NASA Names Charlie Lundquist as Deputy Program Manager for Orion

Charlie Lundquist, Deputy Program Manager
NASA has selected Charlie Lundquist as deputy manager of the agency’s Orion Program.

NASA has selected Charlie Lundquist as deputy manager of the agency’s Orion Program. Along with Program Manager Mark Kirasich, Lundquist will be responsible for oversight of design, development and testing of the Orion spacecraft, as well as spacecraft manufacturing already underway at locations across the county and in Europe. Lundquist has served as manager of the Orion crew and service module office since 2008.

“Charlie has outstanding program management skills and has played pivotal roles in many of Orion’s accomplishments, including Orion’s successful flight test last year,” said Kirasich. “As we manufacture and deliver hardware and software for Orion’s next mission during the coming months and years, his leadership will be essential.”

Lundquist began his NASA career in 1993 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in the Space Station Freedom Program and quickly transitioned into the International Space Station Program, where he managed the Russian Vehicle Project Office, serving as lead negotiator for all technical discussions between NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency. In 1997, he became deputy manager of the Element Integration Office for the space station, leading the multi-disciplinary team responsible for certifying the Unity module, the first U.S. element of the space station, for flight. In 1999, Lundquist was named deputy chief of Johnson’s Life Sciences Research Laboratories, developing and administering NASA’s operations and clinical research process to pursue research objectives aimed at improving health care systems and practices in space. He also served in several other positions in spaceflight research and the Constellation Program.

A native of Dallas, Lundquist received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1984 from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s degree in biological science in 1996 from the University of Houston in Clear Lake and completed PhD coursework in biomedical sciences under a NASA fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, in 2001. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and Silver Snoopy Award, as well as the JSC Director’s Award of Excellence.