30+
years NASA
ISS
fLIGHT Director
3
bOOKS IN PROGRESS
Where the Universe ends,
the story begins.
Dr. Bob Dempsey directed missions aboard the International Space Station, shaped humanity's commercial spaceflight programs, and spent thirty years at the frontier of what's possible. Now he tells those stories — in books, on stage, and in conversation.
NASA FLIGHT DIRECTOR • AUTHOR • STORYTELLER
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
N
NASA Johnson Space Center
Flight Director - International Space Station
B
PhD Astrophysics
Aerospace Engineering Background
N
NASA
Starliner Commercial Crew Program
B
Blue Origin
Director of Operations
"The most important skill in Mission Control isn't knowing all the answers. It's knowing how to think when everything is breaking at once."
Very few people on Earth have sat in the Flight Director's chair in NASA’s Mission Control. Bob Dempsey is one of them. During his tenure at NASA's Johnson Space Center, he directed missions that kept astronauts alive, experiments running, and humanity's most ambitious engineering projects on track - orbit by orbit, shift by shift.
Thirty years at the edge of the possible
about dr. bob
At NASA, Bob helped shape the future of commercial spaceflight as part of the Commercial Crew Program and then later as the lead Rendezvous Flight Director for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner Commercial Crew. He then took his operational expertise to Blue Origin as Director of Operations to support New Shepard, New Glenn, Blue Moon Lunar Lander and the Orbital Reef projects.
He now brings decades of high-stakes experience to a new chapter: writing the stories the public never got to hear and helping organizations think more clearly under pressure.
FLIGHT OPERATIONS
Directed ISS Missions from Mission Control, managing complex systems, international crew, and real-time emergencies with teams of hundreds.
COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT
Brought NASA's operational rigor to Boeing's commercial crew program, helping develop the systems and culture that will carry astronauts to orbit for decades.
AUTHOR & STORYTELLER
Publisher of a technical reference on the International Space Station for the next generation of spaceflight professionals and currently completing three books spanning science fiction and non-fiction.
SPEAKER & EDUCATOR
Brings the Mission Control experience to general audiences through storytelling performances, keynotes, and university lectures — making the cosmos feel personal.
📚
Books & Writing
Science fiction, narrative non-fiction, and technical references rooted in three decades of lived spaceflight experience. Stories that only someone who was there can tell.
🎤
Speaking & Storytelling
Keynotes, university lectures, planetarium performances, and conference talks. From general audiences to aerospace professionals — the Mission Control story told live.
Three ways to work together
WHAT i DO
Science Fiction
The Last Scroll of Alexandria
Three people history would normally overlook—a fugitive enslaved girl, an autistic oblate, and a disabled scientist— who may determine whether a new dementia can be stopped are linked by a scroll from the famed Library of Alexandria. A propulsive plot with emotional stakes, The Last Scroll of Alexandria explores themes of family, legacy, and what it means to be remembered.
Historical Fiction
The Fate of Second Chances
A science fiction narrative that asks what might have been preserved — and what might have been lost — if history had bent differently. Dr. Bob's first foray into pure speculative fiction.
Non-Fiction
Of Rockets and Reckoning
An insider's view of NASA's Commercial Crew Program
The behind-the-scenes story of how NASA partnered with Boeing and SpaceX to hand off human spaceflight to commercial industry — told by someone who was in the room when the most consequential decisions were made.
From the stars to paper
written Word
On stage and on the record
Spoken Word
From planetarium shows to university lectures to storytelling performances, Dr. Bob brings the Mission Control experience to general audiences and specialist communities alike - making thirty years of aerospace history feel immediate, human, and alive.
The View from the Flight Director's Chair
What it really looks like to manage a crisis in real time, 250 miles above Earth — and what it teaches about leadership on the ground.
Commercial Spaceflight: The Next Thirty Years
An insider's view of where the industry is headed, who's building it, and what the human cost of getting there actually looks like.
Systems Thinking Under Pressure
How Mission Control's culture of structured decision-making applies to any high-stakes operating environment — from hospitals to financial trading floors.
Storytelling as Mission Debrief
A performance-style talk that blends personal narrative with spaceflight history — designed for science centers, planetariums, and public audiences.
Book Dr. Bob for your event
Available for keynotes, university lectures, science center performances, conference panels, and corporate events.
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Science centers & planetariums
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Universities & research institutions
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Aerospace & engineering conferences
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Corporate leadership events
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Public storytelling & literary events
