Lifting Devices and Equipment

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. 

Every NASA center has a Lifting Devices and Equipment (LDE) manager who serves as the center's LDE Point of Contact (PoC). For more information, contact the PoC at your center.

*Alternate LDE Manager

Owen Greulich

Lifting Devices and Equipment Program Manager

Owen Greulich is a mechanical engineer currently employed as Pressure Vessels and Pressurized Systems manager and Lifting Devices and Equipment manager in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters. His current responsibilities include safety of pressure and vacuum systems, while prior work has included project management of pressure systems design and implementation, major wind tunnel modifications, fabrication of research hardware, and construction of test stands.

Greulich is responsible for development and quality of a number of internal standards, including review of standards in a wide range of engineering fields. He is active on the High Pressure Task Group of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Process Piping Code Committee and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics committees on aerospace pressure systems standards. He is chair of the Fatigue and Fracture subcommittee for aerospace pressure vessels.

Prior to his employment at NASA, Greulich worked in the private sector, designing and managing construction of pressure and vacuum systems and other specialized fabricated and machined hardware. Publications include work on integrity of wiring in aerospace applications, studies regarding rocket propellant safety and composite structures, and a book regarding engineering standards.

Greulich received his Master of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California in 1979. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California.