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Faces of SLS: Bill Davis

Bill Davis at Aerojet Rocketdyne

I plan, schedule and oversee engineering support for testing at Stennis on NASA and commercial programs including the RS-25 flight engine, the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage and the commercial RS-68 engine for the Delta IV rocket. I’m particularly excited to work on the RS-25 for SLS. I grew up on the space shuttle main engine program, so it’s gratifying to bring back the shuttle’s workhorse engine to power America’s next heavy-lift rocket. SLS will continue human space exploration and take us further than we have ever been including on the journey to Mars.

Even though it’s been nearly three decades since I first joined Rocketdyne in 1988, I’m not sure I breathe for the first ten seconds of an engine test. After that, I’m confident we’ve done everything we can to achieve a nominal test — one that goes exactly as expected. That’s a great feeling. It reminds me of my wife Lucie’s first shuttle launch, where a NASA commentator used the term nominal to describe the engines’ performance. Lucie thought he said phenomenal. It’s easy to achieve nominal performance when your team is phenomenal!

I’m a Navy brat, born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Puerto Rico. I graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, where I earned degrees in geology and mechanical engineering in 1982 and 1987, respectively. The Pelican State has been home ever since.

I try to spend my spare time with Lucie and our kids, Sarah, Billy and Mary Claire. I mentor a student robotics team at Northshore High School in our hometown of Slidell, Louisiana. Each of my kids was on the team during their high school years. Now Sarah, my oldest, has joined Aerojet Rocketdyne as an instrumentation test engineer at Stennis. I couldn’t be prouder of her, carrying the torch I first picked up so many years ago. The journey continues for a new generation…

Editor’s Note: Bill Davis is the recipient of a 2016 NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal for his career service to the agency and engineering leadership for Aerojet Rocketdyne at Stennis.