HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A new director is leading NASA's Marshal Space Flight Center! His name is Joseph Pelfrey. Pelfrey had served as acting center director since July 2023.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson appointed Pelfrey on February 5, and now Pelfrey is jumpstarting his new role by sharing what's all in the works at NASA. "Just last night, the intuitive machines launch with our industry partners included a Marshall payload called lunar navigation, one that is on its way to the moon as we speak. It's a technology demonstration for autonomous navigation that will help us inform future designs for landers and exploration vehicles on the surface of the moon."
NASA is also leading a new partnership with the Italian Space Agency to develop the concepts for a multipurpose habitat. "Which will be the first habitation element on the surface of the moon to support a sustained presence for our exploration goals. We just kicked off the mission concept review for that habitat and we have to finish that this year."
That's not all. NASA's hired over six hundred employees since March 2020, and with almost seven thousand civil servants and contractors the question of layoffs is also not on the table. "Marshall, we were able to restructure some of our contracts on the mars vehicle and replan some of our staffing to handle the reductions in staffing. And so we do not anticipate any cuts here at the center."
NASA's also continuing to invest in their facilities, with two new facilities that are currently in the design process. One is called the Marshall Exploration Facility. "Which will sit on the site of our previous headquarters building. 4208 will provide us lab auditorium, space collaboration, space training center and many other services that we lost when we lost 4200."
The other is a new engineering and science laboratory. "144,000 square foot facility state of the art that enable the missions that we're supporting for the future. both of these are expected in the coming years. So as we look to the future, Marshall, there's more to explore. There's more to dream. There's more to innovate. There's more to inspire and there's more to gain when we do it together."