For those lucky enough, March is the time to saddle up because in a week, the city of Austin, Texas, will host the 2016 SXSW Interactive Festival. And as you may have guessed, Innovators Peak will be there. Guaranteed to be full of exciting events and good times, SXSW can be a bit daunting considering its scope. Luckily for you though, we did all the work. Below are our top picks perfect for Coloradans that will change your world. You can thank us later.

Already feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry: There are several lounges where you can network, recharge and relax between events. We’re already planning to hit up the Comcast Social Media Lounge to connect with major influencers. We’ll be the ones downing the coffee.

Prison Tech Boom: Social Outcomes and Entrepreneurs

Prison reform has been a hot topic, but did you know prison tech is booming? Find out more from the founders of Mission: Launch, a civic tech nonprofit that helps people reenter society after spending time in prison, and the founder of Flikshop, an app that lets the incarcerated receive personalized mail. Two of the speakers previously served time and will speak on their experiences and discuss best practices on how to support unlikely techies. // Friday, March 11, 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Hilton Austin Downtown, 500 E Fourth St., Salon E

Keep reading

Concept art of the Dream Chaser docked with the International Space Station. Image via NASA.

Colorado has killed the space game once again. What else is new?

Last week, NASA announced their decision to award three massive contracts to commercial space companies for cargo and supply delivery missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

Guess who was one of them? Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems, based right out of Louisville, Colorado. The other two contracts went to SpaceX and Orbital ATK, both of which have already handled several cargo launches to the ISS in the past.

Keep reading

At the beginning of the year, we documented the ways in which Colorado totally owned space research in 2014.

Now, with news that an asteroid-sampling spacecraft will undergo five months of testing at a Lockheed Martin facility just south of Denver, it looks like Colorado is on course for another stellar year.

Scheduled to launch in 2016, NASA’s OSIRIS–REx (Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer — how’s that for a name?) mission will get up close and personal with a near-Earth asteroid.

Keep reading