Portal:Space exploration/Biography/Week 45 2007

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Michael D. Leinbach is the Shuttle Launch Director at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. He is responsible for activities in the overall Shuttle launch countdown, including planning, policy, and execution.

In 1984, Leinbach joined NASA as a structural engineer. Initially, Leinbach was a lead design engineer for various launch pad systems, including weather protection and the Emergency Egress Slide Wire system. In 1998, Leinbach became a NASA Test Director (NTD), responsible for directing daily operations at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex.

In 2003, following Space Shuttle Columbia's breakup upon re-entry, Leinbach was the leader of the initial debris recovery team in Texas, and Louisiana. He was named to lead the Columbia Reconstruction Team, whose goal was to determine the cause of the accident based only on the debris collected and reassembled at KSC. Following the investigation, Leinbach suggested loaning the debris to various academic institutions for study, to help develop safer spacecraft for the future.