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Douglas Loverro Selected as New NASA HEOMD AA

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
October 16, 2019
Filed under
Douglas Loverro Selected as New NASA HEOMD AA

New Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate: Douglas Loverro
“NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine Wednesday selected Douglas Loverro as the agency’s next Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Loverro succeeds former astronaut Kenneth Bowersox who has been acting associate administrator since July. “I worked with Doug for many years on the Hill and he is a respected strategic leader in both civilian and defense programs, overseeing the development and implementation of highly complicated systems,” said Administrator Bridenstine from Headquarters in Washington. “He is known for his strong, bipartisan work and his experience with large programs will be of great benefit to NASA at this critical time in our final development of human spaceflight systems for both Commercial Crew and Artemis.” For three decades, Loverro was in the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) developing, managing, and establishing national policy for the full range of National Security space activities.”
Douglas L. Loverro, LinkedIn
Why the United States needs a Space Force, OpEd, Douglas Loverro, Space News
“The president got it right. We need a Space Force. Space is too critical for the nation’s defense not to have an organization that speaks for its importance, defends it against all comers, and jealously advocates for new missions and new responsibilities. Space is too crucial to national security to be stalled by a lack of focus and an unwillingness to respond until pushed.”
Keith’s note: Loverro still has to drink from multiple fire hoses for a while to get up to speed before he can make the big SLS decisions. And if the whole Space Force thing happens then NASA will now have firm support for it at the top levels of agency management.
Interestingly Loverro appears in the FEC donor database most recently as having made multiple contributions to Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath who is challenging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Earlier donations noted in OpenSecrets show him to be a Democrat – or perhaps an Independent – which tends to support the notion that Bridenstine simply sought expertise in his choice without letting politics becoming involved. A good sign.
Budget leader says NASA’s accelerated moon mission timeline unnecessary, Huston Chronicle
“Cowing said he is heartened by the pick, even though Loverro appears to lack civilian space experience. “It’s kind of a refreshing choice to pick someone outside the usual suspects within NASA human spaceflight,” Cowing said. “Clearly, how things have been running for the past decade is rockets don’t launch and bringing a new perspective is required.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

14 responses to “Douglas Loverro Selected as New NASA HEOMD AA”

  1. Richard Brezinski says:
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    I always start out hopefully and willing to give the new guy the opportunity to produce. So I hope Mr. Loverro can reconcile NASA’s so far nonsensical architecture, provide definitive system requirements, and hold the NASA managers’ and contractors’ feet to the fire to get them in gear. We’ve had an awful long dry spell, since 2003, that the human space flight job had not been getting done. It is time to get the hell on with it!

    • Doug Loverro says:
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      Richard – – I truly hope I can earn your confidence. Thank you for understanding this will take time.

      • George Purcell says:
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        No joke–that you know NASA Watch and are posting here is a huge plus for you in my book! Good luck!

        • Richard Brezinski says:
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          I am certain a lot of NASA managers have always read NW and I am sure some responded by their actions. But this is the first time I can recall one responding openly on NW.

      • hikingmike says:
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        Kick some ass for us Mr. Loverro! (as in general spaceflight progress for our country)

  2. Skinny_Lu says:
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    Looks good. Impressive resume with multiple advanced & diverse degrees after attending the AF Academy. Hopefully, he can bring something new to the office, because he sure has a lot on his plate. How does one establishes a delivery & operations schedule for SLS? I’m glad I don’t have that job. =)

  3. MAGA_Ken says:
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    Wonder if he had any input into the 10 SLS rocket contract just announced?

    My guess he is 100% behind the pork express, especially coming from the DoD, which IMO is worse than NASA when it comes to procurement.

    • Doug Loverro says:
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      Dear Ken – – It is perfectly understandable that there are doubts. It is my job to earn your trust and that of the American people. I hope you’ll give me the chance. I think I have been a cost-conscious defender of our tax dollars throughout my career. Pork will not get us to the moon.

      • Sam S says:
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        Wow. Really the Doug Loverro? Good on you for reaching out like this.

        Can you comment on what you think the biggest single risk to the Artemis timeline is, be it technical, budgetary, or otherwise? AKA, what do you expect to spend the most time on as you get settled into your new role? I know you’ll be spending a lot of time on a lot of things, just looking for what you think is #1.

        Congratulations!

        • Doug Loverro says:
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          Sam

          Thanks for the congratulations. I’m going to demur from answering your very good question until later though. I am actually several weeks away from starting the job, and I know from experience that nothing is as simple as it might at first appear from the outside.

          So, fundamentally, I’d be commenting without knowing even vaguely enough to do so. Task 1 for me will be to meet with my new team from top to bottom and across the nation and read and listen. Only then will I be able to form an informed opinion.

          Thanks Again

          • Skinny_Lu says:
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            Good luck, Sir. I’m grateful you’ve reached out in this forum to speak for yourself, while we’ll surely 2nd guess your (future) decisions, without knowing the details that led to them, and bound by constraints of the office. Thank you again. I say it now, because once you get started, it may be difficult to participate in NASA Watch.
            Looking forward to your tenure.
            May the Force Be With You. =)

  4. Michael Spencer says:
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    Why is the history of political giving relevant?