Limitless Space Institute: Inspire, Educate, Research
Limitless Space Institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire and educate the next generation to travel beyond our solar system and to research and develop enabling technologies. To that end, the single most important performance metric to enable bold human exploration of the outer solar system and the stars is the ability to “GO INCREDIBLY FAST” to any destination. This requires significant advances in performance characteristics of spacecraft power and propulsion systems. To support this bold objective, the Limitless Space Institute (LSI) initiated LSI Grants to support the critical R&D of advanced power and propulsion approaches along with an education and outreach program to inspire our future workforce.
In this session, you will learn about the research that LSI is supporting, which includes topics such as solar sails, laser propulsion, and nuclear to electric propulsion systems. With the desire to go further and explore what lies beyond, we will also take you through the K-12 Limitless Education program and the plans to inspire future generations of explorers. Innovative classroom lesson plans, community outreach opportunities, and most importantly, educator professional development are the three engines that propel our mission forward.
We’ve all had one or more experiences that have changed the course of our lives. See for yourself how a Limitless approach to innovation, education and research intends to change the course of human exploration.
Kaci Heins is the Director of Education for the Limitless Space Institute, along with being a 7th and 8th-grade science teacher in Louisville, Kentucky. She has been in the education field for almost 20 years in a formal and informal classroom setting. As an educator who used to dread teaching space content, a series of immersive STEM and space learning experiences over the years changed her perspective of space exploration. This unlikely, but incredible, STEM pathway led her to the Limitless Space Institute where she is designing their K-12 space curriculum, outreach, and educator professional development opportunities.
Kaci received the 2020 Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award, the AIAA Educator Achievement Award, and the Air Force Association National Teacher of the Year Award.
