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Dr. Gary Kitmacher – NESC Academy Biography

Dr. Gary Kitmacher

Dr. Gary H. Kitmacher has worked at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) since 1981. As the mission manager for Education and Outreach, he has worked in the International Space Station (ISS) Program Office for several years. On an Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement (IPA) at the University of Houston, he helped to establish the Human Space Life Science graduate program while he also completed his doctorate.

For the ISS, Dr. Kitmacher was the architectural manager for man-systems and was instrumental in establishing the ISS lab module, node, cupola, and standard rack design requirements and configuration, and he established the human-systems subsystems. He served as the subsystem manager for the Crew Health Care System. As the Mir/Priroda vehicle manager, and later, the manager for operations and integration during the extended NASA Mir Program, he negotiated the contracts, and established the requirements documentation and working processes for the integration of U.S. hardware and payloads on Mir. He was, simultaneously, the project manager who invented and developed the soft stowage system (Cargo Transfer Bags (CTB)), Crew On Orbit Support (COSS) computer system, and U.S. Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) mechanical, electrical, and data systems for Mir. He worked extensively at Energia and Baikonur. Previously, Dr. Kitmacher was the mission manager for the first Spacehab commercial missions. He began his work for NASA as the stowage and crew equipment subsystem manager for the Space Shuttle. Before joining NASA, he worked for Rockwell in the Shuttle Commercialization Office, streamlining the payload integration process and establishing several joint endeavor agreements for the first Space Shuttle middeck commercial payloads.

Dr. Kitmacher has an extensive portfolio of technical papers about ISS, Mir, future exploration, spacecraft design, and space commercialization. He wrote the ISS Reference Guide and developed the ISS interactive Web site, which won the Adobe Max international award. He has been awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, two JSC Commendations, and the Silver Snoopy.

Last updated March 16, 2016