This week, we’re joined by Las Cruces native Jamila Gilbert, who joined Virgin Galactic in 2019 where she has been an integral part of the company, leading internal communications. On Thursday, May 25, she was aboard the Unity 25 suborbital space flight. 

Jamila a­ttended New Mexico State University, studying linguistics, museum conservation, anthropology, and studio art. As a Latina woman of Purépechan-Mexican roots, a visual artist, and a communications professional who speaks four languages, Jamila doesn’t come from a technical or engineering background.

Now, the 34-year-old is the third Virgin Galactic woman to fly to space, joining the first 100 women astronauts in history. She is also among only 16 Hispanic astronauts. 

Later, we’re joined by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to talk about what the successful Virgin Galactic launch and the apparently imminent commercial space flights could mean for the state’s future.

On this week's episode, we’re joined by Rep. Nathan Small, a Democrat from Las Cruces who serves as chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. He also serves as vice chair for the Legislative Finance Committee.

David Abbey, the director of the budget and accountability office for the New Mexico Legislature, announced in March he would be retiring from the agency he led for 25 years — through a historic recession, a collapse in the oil economy, the COVID-19 pandemic and a new and unprecedented financial windfall.

Abbey will leave the agency known as the Legislative Finance Committee this summer. He guided the office through the tenure of four governors, earning recognition for ensuring state government solvency in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 Great Recession and many more challenges.

New Mexico is one of about five states where the Legislature prepares its own budget plan, independent of the executive branch.

Now, the search for Abbey’s replacement begins. We talk to Rep. Small about what that will look like, what the LFC will look for in its new leader and why the role is so important.

On this week's episode of The Reporter's Notebook Podcast, we’re joined by Las Cruces native Aaron Paz, who works for NASA. Aaron is a NASA senior engineer and Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration project manager at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

As NASA works toward sending astronauts to the Moon again through Artemis missions, one of the space agency’s primary goals is to establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface. Resources like oxygen are crucial building blocks for making that vision a reality. In addition to using oxygen for breathing, it can also be used as a propellant for transportation, helping lunar visitors stay longer and venture farther.

During a recent test, scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully extracted oxygen from simulated lunar soil. Lunar soil refers to the fine-grained material covering the Moon’s surface. This was the first time that this extraction has been done in a vacuum environment, paving the way for astronauts to one day extract and use resources in a lunar environment, called in-situ resource utilization.

And, I’m not going to lie, I don’t fully understand all of this — the ramifications, what it could mean for future space travel and living someplace that is not the earth — maybe even in our lifetimes.

But that’s why I’m grateful to have Aaron joining us this week.