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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Center Director Bill Parsons talks to the media in the NASA News Center Auditorium. He used the occasion to introduce himself and his expectations for the center. Parsons took over the helm of the Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 4 as the ninth director, succeeding James W. Kennedy, who is retiring from the agency. Parsons had served as deputy director under Kennedy during 2006. In 1990, Parsons joined the NASA team at Kennedy Space Center as a launch site support manager in the Shuttle Operations Directorate. He also worked as an executive management intern and later as the shuttle flow director of the Shuttle Operations Directorate at Kennedy. In 1996, he became manager of the Space Station Hardware Integration Office at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett