How one man, whose father worked on the Apollo space program, finds himself on a similar path with his young son looking on
Herb Beck 
Dan Beck
Dan Beck is the current Communications Director for the Space and Launch Division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). Dan manages a team responsible for developing external and internal communications strategies and messaging in support of a portfolio that includes the International Space Station (ISS), CST-100 Starliner Commercial Crew spacecraft, NASA’s Space Launch System, governmental and commercial satellite systems, and United Launch Alliance, the space launch joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
As a child, Dan grew up in Orange County, the son of Herb Beck, an engineer working for the Apollo space program based in Daly, California. Dan’s father worked for North American Aviation, which later became Rockwell and soon after turned out to be part of the Boeing Company. Dan lived in a favorable environment to become a great engineer. However, Dan did not develop an interest in science, but instead, writing.
His passion for writing and communications took him to work on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and to manage political campaigns and organizations, where he became a private political consultant for 17 years. After the 1996 elections, Dan realized he needed a change in his working life. He responded to an employment ad in the San Fernando Valley newspaper, which landed him coincidentally in the same science environment his father had worked all his life. Although for Dan, it would be from the perspective of a communicator.
“It was the thrill of my life to find my way into working in the space business,” Dan says.
Dan’s new position at Rocketdyne, a division of Northern American Aviation (now part of Boeing) which was building rocket engines and propulsion systems for the Apollo program, involved the coverage of space shuttle launches and other Rocketdyne developments, like the electrical power system for the International Space Station.
As a side note, the International Space Station, launched 20 years ago, consists of a space environment research laboratory. Crew members have been living and conducting experiments in biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields for the last 18 years.
After Rocketdyne, Dan continued working his way through Boeing. Two and a half years ago, he found his way back into the Space and Launch Division of Boeing as its Communications Director. His primary role is to tell the story about what Boeing is doing regarding the Starline capsule and the support provided to the International Space Station. In addition, Dan covers the construction of the rocket that is going to take humans back to the moon and onto Mars, plus the satellite programs at the El Segundo, California facility
Dan finds himself on a similar path to that of his father. He travels on business away from his six-and-a-half-year-old boy Casey, just like his father did when Dan was that age. It is a challenge to balance his time between his family and Boeing, but the pride that Dan has for his late father, who was the first family member involved in space travel, is the same as Casey’s pride of Dan.
“It is interesting to think of this as a three-generation space story – a father to a son to a grandson. It is very remarkable, and as I reflect on that here on the year of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo program, it results in a very nice kind of tribute,” reflects Dan.
Invited by the Discovery Cube of Orange County, Dan will be giving a presentation on May 22 named “Generations in Space.” The event coincidentally takes place two days before what would have been the 95th birthday of Dan’s father, as well as the anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission, the last task before the renowned Apollo 11 mission, which took men to the moon, both of which Dan’sfather worked on.
At this conference, Dan will be talking about the efforts of the Discovery Cube in the promotion of STEM-based education, an educational curriculum based on the idea of educating students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. STEM-based education focuses on hands-on learning with real-world applications to develop a variety of skill sets.
“Boy, I sure wish there would have been a Discovery Cube when I was growing up in Orange County because maybe I would have taken the engineering path.” – Dan Beck
Deloitte and the National Association of Manufacturers reported that the United States will have to fill 3.5 million STEM jobs by 2025, with more than 2 million of them going unfilled because of the lack of highly skilled candidates in demand. Another issue augmenting the shortage of STEM talent is the lack of visibility into these fields. According to a Randstad North America survey, 52 percent of students ages 11 to 17 don’t know anyone with a job in STEM. However, 64 percent of students rated creating video games for a career as “very fun,” and 54 percent think it would be “very fun” to earn a living in marine life. The research also revealed that almost half of the students said they don’t know what kind of math jobs exist, and 76 percent reported not knowing what engineers do for work.
“Boy, I sure wish there would have been a Discovery Cube when I was growing up in Orange County because maybe I would have taken the engineering path,” says Dan.
Objectives of the New Era of Space Exploration
The primary purpose of the International Space Station has been to successfully build, in low orbit, an international laboratory for experiments. These experiments, despite all of our technological advances, are nearly impossible to replicate here on Earth. According to Dan, the unprecedented laboratory is sustained until the 2030s. The ISS has conducted remarkable research in both the medical field and materials. All the research will translate into scientific and commercial applications down the line, but there is still much research yet to happen.
Furthermore, the ISS is the first step into the industrialization or commercialization of space in order to create opportunities for companies to do research and development, manufacturing and other processes. The ISS also serves to answer our curiosity about space.
In this sense, NASA and the current administration recently announced its desire to return astronauts to the moon by 2024.
“A very ambitious goal. However, NASA, Boeing and the contractors will do anything they can to achieve that goal,” states Dan.
A stepping stone in the future of space travel is what NASA calls the Gateway. A project consisting of creating a permanent human presence orbiting the moon, from which we can go back and forth to the lunar surface. This will allow us to learn more about what minerals and resources are on the moon and how they can be utilized. The Gateway is also the first step in getting astronauts to Mars.
For the past several years, the American Space Agency has been paying its Russian counterpart for crew transportation services. However, things have changed as SpaceX and Boeing have been developing their reusable astronaut taxis. To this purpose, the Starliner crew and the capsule called “The Dragon,” developed by SpaceX, will facilitate US transportation of crew members from Earth to the ISS.
The continuity of all Boeing projects in current development, like the rocket, the capsule, the Gateway Lunar Space Station and the lunar landers depend on our ability to train and educate the new generation of scientists, engineers and technicians. In addition, government funding of science and math programs at the school level, especially in the early stages, plus the involvement of companies like Boeing, are integral to the crafting of our future.Boeing’s community engagement supports a lot of STEM programs and facilities, like the Discovery Cube’s, to advance the mission of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math with hands-on learning that will help Boeing achieve its mission objectives.
Government funding of science and math programs at the school level, especially in the early stages, plus the involvement of companies like Boeing, are integral to the crafting of our future.