Dr. Joseph I. Minow

Dr. Minow started his professional career in the field of space environments and their effects on space systems as a Senior Engineer with Sverdrup Technology (now Jacobs Engineering) in 1998 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).  He first worked on problems involving space environment interactions with the International Space Station (ISS) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for MSFC’s Natural Environments Branch but soon expanded his activities to support a variety of NASA programs and projects.  Dr. Minow served as the Environments Group Supervisor for Jacobs from 1999 to 2004 during which time he led a team of scientists and engineers with expertise in space environments, terrestrial environments, and electromagnetic compatibility.  In 2004, Dr. Minow became a civil servant in MSFC’s Natural Environments Branch where he served as the ionizing radiation and space plasma environments activity lead for the Branch.  Dr. Minow joined the NESC in 2015 as the NASA Technical Fellow for Space Environments. 

Dr. Minow’s technical contributions are primarily related to characterizing space environments for space system design and operations, analysis and modeling of space plasma and ionizing radiation environments and their effects on space systems, investigation of spacecraft surface and bulk charging phenomenon, and investigation of on-orbit anomalies.  These contributions have supported a wide variety of NASA programs including the Space Shuttle (serving as the Natural Environments Panel Co-Chair for Space Environments and evaluating the space environment for the Columbia Accident Investigation), ISS (supporting the ISS space environments community and serving as a co-investigator for the Floating Potential Measurement Unit), Chandra X-Ray Observatory (co-developer of the Chandra Radiation Model and member of the radiation working group), JWST, NASA’s Space Environments and Effects Program (principle and co-investigator for multiple projects), Launch Services Program, Constellation, Exploration System Development/Space Launch System/Orion Programs, Commercial Crew Program, and many other developmental and operational projects and programs.

Dr. Minow has contributed over 140 conference presentations, journal publications, and technical reports on topics related to the space environment and their effects on space systems.  Dr. Minow was awarded the Silver Snoopy Award in 2002 for contributions to an ISS spacecraft charging investigation, was a member of the NASA and SpaceX team awarded the NASA Space Flight Awareness Team Award in 2015 for work on Falcon 9 avionics radiation susceptibility risk mitigation, and has received numerous NASA group achievement awards,

Dr. Minow received his B.A. degree in Chemistry and Biology from Western State College (now Western State Colorado University) in Colorado in 1981, a M.S. degree in Physics from University of Denver in 1987, and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1997.