He previously served as NASA's chief technologist. In that role, he was the agency's chief strategist and advocate for innovation in aeronautics and space technology. He is also on the Board of Advisers for Mars One. His lab at Cornell focuses on fundamental research in space technology that can be advanced through flight experiments. His lab has launched, on average, one spaceflight experiment a year since 2011 and plans to launch three more spacecraft by 2018.