NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Reorganization
Details of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) reorganization are now circulating at NASA Headquarters. Doug Cooke will continue as the Acting Associate Administrator although persistent rumors that Gary Payton may come back to fill that job still continue to circulate. ESMD has been split into two program divisions: the Constellation Systems Division and the Advance Capabilities Division.
The Constellation Systems Division will manage CEV (Crew Exploration Vehicle) , CELV (Crew Exploration Launch Vehicle), ground systems, communication/navigation systems, commercial crew/cargo, HLV (Heavy Launch Vehicle) and future programs and will have Michael Hecker as its Acting Program Executive. The Constellation Systems Division at HQ will have 28 people of which 2 will be managers and 15 working as Program Executives.
Constellation activities at NASA HQ will focus on overall strategy and policy direction, cross cutting integration, program guidance, review, and oversight. The Constellation Program Office will eventually move from NASA HQ to a field center and will be run by a Program Manager. This program office will also have the SE&I (Systems Engineering and Integration) function that Craig Steidle’s organization had planned to locate at NASA HQ.
The Advance Capabilities Division will focus on Human Research, Technology Development, and RLEP. This office will be led by Gene Trinh as the Acting Program Executive. Trinh will have 19 people in his office – 2 managers, 3 people working on lunar exploration, 4 people working on human research, 2 people working on Prometheus, and 8 people working on technology development.
ESMD will also house a Directorate Integration Office (23 people), a Chief Engineer’s Office (1 person – Garry Lyles), an Administrative Office (28 people), and a Resource Management Office (17 people).
