I then worked for four years as a principle at the then-second-largest manufacturer of ultralight airplanes, which was located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, doing a variety of things which included test flying, dealer training, newsletter and manual writing, airshow appearances, and prototype development. During that time I obtained my pilot’s license for both airplanes and gliders. In 1984 I rejoined one of the engineers who had worked on the Gossamer Albatross and we formed a small company in California which made props for stage and movies. Our primary customer was the comedian Gallagher, for whom we built a variety of wacky things. One of the least wacky was the pedal-powered airship White Dwarf, with which I set world records during an all-day flight from Thermal to Brawley, California, along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea.
In 1987 I started working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Over the subsequent years I have worked here as a document editor, a software configuration management specialist, a ground data system developer and support person, and a UNIX system administrator. I began my career at JPL as a contractor employee but am now employed directly by JPL. I now work on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in two capacities, as an ACE who sends commands to the spacecraft and also as a member of the end-to-end Data Accountability Team tracking numerous data generation and delivery issues.
I’m married and have a teenage daughter. We also have a dog and a cat.
