Carla Koch

Carla Koch is a mission manager in the Commercial Crew Program at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Her responsibilities include coordinating with commercial partners to ensure mission integration, commercial transportation system certification, and certification of flight readiness for missions to the International Space Station.

Experience

Prior to becoming a mission manager, Koch served as the deputy certification manager for SpaceX’s Demo-2, Crew-1, and Crew-2 missions, and the certification manager for SpaceX’s Crew-3, Crew-4, and Crew-5 missions.

Her previous roles include landing and recovery project manager for Exploration Ground Systems (EGS), for which she led the team that developed the hardware to recover the Orion capsule on a Navy recovery ship, as well as Vehicle Assembly Building operations, where she coordinated activities within the facility to support EGS development modifications for Artemis missions.

Koch joined NASA in 2008 after graduation from college, where she started working for the Space Shuttle Program as a quality engineer with the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate and supported many shuttle missions. She also served as a vehicle processing engineer for Discovery’s STS-128 mission and Endeavour’s STS-134 mission, the second to final shuttle mission.

Awards

She is the recipient of several awards, including the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2021, the NASA Silver Achievement Medal in 2019, and a Kennedy Space Center Certificate of Commendation in 2017.

Education

Koch earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 2007 from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in industrial engineering with a focus in engineering management in 2016 from the University of Central Florida.

Personal

Koch’s hometown is Keller, Texas, though she now resides in Orlando.

Some of her favorite hobbies include golf, sailing, and traveling.

Biography last updated February 2023