Out Astronaut Executive Team
Dr. Jason Reimuller, Executive Director
Dr. Jason Reimuller currently serves as the Executive Director of the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences and also serves as Co-I of NASA’s PMC-Turbo experiment and Director of Project PoSSUM, a citizen-science astronautics program. A gay man twice selected by NASA as a “highly qualified” astronaut candidate, Jason served for six years as a system engineer and project manager for NASA’s Constellation Program and has also been a Commissioned Officer in the US Air Force. Jason holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder and M.S. degrees in Physics, Flight Test Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering. Jason also works as a commercial research pilot and is a NAUI SCUBA Divemaster. Jason was a co-founder of the San Francisco Fog rugby club, one of the world’s first rugby teams for gay athletes, and has been instrumental in helping expand the popularity of the sport in the LGBTQ community since.
Dr. Brandy Nunez, 2023 Chair
Dr. Brandy Nunez is a veterinarian, a mother, an electronic musician, and an aspiring astronaut. She is CEO of Mobile Veterinary Services, Inc, based in Orange County, CA. Her formal education is in microbiology/chemistry, with an emphasis on novel therapeutic discovery. She then obtained her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the Western University of Health Sciences. After many years of clinical and emergency work, Dr. Nunez opened her own mobile practice, focusing on under-served populations.
Dr. Nunez is passionate about conducting biomedical research in space and has a special interest in medical research aboard artificial/low gravity space stations. She is currently a student at IIAS, concentrating on the Bioastronautics program.
Mr. Nic Nelson, Aeromedical Projects
Nic is an MD candidate at Sidney Kimmel Medical College with plans to become a flight surgeon specializing in astronaut health surveillance and radiation safety. A bicoastal STEM aficionado, he received his bachelor’s from UCLA in biochemistry and English. He taught junior high science before performing space medicine research at Jefferson University and the University of Pennsylvania, where he ran analog studies on human health and performance in spaceflight simulations. As a gay-identifying medical student, he aims to encourage aspiring LGBTQ professionals while advocating planetary stewardship. He hopes to wear many hats (or helmets) through his career, including: radiation oncologist, dad, global health volunteer, flight surgeon, space medicine researcher, and physician astronaut. He co-founded the Aerospace Medical Association’s diversity committee, whose primary objective is to promote diversity and inclusion in astronautics and aerospace medicine.