Dr. Kevin Sato is the Program Scientist for Exploration in NASA Headquarters Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS), working across the BPS Science Programs, NASA Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD) Divisions, NASA Directorates, and international Space Agencies to advance fundamental scientific research. He has served NASA’s Space Biology Program and its research community for over 22 years. As the Program Scientist for Exploration he works within NASA to define and develop scientific objectives and strategic and tactical plans to conduct science on the Artemis missions and future missions to Mars. Dr.Sato states that “the low Earth orbit platforms of the space shuttle and ISS enabled new scientific discoveries and ability to address long standing theories and hypotheses that were not possible to study on Earth. The Moon now serves as a critical location where we can conduct scientific research that is not possible in low Earth orbit.” He earned his B.S. degree in Microbiology from UCLA and his Ph.D. in Biology from U.C., Irvine.

Beyond NASA, Dr. Sato is busy as a Fellow of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR) where he has served as the Society’s President (2019) and chairs the Communication and Membership Committee and Middle School/High School Program. He is an Associate Editor for npj Microgravity. He was an American Cancer Society and California Breast Cancer Research Program Post-Doctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. He was a recipient of the NASA Silver Snoopy Award, NASA Contractor Award, the ASGSR Orr Reynolds Distinguished Service Award, and numerous team awards for space flight research projects.