Team

Bio:

Huikang, began his aerospace career at Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) as a student employee. During his time with LASP, he supported numerous deep space and Earth orbiter missions including Kepler Space Telescope, QuikSCAT Earth Observation Satellite, SORCE Solar Observation Satellite and Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission. He currently works at Lockheed Martin Space, under the section of Deep Space Exploration GN&C, supporting mission operations for OSIRIS-REx mission as well as Mars Odyssey mission. He has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from University of Colorado Boulder.

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Alec is one of the newer members of the OSIRIS REx team and works as Systems Engineer as well as a Real-Time Operator on multiple NASA Deep Space missions. Prior to joining OSIRIS REx, Alec worked in Lockheed Martin’s Mission Solutions division in numerous Systems Engineering and RF Engineering roles supporting critical ground and space communication systems for the Air Force as well as payload testing for Commercial Space programs. Alec has a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Engineering in Systems Engineering from the same university. Outside of work, Alec is an avid gamer (both tabletop and video games), likes to tinker with his 3D printer and travel the world with his wife.

Bio:

Courtney Mario is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff at Draper in the Perception and Autonomy Group. She has over 11 years of experience in vision navigation systems for GPS-denied environments, including autonomous driving, UAVs, indoor navigation, and other spacecraft applications. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University and did her graduate research with the Tufts Automated Systems and Robotics Lab. On OSIRIS-REx, she has been a member of the Natural Feature Tracking (NFT) team since 2014, supporting Lockheed Martin in development of NFT prior to launch. Since then she has continued to support all efforts around NFT feature modeling and image correlation performance and has enjoyed working closely with the science team as part of this. She loves all types of outdoor adventures, including hiking, mountain biking, camping in all seasons, and skiing and has also hiked to Everest Base Camp.

Bio:

Chris began his career at Lockheed Martin as a Stress engineer, working on Stardust, Mars 2001 Lander and the Odyssey spacecraft. In 2001, he transitioned to a Thermal role in mission operations on Odyssey and continued as a Thermal engineer on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Phoenix, GRAIL and OSIRIS-REx, supporting design, ATLO and mission operations on all four programs. Chris has a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado. Outside of work, Chris enjoys fishing, hiking, backpacking and spending time with his wife and two kids.

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As a Purdue University alumni with prior work experience at NASA/JPL, SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation), and JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, Jim worked in various Mission Design positions on the Galileo (first Jupiter orbiter), Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) and MESSENGER (Mercury orbiter) missions. With the OSIRIS-REx Maneuver Design team since launch, he supported primary and contingency design options. He also supports NASA’s Lucy (Jupiter Trojan asteroid flyby) and UAE’s Emirates Mars missions. He served in leadership and executive positions with the American Astronautical Society involving conference planning and publications. Jim is the only person who has worked on NASA’s Discovery Program of planetary exploration missions every year since that program’s initial exploratory study in 1989. He is an AIAA Associate Fellow. He enjoys hiking, traveling, and learning little known facts about mysteries of the universe. He recently celebrated 35 years of marriage with his wife and four kids in Maryland.

Bio:

Leilah earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Ohio State and Master’s degrees in Physics and Aerospace Engineering from UC Davis and CU Boulder, respectively. She is excited for the opportunity and experience of working on OSIRIS-REx as her first space mission. In her spare time, she enjoys doing gymnastics and the flying trapeze.

Bio:

Eva McDonough is the Database Administrator for OCAMS, SPOC, and Sample Analysis. She started with the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) Business Office in 1995. In 2000, Eva began a seven-year period working for Motorola then Raytheon as an Application DBA and then IT Project Manager. She returned to LPL in 2007 where she has since worked on a range of missions including Mars Odyssey, Phoenix, LRO, MESSENGER, MSL, and OSIRIS-REx. Her Catholic faith plays a large part in her life, and she considers herself quite blessed to have worked in diverse roles, especially at UArizona on both the business and science sides of LPL. She holds a BSBA in Management Information Systems from UArizona. Eva’s hobbies include baking (especially her mission-famous cheesecake), cooking, running, cycling, and gardening. She enjoys spending time with her husband and six children and raising her three chickens and dog.

Bio:

Brennen has experience on a variety of NASA programs, including the NEA Scout CubeSat, Hubble Space Telescope, and now OSIRIS-REx. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from Valparaiso University and is currently working on a Master’s in Engineering Management at the University of Colorado Boulder. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, volleyball, and biking.

Bio:

Curtis began his career at Lockheed Martin as a Systems engineer supporting the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). In May 2014, he joined the OSIRIS-REx team to help develop the Natural Feature Tracking autonomous navigation system. Curtis transitioned to operations support after the OSIRIS-REx launch as both a Guidance, Navigation and Control team member and as the Natural Feature Tracking Operations Lead. Curtis has a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from University of Colorado at Boulder.

Bio:

Graham joined Lockheed Martin in 2009 where he served as the Software Configuration Manager for a number of Deep Space Exploration (DSE) missions including Juno, GRAIL, MAVEN and OSIRIS-REx. After several years with DSE he left the group to work on the GOES-R weather satellite and then served as the Software Quality Team Lead for the Orion Human Space Flight program. Graham eventually found his way back to DSE where he now serves as the Mission Operations Assurance Engineer for several missions including OSIRIS-REx. Outside of work Graham coaches his son and daughter’s lacrosse teams and enjoys cycling, snowboarding and running.

Bio:

Ron is a University of Wisconsin graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics. He joined NASA in 2001 as an Optical Engineer supporting technology development activities for the James Webb Space Telescope. He joined OSIRIS-REx in 2008 as the Deputy Project Systems Engineer developing the Step 1 proposal for NASA’s New Frontier Program, a role he maintained through launch in 2016. He then became the Mission Systems Engineer for OSIRIS-REx within GSFC’s Space Science Mission Operations Project Office, leading advance planning efforts for proximity operations at asteroid Bennu and serving as chair of the Mission Planning Board. Ron is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal.

Bio:

Mike has worked for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center since 2001 and has been part of the OSIRIS-REx team since 2013. He led the O-REx navigation team through development and the first three years of mission operations, before becoming Deputy Project Manager in 2019. Prior to joining O-REx, Mike worked in support of space navigation activities as part of Goddard’s Satellite Servicing Capabilities project, NASA’s Constellation Program, and two large national defense satellite programs. Mike earned degrees in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering from the University of Vermont and University of Colorado, respectively. His Ph.D. research, which found application on a number of Earth orbiting satellites, focused on applications of the Global Positioning System in high Earth orbits. Mike grew up on a Vermont dairy farm. Outside of work, he enjoys live music, spending time with family, and exploring planet Earth.

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Derek has assisted in the development and operation of the OSIRIS-REx optical navigation and TAGCAMS camera systems since the beginning of his tenure at KinetX in June 2013. He also served on the optical navigation team for the New Horizons flyby of the Pluto system in 2015, led the team for its extended mission flyby of Arrokoth in 2019, and now serves as the Deputy Navigation Team Chief. Derek is working as a lead navigation engineer for the LunaH-Map CubeSat mission to the Moon, and supports various internal Research & Development projects. Prior to working at KinetX, Derek was a student at Cal Poly SLO and worked in the university’s CubeSat lab. Outside of the office, Derek enjoys time at the beach, camping, dog park picnics, and aimlessly exploring the city listening to podcasts.

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Mike Nolan has been part of the mission since “OSIRIS-REx” was just “OSIRIS.” Much of Mike’s career (from 1995 to 2015) was spent at the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. At the observatory, he was the head of the Planetary Radar group from 2004-2015 and Observatory Director from 2008-2011. During this time, Mike was responsible for the original Arecibo radar observations of Bennu (then called “1999 RQ36”) in 1999, 2005, and 2011. He also made the asteroid shape model used for planning the mission. He moved to UArizona in July 2015 to help with the scientific management of the mission as Mission Geophysical Scientist and has since become Science Team Chief. In 2017, Mike was awarded the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal for his work with the Arecibo Planetary Radar. Mike holds a Ph.D. in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona and a B.S in Chemistry from Caltech.

Bio:

Chris has worked on a variety of research and development projects at Lockheed Martin, including robotics, proximity and docking operations, and pose estimation. He supported the development of OSIRIS-REx Natural Feature Tracking system and the Lucy Terminal Tracking system. Chris joined the OSIRIS-REx GN&C operations team in 2018 and has served as the TAGCAMS lead since that time. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering degrees from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Bio:

Joe is the Senior Scientist for Primitive Bodies in the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA-GSFC. He has B.S. degrees in Astronomy & Chemistry, a M.S. in Geochemistry & a Ph.D. in Chemistry. He led GSFC’s Astrochemistry Branch for 18 years, spent 5 years as Discipline Scientist for the Origins of Solar Systems R&A program and 2 for Planetary Materials and Geochemistry at NASA HQ. In 2006, he was Project Scientist (PS) for the OSIRIS proposal, and the OSIRIS Phase A Concept Study. In 2009, he was PS for the OSIRIS-REx proposal and served as PS for the Phase A Concept Study. He became Deputy Project Scientist in 2011. A Fellow of the Meteoritical Society since 2004, the Astronomy Department at UMD named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 2012. He has been married for more than 40 years with two daughters, a grandson and a granddaughter.