NASA Names Acting Leaders for Two Key Human Spaceflight Roles

On Thursday, NASA announced Joel Montalbano will serve as the acting associate administrator for the Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, and Dana Hutcherson will serve as the acting program manager of the Commercial Crew Program. 

SOMD’s programs and activities include the Commercial Crew Program, the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Program, the Human Research Program, the International Space Station Program, the Launch Services Program, the Rocket Propulsion Test Program, the Space Communications and Navigation Program, Space Sustainability, and Human Spaceflight Capabilities. 

Both leaders were previously serving as deputies in their respective roles.  

“Strong leadership is essential to advancing NASA’s mission, and Joel Montalbano and Dana Hutcherson are exceptionally well-qualified to serve in these acting roles,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “Their experience and commitment will help ensure we deliver on the President’s National Space Policy, maintain American leadership in low Earth orbit, and build the capabilities required to achieve the near-impossible beyond it.” 

Kenneth Bowersox previously announced his retirement, effective Friday, March 6, after which Montalbano will assume the role as acting head of SOMD. Key priorities for Montalbano will include establishing a low Earth orbit economy ahead of retiring the International Space Station and maintaining America’s superiority in space.  

Prior to his positions at headquarters, Montalbano served as program manager of the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he was responsible for the overall management, development, integration, and operation of the orbiting laboratory. He also has served as a variety of other roles, including deputy program manager for the International Space Station Program Office; director of NASA’s Human Space Flight Program in Russia; and a NASA flight director. He started his career at Rockwell in 1988 and became a NASA civil servant that same year.  

Over the course of his career, he has received many honors, including the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Johnson Space Center Directors Commendation, Rank of Meritorious Executive, conferred by the President of the United States, NASA Exceptional Service Medal (twice), the Superior Accomplishment Award, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, Rotary Space Award Nominee, and more.  

Montalbano received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering from Iowa State University. 

Through CCP, Hutcherson will continue her work with the American aerospace industry to develop safe, reliable and cost-effective crew transportation systems for low-Earth orbit destinations, including the International Space Station. She is responsible for the facilitation of spacecraft development, certification, and operations to enable the safe transportation of NASA astronauts for the Commercial Crew Program. 

Hutcherson previously served as deputy manager of the CCP Systems Engineering and Integration Office, and as deputy manager of the program’s Launch Vehicle Systems Office. She also has served as a NASA flow director within the Launch Vehicle Processing Directorate at Kennedy, and other roles at NASA. Prior to NASA, she began her career with United Space Alliance as an airframe engineer.  

Hutcherson has received numerous prestigious honors including Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Leadership Award, and Outstanding Leadership Medal.  

She holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and a master of science in industrial engineering of engineering management from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. 

For more about NASA’s mission, visit:  

https://www.nasa.gov/

-end- 

Bethany Stevens / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov  

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Cheryl Warner

Dry-Season Floods Drench Northern Colombia

January 23

February 9

January 23February 9

January 23

February 9

CurtainToggle2-Up

February is one of the driest months of the year in northern Colombia’s Córdoba department, a major farming and cattle region. It’s the time of year when farmers normally prepare fields for planting and ranchers move livestock to graze in drying floodplains. In 2026, however, unusually heavy rains in early February upended seasonal rhythms and submerged much of the department under floodwaters.

The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 9 captured this false-color image (bands 7-5-4) of flooding along the Sinú River on February 9, 2026 (right). Dark floodwaters cover farmland, pastureland, and several communities, particularly to the west of the river. To the east, water levels at a complex of wetlands are unseasonably high. Lorica, a city of roughly 90,000 people, is visible in the upper part of the image. The OLI image on the left shows the same area on January 23, before floodwaters arrived.

After an already wet January, rainfall intensified in early February when an unusual cold front in the Caribbean pushed south on February 1 and 2, forcing moisture-laden air into northern Colombia and over the Andes. This led to several days of intense downpours in Córdoba, with some areas receiving more than 4 to 7 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) of rain per day, according to one analysis of the event.

NASA’s IMERG (Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement) estimated rain rates of 1.7 centimeters per hour near Lorica on February 1, the day of the heaviest rains. In the following weeks, storms continued to drench the region. On February 25, imagery from NASA’s Terra satellite indicated that flooding remained widespread.

The floods have been far-reaching and destructive. More than 80 percent of Córdoba flooded, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Preliminary estimates cited by news and government sources suggest that thousands of homes were destroyed, more than 11,000 families displaced, and more than 150,000 hectares of farmland inundated.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

Downloads

January 23, 2026

JPEG (790.78 KB)

February 9, 2026

JPEG (888.42 KB)

References & Resources

• The City Paper Bogotá (2026, February 10) Extreme flooding in northern Colombia triggers humanitarian crisis. Accessed February 25, 2026.
• ClimaMeter (2026, February) February 2026 floods in northern Colombia. Accessed February 25, 2026.
• Colombia Reports (2026, February 12) Colombia declares emergency in response to widespread floods. Accessed February 25, 2026.
• El País (2026, February 10) Carlos Carrillo: “La inundación en Córdoba es mucho más grave de lo previsto en los escenarios más pesimistas.” Accessed February 25, 2026.
• IDEAM (2026) News. Accessed February 25, 2026.
• IDEAM (2026, February 3) Boletín de condiciones hidrometeorológicas y alertas No. 100. Accessed February 25, 2026.
• International Charter Space & Major Disasters (2026) Flood in Colombia. Accessed February 25, 2026.  
• ReliefWeb (2026, February 25) Colombia: Floods. Accessed February 25, 2026.
• Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (2026, February 15) Con tecnología satelital, UNGRD identifica mancha de inundación en Córdoba. Accessed February 25, 2026.

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

Monsoon Rains Flood Pakistan

3 min read

Heavy rains and flooding across the country since June 2025 have displaced millions of people, devastated infrastructure, and submerged farmland.

Article

Floods Inundate Southern Mozambique

2 min read

Weeks of intense rain overwhelmed rivers and reservoirs, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

Article

Senyar Swamps Sumatra

3 min read

A rare tropical cyclone dropped torrential rains on the Indonesian island, fueling extensive and destructive floods.

Article

Keep Exploring

Discover More from NASA Earth Science

Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters

Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.

Earth Observatory Image of the Day

NASA’s Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.

Explore Earth Science

Earth Science Data

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Releases 2025 Annual Report 

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), which advises NASA and Congress on safety, has released its 2025 annual report on NASA’s performance and challenges.  

While the panel acknowledged NASA’s safety achievements, it warned that the agency’s biggest challenges stem from interconnected factors – workforce, acquisition, technical authority, budgets, and the growing complexity of human spaceflight – requiring sustained attention as missions become more ambitious.

“Independent assessments like this will make NASA better,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “The panel’s report underscores areas where we must raise the bar, from how we structure oversight and manage integrated risk to how we declare and learn from anomalies. We are wholly committed to transparency. That’s how we protect crews, earn trust, and keep the Artemis lunar campaign and our transition to a commercial presence in low Earth orbit on a safe, sustainable path.” 

This year’s report focused on the following topics: 

• strategic vision and governance 
• Moon to Mars program 
• future U.S. presence in low Earth orbit 
• health and medical risks in human spaceflight 
• NASA’s X-59 Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator 

The panel noted progress on Artemis II readiness and improved oversight through the Moon to Mars Program Office, as well as safe International Space Station operations, advances in astronaut health research, and the first flight of the X-59 Low-Boom Demonstrator. At the same time, it flagged significant challenges, including Artemis III’s high-risk posture, lessons from Boeing’s Starliner test, space station deorbit planning, and systemic concerns. 

To respond to these new challenges, the panel recommends NASA: 

• Realign its governance of acquisition strategies for human spaceflight-related capabilities agencywide. 
• Re-examine the mission objectives and system architecture for Artemis III and subsequent missions to establish a more balanced approach to risk.  
• Require timely declaration of mishap or high-visibility close call. 

“We were already on the path to implementing change and this report only adds more urgency,” added Isaacman. “That means recalibrating our acquisition strategy — including a build versus buy versus service procurement approach — restoring core competencies through initiatives like converting contractors to civil servant roles and increasing our launch cadence. We’re also aligning our long-term vision for the agency and industry to guide priorities. This includes clarifying our plans for the Artemis architecture moving forward and accelerating proposals for human landing systems to preserve schedule margin. We’ve already shown what transparency and now accountability looks like — through the Boeing Starliner Program Investigation Team report, we owned our mistakes, classified the mission as a Type A mishap, and launched corrective actions to ensure they never happen again. These steps, along with addressing health and medical risk documentation and overhauling and accelerating programs like X-59, reflect our commitment to live up to the expectations of the world’s most accomplished space agency.”  

On Feb. 19, Isaacman held a news conference to present the agency’s findings from the Starliner Crewed Flight Test. Earlier this month, he outlined a new workforce plan to strengthen NASA’s core competencies in technical, engineering, and operational excellence. The agency also is working with both its human landing system industry providers to streamline and accelerate America’s return to the surface of the Moon by 2028. 

“The panel commends NASA for its impressive efforts in 2025 to strategically enhance the agency’s risk management posture despite turbulence in the agency’s organizational environment,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms, chair of ASAP. “We very sincerely thank NASA’s leaders and workforce for their passionate dedication to space exploration and their unwavering commitment to the safe pursuit of the nation’s lofty aims to the great benefit of the future of humanity.”  

The annual report is based on the panel’s 2025 fact-finding and quarterly public meetings; direct observations of NASA operations and decision-making; discussions with NASA management, employees, and contractors; and the panel members’ experiences.  

Congress established the panel in 1968 to provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator on safety matters after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire claimed the lives of three American astronauts. 

To learn more about the ASAP, and view annual reports, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/asap

-end-

Bethany Stevens / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Jessica Taveau

Making an Entrance

NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway smiles up at the camera as he enters the International Space Station Feb. 14, 2026, after docking to the orbiting laboratory aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Since Hathaway and fellow Crew-12 members Jessica Meir of NASA, Sophie Adenot of ESA (European Space Agency), and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos began their mission on the space station, they have conducted science investigations including scanning their veins to monitor the risk of blood clots and testing balance and orientation in space using virtual reality goggles. The crew will continue to run various experiments and technology demonstrations to benefit life on Earth and in orbit, furthering our journey back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond.

Keep up with space station activities by visiting the blog.

Image credit: NASA/Chris Williams

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Monika Luabeya

Listen to This Month’s ‘Planetary Parade’ With NASA’s Chandra

6 Min Read

Listen to This Month’s ‘Planetary Parade’ With NASA’s Chandra

In late February, people in the Northern Hemisphere can look up for a special sight : Six planets will all be visible from clear and dark night skies. New sonifications from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released [day of week] will help commemorate this latest “planetary parade.”

Because the planets in our solar system travel around the Sun in the same plane (known as the ecliptic), they will sometimes appear bunched together in the sky when their orbits find them on the same side of the Sun at the same time. When this happens, it looks like the planets have roughly formed a line from our vantage point on Earth.

In Chandra’s sonifications, which translate astronomical data into sound, three of the planets that will be on display – Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus – can be seen and heard in ways that they cannot from Earth.

While Chandra is best known for its X-ray insight into black holes and other extreme objects, the telescope has also played an important role in the exploration of our solar system. The Sun gives off X-rays that travel out into the solar system and can be reflected by planets, moons, and other bodies. This gives astronomers a unique window into certain physics that cannot be discovered through other kinds of telescopes.

The sonification of Jupiter combines X-ray data from Chandra with an infrared image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Woodwind sounds reveal Chandra’s X-ray data, including emission from the planet’s auroras. More instruments join in to represent the planet’s complex cloud layers. Next, through the combination of an optical image from NASA’s Cassini mission and X-rays from Chandra, listeners can experience Saturn like never before. A siren-like sound follows the arc of the rings, and different tones of synthesizers play as the scan passes the planet itself. Finally, listeners can hear the ice giant Uranus through the data collected by Chandra and the W.M. Keck Observatory. The data in this sonification reflects the amount of light detected from the planet and the orientation of its ring.

The process of creating a sonification preserves the integrity of the data, which arrives on Earth as a series of ones and zeroes (binary code), and shifts it into a form that can be processed through hearing. Sonifications expand options for people to explore what telescopes discover in space, an example of NASA’s ongoing commitment to share its data as widely as possible.

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

For more on the Chandra sonification program, visit:

https://chandra.si.edu/sound

To learn more about Chandra, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/chandra

Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:

https://www.nasa.gov/chandra

https://chandra.si.edu

Visual Description

This release features three sonifications, each focusing on a different planet in our solar system. The sonifications are presented as soundtracks to short videos. Each video features a composite image and an activation line. As the activation line sweeps across the image, it encounters visual elements. These elements are translated into sound, or sonified, according to parameters established by Chandra’s sonification team.

The first sonification focuses on the planet Jupiter. At the center of the associated composite image is the gas giant itself; a seemingly perfect sphere with an atmosphere of latitudinal bands. The bands are different shades of grey, brown, and black, each with its own texture and width. Flanking Jupiter are neon pink and white clouds, representing X-rays from energetic particles in a ring around the planet. In the video, the activation line moves from our left to right. It first encounters a pink cloud, triggering whooshing woodwinds. When the activation line encounters Jupiter, dramatic low notes are triggered. Listen for the dip as the line passes over the Great Red Spot in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere. The activation line continues toward our right, passing more pink X-ray clouds. The largest cloud, the last one encountered, has a bright white core, which translates to loud gusty woodwinds.

The second sonification focuses on the ringed planet, Saturn. In the composite image, the large gas giant fills the frame, its spherical outer layer a pale sandy grey. In this image, the wide bands of rings surrounding the planet are in shades of pale grey and sandy yellow. Here, Saturn is tilted away from us, making the round rings appear oval in shape. Dotting the planet are small pockets of neon blue. These represent reflected X-ray light observed by Chandra. In this video, the activation line moves from our right to left. When the line passes over the rings, a whooshing sounds spreads, conveying the widening middle of the oval shapes. Pockets of neon blue X-ray light trigger synthesizer sounds, with the pitch mapped to each pocket’s vertical position in the image. When the line sweeps across Saturn’s large round body, a low rumbling synth tone is triggered. The volume is linked to brightness, such that the low tone fades when the line reaches the shady side of the planet, on our left.

The third sonification features the planet Uranus. In the composite image, the icy giant is a greenish-blue cyan color, with a blush of neon pink X-rays hovering over its core. Uranus has a collection of very narrow rings, much finer than the wide disk-like rings surrounding Saturn. In this image, the fine rings are near vertical and slightly tilted, creating an oval shape with rounded points at our lower left and upper right. In this sonification, the activation line moves from our left to right. Brightness is mapped to volume and height is mapped to pitch, such that brighter objects at the top of the image sound louder and higher. Here, the curved oval shape of the rings is conveyed as a swooping cello note, with the pitch sliding up as the activation line passes the oval tilted toward our upper right.

News Media Contact

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu

Joel Wallace
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov

Explore More

5 min read

Cosmic Harmonies: Sonifications From NASA Telescopes

Three new sonifications of data from Chandra and other NASA telescopes have been released.

Article


3 years ago

4 min read

Data Sonification: Sounds from Around the Milky Way

Article


5 years ago

4 min read

Data Sonifications: Black Holes

Data Sonifications: Black Holes During May 2022, NASA’s Universe of Learning Accessible Learning Resources team…

Article


4 years ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Chandra

Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Cassini Orbiter

About the Spacecraft Cassini-Huygens was one of the most ambitious missions ever launched into space. Loaded with an array of…

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Lee Mohon