NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

R. Marshall Smith. Image Credit: NASA/LaRC

R. Marshall Smith is the chief of the System Engineering and Integration Office for the Ares I-X mission and is currently located at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

Named to the position in June 2007, Mr. Smith is responsible for mission requirements verification and system level verification of all integrated design components of the Ares I-X mission. His office manages design analysis and component integration of the Ares I-X launch vehicle system.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Smith served as the manager of the Langley Ares I project office. In this position, Mr. Smith managed all Ares I development at Langley Research Center, including wind tunnel testing and structures development and testing. Mr. Smith was also responsible for developing proposals to meet Ares I goals.

Before serving in the Ares program, Mr. Smith was the manager of the Space Missions and Project Office at Langley. From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Smith was responsible for the center’s involvement in earth observing and interplanetary space missions (outside of the Shuttle and Constellation programs). Responsibilities included Science Directorate mission planning and the Mars Scout program. While in this position, Mr. Smith had oversight over ten proposals for Mars exploration missions.

From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Smith was the Aft Flight Deck project manager on the NASA Boeing 757 research aircraft. In this program, Mr. Smith led multidisciplinary teams in developing and testing modifications and the configuration of systems in support of simulation-to-flight test facilities and programs. Mr. Smith provided project planning and development leadership for mission-critical hardware and software.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Smith was the Simulation Systems Engineering group leader at Langley, from 1996 to 2003. He led a multidisciplinary team in planning and monitoring the development of flight simulation hardware and software in the Flight Simulation Facility and Transport Research Office. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Smith also held responsibilities as the chief engineer for the Aft Flight Deck project. Here, he provided technical leadership in the design, development, integration and operation of the Aft Flight Deck system.

Also, from 1997 to 1999, Mr. Smith was the chief engineer of Langley's Simulation Systems Branch. He provided engineering direction for planning and development of the Flight Simulation Facility. He was responsible for long-range strategic planning for capital improvements and upgrades to the facility.

From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Smith served as the ground-based systems manager of the Transport Research Facilities Project Office, where he managed the design, construction, installation and integration of three flight simulators and two electronics research laboratories.

Mr. Smith began his career at NASA in 1987 as a simulation development engineer in the Simulation Systems Branch at NASA Langley, responsible for the design, development, and integration of components into the simulation architecture.

Mr. Smith has earned numerous honors and awards during his career at NASA. Recognition includes Superior Accomplishment Awards for his work on the Aviation Security Enhancement Research Proposal in 2002, the Airborne Information for Lateral Spacing Concept in 2001, and for his contributions to the Research Flight Deck Simulator Cab Airborne Systems Competency in 2000. He has received multiple Group Achievement Awards and a Performance Award for outstanding technical leadership for the Aft Flight Deck project.

Mr. Smith holds a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Tennessee and a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Mr. Smith, his wife, Karen, and their two children reside in Yorktown, VA.