The Mars Society is excited to announce that a major panel discussion on NASA’s current and future Mars exploration plans will take place (virtually) on Friday, August 9th at 10:00 am PT / 1:00 pm ET as part of the 27th Annual International Mars Society Convention.
Amid the growing complexities of Mars exploration, NASA is concentrating on several key areas: deploying robotic exploratory systems (rovers, landers, and orbiters), returning Martian rock and soil samples to Earth, and designing infrastructure for future human missions on both the Moon and Mars.
Moderated by veteran space journalist Alan Boyle, the one-hour Mars panel will feature three high-level NASA scientists:
Tiffany Morgan, Deputy Director, Mars Exploration Program, NASA
Ms. Morgan provides leadership in exploring and characterizing Mars, preparing for human exploration. Previously, she was Project Manager for the Solar Electric Propulsion Project at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and worked with Air Force Space Command and the Army Space and Missile Defense Command. With over a decade of experience in rapid space acquisitions, Ms. Morgan has managed various spacecraft missions, satellite command & control systems, and Department of Defense payloads.
Donya Douglas-Bradshaw, Deputy Director, Mars Sample Return, NASA
A 32-year NASA veteran, Ms. Douglas-Bradshaw oversees the mission to return Martian samples to Earth. She has held senior roles at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as the Engineering & Technology Directorate’s Deputy Director for Planning & Business Management. She was also the Project Manager for NASA’s Lucy mission, the first scientific voyage to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, involving the flyby of three main-belt asteroids and eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit with Jupiter.
Dr. Patrick Chai, Deputy Mars Architecture Lead, Strategy and Architecture Office, NASA
Dr. Chai, an aerospace engineer, addresses the challenges of human Mars missions. He leads NASA’s Mars architecture team at Langley Research Center and manages in-space transportation assessments as part of the agency’s exploration system development mission directorate. Dr. Chai also co-leads the campaign assessment team for the Moon to Mars Architecture Development Office. He is a current member and former chair of the AIAA Space System Technical Committee and chairs the AIAA Undergraduate Team Space Design Competition.
For more information about the 2024 International Mars Society Convention, including registration details for in-person attendance at the University of Washington (Seattle) or remote viewing of the panel and other sessions, please visit: marssociety.org.
[Image: L to R: T.Morgan, P.Chai, D.Doughlas-Bradshaw]
