HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. – NASA’s Mark Moody, a staff engineer in the
Propulsion Test Program Office, credits his parents with helping him
appreciate diversity. He praises Stennis Space Center for seeking diversity
to strengthen its role within NASA and its working community.

“My parents were instrumental in providing me with exposure to a variety of
people from diverse backgrounds and cultures,” said Moody. His mother, now
retired, worked as a registered nurse in a hospital and public school
system. His late father was a retired Army colonel and civil servant in the
U.S. Department of Labor. “Being provided with a broad exposure while
growing up contributed to my understanding that my possibilities weren’t
limited to the boundaries of my own back yard.”

Moody came to Stennis as a combustion devices engineer for the Rocketdyne
Division of Rockwell International in 1988 from the Michoud Assembly
Facility in New Orleans, where he spent three years working as a tool design
engineer for Martin Marietta on the Space Shuttle External Tank Program. He
joined NASA at Stennis in 1994 and was initially assigned to the Office of
Safety and Mission Assurance. Currently, he works in the Propulsion Test
Program Office within the Program Integration Office.

“Over the last 14 years, I have seen Stennis grow both in its tasks and
responsibilities to NASA and in its role as a federal community,” he said.
“Stennis has successfully assumed increasing responsibilities in the
propulsion test arena. We’ve done this by upgrading and expanding test
facilities, limiting duplication and attracting new talent and new programs.
The real estate here looks really different than it did in 1988.”

Moody said another way Stennis has grown is by adding to the number of civil
servants employed. “We have a good mix of people with diverse backgrounds
and experience,” he said. “It’s been good for Stennis. The diversity of our
workforce has expanded Stennis’ boundaries and has made almost anything
possible.”

Born in New Orleans, Moody received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., and a master’s
degree in management from Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Fla.
He serves as board secretary for the National Rocket Propulsion Test
Alliance, which is an alliance between NASA and the Department of Defense.

“The alliance is the most active of six NASA/DOD coalitions and was formed
to shape the government’s rocket propulsion test capability to efficiently
meet national test needs,” said NASA’s Mike Dawson, manager of the Program
Integration Office at Stennis. “This is done by sharing people, equipment
and processes through intra- and inter-agency cooperation. Mark is engaged
in NASA and DOD program development, design and tests in support of Stennis’
Propulsion Test Program office. Mark is helping us lead the Agency’s and
nation’s rocket test activity.”

In addition to his work with the alliance, Moody serves as the Propulsion
Test Program Office liaison engineer to Marshall Space Flight Center and is
responsible for interfacing with test personnel at both centers.

Moody is married to the former Lynette Muckelroy, a computer science
teacher. They have three children: Jaime, 17; Shari, 15; and Jonathan, 10.
Moody is a major in the Louisiana Army National Guard where he serves as an
executive officer for an engineer battalion. He is cubmaster of Jonathan’s
scout pack.