Delivering innovation to orbit.

In August 2013 I transitioned from an Assistant Research Professor to an Assistant Professor of Astrodynamics. The roles and responsibilities remained very similar and this description addresses both positions.As a research professor and as a tenure-track professor, I developed programs to advance our understanding of topics in advanced astrodynamics in support of practical spaceflight activities. In addition, I instructed courses, worked with graduate students, and provided service to the astrodynamics community.I developed the Mission Design and Navigation laboratory, which includes research and development in the fields of:• Low-energy mission design• Low-thrust mission design• Space situational awareness• LiAISON (Linked Autonomous Interplanetary Satellite Orbit Navigation)• HDNav (Using high definition TV transmissions to navigate spacecraft)This research has supported missions such as Orion, which intends to send humans beyond the Moon, into orbit about the Earth-Moon L2 point, into Distant Retrograde Orbits, and elsewhere.I have guided 3 Doctoral students all the way through graduation and more are coming along! I am currently a board member on 20 Doctoral committees and actively supervising 13 graduate students.I have been an instructor for graduate courses including Interplanetary Mission Design, Statistical Orbit Determination, Spaceflight Dynamics, Commercial Spaceflight Operations, and other independent studies in advanced astrodynamics.

• Maneuver designer, mission analyst, and navigator for the two GRAIL spacecraft (2011-2012) and Chandrayaan-1 (2008) Indian spacecraft as part of their flight teams.• Mission design and navigation lead for the proposed Lunette Discovery mission.• Mission design and navigation lead for the proposed VALOR Discovery mission.• Trajectory design lead and surface activities lead for the proposed MoonRise New Frontiers mission.• Mission designer and trajectory visualization engineer for JPL’s Team X, a team that performs rapid prototyping of spacecraft missions.• Enhanced JPL’s ability to design low-energy transfers between the Earth and the Moon; acted as an advising board member as well as a designer of such transfers.• Trajectory design and navigation analysis experience with missions about the Earth, Moon, Lagrange points, each planet, numerous asteroids, and many planetary moons.

Conducted research and engineering work in several fields, including research in the field of low-energy spacecraft mission design, development of nanosatellite missions, and studies of the sea surface using data from the TOPEX/Poseidon and JASON-1 spacecraft.My dissertation is entitled "Low-Energy Ballistic Lunar Transfers." It is a study of trajectories that spacecraft may take to travel between the Earth and the Moon for significantly less fuel than "conventional" methods (i.e., direct methods performed by the Apollo missions and the like).