NASA's Doug Cooke to Retire

NASA announced today that Doug Cooke, Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, will retire on October 3.

Cooke had said several months ago that he would retire after his organization merged with the Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD). NASA announced the merger of those two headquarters components last week.

Cooke's career at NASA spans 38 years. He worked on the space shuttle, International Space Station, and exploration programs. Bill Gerstenmaier, who headed SOMD, will be in charge of the new combined Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate.