JPL Appoints 3 New Administrators

Jet Propulsion Laboratory has announced the selection of three new “key staff” positions on Wednesday.

Richard Cook has been appointed to serve as manager of the Mars Sample Return Program Office, while Leslie Livesay will take on a new role as associate director for Flight Projects and Mission Success, JPL said in a written statement. Keyur Patel has been named director of Astronomy and Physics.

The Mars Sample Return Program aims to bring the first samples of Martian rock and dirt back to Earth. The samples are to be collected by the Perseverance Mars rover, due to land on the Red Planet on Feb. 18, then returned to Earth in a subsequent mission.

Cook joined JPL in 1989 and has served in positions including project manager of the Mars Exploration Rover Project, which created the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, as well as manager of the Mars Science Laboratory Project, through which the Curiosity rover was built, according to JPL. He’s headed JPL’s Flight Projects and Mission Success team since 2016.

JPL Director Michael Watkins said Cook “brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this extremely important role.”

“He’s led some of our most challenging development projects, making him ideally suited for Mars Sample Return — a complex campaign that involves close work with many NASA centers and our partners at [the European Space Agency],” Watkins said.

Livesay will take over for Cook as associate director for Flight Projects and Mission Success, overseeing the implementation and operations of all JPL flight missions. JPL has about two-dozen such missions currently zipping through the Solar System.

Livesay has been working in the field of robotic space exploration for more than three decades, according to the JPL statement. 

“Along the way, she served as the project manager of the Kepler Space Telescope Mission, led the Lab’s Engineering and Science Directorate, and, most recently, served as director for astronomy and physics.”

Livesay will begin her new position on March 1.

“As part of our executive team, Leslie is a remarkable asset to JPL,” Watkins said. “I look forward to having her help lead JPL into the future as she oversees our huge portfolio of flight projects.”

Patel will take over Livesay’s former role as director of the Astronomy and Physics Directorate.

The department is in charge of overseeing missions and research into “ phenomena beyond our Solar System,” the statement said.

Patel, too, has served in a wide variety of positions during his 34 years at JPL.

“As project manager of the Dawn mission, he shepherded the mission through its launch to orbit and study the protoplanets Vesta and Ceres,” the statement said. “He also served as deputy project manager and chief engineer of the Deep Impact mission, helping to ensure the spacecraft’s successful encounter with comet Tempel 1.”

Watkins also welcomed Patel to his new role, which he will begin in April.

“As Keyur has demonstrated throughout his multifaceted career at JPL, he’s a creative problem-solver with proven ability to deliver, and I know that he’ll continue to thrive in his new role,” Watkins said.