NASA names new Commercial Crew Program chief, replaces Mango

NASA has named Kathy Lueders manager of its Commercial Crew Program, which is led from Kennedy Space Center.

Lueders had been serving as the acting program manager since Ed Mango stepped down in October.

The program is within months of awarding contracts to companies to fly astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017.

"This is a particularly critical time for NASA's human spaceflight endeavors as the Commercial Crew Program enters into contract implementation," said Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's human spaceflight programs, in a press release.

Lueders will be assigned to KSC. She previously worked for the ISS program at Johnson Space Center, including helping commercial cargo vehicles begin service to the station. She joined NASA in 1992 working on the shuttle program.

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