Nigel Packham
Associate Director, Safety and Mission Assurance, NASA Johnson Space Center
Dr. Nigel Packham is the Associate Director of NASA Johnson Space Center’s Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate and has become a World-renowned speaker on the subject of how NASA manages risk. During his time in this role, he was the Project Manager for the Columbia Crew Survival Investigation that examined the Columbia accident from the crew survival perspective.
Prior to this appointment, he served as the Chief of the Environmental Factors Branch of the Space Life Sciences Directorate, whose office had responsibility for the oversight of environmental quality (water, air, microbiological, radiation and acoustics) for all for all Human Spaceflight Programs.
He started his career at NASA in the Engineering Directorate working on Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Advanced Life Support Systems. In this position he also served as the Commander of a four-person crew that spent 91 days inside a 6-meter diameter chamber to demonstrate the capabilities of advanced systems for air, water and waste recovery for long-duration missions.
Dr. Packham holds a B.SC. in Chemistry and Biology from the Guildhall University, the Diploma of Imperial College, University of London and a Ph.D. in Physical Electrochemistry from Texas A&M University.