Nicole J. Email & Phone Number

Houston, Texas, United States

Manager of the Spacecraft Office in the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Lead a multi-disciplinary, multi-organizational team of technical experts to ensure certification and readiness of US commercial spacecraft to provide safe and successful crew transportation to and from the International Space Station (ISS). I provide leadership of the CCP Spacecraft Office to ensure spacecraft readiness to support mission objectives, timely resolution of issues and safe return of the crew. I ensure spacecraft readiness and closure of objective evidence prior to certification of flight readiness milestones to enable safe and successful program operations. I provide leadership of the Spacecraft team by formulating and prioritizing assignments, developing personnel and ensuring timely and high quality completion of tasks.

Houston, Texas

Mission Manager within the Mission Management & Integration Office for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program working in cooperation with SpaceX and Boeing to develop the next US owned crewed spacecraft for transport to and from the International Space Station. Responsible for all aspects of mission integration, scheduling, mission-specific analysis and manifesting, and certification of flight readiness required to ensure timely launch, dock and return of upcoming missions to ISS. Served as post-flight Mission Manager for Boeing Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission in December 2019, International Partner liaison, Mission Manager for the SpaceX Crew-1 Mission (first CCP rotational mission to ISS), and Mission Manager for Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) from May to September 2021.

Houston, Texas Area

Systems Lead within the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) Spacecraft Systems Office, responsible for providing leadership and technical expertise in the development and operations of human-rated spacecraft systems. Ensures thorough review and implementation of safety, performance, systems engineering and operations integration requirements aligning with NASA's goal to assist in the development of privately owned and operated commercial crew transportation systems. Responsible for providing assessment of SpaceX and Boeing implementation approaches and schedules and evaluate safety and technical risk associated with spacecraft design, development, test evaluation, operations, and certification.

Houston, Tx

Lead integration engineer responsible for identifying and resolving operational issues for Boeing CST-100 Starliner. Member of the NASA/Boeing Joint Test team and developed the initial work plan for pilot-in-the-loop verification testing. Provide input to Boeing test strategy and design reviews. Act as an operator test subject for evaluations of the Boeing human/machine interfaces including cockpit, suit, seat, and displays design. Give feedback on crew procedures, human factors interfaces, training plans, and operational concepts. Worked until September 2016 in the Astronaut Office when job transitioned to the Flight Integration Division.

Ellington Field

One year rotational position. Project team lead for Gulfstream V Direct Return cabin configuration. Led a multidisciplinary team through the design, development, analysis, testing, and deployment of a cabin configuration to support the Direct Return mission, which was successfully completed in April 2017. Primary point of contact for T38 Reduced Vertical Separation Management (RVSM) certification, enabling more efficient cross country operations. Successfully ran 10 RVSM tests as the Flight Test Engineer.

Houston, Tx

ISS Commercial Visiting Vehicle integration engineer and SpX-1 mission flight lead for SpaceX Dragon cargo vehicle. Responsible for coordinating and leading resolution of integration technical issues for SpX-1 mission. Regularly briefed ISS senior program management on mission status. Led radiation tiger team from engineering, safety, ISS program, and SpaceX in the development of innovative testing method for avionics. Primary real-time console support for office during successful Demonstration mission in May 2012 and SpX-1 mission in Oct. 2012.

Element Manager for Vehicle Interface Element and Lead for the Launch, Entry, Abort and Microgravity EVA configuration of the Constellation Space Suit. Led team of approximately 50 engineers in the development of pressure suits and interfacing hardware. Oversaw development and testing of 20 hardware items (helmet, pressure garment, etc.) which resulted in the successful delivery of six different suit prototypes. Lead extensive suit ‘fly off’ test program to characterize the capabilities of each suit and included testing in the NBL, Orion capsule mock-ups, parabolic aircraft, and thermal vacuum chamber.

Cambridge, Ma

Research Assistant in the Man Vehicle Lab. Research focused on model development for optimization of space suit design. Model used a modified Genetic Algorithm to find design solutions based on historical suit data and physics-based models. Allowed user to select desired suit requirements for launch/entry, microgravity EVA, or planetary surface EVA suits.

S.M., Aeronautics And Astronautics

Thesis titled "Multidiscplinary Spacesuit Modeling and Optimization: Requirement Changes and Recommendations for the Next-Generation.

S.M., Technology And Policy

Best Thesis Award, Technology and Policy Program, June 2006

B.S., Mechanical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Society of Women Engineers, Overseas Studies Program in Berlin, Sophomore College 2000, Summer Research College.