Robert Cesarone is currently involved in program management, strategy development and long range planning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His activities specifically involve telecommunications and mission operations, including the development of architectural options for the Deep Space Network, NASA's network for tracking interplanetary spacecraft. He has held his present position since September 1991 and has been employed at JPL since 1977. Prior to his current assignment he has held a number of positions within the Voyager Navigation Team, in particular that of lead trajectory and maneuver engineer for the Voyager 2 flybys of Uranus and Neptune.
Prior to his arrival at JPL, he attended the University of Illinois, where he received a B. S. in Mathematics in 1975 and an M. S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in 1977. Mr. Cesarone has authored 24 technical and popular articles covering the Voyager Mission, trajectory design, gravity-assist and space navigation and telecommunications. He is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a member of the World Space Foundation and a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
When he can find any leisure time, he devotes it to his many hobbies. These include amateur astronomy, collecting classic editions of science-fiction and space exploration books, building his model train collection and, most recently, writing songs and playing the five-string banjo in a local band. For the record, he was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 5, 1952.
