NASA's Kennedy Space Center director retires on heels of Artemis II success
Rick Neale- Janet Petro, the first woman to serve as director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, is retiring.
- Her retirement follows the successful Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
- Petro led KSC's transformation into a multiuser spaceport and played a key role in the Artemis program.
The director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center is retiring on the heels of Artemis II, the first crewed spaceflight to venture beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years.
NASA announced Janet Petro's retirement as KSC's 11th director effective Friday, May 1. Kelvin Manning, who previously served as deputy center director, is now serving as acting center director.
Petro was named KSC's deputy director in 2007, then became the first woman to serve as director in June 2021. She also served as NASA's acting administrator from January to July 2025 — the first woman to fill that role.
“From the outset of her distinguished tenure at NASA, Janet has served as a profoundly influential leader, guiding both the agency and our Kennedy Space Center through some of the most significant transitions in our shared history, including playing a central role in reshaping NASA Kennedy into the nation’s premier multiuser spaceport,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a press release.
“As NASA has been charged, once again, with accomplishing the near impossible, I’m grateful for Janet for always embracing the challenge of discovering what could be and for pushing the boundaries to deliver the missions that enable NASA to lead the way into a new era of space," Isaacman said.
The KSC leadership change comes as NASA is enjoying a surge of popularity in the wake of the success of Artemis II. The Artemis II astronauts met President Donald Trump at the White House after their record-breaking lunar flyby mission this week. The Artemis II crew launched April 1 from KSC, then splashed down April 10 in the Pacific Ocean inside their Orion spacecraft.
On Florida's Space Coast, crews offloaded NASA's huge Space Launch System core stage from the agency's Pegasus barge on Tuesday, April 28, for Artemis III. That upcoming mission — considered a key step before American astronauts attempt to land on the moon's rugged surface — remains targeted for liftoff next year.
Petro grew up in Brevard County and graduated from Satellite High.
"I actually grew up here on the Space Coast. My father was what I call a first-generation space worker. He worked out in the early days of the Gemini, Mercury, and then through the Apollo program and in the early days of the shuttle. So I like to say I'm the second generation," Petro told FLORIDA TODAY during a May 2022 interview.
"He worked on Apollo, and I'm now part of the Artemis generation. So I think that is an incredibly cool sort of tie to the center," she said.
Petro was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018, and she received the National Space Club Florida Committee's 2022 Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award honoring her contributions to America’s aerospace efforts within Florida.
Manning's KSC career dates to 1992, including stints as flow director for space shuttle Atlantis, acting chief engineer for shuttle upgrades, vehicle manager for shuttle Columbia, and NASA test director. Later in NASA's Kennedy Constellation Project Office, Manning became the first division chief for the Orion spacecraft.
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Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY,where he has covered news since 2004. Contact Neale at[email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1