Mark Hempsell is a British aerospace engineer and CEO of Hempsell Astronautics Ltd. which is currently designing the Universal Space Interface Standard (USIS), a system which aims to standardise berthing, docking and attachment of satellites and other spacecraft. Hempsell formerly worked at

Reaction Engines Limited Reaction Engines Limited is a British aerospace manufacturer based in Oxfordshire, England. History and personnel In , Reaction Engines was founded by Alan Bond (lead engineer on the British Interplanetary Society's Project Daedalus) and ...

, where he was a member of the board of directors as the Future Programmes Director. He has a BSc in Physics from

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and a Masters in

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

and

Astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field. The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astron ...

from Hatfield Polytechnic, now the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

. As a Business Development Manager he ran infrastructure studies on launch systems (BAe

HOTOL HOTOL, for Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, was a 1980s British design for a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spaceplane that was to be powered by an airbreathing jet engine. Development was being conducted by a consortium led by Rolls-Royce and ...

, MacDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper), European space stations and the BAe Multirole Capsule. He was the president of the

British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society (BIS), founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest existing space advocacy organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration. Str ...

from 1997 to 2000 and from 2015 to 2018, and was editor of the JBIS periodical from 2005-2009.

A Sumerian Observation of the Köfels' Impact Event

Hempsell got public audience as author of the book "A Sumerian Observation of the Köfels' Impact Event", with Alan Bond building a theory not accepted in Science, which describes an asteroid impact at Köfels (Alps) causing a heat downwash far away in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah which burned the cities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hempsell, Mark Living people British aerospace engineers Space programme of the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people)