Kim Johnson supports NASA’s mission as a contracting officer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA employee Kim Johnson’s desire for growth has taken her many places and continues unabated at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
The D’Iberville, Mississippi, resident is a contracting officer in the NASA Stennis Office of Procurement, where she supports NASA’s mission at the largest rocket propulsion test site.
Johnson oversees natural gas company contracts providing fuel to parts of the NASA Stennis federal city infrastructure, including the test stands benefitting NASA and commercial aerospace companies, and a security contract with local law enforcement to ensure all needs are met.
“What is cool about procurement is interacting with a lot of different people when putting contracts together,” Johnson said. “NASA Stennis has people from different ages and skillsets, from engineers, to scientists, to procurement and finance, I get to work with many people putting contracts together. I love the diversity of it and different levels of knowledge. Everyone brings something to the table.”
Johnson’s travels have exposed her to various people and work environments. She earned an undergraduate degree in London, England and a master’s degree in business administration at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and started her procurement career with a U.S. Air Force internship at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.
Johnson also worked at the NASA Shared Services Center, located at NASA Stennis, for two years. In the process, she earned a master’s degree in acquisition and contract management through the Florida Institute of Technology.
The travel bug then set in once more and the Biloxi, Mississippi, native set off to Afghanistan to work as a defense contractor. The 10-year stint helped pay off student loans, although Johnson stayed in the country a bit longer than anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following a final 13 months of working 84 hours a week in Afghanistan, Johnson took a break for a year before a return to NASA in south Mississippi presented itself.
“I have been fortunate that my experiences have helped me understand contracts from both the commercial perspective and government perspective,” she said. “What I love about NASA Stennis is everybody is so helpful, and you know they will help you get the job done.”
The NASA Stennis contracting officer continues her career development after being selected into a NASA leadership program. The year-long program focuses on NASA employees developing leadership capabilities and understanding how their work contributes to NASA missions. As part of the program, Johnson has visited NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
“It is encouraging because NASA promotes growth,” she said. “The agency really pushes you to grow in your career.”
NASA Trains Machine Learning Algorithm for Mars Sample Analysis
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NASA Trains Machine Learning Algorithm for Mars Sample Analysis
The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, aboard the ExoMars mission’s Rosalind Franklin rover, will employ a machine learning algorithm to speed up specimen analysis.
Credits: ESA
When the ESA (European Space Agency)-led Rosalind Franklin rover heads to Mars no earlier than 2028, a NASA machine learning algorithm gets its first chance to shine after more than a decade of data training in the lab.
The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA), a mass spectrometer instrument aboard the rover, will analyze samples collected by a coring drill and send the results back to Earth, where they will be fed into the algorithm to identify organic compounds found in the samples.
If any organic compounds are detected by the rover, the algorithm could greatly speed up the process of identifying them, saving scientists time as they decide the most efficient uses of the rover’s time on the Red Planet.
When a robotic rover lands on another world, scientists have a limited amount of time to collect data from the troves of explorable material, because of short mission durations and the length of time to complete complex experiments.
That’s why researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, are investigating the use of machine learning to assist in the rapid analysis of data from rover samples and help scientists back on Earth strategize the most efficient use of a rover’s time on a planet.
“This machine learning algorithm can help us by quickly filtering the data and pointing out which data are likely to be the most interesting or important for us to examine,” said Xiang “Shawn” Li, a mass spectrometry scientist in the Planetary Environments lab at NASA Goddard.
The algorithm will first be put to the test with data from Mars, by operating on an Earth-bound computer using data collected by the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument.
The analyzer is one of the main science instruments on the upcoming ExoMars mission Rosalind Franklin Rover, led by ESA (European Space Agency). The rover, which is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2028, seeks to determine if life ever existed on the Red Planet.
After Rosalind Franklin collects a sample and analyzes it with MOMA, data will be sent back to Earth, where scientists will use the findings to decide the best next course of action.
“For example, if we measure a sample that shows signs of large, complex organic compounds mixed into particular minerals, we may want to do more analysis on that sample, or even recommend that the rover collect another sample with its coring drill,” Li said.
Algorithm May Help Identify Chemical Composition Beneath Surface of Mars
In artificial intelligence, machine learning is a way that computers learn from data — lots of data — to identify patterns and make decisions or draw conclusions.
This automated process can be powerful when the patterns might not be obvious to human researchers looking at the same data, which is typical for large, complex data sets such as those involved in imaging and spectral analysis.
In MOMA’s case, researchers have been collecting laboratory data for more than a decade, according to Victoria Da Poian, a data scientist at NASA Goddard who co-leads development of the machine learning algorithm. The scientists train the algorithm by feeding it examples of substances that may be found on Mars and labeling what they are. The algorithm will then use the MOMA data as input and output predictions of the chemical composition of the studied sample, based on its training.
NASA data scientist Victoria Da Poian presents on the MOMA’s machine learning algorithm at the Supercomputing 2023 conference in Denver, Colorado.
NASA/Donovan Mathias
“The more we do to optimize the data analysis, the more information and time scientists will have to interpret the data,” Da Poian said. “This way, we can react quickly to results and plan next steps as if we are there with the rover, much faster than we previously would have.”
The MOMA employs laser desorption to identify specimens, while preserving larger molecules that may be broken down by gas chromatography. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab Download this video and related multimedia in HD formats
Drilling Down for Signs of Past Life
What makes the Rosalind Franklin rover unique — and what scientists hope will lead to new discoveries — is that it will be able to drill down about 6.6 feet (2 meters) into the surface of Mars. Previous rovers have only reached about 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) below the surface.
“Organic materials on Mars’ surface are more likely to be destroyed by exposure to the radiation at the surface and cosmic rays that penetrate into the subsurface,” said Li, “but two meters of depth should be enough to shield most organic matter. MOMA therefore has the potential to detect preserved ancient organics, which would be an important step in looking for past life.”
Future Explorations Across the Solar System Could be More Autonomous
Searching for signs of life, past or present, on worlds beyond Earth is a major effort for NASA and the greater scientific community. Li and Da Poian see potential for their algorithm as an asset for future exploration of tantalizing targets like Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus, and Jupiter’s moon Europa.
Li and Da Poian’s long-term goal is to achieve even more powerful “science autonomy,” where the mass spectrometer will analyze its own data and even help make operational decisions autonomously, dramatically increasing science and mission efficiency.
This will be crucial as space exploration missions target more distant planetary bodies. Science autonomy would help prioritize data collection and communication, ultimately achieving much more science than currently possible on such remote missions.
“The long-term dream is a highly autonomous mission,” said Da Poian. “For now, MOMA’s machine learning algorithm is a tool to help scientists on Earth more easily study these crucial data.”
The MOMA project is led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, with principal investigator Dr. Fred Goesmann. NASA Goddard developed and built the MOMA mass spectrometer subsystem, which will measure the molecular weights of chemical compounds in collected Martian samples.
Low Leakage Cryogenic Disconnects for Fuel Transfer and Long-Term Storage
To enable deep space missions, the capability to transfer and store cryogenic fuels (typically liquid hydrogen, methane, and oxygen) without significant leakage over long duration missions is critical. NASA has been actively developing zero boil-off cryocooler technology to reduce storage losses. Another source of fuel loss is from leakage at the fuel disconnect used for in-space refueling. Current designs use fluoroelastomer seals which are excellent for applications such as natural gas but are susceptible to embrittlement at the lower temperatures required for liquid hydrogen. In addition, the high contact forces needed to reduce leakage can cause cracking of the seals. NASA is seeking potential low or zero leakage cryogenic disconnect seal designs that could be fabricated and tested.
NASA’s Northrop Grumman Cygnus Completes Solar Arrays Deployment
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft completed the deployment of its two solar arrays at 2:21 p.m. EDT after launching at 11:02 a.m. Aug. 4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to the International Space Station for NASA.
Shortly after launch, the spacecraft missed its first burn slated for 11:44 a.m. due to a late entry to burn sequencing. Known as the targeted altitude burn, or TB1, it was rescheduled for 12:34 p.m., but aborted the maneuver shortly after the engine ignited due to a slightly low initial pressure state. There is no indication the engine itself has any problem at this time.
Cygnus is at a safe altitude, and Northrop Grumman engineers are working a new burn and trajectory plan. The team aims to achieve the spacecraft’s original capture time on station, which is currently slated for 3:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
If all remains on track, NASA will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival beginning at 1:30 a.m. Aug. 6 on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, X, Facebook, and the agency’swebsite. Additional updates will be posted as needed.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will capture Cygnus using the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm at approximately 3:10 a.m., and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps is backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
This is Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply mission for NASA.
NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 21st Northrop Grumman Mission to Station
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft for the company’s 21st commercial resupply services mission for NASA launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Credit: NASA
Following a successful launch of NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission, new scientific experiments and cargo for the agency are bound for the International Space Station.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 11:02 a.m. EDT Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Shortly after launch, the spacecraft missed its first burn due to a late entry to burn sequencing. Known as the targeted altitude burn, or TB1, it was rescheduled, but aborted shortly after the engine ignited due to a slightly low initial pressure state. There is no indication the engine itself has any problem at this time.
Cygnus is at a safe altitude and completed the deployment of its two solar arrays at 2:21 p.m. Northrop Grumman engineers are working a new burn and trajectory plan and aim to achieve the spacecraft’s original capture time on station.
If all remains on track, live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 1:30 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 6, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’swebsite. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will capture Cygnus using the station’s robotic arm at approximately 3:10 a.m., and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps is backup.
The resupply mission will support dozens of research experiments conducted during Expedition 71. Included among the investigations are:
Test articles to evaluate liquid and gas flow through porous media found in space station life support systems
Microorganisms known as Rotifers to examine the effects of spaceflight on DNA repair mechanisms
A bioreactor to demonstrate the production of many high-quality blood and immune stem cells
These are just a sample of the hundreds of investigations conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Such research benefits humanity and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis campaign, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.
NASA’s arrival and in-flight event coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
3:10 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus with the space station’s robotic arm.
4:30 a.m. – Cygnus installation coverage begins on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.
The company’s 21st mission to the space station for NASA is the 10th under its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract.
Cygnus will remain at the orbiting laboratory until January before it departs and disposes of several thousand pounds of trash through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will harmlessly burn up. The spacecraft is named the S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee after the former NASA astronaut.
Learn more about NASA’s commercial resupply mission at:
