Posted: Tue, Aug 16, 2011, 6:40 AM ET (1040 GMT)
NASA announced Friday it has merged directorates within the agency responsible for exploration and human spaceflight operations into a single entity. The Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate combined the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and the Space Operations Mission Directorate into a single organization. Space operations had been responsible for operations of the space shuttle, ISS, and related programs, while the exploration directorate had been responsible for the Constellation program and, after its cancellation, the MPCV capsule and SLS heavy-lift rocket. Bill Gerstenmaier, who had led the space operations directorate, will lead the new HEO directorate.
