Mission Team

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Team: Members of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission pose at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission, on June 23, 2016. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Download image ›


The mission team is made up of individuals from JPL, private industry, universities and international partner organizations. In addition to the numerous individuals making vital contributions, key team members include:

NASA HQ

  • Program Executive Ramon DePaula
  • Program Scientist Mike Kelley

MRO Project Office - Mission Operations

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

  • Project Manager Dan Johnston
  • Mission Manager Reid Thomas
  • Project Scientist Richard Zurek
  • Deputy Project Scientist Leslie Tamppari
  • Mission Assurance Manager Bruce Waggoner
  • Project Chief Engineer Paul Fieseler

Flight Engineering Team

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

  • Mission Operations Manager Beth Buck
  • Spacecraft Engineer Kelly Bezjak

Science Instrument Investigations

  • CRISM Scott Murchie - Principal Investigator
    Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
  • CTX Michael Malin - Team Leader & Principal Investigator
    Malin Space Science Systems
  • HiRISE Shayne Byrne - Acting Principal Investigator
    Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona
    Alfred S. McEwen - Principal Investigator
    Lunar & Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona

    HiRISE built by Ball Aerospace for the University of Arizona
  • MARCI Michael Malin - Team Leader & Principal Investigator
    Malin Space Science Systems
  • MCS David M. Kass - Principal Investigator
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Daniel J. McCleese - Principal Investigator, retired
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  • SHARAD Roberto Seu - Team Leader
    University of Rome La Sapienza
    Than Putzig - Co-Team Leader (US)
    Planetary Science Institute (PSI)
    Roger Philips - Co-Team Leader (US), retired
    Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)

    SHARAD provided by Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) - Italian Space Agency

Engineering Instrument Projects

MRO Project Office - Development ›
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
  • Project Manager Jim Graf
  • Project Scientist Richard Zurek
  • Deputy Project Scientist Sue Smrekar
  • Flight System Manager Howard Eisen
  • Science Payload Manager John Duxbury
  • MOS/GDS Manager Ben Jai
  • Mission Design Manager Dan Johnston
  • Mission Assurance Manager Phil Barela
  • Flight Systems Engineer Todd Bayer
  • Launch Vehicle Liason Arden Acord
Spacecraft Bus Design/Systems Integrator ›
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
  • Lockheed Martin Program Manager Kevin McNeill
  • Chief Engineer Steve Jolly
  • System Design Lead Tim Halbrook
  • Payload Integration Lead Joe Witte
  • Spacecraft Operations Lead Wayne Sidney
Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft.

We Are the Martians ›

Meet the people from around the world who have made contributions to the exploration of Mars.