Nujoud Merancy

Nujoud Merancy serves as Chief Architect for NASA’s Moon Base. Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Merancy serves as the agency expert in human exploration architectures, guiding technical aspects of agency decisions about exploration element–level performance and functionality, which will have decades-long implications for agency goals and international and commercial partnerships.

Prior to her current role, Merancy served as deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Strategy and Architecture Office. Before that, she served as the chief of the Exploration Mission Planning Division within the Exploration Architecture, Integration, and Science Directorate; led the Mission Analysis and Integrated Assessments team; and held various roles supporting Orion Program mission planning and analysis, all at Johnson Space Center. She began her career working in industry supporting early International Space Station development and operations.

Merancy holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Houston–Clear Lake.  She is a recipient of a NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Team Award, and the Silver Snoopy, an award that NASA astronauts bestow for outstanding contributions to flight safety, for designing the space station’s loss of attitude control warning.