Clayton Turner, deputy center director of NASA’s Langley Research Center, has been named the site’s next director. He will oversee a 3,400-person workforce of scientists, engineers, researchers and support personnel, succeeding David Bowles who will retire on Sept. 30 after 39 years with NASA, the agency said Tuesday.
Turner joined NASA in 1990 as an engineer to lead the development of the laser aligning, bore-sight limit system under the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment. The engineering professional held various roles throughout his NASA tenure, with contributions to multiple spaceflight projects. He has been functioning as Langley Research Center’s deputy director since 2015 and prior to that, served as an associate director with responsibilities on the center’s daily operations.
“Clayton’s wide range of engineering and leadership experience will serve Langley and the agency well as our Artemis program works to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 to prepare to go to Mars,†said Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator.
