Who: John Gruener, NASA Flight Systems Engineer What: Chat about Future Lunar Exploration Date: Thursday, Nov. 18, 2004 Time: 8:00 - 9:00 AM Alaska Time 9:00 - 10:00 AM Pacific Time 10:00 - 11:00 AM Mountain Time 11:00 AM - Noon Central Time Noon - 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Biography:
John Gruener currently serves as a flight systems engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He joined Johnson Space Center in May 1986, working on the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs. After a year and a half, he moved into an area more suited to his interests: the exploration of the Moon and Mars. Since then, he has conducted work in several different capacities: as a rocket scientist designing missions to the Moon and Mars, a space farmer growing of plants in advanced life support systems, and a planetary scientist studying the rocks and soils on Mars.

After graduating from Spring Woods High School in Houston, Texas, Gruener earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from University of Texas. He received his M.S. in Physical Science (with an emphasis in planetary geology) at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.