Michael Egan

Dr. Michael Egan is the Program Scientist for NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor Mission. As the Program Scientist, Dr. Egan is responsible for overseeing and monitoring development of the plan for the mission’s science implementation and operations.

Mike has been with the NASA Science Mission Directorate since 2019 and has served as a Program Executive in the Earth Science Division and the Planetary Defense Coordination Office.  He came to NASA from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) Research Directorate, where he led research programs in Remote Sensing and was the Intelligence Community Functional Manager for Research in Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) systems.  Prior to his work at NGA, Dr. Egan was the principal staff assistant for launch programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense/NII Space Programs, where he had oversight of the Evolved-Expendable Launch Vehicle and Operationally Responsive Space programs.  He began his career with the Air Force Research Laboratory where he was the Principal Scientist for the Midcourse Space Experiment Celestial Backgrounds program and the Technical Advisor for the Infrared Technology Branch of the Space Vehicles Directorate.

Dr. Egan earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Air War College. In 2015-16 he was a National Security Fellow at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Egan has been recognized for his research contributions as a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service.