Mike Snead
James Michael (Mike) Snead is an aerospace engineering consultant focusing on near-future spacefaring logistics transportation and in-space support capabilities. Mr. Snead is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati (BSAE) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (MSAE). He is a registered professional engineer (aerospace). Mr. Snead recently retired as a civilian aerospace engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. His relevant career assignments included: Project Engineer on the early-1980's Air Force Transatmospheric Vehicle Project (an earlier version of today's military responsive spacelift) where he led the technology readiness assessment of industry's capability to develop and build such partially- and fully-reusable space access systems; Chief Flight Systems Engineer and Lead Structures Engineer in the late-1980's National Aerospaceplane Program Joint Program Office where he led efforts in developing the system integrity requirements and processes for this experimental system to achieve "aircraft-like" safety and operability; government technical consultant on the early 1990's Delta Clipper-Experimental (DC-X) where he focused on the flight safety of the materials and structures of the experimental flight system and supported the preparation of the system engineering requirements for a full-scale, single-stage DC-Y prototype; and, deputy chief of the Systems and Technology Panel of the Joint Air Force Space Command-Air Force Materiel Command Military Spaceplane Integrated Product Team. From the late 1990's through his retirement in 2007, Mr. Snead focused on identifying near-future system concepts for routine, assured space access and in-space mobility and servicing support responding to the Air Force/national needs for true spacefaring capabilities. Mr. Snead served as chair of the AIAA Space Logistics Technical Committee from 2002-2005. He has authored conference papers on near-future spacefaring capabilities at Space Studies Institute, AIAA, and ASCE conferences and authored articles on this topic in the AIAA's Aerospace America and the International Society of Logistics' Logistics Spectrum magazines. This past summer, Mr. Snead chaired the logistics support breakout session of the Space Solar Power informal assessment conducted by the Department of Defense's National Security Space Office. During his Air Force employment, Mr. Snead participated in several flight readiness Executive Independent Review Teams supporting the first flights of the F-16XL, TR-1, YF-22, and YF-23. Web site: http://mikesnead.net. Blog: http://spacefaringamerica.net.