Big Sky with NASA Ties

Personal Journeys Through the Solar System

Join us for an inspiring presentation with two engineers from NASA, Brent Buffington and Powtawche Valerino, as they share their personal journeys from Montana to careers in space exploration. Learn how their Montana connections helped shaped their paths, hear about the educational pursuits that prepared them for success, and discover the exciting technical work they have performed in mission design, navigation, and guidance across multiple missions at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

During the talk, you’ll virtually travel to some of the most fascinating destinations in our solar system, Saturn, Jupiter, the Moon, and even the Sun, as Brent and Powtawche highlight the groundbreaking missions associated with each of these celestial stops, including Cassini-Huygens, Europa Clipper, Parker Solar Probe, and the Artemis Program.

Come ready to explore, imagine, and be inspired by what’s possible when curiosity meets opportunity.

Brent Buffington

Brent Buffington is the Manager of the Mission Design and Navigation Section at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is responsible for providing innovative end-to-end capabilities in mission design, precise ground-based and onboard navigation, planetary body modeling, and astrodynamics software development that enables the efficient exploration of the solar system.

Brent previously served as Mission Design Manager for the Europa Clipper mission, leading the development of its complex gravity-assist trajectory to investigate the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa, and prior to that, he was a member of the Cassini Navigation team where he played a significant role in modifying Cassini’s Prime Mission trajectory and designing both of Cassini’s extended mission trajectories, including Cassini’s Grand Finale orbits.

Brent holds an B.A. in Physics from the University of Montana, a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Colorado–Boulder, and is the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals over the course of his 20+ years at JPL. Lastly, Brent was born and raised in Missoula, MT, where he played for the Missoula Mavericks, and was an avid skier and fly fisherman.

Powtawche Valerino

Powtawche Valerino is the Deputy Branch Chief of the Guidance, Navigation, and Mission Analysis Branch at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, where she supports several projects including the Space Launch System and Human Landing System programs.

She previously spent more than a decade at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contributing to navigation teams for missions such as Cassini-Huygens, Europa Clipper, and the Parker Solar Probe.

Powtawche holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering with a specialization in aero-astronautics from Rice University.

She is also a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society. Some of her fondest childhood memories from Montana include hiking the University of Montana’s trail to the “M” and attending the annual Kyiyo Powwow.

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Big Sky with NASA Ties

Personal Journeys Through the Solar System

Brent Buffington

Powtawche Valerino

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