Aerodyne sends five to Space Worker Hall of Fame

Aerodyne Industries recently announced a record-breaking group of inductees into the National Space Club-Florida Committee Space Worker Hall of Fame Class of 2022.

Five Kennedy Space Center teammates — four supporting the Test and Operations Support Contract (Paul Gene Espy, John McClelland, Chuck Rake and Lynda M. Thompson) and one supporting the Base Operations and Spaceport Services contract (Al Studt) — were inducted during the 2022 Celebrate Space Awards Banquet held at the Radisson Resort in Cape Canaveral on Oct. 8.

“We are extremely proud of our record-breaking group of 2022 inductees, and I want to thank the National Space Club-Florida Committee for doing so much to increase awareness of America’s aerospace programs,” Aerodyne Chief Executive Officer Andy Allen said. “Paul, John, Chuck, Lynda and Al symbolize what is best about Aerodyne, and epitomize the passion and dedication exhibited by all of our employees across the country.”

Espy’s KSC career began in 1987 supporting the Space Shuttle program as an engineer with United Space Alliance.

He currently serves as a project manager for Aerodyne Industries, supporting NASA’s Artemis program.

He has two children, Addison and Marrin, and lives in Titusville with his wife, Teresa.

McClelland grew up watching Apollo launches as a child, and in 1987 began his KSC career as an instrumentation engineer for Lockheed Space Operations Co.

He currently is a lead propulsion and engine avionics engineer for Aerodyne Industries, supporting the Artemis program.

McClelland lives in Viera with wife, Bonnie, and son, Ryan. Son Kyle attends the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Rake joined United Space Alliance in 1990 as an engineer supporting the Space Shuttle program. He eventually became systems specialist of the flight electrical team that supported the electrical power distribution and control systems for the entire Space Shuttle fleet.

He is currently manager of the flight electrical and pyro engineering team responsible for some of the most critical aspects of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.

Rake and wife, Candy live in Titusville.

A data management expert, Thompson has been an integral member of KSC’s human spaceflight program since she began her aerospace career in 1979.

For the next 43 years, she supported 135 Space Shuttle missions, was honored for ensuring retention of critical support equipment and documentation for NASA, and currently supports NASA’s Artemis program.

Thompson and her husband, Dennis, have 10 children, and live in Cocoa with daughter Ryleigh, and currently provide foster care for two young children.

A lead engineer for fire and protective systems, Studt also serves as the BOSS Teammate Principal for Aerodyne Industries.

He began his KSC career with EG&G Florida in 1990.

In parallel, he also has been in the volunteer fire service for 39 years, serving locally with Canaveral Fire Rescue as a lieutenant and marine fire instructor at Port Canaveral.

After 9/11, Florida formed urban search and rescue teams, and Studt was a founding member of Task Force 4 as a communications specialist and later cross-trained as a structures specialist.

Studt and wife, Lori, live in Port St. John, and enjoy time away in Tennessee and North Carolina with family.

Sidus Space CEO Craig receives recognitions

Sidus Space Chief Executive Officer Carol Craig recently was honored as a winner in the 15th-annual Globee Women World Awards, and is a finalist in the 19th-annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Sidus Space describes itself as a "space-as-a-service company focused on commercial satellite design, manufacture, launch and data collection, with a vision to enable space flight heritage status for new technologies and deliver data and predictive analytics to both domestic and global customers."

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The Globee Women World Awards recognizes women in business and professions from all over the world.

The annual Women World Awards program encompasses the world’s best in leadership, innovation, organizational performance, new products and services, and milestones from every major industry in the world.

Organizations from all over the world are eligible to submit nominations, including public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, largest to smallest, and new startups.

Sidus Space won the gold for Women-Run Workplace of the Year, and Craig also was honored as Female Executive of the Year.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs, employees and the companies they run worldwide.

More than 1,500 entries were submitted this year for consideration in more than 100 categories, including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Company of the Year, Startup of the Year, Women Helping Women, and Women-Run Workplace of the Year.

Craig and Sidus Space are finalists in the Most Innovative Woman of the Year (Technology) and Achievement in Product Innovation categories.

Award winners will be announced during a gala event in Las Vegas on Nov. 11.

Melanson joins Health First as business value analyst

Dana Melanson recently joined Health First Health Systems as a business value analyst.

Melanson’s duties include providing lead initiatives to administrative support services to all Health First departments, with a primary focus on reporting and analytics.

Prior to joining Health First, Melanson was licensing manager with USA Mortgage.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Worker Hall of Fame adds five from Aerodyne