Team

Bio:

Patrick began his career with LM Deep Space Exploration as a Structural Analysis Intern in 2013 supporting InSight, in 2014 he first got a glimpse of OSIRIS-REx supporting Static Test. After College, he transitioned to a GNC role supporting various Deep Space Exploration flying missions and has been with OSIRIS-REx since launch. Patrick has a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and Master of Science in Astrodynamics and Satellite Navigation Systems from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Outside of exploring the Solar System he enjoys exploring his own backyard with his mountain climbing Husky.

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Dolan is part of the Flight Dynamics Systems team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He has been with The Aerospace Corporation since 2009 working on various projects centered on orbit determination, trajectory modeling, and the Global Positioning System (GPS). Previous employers include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Naval Research Laboratory. Dolan holds a B.S. from the University of Virginia and a M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Aerospace Engineering. Dolan and his family live in Northern Virginia, and he spends his spare time watching baseball, jogging, biking, and walking the dog.

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Mr. Houghton began working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 1991 as a coop student from Purdue University specializing in spacecraft Guidance, Navigation, and Control systems. He spent several years as an Attitude Control System analyst on Explorer Program missions including the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). He later served as the GN&C Lead for Triana (ultimately DSCOVR) and ST7 (Lisa Pathfinder), and as the Deputy Mission Systems Engineer (MSE) for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Martin is currently NASA’s MSE for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission and Touch-and-Go (TAG) Phase Lead for the OSIRIS-REx mission. His experiences encompass the overall mission architectures, requirements definition, design trades, integration, test, launch, and operations activities. He has most recently worked on both Discovery and New Frontiers mission concepts including CAESAR (Comet Astrobiology Exploration SAmple Return), an NF4 finalist.

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Dale has worked in various roles since coming to Lockheed Martin in 1984. He has worked a variety of programs including the Titan IV booster, Space Based Laser, Orion, and multiple interplanetary missions. Most recently Dale was the GNC lead for the Mars InSight lander. Dale has worked primarily in Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) roles, but has also held systems and software positions. In his current role, Dale is responsible for coordinating activities related to the sample capture.

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Kelly is the project support manager for the Space Science Mission Operations (SSMO) project, including the OSIRIS-REx mission. SSMO manages operations for heliophysics, astrophysics, and planetary science missions. She has been supporting missions in the operational phase since 2009. Prior to that, she supported the Global Precipitation Measurement mission during the development phase and worked in Goddard’s accounts payable division. Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her two children, the beach, biking, and exercising.

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Frank works as a systems engineer on OSIRIS-REX and as a multi-mission real-time operator for 5 other NASA missions. In addition to deep space exploration, he has experience working systems and software development on a variety of commercial aircraft. Frank received a BSE in Aerospace Engineering with a focus on Astronautics from Arizona State University. He enjoys singing, hiking, biking, working on cars, writing and adventuring with his wonderful partner, Hannah.

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Matt has been with Lockheed Martin since 2006 where he learned how to fly spacecraft for the intelligence community. He joined the Deep Space Exploration group in 2010, supporting NASA missions including Mars Odyssey, Juno, and OSIRIS-REx in the roles of systems engineer, test engineer, and real-time operator. Matt holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from New Mexico State University and currently enjoys spending time with his wife and son engaging in outdoor activities in beautiful Colorado.

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Mary has worked in Deep Space Exploration since 2009 and has been involved in the development of Juno, GRAIL, MAVEN, InSight, OSIRIS-Rex and Lucy. She has supported operations of all of these as well as MRO, Odyssey and Spitzer. She is an ACE for Juno and Odyssey. As a simulation developer she likes to describe the simulation as the universe where the flight software is tested. She has very much enjoyed all the special challenges OSIRIS' universe has provided

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Sara Knutson joined the OSIRIS-REx team as a graduate student before becoming a full-time Senior Operations Engineer. In 2016, Sara began her current role as Science Operations Lead Engineer and serves as the Deputy to the SPOC Operations Manager. She enjoys collaborating with the diverse OREx Ground team. In 2016, Sara was awarded an OSIRIS-REx PI Award of Distinction. Before OREx, Sara was a Tooling Design Engineer at B/E Aerospace. Sara was a Panelist for the 2019 Women in Space Conference and a contributor to the 2018 Reddit OSIRIS-REx AMA. She holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering from San Jose State University and an MS in Engineering Management with a focus in Space Systems from UArizona. In her spare time, Sara enjoys hiking, paddleboarding, volunteering, sewing (she has sewed over 100 masks for local hospitals and the U.S. Air Force), and spending time with her husband and two rescue dogs.

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Dante Lauretta leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Dante has been part of the mission since its inception, and he coined the mission acronym, OSIRIS-REx. He is a regents professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona and a UArizona alumnus, graduating with dual degrees in Physics & Mathematics and Oriental Studies, emphasis in Japanese. He earned his Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University. Outside of the mission, Dante designs games for his company, Xtronaut, which aims to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and citizen scientists through space mission-related games and education programs. Dante also sits on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson. In his spare time, Dante enjoys spending time with his wife and two sons.

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Jason received his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder under the advisement of Dr. George Born. He was a member of the Juno Orbit Determination Team during pre-Earth-flyby operations until he realized asteroids are where it is really at. He joined KinetX in 2015 to lead the Orbit Determination Team for OSIRIS-REx. He received the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal and PI Award of Distinction in 2019 for efforts dedicated towards OSIRIS-REx. Keep on keeping on. GO BUFFS.

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As a member of the OREx team Erik has performed optical navigation, assisted the maneuver design team, and helped develop the tools to track particle events on the surface of Bennu.

Previously, Erik was also a member of the optical navigation team for the New Horizons Mission’s Arrokoth encounter which took place on New Year’s Day, 2019. Erik received a B.S. in Physics from Stanford University, an M.S. in Theoretical Particle Physics and Cosmology from New York University, and a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. Before joining KinetX, Erik worked for Advanced Space, LLC in mission design. Erik is a third generation New Yorker, and currently lives in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles with his fiancée Laura Hernandez and his cat Billie Holiday. Erik enjoys biking, sailing, spending time at the beach, and late night taco stands.

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Andrew attended the University of Arizona, and he graduated with B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, 2009. Andrew then attended the University of Colorado and graduated with M.S. Aerospace Systems in 2015. He is currently working at KinetX Aerospace as a maneuver and trajectory analyst on the OSIRIS-REx Mission. Andrew grew up in Tucson, Arizona and will forever be a Wildcat fan through and through, Bear Down!

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Before joining OSIRIS-REx, Dr. Lim studied asteroids on the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission as well as leading observation programs using the Spitzer Space Telescope and various ground-based telescopes. She did her undergraduate work at MIT and her Ph.D. in astronomy at Cornell University.

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Dave’s first GSFC assignment in 1981 was working on the on-orbit repair mission of the crippled Solar Maximum Mission (SMM). Following the repair of SMM, he worked on Landsat operations. Dave became the shuttle integration manager for the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), which launched on STS-48. He has worked on various GOES satellites as well as the Terra and Aqua before coming to OSIRIS-REx. Dave has been married for 38+ years. He has 4 successful children, 3 grandchildren, and one grandbaby on the way.

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Michael joined the OSIRIS-REx team in 2012 as a student employee in IT while completing his Computer Science degree at the University of Arizona. Since graduating in 2015, he has worked in the Science Processing and Operations Team writing software to get spacecraft instrument data into the hands of the scientists. You'll find him outside hiking when the weather is cool, and inside with a good science fiction book during the summer months.

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Josh came to work for Goddard Space Flight Center in January of 2017, making his way from Minnesota, as a pathways intern. That year, he received his PhD degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University under the guidance of Dr. Bong Wie. With his work at GSFC, he has been able to work on Planetary Defense, image processing, shape modeling, and trajectory design projects. OSIRIS-REx was the first project that he was able to gain experience with orbit determination and optical navigation processing. During his free time, Josh likes to be outdoors, be it hiking, running, or foraging. Splitting wood is fun too!