Dr. Rob Adams is a study lead in the Advanced Concepts Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. His main duties include organizing the efforts of teams of engineers to complete analyses of interest to NASA management. He led the Ares V integration study in 2008, bringing together the disparate efforts from four major centers under one banner. He led the team evaluating concept aircraft dropped launch vehicles for a joint NASA/Air Force study. He has lead a number of analyses for the Space Systems branch as well, including evaluating crewed missions to Mars. Dr. Adams is considered an expert on mitigation systems for defending the Earth against impacts with asteroids and comets. Dr. Adams also conducts analyses and research in the fields of advanced propulsion and mission analysis. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Doctor of Philosophy (Mechanical Engineering) degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and is finishing a Master's degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Dr. Adams looks forward to the day where we are all out there exploring space.