AFIT's Center for Space Research and Assurance welcomes Dr. Nathan Boone as an adjunct faculty member.

By Christy Bui
Center for Space Research and Assurance
Air Force Institute of Technology

The Center for Space Research and Assurance warmly welcomes our newest adjunct faculty member, Dr. Nathan Boone. A civilian employee at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Boone started as an AFIT graduate student in 2019 studying Astronautical Engineering. Juggling full-time employment, a pandemic, and graduate courses, he successfully earned his Doctorate in Astronautical Engineering on 21 March 2024.

Boone’s research focused on low lunar orbit and cislunar debris propagation dynamics. His research helps understand space debris risks and is highly relevant to the renewed U.S. and international interest in space operations in cislunar space and near the Moon. During his time at the Air Force Institute of Technology, his research contributed to eight journal articles, eight conferences, and three conference presentations.

Reflecting on his experience, Boone identified two of the conferences as his most memorable experience at AFIT and with CSRA: the AMOS Conference in Maui, Hawaii in 2022 and at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Cislunar Security Conference in Laurel, Maryland in 2023.

“These conferences were great opportunities to showcase my research to the broader cislunar community and gain valuable feedback that I used to improve my research,” Boone said.

Boone will continue his regular duties while collaborating with CSRA to help students with their research and serve as a guest lecturer pertaining topics related to his research.

Dr. Nathan Boone earned his Doctorate in Astronautical Engineering from AFIT in March 2024. He is pictured (left)
next to Lt. Col. Robert Bettinger, AFIT Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering.