The former president of the Kansas Cosmosphere has a new job. New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has approved the appointment of Chris Orwoll as new director to lead the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Orwoll will assume his new post on Monday.

Orwoll left the Cosmosphere in November of last year. With all of the History of the Alamogordo area Orwoll said he’s excited to be in that area. Alamogordo is the location of the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base, and made history as the site of the first firing of the atomic bomb at the Trinity Site northwest of the city. The area is also the launch site for the new Virgin Galactic space vehicle which could kick off the space tourist trade.

Orwoll grew up in Downey, Calif., where the Apollo command module and space shuttle were built. He is a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has a master’s degree from the Air War College. Orwoll’s final naval posting was as the professor of naval science and commanding officer of the naval ROTC unit at the University of Kansas.