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Doug McCuistion | |
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Doug McCuistion is the former director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. He is now[ when? ] the chief operating officer of X-Energy, LLC, a nuclear energy company developing high-temperature gas-cooled reactors located in Rockville, Maryland.
McCuistion was NASA's third and longest-running "Mars Czar", leading the NASA Mars Exploration Program from NASA Headquarters for 8.5 years. Under his leadership the Mars Reconnaissance Orbtier (MRO), Phoenix Lander, and Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover were completed and launched, and the MAVEN mission nearly ready for its 2013 launch. He led expansive international program efforts during his tenure, including a multi-national Mars Sample Return study called iMARS, and a merging of the NASA and European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars programs (which was later dissolved due to US financial constraints). Prior to his taking the helm of the NASA Mars Exploration Program, he was the director of flight programs for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. Prior to coming to NASA Headquarters McCuistion held management and engineering positions in Earth and space science at the Goddard Space Flight Center, working on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), Geosynchronous Operations Environmental Satellite (GOES), Landsat, NEXUS (a James Webb Space Telescope precursor), and as a deputy director in the Information Systems engineering division. Prior to his career at NASA, McCuistion was a commissioned officer in the U. S. Navy flying F-14 Tomcats and worked on the Navy's Geodetic Satellite (GEOSAT) Follow-On mission. He retired from the U. S. Navy at the rank of commander in 1998. He has written about international collaboration in Mars exploration [1] and education and public outreach efforts in planetary science. [2] One example is Year of the Solar System.
McCuistion has been recognized with the rank of Meritorious Senior Executive, and was awarded two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, and a variety of NASA, Navy, and other agency individual and group achievement awards. [3]
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted both by uncrewed robotic space probes and human spaceflight. Space exploration, like its classical form astronomy, is one of the main sources for space science.
The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laboratory. That agency was dissolved and its assets and personnel transferred to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on October 1, 1958. NASA Ames is named in honor of Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physicist and one of the founding members of NACA. At last estimate NASA Ames had over US$3 billion in capital equipment, 2,300 research personnel and a US$860 million annual budget.
The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately 6.5 miles (10.5 km) northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC employs about 10,000 civil servants and contractors. Named for American rocket propulsion pioneer Robert H. Goddard, it is one of ten major NASA field centers. GSFC is partially within the former Goddard census-designated place; it has a Greenbelt mailing address.
William Hayward Pickering was a New Zealand-born aerospace engineer who headed Pasadena, California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for 22 years, retiring in 1976. He was a senior NASA luminary and pioneered the exploration of space. Pickering was also a founding member of the United States National Academy of Engineering.
Orlando Figueroa, previously the NASA Mars Czar Director for Mars Exploration and the Director for the Solar System Division in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters and the Deputy Center Director for Science and Technology of the Goddard Space Flight Center. He has since retired in 2010 from NASA.
Charles Elachi is a Lebanese-American professor (emeritus) of electrical engineering and planetary science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). From 2001 to 2016 he was the 8th director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vice president of Caltech.
Christopher J. Scolese is an American engineer and intelligence official serving as the director of the National Reconnaissance Office. He was appointed the 19th director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO) on August 1, 2019. Scolese was sworn into office on August 5, 2019.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space exploration.
The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engages the United States' science community, sponsors scientific research, and develops and deploys satellites and probes in collaboration with NASA's partners around the world to answer fundamental questions requiring the view from and into space.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program, and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the lunar Artemis program.
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is NASA's first, and oldest, space center. It is named after Robert H. Goddard, the father of modern rocketry. Throughout its history, the center has managed, developed, and operated many notable missions, including the Cosmic Background Explorer, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Solar Dynamics Observatory.
With the advent of robotic and human spaceflight a new era of American history had presented itself. Keeping with the tradition of honoring the country's history on U.S. postage stamps, the U.S. Post Office began commemorating the various events with its commemorative postage stamp issues. The first U.S. Postage issue to depict a U.S. space vehicle was issued in 1948, the Fort Bliss issue. The first issue to commemorate a space project by name was the ECHO I communications satellite commemorative issue of 1960. Next was the Project Mercury issue of 1962. As U.S. space exploration progressed a variety of other commemorative issues followed, many of which bear accurate depictions of satellites, space capsules, Apollo Lunar Modules, space suits, and other items of interest.
W. James (Jim) Adams served as the Deputy Chief Technologist at NASA in the Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) from 2012 until retiring from NASA in 2016. NASA's OCT is responsible for direct management of NASA's space technology programs and for coordination and tracking of all technology investments across the agency.
Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is a long-term effort to explore the planet Mars, funded and led by NASA. Formed in 1993, MEP has made use of orbital spacecraft, landers, and Mars rovers to explore the possibilities of life on Mars, as well as the planet's climate and natural resources. The program is managed by NASA's Science Mission Directorate by Doug McCuistion of the Planetary Science Division. As a result of 40% cuts to NASA's budget for fiscal year 2013, the Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) was formed to help reformulate the MEP, bringing together leaders of NASA's technology, science, human operations, and science missions.
David A. Spencer is the Mars Sample Return Campaign Mission Manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As an aerospace engineer, Spencer designs and operates planetary spacecraft.
The International-Mars Ice Mapper (I-MIM) mission is a proposed Mars orbiter being developed by NASA in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). As the mission concept evolves, there may be opportunities for other space agency and commercial partners to join the mission. The goal of the orbiter is the quantification of extent and volume of water ice in non-polar regions of Mars. The results are intended to support future Mars missions, especially with respect to the search for habitable environments and accessible In situ resource utilization (ISRU) resources. The International-Mars Ice Mapper is an "exploration precursor mission", comparing it to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. The mission was envisioned to be launched as early as 2026. However, in March 2022, it was revealed in its fiscal year 2023 budget proposal that the US government would terminate NASA financial support for the Mars Ice Mapper, casting the project's future into uncertainty.
David Y. Oh is an American spacecraft systems engineer and expert in electric propulsion. Dr. Oh currently works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as the NASA Psyche mission chief engineer. Prior to this role he served as the Project Systems Engineering Manager for Psyche. He was also the cross-cutting phase lead and lead flight director for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission and was recognized in popular media for living on Mars time with his family during the month following the landing of the Curiosity rover.