Each year, the American Astronautical Society and aerospace industry reach new heights with the multitude of inspiring achievements taking place every day. As we excel in advancing all space, AAS recognizes the individuals that make significant contributions to our society and to the greater space community with the AAS Fellow distinction. Our honored Fellows are impressive leaders who motivate their networks into furthering our developments in space exploration. We are delighted to announce and honor our chosen AAS Fellows for 2024: Diane Davis, David Folta, Carolin Frueh, and Powtawche Valerino.
Diane Davis
Dr. Diane Davis, an astrodynamics technical discipline lead in the Flight Mechanics and Trajectory Design branch at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is recognized for outstanding contributions to the lunar Gateway mission design and the use of Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) trajectories for efficient cislunar transport. Diane has been an active member of the American Astronautical Society (AAS) since her time as an engineering staff member at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). As a senior member, she has served as a session chair an innumerable number of times and continues to be a key resource for conference organizers.
David Folta
Mr. David Folta, a highly respected and accomplished NASA aerospace engineer, mentor, and astrodynamics innovator is recognized for pioneering contributions to operationalizing the theory and practice of trajectory design in multi-body domains, enabling missions of discovery beyond Earth orbit and further explorations of heliocentric space. He regularly attends AAS conferences, as well as being a frequent author and presenter at such conferences.
Carolin Frueh
Dr. Carolin Frueh, the Associate Editor of the Journal of Astronautical Sciences is recognized for making significant contributions to cislunar astrodynamics and space domain awareness, including active spacecraft missions and space debris. Dr. Frueh has been among the first to redefine and expand SDA in the near-future mission-heavy Cislunar region. Dr. Frueh significantly contributes through her time and service to the AAS community over the past decade as a regular attendee of AAS events, as well as being a member of various AAS conference organization and technical committees including the Spaceflight Mechanics Technical Committee.
Powtawche Valerino
Dr. Powtawche Valerino is recognized for her outstanding technical contributions to several human spaceflight missions and excellent service to the Astronautics community. She is currently Deputy Branch Chief for the Guidance, Navigation and Mission Analysis group, where she manages the technical work of many cross-functional teams supporting the U.S. space program. She has regularly attended AAS meetings as a co-author, presenter, or session chair, as well as taking on a role as an associate editor for the Journal of Astronautical Sciences.
AAS congratulates and thanks all of our new AAS Fellows for their exemplary service to the Society and the space industry. They will be recognized at future AAS events.