Florida Tech Alumni, Virgin Galactic President Mike Moses to Headline Smith Distinguished Lecture Sept. 22

Florida Tech Alumnus Has Impactful Career in Government, Commercial Space Sectors

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Mike Moses, a Florida Tech alumnus and space industry leader, will headline the university’s F. Alan Smith Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 22.

The event runs 5:30-7 p.m. at Gleason Performing Arts Center on the Florida Tech campus.

It is open to the public and free to attend, but pre-registration is required. Registrants will be able to select whether they will attend in person or virtually.

Moses, who earned a master’s degree in space sciences from Florida Tech in 1991, will present, “Expanding Influence of Private Commercial Spaceflight.”

He has certainly had a front-row seat to – and helped shape – the evolution of space exploration. Moses is currently president, of space missions and safety, for Virgin Galactic, where he has worked since 2011.

He oversees the commercial suborbital spaceflight program and leads the team in all aspects of safe and successful spaceline operations, including vehicle processing, flight planning, and flight crew operations.

His career began at the Johnson Space Center in 1995, whereas a contractor he served as a flight controller in the Mission Operations Directorate. Three years later, Moses became a full-time NASA employee.

He was a member of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Systems Group, becoming the leader of that group in 2001.

He also served as the lead for the Shuttle Electrical Systems Group. In 2005, Moses was selected to become a flight director, overseeing mission planning and operations for Space Shuttle missions.

He was the lead flight director for the STS-123 mission in February 2008.

At the end of 2008, Moses moved to Kennedy Space Center and took over the role of the launch integration manager, where he served as the Space Shuttle deputy program manager overseeing vehicle processing and launch and landing operations.

In this role, Moses oversaw the last 12 Space Shuttle missions and the conclusion of the shuttle program in 2011.

The lecture series’ founder and benefactor is F. Alan Smith, who brought innovation and passion to the business of automobiles.

Smith spent more than three decades in leadership positions at General Motors in the U.S. and Canada, including serving as executive vice president of finance of General Motors and president and general manager of General Motors of Canada, Ltd. Smith has served on Florida Tech’s Board of Trustees since 1996.

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