Jim Free (left) will be the associate administrator leading the new Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, whlie Kathy Lueders runs the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
NASA announced Sept. 21 that it is dividing the mission directorate responsible for human spaceflight into two organizations, one responsible for exploration systems development and the other for space operations, undoing a merger of two similar organizations a decade ago.
At a town hall meeting, NASA leadership announced that the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) would be split into two organizations. One, the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, will be responsible for developing programs for the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration initiative and future Mars exploration. The other, the Space Operations Mission Directorate, will handle the International Space Station and low Earth orbit commercialization efforts.
NASA splits human spaceflight directorate into two organizations – SpaceNews
