 Prior to coming to NASA, Bennett held key positions in DoE's space radioisotope power program, including serving as Director of Safety and Nuclear Operations for the radioisotope power sources that were used on the Galileo mission to Jupiter and that are being used on the Ulysses mission to explore the polar regions of the Sun.This same radioisotope power source design was then flown on the Cassini mission to Saturn and on the New Horizons mission to Jupiter.Previous positions included Chief of the Research Support Branch in the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) where Bennett was instrumental in creating and managing NRC's reactor operational safety research program.