NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Clyde S. "Chip" Jones is chief operating officer of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Named to the position in December 2007, he is responsible for day-to-day management and operation of the facility. This involves overseeing all manufacturing support and institutional services, including facility management and operations, environmental engineering, logistics and transportation, industrial labor relations, protective services, occupational medicine and environmental health and emergency management. Mr. Jones also is responsible for implementing strategic decisions for the future direction of the facility.

The Michoud facility is an 832-acre site that includes one of the world’s largest manufacturing plants, with 43 acres under one roof, and a port with deep-water access, permitting transportation of large space systems and hardware. Managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Michoud is responsible for the design, manufacture and assembly of the space shuttle’s external tank. Michoud also has been selected to support NASA's Constellation Program for the agency's exploration missions to return to the moon and travel beyond. Work there has already begun for the Orion crew exploration vehicle, while planning is underway for the Ares launch vehicles, all part of the Constellation Program.

Prior to accepting his new post, Mr. Jones served as manufacturing and assembly manager for the Ares I Upper Stage, responsible for delivery of all development, test and flight hardware for NASA's newest launch vehicle, which will send crew members on board the Orion crew exploration vehicle into space. From 2004 to 2005, he was external tank resident manager at Michoud Assembly Facility, overseeing the shuttle's external tank manufacturing activities.

Mr. Jones served from 2002 to 2004 as group lead for Metallic Materials and Processes in the Marshall Engineering Directorate's Materials & Processes Laboratory, where he was responsible for metals development, testing and welding. In 1992, he was named team lead for welding in the Materials and Processes Laboratory. He led the use of robotic welding for the International Space Station structures, and led development of friction stir welding for the shuttle's external tank. He began his NASA career in 1981 as an electrical engineer in the Science and Engineering Directorate, working on robotic and computer controlled welding systems.

Mr. Jones received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1978. He has completed graduate studies in control systems.

He has received numerous awards and honors, including a Director's Commendation in 2006 for his response to Hurricane Katrina and a U.S. patent award in 1998 for a method for marking, capturing and decoding machine-readable matrix symbols using magneto-optic imaging techniques. Also in 1998, he was honored with the NASA Medal for Exceptional Achievement for leadership of the welding team.

Mr. Jones and his wife Laura reside in Fayetteville, Tenn.

+ Photo: Clyde S. 'Chip' Jones