NASA announced that N. Wayne Hale, Jr., who is the Space
Shuttle program manager since 2005, was appointed as NASA's deputy associate
administrator for strategic partnerships.
His deputy, John Shannon, a Mission Management Team
chairman, will succeed Hale as the new
manager of the Space Shuttle Program.
"Wayne
has done so much for the human spaceflight program and built a strong team. The
momentum he created will continue," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate
administrator for Space Operations, NASA Headquarters, Washington.
"We know John will do an outstanding job as the program
manager after his tremendous leadership as Wayne's deputy," he added.
John Shannon started his career at NASA in 1998 as a flight
control officer in the Mission
Control Center
in 1988 and since 1993 he became a space shuttle flight director.
After serving as deputy director of the Columbia Task Force
in 2003, Shannon was selected to create the
Space Shuttle Program's Flight Operations and Integration Office.
"John Shannon is completely ready to take the reins in
NASA's most critical program," Hale said. "His leadership skills are
well established, and the shuttle program will do well under his care."
Meanwhile, NASA is preparing the STS-123 mission, which will
deliver to ISS the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's
Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system,
Dextre.
On Saturday, the seven astronauts of the STS-123 are scheduled
to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
in Florida
for the the terminal countdown demonstrations test.
During the terminal countdown demonstration test, the
astronauts check the fit of their spacesuits, practice emergency evacuation
procedures at the launch pad, check the mission payload in the shuttle's cargo
bay, review firefighting methods, and participate in briefings on security and
range safety.
The test's activities culminate in a launch dress rehearsal
and simulated countdown with the look and feel of a real launch day.
Endeavour’s flight crew includes Commander Dominic Gorie,
Pilot Gregory Johnson and Mission Specialists Rick Linnehan, Robert Behnken,
Mike Foreman, Garrett Reisman and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's,
Takao Doi.
The flight specialist Garett Reisman will replace European
Space Agency's Leopold Eyharts, who will return with the STS-123 astronauts.
