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By NASA
The commercial aviation industry is a crucial component of the U.S. economy, playing a vital role in transporting people, intermediate/final goods, and driving demand for various goods and services nationwide. This network enhances the quality of life for the whole country and facilitates business interactions within and globally, boosting productivity and prosperity. However, the industry faces numerous challenges, particularly the need to reduce rising operational costs in a growing market to accommodate increased demand in air travel, e-commerce, and cargo sectors. Issues such as aging aircraft and components, technological advancements, and staffing shortages further complicate these challenges, hindering efforts to balance passenger safety with operational efficiency. To address these challenges, the industry needs to swiftly innovate and implement more efficient and resilient aircraft maintenance practices, including the adoption of new technologies. In the 2026 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition, teams will conceptualize novel aviation maintenance advancements that can be implemented by 2035 or sooner with the goal of improving efficiency, safety, and/or costs for the industry. Teams are encouraged to consider high-potential technologies and systems that aren’t currently mainstream or highly regarded as becoming mainstream in the future, imagining beyond the status quo.
Award: $72,000 in total prizes
Open Date: Phase 1 – September 18, 2025; Phase 2 – March 13, 2026
Close Date: Phase 1 – February 16, 2026; Phase 2- May 15, 2026
For more information, visit: https://blueskies.nianet.org/competition/
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By Space Force
The stand-up synchronizes acquisition efforts for critical space system capabilities and works together with STARCOM Space Deltas to improve mission readiness.
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By NASA
NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket poised to send four astronauts from Earth on a journey around the Moon next year may appear identical to the Artemis I SLS rocket. On closer inspection, though, engineers have upgraded the agency’s Moon rocket inside and out to improve performance, reliability, and safety.
SLS flew a picture perfect first mission on the Artemis I test flight, meeting or exceeding parameters for performance, attitude control, and structural stability to an accuracy of tenths or hundredths of a percent as it sent an uncrewed Orion thousands of miles beyond the Moon. It also returned volumes of invaluable flight data for SLS engineers to analyze to drive improvements.
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems integrate the SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket with the solid rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in March 2025. Artemis II is the first crewed test flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.NASA/Frank Michaux For Artemis II, the major sections of SLS remain unchanged – a central core stage, four RS-25 main engines, two five-segment solid rocket boosters, the ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage), a launch vehicle stage adapter to hold the ICPS, and an Orion stage adapter connecting SLS to the Orion spacecraft. The difference is in the details.
“While we’re proud of our Artemis I performance, which validated our overall design, we’ve looked at how SLS can give our crews a better ride,” said John Honeycutt, NASA’s SLS Program manager. “Some of our changes respond to specific Artemis II mission requirements while others reflect ongoing analysis and testing, as well as lessons learned from Artemis I.”
Engineers have outfitted the ICPS with optical targets that will serve as visual cues to the astronauts aboard Orion as they manually pilot Orion around the upper stage and practice maneuvers to inform docking operations for Artemis III.
The Artemis II rocket includes an improved navigation system compared to Artemis I. Its communications capability also has been improved by repositioning antennas on the rocket to ensure continuous communications with NASA ground stations and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45 which controls launches along the Eastern Range.
An emergency detection system on the ICPS allows the rocket to sense and respond to problems and notify the crew. The flight safety system adds a time delay to the self-destruct system to allow time for Orion’s escape system to pull the capsule to safety in event of an abort.
The separation motors that push the solid rocket booster away after the elements are no longer needed were angled an additional 15 degrees to increase separation clearance as the rest of the rocket speeds by.
Additionally, SLS will jettison the spent boosters four seconds earlier during Artemis II ascent than occurred during Artemis I. Dropping the boosters several seconds closer to the end of their burn will give engineers flight data to correlate with projections that shedding the boosters several seconds sooner will yield approximately 1,600 pounds of payload to Earth orbit for future SLS flights.
Engineers have incorporated additional improvements based on lessons learned from Artemis I. During the Artemis I test flight the SLS rocket experienced higher-than-expected vibrations near the solid rocket booster attachment points that was caused by unsteady airflow.
To steady the airflow, a pair of six-foot-long strakes flanking each booster’s forward connection points on the SLS intertank will smooth vibrations induced by airflow during ascent, and the rocket’s electronics system was requalified to endure higher levels of vibrations.
Engineers updated the core stage power distribution control unit, mounted in the intertank, which controls power to the rocket’s other electronics and protects against electrical hazards.
These improvements have led to an enhanced rocket to support crew as part of NASA’s Golden Age of innovation and exploration.
The approximately 10-day Artemis II test flight is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign. It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions on the Moon’s surface that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts – Americans – to Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
News Media Contact
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.631.9126
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactJonathan DealLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis Artemis 2 Exploration Ground Systems Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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By NASA
Patricia White is a contracting officer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where she contributes to NASA’s Artemis program that will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars. NASA/Danny Nowlin When NASA’s Artemis II mission launches in 2026, it will inspire the world through discovery in a new Golden Age of innovation and exploration.
It will be another inspiring NASA moment Patricia White can add to her growing list.
White supports the Artemis program to send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars as a contracting officer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
White takes special pride in the test operations contract she helped draft. The contract provides support to the Fred Haise Test Stand, which tests the RS-25 engines that will help power NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Artemis missions.
“I was awestruck the first time I witnessed an engine test,” White said. “I remember how small I felt in comparison to this big and fascinating world, and I wondered what that engine would see that I would never be able to see.”
Four RS-25 engines tested at NASA Stennis will help launch Artemis II with four astronauts to venture around the Moon. As the first crewed Artemis mission, it will represent another milestone for the nation’s human space exploration effort.
From Interstate Signs to NASA Career
White describes NASA Stennis as a hidden gem. Growing up in nearby Slidell, Louisiana, she had driven by the interstate signs pointing toward NASA Stennis her entire life.
When she heard about a job opportunity at the center, she immediately applied. Initially hired as a contractor with only a high school diploma in February 2008, White found her motivation among NASA’s ranks.
“I work with very inspiring people, and it only took one person to say, ‘You should go to college’ to give me the courage to go so late in life,” she said.
Hard But Worth It
White began college classes in her 40s and finished at 50. She balanced a marriage, full-time job, academic studies, and household responsibilities. When she started her educational journey, her children were either toddlers or newborns. They were growing up as she stayed in school for nine years while meeting life’s challenges.
“It was hard, but it was so worth it,” she said. “I love my job and what I do, and even though it is crazy busy, I look forward to working at NASA every single day.”
She joined NASA officially in 2013, going from contractor to civil servant.
Setting an Example
White’s proudest work moment came when she brought home the NASA Early Career Achievement award and medal. It served as a tangible symbol of her success she could share with her family.
“It was a long road from being hired as an intern, and we all made extraordinary sacrifices,” she said. “I wanted to share it with them and set a good example for my children.”
As Artemis II prepares to carry humans back to lunar orbit for the first time in over 50 years, White takes pride knowing her work helps power humanity’s return to deep space exploration. Her work is proof that sometimes the most important journeys begin right in one’s own backyard.
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By NASA
Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida participate in the first joint integrated launch countdown simulation for Artemis I inside Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center on July 8, 2021. Seen at the top of the room is Charlie Blackwell-Thompson (right), launch director.Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky As four astronauts venture around the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II test flight in 2026, many people will support the journey from here on Earth. Teams directing operations from the ground include the mission management team, launch control team, flight control team, and the landing and recovery team, each with additional support personnel who are experts in every individual system and subsystem. The teams have managed every aspect of the test flight and ensure NASA is prepared to send humans beyond our atmosphere and into a new Golden Age of innovation and exploration.
Mission management team
Reviews of mission status and risk assessments are conducted by the mission management team, a group of 15 core members and additional advisors. Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, will serve as the mission management team chair for the test flight.
Two days prior to launch, the mission management team will assemble to review mission risks and address any lingering preflight concerns. With more than 20 years of human spaceflight experience, Kshatriya will conduct polls at key decision points, providing direction for the relevant operations team. If circumstances during the flight go beyond established decision criteria or flight rules outlined ahead of the mission, the team will assess the situation based on the information available and decide how to respond.
Matt Ramsey, serving as the Artemis II mission manager, will oversee all elements of mission preparedness prior to the mission management team assembly two days before launch and serve as deputy mission management team chair throughout the mission. With more than two decades of experience at NASA, Ramsey managed the SLS (Space Launch System) Engineering Support Center for Artemis I.
Launch control team
The launch control team coordinates launch operations from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Charlie Blackwell-Thompson serves as the agency’s Artemis launch director, responsible for integrating and coordinating launch operations for the SLS, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems Programs, including developing and implementing plans for countdown, troubleshooting, and timing.
Two days before liftoff, when the countdown for launch begins, Blackwell-Thompson’s team will begin preparations for launch from their console positions in Firing Room 1 in Kennedy’s Launch Control Center. On the day of launch, Blackwell-Thompson and her team will manage countdown progress, propellent loading, and launch commit criteria. The criteria include standards for systems involved in launch, and the team will monitor the rocket until it lifts off from the launchpad.
Rick Henfling, flight director, monitors systems in the Flight Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Credit: NASA Flight control team
From solid rocket booster ignition until the crew is safety extracted from the Orion capsule following splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at the end of their mission, the flight control team oversees operations from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Multiple flight directors will take turns leading the team throughout the 10-day mission to support operations around the clock. Jeff Radigan, bringing more than 20 years of International Space Station experience to Artemis II, will serve as lead flight director for the mission. The work for this role begins well in advance of the mission with building mission timelines; developing flight rules and procedures; leading the flight control team through simulations that prepare them for the flight test; and then helping them carry out the plan.
On launch day, the ascent flight control team will be led by Judd Frieling, an Artemis I flight director who also supported more than 20 shuttle missions as a flight controller. Frieling is responsible for overseeing the crew’s ascent to space, including performance of SLS core stage engines, solid rocket boosters, and propulsion systems from the moment of launch until the separation of Orion from the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. As Orion is propelled toward the Moon, guidance of operations will pass to the next flight director.
At the opposite end of the mission, Rick Henfling will take the lead for Orion’s return to Earth and splashdown. Orion will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 25,000 mph to about 20 mph for a parachute-assisted splashdown. Drawing from a background supporting space shuttle ascent, entry, and abort operations and 10 years as a space station flight director, Henfling and the team will monitor weather forecasts for landing, watch over Orion’s systems through the dynamic entry phase, and to ensure the spacecraft is safely shutdown before handing over operations to the recovery team.
At any point during the mission, a single voice will speak to the crew in space on behalf of all members of the flight control team: the capsule communicator, or CapCom. The CapCom ensures the crew in space receives clear and concise communication from the teams supporting them on the ground. NASA astronaut Stan Love will serve as the lead CapCom for Artemis II. Love flew aboard STS-122 mission and has acted as CapCom for more than a dozen space station expeditions. He is also part of the astronaut office’s Rapid Prototyping Lab, which played a key role in development of Orion’s displays and controls.
Landing, recovery team
Retrieval of the crew and Orion crew module will be in the hands of the landing and recovery team, led by Lili Villarreal. The team will depart San Diego on a Department of Defense ship, and head to the vicinity of the landing site several days before splashdown for final preparations alongside the U.S. Navy and DOD.
The recovery team is made up of personnel operating from the ship, land, and air to recover both astronauts and the capsule. Decision-making authority during the recovery phase of mission operations belongs to Villarreal, who served as deputy flow director for Artemis I and worked in the operations division for the space station.
The success of Artemis II will pave the way for the next phase of the agency’s campaign, landing on the lunar South Pole region on Artemis III. These teams, along with the four crew members and countless NASA engineers, scientists, and personnel, are driving humanity’s exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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