Nick Chrissotimos
Associate Division Manager
Nick Chrissotimos is the Associate Director of Flight Projects Directorate for Planetary Science Projects Division (PSPD). Just prior to his transition to PSPD, he was the Associate Director of Flight Projects for Heliophysics and Program Manager for Explorers, Living with a Star and Solar Terrestrial Probes programs.
In 1962, when he was 11 years old, John F. Kennedy gave his famous speech directing the United States to land a man on the moon within the decade. That sounded so cool, and sparked something within him so chose to become an engineer and majored in electrical engineering. His undergraduate school had a Cooperative Education Program in the engineering department and one of the places to work as a coop student was NASA/Goddard. This opportunity fulfilled one of his childhood dreams!
Nick joined NASA/Goddard in 1974 after receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from Pratt Institute. Later he earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) from the University of Maryland. Some of his first responsibilities at Goddard were to develop Ground Systems hardware for the NASA Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN) tracking stations. He then designed and developed spaceflight hardware while supporting numerous flight projects. Other assignments included serving in three different capacities as Payload Manager, Spacecraft Manager, and Assistant Project Manager for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Project. Additionally, Nick served as the Deputy Project Manager on NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) Chemistry and Special Flights Project, and as the Earth Systems Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Project Manager.
In 2003 while he was appointed as the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) Project Manager, Nick served double duty as the Living With a Star (LWS) Program Manager and Deputy Program Manager for the Sun Earth Connection (SEC) Programs. More recently as the Associate Director of Flight Projects for the Exploration and Space Communications Projects Division, he was responsible for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Project, TDRS Project, Space Network and Ground Network Projects, and provided GSFC Constellation Program support.
What I love most about my job are the people at Goddard who are smart and dedicated to their jobs and mission success. The comradery on flight projects and programs is that of one team, one family.
Nick Chrissotimos
Associate Division Manager
Nick was married for over 45 years to his wonderful wife, Mary, before she passed away in 2019. They had three great kids who are each all married, and between them now Nick has seven grandchildren to adore!
His favorite hobbies are sports! As a youth he played soccer and ice hockey through high school and college and continued until my mid 50’s. He also played college basketball for his undergraduate Division III school. While Nick’s children were growing up, he coached both soccer and basketball in the Bowie Boys and Girls Club and for the Bowie Ice Hockey travel team. During his tenure at NASA, Nick played in the Goddard Soccer League, Goddard Softball league, and in the Hockey North America League for many years. His favorite sports are ice hockey (born and raised a New York Rangers fan), English Premier League Soccer (Arsenal fan) and football (born and raised a New York Giants fan). However, now with season tickets for the Baltimore Ravens, Go Ravens!!
Nick’s other favorite pastime is enjoying a craft beer either at home or at a microbrewery as well as a glass of good red wine with dinner!