"I was getting my financial needs met, but not other needs," he says. "I had a 18-month old son and another on the way and wanted a different sort of lifestyle."
Fort, an environmental litigator, had always been fascinated by space exploration and decided to move it from hobby to vocation.
After consulting with friends and brainstorming with high-profile members of the space community, Fort joined TSGC in 1993.
The consortium is a group of 34 universities, industrial organizations, non-profit organizations and government agencies within Texas to promote space research and technology.
Fort was put to work writing grants, managing projects and developing public policy analyses.
One of Fort’s better-known projects is the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities program. High school and university students fly experiments in weightless conditions in a KC-135A, better known as the "Vomit Comet."
Fort says he was looking for a project that could engage NASA and students and worked with the space agency to develop it.
Since 1995, more than 800 students have flown their experiments. Next year, the campaign adds Texas community college students to the effort.
Fort modestly credits most of the program’s success to NASA, agencies at Johnson Space Center and JSC director George Abbey, a strong supporter of the program.
"For most of the students this is the very first opportunity to learn something that’s not in a book," he said. "They see deadlines similar to what they’d find in the professional world."
Students write letters of intent, proposals, build the experiments and fly them.
Fort has also worked on NASA Means Business, an interdisciplinary program bringing engineering, business and public policy students together to draft a business plan for Mars exploration.
He also serves as the executive director for Foundation for Space Exploration and is currently raising funds for a national poll on space exploration.
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