OREANDA-NEWS. Boeing [NYSE: BA] has named John Shannon to be vice president and program manager for the Space Launch System (SLS), which will provide NASA with heavy-lift capability to send people and cargo into deep space.

Boeing is designing, developing, testing and manufacturing the core stages and avionics for SLS. Shannon succeeds Virginia “Ginger” Barnes, who is retiring. He currently serves as the company’s International Space Station (ISS) program manager, leading the Boeing team’s key integration role for NASA’s ISS Program.

Prior to joining Boeing, Shannon worked at NASA for 25 years, leaving the agency as deputy associate administrator for Exploration Planning in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. He also served as program manager for the Space Shuttle, a role in which he managed the final fourteen shuttle missions and set the direction and policy for Space Shuttle development, including prelaunch and flight operations.

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