JSC NAMES FOUR NEW FLIGHT DIRECTORS



July 24, 1998



John Ira Petty
Johnson Space Center, Texas
(281/483-5111)

<h4>Release: J98-32</h4> <h3>JSC Names Four New Flight Directors</h3> 

The Missions Operation Directorate at the Johnson Space Center has 
named four new flight directors for future assignments in the Mission 
Control Center.



The four new flight directors, all former flight controllers, are 
Kelly Beck, LeRoy Cain, John Curry and Richard LaBrode.



Beck is from Cahokia, Ill. She holds a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in 
aerospace engineering from Parks College of St. Louis University and 
a master&rsquo;s in physical sciences from the University of Houston 
Clear Lake. Beck, 31, has been a part of the space program for almost 
10 years, first as a government contractor and more recently as a 
NASA /JSC employee.



Before being selected as flight director, she supported numerous space 
shuttle missions, 16 of them as a guidance and procedures officer 
responsible for the onboard guidance and navigation.



Cain joined Rockwell Shuttle Operations Co. at JSC in 1988. He became 
a NASA/JSC employee in 1991. Before being appointed a flight director 
he served as a guidance, navigation and control (GNC) officer for 
numerous space shuttle missions, including 14 flights as the 
ascent/entry GNC officer. More recently he served as the group lead 
for the Ascent/Entry Guidance &amp; Procedures Group, overseeing the 
preflight and real-time operations and support responsibilities of 
the guidance and procedures officers. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, Cain, 
34, holds a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in aerospace engineering from 
Iowa State University in Ames.



Curry is from Albuquerque, N.M. He holds a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in 
aerospace engineering from Texas A&amp;M. Curry, whose NASA career 
began in 1987, served as a flight planner on 18 space shuttle 
missions, four of them as lead flight activities officer. In April 
1997, Curry, 33, transferred to the Operations Liaison Office and 
supported Mike Foale&rsquo;s Mir/NASA-5 mission as one of the NASA 
operations leads in the Russian mission control center outside 
Moscow.



Four months later, Curry was named lead for NASA&rsquo;s International 
Space Station mission operations in Russia. He will remain in that 
position until completion of the STS-88 mission, the first shuttle 
launch of an International Space Station component, now set for 
December.



LaBrode, 36, was born in Orleans, France but grew up in St. Louis, Mo. 
He holds a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in electrical engineering from the 
University of South Florida in Tampa.



A 13-year veteran of the space program, LaBrode began as a contractor 
employee and served as a flight controller in the Communications 
Group. He is a veteran of 51 space shuttle missions, 31 of which he 
supported as an instrumentation and communications officer. He became 
a NASA civil servant when he was selected as a flight director.



Working in the Mission Control Center, a flight director has overall 
responsibility for the management and execution of a space flight.



In addition to duties performed during a mission, a flight director 
leads and orchestrates premission planning and integration activities 
with flight controllers, payload customers, International Space 
Station partners, and others who support the Space Shuttle and 
International Space Station programs.

	
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