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NASA Appoints Carlos Garcia-Galan as Deputy Manager for Gateway Program
Nasa has announced the appointment of Carlos Garcia-Galan as the new deputy manager for the Gateway Program. Previously, Garcia-Galan held the role of manager for the Orion Program’s European Service Module Integration Office at Glenn Research Center.
“I am tremendously excited to take on this new role and help lead development of humanity’s first outpost in deep space,” Garcia-Galan stated. He expressed his honor in joining a highly skilled Gateway team globally, just as the program’s first components are nearing completion.
Garcia-Galan comes to this position with over 27 years of expertise in human spaceflight. Originally from Malaga, Spain, his extensive career includes working as a flight controller during the assembly of the International Space Station in both Houston and Korolev, Russia, throughout several Space Shuttle missions. He became part of the Orion program in 2010, where he performed various critical functions in technical and management capacities. His roles ranged from integrated spacecraft design and performance management to mission analysis and support for launch and flight operations.
“Carlos is an outstanding manager and engineer, and I am extremely pleased to announce his selection for this position,” remarked Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Wyche emphasized that Garcia-Galan’s extensive background in human spaceflight, international collaboration, and deep-space craft development will be invaluable to the Gateway Program.
During his tenure with the Orion Program, Garcia-Galan was pivotal in preparing the Orion team for the Artemis I mission. He established the Orion Mission Evaluation Room (MER) operational concept and led preparations for the flight. His contributions continued as he played a key role during real-time operations for the successful Artemis I mission as one of the MER Leads.
“Carlos brings a tremendous technical background and extensive leadership experience that will greatly benefit our program, augmenting our strong team as we progress towards deploying the lunar Gateway,” said Jon Olansen, Gateway Program Manager.
Throughout his career, Garcia-Galan has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Honeywell Space Systems Engineer of the Year award (Houston), NASA’s Silver Achievement Medal, the Exceptional Achievement Medal, and the Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation, alongside the Silver Snoopy Award and the Orion Program Manager’s Commendation.
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