NASA appoints Robyn Gatens as acting director for International Space Station

NASA, on August 31, announced its new acting director of International Space station (ISS) at its official Headquarters. NASA’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, Kathy Lueders, designated Robyn Gatens, a 35 year ISS Division and System Capability Leader for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems at NASA. Her appointment was effective August 25. Lueders took to her official Twitter handle to announce the former NASA’s Systems Maturation Team member’s new role at the space agency. 

According to NASA’s press release, Gaten will lead the strategy, policy, integration, and stakeholder engagement for the space station program at the agency level. She started her NASA career in 1985 at the Marshall Space Flight Center and held various leadership positions, including Manager for the Orion Crew Support and Thermal Systems between 2009 and 2012. Now, she will work closely with International Space Station Program Manager Joel Montalbano at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Gatens will provide technical advice at ISS, oversee program execution, and manage risks.

Lueders said in the press release, "Robyn has demonstrated her leadership and strategic vision for the International Space Station and our efforts to enable a robust low-Earth orbit economy, and I am confident she will continue to do so as acting director.”

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Held multiple leadership roles

Earlier, Gatens’ role at NASA involved strategic planning to ramp up ISS’ robust low-Earth orbit economy, for which, she shared responsibility with the director for day-to-day management. She carried out an external review of the operations and management of the International Space Station US National Laboratory under the Center for the Advancement of Science. She held a role as a systems capability chief and headed the agency-wide team of system-specific subject matter experts in the environmental control, life support, and crew health and performance systems (ECLSS) department. As per NASA, Gatens also spearheaded NASA’s advanced technologies for future missions. She holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. According to NASA, the former director, Sam Scimemi, has also been appointed as a special assistant for the agency’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

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