Named Space Shuttle Propulsion Chief Engineer At NASA's Marshall Center

John S. Chapman has been named Space Shuttle Propulsion Chief Engineer with the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.

In the newly created position, Chapman will provide engineering and technical leadership for the Space Shuttle's propulsion elements -- the External Tank, the Solid Rocket Boosters and the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor and the Main Engine - and for the Propulsion Systems Engineering and Integration Office.

In his position, he will work to ensure close communication between the projects and endorse sharing solutions and "best" manufacturing and development practices to improve the technical depth of the propulsion elements.

The chief engineer position was created in response to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew in February 2003. The position adds strength to NASA's engineering and safety support and is part of NASA's effort to improve its culture.

The Engineering Directorate at Marshall provides technical insight and leadership of all Space Shuttle Propulsion Development and production activities. It also supplies technical support to a multitude of International Space Station payloads - cargo - and projects.

Chapman leads a group of 14 engineers, including the chief engineer for each propulsion element and for the engineering and integration office. They are accountable for tracking the technical performance of the Space Shuttle propulsion element activities, including system reliability and system component design and construction.

Chapman joined the NASA team at the Marshall Center in 1980 as an engineer responsible for writing computer programs to analyze Solid Rocket Booster hardware. He has held positions in the Space Shuttle Program of progressively increasing responsibility, including chief engineer for the Solid Rocket Booster and deputy project manager for all three Space Shuttle solid propulsion projects -- the Booster, the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor and the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor.

Chapman also has served as deputy project manager for the Shuttle External Tank Project and business manager for each of the four Marshall Center Space Shuttle Propulsion elements. In October 2001, he was named technical assistant to the director of Marshall's Space Transportation Directorate; he became chief engineer for the directorate in February 2004.

Prior to joining NASA, Chapman (right) spent almost seven years in private industry. Working first for Northrop Services and then for D.P. Associates, both of Huntsville, Chapman performed engineering studies on the early development phases of the Space Shuttle, including providing technical and project software for the Solid Rocket Booster Project.

In 1979, he joined Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, where he worked in the defense industry field-testing laser-based missile guidance systems for the US Army.

Chapman is the co-author of seven technical publications. He also has received numerous NASA honors and awards, including the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1988 for his work as business manager of the Space Shuttle Main Engine Project.

The son of Hugh Chapman and the late Jean Chapman, he was reared in Spartanburg, SC. A graduate of Spartanburg High School, he earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in 1973.

Chapman currently resides in Madison, AL, with his wife Cindie and two teenage sons.

FMI: www.msfc.nasa.gov