Risha George is the NEON Series 1 Project Manager for the Office of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Observations. Her position prior to this role was Deputy Project Manager for the Landsat Next Project, where she supported mission readiness planning, flight to ground interface development, and system security in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Risha has extensive experience across NASA missions and projects. She began her career as a summer intern at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the Safety and Mission Assurance organization, returning after graduation to work full time, and later leading the Software Assurance Program for the Bioastronautics Contract. After joining NASA Goddard as a civil servant in 2010, she supported the Constellation Program, the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-1 mission, worked as the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Data Standards Lead for GSFC, and held leadership roles on the Space Network Project, including Ground Systems Manager for the Artemis-I modifications and the Orion Artemis-II Optical Communications (O2O) Ground Segment. Risha established successful partnerships with the International Space Station (ISS) Program and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory. Risha and her colleagues were nominated for the Women in Tech global award and became finalists for their work on the ISS Ku-Upgrade.
She went on to serve as the Deputy Project Manager of the Advanced Communications Capabilities for Exploration and Science Systems (ACCESS) project, overseeing the maintenance and sustainment of the Near Space Network (NSN) government assets and the development of new direct-to-Earth antenna ground stations for the lunar Gateway mission, modifications to support the Roman Space Telescope, and optical communications ground systems.
Risha earned a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and French from Austin College in Sherman, TX. She was also a participant in NASA’s Agency Mid-Level Leadership Program, where she completed a detail at NASA Headquarters in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. She is a Federal Acquisition Certified Project manager.