Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
News Chief Rob Garner shares NASA Goddard’s story with the public, supporting writers and creators in the Office of Communications.
Name: Rob Garner
Title: News Chief
Formal Job Classification: Senior public affairs specialist
Organization: Office of Communications (Code 130)
Rob Garner has worked in the Office of Communications at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., since 2007.NASA/Jamie Adkins What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
I am responsible for helping take the great work going on at our center and sharing it with as many people as we can. My job is sort of like being an editor in chief. I try to set the tone for our storytelling and manage our publication schedule. Mostly I try to give our writers and other communicators the support they need to do their jobs — and then I try to get out of their way so they can do what they do best.
What is your educational background?
I have a B.A. in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a minor in astronomy, as well as a Master of Library Science degree focusing on archives, also from UMD.
Why did you want to be a journalist?
I sort of fell into the work that I am doing. In high school, I thought I would be a band director. I realized very quickly after high school that my enthusiasm for music did not align with my proficiency in it. Music remains an important hobby, but I needed to make a living doing something else.
I did not really enjoy writing until I got to college and had the opportunity to experience journalism. Tight writing, going straight to the source to get answers, accurate researching, it all appealed to me. I think journalism as a profession plays a critical role in ensuring an informed and functional society.
How did you come to work for Goddard?
After I graduated college, I worked weekends for a few months on the digital desk at WTOP radio, editing copy and updating their website. I was still looking for a fulltime gig, and I happened upon a newspaper classified for a position at Goddard. It called for a little bit of newswriting, a little bit of web editing, a little bit of science. Until that moment, I never imagined NASA could have a place for someone like me.
Goddard offered me a one-year fellowship in the Office of Communication (back then called Public Affairs) to do website editing for our Earth science team. The fellowship was renewed a few times, and eventually I became a general web editor, then also a social media editor, and eventually leader of the digital media team. In 2022, I became the news chief.
As news chief, what is your vision?
I take very seriously the part of NASA’s 1958 charter that charges the agency not just with conducting cutting-edge research, but also with sharing our work with the broadest possible audience. We must also drive home why what we do matters. The first thing I look for when reviewing copy is how well the piece addresses the “why.”
What makes a good science communicator?
Goddard has some 10,000 people, mostly researchers and engineers. Here, a successful science communicator is one who develops relationships among these different people and a deep understanding of their many projects. As communicators, we cannot do our jobs if we do not also have the trust of the people actually doing the science.
As a mentor, what is the one big piece of advice you give?
I tell our interns to jump in with both feet. So much of what we do and what we know cannot be found in any handbook or manual. So much of it is the institutional knowledge that each of us carries based on our own experiences.
Grab hold of the people who have the experience and take in as much as you can from them. Immersing in and embracing that Goddard culture is what will set apart a good colleague from a great one.
Everyone in the newsroom here knows that you are quite fond of the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and the NASA Stylebook and Communications Manual. Can you please explain what they and why you are so fond of them?
One can think of AP style as an appendix or addendum to the dictionary, and the NASA style manual as an appendix or addendum to AP. The aim in having all of these mechanics standardized is to make it easier for the reader to read what you are writing. Even if one doesn’t know the rules governing serial comma usage, most of us can tell when what we’re reading is sloppy. Any time you force the reader to pause and review, there is a chance you will lose them. They may tune out and take their attention elsewhere.
These manuals lay out more than the mechanics of which states get abbreviated in what way, when to use semicolons, and when to use em dashes. They also give us guidelines about how to do our jobs, covering things like ethics, chain of command, and conflict resolution.
What do you enjoy best about your job?
My job is not just editing copy, fielding questions from reporters, or escorting groups for tours or documentary filming. I do enjoy all of that, but what I like most is that every day is different, and every day I learn something new. I love the variety of tasks and tactics that we use get our message out to the world. NASA plays a critical role in benefitting all of humanity by broadening our knowledge about the universe and our place in it. It’s personally very meaningful to me to have even a small role in that mission. And I enjoy working with a really great group of people.
You said in high school you thought you would become a band director. Have you kept up with playing?
In my free time, I do still play trumpet. For almost 20 years, I have played in community orchestras that draw repertoire from video game soundtracks. The past 10 years, I’ve been with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra (WMGSO), along with my wife, who plays the violin. This group — well over 100 of us — originated when we were all in college, and we have continued together since then. What makes our group special is that we still do a lot of the orchestration ourselves, meaning that you cannot hear our music anywhere else. We meet once a week and perform three or four times a year throughout the D.C. area. We even have an album out, with another on the way soon.
Can you please tell us about your dog rescue volunteer work?
Since 2018, my wife and I have been involved with a couple area animal rescues. We typically take in newly weaned puppies and keep them for the weeks or months it takes for them to find their forever homes. While they are in our care, we keep them safe, fed, warm, and loved. We also socialize them as much as possible. The organizations take care of finding them homes through weekly adoption events.
My wife and I have three dogs of our own, two of which are rescues from this group. We have fostered hundreds over the years. I lost count somewhere north of 250 — and counting. I think it is important for everyone to find a way to make the world a better place. This is our way of doing that.
Garner and then-Goddard News Chief Ed Campion celebrating the latter’s retirement in 2018. Aloha shirt Fridays were a mainstay of Campion’s tenure.NASA/Bill Hrybyk Who would you like to thank for helping you?
That’s a long list! I’m forever grateful to Goddard’s executive producer, Wade Sisler, who saw something in babyface Rob Garner, nearly fresh out of school, and gave me a chance at a toehold in NASA.
I definitely want to thank Ed Campion, our retired former news chief and “minister of truth,” for all he did for me. When I first got to Goddard in 2007, Ed was one of the first people to take me under his wing and teach me about Goddard and NASA culture. Ed came through the agency during some very hard times, both shuttle accidents, and some very important highs, like the successful Hubble telescope repair missions. He worked at NASA Headquarters in Washington and also at Johnson Space Center in Houston. I learned a lot about how to do this job, and how to treat your teammates, from him.
I also want to thank my wife Katie. She’s challenged me and encouraged me to grow into a better person. Raising a family together has been a wild ride, and it’s only just getting started.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
“Omit needless words. Assume positive intent.”
The first half was the rule hammered into us in journalism school. The second half is the mantra I learned from Michelle Jones, former head of Goddard communications, about treating others with kindness and compassion. Michelle — now the deputy associate administrator for communications at NASA — is another mentor I could never thank enough for helping me get where I am.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
Share
Details
Last Updated Sep 16, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactJamie Adkinsjamie.l.adkins@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
People of Goddard Goddard Space Flight Center People of NASA Explore More
6 min read Childhood Snow Days Transformed Linette Boisvert into a Sea Ice Scientist
Article 7 days ago 7 min read Kyle Helson Finds EXCITE-ment in Exoplanet Exploration
Article 7 days ago 5 min read Zachary Morse Hikes Hilltops, Caves Lava Tubes to Ready Moon Missions
Article 2 weeks ago View the full article
-
By NASA
On Sept. 9, 1994, space shuttle Discovery took to the skies on its 19th trip into space. During their 11-day mission, the STS-64 crew of Commander Richard “Dick” N. Richards, Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, and Mission Specialists Jerry M. Linenger, Susan J. Helms, Carl J. Meade, and Mark C. Lee demonstrated many of the space shuttle’s capabilities. They used a laser instrument to observe the Earth’s atmosphere, deployed and retrieved a science satellite, and used the shuttle’s robotic arm for a variety of tasks, including studying the orbiter itself. During a spacewalk, Lee and Meade tested a new device to rescue astronauts who found themselves detached from the vehicle. Astronauts today use the device routinely for spacewalks from the International Space Station.
Left: The STS-64 crew patch. Middle: Official photo of the STS-64 crew of L. Blaine Hammond, front row left, Richard “Dick” N. Richards, and Susan J. Helms; Mark C. Lee, back row left, Jerry M. Linenger, and Carl J. Meade. Right: The patch for the Lidar In-space Technology Experiment.
In November 1993, NASA announced the five-person all-veteran STS-64 crew. Richards, selected as an astronaut in 1980, had made three previous spaceflights, STS-28, STS-41, and STS-50. Lee, a member of the astronaut class of 1984, had two flights to his credit, STS-30 and STS-47, as did Meade, selected in 1985 and a veteran of STS-38 and STS-50. Each making their second trip into space, Hammond, selected in 1984 had flown on STS-39, and Helms, from the class of 1990 had flown on STS-54. In February 1994, NASA added first time space flyer Linenger to the crew, partly to make him eligible for a flight to Mir. He holds the distinction as the first member of his astronaut class of 1992 to fly in space.
Left: Workers tow Discovery from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Middle: Space shuttle Discovery arrives at Launch Pad 39B, left, with space shuttle Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A. Right: The STS-64 crew exits crew quarters at KSC on their way to the launch.
Discovery returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida following its previous flight, the STS-60 mission, in February 1994. Workers in KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) removed the previous payload and began to service the orbiter. On May 26, workers moved Discovery into the Vehicle Assembly Building for temporary storage to make room in the OPF for Atlantis, just returned from Palmdale, California, where it underwent modifications to enable extended duration flights and dockings with space stations. Discovery returned to the OPF for payload installation in July, and rolled back to the VAB on Aug. 11 for mating with its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Discovery rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on Aug. 19, with its sister ship Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A following the previous day’s launch abort. The six-person crew traveled to KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, essentially a dress rehearsal for the launch countdown, on Aug. 24.
Liftoff of Discovery on the STS-64 mission.
On Sept. 9, 1994, after a more than two-hour delay caused by inclement weather, Discovery thundered into the sky to begin the STS-64 mission. Eight and a half minutes later, the orbiter and its crew reached space, and with a firing of the shuttle’s Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines they entered a 160-mile orbit inclined 57 degrees to the equator, ideal for Earth and atmospheric observations. The crew opened the payload bay doors, deploying the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. They began to convert their vehicle into a science platform.
Left: LIDAR (light detection and ranging) In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) telescope in Discovery’s payload bay. Middle: Schematic of LITE data acquisition. Right: Image created from LITE data of clouds over southeast Asia.
One of the primary payloads on STS-64, the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) In-space Technology Experiment (LITE), mounted in Discovery’s forward payload bay, made the first use of a laser to study Earth’s atmosphere, cloud cover, and airborne dust from space. Lee, with help from Richards and Meade, activated LITE, built at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on the flight’s first day. The experiment operated for 53 hours during the mission, gathering 43 hours of high-rate data shared with 65 groups in 20 countries.
Left: View of the shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System, or robotic arm, holding the 33-foot long Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX). Middle: Closeup view of SPIFEX. Right: A video camera view of Discovery from SPIFEX.
The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), built at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, consisted of a package of instruments positioned on the end of a 33-foot boom, to characterize the behavior of the shuttle’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters. On the flight’s second day, Helms used the shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robotic arm, to pick up SPIFEX. Over the course of the mission, she, Lee, and Hammond took turns operating the arm to obtain 100 test points during various thruster firings. A video camera on SPIFEX returned images of Discovery from several unusual angles.
Left: Astronaut Susan J. Helms lifts the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) out of Discovery’s payload bay prior to its release. Middle: Discovery approaches SPARTAN during the rendezvous. Right: Astronaut Susan J. Helms operating the Shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System prepares to grapple SPARTAN.
On the mission’s fifth day, Helms used the RMS to lift the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) satellite out of the payload bay and released it. Two and a half minutes later, SPARTAN activated itself, and Richards maneuvered Discovery away from the satellite so it could begin its science mission. On flight day seven, Discovery began its rendezvous with SPARTAN, and Hammond flew the shuttle close enough for Helms to grapple it with the arm and place it back in the payload bay. During its two-day free flight, SPARTAN’s two telescopes studied the acceleration and velocity of the solar wind and measured aspects of the Sun’s corona or outer atmosphere.
Left: Patch for the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER). Middle: Astronauts Mark C. Lee, left, and Carl J. Meade during the 15-minute prebreathe prior to their spacewalk. Right: Lee, left, tests the SAFER while Meade works on other tasks in the payload bay.
On flight day seven, in preparation for the following day’s spacewalk, the astronauts lowered the pressure in the shuttle from 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi) to 10.2 psi to reduce the likelihood of the spacewalkers, Lee and Meade, from developing decompression sickness, also known as the bends. As an added measure, the two spent 15 minutes breathing pure oxygen before donning their spacesuits and exiting the shuttle’s airlock.
Left: Astronaut Mark C. Lee tests the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER) during an untethered spacewalk. Middle: Astronaut Carl J. Meade tests the SAFER during an untethered spacewalk. Right: Meade, left, tests the ability of the SAFER to stop his spinning as Lee looks on.
The main tasks of the spacewalk involved testing the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER), a device designed at JSC that attaches to the spacesuit’s Portable Life Support System backpack. The SAFER contains nitrogen jets that an astronaut can use, should he or she become untethered, to fly back to the vehicle, either the space shuttle or the space station. The two put the SAFER through a series of tests, including a familiarization, a system engineering evaluation, a crew rescue evaluation, and a precision flight evaluation. During the tests, Lee and Meade remained untethered from the shuttle, the first untethered spacewalk since STS-51A in November 1984. Lee and Meade successfully completed all the tests and gave the SAFER high marks. Astronauts conducting spacewalks from the space station use the SAFER as a standard safety device. Following the 6-hour 51-minute spacewalk, the astronauts raised the shuttle’s atmosphere back to 14.7 psi.
A selection of STS-64 crew Earth observation photographs. Left: Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. Middle left: Cleveland, Ohio. Middle right: Rabaul Volcano, Papua New Guinea. Right: Banks Peninsula, New Zealand.
Like on all space missions, the STS-64 astronauts spent their spare time looking out the window. They took numerous photographs of the Earth, their high inclination orbit allowing them views of parts of the planet not seen during typical shuttle missions.
Left: The Solid Surface Combustion Experiment middeck payload. Middle: Jerry M. Linenger gets in a workout while also evaluating the treadmill. Right: Inflight photograph of the STS-64 crew.
In addition to their primary tasks, the STS-64 crew also conducted a series of middeck experiments and tested hardware for future use on the space shuttle and space station.
Left: Commander Richard “Dick” Richards suited up for reentry. Middle: Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, left, and Mission Specialists Carl J. Meade and Susan J. Helms prepare for reentry. Right: Hammond fully suited for entry and landing.
Mission managers had extended the original flight duration by one day for additional data collection for the various payloads. On the planned reentry day, Sept. 19, bad weather at KSC forced the crew to spend an additional day in space. The next day, continuing inclement weather caused them to wave off the first two landing attempts at KSC and diverted to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California.
Left: Richard Richards brings Discovery home at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. Middle: Workers at Edwards safe Discovery after its return from STS-64. Right: Discovery takes off from Edwards atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On Sept. 20, they closed Discovery’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats for entry and landing. They fired Discover’s OMS engines to drop them out of orbit. Richards piloted Discovery to a smooth landing at Edwards, ending the 10-day 22-hour 50-minute flight. The crew had orbited the Earth 176 times. Workers at Edwards safed the vehicle and placed it atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight back to KSC. The duo left Edwards on Sept. 26, and after an overnight stop at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, arrived at KSC the next day. Workers there began preparing Discovery for its next flight, the STS-63 Mir rendezvous mission, in February 1995.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-64 mission. Read Richards’ recollections of the mission in his oral history with the JSC History Office.
Explore More
5 min read NASA Tunnel Generates Decades of Icy Aircraft Safety Data
Article 5 days ago 8 min read 40 Years Ago: STS-41D – First Flight of Space Shuttle Discovery
Article 7 days ago 6 min read 235 Years Ago: Herschel Discovers Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
Article 2 weeks ago View the full article
-
By NASA
The four-person crew of the Polaris Dawn mission pictured wearing their SpaceX extravehicular activity suits.Credit: SpaceX NASA researchers will soon benefit from a suite of experiments flying aboard a new fully-commercial human spaceflight mission, strengthening future agency science as we venture to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
The experiments are flying as part of the Polaris Dawn mission which launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket earlier today.
The four-person Polaris Dawn crew of Jared Isaacman, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon will conduct science during the mission including essential health and human performance research for NASA’s Human Research Program. The research will help NASA scientists better understand how exposure to space conditions affects the human body. The crew will test new medical approaches and technology on telemedicine capabilities, gather data on space motion sickness, and better characterize flight-associated injury risks.
“Each mission, whether the crew is comprised of commercial or NASA astronauts, provides a key opportunity to expand our knowledge about how spaceflight affects human health,” said Jancy McPhee, associate chief scientist for human research at NASA. “Information gathered from Polaris Dawn will give us critical insights to help NASA plan for deeper space travel to the Moon and Mars.”
The crew will test drive, a commercial device that can collect and integrate measurements of health, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and temperature. The technology also provides ultrasound imaging and larynx and throat-focused video camera capabilities, and includes an experimental telemedicine feature that could help diagnose crew members in near-real time.
To test this technology during the mission, crew members will compare vital sign collection from the device with data gathered from standard periodic health status exams. The technology’s telemedicine feature, which relies on SpaceX’s Starlink communications system to connect with doctors and specialists on Earth, will also be tested during a simulation. During the test, the device will attempt to offer an appropriate diagnosis based on crew inputs and available documentation.
“Crew members will need to be more self-reliant during lengthy missions, and we hope that telemedicine can provide crews with assistance,” said McPhee.
Another research project aims to better understand and prevent the motion sickness symptoms that many astronauts experience in space. Participating crew members will describe their motion sickness symptoms, what interventions they tried to alleviate their symptoms, and whether any approaches helped.
A separate NASA-based research project will survey crew members after their mission to see whether they experienced any injuries or discomfort during re-entry to Earth.
“Our team will take the crew’s survey data and combine it with information gathered from sensors on the spacecraft. This will allow us to link crews’ reported experiences and health outcomes with the spacecraft’s dynamics and landing loads,” said Preston Greenhalgh, an injury biomechanist at NASA who is leading this work.
Crew members also will participate in a variety of other health studies on behalf of the NASA-funded TRISH (Translational Research Institute for Health), a consortium with various academic institutions. As part of that work, the Polaris Dawn mission will set a new baseline for collecting standard health data on commercial spaceflights, creating a complement to the datasets routinely collected from NASA astronauts and missions.
Polaris Dawn crew members participating in these TRISH studies will provide data about how spaceflight affects mental and physical health through a rigorous set of medical tests and scans completed before, after, and during the mission. The work will include assessments of behavior, sleep, bone density, eye health, cognitive function, and other factors, as well as analysis of blood, urine, and respiration.
“We’re so grateful to the crew members who volunteer to be part of NASA’s work. The insights that we gain from each study may trigger breakthroughs that will help ensure future mission success,” said McPhee.
____
NASA’s Human Research Program pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, and the International Space Station, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research continues to drive NASA’s mission to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Explore More
3 min read NASA Astronaut Don Pettit’s Science of Opportunity on Space Station
Article 6 days ago 3 min read NASA, Boeing Optimizing Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay for Future SLS Stage Production
Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read NASA Seeks Input for Astrobee Free-flying Space Robots
Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Living in Space
Artemis
Human Research Program
Space Station Research and Technology
View the full article
-
-
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.