David Morse currently serves as special assistant to the director of
NASA Ames Research Center located in the heart of California’s
Silicon Valley. In that capacity, he advises Ames senior management
on public affairs, media, legislative, policy, and community
issues.
Formerly, Morse was chief of the Public Affairs Office directing news media interaction and managing community outreach programs for NASA’s premiere basic research institution. His division and its staff of more than 25 employees led and directed local efforts to inform and educate the public about NASA and Ames missions, people, facilities and accomplishments.
Morse managed the development of national and local NASA news releases, video files, live TV shots and public information products. He has served as moderator at 10 NASA news conferences, including several shown live on NASA television. He was editor in chief of the Astrogram, the center’s newspaper, for many years. He served as public information officer for Ames’ very successful Lunar Prospector mission that discovered water ice at the Moon’s poles, and for the center’s Galileo probe mission to Jupiter. He was also a spokesperson at Kennedy Space Center for the John Glenn mission, answering media and public inquiries and giving over 200 live radio and television interviews.
In 1997, Morse was the co-project manager of Ames’ hugely successful “Open House” that drew 250,000 guests to the center. He was an organizer of the first-ever Shuttle Development Conference, also hosted at Ames. He has served as co-chair of Ames’ Multicultural Leadership Council, and is a member of the center’s Architectural Review board. He is deputy chair of the Ames Exchange Council that serves the morale and welfare needs of the Ames community.
Morse frequently makes presentations to community groups, has written extensively about Ames research and technology, and conducted numerous radio and TV interviews for broadcast all over the world. He has been on several PBS specials, a spokesperson on BBC live worldwide, and a guest on the popular local television show “Bay Area Backroads.” He served as co-chair for Ames’ 60th anniversary event, and was project manager for the center’s 60th anniversary history book. He also chaired Ames 50th birthday celebration and other events.