Professor Wessel is an Attorney-Adviser for the Office of the General Counsel at NASA. He is a member of the International and Space Law Practice Group, which has primary responsibility for a broad range of legal areas relating to international space law and cooperation with international partners. His work includes advising on agreements with foreign partners (both commercial and governmental), export control and national security issues, and implementation of Agency and U.S. Government policies related to international cooperation.

Prior to joining NASA in 2019, Professor Wessel practiced international capital markets law and general corporate law as an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in Tokyo and in New York, and as in-house counsel at MetLife in New York. Professor Wessel received his bachelor’s degree in international relations from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an LL.M. in international law from the University of Cambridge, in addition to studying at Waseda University in Tokyo.