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By NASA
“When I transitioned from Spelman to Georgia Tech, it was probably the first time in my life that I had a professor that made me question if I belonged or had what it takes. Previously, I was always used as an example of how students should study, and now, in my first chemical engineering class, I would raise my hand for a question and wouldn’t get recognized, or my question would be followed by, ‘I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, Miss Plummer.’
“I was struggling with imposter syndrome before I knew what that was, wondering, ‘Have I just been in some dream world up until now? Am I not as smart as I thought I was?’ I would be in my room just knocking out homework problems, no problem, but I would get in class, and it was almost like I’d freeze up. [My professor] would be walking around the room, and I could not make my brain work. I really struggled through that and did not pass that class – the first time I had ever not passed a class – and this was supposed to be my major!
“…Sometimes you look around and wonder why you don’t see a lot of [people of color] in some positions, and it’s probably because of situations like this where we have such high standards but feel we cannot meet them. We don’t give ourselves grace. We assume, ‘This obviously isn’t for me.’
“…But I knew I could do it. I had to, number one, get out of my head and, two, realize not everyone will be a fan or in your corner cheering for you… As a young college student, it was the first time I ever faced [this situation], and it buckled me. It set me back until I realized that I could do it and that my worth wasn’t based on what someone else thought of me or my abilities…I went back that next semester with a new mindset and determination, and I passed that class with an A and moved on through the rest of my engineering classes.
“That [experience] really informed the type of leader I am and taught me how to make sure that everybody has a voice and feels like they belong. Looking back, I thought it was the worst thing in the world when I was going through it, but now I see it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life to understand that I’m meant to be here doing what I am doing. I learned to give myself grace. If I had pulled myself out of that STEM major, I would never have been managing a technology demonstration program for NASA that launched ten technologies into space.”
– Tawnya Plummer Laughinghouse, Director of the Materials and Processes Laboratory, Engineering Directorate, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Image Credit: NASA/Charles Beason
Interviewer: NASA/Tahira Allen
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A drone is shown flying during a test of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) technical capability Level 2 (TCL2) at Reno-Stead Airport, Nevada in 2016. During the test, five drones simultaneously crossed paths, separated by different altitudes. Two drones flew beyond visual line of sight and three flew within line-of-sight of their operators. More UTM research followed, and it continues today.NASA / Dominic Hart Package delivery drones are coming to our doorsteps in the future, and NASA wants to make sure that when medication or pizza deliveries take to the skies, they will be safe.
In July, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the first time authorized multiple U.S. companies to fly commercial drones in the same airspace without their operators being able to see them the entire flight. Getting to this important step on the way to expanding U.S. commercial drone usage required considerable research into the concept known as flight that is Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) – and NASA helped lead the way.
For BVLOS flights to become routine, trusted automation technology needs to be built into drone and airspace systems, since pilots or air traffic controllers won’t be able to see all the drones operating at once. To address these challenges, NASA developed several key technologies, most notably Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM), which allows for digital sharing of each drone user’s planned flight details.
“NASA’s pioneering work on UTM, in collaboration with the FAA and industry, set the stage for safe and scalable small drone flights below 400 feet,” said Parimal Kopardekar, NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission integration manager. “This technology is now adopted globally as the key to enabling Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone operations.”
With UTM, each drone user can have the same situational awareness of the airspace where drones are flying. This foundation of technology development, led by NASA’s UTM project, allows drones to fly BVLOS today with special FAA approval.
Drones can fly BVLOS today at the FAA test site and at some other selected areas with pre-approval from the FAA based on the risks. However, the FAA is working on new regulation to allow BVLOS operations to occur without exemptions and waivers in the future.
The NASA UTM team invented a new way to handle the airspace — a style of air traffic management where multiple parties, from government to commercial industry, work together to provide services. These include flight planning, strategic deconfliction before flights take off, communication, surveillance and other focus areas needed for a safe flight.
This technology is now being used by the FAA in approved parts of the Dallas area, allowing commercial drone companies to deliver packages using the NASA- originated UTM research. UTM allows for strategic coordination among operators so each company can monitor their own drone flight to ensure that each drone is where it should be along the planned flight path. Test sites like Dallas help the FAA identify requirements needed to safely enable small drone operations nationwide.
NASA is also working to ensure that public safety drones have priority when operating in the same airspace with commercial drones. In another BVLOS effort, NASA is using drones to test technology that could be used on air taxis. Each of these efforts brings us one step closer to seeing supplies or packages routinely delivered by drone around the U.S.
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Last Updated Dec 10, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
Drones & You Advanced Air Mobility Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Air Traffic Management – Exploration Airspace Operations and Safety Program Ames Research Center Armstrong Flight Research Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center UAS Traffic Management View the full article
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By NASA
At the edge of Las Cruces, New Mexico, surrounded by miles of sunbaked earth, NASA’s White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) is quietly shaping the future. There is no flash, no fanfare — the self-contained facility operates as it has since 1962, humbly and in relative obscurity.
Yet as New Mexico’s space industry skyrockets amid intensifying commercial spaceflight efforts across the state, WSTF feels a new urgency to connect with the community. With the facility’s latest Test and Evaluation Support Team (TEST3) contract now in its third year, Program Manager Michelle Meerscheidt is determined to make a mark.
“I think it’s very important we increase our public presence,” Meerscheidt said. “We are a significant contributor to NASA’s mission and our country’s aspirations for furthering space exploration.”
In September, TEST3 leadership joined forces with the City of Las Cruces to support the sixth annual Las Cruces Space Festival, a two-weekend celebration of the region’s rich relationship with the aerospace industry.
The Test and Evaluation Support Team (TEST3) team — Human Resources Manager Kristina Garcia (left), Program Manager Michelle Meerscheidt, and Deputy Program Manager/Business Manager Karen Lucht — prepares to meet with visitors at the Las Cruces Space Festival Astronomy & Industry Night on Sept. 13, 2024, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. NASA/Anthony Luis Quiterio Alongside WSTF, festival director Alice Carruth is working to open a world that many believe is off limits and others don’t know exists.
“Unless you’re driving over the mountains regularly and seeing the sign that says, ‘The Birthplace of the U.S. Space and Missile Program,’ you don’t tend to know what’s going on in your backyard,” Carruth said.
“The whole premise of the Space Festival is to make people understand what’s going on in their community, to encourage people to think about careers in the space industry, and to inspire the next generation.”
A featured speaker at the festival’s New Mexico State University Astronomy & Industry Night, Meerscheidt had the chance to do just that.
“It’s fun to see a lot of young kids that are wide-eyed and excited,” Meerscheidt said. “It’s nice to be able to encourage them to pursue their dreams.”
Among those wide-eyed festivalgoers was 6-year-old Camilla Medina-Bond, who was confident in her vision for the future.
“I want to be an astronaut when I grow up,” she said. “I want to visit the Moon.”
As for the details of her lunar mission, Medina-Bond’s plan is simple: “Just going to see what’s on it.” She has plenty of time to figure out the specifics — after all, giant leaps start with small steps. According to Meerscheidt, the aspiring astronaut has already taken the first and most critical step.
“That’s what NASA is all about,” Meerscheidt said. “Explore, be inquisitive. Open your mind, open your imagination, and go for it.”
Left: Camilla Medina-Bond, age 6, proudly shows off her foam stomp rocket and NASA White Sands Test Facility baseball cap during the Las Cruces Space Festival’s Astronomy & Industry Night on the New Mexico State University campus. Right: Medina-Bond immerses herself in another world as she operates a virtual reality headset. NASA/Anthony Luis Quiterio Medina-Bond’s aspiration is shared by many young dreamers. A 2024 global study by longtime NASA partner, the LEGO Group, found 77% of kids ages 4-14 want to travel to space.
Carruth acknowledged that keeping the attention of today’s always-scrolling, trend-driven generation is not easy, and that children’s fascination with space often wanes as they age.
“If you look at the statistics, space tends to be really cool until they get to middle school level, and then space isn’t cool anymore — not because it’s not cool, but because it then becomes inaccessible to a lot of students,” she said.
Still, Carruth is prepared to navigate the challenge.
“I want kids to understand that space is for everybody,” Carruth said. “I also want their parents and grandparents to understand why space is important and that this is a feasible career.”
Oscar Castrejon, who attended the festival with his 12-year-old son, Oscar Jr., is on his own mission to nurture that understanding. “I’ve learned early kids need to develop their own passions, but if they say ‘hey, I like this, I’m interested in it,’ then I’ll take them to it,” Castrejon said. “If their eyes get opened, if their imagination gets sparked, you never know — you could be looking at the next NASA scientist.”
Oscar Castrejon and his son Oscar Jr., age 12, stop by the White Sands TEST3 booth. Anthony Luis Quiterio WSTF TEST3 Deputy Program Manager and Business Manager Karen Lucht shares Castrejon’s philosophy, emphasizing the importance of authenticity.
“Speak[ing] to who you are as a person will ultimately lead to who you will become as a professional,” she said.
A remote test site, WSTF has its own ecosystem which Lucht compares to a “small city.” Among its residents are scientists and engineers, but also welders, writers, firefighters, and photographers — to name a few.
“White Sands offers endless opportunities for everybody,” Lucht said. “Every career has a path here.”
Lucht’s own journey illustrates the infinite potential that arises in diverse spaces like WSTF.
“I came from a town of less than a thousand people, and I never dreamt that I would work for NASA,” she said. “As someone who was told many times that I would never make it to my position, I look back on my career and realize there are no restraints. You really can do anything you want to do.”
For those wanting to join the ranks at WSTF, there is one important requirement: they must see themselves as stardust, a vital element in a grand cosmic plan.
“We’re looking for people who have the right perspective, the desire to learn and contribute to something bigger than themselves,” Lucht said.
At WSTF — a place where the stars feel close enough to touch — the sky is not the limit, it is only the beginning.
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By NASA
Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center provides an update on Exploration Park on Feb. 15, 2022, at the ASCENDxTexas conference at South Shore Harbor Resort and Conference Center. Credit: NASA / Josh Valcarcel Nov. 12, 2024
Director Vanessa Wyche of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will join Texas A&M University leaders and guests Friday, Nov. 15, to break ground for the new Texas A&M University Space Institute.
U.S. media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, by calling 281-483-5111 or emailing: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
The groundbreaking is planned for 10 a.m. CST Nov. 15, at Johnson Space Center’s Exploration Park. Additional participants will include:
Greg Bonnen, Texas House of Representatives, chairman of House Appropriations Committee William Mahomes, Jr., Board of Regents chairman, Texas A&M University System John Sharp, chancellor Texas A&M University System General (Ret.) Mark Welsh III, president, Texas A&M University Robert H. Bishop, vice chancellor and dean, Texas A&M Engineering Nancy Currie-Gregg, director, Texas A&M University Space Institute Robert Ambrose, associate director for space and robotics initiatives, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station The institute, funded through a $200 million initial investment from the State of Texas, will support research for civilian, defense and commercial space missions as part of NASA Johnson’s Exploration Park. Key features will include the world’s largest indoor simulation spaces for lunar and Mars surface operations, state-of-the-art high-bay laboratories, and multifunctional project rooms.
The Texas A&M Space Institute is set to open in Summer 2026.
NASA is leasing the 240-acre Exploration Park to create facilities that enable a collaborative development environment, increase commercial access, and enhance the United States’ commercial competitiveness in the space and aerospace industries.
To learn more about NASA Johnson and the Texas A&M University Space Institute, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasas-johnson-space-center-hosts-exploration-park
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Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov
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By NASA
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson displays from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) food packets in the International Space Station galley.Credits: NASA NASA recently welcomed more than 50 commercial food and commercial space companies to learn about the evolving space food system supporting NASA missions, including unique requirements for spaceflight, menu development, and food provisioning – essential elements for human spaceflight and sustainable living in space.
The event, held at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, brought together private industry leaders, NASA astronauts, and NASA’s space food team to discuss creative solutions for nourishing government and private astronauts on future commercial space stations.
“The commercial food industry is the leader in how to produce safe and nutritious food for the consumer, and with knowledge passed on from NASA regarding the unique needs for space food safety and human health, this community is poised to support this new market of commercial low Earth orbit consumers,” said Kimberlee Prokhorov, deputy chief for the Human Systems Engineering and Integration Division at Johnson, which encompasses food systems work.
Experts from NASA’s Space Food Systems Laboratory shared the unique requirements and conditions surrounding the formulation, production, packaging, and logistics of space food for enabling the success of commercial low Earth orbit missions. Attendees heard astronaut perspectives on the importance of space food, challenges they encounter, and potential areas of improvement. They also tasted real space food and learned about the nutritional requirements critical for maintaining human health and performance in space.
“By bringing together key players in the commercial food and space industries, we were able to provide a collaborative opportunity to share fresh ideas and explore future collaborations,” said Angela Hart, manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at Johnson. “Space food is a unique challenge, and it is one that NASA is excited to bring commercial companies into. Working with our commercial partners allows us to advance in ways that benefit not only astronauts but also food systems on Earth.”
As NASA expands opportunities in low Earth orbit, it’s essential for the commercial sector to take on the support of space food production, allowing the agency to focus its resources on developing food systems for longer duration human space exploration missions.
NASA will continue providing best practices and offer additional opportunities to interested commercial partners to share knowledge that will enable a successful commercial space ecosystem.
The agency’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit will provide the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost and enable the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars, while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.
Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/
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