Richard W. Powell

Richard Powell holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Virginia Tech and a M.S. from George Washington University in Flight Mechanics. His career began in 1970 as a member of the NASA Langley Research Center's Space Systems Research Division that had been formed to provide direct support of the Space Shuttle program. His contributions include being a member of the team that developed a pilot-in-the-loop simulation that was used primarily to test the Shuttle's entry guidance and control systems. He has also worked on many robotic missions and studies, including the Mars Landers (Mars Pathfinder, Mars Phoenix, and Mars Science Laboratory), Earth return vehicles (Stardust), Mars Orbiters (Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), and European-led missions (Huygens). He retired from NASA in 2007. As a member of Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc., he is currently working on the Commercial Crew Program, which is designed to allow NASA to purchase transportation to the Space Station, and the Space Launch System designed to be the launch vehicle for NASA to use further solar system exploration including human exploration.