Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar

Dr. Mary Lynne Dittmar is Executive Director of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, an industry trade group supporting space exploration, development, and science in deep space. Under her leadership the Coalition has grown from 5 members to more than 40 in a period of six months and is an active advocate for the aerospace industry.

Before starting her own firm in 2004, Dr. Dittmar coordinated operations R&D and later managed Flight Operations for The Boeing Company’s International Space Station Program. Later, she acted as a special advisor to the NASA Astronaut Office before her appointment as Boeing Chief Scientist for Commercial Utilization of the ISS.  More recently she was Senior Policy Advisor to the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which manages the International Space Station National Laboratory.

Dr. Dittmar has advised senior executives in government and industry in the U.S. and abroad, authored influential papers on human spaceflight and the economic development of Low Earth Orbit, and is an active mentor for early career professionals in aerospace.  She is a Fellow of the National Research Society, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute for Astronautics and Aeronautics, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Astronautical Society.  From 2012-2014 she served as a member of the National Research Council Committee on Human Spaceflight, which conducted an in-depth assessment of the U.S. human spaceflight program, and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Space Studies Board of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. 

In her spare time Dr. Dittmar enjoys volcano chasing, writing, and music, is an active mentor, co-habitats with two cats, stays in regular touch with her 3 children, and greatly enjoys her 3 grandchildren.  She resides in Washington, D.C.