Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global aerospace and national security contractor owned by Chairwoman and President Eren Ozmen and CEO Fatih Ozmen, announced that former NASA astronaut and Glenn Research Center director, Janet Kavandi, will join SNC as Senior Vice President for the company’s Space Systems business area.
(Note: Kavandi is a graduate of Carthage High School and Missouri Southern State University)
After 25 years with NASA, Kavandi retired this month as director at Glenn, having led the center’s Moon to Mars work. She is joining SNC in a period of growth for the company’s space initiatives and two years before the first of six missions for SNC’s Dream Chaser® spacecraft to service the International Space Station under contract with NASA.
“Janet has been recognized as representing the best of America’s astronauts,” said Eren Ozmen, SNC’s owner and President. “She is also a true leader toward the goal of making space more accessible and affordable to all. We are beyond excited to welcome Janet to SNC so that alongside NASA we can ensure continued U.S. leadership in shaping a coordinated strategy, and critical infrastructure, for our new space economy. Our Dream Chaser spacecraft’s first launch in September of 2021 will in itself transform the way the world goes to space.”
Kavandi was tapped for NASA’s astronaut corps in 1994 and went on to fly three space shuttle missions from 1998 to 2001, logging more than 33 days and 13.1 million miles in space. She was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in April 2019.
“Janet has been recognized as representing the best of America’s astronauts,” said Eren Ozmen, SNC’s owner and President. “She is also a true leader toward the goal of making space more accessible and affordable to all. We are beyond excited to welcome Janet to SNC so that alongside NASA we can ensure continued U.S. leadership in shaping a coordinated strategy, and critical infrastructure, for our new space economy. Our Dream Chaser spacecraft’s first launch in September of 2021 will in itself transform the way the world goes to space.”
Kavandi was tapped for NASA’s astronaut corps in 1994 and went on to fly three space shuttle missions from 1998 to 2001, logging more than 33 days and 13.1 million miles in space. She was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in April 2019.
Most recently, as director at Glenn, Kavandi oversaw one of the largest increases in workload and budget in the center’s history. She played a pivotal role in the expansion of the Artemis Program, including the management of the power and propulsion element for NASA’s moon-orbiting Gateway as well as the mission-critical testing of the Orion spacecraft. Kavandi earned a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Washington.
“I am very excited to be joining Sierra Nevada Corporation at such an exciting and pivotal time in the company’s history,” said Kavandi. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the SNC team and our partners to achieve revolutionary goals in commercial spaceflight.”
At SNC, Kavandi will oversee three units within its Space Systems business area, including Space Technologies & Spacecraft, Space Exploration Systems and Propulsion & Environmental Systems.
“I am very excited to be joining Sierra Nevada Corporation at such an exciting and pivotal time in the company’s history,” said Kavandi. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the SNC team and our partners to achieve revolutionary goals in commercial spaceflight.”
At SNC, Kavandi will oversee three units within its Space Systems business area, including Space Technologies & Spacecraft, Space Exploration Systems and Propulsion & Environmental Systems.
5 comments:
So it had nothing to do with politics. Just public sector vs. private sector.....$$$$$$
Wasn't this the company responsible for the booster rocket explosion that caused the Challenger accident?
444am No. Not even close. Morton Thiokol was the company associated with the booster malfunction. A simple Google search and you could have found that information. Shame on Randy for publishing such a wreckless comment.
845pm After 25 years at NASA, she's earned the right to make big bucks with a private corporation. A lot of politicians, after an unremarkable 2 or 4 year term, leave to join the private sector and triple their income. Congrats to Dr. Kavandi on this exciting new opportunity!
@4:44 AM: A quick look at Sierra Nevada Corporation's Wikipedia page shows they've never had anything to do with anything having to do with the Challenger accident, for which NASA and the Congress bear by far the most blame before we look at corporations like Morton-Thiokol. The Congress for requiring the SRBs to be built where transportation issues required they be in segments, NASA for ignoring the problem once it was realized the O-rings that sealed the segment joints were being required to seal on expansion, and that that was frequently failing.
https://www.alreporter.com/2019/09/23/brooks-questions-nasa-experts-with-conflicting-views-on-best-way-to-return-to-the-moon/
"Wednesday, Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) questioned NASA experts on their starkly different views on how to best return to the Moon during a House Space Subcommittee hearing.
Former NASA Associate Administrator Doug Cooke advocated replicating the simpler “Apollo” approach. Current NASA Associate Administrator Kenneth Bowersox defended a more complex, multi-faceted “Artemis” approach. Cooke estimated that NASA’s current “Artemis” approach has a 49 percent mission failure risk versus an “Apollo” approach mission failure risk of 20 percent.
“Alright, let me quote from it in three different places. Quote, “Apparently under pressure from commercial launch providers who need additional launches to fill their manifests NASA is being directed to break the lunar lander into multiple pieces so that these can fit on less powerful commercial launchers increasing risk and constraining the architecture.” Brooks read. “Second quote, “NASA’s current approach requires 8 new developments— interjection by me, versus 3 with Apollo, 8 to 3— resuming the quote, 8 launches versus 1 with Apollo and approximately 17 mission critical operations versus 7 with Apollo to achieve the Artemis goals by 2024.” End quote. And then finally quote, “If you assume each event has a 98% probability of success the likelihood of mission success is 80% for this Apollo-like approach. In comparison, the likelihood of mission success for NASA’s current approach is 51%, not taking into account the launch vehicle maturity risk. NASA can significantly increase speed, simplicity, cost, and probability of mission success by deferring gateway, leveraging SLS, and reducing critical mission operations.” End quote.”
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