NASA’s space shuttle program manager Mike Moses has announced that he has decided to leave the space agency to work for NewSpace firm Virgin Galactic. Moses worked for NASA for 13 years. Moses will become Virgin Galactic’s vice president of operations.
Moses was responsible for space shuttle operations during final three years of the program. In his new role with Virgin Galactic Moses will be in charge of the company’s suborbital spaceflight services.
“I’ve known Mike for a long time, from his flight controller days which led to him becoming a flight director and then moving into the shuttle program,” said Kyle Herring, a NASA public affairs officer. “I think he would be a very valuable asset to any organization that he went to. Mike’s expertise will be very beneficial in not just mission operations but ground operations as well.”
Virgin Galactic has a center near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The firm is working to launch paying tourists on suborbital ‘hops’ on the company’s SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. Passengers will get to experience a few moments of weightlessness before descending back to Earth. Seats on board the space plane cost approximately $200,000. SpaceShipTwo is currently scheduled to conduct test flights into space some time next year.