“Working with our partners, her leadership will guide the programme to achievements that will inspire and benefit humanity,” she said.

A native of Schaumburg, Illinois, Koerner earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

As the Orion programme manager, Koerner will be responsible for oversight of design, development and testing of the Orion spacecraft, as well as spacecraft manufacturing already under way at locations across the country and in Europe for ESA (European Space Agency).

Koerner succeeds Mark Kirasich, who is currently leading NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.