Purdue University alumnus Scott Tingle has been named NASA’s astronaut chief at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, according to a NASA press release.
Tingle succeeds NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who served since February 2023. Tingle’s role includes overseeing astronaut resources and operations. He will also be responsible for helping develop flight crew operations and making crew assignments for future spaceflight missions, including Artemis missions to the moon.
Tingle is a decorated spaceflight veteran and a former U.S. Navy captain. He’s logged over 4,500 flight hours in 51 different aircraft. He holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue. Tingle was chosen to be a NASA astronaut in 2009.
In 2017 Tingle was a flight engineer on the space station during Expedition 54/55, along with being the U.S. Operational Segment lead during the mission. Before working for NASA, Tingle was a technical staff member for The Aerospace Corp. in El Segundo, California, which supported the agency’s propulsion department.