Red Hat Coffee Hour Series with Dr. Moogega Cooper

Doctor Moogega Cooper is one of the world’s foremost experts on sterilization of spacecraft materials, working for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Planetary Protection Group. She is a planetary protection scientist charged with keeping not only Earth safe from alien life forms, but with making sure human’s extra-terrestrial voyages don’t infect places like the moon, Mars or even the moons of Jupiter. Join us as Adam Clater, Chief architect at Red Hat®, and Dr. Cooper talk about space exploration - the sample return mission from Mars, and where her research will take future NASA missions.

Speaker and Presenter Information

Doctor Moogega Cooper

A real life “Guardian of the Galaxy,” Dr. Moogega “Moo” Cooper holds the awesome responsibility of keeping the red planet safe from any of the Earth’s contaminants. Moo is the planetary protection lead of the famed NASA 2020 Mars mission—with its highly viewed landing on February 18, 2021. Her work with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is integral to the ongoing mission to discern whether Mars could be habitable for humans and that we don’t harm what’s already there—a job she has been working up to for most of her life.

After graduating from high school at 16, Cooper studied physics as an undergraduate, received a master's degree and went on to earn her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at 24 years old with a dissertation on spacecraft materials.

Moo is passionate about empowering organizations and others to achieve their dreams and overcome obstacles that she articulately conveys through her life story and love of her work. A role model for women in science and technology, she is also passionate about introducing more people to the wonders of the STEAM world, including by talking about her work to boys and girls from underrepresented communities and appearing on shows like Because Space and Bill Nye Saves the World.

Adam Clater, Chief Architect, Red Hat Public Sector

Adam works internationally with federal agencies, integrators and Red Hat partners & Communities to promote and define the use of enterprise open source solutions.

Adam has experienced first hand the evolving role that I.T. has played in the federal government for nearly two decades, starting with his role as a Systems Administrator at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1997.

Prior to joining Red Hat, Adam was a senior architect, system administrator and lead for a variety of commercial and government agencies including: Lockheed Martin - U.S. Army, The National Education Association, RSA Security, AOL/Time Warner.