Meet the Expert: Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA from 2016 to 2022 Thomas H. Zurbuchen, known in the space community as Dr. Z, is a Swiss-American astrophysicist, leader, and innovator. He was the longest continually serving Head of Science at NASA from October 2016 through 2022, the leading… Continue Reading Episode 163: How Can We See the Universe in a New Way?
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Meet the Expert: Sharon McDougle, former NASA Spacesuit Technician Sharon Caples McDougle is regarded as a “modern day hidden figure”. She joined the NASA family working in the Space Shuttle Crew Escape Equipment (CEE) department. She began her career as a CEE SuitTechnician and was responsible for processing the orange launch/entry suit assemblies worn by… Continue Reading Episode 162: How Do You Dress an Astronaut?
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Meet the Expert: Herb Baker, the Former Manager at the Operations Support Office at NASA/JSC NASA employee Herb Baker retired from a 42-year career at the space agency. Most of his work was performed at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, but during his career he also worked at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape… Continue Reading Episode 160: What is the Super Guppy?
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Meet the Expert: Dr. Sarah D’Souza, the Orion Thermal Protection Deputy System Manager at NASA Ames Dr. Sarah D’Souza is currently the Orion Thermal Protection System (TPS) Deputy System Manager at NASA Ames Research Center which is part of NASA’s Artemis program. Dr. D’Souza is a California native with a passion for all things aerospace and a proud graduate of the… Continue Reading Episode 158: Why Does a Spacecraft Need a Heat Shield?
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Meet the Expert: Julie Wolfson, Orion Program Risk Manager at Lockheed Martin In this role, she works to ensure that Orion risks to the success of every Artemis mission are identified early and handled properly. She collaborates with engineers from multiple disciplines analyzing technical and safety concerns, and finance staff to accurately assess the potential… Continue Reading Episode 154: How Do You Slow Down a Spaceship?
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Meet the Expert: Dan Zapata, Crawler Systems Engineer, Exploration Ground Systems Kennedy Space Center Dan Zapata is a crawler systems engineer for the Exploration Ground Systems Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of seven certified drivers for the agency’s crawler transporters –six-million-pound platforms that carry rockets and spacecraft from Kennedy’s iconic Vehicle… Continue Reading Episode 152: How Do You Move a Rocket?
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Meet the Expert: Vera Demchenko, Systems Verification & Test Engineer with Lockheed Martin’s Orion Program. Vera Demchenko is a Systems Test and Verification Engineer on Lockheed Martin’s Orion Program, which aims to return humans to the Moon and beyond. In this role, Vera ensures that the Orion spacecraft is properly tested and verified for… Continue Reading Episode 147: How do you make a spacecraft safe?
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Meet the Expert: Dr. Mike Harrison, Chief Medical Officer for Axiom Space Michael Harrison, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H. is the Chief Medical Officer for Axiom Space. Dr. Harrison is also an emergency medicine and critical care medicine physician at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. He is an aerospace medicine specialist. His interests include operational… Continue Reading Episode 145: How Do Astronauts Live in Space?
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Meet the Expert: Carl Sandifer, Manager, Radioisotope Power Systems Program, NASA Glenn Research Center Mr. Carl E. Sandifer II is the Chief of the Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) Program Office in the Space Flight Systems Directorate at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center (GRC). In this position, Mr. Sandifer also serves… Continue Reading Episode 135: How Do You Power a Spacecraft?
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Meet the Expert: Dr. Sergio Santa-Maria, project scientist for NASA BioSentinel Mission Sergio is originally from Lima, Peru, where he studied Biology & Ecology. He did his doctoral studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, where he studied novel pathways for the repair of DNA damage using model biological organisms,… Continue Reading Episode 134: Why Would You Send Yeast into Space?
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Meet the Expert: Rob Chambers,Business Development Director Commercial Civil Space Space Systems Company, Lockheed Martin Rob Chambers is the Business Development Director for Lockheed Martin’s Commercial Civil Space line of business. In this role, he is focused on Lockheed Martin’s blueprint for extending humanity’s knowledge of our planet, our solar system, and the universe at… Continue Reading Episode 132: How Do You Talk to a Spaceship?
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Meet the Expert: Brian Campbell, NASA Senior Earth Science Outreach Specialist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia, USA Brian grew up in the small Pennsylvania town of Sinking Spring that has lots of trees and farms. As a kid, Brian spent almost every summer day outside exploring… Continue Reading Episode 125: Why Measure the Height of Trees?
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