NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Gets Lift on Earth

Crane operator Rebekah Tolatovicz, a shift mechanical technician lead for Artic Slope Regional Corporation at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, operates a 30-ton crane to lift the agency’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft out of the recently renovated altitude chamber to the Final Assembly and Systems Testing, or FAST, cell inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on April 27.

During her most recent lift July 10, Tolatovicz helped transfer Orion back to the FAST cell following vacuum chamber qualification testing in the altitude chamber earlier this month. This lift is one of around 250 annual lifts performed at NASA Kennedy by seven operator/directors and 14 crane operators on the ASRC Orion team.

“At the time of the spacecraft lift, I focus solely on what’s going on in the moment of the operation,” explains Tolatovicz. “Listening for the commands from the lift director, making sure everyone is safe, verifying the vehicle is clear, and ensuring the crane is moving correctly.”

All Orion crane operators are certified after classroom and on-the-job training focusing on areas such as rigging, weight and center of gravity, mastering crane controls, crane securing, assessing safety issues, and emergency procedures. Once certified, they progress through a series of the different lifts required for Orion spacecraft operations, from simple moves to the complex full spacecraft lift.

“It’s not until after the move is complete and the vehicle is secured that I have a moment to think about how awesome it is to be a part of history on the Orion Program and do what I get to do every day with a team of the most amazing people,” Tolatovicz said.

Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Stevenson

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Jason Costa

NASA Selects Marshall Logistics Support Services II Contractor

NASA has awarded the MSFC Logistics Support Services II (MLSS II) contract to Akima Global Logistics, LLC to provide logistics support services at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The performance-based indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a maximum potential value of $96.3 million. The contract begins on Sunday, Sept. 1 with a one-year base period, followed by one-year option periods that may be exercised at NASA’s discretion.

Under the competitive 8(a) contract, the company will be responsible for providing logistics services supporting NASA Marshall’s institutional operational framework. The logistics support services provided through contractor support cover the areas of management, disposal operations, equipment, mail, transportation, life cycle logistics, supply chains, and other specialty services.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

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Tiernan P. Doyle

Meet NASA Interns Shaping Future of Open Science

Students at NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer (OCSDO) are working to promote open science during the summer 2024 internship session. Their projects fall across a variety of areas, including user experience, policy, and DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility). 

Lena Young: Increasing DEIA Engagement

Lena Young, a doctoral candidate in the Creative Leadership for Innovation and Change program at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, envisions equitable space societies 100 – 300 years in the future as part of her dissertation. Her NASA internship project involves researching ways to make science more accessible for different groups and interacting with NASA leadership to assess how well they are engaging historically underserved or excluded communities.

Young also worked with her mentors to find overlap between her internship project and her PhD work as a futurist. “In 30 years, once NASA has achieved their goals, what would open science look like?” Young said. “I want to see what different futures I can create for open science and DEIA engagement.” 

Becca Michelson: Advancing Policy

Becca Michelson has a passion for increasing the availability of scientific information. A soon-to-be-graduate in physics and astronomy from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, she was drawn to an internship role in researching the current state of open science policy for the OCSDO. By understanding the challenges and opportunities in this area, she’s helping NASA better support researchers in making their science accessible to all.

“Open science makes this a more inclusive field, where if I’m an early career scientist, I can build on the science that other people who are experts in the field have done,” Michelson said. In the future, she hopes to implement open science principles into her own research in astronomy, drawing from the best practices she has learned at NASA.

Salma Elsayed-Ali: Bridging Science, User Experience

Salma Elsayed-Ali is on a mission to bridge the gap between science and usability. She recently completed her PhD in Information Science with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her NASA internship project involves conducting UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) research on some of the OCSDO’s scientific products, most notably the Open Science 101 online course.

Elsayed-Ali became interested in open science during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when she conducted UI/UX research on open data sites that provided the public with real-time information about the spread of the virus. This experience sparked her interest in helping users reap the benefits of open science as part of an internship with NASA. 

In improving the OCSDO’s open science interfaces, Elsayed-Ali has acted as the product lead on a UI/UX research project for the first time. “I was drawn to this project as it was an opportunity to advocate for both end users and the advancement of open science,” Elsayed-Ali said. “I have really enjoyed brainstorming creative, practical solutions that enhance the user experience and simultaneously save the product team time and resources.”

By helping open science at NASA to thrive, these interns are ushering in a future of greater access to data and scientific research. Learn more about NASA internships at the NASA Internship Programs page.

Learn to navigate the principles and practices of open science with the Open Science 101 online course.

By Lauren Leese 
Web Content Strategist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer 

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Tech Today: Space Age Swimsuit Reduces Drag, Breaks Records

A supersonic airplane and a competitive swimmer have much more in common than people might realize; both have to contend with the slowing influence of drag. NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate focuses primarily on improving flight efficiency and fluid dynamics, especially the forces of pressure and drag, which are the same for bodies moving through air as for bodies moving through water. Shortly after the 2004 Olympics, Los Angeles-based SpeedoUSA, also known as Speedo, asked NASA’s Langley Research Center to help design a swimsuit with reduced surface drag. The manufacturer sought a partnership with NASA because of the agency’s expertise in fluid dynamics.

In competitive swimming, where every hundredth of a second counts, achieving the best possible drag reduction is crucially important. Researchers at NASA began flat plate testing of fabrics, using a small wind tunnel developed for earlier research on low-speed viscous drag reduction and collaborated over the next few years with Speedo to design the LZR Racer swimsuit.

NASA and Speedo performed tests on traditionally sewn seams, ultrasonically welded seams, and the fabric alone, which gave Speedo a baseline for reducing drag caused by seams and helped identify problem areas. NASA wind tunnel results helped Speedo create a bonding system that eliminates seams and reduces drag. The results also showed that a low-profile zipper ultrasonically bonded into the fabric inside the suit generated eight percent less drag in wind tunnel tests than a standard zipper. Low-profile seams and zippers were a crucial component in the LZR Racer, because the suit consists of multiple connecting fabric pieces—instead of just a few sewn pieces such as found in traditional suits—that provide extra compression for maximum efficiency.

In March 2008, the LZR Racer made its mark on the world of competitive swimming. Athletes donning this innovative swimsuit shattered 13 world records, a testament to the power of collaboration between NASA and Speedo. While the original LZR Racer is no longer used in competition because of the advantage it gave wearers, its legacy lives on in today’s swimsuits approved by World Aquatics, the governing body for international competitive swimming. 

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Andrew Wagner

UPDATE: NASA, Boeing to Stream Flight Test Mission Briefing on NASA+

NASA and Boeing will host a news conference with mission leadership at 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, to provide the latest status of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test aboard the International Space Station. NASA previously planned an audio-only media teleconference to host the discussion.

The agency will provide live coverage on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Participants include:

• Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
• Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing

United States-based media seeking to attend in person must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 9:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. U.S. and international media interested in participating by phone must contact NASA Johnson or NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov by 10:30 a.m. the day of the event. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.

Engineering teams with NASA and Boeing recently completed ground hot fire testing of a Starliner reaction control system thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The test series involved firing the engine through similar in-flight conditions the spacecraft experienced during its approach to the space station, as well as various stress-case firings for what is expected during Starliner’s undocking and the deorbit burn that will position the spacecraft for a landing in the southwestern United States. Teams are analyzing the data from these tests, and leadership plans to discuss initial findings during the briefing.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the orbiting laboratory on June 6, after lifting off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5. Since their arrival, the duo has been integrated with the Expedition 71 crew, performing scientific research and maintenance activities as needed.

As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the mission is an end-to-end test of the Starliner system. Following a successful return to Earth, NASA will begin the process of certifying Starliner for rotational missions to the International Space Station. Through partnership with American private industry, NASA is opening access to low Earth orbit and the space station to more people, science, and commercial opportunities.

For NASA’s blog and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-

Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Steve Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov

Leah Cheshier / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

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Abbey A. Donaldson