JPL DESCANSO - Deep Space Communications and Navigation Center of Excellence

Biography

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Henry B. Garrett

Dr. Henry B. Garrett received his BA in physics in 1970 from Rice University (Houston, Texas). He received his MS in 1972 and his PhD in 1973 in astronomy and space physics from Rice University.


Dr. Garrett has a wide variety of experience and more than 100 publications in the space environment and its effects with specific emphasis in the areas of atmospheric physics, low-Earth ionosphere, radiation, micrometeoroids, space plasma environments, and effects on materials and systems in space. While on active duty in the Air Force (1974 - 1980), he served as Project Scientist for the highly successful SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging At High Altitudes) program, which characterized the geosynchronous spacecraft charging environment. For his work on this program in developing a predictive space environment model of the geosynchronous plasma, he was awarded the Harold Brown Award (top Air Force scientist), Air Force Systems Command Officer of the Year, and the Air Force R&D Award.


At JPL, he has been responsible for defining the space environment and its effects for many NASA missions ranging from Galileo and Cassini to Juno and Europa Orbiter. He has published three books on the space environment and its impact on spacecraft design and has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. In 1992, he was selected for a temporary assignment at the Pentagon as part of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization where he acted as the Deputy Program Manager for the DoD/NASA Clementine Lunar Mission and Program Manager for the Clementine InterStage Adapter Satellite (ISAS). For contributions to this mission in measuring the Earth and trans-lunar space environments and their effects on advanced space systems, he was awarded NASA's Medal for Exceptional Engineering Achievement.


He returned to JPL in 1994 where he served as the Chief Technologist for the Office of Safety and Mission Success until 2011. Dr. Garrett is an international consultant on the terrestrial and interplanetary space environments having worked for INTELSAT, L'Garde, NASDA, CNES, and other organizations and is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA. Until 2002, he also served as a colonel in the USAF Reserves, assigned as the Senior Reserve Officer for the AF Space and Missile Center for which he received the Air Force Legion of Merit Medal in 2002. In 2006, Dr. Garrett received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for "his achievements in advancing the understanding of space environments and effects." Recently, Dr. Garrett co-authored the primary NASA standard on spacecraft surface and internal charging for Earth missions.


Co-Author of Volume 3 of the JPL Space Science and Technology Series:

Guide to Mitigating Spacecraft Charging Effects