Team

    Mini-RF has been designed, built and tested by a team that spans the entire United States. Entities playing a major role include Naval Air Warfare Center, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. Numerous smaller companies have also played an important role.

    Here are biographies of some of the people who have helped take Mini-RF from the drawing board to the Moon!

Science Team members

  • Ben Bussey

    Ben Bussey

    As Principal Investigator for Mini-RF on LRO I have several responsibilities, including organizing science team meetings, helping to plan observations, and interacting with instrument engineers.

  • Essam Heggy

    Essam Heggy

    If you want to get involved in space exploration, be dedicated and passionate, and believe that we can never fully understand our own planet until we explore nearby planetary environments.

  • R. Keith Raney

    R. Keith Raney

    I'm responsible for radar architecture and polarimetric processing.

  • Mark Robinson

    Mark Robinson

    I integrate Mini-SAR data with existing datasets and image data to be collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

  • Paul Spudis

    Paul Spudis

    I am the principal investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment on Chandrayaan-1 and a Mini-RF team member on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.

  • Tommy Thompson

    Tommy Thompson

    I develop models for radar backscatter from the moon and ice detection criteria.

  • Eugene Ustinov

    Eugene Ustinov

    I'm excited about the prospect of obtaining conclusive evidence that polar ice exists on the moon.

Project Management Team

  • Jason Crusan

    I'm the NASA Mini-RF Program Executive and Mini-RF Program Control Manager

  • Alan Daughery

    Alan Daugherty

    I have been in charge of all of the antenna-related activities. It began by working with a contractor to come up with a design that would meet the science requirements. Once the design was accepted, we had to work to make the antenna as light as possible. We then built prototype antennas and tested them. Once we had an antenna that worked, we exposed it to the various environmental tests and delivered it to the spacecraft.

  • Priscilla Mckerracher

    I provide systems engineering in the areas of software, firmware and operations.

  • Helene Winters

    Helene Winters

    I am the Mini-RF project manager for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.