Dr. Paul Chodas

Dr. Paul Chodas is Director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he has worked for over 40 years. In the early ‘90s Paul designed and developed core components of JPL’s small-body orbit software such as orbit determination, close approach detection, calculation of impact probabilities, and prediction of impact times and locations. That software accurately predicted the impacts of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments on Jupiter in 1993. After NASA formed the NEO Program Office at JPL in 1998, Paul became technical leader of a growing team which has developed new capabilities in state-of the-art orbit calculation and impact monitoring. Over the last decade, he has developed a dozen hypothetical asteroid impact scenarios for use as learning exercises by the planetary defense community. Paul has a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Masters and Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering.