Space Shuttle Program Manager Has New Title, Duties
NASA announced last week the
selection of N. Wayne Hale, Jr. as NASA's deputy associate
administrator for strategic partnerships on Friday. John Shannon, a
Mission Management Team chairman and Hale's deputy since November
2005, will succeed him as the Space Shuttle Program manager.
"Wayne has done so much for the human spaceflight program and
built a strong team. The momentum he created will continue," said
Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations,
NASA Headquarters, Washington. "We know John will do an outstanding
job as the program manager after his tremendous leadership as
Wayne's deputy."
Hale has served as the manager of the Space Shuttle Program
since September 2005. In his new position, he will work in Houston
as a senior NASA official in the Space Operations Mission
Directorate, providing strategic leadership to foster cooperative
partnerships that help achieve NASA goals, build alliances across
the public and private sectors, and improve US competitiveness and
economic growth.
As the Space Shuttle Program manager, Hale led the shuttle's
Return to Flight missions, along with six subsequent flights that
successfully continued construction of the International Space
Station.
"John Shannon is completely ready to take the reins in NASA's
most critical program," Hale said. "His leadership skills are well
established, and the shuttle program will do well under his
care."
As the manager of the shuttle program, Shannon will be
responsible for overall management, integration, and operations. He
began his NASA career as a flight control officer in the Mission
Control Center in 1988.
Shannon was selected as the head of Space Shuttle Guidance,
Navigation and Flight Control in 1992 and became a space shuttle
flight director in 1993, supporting 58 shuttle missions. He holds
the distinction of being the youngest flight director in NASA
history. After serving as deputy director of the Columbia Task
Force in 2003, Shannon was selected to create the Space Shuttle
Program's Flight Operations and Integration Office.
Hale's new job is the latest in a career of more than three
decades at NASA. Before becoming the manager of Space Shuttle
Program, Hale served as the program's deputy manager following the
Columbia accident and chaired the program's Mission Management
Team. Before that, he was the launch integration manager at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center, FL.
Hale began his career with NASA in the Propulsion Systems
Section of Flight Operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center,
Houston, in 1978. He became a lead propulsion systems officer in
Mission Control and later headed the Propulsion Systems Section
from 1985 to 1988. Hale also oversaw flight control teams in
Mission Control during all aspects of 40 space shuttle missions,
including 28 overseeing the critical ascent and entry phases. His
last two years as a flight director were spent as deputy chief
flight director for shuttle operations.