Dr. J. Russell Carpenter has been with NASA since 1987, primarily as a Navigator at Johnson Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center. Currently, he serves as Deputy Project Manager/Technical for Space Science Mission Operations at Goddard, overseeing 20 missions and 27 spacecraft operating throughout the solar system. A Fellow of AIAA and AAS, he's a 2025 inductee into UT Austin's Aerospace Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni and a member of the AAS Board of Directors. Dr. Carpenter has served on AIAA and AAS technical committees and was an Associate Editor for the AAS Journal of the Astronautical Sciences. He’s been recognized with NASA Exceptional Service and Achievement Medals and was the AIAA National Capital Section's Young Scientist/Engineer of the Year (2000). Russell has over 100 publications, including papers that received the Best Paper award at the 2011 Astrodynamics Specialists Conference, and the Institute of Navigation’s Burka award for Best Paper in the journal NAVIGATION. Asteroid 12248 Russellcarpenter is named after him for contributions to Lucy and OSIRIS-REx missions. He holds B.S. (Highest Honors), M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering from UT Austin.