NASA Glenn Reinforces Role in Aerospace Innovation During Ohio Space Week  

NASA Glenn Reinforces Role in Aerospace Innovation During Ohio Space Week  

Four panelists sit next to one another on a stage with a dark-blue curtains, an American flag, and an Ohio flag behind them. Circular emblems of an Ohio Space Forum and a pilar from the Hope Memorial Bridge in Cleveland hang behind them.
Left to right: Moderator Brian Miske, Americas Space Leader, KPMG radio, with panelists Amit Kshatriya, NASA associate administrator; Jacki Cortese, senior director, Civil Space: Blue Origin; and Robert Lightfoot, president, Lockheed Martin Space (former NASA associate administrator) discuss balancing innovation, risk, and readiness in space during the Ohio Space Forum. 
Credit: NASA/Jef Janis

Ohio Space Week, Sept. 8–13, highlighted the state’s aerospace legacy and the role NASA’s Glenn Research Center has in advancing space technology. 

The week kicked off with the American Astronautical Society’s Glenn Space Technology Symposium, Sept. 8–10, hosted by Case Western Reserve University. Experts, students, and industry leaders gathered to discuss emerging space technologies. NASA Glenn Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon delivered opening remarks, and astronaut Doug “Wheels” Wheelock gave a keynote on his spaceflight experience. 

On Sept. 11, Team NEO hosted the Sixth Annual Ohio Space Forum at NASA Glenn, bringing together leaders from aerospace, government, academia, and research. The forum spotlighted Ohio’s leadership in space innovation, including advances in nuclear electric and nuclear thermal propulsion. Key participants included NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams, several local and state officials, and other community partners. 3News Chief Meteorologist Betsy Kling emceed the event.  

The City Club of Cleveland welcomed astronauts Williams and Wheelock for a presentation to the local community, Sept. 11, and Cleveland Guardians fans cheered as Williams threw out the first pitch during the game at Progressive Field later that day.  

Discovery Days, the capstone of Ohio Space Week, welcomed nearly 5,000 visitors to Cleveland’s Great Lakes Science Center — home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center — on Sept. 12–13. This immersive event brought NASA beyond its gates and into the community, offering the public a firsthand look at major missions and cutting-edge technology. 

Visitors explored interactive demonstrations and exhibits led by NASA Glenn experts, highlighting innovations that support NASA’s Artemis missions and future exploration of Mars and beyond, including developments in power, propulsion, and communications. 

The astronauts were on hand during Discovery Days to talk with students and guests – inspiring the next generation of explorers through direct engagement and storytelling.  

From the Wright brothers’ first flight to pioneering advancements in space exploration, Ohio has been at the forefront of aerospace innovation for generations. Ohio Space Week celebrated these deep-rooted contributions to the aeronautics and space industries, highlighting the people, institutions, and businesses that continue to shape the future of flight and exploration.  

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Kelly M. Matter

NASA Glenn’s AeroSpace Frontiers Newsletter Takes a Bow

NASA Glenn’s AeroSpace Frontiers Newsletter Takes a Bow

The AeroSpace Frontiers graphic logo is shown in black and red text on a white background

3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Since April 1999, the AeroSpace Frontiers (AF) newsletter has shared information monthly on NASA Glenn Research Center’s people, projects, and progress. If you were looking for news on any of these topics, there was a good chance you could read all about them in AF each month. 

The newsletter has evolved in the last 26 years, changing with the times, to improve how and when we communicate with our audiences. From updating the hard copy layout to offering the issue online, we adjusted and enhanced AF to meet our customers’ needs.  

As methods of sharing news and information are now available that allow us to reach you sooner, we are shifting our focus to these platforms and discontinuing our monthly newsletter. This September issue will be our last.  

We hope you’ll stay connected with us through our official website and social media channels: Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. We thank you for your readership!  

Before closing, we want to celebrate and reflect on the newsletter’s remarkable tenure (and interesting names) over the years. 

Credit: NASA

The Story Behind the Name: A Look Back 

While the center published a newsletter continually (with a brief pause in the early 1960s) since its opening in 1942, its name, layout, and content evolved over the decades. It began in 1942 as Wing Tips, an internal biweekly newsletter, and was later renamed Orbit in October 1958 as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics transitioned to NASA. In 1961, the center paused the newsletter’s publication to focus its resources on the early space program. 

The publication reemerged in 1964 as Lewis News and expanded to a larger newsletter format in 1969, in conjunction with the Apollo 11 Moon landing. This format continued until 1995, when Lewis News moved to a monthly schedule with expanded, but physically smaller, issues as part of an overall effort to reduce spending.  

Then, in 1999 – prior to the center being renamed NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center – employees and center management were surveyed for a new newsletter title that would not be tied to future changes in research activities or center names. The group selected AeroSpace Frontiers to represent the modernization of the newsletter’s appearance and its expanded subject matter. It was now a monthly news magazine that included a variety of graphics and photographs, as well as additional content that addressed audiences beyond the center.  

About Our Amazing Editor

A woman wearing a plaid suit and navy skirt crosses her arms, smiles, and stands as she poses inside a small office. In one hand, she holds a paper copy of a newsletter. Behind her on a desk is a model of the space shuttle and a computer. A brown sign on the wall in the background reads “Lewis News.” Another poster is visible beside the sign.
Portrait of editor Doreen Zudell, taken in 1990 at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. At that time, the center newsletter was known as Lewis News.
Credit: NASA 

Doreen Zudell has served as the editor of AeroSpace Frontiers (AF) since the first issue in 1999 and has been a driving force behind the publication ever since. In addition to writing and editing stories each month, she also has navigated many format changes over the years.  

A woman takes notes on a large pad of paper as she faces a man wearing glasses and a tan suit. They stand in an indoor office space, and the man clutches a laptop in his left hand.
Editor Doreen Zudell interviews NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland in 2019.
Credit: NASA/Marvin Smith

“We appreciate Doreen’s knowledge, experience, and passion for sharing Glenn’s news and accomplishments with AF readers,” said NASA Glenn Office of Communications Director Kristen Parker. “Her compassion, journalistic flair, and dedication to putting employees’ needs first is evident in everything she does.”  

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Kelly M. Matter

Glenn Highlights Space Exploration at Minnesota State Fair 

Glenn Highlights Space Exploration at Minnesota State Fair 

1 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Two people crouch down to stare into an enclosed clear, polyethylene case containing a piece of a Moon rock.
Visitors at the Minnesota State Fair get an up-close look at a Moon rock on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025.
Credit: NASA/Christopher Richards 

NASA brought the excitement of space exploration to the Minnesota State Fair from Aug. 21–24, offering exhibits and interactive experiences for the whole family. Led by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the agency showcased the future of space exploration and the technologies making it possible — from next-generation spacesuits to the Artemis missions that will return humans to the Moon. 

A major attraction was Glenn’s “Suits and Boots” exhibit, along with an Apollo 15 Moon rock, which drew large crowds to the North End Event Center. Glenn staff, joined by Mike Lammers, deputy chief of the Flight Director’s Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engaged with both media and fairgoers to highlight spacesuit advancements, Glenn’s unique role as the only NASA center in the Midwest, and upcoming plans for returning to the Moon and journeying to Mars through Artemis

Mike Lammers, Minnesota native and deputy chief of the Flight Director’s Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, talks with visitors at the Minnesota State Fair on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025.
Credit: NASA/Christopher Richards 

The team reached an estimated 57,000 people directly, with additional exposure through traditional and social media efforts. 

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Kelly M. Matter

NASA Names Glenn’s Steven Sinacore to Lead Fission Surface Power 

NASA Names Glenn’s Steven Sinacore to Lead Fission Surface Power 

Portrait of Steven Sinacore posing in front of the american flag.
Steven Sinacore
Credit: NASA 

NASA leadership has named NASA Glenn Research Center’s Steven A. Sinacore as the agency’s program executive for Fission Surface Power with Lindsay Kaldon as deputy program executive. 

Sinacore will lead a team within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate dedicated to advancing fission surface power technology in support of lunar exploration, providing high power energy generation on Mars, and strengthening national security.   

Portrait of Lindsay Kaldon with American and NASA flags behind her.
Lindsay Kaldon
Credit: NASA 

Sinacore has more than 20 years of leadership and project management experience. Most recently, he served as director of Aeronautics at NASA Glenn in Cleveland. Prior to that, he was deputy project manager of the Gateway Power and Propulsion Element. After joining NASA Glenn in 2005, Sinacore held numerous systems engineering, project management, and mission operations positions, and he has been instrumental in developing and executing intergovernmental partnerships.  

His strong background leading cross-agency teams, combined with NASA Glenn’s longstanding expertise in space power technology development, will equip the agency to further advance U.S. competition and lunar surface leadership under the Artemis campaign. 

Last month, NASA declared its intent to put a system that would provide at least 100 kilowatts of electrical power on the Moon by fiscal year 2030. NASA then surveyed industry for their interest and feedback on an announcement for partnership proposals. 

This new effort builds on previous Glenn-led work to advance fission surface power technology development and concept designs.  

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Kelly M. Matter

Cutting Edge Medical Studies Look at Crew Fitness and Vision

Cutting Edge Medical Studies Look at Crew Fitness and Vision

Pictured inside the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo craft are (clockwise from left) Flight Engineers Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, and Jonny Kim of NASA, and Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Highlighted at center, is a poster of William “Willie” McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut who perished in 2003 during the space shuttle Columbia accident and for whom the Cygnus spacecraft is named.
Pictured inside the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo craft are (clockwise from left) astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, Jonny Kim, and Kimiya Yui. Highlighted at center, is a poster of William “Willie” McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut for whom the Cygnus spacecraft is named.
NASA

Fitness research and vision studies once again topped the science schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday helping doctors ensure the crew remains healthy on orbit. The Expedition 73 crewmates also worked throughout the day inspecting lab module hatches, installing research cables, and testing robotic communications.

NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Zena Cardman split their shift on Tuesday exercising while wearing sensors and breathing gear providing data to help scientists understand how the human body adapts to weightlessness. The lack of gravity accelerates muscle and bone loss in a crew member that doctors seek to understand and prevent as NASA and its international partners plan longer human missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Kim began his day pedaling on the Destiny laboratory module’s exercise cycle as the biomedical hardware measured his heart and breathing rate. An astronaut’s aerobic and cardiovascular health is critical to ensure readiness for strenuous physical tasks such as a spacewalk or the return to Earth’s gravity after several months, or even years, in space. Cardman worked out in the Tranquility module jogging on the treadmill then doing deadlifts, curls, bench presses, and other exercises on the advanced resistive exercise device (ARED). She was wearing the sensor-packed Bio-Monitor vest and headband measuring her health data for the exercise portion of the CIPHER suite of 14 human research studies.

Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) led an eye exam and operated medical imaging gear that NASA Flight Engineer Mike Fincke peered into as personnel on the ground monitored in real time. Doctors are studying how microgravity affects the eye structure including the lens, retina, and optic nerve to understand potential vision issues during space missions and after the return to Earth.

Earlier, Yui worked in the Kibo laboratory module on CubeSat hardware while Fincke replaced components on the ARED in Tranquility. Fincke then spent half-an-hour checking and replacing hatch seal segments in the Destiny lab. Kim and Cardman joined in the hatch work at the end of their shift inspecting hatch seals in Destiny and the Unity modules.

Station Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Alexey Zubritsky, both from Roscosmos, spent the first half of their shift inside the Nauka science module routing cables for an experiment studying semiconductor manufacturing in space. After lunchtime, the cosmonauts prepared research hardware for a biology investigation they will work on Thursday to explore how microgravity affects the digestion system.

Roscosmos Flight Engineer Oleg Platonov kicked off his shift in the Zvezda service module working on ventilation system maintenance. Platonov also collected radiation measurements from sensors throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment. He also tested remote control communications between the European robotic arm and mission controllers in Moscow.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark A. Garcia