Kristine Ferrone

Kristine Ferrone is a Project Engineer with The Aerospace Corporation in Houston, TX. She leads The Aerospace Corporation's business development efforts at NASA Johnson Space Center and NASA Glenn Research Center. She is also the Primary Investigator on a multi-year Internal Research & Development project to expand Aerospace's Concept Design Center (CDC) to include the study of human-rated vehicles.

In her prior role with The Aerospace Corporation, Kristine was an Engineering Specialist within the CDC, where she performed integrative spacecraft systems engineering and mission assurance for several government agencies including NASA and the Department of Defense.

Prior to working at The Aerospace Corporation, Kristine was a flight controller for the International Space Station (ISS) at NASA Johnson Space Center supporting mission planning and timeline development for crew and ground activities. She was certified in three console positions integrating the ISS mission timeline, including activities from various NASA centers as well as all of the ISS International Partners. She was a lead planning engineer for the STS-134/ULF6 and STS-131/19A shuttle missions to the ISS. Prior to her work in Flight Planning, Kristine was a Senior Mission Scientist and flight controller for the ISS Payloads Office, traveling between the Johnson Space Center and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL for the integration of ISS payloads. She served as the liaison between real-time ISS operations and the primary investigators for payload experiments onboard the ISS.

In 2009, Kristine served as Interdisciplinary Scientist for the 12th crew to the Mars Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS), living and working in an analog Mars environment for one month. She completed over 17 hours of in-suit Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) assisting with the deployment of a geophysics experiment, flight of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and the location of a gypsum deposit used to synthesize water for the first time in a Mars analog habitat. Kristine also led her own research project at FMARS, studying the benefits of High Power Laser Therapy (HPLT) on treating acute and chronic pain and injuries to crewmembers.

Kristine is a 2004 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Physics/Astrophysics. Her undergraduate research focused on high-energy particle physics, and from 2004-2006 she worked as an Accelerator Operator in the Main Control Room for the Collider-Accelerator Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) where she was responsible for the real-time operations and troubleshooting of the particle accelerator complex. Also while at BNL, Kristine worked in operations at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, studying the effects of space radiation on astronauts and space vehicle equipment.

Kristine has completed three master's degrees. She is a: 2011 graduate of the University of Houston with a M.S. in Space Architecture with a thesis on command and control concepts for long duration human spaceflight; a 2010 graduate of the United States Sports Academy with a M.S. in Sports Medicine studying exercise physiology and the effects of microgravity on astronauts; and a 2007 graduate of the University of Florida MBA program with a certificate in Entrepreneurship and Technology Management.

 

Kristine received her FAA Private Pilot License in 2011 and has logged over 65 hours of flight in Cessna 152 and 172 aircraft. Kristine is also certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water SCUBA Diver with 40+ dives and six specialty certifications. In July 2011, Kristine completed in the Suborbital Scientist Training Program at the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center. In June 2013, Kristine completed spatial disorientation training at SIRIUS Astronaut Training as well as emergency egress training with Survival Systems USA.

Kristine’s volunteer interests include STEM outreach to middle and high schools, staffing "Discovery Stations" at the National Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center, serving as an alumni mentor and interviewer for Carnegie Mellon University, and organizing leadership development activities for the Aerospace Women’s Committee at The Aerospace Corporation.