Melissa Jones is the NASA landing and recovery director for the Exploration Ground Systems Program. She leads retrieval of NASA flight crew and module hardware.
Melissa Jones | |
|---|---|
 Melissa Jones official Kennedy Space Center photo | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | University of Central Florida |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Kennedy Space Center |
Early life and education
editJones was born in Oak Hill, Florida.[1] Her parents and grandparents worked in different aspects of space programs at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.[2] During junior high school, Jones was an intern at the Kennedy Space Center, where she worked on processing for Unity node.[2] She studied electrical engineering at the University of Central Florida. She returned in 2016 and earned a master's degree in engineering management.[1]
Career
edit
Jones join the Space Shuttle program as a contractor in 2004.[1] In 2007 she was appointed as lead orbiter project engineering for Space Shuttle Endeavour.[1] In this role she looked to get Endeavour in a fit state to fly.[1]
She led system engineering for NASA Ground and Mission Operations the Commercial Crew Program. This included ensuring operations were ready for the launch and integrated systems verification.[1] Jones was part of the New Horizons flyby team in 2015.[3][4]
In 2017 Jones was awarded a Rotary International National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Award.[1] She serves as an expert for The Planetary Society.[5]
Jones will lead the recovery team of Artemis 1 (previously Exploration Mission-1) that will work with the United States Navy to recover the Orion crew module.[1] The recovery will take place in the ocean near San Diego, and Jones is responsible for the creation of a ship, with a landing platform, that can recover flight crews from open water.[5] She has worked for the Underway Recovery Test 5 (URT-5). Jones was involved with the USS John P. Murtha Orion spacecraft recovery tests.[6]
Personal life
editJones is married with two children.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Heiney, Anna (2018-04-11). "Kennedy Biographies". NASA. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ a b Heiney, Anna (2016-11-17). "Faces of GSDO: Melissa Jones". NASA. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ "New Horizons: Event Photos detail?cat=The%20Women%20who%20Power%20NASA%27s%20New%20Horizons%20Mission%20to%20Pluto". pluto.jhuapl.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ "The women of NASA's New Horizons team are breaking boundaries—in more ways than one". www.pbs.org. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ a b "Melissa Jones". www.planetary.org. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ "USS John P. Murtha Completes Orion Spacecraft Recovery Tests". USNI News. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2019-11-24.