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Head Of NASA's Human Spaceflight Program Resigns A Week Before Crucial Launch

The sudden departure of Doug Loverro startled the space community, which has been eagerly anticipating the planned May 27 launch of astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since 2011.
Douglas Loverro, associate NASA administrator for the human exploration and operations mission directorate, in an official portrait taken in January. Loverro announced his resignation on Tuesday.

NASA's head of human spaceflight has abruptly resigned, just one week before a historic test flight to send astronauts up in a new space capsule developed by the rocket company SpaceX.

The unexpected departure of startled the space community, which has been looking forward tospace shuttles stopped flying back in 2011.

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