Dr. Ravi Margasahayam: 2019 Solar System Ambassador, NASA JPL
Dr. Ravi N. Margasahayam, recently retired as the Co-Chair for Ground Safety Review Panel (GSRP) that ensured the safety of all Payloads and Science experiments integrated at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, USA, on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). In this capacity, he oversaw ground safety of over 400 payloads from $5000 to FIVE Billion dollars’ worth of payload and their safety prior to ISS trip.
In his 28+ year career at NASA KSC, Ravi has supported or worked on over 100+ Space Shuttle missions, launching 700 astronauts to Space, while supporting many Rocket programs. He is NASA’s expert on Rocket Launch-induced Noise and Vibration Technology. Prior to joining NASA, Ravi embarked on decade-long journey spanning multiple technical disciplines with diverse industries such as railroads, mining, helicopters, commercial airplanes, and military aircrafts at Boeing. He designed gears for V-22, Chinook, and Comanche helicopters.
He has authored and presented over 60+ peer reviewed technical papers, nationally and internationally. He organized and co-chaired the Ninth International Congress on Sound and Vibration, ICSV9 Congress, in Orlando, Florida, which was co-sponsored by NASA KSC. Over 600 researchers, from 70 countries attended the congress in 2002.
Ravi is the recipient of NASA’s prestigious Silver Snoopy Award for exceptional engineering and safety improvements. Ravi also as an international public speaker and official KSC tour guide for the Public Affairs organization. He has provided technical and historical tours to astronaut families, foreign ambassadors, government dignitaries, international visitors, and military officials.
His multilingual ability, coupled with the knowledge of world cultures, and global promotion of NASA’s mission and vision, earned him the unofficial title of KSC’s “Global Goodwill Space Ambassador” from Dr. Roy Bridges, Astronaut and former Center Director at NASA Kennedy Space Center. He has traveled and lectured in 30 countries and over 50 universities globally.
More recently, he was invited to write the last chapter in “Infinite Worlds” book on the last Hubble Space Telescope mission STS-125. His photograph standing on the ‘Moon Launch Pad” – Complex 39A, atop the Solid Rocket Booster’s Main Flame Deflector, is permanently displayed in a $100-Million-dollar museum dedicated to Space Shuttle Atlantis at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.