Happy National Astronaut Day 2024!
As the inspirational President and CEO of Uniphi Good, music industry fixture Annie Balliro has headed the successful artist management and marketing company since 2009 before moving on to Uniphi Space Agency, which has become the nation’s largest private talent management firm for astronauts. .
Supported by the company’s slogan #we believeinastronauts, Uniphi Good partners with companies or institutions to advise NASA’s intrepid Indigenous heroes on navigating partnerships in media, film and television, creating a network of positive bridges between the worlds of space travel, music and pop culture. .
Balliro dreamed of the opportunity to raise funds for astronaut recognition by starting National Astronaut Day in 2016. This special day is now celebrated every May 5 to salute Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard’s historic first space flight with Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961.
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This year, he is excited to spearhead the inaugural Astronaut Rock Star Awards, an evolving event celebrating the unique intersection of astronauts and music, where bona fide rock stars hand out awards in three categories to astronauts, individuals and organizations who are pillars of support and leading voices. in space exploration and STEM/STEAM education. All winners will be announced on May 5, 2024.
This first year’s list of winners includes:
Astronaut Alan Shepard – The first American to go into space on May 5, 1961. Astronaut Wendy Lawrence will present this legacy award to Alan’s daughter Laura.
High school student STEM expert Yuridia Sanchez and 18-year-old Sophia CrowderFounder of ITGirls girl empowerment initiative and beyond.
Former NASA Astronaut and Intuitive Machines manager Colonel Jack D. FischerHe directed the Odysseus (“Odie”) Moon landing this year as part of the IM-1 mission in 2024. The IM-1 mission successfully landed the first spacecraft in the south polar region of the Moon, marking the United States’ first return since then. Apollo 17 was also the first private lunar lander to land on the Moon.
Fischer’s award will be presented by rock greats OAR at a show in Boston, MA, at the Leader Bank Pavilion on July 20, 2024; This date will be given simultaneously with the actual moon landing date of the Apollo 11 Mission in 1969, the first time a human walked on the Moon. .
Science Heaven Initiative to provide 100 telescopes to 100 families across the US
“We continue to expand our roster at Uniphi Space to this day,” Balliro told Space.com. “We have almost 40 private clients and have worked with over a hundred astronauts so far. It’s a little family, you could say. We see ourselves as astronaut allies and advocates. That’s really what we’re here for, to help.” Handling any requests, be it book deals or endorsements, and helping them no matter how much or how little active they want to be.”
When Balliro first founded Uniphi Space Agency, there was no commercial space program or private astronaut program, so this was a completely new concept.
“So now it’s been such a fun ride because one of our clients, Michael Lopez-Alegria, has been back in space twice and we’ve been a big part of that and it’s just incredible to watch. I wasn’t doing that when we first started this.” I don’t think people realize that some of our customers will be returning to space so soon. That’s why we’ve been able to do some incredible collaborations, because it’s a very different situation between a private astronaut mission and a government-type mission. So it’s been a real honor to be able to work not just with astronauts, but all of the commercial space companies, because all of our astronauts now work for all of these companies.
“As a Swampscott girl whose father took us near Cape Canaveral, when I was five or six years old, we would stay in the trailer and watch rocket launches, and I was always in awe of the stars, just to be in the presence of individuals like that. It’s incredible.”
National Astronaut Day, which started with the core astronaut staff, Fisher Space Pen and great enthusiasm at the Space Symposium in 2016, has entered its eighth year.
“Getting support early was crucial,” he explains. “National Astronaut Day isn’t going anywhere. It’s now completely engrained in the DNA of our culture, which is exactly what we wanted. But we knew we had to take it to the next step, and that’s where the Astronaut Rock Star Awards came about. The truth is, if MTV astronauts were playing music If they give it to their groups, why can’t we give stone plaques to astronauts?
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“The most satisfying part for me is feeling like we have created something that will hopefully last forever, that will always continue to honor and celebrate astronauts for generations to come.
“And strengthen their platforms even further so that they can continue to inspire people and talk about things like the ‘Overview Effect,’ or continue to help space be the best example of what international peace is possible, and continue to share the stories of why science is so important.” And it helps those of us on Earth. It’s a real honor.”
To learn more about National Astronaut Day 2024, the Astronaut Rock Star Awards, and their upcoming presentations, visit them on social media and on their official sites.