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Anthony Egan
Lead Engineer and Developer

Work Experience

Southwest Research Institute
October 2007 – Present
Lead Research Engineer
Manager of Spacecraft Operations Systems
Highlights
  • Science Operations Manager: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, SHARAD Instrument (continued): Architect of the U.S. science operation center for processing and scientific investigation of radar data from the SHARAD instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Designed the 'WebMap' GIS visualization application used in scientific target planning, GIS analysis, and in distribution of processed scientific results. I've presented this work at two national AIAA SpaceOps conferences.
  • Science Operations Manager: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LAMP Instrument: Plan and command science instrument sequences, Designed the cartography pipeline for producing mapped and calibrated instrument results.
  • New Horizons Mission: Science Operations Systems Lead: Database designer for the 'SciPlan' web application used to build the final all-instrument acquisition plan for the closest approach to Pluto, successfully completed in July 2015. Continued as SciOps systems lead for the Ultima Thule flyby in late 2018.
  • CYGNSS Hurricane Monitoring Small-Sat Constellation: Built the ground systems for the CYGNSS Mission Operations Center (MOC).Developed a closed-loop CCSDS telemetry simulator to validate spacecraft commanding.
  • GRAIL Lunar Gravity Mission: Created a geo-database of our best knowledge of all the Moon's craters by merging multiple sources. Developed a graphical application to model the gravity signal around selected craters.
  • Rosetta Mission: Alice instrument: Designed the web application used for distribution and visualization of science results from the Alice UV instrument in orbit with comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko.
  • SSIPP Solar Observing Balloon: Instrument Flight Control Lead
  • NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory: Radiation Experiment Proctor (Supercollider)
Washington University in St. Louis
January 2002 – October 2007
Research Systems Manager: McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
System Architect & Scientific Programmer
Highlights
  • Provided collaborative research and technical support for signal processing and material simulations written in FORTRAN, C, IDL, Matlab, and other commercial finite element and GIS environments.
  • Supported planetary research activities, including two spaceborne ground penetrating radar instruments on the current Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions.
  • System architect of the Washington University SHARAD Radar Processing System (WU-SHARPS), the exclusive U.S. operation for processing ground penetrating radar data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Eastman Chemical
August 2001 – January 2002
Chemical Engineering Research Technician
Chemical Engineering Research Contractor
Highlights
  • Conducted aeronautic product development research for Solutia (now a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical). I synthesized candidate corrosion inhibiting additives, built our testing rig, created analytical process controls in LabView and developed signal processing methods for detecting subtle changes in material behavior caused by corrosion.
National American University
August 1999 – May 2000
Adjunct Instructor
Taught Management Information Systems
Highlights
  • Performed as an adjunct instructor of computer and information science at two campuses. Responsible for the instruction of college students and Air Force personnel. Also responsible for course development and maintaining a Linux based teaching network. Courses taught include .NET programming, Access databases, MS Office 2000 products, web design, and UNIX operating systems.
South Dakota State Geological Survey
May 1991 – September 1993
Analytical Chemist
Environmental Testing Chemist
Highlights
  • Analytical chemist responsible for the chemical analysis of water samples, management of reagents and equipment, and the development of a custom analysis results database. Experienced with a variety of methods and instruments. Also responsible for fieldwork including the collection of water and soil samples. Routinely applied statistical methods and my E.P.A. evaluations were always of the highest grade. Skills: Chemical Analysis, Chemical Synthesis

Awards

  • European Space Agency (ESA)

    European Space Agency: Recognition

    In recognition of your outstanding contribution to the ESA Rosetta Mission.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: Rosetta Alice Instrument Team

    For implementing the first far-ultraviolet instrument to rendezvous with a comet and for advancing our knowledge of the inner coma and nucleus.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: New Horizons Team

    For exceptional contributions in the successful completion of the initial reconnaissance of the Pluto system, providing humanity's first up-close look at Pluto and its moons.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: MRO Comet Siding Spring Observing Team

    For excellence in developing and executing the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Comet Siding Spring Observing Campaign.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: The LRO Extended Science Mission Team

    For exceptional achievements during the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Extended Science Mission.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: MRO SHARAD Science Team

    For operating the SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument, which has delivered a detailed understanding of the history of the polar caps and mid-latitude glaciation events.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Exploration

    For outstanding accomplishments of the seven LRO instrument teams and the LRO Project Science Team at GSFC.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Team

    For exceptional accomplishments in developing and operating the LRO spacecraft and instruments.

  • NASA

    NASA Group Achievement Award: US SHARAD Radar Sounder Processing and Analysis

    For outstanding contributions of the US Shallow Subsurface RADAR (SHARAD) radar sounder processing, analysis and visualization capabilities.

Contact

Louisville, CO 80027
lmt.egan@gmail.com
http://anthonyegan.com

Education

  • 1994 1998

    South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

    Thesis: Thermodynamic Modeling of Supercritical Fluids in Polymer Mixtures

    M.S. Chemical Engineering

  • 1988 1993

    University of South Dakota

    B.S. Chemistry/mathematics

Publications

Initial Results from the New Horizons Exploration of 2014 MU69
Science Magazine (Cover Story)
22 May 2019
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6441/eaaw9771.editor-summary

After flying past Pluto in 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft shifter course to encounter 2014 MU69, a much smaller body in part of the Kuiper Belt.

LRO-LAMP Observations of the LCROSS Impact Plume
Science Magazine (Cover Story)
22 October 2010
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/330/6003/472

A controlled spacecraft impact into a crater in the lunar south pole plunged through the lunar soil, revealing water and other volatiles.

Mars North Polar Deposits: Stratigraphy Age and Geodynamical Response
Science Magazine (Cover Story)
30 May 2008
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/320/5880/1182

Radar mapping shows that Mars' thick north polar ice cap contains four dust-rich layers recording variation in the planet's orbit and only slightly depresses the underlying crust.

Languages

  • Python (Numerical)
  • IDL
  • Matlab
  • Compiled C & FORTRAN Extensions
  • Marc & Mentat Finite Element
  • LabView
  • ArcGIS & STK
  • SQL geo-databases
  • UNIX Pipeline Scripts
  • Agile Development with GIT