One of Smith's first duties will be to assume management responsibilities for the company's commercial deep space missions, including the company's commercial Lunar, asteroid and Mars exploration initiatives.

Dave's thirty-eight year career has focused on multiple deep space and Earth-orbiting missions including Apollo, MVM, Viking, Voyager, Galileo, and two shuttle radar missions: STS 59 & 68. He was awarded NASA's Exceptional Achievement medal for his leadership and management skills for the Earth orbiting shuttle missions.

His activities on these missions ranged from navigation, mission design, systems engineering to the development and delivery of the central computer system (CDS) to the Galileo spacecraft. He is currently a key member of the Mars program architect studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and will join SpaceDev on July 5.

"We are elated that Dave is joining our SpaceDev team - his experience, professionalism, motivation, and leadership are significant assets and will be key to furthering our deep space flight systems development for our commercial and government customers" said Stan Dubyn, SpaceDev's President and COO.

Added Stan, "in recognition of our continuing growth, we have added the CTO position, of which Dave is a perfect fit - his immense technical and management depth will help to position us for multiple near-term space activities."

SpaceDev is developing mission and spacecraft designs for three separate commercial deep space missions, with the primary focus being on a near-term robotic lunar mission to provide live, interactive streaming video, with a web server and email forwarding from a commercial lunar orbiter.

The other missions include SpaceDev's Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP), and a 2003 Mars data relay orbiter possibly combined with a Mars probe carrier. All three proposed missions uniquely use the same spacecraft architecture and flight software, which the company believes should result in lower costs, faster development time and increased reliability.

Commenting on his appointment to SpaceDev, Dave said "I am very excited about this outstanding opportunity to work in the area of entrepreneurial space development, because SpaceDev is unique in the field, and is already having an impact on the perception of lower cost missions through standard business practices.

"I believe I can use my years of hands-on deep space experience to help SpaceDev create reliable and low-cost missions and spacecraft, and to provide these capabilities to commercial customers and NASA alike."

Dave Smith's thirty years of experience include key positions on the Pioneer-10 Navigation Team, the Mars Viking Orbiter and Lander Navigation Team, the Apollo-11 and Voyager Mission Design Teams, and the Galileo and SIR-C Development Teams.

Dave will be working with Stan Dubyn to map out the next steps in SpaceDev's strategic planning for the design and development of commercial deep space missions, science investigations in concert with NASA's Space Science Enterprise, advanced propulsion technology infusion, and strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

In related news at SpaceDev, Mr. Charles H. Lloyd, Chief Financial Officer, has been made responsible for setting up a new business structure for lunar and deep space mission funding.

He will be working with corporate sponsors and partners in the broadcast and Internet arenas, and will be identifying future investors for SpaceDev's opportunities.

As a result of increased interest in and work on the potential commercial lunar mission, SpaceDev is seeking a new target asteroid, with a later launch date, for its proposed Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP). The mission still has a high corporate priority, and the new target and tentative launch date will be announced later in the year.

SpaceDev

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Space

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

SPACEDAILY

Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005
The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India.