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Team Mindset Fuels NASA Stennis Test Operations Leader


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Maury Vander, wearing a navy-colored jacket, smiles at the camera. He is standing in the foreground with the Thad Cochran Test Stand in the background.
Maury Vander stands at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he has worked more than 30 years supporting NASA’s mission of space exploration.
NASA/Danny Nowlin

One thing has remained constant throughout Maury Vander’s career with NASA – the satisfaction of being part of a team working to innovate and benefit the agency and the aerospace industry at large.

As chief of the Test Operations Division at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Vander provides guidance and help with technical challenges to a group of electrical and mechanical engineers performing test operations for NASA and commercial companies.

“With the test team at NASA Stennis, the work doesn’t happen because of one individual,” Vander said. “It’s a total team effort that makes it happen. Our team consists of a diverse group of personalities, experience levels and backgrounds, so you get value from that.”

Vander has contributed in various capacities to four engine programs since coming to NASA Stennis in 1990 as a contract worker and then being hired by NASA in 2000. He performed the role of test conductor for the programs, which included being the first to do so in three of the four programs. 

Filling this role allowed him the opportunity to be heavily involved in developing the test processes used during the initial hot fire tests of those engines. He called this a highlight of his career as he witnessed the success of the test campaigns.

A key part of continuing NASA’s mission of exploring secrets of the universe for the benefit of all is developing people to contribute to the agency, which ultimately benefits humanity.

With the test team at NASA Stennis, the work doesn’t happen because of one individual. It’s a total team effort that makes it happen. Our team consists of a diverse group of personalities, experience levels and backgrounds, so you get value from that.”

maury vander

maury vander

NASA Stennis Test Operations Leader

The Slidell, Louisiana, native was once the person that pressed the button and made the ground shake as a conductor of engine tests. Since being promoted to his leadership role in 2012, Vander now helps other people grow into such roles as NASA works to safely carry out Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.

“You start to gain enjoyment as you watch people develop,” he said. “You watch someone who comes in as a new hire and watch as they develop skills and see what they are capable of doing and you kind of draw a different level of satisfaction with your job.”

Helping people become aware of their potential is something Vander enjoys. When NASA led an outreach event in November at the Bayou Classic in New Orleans to reach deeper into underrepresented and underserved segments of society, Vander was quick to volunteer for the activity and help staff a NASA exhibit tent.

“When I do outreach events like that, I hope I can open their eyes and make a connection,” he said. “And in this instance, I looked a lot like the high school graduating seniors passing by or the freshmen in college going into the game.”

Vander’s message to young people attending the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) event was clear. “Forty years ago, I was you,” Vander told students who stopped at the NASA exhibit. “There’s a lot more opportunity now. There’s a lot more skills that are out there that you can take advantage of and go way farther than I went or even thought about going.”

Whether it is welcoming new people or helping develop those already on the team at NASA Stennis, Vander knows most of the success he has experienced can be traced back to the team.

“At the end of the day, I’m going to look back and say there was some good work going on, and there were some great people that I got to interact with,” Vander said. “I would love for them to be able to say of me, ‘It was good to be on a team with him, he treated me not just as a coworker but as a friend, and I’m better for having encountered him.’”

For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit

Stennis Space Center – NASA

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      Previously, Turner served as NASA Langley Research Center Director since September 2019 and has been with the agency for more than 30 years. He has held several roles at NASA Langley, including engineering director, associate center director, and deputy center director. Throughout his NASA career, he has worked on many projects for the agency, including: the Earth Science Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation Project; the materials technology development Gas Permeable Polymer Materials Project; the Space Shuttle Program’s Return to Flight work; the flight test of the Ares 1-X rocket; the flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System; and the entry, descent, and landing segment of the Mars Science Laboratory.
      In recognition of his commitment to the agency and engineering, Turner has received many prestigious awards, such as the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal. He is also an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a Board of Trustees member of his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology.
      NASA Glenn Research Center Deputy Director, Dawn Schaible, became acting Langley Center Director in July and will continue to serve in this role. At NASA Langley, Schaible leads a skilled group of more than 3,000 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers, and support staff, who work to advance aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and develop technology for space exploration.
      For more about Turner’s experience, visit his full biography online at:
      https://go.nasa.gov/48UmkmS
      -end-
      Meira Bernstein / Jasmine Hopkins
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1600
      meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
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      Last Updated Nov 18, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      3 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      NASA Energy Program Manager for Facility Projects Wayne Thalasinos, left, stands with NASA Stennis Sustainability Team Lead Alvin Askew at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 30. The previous day, the Department of Energy announced NASA Stennis will receive a $1.95 million grant for an energy conservation project at the south Mississippi center. The Stennis Sustainability Team consists of NASA personnel and contract support. NASA members include Askew, Missy Ferguson and Teenia Perry. Contract members include Jordan McQueen (Synergy-Achieving Consolidated Operations and Maintenance); Michelle Bain (SACOM); Matt Medick (SACOM); Thomas Mitchell (SACOM); Lincoln Gros (SACOM), and Erik Tucker (Leidos). NASA Stennis NASA’s Stennis Space Center has been awarded a highly competitive U.S. Department of Energy grant to transform its main administration building into a facility that produces as much renewable energy as it uses.
      Following an Oct. 29 announcement, NASA Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, will receive $1.95 million through the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) Program. The grant will fund installation of a four-acre solar panel array onsite that can generate up to 1 megawatt of electricity.
      “This is a flagship project for our NASA center,” said NASA Stennis Director John Bailey. “It will provide renewable energy to help reduce our carbon footprint, contributing to NASA’s agencywide goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.”
      The AFFECT Program awards grants to help the federal government achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by all federal buildings by 2045. More than $1 billion in funding proposals was requested by federal agencies for the second, and final, phase of the initiative. A total of $149.87 million subsequently was awarded for 67 energy conservation and clean energy projects at federal facilities across 28 U.S. states and territories and in six international locations. NASA Stennis is the only agency in Mississippi to receive funding.  
      The site’s solar panel array will build on an $1.65 million energy conservation project already underway at the south Mississippi site to improve energy efficiency. The solar-generated electricity can be used in a number of ways, from powering facility lighting to running computers. The array also will connect to the electrical grid to allow any excess energy to be utilized elsewhere onsite.
      “This solar panel addition will further enhance our energy efficiency,” said NASA Stennis Sustainability Team Lead Alvin Askew. “By locating the solar photovoltaic array by the Emergency Operations Center, it also has potential future benefits in providing backup power to that facility during outages.”
      The NASA Stennis proposal was one of several submitted by NASA centers for agency consideration. Following an agency review process, NASA submitted multiple projects to the Department of Energy for grant consideration.
      “This was a very competitive process, and I am proud of the NASA Stennis Sustainability Team,” NASA Stennis Center Operations Director Michael Tubbs said. “The team’s hard work in recent years and its commitment to continuous improvement in onsite energy conversation laid the groundwork to qualify for this grant. Mr. Askew, in particular, continues to be a leader in creative thinking, helping us meet agency sustainability goals.”
      The NASA Stennis administration building was constructed in 2008 as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified, all-electric facility and currently has net-zero emissions.
      For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
      https://www.nasa.gov/stennis
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      Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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