unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/03/89)
NASA: JERRY J. FITTS APPOINTED DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR OF OSO Posting Date: 09/30/89 UNITEX Network, USA ISSN: 1043-7932 NASA Administrator Richard H. Truly today announced the appointment of Jerry J. Fitts as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Operations, effective Oct. 8, 1989. Fitts will succeed Charles T. Force, who was appointed the Associate Administrator for Space Operations in July 1989. The Office of Space Operations manages the agency's worldwide data and tracking network, which tracks and communicates with all manned and unmanned spacecraft and interplanetary probes. Fitts received a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Utah in 1958, followed by a master's of science degree from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. Fitts' first engineering position was with Pratt and Whitney Aircraft working on propulsion systems development. He then accepted an opportunity with General Dynamics to participate in NASA's Centaur Program, the nation's first liquid hydrogen/oxygen rocket. In 1962, Fitts joined NASA's Space Nuclear Propulsion Office, where he ultimately became responsible for engine systems design and development at the Lewis Research Center. Fitts left NASA to help establish the Office of Research and Technology at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was Director of the Housing and Economic Research Division for 6 years. In 1980, Fitts returned to NASA as the Deputy Director of the Space Shuttle Main Engines Program within the Headquarters Office of Space Flight (OSF). Subsequently, Fitts served in OSF as Director, Solid Rocket Booster and External Tank Division, and as Deputy Director, Customer Services Division. In February 1987, Fitts became the Director of the Transportation Services Office, a focal point for the NASA, DOD, civil and international payload communities that require transportation services on the Space Shuttle or expendable launch vehicles. He also was responsible for space transportations policy development and manifesting of payloads on the various launch vehicle systems. Fitts and his wife, Hartley Campbell Fitts, reside in McLean, Va. They have three children -- Stanford, Stewart and Jane Anne -- and two grandchildren. * Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501) --- Patt Haring | United Nations | FAX: 212-787-1726 patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | BBS: 201-795-0733 patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | (3/12/24/9600 Baud) -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-