what my phone does. And so I think to start to help them see those connections ⁓ would be a really powerful thing. Let's talk about the program, the International Teacher Liaisons Program. What is it meant to do? It is meant to be ⁓ a collaborative group of teachers. And once you become a teacher liaison, I'm in flight 26. ⁓ Once you become one, you're part of that group forever. And so now I have joined the ranks of 400 and something teachers who have come before me. And so to be able to tap into their excitement and their joy and their expertise and to be able to share anything as simple as like, hey, could I use this book for this activity or here's access to a new set of STEM lessons on getting to the moon and to simulate getting to the moon. And so I think that finding a like-minded group of teachers and educators is, I think, probably the most powerful piece of this, to know that we are embedded as a community and within a greater community in being able to shape the next generation. Because how intimidating could it be for a teacher to have to talk about space? And maybe that's, you know, that's part of the problem is because it's intimidating and I don't understand it that well, I'm not going to really talk about it too much. being part of this program probably helps out quite a bit. I think my week here at Space Symposium has ⁓ sort of given me a little bit of that perspective when I go talk to some of the exhibitors in the halls and I'll strike up a conversation with them and they talk to me about their product and I'm like, okay, this is great. That's right. And so to be able to take that, even the feeling of that back, to being able to explain ideas that are, know, whether they're new to a 10-year-old or new to a teacher who doesn't have the same background, you they don't have the same dinnertime conversations that I have. No quantum physics walking around the block. And so to be able to help teachers realize, and I think this is something that I get excited about is helping build excitement for things. And so whether that's space, or whatever else it might be to be able to build excitement within a group of educators. Yeah. Speaking of intimidation, how intimidated is it for young kids, young guardians sitting on console for the first time during an upcoming launch? Can you talk a little bit about that? Hell, I'll tell you, it was intimidating when I was the mission director, right? Just to feel the weight of that. it's great though, because it is a buildup, right? As we have young guardians who are responsible engineers at the launch base, right? And they get to go out to the pad and they get to see that rocket from the time it shows up to the time it's ready to go to space, right? So we really do try to build them up and make sure that they're comfortable with things on the rocket. They're the experts. ⁓ It's, it's still intimidating, right? It still is a one of the classic sayings I like to use is there's no other decision to pull back except for T zero, right? I can always undo an acquisition decision or something else. But once the rocket leaves the pad, physics is in charge. So we really try to instill that, also tell them, let's work through this, right? Make sure they're comfortable before they step on console. We're again, know, space is obviously a great domain and the technology, technological advancements that are happening are phenomenal. One of those technological advancements is AI. So let's talk about AI for a second from an educator standpoint. That's gotta be kind of scary when folks are basically outsourcing their decision-making processes. So we have actually talked a lot about that ⁓ in our school and district this year, and AI's role in a classroom. And I took a STEM teacher training earlier in the year that was all about machine learning and using AI and helping to train models in a way that is accessible to kids. And so we ⁓ One of the lessons that I had done was we had, it was some software that had already been developed and it was a matter of explaining the purpose of training a machine and what does it do. And so we would stop along the way and I'd say, well, if you've just told the machine that that's a fish, then anything that looks like that is a fish. And so even if it is, you know, a Coke can, it's not a fish, but you've just told it it is, it now believes that. we haven't removed that. the human intelligence factor of it and looking for ways to work smarter. And so helping the kids to start to see and on a very elementary level, like looking and saying, you know, this is what I can use it for. Here's a way that we can use it in a classroom to start conversations to think at those deeper levels about. ⁓ Like, what role does it serve and what's its purpose and what is it being used for and is that a good thing? And when is it a good thing? Right. Data is overwhelming us, right? Across all of the domains that we see from the telemetry off of the rockets, the satellites, right? Data is just inundating us. And so the ability to use machine learning, AI, these tools to really parse through that data and pull out the information. Because that's where I need that lieutenant thinking, right? I don't need them looking through a whole spreadsheet of data. I need them looking at information and making decisions. So in that space, it's great, right? To be able to parse so much stuff that's coming at them. We've looked at using it to listen to multiple networks while we're on console and highlighting to folks, hey, you should be over here listening to this conversation. This is important, right? So where can we use it to help bring that human intelligence that we have to have for the decision making? and automating so much of the kind of mundane things that I don't need them thinking through. You both have the opportunity to talk to young people, you on a regular basis, you sometimes, when you have time, realizing how busy your schedule is. What do you tell to a young person who's interested in getting involved in space? Emily? Do it. Yeah. I think as much encouragement as I can give for any kid to follow any of their passions. I think if there's excitement there, I don't want to stand in their way. And all I want to do is encourage them to keep going. Sure. I think it's the classic conversation we have with any young officer or young enlisted is bloom where you're planted, right? Go find that passion and run with it, right? And young lieutenants are doing great things at the launch bases and in my program office because they've found that thing they want to go do. And it's related to launch. It's related to mission assurance. But they're really passionate about applying it to this specific part of the propulsion system. Find that and go run with it and they'll do great things. I really appreciate you both taking time out of your busy schedules. Colonel Z, we are looking forward to seeing you at an SFA DC event in May. So we're looking forward to talking more with you about the Assured Access to Space mission area. Thank you both for taking time. Until next time, Semper Supra. Thank you much.