Kathy Lueders
Kathryn Lueders (pronounced "Leaders") is an American engineer and business manager. Lueders has led NASA's human spaceflight program as the Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:12 June 2020|}}</ref><ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:12 June 2020|}}</ref><ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> She became the first woman to head human spaceflight.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:2020-06-13|}}</ref> She was the program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program and oversaw the return of human spaceflight capabilities to NASA.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:2018-03-23|}}</ref><ref name=NASABio>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> She currently works at SpaceX as Starbase General Manager.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:2023-12-13|}}</ref>
Early life[edit | edit source]
Lueders grew up in Japan. Her family was living in Tokyo when the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing occurred. She remembers her dad waking the whole family up for the event. She read Isaac Asimov while growing up.<ref name="First Steps">Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref>
In her undergraduate degree Lueders studied business, as she originally had aspirations to work on Wall Street. During her senior year, however, she wanted to switch to engineering after seeing her roommate study it.<ref name="The 19th">Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> She became "interested in engineering because it gave me the tools to solve problems and work on something bigger."<ref name = "NMSU">Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref>
Lueders earned her bachelor's degree of Business Administration in finance from the University of New Mexico in 1986.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref><ref name=IAFASTRO>Template:Citation core{{#if:2018-04-05|}}</ref> She also has a Bachelor of Science (1993) and Master of Science (1999) in industrial engineering from New Mexico State University.<ref name="NMSU"/><ref name=IAFASTRO/>
Career[edit | edit source]
NASA[edit | edit source]
Lueders began her NASA career as a co-op in 1992<ref name=FloridaToday>Template:Cite news</ref> in the safety and mission assurance office as a quality engineer at the White Sands Test Facility while still a student at New Mexico State.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> As only the second woman to work at the facility,<ref name=Vogue>Template:Cite news</ref> after graduation Lueders started as the depot manager of the Space Shuttle program Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control Systems. She was the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Integration manager.<ref name=NASABio/> She has also held several managerial positions within the International Space Station Program Office at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.<ref name=FloridaToday/>
She also managed the commercial cargo resupply services (CRS) to the space station and was responsible for NASA's oversight of international partner spacecraft visiting the space station, including the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's H-II Transfer Vehicle, and the Russian space agency Roscosmos' Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. She went to Kennedy Space Center as the acting Commercial Crew (CCP) Program Manager in 2013, and was selected as the head of the office in 2014.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> As this was NASA's first venture into commercial human spaceflight, Lueders brought her knowledge and experience from CRS to the formation and management of CCP.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref>
.jpg)
Lueders managed a NASA team working with SpaceX and Boeing teams concurrently over seven years. She was the CCP manager when SpaceX launched the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission on May 30, 2020, the first human launch from U.S. soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in July 2011.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref><ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> After the launch, she said "I am so grateful and proud of our NASA and SpaceX team."<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref>
On June 12, 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Lueders has been appointed the agency's new associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.<ref name="HEO AA Selection">Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> While considering whether or not to take the position, her husband pointed out she'd be the first woman in the position.<ref name="The 19th" />
Lueders indicates, "Together, we are solving problems every day and it's one of my favorite aspects of the job." She was drawn to her jobs at NASA for the challenging problems the industry presents and not because she was a "space geek."<ref name = "NMSU"/> She says "exploration is a team sport" and advocates working together with and giving space to all willing partners while discussing the Artemis program.<ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref><ref>Template:Citation core{{#if:21 February 2021|}}</ref> She appreciates that being with NASA enables her to operate in a world community with other space-faring nations peacefully.<ref name="First Steps" />
In late March 2023 Lueders announced she would retire from NASA in April 2023.<ref name=N-retire>Template:Citation core{{#if:24 February 2024|}}</ref>
SpaceX[edit | edit source]
On May 15, 2023, a couple of weeks after retiring from NASA, it was reported that Lueders would join SpaceX as a general manager working on the Starship program at Starbase. She reports directly to SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell.<ref name=":3">Template:Citation core{{#if:2023-05-15|}}</ref>
Personal life[edit | edit source]
After getting married and having two children, Lueders returned to college to study engineering.<ref name=Vogue/>