Three Managers Appointed to New Positions in Space Shuttle Office at NASA’s Marshall Center

June Malone
Media Relations Department
(256) 544-0034
June.Malone@msfc.nasa.gov

RELEASE:00-034

Three Managers Appointed to New Positions in Space
Shuttle Office at NASA’s Marshall Center

Three project managers have been appointed to new positions in the
Space Shuttle Projects Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala.

Michael Rudolphi has been named manager of the Reusable Solid Rocket
Motor Project, Parker Counts has been appointed manager of the Solid
Rocket Booster Project, and Jerry Smelser will serve as manager of the
External Tank Project.

The Marshall Center’s Space Shuttle Projects Office is responsible for
design, development, flight readiness and performance of propulsion
systems for the Space Shuttle, including the Shuttle’s solid rocket boosters,
the reusable solid rocket motors, the orange external tank and the Shuttle’s
main engines.

In his new position, Rudolphi will manage the operation and upgrades for
the reusable solid rocket motors. The motors, the propulsion element of
each solid rocket booster, are recovered at sea after each Shuttle launch
and refurbished for use on future missions. Rudolphi, who began his
Marshall career in 1988, most recently was manager of the Solid Rocket
Booster Project. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1971
and 1975, respectively, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Counts comes to the Solid Rocket Booster Project from the External Tank
Project. A 1962 graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, he
began his Marshall career in 1963. In his new position, he will oversee the
design and flight readiness of the boosters. Two boosters, with their solid
rocket motors, help lift each Shuttle mission into orbit.

Smelser, who succeeds Counts as leader of the External Tank Project,
most recently served in Marshall’s Space Transportation Directorate as
manager of the Technology Evaluation Department. In his new position, he
will manage the Shuttle elements that provide propellants to the orbiter’s
main engines. A 1959 graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.,
Smelser began his Marshall and NASA careers in 1960. His past positions
include deputy manager of the External Tank Project.

“The appointment of these highly qualified managers reflects the Marshall
Center’s commitment to continued safe flight of the Space Shuttle,” said
Alex McCool, manager of the Space Shuttle Projects Office at the Marshall
Center.