Leroy Chiao - Post-NASA Career

Post-NASA Career

After leaving NASA, Chiao has become involved in entrepreneurial business ventures in both the U.S. and China.

In early 2006, he joined the Atlanta firm of SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. (SEI) as an affiliate and technical advisor (on a non-exclusive basis). Dr. Chiao assists the firm on space technologies and operating processes for future space exploration concepts and research on the commercialization of space. In July 2006, Chiao accepted a position as the Executive Vice President for Space Operations and a Director of Excalibur Almaz Limited. He was responsible for operational aspects of spaceflight, including training for both the capsule and space station. The company assembled a team from the Isle of Man, the United States, Russia, the Ukraine, and Continental Europe to begin work towards refurbishing and flying a capsule in space based upon the design of the Almaz capsules.

In March 2006, Chiao began an appointment in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Louisiana State University as the first Raborn Distinguished Chair Max Faget Professor.

Chiao is also currently serving as the Chairman of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) User Panel, which is attached to the Baylor College of Medicine. The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The Institute’s User Panel is an advisory board composed of former and current astronauts and flight surgeons that ensures NSBRI’s research program is focused on astronaut health and safety. In preparation for lunar and Mars exploration, Chiao and the User Panel will help align NSBRI’s science and technology projects with the needs of astronauts on long missions.

In July 2007, Chiao joined an expedition to visit Devon Island and conduct 5 days of webcasts and other instructional activities spanning the period of 16–20 July 2007. This activity was sponsored by the Mars Institute and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education with additional assistance from The Explorers Club and SpaceRef Interactive, Inc. He conducted these webcasts from the Haughton-Mars Project Research Station and nearby locations to illustrate how NASA and other space agencies are learning to live on the Moon and Mars here on Earth.

Chiao appeared in an episode of MANswers in 2008 explaining how to neutralize an astronaut in space who has gone berserk.

In May 2009 Chiao wrote a few blog articles on Gizmodo.com detailing some of his space experiences.

In May 2009 Chiao was named as a member of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee an independent review requested by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) on May 7, 2009.

In a special to CNN written by Chiao on 1 September 2011, he suggested that China be permitted to join the International Space Station program to remedy the issue relating to the limited options available for space travel, following the conclusion of the United States space shuttle program, and a failure of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on 24 August 2011.

In December 2011 Chiao joined Epiphan Systems as VP Aerospace. Based on NASA's space technologies, Epiphan Systems produces high resolution video capture, streaming, and recording products for the medical, educational, IT, and industrial markets. Chiao's role at Epiphan Systems is to work with the aerospace industry to define the company's vision and achieve strategic goals in areas such as air traffic control.

In 2012, Chiao was named special advisor - human spaceflight for the Space Foundation.