Charles White

Nickname: Admiral

At a young age, I was inspired to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from a television show known as Cosmos. While working at JPL, I had a privileged one on one talk with Dr. Carl Sagan for 90 minutes. Because of that talk, I want to share my excitement in exploring the solar system and beyond through what I do and in art that I create.

As a private citizen, I am the founder and one of the project managers with a volunteer organization that supports the merging of art and science. The group is the Desert Wizards of Mars and we are technical craftspeople with skills from welders to chefs. Together, we built the Mars Rover Art Car that made history at Burning Man 2013, and the Human Spirit that was featured at LA Bequinox. This year, 2014, we made history again as co-founder of the Black Rock Observatory, that is a working observatory with 20.5 inch scope, a space art gallery, and an outdoor planetarium. We have brought education to the masses from dusty venues where telescopes are challenged.

As a working space professional, I have managed theJPL Problem Reporting System that is used for all spacecraft anomalies and their solutions. I have contributed to every Mars lander project, in addition to the planetary missions; Cassini, Galileo, Magellan (and many other missions at JPL).

The last couple years I have advocated for policies to incorporate AI and Large Language Models forLessons Learned.

After 37 years at JPL I completed my service with the title of Deputy Chief Knowledge Officer.

By request of theUS Air Force and US Navy, NASA placed me on special assignment to assist these two services with my Knowledge Management skills. I helped them improve information flow and institutional learning. I coordinated the creation of the Navy’s first Mine Warfare Taxonomy, and I assisted the Air Force in creating a system of record for the IndependentReadiness Review Team that has affected every rocket launch from the USAF Space Command.

All in all, between my work and my art, I love living life with close friends, a peaceful family, and a great ‘burner’ community. I’m not just a human doing… I’m a human BEING.

Be inspired too--

The stars belong to no one, and to us all.