“This was, hands-down, the best NASA/Apollo behind-the-scenes, how-it-got-done presentation I ever saw! Awesome!”
“Spacefest VIII moment: Jonathan Ward and astronaut Jerry Ross talked about the stories of those who helped find the wreckage of Columbia. A moving and surprisingly inspirational presentation.”
Jonathan is a Solar System Ambassador as part of the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s public outreach and education programs.
Jonathan serves as a Resident Astronomer aboard Viking Ocean Cruises. In this role, Jonathan delivers enrichment lectures on a wide variety of topics in astronomy, space exploration, and space history. He also provides talks about the night sky in the ship’s Explorers Dome (planetarium) and leads stargazing sessions on deck on clear nights. Jonathan will also begin working with Cunard Lines in 2023.
Jonathan’s passion has always been with space exploration that dates back to when he first saw the Echo I satellite in the night sky in his early childhood. At the age of 14, Jonathan was the youngest person ever selected to be a Summer Intern and tour guide at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Jonathan likes to point out that while at the NASM, he drove a Lunar Rover on the National Mall before he was old enough to drive a car!
He frequently attends gatherings of astronauts and space researchers, and he has met eight of the twelve men who walked on the Moon. He has spoken for programs at the National Air and Space Museum and in a panel discussion at the Texas Book Festival. He spoke to a standing-room-only crown at Spacefest VII in 2016 about the incredible work at Kennedy Space Center during the Apollo era. He spoke at Spacefest VIII, joined by astronaut Jerry Ross, on the search and recovery effort after the space shuttle Columbia accident, and also at the Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) in 2018 with Michael Leinbach. He delivers talks on topics in space exploration for the Adventures In Learning programs for the Shepherd’s Centers of Greensboro (NC) and Columbia (SC).
Jonathan has an extensive collection of artifacts from the US space program. His personal collection includes several Apollo launch control panels, which he is restoring to operational condition and which he frequently brings for the public to interact with at his presentations.
Above all, Jonathan enjoys helping people understand the how and why of space exploration and sharing his passion in the beauty of our universe.
Some of Jonathan’s recent presentations include:
- Cassini-Huygens Space Odyssey to Saturn
- Our Moon—Past, Present & Future
- The New Space Race—Commercial Space Tourism & Colonization
- Searching for E.T.—Are You Out There?
- Mercury—Secrets of the Innermost Planet
- Adventures in Weightlessness
- The James Webb Space Telescope
- History & Fate of the Universe
- NASA’s Glory Days—Behind the Scenes of Apollo
- Columbia’s Homecoming—A Story of Courage, Compassion & Commitment
- Eileen Collins—First US Female Space Pilot & Commander
- Astronomy and Sky Legends in the Land of the Midnight Sun
- Planetary Defense: Protecting Our Planet from External Threats
