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Mark Jernigan




Mark Jernigan is currently an accomplished consultant and the Executive Director of the Rice Space Institute, where he leverages his extensive expertise in human spaceflight systems, mission operations, and advanced technologies to catalyze collaborations and advanced research to solve critical challenges facing the next generation of space exploration systems and operations. He also serves as a lecturer in Rice University’s Professional Science Master’s program, mentoring and educating the next wave of space industry leaders.

Mark’s career spans over four decades, with a distinguished tenure at NASA, where he retired in 2020 after making significant contributions to a wide range of mission-critical hardware and software projects. Rising through the ranks at NASA, Mark played a pivotal role in shaping the agency’s most ambitious human spaceflight initiatives, advancing from technical leadership to top-level management in some of the agency’s key programs.

As NASA’s Assistant Director for Exploration Human Health and Performance Support, Mark led efforts to develop the advanced life support and human health systems needed for future crewed missions, particularly to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. His leadership in this area was crucial for ensuring that human spacecraft systems were designed with robust capabilities to protect astronaut health, performance, and safety in deep space environments. His team helped push the boundaries for cutting-edge solutions for life support, radiation protection, and environmental monitoring, key components in the long-term viability of human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.

In his role as ECLSS (Environmental Control and Life Support Systems) Manager for the Advanced Exploration Habitation effort, Mark was a key contributor in the development of next-generation habitation systems for deep space missions. He played an instrumental role in guiding and advising both NASA and private industry teams tasked with creating systems for life support, resource regeneration, and environmental control to ensure that astronauts could survive and thrive during long-duration missions.

Mark’s contributions to NASA’s human exploration efforts extended to the development of human-rated launch and landing systems. As Assistant Director, he managed multi-disciplinary teams to ensure that next-generation spacecraft were equipped with critical technologies that met the physiological and psychological needs of astronauts, optimized human performance, and ensured mission success. His work contributed to the safe and effective design of mission systems that could sustain human life during high-risk, deep-space missions.

Earlier in his career, Mark helped shape NASA’s Human Research Program, focusing on the intersection of human health and space travel. As Program Manager for the Advanced Human Support Technology Program, he led a broad portfolio of projects, grants, and collaborative initiatives aimed at advancing the science of life support systems, habitability, environmental monitoring, and human factors engineering. His work laid the foundation for much of the current development for human-centered space exploration technologies.

In addition to his work in human spaceflight systems, Mark contributed extensively to NASA’s mission support systems, where he designed and developed critical hardware, simulations, models, and software for mission planning, training, and operations. His innovations helped optimize mission control center operations, spaceflight simulation systems, and spacecraft planning tools, ensuring astronauts were well-prepared for complex and high-stakes missions.

A recognized leader and expert in space systems engineering, Mark’s career at NASA has been marked by a relentless focus on innovation, collaboration, and the integration of advanced technologies to ensure the success of human space exploration. For this course, he will provide personal insights from “the room where it happened” and and explain the value proposition for human exploration and advancement of humanity out into the universe!

Courses Currently Teaching



Mar 25

Space Exploration and Commercialization - The Next Era

Mark Jernigan
$150.00