Leon Alkalai is a retired Technical Fellow of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology where he spent 32 years after getting his PhD at UCLA in 1989. During his career at JPL, Dr. Alkalai held numerous leadership positions and was responsible for the capture leadership of both the GRAIL mission to the Moon (2007) and the INSIGHT lander on Mars (2012). For both efforts, Dr. Leon Alkalai received Distinguished Individual Achievement medals from NASA in 2011 and 2019 respectively. Dr. Alkalai was also heading up JPL strategic partnerships and strategic planning for the Laboratory. In early 2021, Dr. Alkalai retired from JPL and created Mandala Space Ventures, a space-focused, Pasadena-based incubator for new start-ups in the emerging space economy. Leon is also the General Partner at the Explorer-1 Venture Fund which is also affiliated with the Mandala space incubator. Mandala launched its first new venture called Continuum Space Systems, a Software as a Service (SaaS) company for the emerging digital space economy. Mandala has two other portfolio companies in the studio; Viridian Space Corporation and Specter Aerospace. Mandala has also recently launched Sophia Space Inc., which is developing data centers in space.
Dr. Sabrina Feldman is the Program Manager for JPL’s Planetary Science Formulation Office in the Planetary Science Directorate. She joined JPL in 1997 as a member of the In Situ Exploration Technologies group after earning her Ph.D. in physics from U.C. Berkeley, where her research focused on astrophysics detector development. With over sixteen years of experience in formulation leadership roles, she has served as Program Manager for the Planetary Science Instruments Office, Deputy Program Manager for the Earth Science Research and Mission Formulation Office, Program Manager for the Earth System Explorer Office, and Assistant Science Division Manager for Formulation and Technology. Her background also includes roles as a Physical Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and as an Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Puget Sound. Sabrina is passionate about helping teams to develop innovative planetary mission and instrument concepts that address fundamental questions about our solar system.
Dr. Cynthia Phillips is a planetary geologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. She currently works on the Europa Clipper mission, where she serves as a Project Staff Scientist among other roles, in addition to being Project Scientist on a New Frontiers mission concept proposal. Dr. Phillips received her undergraduate degree in astrophysics from Harvard, and her PhD in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona. She spent 15 years at the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center before joining JPL in 2015. Dr. Phillips is an expert in scientific image processing and small-scale surface processes on planetary satellites, with a particular focus on Europa, Io, and Enceladus.
Justin Kugler is an experienced aerospace professional currently serving as the Director of Business Development at Intuitive Machines, focusing on strategic partnerships for cislunar infrastructure. Previously, Kugler founded Cosmosynth, providing consulting services in aerospace business development, and held various leadership roles at Redwire Space, including General Manager for In-Space Manufacturing & Operations and Vice President for Civil & Commercial Space. Prior experience includes Vice President of Advanced Programs & Concepts at Made In Space, Commercial Innovation Manager at CASIS, and engineer roles at SAIC, L-3 Communications, the Central Intelligence Agency, and NASA Johnson Space Center. Kugler holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University, and a certificate in Strategic Foresight from the University of Houston.
