NASA veteran Tony Lavoie has been appointed director of Flight Projects at the Marshall Center, where he will lead more than 1,400 civil servant and contract employees. Lavoie’s directorate is responsible for payload and science operations for the International Space Station, as well as the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory Program Office, overseeing operations of the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope.
Two-decade NASA veteran Tony Lavoie has been appointed director of the Flight Projects Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., where he will lead more than 1,400 civil servant and contract employees.
In his new position, Lavoie will lead the Marshall directorate responsible for payload and science operations for the International Space Station, training crews to operate Space Station science experiments and operating the control center for those experiments. Other Space Station support provided by the directorate includes production of eight EXPRESS racks to house experiments, as well as design and production of the Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System, which provides the Station
crew with a comfortable environment in which to live and work.
His directorate is responsible for Nodes 2 and 3 – Space Station connectors for international laboratories in space — and three Multipurpose Logistics Modules, or "moving vans," that will carry laboratory racks via the Space Shuttle to and from the Station. The directorate is also in charge of the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory Program Office, overseeing operations of the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, as well as pursuing advanced concepts such as space solar power and space elevators.
"I am really delighted to be selected to lead the Flight Projects directorate," Lavoie said. "I am excited about contributing to our new vision for nation’s Space Program and inspiring a new generation of future explorers, scientists, and engineers."
Prior to serving as deputy director of the directorate, Lavoie was the program manager of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, launched in July 1999. He previously served as chief engineer for the Tethered Satellite System Project and chief of telescope and science instruments for the Chandra Chief Engineer office.
Lavoie has a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. He has received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and numerous Group Achievement awards.
Lavoie, the deputy director of Flight Projects, will succeed Dr. Jan Davis, who was named director of the Safety and Mission Assurance organization at the Marshall Center in August 2003.
