Shawn Domagal-Goldman is Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. Previously, he served as Deputy Director of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where he helped lead science teams for space missions and supported research across multiple space science disciplines.

Among the major initiatives he supports is the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), a next-generation flagship telescope concept designed to study how the universe produced potentially habitable worlds, identify habitable planets beyond our solar system, and search those worlds for signs of life.

Dr. Domagal-Goldman’s research background is in astrobiology. He has served on multiple interdisciplinary teams focused on biosignatures and exoplanet habitability, helping establish standards of evidence for detecting life beyond Earth. His work takes a systems-level approach informed by his background as an Earth scientist, planetary scientist, and collaborator on a variety of astrophysics mission concepts.

He also served on the Science and Technology Definition Team for the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) and as Deputy Study Scientist for the Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR). Those two mission concepts ultimately informed the decadal survey recommendation that prioritized development of the Habitable Worlds Observatory.