John M. Grunsfeld - NASA Career

NASA Career

Grunsfeld was selected by NASA in March 1992 as an astronaut candidate and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and qualified for flight selection as a mission specialist. Grunsfeld was initially detailed to the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch and was assigned as the lead for portable computers for use in space. Following his first flight, he led a team of engineers and computer programmers tasked with defining and producing the crew displays for command and control of the International Space Station (ISS). As part of this activity he directed an effort combining the resources of the Mission Control Center (MCC) Display Team and the Space Station Training Facility. The result was the creation of the Common Display Development Facility (CDDF), responsible for the onboard and MCC displays for the International Space Station, using object-oriented programming techniques. Following his second flight, he was assigned as Chief of the Computer Support Branch in the Astronaut Office supporting Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs and advanced technology development. Following STS-103, he served as Chief of the Extravehicular Activity Branch in the Astronaut Office. Following STS-109, Grunsfeld served as an instructor in the Extravehicular Activity Branch, and worked on the Orbital Space Plane, exploration concepts, and technologies for use beyond low earth orbit in the Advanced Programs Branch. He served as NASA Chief Scientist assigned to NASA Headquarters from 2003 to 2004. In January 2012, he became the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA's headquarters in Washington, replacing Ed Weiler.

Grunsfeld has been actively engaged in communicating space science topics to the public through interviews, public lectures, and television appearances. He was recently interviewed by NASA's Astrobiology Magazine about the James Webb Telescope and at the Science with Hubble Space Telescope III conference in Venice, Italy, about carrying out repairs and upgrades on the Hubble Space Telescope. Recent public lectures include Hugging Hubble at the Space Telescope Science Institute's May 2010 Symposium, Big Science Questions at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Aspen Center for Physics and The Hubble Story presented as a special public lecture at Oxford University's Department of Physics. He has made several television appearances to discuss the successful landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover in August 2012 and its mission, including appearances on the PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff, the Colbert Report, and on NASAtelevision.