Mark Lester (9:47)

Mark Lester I'm Head of Aerospace Strategy for Merrick and Company. Merrick is a design architecture engineering firm, supports a wide range of customers, including the aerospace industry.

Maria Varmazas (9:59)

Mark, thank you so much for joining me today and I appreciate that. Intro and I know that Merrick has some interesting news recently about an acquisition. Can you tell me about that?

Mark Lester (10:08)

Yeah, absolutely. So Merrick recently acquired Way Engineering, which is a Tampa based firm in Florida Their background's been largely on seaports and transportation systems, and they also bring some NEPA compliance experience. So I think they're going to be a great addition to the firm, including for our aerospace industry in the state of Florida.

Maria Varmazas (10:33)

So, Mark, I'm wondering if you can fill me in on what Merrick's up to right now in the context of spaceports, especially. Especially in ways that people may not necessarily expect.

Mark Lester (10:46)

Yeah. So I think what's interesting about where Merrick is at today and where we're headed in the aerospace sector is Merck's been supporting largely federal and government customers, in particular in the aerospace industry for decades. And, you know, our work with Artemis has been an enduring support into NASA. Also. We bid and won, along with lots of others on the Missile Defense Agency SHIELD contract. Right. For Golden Dome. So that's been what I would consider a traditional Merrick type of area. Now, other parts of merit support commercial customers from manufacturing facilities to cities as well. So it's natural then, that as the space industry evolves and grows, that we can at Merrick, bring together different areas of our expertise. So two areas in particular that come to mind is one on return missions from space, as well as the increase in nuclear materials that are going to space and be operating in space and on the planet. So to pull that threat a bit. So when I think about return return missions, a lot of work. Right. In developing a pharmaceuticals and biotech on orbit. We're starting to see that transition from research and development on the space station and initial missions like that. Varda has been accomplishing and bringing back some pharmaceuticals to in the future here, near future, going to be really transitioning to production. And so Merrick has been supporting the pharma industry, supporting biotech, high containment facilities for many customers over the years. And so we see that intersecting at Spaceport. So how do you do a medical facility or biotech facility at spaceport, so be able to then when material gets returned, to process it and get it into the logistics supply chain. Merrick in the past has supported NASA and some of these containment facilities as well. So that's kind of a natural growth for Merrick in two areas that in the past didn't have to come together and now it's going to.

Maria Varmazas (13:02)

Yeah, I was going to say that must represent a very unique challenge and opportunity for you all because again, that's. It's one of those things where maybe on the outset, people might not think of these areas intersecting, but in terms of on the ground, infrastructural Support, that's got to be a fascinating challenge to take on.

Mark Lester (13:17)

It is, and it's what's exciting to see is both sides of the pieces coming together. Right. And so on. Pharmaceuticals, they typically don't know much about space and space doesn't know much about pharmaceuticals or biotech. Right. And so to see these areas and to see that excitement in people's eyes and go, wow, we can do that. Yes, we do that here. Let's bring it here into a spaceport and it's going to be slightly different. I think that's great. And just to see a new growth area and see really see that space economy grow as well.

Maria Varmazas (13:51)

Yeah. And you mentioned nuclear also. And that is an area where I would imagine there's been a little more strategic alignment, maybe especially on the military side. But I mean, as we're seeing, you know, more interest from the commercial sector, I mean, certainly there's always going to be a lot of government and military involvement on that side of things. But again, very fascinating challenges and opportunities there, I would imagine.

Mark Lester (14:13)

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, when I think about space and spaceports, it's really about the civil use of nuclear, both from nuclear propulsion. Right. So we're going to start seeing nuclear rockets powered rockets. It's also powering spacecraft. We already see that in some of the rovers and Mars. Right. We see that happening. But also putting small reactors on the moon and with NASA and this administration's aim to put a small nuclear reactor on the moon By I think 2030, you know, that's a near term type of target to be thinking about. And so pulling from Merrick's extensive experience in working with Department of Energy and with nuclear reactors here on Earth, taking that expertise and then bringing that to a spaceport, saying, okay, how do we handle safely and reliably and efficiently nuclear material at a spaceport to get a nuclear reactor integrated with a rocket and then what do we do with it on the moon? So, you know, we've been recently talking about, you know, how do we construct infrastructure on the moon to support habitats, but in particular around the nuclear reactors and related infrastructure. So that's, that's exciting to see those two elements come together as well.

Maria Varmazas (15:33)

Yeah, it's a, it's really fascinating thinking about these things that I think for many people, especially who aren't really thinking about what's going on in the world of space, these seem all very abstract and very far in the future, but they're really much more immediate. And of course people need to be planning around these things. Now and I'm thinking also in terms of things people might think are way in the future is off world exploration like Mars. Again, these are not abstracts anymore. These are things that people need to be planning. So I'm curious your thoughts on things like Mars exploration and planning for things like that.

Mark Lester (16:05)

Yeah, absolutely. It's a balancing act, right, Maria? It's about looking at what's right in front of you as a business. Right? Yeah. And saying, okay, here are the near term contracts, the contracts today. But also then thinking about the intellectual property and the processes and methods of it then extending to off planet. Right. We like to say aerospace is all about engineering for all planets. And so certainly the moon's next and we got some near term targets that are priorities of the administration and of NASA to put people onto the moon in an enduring manner and have the power capabilities, which involves nuclear capabilities, then yeah, Mars is after that, certainly further down the road. But when you start to think about how do you operate and construct facilities and use infrastructure in gravity, that's a fraction of Earth's. Right. If with materials that some behave like what we see here on Earth, but a lot of it's just unknown. Right. So how do you extend in that engineering that we've done very well over several decades to then apply it to new worlds?

Maria Varmazas (17:14)

Yeah, there's some fascinating problem solving to be done and fascinating engineering challenges. But I mean that's what we all live for.

Mark Lester (17:20)

That's exciting. Right? That's what Merrick does. Right, right. That's why we have a thousand engineers. Right. That keeps people going.

Maria Varmazas (17:27)

That's right.

Mark Lester (17:28)

Exactly right. It's exciting.

Maria Varmazas (17:32)

Well, Mark, thank you for walking me through just a little bit of some of the strategic thinking here. I want to make sure that if there's anything I missed that you wanted to let the audience know that I give you that opportunity to have the last word.

Mark Lester (17:43)

Well, thank you. Yes. So look, this industry continues to grow. It's fun to talk about the moon and Mars. But certainly what's here today also is about building out more spaceports to address Earth orbital missions. Right. And so it's exciting to continue to see states here in the US wanting to explore new spaceports. We're also seeing new spaceports being talked about overseas as well, so in Africa, in Australia, in other parts in South America. Right. So that's. We're certainly continuing to see interest across the globe in building spaceports and Merrick's excited to be part of those discussions.

Maria Varmazas (18:39)

We'll be right back. Welcome back. Humans, our bodies Minus the bones part, they're mostly pretty squishy. We evolved to live in gravity on terra firma. So news at 11. Being in space for a while does really funny things to our insidey bits. We knew this. You knew this. Astronauts know this. Well, we know in space, our eyes go wonky, our bones relax, our muscles take a vacation, but our brains, the gray matter, should be all good, right? Well, he knew there'd be a. Well. Well, it ends up in space, our brains get a bit shifty. As in they actually physically shift in our skulls. Brains shift to the back and up and also rotate towards the back of our skulls in space. Yes, really. And that is according to a new published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Otherwise, and better known by an acronym that I don't want to say out loud on a family podcast, this study examined the brains of 26 astronauts using MRIs and found that the longer you spent in space, the more your brain moved. Okay, not a huge surprise there. Kind of stands to reason. But the kicker is that not all brain regions moved equally or even in the same direction uniformly. For example, crew that spent a year or more in space saw larger physically upward shifts in a part of their brain called the supplementary motor cortex, which controls planned and coordinated movement. Wild. Right now, we don't know what this means long term. Is this a good or a bad thing, or is it a neutral thing? Well, the good news is that after six months back on Earth, all astronaut brains returned pretty much back to normal. Mostly not entirely, but pretty much. I'm sure it's fine. Just don't think about it too hard. And that's T minus. Brought to you by N2K CyberWire we'd love to know what you think of this podcast. Your feedback ensures we deliver the insights that keep you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. If you like our show, please share a rating and review in your podcast app. Please also fill out the survey in the show notes or send an email to space2k.com we are proud that N2K Cyberwire is part of the daily routine of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector. From the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies, N2K helps space and cybersecurity professionals grow, learn, and stay informed. As the nexus for discovery and connection, we bring you the people, the technology, and the ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how@n2k.com N2K's senior producer is Alice Carruth. Our producer is Liz Stokes. We are mixed by Elliot Peltzman and Trey Hester with original music by Elliot Peltzman. Our executive producer is Jennifer Ivan. Peter Kilpe is our publisher and I am your host, Maria Ramazes. Thank you for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

N2K CyberWire Announcer (22:20)

If you only attend one cybersecurity conference this year, make it RSAC 2026. It's happening March 23rd through the 26th in San Francisco, bringing together the global security community for four days of expert insights, hands on learning and real innovation. I'll say this plainly, I never miss this conference. The ideas and conversations stay with me all year. Join thousands of practitioners and leaders tackling today's toughest challenges and shaping what comes next. Register today@rsaconference.com cyberwire26. I'll see you in San Francisco.