Dr. LaPointe began his civil service career at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in 2004, managing research activities in high power electric propulsion. He served as a branch chief and deputy division manager for MSFC research and technology organizations, then on detail to NASA HQ as a Program Manager and Program Executive for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program. Prior to joining NASA, he was a principal scientist at the Ohio Aerospace Institute, where he designed and operated a pulsed multi-MW electric propulsion facility to develop and test high power plasma thrusters. His academic background includes an undergraduate degree in Physics, MS degrees in Physics and in Astrophysics, Planetary and Atmospheric Sciences, and a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering. Dr. LaPointe is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, prior chair of the AIAA Nuclear and Future Flight Propulsion Technical Committee, and a NIAC Fellow. Upon retiring from NASA in 2024, he established Earth2Space LLC to continue developing advanced technologies for Earth and space applications. 

LaPointe, M. R., “Propulsion Options,” Chapter 1 in Interstellar Travel: Propulsion, Life Support, Communications, and the Long Journey, ed. L. Johnson and K. Roy, Elsevier, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780323912808000137

LaPointe, M., “Antimatter Propulsion,” MSFC-E-DAA-TN78815, Document ID 20200001904, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mar 2020. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20200001904/downloads/20200001904.pdf

LaPointe, M., Adams, R., Cassibry, J., Zweiner, M., and Gilland, J., “Gradient Field Imploding Liner Fusion Propulsion System,” NASA/TP-2018- 219996, Sep 2018.https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20180006825/downloads/20180006825.pdf