David Bloodgood

6869 Vallon Dr,

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275

Home: 310-544-83123 

Cell: 310-968-3269

[email protected]

After graduating from Purdue, I accepted a job at TRW’s “Space Park”, in Southern California. Thirty-five years later I still work there, although now we are part of Northrop Grumman. I’m currently responsible for delivering a “First of a kind” cryocooler that cools the James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI instrument to 6 Kelvin, enabling the telescope to “look back in time”, by observing extremely faint, red-shifted objects. Previously, I oversaw the ground test, launch and on-orbit operations of two “Space Tracking and Surveillance System” satellites, validating a key technology identified in President Reagan’s “Strategic Defense Initiative”. Earlier this year, these satellites provided tracking data enabling the first ever live intercept of a missile in flight, based on data from space based sensors.

I met my wife Sheila at work and we live in Rancho Palos Verdes, 1 mile from the Pacific. Ryan and Patrick are active in many things: School, Robotics, Little League, Altar Serving and Boy Scouts. In my spare time, I am an Assistant Scoutmaster for my son’s Boy Scout troop, after 4 years as Cubmaster. There is a family photo gallery at www.bloodgood.net.