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By NASA
Official portrait of Adam Schlesinger.NASA/Bill Stafford NASA has selected Adam Schlesinger as manager for CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services). Schlesinger previously served as the Gateway Program habitation and logistics outpost project lead engineer at Johnson Space Center.
“I am honored and tremendously excited to take on this new role as NASA continues to enable a growing lunar economy while leveraging the entrepreneurial innovation of the commercial space industry,” Schlesinger said.
Schlesinger brings more than 20 years’ experience to NASA human space flight programs. Prior to supporting Gateway, Mr. Schlesinger managed the Advanced Exploration Systems Avionics and Software Project, leading a multi-center team to develop and advance several innovative technologies that were targeted for future NASA exploration missions. Mr. Schlesinger also established and led a variety of key public/private partnerships with commercial providers as part of the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 activities.
Mr. Schlesinger began his NASA career as a co-op in the Avionic Systems Division and has served in multiple positions within the Engineering and Exploration Architecture, Integration, and Science Directorates, each with increasing technical leadership responsibilities. Mr. Schlesinger earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“Adam is an outstanding leader and engineer, and I am extremely pleased to announce his selection for this position,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “His wealth of experience in human spaceflight, commercial partnerships, and the development and operations of deep-space spacecraft will be a huge asset to CLPS.”
Throughout his career, Schlesinger has been recognized for outstanding technical achievements and leadership, including multiple NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals, Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Early Career Stellar Award and Middle Career Stellar Award nominee, JSC Director’s Commendation Award, Advanced Exploration Systems Innovation Award, and NASA Early Career Achievement Medal.
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By NASA
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Don Pettit points a camera outside a window on the International Space Station’s Poisk module for a sun photography session. (Credit: NASA) Students from Hawthorne Elementary School in Boise, Idaho, will have the chance to hear NASA astronaut Don Pettit answer their prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related questions from aboard the International Space Station.
Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 12:30 p.m. EST Friday, Jan. 10, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media.
Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 7, to
Dan Hollar at dan.hollar@boiseschools.org or 208-854-4064.
For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.
See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
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Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Heather Seagren grew up near NASA’s Stennis Space Center and visited for field trips as a child. Now, as a financial management specialist, Seagren coordinates work trips for NASA employees at the south Mississippi NASA center. NASA/Danny Nowlin A leap of faith for Heather Seagren eight years ago brought the Gulf Coast native to something new, yet also returned her to a familiar place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Following graduation from Pearl River Community College, Seagren worked as an office manager at a pediatric office. Seagren anticipated a full career in the medical field until an opportunity at the south Mississippi NASA center “kind of fell in my lap,” she said.
The NASA Shared Services Center, located at NASA Stennis, was hiring for its travel department, so Seagren applied.
“There are many different roles here, and my biggest thing was, do not second guess your decisions,” she said. “It was a big change for me, and I made the leap and ended up where I am today, even though it was a completely different career field.”
A new career field, yes, but not a new place. Seagren grew up in Pearlington, Mississippi, less than 10 miles from the nation’s largest propulsion test site. Her grandfather, Grover “Shu-Shu” Bennett, retired from NASA Stennis as a tugboat captain, helping to deliver rocket propellants along the site canal system to the test stands at NASA Stennis.
Just as her grandfather ensured the rocket engine fuel made it to its destination on time, Seagren does the same for NASA employees by coordinating travel plans. She now is in a similar role as a NASA Stennis financial management specialist.
Working with astronauts, engineers, and many other NASA employees, no two trips are alike, which is a part of the job Seagren enjoys.
What is similar is the trips coordinated by Seagren align with NASA’s mission to explore the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all.
The Kiln, Mississippi, resident plays a vital role in the NASA mission by bringing together the details of booking flights, arranging accommodations, and managing schedules.
“The best thing about working at NASA Stennis is getting to experience everything,” she said. “It is always interesting to see what other projects and duties everybody is doing. The process kind of starts with the travel department. … It is a small step, but we are involved, making sure everybody is where they need to be, when they need to be there, so, I think that is pretty cool.”
Learn more about the people who work at NASA Stennis View the full article
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By NASA
Learn Home Science Activation NASA Workshops Culturally… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read
NASA Workshops Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement with Educators
From November 6-8, 2024, the NASA Science Activation Program’s Planetary Resources and Content Heroes (ReaCH) project held a Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement workshop at the Bradley Observatory at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia for the space sciences community, including planetary science, astrobiology, astronomy, and heliophysics professionals, as well as invited education specialists. To practice the skills learned in the workshop, participants facilitated a variety of space-themed, culturally-inclusive, hands-on activities for 79 students, family, and staff at the Center for a New Generation at the Tuskegee Airmen Global Academy Boys and Girls Club.
Workshop participants provided anonymous feedback as a part of their workshop evaluations:
“[This experience] helped me learn a lot about how to make different cultures and ethnicities feel involved and included and also engage with them to inspire in them a love for science”
“. . .I feel like the discussions were so important to me, considering we all come from so many different backgrounds, and our exposure has been different, so we all have a different point of view to bring to the discussion that others, that I, might not think of right away. So I think it was really nice to hear so many different perspectives in all of these discussions.”
“[The facilitator] connected cultural diversity to an activity. That is not easy to do. I loved it and it is what I expected coming into this workshop.”
This workshop was conducted in partnership with Agnes Scott College, Georgia Tech, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, and members of the Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research (CLEVER) NASA Solar System Exploration Research Institute (SSERVI) Center. ReaCH workshops are designed to enhance the ability of scientists to engage their local communities in science. The Planetary ReaCH project is building a replicable model that will be used to support similar workshops for other science fields. NASA-funded researchers, including early-career scientists, are invited to apply for the 2025 workshops!
The Planetary ReaCH project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0003 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
The workshop was attended by researchers including early career scientists, planetary scientists, astrobiologists, astronomers, heliophysicists, and education specialists. Share
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Last Updated Jan 02, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector, or NGLR-1, is one of 10 payloads set to fly aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative in 2025. NGLR-1, outfitted with a retroreflector, will be delivered to the lunar surface to reflect very short laser pulses from Earth-based lunar laser ranging observatories. Photo courtesy Firefly Aerospace Apollo astronauts set up mirror arrays, or “retroreflectors,” on the Moon to accurately reflect laser light beamed at them from Earth with minimal scattering or diffusion. Retroreflectors are mirrors that reflect the incoming light back in the same incoming direction. Calculating the time required for the beams to bounce back allowed scientists to precisely measure the Moon’s shape and distance from Earth, both of which are directly affected by Earth’s gravitational pull. More than 50 years later, on the cusp of NASA’s crewed Artemis missions to the Moon, lunar research still leverages data from those Apollo-era retroreflectors.
As NASA prepares for the science and discoveries of the agency’s Artemis campaign, state-of-the-art retroreflector technology is expected to significantly expand our knowledge about Earth’s sole natural satellite, its geological processes, the properties of the lunar crust and the structure of lunar interior, and how the Earth-Moon system is changing over time. This technology will also allow high-precision tests of Einstein’s theory of gravity, or general relativity.
That’s the anticipated objective of an innovative science instrument called NGLR (Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector), one of 10 NASA payloads set to fly aboard the next lunar delivery for the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. NGLR-1 will be carried to the surface by Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander.
Developed by researchers at the University of Maryland in College Park, NGLR-1 will be delivered to the lunar surface, located on the Blue Ghost lander, to reflect very short laser pulses from Earth-based lunar laser ranging observatories, which could greatly improve on Apollo-era results with sub-millimeter-precision range measurements. If successful, its findings will expand humanity’s understanding of the Moon’s inner structure and support new investigations of astrophysics, cosmology, and lunar physics – including shifts in the Moon’s liquid core as it orbits Earth, which may cause seismic activity on the lunar surface.
“NASA has more than half a century of experience with retroreflectors, but NGLR-1 promises to deliver findings an order of magnitude more accurate than Apollo-era reflectors,” said Dennis Harris, who manages the NGLR payload for the CLPS initiative at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Deployment of the NGLR payload is just the first step, Harris noted. A second NGLR retroreflector, called the Artemis Lunar Laser Retroreflector (ALLR), is currently a candidate payload for flight on NASA’s Artemis III mission to the Moon and could be set up near the lunar south pole. A third is expected to be manifested on a future CLPS delivery to a non-polar location.
“Once all three retroreflectors are operating, they are expected to deliver unprecedented opportunities to learn more about the Moon and its relationship with Earth,” Harris said.
Under the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial delivery services to the Moon to enable industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration. As a primary customer for CLPS deliveries, NASA aims to be one of many customers on future flights. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development of seven of the 10 CLPS payloads carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.
Learn more about. CLPS and Artemis at:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
Alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
Alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
Corinne Beckinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 02, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Artemis Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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