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Author: Ryan Faricelli

Transportation to the Stars

Written by Ryan Faricelli on . Posted in Alumni, Mission Updates. No Comments on Transportation to the Stars

Suzanne Saltz was a First Assistant Director and Director on the hit television program NCIS Los Angeles. She’s worked on shows such as Six Feet Under, Bones and Pushing Daisies. Suzanne is an active member of the Director’s Guild of America, Alliance of Women Directors, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 

Though she ended up in Hollywood, Suzanne began her journey dreaming of space, having attended Space Camp® as a teenager. Attending Space Camp in August of 1985 was pivotal to her future because the movie, Space Camp, was being filmed during her time at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Saltz’ first experience in Hollywood was on the early 1990’s hit television show, Beverly Hills 90210, where she worked as a Directors Guild of America trainee. There, she encountered a bit of starstruck awe.

“The worst part about that was, I was a huge fan of the show,” Saltz recalled. “This was something I had watched all the time. I showed up on my first day and was like, Oh my gosh, I’m talking to Jason Priestley and Tori Spelling. As soon as I walked on set, [Priestley] knew I was green, and he said that he was going to help me out.”

Luckily for Saltz, Priestley lived up to his promise.

At one point during the day, Saltz was escorting Priestley to the filming location. He followed her, but she wasn’t sure of where she was supposed to go. Seeing all the production vans driving off in one direction, that was the direction she began to lead the actor.

After a few minutes of awkward walking, Priestley asked her if she knew where they were going. She had to admit she didn’t and told him she was just following the vans. Priestley laughed, and asked the humorously obvious question: “Why aren’t we in a van?”

Priestley kindly told Saltz she needed to contact the transportation department, and he explained how she could do that over the walkie-talkie she had been carrying. Eventually, a van picked them up and took them to the set.

“That was pretty much how my first week went,” remembered Saltz, laughing. “Jason was telling me everything I needed to know.”

Learn more about Suzanne Saltz and other professionals, scientists, and engineers influenced by attending Space Camp by subscribing to “Dare to Explore,” the official podcast of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation. “Dare to Explore” can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else you listen.

Margrit von Braun Margrit von Braun

An Animated Childhood

Written by Ryan Faricelli on . Posted in Alumni, Mission Updates. No Comments on An Animated Childhood

Margrit von Braun is an environmental engineer specializing in hazardous waste management and risk assessment. She was one of the first women to join the University of Idaho College of Engineering faculty in 1980,and served as their Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

Margrit’s father was Dr. Wernher von Braun, the first director of the Marshall Space Flight Center who led the development of the Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Dr. von Braun was also instrumental in the public relations efforts to convince the American people that efforts in space were possible and important. To do so, he partnered with Walt Disney and appeared on several episodes of The Wonderful World of Disney.

“My sister and I each got to meet Disney,” Margrit shared. “He was such a creative guy, and he was very interested in space and interested in helping my father figure out how to tell the story with animation and with models in ways that had not been done before. That was a great collaboration.”

Though the effects of Dr. von Braun’s celebrity status did impact Margrit’s life growing up, her parents always made sure their family life felt like any other family’s circumstances.

Margrit recalls learning to roller skate down the long, empty hallways at Marshall Space Flight Center on the weekends when her father had work to do there.

“I think I grew up pretty normally,” remembered Margrit. “I guess it wasn’t until much later that I realized that having astronauts at your dinner table wasn’t something everybody did. As a kid, I don’t think you really notice that, and we weren’t really encouraged to feel special.”

Learn more about Margrit von Braun and other professionals, scientists, and engineers from aeronautic and space history by subscribing to “Dare to Explore,” the official podcast of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation. “Dare to Explore” can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else you listen.