Keith’s note: Amit Kshatriya Just issued this memo: NASA Team Members, I am pleased to announce that Nathan Vassberg has been selected to serve as NASA’s chief of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA).
Nathan has served as acting chief since December 2025, demonstrating the steady leadership, sound judgment, and deep expertise needed to lead OSMA. His extensive understanding of mission assurance and safety across the agency makes him exceptionally well qualified for this role.
Nathan is a NASA veteran, who began his career at Johnson Space Center in 1995 as the International Space Station (ISS) safety lead and international partner liaison. Over the past three decades, he has held various positions of increasing responsibility, including serving for 15 years as chair of the ISS Safety Review Panel, the final five years of which he also chaired the ISS Payload Safety Review Panel. He served as ISS Safety Manager from 2012 to 2013 before becoming Chief Safety and Mission Assurance Officer for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, where he served from 2014 to 2021.
From 2021 to 2023, Nathan served as deputy director of Safety and Mission Assurance at Johnson Space Center. Most recently, as Safety and Mission Assurance director for the Moon to Mars Program Office, where he led the integrated safety and mission assurance efforts across the agency’s six Moon to Mars programs.
Nathan’s experience and unwavering commitment to mission success will continue to strengthen NASA as we continue to achieve our nation’s space policy.
Please join me in congratulating Nathan on this new role and thanking him for his continued service to NASA.
Amit Kshatriya
NASA Associate Administrator
