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As deputy director of Marshall Space Flight Center, Rick Burt helps guide the next era in exploration and discovery for one of NASA’s largest field installations, with a broad portfolio of human spaceflight, science, and technology development efforts that touch nearly every mission NASA pursues. Turns out growing up on his family’s farm in Columbia, Tennessee, was just the career training he needed. He and his older brother Danny spent weekends and summers as de facto farmhands – honing skills Burt would leverage throughout his NASA years. “We quickly learned to be jacks-of-all-trades: carpenters, mechanics, veterinarians,” he said. “I grew up baling hay, tending livestock, running and repairing tractors, and tinkering with machinery – and the latter got me interested in engineering.”

United statesRick burtEngineering directorate test laboratoryTennessee valley authorityMarshall space flight centerSpaceflight awareness programSenior executive serviceMission assurance directorateSpace shuttle programSpace shuttle projects officeTennessee techReusable solid rocket motorSpace shuttle projectsReusable solid rocket motor projectAresi first stageEngineering directorate