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By NASA
Acting Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Steve Koerner. Credit: NASA/Norah Moran NASA has selected Stephen Koerner as acting director of Johnson Space Center. Koerner previously served as Johnson’s deputy director.
“It is an honor to accept my new role as acting director for Johnson,” Koerner said. “Our employees are key to our nation’s human spaceflight goals. I am continually impressed with what our workforce accomplishes and am proud to be named the leader of such an incredible team dedicated to mission excellence.”
Koerner previously served as deputy director of NASA Johnson beginning in July 2021, overseeing strategic workforce planning, serving as Designated Agency Safety Health Officer (DASHO), and supporting the Johnson Center Director in mission reviews. Before his appointment to deputy director, Koerner served as director of the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) for two years. In that role, he was responsible for selecting and protecting astronauts, and for the planning, training, and execution of human space flight and aviation missions. He managed an annual budget of $367 million, 600 civil servants and military personnel, and 2300 contractor personnel. He oversaw the Astronaut Office, the Flight Director Office, the Mission Control Center, human spaceflight training facilities, and Johnson’s Aviation Operations Division. During this tenure he was also responsible for FOD’s flight readiness of the first commercial human spaceflight mission, ushering in a new era of domestic launch capability and the return of American astronauts launching from American soil.
Prior to assuming his position as director of Flight Operations, Koerner served in several senior executive roles, including:
Johnson Space Center Associate Director from 2018 to 2019 Johnson Space Center Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from 2017 to 2018 Deputy Director of Flight Operations from 2014 to 2017 Deputy Director Mission Operations from 2007 to 2014 Koerner joined Johnson full-time in 1992. He has extensive operations experience including serving as an environmental systems space shuttle flight controller, where he supported 41 space shuttle flights in Mission Control. Since that time, he has served in a series of progressively more responsible positions, including lead for two International Space Station flight control groups, chief of the space station’s Data Systems Flight Control Branch, chief of the Mission Operations Directorate’s Management Integration Office, and as the Mission Operation Directorate’s manager for International Space Station operations.
Additional special assignments throughout his career include:
Project manager for Johnson’s Crew Exploration Vehicle Avionics Integration Lab (June 2007 –June 2008) Member of NASA’s Human Exploration Framework Team (April 2010 –October 2010) Member of NASA’s Standing Review Board that provided an independent assessment at life cycle review milestones for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Program, the Space Launch System Program and the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program (October 2011 – August 2014) Lead of NASA’s Mission Operations Capability Team (October 2015 –April 2017) “Steve has an accomplished career serving human spaceflight. His vision and dedication to the Johnson workforce makes him the perfect person to lead the Johnson team forward as acting director,” said Vanessa Wyche, NASA acting associate administrator. “Steve is an asset to the center and the agency—as both a proven technical expert and a leader.”
Throughout his career, Koerner has been recognized for outstanding technical achievements and leadership, receiving two Superior Accomplishment Awards, the Outstanding Leadership Medal, the Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award, two group achievement awards, the Exceptional Service Medal, and the Presidential Rank Award.
Koerner is a native of Stow, Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Akron in Ohio, and a master’s degree in business administration from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A new international study partially funded by NASA on how Mars got its iconic red color adds to evidence that Mars had a cool but wet and potentially habitable climate in its ancient past.
Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 2500 kilometers from the surface of the planet, with the scale being .6km/pixel. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene (lat -8, long 78) shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 2000 kilometers long and up to 8 kilometers deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometers high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters.NASA The current atmosphere of Mars is too cold and thin to support liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, on its surface for lengthy periods. However, various NASA and international missions have found evidence that water was abundant on the Martian surface billions of years ago during a more clement era, such as features that resemble dried-up rivers and lakes, and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water.
Adding to this evidence, results from a study published February 25 in the journal Nature Communications suggest that the water-rich iron mineral ferrihydrite may be the main culprit behind Mars’ reddish dust. Martian dust is known to be a hodgepodge of different minerals, including iron oxides, and this new study suggests one of those iron oxides, ferrihydrite, is the reason for the planet’s color.
The finding offers a tantalizing clue to Mars’ wetter and potentially more habitable past because ferrihydrite forms in the presence of cool water, and at lower temperatures than other previously considered minerals, like hematite. This suggests that Mars may have had an environment capable of sustaining liquid water before it transitioned from a wet to a dry environment billions of years ago.
“The fundamental question of why Mars is red has been considered for hundreds if not for thousands of years,” said lead author Adam Valantinas, a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, who started the work as a Ph.D. student at the University of Bern, Switzerland. “From our analysis, we believe ferrihydrite is everywhere in the dust and also probably in the rock formations, as well. We’re not the first to consider ferrihydrite as the reason for why Mars is red, but we can now better test this using observational data and novel laboratory methods to essentially make a Martian dust in the lab.”
Laboratory sample showing simulated Martian dust. The ochre color is characteristic of iron-rich ferrihydrite, a mineral that provides crucial insights into ancient water activity and environmental conditions on Mars. The fine-powder mixture consists of ferrihydrite and ground basalt with particles less than one micrometer in size (1/100th diameter of a human hair) (Sample scale: 1 inch across).Adam Valantinas “These new findings point to a potentially habitable past for Mars and highlight the value of coordinated research between NASA and its international partners when exploring fundamental questions about our solar system and the future of space exploration,” said Geronimo Villanueva, the Associate Director for Strategic Science of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-author of this study.
The researchers analyzed data from multiple Mars missions, combining orbital observations from instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter with ground-level measurements from NASA rovers like Curiosity, Pathfinder, and Opportunity. Instruments on the orbiters and rovers provided detailed spectral data of the planet’s dusty surface. These findings were then compared to laboratory experiments, where the team tested how light interacts with ferrihydrite particles and other minerals under simulated Martian conditions.
“What we want to understand is the ancient Martian climate, the chemical processes on Mars — not only ancient — but also present,” said Valantinas. “Then there’s the habitability question: Was there ever life? To understand that, you need to understand the conditions that were present during the time of this mineral’s formation. What we know from this study is the evidence points to ferrihydrite forming and for that to happen there must have been conditions where oxygen from air or other sources and water can react with iron. Those conditions were very different from today’s dry, cold environment. As Martian winds spread this dust everywhere, it created the planet’s iconic red appearance.”
Whether the team’s proposed formation model is correct could be definitively tested after samples from Mars are delivered to Earth for analysis.
“The study really is a door-opening opportunity,” said Jack Mustard of Brown University, a senior author on the study. “It gives us a better chance to apply principles of mineral formation and conditions to tap back in time. What’s even more important though is the return of the samples from Mars that are being collected right now by the Perseverance rover. When we get those back, we can actually check and see if this is right.”
Part of the spectral measurements were performed at NASA’s Reflectance Experiment Laboratory (RELAB) at Brown University. RELAB is supported by NASA’s Planetary Science Enabling Facilities program, part of the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
By William Steigerwald
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
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Last Updated Feb 24, 2025 EditorWilliam SteigerwaldContactLonnie Shekhtmanlonnie.shekhtman@nasa.govLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress spacecraft pictured on Aug. 13, 2024, from the International Space Station.Credit: NASA NASA will provide live launch and docking coverage of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft delivering approximately three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station.
The unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 91 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 4:24 p.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 27 (2:24 a.m. Baikonur time, Friday, Feb. 28), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Live launch coverage will begin at 4 p.m. on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
After a two-day in-orbit journey to the station, the spacecraft will dock autonomously to the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 6:03 p.m. Saturday, March 1. NASA’s rendezvous and docking coverage will begin at 5:15 p.m. on NASA+.
The Progress 91 spacecraft will remain docked to the space station for approximately six months before departing for re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere to dispose of trash loaded by the crew.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars.
Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about the International Space Station, its research, and its crew, at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 24, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
International Space Station (ISS) Humans in Space ISS Research Johnson Space Center Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Project F.I.R.E. team, part of Falcon Research Labs and current students at Cerritos Community College in California, is researching the use of drones to extinguish fires as part of a NASA research award called the University Student Research Challenge. From left, Logan Stahl, Juan Villa, Angel Ortega, Larisa Mayoral, Jenny Escobar, and Paola Mayoral-Jimenez.Falcon Research Labs Great ideas, and the talent and passion that bring them to life, can be found anywhere.
In that spirit, NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC) in 2024 selected its first group of community college students to contribute original research to the agency’s transformative vision for 21st century aviation.
The student-led group, from Cerritos Community College in California, is researching a new method of safely extinguishing wildfires using eco-friendly pellets dropped from uncrewed drones they call Project F.I.R.E. (Fire Intervention Retardant Expeller).
“Wildfires are a major problem we’re facing today,” said Angel Ortega, project technical director and lead research engineer for Project F.I.R.E. at Cerritos Community College. “The goal of our research is to demonstrate that our prototype drone with biodegradable fire retardant can successfully put out a controlled fire.”
A Community College First
Until now, USRC has only selected participants from traditional four-year institutions, compared to a two-year community college. This award exemplifies the activity’s goal of giving all of tomorrow’s aeronautical innovators a shot at NASA support for their research ideas.
“The University Innovation (UI) project provides a number of different avenues for students to contribute to aeronautics,” said Steven Holz, who manages the USRC award process. “All of the opportunities are different and help build knowledge and skills that would be advantageous to those wanting to continue working on UI opportunities or within NASA.”
This award is one of two from NASA’s USRC selected in 2024. The team received the USRC award prior to the devastating Los Angeles fires of January 2025.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” members of the team said in a statement. “As a team, we are deeply committed to advancing innovative solutions to enhance safety and resilience, working toward a future where communities are better protected against such disasters.”
Innovating a Solution
The six team members of Project F.I.R.E. are driven by an ethic of public service. As fires continue to affect communities in their native southern California, they are applying their skills to finding a way to help.
“We want to get the public inspired that there are possible solutions at hand,” Ortega said. “And the work we’re doing now can hopefully build towards that bigger goal of a widespread solution.”
The research they are pursuing involves dropping biodegradable pellets into fires from uncrewed, autonomous drones. The pellets, upon reaching the ground, combine chemical ingredients which create a foamlike solution of fire retardant that will not contaminate the environment after the fire is extinguished.
Project F.I.R.E.’s innovative idea for fire suppression involves releasing eco-friendly foam pellets from uncrewed drones.Falcon Research Labs The team is keen to support firefighters and wildland fire managers and keep them safe while managing these natural disasters. The group has met with firefighters, discussed the idea with them, and received useful feedback on how to make the technology work best in the field.
Though the group is only at the outset of the research, their idea has existed for longer.
Blue Skies Forever
Prior to applying for a USRC, Project F.I.R.E. also presented at NASA’s 2024 Gateway to Blue Skies competition, in which they won the “Future Game-Changer” award.
Through Gateway to Blue Skies, NASA challenges college students to research climate-friendly technologies and applications related to the future of aviation and present them at an annual forum.
Following Project F.I.R.E.’s participation in the forum, they applied for a USRC grant to begin turning their vision into reality.
“Our experience with NASA has been incredibly supportive and inspiring,” said Logan Stahl, the project’s operations director. “We thought competing against some of the other schools would be intimidating, but the experience we’ve had is the complete opposite. Everyone was very welcoming, and the NASA representatives communicated with us and asked questions.”
The USRC support will allow the team to build on their earlier foundations, they said.
“Because Gateway to Blue Skies is more conceptual, it let us bring our idea to the table. Now through USRC, we can start building hands-on and make our idea come to life,” said Larisa Mayoral, chemical engineer and laboratory operations manager.
The Project F.I.R.E. team receives their “Future Game-Changer” award during the 2024 Gateway to Blue Skies forum held at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.NASA / Brandon Torres The team expressed gratitude, speaking as community college students, for their ability to participate in and contribute research at a level that competes with top-brass universities.
“We’re very appreciative of our college and NASA providing us this opportunity,” said Paola Mayoral Jimenez, laboratory coordinator and safety manager. “By doing this project, we hope to shine a light on community colleges, their students, and what they have to offer.”
Complete details on USRC awardees and solicitations, such as what to include in a proposal and how to submit it, are available on the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate solicitation page.
About the Author
John Gould
Aeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
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Last Updated Feb 23, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactAngela Surgenorangela.d.surgenor@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, which will detect and observe asteroids and comets that could potentially pose an impact threat to Earth.
The firm fixed price launch service task order is being awarded under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity NASA Launch Services II contract. The total cost to NASA for the launch service is approximately $100 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The NEO Surveyor mission is targeted to launch no earlier than September 2027 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.
The NEO Surveyor mission consists of a single scientific instrument: an almost 20-inch (50-centimeter) diameter telescope that will operate in two heat-sensing infrared wavelengths. It will be capable of detecting both bright and dark asteroids, the latter being the most difficult type to find with existing assets. The space telescope is designed to help advance NASA’s planetary defense efforts to discover and characterize most of the potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. These are collectively known as near-Earth objects, or NEOs.
The mission will carry out a five-year baseline survey to find at least two-thirds of the unknown NEOs larger than 140 meters (460 feet). These are the objects large enough to cause major regional damage in the event of an Earth impact. By using two heat-sensitive infrared imaging channels, the telescope can also make more accurate measurements of the sizes of NEOs and gain information about their composition, shapes, rotational states, and orbits.
The mission is tasked by NASA’s Planetary Science Division within the agency’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Program oversight is provided by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which was established in 2016 to manage the agency’s ongoing efforts in planetary defense. NASA’s Planetary Missions Program Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, provides program management for NEO Surveyor. The project is being developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Multiple aerospace and engineering companies are contracted to build the spacecraft and its instrumentation, including BAE Systems SMS (Space & Mission Systems), Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will support operations, and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, is responsible for processing survey data and producing the mission’s data products. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Mission team leadership includes the University of California, Los Angeles. NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for managing the launch service.
For more information about NEO Surveyor, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/
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Tiernan Doyle / Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600 / 202-358-1100
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Patti Bielling
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-7575
patricia.a.bielling@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 21, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Office Launch Services Program NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope) Planetary Defense Coordination Office Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
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