Mary Beth Wusk

Ms. Wusk joins the NESC team bringing over 30 years of experience working NASA Langley’s complex technology development projects on aircraft, suborbital launch vehicles, low earth orbit satellites and platforms targeting the Moon and beyond. She spent ten years as an Electrical Engineer providing instrumentation systems onboard the B737, F-16XL, and the B757 and ultimately becoming the Chief Electronics Engineer for the Flight Systems Safety Office.

She transitioned to Mission Operations Manager/Ground Segment Manager for an international earth-observing satellite, CALIPSO, from proposal to launch in 2006. She continued as a Project Manager for highly visible flight projects including the public-private partnership with ATK for HyBolt-SOAREX-ALV (HSA) suborbital launch vehicle project which launched in 2008, the Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment II (IRVE-2) which launched in 2009 and the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators (HIAD) project which included the successful launch of IRVE-3 in 2012. Upon completion of these projects, she served four years as the Deputy and ultimately Acting Program Manager for the Game Changing Program Office in the Space Technology Mission Directorate managing an annual budget of over $100 million and 300 FTEs across the agency. Ms. Wusk then transitioned to the Deputy Director for the Office of Strategic Analysis, Communications & Business Development for NASA Langley working closely with the Office of the Director on center strategy, partnerships and communications.

She has served as a panel member and board chairman on multiple cross-agency Standing Review Boards and Independent Review Boards for numerous Science Mission Directorate’s satellite projects. She takes pride in working with both public-private partners (international, industrial and academia) and other government agencies to meet the agency’s strategic goals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics from Longwood College in 1989 and a second bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Old Dominion University in 1992. She was awarded a patent for “Lightweight Flexible Thermal Protection System for Fire Protection” in 2019, NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal in 2013 and the Space Flight Awareness award in 2009.

She is dedicated to supporting STEM programs for the development of the next generation. She has also been selected as a “Women of NASA” representing a vibrant community of dedicated women employees who play a vital role in NASA’s mission.
https://women.nasa.gov/mary-beth-wusk/