MEET: PHIL SABELHAUS, JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE PROJECT MANAGER

Phil Sabelhaus is the Project Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope, and brings years of experience in project management with him. He has worked as Project Manager for a variety of NASA earth observing satellites, and is now bringing his skills to the Webb Telescope.

Mr. Sabelhaus graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1978.  He came to work at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA Goddard) in Greenbelt, Md. after graduation in the Instrument Systems Analysis Branch, where he performed structural analysis on spacecraft instruments. 

In 1981, Mr. Sabelhaus went to work as the Launch Vehicle Integration Manager for GTE Spacenet Corporation.  During this time, he successfully managed the launch vehicle integration activities for three Communication Satellites launched on Ariane Launch Vehicles from French Guinea, South America. 

He returned to NASA Goddard in the summer of 1985 to work on the NASA Space Station Program.  In 1989, he joined the Flight Programs and Projects Directorate at the NASA Goddard, Code 400.  Since then, Mr. Sabelhaus has served a Deputy Project Manager, Project Manager and Program Manager in the Flights Programs and Projects Directorate (FPPD) and is currently the Associate Director for the James Webb Space Telescope Project. 

He led the teams that successfully launched the TOM-EP, Landsat 7 and the EOS Aqua satellites. Mr. Sabelhaus was born in August 1954, in Manhattan, Kansas; but is a life long resident of Maryland.  He is married and has two daughters.

Major awards:

SES Presidential Rank Award
William T. Pecora Award
Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award
Two Aviation Week and Space Technology Laurels Awards
Several NASA Outstanding Leadership Awards