PROGRAMS:

COMPANIES:

• NASA

LOCATIONS:

Kennedy Space Center

POSITIONS:

Design Engineer
NASA Test Director
Shuttle Test Director
Chief, NASA Test Director Office
Deputy Director, Space Station Hardware Integration Office
Shuttle Launch Director

COMMENTS:

Mike Leinbach was the final Shuttle Launch Director at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. He was responsible for overall Shuttle launch countdown policy, planning, and execution activities for the last eleven years of the program.

Mike joined NASA in 1984 as a structural engineer working on launch pad upgrades for the Space Shuttle Program. He became the Deputy Director of the International Space Station program office at KSC in 1998, and became the Shuttle Launch Director in August 2000. He led the Launch Team for all 37 Shuttle missions from then to the end of the program in 2011, serving as the person to give the final “Go” for launch.

Mike led KSC’s forces in the initial Columbia debris recovery effort in Texas and Louisiana in February 2003 immediately following her catastrophic accident and loss of seven astronauts. Shortly thereafter, he led the Columbia Reconstruction Team to determine the cause of the accident from the debris collected and reassembled at KSC. He was the driving force behind the Columbia Preservation Team and the initiative to lend debris to industry and academia to develop better and safer spacecraft in the future. His book, “Bringing Columbia Home”, tells the inside story of the mammoth effort of the 25,000 Americans that helped find Columbia’s debris and reconstruct it.

His many service awards include the Presidential Rank Award, NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal, and NASA’s Medal for Outstanding Leadership. Mike retired from NASA in 2011.

Currently, Mike leads the Launch Director Tour at Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex. Participants in the tour have a unique opportunity to visit KSC’s facilities and hear first-hand about the risks and rewards of the Space Shuttle Program. Additionally, he routinely conducts leadership and spaceflight safety seminars for NASA and its contractor organizations and is sought out by various professional organizations as an expert speaker at their group meetings. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Astronaut Memorial Foundation dedicated to honoring all astronauts that gave their lives in service to advancing manned space flight.

Mike attended the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA, earning a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1976, and a Master of Engineering degree with emphasis in Structural Mechanics in 1981.

He and his wife Charlotte reside in Scottsmoor, Florida.

December 16, 2019