{"id":83015,"date":"2025-04-16T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T21:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/?post_type=featured_events&#038;p=83015"},"modified":"2025-04-29T09:26:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T15:26:55","slug":"aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel","status":"publish","type":"featured_events","link":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/","title":{"rendered":"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-location-destiny-theater\">Location | Destiny Theater<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Space Center Houston celebrates and recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to the U.S. spaceflight program with a month-long speaker series. Hear from these innovative aerospace-industry professionals as their work charts the future of human spaceflight. <em>These presentations are included with general admission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-rounded\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1650\" height=\"1651\" src=\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-83352\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot.jpg 1650w, https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Vikas-Patel-Headshot-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1650px) 100vw, 1650px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-vikas-patel\">Vikas Patel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-2023-amp-2024-astronaut-scholar-at-embry-riddle-aeronautical-university\">2023 &amp; 2024 Astronaut Scholar at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Vikas Patel is a recent graduate from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and is a 2023 &amp; 2024 Astronaut Scholar. His current research focus in Aerospace is spacecraft guidance and navigation. He is currently an intern at NASA&#8217;s Johnson Space Center working on lidar-based active terrain navigation for applications on the Moon and Mars. He will begin graduate studies at Stanford in the fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Location | Destiny Theater May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Space Center Houston celebrates and recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":83002,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83015","featured_events","type-featured_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space-for-everyone"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v25.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel - Space Center Houston<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Location | Destiny Theater May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Space Center Houston celebrates and recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Space Center Houston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SpaceCenterHouston\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-29T15:26:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@spacecenterhou\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/\",\"name\":\"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel - Space Center Houston\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-16T21:42:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-29T15:26:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/\",\"name\":\"Space Center Houston\",\"description\":\"Gateway to NASA Johnson Space Center\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Space Center Houston\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/SCH-Galaxy-Logo-Blue-Horizontal.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/SCH-Galaxy-Logo-Blue-Horizontal.png\",\"width\":1543,\"height\":194,\"caption\":\"Space Center Houston\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SpaceCenterHouston\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/spacecenterhou\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/spacecenterhou\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/space-center-houston\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel - Space Center Houston","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel","og_description":"Location | Destiny Theater May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Space Center Houston celebrates and recognizes the historical and cultural contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/","og_site_name":"Space Center Houston","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SpaceCenterHouston","article_modified_time":"2025-04-29T15:26:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@spacecenterhou","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/","url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/","name":"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel - Space Center Houston","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-16T21:42:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-29T15:26:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1280x700-AAPI-Heritage-Month-Speaker-Series.jpg","width":1280,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/featured_events\/aapi-speaker-series-vikas-patel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AAPI Month Speaker Series | Vikas Patel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/","name":"Space Center Houston","description":"Gateway to NASA Johnson Space Center","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#organization","name":"Space Center Houston","url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/SCH-Galaxy-Logo-Blue-Horizontal.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/SCH-Galaxy-Logo-Blue-Horizontal.png","width":1543,"height":194,"caption":"Space Center Houston"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SpaceCenterHouston","https:\/\/x.com\/spacecenterhou","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/spacecenterhou\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/space-center-houston"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_events\/83015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/featured_events"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}