2026 Flight Software Workshop

Dr. Elizabeth (Zibi) Turtle is a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. She is the Principal Investigator for the Dragonfly New Frontiers mission to Titan and for the Europa Imaging System (EIS) cameras on the Europa Clipper mission. She also participated in the Galileo, Cassini, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions.

Dr. Turtle’s research has focused on combining remote-sensing observations with numerical geophysical models to study geological structures and their implications for planetary surfaces, interiors, and evolution, including: tectonics and impact cratering on terrestrial planets and outer planet satellites, the thickness of Europa’s ice shell, the formation of Io’s mountains, and the nature of Titan’s landscape and weather.

She earned her PhD in Planetary Sciences from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and her BS in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2021, she was awarded the Claudia J. Alexander Prize by the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences.

Scientist, astrophysicist, programmer, and YouTube star, Scott is known for his space-themed YouTube channel where he brings science into video games and teaches kids of all ages the science math behind rocket science.

Originally from Scotland, Scott spent a decade in academia studying astrophysics and computational physics at the University of Glasgow and Armagh Observatory where he focused on small bodies in the solar system and specifically the probabilities of collision. He left research in 1999 to move to California and work in the technology industry.

When the video game Kerbal Space Program appeared, he became a public science figure through his YouTube videos explaining the game and the science involved. His videos have generated almost 800 million video views and 1,800,000 subscribers.

Manuel D. Maldonado worked as the Roman Space Telescope (RST) (formerly known as WFIRST) Software Systems Engineer from 2017 until his retirement from NASA at the end of 2023. He currently works as a contractor Systems Engineer on RST and hopes to stay on the project until the RST Launch in 2026.

Prior to his RST work he was the Software Systems Engineer on the ICESat-2/ATLAS instrument and prior to that, he served as the Chief Engineer of the Software Engineering Division/Code 580 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

Manuel has worked on numerous flight missions and roles including Solar Dynamics Observatory/Software Systems Engineer, Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (ICESat/GLAS Instrument)/Flight Software Product Development Lead, EO-1/WARP RSN Software Developer, TRMM and XTE C&DH Flight Software Test Lead Engineer.

Manuel received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, a Master of Engineering Degree in Computer Science from Loyola College, and a Post-Masters Advanced Certificate in Computer Science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Dr Rebecca Lowe is Philosophy Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. A political philosopher, her primary research interests include rights, freedom, and equality. She also writes regularly on space, and until recently was Consulting Space Philosopher at a strategic space advisory firm. She is the former director of FREER, a UK think tank advancing economically and socially liberal ideas, and served as Research Director at an investment company for four years.

Lowe is currently working on two books, Freedom in Utopia and Speaking Freely. She publishes a Substack newsletter, the ends don’t justify the means, and hosts a podcast, Working Definition. Her recent space publications include an article about the value of space activity for Economic Affairs, a piece about commercial space activity for the American Philosophical Association, and a paper on lunar property rights for the Adam Smith Institute.