A Mississippi Gulf Coast native has been tabbed as the first woman to serve as deputy director at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
Director John Bailey announced on Friday that longtime propulsion engineer/manager Christine Powell has been selected to operate in the executive role at the Bay St. Louis site. She will begin in her new role on August 12.
Powell currently serves as manager of the NASA Rocket Propulsion Test Program Office located at the Stennis Space Center. In that role, she oversees propulsion assets valued at more than $3.5 billion across the agency, management of the program’s operations and annual $48 million budget, and strategic planning for NASA’s key objectives.
She is the first woman to be selected as NASA Stennis deputy director. She will be responsible, with the center director, for coordinating all of NASA Stennis’ rocket propulsion test capabilities, as well as managing the overall site. NASA Stennis is the nation’s largest – and premier – propulsion test site, supporting test operations for both the government and commercial aerospace companies. It also serves as a regional aerospace and technology hub, home to more than 50 resident agencies, companies, organizations, and institutions.
“I am excited for Christine to join the NASA Stennis executive team,” Bailey said. “She has deep and proven experience and expertise in propulsion testing and management. She also has served in a range of leadership positions here at NASA Stennis, making her uniquely qualified to help us innovate and grow into the future.”
Powell, from Biloxi, began her 33-year agency career at NASA Stennis as an intern in 1991. Following her internship, she served as an instrumentation engineer and systems integration engineer before moving into leadership positions beginning in 2004.
She subsequently served in various roles, including as site representative to the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, lead of the NASA Stennis Systems and Test Integration Branch, chief of the NASA Stennis Systems Engineering Branch, and assistant director of the Engineering and Test Directorate. Powell also led the NASA Stennis Systems Engineering and Project Management Leadership Development Program and was the NASA Stennis Advocate for the Agency’s Systems and Engineering Leadership Program. Powell assumed leadership of the Rocket Propulsion Test Program Office in May 2021.
The incoming deputy director has received numerous recognitions during her career, including two NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals. She is a graduate of Mississippi State University and the University of New Orleans.
