Jonah Saunders, Electrical Engineering Pathways Intern, poses in front of Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 17, 2023.

Jonah Saunders, Electrical Engineering Pathways Intern, poses in front of Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 17, 2023.

NASA Pathways intern Saré Culbertson, right, works with NASA operations engineer Jack Hayes at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Nov. 7, 2024. They are verifying GPS and global navigation satellite system coordinates using Emlid Reach RS2+ receiver equipment, which supports surveying, mapping, and navigation in preparation for future air taxi test flight research.

Saré Culbertson, NASA Pathways intern at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, adjusts the Emlid Reach RS2+ receiver equipment that connects with GPS and global navigation satellite systems on Nov. 7, 2024, in preparation for future air taxi test flight research.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

PATHWAYS INTERN ALEXANDRA BOEHM, AND JACOBS INTERN, PEYTON NELSON DEMONSTRATE STEERABLE AIR BEARING TETHER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM TO MSFC SENIOR MANAGEMENT. ALSO WORKING ON THE PROJECT BUT NOT PICTURED WERE SUMMER INTERN ALI BERTELSMAN, PATHWAYS INTERN ANNA SHIPMAN, AND JACOBS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE BRANDON MOORE.

Grace Gaskin, an Aerospace Flight Systems Engineer Trainee, was sworn in as a civil servant in September 2017. After serving for 6 years in the U.S. Army she enrolled at Case Western Reserve University and will graduate in May 2018 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. As a Pathways Intern one of the many projects she has worked on is the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiments (FBCE). The proposed research aims to develop an integrated two-phase flow boiling/condensation facility for the International Space Station (ISS) to serve as a primary platform for obtaining two-phase flow and heat transfer data in microgravity. By comparing the microgravity data against those obtained in Earth's gravity, it will be possible to ascertain the influence of body force on two-phase transport phenomena in pursuit of mechanistic models as well as correlations, and to help determine the minimum flow criteria to ensure gravity independent flow boiling and condensation.

Grace Gaskin, an Aerospace Flight Systems Engineer Trainee, was sworn in as a civil servant in September 2017. After serving for 6 years in the U.S. Army she enrolled at Case Western Reserve University and will graduate in May 2018 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. As a Pathways Intern one of the many projects she has worked on is the Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiments (FBCE). The proposed research aims to develop an integrated two-phase flow boiling/condensation facility for the International Space Station (ISS) to serve as a primary platform for obtaining two-phase flow and heat transfer data in microgravity. By comparing the microgravity data against those obtained in Earth's gravity, it will be possible to ascertain the influence of body force on two-phase transport phenomena in pursuit of mechanistic models as well as correlations, and to help determine the minimum flow criteria to ensure gravity independent flow boiling and condensation.

Giovanna Camacho, Pathways systems engineering intern at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, teaches students about aeronautics during Aero Fair at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, on April 9, 2025.

Alexis Vance, a Pathways student engineering trainee at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, speaks about being an intern at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during an interactive STEM discussion with students attending the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Alexis Vance, a Pathways student engineering trainee at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, speaks about being an intern at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during an interactive STEM discussion with students attending the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Giovanna Camacho, Pathways systems engineering intern from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, teaches students about aeronautics during Aero Fair at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, on April 9, 2025.

Warren Cain, an instructor at WuDang Martial Arts Center in Huntsville, leads Marshall Pathways intern Donna Cendana of the Engineering Directorate's Propulsion Systems Department, in a demonstration of tai chi, the noncompetitive Eastern martial arts tradition that evolved over the centuries into a means of alleviating stress and anxiety.

Inside the Veggie flight laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Matthew Romeyn, a NASA Pathways intern from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, harvests a portion of the 'Outredgeous' red romaine lettuce from the Veg-03 ground control unit. The purpose of the ground Veggie system is to provide a control group to compare against the lettuce grown in orbit on the International Space Station. Veg-03 will continue NASA’s deep space plant growth research to benefit the Earth and the agency’s journey to Mars.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana speaks to Pathways and summer interns at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students participated in a team building exercise and received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center Pathways and summer intern students participate in a team building exercise at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students also received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management, including Center Director Bob Cabana and Associate Director Kelvin Manning. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

Pathways intern Duncan Manor presents his proposal during an “Innovation Without Boundaries” event held in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 2. Civil servants and contractors throughout Kennedy participated in the event, which featured 39 proposals as part of the Chief Technologist Innovation Call. Presenters had two minutes to highlight their idea, followed by a three-minute question-and-answer period. The judging panel included senior staff, contractors and representatives throughout the center.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Pathways and summer interns listen as Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana speaks to them during an event at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students participated in a team building exercise and received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center Associate Director Kelvin Manning, in the blue Air Force shirt, speaks to Pathways and summer interns at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students participated in a team building exercise and received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

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

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana speaks to Pathways and summer interns at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students participated in a team building exercise and received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

iss070e075298 (Jan. 19, 2024) --- Expedition 70 Flight Engineer and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa jogs on the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT) inside the International Space Station's Tranquility module. COLBERT is designed to allow walking and running in a microgravity environment for maintaining crew cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, and to exercise neurophysiological pathways and reflexes that are required to walk once returned to Earth.

Pathways intern Douglas Jackson presents his proposal to a panel of judges during the “Innovation Without Boundaries” event held inside the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2019. A number of Kennedy employees presented their proposals as part of the Chief Technologist Innovation Call. Participants had five minutes to present their innovative idea for the chance to receive an award of up to $500 for ideas with little-to-no cost that would make a significant impact.

Pathways intern Douglas Jackson presents his proposal to a panel of judges during the “Innovation Without Boundaries” event held inside the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 14, 2019. A number of Kennedy employees presented their proposals as part of the Chief Technologist Innovation Call. Representatives from across Kennedy evaluated ideas based on relevance, benefit, innovativeness, likelihood of success and sustainability.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana speaks to Pathways and summer interns at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students participated in a team building exercise and received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientists prepare the plant pillows for the Veg-03 experiment that will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard the eighth SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply mission. Matt Romeyn, a NASA pathways intern, measures out the calcined clay, or space dirt, for one of the plant pillows. The Veg-03 plant pillows will contain ‘Tokyo Bekana’ cabbage seeds and lettuce seeds for NASA’s third Veggie plant growth system experiment. The experiment will continue NASA’s deep space plant growth research to benefit the Earth and the agency’s journey to Mars.

Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientists prepare the plant pillows for the Veg-03 experiment that will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard the eighth SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply mission. Matt Romeyn, a NASA pathways intern, inserts a measured amount of calcined clay, or space dirt, into one of the plant pillows. The Veg-03 plant pillows will contain ‘Tokyo Bekana’ cabbage seeds and lettuce seeds for NASA’s third Veggie plant growth system experiment. The experiment will continue NASA’s deep space plant growth research to benefit the Earth and the agency’s journey to Mars.

Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientists prepare the plant pillows for the Veg-03 experiment that will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard the eighth SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply mission. From left, are Matt Romeyn, NASA pathways intern; Dr. Gioia Massa, NASA payload scientist for Veggie; and Dr. Mathew Mickens, a post-doctoral researcher. The Veg-03 plant pillows will contain ‘Tokyo Bekana’ cabbage seeds and lettuce seeds for NASA’s third Veggie plant growth system experiment. The experiment will continue NASA’s deep space plant growth research to benefit the Earth and the agency’s journey to Mars.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Kennedy Space Center Pathways and summer intern students participate in a team building exercise at the KARS Park I facility near the center. High school, undergraduate and graduate students received advice on leadership skills and working together from Kennedy's senior management. At far right is Kennedy's Center Director Bob Cabana, and at left in the orange shirt is Scott Colloredo, director of Center Planning and Development. About 160 students are working and gaining experience in many of the directorates and programs during their time at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

A What’s On Board Briefing for SpaceX’s 19th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) mission for NASA to the International Space Station took place on Dec. 3, 2019, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Emily Germain-Lee, professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and chief of endocrinology and diabetes, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, discussed her on molecular signaling pathways that influence muscle degradation to prevent skeletal muscle and bone loss during spaceflight, and enhance recovery following return to Earth. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo module are scheduled to launch on Dec. 4, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, left, is joined by a panel of young professionals from NASA centers across the country: Farah Alibay, a systems engineer working on the Mars 2020 rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alexis Vance, a Pathways student engineering trainee at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Victor Joel Cabezas Tapia, a Navigation, Guidance, and Control Engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and Breanne Stichler, a mechanical engineer in the Crawlers, Transporters and Structures group at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, during an interactive STEM discussion with students attending the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Inside a laboratory in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, research scientists prepare the plant pillows for the Veg-03 experiment that will be delivered to the International Space Station aboard the eighth SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply mission. Matt Romeyn, a NASA pathways intern, measures out the calcined clay, or space dirt, for one of the plant pillows. To his right is Dr. Gioia Massa, NASA payload scientist for Veggie. The Veg-03 plant pillows will contain ‘Tokyo Bekana’ cabbage seeds and lettuce seeds for NASA’s third Veggie plant growth system experiment. The experiment will continue NASA’s deep space plant growth research to benefit the Earth and the agency’s journey to Mars.

A What’s On Board Briefing for SpaceX’s 19th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) mission for NASA to the International Space Station took place on Dec. 3, 2019, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Se-Jin Lee, professor at the Jackson Laboratory and University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and principal investigator of Rodent Research-19 presents his research to members of the media. He discussed the research on molecular signaling pathways that influence muscle degradation to prevent skeletal muscle and bone loss during spaceflight, and enhance recovery following return to Earth. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo module are scheduled to launch on Dec. 4, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

A What’s On Board Briefing for SpaceX’s 19th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) mission for NASA to the International Space Station took place on Dec. 3, 2019, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Se-Jin Lee (at right) professor at the Jackson Laboratory and University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and principal investigator of Rodent Research-19, and Emily Germain-Lee, professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and chief of endocrinology and diabetes, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, present their research to members of the media. They discussed the research on molecular signaling pathways that influence muscle degradation to prevent skeletal muscle and bone loss during spaceflight, and enhance recovery following return to Earth. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo module are scheduled to launch on Dec. 4, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock is seen during an interactive STEM discussion with students attending the 70th International Astronautical Congress, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Wheelock was joined by a panel of young professionals from NASA centers across the country: Farah Alibay, a systems engineer working on the Mars 2020 rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Alexis Vance, a Pathways student engineering trainee at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Victor Joel Cabezas Tapia, a Navigation, Guidance, and Control Engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and Breanne Stichler, a mechanical engineer in the Crawlers, Transporters and Structures group at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – During a news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, agency and contractor officials discussed science and technology experiment payloads being transported to the International Space Station by the SpaceX-3 Commercial Resupply Services mission. Participating in the briefing, from the left, are Mike Curie of NASA Public Affairs, Camille Alleyne, assistant program scientist in the NASA ISS Program Science Office, and Michael Roberts, senior research pathway manager with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space CASIS. Scheduled for launch on April 14, 2014 atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will be marking its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments is the third of 12 flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/ Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – During a news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, agency and contractor officials discussed science and technology experiment payloads being transported to the International Space Station by the SpaceX-3 Commercial Resupply Services mission. Participating in the briefing is Michael Roberts, senior research pathway manager with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space CASIS. Scheduled for launch on April 14, 2014 atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will be marking its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments is the third of 12 flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/ Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – During a news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, agency and contractor officials discussed science and technology experiment payloads being transported to the International Space Station by the SpaceX-3 Commercial Resupply Services mission. Participating in the briefing, from the left, are Camille Alleyne, assistant program scientist in the NASA ISS Program Science Office, and Michael Roberts, senior research pathway manager with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space CASIS. Scheduled for launch on April 14, 2014 atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will be marking its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments is the third of 12 flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/ Kim Shiflett

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – During a news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, agency and contractor officials discussed science and technology experiment payloads being transported to the International Space Station by the SpaceX-3 Commercial Resupply Services mission. Participating in the briefing, from the left, are Mike Curie of NASA Public Affairs, Camille Alleyne, assistant program scientist in the NASA ISS Program Science Office, and Michael Roberts, senior research pathway manager with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space CASIS. Andy Petro of the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate participated in the briefing by telephone from NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. Scheduled for launch on April 14, 2014 atop a Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon spacecraft will be marking its fourth trip to the space station. The SpaceX-3 mission carrying almost 2.5 tons of supplies, technology and science experiments is the third of 12 flights contracted by NASA to resupply the orbiting laboratory. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/launch/index.html Photo credit: NASA/ Kim Shiflett

Dr. Lisa Monaco, Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC’s) project scientist for the Lab-on-a-Chip Applications Development (LOCAD) program, examines a lab on a chip. The small dots are actually ports where fluids and chemicals can be mixed or samples can be collected for testing. Tiny channels, only clearly visible under a microscope, form pathways between the ports. Many chemical and biological processes, previously conducted on large pieces of laboratory equipment, can now be performed on these small glass or plastic plates. Monaco and other researchers at MSFC in Huntsville, Alabama, are customizing the chips to be used for many space applications, such as monitoring microbes inside spacecraft and detecting life on other planets. The portable, handheld Lab-on-a Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) made its debut flight aboard Discovery during the STS-116 mission launched December 9, 2006. The system allowed crew members to monitor their environment for problematic contaminants such as yeast, mold, and even E.coli, and salmonella. Once LOCAD-PTS reached the International Space Station (ISS), the Marshall team continued to manage the experiment, monitoring the study from a console in the Payload Operations Center at MSFC. The results of these studies will help NASA researchers refine the technology for future Moon and Mars missions. (NASA/MSFC/D.Stoffer)

ISS032-E-006129 (10 July 2012) --- Flooding in Krymsk in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 32 crew member on the International Space Station. On the night of July 7, 2012 a major storm dumped more than a foot of water on the southern Russian area of Krasnodar, near the Black Sea. The resulting flood was likened to a tsunami, and to date, more than 170 people died, most from the city of Krymsk. The Moscow times reports that more than 19,000 people lost everything. This image taken by cosmonauts aboard the space station shows the city of Krymsk. The tan-colored areas indicate some of the regions that were flooded; the color is probably due to the mud and debris that were left by the floodwaters. Krymsk is located in the western foothills on the northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains?a range that stretches between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The vast amount of rain quickly overwhelmed the small river channels that flow northward from the mountains to the Russian lowlands and the Kuban River; Krymsk, located on one of those tributaries, was directly in the pathway of the flash flood. As part of the international partner agreement to use the International Space Station to benefit humanity, crew members and other Earth observing instruments provide best-effort support to the International Disaster Charter (IDC) when it is activated by collecting imagery of areas on the ground impacted by natural events such as the flooding in Krymsk. This image was acquired July 10, 2012 in response to the IDC activation.

ISS018-E-006051 (29 Oct. 2008) --- Deriba Caldera in Sudan is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 18 crewmember on the International Space Station. Deriba Caldera is a geologically young volcanic structure located at the top of the Marra Mountains of western Sudan. The Marra Mountains are part of a large geologic feature known as the Darfur Dome -- this structure is thought to be the result of a mantle plume heating the crust from below, leading to uplift of the crust and providing a magma source for the extensive volcanism observed in the region. According to scientists, the five-kilometers-wide Deriba Caldera was formed by explosive eruption of the Jebel Marra volcano approximately 3,500 years ago. The volcano is considered dormant, as hot springs and fumaroles (gas and steam vents) are still present. The caldera presents a classic crater morphology, formed as overlying rock and soil collapsed into the magma chamber after it was emptied by powerful eruptions -- shadows in this image throw the steep southern wall of the outer crater into sharp relief. Following the formation of the main outer crater a second inner crater (center) formed, most likely due to later uplift and eruption of fresh magma moving towards the surface. This inner crater is filled with water -- however, as its outer walls are higher than the adjacent caldera floor, precipitation flowing inwards from the outer crater walls do not enter the inner crater lake. White stream bed sediments (center) show the water pathway around the inner crater to a second lake located along the northeast wall of the outer crater. While Jebel Marra is high enough (3,042 meters) to have a temperate climate and high precipitation, these lakes may also be fed by hot springs. The inner crater lake has a mottled appearance caused by sunglint.

ISS005-E-21295 (23 November 2002) --- Fire scars in Australia are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 5 crewmember on the International Space Station (ISS). Bright orange fire scars show up the underlying dune sand in the Simpson Desert, 300 kilometers east of Alice Springs. The background is an intricate pattern of sand cordons that angles across the view from lower left to upper right. These cordons are now mostly green, showing that they have become generally static--“tied down” since they were formed by a vegetation mat of desert scrub. The fire scars were produced in a recent fire, probably within the last year. According to NASA scientists who are studying the Space Station photography, a time sequence of events can be interpreted. Fires first advanced into the view from the lower left--parallel with the major dune trend and dominant wind direction. Then the wind shifted direction by about 90 degrees so that fires advanced across the dunes in a series of frond-like tendrils. Each frond starts at some point on the earlier fire scar, and sharp tips of the fronds show where the fires burned out naturally at the end of the episode. The scientists added that the sharp edges of the fire scars are due to steady but probably weak southwesterly winds—weaker winds reduced sparking of additional fires in adjacent scrub on either side of the main fire pathways.

ISS039-E-018541 (5 May 2014) --- New York City is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 39 crew member on the International Space Station. This detailed image reveals the narrow shape of Manhattan located between the Hudson River and the East River, a feature familiar to crews on the space station. The ragged line of shadow cast by the Palisades cliff crosses the bottom of the image. Wharves jut into the rivers; bridges are visible mainly because of the shadows they cast, and the grid pattern of major roads stands out. On the island of Manhattan itself the main visual features are Central Park (with playing fields as white dots) and two darker zones where the tallest buildings in Midtown East and the Financial District cast strong shadows, even in this early afternoon view. Rivers and parks reduce the effect of the urban heat island – the local zone of higher surface and atmospheric temperatures generated by storage and later release of heat by city materials such as concrete and tarmac. Rivers provide pathways for wind and the cooling effect of parks is detectable by instruments on spacecraft that can measure the temperature of the ground surface. Tall buildings have a more complex effect. Shadowed zones in the "urban canyons" between tall buildings – as shown in this image – receive fewer hours of direct sun per day. But where the sun can reach canyon floors, the sun's energy is reflected back up at the walls of the buildings where it is absorbed and later released as heat. This is especially the case at night when urban canyons retain more heat than those sections of the city with shorter buildings.