NASA headliners announced for upcoming George Mason Space Day

NASA astronaut with local ties to engage scouts and future science community

The George Mason University College of Science announces headliner, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, and activities at its third annual George Mason Space Day on Saturday, September 28, 2024 from 3 to 9 p.m., on Mason’s Fairfax, Virginia campus.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren will join the lineup of speakers at the 2024 Space Day event. A graduate of James W. Robinson Secondary School Fairfax, Virginia, Lindgren began his career with NASA as a flight surgeon in 2007, where he worked as the Deputy Crew Surgeon for STS-130 and Expedition 24. In June 2009, he was selected as an astronaut, joining the 20th NASA astronaut class as one of 14 members. Dr. Lindgren flew on Expedition 44/45 in 2015, spending 141 days in space, participating in two spacewalks, and contributing to over a hundred scientific experiments. He later commanded NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission, which launched on April 27, 2022, to the International Space Station. During Crew-4's mission, he spent an additional 170 days in orbit with Expedition 67, returning to Earth on October 14, 2022. Overall, Dr. Lindgren has accumulated a total of 311 days in space and currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD).

Lindgren will be joined by Oleg Goushcha, an aerospace research engineer, NASA Langley Research Center who is part of a team responsible for analyzing aerodynamics of the Space Launch System (SLS), a vehicle that will propel a crewed Orion capsule to the Moon on future Artemis missions. His efforts include supporting large-scale wind-tunnel tests, which are used to predict the aerodynamic environments experienced by the SLS vehicle during its ascent through the atmosphere. Goushcha also supported Artemis I pre-flight and launch activities to characterize and collect developmental flight instrumentation data, which was used post-flight to validate wind-tunnel predictions. Prior to joining NASA, Goushcha taught as an assistant professor at Manhattan College Mechanical Engineering Department. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from University of California, Irvine. He completed his PhD studies at The City College of New York.

Register now to attend Space Day 2024 and gain valuable insights into space science and technology, meet and learn from space experts, and experience a range of hands-on activities. Or request a press pass by contacting Tracy Mason at tmason11@gmu.edu.