Space Studies alum inducted in the Space Camp Hall of Fame

UND Space Studies alum inducted in the Space Camp Hall of Fame

Lt. Col. William Burke Hare III, a US Air Force space and missile operator and 1995 University of North Dakota alum, was recently inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame.

Hare, who holds a master’s degree from UND’s Department of Space Studies, is chief of operations for the Flight Test Execution Directorate at the Missile Defense Agency at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. He was selected as one of three inductees out of 60 nominees for the 2011 Space Camp Hall of Fame.

According to a U.S. Department of Defense news release about Hare’s induction, the Space Camp Hall of Fame was established seven years ago to honor outstanding members of the Space Camp family. Hall of Fame inductees include Dr. Werner von Braun, considered the father of manned space flight, Dr. Georg von Tiesenhausen, and Oscar Holderer, two of the original members of the von Braun rocket team.

About Lt. Col. William Burke Hare III

According to the Space Camp’s site about this year’s Hall of Fame inductees http://www.spacecamp.com/halloffame, Lieutenant Colonel William Burke Hare III USAF, Chief of Operations, Flight Test Execution Directorate, Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. In his current position, he  leads 100 personnel in the day-to-day operations of a Joint Service Test Management and Execution Directorate. His Directorate is responsible for the system-level flight testing of the US Ballistic Missile Defense System. Hare, an Atlanta native, graduated from Auburn University in 1992 where he received his commission from ROTC Detachment 005 and earned his UND degree in 1995. Hare—who developed a lifelong interest in space as young child—attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., in 1984 and 1986 as a camper and worked there from 1992 to 1993 in the Aviation Challenge program as a Space Camp counselor.

About Space Camp

SPACE CAMP® was founded in 1982 as the U.S. Space & Rocket Center® museum’s education program to promote the study of math, science, and technology. This educational program couples classroom instruction with hands-on activities and teaches teamwork, decision-making, and leadership. Rocket scientist Dr. Wernher von Braun, while leading the team of scientists and engineers at the Marshall Space Flight Center that sent astronauts to the moon, inspired these programs that have challenged and educated youngsters from all 50 states and over 40 countries and territories. SPACE CAMP has become known as one of the premier math/science/technology educational programs in the United States.

Useful links:

*UND Department of Space Studies http://space.edu/

*See full story here http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=65175

*Space Camp Hall of Fame http://www.spacecamp.com/halloffame

*Space Camp and Aviation Challenge http://www.spacecamp.com/about