Kienlen, E. Michael

Mr. Mike Kienlen currently serves as Deputy Project Manager (DPM) of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Development Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Along with the Project Manager, he is responsible for managing the development of flight hardware for the periodic Hubble upgrade missions. In this capacity, he has led the successful execution of two HST missions, and his team is currently preparing for another. Mr. Kienlen has been DPM since 1999, after serving as the HST Orbital Systems Test (HOST) Mission Manager on STS-95. This flight included experimental equipment that would later be installed on HST to reactivate a dormant scientific camera.

While serving as HOST Mission Manager, Mr. Kienlen also continued as HST Space Support Equipment Manager, a position he attained in 1997. In this role, he managed the preparation of the carriers that deliver HST equipment to orbit. He was also responsible for the Flight Support System, which is HST's berthing and servicing platform during upgrade missions. Mr. Kienlen joined the HST Team in 1996, as a member of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office. In this position, he assisted with mission-specific tools and spacewalk training for the 1997 HST Servicing Mission.

Prior to joining the HST family, Mr. Kienlen served as Chief of Payload Operations at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from 1993 to 1996. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing payload operations and integrated test direction. Prior to and overlapping with that position, he was KSC's Senior Payloads Test Director. His duties included managing the planning, coordinating, and execution of integrated payload test operations. He also interfaced with the Shuttle NASA Test Directors, Contractor Operations, Engineering, Quality, Safety, and Support personnel to ensure payload test objectives and schedule milestones were met. From 1984 to 1992, as Payload Landing Site Manager, he was responsible for ensuring that all payloads at the primary, secondary, and contingency landing sites were properly planned and coordinated. Before that, he was a Mission Operations Engineer, during which time he coordinated the performance of pre-launch payload efforts with the payload customers, NASA, and supporting contractors. He began his NASA career in 1993 as a Systems Engineer responsible for supervising the storage and distribution systems of all high-pressure gases supporting Shuttle operations.

His numerous and distinguished awards include NASA's Manned Flight Awareness Honoree and the astronautsÕ own Silver Snoopy Award. He has two Bachelor of Science degrees: in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and in Physics from Shippensburg State University.