NASA to split leadership of its human spaceflight program

Enlarge / NASA's Kathy Lueders celebrates Crew Dragon's hatch opening on May 31. (credit: NASA)

In a significant change with implications for future exploration missions, NASA will announce today that it is splitting the duties of its human spaceflight office into two segments.

As part of the reorganization, the agency's current leader of all human spaceflight activities, Kathy Lueders, will see her duties pared back. NASA has also brought back a former senior manager, Jim Free, to serve as a program leader.

Lueders will lead one segment of the new office, the Space Operations Mission Directorate, and oversee operational programs such as the International Space Station and commercial crew programs. The other part of the reorganized office, with the unwieldy name Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, will manage development of the Artemis Moon program, including the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System rocket, and Human Landing System. Free will serve as its chief.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments