Purdue alumni will share their insights into the future of space exploration during the 2009 Purdue Spring Space Forum at 7:00 p.m. April 24 in the atrium of the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering.

Dan Dumbacher, director of the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will speak about NASA's plans for exploration after the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010. Dumbacher, a 1981 Purdue graduate, will offer a glimpse into the potential missions and capabilities of the space agency's next generation of vehicles, the Ares rockets.

John Gedmark, a 2003 Purdue graduate and executive director of the Personal Spaceflight Federation, will discuss the prospects of space tourism and the potential benefits of commercial spaceflight to science and education. The federation is an industry association of businesses and organizations working to make commercial human spaceflight a reality.

The forum, organized by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, provides an opportunity for students, faculty and the public to engage in a forum-style discussion of issues relating to the space industry. The forum is sponsored by the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Purdue Engineering Student Council.