November 6 – 8
Seattle, WA

Daneil Tani

Director

Northrop Grumman Space Systems

Dan Tani Headshot

Mr. Daniel (Dan) Tani is a Director in the Human Exploration and Operations unit in Northrop Grumman Space Systems, located in Dulles, VA.

From 2012 to 2022, Dan held several roles in the government, non-profit, education and private sectors. Most recently he was the chief of the IN-SPIRE Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; he served as the Director of Foundation Grants at the US-Japan Foundation; was a faculty member at The American School in Japan where he taught Middle and High School Science and Technology; and was the Vice President for Cargo and Mission Operations at Orbital ATK (was Orbital Sciences Corporation), a Washington DC-area aerospace company.

From 1996 to 2012, Dan was an astronaut based at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In his 16 year career at NASA, he flew on 2 space missions, for an accumulated 132 days in space, featuring 6 space walks. On his first spaceflight (2001), he served as a Mission Specialist on the 12-day STS-108 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. On his second spaceflight (2007-2008), he served as a Flight Engineer for 4 months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a member of the Expedition 16 crew. He was delivered to the ISS as a member of the STS-120 crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, and was returned to Earth as a member of the STS-122 crew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. His spaceflight preparation included extensive training at the cosmonaut training facility in Star City, Russia; hiking and sea kayaking with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); winter and sea survival courses; high performance jet flying; and serving as a member of the NEEMO-2 crew where he worked and lived in an underwater habitat for 8 days. In addition to his training and preparation for spaceflight, Dan served as Capsule Communicator (“Capcom”) in Mission Control, was a Branch Chief in the Astronaut Office’s Space Station branch, and performed other technical assignments.

Originally from the Chicago area, Dan is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Techology, having received a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering. He is a 3rd generation Japanese-American and the son of parents that were interned at the Topaz Relocation Center as part of the mandatory evacuation of Japanese descendants during World War II. A mediocre but avid golfer, he lives with his wife Jane (from Cork, Ireland) and 3 children in Northern Virginia.