Makenzie Lystrup, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will officially leave the agency on Aug.1. She will be succeeded by deputy center director Cynthia Simmons in an acting capacity, NASA said Monday.
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Lystrup’s NASA Career
Lystrup assumed the center director position in April 2023. During her over two years in the role, she oversaw the direction and management of the Goddard Flight Center and other NASA field installations.
“Having served in a variety of science and aerospace civilian and government roles in her career, Makenzie has led development of, and/or contributed to a variety of NASA’s priority science missions including successful operations of our James Webb Space Telescope and Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, as well as development of the agency’s Roman Space Telescope, and more,” said Vanessa Wyche, acting NASA associate administrator.
“We’re grateful to Makenzie for her leadership at NASA Goddard for more than two years, including her work to inspire a Golden Age of explorers, scientists and engineers,” Wyche continued.
Other Career Highlights
Before joining NASA, Lystrup worked at Ball Aerospace for nearly 10 years. She served as vice president and general manager of civil space and senior director of civil space advanced systems and business development, overseeing new business initiatives for NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, other federal civilian agencies, academia and science institutions. She was also director of space sciences and business development manager of space sciences and technologies.
Lystrup served as a congressional fellow sponsored by the American Institute of Physics and Acoustical Society of America, managing a diverse portfolio covering technology, national defense, foreign affairs, nuclear energy and nuclear nonproliferation.
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