Chris Thames
Acting, Deputy Director for the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Langley Research Center
Mr. Thames has been the Assistant Branch Head (2015-2022) and Branch Head (2022-2025) of the Flight Software Systems Branch in Langley Research Center’s Engineering Directorate. From 2010 through 2022, he worked as the flight software lead for the Sensor Test for Orion Relative-Navigation Risk Mitigation (STORRM) instrument flown on STS-134, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III Interface Adapter Module (IAM) that is currently in operation aboard the International Space Station, and the Safeguard project in collaboration with the Safety Critical Avionics Systems Branch in the Research Directorate that demonstrated advanced concepts for safety-critical autonomous flight systems.
Prior to his tenure at Langley Research Center, Mr. Thames worked with Lockheed Martin, United Space Alliance, and Honeywell with the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. With Honeywell, he was the software lead for the Orion Abort Decision Logic (ADL) flight software. He started his career as part of the Space Shuttle Primary Avionics Software System (PASS) guidance, navigation, and flight control (GNC) team with a primary focus on the guidance flight software and flight support during Shuttle missions. Additionally, he spent one year as the primary developer for the cockpit displays as part of the Boeing CEV proposal team.
Chris Thames is a graduate of North Carolina State University and The University of Tennessee where he received Bachelors and Masters of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering, respectively. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at William & Mary.