NASA RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., IS LEADING A THREE-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SPACE VEHICLES AND MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. SMITH AND HIS TEAM SEEK TO REFINE THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OPTICAL GYROSCOPES THAT DRIVE SPACE VEHICLES’ INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS – DELIVERING GYROSCOPES AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS.

NASA RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., IS LEADING A THREE-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SPACE VEHICLES AND MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. SMITH AND HIS TEAM SEEK TO REFINE THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OPTICAL GYROSCOPES THAT DRIVE SPACE VEHICLES’ INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS – DELIVERING GYROSCOPES AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS.

NASA RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., IS LEADING A THREE-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SPACE VEHICLES AND MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. SMITH AND HIS TEAM SEEK TO REFINE THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OPTICAL GYROSCOPES THAT DRIVE SPACE VEHICLES’ INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS – DELIVERING GYROSCOPES AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS.

NASA RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., IS LEADING A THREE-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SPACE VEHICLES AND MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. SMITH AND HIS TEAM SEEK TO REFINE THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OPTICAL GYROSCOPES THAT DRIVE SPACE VEHICLES’ INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS – DELIVERING GYROSCOPES AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS.

NASA RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., IS LEADING A THREE-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SPACE VEHICLES AND MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. SMITH AND HIS TEAM SEEK TO REFINE THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OPTICAL GYROSCOPES THAT DRIVE SPACE VEHICLES’ INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS – DELIVERING GYROSCOPES AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS.

NASA RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., IS LEADING A THREE-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION SYSTEMS FOR SPACE VEHICLES AND MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. SMITH AND HIS TEAM SEEK TO REFINE THE HIGHLY SENSITIVE OPTICAL GYROSCOPES THAT DRIVE SPACE VEHICLES’ INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS – DELIVERING GYROSCOPES AT LEAST 1,000 TIMES MORE SENSITIVE THAN CURRENT SYSTEMS.

FROM RIGHT, MARSHALL RESEARCHER DR. DAVID SMITH, U.S. ARMY RESEARCHER KRISHNA MYNENI AND ARMY CONTRACTOR HONGROK CHANG HAVE BEGUN A THREE-YEAR NASA PROJECT TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE NEW GYROSCOPES THAT COULD DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE IN-FLIGHT NAVIGATION CAPABILITIES FOR SPACE VEHICLES, MILITARY AIR AND SEA ASSETS AND COMMERCIAL VEHICLES. THE “FAST LIGHT OPTICAL GYROSCOPES FOR PRECISE INERTIAL NAVIGATION” PROJECT INCLUDES RESEARCHERS AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA.; THE U.S. ARMY AVIATION AND MISSILE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER (AMRDEC) AT REDSTONE ARSENAL IN HUNTSVILLE; AND NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY IN EVANSTON, ILL.

Community leaders from Mississippi and Louisiana break ground for the new INFINITY at NASA Stennis Space Center facility during a Nov. 20 ceremony. Groundbreaking participants included (l to r): Gottfried Construction representative John Smith, Mississippi Highway Commissioner Wayne Brown, INFINITY board member and Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, Stennis Director Gene Goldman, Studio South representative David Hardy, Leo Seal Jr. family representative Virginia Wagner, Hancock Bank President George Schloegel, Mississippi Rep. J.P. Compretta, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians representative Charlie Benn and Louisiana Sen. A.G. Crowe.

K-10 (red) plaentary rover at Marscape (Ames Mars Yard): with prototype flight control team remotely operating K-10 'Red' from Ames Future Flight Centeral (FFC) Simulator, L-R; Pascal Lee, Melissa Rice, David Lees, Trey Smith

K-10 (red) plaentary rover at Marscape (Ames Mars Yard): with prototype flight control team remotely operating K-10 'Red' from Ames Future Flight Centeral (FFC) Simulator. L-R; Jeff Tripp, David Lees, Trey Smith, Mark Helper, Simon Rutishauser

K-10 (red) plaentary rover at Marscape (Ames Mars Yard): with prototype flight control team remotely operating K-10 'Red' from Ames Future Flight Centeral (FFC) Simulator, L-R; Kip Hodges, Mark Helper, Marwan Hussein, Pascal Lee, Melissa Rice, Trey Smith, David Lees

A NASA Kennedy Space Center employee asks a question during a procurement discussion on Nov. 29, 2022, at the space center in Florida. NASA senior leaders participating in the discussion with employees are NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy; NASA Association Administrator Bob Cabana; Karla Smith Jackson, assistant administrator for Procurement; Scott Barber, associate general counsel for Acquisition Law; Craig McArthur, OCFO/director for Strategic Investments Division; and David Mitchell, chief program management officer.

NASA senior leaders participate in a procurement discussion with employees on Nov. 29, 2022, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The conversation focused on strengthening acquisition and program management within the agency. From left are David Mitchell, chief program management officer; Craig McArthur, OCFO/director for Strategic Investments Division; Scott Barber, associate general counsel for Acquisition Law; Karla Smith Jackson, assistant administrator for Procurement; NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana; and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

Dr. David Brown (right), a NASA astronaut, poses with students in the gymnasium of Ronald McNair Magnet School in Cocoa, Fla. From left, the students are Kristin Rexford, Danitra Anderson, Dominique Smith, Fallon Davis, and Qiana Taylor. Brown was at the school to attend a tribute to NASA astronaut Ronald McNair. The school had previously been renamed for the fallen astronaut who was one of a crew of seven, who lost their lives during an accident following launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986

Front Row: Commander Reid Wiseman, Howard Hu, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, General David Stringer, Back Row: Carlos Garcia Galan, Howard Hu, John Zang, Josh Pawlak, Nicole Smith, Jan-Henrik Horstmann, Robert Overy, Kathryn Oriti pose in front of the Orion Environmental Test Article at Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, OH. The team has begun vibro-acoustic testing on the Orion spacecraft that flew around the Moon on Artemis I, now known as the Environmental Test Article. The testing will help ensure the safety of future crews aboard Orion. Employees meet three of the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the first crewed flight paving the way for future lunar surface missions. Commander Reid Wiseman and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will be on hand to discuss their upcoming mission and participate in a Question and Answer session with employees afterward. Hansen is an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency. Victor Glover, the pilot and fourth crew member, will not be present. Awards were given to employees that participated in Orion for Artemis I. Photo Credit: (NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna)

NASA senior leaders participate in a procurement discussion with employees on Nov. 29, 2022, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The conversation focused on strengthening acquisition and program management within the agency. From left are David Mitchell, chief program management officer; Craig McArthur, (in view behind Mitchell) OCFO/director for Strategic Investments Division; Scott Barber, associate general counsel for Acquisition Law; Karla Smith Jackson, assistant administrator for Procurement; and NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana. Also participating, but not pictured, is NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Space Life Sciences Laboratory near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dr. David J. Smith, a microbiologist in the Surface Systems Office, prepares microbes that will be deployed for the Microorganisms in the Stratosphere, or MIST, mission. High altitudes exert a unique combination of stresses on microbes, outside the range of conditions normally encountered on the Earth's surface. Results from MIST may improve our understanding of the physical limits and habitable environments for life. The MIST mission will fly a small biological payload aboard a blimp in July to measure microbial survival and cellular responses to exposure in the upper atmoshere. Later in the year, the MIST mission will deploy samples at even higher altitudes in the stratosphere using scientific balloons. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Space Life Sciences Laboratory near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dr. David J. Smith, a microbiologist in the Surface Systems Office, prepares microbes that will be deployed for the Microorganisms in the Stratosphere, or MIST, mission. High altitudes exert a unique combination of stresses on microbes, outside the range of conditions normally encountered on the Earth's surface. Results from MIST may improve our understanding of physical limits and habitable environments for life. The MIST mission will fly a small biological payload aboard a blimp in July to measure microbial survival and cellular responses to exposure in the upper atmosphere. Later in the year, the MIST mission will deploy samples at even higher altitudes in the stratosphere using scientific balloons. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Seventeen new astronaut candidates visited the Vehicle Assembly Building as part of an orientation tour of KSC facilities. Here they are grouped around one of the external fuel tanks in the transfer aisle of the VAB. This latest group of candidates is the tenth chosen since the original seven Mercury astronauts. [From left, Michael J. McCulley, Curtis L. Brown Jr., Frank L. Culbertson Jr., Kathryn C. Thornton, Mark N. Brown, Mark C. Lee, Kenneth D. Cameron, John H. Casper, L. Blaine Hammond Jr., Charles Lacy Veach (deceased), James C. Adamson, William M. Shepherd, Sidney M. Gutierrez, Marsha S. Ivins, David G. Low, Michael J. Smith (deceased), Ellen S. Baker, Sonny Carter (deceased).]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Inside the Space Life Sciences Laboratory near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dr. David J. Smith, a microbiologist in the Surface Systems Office, prepares microbes that will be deployed for the Microorganisms in the Stratosphere, or MIST, mission. High altitudes exert a unique combination of stresses on microbes, outside the range of conditions normally encountered on the Earth's surface. Results from MIST may improve our understanding of the physical limits and habitable environments for life. The MIST mission will fly a small biological payload aboard a blimp in July to measure the microbial survival and cellular responses to exposure in the upper atmosphere. Later in the year, the MIST mission will deploy samples at even higher altitudes in the stratosphere using scientific balloons. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

The inaugural Glenn Symposium focused on advancements in aerospace technology including power and propulsion, autonomy and communications, low boom supersonics, hypersonics, and more. Discussion also encompassed humans returning to the moon, including challenges associated with the 2024 mission.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Congressional Delegation Visit to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Prototype Laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Evan Williams, left, an Education intern from the University of Central Florida, and Anthony Bharrat, NASA avionics lead, prepare the experiment container for NASA's Exposing Microorganisms in the Stratosphere, or E-MIST, experiment. In the background is David J. Smith, Ph.D., NASA E-MIST principal investigator. The container was designed and built at Kennedy. The 80-pound structure features four doors that rotate to expose up to 10 microbial samples each for a predetermined period of time in the Earth's stratosphere. The E-MIST experiment will launch on the exterior of a giant scientific balloon gondola at about 8 a.m. MST on Aug. 24 from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. It will soar 125,000 feet above the Earth during a 5-hour journey over the desert to understand how spore-forming bacteria, commonly found in spacecraft assembly facilities can survive. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

President Donald Trump, center, speaks before signing an Executive Order to reestablish the National Space Council, alongside members of the Congress, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Commercial Space Companies in the Roosevelt room of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 30, 2017. Vice President Mike Pence, also in attendance, will chair the council. Also pictured are, Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-California, Former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Pennsylvania, Sandy Magnus, executive director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, David Melcher, executive director, Aerospace Industries Association, Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance, Michal Riley, CEO, AMRO Fabricating Corporation, John Couch, president, Futuramic, Mike Cain, owner, Cain Tubular Products, Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, Dennis Muilenburg, CEO Boeing Company, Marilyn Hewson, CEO, Lockheed Martin, Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman, retired NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin, NASA astronaut Alvin Drew, retired NASA astronaut David Wolf, Apollo 13 flight director, Gene Kranz, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Under Secretary of the Air Force Lisa Disbrow, and Acting Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Dawn Eilengerger. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

President Donald Trump, center, asks who should receive the pen after signing an Executive Order to reestablish the National Space Council, alongside members of the Congress, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Commercial Space Companies in the Roosevelt room of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 30, 2017. Retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin was given the pen. Also pictured are, Vice President Mike Pence, Rep. Bill Posey, R-Florida, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, Rep. Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-California, Former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Pennsylvania, Sandy Magnus, executive director, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, David Melcher, executive director, Aerospace Industries Association, Tory Bruno, CEO, United Launch Alliance, Michal Riley, CEO, AMRO Fabricating Corporation, John Couch, president, Futuramic, Mike Cain, owner, Cain Tubular Products, Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director, Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, Dennis Muilenburg, CEO Boeing Company, Marilyn Hewson, CEO, Lockheed Martin, Wes Bush, CEO, Northrop Grumman, NASA Astronaut Alvin Drew, retired NASA astronaut David Wolf, Apollo 13 flight director, Gene Kranz, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Under Secretary of the Air Force Lisa Disbrow, and Acting Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Dawn Eilengerger. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

STS-103 Mission Specialists Jean-François Clervoy of France takes his seat inside the Space Shuttle Discovery during a practice launch countdown, part of Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) activities, while astronaut David "Doc" Brown checks him out. The TCDT also provides the crew with emergency egress training and opportunities to inspect their mission payload in the orbiter's payload bay. Other crew members taking part in the TCDT are Commander Curtis L. Brown Jr., Pilot Scott J. Kelly, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, C. Michael Foale (Ph.D.), John M. Grunsfeld (Ph.D.), and Claude Nicollier of Switzerland. Clervoy and Nicollier are with the European Space Agency. STS-103 is a "call-up" mission due to the need to replace and repair portions of the Hubble Space Telescope, including the gyroscopes that allow the telescope to point at stars, galaxies and planets. The STS-103 crew will be replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor, an older computer with a new enhanced model, an older data tape recorder with a solid-state digital recorder, a failed spare transmitter with a new one, and degraded insulation on the telescope with new thermal insulation. The crew will also install a Battery Voltage/Temperature Improvement Kit to protect the spacecraft batteries from overcharging and overheating when the telescope goes into a safe mode. Four EVA's are planned to make the necessary repairs and replacements on the telescope. The mission is targeted for launch Dec. 6 at 2:37 a.m. EST

The 3D-printed titanium scoop of the Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm (COLDArm) robotic arm system is poised above a test bed filled with material to simulate lunar regolith (broken rocks and dust) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. COLDArm can function in temperatures as cold as minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 173 degrees Celsius). Robotics engineer David E. Newill-Smith looks on during testing in September 2022. COLDArm is designed to go on a Moon lander and operate during lunar night, a period that lasts about 14 Earth days. Frigid temperatures during lunar night would stymie current spacecraft, which must rely on energy-consuming heaters to stay warm. To operate in the cold, the 6-foot-6-inch (2-meter) arm combines several key new technologies: gears made of bulk metallic glass that require no lubrication or heating, cold motor controllers that don't need to be kept warm in an electronics box near the core of the spacecraft, and a cryogenic six-axis force torque sensor that lets the arm "feel" what it's doing and make adjustments. A variety of attachments and small instruments could go on the end of the arm, including the scoop, which could be used for collecting samples from a planet's surface. Like the arm on NASA's InSight Mars lander, COLDArm could deploy science instruments to the surface. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25316

Director's Strategic Management