Dr. Shahid Habib

Dr. Habib is Program Executive for the Physics of the Cosmos (PCOS) and Cosmic Origin (COS) programs and several international flight missions under development. This involves NASA’s collaboration with European Space Agency’s (ESA) on Advanced Telescope for High-ENergy Astrophysics (ATHENA), Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (LISA), Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey - Contribution to ARIEL Spectroscopy of Exoplanets (ARIEL/CASE), and Euclid dark energy mission. NASA is contributing critical technologies and subsystems towards the development of these missions for studying the high resolution X-ray spectroscopy in distant galaxies and answering questions about dark energy by surveying large areas of skies, detection of gravitational waves from space, and understanding exoplanet chemical element compositions. Critical technologies enabling such measurements are comprised of Transition Edge Sensors for X-ray spectroscopy, large array high quantum efficiency Infrared detectors for studying the dark energy, high precision and highly stable laser systems, telescopes and charge management systems. Dr. Habib provides a complete program oversight and coordination to ensure Astrophysics Divisions strategic and science goals are executed as planned. Dr. Habib also managed the Exoplanets Exploration Program, Stratospheric Observatory for Far Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne observatory mission and large and probe class future mission feasibility studies.

In his previous assignments at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Habib has served as Chief of Office of Applied Sciences in the Earth Sciences Division at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. He was responsible for transitioning science research results and products to operational end users for societal benefits. He has extensive experience both in sciences and space missions.

Dr. Habib was a NASA HQ program manager on several Earth Science space flight missions: Aura (studying Atmospheric Chemistry) and Earth Orbiter-1 (land surface dynamics). He also led joint US-Russia SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol Gas Experiment) and TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) atmospheric sciences missions dealing with ozone and aerosol measurements. He also served as Assistant Director for Technology and planning in the Earth Sciences Directorate at Goddard. Dr. Habib chaired the Integrated Cost Schedule Management Review (ICSMR) review of SOFIA mission in 2004, and again served on the SOFIA Science Mission Operations Review (SMOR) team in 2007.

His specific expertise includes remote sensing methods, instruments and measurement techniques, mission development and management, nonlinear dynamics and modeling, systems engineering, program management and integration. In his earlier career with NASA, he served on the Space Station design team in the area of test and verification for the astronaut habitation systems and robotic arm. He has a strong experiencing in implementing both flight missions and science research projects including many inter-Agency and international partners. This includes Federal Space Agency of Russia, Argentine Space Agency, European Space Agency, the World Bank, NOAA, USGS, and DoD. Additionally, he has led several science research projects dealing with hydrological modeling in the Middle East North Africa region, flood forecasting in East Africa, Himalayan glacier melt impact on stream flow, and volcano eruption and detection impacting the air traffic in the northern hemisphere.

Dr. Habib has won numerous individual and group achievement NASA awards. He was awarded NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2002; and Outstanding Leadership Medals in 2008 and 2012 for his contributions to NASA. He was also awarded Yuri Gagarin Medal of Honor for his joint NASA and Federal Space Agency of Russia collaboration. Dr. Habib holds a doctorate from George Washington University in Electrical Engineering with emphases in nonlinear systems and is also a registered professional engineer.