Clifton Arnold
Lifting Devices and Equipment Program Executive
Clifton Arnold serves as the program executive for Pressure Systems, Lifting Devices and Equipment, and Propellants and Pressurants in NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. He has 35 years of experience in mechanical engineering and project management with the NASA and the Department of Defense.
Arnold served in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate Rocket Propulsion Test Program Office and was responsible for Rocket Propulsion Test (RPT) strategic planning for chemical propulsion systems and components at Glenn Research Center, Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, Stennis Space Center, Wallops Flight Facility and White Sands Test Facility. Planning encompassed testing of international and domestic rockets and rocket systems. He served as the test and evaluation lead for the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force (JANNAF) Programmatic Industrial Base. He is a certified Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), having served as a COR for test operations at Marshall and Stennis. He serves on multiple inter- and intra-agency teams for RPT commonality and standardization efforts.
Arnold served as lead and acting manager of the Safety and Mission Assurance Office at Stennis. Prior to coming to Stennis, he served in the Payloads Directorate Launch Site Support Management Office at Kennedy as the lead operations engineer for Shuttle and Expendable Launch Vehicle payload programs. His international payload support included, but was not limited to, the following agencies: European Space Agency, Germany Space Agency and the National Space Development Agency of Japan. He also served in the Shuttle Management Directorate Ground Engineering Division at Kennedy as project manager for facility modification and refurbishment of shuttle infrastructure.
Prior to coming to NASA, he served in the Naval Air Systems Command Armament Systems Division at the Pacific Missile Test Center as a mechanical engineer, responsible for airborne weapons development, test, manufacturing and foreign military sales.
He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a Master’s of Divinity from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS), and is a doctoral candidate at NOBTS. He is the pastor of Mechanicville — Emmanuel Baptist Church in Houma, Louisiana. He is married to the former Wanda Christy. They have one daughter, Dr. Dodie L. Jiffar-Arnold, and one grandson. Throughout his career he has received numerous professional awards and recognition.