IceBridge personnel boarding NASA's DC-8 airborne laboratory on the morning of Oct. 22, 2012, before a mission to survey the Ronne Ice Shelf. Credit: NASA / George Hale NASA's Operation IceBridge is an airborne science mission to study Earth's polar ice. For more information about IceBridge, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/icebridge" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/icebridge</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Endeavour is towed in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where it is going for temporary storage. The orbiter has been moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to allow work to be performed in the OPF that can only be accomplished while the bay is empty. Work scheduled in the OPF includes annual validation of the bay’s cranes, work platforms, lifting mechanisms and jack stands. Endeavour will remain in the VAB for approximately 12 days, then return to the OPF.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Endeavour is towed in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where it is going for temporary storage. The orbiter has been moved from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to allow work to be performed in the OPF that can only be accomplished while the bay is empty. Work scheduled in the OPF includes annual validation of the bay’s cranes, work platforms, lifting mechanisms and jack stands. Endeavour will remain in the VAB for approximately 12 days, then return to the OPF.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Command Module 107 and Service Module, which are going to be used for the Apollo 11 mission, are moved from Chamber "L" to the work stand in preparation for the first manned lunar landing. Also shown in the background is the Command Module 108, which is going to be used for the Apollo 12 lunar landing mission.

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.

“The day after the Columbia tragedy I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I go to my physics class and tell a friend, ‘I want to go work for NASA.’ My physics teacher walks by and overhears the conversation. She starts the class and says ‘I want to go around the classroom and hear about what everybody wants to do with their life.’ She gets to me. I was super excited. ‘I’m going to work for NASA, I’m going to be an engineer, I’m going to make sure everybody flies safe.’ And she bursts out laughing. And everyone else starts laughing. I’m like, ‘what is the joke?’ And she says to me, ‘If you ever get the opportunity to work for NASA, you make sure you come take me out to lunch.’ And that ended up being the joke of the day at my entire high school. “I think we have a very long way to go. I think that there are not enough educational resources. There are not enough pipeline opportunities. I come from a single-parent family. We weren’t rich. We lived in a New Jersey suburb in a very small town where the idea of a girl going to NASA — it just seemed impossible. I think that we have long way to go to reach out to some of those smaller, under-serving communities where individuals may not have the resources. Where teachers can’t even motivate kids to do something big because they don’t even believe it themselves. I do believe there are strides happening — but I don’t think we’re there yet.” — Brittani Sims, Flight Systems Engineer, Kennedy Space Center Interviewer: NASA / Thalia Patrinos

NASA Mars Helicopter team members work the flight model (the vehicle going to Mars) in the Space Simulator, a 25-foot-wide (7.62-meter-wide) vacuum chamber, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The image was taken on Feb. 1, 2019. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23152

iss068e029941 (Dec. 15, 2022) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Josh Cassada works in the Kibo laboratory module filling water reservoirs on the Pant Habitat for a space botany study exploring the genetic changes plants may go through when adapting to microgravity.

STS050-255-027 (25 June-9 July 1992) --- Payload specialist Eugene H. Trinh, left, and astronaut Carl J. Meade, mission specialist, go to work in the U.S. Microgravity Laboratory (USML-1) science module as the blue shift crew takes over from the red. Trinh is working with an experiment at the Drop Physics Module (DPM) and Meade prepares to monitor an experiment in the Glovebox. The two joined four other astronauts and a second scientist from the private sector for 14-days of scientific data-gathering.

S127-E-007384 (21 July 2009) --- Judging by the countenance of astronaut Doug Hurley, things are going relatively well for the 13 crew members of the joint station-shuttle aggregation. Hurley, STS-127 pilot, is pictured on Endeavour's mid deck while most of the crewmembers are busy on the orbital outpost. Crew members worked a great deal of robotics issues on this day, working from inside to move hardware around on the outside.

Focus on active photos –Class B Simulation Evaluation in the ATOL Lab at Langley (Also at FAA Tech Center) where team is working with one another in the lab, reviewing data on the monitors. Working the software, adjusting the software systems. Going over the shoulder to show the displays and screens as the software is running. Andy Burroughs (left) and Paul Friz in the roles of air taxi pilots running through air taxi integration simulations focusing on urban air space at NASA’s Langley Research in Hampton, Virginia on Sept. 25, 2024.

ISS013-E-63503 (3 August 2006) --- Astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, Expedition 13 NASA space station science officer and flight engineer, brushes up on a task list prior to egressing a station airlock to go on to perform a 5-hour, 54-minute excursion which he shared with European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter (out of frame). For part of the spacewalk, the pair worked closely in tandem, and then worked separately, getting ahead of their timeline, thus enabling the two to tack on extra tasks.

S106-E-5185 (13 September 2000) --- Astronaut Scott D. Altman, pilot, recruits the aid of a laptop computer for the supply-movement operation going on aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. While crewmates were doing electrical work on the International Space Station (ISS), a couple of the astronauts worked in Spacehab and elsewhere to participate in the effort to move supplies to the ISS.

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley board the SpaceX GO Searcher ship at the Trident Basin in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 13, 2019 to rehearse extracting astronauts from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which will be used to carry humans to the International Space Station. Using the Go Searcher ship SpaceX uses to recover their spacecraft after splashdown and a mock-up of the Crew Dragon, the teams worked through the steps necessary to get NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken out of the Dragon and back to dry land. Hurley and Behnken will fly to the space station aboard the Crew Dragon for the SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Bright-colored work gloves in the foreground are a stark contrast to the construction work going on at Sauer in Oak Hill, Florida. A forklift is being used to lift a segment of the first of 10 new work platforms for high bay 3 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, for buildup. A contract to modify high bay 3 was awarded by NASA to the Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Orlando, Florida in March 2014. Sauer is a subcontractor to Hensel Phelps. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to the high bay to support processing of NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and other exploration vehicles. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

"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)

Focus on active photos –Class B Simulation Evaluation in the ATOL Lab at Langley (Also at FAA Tech Center) where team is working with one another in the lab, reviewing data on the monitors. Working the software, adjusting the software systems. Going over the shoulder to show the displays and screens as the software is running. John Foster (left) in the role of an air taxi pilot in the simulator chair with Jim Chamberlain and Terence McClain at the flight manager stations running virtual air taxi integration simulations focusing on urban air space at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on Sept. 25, 2024.

Focus on active photos –Class B Simulation Evaluation in the ATOL Lab at Langley (Also at FAA Tech Center) where team is working with one another in the lab, reviewing data on the monitors. Working the software, adjusting the software systems. Going over the shoulder to show the displays and screens as the software is running. A pilot’s point of view from the controls of the air taxi simulator. An out-the-window simulation appears on the top screen, the primary flight display on the lower left, the virtual moving map in the middle, and the detect and avoid display on the lower right at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on Sept. 25, 2024.

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken work with teams from NASA and SpaceX to rehearse crew extraction from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which will be used to carry humans to the International Space Station, on August 13, 2019 at the Trident Basin in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Using the Go Searcher ship SpaceX uses to recover their spacecraft after splashdown and a mock-up of the Crew Dragon, the teams worked through the steps necessary to get NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken out of the Dragon and back to dry land. Hurley and Behnken will fly to the space station aboard the Crew Dragon for the SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Center Director Roy Bridges opens the second Super Safety and Health Day at Kennedy Space Center, an entire day when most normal work activities are suspended to allow personnel to attend safetyand health-related activities. The theme, "Safety and Health Go Hand in Hand," emphasized KSC's commitment to place the safety and health of the public, astronauts, employees and space-related resources first and foremost. Events included a keynote address, a panel session about related issues, vendor exhibits, and safety training in work groups. The keynote address and panel session were also broadcast internally over NASA television

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley, left, and Bob Behnken work with teams from NASA and SpaceX to rehearse crew extraction from SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which will be used to carry humans to the International Space Station, on August 13, 2019 at the Trident Basin in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Using the Go Searcher ship SpaceX uses to recover their spacecraft after splashdown and a mock-up of the Crew Dragon, the teams worked through the steps necessary to get NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken out of the Dragon and back to dry land. Hurley and Behnken will fly to the space station aboard the Crew Dragon for the SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

S126-E-011536 (26 Nov. 2008) --- Members of the Space Shuttle Endeavour and International Space Station crews work together in the orbital outpost's Harmony node as they move within a day and half of undocking and going separate ways. Astronaut Michael Fincke, commander for Expedition 18, is partially visible at lower left. Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, STS-126 pilot, is at right.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The nose gear of space shuttle Atlantis retracts as the shuttle sits on the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

S126-E-013902 (27 Nov. 2008) --- One of Endeavour's crew members recorded this image of one of the trusses on the International Space Station as crewmembers of both the shuttle and orbital outpost prepared to go separate ways on the following day. The nine astronauts and one cosmonaut did find time to work in a Thanksgiving meal and some brief traditional ceremonies.

ISS018-E-040973 (18 March 2009) --- This scene gives evidence that the "work crews" have arrived at the International Space Station to continue the "home improvement" project. A Soyuz vehicle used to transport the station crewmembers is in the foreground, with the Space Shuttle Discovery visible just beneath it. Ten people are busy on the station, and two of them are preparing to exit the shirt sleeve environment to go outside for a March 19 spacewalk, on which the other crewmembers will be pitching in their support and technical assistance.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A technician surveys the nose gear as space shuttle Atlantis is loaded onto the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. –Outredgeous red romaine lettuce plants grow inside the bellows of a prototype VEGGIE flight pillow. U.S. astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station are going to receive a newly developed Vegetable Production System VEGGIE. VEGGIE is set to launch aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule on NASA's third Commercial Resupply Services mission targeted to launch Dec. 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Gioia Massa

STS111-E-5026 (7 June 2002) --- Astronaut Daniel W. Bursch, who has been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the past six months, wastes little time in going to work on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour following linkup of the shuttle and station on June 7, 2002. Bursch, who will return home aboard Endeavour in a few days, is pictured at the Biomass Production System (BPS) on Endeavour's mid deck.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis is loaded onto the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis is loaded onto the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner Crew Flight Test vehicle will be the second to go to space, and the first to fly crew on a test flight to the International Space Station. In this picture, the upper dome is actually mated to the lower dome, but only electronically. The Boeing team is making sure all the hardware and software in the two pieces are working together correctly, before they will be put together for a final time. Then, the interior of the spacecraft will be outfitted and the outside will be covered with thermal protection.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis is loaded onto the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Outredgeous red romaine lettuce plants grow inside the bellows of a prototype VEGGIE flight pillow. U.S. astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station are going to receive a newly developed Vegetable Production System VEGGIE. VEGGIE is set to launch aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule on NASA's third Commercial Resupply Services mission targeted to launch Dec. 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Bryan Onate

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Technicians close the doors to the nose gear of space shuttle Atlantis as the shuttle sits on the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The nose gear of space shuttle Atlantis retracts as the shuttle sits on the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Tim Jacobs

STS111-E-5023 (7 June 2002) --- Astronaut Daniel W. Bursch (left), who has been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for the past six months, wastes little time in going to work on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour following linkup of the shuttle and station on June 7, 2002. Bursch, who will return home aboard Endeavour in a few days, shares a task with astronaut Franklin R. Chang-Diaz at the Biomass Production System (BPS) on Endeavour's mid deck.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – This prototype VEGGIE hardware was designed and built by Orbital Technologies Corp. of Madison, Wisc. U.S. astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station are going to receive a newly developed Vegetable Production System VEGGIE. VEGGIE is set to launch aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule on NASA's third Commercial Resupply Services mission targeted to launch Dec. 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Gioia Massa

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis is loaded onto the orbiter transporter vehicle in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle is being prepared for its move from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building during transition and retirement work. Later, the shuttle will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex where it will go on public display. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway to dismantle a water tower in the Launch Complex 39 area near the Vehicle Assembly Building. The effort is part of on-going efforts to upgrade and revitalize Kennedy's water and sewer systems to increase their reliability, sustainability and capabilities into the 21st century for current and future users. For more information, visit: http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/masterPlan/spaceportConcept.htm Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Justin Link turns a subscale aircraft on its side to continue work to mark where the engine cowl will go and where to line it up for attachment on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, at NASA’s Armstong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Link is a pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems at the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory.

ÒIf you just invest a little time and a little effort in people, you will get so much more back. Not only will you feel good about it and get satisfaction above and beyond anything you can imagine, but the task or the mission you are trying to accomplish will also benefit tremendously. IÕve seen this happen many times when I have given someone an assignment. I am careful not to restrict their creativity. Often, theyÕre able to accomplish the task or mission better than I expected. ÒMy brotherÕs a professional artist, and I learned that from him. If you tell an artist what to paint, they will paint it. But, if you tell them what youÕre looking for, theyÕll paint that Ð and thereÕs a difference. People appreciate that, the openness to be able to create. Another big one is that thereÕs no such thing as a perfect person. So, the day you start thinking everythingÕs going to be perfect, you are in trouble. ÒI remember when I went on my first visit to NASAÕs Jet Propulsion Laboratory to talk about the Mars Sample Return campaign. I sat down with the communications team and said, ÔLook, if you are thinking we are going to do this perfectly and everythingÕs going to go as smoothly as it can, I want to change that mindset right now. We are going to have our challenges. But it is our job to work through those challenges, that is how we succeed. ÒI believe that whenever I am in a leadership position it is my call, my responsibility to create an environment in which all who work around me can be at their most efficient. I have been in situations before in which coworkers have said, ÔThat could not have turned out any better.Õ I believe you have to create the environment in which people can thrive and be their best. ThatÕs a big deal to me and I want people to treat me that way too. IÕve always felt from before I was a teenager that if I do something good, it will go to the next person and the next person, and before you know it, it goes around the world and comes back to me. I have truly believed that all my life, and I still think that today.Ó Dewayne Washington, Mars Sample Return Senior Communications Manager, poses for a portrait, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot addresses a standing room-only crowd at the March 20 National Space Club Huntsville breakfast. Lightfoot, who recently announced he will be retiring from the agency on April 30, praised NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and spoke about where the agency is headed over the next two decades. “I get to be nostalgic now, as I leave the Agency. This work was going on before I got here, and it’s going to keep going on after I leave,” said Lightfoot. “In this nation where we hear a lot about what we can't do, NASA is a demonstration of what this nation can do. The Space Launch System rocket is taking shape right here at Marshall. The passion our team has on our exploration journey is second to none and there seems to be a sense of urgency to get to that first launch. Exploration gives us hope for the future, and brings today's generation on board to forge its own path to the next great milestones for humanity.” National Space Club Huntsville's mission is to promote the awareness of civilian and military applications for rocketry and astronautics. Participation in its events helps raise money for scholarships and STEM engagement in the community.

"I’m old enough that I watched Mercury and Apollo missions. That’s when a kid’s dream went from becoming a doctor when you grew up to becoming an astronaut. Everyone wanted to be an astronaut. Which, I realized, was way out of scope for me. I thought I’d never have anything to do with the aerospace program, but it was a cool thought. I ended up working on the Shuttle Program, and I was just wide-eyed the entire time. And I never had any desire to leave aerospace. It was always something new, always something different. I wanted to be involved, y’know? This is exploration. There’s no more land to explore. Instead of going across oceans, we’re going across space. And I can be a part of that. "My very first project was literally on a bar napkin. And I was given three dimensions: the top, the bottom and the length between. My manager gave me this and said, 'Here, make me something like this. Order whatever you need to do it.' And I thought, 'Well, this is going to be a great job!'" Dr. Terry Teal, Facilities and Asset Management, Boeing, Friday, June 28, 2019 at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, LA. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

“I’ve always had an interest, even as a little kid, in mechanical things. How things work. I was good at math when I was younger. I liked science. I was actually going to major in chemistry when I went to college. But during my senior year of high school, I found out I was colorblind. Back then, you didn’t have machines you put could something in and it would tell you what it was. You had to do litmus tests and fire tests, and based on the colors, determine what different things were. Well, I came to find out: I couldn’t do that. So, I happened to be working on the school paper in my senior year of high school and I figured I would go into journalism. I ended up covering things like science and construction because those were the things I liked and was interested in. Once I got to NASA, it was a marriage of two things I liked. Everyday I come in to work, I get to learn about a new project. I learn different things about launch vehicles, physics… all sorts of things. So I’m constantly learning something. Which is kind of cool! In my life I’ve learned that things don’t always go your way. You can either dwell on those things and mope and cry… or you can say: “Okay. Now what?” And so that’s what I did. I moved on. And I don’t know if I would have ended up at NASA if I hadn’t.” NASA Wallops Flight Facility News Chief, Keith Koehler, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020 at NASA NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

“I am a Black woman in STEM. And when I was growing up, I cannot say that I saw a lot of faces that looked like mine in STEM careers. I had some limited exposure to some notables, like Dr. Mae Jemison. But the names were few and far between of the great scientists or engineers that were Black — let alone Black females. So for me, if anybody sees my picture and says ‘yes, I see someone who looks like me working in STEM’ — that right there is very fulfilling. Just to be seen and to be visible makes a difference. "I also must provide words of encouragement because being in STEM can be difficult as is, let alone having to face the challenges of being a female in a male-dominated field. Or even being a double minority in the workplace. "It’s a matter of being really self-assured that you can do it, despite the fact that you’re going to have failures, that you’re going to have setbacks, and that you’re going have people who may not believe in you, for whatever reason. You have to be self-assured that this is what you want to do and that it can be done. This 4’11” Black woman achieved this, not knowing that STEM was going to be my path or that I was going to end up at NASA — I did it, and I believe that you can do it too — but you have to believe it for yourself.” — Mary Lobo, Director of Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation, Glenn Research Center The Facility Manager for the Space Simulation Facilities at Glenn Research Center, poses inside Vacuum Facility 16 (VF-16) for an Environmental Portrait. The lighting used in this portrait depicts the chamber as having an almost white interior when the chamber is actually almost black in color.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's Jon Cowart prepares to talk to media about the progress of the agency's Commercial Crew Program CCP and its partners in Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site on Feb. 28 ahead of the second commercial resupply services mission for Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX to the International Space Station. Cowart is the deputy partner manager working with SpaceX as the company develops its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for crewed missions. Under a contract with NASA, SpaceX is targeted to fly at least 12 cargo missions to the space station through 2016. The company also is working with CCP to return America's capability to safely launch crews to low-Earth orbit destinations, including the space station, from U.S. soil around the middle of the decade. To learn more about CCP and its partners, go to www.nasa.gov_commercialcrew. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's Jon Cowart talks to media about the progress of the agency's Commercial Crew Program CCP and its partners in Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site on Feb. 28 ahead of the second commercial resupply services mission for Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX to the International Space Station. Cowart is the deputy partner manager working with SpaceX as the company develops its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for crewed missions. Under a contract with NASA, SpaceX is targeted to fly at least 12 cargo missions to the space station through 2016. The company also is working with CCP to return America's capability to safely launch crews to low-Earth orbit destinations, including the space station, from U.S. soil around the middle of the decade. To learn more about CCP and its partners, go to www.nasa.gov_commercialcrew. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

“Discipline is one of the things that they instill with you [in the military.] All the way starting in boot camp, [the goal] is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. Integrity. Whenever you're in boot camp, they always say, ‘it's too easy.’ It's just too easy to follow the rules, read the book, read the regulations, and that's probably why I enjoy contracting. I like reading the regulations and following the regulations. …[Now that I work for Safety and Mission Assurance,] it's really cool to read everything about the different types of the scenarios. I always get to see the task orders and the type of work that is going on to keep people safe on the ground and in the air.” NASA Contract Specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Miranda Meyer, poses for a portrait, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 at GSFC in Greenbelt, Maryland. Photo Credit: (NASA/Thalia Patrinos)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's Jon Cowart talks to media about the progress of the agency's Commercial Crew Program CCP and its partners in Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site on Feb. 28 ahead of the second commercial resupply services mission for Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX to the International Space Station. Cowart is the deputy partner manager working with SpaceX as the company develops its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for crewed missions. Under a contract with NASA, SpaceX is targeted to fly at least 12 cargo missions to the space station through 2016. The company also is working with CCP to return America's capability to safely launch crews to low-Earth orbit destinations, including the space station, from U.S. soil around the middle of the decade. To learn more about CCP and its partners, go to www.nasa.gov_commercialcrew. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

“Especially right now during the pandemic crisis, I love to occupy my mind. People say that they’re tired of being at home, but I don’t feel that. I practice yoga. I love decorating our house and working in the backyard during the summer time. If I don’t like where something is, I have to change it. That’s what I love. It’s the same thing with my work —I go outside the box to get ideas. I think about, how do I solve this? I apply the same skills to my creative passions and my current job. I create strategies for a better way of doing business for NASA. And I set the tone to keep me motivated and more productive.” NASA Senior Program Analyst, Jenny Acebron-Carlos, poses for a portrait at the Lincoln Memorial, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work continues to install 24 light emitting diode LED panels in the new countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site. The modern, multimedia display is similar to the screens seen at sporting venues. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high, a foot taller than the original clock. The historic countdown clock was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by space center technicians before Apollo 12 in 1969. NASA has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at the agency's Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Capt. Dennis E. Fitch, a consultant and former pilot instructor with United Airlines, addresses an audience of KSC employees to kick off Super Safety and Health Day at KSC. Fitch related his tale of the catastrophic engine failure in UAL flight 232, which crash landed in Iowa in 1989, and the teamwork that contributed to his survival and the lives of 183 other passengers. For the second time Kennedy Space Center dedicated an entire day to safety and health. Most normal work activities were suspended to allow personnel to attend Super Safety and Health Day activities. The theme, "Safety and Health Go Hand in Hand," emphasized KSC's commitment to place the safety and health of the public, astronauts, employees and space-related resources first and foremost. Events also included a panel session about related issues, vendor exhibits, and safety training in work groups. The keynote address and panel session were also broadcast internally over NASA television

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the historic countdown clock at the spaceport's Press Site is disassembled for removal. Kennedy has requested to acquire the countdown clock from the agency’s Artifact Working Group at NASA Headquarters for likely display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. A new modern multimedia display soon will be installed, similar to the screens seen at sporting venues, is in the works. The new screen will be nearly 26 feet wide by 7 feet high. The old timepiece was designed by Kennedy engineers and built by Kennedy technicians in 1969. Not including the triangular concrete and aluminum base, the famous landmark is nearly six feet high, 26 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The new display will be similar in size, with the screen being nearly 26 feet wide by seven feet high. For more information on the countdown clock, go to http://go.nasa.gov/10Zku10. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

SpaceX rehearses helicopter landing and patient loading on its recovery ship, GO Searcher, practicing how the aircraft will pick up astronauts and fly them to a nearby hospital in the unlikely event of a medical emergency. The company outfitted the ship with a medical treatment facility and a helipad in the center of the vessel. When astronauts splash down into the ocean after their journey to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA and SpaceX doctors will work together to evaluate the crew onboard the vessel. Should astronauts need to be airlifted to a hospital, the helicopter also will pick up paramedics and doctors from the ship who will care for the astronauts in-flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is lowered toward an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod that awaits installation on space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility-1. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a truck transports space shuttle Discovery's orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod from the Hypergol Maintenance Facility to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF). The OMS has been returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane is used to carry an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod that will be installed on space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Janet Petro, deputy director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, speaks to participants in the 4th International Workshop on Lunar and Planetary Compact and Cryogenic Science and Technology Applications. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in research on the moon and other planetary surfaces, recently participated in the Workshop. Taking place April 8-11, 2014, the event was designed to foster collaborative work among those interested in solving the challenges of building hardware, software and businesses interested in going back to the moon and exploring beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

Matthew Bolcar a graduate student from the University of Rochester, N.Y. now works at Goddard full-time. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Chris Gunn To read more about Matthew go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/partnerships.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/partnerships.html</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Karen Thompson, NASA's chief technologist at the Kennedy Space Center, speaks to participants in the 4th International Workshop on Lunar and Planetary Compact and Cryogenic Science and Technology Applications. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in research on the moon and other planetary surfaces, recently participated in the Workshop. Taking place April 8-11, 2014, the event was designed to foster collaborative work among those interested in solving the challenges of building hardware, software and businesses interested in going back to the moon and exploring beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Janet Petro, deputy director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, speaks to participants in the 4th International Workshop on Lunar and Planetary Compact and Cryogenic Science and Technology Applications. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in research on the moon and other planetary surfaces, recently participated in the Workshop. Taking place April 8-11, 2014, the event was designed to foster collaborative work among those interested in solving the challenges of building hardware, software and businesses interested in going back to the moon and exploring beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod awaits installation on space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility-1. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

SpaceX rehearses helicopter landing and patient loading on its recovery ship, GO Searcher, practicing how the aircraft will pick up astronauts and fly them to a nearby hospital in the unlikely event of a medical emergency. The company outfitted the ship with a medical treatment facility and a helipad in the center of the vessel. When astronauts splash down into the ocean after their journey to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA and SpaceX doctors will work together to evaluate the crew onboard the vessel. Should astronauts need to be airlifted to a hospital, the helicopter also will pick up paramedics and doctors from the ship who will care for the astronauts in-flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane is lowered toward an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod that awaits installation on space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility-1. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana and several members of his leadership team provided an on current and future activities at the Florida spaceport during the annual Community Leaders Briefing. Cabana explained that the space center has a great deal of work going on in support of current and future space program projects. The reports were part of the annual Community Leaders Briefing at the Kurt H. Debus Conference Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex attended by local, state and U.S. government representatives, along with individuals from business and industry. Photo credit: NASA_Dimitri Gerondidakis

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, in Florida, at 2:56 a.m. EDT on May 2, 2021. Astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA, and Soichi Noguchi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) completed Crew-1, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station in partnership with NASA as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Teams on the Go Navigator recovery ship, including two fast boats, work to secure and hoist Crew Dragon onto the main deck of the recovery ship with the astronauts inside.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane transports an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod closer to space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pod will be installed on Discovery. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane carries an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod that will be installed on space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers outside the Hypergol Maintenance Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida use a crane to lift the shipping container off of space shuttle Discovery's orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. The OMS has been returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Karen Thompson, NASA's chief technologist at the Kennedy Space Center, speaks to participants in the 4th International Workshop on Lunar and Planetary Compact and Cryogenic Science and Technology Applications. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in research on the moon and other planetary surfaces, recently participated in the Workshop. Taking place April 8-11, 2014, the event was designed to foster collaborative work among those interested in solving the challenges of building hardware, software and businesses interested in going back to the moon and exploring beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

SpaceX rehearses helicopter landing and patient loading on its recovery ship, GO Searcher, practicing how the aircraft will pick up astronauts and fly them to a nearby hospital in the unlikely event of a medical emergency. The company outfitted the ship with a medical treatment facility and a helipad in the center of the vessel. When astronauts splash down into the ocean after their journey to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA and SpaceX doctors will work together to evaluate the crew onboard the vessel. Should astronauts need to be airlifted to a hospital, the helicopter also will pick up paramedics and doctors from the ship who will care for the astronauts in-flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a crane lowers an orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod for installation on space shuttle Discovery. The OMS pod was returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., in April 2012. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana and several members of his leadership team provided an on current and future activities at the Florida spaceport during the annual Community Leaders Briefing. Cabana explained that the space center has a great deal of work going on in support of current and future space program projects. The reports were part of the annual Community Leaders Briefing at the Kurt H. Debus Conference Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex attended by local, state and U.S. government representatives, along with individuals from business and industry. Photo credit: NASA_Dimitri Gerondidakis

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., James Mantovani of the NASA Surface Systems Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, speaks to participants in the 4th International Workshop on Lunar and Planetary Compact and Cryogenic Science and Technology Applications. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in research on the moon and other planetary surfaces, recently participated in the Workshop. Taking place April 8-11, 2014, the event was designed to foster collaborative work among those interested in solving the challenges of building hardware, software and businesses interested in going back to the moon and exploring beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Greg Clements, chief of Kennedy's Control and Data Systems Division and lead for the Engineering and Technology's Small Payload Integrated Testing Services, or SPLITS, line of business, speaks to participants in the 4th International Workshop on Lunar and Planetary Compact and Cryogenic Science and Technology Applications. Scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs interested in research on the moon and other planetary surfaces, recently participated in the Workshop. Taking place April 8-11, 2014, the event was designed to foster collaborative work among those interested in solving the challenges of building hardware, software and businesses interested in going back to the moon and exploring beyond. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, in Florida, at 2:56 a.m. EDT on May 2, 2021. Astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA, and Soichi Noguchi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) completed Crew-1, the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station in partnership with NASA as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Teams on the Go Navigator recovery ship, including two fast boats, work to secure and hoist Crew Dragon onto the main deck of the recovery ship with the astronauts inside.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Workers outside the Hypergol Maintenance Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida use a crane to lift the shipping container off of space shuttle Discovery's orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pod. The OMS has been returned from White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico where it underwent a complete deservicing and cleaning. The work is part of the Space Shuttle Program’s transition and retirement processing of space shuttle Discovery. The shuttle will go to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann