NASA engineer visits eighth-grade astronomy class at Jackson Middle School
(02/20/2020) John Ziemer, who attended Jackson Middle School from 1984-87, recently returned to his former school to visit with eighth-grade astronomy students. Ziemer attended JMS prior to the school becoming a specialty school for math and science and before the addition of the observatory which calls JMS home.
So what’s the big deal? After completing his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, Ziemer went on to secure his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in the same field at Princeton University. In 2000, Ziemer began working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology.
According to NASA, the JPL is a unique national research facility that carries out robotic space and Earth science missions. JPL helped open the Space Age by developing America’s first Earth-orbiting science satellite, creating the first successful interplanetary spacecraft, and sending robotic missions to study the planets in the solar system as well as asteroids, comets and Earth’s moon
Ziemer began at JPL as a technologist developing new microthrusters for small spacecraft and fine-pointing of larger observatories. He became part of JPL’s new Innovation Foundry as the Concept Innovation Methods Chief in 2012 where he guided the development of the “A-Team” through its first 100-plus studies of advanced concepts. The A-Team is a group of subject matter experts from diverse backgrounds, from both inside and outside of JPL, that develop new concept ideas, assess feasibility, and explore the implementation trade space of future mission concepts. Then in 2016, John began managing the development of starshade technology.
In the future, John’s goal is to continue to facilitate infusion of new technologies into NASA’s most challenging missions.