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15 Years Ago: STS-127 Delivers Japanese External Platform to Space Station

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On July 15, 2009, space shuttle Endeavour began its 23rd trip into space, on the 2JA mission to the International Space Station, the 29th shuttle flight to the orbiting lab. During the 16-day mission, the seven-member STS-127 crew, working with Expedition 20, the first six-person crew aboard the station, completed the primary objectives of the mission. The flight marked the first time 13 people worked about the station at the same time. They added the Exposed Facility (EF) to the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), including its first three payloads, and performed a crew exchange of long-duration crew members. The tasks involved five complex space walks and extensive robotic activities using three different manipulator systems during 11 days of docked operations.

The STS-127 crew patch Official photograph of the STS-127 crew of David A. Wolf, left, Christopher J. Cassidy, Douglas G. Hurley, Julie Payette of Canada, Mark L. Polansky, Thomas H. Marshburn, and Timothy L. Kopra The patch for the 2J/A mission
Left: The STS-127 crew patch. Middle: Official photograph of the STS-127 crew of David A. Wolf, left, Christopher J. Cassidy, Douglas G. Hurley, Julie Payette of Canada, Mark L. Polansky, Thomas H. Marshburn, and Timothy L. Kopra. Right: The patch for the 2J/A mission.

The seven-person STS-127 crew consisted of Commander Mark L. Polansky, Pilot Douglas G. Hurley, and Mission Specialists David A. Wolf, Christopher J. Cassidy, Julie Payette of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Thomas H. Marshburn, and Timothy L. Kopra. Primary objectives of the mission included the addition of the Exposed Facility (EF) to the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and the long-duration crew member exchange of Kopra for Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), who had been aboard the space station since March 2009 as a member of Expeditions 18, 19, and 20.

The STS-127 crew during their preflight press conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston The STS-127 payloads in Endeavour’s cargo bay at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Space shuttle Endeavour on Launch Pad 39A a few days before launch
Left: The STS-127 crew during their preflight press conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Middle: The STS-127 payloads in Endeavour’s cargo bay at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right: Space shuttle Endeavour on Launch Pad 39A a few days before launch.

Endeavour returned from its previous mission, STS-126, on Nov. 28, 2008. It arrived in the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Dec. 13, moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building on April 10, 2009, and rolled out to Launch Pad 39B seven days later to serve as the Launch on Need vehicle for STS-125 in May 2009. When that mission flew without issues, on May 31, workers rolled Endeavour around to Pad 39A to begin preparations for STS-127, planned for launch on June 13. A gaseous hydrogen leak scrubbed this first launch attempt. A similar leak halted the second attempt on June 17 and managers reset the launch date to July 11. Managers scrubbed that launch when 11 lightning strikes struck the launch pad area, requiring a review of Endeavour’s and ground systems. With the seven-member crew aboard Endeavour, weather once again halted the launch attempt on July 12. They tried again the next day, but weather conditions led to a fifth scrubbed launch attempt. The charm came on the sixth try.

Liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on STS-127 carrying the Exposed Facility for the Japanese Kibo module
Liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on STS-127 carrying the Exposed Facility for the Japanese Kibo module.

On July 15, 2009, at 6:03 p.m. EDT, space shuttle Endeavour lifted off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39A to begin its 23rd trip into space, beginning the 2JA mission to the space station. Eight and a half minutes later, Endeavour and its crew had reached orbit. This marked Wolf’s fourth time in space, Polansky’s third, Payette’s second, while Hurley, Cassidy, Marshburn, and Kopra enjoyed their first taste of true weightlessness.

NASA astronauts Timothy L. Kopra, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn enjoy the first few minutes of weightlessness after Endeavour reached orbit On the mission’s second day, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) uses the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to image Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System (TPS) Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette operates the SRMS during the TPS inspection
Left: NASA astronauts Timothy L. Kopra, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn enjoy the first few minutes of weightlessness after Endeavour reached orbit. Middle: On the mission’s second day, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) uses the Orbiter Boom Sensor System to image Endeavour’s Thermal Protection System (TPS). Right: Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette operates the SRMS during the TPS inspection.

After reaching orbit, the crew opened the payload bay doors and deployed the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. The astronauts spent five hours on their second day in space conducting a detailed inspection of Endeavour’s nose cap and wing leading edges, with Payette operating the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or robotic arm, and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS).

NASA astronaut Christopher J. Cassidy uses a laser range finder during Endeavour’s rendezvous with the space station Endeavour as seen from the space station during the rendezvous Close up of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – the astronauts attached the Exposed Facility at the left end of the module
Left: NASA astronaut Christopher J. Cassidy uses a laser range finder during Endeavour’s rendezvous with the space station. Middle: Endeavour as seen from the space station during the rendezvous. Right: Close up of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – the astronauts attached the Exposed Facility at the left end of the module.

On July 17, the 34th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking, Polansky assisted by his crewmates brought Endeavour in for a docking with the space station. During the rendezvous, Polansky stopped the approach at 600 feet and completed the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver so astronauts aboard the station could photograph Endeavour’s underside to look for any damage to the tiles. Shortly after docking, the crews opened the hatches between the two spacecraft and the six-person station crew welcomed the seven-member shuttle crew. Expedition 20 Commander Gennady I. Padalka of Roscosmos stated, “This is a remarkable event for the whole space program.” Polansky responded, “Thirteen is a big number, but we are thrilled to be here.” After exchanging Soyuz seat liners, Kopra joined the Expedition 20 crew and Wakata the STS-127 crew.

Expedition 20, the space station’s first six-person crew and the first, and so far only, time that each of the five space station partners had crew members on board at the same time The first time two Canadians were in space at the same time A medical convention in space – the first time four medical doctors flew in space at the same time
Left: Expedition 20, the space station’s first six-person crew and the first, and so far only, time that each of the five space station partners had crew members on board at the same time. Middle: The first time two Canadians were in space at the same time. Right: A medical convention in space – the first time four medical doctors flew in space at the same time.

STS-127 marked not only the first time that a space shuttle arrived at the station with a six-person crew living aboard, but as it happened, each of the five space station partners had a crew member aboard, a feat not repeated since. The flight also marked the first time that two CSA astronauts worked aboard the space station at the same time. And for the true trivia buffs, the mission marked the first time that four medical doctors worked in space together – an out of this world medical convention!

Transfer of the Exposed Facility from the shuttle to the station Timothy L. Kopra, left, and David A. Wolf work on the station’s truss during the mission’s first spacewalk Douglas G. Hurley, left, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency operate the station’s robotic arm during the first spacewalk
Left: Transfer of the Exposed Facility from the shuttle to the station. Middle: Timothy L. Kopra, left, and David A. Wolf work on the station’s truss during the mission’s first spacewalk. Right: Douglas G. Hurley, left, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency operate the station’s robotic arm during the first spacewalk.

On July 18, the mission’s fourth day, Hurley and Wakata grappled the JEM-EF using the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) or robotic arm, handed it off temporarily to the SRMS operated by Polansky and Payette, moved the station arm into position to grapple it again, and installed it on the end of the Kibo module. Meanwhile, Wolf, with red stripes on his spacesuit, and Kopra, wearing a suit with no stripes, began the mission’s first spacewalk. During the excursion that lasted 5 hours 32 minutes, Wolf and Kopra prepared the JEM for the EF installation and performed other tasks in the shuttle’s payload bay and on the station.

During the second spacewalk, David A. Wolf, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn transfer spare parts to the space station NASA astronaut Douglas G. Hurley, left, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette operate the station’s robotic arm during the second spacewalk
Left: During the second spacewalk, David A. Wolf, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn transfer spare parts to the space station. Right: NASA astronaut Douglas G. Hurley, left, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette operate the station’s robotic arm during the second spacewalk.

The mission’s fifth day involved internal transfers of equipment from the shuttle to the station and the robotic transfer of the Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC) from the payload bay to the station truss. The ICC carried spare parts that the next day Wolf and Marshburn, wearing dashed red stripes on his spacesuit, transferred to a stowage platform on the station’s exterior during the mission’s second spacewalk, lasting 6 hours and 53 minutes.

An Apollo 11 Moon rock brought to the station to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing Nine of the 13 Expedition 20 and STS-127 crew members share a meal, as NASA astronaut Michael R. Barratt holds the Apollo 11 Moon rock Transfer of the Kibo Experiment Logistics Module from the shuttle to the station
Left: An Apollo 11 Moon rock brought to the station to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing. Middle: Nine of the 13 Expedition 20 and STS-127 crew members share a meal, as NASA astronaut Michael R. Barratt holds the Apollo 11 Moon rock. Right: Transfer of the Kibo Experiment Logistics Module from the shuttle to the station.

The second spacewalk took place on July 20, the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. To commemorate the event, NASA selected a Moon rock returned on that mission and flew it to the space station on STS-119 in March 2009. Expedition 20 astronaut Michael Barratt recorded a video message about the Moon rock, played at a 40th anniversary celebration hosted by the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and attended by the Apollo 11 astronauts. The following day, the joint crews continued their work by robotically transferring the JEM Experiment Logistics Module (JEM ELM) and temporarily installing it on the Exposed Facility. Later in the mission, astronauts robotically transferred the three payloads from the ELM to EF.

Christopher J. Cassidy, left, and David A. Wolf during the mission’s third spacewalk Cassidy, left, and Wolf during a battery changeout
Left: Christopher J. Cassidy, left, and David A. Wolf during the mission’s third spacewalk. Right: Cassidy, left, and Wolf during a battery changeout.

Flight Day 8 saw the mission’s third spacewalk, with Wolf making his final excursion, this time accompanied by Cassidy, wearing diagonal red stripes on his suit. Prior to the start of the spacewalk, Hurley and Payette used the station’s arm to relocate the ICC to a different workstation for Wolf and Cassidy to transfer the batteries to the station. As their first task, Wolf and Cassidy prepared the JEM EF for the transfer of the three payload the following day. They managed to transfer two of the four batteries before mission managers decided to shorten the spacewalk due to a slight buildup of carbon dioxide in Cassidy’s suit. The excursion lasted 5 hours and 59 minutes.

Installation of one of the payloads onto the Kibo Exposed Facility (EF) Mark J. Polansky, left, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, one of the three teams that transferred the EF payloads using Kibo’s robotic arm
Left: Installation of one of the payloads onto the Kibo Exposed Facility (EF). Right: Mark J. Polansky, left, and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, one of the three teams that transferred the EF payloads using Kibo’s robotic arm.

On Flight Day 9, Wakata, assisted by Kopra, inaugurated the operational use of the JEM’s robotic arm by transferring the first payload from the ELM to the EF. Three separate two-person teams transferred each of the three payloads.

Christopher J. Cassidy, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn exchange space station batteries during the mission’s fourth spacewalk Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, left, and NASA astronaut Douglas G. Hurley operate the station’s robotic arm during the fourth spacewalk
Left: Christopher J. Cassidy, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn exchange space station batteries during the mission’s fourth spacewalk. Right: Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, left, and NASA astronaut Douglas G. Hurley operate the station’s robotic arm during the fourth spacewalk.

On Flight Day 10, Marshburn and Cassidy transferred the remaining four batteries and completed other tasks during the mission’s fourth spacewalk, lasting 7 hours and 12 minutes. Following the battery transfers, Hurley and Payette used the station’s arm to transfer the ICC to Polansky and Hurley operating the shuttle arm, who then stowed it in Endeavour’s payload bay.

The Seattle-Tacoma area The central Florida coast including NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sicily with Mt. Etna, left, and the “toe” of Italy at right Istanbul straddling Europe, left, and Asia
Left: The Seattle-Tacoma area. Middle left: The central Florida coast including NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Middle right: Sicily with Mt. Etna, left, and the “toe” of Italy at right. Right: Istanbul straddling Europe, left, and Asia.

With Flight Day 11 given as a crew off duty day, many of the astronauts took part in a favorite activity: looking at and photographing the Earth. They also used the time to catch up on other activities.

Return of the empty Exposed Logistics Module to Endeavour’s payload bay Fisheye view of Christopher J. Cassidy, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn in the U.S. Airlock preparing for the mission’s fifth and final spacewalk Marshburn, left, and Cassidy install cameras on the Kibo Exposed Facility during the fifth and final spacewalk
Left: Return of the empty Exposed Logistics Module to Endeavour’s payload bay. Middle: Fisheye view of Christopher J. Cassidy, left, and Thomas H. Marshburn in the U.S. Airlock preparing for the mission’s fifth and final spacewalk. Right: Marshburn, left, and Cassidy install cameras on the Kibo Exposed Facility during the fifth and final spacewalk.

First thing on Flight Day 12, Payette and Polansky returned the now empty ELM to Endeavour’s payload bay, using the station and shuttle robotic arms. The next day, Marshburn and Cassidy teamed up again for the flight’s fifth and final spacewalk. During the 4-hour 54-minute excursion, they installed a pair of cameras on the Kibo module to help guide future H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) cargo spacecraft, the first planned to arrive in September 2009. They also completed a few get ahead tasks. Their excursion brought the total spacewalking time for the mission to 30 hours 30 minutes and marked only the second time that a shuttle mission to the space station completed five spacewalks.

The 13 members of Expedition 20 and STS-127 pose for a final photograph before saying their farewells The crew members exchange farewells, with Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, left, appearing a little reluctant to leave after spending 133 days aboard the space station Photograph of the newly installed Exposed Facility on the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module
Left: The 13 members of Expedition 20 and STS-127 pose for a final photograph before saying their farewells. Middle: The crew members exchange farewells, with Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, left, appearing a little reluctant to leave after spending 133 days aboard the space station. Right: Photograph of the newly installed Exposed Facility on the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module.

On July 28, the mission’s 14th day, the 13-member joint crew held a brief farewell ceremony, parted company, and closed the hatches between the two spacecraft. With Hurley at the controls, Endeavour undocked from the space station, having spent nearly 11 days as a single spacecraft. Hurley completed a flyaround  of the station, with the astronauts photographing it to document its condition. A final separation burn sent Endeavour on its way.

The International Space Station, with the newly added Exposed Facility and its first payloads, as seen from Endeavour during the departure flyaround. Endeavour casts its shadow on the solar arrays
The International Space Station, with the newly added Exposed Facility and its first payloads, as seen from Endeavour during the departure flyaround. Endeavour casts its shadow on the solar arrays.

The shuttle’s robotic arm grapples the Orbiter Boom Sensor System for the late inspection of Endeavour’s heat shield Deploy of the DRAGONSAT microsatellite Deploy of the ANDE microsatellites
Left: The shuttle’s robotic arm grapples the Orbiter Boom Sensor System for the late inspection of Endeavour’s heat shield. Middle: Deploy of the DRAGONSAT microsatellite. Right: Deploy of the ANDE microsatellites.

The next day, Polansky, Payette, and Hurley used the shuttle’s arm to pick up the OBSS and perform a late inspection of Endeavour’s thermal protection system. On Flight Day 16, the astronauts deployed two satellites. The first, called Dual RF Astrodynamic GPS Orbital Navigation Satellite, or DRAGONSAT, designed by students at the University of Texas, Austin, and Texas A&M University, College Station, consisted of a pair of picosatellites to look at independent rendezvous of spacecraft using GPS. The second, called Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment-2, or ANDE-2, consisted of a set of Department of Defense microsatellites to look at the density and composition of the atmosphere 200 miles above the Earth. Polansky and Hurley tested Endeavour’s reaction control system thrusters and flight control surfaces in preparation for the next day’s entry and landing. The entire crew busied themselves with stowing all unneeded equipment.

Endeavour touches down on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida The welcome home ceremony for the STS-127 crew at Ellington Field in Houston
Left: Endeavour touches down on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right: The welcome home ceremony for the STS-127 crew at Ellington Field in Houston.

On July 31, the astronauts closed Endeavour’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats, a special recumbent seat for Wakata who had spent the last four months in weightlessness. Polansky fired Endeavour’s two Orbital Maneuvering System engines to bring them out of orbit and heading for a landing half an orbit later. He guided Endeavour to a smooth touchdown at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility, capping off a very successful STS-127 mission of 15 days, 16 hours, 45 minutes. They orbited the planet 248 times. Wakata spent 137 days, 15 hours, 4 minutes in space, completing 2,166 orbits of the Earth. Workers at KSC began preparing Endeavour for its next flight, STS-130 in February 2010.

Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-127 mission.

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      The Atlantis crew performed three demanding but successful spacewalks – and enjoyed a surprise Thanksgiving dinner on the station, courtesy of the Expedition 21 crew.
      Image credit: NASA
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    • NASA
      NASA’s Brad Doorn Brings Farm Belt Wisdom to Space-Age Agriculture
      By NASA
      Earth (ESD) Earth Home Explore Climate Change Science in Action Multimedia Data For Researchers 14 Min Read NASA’s Brad Doorn Brings Farm Belt Wisdom to Space-Age Agriculture
      This image shows corn cultivation patterns across the U.S. Midwest in 2020, with lands planted in corn marked in yellow. Credits:
      NASA Earth Observatory/ Lauren Dauphin Bradley Doorn grew up in his family’s trucking business, which hauled milk and animal feed across the sprawling plains of South Dakota. Home was Mitchell, a small town famous for its Corn Palace, where murals crafted from corn kernels and husks have adorned its facade since 1892—a tribute to the abundance of the surrounding farmland.
      Trucking was often grueling work for the family, the day breaking early and ending in headlights. Like farming, driving a truck wasn’t just a job; it was the engine of daily life, thrumming through nearly every conversation and decision.
      Brad loved the outdoors, and by the time he started college in the early 1980s, studying geological engineering felt like a natural fit. “I wanted to be out in the field somewhere, working under the big skies of the West,” Brad recalled. But in his sophomore year at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the tuition money dried up.
      Dean Doorn, Brad Doorn’s father, stands beside a milk truck used in the family’s business of hauling milk across South Dakota in the 1960s and ’70s. Credit: B. Doorn Doorn found himself at a crossroads familiar to many in rural America: return to the certainty of a family trade or chart a new route. “That’s when the Army stepped in,” he said. The ROTC program offered a way to continue with school and a path into the world of remote sensing—a field that would come to define his career.
      Brad’s choice to join the Army would eventually place him at the forefront of a mapping revolution, equipping him to see and analyze Earth in ways never possible before the advent of satellites. But more than the technical skills, the military showed him the allure of a life anchored to mission and team.
      Even as his career took him far from Mitchell, Doorn would remain connected to his rural America roots. Today, he leads NASA’s agriculture programs within the agency’s Earth Science Division. “My family wasn’t made up of farmers, but farming was a part of everything growing up,” said Brad. “Even now, working with NASA, that connection to the land—the sense of how weather, crops, and people are tied together—it’s still in everything I do.”
      Amid the dazzle of NASA’s feats exploring the solar system and universe, it’s easy to miss the agency’s quiet work in fields of soy and wheat. But for more than 60 years, the agency has harnessed the power of its satellites to deliver crucial data on temperature, precipitation, crop yields, and more to farmers, policymakers, and food security experts worldwide.
      The Landsat 9 satellite captured this false-color image of Louisiana rice fields in February 2023. Dark blue shows flooded areas, while green indicates vegetation. Grid-like levees separate fields pre-planting. Louisiana is the third largest producer of rice in the U.S. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/ Lauren Dauphin From orbit, satellites beam down streams of data—numbers and pixels that, when paired with farmers’ knowledge of the land, can guide growers as they adjust irrigation levels or plan for the next planting. But the satellites don’t just yield data; they tell stories that call for action, enabling nations to brace for droughts, floods, and the prospect of empty grain silos.
      “Under Brad’s guidance, NASA’s agriculture program has become a global leader for satellite-driven solutions, tackling food security and sustainability head-on,” said Lawrence Friedl, the senior engagement officer for NASA Earth Science. Reflecting on years of collaboration, he added: “I am so impressed and grateful for what he and his teams have accomplished.”
      Boots Meet Satellites in the First Gulf War
      Long before Brad began guiding NASA’s agricultural initiatives, he was already navigating tricky terrain, both literal and figurative, with satellite imagery. His career in remote sensing didn’t start with crops, but with the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait.
      As part of the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, Brad led a company at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) in North Carolina that had just returned from operations in the First Gulf War, in the early 1990s. “I loved being part of a unit, part of something bigger than just me,” Brad recalled. “It felt good to have that purpose and mission.”
      Far from the combat zone, Doorn’s company became cartographers of the invisible. Their task: merge data from the Landsat satellite with the gritty reality of desert warfare depicted on military maps.
      Brad Doorn, then a U.S. Army officer, sits at his desk during his early career in remote sensing. His military experience would later shape his work at NASA, applying satellite technology to real-world challenges. Credit: B. Doorn Landsat, a civilian satellite built by NASA and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, could see what the soldiers on the ground could not. Its thermal infrared sensor—a camera with a penchant for temperature and moisture—read the desert floor like an ancient script, picking out the cold, soggy signature of mud lurking beneath the desert’s deceptive crust. Each pixel of satellite data became a brushstroke in a new kind of map, keeping tanks out of the mire and the missions on track.
      “It was so neat to see the remote sensing techniques I’d learned about in school actually making a difference,” Doorn said.
      With this knowledge, he helped guide his unit’s shift from analog maps—paper grids and grease pencils—to the emerging world of digital mapping, a leap that sharpened the military’s ability to read the landscape and steer clear of trouble.
      From Desert Muck to Farm Fields
      Brad’s military experience gave him an early look at how satellite data could address tangible, on-the-ground challenges. In the Army, he saw how integrating satellite data into military maps could offer soldiers critical information. That experience set the foundation for his later work at NASA, where he would help develop technology with lasting, practical impacts.
      Consider OpenET, a NASA-funded initiative that uses Landsat data to give farmers insights into water use and irrigation needs at field scale. The ET in OpenET stands not for the little alien who phoned home, but for evapotranspiration. It’s a combination of water evaporating from the ground and water released by plants into the air.
      The program relies on the same thermal technology Doorn used during the Gulf War. Just as cooler, wetter areas in the desert hint at muddy spots, cooler patches in farm fields show where there’s more moisture or plants are releasing more water. These data are key to managing water resources wisely and keeping crops healthy.
      “OpenET has transformed our understanding of water demand,” explained Doorn.
      To better manage water, state officials and farmers in California are using satellite data through OpenET to track evapotranspiration. Here, the colors represent total evapotranspiration for 2023 as the equivalent depth of water in millimeters. Dark blue regions have higher evapotranspiration rates, such as in the Central Valley. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory using openetdata.org In the late 2000s, when a new generation of Landsat satellites was being planned, the thermal infrared imagers were initially left off the drawing board. “Landsat 8’s design caused a lot of consternation in some Western states that were beginning to use the instrument for measuring and monitoring water use,” said Tony Willardson, the executive director of the Western States Water Council, a government entity that advises western governors on water policy.
      Brad played a key role in conveying to NASA the critical need for this technology, both for agriculture and water management, Willardson said. The thermal imager was eventually reinstated and has since “helped to close a gap in western water management.”
      “A lot of the technologies that we are using more and more were developed by NASA,” said Willardson. “We need NASA to be doing even more in Earth science.”
      Sowing Global Food Stability from Space
      Brad ended up serving in the Army for nearly a decade. “You hit that 10-year mark in the military, and you sort of have to decide if you’re staying in for 20 or if you’re getting out,” said Brad. “My wife, Kristen, was able to manage her career as a registered dietician through the first four moves in six years, but eventually it was too much. So, I told her: ‘Your choice. You decide where we go next.’”
      She chose southern Pennsylvania to be closer to her family. Brad was 32 years old, and the couple had two small children at the time—one of whom had had open-heart surgery at 6 weeks old to fix a heart defect. They would go on to have another child.
      In the late 1990s, within a few years of leaving the military, Doorn found himself someplace he had never imagined: sitting behind a desk at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For a boy who had grown up driving trucks across the plains of South Dakota—who had vowed never to work in an office, much less live east of the Mississippi—this was an unexpected detour. But he had long since learned that the best paths are often the ones you don’t see coming.
      At USDA, he moved forward not with a grand plan, but with an instinctive trust in where curiosity and challenge might lead. He rose through the ranks, from a programmer to directing the agency’s international food production analysis program. He was increasingly driven by a conviction that satellite data, if used the right way, could transform how we see the land and the way we feed the world.
      While at USDA, and later at NASA, which he joined in 2009, Brad was instrumental in developing and overseeing the Global Agricultural Monitoring (GLAM) system. This real-time interactive satellite platform delivers massive amounts of ready-to-use satellite data directly to USDA crop analysts, eliminating the burden of data processing and enabling them to focus on rapid crop analysis across the globe. It was a pioneering tool, said Inbal Becker-Reshef, a research professor at University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences, who played a central role in developing the GLAM system.
      At a 2022 Kansas gathering, Brad Doorn presents to farmers about NASA’s Earth Science Division and its activities supporting agriculture. Credit: A. Whitcraft GLAM set the stage for GEOGLAM, a separate, international initiative launched in 2011 by agriculture ministers from the G20—a group of the world’s major economies—partly as a response to global food price volatility. GEOGLAM, which stands for Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring, uses satellite data to monitor global crop conditions, from drought stress to excessive rain, around the world.
      Joseph Glauber, a former USDA chief economist, noted that there was initial uncertainty within USDA about the initiative’s longevity, but he credited Brad’s background with rallying support. Today, GEOGLAM’s monthly crop assessments, produced by over 40 organizations including USDA and NASA, serve as a global consensus on crop conditions, helping governments and humanitarian organizations anticipate food shortages.
      “Even today, the G20 points to GEOGLAM and its sister initiative, the Agricultural Market Information System—which tracks how crop conditions affect markets—as major successes,” Glauber said.
      Harvesting Data Amid Conflict
      Doorn’s work crosses continents. When war broke out between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, it rattled global food markets. The Ukrainian government turned to NASA Harvest—a global food security and agriculture consortium led by the University of Maryland and funded by NASA—for help. As manager of NASA’s agriculture program, Brad was a driving force behind the launch of NASA Harvest in 2017, envisioning it as a program that would harness satellite data to provide timely, actionable insights for global agriculture.
      From orbit, satellites could observe the sown and the harvested wheat, sunflowers, and barley, offering some of the only reliable estimates for fields in the war zone. Satellite imagery revealed that, despite the conflict, more cropland had been planted and harvested in Ukraine than anyone had expected, a finding that helped stabilize volatile global food prices.
      “Brad and the team recognized that providing that type of rapid agricultural assessment for policy support is what NASA Harvest exists for,” said Becker-Reshef, who is the director of the consortium.
      NASA Harvest’s reach stretches well beyond Europe. In sub-Saharan Africa, the consortium collaborates with local and international partners, tracking the health of crops and the creeping spread of drought. This information helps equip governments, aid organizations, and farmers to act before disaster strikes, making each data point a crucial defense against hunger.
      NASA Harvest has since been joined by NASA Acres, founded in 2023 to provide satellite data and tools that help farmers make well-informed decisions for healthier crops and soil in the United States. One project, for example, involves working with farmers in Illinois to manage nitrogen use more effectively, leveraging satellite data to enhance crop yields while reducing environmental impact.
      This image shows corn cultivation patterns across the U.S. Midwest in 2020, with lands planted in corn marked in yellow. The map was built from the Cropland Data Layer product provided by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, which includes data from the USGS National Land Cover Database and from satellites such as Landsat 8. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/ Lauren Dauphin Friedl noted that Doorn understands the missions of both NASA and the USDA, and with his agricultural roots, he knows the needs of farmers and agricultural businesses firsthand. “Often in meetings, Brad would remind us that the margins for a farmer are in the pennies,” Friedl said. “They wouldn’t be able to afford remote sensing,” so making sure NASA’s satellite information was free and accessible was that much more important.
      “It’s hard to imagine that NASA would have the agriculture program it does without somebody like Brad continuing to advocate and push for this to exist,” said Alyssa Whitcraft, the director of NASA Acres. “He knows how critical it is for satellite data to be accessible and useful to those on the ground. He makes sure we never lose sight of that.”
      An Emissary Between Worlds
      Colleagues say Doorn’s strength lies in his ability to bridge worlds, whether it’s making connections between agencies like NASA and USDA, or connecting such agencies to state water councils or farming communities. His fluency in translating complex science into simple terms makes him equally at ease in whichever world he finds himself.
      “There’s NASA language and there’s farm language,” says Lance Lillibridge, who farms about 1,400 acres of corn and soybeans in Benton County, Iowa, and has helped lead the Iowa Corn Growers Association. “Sometimes you need an interpreter, and Brad’s that guy.” He recalled a meeting where some farmers were skeptical, wary of NASA’s “big brother” eyes in the sky, “but Brad had a way of putting people at ease, keeping everyone focused on the shared goal of better data for better decisions.”
      Brad Doorn speaks during NASA’s “Space for Ag” roadshow in Iowa, July 2023, highlighting NASA’s role in supporting sustainable farming practices. Credit: N. Pepper “One of my favorite memories of Brad,” said Forrest Melton, the OpenET project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, “is an afternoon spent visiting with farmers in western Nebraska, drinking iced tea and talking with them about the challenges facing their family farm.”
      Colleagues describe Brad as a nearly unflappable guide, one who knows the agricultural landscape so well that he makes the impossible seem manageable. They say his calm, approachable style, paired with a ready smile, puts people at ease whether in Washington conference rooms or Midwestern barns. And he listens closely to understand where there may be opportunities to help.
      “Few people in the water and agriculture communities, from the small-scale farmer to the federal government appointee, aren’t familiar with some aspect of the work Brad has enabled over the decades,” said Sarah Brennan, a former deputy program manager for NASA’s water resources programs. “He has supported the development of some of the greatest advancements in using remote sensing in these communities.”
      It’s About the People and the Team
      Doorn’s leadership is less about issuing directives, colleagues say, and more about cultivating growth—in crops, in data systems, and in people. Like a farmer tending to his fields, he nurtures the potential in every project and person he encounters. “Almost everyone who has worked for Brad can point back to the opportunities he provided them that launched their successful careers,” said Brennan.
      Over the years, he’s added layers to this work of creating paths for others to succeed: as president of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, as an adjunct professor at Penn State, and as a youth basketball league director.
      “What I’ve learned, probably in the military and I’ve carried it forward, is that it’s the people that matter,” Brad said. “I had great mentors who believed it’s just as important to help others grow as it is to meet the day’s demands. Those roles shift your focus toward the people around you, and often, the more you give of your time, the more you end up getting back.”
      Young Brad Doorn (front center) stands with his siblings, capturing a family moment in 1960s South Dakota. His youngest brother isn’t pictured. Credit: B. Doorn It has been a long journey from hauling milk and animal feed across the South Dakota plains to surveying them now as a scientist. The tools of his career have changed—from truck routes to satellite orbits, from paper maps to digital data—but his mission remains the same: helping farmers feed the world.
      “Growing up in South Dakota, I saw firsthand the challenges farmers face. Today, I’m proud to help provide the tools and data that can make a real difference in their lives,” Doorn added. “Whether it’s a farmer, an economist, or a military analyst, if you give them the right tools, they’ll take them to places you never even thought about. That’s what excites me—seeing where they go.”
      By Emily DeMarco
      NASA’s Earth Science Division, Headquarters
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