Mission Control and Engineering

Scenes from mission control involving engineers and specialists monitoring flight operations, characterized by a professional environment and teamwork.

PHOTO DATE: 11-30-12LOCATION: Bldg. 9NW - ISS SRB Mockup SUBJECT: Expedition 40 crew members (Soyuz 39) Reid Wiseman and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst with Soyuz 38 crew member Steve Swanson during DEPRESS CREW RESPONSE/B9 SRB.

JSC2012-E-237314 (5 Nov. 2012) --- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata (left), Expedition 38 flight engineer and Expedition 39 commander; along with NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio (center), Expedition 38/39 flight engineer; and Michael Hopkins, Expedition 37/38 flight engineer, are pictured during a training session in the virtual reality lab in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Commercial Crew Program (CCP) astronaut Suni Williams in ISS EVA POGO training in SVMF POGO.

PHOTO DATE: 07-13-10LOCATION: Bldg 9NW, ISS MockupsSUBJECT: Expedition 26 crew members Cady Coleman and Dmitri Kondratyev during their docking timeline training.

JSC2010-E-014767 (28 Jan. 2010) --- NASA astronaut Michael Fincke, STS-134 mission specialist, participates in an EVA tile repair training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Office of the Secretary - NIST Site Visit

While NASAs F/A-18 goes supersonic off the coast, a team of researchers monitor the flight and operate multiple sound monitor stations around Galveston and its surrounding area. This allows NASA to obtain accurate sound level data, which gets matched to community response data.

Engineers from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Propulsion Department examine nozzles fabricated using a freeform-directed energy wire deposition process. From left are Paul Gradl, Will Brandsmeier, Ian Johnston and Sandy Greene, with the nozzles, which were built using a NASA-patented technology that has the potential to reduce build time from several months to several weeks.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- (Left to right) STS-95 Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, who represents the European Space Agency (ESA), Mission Commander Curtis Brown Jr., and Mission Specialist Stephen Robinson, Ph.D., chat during SPACEHAB familiarization at the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility, Cape Canaveral. The mission, scheduled to launch Oct. 29, includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At SPACEHAB, STS-107 crew members refer to documentation while Mission Specialist Ilan Ramon of Israel points to data on a laptop screen. Gathered around Ramon are (left to right) Mission Specialists Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, David Brown and Kalpana Chawla (back to camera). Identified as a research mission, STS-107 is scheduled for launch July 19, 2001

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- University students wait their turn to compete in NASA's second annual Lunabotics Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.Thirty-six teams of undergraduate and graduate students from the United States, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia and India will participate in NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition May 26 - 28 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The competition is designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Teams will maneuver their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The event also provides a competitive environment that could result in innovative ideas and solutions for NASA's future excavation of the moon.

A Virginia student wears gloves inside a water tank to simulate the awkward feel and dexterity that astronauts experience when working in spacesuits. He is directed by Brad McLain for the Space Biology Museum Network. The activity was part of the Space Research and You education event held by NASA's Office of Biological and Physical Research on June 25, 2002, in Arlington, VA, to highlight the research that will be conducted on STS-107.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken tours the Quantum Materials Lab at the University of Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 17, 2021.

Charles Spern, project manager on the Engineering Services Contract, communicates instructions for the Veggie system to astronaut Peggy Whitson aboard the International Space Station during the initiation of the second Chinese cabbage to be grown aboard the orbiting laboratory on April 3, 2017.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Ron Sterick, a participant in the Rocket University program, inspects a capsule and parachute that are being prepared for a high-altitude balloon flight. The test flight was used to evaluate the stability of an instrumented capsule as it fell to Earth before its parachute opened. Rocket University is a program of courses, workshops, labs and projects offered to engineering and research pros of all stripes to keep their skills fresh and broaden their experiences.

On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, July 16, 2019, astronaut Michael Collins speaks to Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana in the astronaut crew quarters about the moments leading up to launch at 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, and what it was like to be the first to land on the Moon.

Charles Spern, project manager on the Engineering Services Contract, communicates instructions for the Veggie system to astronaut Joe Acaba on the International Space Station. Spern is in the Experiment Monitoring Room in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Three different varieties of plants from the Veg-03D plant experiment were harvested.

PHOTO DATE: 07-01-10LOCATION: Bld g 17, Food LabSUBJECT: Expedition 32 crew members Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA) with Expedition 31 crew member Joe Acaba during their missions food tasting

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken tours the Quantum Materials Lab at the University of Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 17, 2021.

James Fesmire, Ph.D., left, NASA lead engineer for the Cryogenics Testbed, and Adam Swanger, cryogenics engineer, hold a training session on Nov. 6, 2018, at the Cryogenics Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The training is for personnel who will be working to insulate pipes on the mobile launcher (ML). The ML is equipped with cryogenic fluid lines that will deliver hydrogen and oxygen to NASA's Space Launch System rocket. The lines must be kept well-insulated to maintain temperatures cold enough to keep fluids in a liquid state. In a new process, workers are learning how to pack spaces between pipes with aerogel granules in the same manner as they will on the ML.

Office of Research and Development - ORD PosterSession , Environmental Protection Agency

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Replacement parts for the Zvezda service module toilet on the International Space Station are inspected following their arrival at Kennedy Space Center. The toilet malfunctioned last week and was initially repaired by replacing a microprocessor valve. After the station crew members experienced additional difficulties with the toilet, they were directed to use Soyuz toilet facilities at first and are using the main toilet again after rigging a urine bypass. The spare toilet parts have been added to space shuttle Discoverys manifest for delivery to the station on the STS-124 mission. On the 14-day mission, Discovery and its crew will deliver the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Japanese Experiment Module - Pressurized Module and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. Launch is scheduled for 5:02 p.m. EDT May 31.

JSC2010-E-132403 (16 July 2010) --- Expedition 25/26, Expedition 26/27 and STS-134 crew members are pictured during a joint emergency scenarios training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

JSC2001-E-24460 (8 August 2001) --- John M. Grunsfeld (right), payload commander, assists Richard M. Linnehan, STS-109 mission specialist, in using virtual reality hardware at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) to rehearse some of his duties on the upcoming STS-109 mission, NASAs fourth servicing visit to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). They will join five other astronauts for the servicing mission, scheduled for February 2002.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the NASA News Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Shuttle Crew Escape System Manager KC Chhipwadia describes for the media the components of the parachute worn by shuttle crews during launch and landing. On top is a pilot and drag chute. In the middle is the main chute. At bottom is a survival life raft. The elements of the suit and parachute provide safety elements in the event of an emergency.

Visit to Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field by Mercury 13 Astronaut Trainee, Wally Funk

PHOTO DATE: 09-25-09LOCATION: Bldg 9, VR LabSUBJECT: STS-131 crew during VR LAB MSS/EVAB SUPT3 TEAM 91016 training

Expedition 29 crew member Dan Burbank during SSATA Crew Training. Photo Date: May 18, 2011. Location: Building 7 - SSATA Chamber.

JSC2008-E-047934 (19 June 2008) --- Astronaut Thomas H. Marshburn, STS-127 mission specialist, participates in a food tasting session in the Flight Projects Division Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

JSC2010-E-183218 (3 Nov. 2010) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, is pictured during a tools and repair kits training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. STS-135 is planned to be the final mission of the space shuttle program.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- STS-95 Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai, representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), handles part of the Biological Research in Canisters (BRIC) experiment which will fly on the planned nine-day mission. She and other crew members, including Mission Specialist Scott E. Parazynski, at right, are at KSC and the adjacent SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility in Cape Canaveral to familiarize themselves with the STS-95 payloads. Standing behind the two astronauts is Steve Pyle of Boeing in Huntsville, Ala. STS-95 will feature a variety of research payloads, including the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, and experiments on space flight and the aging process. STS-95 is targeted for an Oct. 29 launch aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Office of Research and Development - ORD PosterSession , Environmental Protection Agency

DATE: 12-24-13LOCATION: Bldg. 30 - FCR-1 (30M/231) SUBJECT: ISS Flight Controllers during Expedition 38's 2nd Spacewalk to repair a faulty ISS Coolant pump with Astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins. Flight Director: Dina Contella, Capcom's Doug Wheelock, Aki Hoshide, and Lead U.S. Spacewalk Officer Allison Bolinger.

Acoustical Testing Laboratory (ATL)

SPD representative Steve Lambing shows the PentaPure water purification unit to some EAA visitors. The Microgravity Research and the Space Product Development Programs joined with the Johnson Space Center (JSC) for a first time ever ISS/Microgravity Research space-focused exhibit at Oshkosh AirVenture'99 from July 28-August 3, 1999. The Space Product Development (SPD) display included the STS-95 ASTROCULTURE training hardware used by John Glenn and his crewmates, a PentaPure water purfication system, and a Ford engine block.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- In the Orbiter Processing Facility, United Space Alliance employees (from left) Dave Sanborn, Butch Lato, and Bill Brooks conduct a bond verification test on Thermal Protection System tiles newly installed on a main landing gear door of Space Shuttle orbiter Enterprise (OV-101). Sections of Enterprise were borrowed from the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum where the orbiter is being stored at the Washington Dulles International Airport. Enterprise was the first orbiter built in the Shuttle fleet and was used to conduct the Approach and Landing Test Program before the first powered Shuttle flight. After the tile installation is complete, the sections will be transferred to the Southwest Research Institute for testing requested by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

Volunteers and biologists study the Salt Creek tiger beetle (Cicindela nevadica lincolniana); Lincoln, Nebraska, United States of America

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - United Space Alliance employee Anthony Simmons prepares to electroweld a crack found on an insulator inside a Reinforced Carbon Carbon panel. The gray carbon composite RCC panels are attached to the leading edge of the wing of the orbiters to withstand the aerodynamic forces experienced during launch and reentry, which can reach as high as 800 pounds per square foot. The operating range of RCC is from minus 250º F to about 3,000º F, the temperature produced by friction with the atmosphere during reentry.

Lockheed Martin S-3B Viking Aircraft #N601NA, Preparation for Icing Research Instrumentation Installation

Tom Hoffman, InSight Project Manager, NASA JPL reacts to the first image to be seen from the Mars InSight lander shortly after confirmation of a successful touch down on the surface of Mars, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018 inside the Mission Support Area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core.

Dr. Nancy Grace Roman visits James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Hubble Project Team. Center Director Chris Scolese

STS-131 suited payload egress training (FFT PLD EG 91019) at Building 9 - FFT. Photo Date: September 14, 2009. Location: Building 9 - FFT.

JSC2009-E-244191 (23 Nov. 2009) --- Astronauts George Zamka (foreground), STS-130 commander; and Robert Behnken, mission specialist, are pictured during a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Visitors explore NASAs hands-on exhibits during Earth Day, Friday, April 22, 2022, at Union Station in Washington.

UAH ENGINEERING STUDENT ROBERT HILLAN TALKS TO SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS ABOUT HIS WINNING 3-D PRINTED TOOL DESIGNED FOR USE ON ISS, AND IS INTERVIEWED BY LOCAL MEDIA

DATE: 6-26-14LOCATION: Bldg 9NWSUBJECT: Expedition 42/43 crew members Samantha Cristoforetti (ESA) and Terry Virts

U.S. Space Force 2nd Lt. Kevin Tran, 1st Space Analysis Squadron developmental engineer, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, adjusts the configuration of a 3D printer, June 29, 2022, at Patrick Space Force Base, Fla. Tran is temporarily assigned to Space Launch Delta 45s innovation center, The Forge, as part of Project Arc.

Regions - Images Relating to the Discover-AQ Program - images and video clips relating to the Discover-AQ Program. Discover-AQ stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from COlumn and VERtically resolved observations relevant to Air Quality , Environmental Protection Agency

Charlie Duke, NASA Astronaut (former), and Nicole Stott, NASA Astronaut (former), add their signatures to the Artemis We Are Going” banner inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) during a visit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 10, 2021. During their time at Kennedy, they also had the opportunity to view the Orion spacecraft and Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage currently being serviced inside the MPPF ahead of the Artemis I launch. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test Orion and the Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon.

Liquid nitrogen dewar loading at Kennedy Space Center for STS-71 flight with Stan Koszelak (right), University of California at Riverside, adn Tamara Chinareva (left), Russian Spacecraft Coporation-Energia. The picture shows Koszelak removing the insert from the transportation dewar.

Kennedy Space Center employees assemble the flight hardware of NASAs Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor, or OSCAR - an Early Career Initiative project at the Florida spaceport that studies technology to convert trash and human waste into useful gasses such as methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. By processing small pieces of trash in a high-temperature reactor, OSCAR is advancing new and innovative technology for managing waste in space. OSCAR would reduce the amount of space needed for waste storage within a spacecraft, turn some waste into gasses that have energy storage and life support applications and ensure waste is no longer biologically active. A prototype has already been developed, and a team of Kennedy employees are in the process of constructing a new rig for suborbital flight testing.

Astronauts selected to train for the flight tests of NASAs Commercial Crew Program talked to members of the media at the News Center at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the discussion, astronaut Doug Hurley answers a question.

Orion leadership (including Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer) visited the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California on March 4, 2015 to recognize the great work performed at the center in support of Orion's first flight, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1). Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

PHOTO DATE: 09-25-09LOCATION: Bldg 9, VR LabSUBJECT: STS-131 crew during VR LAB MSS/EVAB SUPT3 TEAM 91016 training

Col. Scott Williams, Center for Military Psychiatry and Neurosciences Research, director observes a rare mosquito specimen at the Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU) during a visit, September 6, 2022. Leaders from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research met with executives from the Smithsonian Institution, received briefing and reviewed the assets and capabilities. The Smithsonian's Museum Support Center (MSC) hosts the WRBU, which is a world-renowned center of taxonomic excellence, undertaking cutting-edge research to provide entomological intelligence tools and products that best asses global vector-borne disease risk. ( U.S. Army photo by Tyra Breaux/Released)

In the SPACEHAB Payload Processing Facility (SPPF), STS-95 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Payload Specialist John Glenn (center), who is a senator from Ohio, talks with a KSC worker (left) about a piece of equipment that will fly on the mission while Mission Specialist Scott Parazynski, M.D., (right) examines another item . Standing behind Glenn, Mission Specialist Pedro Duque of Spain, who represents the European Space Agency (ESA), talks with another worker. STS-95 crew members have been participating in SPACEHAB familiarization in the SPPF. Scheduled to launch Oct. 29, the mission includes research payloads such as the Spartan solar-observing deployable spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform, the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker, as well as the SPACEHAB single module with experiments on space flight and the aging process

Regions - Images Relating to the Discover-AQ Program - images and video clips relating to the Discover-AQ Program. Discover-AQ stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from COlumn and VERtically resolved observations relevant to Air Quality , Environmental Protection Agency

ISS026-E-014250 (3 Jan. 2011) --- Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, Expedition 26 flight engineer, sets up the Russian MBI-12 payload for a Sonokard experiment session in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. Kondratyev used a sports shirt from the Sonokard kit with a special device in the pocket for testing a new method for acquiring physiological data without using direct contact on the skin. Measurements are recorded on a data card for return to Earth.

Jerry Waechter of team Middleman from Dunedin, Florida, speaks about his team's robot, Ro-Bear, as it makes it attempt at the level one challenge during the 2014 NASA Centennial Challenges Sample Return Robot Challenge, Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass. Eighteen teams are competing for a $1.5 million NASA prize purse. Teams will be required to demonstrate autonomous robots that can locate and collect samples from a wide and varied terrain, operating without human control. The objective of this NASA-WPI Centennial Challenge is to encourage innovations in autonomous navigation and robotics technologies. Innovations stemming from the challenge may improve NASA's capability to explore a variety of destinations in space, as well as enhance the nation's robotic technology for use in industries and applications on Earth.

TROPI-2; Preparation of experiment containers in EMCS (European Modular Cultivation System) Lab, N-236 Sixten Experiment Containers (ECs) being prepared with flight seeds in December and January will be hand carried to KSC for deployment on STS-130 (shuttle flight 20A). During the ISS (international Space Station) operations the two TROPi-2 experiments to begin by mid Feburary and be completed by early March will monitor by the payload team at Ames from our Multi-Mission Operations Center (MMOC) The experiment samples are scheduled to return on shuttle fight 19A. Left to right are Prem Kumar, Katherine Millar, Bob Bowman

Members of NASA Kennedy Space Centers Fire Rescue team participate in a series of trial scenarios in a mock-up of a launch pad escape basket on Feb. 19, 2020. Kennedys prime contractor Reynolds, Smith and Hill presented the mock-up to NASA, Kennedy Fire Rescue personnel and other stakeholders at the Florida spaceport. The basket would be utilized at Launch Pad 39B in the unlikely event of an emergency at the pad requiring evacuation during crewed missions under the Artemis Program. The actual egress basket will be designed larger than ones used during the shuttle era in order to accommodate fire rescue crew, astronauts and closeout crew. During the presentation, items such as basket release location, seat depth to accommodate firefighters in full gear, sequence of loading and more were addressed. Engineers will take what they learned during this presentation and discussion to advance the design of the pad egress system.

jsc2023e065204 (12/20/2022) --- The Collin College team work on their experiment, which will be included in the Nanoracks-National Center for Earth and Space Science Education-Orbiter-Student Spaceflight Experiments Program Mission 17 to ISS (Nanoracks-NCESSE-Orbiter-SSEP). The team is comprised of (left to right) Dr. Tamara Basham, Stefano Sacripanti and Henry Elmendorf.

Al Feinberg from NASA Television, center, interviews a guest at the NASA Tweetup event held at NASA Headquarters, September 24, 2009 in Washington. Nearly 200 of NASAs Twitter followers are in attendance, which features a presentation and a question and answer session with the crew of the STS-127 shuttle mission to install new hardware and expand the Japanese Kibo laboratory on the International Space Station.

JSC2009-E-140550 (24 June 2009) --- Astronaut Jeffrey Williams (center), Expedition 21 flight engineer and Expedition 22 commander; and astronaut Nicole Stott, Expedition 20/21 flight engineer, participate in a training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASAs Johnson Space Center. Crew instructor Michael Steele assisted Williams and Stott.

JSC2012-E-237238 (5 Nov. 2012) --- NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, Expedition 38/39 flight engineer, participates in a photography training session at NASAs Johnson Space Center. Crew instructor Katrina Willoughby assisted Mastracchio.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Press Site auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA Project Scientist Dr. Howard Levine and Project Engineer Monica Soler with Qinetiq North America demonstrate to media a liquid purifying system called "forward osmosis." The idea is to make a fortified drink that provides hydration and nutrients from all sources available aboard a spacecraft, such as wastewater. A space-adapted version of the system will be aboard space shuttle Atlantis for testing during the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis and its crew of four are scheduled to lift off at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs fo

PHOTO DATE: 02-03-11LOCATION: Bldg 26, 104SUBJECT: Photograph JAXA astronaut and Expedition 28 crew member Satoshi Furukawa during ARED PT training. Instructors are Robert Tweedy (glasses) and BruceNieschwitz

Handover of GeneSat 1 from NASA to Santa Clara University event

NASAs 2017 astronaut candidates (L to R) Jessica Watkins and Jenni Sidey-Gibbons practice flying in an F-18 aircraft cockpit simulator at Armstrong Flight Research Center, in Southern California. The F-18s are flown for research support and pilot proficiency. Currently, the F-18s are being used to conduct supersonic research in support of the X-59 QueSST overall mission.

ED13-0079-11 (26 March 2013) ---- SpaceX Dragon's second operational mission ended on March 26 after three weeks attached to the International Space Station. The unmanned spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 214 miles off the coast of Baja California to successfully return about 2,670 pounds of science materials from the orbital outpost.

Col. Chad Koenig, the commander at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), visiting the Museum Support Center(MSC), September 6th 2022. Col. Koenig is looking through a microscope of one of the mosquito specimens. ( U.S. Army photo by Tyra Breaux/Released)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - United Space Alliance workers J.C. Harrison (left) and Amy Mangiacapra (right) pack up pieces of Columbia debris for shipment to The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif. The pieces have been released for loan to the non-governmental agency for testing and research. The Aerospace Corporation requested and will receive graphite/epoxy honeycomb skins from an Orbital Maneuvering System pod, Main Propulsion System Helium tanks, a Reaction Control System Helium tank and a Power Reactant Storage Distribution system tank. The company will use the parts to study re-entry effects on composite materials. NASA notified the Columbia crews families about the loan before releasing the items for study. Researchers believe the testing will show how materials are expected to respond to various heating and loads' environments. The findings will help calibrate tools and models used to predict hazards to people and property from reentering hardware. The Aerospace

U.S. Army Cpt. Rachael Younan, a 72D environmental science/engineering officer from Fort Benning, Georgia, looks through a collection of preserved insects while attending the DOD Pesticide Applicator Certification Course at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on September 1, 2022. Younan attended the three-week course to obtain certification to apply and/or supervise the application of pesticides.

Kathy Lueders and Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. Artemis launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and associate administrator of NASAs Space Operations Mission Directorate, Kathryn Lueders finish coloring in the other eye of the Japanese Daruma doll to highlight the successful Artemis I mission on Dec. 20, 2022 in Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave a Daruma doll to both Lueders and associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, Jim Free as a token of good luck prior to the Artemis I launch. Free filled in his eye on Dec. 11, 2022, with Artemis I Ascent and Entry Flight Director Judd Frieling in Mission Control Center at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

While NASAs F/A-18 goes supersonic off the coast, a team of researchers monitor the flight and operate multiple sound monitor stations around Galveston and its surrounding area. This allows NASA to obtain accurate sound level data, which gets matched to community response data.

NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei Acaba visited Marshall April 11 for their honorary Expedition 54 plaque hanging ceremony and to provide valuable feedback of their on-orbit science investigations with the Payload Operations and Integration Center team. Payload Operations Director Phillipia Simmons with Astronauts Joe Acaba (L) and Mark Vande Hei

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