Founder & Chief Executive Officer

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Dr. Kavya K. Manyapu is an Explorer, Space Scientist, Innovator, Educator, and Artist. She currently works at NASA Johnson Space Center in Flight Operations and Training for Exploration EVA (Extravehicular Activity- spacewalks and spacesuits!) on Lunar missions. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor at  the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Aerospace Sciences. 

Kavya is a private pilot, SCUBA diver, trained in aerobatics, an  amateur mountaineer and an Indian classical dancer (President Awardee). 

Prior to  NASA, Dr. Manyapu worked for over a decade on the next generation human rated spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, at the Boeing Company where she served several roles including Starliner Spacesuit Lead, Flight Test Director and Flight Crew Operations  with hands on  experience in spacecraft, spacesuit and astronaut training operations. She served as a Mission Evaluation Room Manager for the International Space Station (ISS). 

Dr. Kavya holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Sciences.

Her research envelops novel, next generation spacesuit technologies for planetary missions with a focus on self-cleaning spacesuits and habitats for moon and mars missions. She holds six patents and 25 international publications. Spacesuit samples based on her research work were flown on the ISS.  

 Dr. Kavya and her research have been featured in international platforms: The Economist, BBC, Discovery news, Discovery Education Channel, Popular Science Magazine, New Scientist, Maker Magazine. 

Prior to joining Boeing, Kavya worked on the Orion/Constellation program at Lockheed Martin and Mars Bio-satellite program at Georgia Tech and MIT. She served as a crewmember on NASA’s asteroid simulation mission at JSC and two Analog Mars Missions in Utah, researching technologies for long-duration human spaceflight missions. 

Kavya is a 2nd Lieutenant at the Civil Air Patrol and serves as a VFR  pilot and Aerospace Officer. She served as a Regional Officer for Space Generation Advisory Council from 2016-2019 for North, Central America and Caribbean region and worked for international collaboration of space research. She is passionate about human space exploration and translating its benefits to Earth. 

Kavya enjoys educating and inspiring students to pursue careers in STEAM fields and has done  over 200 outreach programs at  regional, national and international platform including outreach through media.

Some of her Notable Awards include

 •  40 Under 40 Honoree   Class of 2022, Georgia Institute of Technology

 •  Power Woman of India (112 Power Women), Lead India Foundation

 •  40 Under 40 Honoree , Class of 2020, Georgia State University

 •  Rotary National Award for Space Achievement, Stellar Award, Early Career, RNASA

 •  Future Space Leader Award, Future Space Leaders Foundation

 •  National title “Balashree” from the President of India  for Performing Arts 

•  U.S POTUS (President Obama) White House Astronomy Night Ambassador for Boeing Starliner  

•  Boeing Defense and Space Top Talent Award

•  Outstanding Alumna of the Year, Georgia Perimeter College

•  Woman Engineer of the Year, American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin

•  Youth Star and Youth Achievement Awards, TANA