Vanessa Wyche Name Director of Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas

Image Credit: Bill Stafford-NASA-JSC

Clemson University alumna Vanessa Wyche is officially the director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, according to a release from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

Wyche is a South Carolina native and the first Black woman to lead a NASA Space Center, according to the agency. She is a veteran of the agency having worked there since 1989. Her main goal will be launching Artemis I, the first manned mission to the moon in decades. 

"I look forward to working with everyone as we push forward to the Moon and inspire a new generation of explorers to reach for the stars," she said in the NASA release. (Greenville News)

Wyche earned two degrees from Clemson, an undergraduate engineering degree in 1985 and a Master's in bioengineering in 1987, according to the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences at Clemson. She grew up in Conway outside Myrtle Beach. She is an advocate for women in STEM and educational opportunities, according to NASA.

The Johnson Space Center is the hub for all things space travel. As the director, Wyche will oversee the International Space Station, U.S. Astronaut Corps, and several deep-space travel missions. Wyche will also oversee NASA's efforts to commercialize space travel and the goal to land the first woman and person of color on the moon, according to her NASA bio. More than 10,000 employees work at Johnson.

She previously served as interim director of the Space Center, a position she took over on May 3 after the former director stepped down for medical reasons, according to NASA. 

Article Credit: Greenville News