36th Annual
TM
NORTHEAST
ASTRONOMY
FORUM
& SPACE EXPO
2 HUGE DAYS \\ ROCKLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE \\ NEW YORK
THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST SPECTACULAR ASTRONOMY & SPACE EXPO
THE WORLD'S LARGEST AND MOST SPECTACULAR ASTRONOMY & SPACE EXPO
THE 2026
SPEAKERS
NEAF searches the world to bring you the astronomers, researchers, scientists, and personalities that are making science history today.
No where else will you find such an extensive caliber of talent brought together in one place.
Michelle Thaller
Astronomer / Research Scientist
Michelle Thaller is an astronomer, research scientist, and science communicator. Thaller is formerly the Assistant Director for Science Communication at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. She retired in 2024 after 27 years at NASA.
From 1998 to 2009 she was a staff scientist at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, and later Manager of the Education and Public Outreach program for the Spitzer Space Telescope, at the California Institute of Technology. She is a frequent on-camera contributor to programming on The History Channel and Science Channel.
Thaller is a regular contributor to the online edition of the Christian Science Monitor, for which she writes a monthly science column, and appears on the History Channel show, The Universe, and The Science Channel series How the Universe Works, Strip the Cosmos, and The Planets and Beyond. In 2016 and 2017 Thaller authored and hosted the PRX/Sky & Telescope Orbital Path Podcasts series, and in 2008 contributed to and appeared in the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope's award-winning video podcast series IRrelevant Astronomy.
Thaller attended Harvard University, where she majored in astrophysics and worked on precision measurement of binary stars, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1992. At Georgia State University Thaller worked on colliding winds in close massive binary systems. She received a PhD in 1998.
Anna Fisher
NASA Astronaut
ANNA LEE FISHER is a chemist, emergency physician and a former NASA astronaut. Formerly married to fellow astronaut Bill Fisher, and the mother of two children, in 1984, she became the first mother to fly in space. During her career at NASA, she was involved with three major programs: the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and the Orion spacecraft.
Fisher was selected as an astronaut candidate with NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first group of NASA astronauts to include women, in January 1978. She became the Astronaut Office representative for the development and testing of the Canadarm remote manipulator system and the testing of payload bay door contingency spacewalk procedures. She flew in space on the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-51-A mission in November 1984, during which she used the Canadarm to retrieve two satellites that had been placed in incorrect orbits.
A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1971, Fisher started graduate school in chemistry, conducting X-ray crystallographic studies of metallocarboranes. The following year she moved to the UCLA School of Medicine, where she received her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1976. She completed her internship at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California, in 1977, and chose to specialize in emergency medicine
Hoot Gibson
Veteran NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut
ROBERT LEE "HOOT" GIBSON (Capt, USN, Ret.),
is a naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. A retired NASA astronaut, he also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1992 to 1994. Today Gibson is active as a professional pilot, racing regularly at the annual Reno Air Races. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2013, and has received several military decorations throughout his career.
Selected by NASA in January 1978, Gibson became an astronaut in August 1979. Gibson flew five missions: STS-41-B in 1984, STS-61-C in 1986, STS-27 in 1988, STS-47 in 1992, and STS-71 in 1995. Gibson served as Chief of the Astronaut Office (December 1992 to September 1994) and as Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations (March–November 1996).
On his last flight, (June 27 to July 7, 1995), Gibson commanded a crew of seven-members (up) and eight-members (down) on Space Shuttle mission STS-71. This was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir, and involved an exchange of crews. When the hatch separating the two modules was opened, Gibson and Vladimir Dezhurov shook hands, symbolizing the newly-found cooperation between the United States of America and the Russian Federation. Later that day, President Bill Clinton in a statement mentioned that this handshake was a major breakthrough towards the ending of the Cold War.
Ken Kremer
Journalist/Photographer/Research Scientist
DR. KEN KREMER is a Pharmaceutical Research Scientist and Space Journalist, and Founder & Managing Editor for Space UpClose website – based nearby the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, FL. He is active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
Dr. Kremer offers independent analysis about space topics. He lectures about both human and robotic spaceflight especially Mars.
Ken is a scientist, journalist, photographer and speaker and often appears as an expert space commentator on major national, international and local TV News outlets: ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC TV and Radio News, Fox News, News Nation, Spectrum, ARD, TRT World Turkish TV, i24, the American Space Museum and other major news outlets, representing Space UpClose.
His Mars and Space imagery and articles have been widely published on TV, magazines, books and websites.
Dave McComas
IMAP Principle Investigator
DAVID J McCOMAS is the Principle Investigator for NASA’s IMAP Mission (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe). McComas is the Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, and leads the Space Physics at Princeton Group at Princeton University. He was the Princeton University Vice President for the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL) from 2016 - 2024 and previously Assistant Vice President for Space Science and Engineering at the Southwest Research Institute, Adjoint Professor of Physics[1] at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), and was the founding director of the Center for Space Science and Exploration[2] at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is noted for his accomplishments in experimental space plasma physics, including leading instruments and missions to study the heliosphere and solar wind: IMAP, IBEX, TWINS, Ulysses/SWOOPS, ACE/SWEPAM, and Parker Solar Probe. He received the National Academy of Science's 2023 Arctowski Medal, European Geosciences Union 2022 Hannes Alfven Medal, SCOSTEP 2022 Distinguished Scientist Award, a NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal in 2015, the 2014 COSPAR Space Science Award, and the American Geophysical Union 1993 Macelwane Medal.
Mike Ciannilli
Manager of NASA's Apollo Challenger
Columbia Lessons Learned Program
MIKE CIANNILLI is a widely sought-after professional speaker, on-air media personality, and consultant to governmental and commercial organizations. Following a 30-year career in key leadership positions within America’s space program, he now shares NASA’s most invaluable lessons learned with companies and organizations across the United States and worldwide.
Ciannilli delivers impactful keynote speeches and presentations on insightful, translatable topics drawn from NASA’s experiences. He has engaged extensively across all media platforms—including film, television, live news, podcasts, print, and radio—transforming complex technical subjects into clear, compelling narratives that audiences readily grasp and embrace. His consulting expertise has produced measurable results for a diverse array of clients.
In 2016, Ciannilli created and led NASA’s Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Program (ACCLLP) for a decade. He designed innovative events, media productions, and collaborations that embedded the lessons of failure into NASA’s culture, influencing decision-making at all levels and fostering a healthy workforce focused on safety and mission success. Concurrently, he directed the Columbia Research and Preservation Office and the Space Shuttle Challenger Recovery Office, overseeing the respectful recovery, preservation, and protection of artifacts. He also established the world’s only Columbia artifact loan program for research and academic use and led the development of the internationally recognized Forever Remembered exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida—a national memorial to the Columbia and Challenger crews visited by millions annually.
Earlier, Ciannilli served nine years as NASA Test Director at Kennedy Space Center, responsible for orbiter processing, launch countdowns, and contingency operations, including flight crew recovery. In 2003, he led helicopter air search operations across Texas during the Columbia accident recovery. Prior to joining NASA in 2005, he spent eight years with United Space Alliance as a Test Project Engineer, leading testing, engineering integration, high-fidelity simulations, and crew briefings.
Ciannilli holds a Bachelor of Science in Space Science from the Florida Institute of Technology. He has received numerous honors, including the Silver Snoopy, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and Columbia Recovery Team Award. Raised in Syracuse, New York, he enjoys time with his family, surfing, boating, hiking, skiing, and film/TV production.
For more information, visit PreventFailure.com
Ciannilli is a widely sought-after professional speaker, on-air media personality, and consultant to governmental and commercial organizations. Following a 30-year career in key leadership positions within America’s space program, he now shares NASA’s most invaluable lessons learned with companies and organizations across the United States and worldwide.
Ciannilli delivers impactful keynote speeches and presentations on insightful, translatable topics drawn from NASA’s experiences. He has engaged extensively across all media platforms—including film, television, live news, podcasts, print, and radio—transforming complex technical subjects into clear, compelling narratives that audiences readily grasp and embrace. His consulting expertise has produced measurable results for a diverse array of clients.
In 2016, Ciannilli created and led NASA’s Apollo Challenger Columbia Lessons Learned Program (ACCLLP) for a decade. He designed innovative events, media productions, and collaborations that embedded the lessons of failure into NASA’s culture, influencing decision-making at all levels and fostering a healthy workforce focused on safety and mission success. Concurrently, he directed the Columbia Research and Preservation Office and the Space Shuttle Challenger Recovery Office, overseeing the respectful recovery, preservation, and protection of artifacts. He also established the world’s only Columbia artifact loan program for research and academic use and led the development of the internationally recognized Forever Remembered exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida—a national memorial to the Columbia and Challenger crews visited by millions annually.
Earlier, Ciannilli served nine years as NASA Test Director at Kennedy Space Center, responsible for orbiter processing, launch countdowns, and contingency operations, including flight crew recovery. In 2003, he led helicopter air search operations across Texas during the Columbia accident recovery. Prior to joining NASA in 2005, he spent eight years with United Space Alliance as a Test Project Engineer, leading testing, engineering integration, high-fidelity simulations, and crew briefings.
Ciannilli holds a Bachelor of Science in Space Science from the Florida Institute of Technology. He has received numerous honors, including the Silver Snoopy, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and Columbia Recovery Team Award. Raised in Syracuse, New York, he enjoys time with his family, surfing, boating, hiking, skiing, and film/TV production.
For more information, visit PreventFailure.com
Gerry Griffin
Fmr. Director of NASA Space Flight Center
In October of 1957, almost sixty-six years ago, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into low-earth orbit. Since that time nations around the world have sent into space all kinds of automated payloads as well as humans (and sometimes both together). Question: why have they done this? Answer: in order to learn and do things worthwhile in the “now accessible” environment beyond earth’s atmosphere... some looking for worthwhile and peaceful purposes, some others for different reasons. Gerry will take a look at what is going on today in space, both government and commercial activities. With the past and current space activities set as the foundation. Mr. Griffin will review what we are going to do in the near-term exciting future, and what is planned for the long-range future.
GERRY GRIFFIN served as a flight director during the Apollo program and director of Johnson Space Center, succeeding Chris Kraft in 1982. In 1964 Griffin joined NASA in Houston as a flight controller in Mission Control, specializing in guidance, navigation and control systems during Project Gemini. In 1968 he was named a Mission Control flight director and served in that role for all of the Apollo Program manned missions including all manned missions to the Moon
Kevin Schindler
Lowell Observatory
KEVIN SCHINDLER has worked at Lowell Observatory for over twenty years, managing the observatory’s outreach program for much of that time. He now serves as Lowell’s historian, documenting the observatory’s outreach program for much of that time. He also serves as Sheriff
of the Flagstaff Corral of Westerners, an international organization devoted to western American history, and writes an astronomy
column, ‘The View from Mars Hill’, For the Arizona Daily Sun.
Don Pettit
Veteran NASA Astronaut
DONALD R. PETTIT (Ph.D.) was selected by NASA in 1996. The Silverton, Oregon native holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University and a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona. Prior to becoming an astronaut, he worked as a staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico. A veteran of four spaceflights, Pettit first served as NASA science officer for Expedition 6 in 2003. Next, he served as mission specialist and operated the robotic arm for STS-126 in 2008. He returned to International Space Station in 2012 for a long duration mission as a flight engineer for Expedition 30/31, where he lived aboard the ISS for 193 days. Most recently, Pettit launched to the ISS on September 11, 2024, as a flight engineer on the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft. Pettit logged another seven months aboard the station, conducting science experiments and maintaining the space station. He has lived a total of 590 days in space and has 13 spacewalk hours.
Hosted by Joe Rao
JOE RAO is the eight-time Emmy nominated meteorologist and on air personality. In addition to his on-air fame, Joe is also an avid amateur astronomer. He has co-lead several eclipse expeditions and served as an on-board meteorologist for four eclipse cruises. He is also an Associate and Guest Lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium, a Contributing Editor for S&T magazine and also writes for Space.com, and Natural History magazine.
and Vince Coulehan
VINCE COULEHAN takes center stage as your NEAF Talks Master of Ceremonies. Vince is an avid astro-imager and has been chasing the world for over five decades as an amateur astronomer to witness, now nine total solar eclipses. He is an active member with the AAVSO as well as a key NEAF organizer and a primary board member at Rockland Astronomy. He has been active with outreach to bring astronomy and observing to students at high schools and elementary schools for over 20 years. Vincent has an ME in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College.