NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has found a new leader for its Solar System exploration program, and the choice of Bobby Braun signals a willingness to adapt to the changing world of aerospace.

Braun, an engineer who specializes in cutting-edge technology, will join the NASA laboratory from the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he served as dean. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (or JPL) has led NASA’s efforts to explore the Solar System with uncrewed spacecraft from the beginning.

“JPL has always been a special place to me,” Braun said in an interview. “It is the center of our nation’s planetary exploration efforts, with flagship missions that have rewritten our textbooks.” Those missions have included the Voyager excursions through and beyond the Solar System, dedicated probes to Jupiter and Saturn, and multiple landings on Mars.