November 7, 2011
Judd Frieling, BS ASE '96 and Greg Whitney, BS ASE '02, were selected as two of NASA's three new flight directors at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA's flight directors are responsible for leading a team of flight controllers, support personnel and engineering experts from around the world to manage and carry out International Space Station operations. They are also involved with planning and developing future exploration missions.
"As we move into a new era of spaceflight, these new flight directors will help us transition the knowledge and experience from the existing human spaceflight programs into the next period of exploration and space station operations," said John McCullough, chief of the Flight Director Office. "This includes development of new technologies and techniques for spaceflight, as well as development and execution of our future missions in the years to come."
Judd Frieling was born in Austin, Texas, but considers Pflugerville, Texas, his hometown. He earned a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1996. He began a diverse flight control career in 1997 as an Onboard Data Interfaces and Network (ODIN) officer, serving as lead for the STS-97 station assembly mission and worked to resolve multiple computer failures during the STS-100 mission. He was instrumental in developing new operations processes and procedures, allowing the Mission Control Center to operate with significantly smaller staffs during quiet periods aboard the station. In 2004, Frieling transitioned to space shuttle flight control as a Data Processing Systems (DPS) officer, and he supported 20 shuttle flights. He served as lead DPS officer for STS-118 and STS-130.
Greg Whitney was born in Albany, N.Y., but considers Rye, N.H., his hometown. He earned a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2002. He joined NASA in 2002 and has supported space station activities as an Operations Planner (Ops Plan) and space shuttle missions as a Flight Activities Officer (FAO), developing plans to optimize crew operations. He supported 14 space station expeditions and 12 space shuttle missions, including serving as the lead FAO for the last shuttle flight, STS-135, earlier this year. He also spent time as an acting group lead for spaceflight planning activities.
Photo and Story Credit: NASA News and Media Resources: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/fltdir2011.html
