Michael Ryschkewitsch ( ; born 1951) is the former Space Exploration Sector Head at the

Applied Physics Laboratory The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL) is a not-for-profit university-affiliated research center (UARC) in Howard County, Maryland. It is affiliated with Johns Hopkins University and emplo ...

(APL).Applied Physics Laboratory Leadership
/ref>APL - NASA Chief Engineer Michael Ryschkewitsch to Lead Space Programs at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
/ref> He formerly served as the Chief Engineer of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding ...

.NASA – NASA Administrator Names Ryschkewitsch as New Chief Engineer
/ref>

Education and career

Michael Ryschkewitsch earned a B.S. in physics from the

University of Florida, Gainesville The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and a Ph.D. in physics from Duke University. He joined the NASA

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC emp ...

in 1982 to work as a

cryogenics In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

engineer on the

Cosmic Background Explorer The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE ), also referred to as Explorer 66, was a NASA satellite dedicated to cosmology, which operated from 1989 to 1993. Its goals were to investigate the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB or CMBR) of th ...

(COBE) mission. He worked on a number of other projects, including the first servicing mission for the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

. He later served as the chairperson of the Genesis spacecraft mishap investigation board, and discovered a test that Lockheed Martin had skipped that would have prevented the mishap. Ryschkewitsch was eventually promoted to Deputy Director of Goddard Space Flight Center in 2005, and then to Chief Engineer of NASA in 2007. He was the third person in a row to go from Deputy Director of a NASA field center to Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters, after

Rex Geveden Rex Geveden (born 1962 in Mayfield, Kentucky) is the president and chief executive officer of BWX Technologies. Previously he was chief operating officer. Prior to his tenure with BWXT, Geveden was executive vice president of Teledyne Technologi ...

and

Christopher Scolese Christopher J. Scolese is an American engineer and intelligence official serving as the director of the National Reconnaissance Office. He was appointed the 19th director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO) on August 1, 2019. Scolese was ...

; the first two were also then promoted to Associate Administrator of NASA.NASA – Scolese to Succeed Geveden as NASA Associate Administrator
/ref>

Awards and honors

Ryschkewitsch has been awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership, the Robert Baumann Award for contributions to mission success, and the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Leadership Award. Asteroid 182044 Ryschkewitsch was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

on 25 September 2018 ().

References

NASA people University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni 1951 births Living people Duke University alumni {{US-engineer-stub