Scott Lambros – Instrument Systems Manager, NASA

Scott Lambros currently serves as the James Webb Space Telescope Instrument Systems Manager for the Fine Guidance Sensor/Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS/NIRISS), the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the Mid Infrared Instrument (MIRI), and the Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instruments, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

As the Instrument Systems Manager, Lambros works with the instrument developers to make sure that all the instruments work and fit properly. His work helps to ensure that the team is getting the most science out of the instruments. He works to help set all of the requirements for developers, which includes technical, cost and schedule.

As an aerospace engineer, Lambros has over 30 years of experience at Goddard, beginning with orbit mechanics and moving into instrument management. He places a huge emphasis on communication and team building with every project as he bridges the gaps between the Project Management and the developers on a daily basis. He's excited to be working on Webb because of the potential for discoveries. Over his career he's enjoyed working as a part of the Earth Observing System's flagship satellite "Terra," named for Earth, when he spent a great deal of time working in Japan. He's also worked on several other projects over the years, like Small Explorers, Shuttle missions and as a Project Manager for the Fermi mission.

Lambros grew up in a suburb of New Jersey with three sisters. He obtained his B.S. in Mathematics from Rutgers. After his studies, he began pursuing his love of travel and started seeing the world. After his first taste of travel, he settled into his first 'real job' at Bell Telephone Laboratories where he worked on telephone traffic engineering. When he grew restless and left his first job, he circumnavigated the globe stopping in Greece, Israel, Turkey, India, Thailand and the Philippines, traveling for a year. During this journey, he stopped in Israel where he worked on a Kibbutz for two months picking grapefruits and working in the kitchen. He also reconnected with a whole branch of here-to-for unknown relatives in Greece. His love of exploration made him very interested in NASA.

"After I traveled around the world, the moon had already been done, so I wanted to go to Mars," says Lambros. He says he came to NASA because he wanted to be a part of something positive. "I wanted to do something with my life that contributed to humanity."

He enjoys learning the piano, exercising and building projects around the house, but mostly he enjoys projects that contribute to the community like working with abused and neglected children or ending hunger. He's been to 54 countries and is working his way to the century club. When he has the time, he likes going to the beach and sitting on the porch with a good cigar.