Charles Whetsel has been named chief engineer of the Mars Program, a position he has held in an acting capacity since February. As chief engineer, Whetsel will lead the technical development of all current and future Mars missions. Along with other members of the Mars Program staff, he will identify promising mission architectures and technologies, while resolving technical issues affecting multiple projects within the existing Mars Program. He will also lead the Mars Program Systems Engineering Team, comprised of senior engineers from across NASA and other key international space agencies participating in the cooperative exploration of Mars.