Pavel Zagadailov

Pavel Zagadailov, a physician and researcher, was born and raised in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova in a family with strong humanitarian values and traditions focused on a future career in the biomedical sciences. Extensive traveling throughout European countries helped Pavel to develop a multicultural character and to learn a number of languages from different lingual groups.

Pavel graduated from Lyceum “N. Gogol” with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biology. There he received several nationally recognized awards of excellence which helped him to obtain a scholarship for the State Medical and Pharmaceutical University of Moldova (USMF) “N. Testemitanu” with further successful completion of M.D. degree. Pavel developed an interest in endocrinology, embryology and biophysics during medical school which persuaded him to pursue a residency in obstetrics and gynecology. Aside from the intense clinical curriculum, during his residency at the National Mother and Child Health Protection Center, Dr. Zagadailov worked on research projects studying endocrinology aspects of normal and complicated pregnancy development and pathophysiology of the feto-placentar barrier. During last years of his residency training he was appointed chief resident.

After his residency, Pavel was in search of additional scientific training and research experience. He moved to the US where he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at University of Pittsburgh studying inflammatory biomarker profiles and endocrinological changes in patients after brain injury. His research focused on gender specificity, and he developed a number of novel concepts regarding Leptin expression as a hormone in CNS and periphery (IRR 2010 Award) and Mitochondria-induced neuroinflammation in patients with closed brain trauma. During his fellowship, Dr. Zagadailov had an opportunity to work with a number of talented researchers from the Ob/Gyn Department at Emory University, PM&R Department and Department of Pathology at University of Pittsburgh, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research.

A number of Dr. Zagadailov’s research projects are published in European Journals accentuated on Endocrinology and Neonatology and US Journal of Neurotrauma.

Punctuality and discipline are his most valuable qualities, which he developed through military training and over 20 years of dedication to the Martial Arts. Dr. Zagadailov currently holds a second degree black belt in Taekwondo (ITF), and is a member of ITF, AETF, FNTP RM. He has successfully participated in a number of national and international championships.

Melania Guerra

Melania Guerra is an engineer, oceanographer and scientific diver, with a passion for science, exploration and life in extreme environments.She is currently a Post-doctoral Associate at the Bioacoustics Research Program at Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology. Her research focuses on developing methods to quantify the impact of anthropogenic noise on the acoustic ecology of marine mammals, specifically in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas around Alaska, where oil and gas exploration activities take place in ice-free months, concurrent with many whale species migrating through the areas.

During her doctoral research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) in San Diego, California, she gained 7 years of oceanographic experience as a member of the Laguna San Ignacio Ecosystem Science Program, collecting acoustic data using bottom-mounted sensors and acoustic tags that are applied with suction-cups on the whale’s bodies. She has performed fieldwork with gray whales in San Ignacio Lagoon, Baja California, Mexico and other whale species along the California coast, in Southeast Alaska and in the Arctic Ocean. Melania is a certified AAUS Scientific diver and has completed Cold Water/Weather Survival training and Helicopter Underwater Egress training (HUET).

In 2002, before joining the Marine Physical Laboratory at SIO, Melania worked at the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. While at NASA, she worked under the tutelage of astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz, conducting experiments on a High Temperature Superconductive Magnet, part of the VASIMR propulsion system.

Originally from San Jose, Costa Rica, Melania received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 from the Universidad de Costa Rica. There, she interned at the Applied Nuclear Physics Laboratory, performing spectral analyses with a Residual Gas Analyzer Mass Spectrometer. Growing up in San Jose, Melania also attended the German-language immersion Humboldt Schule and is fluent in German, Spanish and English.

In her spare time, Melania enjoys communicating her passion for science through public outreach programs, visiting local schools, and has appeared on televised media encouraging women into STEM careers.

Cosan Unuvar

Dr. Cosan Unuvar has always been genuinely interested in and curious about aerospace as well as science and wanted to be an astronaut. He strongly believes that humans need to explore the universe, which will lead to endless discoveries and advanced technologies, with a wide spectrum of positive impact on human life and beyond.

Cosan holds a B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, with honor, from
Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey. He came to the US with a student exchange (study abroad) program and started his graduate studies afterwards.

Cosan completed his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering at University of California, Davis (UCD) in 2006. His dissertation project was about the Effects of Gravity and Electric Current in Combustion Synthesis. Cosan led a team of professors, students, industry professionals, and government agency representatives in a joint effort in two successful reduced gravity flight campaigns (KC-135) at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston. Cosan has logged 8 flights with about 320 reduced gravity parabolas, including Lunar and Martian gravities. He also led the flight certification of the research hardware, which involved a deep, multi-field (mechanical, electrical, chemical and materials) analysis and the preparation of an extensive Test Equipment Data Package (TEDP). Cosan also developed a similar experimental system to be used at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) Drop Tower. These gave him the opportunity to expand his horizons and gain experience in the design, development, analysis, production and approval of sophisticated research equipment.

Cosan continued his career as a research faculty at the Colorado School of Mines, at the Advanced Combustion Synthesis & Engineering Laboratory (ACSEL) and the Center for Space Resources (CSR). His main research project was funded by NASA Langley Research Center (LRC) to develop a contingency sterilization of a Martian Sample Return (MSR) mission, successfully using combustion synthesis as a heat source. Cosan has also worked with NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in the development of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics (UHTC) for aerospace and atmospheric reentry applications. Additionally, Cosan mentored many undergraduate and graduate students.

Cosan was involved with a wide range projects: industrial to government/military applications such as, advanced novel materials synthesis and processing, nanomaterials, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), reactive material structures, lightweight armor, cast parts, biomaterials and etc. with the support from NASA, DARPA, NSF, NADCA and DOE and therefore holds a wide spectrum of interdisciplinary expertise, exceptional trouble analysis, and problem solving skills. Currently, Cosan is taking a major leading role in an effort of a manufacturing company (MAS Intercom) in a new market area penetration and business investment by project management, technical consulting, continuous improvement, quality, trade shows, fundraising and marketing.

Cosan’s interest include travelling, hiking, snowboarding, swimming, soccer, volleyball, go-karting and etc.

Christopher Altman

Christopher Altman is a scientist, diplomat and aspiring astronaut working to apply tomorrow’s technologies to today’s global challenges. His research focus is to apply advanced technologies based on the principles of quantum coherence and entanglement to dramatically accelerate scientific progress over the 21st Century. The nascent field of commercial spaceflight and the unique conditions afforded by space and microgravity environments offer exciting new opportunities for innovative quantum technology experiments.

At the outset of his scientific career, Christopher was recruited to multidisciplinary deep future institute Starlab, which focused on advanced research that offers significant long-term potential impact for humanity. Projects actively pursued onsite included neuroscience, robotics, time travel, stem cell research, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, biophysics, materials science, genetics, protein folding, and nanoelectronics (Guinness Book of World Records, Discovery Channel Special).

Elected to serve as Chairman of the UNISCA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, Christopher led several hundred upcoming diplomats in a coherent effort to combat international terrorism, ensure global and regional nuclear security, and shape the long-term future of information security. His Chair Report to the General Assembly, “Converging Technologies: The Future of the Global Information Society,” addressed the long-term promise and peril of exponential and disruptive technologies to global security.

Christopher was then assigned to canvas East Asia and create postdoctoral level national assessments of quantum technology for US policy and funding agency directors at NSA and DARPA under the ATIP Quantum Information Science and Technology Project. For his contributions to the field, he was selected to receive the 2004 RSA Information Security Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Policy.

Space and microgravity environments provide a unique opportunity to conduct novel experiments in quantum entanglement, fundamental tests of spacetime, and large-scale quantum coherence. In preparation for this opportunity, Christopher completed Zero-G and High-Altitude Physiological Training under the Reduced Gravity Research Program at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. He was tasked to represent NASA Ames at the joint US-Japan space conference (JUSTSAP) and the launch conference (PISCES) for an astronaut training facility on the slopes of Mauna Kea volcano on the Big Island of Hawai`i, where next-generation spacesuit prototypes, augmented reality interfaces and robotics field tests are planned for the next series of manned lunar and martian missions.

Christopher’s research efforts at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience and Delft University of Technology have been highlighted in international press and publications including Discover Magazine and the International Journal of Theoretical Physics. He was recently awarded a fellowship to explore the foundations and future of quantum mechanics at the Austrian International Akademie Traunkirchen with Anton Zeilinger.

Christopher is an experienced glider pilot, motorcycling enthusiast, SCUBA diver and rock climber. He speaks Japanese, Dutch and basic French, is proficient in muay thai, kendo, and judo, and holds a first degree black belt in kyudo (Japanese archery).

Mindy Howard

Dr. Mindy Howard is an American who obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science in Industrial Engineering in the United States (SUNY Buffalo and University of Massachusetts at Amherst) and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University Eindhoven in The Netherlands. She has made The Netherlands her home since 1990 and also obtained Dutch citizenship.

She began her career at the Royal Dutch Shell Group of companies, in The Hague in 1994, and has held several technical and leadership roles in the company. In her latest role in the company, she was responsible for creating strategy and leading implementation globally across four main specialist areas: Sustainable Development, Social Performance, environment, and C0₂ management within the Gas and Power Division.

More recently, she has created the first space training, to psychologically prepare commercial astronauts for their space flights, called Inner Space Training. Mindy is the Founding Director and Lead Trainer of Inner Space Training, and has a team of world class people working together with her. Together with her team, she would like to help people optimize their commercial spaceflight and get the most out of their “once in a lifetime experience” by having a peak experience in the case of space tourists, or being fully present throughout the entire spaceflight to carry out an experiment, in the case of space researchers. Videos of Inner Space Training on Youtube can be found by here and here.

Mindy’s dream has always been to become an astronaut. After obtaining her Ph.D., Mindy applied to NASA and was placed on NASA's "Highly Qualified" astronaut candidate list.  She is still working on achieving her dream and is confident that it will happen, either in orbital or suborbital space. Mindy has presented several papers and posters at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in 2011 and 2012, and at other international conferences. She has been invited to be a guest lecturer at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France in 2013.

During her Master’s degree, she designed and conducted experiments in fault diagnosis of pilots to facilitate the design of an expert system for the cockpit in a Boeing 737, in conjunction with the NASA Langley Research Center's Flight Management Division. Mindy won a NASA Graduate Student Researcher Fellowship, which fully sponsored her Master’s thesis research. During her Bachelor’s degree, Mindy worked at Grumman Aerospace where she assisted in the development of the NASA Space Station Control/Display design for the generic workstation and conducted experiments on tele-operated systems using astronaut subjects. Mindy has also written publications on a variety of subjects, including human factors design of cabins of spaceships, expert systems to help pilots with fault diagnosis, and quality of group decision making  as groups undergo several tasks.

Mindy has successfully completed her certification at the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center's Suborbital Scientist Training Program, which provides space flight physiology training for prospective "Suborbital Scientist-Astronauts" wishing to fly experiments on upcoming suborbital space missions.  Videos of her training at NASTAR are available on YouTube here and here. In addition, she is a certified PADI open water scuba diver and has taken an emergency egress course in helicopter ditching, which was necessary in order to work offshore in the oil industry. Mindy is also a member of Women in Aerospace, Europe.

Mindy has many hobbies including playing drums in a band, cooking, skydiving, bungy jumping, skiing, and animals.

Luis Zea

Luis Zea was raised in Guatemala City in a family where education, hard work and ethics were of paramount importance. Early on his childhood, he learned the basic principles of how rockets worked through educational books. Since so much of the information was in English, it became a natural incentive for him to start learning the language. As he learned about NASA, he also found out there were other space agencies throughout the world, and this motivated him to learn German and Portuguese as well. Needless to say, space exploration became his goal and the catalyst for other goals of personal improvement.

Luis graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and then obtained a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering – Thermofluid Aerodynamic Systems at the University of Central Florida. There, he was involved with the development of the structure for a pico-satellite and with its payload: a Micro-Wave Electrothermal Thruster (plasma thruster) at Cape Canaveral.  During his masters, Luis conducted research at the Florida Space Institute on gas kinetics on multi-phase flow and on CO2 sequestration for air revitalization purposes.  For more on his UCF activities, see  http://www.intl.ucf.edu/index.cfm?PageID=226

He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Bioastronautics at the University of Colorado at Boulder while working for a Space Life Sciences research center. There, he assists Principal Investigators from academia and industry develop hardware and documentation to successfully fly their experiments in the ISS, American or Russian spacecrafts, overseeing the project from Proposal and R&D through operational support while in space to post-flight operations.

Additionally, Luis was the Crew 65 Engineer at the Mars Desert Research Station, a Mars Society-led analog site, where he conducted analog EVAs and research on EVA emergency scenarios  He has worked in industry as a Mechanical and as a Heat Transfer Engineer. Luis has been a proud Red Cross volunteer for years and is a certified Life Guard and SCUBA diver.  Personally, Luis thinks that there is nothing more gratifying than doing what one likes. In his case, that is helping bring a space-faring future to our lifetime.

Kris Lehnhardt

Born and raised in Canada, Dr. Kris Lehnhardt completed his Hon. B.Sc. in Bio-Medical Sciences from the University of Guelph in 1999.  He then obtained his M.D. (2003) and Emergency Medicine specialization (2008) from the University of Western Ontario.  He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a Diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine.  Dr. Lehnhardt is currently working in Washington, DC, where he is an Assistant Professor and Attending Emergency Physician at the George Washington University.  There, he also serves as the Co-Director for the Fellowship in Extreme Environmental Medicine and as the Director of the "Introduction to Human Health in Space" graduate course.

Dr. Lehnhardt has long had an interest in aerospace medicine with the goal of becoming an astronaut. He has trained with the flight surgeons at the NASA Kennedy Space Center and at Defence and Research Development Canada. He has completed the Space Studies Program at the International Space University in Barcelona, Spain (2008).

He was a highly competitive applicant and interviewee in the last Canadian Space Agency astronaut selection campaign, and he was recently a finalist for the Space Medicine Association Jeff Myers Young Investigator Award.  He currently holds a private pilot license in both Canada and the USA and is a certified advanced open water SCUBA diver.  Dr. Lehnhardt is a Major in the Health Services reserves of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Jon-Erik Dahlin

Jon-Erik Dahlin has a lifelong interest in space science and human space flight. As a child he was fascinated by the planets and the technological advances in space and as a student in engineering physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, he took courses in astronomy, space physics and astrophysics. In 2008 he was interviewed in the European Space Agency’s astronaut selection campaign, having made it within the top 2% of applicants.

Professionally, Jon-Erik has experience from a mix of academic research, education, research administration and entrepreneurship. His research field as a Ph.D. student at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, was fusion plasma physics and his thesis was based on numerical simulations of turbulence control in a fusion reactor. After receiving his Ph.D. degree, Jon-Erik worked as a program manager at the Swedish Energy Agency, responsible for assessing and initiating research projects and programs, mainly within the area of combined heat and power. Jon-Erik has later returned to the academic sphere and worked as a teacher at the Royal Institute of Technology before he launched his current business as a self-employed consultant in research, education and project leading. He is currently entering a research area that has parallels to his earlier research but is also new: "plasma assisted combustion" – the idea being that electromagnetic energy injected into the combustion zone of a heat engine would alter combustion physics and give freedoms of combustion control, with potential applications in energy conversion, aviation and space technologies.

Jon-Erik has always liked to have many projects running in parallel. Besides his professional activities he is also a private pilot and he is planning a flight around the world in a small twin engine airplane. He is also a SCUBA diver (rescue diver) with experience from diving in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean as well as the cold waters of Scandinavia. Other interests are hiking, downhill skiing and sailing.

Abhishek Tripathi

Dr. Abhishek Tripathi earned a B.S.E. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1998 and both an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a Certificate in Remote Sensing from the University of Colorado in 2000. After graduating from Colorado he went to work at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the Advanced Projects Office. There he served as a lead systems engineer on several exploration studies, including those investigating the placement of an inflatable habitat at the Earth–Moon L1 (libration point), Mars Sample Return, and several efforts to detail a preliminary design for a successor to the Space Shuttle. In 2003 he took a leave of absence from NASA to pursue a doctorate at UCLA in Geology/Astrobiology. As a fellow at the Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life, he examined some of the most ancient fossils ever found, including those ~3.5 billion years old. For his dissertation he established a new technique for imaging microfossils three-dimensionally within their rock matrix using confocal laser scanning imagery and Raman spectroscopy. He is co-author of a chapter in the book Taphonomy: Process and Bias Through Time, which describes the use of the technique in micropaleontology.

After graduating with his doctorate in 2007, Dr. Tripathi returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center to work on the Constellation Program, an attempt to take the U.S. back to the Moon to stay. There he again served as a systems engineer helping to integrate the various vehicles in the Constellation architecture. In 2010 he served as the on-orbit phase lead for the program. In addition to his work in the Constellation program he served as the co-chair of the JPL-led Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group’s (MEPAG) human exploration subcommittee, and is also one of the primary editors of NASA’s Design Reference Architecture for the human exploration of Mars. Upon cancellation of the Constellation program later in 2010, he moved on to the private sector and currently has a leadership role in working to develop and test commercial capabilities as part of NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contract.

In his spare time Dr. Tripathi is an avid outdoorsman and adventure-seeker. He has climbed Mt. Fuji, Whitney, and Kilimanjaro and has his sights set on a few more of the world’s tallest peaks. He is also a private pilot and scuba certified. In 2002 he completed high altitude chamber training and flew 30 microgravity parabolas in a KC-135 as a mentor for high school students that built a ferrofluid experiment he proposed. Dr. Tripathi is also a South Asian American cultural and political commenter who has been either interviewed by or quoted in the New York Times, BBC radio, and the Washington Post among others.

José Miguel Hurtado, Jr.

Dr. José Miguel Hurtado, Jr. earned a B.S. with honor and an M.S. in geology from Caltech in 1996. His undergraduate research involved the use of paleomagnetics to investigate the Cretaceous paleolatitude of southern British Columbia. He went on to MIT for graduate school, earning a Ph.D. in 2002. At MIT, Jose worked on the tectonic evolution of the central Nepal Himalaya and led four 1.5-month-long expeditions to the restricted the Upper Mustang region, covering over 400 km on foot at elevations up to 4500 m (1997-2000). In addition, he spent a summer doing structural geologic research via Zodiac boat in a remote fjord in East Greenland (1997). After MIT, Dr. Hurtado spent time at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as a postdoctoral research fellow and worked on various Earth and Mars remote sensing projects. He joined the faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in the fall of 2002 as an Assistant Professor in geology and was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2008. He currently serves as Graduate Advisor and chair of the Graduate Committee in the Department of Geological Sciences at UTEP.

Dr. Hurtado teaches courses in: physical geology; physical geography; field methods; geologic mapping; remote sensing; digital image processing; isotope geology; tectonic geomorphology; and planetary geology. He has expertise in planetary and terrestrial geology, specializing in structural geology, geomorphology, geochronology, and remote sensing. His interests also include visualization and field computing technologies for geologic fieldwork. Dr. Hurtado is currently funded by various NASA grants to characterize the tectonics of the Bhutan Himalayas, seismic hazards in the El Paso area, and volcanic hazards in El Salvador using integrated remote sensing, geophysics, geomorphology, and geologic mapping. In support of this research he has done extensive fieldwork at San Miguel volcano, El Salvador (2007) and throughout the Kingdom of Bhutan (2004, 2009, 2010). His latest expedition to Bhutan in May 2010 included the Jhomolari region and an 18-day, 200 km trek to elevations above 5000 m.

Dr. Hurtado is heavily engaged in NASA-funded activities, including work on in-situ resource discovery, characterization, and utilization for planetary exploration. Along with several of his students, Dr. Hurtado has collaborated with the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science group at the NASA Johnson Space Center to catalog the geologic activities conducted on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts. An interviewee for the 2009 astronaut candidate program, Dr. Hurtado is involved in various lunar geologic activities through FEAT (Field Exploration and Analysis Team; co-chair 2009-present), the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, and the newly-created NASA/UTEP Center for Space Exploration Technology Research (co-I, 2009-present). Dr. Hurtado has served as a member the NASA K‐10 lunar robotic reconnaissance science team (June 2009; July-Aug. 2010), a member of the NASA Desert RATS science team (July-Sept. 2009, April-Sept. 2010), Lunar Electric Rover (LER) geologist-crewmember for the NASA Desert RATS field test (April-Sept. 2010), and an instructor for NASA field geologic training courses, including training of the 2009 Astronaut Candidate class (Feb. 2008; June 2009; Jan., June 2010).

Dr. Hurtado is a member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and the Geological Society of America (GSA). He serves on the GSA Nominating Committee and as chair of the GSA Diversity Committee.

José is a licensed private pilot and has a long-standing interest in aviation, space exploration, and human spaceflight. In his spare time, Jose enjoys travel, camping, hiking, running, reading, and aquascaping/fishkeeping.

Jason Reimuller

Dr. Jason Reimuller has aspired to explore the frontier of space since his earliest recollections, though his motivations now are driven by a desire to facilitate ways to better understand our own world, foster international cooperation, help mature technology that would lead to a more sustainable coexistence with our environment, and contribute towards a foundation that will assure humanities eventual long-term survival.

Jason comes from a diverse background blending scientific research and analysis, engineering, and the operations of aerospace platforms. Jason is an experienced system engineer and project manager and the founder of Integrated Spaceflight Services, a company established from prior experience he had gained while conducting various analyses for NASA’s Constellation Program. Specifically, these analyses involved abort scenario and launch availability analyses, rescue and recovery trade studies, and contingency crew egress testing. In this capacity, he has worked frequently with NASA astronauts and mission planners to integrate elements of programmatic and technical risk with operability, cost, and technical performance measures to support program-level trade studies. Jason gained other engineering experience through work with satellite propulsion systems at Space Systems Loral, LiDAR systems at the Sondrestrom Incoherent Scatter Radar Facility in Greenland, and through entrepreneurial endeavors involving aircraft remote sensing payloads and active hydroponic systems. His exposure to spacecraft operations came first as a space command officer in the US Air Force, serving later as a satellite flight director for Space Systems Loral.

Jason holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder. He also holds a M.S. degree in Physics from San Francisco State University, a M.S. degree in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee, a M.S. Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado, and a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology. A recipient of the NASA Graduate Student Research Fellowship, he researches the upper-atmosphere through coordinated observations of noctilucent clouds, where he uses his experience as a multi-engine, instrument rated pilot to fly research aircraft in Northern Canada to obtain imagery synchronized with satellite overpasses. He also conducts research in glaciology to better understand the dynamic changes of the Greenlandic ice sheet by working with NASA’s Operation ICE Bridge, an airborne remote sensing campaign, and integrating the data with space-based and ground-based observations.

Jason is a NAUI SCUBA Divemaster and has completed the NASTAR Suborbital Scientist training program, emergency egress and sea-survival training and unusual attitude flight training. Jason is an avid rugby player, outdoorsman, aviator and guitarist. He speaks Spanish and is currently studying Russian. He travels extensively and has been engaged in several international projects, most recently in Xela, Guatemala.

Ben Corbin

Ben Corbin has always had a passion for space exploration. Even as a child, building rockets and learning about the cosmos were always more interesting for him than anything else. Ben graduated from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with minors in Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy. At UCF, he worked in both the Gas Dynamics Laboratory and the Department of Astronomy as a research assistant. Ben was also one of the youngest-ever participants at the International Space University’s 2007 Space Studies Program.

Currently, Ben is Ph.D. student in the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics program at MIT, where he recently completed dual Masters degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Planetary Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His master's thesis work was on hydrogen Lyman-alpha measurements in the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter. He is serving as the payload specialist for Project VeSpR, a sounding rocket experiment that will launch an ultraviolet telescope into space to study water loss and runaway greenhouse heating on Venus. He is also analyzing Hubble data to better understand the anomalous Lyman-alpha bulge along the magnetic equator of Jupiter.

Ben is also involved with a number of space-related extracurricular activities. He designed and built three scientific experiments on microgravity flights and had the opportunity to fly with two of them. He served as the Chief Engineer at the Mars Desert Research Station on Crew 53, where he planned and executed the first ever in-sim construction project and wrote the ATV training guidelines for the NASA Spaceward Bound curriculum. He is very active in the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), and he has served as President at both the UCF and MIT chapters. In 2007, he won the SEDS-USA Todd B. Hawley award for leadership excellence. Ben has also written publications on a variety of subjects, including analog spacesuit design, human missions to a near-Earth object and to Mars orbit, flame speed gas dynamics, and planetary hoppers.

Outside of his space activities, Ben also enjoys heavy metal music, video games, ballroom dancing, ice hockey, and snow skiing.

Alli Taylor

Alli Taylor is a satellite systems engineer for Apogee Integration in the Washington DC metro area. Alli performs satellite systems integration work, analyzing system
performance and coordinating operational improvement initiatives. While working full time, Alli attained her Master of Science degree in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota (2012). Alli also completed the NASTAR suborbital scientist course, which included physiology, hypobaric and centrifuge training, in July 2011.

Prior to her current work, Alli gained experience with Lockheed Martin in Constellation planning and collision avoidance analysis of satellite systems. Alli also gained valuable experience in the private space industry at Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas, NV as a systems engineer and satellite controller. Alli spent over two years developing a variety
of payloads for the Genesis 1 prototype inflatable module as well as leading mission control operations for both Genesis 1 and 2 vehicles. During her time in Las Vegas, Alli became a certified “Coach” for Zero Gravity Corporation and had the opportunity to fly on two parabolic flights.

Alli also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Space Science from the Florida Institute of Technology (2005). At Florida Tech, Alli was a member of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) and was inducted to the Sigma Pi Sigma physics honor society. During her senior year, she participated in the Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) team competition, where the Florida Tech design team was selected as a finalist. During and after undergraduate school, Alli had two internships that were major influences to her career direction. At Ball Aerospace Alli learned first hand about satellite systems integration and environmental testing with the Ralph instrument, which is currently flying aboard NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Alli also interned at Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI), where she investigated International Space Station camera ground target imaging operations.

Alli plans to continue her astronaut training by pursuing an analog mission, emergency egress training, scuba certification, and pilot’s license in the future. She and her husband play competitive roller derby with the co-ed team East Coast Devastation.

Todd Romberger

Todd Romberger holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Central Florida (UCF). While pursuing his degree, he developed a passion for space exploration and became active in reviving the then-dormant UCF chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). During this time he held several leadership positions including President of the SEDS UCF Chapter, Vice-Chair of the SEDS National Board of Directors, and President of the UCF Chapter of Sigma Gamma Tau, the National Honor Society for Aerospace Engineering. Todd’s senior design project focused on the development of a prototype electromagnetic attitude control system for a CubeSat miniature satellite. While in school he attended the 2005 Space Generation Congress in Fukuoka, Japan, participated in the 2006 Next Generation Exploration Conference at NASA Ames Research Center as an invited delegate, and helped to organize the annual SEDS National Conference, SpaceVision 2006, held at UCF.

In the summer of 2005 Todd obtained a position as an intern for Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and became trained as a weightless flight coach. Since then, Todd has accumulated over 300 weightless parabolas on 20 flights, and is still active as a ZERO-G coach.

In March of 2006 Todd was selected to serve as Assistant Engineer for Crew 46 of the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah as part of the joint NASA-Mars Society Spaceward Bound program, during which time he participated in the Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition (FLAME) and accumulated several hours of analog Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA).

Todd’s diverse professional career began with two years as a Mission Control Specialist for Bigelow Aerospace Mission Operations in Las Vegas, NV where he was responsible for command and control during on-orbit satellite operation of the Genesis I and Genesis II experimental inflatable spacecraft. Following his time at Bigelow Aerospace, he returned to Florida and gained further experience at Lockheed Martin leading an interdisciplinary team of engineers developing training material for a new military software application. Todd has worked at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) supporting the development of NASA spaceport ground systems for ASRC Aerospace, and currently he is working with Space Florida supporting commercial suborbital launches out of Cape Canaveral.

Todd lives in Orlando, FL with his wife Nola and their son Owen. He enjoys surfing and the outdoors, and plays the bass guitar in a local rock band.

Erik Seedhouse

Dr. Erik Seedhouse is an aerospace scientist whose ambition has always been to work as an astronaut. After completing his first degree in Sports Science at Northumbria University the author joined the legendary 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, the world’s most elite airborne regiment. During his time in the 'Para's' Erik spent six months in Belize, where he was trained in the art of jungle warfare and conducted several border patrols along the Belize-Guatemala border. Later, he spent several months learning the intricacies of desert warfare on the Akamas Range in Cyprus. He made more than thirty jumps from a Hercules C130 aircraft, performed more than two hundred abseils from a helicopter and fired more light anti-tank weapons than he cares to remember!

Upon returning to the comparatively mundane world of academia, the author embarked upon a master's degree in Medical Science at Sheffield University. He supported his master's degree studies by winning prize money in 100km ultradistance running races. Shortly after placing third in the World 100km Championships in 1992 and setting the North American 100km record, the author turned to ultradistance triathlon, winning the World Endurance Triathlon Championships in 1995 and 1996. For good measure, he also won the inaugural World Double Ironman Championships in 1995 and the infamous Decatriathlon, the world's longest triathlon, an event requiring competitors to swim 38km, cycle 1800km, and run 422km. Non-stop!

Returning to academia once again in 1996, Erik pursued his Ph.D. at the German Space Agency's Institute of Space Medicine. While conducting his Ph.D. studies he still found time to win Ultraman Hawaii and the European Ultraman Championships as well as completing the Race Across America bike race. Due to his success as the world's leading ultradistance triathlete Erik was featured in dozens of magazines and television interviews. In 1997, GQ Magazine nominated him as the 'Fittest Man in the World'.

In 1999, Erik decided it was time to get a real job. He retired from being a professional triathlete and started his post-doctoral studies at Simon Fraser University's School of Kinesiology. While living in Vancouver, Erik gained his pilot’s license, started climbing mountains and took up sky-diving to relax in his spare time. In 2005 the author worked as an astronaut training consultant for Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas and wrote Tourists in Space: A Practical Guide, a training manual for spaceflight participants. He is a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the Aerospace Medical Association. Recently, he was one of the final thirty candidates of the Canadian Space Agency's Astronaut Recruitment Campaign.

Erik currently works as manned spaceflight consultant, author and triathlon coach. He plans to travel into space with one of the private spaceflight companies via Astronauts for Hire. As well as being a triathlete, skydiver, pilot and author, Erik is an avid scuba diver and has logged more than two hundred dives in more than twenty countries. His favorite movie is the director's cut of Blade Runner, his favorite science fiction authors include A.E. Van Vogt, Allen Steele and Stanislav Lem and his favorite science fiction series is Red Dwarf. Prepare for Launch: The Astronaut Training Process is his fifth book. When not writing, he spends as much time as possible in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kauai, and at his real home in Sandefjord, Norway. Erik lives with his wife and three cats on the Niagara Escarpment in Canada.

Erik is a prolific author. A full listing of his books is available below:

11. SpaceX: Making Commercial Spaceflight a Reality (February 2013)
10. Pulling G: Human Responses to Increased and Decreased Gravity (September 2012)
9. Astronauts For Hire: The Emergence of a Commercial Astronaut Corps (April 2012)
8. Interplanetary Outpost: The Human and Technological Challenges of Exploring the Outer Planets (January 2012)
7. Trailblazing Medicine: Sustaining Explorers During Interplanetary Missions (May 2011)
6. Ocean Outpost: The Future of Humans Living Underwater (September 2010)
5. Prepare for Launch: The Astronaut Training Process (April 2010)
4. The New Space Race: China vs. USA (February 2010)
3. Martian Outpost: The Challenges of Establishing a Human Settlement on Mars (July 2009)
2. Lunar Outpost: The Challenges of Establishing a Human Settlement on the Moon (November 2008)
1. Tourists in Space: A Practical Guide (March 2008)

Chadwick M. Healy

Chad Healy is currently an Ensign in the United States Navy and is working towards his Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His studies are focused in the field of Bioastronautics, where he is developing methodology for improving internal configurations of human-rated spacecraft, specifically tailored to Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser. In addition, Chad works for BioServe Space Technologies where he is the test engineer for payloads used for biological research onboard the International Space Station. After Chad receives his degree, he will return to the fleet and begin his training as a navy pilot.

Prior to his time in Boulder, Chad graduated from the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in May 2009 with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering. During his time at USNA, Chad served as captain of the lightweight rowing team, Platoon Commander, and Company Honor Representative. He conducted research as the lead systems engineer and attitude control systems engineer for three CubeSat missions in various stages of development. Chad also worked on the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna at Goddard Space Flight Center, where he developed lock acquisition algorithms for laser stabilization cavities. Chad was awarded the Captain Michael J. Smith, USN Memorial Award, competed on United States Under-23 National Rowing Team in 2008 and 2009, and has accumulated flight time in four different aircraft.

During his free time, Chad enjoys rowing, cycling, snowboarding and climbing mountains.

Bruce Davis

Bruce Davis has been fascinated with spaceflight from an early age. Whether reading books on exploration or prototyping a spacecraft from a handful of Legos, he has always held a passion for pursuing space exploration and sharing his excitement with others. Born and raised in Syracuse New York, Bruce studied Aerospace Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and received his BS degree in 2006. After attending the NASA Academy at Goddard in 2006 he enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied spacecraft structures and life support systems within the Aerospace Engineering Sciences department. Since completing his MS degree in 2008, Bruce has been pursuing a Ph.D. in structural dynamics.

Bruce has demonstrated his enthusiasm for space over the years in many ways. He was a leading student for Penn State SPIRIT III sounding rocket campaign which launched in 2006 from Norway, and was one of the core managers for the DANDE student spacecraft, winner of the University Nanosat 5 competition sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab in 2009. Bruce is an advisor for the Colorado Chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (CUSEDS) and is a member of the national SEDS executive board. He has been a member of the ProSpace movement and Citizen’s for Space Exploration advocacy groups having traveled to Capitol hill on four occasions to educate congressional leaders and staffers about the state and the importance of the industry. Bruce is also the cofounder of WeWwantOurFuture.org, an initiative to inspire K-12 student to pursue STEM related fields. Finally, Bruce has been a committed advisor/mentor to several students working on undergraduate research, Cubesats missions and three Microgravity University campaigns. For his efforts, Bruce has been the recipient of several awards most recently including: the 2009 John A. Vise Memorial Scholarship and the 2009 SmallSat Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship.

Beyond academics, Bruce enjoys sailing, hiking, skiing, rock climbing, and technical theatre.

Personal Website: www.spacedavis.com

Kristine Ferrone

Kristine Ferrone is a Space Vehicle Concept Design Engineer with The Aerospace Corporation in Washington, D.C. Through Aerospace's Concept Design Center (CDC), she performs integrative spacecraft systems engineering and mission assurance for several government agencies including NASA, Air Force, and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).

Prior to working at The Aerospace Corporation, Kristine was a flight controller for the International Space Station (ISS) at NASA's Johnson Space Center supporting mission planning and timeline development for crew and ground activities. She was certified in three console positions (call signs: RPE SUPT, RPE, LRP) integrating the ISS mission timeline from start to finish, integrating activities from all NASA disciplines as well as all the ISS International Partners. She was a lead planning engineer for the STS-134/ULF6 and STS-131/19A shuttle missions to the ISS. Prior to her work in Flight Planning, Kristine was a Senior Mission Scientist and flight controller (call sign: LIS REP) for the ISS Payloads Office, traveling between Johnson Space Center and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL for the integration of ISS payloads. She served as the liaison between real-time ISS operations and the primary investigators for payload experiments onboard the ISS.

In 2009, Kristine served as Interdisciplinary Scientist for the twelfth crew to the Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), living and working in an analog Mars environment for one month. She completed over 17 hours of in-suit Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) assisting with the deployment of a geophysics experiment, flight of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and the location of a gypsum deposit used to synthesize water for the first time in a Mars analog habitat. Kristine also led her own research project at FMARS, studying the benefits of High Power Laser Therapy (HPLT) on treating acute and chronic pain and injuries to crewmembers. The experiment is currently a candidate for further testing on ZeroG flights and potential deployment on ISS due to its muscle atrophy and osteoporosis prevention capabilities.

Kristine is a 2004 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Physics/Astrophysics. Her undergraduate research focused on high energy particle physics, and from 2004-2006 she worked as an Accelerator Operator in the Main Control Room for the Collider-Accelerator Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) where she was responsible for the real-time operations and troubleshooting of the particle accelerator complex. Also while at BNL, Kristine worked in operations at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, studying the effects of space radiation on astronauts and space vehicle equipment.

Kristine has three master's degrees. She is a 2011 graduate of the University of Houston with a M.S. in Space Architecture with a thesis on command and control concepts for long duration human spaceflight. She is also a 2010 graduate of the United States Sports Academy with a M.S. in Sports Medicine studying exercise physiology and the effects of microgravity on astronauts. Kristine graduated with a MBA in 2007 from the University of Florida MBA program with a certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology Management.

Kristine received her FAA Private Pilot License in 2011 and has logged over 65 hours of flight in Cessna 152 and 172 aircraft. Kristine is also certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water SCUBA Diver with 20+ dives and five specialty certifications. In July 2011, Kristine will participate in the Suborbital Scientist Training Program at the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center.

Luís M. R. Saraiva

Luís M. R. Saraiva is a neuroscientist, an adventurer and a space advocate. He is originally from Portugal, where he lived until 2004. There he completed a “Licenciatura” (equivalent to BSc+MSc) in Biology at the Universidade de Evora and Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, having specialized in Ecology, Paleontology and Microbial Evolution and Behavior. He then moved to the University of Cologne in Germany, after being selected to be a Fellow of the International Graduate School in Genetics and Functional Genomics (Class of 2004-2008). While there, he completed several courses, lab rotations and his PhD thesis in Genetics/Neurobiology with a summa cum laude. In the Summer of 2008 he applied and was not selected to be an Astronaut for ESA. In despair he moved to Boston where he was a visiting scientist at Harvard Medical School. In October of the same year he became a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. He works in Dr. Linda Buck’s Lab trying to unravel the neural circuits that regulate innate behaviors, like aggression and fear. In addition, he is also trying to discover the olfactory receptors that recognize pheromones and how these olfactory cues can modulate behavior. He presents his work in conferences and has published several research papers in high-impact factor scientific journals.

In January 2010, he completed a 14-day expedition to the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. There he served as the Biologist and Health and Safety Officer (HSO) of the 6-member MDRS Crew 89. He logged a little over 24 hours on 9 extra-vehicular activities (EVAs) conducting his own research projects or helping with other crew members projects. He also conducted research in the laboratory and worked together with the crew engineer developing and testing a shower that can recycle water.

Luís uses sports to keep his mental sanity in place. He practiced or still practices Soccer, Capoeira, Kickboxing, Rock Climbing and Mountaineering. He is also a travel and adrenalin junkie and up to now he has visited over 25 countries (spreadout through 4 continents) and considers that his volunteering mission in the West-Bank was a life-changing experience. He thinks that our future as a thriving civilization heavily depends on both the ‘genetic enhancement’ of humanity and the space exploration and colonization.

Jim Crowell

James (Jim) Crowell is the Chief Financial Officer and a Director of the Board for Astronauts for Hire, Inc.  He is currently an undergraduate student at Arizona State University, working toward his BS in Earth and Space Exploration with a Concentration in Exploration Systems Design. He is the founder and president of the ASU chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS-ASU). He has worked with Dr. Phil Christensen, using the Mars Odyssey thermal emission imaging system (THEMIS), photographing and mapping areas of the Martian surface. He has also been involved in planning phases, with Dr. Matt Fouch and Dr. Kip Hodges, of setting up a network of seismometers across the lunar surface to detect subsurface structure of Earth’s Moon.  Jim is currently employed at Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), working with Dr. Mark Robinson, analyzing images from the lunar surface in order to prepare for mankind’s return to the Moon.  He is also a NASA Space Grant intern, focusing his research on lunar exploration.

Jim's future plans are to continue on after ASU to graduate school to achieve his PhD in space-related fields. His interests lie primarily with the colonization of moons and planets.  He seeks to begin these processes on both Earth’s Moon and Mars, developing his designs for future generations to ensure the progression of mankind as a space-faring civilization.

Jim has always been captivated by adventure. His interests include mountaineering, backpacking, skydiving, cycling, rock climbing, physical conditioning, aviation, and amateur astronomy. Although his plans to travel into space were originally rooted in the adventurous aspect, he now seeks to improve mankind's well-being by enabling them to move beyond Earth, explore new worlds, and share in the adventure together.

Ryan L. Kobrick

Dr. Ryan L. Kobrick received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (2002), his Master's of Space Studies degree from theInternational Space University in Strasbourg, France (2003), his Master's of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University (2005) in University Park, PA, and his Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences (focus: Bioastronautics) from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Boulder, CO.

He has worked with the X PRIZE Foundation (2003, 2004 & 2006) developing the follow-on event to the $10 million ANSARI X PRIZE called the X PRIZE Cup, which aimed at bringing competing spaceship builders to New Mexico annually to compete in different flight categories. Ryan participated as a crewmember in The Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) four times on crews 25 (2004), 44 / ExBeta (2006), 56 / ExGamma (2007), and 58 / FMARS Training (2007). From his MDRS experiences, he was selected for a 100-day Mars mission simulation in the High Canadian Arctic on Devon Island, Nunavut at the Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS). On the FMARS Crew 11 Long Duration Mission (F-XI LDM), he facilitated the Human Factors studies for the crew of 7 as well as being a crew engineer.

His CU-Boulder start was in the summer of 2005 researching portable life support systems (spacesuits) with Dr. Klaus on a NASA-funded project. Ryan's Ph.D. thesis was titled "Characterization and Measurement Standardization of Lunar Dust Abrasion for Spacecraft Design and Operations". Ryan's dust research was awarded a 2007 NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) award. Ryan was the recipient of the 2006 AIAA Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Award, a three-time Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar 2006-2009, and was a 2009 John A. Vise Memorial Scholarship recipient. Ryan remains active in space outreach as a member of the Advisory Committee for the CU-Boulder chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (CUSEDS), and as an advisor for both SEDS Canada and Mars Society Canada'sExploration Mars (ExMars) Program. In his free time he plays hockey as much as possible, enjoys skiing, SCUBA diving, hiking, and making short comedic films.

Recently, Ryan was named Executive Director of Yuri's Night, a non-profit organization with the aiming of connecting thousands of people around the world to celebrate and honor the past of human spaceflight, while building a stairway to the future.