Cliff Helfrich has been a member of the JPL Navigation and Mission Design section for 12 years. He began as a maneuver analyst on the Galileo mission. He later became part of the NEAR navigation team, and has assisted in the navigation analysis for many other missions and proposals. In addition to assisting Stardust, he is currently the Mission Management Office Deputy Team Chief for Guidance, Navigation and Control.

Cliff received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois, and a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas.