Ethiraj Venkatapathy, Senior Technologist for the Entry System Technologies at NASA’s Ames Research Center, receives an award after giving the Paolo Santini Memorial Lecture: Ablators from Apollo to Future Missions to Moon, Mars, and Beyond at the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ethiraj Venkatapathy, Senior Technologist for the Entry System Technologies at NASA’s Ames Research Center, is seen during the Paolo Santini Memorial Lecture: Ablators from Apollo to Future Missions to Moon, Mars, and Beyond at the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ethiraj Venkatapathy, Senior Technologist for the Entry System Technologies at NASA’s Ames Research Center, is seen during the Paolo Santini Memorial Lecture: Ablators from Apollo to Future Missions to Moon, Mars, and Beyond at the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Ethiraj Venkatapathy, Senior Technologist for the Entry System Technologies at NASA’s Ames Research Center, answers a question after giving the Paolo Santini Memorial Lecture: Ablators from Apollo to Future Missions to Moon, Mars, and Beyond at the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Space Science Advisory Committee Chairman Ed Wiler (r) visit to Ames Research Center: on tour of the Arc Jet Facility with Ethiraj 'Raj' Venkatapathy presenting