spacetoday.net: NASA shakes up shuttle management

Posted: Thu, Jul 3, 2003, 11:41 AM ET (1541 GMT)
NASA

NASA made several changes to the top management of the space shuttle program on Wednesday, removing three key managers involved in key decisions during Columbia's final mission. Ralph Roe, manager of the vehicle engineering office; Linda Ham, head of the mission management team during the flight; and Lambert Austin, manager of systems integrations, were all removed from their positions on Wednesday. As earlier reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Roe has been appointed to lead a new safety and engineering office at NASA's Langley Research Center; the fates of Austin and Ham were unclear. NASA named five people to fill those and other positions within the shuttle program office. Among those people are Wayne Hale, the new acting deputy program manager for the shuttle, and Steve Poulos Jr., acting manager of the orbiter project office.