PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: Diane Ainsworth
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 1995
JPL ENGINEER ED MASSEY NAMED NEW ULYSSES PROJECT MANAGER
Ed B. Massey, who has been acting manager and head of
mission operations systems engineering on the Ulysses mission to
study the Sun's poles, has been named manager of the spaceflight
project.
Massey, whose appointment is effective immediately, was
chosen after a six-month search to fill the position vacated by
Willis Meeks, who retired January 29, 1996 after 30 years at JPL.
As manager, Massey will oversee all aspects of operations, ground
communications and scientific data collection for the highly
productive Ulysses mission, a joint mission of NASA and the
European Space Agency (ESA) launched in 1990. The spacecraft
completed its first solar orbit in late 1995 and will return to
the Sun for its second solar orbit in 2000.
"We are pleased to have Ed's continuing guidance and
expertise on the Ulysses mission," said JPL Deputy Director Larry
Dumas. "His experience with this international team will ensure
the mission's success during Ulysses' second orbit around the
Sun."
"We are expecting a very exciting journey over the north and
south poles of the Sun when Ulysses begins its next solar orbit,"
Massey added. "The Sun will be in its most active phase of the
11-year solar cycle and scientists are hoping to gain a great
deal more information about its inner workings the second time
around."
Before becoming mission operations systems engineering
manager of the mission in November 1995, Massey had served as
Ulysses project control administrator and science instruments
manager. Prior to that, he had served as Ulysses project control
administrator since joining JPL in 1987.
A retired Air Force officer, Massey had served from May 1983
to July 1986 as director of Space Test Operations in the U.S. Air
Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, assigned to the Los
Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Before that, he had been deputy
director from July 1982 to May 1983 of Systems Engineering and
Integration in the Space Defense Systems Air Force Space
Division, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
In his earlier Air Force career, Massey held a variety of
positions in satellite operations, systems requirements and data
reduction and analysis for the U.S. Air Force.
A native of Birmingham, Ala., Massey earned a bachelor's
degree in electrical engineering in 1966 from Tuskegee
University, Tuskegee, Ala., and a master's degree in systems
management in 1976 from the University of Southern California in
Los Angeles.
Among his professional affiliations, Massey is a member of
the American Geophysical Union and the European Geophysical
Society. He has been the recipient of the NASA Exceptional
Service Medal for outstanding performance and, in 1992, completed
the NASA Management Education program.
Massey and his wife, Claudette, have two children and live
in La Palma, Calif.
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8/19/96 DEA
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