Roundup Presents: The Directors Series Introduces Douglas Terrier, Transformer

Children of the 80s and beyond no doubt remember the sci-fi action films featuring alien robots that could nimbly switch configurations to fit whatever the mission required to vanquish a particular villain. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the villain is a bit more nebulous, but can be considered doing what we’ve always done. This staid plan of action, simply, doesn’t meet the times, and is what Associate Director for Vision and Strategy Douglas Terrier is reimagining with Dare | Unite | Explore. 

“I’m really impressed with the way the center has moved out on this,” Terrier said. “What makes me excited about it is that we are at such a pivotal time — we are at this cusp in human evolution where we are actually understanding, reaching out, exploring.”

Terrier has come a long way from his roots to lead Johnson’s vision and strategy.

Terrier was born in Jamaica, “but not just anywhere in Jamaica — in the interior of the country,” he said. It was a very different time and a very different environment, but the island backdrop magnified Terrier’s calling.

“I grew up in the 60s, and some still didn’t have running water — and certainly not television,” Terrier said. “It was at a time of very severe political turmoil and violence. There was a lack of inspiration in the air, shall we say.”

Associate Director for Vision and Strategy Douglas Terrier. Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls

But one memory stands out.

He was fortunate enough to have a teacher with the foresight to read, from out of a newspaper, a transcript of the Apollo communications with mission control. And that window into the Space Age was, well, transformative.

It opened Terrier to an entirely different world — one that seemed magical — and, “certainly propelled and crystallized my desire to go into this field and to do whatever it took to be part of this wonderful team,” Terrier said. “And it also gave me a real sense of pride and a desire to be a part of the American journey, too.”

That blend of imaginative thinking and business acumen is why Terrier is invaluable to furthering Johnson’s mission, vision, and guiding principles in this next era of human space exploration, which features a robust space economy and a plethora of partnership opportunities.

“I think that's one of the things, as we look forward, to how we want to transform Johnson and be more relevant to the entire ecosystem of the new cislunar space economy, which includes a lot of private-sector enterprise,” Terrier said. “There is incredible technology in other adjacent, and even completely dissimilar, fields. There is so much technology that we could take advantage of through partnership and leverage the investments that are being made in other fields and other areas, which sometimes we're not that aware of.”

Johnson cannot rest on its laurels of previous accomplishments from decades past — as awe-inspiring as they were to humankind. 

“When we initially started this enterprise at this center back in the 60s, it would have been a truism that most of the really cutting-edge technology was being done here,” Terrier said. “Today, most of the cutting-edge technology is being done in other places as well as here, so it takes a very different kind of approach to harnessing that entire technology spectrum to bring to our mission.”

To achieve a promising future takes not only an awareness of what’s happening outside the gates, but a shift in perspective that relinquishes control of all aspects of exploration — from the budget to the programs — to leading an enterprise made up of government investments, academia, industry, and private-sector pursuits. It’s a dramatic shift, but Terrier doesn’t find it scary, nor does he think the workforce should.

“The introduction of Dare | Unite | Explore did a fantastic job of positioning our center with what I’d call the branding of our kind of cultural ethos. And I believe most people got their mind around that as far as sort of a rallying cry, or a statement of our mission strategy as a team,” Terrier said. 

Less obvious has been what it looks like, on a day-to-day basis, to enable that reality. 

Before Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche brought Terrier onboard in December, five aspiration teams had looked at everything from how the center would involve the workforce to how Johnson could grow to become a global leader in human space exploration. A lot of recommendations came out of that effort at the end of 2021. 

Since then, Terrier has started top down, with a fresh set of eyes, to reverse the question. With the focus on our legacy and looking at the projected future of space commerce and the space community, where do we start?

More specifically, “What capabilities, what strengths, what in workforce and processes and facilities — what do we need to hone and evolve and transform to be responsive to those needs?” Terrier said. 

Changing the question to “how can I be of value to that entire space community” gives Johnson a set of future states to work toward. 

Soon to come for Dare | Unite | Explore is a continuation of this theme, with three teams chartered to explore how Johnson will meet the moment. Deputy Director Steve Koerner is leading the group evaluating workforce needs; Associate Director Donna Shafer is leading the group looking at facilities; and Terrier is leading the group assessing products and processes. 

Implementation plans with measurable activities will come out of these groups over the next several years, ensuring that Johnson is positioned to provide value in this crowded space of entities exploring space. But, as Terrier notes, there’s plenty left to discover. 

“The good news is the universe is really huge,” Terrier said. “It’s not like we’re going to run out of stuff to do. There’s always going to be really cool stuff, so nobody should be afraid of handing off as (technologies) mature.”

Terrier wants Johnson to stay laser-focused on the hard problems on the leading edge — where opportunity and innovation live.

“(We) should be absolutely excited that we happen to be here at this time, with so much opportunity in front of us,” Terrier said. “I can’t think of a better place to spend my career, and I hope everybody else embraces that opportunity, too.”