Michael Johansen
Acting Deputy Program Manager
Michael Johansen serves as the Acting Deputy Program Manager in the Game Changing Development (GCD) program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), where he is helping to lead formulation of STMD’s surface infrastructure technology portfolio.
Prior to his current position, Michael served as Flight Demonstrations Lead within the GCD program, overseeing the development of technology payloads and associated development processes for various flight platforms. He also served as Technical Integration Manager within STMD, where he oversaw the strategy and technology development for dust mitigation technologies.
Mr. Johansen has over 15 years of experience developing and flying new technologies in space and managing complex projects and programs. He is particularly passionate about taking innovative ideas out of the laboratory and turning them into applied, flight-ready solutions for space exploration.
His experience at NASA as a research engineer in the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center where he studied electrostatic phenomena for lunar and Mars exploration and launch vehicles.
Michael holds both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Central Florida.