Sat, Apr 16, 2005
NASA has named nine new
flight directors who will join a unique group of individuals that
lead human space flights from Mission Control, Houston.
It is the second largest such class ever selected, and brings to
30 the number of active Space Shuttle and International Space
Station flight directors. The new class includes the first
African-American and the first two Hispanics to be assigned as
flight directors, and adds three women to the four already leading
Mission Control teams.
“This is one of the most diverse classes of flight
directors we’ve ever selected,” said Jeff Hanley, chief
of the Flight Director Office. “These nine individuals
represent the depth of talent we have among Space Shuttle and
International Space Station flight controllers, as well as the
changing nature of the flight control cadre. Since Christopher
Kraft became the first flight director more than 40 years ago, only
58 men and women have had the privilege to guide U.S. human space
flights.”
Leading a team of flight controllers, support personnel and
engineering experts, a flight director has the overall
responsibility to manage and carry out Space Shuttle flights and
International Space Station expeditions. A flight director also
leads and orchestrates planning and integration activities with
flight controllers, payload customers, International Space Station
partners and others. The selection process began in August
2004.
“There were many outstanding people to consider -- both
civil servants and contractors -- in the Mission Operations
Directorate, the Johnson Space Center and NASA,” Hanley
added. “These are just a few of the dedicated people who
applied, but there will be more opportunities for the rest on the
horizon as we meet the challenges of the Vision for Space
Exploration.”
All of the nine new flight directors have served as flight
controllers, either for NASA or its contractors. The flight
director class of 2000 was the largest class with 10 members. The
largest before that was the 1983 class with eight members.
- Kwatsi Alibaruho’s hometown is Maywood, Ill. He holds a
bachelor of science degree in avionics from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Alibaruho joined NASA in 1995 as a Space
Station Life Support Systems officer. He served as deputy chair of
the operations committee source board for the NASA Orbital Space
Plane, and most recently was group lead of the Space Station Life
Support Systems Group.
- Robert Dempsey calls Detroit his hometown. He earned bachelor
of science degrees in astronomy and physics at the University of
Michigan in 1984, and a master’s degree and a doctorate in
physics from the University of Toledo, Ohio, in 1986 and 1991,
respectively. Dempsey worked for Computer Sciences Corp. as a
resident astronomer on the Hubble Space Telescope from 1992 to
1997, and for United Space Alliance as a Command and Data Handling
flight controller from 1997 to 2003. He joined NASA in 2003 as a
Communications and Tracking Officer for the International Space
Station.
- Richard Jones is from El Paso, Texas, and received a bachelor
of science degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M
University in 1991. He joined NASA in 1988 as a cooperative
education student at Kennedy Space Center. In 1991 he joined
JSC’s Flight Design and Dynamics Division, analyzing and
designing Space Shuttle entry trajectories. From 1997 to 2003,
he worked as a Flight Dynamics Officer in Mission Control,
responsible for Shuttle launch, on orbit and entry trajectory
operations. Since 2003, he has been the group lead for of the Orbit
Flight Dynamics section.
- Ginger Kerrick also was born in El Paso. She received a
bachelor of science degree in physics from Texas Tech University in
Lubbock in 1991, followed by a master’s in physics in 1993.
She began working at JSC as a summer intern in 1991, and began her
first permanent job in 1994 as a materials research engineer in the
Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance Directorate. Since 1995,
she has worked in the Mission Operations Directorate as a Space
Station systems instructor. After working as a crew support
engineer at the Mission Control Center, Moscow, she became the
first non-astronaut spacecraft communicator. She has been the lead
Space Station CAPCOM and was deputy chief of the CAPCOM branch at
the time of her selection.
- Michael Moses was born in Fulda, Germany, but grew up in
Rockwood, Pa. He earned a bachelor of science degree in physics
from Purdue University in 1989, a master’s in space sciences
from Florida Institute of Technology in 1991, and a master’s
in aerospace engineering from Purdue in 1995. Moses began working
at JSC in 1995 as a Rockwell Space Operations Co. employee, and
transitioned to United Space Alliance as a flight controller in
Mission Operations’ Systems Division. He began working for
NASA in 1998 as an ascent/entry Propulsion Officer, and was the
Propulsion Systems Group lead from 2001 to 2003. Moses transferred
to the Shuttle Electrical Systems Group in 2003, and served as
group lead until this new assignment.
- Holly Ridings, a native of Amarillo, Texas, earned a bachelor
of science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M
University in 1996. Ridings joined the space program in 1997
through participation in a student program at Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md. She moved to a permanent position at
JSC later that year, working for United Space Alliance as a Thermal
Operations and Resource Officer, supporting console operations for
the Space Station thermal control systems. She joined NASA in
1998 and continued her role as a thermal operator until 2003.
At that time, she became the lead for the Space Station Motion
Control Systems Group and has served in that capacity until this
new assignment.
- Michael Sarafin was born in Herkimer, N.Y. He received a
bachelor of science degree in mechanical and aeronautical
engineering from Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y., in 1994. He
joined NASA in 1993 as a Space Shuttle software engineer,
developing cockpit display and Global Positioning System navigation
requirements. Sarafin has been a Guidance, Navigation and Control
Officer, supporting 30 Shuttle flights in Mission Control, since
1995.
- Brian Smith is from Upper Darby, Pa. He earned a bachelor of
science degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University
in 1993, a master’s in electrical engineering from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1996, and a master’s in
aerospace engineering from the University of Houston in 2004. Smith
was a hardware engineer for L-3 Communications Systems East,
Camden, N.J., from 1993 to 1998 developing Space Station
communications systems hardware. He joined United Space Alliance in
Houston, Texas in 1998 and worked with engineers at the Naval
Research Laboratories in Washington, D.C., and flight controllers
at JSC designing, building and testing systems for a Space Station
Interim Control Module until 2001. He has been a Communications and
Tracking Officer for the Space Station since 2001 logging more than
3,000 hours of mission support.
- Dana Weigel, originally from Baltimore, Md., received a
bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas
A&M University in 1993. From 1994 to 2004, Weigel worked for
Barrios Technology as an Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Officer,
supporting crew training and console operations for Hubble Space
Telescope and the International Space Station. She has been an EVA
Officer in Mission Control since 2000, transitioning to the NASA
workforce in 2004. She is the return-to-flight lead for EVA
operations focusing on inspection and repair of Space Shuttle
thermal protection systems.
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