AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Abstract

As NASA continues working towards its goal of returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024 and establishing a more permanent presence of humans in space, Johnson Space Center is playing a central role as the home of human space exploration. From the construction and testing of the Orion spacecraft to the design and analysis of deep space trajectories for the Artemis program, the civil servants and contractors working at JSC are literally on the front lines of America’s space program. But there is more to Johnson Space Center than just the future. JSC also has a fascinating past. As a new employee at JSC, Chris Spreen will share what his time has been like so far at one of the most well-known space institutions in the world and will also provide insight into the work that is currently going on at JSC, what it’s like to be a JSC employee, and how you can get involved with NASA in the future.

Speaker

Dr. Christopher Spreen

He received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 2010 and 2012, respectively. After completing his M.S. studies, Chris earned his Ph.D. at Purdue in 2017 working on advanced multi-body trajectory targeting algorithms as a member of Professor Kathleen Howell’s Multi-Body Dynamics Research Group. Following graduation, Chris transitioned to full-time employment within the GN&C Autonomous Flight Systems Branch at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In his time so far at JSC, Chris has contributed to multiple projects spanning three different missions including the upcoming Orion EM-1 and EM-2 missions as well as the CubeSat mission, Seeker. Chris’ continued work and interests at NASA largely revolve around the design, development, and analysis of guidance and targeting algorithms for implementation onboard spacecraft.