CXC Home | Search | Help | Image Use Policy | Latest Images | Privacy | Accessibility | Glossary | Q&A
Program Manager, Chandra X-ray Observatory
As program manager for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, Keith Hefner of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is responsible for planning, budgeting and managing operations for the world's most powerful X-ray telescope.
Hefner, who has a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, joined the Marshall Center in 1985. He was assigned to the Observatory Projects Office in 1986, where he specialized in project and resource management with the Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope programs.
He joined Marshall's Flight Projects Directorate in 2000 when the Chandra Program Office became part of the Flight Projects Directorate. Hefner has served in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as team lead for the Chandra Support Team within the directorate's Resources Group of its Business Management Office.
Hefner is a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal recognizing significant, sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creativity, as well as the Silver Snoopy Award recognizing contributions to the Space Shuttle program.
He was named Chandra program manager in 2002, succeeding Anthony Lavoie, who was appointed deputy director of the Flight Projects Directorate.
[ Press Index ]
Revised: March 12, 2025