As Director for the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Division with the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Jason Crusan is the senior executive, manager, principle advisor and advocate on technology and innovation approaches leading to new flight and system capabilities for human exploration. He manages 500-600 Civil Servants with an active portfolio of 20-30 engineering and design projects. He leads integration with the Space Technology Mission Directorate and the other HEOMD programs such as the International Space Station and the Exploration System Division Programs.

Using an integrated approach that leverages public-private partnerships, industry, international partners, and academia, Mr. Crusan leads AES across all NASA Centers, developing and maintaining critical human spaceflight capabilities; maturing new integrated systems, instruments, and ground systems; and delivering critical multi-million dollar flight hardware for NASA. He provides the executive management and leadership needed to develop the right technology development strategies, system acquisition strategies, contracting mechanisms, joint investment models and partnerships—in short, he develops the innovative approaches needed to maximize NASA’s access to new technologies and capabilities for human spaceflight.

Crusan has held multiple titles at NASA since 2005, from Chief Technologist for Space Operations to Program Executive and project manager on various technical and management initiatives. He was part of the Mini-RF (Miniature Radio Frequency) Program, which flew two radar instruments to the moon to map the lunar poles, search for water ice, and demonstrate future NASA communication technologies. Currently he also serves as the Director of the Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation formed to advance the utilization of open innovation methodologies within the U.S. government.

Crusan holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics, a Master’s in Computer Information Systems, and is currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in Engineering Management at George Washington University. Mr. Crusan is married and has two children.

Rick Sternbach has been a space and science fiction artist since the early 1970s, often combining both interests in a project. His clients include NASA, Sky and Telescope, Data Products, Random House, Smithsonian, Analog, Astronomy, The Planetary Society, and Time-Life Books. He is a founding member and Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), formed in 1981. He has written and illustrated articles on orbital transfer vehicles and interstellar flight for Science Digest. Beginning in the late 1970s Rick added film and television illustration and special effects to his repertoire, with productions like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Last Starfighter, Future Flight, and Cosmos, for which he and other members of the astronomical art team received an Emmy award, the first for visual effects. Rick also twice received the coveted Hugo award for best professional science fiction artist, in 1977 and 1978. He has produced physical terrains and globes of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn’s moon Iapetus for the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, for their Gunther Depths of Space exhibit. Most recently, Rick was included in the special committee advising the National Air & Space Museum on the restoration and conservation of the eleven foot Starship U.S.S. Enterprise filming miniature.