Members of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission installed a plate on the left side of the rover chassis, commemorating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and paying tribute to the perseverance of healthcare workers around the world. Made of aluminum, the 3-by-5-inch (8-by-13-centimeter) plaque was attached to the rover in May 2020 during final assembly at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23921

This close-up view of a plate on NASA's Perseverance rover commemorating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and paying tribute to the perseverance of health care workers around the world was acquired on June 28, 2025 (the 1,548th day, or sol, of its mission to Mars). Located on the left side of the rover chassis, the 3-by-5-inch (8-by-13-centimeter) aluminum plaque was attached in May 2020 during final assembly at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26641

Seen from below, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is in position in the aeroshell that will protect the rover on its way to the Red Planet. To the right of the middle wheel is the plaque that commemorates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and pays tribute to the perseverance of healthcare workers around the world. Featuring a snake-entwined rod to symbolize healing and medicine, the plaque was attached to the rover in May 2020 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23924

Samaritan Purse landed its DC-8 at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, to deliver supplies needed to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic. NASA Armstrong personnel assisted in unloading the aircraft.

Portrait of Casey Denham in front of the Apollo 12 Command Module "Yankee Clipper" display at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, masks were mandated by Governor Northam in Virginia in public settings.  This was for the faces of NASA project.  "Now my whole family likes to brag that they have a rocket scientist daughter who works at NASA.” — Casey Denham, Pathways Intern, Langley Research Center

Ian Clark walks past mission countdown clocks in the Perseverance offices at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The Lab instituted a suite of safe@work procedures — based on the guidance of occupational safety medical personnel — to ensure those working at JPL are social distancing, wearing protective equipment and have ready access to hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies during the coronavirus pandemic. Clark is one of a small subset of project personnel whose mission-essential job required physical access to the facility. He was on-Lab to supervise the assembly and cleaning of the sample tubes that will hold Martian sediment and rock for return to Earth on a future mission. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23830

Portrait of April Albert in front of NASA Langley's Hawker Siddeley P-1127 on display at Air Power Park in Hampton, Virginia.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, masks were mandated by Governor Northam in Virginia in public settings.  This is for the faces of NASA project.  "I am really made to feel like I am part of a family. I don’t feel like anybody is treated differently. We are all one team. To be a part of NASA, to me, is to be part of something special. There is nothing like the camaraderie of NASA. I feel like I’m where I belong.” — April Albert, Schedule Analyst, Langley Research Center

This colorful illustration depicts NASA's Perseverance Rover on Mars, where it landed in February 2021. The Perseverance team faced numerous technical and logistical challenges, including those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, before and after launch and landing. Because they know how hard it can be to overcome obstacles, they're celebrating students who have persevered in the face of academic challenges. Awardees will receive a personal message beamed back from Mars by the rover. Find out how to nominate a student for "You've Got Perseverance!" at: go.nasa.gov/gotperseverance Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24948

Portrait of Robin "Rob" Lee of the Office of Diversity & Equal Opp. Branch, in front of NASA Langley's "Meatball." The portrait was done for Thalia Patrinos at NASA Headquarters as part of "Faces of NASA" project.   Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, masks were mandated by Governor Northam in Virginia in public settings.  "Well, little did I know, even at a young age, he instilled in me the importance of seeing people for people. And being able to help people and being able to meet them in their time of need. And that carried me throughout my entire life. Even still today.” — Robin Lee, Director of Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Langley Research Center

A March 2023 study by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California compared emissions from a belt of oil refineries across the South Bay area of Los Angeles during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic to those observed three years earlier. Using data from a NASA airborne instrument, researchers saw that most of the facilities they identified as methane sources in 2016-17 were no longer emitting the greenhouse gas in 2020, leading to a 73% reduction in measured emissions. The study uses measurements made by an imaging spectrometer called AVIRIS-NG (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer-Next Generation). Attached to the bottom of an aircraft, the instrument can detect greenhouse gas emissions from individual facilities or even pieces of equipment by looking at how the gases absorb sunlight. In 2016 and 2017, AVIRIS-NG was flown over 22,000 square miles (57,000 square kilometers) of the state as part of the California Methane Survey. From July to September 2020, researchers retraced some of those flight paths over refineries and power plants in Los Angeles County and over oil fields in central California's San Joaquin Valley. The flights were funded by NASA's Earth Science Division, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Energy Commission. The 2020 surveys over Los Angeles identified only 11 plumes from five refinery sources, with a total emissions rate of about 712 pounds (323 kilograms) methane per hour. The 2016 and 2017 flights had found 48 plumes from 33 sources, with a total emissions rate of roughly 2,639 pounds (1,197 kilograms) methane per hour. The drop correlates with an 18% decrease in monthly production in Southern California refineries between the two flight campaigns, the scientists noted, citing data from the California Energy Commission. The study also found that emissions from oil fields in and around the city of Bakersfield in central California fell 34.2%, correlating with a 24.2% drop in oil production. Reduced production during the pandemic due to lower demand for fuel and lower gas prices could have led to the drop in methane emissions, as oil fields and refineries emitted less methane as part of operations. However, researchers said, improved equipment maintenance and mitigation efforts at those facilities between 2016 and 2020 can't be ruled out as a factor. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25864

“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)

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that will launch NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on its 12-year mission to study the Trojan asteroids is shown inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 8, 2021. Three dedication laminates were added to the rocket. The first is in memory of Craig M. Whittaker, a colleague and friend of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and ULA teams. The second is in memory of two colleagues: William “Billy” Joiner II – a former Lockheed Martin and ULA technician – and Mark “Kaz” Kaszubowski – an accomplished engineer and mentor. The third plaque is dedicated to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Lucy Mission Team for its dedication shown throughout the pandemic. Lucy is targeted to lift off from SLC-41 at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 16. LSP, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch.

The American flag flies at half-staff next to the countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Press Site, Friday, May 22, 2020, in Florida. President Donald Trump directed on Thursday that flags be lowered to half-staff until sunset on May 24th “as a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic.” NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission is the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The test flight serves as an end-to-end demonstration of SpaceX’s crew transportation system. Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are scheduled to launch at 4:33 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, May 27, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. A new era of human spaceflight is set to begin as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to low-Earth orbit for the first time since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that will launch NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on its 12-year mission to study the Trojan asteroids is shown inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 8, 2021. Three dedication laminates were added to the rocket. The first is in memory of Craig M. Whittaker, a colleague and friend of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and ULA teams. The second is in memory of two colleagues: William “Billy” Joiner II – a former Lockheed Martin and ULA technician – and Mark “Kaz” Kaszubowski – an accomplished engineer and mentor. The third plaque is dedicated to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Lucy Mission Team for its dedication shown throughout the pandemic. Lucy is targeted to lift off from SLC-41 at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 16. LSP, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that will launch NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on its 12-year mission to study the Trojan asteroids is shown inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 8, 2021. Three dedication laminates were added to the rocket. The first is in memory of Craig M. Whittaker, a colleague and friend of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and ULA teams. The second is in memory of two colleagues: William “Billy” Joiner II – a former Lockheed Martin and ULA technician – and Mark “Kaz” Kaszubowski – an accomplished engineer and mentor. The third plaque is dedicated to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Lucy Mission Team for its dedication shown throughout the pandemic. Lucy is targeted to lift off from SLC-41 at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 16. LSP, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that will launch NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on its 12-year mission to study the Trojan asteroids is shown inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 8, 2021. Three dedication laminates were added to the rocket. The first is in memory of Craig M. Whittaker, a colleague and friend of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and ULA teams. The second is in memory of two colleagues: William “Billy” Joiner II – a former Lockheed Martin and ULA technician – and Mark “Kaz” Kaszubowski – an accomplished engineer and mentor. The third plaque is dedicated to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Lucy Mission Team for its dedication shown throughout the pandemic. Lucy is targeted to lift off from SLC-41 at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 16. LSP, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch.

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket that will launch NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on its 12-year mission to study the Trojan asteroids is shown inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 8, 2021. Three dedication laminates were added to the rocket. The first is in memory of Craig M. Whittaker, a colleague and friend of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) and ULA teams. The second is in memory of two colleagues: William “Billy” Joiner II – a former Lockheed Martin and ULA technician – and Mark “Kaz” Kaszubowski – an accomplished engineer and mentor. The third plaque is dedicated to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Lucy Mission Team for its dedication shown throughout the pandemic. Lucy is targeted to lift off from SLC-41 at 5:34 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 16. LSP, based at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is managing the launch.

"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)

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Juno is a solar-powered NASA spacecraft that spans the width of a basketball court and makes long, looping orbits around giant planet Jupiter

Demo by Case Western Reserve University, CWRU Interactive Commons and GVIS Lab

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Daniel Gerges, Technician, poses for a portrait in the Glenn Extreme Environments Rig, GEER Lab

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Juno testing in Glenn Extreme Environments Rig, GEER Laboratory. Juno is a solar-powered NASA spacecraft that spans the width of a basketball court and makes long, looping orbits around giant planet Jupiter

“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)

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard

Learjet 25 Acoustic Measurement Testing at Niagara Falls, New York Airport

Retirement and Departure of the Lockheed S-3B Viking Aircraft

Visit to GRC by the Deputy Administrator, James Morhard