Dr. Adam Kobelski
US Project Scientist — adam DOT kobelski AT nasa DOT gov

Dr. Kobelski received his Ph.D. in physics from Montana State University after which he worked as a postdoctoral researcher for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Observatory in Green Bank, WV, followed by a postdoctoral position at the University of Alabama in Huntsville working for the Hinode mission. He also worked as a Research Assistant Professor and Teaching Assistant Professor at West Virginia University. His research is focused on energy release in the solar atmosphere, with an emphasis on the observations of small scale eruptive events and energy transfer between atmospheric layers. He has worked in satellite observations since beginning with the TRACE satellite in 2008, and became an XRT Chief Observer in 2010. Dr. Kobelski came to the Marshall Space flight center in 2021, and became the US Project Scientist in 2024. He is an active member of Marshall's heliophysics sounding rocket team and also serves as the Branch Chief for the Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

Dr. Jessie Duncan
US Deputy Project Scientist — jessie DOT m DOT duncan AT nasa DOT gov

Dr. Duncan is a physicist with a focus on high-energy observation of the solar corona, including both instrumentation development and analysis. She received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota, after which she became a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center. She joined the Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch at Marshall Space Flight Center in 2024, to work with the Hinode team and continue her solar physics research. As a member of the NuSTAR heliophysics team, she has worked extensively on coordinated observation campaigns between solar observatories, including Hinode. Presently, she is particularly interested in small coronal transients and plasma heating processes, exploring the origin of the elevated temperature of the solar corona with respect to the photosphere.

Stephen Elrod
Program Manager — stephen DOT e DOT elrod AT nasa DOT gov

Stephen Elrod graduated from the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), in 1980, (BSE, General Engineering). He was employed by NASA upon graduation (May 1980), after having already worked for three years as a NASA co-operative education student. He volunteered for military service and was commissioned into the Navy Reserve, April 1982, as an officer in the Civil Engineer Corps.

Steve continues to work and has served for over 40 years as a civil servant, with experience in 7 different project offices, for both NASA and US Army MICOM. From 1995-1999 he was the Project Manager (PM) for the IMAGE Mission, Wide Image Camera (WIC/partnered with Canada), and from 2000-2009 he was the PM for the Fermi (aka GLAST) Gamma Ray Burst Monitor (GBM/partnered with Germany). Both of these projects have been recognized as highly successful science instruments. Steve returned to manage GBM in the summer of 2011 and continues to serve GBM as the overall PM of the extended mission operations phase. In February of 2015, concurrent with his GBM duties, Steve was named to serve as the PM for the suite of instruments aboard the Hinode spacecraft. This solar observation mission is another international partnership (with Japan) and is also in the extended mission operations phase.

For the last decade of his military career, Steve was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), serving as the Director of the Joint Reserve Support Team for Undersecretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness, Military Personnel Policy (2002-2011). In addition to his OSD staff duties, he served for several years as the Commanding Officer of the USN reserve detachment that supports the Pentagon at large, with 42 members assigned to a wide variety of Joint Staff, OSD and senior Navy offices. Steve retired from the USN in May 2012, with the permanent rank of Captain, after having served for 30 years.

Steve is the recipient of various civil service and military awards, to include the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the DoD Defense Superior Service Medal.

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