Kathryn Lueders
Kathryn (Kathy) Lueders NASA Portrait (2014)
NationalityAmerican
EducationB.S. Business Administration in Finance
B.S. and M.S. Industrial engineering
Alma mater
EmployerSpaceX
TitleGeneral manager at Starbase

Kathryn Lueders (pronounced "Leaders") is an American engineer and business manager. Lueders has led NASA's human spaceflight program as the Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.[1][2][3] She became the first woman to head human spaceflight.[4] She was the program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and oversaw the return of human spaceflight capabilities to NASA.[5][6] She currently works at SpaceX as Starbase General Manager.[7]

Personal life

Kathy grew up in Japan. Her family was living in Tokyo when the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing occurred. She remembers her dad waking the whole family up for the event. She read Isaac Asimov while growing up.[8]

In her undergraduate degree Lueders studied business, as she originally had aspirations to work on Wall Street. During her senior year, however, she wanted to switch to engineering after seeing her roommate study it.[9] She became "interested in engineering because it gave me the tools to solve problems and work on something bigger."[10] After getting married and having two children, she returned to college to study engineering.[11] She is also raising children born after she completed her master's degree. Her daughter was in tears the day she learned that Oppy, the Opportunity (rover), "died" on Mars.[8]

Education

Lueders earned her bachelor's degree of Business Administration in finance from the University of New Mexico in 1986.[12][13] She also has a Bachelor of Science (1993) and Master of Science (1999) in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University.[10][13]

NASA career

Lueders began her NASA career as a co-op in 1992[14] in the safety and mission assurance office as a quality engineer at the White Sands Test Facility while still a student at New Mexico State.[15] As only the second woman to work at the facility,[11] after graduation Lueders started as the depot manager of the Space Shuttle program Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control Systems. She was the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Integration manager.[6] She has also held several managerial positions within the International Space Station Program Office at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.[14]

She also managed the commercial cargo resupply services (CRS) to the space station and was responsible for NASA's oversight of international partner spacecraft visiting the space station, including the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's H-II Transfer Vehicle, and the Russian space agency Roscosmos' Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. She went to Kennedy Space Center as the acting Commercial Crew (CCP) Program Manager in 2013, and was selected as the head of the office in 2014.[16] As this was NASA's first venture into commercial human spaceflight, Lueders brought her knowledge and experience from CRS to the formation and management of CCP.[17]

Kathy Lueders after SpaceX Demo-2 Hatch Opening to the ISS

Lueders managed a NASA team working with SpaceX and Boeing teams concurrently over seven years. She was the CCP manager when SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission on May 30, 2020, the first human launch from U.S. soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in July 2011.[18][19] After the launch, she said "I am so grateful and proud of our NASA and SpaceX team."[20]

On June 12, 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Kathy Lueders to be the agency's new associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.[21] While considering whether or not to take the position, her husband pointed out she'd be the first woman in the position.[9]

Lueders indicates "Together, we are solving problems every day and it's one of my favorite aspects of the job." She was drawn to her jobs at NASA for the challenging problems the industry presents and not because she was a "space geek."[10] She says "exploration is a team sport" and advocates working together with and giving space to all willing partners while discussing the Artemis program.[22][23] She appreciates that being with NASA enables her to operate in a world community with other space-faring nations peacefully.[8]

In late March 2023 Lueders announced she would retire from NASA in April 2023.[24]

SpaceX career

On May 15, 2023, a couple of weeks after retiring from NASA, it was reported that Lueders would join SpaceX as a general manager working on the Starship program at Starbase. She reports directly to SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell.[25]

References

  1. ↑ Berger, Eric. "NASA's new chief of human spaceflight has a commercial background". Ars Technica. Conde Naste. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Kathy Lueders Selected to Lead NASA's Human Spaceflight Office". NASA. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  3. ↑ "About the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate". NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "NASA names first woman to head human spaceflight - The Jakarta Post". www.thejakartapost.com. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  5. ↑ "Tech Briefs Interview: NASA's Kathy Lueders - Tech Briefs". Tech Briefs. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  6. 1 2 "Kathryn Lueders, Program Manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program". Kennedy Biographies. NASA. April 2014. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. ↑ Clark, Steve (2023-12-13). "Starbase general manager discusses future plans at invite-only Brownsville event". MyRGV.com. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  8. 1 2 3 "Ep 102: The Next First Steps". Houston We Have a Podcast. NASA. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 Chabeli Carrazana (23 September 2020). "The future of space is female". The 19th. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 "First woman to lead NASA spaceflight encourages STEM exploration". Panorama. New Mexico State University. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  11. 1 2 Bendiksen, Robert Sullivan, Jonas. "What the Women at NASA Have Planned for the 2030s". Vogue. Retrieved 2018-03-23.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ "University of New Mexico Board of Regents Minutes for May 14, 1987". UNM’s Digital Repository. University of New Mexico. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Kathryn L. Lueders". International Astronautical Federation. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  14. 1 2 Dean, James (21 April 2014). "NASA names new Commercial Crew Program chief, replaces Mango". Florida Today. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  15. ↑ "Kathy Lueders, In Her Own Words". Commercial Crew Program. NASA. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "NASA Selects Commercial Crew Program Manager". Exploration: Beyond Earth. NASA. 21 April 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ↑ "Episode 49: Launch America". Houston, We Have a Podcast. NASA. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ↑ James Cawley (25 May 2020). "NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 'Go' for Liftoff Wednesday After Today's Launch Readiness Review". Commercial Crew Program Blog. NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "Kathy Lueders Selected to Lead NASA's Human Spaceflight Office". NASA. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  20. ↑ "NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 Launch: 'A Great Day for America'". Commercial Crew Program Blog. NASA. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  21. ↑ "Kathy Lueders Selected to Lead NASA's Human Spaceflight Office". NASA. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  22. ↑ Kathy Lueders (6 July 2020). "Exploration is a team sport". Artemis Blog. NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  23. ↑ Kathy Lueders (26 August 2020). "Eyes Forward as Artemis Missions Set to Begin Next Year". Artemis Blog. NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  24. ↑ Changes Ahead as NASA's Human Spaceflight Head Plans Retirement 30 Mar 2023
  25. ↑ Sheetz, Michael. "SpaceX hires former NASA human spaceflight official Kathy Lueders to help with Starship". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
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