My Bio
My name is Douglas Messier. I am a communications expert with more than a decade of experience with entrepreneurial startups. A skilled analyst with superb written communication skills, I have broad knowledge of the aerospace, Internet, education, and environmental fields. I am an expert in translating scientific and technical concepts for lay audiences and in helping individuals and organizations craft their messages in print and online.
I am Co-owner of SpaceJobs.com – the world’s largest online career site for the aerospace, defense and aviation industries. I have helped to forge business strategy as member of the Board of Directors and collaborated on web designs and advertising.
I helped to found the Earth and Space Foundation, a non-profit focused on connecting the environmental and space communities. The foundation funds expeditions that use space technologies to help protect Earth’s environment. It also funds scientists who study extreme environments to help us better understand conditions on other worlds.
I worked for five years in relevance analysis for Yahoo!, helping to greatly improve the company’s search results. I worked with engineers to devise relevance tests, wrote test guidelines and procedures, and trained more than 150 analysts. This work gave me an intuitive understanding of search marketing and online branding. It also honed my analytical skills, giving me the ability to quickly analyze large amounts of information.
I have worked extensively in the education area and served as Publications Director and Distance Education Manager at the University of Management & Technology in Arlington, Virginia. This start-up, for-profit university – led by project management guru J. Davidson Frame – offers high quality management programs worldwide and has pioneered graduate management education in China. I also worked for five years as an Associate Editor at the National Science Teachers Association, where I collaborated with authors to develop curriculum. One of the projects was Views of the Solar System, a CD-ROM tour of the planets and moons. Other projects focused on global climate change and the environment.
I have written everything from technical documentation to magazine and newspaper articles to movie and television spec scripts. I pitched stories to three different Star Trek series – an opportunity that arose by submitting an unsolicited spec script.
I is the author of “Carl: The Biography of William Carl Condie”. This 220-page private biography is the story of a Salt Lake City man who lived from 1909-2003. This private work – commissioned by one of Carl’s grandsons – was distributed to family and friends. Thomas Monson, the president of the Mormon Church, said he “couldn’t put down” the account of his cousin Carl’s life.
I hold a master’s degree in Science, Technology and Public Policy from The George Washington University, where I studied at the Space Policy Institute. I am a graduate of the International Space University and holds a B.A. in Journalism from Rider University.
What This Blog Covers
This blog is focused on space commercialization and tourism but not exclusively so. It also covers hypersonic developments, human spaceflight activities, space prizes, robotic exploration, and other major developments in the space arena. The focus is international, although you will see a lot of coverage of activities in the United States and Europe, where much of the activity occurs.
My philosophy is to provide readers with as much news, analysis and opinions from as many different sources as possible. Journalism and democracy are best served by a cacophony of news, views and perspectives. Left, right, center: they are all welcome here.
I will, from time to time, express views on matters about which I feel very strongly. But, my philosophy is to treat you, my readers, as adults who are entitled to your views and more than capable of making up your own minds.
Please feel free to comment on blog postings. My only request is that you keep the discussion civil, focused on points of view and ideas but not on personalities. The great American General Dwight David Eisenhower lived by the philosophy of never questioning a man’s motives. His judgment, yes, but not his motives. It’s a good philosophy to live by.
With space tourism growing and NASA once again aiming for the moon, it’s an exciting time to be covering space. I hope this blog will enable you to stay abreast of all the interesting developments that are occurring in the field.
That’s about it. I hope you enjoy your visit to Parabolic Arc. Please let me know what we can do to improve the site.
