A former Jet Propulsion Laboratory employee of 22 years will replace Charles Elachi as the director of the NASA facility, Caltech announced Monday.
Michael Watkins left JPL in 2015 to become the chair of aerospace engineering and director of the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin. Now, he’ll return as JPL’s director and the vice president of Caltech.
“JPL has such a talented and deeply committed staff,” Watkins said in a statement. “It is a privilege to have this opportunity to lead the laboratory to even greater discoveries. I look forward to working with my colleagues on campus and across NASA to forge new directions in space exploration and earth science.”
The former manager of JPL’s Science Division succeeds Elachi, who officially retires June 30. As director, Watkins will oversee JPL’s future deep space exploration missions and its ongoing studies of our home planet.
“Because of Mike’s 22 years at JPL, he understands the Lab and its people very well,” Elachi said in an email. “That can only help him and help JPL.”
Watkins has worked on some of NASA’s highest-profile missions in recent years. He was the mission manager for the Curiosity Rover and project scientist for the GRAIL and GRACE satellites studying the Moon and Earth respectively.
Watkins has also contributed to the Cassini, Mars Odyssey and Deep Impact missions.
Elachi, who served as JPL’s director for 15 years, said he sees parallels between his background and Watkins’. The outgoing leader’s early work on a variety of missions helped him later as the facility’s director. That same breadth of experience should benefit Watkins, Elachi said.
Watkins worked at JPL during “many of the triumphs and challenges,” according to Elachi.
“I believe this experience makes him well-prepared for the coming years,” he said.
The new director’s history with JPL’s Mars missions also makes him a strong choice to assist NASA in accomplishing its goals for red planet over the next two decades. NASA’s “Journey to Mars” plan calls for another rover, modeled after Curiosity, and a new orbiter prior to a human-led mission in 2030s.
The space agency hopes to use JPL’s Mars 2020 rover to collect surface samples for a later retrieval mission that would bring the samples back to Earth.
Under Watkins’ leadership, JPL is likely play a role in some of the NASA’s most important missions in the near future, including the exploration of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and a proposed attempt to capture and study an asteroid.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden called Watkins an “outstanding choice” in a statement.
“I, for one, cannot wait to work with him to advance our Journey to Mars, along with our understanding of our own planet, our universe and humanity’s place in it,” Bolden said.
A committee composed of Caltech trustees, faculty, senior administrative leaders and a member of the JPL executive council recommended Watkins after an extensive search.
“Michael’s record of successful mission leadership and impressive management skills quickly distinguished him as a leading candidate for this position,” said Caltech president Thomas F. Rosenbaum, in a statement. “As JPL director, Michael will build upon the laboratory’s outstanding achievements in planetary exploration and earth science, strengthening the connections between Caltech’s campuses and partnering with NASA to deliver highly complex and nuanced missions.”
