NEEMO 7

Bill Todd - bio

NEEMO VII Mission Director
United Space Alliance

Bill works as a Simulation Supervisor and Project Lead at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He is responsible for leading simulations for training of the NASA Astronaut and Flight Control Teams. He has also worked as an Operations Lead at the Mission Control Center in Moscow, Russia.

Several times a year, Bill is responsible for managing the NASA Undersea Research Team “NEEMO” -- NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations. NASA utilizes the “Aquarius” undersea habitat as a research analog for space missions to develop concepts for long-term space habitation.

As a little kid, Billy grew up watching the Apollo launches from his beachfront hometown of Cocoa Beach, Florida, where his father was also employed in the Space program. It was there that he was immersed in and captivated by both sea and space environments.

Bills influences have come from a broad field including Homer and Homer Simpson, Jacques Cousteau, Scott Carpenter, Jules Verne, Charles Darwin, Thomas Jefferson, Jimmy Page, SRV, and of course, his dad.

Bill graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Geology in 1982. He enjoys working in and visiting underwater habitats and submersibles and was first an aquanaut on the 2000 “NASA SEATEST“ mission and then again for the Oct. 2001 NASA NEEMO 1 mission. He also has managed the “topside“ teams for NASA missions in 2002-2004.

He is a PADI Divemaster, Instrument rated pilot and Explorers Club Fellow. His hobbies are lawn work, not eating seafood, boating, diving, snow skiing and playing guitar in his rock band, “ The Rockit Scientists.” Bill and his wife Karen have two daughters, Kristen and Kari. They reside in Seabrook, Texas.