Chief Engineer, Mark 1 Lunar Lander, Blue Origin
B.S. ASE 1993, The University of Texas at Austin
M.S. ME 1995, The University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D. ME 2006, Rice University
Justin Kerr is the chief engineer of the Mark 1 Lunar Lander at Blue Origin. He is accountable for the technical baseline of the single-launch, cryogenic, lunar cargo lander system. He and his team are scheduled to land the first of many vehicles on the Moon later this year.
Kerr received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in aerospace engineering and mechanical Engineering respectively from The University of Texas at Austin and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Rice University.
His professional career began at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in May of 1993 as an applied researcher, developing lightweight shielding to protect crew and spacecraft from the effects of micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD). Since then, Kerr led efforts as a senior project manager in the Shuttle Orbiter Project Office to improve flight safety following the Columbia accident. He later led the Commercial Crew Program Spacecraft Office. He finished his NASA career serving as the NASA Engineering and Safety Center chief engineer at JSC. He has three years of experience with Blue Origin, serving as the senior chief engineer for the Orbital Reef and Lunar Permanence programs.
Kerr has contributed to human space flight in many ways. He was responsible for qualification of all U.S. module MMOD shielding on the International Space Station. He collaborated with international partners including Russia, Japan and ESA to establish best practices for lightweight MMOD shielding design and testing. Kerr tested Shuttle Orbiter thermal protection system components and reduced crew exposure to MMOD risk through operational and hardware mitigations. In addition, his work reduced MMOD risk on the Stardust and Genesis sample return missions.
He invented a novel deployment method for lightweight, conformal MMOD shielding resulting in a U.S Patent. In the wake of the STS-107 tragedy, Kerr served as the test director for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board which determined foam impact damage was the root cause. From Mission Control Houston, he led the Damage Assessment Team during 22 missions from STS-114 (the first mission after the Columbia disaster) through STS-135 (the last mission of the program). He and his team used robotic imagery collected on-orbit and models developed pre-flight to assess the Orbiter heat shield as “safe for entry” each mission. Kerr led the Commercial Crew Program Spacecraft Office from program inception which certified the SpaceX Dragon for safe crew flight and returned the U.S. to crew launches after the retirement of the Space Shuttle. He has more than 20 publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings.
Kerr serves on the UT Austin ASE/EM External Advisory Board and leads the Standing Review Board for the Blue Origin Human Lander System. His honors include the Silver Snoopy Award, the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, two Center Director Commendations, and six NASA Group Achievement Awards.
Kerr lives in Seattle, WA with his wife, Brittany, their daughters, Hayley and Mallory and their son Logan. He enjoys skiing with his family, watching their kids play sports and rooting for his Houston Astros and Texas Longhorns.
