David Everett is currently the Project Systems Engineer for the Lunar Communication Relay and Navigation System, leading the technical effort to establish communication services at the moon. In his previous role as the Head of the Instrument and Payload Systems Engineering Branch at Goddard Space Flight Center for 3.5 years, he supervised an organization of over 50 instrument systems engineers, building the next generation of systems engineering at GSFC. In his 33 years at NASA, he has led the design, build, and launch of four spacecraft, and he was a key player during the launch of three others. His most recent mission, OSIRIS-REx, returned a sample from the asteroid Bennu on Sept 24, 2023. His previous mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), continues to collect high-resolution science data at the moon. As the Project Systems Engineer on OSIRIS-REx and the Mission Systems Engineer on LRO, Mr. Everett led the technical effort from early design through on-orbit operations. In his previous role as Chief Engineer for the Instrument Systems and Technology Division, he oversaw the technical efforts of over 150 engineers working with key technologies in optics, cryogenics, detectors, lasers, and radio-frequency instruments.
David Everett has received 53 individual awards, 50 group awards, and a patent for his efforts at NASA; he has published 21 papers; and he co-edited (and wrote the spacecraft design chapter for) the book Space Mission Engineering: The New SMAD. He has actively supported NASA outreach activities through over 90 speaking engagements. He earned a BSEE summa cum laude, at Virginia Tech in 1986 and a MSEE at the University of Maryland in 1989. Before he joined NASA in 1991, Mr. Everett worked at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in a radar-receiver design group where he was awarded two patents for his designs of RF circuits.