Joseph P. (Joe) Bassi is an adjunct lecturer at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in US History and the University of Texas/El Paso in National Security Studies. During his PhD program at UC Santa Barbara, Dr. Bassi was a Guggenheim pre-doctoral fellow in Space History at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. From 2010 to May 2017, he was an assistant professor of arts and science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University/Worldwide. He became a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador in January 2017. Dr Bassi completed his PhD in History at the University of California, Santa Barbara in June 2009. In addition to the PhD, he has graduate degrees in Meteorology from Penn State, Astrophysics from the University of Colorado, and History from the George Washington University. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1974 with a BS in Physics (Phi Beta Kappa) and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program. A retired US Air Force officer with twenty-six years of active duty, he at various points in his military career served as Director of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (Guam), Professor of Strategic Studies at a professional military college, Headquarters US Air Force Action Officer and Program Element Manager, Chief of the Acquisition Meteorology Office at Air Force Space Systems Division, and Assistant Professor of Physics at the USAF Academy.