James Miller worked as the assistant Navigation Team Chief on the Viking Mission to Mars in 1976. In 2000, he received the Mechanics and Control of Flight medal from the AIAA for his design of the navigation system for the first orbiting and landing on the asteroid Eros. Further, he designed a trajectory to leave Earth and orbit the Moon with no propulsive maneuvers. This was the first practical solution of the four-body problem, and it has since been used on the missions Hiten, Genesis, and Grail.