Fly Me to the Moon
- Chris Worley
- Apr 6
- 2 min read
The successful launch of Artemis II has brought renewed interest in human space exploration. The mission marks the first time in more than 50 years that astronauts are heading to the moon. Artemis II has been nearly a decade in the making, with important advances in research and development, engineering, and innovation – all of which has required high degrees of cross-industry support and coordination on the ground. For us at Fourth Economy the mission is a reminder of the important role of the innovation economy in inspiring the public and supporting regional economic growth.
Recently, Fourth Economy supported the Aerozone Alliance through an Economic Development Administration-funded Aerospace Business Attraction Strategy. The Aerozone Alliance is a hub for space, aviation, and advanced manufacturing in Northeast Ohio. Ohio is the birthplace of aviation – a tradition that carries on into the State’s cutting edge space and aviation research and development today. During our project, the NASA Glenn Research Center was selected to oversee a major space project that could bring nuclear energy to the moon, a key component to supporting human space exploration.
This is not the first time Fourth Economy has been involved in a project related to outer space exploration. In 2021, we worked with the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) to catalogue the impacts of the center during its first 25 years in our report “Robots in the Backyard: How the National Robotics Engineering Center changed a neighborhood, a region and an industry”.
NREC may be best known for providing critical software for the Mars Opportunity and Curiosity Rovers. Designed for a 90-day mission and expected to travel the length of 10 football fields, Mars Opportunity Rover’s mission in fact lasted nearly 15 years, with the rover traveling more than 28 miles on the Martian surface. The Curiosity rover followed, landing on Mars in 2012, and has continued surface operations for more than a decade. In that time, Curiosity has taken more than 700,000 images. The Mars rovers have inspired the public and a generation of young scientists.
Innovation takes time and can take many forms. Innovation doesn’t have to be as far away as outer space. And sometimes the innovation economy is closer to home. In our emerging economies portfolio of work, we’ve been fortunate enough to work in communities across the U.S. and in a diverse array of industry sectors including aerospace, advanced manufacturing, Tech Hubs, semiconductors and CHIPS Act communities, Blue Economy and ocean technology, green industries, agricultural technology, autonomous and electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence.
If you’re feeling inspired to activate the innovation economy in your region, reach out to us [email protected].
