Growing up, Bruce Askins was passionate about space and oceanography. His desire to explore other worlds always made him want to be an astronaut. Though he did not become an astronaut, Askins has built a 42-year career at NASA, and, as the infrastructure management lead for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Askins is an integral part for the next generation of explorers.
Askins and his team are the gatekeepers and protectors of data and responsible for both cyber- security and physical security for the SLS Program. Under Askins’ leadership, his team ensures all data is stored properly, that information about the rocket shared outside NASA is done with proper data markings, and access is given to those that need it.
Askins wasn’t always familiar with the world of infrastructure and cyber security. As a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Askins began his career as part of NASA’s internship program. He considered himself imaginative, or “creatively driven,” which is why Askins originally pursued a career at NASA.
“I always loved the design aspect of my early position in special test equipment,” Askins says. “Back then I drew everything by hand with a pencil before eventually transitioning to computers.”
His creativity and interest in underwater worlds, along with his scuba diver certification, led him to have a hand in designing early test elements for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. At the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, a former underwater training facility at Marshall, Askins interacted with a crew of astronauts supporting Hubble and designed the flight simulation hardware used for crew training on the Canadarm2 robotic arm that is still a part of the International Space Station today.
Askins has been a part of the NASA family for almost half a century and is thrilled to be a part of the next era of space exploration to the Moon under Artemis.
“To explore is one of the greatest things that we can all do, and with the Artemis Generation the sky’s the limit,” Askins said.
SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
NASA Stennis Continues Preparations for Future Artemis Testing
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Crews at NASA’s Stennis Space Center cleared a milestone Dec. 11, installing a key component in preparation for future Green Run testing of NASA’s new Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) vehicle for use on the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.
Four large diffusers, each weighing 14 tons, were lifted by crane for installation on the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2). The diffusers are a critical component designed to help direct engine exhaust away from the EUS during hot fire testing to minimize heat exposure to sensitive vehicle systems.
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Stennis teams lift and install large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2).
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA’s new EUS is being built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans as a more powerful SLS second stage to send the Orion spacecraft and heavier payloads to deep space as NASA continues its mission to explore the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. The EUS is expected to fly on the Artemis IV mission following a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems at NASA Stennis to demonstrate it is ready to fly. The test series will culminate with a hot fire of the four RL10 engines that will power the EUS.
NASA Stennis teams lifted and installed large diffusers onto the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2) on December 11, 2023, in preparation for future Green Run testing of the new Exploration Upper Stage before it flies on the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket as part of NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
During an actual flight, critical EUS systems will be protected by the SLS interstage. To protect the systems during Green Run testing, teams are using an interstage simulator, a size-and-weight replica of the actual SLS interstage, and the connected diffusers.
The system requires a high level of precision. The diffusers will be connected to the EUS engine nozzles using a flexible seal so gimbaling, or moving a rocket engine a few degrees along a tight circular axis to direct the thrust and “steer” the vehicle, can occur during testing. They also are designed to facilitate propellant connections and allow test teams access to the engine area as needed.
The carbon steel diffusers were precisely designed by a joint NASA Stennis and Jacobs Engineering team, using computational models, subscale testing, and historical data. The units then were made by Custom Steel Fabricators in Columbia, Tennessee, and delivered by truck to NASA Stennis.
Following lift and installation on the test stand, the diffuser system will be connected to the facility water and hydraulic supplies. A final checkout of the system will include a full test stand water flow demonstration.
2023 in Review: Highlights from NASA in Silicon Valley
It’s been another great year at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Join us as we review some of the highlights of the science, engineering, and innovation from 2023.
Announcing a New Innovation Hub Planned for NASA Research Park at Ames
NASA
Berkeley Space Center is a proposed new campus of the University of California, Berkeley, and an innovation hub for research and advances in astronautics, aeronautics, quantum computing, climate studies, and more. Planning to join Ames as a tenant of our NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, the new campus aims to bring together researchers from the private sector, academia, and the government to tackle the complex scientific, technological, and societal issues facing our world.
Mapping Water Distribution on the Moon’s South Pole
NASA
Using data collected by the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), researchers shared the first detailed, wide-area map of water distribution on the Moon. Understanding how much water lies beneath the lunar surface, and how it’s distributed, will help guide future missions like VIPER, as well as prospective sites for human habitats.
Colliding Moons May Have Formed Saturn’s Rings
NASA
New research suggests Saturn’s icy moons and rings were formed by a collision a few hundred million years ago, creating debris that gathered into the planet’s dusty, icy rings or clumped together to form moons.
NASA and Airlines Partner to Save Fuel and Reduce Delays
NASA/James Blair
This year, NASA partnered with five major U.S. airlines on an air traffic decision-making tool that saved more than 24,000 pounds of jet fuel in 2022 for flights departing from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field Airport. Partners include American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.
NASA Leaders View Climate Science, Wildfire Innovations at Ames
NASA/Dominic Hart
NASA’s top leadership, industry experts, and legislative officials visited Ames in April to learn about about the center’s climate science efforts and innovations in aeronautics that will help scientists and engineers better understand climate change and mitigate natural disasters like wildland fires.
This year engineers began assembling NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER — short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — and the agency is giving the public a front row seat to watch along as the rover takes shape. While individual components, such as the rover’s science instruments, lights, and wheels, were assembled and tested, the VIPER team also completed software development, mission planning, and tricky tests of the rover’s ability to drive off the Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander and onto the lunar surface.
Bringing Home Ancient Space Rocks
NASA/Keegan Barber
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission – short for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer – returned to Earth in Sept. 2023, bringing with it extraterrestrial rocks and dust that it scooped up from an asteroid estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. Ames contributed to the spacecraft’s heat shield, anti-contamination systems, post-landing sample curation, and more.
Preparing to Send Yeast to the Moon’s Surface for Astronaut Health
NASA/Dominic Hart
NASA’s plans to explore the Moon and eventually go to Mars will bring humans deeper into space for longer duration missions than ever before. These extended missions beyond low Earth orbit pose certain health risks to astronauts. The Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications team is preparing an experiment to study yeast’s biological response to the lunar environment to help understand and mitigate health risks for astronauts.
X-59 Team Moves Toward First Flight in 2024
Lockheed Martin/Gary Tice
This year, NASA’s X-59 team installed the finishing touches to the aircraft’s tail structure and moved it from its assembly facility to the flight line to perform structural testing. The X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft will take its first flight in 2024.
Celebrating a Stellar Year for Webb Telescope Science
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and S. Crowe (University of Virginia)
The James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera instrument produced a feast for the eyes with a view into a star-forming region, named Sagittarius C, in the heart of the Milky Way. The image reveals a portion of the dense center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail, including never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain.
Supercomputer Simulations Lead to Air and Space Innovations
NASA
Simulations and models developed using technology at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility (NAS) help researchers and engineers develop innovations in air and space. Modeling turbofan engines could lead to designs that reduce engine noise and improve efficiency by understanding where noise is generated inside the machine.
S-MODE Sails the Seas and Soars through the Sky
NASA/Avery Snyder
The Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Dynamics Experiment (S-MODE) logged its final field expedition, and they took a team from the TODAY Show along for the ride. S-MODE combined airborne instruments, research ships, and autonomous ocean gliders to get an unprecedented look at how gas and heat exchange at the ocean’s surface impacts Earth’s climate.
From Intern to Astronaut, and Back to Ames
NASA/Dominic Hart
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, who was once an intern at Ames, returned to the Bay Area in Feb. 2023 to visit with local elementary schools and speak with Ames employees. Watkins started her career with NASA at Ames, where she conducted research on Mars soil simulant supporting the Phoenix Mars Lander mission.
Second Gentleman Joins East Bay Kids for STEM Activities
NASA/Dominic Hart
Nearly 100 East Bay kids and their families got to experience the thrill of “launching a rocket” and “making clouds” at a fun-filled STEM event hosted in honor of Women’s History Month at the East Oakland Youth Development Center in Oakland, California, in March 2023. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, NASA Ames Research Center Director Dr. Eugene Tu, and NASA astronaut Dr. Yvonne Cagle joined kids at the Manzanita Community School for hands-on activities and to distribute approximately 500 STEM Artemis Learning Lunchboxes aimed to inspire the Artemis generation to learn about NASA’s Artemis Program.
Top Leaders in Our Midst Hailed from the White House and Australia
NASA/Dominic Hart
In January, U.S. President Joe Biden landed at Moffett Federal Airfield, at Ames, on his way to visit storm-damaged regions in the state. Research conducted at our Silicon Valley center could help predict extreme climate-related weather events. Later in the spring, Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at Moffett before delivering remarks at a local company, and leaders of the Australian Space Agency visited Ames to learn about the center’s missions supporting NASA’s Artemis program, including the VIPER Moon rover, which will launch to the lunar South Pole in late 2024.
On Aug. 8, 2023, Artemis II crew members (from left) Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch took a photo in front of their Orion crew module at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Announcing the crew and continuing work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion are part of the significant steps taken this year toward the agency’s goal of landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link
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NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link
NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload at Goddard Space Flight Center fully tested and integrated prior to its delivery to Kennedy Space Center.
Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system.
NASA’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) and the new space station demonstration, ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal), successfully exchanged data for the first time. LCRD and ILLUMA-T are demonstrating how a user mission, in this case the space station, can benefit from a laser communications relay located in geosynchronous orbit.
NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload communicating with LCRD over laser signals.
NASA / Dave Ryan
Laser communications, also known known as optical communications, uses infrared light rather than traditional radio waves to send and receive signals. The tighter wavelength of infrared light allows spacecraft to pack more data into each transmission. Using laser communications greatly increases the efficiency of data transfer and can lead to a faster pace of scientific discoveries.
The benefits of laser communications: more efficient, lighter systems, increased security, and more flexible ground systems.
NASA / Dave Ryan
On Nov. 9, NASA’s SpaceX 29th commercial resupply services mission launched cargo and new science experiments, including ILLUMA-T, to the space station. Following its arrival, the payload was installed onto the station’s Japanese Experiment Module-Exposed Facility.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, on the company’s 29th commercial resupply services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:28 p.m. EST.
SpaceX
ILLUMA-T and LCRD are a part of the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program’s effort to demonstrate how laser communications technologies can significantly benefit science and exploration missions.
“ILLUMA-T’s first link with LCRD – known as first light – is the latest demonstration proving that laser communications is the future.” said Dr. Jason Mitchell, director of SCaN’s Advanced Communications and Navigation Technology division. “Laser communications will not only return more data from science missions, but could serve as NASA’s critical, two-way link to keep astronauts connected to Earth as they explore the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload achieved First Light with LCRD. In this video, Matt Magsamen explains the First Light milestone.
Shortly after space station installation, operation engineers began conducting on-orbit testing to ensure the ILLUMA-T payload operated nominally. Now, it is communicating with LCRD, a relay launched in 2021 that has conducted over 300 experiment configurations to help NASA refine laser communications technologies. LCRD and ILLUMA-T are exchanging data at 1.2 gigabits-per-second.
“We have demonstrated that we can overcome the technical challenges for successful space communications using laser communications. We are now performing operational demonstrations and experiments that will allow us to optimize our infusion of proven technology into our missions to maximize our exploration and science,” said David Israel, a NASA space communications and navigation architect.
NASA’s Laser Communications Roadmap: Demonstrating laser communications capabilities on multiple missions in a variety of space regimes.
ILLUMA-T is funded by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The payload is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Partners include the International Space Station program office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Katherine Schauer is a writer for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office and covers emerging technologies, commercialization efforts, exploration activities, and more.
