NASA manager to join Tupper Awards

Kent Kellogg, project manager for NASA’s Soil Moisture Mapping Project Mission (SMAP), will speak on the mission and its science and applications at the annual Les Tupper Community Service Awards at 7 p.m. Monday, May 11, at Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s von Karman Auditorium.

The event, presented by the LCF Coordinating Council, is hosted by JPL. The community is invited to attend.

The SMAP Mission, which launched Jan. 31, is NASA’s first satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These high-resolution space-based measurements will give scientists a new ability to observe and predict natural hazards of extreme weather, climate change, floods and droughts.

Kellogg joined JPL in 1983 after graduating from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in electronic engineering. He has served in a number of engineering and leadership roles involving flight-system engineering, development of space hardware, contract and organizational management.

Les Tupper Awardees are Barbara Marshall, Bill Sjogren, Scott Tracy, Kaitlin Powers, Nicole Stevens, and Teens for the Advancement of Children’s Hospital (TACH).