Jenkens, Robert - Biography

Mr. Jenkens received a Bachelors of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland in 1985. He began his career as an Inertial Guidance Systems Engineer, working at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to his work at Draper, Mr. Jenkens pursued graduate studies in the area of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In September of 1989, Mr. Jenkens accepted a position as a Senior Engineer in the Guidance, Navigation and Control Department at Fairchild Space in Germantown, Maryland. At Fairchild, he performed control system analysis, supported development of the attitude control systems for the Explorer Platform Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) and TOPEX/Poseidon spacecraft. During this period, Mr. Jenkens received the Fairchild Space President's Award, Fairchild Space Outstanding Achievement Award, and the NASA/GSFC Satellite Servicing Project Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Explorer Platform ACS Flight Software Development.

In May of 1991, Mr. Jenkens accepted a position with the NASA/GSFC Guidance and Control Branch as the Attitude Control Subsystem Manager supporting the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Project. In this capacity, Mr. Jenkens was responsible for all ACS related issues for the five on-orbit spacecraft, the integration, test and launch of TDRS-G, as well as specification development and proposal evaluation for the TDRS H,I,J procurement. In August of 1995, Mr. Jenkens was selected to be the TDRS Project Spacecraft Manager. In this role, he was responsible for the technical management of TDRS H,I,J spacecraft subsystem design and development effort, as well as for providing technical, programmatic and contractual support to TDRS Project Management. From October 1997 until July 2000, Mr. Jenkens held the position of TDRS Deputy Project Manager. In July 2000, Mr. Jenkens was appointed to his current position as the TDRS Project Manager responsible for the successful completion of the TDRS-H,I,J Replenishment Program. While at NASA, Mr. Jenkens has received awards for the TDRS-E,F,G,& H Launches, NASA Acquisition Improvement Award for the TDRS H,I,J SEB, NASA Space Flight Awareness Award, and several NASA/GSFC Performance and Group Achievement Awards.