Cipolletti Receives NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal

USA’s Chief Engineer for Ground Operations at Kennedy Space Center was presented one of NASA’s most prestigious honors in ceremonies on April 16 at the space agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

John Cipolletti was honored with NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal for “providing continuous exceptional leadership and engineering expertise to resolve technical issues in support of the nation’s Space Shuttle Program.”

The space agency presents the Distinguished Public Service medal to individuals whose extraordinary accomplishments contribute substantially to the NASA mission.

“Cip is well respected throughout the engineering community by NASA and contractor personnel,” said Patty Stratton, USA’s Functional Director for Ground Operations. “His excellent leadership attributes, broad experience and keen technical expertise have gained him recognition and credibility throughout the Shuttle Program as an authoritative source of knowledge for Shuttle Systems.”

As the Ground Operations Chief Engineer, Cipolletti is responsible for evaluating technical and operational issues. He coordinates and directs the work of engineers, scientists and technicians to resolve complex problems, design modifications and process assessments.

Cipolletti also co-chairs the Engineering Review Board (ERB) where he leads the analysis and resolution of many complex and technical operational issues.

Recently, he led in the timely resolution of the STS-125 liquid hydrogen umbilical mate issue. A piece of a pyrotechnic frangible nut from a previous mission moved to a blind location. Because of this problem, critical path operations were halted, potentially causing a significant impact to the manifest. The debris was recovered, and discrepant hardware was replaced.

Findings were presented to the Shuttle Program, and the liquid hydrogen umbilical mate was completed.

Cipolletti was also a key technical leader in the investigation and analysis concerning the Launch Pad 39-A flame trench issue. Approximately 3,540 heat-resistant bricks came loose from the walls of the flame trench during the launch of STS-124. He again played a key leadership role on the joint NASA/USA technical team, where he led daily ERB meetings to communicate current findings and initiate actions to identify root cause, assess environments, select repair options and certify the final repair.

The team’s findings and repair recommendations were accepted, and repairs were completed in time to support the rollout of STS-125.

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