Mark Mertz

Mark Mertz is the resident office manager at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for the Launch Services Program (LSP) based at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

In this role, Mertz functions as the manager for NASA’s remote field site at Vandenberg. His responsibilities include interfacing with Space Launch Delta 30 senior management, as well as overseeing and approving facility and maintenance activities and guest operations.

Experience

Mertz joined NASA in June 2004 as a launch site integration manager working at the formerly named Vandenberg Air Force Base in support of LSP. In this position, he worked on missions involving the Delta II, Pegasus XL, Taurus XL, SpaceX Falcon 9, and Atlas V rockets that were processed and launched from Vandenberg. For the Pegasus XL missions, he also had the opportunity to work on missions launching from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

He started his career as a contractor at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, where he worked system safety and mission support for the space shuttle’s external tank.

Awards

He was Kennedy Space Center’s Employee of the Year in 2016 in recognition of his efforts in support of the agency’s Jason-3 mission.

Education

Mertz received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1991. 

Personal

Mertz’s hometown is Santa Maria, California, though he now resides in Lompoc, California, with his wife, Mary, and their two sons, Matthew and Andrew.

Mertz enjoys cruises, RV travel, the outdoors, and off-roading in his Jeep Wrangler.

Biography last updated March 2023