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Acting Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Steve Koerner. Credit: NASA/Norah Moran NASA has selected Stephen Koerner as acting director of Johnson Space Center. Koerner previously served as Johnson’s deputy director.
“It is an honor to accept my new role as acting director for Johnson,” Koerner said. “Our employees are key to our nation’s human spaceflight goals. I am continually impressed with what our workforce accomplishes and am proud to be named the leader of such an incredible team dedicated to mission excellence.”
Koerner previously served as deputy director of NASA Johnson beginning in July 2021, overseeing strategic workforce planning, serving as Designated Agency Safety Health Officer (DASHO), and supporting the Johnson Center Director in mission reviews. Before his appointment to deputy director, Koerner served as director of the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) for two years. In that role, he was responsible for selecting and protecting astronauts, and for the planning, training, and execution of human space flight and aviation missions. He managed an annual budget of $367 million, 600 civil servants and military personnel, and 2300 contractor personnel. He oversaw the Astronaut Office, the Flight Director Office, the Mission Control Center, human spaceflight training facilities, and Johnson’s Aviation Operations Division. During this tenure he was also responsible for FOD’s flight readiness of the first commercial human spaceflight mission, ushering in a new era of domestic launch capability and the return of American astronauts launching from American soil.
Prior to assuming his position as director of Flight Operations, Koerner served in several senior executive roles, including:
Johnson Space Center Associate Director from 2018 to 2019 Johnson Space Center Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from 2017 to 2018 Deputy Director of Flight Operations from 2014 to 2017 Deputy Director Mission Operations from 2007 to 2014 Koerner joined Johnson full-time in 1992. He has extensive operations experience including serving as an environmental systems space shuttle flight controller, where he supported 41 space shuttle flights in Mission Control. Since that time, he has served in a series of progressively more responsible positions, including lead for two International Space Station flight control groups, chief of the space station’s Data Systems Flight Control Branch, chief of the Mission Operations Directorate’s Management Integration Office, and as the Mission Operation Directorate’s manager for International Space Station operations.
Additional special assignments throughout his career include:
Project manager for Johnson’s Crew Exploration Vehicle Avionics Integration Lab (June 2007 –June 2008) Member of NASA’s Human Exploration Framework Team (April 2010 –October 2010) Member of NASA’s Standing Review Board that provided an independent assessment at life cycle review milestones for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Program, the Space Launch System Program and the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program (October 2011 – August 2014) Lead of NASA’s Mission Operations Capability Team (October 2015 –April 2017) “Steve has an accomplished career serving human spaceflight. His vision and dedication to the Johnson workforce makes him the perfect person to lead the Johnson team forward as acting director,” said Vanessa Wyche, NASA acting associate administrator. “Steve is an asset to the center and the agency—as both a proven technical expert and a leader.”
Throughout his career, Koerner has been recognized for outstanding technical achievements and leadership, receiving two Superior Accomplishment Awards, the Outstanding Leadership Medal, the Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award, two group achievement awards, the Exceptional Service Medal, and the Presidential Rank Award.
Koerner is a native of Stow, Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Akron in Ohio, and a master’s degree in business administration from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s F-15D research aircraft is positioned adjacent to the X-59 during electromagnetic compatibility testing at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. Researchers activated the F-15D’s radar, C-band transponder, and radios at different distances from the X-59 to evaluate potential electromagnetic interference with the aircraft’s flight-critical systems, ensuring the X-59 can operate safely with other aircraft. These tests showed that the aircraft’s integration is maturing and cleared a major hurdle that moves it one step closer to first flight.NASA/Carla Thomas NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 research aircraft has cleared electromagnetic testing, confirming its systems will work together safely, without interference across a range of scenarios.
“Reaching this phase shows that the aircraft integration is advancing,” said Yohan Lin, NASA’s X-59 avionics lead. “It’s exciting to see the progress, knowing we’ve cleared a major hurdle that moves us closer to X-59’s first flight.”
Electromagnetic interference occurs when an electric or magnetic field source affects an aircraft’s operations, potentially impacting safety. This interference, whether from an external source or the aircraft’s own equipment, can disrupt the electronic signals that control critical systems – similar to effects that lead to static or crackling on a radio from a nearby emitting device, like a phone.
The tests, conducted at contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ facility in Palmdale, California, ensured that the X-59’s onboard systems – such as radios, navigation equipment, and sensors – did not interfere with one another or cause unexpected problems. During these tests, engineers activated each system on the aircraft one at a time while they monitored the other systems for possible interference.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft successfully completed electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. During EMI tests, the team examined each of the X-59’s internal electronic systems, ensuring they worked with one another without interference. The X-59 is designed to fly faster than the speed of sound while reducing the loud sonic boom to a quieter sonic thump.NASA/Carla Thomas “This testing helped us determine whether the systems within the X-59 are interfering with each other,” Lin said. “It’s called a source-victim test – essentially, we activate one system and monitor the other for issues like noise, glitches, faults, or errors.”
The X-59 will generate a quieter thump rather than a loud boom while flying faster than the speed of sound. The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which will provide regulators with information that could help lift current bans on commercial supersonic flight over land. Currently, the aircraft is progressing through ground tests to ensure safety and performance. These included the recent, successful completion of a set of engine tests. The electromagnetic interference testing to examine the X-59’s internal electronic systems followed.
Other electromagnetic interference testing involved the team looking at the operation of the X-59’s landing gear, ensuring this critical component can extend and retract without affecting other systems. And they tested that the fuel switch shutoff was functioning properly without interference.
Electromagnetic compatibility was also assessed during this testing – making sure the X-59’s systems will function properly when it eventually flies near NASA research aircraft.
NASA test pilot Jim Less prepares to exit the cockpit of the quiet supersonic X-59 aircraft in between electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing. The EMI testing ensures an aircraft’s systems function properly under various conditions of electromagnetic radiation. The X-59 is the centerpiece of the NASA’s Quesst mission, designed to demonstrate quiet supersonic technology and provide data to address a key barrier to commercial supersonic travel.NASA/Carla Thomas Researchers staged the X-59 on the ground in front of NASA’s F-15D, placing them 47 feet apart, then 500 feet apart. The proximity of the two aircraft replicated conditions needed for the F-15D to use a special probe to gather measurements about the shock waves the X-59 will produce.
“We want to confirm there’s compatibility between the two aircraft, even at close proximity,” Lin said.
For the electromagnetic compatibility testing, the team powered up the X-59’s engine while turning on the F-15D’s radar, C-band radar transponder, and radios. Data from the X-59 were transmitted to NASA’s Mobile Operations Facility, where control room staff and engineers monitored for anomalies.
“You want to make discoveries of any potential electromagnetic interference or electromagnetic compatibility issues on the ground first,” Lin said. “This reduces risk and ensures we’re not learning about problems in the air.”
Now that electromagnetic testing is complete, the X-59 is ready to move on to aluminum bird tests – during which data will be fed to the aircraft on the ground under both normal and failure conditions – and then taxi tests before flight.
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Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactNicolas Cholulanicolas.h.cholula@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has its next flyby target, the small main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, in its sights. By blinking between images captured by Lucy on Feb. 20 and 22, this animation shows the perceived motion of Donaldjohanson relative to the background stars as the spacecraft rapidly approaches the asteroid.
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft’s first views of the asteroid Donaldjohanson. The asteroid is circled on the left to guide the eye.NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL Lucy will pass within 596 miles (960 km) of the 2-mile-wide asteroid on April 20. This second asteroid encounter for the Lucy spacecraft will serve as a dress-rehearsal for the spacecraft’s main targets, the never-before-explored Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Lucy already successfully observed the tiny main belt asteroid Dinkinesh and its contact-binary moon, Selam, in November 2023. Lucy will continue to image Donaldjohanson over the next two months as part of its optical navigation program, which uses the asteroid’s apparent position against the star background to ensure an accurate flyby.
Donaldjohanson will remain an unresolved point of light during the spacecraft’s long approach and won’t start to show surface detail until the day of the encounter.
From a distance of 45 million miles (70 million km), Donaldjohanson is still dim, though it stands out clearly in this field of relatively faint stars in the constellation of Sextans. Celestial north is to the right of the frame, and the 0.11-degree field of view would correspond to 85,500 miles (140,000 km) at the distance of the asteroid. In the first of the two images, another dim asteroid can be seen photobombing in the lower right quadrant of the image. However, just as the headlights of an approaching car often appear relatively stationary, Donaldjohanson’s apparent motion between these two images is much smaller than that of this interloper, which has moved out of the field of view in the second image.
These observations were made by Lucy’s high-resolution camera, the L’LORRI instrument — short for Lucy LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager — provided by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Asteroid Donaldjohanson is named for anthropologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the fossilized skeleton — called “Lucy” — of a human ancestor. NASA’s Lucy mission is named for the fossil.
Lucy’s principal investigator, Hal Levison, is based out of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA’s Discovery Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Discovery Program for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
For more information about NASA’s Lucy mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/lucy
By Katherine Kretke
Southwest Research Institute
Media Contact:
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Europa Clipper as it flies by Mars, using the planet’s gravitational force to alter the spacecraft’s path on its way to the Jupiter system. NASA/JPL-Caltech The orbiter bound for Jupiter’s moon Europa will investigate whether the moon is habitable, but it first will get the help of Mars’ gravitational force to get to deep space.
On March 1, NASA’s Europa Clipper will streak just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the surface of Mars for what’s known as a gravity assist — a maneuver to bend the spacecraft’s trajectory and position it for a critical leg of its long voyage to the Jupiter system. The close flyby offers a bonus opportunity for mission scientists, who will test their radar instrument and thermal imager.
Europa Clipper will be closest to the Red Planet at 12:57 p.m. EST, approaching it at about 15.2 miles per second (24.5 kilometers per second) relative to the Sun. For about 12 hours prior and 12 hours after that time, the spacecraft will use the gravitational pull of Mars to pump the brakes and reshape its orbit around the Sun. As the orbiter leaves Mars behind, it will be traveling at a speed of about 14 miles per second (22.5 kilometers per second).
The flyby sets up Europa Clipper for its second gravity assist — a close encounter with Earth in December 2026 that will act as a slingshot and give the spacecraft a velocity boost. After that, it’s a straightforward trek to the outer solar system; the probe is set to arrive at Jupiter’s orbit in April 2030.
“We come in very fast, and the gravity from Mars acts on the spacecraft to bend its path,” said Brett Smith, a mission systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Meanwhile, we’re exchanging a small amount of energy with the planet, so we leave on a path that will bring us back past Earth.”
This animation depicts NASA’s Europa Clipper as it flies by the Red Planet. The spacecraft will use the planet’s gravity to bend its path slightly, setting up the next leg of its long journey to investigate Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. NASA/JPL-Caltech Harnessing Gravity
Europa Clipper launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 14, 2024, via a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, embarking on a 1.8-billion-mile (2.9-billion-kilometer) trip to Jupiter, which is five times farther from the Sun than Earth is. Without the assists from Mars in 2025 and from Earth in 2026, the 12,750-pound (6,000-kilogram) spacecraft would require additional propellant, which adds weight and cost, or it would take much longer to get to Jupiter.
Gravity assists are baked into NASA’s mission planning, as engineers figure out early on how to make the most of the momentum in our solar system. Famously, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft, which launched in 1977, took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime planetary lineup to fly by the gas giants, harnessing their gravity and capturing data about them.
While navigators at JPL, which manages Europa Clipper and Voyager, have been designing flight paths and using gravity assists for decades, the process of calculating a spacecraft’s trajectory in relation to planets that are constantly on the move is never simple.
“It’s like a game of billiards around the solar system, flying by a couple of planets at just the right angle and timing to build up the energy we need to get to Jupiter and Europa,” said JPL’s Ben Bradley, Europa Clipper mission planner. “Everything has to line up — the geometry of the solar system has to be just right to pull it off.”
About 4½ months after its launch, NASA’s Europa Clipper is set to perform a gravity as-sist maneuver as it flies by Mars on March 1. Next year the spacecraft will swing back by Earth for a final gravity assist before NASA/JPL-Caltech Refining the Path
Navigators sent the spacecraft on an initial trajectory that left some buffer around Mars so that if anything were to go wrong in the weeks after launch, Europa Clipper wouldn’t risk impacting the planet. Then the team used the spacecraft’s engines to veer closer to Mars’ orbit in what are called trajectory correction maneuvers, or TCMs.
Mission controllers have performed three TCMs to set the stage for the Mars gravity assist — in early November, late January, and on Feb. 14. They will conduct another TCM about 15 days after the Mars flyby to ensure the spacecraft is on track and are likely to conduct additional ones — upwards of 200 — throughout the mission, which is set to last until 2034.
Opportunity for Science
While navigators are relying on the gravity assist for fuel efficiency and to keep the spacecraft on their planned path, scientists are looking forward to the event to take advantage of the close proximity to the Red Planet and test two of the mission’s science instruments.
About a day prior to the closest approach, the mission will calibrate the thermal imager, resulting in a multicolored image of Mars in the months following as the data is returned and scientists process the data. And near closest approach, they’ll have the radar instrument perform a test of its operations — the first time all its components will be tested together. The radar antennas are so massive, and the wavelengths they produce so long that it wasn’t possible for engineers to test them on Earth before launch.
More About Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, managed the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Find more information about Europa Clipper here:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/
Check out Europa Clipper's Mars flyby in 3D News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
That’s a great question. And it’s a question that NASA will seek to answer with the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Europa is a moon of Jupiter. It’s about the same size as Earth’s Moon, but its surface looks very different. The surface of Europa is covered with a layer of ice, and below that ice, we think there’s a layer of liquid water with more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined.
So because of this giant ocean, we think that Europa is actually one of the best places in the solar system to look for life beyond the Earth.
Life as we know it has three main requirements: liquid water — all life here on Earth uses liquid water as a basis.
The second is the right chemical elements. These are elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur. They’re elements that create the building blocks for life as we know it on Earth. We think that those elements exist on Europa.
The third component is an energy source. As Europa orbits around Jupiter, Jupiter’s strong gravity tugs and pulls on it. It actually stretches out the surface. And it produces a heat source called tidal heating. So it’s possible that hydrothermal systems could exist at the bottom of Europa’s ocean, and it’s possible that those could be locations for abundant life.
So could there be life on Europa? It’s possible. And Europa Clipper is going to explore Europa to help try to answer that question.
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Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 Related Terms
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