Kelvin Manning

Kelvin Manning is a deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate. In this role, Manning provides strategic support, resources and executive coordination that enable program managers to deliver the agency’s human spaceflight initiatives, including the Artemis program.

Previously, Manning served as deputy center director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and as acting center director from January to July 2025 and again in May 2026. In these roles, he managed the center’s civil service and contractor workforce, set and implemented center policy, and oversaw execution of Kennedy-led missions and agency-level program responsibilities. Before becoming deputy center director, Manning spent more than a decade as Kennedy’s associate director, where he oversaw the safe and effective execution of the center’s institutional, technical and business functions and established strategies and policies to align its workforce, facilities and operations with agency program and project goals.

Manning began his NASA career in 1992 at Kennedy and served in several roles within the former Shuttle Processing Directorate, including shuttle flow director, acting chief engineer for shuttle upgrades, vehicle manager, and NASA test director. Within the Kennedy Constellation Project Office, he was selected as the first division chief for NASA’s Orion spacecraft. He also has served on three NASA Astronaut Candidate Selection Boards.

A graduate of Aberdeen High School in Aberdeen, Maryland, Manning earned a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He also holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Central Florida in Orlando and completed the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He has received numerous honors, including the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award; NASA’s Distinguished Service, Exceptional Achievement, Exceptional Service and Public Service Medals; the astronauts’ Silver Snoopy Award; the National Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement in Government; the Department of Defense Joint Service Commendation Medal; and the National Eagle Scout Association Outstanding Eagle Scout Award.

As an Air Force officer, he served six years as a space operations analyst, stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and at the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado Springs. Before joining NASA, he worked as an engineer with General Electric Aerospace, Military and Data Systems Operations in Springfield, Virginia, and with McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Company in Washington.

Born in Fort Meade, Maryland, Manning grew up as an “Army brat,” traveling throughout the U.S. and living in Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Hawaii, Illinois and Maryland.

Biography last updated June 2026