Biography

Kent Nebergall

Space settlement design, analog fieldwork, and multiplanetary strategy — with a professional background in business analysis and systems thinking.

Kent Nebergall is a space advocate, analog astronaut, and designer of Mars mission and settlement architectures. He chairs the Steering Committee of The Mars Society, founded MacroInvent as a platform for space settlement education and projects, and has contributed award-winning designs, MDRS analog missions, and conference work on settlement strategy and emerging technologies.

He first engaged with The Mars Society in 2004 by winning the Kepler Prize for a Mars Direct Earth Return Vehicle design, and has since presented regularly at Mars Society conventions on mission designs, analogs, and multiplanetary independence. As an analog astronaut at the Mars Desert Research Station he served as astronomer (Crew 32) and commander (Crews 124 and 329), including work on facility improvements and EVA Link field systems. Design work includes the Eureka Mars colony concept (Mars Society competition finalist), Mars sample return studies (including Project Rigel and later collaboration with Tony Muscatello), and the NASA Find Me on the Moon polar rover design. Through MacroInvent and related efforts he promotes modular habitats, practical settlement roadmaps, and inventor education — from startups to space settlements. His professional background as a business analyst spans systems and process work across many industries — the same discipline of requirements, constraints, and clear problem framing that he applies to settlement design.

Recruiter snapshot: Experience map (filter by BA, SharePoint, regulatory, aerospace, and more). Full external bio: Grokipedia — Kent Nebergall.

Positions

Credentials

Winner of NASA Rover Design competition (Find Me on the Moon), 2024
Commander, Mars Desert Research Station Crews 124 and 329. Astronomer, Crew 32
Mars Society Kepler Prize — Mars mission design, 2004
MarsDrive Mars Sample Return Design Competition Winner, 2008
On design plenary panel with Robert Zubrin and Dr Tony Muscatello of NASA (Ret) discussing new designs, 2024