Dr. Martin N. Ross is a scientist with Commercial Launch Projects at The Aerospace Corporation. In this role, Ross conducts research concerning climate change and the impacts of space systems on the global atmosphere. He works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other organizations to study how rocket launches and space debris reentry affect Earth’s climate and stratospheric ozone layer.
Ross has published more than 50 papers on a wide variety of subjects, including climate change, space industry sustainability, planetary physics, and space policy. He contributes to international assessments of climate and ozone for the World Metrological Association and serves on advisory panels for government agencies. He is currently developing new strategies and studies to understand how the space industry can grow and innovate in a globally sustainable manner.
After two years at Loral Space Systems, Ross started graduate work in the Geophysics Department at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, he modeled the orbital dynamics and thermal evolution of outer planet satellites, correctly predicting the icy volcanoes of the Saturnian moon Enceladus before they were observed by the Cassini spacecraft in 2005.
Ross joined Aerospace in 1988, where he began work in the Space Science Applications Laboratory, performing research on the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and space weather. There, he studied how changes in the lower atmosphere affect the space environment and the performance of space sensors. In 1997, Ross led a national group of researchers who obtained the first measurements of rocket plume ozone holes and their impact on global ozone. He subsequently led the NASA/NOAA/USAF ACCENT program between 1998 and 2003.
Education
Ross holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan, specializing in spacecraft attitude dynamics and control and rocket nozzle performance, and a doctorate in planetary physics from UCLA.<
Awards and Honors
Ross has received numerous awards and acknowledgments from NASA and the Department of Defense.
Affiliations
Ross served as an adjunct professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, teaching physics, meteorology, and the history of science. He is a member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Geophysical Union, and the scientific research honor society, Sigma Xi.
