About

Mission2Mars is a nationwide engagement program catalyzing community partnerships across the country around NASA's space exploration agenda, connecting the public with its Moon-to-Mars missions and learning resources.

Meet Our Team

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Darryl N. Williams, Ph. D.

Principal Investigator; Senior Vice President of Science and Education

Dr. Williams is the Senior Vice President of Science and Education at The Franklin Institute and Principal Investigator (PI) of Mission2Mars. He oversees the M2M project at the leadership level, advancing the project as an institutional priority. 

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Derrick Pitts

Co-Principal Investigator; Planetarium Programs Director & Chief Astronomer

Derrick Pitts is Planetarium Program Director/Chief Astronomer at The Franklin Institute and Co-PI/Content Director for Mission2Mars. Dr. Pitts provides overall strategic and operational oversight with an emphasis on the program's astronomy and space exploration content. 

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Andrea Foster

Assistant Director of National and Network Education Programs

Andrea is the Assistant Director of National and Network Education Programs at the Franklin Institute and Project Manager for Mission to Mars. She oversees program development, processes, and overall project management and logistics. 

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Hollie Barattolo

Assistant Director of Professional Development

As Assistant Director of Professional Development at The Franklin Institute, Hollie leads the Mission2Mars team in the creation and facilitation of content trainings and professional development. 

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Rachel Castro-Diephouse

Senior Manager of Learning Experiences

Rachel is the Senior Manager of Learning Experiences at The Franklin Institute and for the Mission2Mars project. Rachel leads content selection and curation, and guides the development of trainings to support participating sites in program delivery. 

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Michael "Cabbie" Cabán

Education Programs Manager

As Programs Coordinator at The Franklin Institute, Cabbie works with Out-of-School Time organizations in the Philadelphia community to implement local Mission2Mars programming. 

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Alison Hassman

Project Manager of Education Programs

As Project Manager of Education Programs at The Franklin Institute, Alison supports the budgetary, materials, and network management of the local and national programs.

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Laura Santare

Curriculum and Training Specialist

As the Curriculum and Training Specialist, Laura supports content selection and curation, as well as the development of trainings to support participating sites in program delivery. 

Acknowlegments

Mission2Mars is made possible by NASA under grant number 80NSSC21M0083. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of NASA.