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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Diana Oglesby’s love for NASA began long before she started working for the agency. A native of Decatur, Texas, Oglesby knew at the age of eight that she would make NASA her future destination. That dream became a reality when Oglesby joined the agency, first as an intern and later as a NASA full-time employee, marking the beginning of a career that would span over two decades.
From left, Richard Jones, CCP (Commercial Crew Program) deputy program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; Steve Stich, program manager for CCP; Dana Hutcherson, CCP deputy program manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida; and Diana Oglesby, director, Strategic Integration and Management Division, Space Operations Mission Directorate, pose with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission flag near the countdown clock at the NASA News Center at the Kennedy on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.NASA/Cory S Huston Oglesby currently serves as director of the Strategic Integration and Management Division within NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The division plays a key role in ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of space operations, providing essential business support such as programmatic integration, strategic planning, information technology and cybersecurity leadership, stakeholder outreach, and administrative services.
Before her current role, Oglesby led the business management function for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She had a front-row seat to history during NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission, which successfully launched astronauts to the International Space Station in the first commercially built and operated American rocket and spacecraft, marking a significant milestone in NASA’s space exploration efforts.
“It was an honor of a lifetime,” she says, reflecting on her role in this historic achievement.
Oglesby’s ability to foster teamwork and genuine care for others has been a hallmark of her career, whether serving in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program or now guiding the Strategic Integration and Management Division.
While reflecting on her new role as division director, Oglesby is most excited about the people. As someone who thrives on diverse activities and complex challenges, she looks forward to the strategic aspects of her role and the opportunity to lead a dynamic team helping to shape NASA’s future.
The future is bright. We are actively building the future now with each choice as part of the agency's strategic planning and transition from current International Space Station operations to the new commercial low Earth orbit destinations.
Diana Oglesby
Director, Strategic Integration and Management Division, Space Operations Mission Directorate
“The future is bright,” said Oglesby. “We are actively building the future now with each choice as part of the agency’s strategic planning and transition from current International Space Station operations to the new commercial low Earth orbit destinations.”
While Oglesby is deeply committed to her work, she also believes in “work-life harmony” rather than a work-life balance, by giving her attention to the sphere of life she is currently in at that moment in time. She remains ever focused on harmonizing between her NASA duties and her life outside of work, including her three children. Oglesby enjoys spending time with her family, baking, crafting, and participating in her local church and various causes to support community needs.
Known for her positive energy, passion, and innovation, Oglesby always seeks ways to improve systems and make a difference in whatever project she is tackling. Her attention to detail and problem-solving approach makes her an invaluable leader at NASA.
NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate maintains a continuous human presence in space for the benefit of people on Earth. The programs within the directorate are the heart of NASA’s space exploration efforts, enabling Artemis, commercial space, science, and other agency missions through communication, launch services, research capabilities, and crew support.
To learn more about NASA’s Space Operation Mission Directorate, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/space-operations
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Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Note: The following article is part of a series highlighting propulsion testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. To access the entire series, please visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/propulsion-powering-space-dreams/.
Workers making way for NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, likely did not realize they were building something that would not only withstand the test of time but transcend it.
Mosquitoes, snakes, hurricanes, and intense south Mississippi heat – early crews faced all with a spirit of resilience and adaptability that remains a hallmark characteristic of NASA Stennis six decades later.
“From going to the Moon for the first time and now returning to the Moon, you can trace a straight line of propulsion testing at NASA Stennis,” said Maury Vander, chief of the NASA Stennis Test Operations Division. “We still stand on the front lines of support for this country’s space program.”
For five decades and counting, the versatile NASA Stennis test stands have been used for stage, engine, and component testing on multiple NASA and commercial projects.
A Sept. 25, 2012, aerial image shows the three propulsion test areas at NASA’s Stennis Space Center – the E Test Complex (with 12 active test cell positions capable of component, engine, and stage test activities) in the foreground, the A Test Complex (featuring the Fred Haise, A-2, and A-3 stands for large engine testing) in the middle, and the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) that can support both engine and stage testing in the background.NASA/Stennis The Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand), pictured on Oct. 6, 2020, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, tests RS-25 flight engines to help power NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System). NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Stennis An image shows the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center – then-Mississippi Test Facility – on April 17, 1966. Less than a week later, south Mississippi would be fully ushered into the Apollo era with the site’s first-ever hot fire test. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Stennis An image shows the A-3 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on March 29, 2013. The test stand area now is under lease to Rocket Lab for commercial operations. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Stennis An image shows the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Dec. 31, 2014, during buildout for testing the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Feb. 22, 2017, following core stage buildout of the test stand for future SLS (Space Launch System) testing. NASA/Stennis Three NASA Stennis stands – Fred Haise (formerly the A-1 Test Stand), A-2, and Thad Cochran (B-1/B-2) – date to the 1960s, when they were built to test Saturn V rocket stages for Apollo missions to the Moon. The Fred Haise and A-2 stand were single-position stands for testing one Saturn V second stage at a time. The Thad Cochran featured two positions – (B-1 and B-2) – that could each house a Saturn V first stage, although only the B-2 position was used during Apollo testing.
When the Apollo Program ended, the Fred Haise, A-2, and Thad Cochran (B-1) stands were modified to test single engines rather than rocket stages. All three were used in subsequent years to test space shuttle main engines and others.
Meanwhile, the Thad Cochran (B-2) stand was maintained for full stage testing. The space shuttle Main Propulsion Test Article was tested on the stand, as was the Common Core Booster for the Delta IV rocket. Most recently, the stand was used to test the first SLS (Space Launch System) stage that helped launch the Artemis I mission in 2022.
In 2024, the Fred Haise Test Stand is dedicated to RS-25 engine testing for NASA’s Artemis initiative. Every RS-25 engine that will help launch an SLS rocket during Artemis will be tested on the stand. The A-2 stand has been leased to Relativity Space, which is modifying it to support stage testing for its new rocket. In 2023, the Thad Cochran (B-1) stand concluded more than 20 years of RS-68 testing for Aerojet Rocketdyne (now known as L3Harris) and now is open for commercial use. The Thad Cochran (B-2) stand is being prepared to test NASA’s new SLS exploration upper stage before it flies on a future Artemis mission.
“When you think about the work at NASA Stennis, this is a place that helps write history,” Vander said. “And in a sense, these test stands are timeless, still operating as designed 60 years after they were built, so there is more history yet to come.”
NASA Stennis also constructed a fourth large test structure in the 2010s. The A-3 Test Stand is uniquely designed to simulate high altitudes up to 100,000 feet for testing engines and stages that need to fire in space. Rocket Lab currently leases the A-3 Test Stand area for construction of its Archimedes Test Complex.
Crews deliver the first RS-25 flight engine, engine No. 2059, to the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Nov. 4, 2015. The engine was tested to certify it for use on NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. NASA/Stennis An image shows a space shuttle main engine test on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on July 21, 2003. NASA/Stennis The A-3 Test Stand, designed to test fire next-generation engines at simulated altitudes up to 100,000 feet, undergoes an activation test on Feb. 24, 2014.NASA/Stennis NASA Stennis also operates a smaller test area to conduct component, subsystem, and system level testing. The area is now known as the E Test Complex and features four facilities, all developed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
Construction of the E-1 Test Stand, then known as the Component Test Facility, began to support a joint project involving NASA and the U.S. Air Force project. Although the project was canceled, a second joint endeavor allowed completion of the test facility.
Development of the E-2 Test Stand, originally known as the High Heat Flux Facility, began to support the National Aerospace Plane project. Following cancelation of the project, the facility was completed to support testing for component and engine development efforts.
An E-3 Test Facility was constructed to support various component and small/subscale engine and booster test projects. Relativity Space leased a partially developed E-4 test area in 2018 and has since completed construction to support its commercial testing.
All in all, the E Test Complex stands feature 12 active cells capable of various component and engine testing. The versatility of the complex infrastructure and test team allows it to support test projects for a range of commercial aerospace companies, large and small. Currently, both E-2 cells 1 and 2 are leased to Relativity Space through 2028.
An aerial image shows the E-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the E-3 test area at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the E-2 Test Stand (Cell 1) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis “These facilities really do not exist anywhere else in the United States,” said Kevin Power, assistant director, Office of Project Management in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. “Customers come to us with requirements for certain tests of an article, and we look at what is the best place to test it based on the facility infrastructure. We have completed component level testing, all the way up to full engines.”
The list of companies who have conducted – or are now conducting – propulsion projects in the E Test Complex reads like a who’s who of commercial aerospace leaders.
“The E Complex illustrates the NASA Stennis story,” Power said. “We have very valuable infrastructure and resources, chief of which is the test team, who adapt to benefit NASA and meet the needs of the growing commercial aerospace industry.”
For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
Stennis Space Center – NASA
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Last Updated Nov 13, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
A new European Space Agency-backed study shows that the extreme heatwaves of 2023, which fuelled huge wildfires and severe droughts, also undermined the land’s capacity to soak up atmospheric carbon. This diminished carbon uptake drove atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to new highs, intensifying concerns about accelerating climate change.
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By European Space Agency
Space startups and SMEs can meet ESA’s SME Office at Space Tech Expo, a space technology trade fair and conference in Bremen, Germany from 19–21 November.
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By NASA
Twelve-year-old, Aadya Karthik of Seattle, Washington; nine-year-old, Rainie Lin of Lexington, Kentucky; and eighteen-year-old, Thomas Lui, winners of the 2023-2024 Power to Explore Student Writing Challenge observe testing at a NASA Glenn cleanroom during their prize trip to Cleveland. Credit: NASA NASA’s fourth annual Power to Explore Student Challenge kicked off November 7, 2024. The science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) writing challenge invites kindergarten through 12th grade students in the United States to learn about radioisotope power systems, a type of nuclear battery integral to many of NASA’s far-reaching space missions.
Students are invited to write an essay about a new nuclear-powered mission to any moon in the solar system they choose. Submissions are due Jan. 31, 2025.
With freezing temperatures, long nights, and deep craters that never see sunlight on many of these moons, including our own, missions to them could use a special kind of power: radioisotope power systems. These power systems have helped NASA explore the harshest, darkest, and dustiest parts of our solar system and enabled spacecraft to study its many moons.
“Sending spacecraft into space is hard, and it’s even harder sending them to the extreme environments surrounding the diverse moons in our solar system,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s Power to Explore Student Challenge provides the incredible opportunity for our next generation – our future explorers – to design their own daring missions using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to explore space and discover new science for the benefit of all, while also revealing incredible creative power within themselves. We cannot wait to see what the students dream up!”
Entries should detail where students would go, what they would explore, and how they would use radioisotope power systems to achieve mission success in a dusty, dark, or far away moon destination.
Judges will review entries in three grade-level categories: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Student entries are limited to 275 words and should address the mission destination, mission goals, and describe one of the student’s unique powers that will help the mission.
One grand prize winner from each grade category will receive a trip for two to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to learn about the people and technologies that enable NASA missions. Every student who submits an entry will receive a digital certificate and an invitation to a virtual event with NASA experts where they’ll learn about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and explore.
Judges Needed
NASA and Future Engineers are seeking volunteers to help judge the thousands of contest entries anticipated submitted from around the country. Interested U.S. residents older than 18 can offer to volunteer approximately three hours to review submissions should register to judge at the Future Engineers website.
The Power to Explore Student Challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office and managed and administered by Future Engineers under the direction of the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
To learn more about the challenge, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/power-to-explore
-end-
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Kristin Jansen
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-296-2203
kristin.m.jansen@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 07, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Opportunities For Students to Get Involved Science Mission Directorate STEM Engagement at NASA View the full article
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