Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of posts introducing you to members of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) team at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida who will launch the DART spacecraft on its journey to an asteroid.
By Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Tuesday, Nov. 23 at 10:20 p.m. PST (Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 1:20 a.m. EST). DART is the first mission to test technologies for preventing an impact of Earth by a hazardous asteroid.
Name: David Run
Official title: Aerospace Engineer
Job responsibilities: I am a flight software discipline expert in the flight software group for NASA’s Launch Services Program. I provide mission analysis, vehicle certification, and flight software assessments for contracted rocket providers, including for the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
Time working for NASA: I have worked 10 years at Kennedy. I worked five years for contractor a.i. solutions, and I’m in my fifth year with NASA.
Degrees earned: I have a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering, and a master’s degree in space systems, both from Florida Tech in Melbourne, Florida.
Hometown: Viera, Florida
Family: My wife, Robin, and two sons, Lincoln, 10, and Beckett, 8.
Hobbies: I enjoy attending music festivals. I attended the Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando from 2016 to 2019 with coworkers, and I hope to attend it again this month, wearing a glowing mask of course. I also enjoy listening to music and playing video games with my sons.
Fun fact: I’m learning to speak Korean.