2022 ANS Annual Meeting

Dr. Dan Rasky

NASA Senior Scientist

Space Portal Office Chief

Dr. Dan Rasky is a NASA Senior Scientist and the current Chief of the Space Portal Office he co-founded in 2005. From 2005-2006, Dan was a core member of the NASA HQ Team that established the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. He was awarded the Exceptional Achievement medal for promotion of partnerships with the emerging and non-traditional space industry in 2006. In 2007, President George W. Bush conferred on Dr. Rasky the rank of Meritorious Senior Professional for sustained superior accomplishment in public service. Dan was also awarded NASA’s most distinguished recognition for innovators or the “Inventor of the Year” award in 2007 and the “Government Invention of the Year” award in 2009. His inventions included the Thermal Protections Systems that enabled the Stardust comet sample return mission currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 2008-2009, Dan worked with SpaceX to develop the thermal protection systems for their Dragon capsule.

Formerly Chief for the Thermal Protections Materials and Systems Branch at NASA Ames, Dan is an internationally recognized expert for space thermal protection and entry systems. He was selected for a series of interviews for his “…breakthrough innovations and answers to complex challenges” viewable on NASA’s official Knowledge@NASA YouTube Channel. Prior to NASA, Dan worked for a small aerospace company, Acurex, conducting R & D contracting work for the Air Force.