Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS-2022) Plenary SPeaker

Dayna Ise

Manager

Space Nuclear Propulsion project for NASA, located at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC

Dayna Ise is the Manager of the Space Nuclear Propulsion project for NASA, located at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). In this capacity, she manages both the Nuclear Thermal Propulsion and Nuclear Electric Propulsion technology development. Prior to this, she was the Chief of the Systems Development, Integration and Test Division in MSFC Engineering’s Space Systems Department, managing development and production of environmental control and life support systems, Space Station payloads, and instrumentation and design of small science projects. Dayna was the Program Executive of the Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) program in NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate which represents an effort to mature laboratory-proven projects into flight ready status. TDM projects she managed in the portfolio include enabling technology for Moon-to-Mars exploration, such as in-space manufacturing and assembly, optical communication, electric propulsion, cryo fluid management, Mars In-Situ Resource Utilization, and high altitude decelerators. Before coming to Space Tech, Dayna was the deputy Launch Vehicle manager for the Commercial Crew program where she managed the human certification of two different vehicles for transport to the space station. She was also the deputy chief engineer for the Ares Upper Stage element. She began her career at NASA as a data analyst and modeler for the Space Shuttle Main Engine project. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.