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Biography – Tom Sparn

Tom Sparn

Tom Sparn

Thomas Sparn is a Senior Professional Researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is currently the Program Manager (PM) for the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) and was the PM for the two NASA ESE missions that were merged to create SORCE: the Solar and Atmospheric Variability Explorer (SAVE) and the Total Solar Irradiance Mission (TSIM).

Mr. Sparn was the Program Manager for the SOLSTICE instrument aboard the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite and the EOS platforms from 1987 to 1993. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Sparn was a Senior Engineering Manager and director of Technical Services for the High Altitude Observatory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Between 1987 and 1992 Mr. Sparn was awarded several contracts with NASA for studies regarding complex planning, scheduling and operations systems for spacecraft and space-based observation systems. Mr. Sparn was principal investigator on the TDRSS Resource Users Support Tool (TRUST) development, which was later implemented for the JPL TOPEX and the Wallops Island Flight Facility Long Duration Balloon Program. He also participated as a researcher in the Center for Space Construction at the University of Colorado and was a Co-Investigator for the “Planning, Scheduling and User Interface Testbed to Determine the Telescience Implications for Space Station Ground Systems.”

Mr. Sparn is Program Manager for the upcoming Solar Irradiance Gap Filler (SIGF) mission and the Total Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) that will fly aboard the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). These two missions will be follow-on missions to the current SORCE program and will launch in 2007 and 2011 respectively.