Nujoud Merancy
Deputy Associate Administrator, Strategy and Architecture Office
NASA
Nujoud Merancy is the deputy associate administrator for the Strategy & Architecture Office (SAO) in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) for NASA Headquarters. Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Merancy serves as the agency expert in exploration architectures, guiding technical aspects of agency decisions about exploration element–level performance and functionality, which will have decades-long implications for agency goals and international and commercial partnerships. She oversees the annual Architecture Concept Review cycle, in which NASA refines the exploration architecture that guides its efforts to return astronauts to the Moon, establish an ongoing lunar presence, and land humans on Mars.
Prior to her current role, Merancy served as the architecture integration manager within SAO. Before joining ESDMD, she served as the chief of the Exploration Mission Planning Division within the Exploration Architecture, Integration, and Science Directorate; led the Mission Analysis and Integrated Assessments team; and held various roles supporting Orion Program mission planning and analysis, all at Johnson Space Center. She began her career working in industry supporting early International Space Station development and operations.
Merancy holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Houston–Clear Lake. She is a recipient of a NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Team Award, and the Silver Snoopy, an award that NASA astronauts bestow for outstanding contributions to flight safety, for designing the space station’s loss of attitude control warning.
Related Sessions
Cislunar Strategy, Science, Security, and Synergy
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
2:00 pm - 2:45 pm
Track: Symposium Program