La Vida Cooper

Communications and Navigation Line of Business Manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

For over 20 years La Vida Cooper has been a leader in the civil aerospace technologies and capabilities arena. Throughout her career, she has managed the development of a diverse portfolio of cutting-edge technologies and overseen their maturation, demonstration, infusion and operationalization for spaceflight and ground applications to enable space science and exploration endeavors. Cooper’s primary areas of technology development include extreme-environment electronics design, applied physics, quantum information science, telecommunications, and navigation for space-based and terrestrial applications. Currently, Cooper serves as the Communications and Navigation Line of Business Manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Deputy Program Manager of Strategic Initiatives for the Exploration and Space Communications projects division at NASA GSFC and, she is the Executive Director of the Washington Metropolitan Quantum Network Research Consortium (DC-QNet), a federal consortium for quantum technology, research, and demonstration. Cooper holds bachelor’s degrees in Physics from the Notre Dame of Maryland University and Electrical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, completing an undergraduate dual-degree program. Cooper received a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Chris Roberts

Mission Manager, Exploration and Space Communications Projects Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Chris serves as a Mission Manager in the Exploration and Space Communications Projects Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. For the past two years he has led a pilot project responsible for implementing NASA’s response to a top-priority recommendation in the National Academies’ Astro2020 decadal report, known as time-domain and multi-messenger (TDAMM) astrophysics. TDAMM science cases require ensembles of space- and ground-based observatories to operate in a rapidly coordinated and adaptive manner. Previously, he led development of the Near Space Network’s Launch Communications Segment, which provides astronaut voice communications and vehicle telemetry for NASA’s flagship Artemis Human Exploration Program. Chris has received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, a Silver Achievement Team Medal, and a Space Flight Awareness Team Award. Chris holds a BS in Engineering Physics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, an MS in Aerospace Engineering from EPF in France, a MS in Technology and Policy from MIT, and a PhD in Systems Engineering from Colorado State University.

Dave Israel

Division Architect, Exploration & Space Communications Projects

Dave Israel has been working on various aspects of space communications systems at the Goddard Space Flight Center since joining NASA in 1989. He is currently the Exploration and Space Communications Projects division architect and the principal investigator for the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD). He is the co-chair of the Interagency Operations Advisory Group (IOAG) Space Internetworking Strategy Group. Throughout his career with NASA, Dave has led various space communications projects, including systems that provide links to Earth’s north and south poles, and implementations and demonstrations of space internetworking. He has led the development of various Space Network/Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Systems (TDRSS) operational systems and has been the principal investigator for multiple communications technology activities concerning advanced space communications concepts and networking protocols, including the LPT CANDOS experiment on Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) and Disruption Tolerant Network demonstrations on the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration. Dave received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University in 1989 and Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the George Washington University in 1996.

Dr. Antti Pulkkinen

Director, Heliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. Pulkkinen is the Director of the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He joined the nonlinear dynamics group at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to carry out his postdoctoral research in 2004. Dr. Pulkkinen's Ph.D. and postdoctoral research involved studies on both ground effects of space weather and complex nonlinear dynamics of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Dr. Pulkkinen worked as an Associate Director of Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences and as an AssociateProfessor at The Catholic University of America (CUA) from 2011 to 2013. At CUA Dr. Pulkkinen launched a new Space Sciences and Space Weather program crafted to educate the next generation space weather scientists and operators. Dr. Pulkkinen entered NASA as a civil servant in 2013 to lead the Space Weather Research Center that provided heliophysics science and space weather services to NASA's robotic mission. Dr. Pulkkinen was the Deputy Director for the NASA GSFC Heliophysics Science Division from 2017 through 2021 when he was appointed to the SES as the Director, Heliophysics Science Division. He served as the Director in an acting capacity from 2020 to 2021. Dr. Pulkkinen has been leading numerous space weather-related projects where scientists have worked in close collaboration with the end-users. In many of these projects his work has involved empirical and first-principles modeling of space weather, analysis of data from NASA heliophysics missions and investigations of solar effects on human-made systems in space and on the ground. Dr. Pulkkinen was awarded NASA Exceptional Achievement Award in 2015 and The International Kristian Birkeland Medal in 2016 for his efforts to address space weather effects on power grids.

Mike Amato

Manager and Lead Systems Engineer, NASA Goddard’s Planetary and Lunar Formulation and Strategy

Michael Amato is the manager and lead systems engineer for NASA Goddard’s Planetary and Lunar formulation and strategy. As such he helps lead the development of Goddard’s solar system pursuit strategy, technology investments, new instrument and mission development, partnerships, studies and proposals. This includes lunar and planetary mission, instrument, sensor, engineering system and subsystem development. He has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and a graduate degree in systems engineering. Michael has over 34 years of experience developing and building a variety of flight instruments and missions at NASA, working in both the science and engineering directorates at Goddard and has been lucky enough to help develop dozens of solar system missions, instruments and subsystems during that time.

Dr. Ian Adams

Earth Sciences Division Chief Technologist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. Ian Stuart Adams is the Earth Sciences Division Chief Technologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and is responsible for managing the division's Earth observation technology portfolio. Before coming to Goddard in 2017, he worked in the Remote Sensing Division at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. In addition to the Technologist role, Dr. Adams is an instrument scientist whose research is focused on active and passive microwave remote sensing of the Earth, particularly of clouds and precipitation. He is the PI of the Configurable Scanning Submillimeter-wave Instrument/Radiometer (CoSSIR), and he is the project instrument scientist for the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) microwave radiometers.

Nikki Desch

Software Systems Engineer, Exploration and Science Systems (ACCESS) Project

Nikki Desch is a software systems engineer who serves the Advanced Communications Capabilities for Exploration and Science Systems (ACCESS) Project as the lead for the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications (O2O) Ground Segment, a systems engineer for the Low Cost Optical Terminal (LCOT) and the deputy for the Guam Recovery effort. As a contractor, Nikki provided communications and systems engineering support to the NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program and Space Network (SN) Project. While her background is in communications engineering, Nikki’s first exposure to the field of optics was when she was tasked with operating and maintaining the data operations center for NASA’s Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) network. Nikki is a native of Ithaca, NY. She attended Syracuse University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, and the Johns Hopkins University, where she received her master’s degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in communications and networking.

Dr. Sun Hur-Diaz

Principal Investigator, autonomous Navigation, Guidance, and Control (autoNGC) technology

Dr. Sun Hur-Diaz is a member of the Navigation and Mission Design Branch at NASA/GSFC and is the Principal Investigator of the autonomous Navigation, Guidance, and Control (autoNGC) technology development project. Previous to this role, she was the Flight Dynamics Lead on the DAVINCI+ Mission Phase A and supported the Lunar IceCube technology demo mission in the areas of flight dynamics, navigation, and attitude control. Prior to becoming a civil servant, she led the design and development of the onboard attitude Kalman filter and controller for the One-Gyro Science mode on the Hubble Space Telescope (currently the primary operations mode!). Her prior non-NASA work includes being the Principal Investigator of the Cluster Flight System of DARPA’s System F6 project, and a flight dynamics engineer at Intelsat and at Space Systems/Loral (now Maxar). Dr. Hur-Diaz received her PhD and MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and her BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Jim Garvin

Chief Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Principal Investigator, DAVINCI Mission

Dr. James B. Garvin is the Chief Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Principal Investigator of the DAVINCI mission to Venus. He has served NASA for ~ 40 years over his career, working to enable and deliver new science across the universe with attention to engagement and communication of our amazing NASA results. As NASA Goddard Chief Scientist, Garvin works with Center leaders and a large cadre of scientists to advance understanding of the Earth and its life-sustaining environment and of the Sun and how its changes affects the Earth; investigate planets (e.g. Venus) and moons in the solar system; and observe the wider universe beyond. Goddard has a budget of over $4.0 billion a year and represents about 50% of Agency science activities. GSFC is NASA’s premier science Center with over 500 civil servants and 2,000 supporting scientific staff. Dr. Garvin has an impact on the success of each science program at GSFC including his leadership of the recently selected DAVINCI mission to Venus, and his catalytic roles at the boundaries of scientific disciplines with connections to GSFC’s 2040 vision vectors. Dr. Garvin was appointed a Senior Technical (ST) scientist in 2001 (while serving as NASA’s first chief scientist for Mars). For over 40 years, he excelled in positions of scientific leadership including: GSFC Chief Scientist, Co-Investigator on Mars InSight Lander and Mars Curiosity Rover missions, lead scientist for NASA Headquarters Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG) that selected the Mars 2020 rover mission, science investigator on Canadian Space Agency’s Radarsat series of missions in Earth sciences for 25+ years, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission Associate Project Scientist and original Program Scientist, OSIRIS-REx New Frontiers mission to asteroid Bennu supporting scientist, and Chairman of the Administrator’s Decadal Planning Team, as well as NASA’s first-ever chief scientist for Mars Exploration. Dr. Garvin holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics/computer science from Brown University (Magna Cum Laude; elected to Phi Beta Kappa) (1978), a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University (1979), and a Doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D.) in geological sciences from Brown University (1984). He has published over 110 peer reviewed scientific papers and appeared as a guest on Late Night with David Letterman (CBS TV) in January of 2004, with a token appearance in the film “World War Z”. He has been an invited speaker to several TEDx events, focusing on space as a forever frontier for science and society. He was recently awarded the 2024 Webby for his role as co-host of a Live NASA TV event for the OSIRIS-Rex mission to asteroid Bennu. Garvin received several prestigious awards, including: two NASA Outstanding Leadership Awards (2002, 2004); three Presidential Rank Awards (2005, 2014, and 2019); over 14 NASA Honor Awards, multiple Group Achievement awards, special recognition by the Administrator for work with NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (2012), and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission definition (2015); and the William Rogers Award, Brown University’s highest award for achievement in raising social consciousness as a Brown graduate (2004). As Principal Investigator of the DAVINCI mission to Venus, he leads a team of women and men across the USA, with over 1500 colleagues supporting the late 2030 launch of the mission, which is the first by NASA to Venus’ atmosphere and surface since December 1978. In addition, he is promoting new studies of the impact cratering record on Earth via topographic remote sensing, investigating recent ocean island volcanic eruptions (e.g., Tonga’s HTHH and Home Reef), and developing concepts for next-generation radar remote sensing of the Moon and Mars. He resides in Columbia, MD with his wife and dog. He has two adult children as well that constantly amaze him. Jim is passionate about science, the future of coniferous trees, and certain types of music (U2, YES, REM), as well as ice hockey. He was the first American to visit the amazing Zhamanshin impact crater in Kazakhstan, which he believes to hold a special place in Earth’s recent climate history.

Brad G Hill

Branch Chief, Technology Enterprise and Mission Pathfinder Office (TEMPO)

Bradley Hill grew up in a rural central Florida town where he developed a passion for science and engineering. He attended the University of Central Florida and the University of Florida, studying Finance, Mechanical Engineering, and graduate Systems Engineering. His career at NASA started in 2008 at Kennedy Space Center where he managed a diverse portfolio of cutting-edge technologies through their maturation and operationalization for ground and spaceflight applications. Hill’s primary areas of technology development include launch-site and mission campaign operations research, critical operations and launch software, and space communications and navigation technology infusion. Bradley joined the GSFC Exploration Space Communications family in 2021 as a deputy Branch Chief to the Technology Enterprise and Mission Pathfinder Office (TEMPO) where he currently resides.

Keith Jahoda

Astrophysics Division Chief Technologist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Keith Jahoda serves as the Astrophysics Division Chief Technologist at Goddard Space Flight Center. Previously, he was the Principal Investigator for the PRAXyS mission, a small Explorer mission that will provide the first sensitive survey of the X-ray polarization of black hole and neutron star sources. Jahoda has his PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and received his bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College.

Munther Hassouneh

Senior Engineer, Components and Hardware Systems Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Munther Hassouneh is a senior engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the Components and Hardware Systems branch. Since joining NASA in 2010, he has focused on developing and miniaturizing GPS/GNSS receiver technology and advancing X-ray Pulsar Navigation (XNAV) technology. He currently serves as the Project Manager and Development Lead for the NavCube3-mini lunar GNSS receiver. He earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Scott Jordan

Head of Photonics, PI USA

Scott Jordan is head of photonics for PI (Physik Instrumente) LP and is a PI fellow. A physicist with an MBA in finance/new ventures, Jordan has made multiple contributions to the fields of photonics alignment automation, precision motion control, and optimization technologies.