NASA Appoints Constellation Program Managers in USA

Lawrence D. Thomas has been appointed manager of NASA's Constellation Program, which manages the effort to take humans beyond low-Earth orbit and develop the next generation launch vehicle and spacecraft. Charles M. Stegemoeller has been appointed as deputy program manager. He and Thomas will be based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Lawrence Thomas most recently served as the deputy program manager of the Constellation Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. He began his NASA career in 1983 as an aerospace systems engineer at Marshall's Science and Engineering Directorate. He served in leadership positions at Marshall including manager of the Systems Engineering and Analysis Office for the Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program Office, and chief of the Systems Engineering Division, Spacecraft and Vehicle Systems Department. (image: artists rendering of Orion crew exploration vehicle; courtesy NASA)

Mr. Thomas also spent two years at Johnson as manager of the Vehicle Analysis and Integration Office in the International Space Station Program. He earned a bachelor's degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville; master's degree in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University; and doctorate in systems engineering also from Alabama.

Charles Stegemoeller most recently served as director of the program planning and control office for the Constellation Program. He joined NASA in 1985 and served in several leadership positions within the Space Station Freedom and NASA/Mir Programs at Johnson. He was later named associate director for the Office of Bioastronautics within the Space Life Sciences Directorate. Stegemoeller earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station.

Created in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is America's focal point for research, development and exploration of outer space. For over 50 years, NASA has been leading the world in the development and usage of advanced program and project management. Additional information about NASA and its programs can be found at www.nasa.gov. For more information on the Constellation Program visit: http://www.nasa.gov/constellation

Source: NASA news release on 14 June 2010