Press Release

NASA Names Gregory D. Blaney Independent Verification and Validation Program Director

By SpaceRef Editor
December 7, 2010
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Gregory D. Blaney has been named director of NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation, or IV&V, Program in Fairmont.

The IV&V program provides software verification and validation services, as well as software safety assurance support for the agency’s most critical missions. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., oversees the West Virginia facility.

“For more than 15 years, IV&V has provided an outstanding level of safety and efficiency for mission-critical software,” said GSFC Director Rob Strain. “Whether the software is being utilized by humans, helping robots perform tasks or allowing science instruments to gather data, the success of all those efforts is due in large part to the dedicated IV&V workforce. I look forward to working with Greg and his team as we address the inherent engineering and technology challenges associated with space exploration.”

Blaney, who has served IV&V as acting director since December 2009, will continue to lead the facility’s day-to-day operations and the program’s mission to verify and validate the safety of the agency’s most important mission software.

“I have always been deeply honored to work with the outstanding individuals associated with NASA and the IV&V Program, and to support NASA’s mission from my native state, West Virginia. I am humbled to have the opportunity to lead this team–some of our agency’s finest software engineers and dedicated civil servants–into a future that is certain to be even more challenging and rewarding.” said Blaney. Bryan O’Connor, chief of NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance in Washington, announced the appointment. “Greg’s commitment to mission safety at NASA and his years of comprehensive service to the success of the IV&V team make him an exceptional choice to lead the Program into the future,” O’Connor said.

Blaney began his civil service career at Goddard Space Flight Center in 1988 as a network manager, then as a network director of the Satellite Tracking and Data Network. He joined the IV&V Program as a project manager in 1996, and has served IV&V as operations and maintenance manager, associate director of operations, and as deputy and acting director.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA IV&V, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ivv/home/index.html

SpaceRef staff editor.