Welcome to NextGen at ISDC
This dynamic program is designed specifically for students and educators passionate about inspiring today’s young minds and building the future of space exploration.
Featuring a stellar lineup of astronauts, cutting-edge researchers, visionary architects, and innovative engineers, NextGen connects tomorrow's leaders with the experts of today. Our speakers bring to life the reality of everyday people living, working, and thriving in communities beyond Earth, fostering the talent and curiosity needed for the next frontier.
While the programming is perfectly geared for a high school audience, this exciting journey is open to everyone.
All ISDC attendees are welcome to join!
Presentation 2: "Tackling Snakes in the Cockpit" Speaker: Susan Kilrain — Former NASA Astronaut
Program Manager: Nancy C. Wolfson — ISDC Planetary Defense Program Manager The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) DART Mission Team: Dr. Elena Adams, Dr. Angela Stickle, Michelle Chen, and Dr. Andy Rivkin (Principal Professional Staff, APL) With Panelists: Dr. Quanzhi Ye (Planetary Astronomer, University of Maryland) and James Anthony Wolff (Partner, Greenspoon Marder LLP)
NextGen Sessions
Session Speakers Info
Aarti Holla-Maini
Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Aarti Holla-Maini is the Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), having taken up post on 18th September 2023 following her appointment by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Ms. Holla-Maini brings over 25 years of experience in the space and satellite sector, working predominantly with international organizations and regulators. Prior to the United Nations, she held the post of Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association. Under Read More
Robert "Hoot" Gibson
Former NASA Chief Astronaut
Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson entered the United States Navy after college and served as a fighter pilot in the F-4 “Phantom” and F-14 “Tomcat” aircraft, flying combat missions in Southeast Asia and making more than 300 carrier landings aboard the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Enterprise. After attending the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN, and the Navy Test Pilot School, he served as a flight Read More
Susan Kilrain
Former NASA Astronaut
Commander Susan Kilrain is an astronaut, a navy test pilot, an aerospace engineer, and a world traveler. She was one of the first women selected to fly the F-14 Tomcat and the youngest person, and one of only three women, to pilot the space shuttle. She served twenty years in the Navy paving the way for women. She has flown more than 3,000 flight hours in more than thirty different Read More
Dr. Steven Hawley
Former NASA Astronaut
Steven Hawley grew up under the dark skies of rural Kansas, where the dream of space travel seized him for a lifetime. Inspired by Astronaut Al Shepard’s first flight beyond the atmosphere, Hawley pursued academic degrees in astronomy, physics, and astrophysics, and later earned a seat in the “Thirty-Five New Guys,” NASA’s first class of astronaut candidates to include civilian scientists and engineers, women, and people of color. Dr. Hawley made history deploying Read More
Dr. Elena Adams
Program Manager and DART Mission Systems Engineer, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Elena Adams, is the mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and her team helped orchestrate NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test—a first-of-its-kind, proof-of-concept mission that will intentionally crash a spacecraft into an asteroid’s moonlet to deflect it away from its course. Read More
Dr. Pascal Lee
Planetary Scientist, SETI Institute and Mars Institute - ISDC 2026 Co-Chair
Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute, the Mars Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He is also professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University, and chief scientist for Ceres Robotics, a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) industry provider. He also serves as the National Space Society’s Vice-President for Planetary Development. Dr. Lee holds an M.E. in geology from the Read More
Dr. Andrew Rivkin
Principal Professional Staff, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Dr. Andrew Rivkin is a planetary astronomer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He was born in New York City, and obtained his undergraduate degree from MIT in 1991 followed by a PhD in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona in 1997. Rivkin was Investigation Lead for the recent Double Asteroid Redirection Test, NASA’s first planetary defense test mission, and has remained active in planetary defense work as Read More
Dr. Jennifer Rochlis
CEO, Advancing Frontiers, Inc.
Dr. Jennifer Rochlis has spent her career bridging cutting-edge science with human-centered systems, bringing that synergistic lens to spaceflight, emerging technologies, and leadership development. She is the co-founder, President and CEO of Advancing Frontiers, Inc., a consulting company providing human systems and spaceflight integration services. Previously, she was Vice President for Products and Chief of Solution Architecture at Teledyne FLIR. During her 20-year tenure at NASA, she served as Division Read More
Dr. Angela Stickle
Planetary Scientist; Hypervelocity Impact Physicist, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Dr. Angela Stickle is a planetary geologist specializing in hypervelocity impact processes and dynamic failure of materials. She is a co-investigator on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Mini-RF radar and LAMP UV spectrometer, a co-investigator on the Dragonfly mission, a team member on Europa Clipper’s Europa Imaging System (EIS), the lead for the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission’s Impact Modeling Working Group, and a member of the Steering Committee and Read More
James Anthony Wolff
Partner, Greenspoon Marder LLP
James Anthony Wolff is a partner at Greenspoon Marder LLP and a space, AI, and emerging technologies attorney focused on the legal and capital architecture of frontier industries. His work spans space policy, planetary defense finance, and the structuring of mission-driven ventures operating at the intersection of law, science, and long-term risk. In 2023, he was a co-founder recipient of a NASA award for advanced space systems research, followed by Read More
Nancy C. Wolfson
Planetary Defense (PD) Program Management, Founder: "Look Up, It Is An Asteroid" and IAF PD-NEO Symposium E10
Nancy C. Wolfson is a Washington, D.C., US-based scholar, lecturer, and researcher. Nancy is a published author with over 18 years of professional managerial experience. President of Disrupting Space, a company dedicated to analog and risk management space-related research and developing international partnership opportunities for various space activities. Nancy focuses on space exploration, sustainability, and planetary defense research and education. Nancy was elected Vice-Chair of the International Astronautical Federation’s (IAF) Read More
Melodie Yashar
Space Architect, Founder, AENARA
Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and researcher. She is the founder of AENARA, a practice developing technologies to autonomously build off-world habitats, which in the near term redefine construction paradigms on Earth. In prior roles, Melodie was the VP of Building Design and Performance at ICON, a technology company focused on large-scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supported Read More
Dr. Quanzhi Ye
Researcher, University of Maryland
Quanzhi is a research faculty member at the Department of Astronomy of the University of Maryland. Currently, he lives in the Boston area and is also a long-term visitor at the Center for Space Physics of Boston University. He is primarily interested in the small bodies of the Solar System – asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. These objects are pristine remnants from the early times of the Solar System and can Read More