Kriss J. Kennedy

Johnson Space Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Kriss J. Kennedy is a pioneering aerospace engineer whose work has fundamentally shaped the architecture of human exploration beyond Earth. His research centers on in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and the design of habitats and destination systems for the Moon and Mars. Kennedy’s most impactful contribution is his seminal 1995 paper on producing methane and carbon monoxide from Martian resources for return propulsion, which remains a cornerstone reference for ISRU mission planning with 21 citations. This work demonstrated that propellant sufficient for a 500-kg return vehicle could be manufactured on Mars, directly enabling sustainable round-trip missions. He also led the development of NASA’s Technology Area 07 Human Exploration Destination Systems Roadmap (2011, 15 citations), which provided a strategic vision for surface habitats, mobility systems, and resource extraction technologies. Additionally, Kennedy designed the “Microhab” analog facility, a mobile field unit used in NASA’s Desert Research and Technologies Simulations (D-RATS) to test integrated system health monitoring for lunar habitats. His contributions have been instrumental in transitioning human spaceflight from short-duration missions to permanent off-world settlements.