Exploring the Unknown - NASA's History Office

Joseph N. Pelton is a professor of telecommunications at the University of Colorado at
Boulder, having returned from the post of Vice President of Academic Programs and
Dean of the International Space University (ISU). Prior to going to ISU, Dr. Pelton held
a dual appointment as Director of the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program at
the University of Colorado, as well as Director of the Center for Advanced Research in
Telecommunications and Training. He has worked in a variety of positions at INTELSAT
for the past two decades, and he has been involved with satellite applications since 1965,
in positions with Rockwell International, NASA, Communications Satellite Corporation
(COMSAT), and George Washington University. He also taught at American University in
Washington, D.C. After receiving an undergraduate degree in physics, Dr. Pelton went on
to receive a master’s degree from New York University and a Ph.D. from Georgetown
University.
Ray A. Williamson is a Senior Research Scientist in the Space Policy Institute, focusing on
the history, programs, and policy of Earth observations, space transportation, and space
commercialization. He joined the Institute in 1995. Previously, he was a Senior Associate
and Project Director in the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the U.S. Congress.
He joined OTA in 1979. While at OTA, Dr. Williamson was project director for more than
a dozen reports on space policy, including: Russian Cooperation in Space (1995); Civilian
Satellite Remote Sensing: A Strategic Approach (1994); Remotely Sensed Data: Technology,
Management, and Markets (1994); Global Change Research and NASA’s Earth Observing System
(1994); and The Future of Remote Sensing from Space: Civilian Satellite Systems and Applications
(1993). Dr. Williamson has written extensively about the U.S. space program. He holds a
B.A. in physics from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the
University of Maryland. He spent two years on the faculty of the University of Hawaii studying
diffuse emission nebulae and ten years on the faculty of St. John’s College in
Annapolis, Maryland. He is a member of the faculty of the International Space University
and is a member of the editorial board for the journal Space Policy.
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