My blogs

About me

Gender	Male
Occupation	Aerospace
Location	Houston, TX
Introduction	Gary Kitmacher has worked at NASA since 1981, in the lunar lab, Shuttle program, Man-Systems Architect designing the Modules of the Space Station. His designs of lunar rovers, outposts, and Mars vehicles serve as the basis for future explorations. Mr. Kitmacher has worked extensively in the areas of payloads and space commercialization. His thesis work was a market demand study space stations. He managed the first Spacehab missions.
Interests	Mr. Kitmacher first became interested in space flight at the age of 6 during the first flights by American astronauts in Project Mercury. He grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. As a Junior High and High School student, Boy Scout and as a Cadet in the Civil Air Patrol he hosted many presentations about space flight. While in high school, he participated in the Skylab Student Experiment Project. His experiment on photography of the Comet Kohoutek was performed on Skylab 4. In college Mr. Kitmacher studied lunar and planetary science and served as a research assistant for the Viking Mars landings. After graduation Mr. Kitmacher worked at the Smithsonian Institution as a Research Assistant on Apollo-Soyuz photography; Mr. Kitmacher has taught extensively, directing planetariums and serving as an adjunct professor and instructor at Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Macomb County College, University of Houston, Deerfield Academy, Cranbrook Institute of Science and other locations. Mr. Kitmacher has an extensive collection of spaceflight memorabilia and books and is an avid scale modeler. He enjoys woodworking, canoeing and flying. Mr. Kitmacher has served as committee and program chair for several NASA and aerospace organizations. He served as the Chair of the NASA-Mir Operations and Integration Working Group, Chair of the NASA Education and Communications Working Group, and Chair of the AIAA Space Operations Committee. He currently serves on the Lunar Architecture Team and leads the ‘NASA Means Business’ college grant program. Are classic renderings reflecting NASA's hope for the future of humans in space and have been in use for two decades. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ISS_Lunar_Outpost_Detail.jpg the first moon base: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Inflatable_habitat_s89_20084.jpg and the pressurized rover: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RoverB.jpg
Favorite movies	His identification of Spacehab capabilities led to the development of the Spacehab Double Module used for logistics on Mir and ISS and for research missions. From 1993 -1998, Mr. Kitmacher worked in the Space Shuttle – Mir international program. He first led US efforts to modify the Priroda Module, the last module of the Mir Orbital Station. Later he led the integration of payloads on Mir, and eventually served as the NASA-Mir Integration and Operations manager. Mr. Kitmacher wrote and established the contracts between NASA and the Russians, he wrote and implemented the Plan For Management of the NASA-Mir Program, he developed the Certification Process for Hardware on the Mir Orbital Station, and he developed the process and documentation for integration of payloads on Mir. In support of the Mir and Shuttle programs he invented the stowage and logistics system; the same system is still used on the International Space Station. He oversaw the development of the first on-board computer training system, the Crew On-Orbit Support System. He worked extensively in Russia and at the Russian launch site at Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Mr. Kitmacher is completing work on his PhD. He has masters and bachelor’s degrees in Management, Geology, Astronomy and Education. He resides in Houston, Texas with his wife of 32 years, Susan Prouser Kitmacher, one daughter, Abigail and his Black Labrador Retriever. There are three additional daughters: Amy (US Coast Guard Air Station, Hawaii), Sarah (U.Houston), and Debra (Hebrew University).
Favorite books	Mr. Kitmacher has written extensively. He developed the original requirements for Man-Systems on Space Station, lunar and Mars missions, documented in the Man-Systems Architectural Control Requirements and the Man-Systems Integration Standards. He developed and negotiated the integration process and requirements for NASA-Mir, documented in the principal guiding documents for the NASA-Mir Program, the US/R-001, 002, and 004 and in the joint US/Russian contracts. He has published more than two dozen technical papers. He has served as the lead speechwriter for the International Space Station Program Manager and the Associate Administrator for Space Operations. He has written and produced dozens of multimedia presentations and planetarium programs. He recently completed the ‘Reference Guide for the International Space Station’. Kitmacher has written extensively on his work, in NASA technical publications, professional papers, on award winning webpages, and in video. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?N=4294673221 http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/IAC-02-IAA.8.2.04.pdf http://www.spacearchitect.org/pubs/IAC-02-T.P.01.pdf