Tomas Svitek, Spacecraft Manager

Tomas Svitek, Spacecraft Manager
Tomas Svitek, Spacecraft Manager Tomas Svitek has long been involved in developing advanced and innovative aerospace projects, including small science missions for NASA, earth observing satellites for commercial applications, and technologies for missile defense. Svitek was previously employed at JPL, Orbital Sciences, AeroAstro, Earhtwatch, Blastoff! and Blue Origin. He founded and manages Stellar. He earned his Ph.D. at Caltech, studying under Professor Bruce Murray, one of the co-founders of The Planetary Society. Interestingly, LightSail concludes a long arc in Svitek's professional history. At the conclusion of Friedman's solar sailing book, Friedman mentions being approached (at the IAF Congress at Paris in 1982) by a teenager from (then) Czechoslovakia, who had just presented a student team report describing a miniaturized solar sail design, intended to weigh only 5 kg and be launched as a secondary payload. This was in contrast to the just-completed 8,000 kg JPL solar sail design. That teenager was Svitek -- just 25 years ahead of his time..... Courtesy Tomas Svitek