ABOUT

About Dr. David Simpson

• Ph.D., Applied Physics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (2000).
• M.S., Applied Space Weather Research, Catholic University (2024).
• M.S., Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Purdue University (2019).
• M.S., Applied Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University (1993).
• M.S., Applied Physics, Johns Hopkins University (1990).
• B.S., Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (1984). Minor in mathematics.

I have taught physics as an adjunct faculty member at Prince George's Community College since 1991.

During the day, I work a research physicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, doing research in heliophysics (the physics of the electromagnetic and plasma environments of the Earth, Sun, and planets).

At NASA I have previously worked on (among other things):

• Flight software for the on-board computer of the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM), the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).
• Data analysis for the Low-Energy Neutral Atom (LENA) instrument on the IMAGE mission.
• Data analysis for the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer on the Cassini spacecraft.
• The Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission spacecraft.

I now work primarily on a computer model of the solar corona and solar wind, and on magnetometers for the HERMES instrument on the upcoming Lunar Gateway lunar space station. I've also been doing a bit of work with data from the magnetometer instrument aboard the Voyager I and Voyager II spacecraft.

Prior to NASA, I worked for a time on solar arrays and electric power systems for communications satellites at COMSAT Laboratories.

In my spare time I am a runner, bicyclist, amateur radio operator, occasional ballroom dancer, sing second bass in my church choir, and am fluent in the international language Esperanto. I plan to study for a graduate degree in classical studies in a few years, with a concentration in Latin and Greek.

I am a member of the following professional societies:

• American Physical Society
• American Geophysical Union
• American Astronomical Society
• International Astronomical Union
• American Association of Physics Teachers
• American Mathematical Society
• Mathematical Association of America
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Geological Society of America
• American Chemical Society
• American Astronautical Society
• Institute of Navigation
• Society for Classical Studies
• American Classical League

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