MEET JOHN DECKER: WEBB TELESCOPE DEPUTY PROJECT MANAGER

John Decker has served as the Deputy Associate Director (aka Deputy Program Manager, aka Deputy Project Manager) for the James Webb Space Telescope Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. since 2002.

During that time, he has played a key leadership role in the Project’s progression through Phases A and B (formulation) and into Phase C (implementation), the awarding of all of the major contracts for the Project, the establishment of all of the international partnerships and contributions for the Project, the selection of all of the integration and test facilities for the Project, the maturation of all of the enabling technologies for the Project, and the initiation of the production of all of the long-lead flight hardware and software items for the Project. Prior to his current assignment, John spent nearly two years serving as the chair of the Source Evaluation Board for the Webb Observatory prime contract.

Before he joined the Webb Telescope Project, John spent nearly a year serving in a detail assignment as the Deputy Program Manager/Technical for the Hubble Space Telescope Project at NASA Goddard.

Prior to that, he served for several years as Branch Head of the Mechanical Systems Analysis and Simulation Branch, which is within the Mechanical Systems Division of the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate at NASA Goddard.

Before becoming a branch head, John served for more than ten years in various engineering leadership positions within the Hubble Space Telescope Project, including the Lead Mechanical Systems Engineer and the Flight Systems Engineer. In those positions, John supported the Hubble launch and deployment mission in April 1990, conducted numerous on-orbit engineering tests to characterize the performance of the Hubble, played a key role in the development of corrective hardware and on-orbit servicing tools and procedures for the Hubble First Servicing Mission, supported operations during the Hubble First Servicing Mission in December 1993, performed a similar set of roles for the Hubble Second Servicing Mission in 1997, and served in a supporting role for the subsequent two Hubble servicing missions.

Prior to coming to work at NASA Goddard in 1985, John was employed for six years by the Bechtel Power Corporation in Gaithersburg, Md., where he led a team of analysts responsible for the dynamic and stress analysis and for the overall qualification of safety-related structures and equipment for nuclear power plants. John earned his master’s degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1979, and he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974.

NASA Awards:

Astronaut’s Personal Achievement Award (aka Silver Snoopy Award)
NASA Exceptional Service Medal
Goddard Exceptional Achievement Award
NASA Medal for Exceptional Achievement