EPISODE · Sep 23, 2019
NASA Engineer Donald Cornwell on the Future of Space Communication
from The Grow Wire Podcast · host Grow Wire
We’re getting intergalactic on this episode with NASA’s Director and System Capability Leader of the Advanced Communication and Navigations Division, Donald Cornwell, who takes us on his journey developing better space communication technology (5:37). But first, he brings us back to his childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut (10:00) and into his NASA internship during his days at the University of Maryland (15:53). Of course, that led to a lifelong career at NASA (minus a few detours that we’ll get into) in which Cornwell focused on laser technology for navigation and communication (21:03). He explains the benefits of lunar laser communication (30:04) as well as what we’re doing to pull better data from Mars (37:12) and the moon (45:41). Finally, he concludes by revealing some of the most exciting projects NASA is conducting throughout the next five to ten years (56:20). For More, Follow Us Here: Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fnelson Donald CornwellLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-cornwell-b711a72/ Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/
What this episode covers
We’re getting intergalactic on this episode with NASA’s Director and System Capability Leader of the Advanced Communication and Navigations Division, Donald Cornwell, who takes us on his journey developing better space communication technology (5:37). But first, he brings us back to his childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut (10:00) and into his NASA internship during his days at the University of Maryland (15:53). Of course, that led to a lifelong career at NASA (minus a few detours that we’ll get into) in which Cornwell focused on laser technology for navigation and communication (21:03). He explains the benefits of lunar laser communication (30:04) as well as what we’re doing to pull better data from Mars (37:12) and the moon (45:41). Finally, he concludes by revealing some of the most exciting projects NASA is conducting throughout the next five to ten years (56:20). For More, Follow Us Here: Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/fnelson (https://twitter.com/fnelson) Donald CornwellLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-cornwell-b711a72/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-cornwell-b711a72/) (https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-cornwell-b711a72/)Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire (https://twitter.com/GrowWire) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ (https://www.instagram.com/growwire/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/ (https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/)
NOW PLAYING
NASA Engineer Donald Cornwell on the Future of Space Communication
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Mar 26, 2026 ·1m
Mar 19, 2026 ·34m
Feb 18, 2026 ·11m
Feb 11, 2026 ·45m