ODU senior speaks with members of Congress in support of NASA

BAY AREA HOUSTON, TEXAS - From May 19-22, 2008, Maria Liberto, a senior at Old Dominion University's Batten College of Engineering and Technology, Norfolk, Va., traveled with 35 students and 111 other representatives on behalf of Citizens for Space Exploration (CSE), to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with a singular purpose - to support a robust space exploration program with a goal of investment in NASA set at 1 percent of the federal budget. The Coalition for Space Exploration, in conjunction with the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership's Aerospace Advisory Committee, sponsored Liberto.

CSE works with elected officials, corporate and individual contacts to ensure continued political and public support for our nation's space programs, particularly the International Space Station, the Space Shuttle, and the new Constellation Program. CSE is comprised of a diverse group of small and large business representatives, students and teachers, and county/municipal officials and employees.
 
Liberto, who is pursuing a joint bachelor's and master's degree in mechanical engineering, joined other undergraduate and graduate students from colleges and universities across the nation to inform elected officials of the importance they place on the space program. In addition to mechanical engineering, their majors included astrophysics, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, math and physics. The program and its many initiatives relate directly to their future careers. The students wanted to ensure that their representatives were aware not only of their support of NASA but also of the electoral influence that they and their fellow students and faculty carry.