Tedori-Callinan Distinguished Lecture: “From the Towne Building to Earth Orbit – Lessons Learned from a Career in Human Spaceflight”
October 8 at 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Details
Organizer
Venue
Dr. Garrett Reisman, (SEAS, Wh 1991), a NASA astronaut who flew on all three Space Shuttles and then became an executive at SpaceX, will share his experiences at NASA and in the commercial spaceflight industry and impart lessons learned along the way about engineering and innovation. He will describe what it was like to launch on the Space Shuttle, do a spacewalk, and return to Earth. He will also talk about the engineering and organizational principles that allowed SpaceX to grow from the billion dollar company he joined in 2011 to the trillion dollar company it is today. Then he will offer a glimpse into the near-future of human spaceflight at NASA and at SpaceX.
Speaker
Garrett Reisman
Professor of Astronautics Practics, University of Southern California
A NASA veteran who flew on all three Space Shuttles, Garrett Reisman was selected by NASA as a mission specialist astronaut in 1998. His first mission in 2008 was aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour which dropped him off for a 95 day stay aboard the International Space Station after which he returned to Earth aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. His second mission in 2010 was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. During these missions, Garrett performed 3 spacewalks, operated the Space Station Robot Arm and was a flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle. Not only was he an astronaut, but Garrett was also an aquanaut serving as a crew member on NEEMO V, living on the bottom of the sea in the Aquarius deep underwater habitat for 2 weeks.
After leaving NASA in early 2011, he joined SpaceX where he served in multiple capacities, most recently as the Director of Space Operations.
Garrett stepped down from his full-time position at SpaceX in May of 2018 and in June 2018 he became a Professor of Astronautical Engineering in the Viterbi School at USC. He continued to support SpaceX as a Senior Advisor until 2024. Today Garrett continues to contribute to the commercial space sector by working as an Astronaut Advisor at VAST.
Garrett attended the University of Pennsylvania and Caltech where he received his Ph.D in 1997.