Jan 6 1994

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NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced a number of management appointments and organization structural changes at NASA Headquarters and various Field Centers. The changes will affect NASA science, technology, research facilities and major programs, as well as the agency's Advisory Committee structure.

New Center Directors: Dr. Ken Munechika, executive director of the Office of Space Industry of the State of Hawaii, was appointed Director of the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. Kenneth J. Szalai was appointed the new director of the Dryden Flight Research Facility, which was to become a separate entity from Ames. Project reporting lines would directly link the centers and the NASA Headquarters offices that Dryden supports, thus reflecting the commitment by NASA to reduce layers of management.

Dr. Carolyn Huntoon, Director of Space and Life Sciences at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, since 1987, and formerly the Center's Associate Director, was appointed Director of the Center. G.P. Bridwell was appointed Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. Donald J. Campbell was appointed Director of the Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.

Key appointments at NASA Headquarters: Michael I. Mott was appointed Associate Deputy Administrator (technical), reporting to the Administrator on analyses of the early stages of programs and reviews of major issues. Thomas (Jack) J. Lee was appointed Special Assistant for Access to Space, to lead NASA efforts to define a technology program to retain U.S. leadership in space. Dr. Charles F. Kennel was appointed Associate Administrator for Mission to Planet Earth. Dr. Mark Abbott was named Chief scientist of the Office of Mission to Planet Earth. Lawrence J. Ross, former Director of the Lewis Research Center, was appointed Director of the Wind Tunnel Program Office, reporting to the Office of the Administrator.

Because of major expansions in the Space Station program, Administrator Goldin made several key appointments there: Wilbur C. Trafton, was appointed Deputy Associate Administrator for the Space Station. Randy Brinkley was assigned as the Space Station Program Manager, for management of all United States-Russian activities in Phase I and Phase II, to ensure implementation of the International Space Station. He was mission director for the recent Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission (STS-61). Captain William Shepherd, USN, was to continue as manager for all technical activities related to the International Space Station, reporting to Brinkley, and thus concentrating on the design, development, and assembly of the Space Station. Daniel C. Tam was assigned as Deputy Program Manager for Business in the Space Station Program Office at the Johnson Space Center, handling all business management operations.

The NASA Advisory Council also acquired new leadership: Dr. Bradford W. Parkinson, was appointed head of the Council. Anne L. Accola was appointed staff director of the Council. (NASA Release 94-3; Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan 8/94; Bakersfield Californian, Jan 7/94; Antelope Valley Daily News, Jan 8/94; [Houston] Citizen, Jan 19/94; National Journal, Jan 15/94)

Systems Integration Group, TRW's Fairfax, Virginia-based subsidiary, was awarded a NASA contract for $173 million to manage a network of computerized ground stations receiving data from government satellites that observe the Earth's environment and climate changes. (W Post, Jan 6/94)

Dr. R. Malcolm Brown, Jr., a University of Texas botanist and expert on bacterial cellulose, has created a new substance by fermenting sugar using a particular bacteria strain which he maintains can replace normal cellulose and be used in numerous applications, including producing edible spacesuits. NASA, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the State of Texas, financed his research. (WSJ, Jan 6/94)

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