One of the OSAM-1 Robot Arms is seen, mounted onto ground support equipment used for testing inside the cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Apr 17, 2024. This photo has been reviewed by Maxar, OSAM1 project management, and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

Quality Assurance engineer Lucinda Taylor unreels a power cord across the cleanroom floor at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., April 21, 2025. This photo has been reviewed by export control and is approved for public release. NASA/Mike Guinto

Members of the OSAM-1 power supply unit (PSU) team make preparations inside a thermal vacuum chamber for the PSU electronics box to be lowered in at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Mar 16, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

OSAM-1 and Maxar team members remove protective bagging from the spacecraft bus at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Sept 25, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management, Maxar public release authority, and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. Working with U.S. companies and international partners, NASA will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon.

A view of the OSAM-1 spacecraft bus inside the thermal vacuum chamber at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Dec 1, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by Maxar, OSAM1 project management, and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

The Roman Space Telescope's Spacecraft Bus and Integrated Payload Assembly is crane lifted inside the cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., June 12, 2025. This photo has been approved for public release. NASA/Mike Guinto

NASA Contamination control engineers perform a blacklight inspection on the OSAM-1 Spacecraft Bus at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Sept 30, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management, Maxar public release authority, and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

The OSAM-1 integration and testing team deploys and stows the radiator panels on the OSAM-1 servicing payload at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Sept 14, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

Mechanical engineering and integration technician Ivan Pratt installs brackets onto the static load testing platform in preparation of an OSAM-1 ground support equipment proof test at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., July 19, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

Mechanical engineering and integration technician, Lucas Keim, stands inside the Acoustics chamber at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Aug 24, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

Lucas Keim, a mechanical engineering and integration technician, flexes after helping move ground support equipment into a cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., Feb 20, 2023.

Roman Space Telescope team members inspect the primary mirror in the dark using flashlights and UV lights to help them see any contamination, inside the cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., July 2, 2025. The green glow of the room is due to a long exposure time, the green comes from a light on the left wall which indicates optimal airflow through the room. This photo has been approved for public release. NASA/Mike Guinto

Seth Aulton, a mechanical engineering and integration technician, installs part of the Propellant Transfer System onto the servicing payload of OSAM-1 inside a cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., Feb 14, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM-1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

Contamination control technician Sydnie Heiman inspects one of OSAM-1's radiator panels inside the cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., July 10, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

Detail shot of the OSAM-1 auto-capture test bed performing a test of the robot arm inside the robotics operations center at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Feb 23, 2023. This photo has been approved for public release. NASA/Mike Guinto

OSAM-1 team members prepare a weight to be crane lifted onto the SPIKA work platform as part of its commissioning workmanship test inside the cleanroom at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Mar 20, 2023. This photo has been reviewed by OSAM1 project management and the Export Control Office and is released for public view. NASA/Mike Guinto

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

Saturn, top, and Jupiter, bottom, are seen after sunset from Alexandria, Va., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. The two planets are drawing closer to each other in the sky as they head towards a “great conjunction” on December 21, where the two giant planets will appear a tenth of a degree apart. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The Moon, left, Saturn, upper right, and Jupiter, lower right, are seen after sunset from Alexandria, Va., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. The two planets are drawing closer to each other in the sky as they head towards a “great conjunction” on December 21, where the two giant planets will appear a tenth of a degree apart. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Two NASA F/A-18s flown by NASA Dryden research pilots Jim Smolka and Nils Larson cruise over the Texas landscape after supporting a SOFIA check flight in May 2007.

“I was born in India soon after we got independence from the British. So we were just beginning to get access to education. My mother was very keen that her daughters get an education. She was a big motivating force behind my interest in science. Since I was really little, she would say, ‘This daughter of mine is going to be a scientist.’ “And I loved nature. In those days, the monsoon would make India come to life with flowers and creepy-crawlies and all kinds of little creatures. I would just go out, eagerly looking for new forms of life. I was always curious. And I remember the night sky — just trying to count all the stars. We didn’t have electricity so it was very dark. You could see the Milky Way, it was so clear. “When Sputnik was launched, it came out in the newspaper that you would be able to see it pass overhead at 5 in the morning. And my grandmother woke up everyone — the entire household — to see it. There was a big crowd in the backyard to watch Sputnik go by. "Then, Yuri Gagarin made a tour of India. He came to our city — Lucknow — and there was a reception for him. My mother got invitations for all of us to see the cosmonaut. We were just little kids. We ran right to the stage — there was no security then — and said hello to him. He gave us little booklets and autographs. It was a big inspiration for me. I remember just staring at that booklet he gave me. I kept it for years.” NASA Program Scientist, Dr. Hashima Hasan, poses for a portrait in her backyard, while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Monday, July 6, 2020 in Maryland. Hasan currently works at NASA Headquarters as a program scientist on the agency’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) spacecraft, the Keck Observatory, and the NASA Astrophysics Archives, and is the deputy program scientist for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

“I grew up in Venezuela and studied in the military high school Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho. They would frequently bring in speakers, usually professional that were doing important work. Here comes Dr. Humberto Fernandez-Moran, a Venezuelan scientist working at NASA He was speaking to us about teamwork and he told an anecdote about this janitor that was mopping the floors in one of the NASA installations, when someone asked the man what he was doing. The janitor turned around and said “I’m sending people to the Moon.” In that moment I thought, “Wow, NASA is a really inclusive place to work because they value all the contributions of the people that work for them.” When I immigrated to the United States, I didn’t start my career at NASA. I worked in various positions in the private and public sector. When I saw this position open and applied, I was reminded of that story. Later on, I worked for NASA as part of the new employee orientation team for a little over a year I would share that story with the new hires to let them know that NASA was extremely inclusive and that their work would matter. Regardless of the scope of their contribution you were part of a team working toward the same goal. When someone asks me about my job? I respond with immense pride I am part of the Office of the General Counsel – International Law Practice Group and I send astronauts into space." NASA Legal Administrative Specialist, Linda Perozo, poses for a portrait outside her home in Maryland, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

Two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are being transported from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida by railcar. Departing on June 5, 2020, the boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

"When I left college, I went to go work in investment banking on Wall Street. It was one of these experiences where people said, ‘that’s the most awesome job ever. How did you manage to do that?’ But once I was inside that world, I felt very disconnected from people. I felt like the world was passing me by while I was inside cars going to business meetings and dinners. And I really wasn’t interacting with people, or understanding the challenges they were going through. So I applied to a number of medical schools. Once I got my letters of acceptance, I just chose one and I went. Then I felt like I was really doing what I wanted to do. I had a tremendous experience in my training and my classes. I just felt like, ‘wow. This is what I’m meant to do.’ Everybody has their thing. Everybody has a place where they shine. And for me, it’s being a physician, helping people heal, solving medical problems. Helping people feel better in their own bodies, no matter what that looks like." NASA Headquarters Medical Director, Dr. Andrea Fore, poses for a portrait while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Monday, July 13, 2020 in Maryland. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

The two solid rocket boosters that will power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) for Artemis missions to the Moon are on their way to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after departing from a Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah, on June 5, 2020. The boosters – each comprised of five motor segments – are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility, where teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process the segments before moving them to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the mobile launcher. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

Saturn, top, and Jupiter, bottom, are seen after sunset from Alexandria, Va., Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. The two planets are drawing closer to each other in the sky as they head towards a “great conjunction” on December 21, where the two giant planets will appear a tenth of a degree apart. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-NY., questions NASA Administrator Michael Griffin during a House Science Committee hearing, Tuesday, June 28, 2005, Rayburn House Office building, Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Teams move a liquid oxygen tank from the main factory at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to a nearby production cell on April 25, 2025. Designated for the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis III mission, the tank will now undergo application of its thermal protection system through an automated process. The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

NASA Administrator, Michael Griffin watches the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-124) from the Launch Control Center Saturday, May 31, 2008, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Shuttle lifted off from launch pad 39A at 5:02 p.m. EDT. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), is seen as it flies over the Verrazano Bridge, Friday, April 27, 2012, in New York. Enterprise was the first shuttle orbiter built for NASA performing test flights in the atmosphere and was incapable of spaceflight. Originally housed at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Enterprise will be demated from the SCA and placed on a barge that will eventually be moved by tugboat up the Hudson River to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in June. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Daniel Murrin, Partner, Assurance and Advisory Business Service, Ernst & Young LLP, testifies during a Joint Hearing before the House Committee on Science and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

JSC2011-E-040202 (2 March 2011) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, departs from the Moffett Field (Calif.) flight operations center for his trip home to Houston after he and his crew trained in the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, March 2, 2011. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

Two NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) buoys are seen on the stern of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Knorr on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in Woods Hole, Mass. Knorr is scheduled to depart on Sept. 6 to take part in the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS). The NASA-sponsored expedition will sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, left, testifies as NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale looks on during a hearing before the House Science & Technology Committee regarding NASA's FY 2007 budget request, Thursday, Feb., 16, 2006, in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Under Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Ronald Sega, right, testifies before the House Committee on Science and Technology regarding the future of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and results of the Nunn-McCurdy review of NOAA’s weather satellite program as NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, left, looks at a television monitor, Thursday, June 8, 2006, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Director General of the National Space Agency of Ukraine Yuriy Sergiyovych Alekseyev, left, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, center, and Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Yekhanurov pose for a photograph prior to their meeting at NASA Headquarters, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005, in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Scientific instruments, buoys, and shipping crates are seen on the stern of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Knorr on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in Woods Hole, Mass. Knorr is scheduled to depart on Sept. 6 to take part in the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS). The NASA-sponsored expedition will sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

This photo shows the HL-10 in flight, turning to line up with lakebed runway 18. The pilot for this flight, the 29th of the HL-10 series, was Bill Dana. The HL-10 reached a peak altitude of 64,590 feet and a top speed of Mach 1.59 on this particular flight.

NASA's F-15B research testbed jet from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center flew in the supersonic shockwave of a Northrop Grumman Corp. modified F-5E in support of the Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration (SSBD) project, which is part of the DARPA's Quiet Supersonic Platform (QSP) program.

The single-seat F-16XL, NASA 849, joins up with an SR-71A, NASA 844, as crews set up for one of the flights in the recent sonic boom research program conducted by the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. During the missions, the F-16XL probed the shockwaves generated by the SR-71, while at lower altitudes sensors on an F-18 and on a YO-3A, and also on the ground, recorded data from the same shockwave.

Comet NEOWISE is seen before sunrise over Washington, Sunday, July 12, 2020. The comet was discovered by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, on March 27. Since then, the comet — called comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE and nicknamed comet NEOWISE — has been spotted by several NASA spacecraft, including Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

JSC2011-E-040220 (10 March 2011) --- NASA astronaut Rex Walheim (left), STS-135 mission specialist, and astronaut Mike Fossum are aided by divers as they work in a mock-up of the space shuttle's payload bay as the crew of STS-135 trains for a spacewalk in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near NASA?s Johnson Space Center on March 10, 2011. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

This image highlights the liquid oxygen tank, which will be used on the core stage of NASA’ Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program, at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The forward skirt houses flight computers, cameras, and avionics systems. The liquid oxygen tank holds 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. The LOX hardware sits between the core stage’s forward skirt and the intertank. Along with the liquid hydrogen tank, it will provide fuel to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rocket’s massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space, the SLS rocket, along with NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit, the Human Landing System, and Orion spacecraft, is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. No other rocket can send astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.

STS-122 Mission Specialist, Rex Walheim, left, and Shuttle Launch Director, Michael D. Leinbach take a moment to watch the close out crew work on the space shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility, 9:07a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. completing delivery of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Chief Technologist Douglas Terrier talks about NASA's plans for going forward to the Moon and Mars during a Mars celebration Saturday, June 1, 2019, in Mars, Pennsylvania. NASA is in the small town to celebrate Mars exploration and share the agency’s excitement about landing astronauts on the Moon in five years. The celebration includes a weekend of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

F5D Skylancer with camera installation in nose.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin testifies at a hearing before the House Science Committee, Tuesday, June 28, 2005, Rayburn House Office building, Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Suzu Sawanuki presents artwork by her husband Toshiro Sawanuki to James Hathaway, Associate Director for Business Operations at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, May 29, 2008. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

JSC2011-E-040217 (10 March 2011) --- NASA astronaut Rex Walheim, STS-135 mission specialist, is aided by divers as he works with astronaut Mike Fossum in a mock-up of the space shuttle's payload bay as the crew of STS-135 trains for a spacewalk in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near NASA?s Johnson Space Center on March 10, 2011. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, STS-127 mission commander Mark Polansky, and NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, right, walk around the space shuttle Endeavour shortly after it and its crew landed, Friday, July 31, 2009 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., completing a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 million miles. Endeavour delivered the final segment to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and a new crew member to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The planet Mercury is seen in silhouette as it nearly completes transiting across the face of the Sun, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, in Arlington, Virginia. Mercury’s last transit was in 2016. the next won't happen again until 2032. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A Mars celebration attendee views the surface of Mars via a virtual reality headset Saturday, June 1, 2019, in Mars, Pennsylvania. NASA is in the small town to celebrate Mars exploration and share the agency’s excitement about landing astronauts on the Moon in five years. The celebration includes a weekend of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Dr. Michael Griffin testifies, Tuesday, April 12, 2005, during his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington. If confirmed, Griffin, who currently heads the space department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory will become NASA's 11th administrator. Photo Credit (NASA/Renee Bouchard)

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid hydrogen tank for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket into the factory’s vertical assembly building on Sep. 26, 2025. The tank, which is designated for the agency’s Artemis III mission, is lifted and loaded into a production cell where it will be mated with the LH2 Transport Adapter Assembly for future transportation to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The engine section flight hardware structure was completed in 2022 and was shipped to Kennedy where teams continue to integrate vital systems. The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., testifies before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee during the confirmation hearing of Dr. Michael Griffin, rear center, Tuesday, April 12, 2005, at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington. Griffin currently heads the space department at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. If confirmed by the full U.S. Senate, Dr. Griffin would be NASA's 11th administrator. Photo Credit: (NASA/Renee Bouchard)

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin testifies as NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale looks on during a hearing before the House Science & Technology Committee regarding NASA's FY 2007 budget request, Thursday, Feb., 16, 2006, in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Moon is seen rising behind the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-126) on pad 39a Friday, November 14, 2008, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Shuttle lifted off from launch pad 39A at 7:55 p.m. EST. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Special Assistant Mr. Christopher Shank, left, and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin talk during a hearing before the House Science Committee, Tuesday, June 28, 2005, Rayburn House Office building, Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

These photos show teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans preparing, moving, and loading the engine section boat-tail of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the Artemis III mission for transportation to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida via the agency’s Pegasus barge. Inside the factory on Aug. 14 prior to the move, technicians covered the spaceflight hardware with a tarp to help protect it on its journey aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge. Crews then rolled out the hardware on Aug. 27 from the factory floor to the barge. Once in Florida, the boat-tail will be integrated with the engine section -- also manufactured at Michoud -- inside Kennedy’s Space Station Processing Facility. The engine section arrived at NASA Kennedy in Dec. 2022. Located at the bottom of the engine section, the aerodynamic boat-tail fairing channels airflow and protects the stage’s four RS-25 engines from extreme temperatures during launch. The engine section is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, left, presents Yuriy Yekhanurov, Prime Minister of Ukraine, with a montage following a meeting Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

These photos show teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans preparing, moving, and loading the engine section of a future SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to NASA’s Pegasus barge Aug. 28. The hardware will form the bottom-most section of the SLS core stage that will power NASA’s Artemis IV mission, which will be the first mission to the Gateway space station in lunar orbit under the Artemis campaign. The barge will transport the spaceflight hardware to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida via the agency’s Pegasus barge. Once in Florida, the engine section will undergo final outfitting inside Kennedy’s Space Station Processing Facility. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

A perigee full moon or supermoon is seen, Sunday, August 10, 2014, in Washington. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest (perigee) to Earth at the same time it is full. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Emil de Cou conducts the National Symphony Orchestra during the "Salute to Apollo" ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Saturday, July 18, 2009 in Washington. The event was part of NASA's week long celebration of the Apollo 40th Anniversary. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA's Acting Administrator, Christopher Scolese, responds to questions concerning NASA Cost and Contract Management during a hearing before the the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Thursday, March 5, 2009, Rayburn Building, Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Mars celebration Saturday, June 1, 2019, in Mars, Pennsylvania. NASA is in the small town to celebrate Mars exploration and share the agency’s excitement about landing astronauts on the Moon in five years. The celebration includes a weekend of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

These photos show teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans preparing, moving, and loading the engine section of a future SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to NASA’s Pegasus barge Aug. 28. The hardware will form the bottom-most section of the SLS core stage that will power NASA’s Artemis IV mission, which will be the first mission to the Gateway space station in lunar orbit under the Artemis campaign. The barge will transport the spaceflight hardware to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida via the agency’s Pegasus barge. Once in Florida, the engine section will undergo final outfitting inside Kennedy’s Space Station Processing Facility. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Sophia Bogat from NASA Headquarters talks about the various wheels used on Mars rovers during the Mars celebration Saturday, June 1, 2019, in Mars, Pennsylvania. NASA is in the small town to celebrate Mars exploration and share the agency’s excitement about landing astronauts on the Moon in five years. The celebration includes a weekend of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

APOLLO CONFIGURATION OF SATURN MODEL IN THE 8X6-FOOT SUPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL

NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is seen orbiting Earth in this 13-second exposure photograph, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, from Arlington, Virginia. The mission team confirmed the spacecraft’s unique composite boom system unfurled its reflective sail on Thursday, accomplishing a critical milestone in the agency’s demonstration of next-generation solar sail technology that will allow small spacecraft to “sail on sunlight.” Just as a sailboat is powered by wind in a sail, a spacecraft can use the pressure of sunlight on a solar sail for propulsion. This technology demonstration serves as a pathfinder for future missions powered by solar sail technology. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A perigee full moon or supermoon is seen over the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, Sunday, August 10, 2014, in Washington. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest (perigee) to Earth at the same time it is full. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

All three NASA F-104N's fly in formation. Aircraft numbers 011, 012 and 013. These would be changed to 811, 812 and 813 in 1965. Pilots are Bruce Peterson in 011, Milt Thompson in 012 and Joe Walker in 013. October 24, 1963

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin testifies at a hearing before the House Science Committee, Tuesday, June 28, 2005, Rayburn House Office building, Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The first flight of a large aircraft to be powered by electric fuel cells began with a takeoff at 8:43 a.m. HST today from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The Helios Prototype flying wing, built by AeroVironment, Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., as part of NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program, used solar panels to power its 10 electric motors for takeoff and during daylight portions of its planned 20-hour shakedown flight. As sunlight diminishes, Helios will switch to a fuel cell system to continue flight into the night. The takeoff set the stage for a two-day Helios endurance flight in the stratosphere planned for mid-July. The Helios wing, spanning 247 feet and weighing about 2,400 pounds, is giving NASA and industry engineers confidence that remotely piloted aircraft will be able to stay aloft for weeks at a time, providing environmental monitoring capabilities and telecommunications relay services. Helios is an all-electric airplane. In addition to being non-polluting, Helios can fly above storms, and use the power of the sun to stay aloft during daylight. Key to the success of this type of aircraft is the ability to fly in darkness, using fuel cells when sunlight cannot furnish energy. Helios flew over the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility where favorable sun exposure and test ranges closed to other air traffic benefited the NASA research effort. In 2003 the aircraft was lost to a crash.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Knorr is seen docked on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, in Woods Hole, Mass. Knorr is scheduled to depart on Sept. 6 to take part in the Salinity Processes in the Upper Ocean Regional Study (SPURS). The NASA-sponsored expedition will sail to the North Atlantic's saltiest spot to get a detailed, 3-D picture of how salt content fluctuates in the ocean's upper layers and how these variations are related to shifts in rainfall patterns around the planet. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Attendees watch a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Maryland. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into the assembly, testing, and launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

JSC2011-E-067680 (12 July 2011) --- This is an overall view of the wiring for the simulated shuttle payload bay in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 12, 2011. The laboratory is a skeletal avionics version of the shuttle that uses actual orbiter hardware and flight software. The facility even carries the official orbiter designation as Orbiter Vehicle 095. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans install wash probes into a liquid oxygen tank inside the factory’s cleaning cell on Oct. 25. The tank, which will be used on the core stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for its Artemis III mission, will undergo an internal cleaning before moving on to its next phase of production. Inside the cleaning cell, a solution is sprayed into the tank to remove particulates which may collect during the manufacturing process. Once a tank is cleaned, teams use mobile clean rooms for internal access to the tank to prevent external contaminates from entering the hardware. The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Vandenberg AFB CA-- A Boeing Delta II rocket soars above the clouds here today at Vandenberg AFB CA. The NASA payload aboard the rocket is the ICESat, an Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, and CHIPSat, a Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma Spectrometer. ICESat, a 661-pound satellite, is a benchmark satellite for the Earth Observing System that will help scientists determine if the global sea level is rising or falling. It will observe the ice sheets that blanket the Earth’s poles to determine if they are growing or shrinking. It will assist in developing an understanding of how changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and climate affect polar ice masses and global sea level. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System is the sole instrument on the satellite. CHIPSat, a suitcase-size 131-pound satellite, will provide information about the origin, physical processes and properties of the hot gas contained in the interstellar medium. This launch, marks the first Delta from Vandenberg this year. (USAF photo by: SSgt Lee A Osberry Jr.)

Space Program Manager Wayne Hale, Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin monitor the weather and shuttle systems prior to the launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-122) from the Launch Control Center Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008, at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Shuttle lifted off from launch pad 39A at 2:45p.m. EST. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A local First Robotics team poses for a group photo during Tthe Mars celebration Saturday, June 1, 2019, in Mars, Pennsylvania. NASA is in the small town to celebrate Mars exploration and share the agency’s excitement about landing astronauts on the Moon in five years. The celebration includes a weekend of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) activities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NOAA Administrator, Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.), left, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Under Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Ronald Sega, right, testify before the House Committee on Science and Technology regarding the future of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and results of the Nunn-McCurdy review of NOAA’s weather satellite program, Thursday, June 8, 2006, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A detail view of one of the OSAM-1 robotic arms after being integrated onto the flight payload top-deck at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt., Md Oct 4, 2024. This photo has been approved for public release. NASA/Mike Guinto