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By NASA
An interesting fact about Johnson Space Center’s Anika Isaac, MS, LPC, LMFT, LCDC, CEAP, NCC, is that there are more letters following her name than there are in it.
A licensed professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, and chemical dependency counselor with several other certifications, Isaac has been a fixture of Johnson’s Employee Assistance Program for the last 13 years. She provides confidential counseling and assessment, crisis response, referrals to community providers, and debriefing and support to Johnson’s workforce. Additionally, Isaac leads assertiveness skills training for employees, provides management consults, and presents on various mental health topics by request. She also coordinates the center’s Autism Support Group, which convenes monthly to offer networking, resource sharing, and support for caregivers of those with autism.
Official portrait of Anika Isaac.NASA Isaac’s invaluable counsel earned her a Silver Snoopy Award in 2022. Presented by Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, the award recognized Isaac’s exceptional efforts to support NASA’s ability to execute the tasks necessary for safe human spaceflight. “I taught, modeled, and empowered thousands to address critical issues and topics in the workplace, directly impacting mission success and safety,” she said.
Anika Isaac (center) receives a Silver Snoopy Award from Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche (left) and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. NASA Isaac has also proudly participated in transparent, authentic conversations about personal and socially significant questions raised by the Johnson community, by leading panel discussions during center events and more. “Having those brave and bold conversations are necessary to foster a compassionate workplace culture that we emphasize through the Johnson Expected Behaviors,” she said.
Isaac said her work experiences prior to joining NASA not only affected her personally but also shaped her professionally. “The most troublesome challenges have been dealing with colleagues whom I saw be divisive in their comments and manipulative in their actions,” she said. “I overcame those challenges with faith, time, and talking to mentors and my trusted support system for perspective and guidance.”
Isaac’s career has also taught her to trust herself and give herself some grace. “In each moment I have everything I need to be successful and keep learning when I fall short of my expectations,” she said. She has come to appreciate the value of her unique experience and skillset, as well. “In an agency with so many experts in so many disciplines, in my respective discipline my expertise is as necessary and essential to the success of NASA’s mission,” she said. “I have also learned to stay persistent with my goals, since there are enough people to help me achieve them along the way.”
Johnson’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) received a Group Achievement Award for the team’s support of the Johnson community following Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the Santa Fe High School shooting in 2018. From left: Vanessa Wyche, Anika Isaac, EAP Executive Director Jackie Reese, EAP Counselor Daisy Wei, and Mark Geyer, who was Johnson’s director at the time.NASA Isaac looks forward to a future of space exploration that combines the best of the commercial sector, international partnerships, and NASA’s strengths with incredible advances in artificial intelligence and other technologies to ensure crew safety while propelling humanity further into the cosmos. She also celebrates the different backgrounds and cultures of today’s astronaut corps. “We are seeing a level of diversity in the faces of space explorers that has never existed before in the history of the space program,” she said.
Isaac encourages the Artemis Generation to learn and incorporate key aspects of NASA and space exploration history into their work while building their own culture and valuing their unique perspectives. “Trust yourself! Have you not usually recovered from setbacks? Those that came before you made similar mistakes,” she said. “Pay attention and learn from them. And build those crucial, reciprocal mentor and social relationships to enhance your ongoing personal and work journey.”
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By NASA
The first shuttle mission of 1995, STS-63 included several historic firsts. As part of Phase 1 of the International Space Station program, space shuttle Discovery’s 20th flight conducted the first shuttle rendezvous with the Mir space station, in preparation for future dockings. The six-person crew included Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Eileen Collins – the first woman to pilot a space shuttle mission – Payload Commander Bernard Harris, and Mission Specialists Michael Foale, Janice Voss, and Vladimir Titov. The spacewalk conducted during the mission included the first African American and the first British born astronauts to walk in space. The crew conducted 20 science and technology experiments aboard the third flight of the Spacehab module. The astronauts deployed and retrieved the SPARTAN-204 satellite that during its two-day free flight carried out observations of galactic objects using an ultraviolet instrument.
The STS-63 crew patch. The STS-63 crew of Janice Voss, front row left, Eileen Collins, James Wetherbee, and Vladimir Titov; Bernard Harris, back row left, and Michael Foale. The Shuttle-Mir program patch. NASA announced the six-person STS-63 crew in September 1993 for a mission then expected to fly in May 1994. Wetherbee, selected by NASA in 1984, had already flown twice in space, as pilot on STS-32 and commander of STS-52. For Collins, selected in the class of 1990 as the first woman shuttle pilot, STS-63 marked her first spaceflight. Also selected in 1990, Harris had flown previously on STS-55 and Voss on STS-57. Foale, selected as an astronaut in 1987, had flown previously on STS-45 and STS-56. Titov, selected as a cosmonaut in 1976, had flown two previous spaceflights – a two-day aborted docking mission to Salyut-7 and the first year-long mission to Mir – and survived a launch pad abort. He served as backup to Sergei Krikalev on STS-60, who now served as Titov’s backup.
Space shuttle Discovery rolls out to Launch Pad 39B. The STS-63 crew during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test in the White Room of Launch Pad 39B. The STS-63 astronauts walk out of crew quarters for the van ride out to the launch pad. Space shuttle Discovery arrived back at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 27, 1994, after a ferry flight from California following its previous mission, STS-64. Workers towed it to the Orbiter Processing Facility the next day. Following installation of the Spacehab, SPARTAN, and other payloads, on Jan. 5, 1995, workers rolled Discovery from the processing facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating with an external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Rollout to Launch Pad 39B took place on Jan. 10. On Jan. 17-18, teams conducted the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, a dress rehearsal for the countdown to launch planned for Feb. 2, with the astronaut crew participating in the final few hours as they would on launch day. They returned to Kennedy on Jan. 29 for final pre-launch preparations. On Feb. 2, launch teams called a 24-hour scrub to allow time to replace a failed inertial measurement unit aboard Discovery.
Launch of space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-63. STS-63 Commander James Wetherbee on Discovery’s flight deck. STS-63 Pilot Eileen Collins on Discovery’s flight deck. On Feb. 3, Discovery and its six-person crew lifted off from Launch Pad 39B at 12:22 a.m. EST, the time dictated by orbital mechanics – Discovery had to launch into the plane of Mir’s orbit. Within 8.5 minutes, Discovery had reached orbit, for the first time in shuttle history at an inclination of 51.6 degrees, again to match Mir’s trajectory. Early in the mission, one of Discovery’s 44 attitude control thrusters failed and two others developed minor but persistent leaks, threatening the Mir rendezvous.
View of the Spacehab module in Discovery’s payload bay. The SPARTAN-204 satellite attached to the remote manipulator system or robotic arm during the flight day two operations. On the mission’s first day in space, Harris and Titov activated the Spacehab module and several of its experiments. Wetherbee and Collins performed the first of five maneuvers to bring Discovery within 46 miles of Mir for the final rendezvous on flight day four. Teams on the ground worked with the astronauts to resolve the troublesome thruster problems to ensure a safe approach to the planned 33 feet. On flight day 2, as those activities continued, Titov grappled the SPARTAN satellite with the shuttle’s robotic arm and lifted it out of the payload bay. Scientists used the ultraviolet instrument aboard SPARTAN to investigate the ultraviolet glow around the orbiter and the aftereffects of thruster firings. The tests complete, Titov placed SPARTAN back in the payload bay.
The Mir space station as seen from Discovery during the rendezvous. Space shuttle Discovery as seen from Mir during the rendezvous. Mir during Discovery’s flyaround. On flight day three, the astronauts continued working on science experiments while Wetherbee and Collins completed several more burns for the rendezvous on flight day four, the thruster issues resolved to allow the close approach to 33 feet. Flying Discovery manually from the aft flight deck, and assisted by his crew mates, Wetherbee slowly brought the shuttle to within 33 feet of the Kristall module of the space station. The STS-63 crew communicated with the Mir-17 crew of Aleksandr Viktorenko, Elena Kondakova, and Valeri Polyakov via VHF radio, and the crews could see each other through their respective spacecraft windows. After station-keeping for about 10 minutes, Wetherbee slowly backed Discovery away from Mir to a distance of 450 feet. He flew a complete circle around Mir before conducting a final separation maneuver.
The SPARTAN-204 satellite as it begins its free flight on flight day five. STS-63 crew member Vladimir Titov works on an experiment in the Spacehab module. On the mission’s fifth day, Titov once again grappled SPARTAN with the robotic arm, but this time after raising it above the payload bay, he released the satellite to begin its two-day free flight. Wetherbee steered Discovery away from the departing satellite. During its free flight, the far ultraviolet imaging spectrograph aboard SPARTAN recorded about 40 hours of observations of galactic dust clouds. During this time, the astronauts aboard the shuttle continued work on the 20 experiments in Spacehab and prepared for the upcoming spacewalk.
STS-63 crew member Janice Voss operates the remote manipulator system during the retrieval of the SPARTAN-204 satellite. STS-63 astronauts Bernard Harris, left, and Michael Foale at the start of their spacewalk. Wetherbee and the crew flew the second rendezvous of the mission on flight day seven to retrieve SPARTAN. Voss operated the robotic arm to capture and stow the satellite in the payload bay following its 43-hour free flight. Meanwhile, Foale and Harris suited up in the shuttle’s airlock and spent four hours breathing pure oxygen to rid their bodies of nitrogen to prevent decompression sickness, also known as the bends, when they reduced their spacesuit pressures for the spacewalk.
Astronauts Bernard Harris, left, and Michael Foale during the spacesuit thermal testing part of their spacewalk. Foale, left, and Harris during the mass handling part of their spacewalk. Foale and Harris exited the airlock minutes after Voss safely stowed SPARTAN. With Titov operating the robotic arm, Harris and Foale climbed aboard its foot restraint to begin the first phase of the spacewalk, testing modifications to the spacesuits for their thermal characteristics. Titov lifted them well above the payload bay and the two spacewalkers stopped moving for about 15 minutes, until their hands and feet got cold. The spacewalk then continued into its second portion, the mass handling activity. Titov steered Foale above the SPARTAN where he lifted the satellite up and handed it off to Harris anchored in the payload bay. Harris then moved it around in different directions to characterize handling of the 2,600-pound satellite. Foale and Harris returned to the airlock after a spacewalk lasting 4 hours 39 minutes.
The STS-63 astronauts pose for their inflight crew photo. Discovery makes a successful landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The day following the spacewalk, the STS-63 crew finished the science experiments, closed down the Spacehab module, and held a news conference with reporters on the ground. Wetherbee and Collins tested Discovery’s thrusters and aerodynamic surfaces in preparation for the following day’s reentry and landing. The next day, on Feb. 11, they closed Discovery’s payload bay doors and put on their launch and entry suits. Wetherbee guided Discovery to a smooth landing on Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility, ending the historic mission after eight days, six hours, and 28 minutes. They orbited the Earth 129 times. The mission paved the way for nine shuttle dockings with Mir beginning with STS-71, and 37 with the International Space Station. Workers at Kennedy towed Discovery to the processing facility to prepare it for its next mission, STS-70 in July 1995.
Over the next three years, Wetherbee, Collins, Foale, and Titov all returned to Mir during visiting shuttle flights, with Foale staying aboard as the NASA-5 long-duration crew member. Between 2001 and 2005, Wetherbee, Collins, and Foale also visited the International Space Station. Wetherbee commanded two assembly flights, Collins commanded the return to flight mission after the Columbia accident, and Foale commanded Expedition 8.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video about their STS-63 mission.
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By NASA
Caption: Illustration of the four PUNCH spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
NASA will hold a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 4, to share information about the agency’s upcoming PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which is targeted to launch no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 27.
The agency’s PUNCH mission is a constellation of four small satellites. When they arrive in low Earth orbit, the satellites will make global, 3D observations of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, and help NASA learn how the mass and energy there become solar wind. By imaging the Sun’s corona and the solar wind together, scientists hope to better understand the entire inner heliosphere – Sun, solar wind, and Earth – as a single connected system.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website at:
https://www.nasa.gov/live
Participants include:
Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA program scientist, NASA Headquarters Nicholeen Viall, PUNCH mission scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Craig DeForest, PUNCH principal investigator, Southwest Research Institute To participate in the media teleconference, media must RSVP no later than 12 p.m. on Feb. 4 to: Abbey Interrante at: abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
The PUNCH mission will share a ride to space with NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) space telescope on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, leads the PUNCH mission. The mission is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
To learn more about PUNCH, please visit:
https://nasa.gov/punch
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Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.fox@nasa.gov
Sarah Frazier
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
202-853-7191
sarah.frazier@nasa.gov
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By NASA
The Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Spring 2025. From left to right: Tibor Kapu of Hungary, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland.Credit: SpaceX NASA and its international partners have approved the crew for Axiom Space’s fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, launching from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than spring 2025.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
“I am excited to see continued interest and dedication for the private astronaut missions aboard the International Space Station,” said Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “As NASA looks toward the future of low Earth orbit, private astronaut missions help pave the way and expand access to the unique microgravity environment.”
The Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, crew will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and travel to the space station. Once docked, the private astronauts plan to spend up to 14 days aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities. The mission will send the first ISRO astronaut to the station as part of a joint effort between NASA and the Indian space agency. The private mission also carries the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the space station.
“Working with the talented and diverse Ax-4 crew has been a deeply rewarding experience,” said Whitson. “Witnessing their selfless dedication and commitment to expanding horizons and creating opportunities for their nations in space exploration is truly remarkable. Each crew member brings unique strengths and perspectives, making our mission not just a scientific endeavor, but a testament to human ingenuity and teamwork. The importance of our mission is about pushing the limits of what we can achieve together and inspiring future generations to dream bigger and reach farther.”
The first private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 1, lifted off in April 2022 for a 17-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. The second private astronaut mission to the station, Axiom Mission 2, also was commanded by Whitson and launched in May 2023 with four private astronauts who spent eight days in orbit. The most recent private astronaut mission, Axiom Mission 3, launched in January 2024; the crew spent 18 days docked to the space station.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time.
The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy. NASA’s goal is to achieve a strong economy in low Earth orbit where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit will provide the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling 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/commercial-space
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Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov
Alexis DeJarnette
Axiom Space
850-368-9446
alexis@axiomspace.com
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Last Updated Jan 29, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A massive hotspot — larger the Earth’s Lake Superior — can be seen just to the right of Io’s south pole in this annotated image taken by the JIRAM infrared imager aboard NASA’s Juno on Dec. 27, 2024, during the spacecraft’s flyby of the Jovian moon. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM Even by the standards of Io, the most volcanic celestial body in the solar system, recent events observed on the Jovian moon are extreme.
Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission have discovered a volcanic hot spot in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter’s moon Io. The hot spot is not only larger than Earth’s Lake Superior, but it also belches out eruptions six times the total energy of all the world’s power plants. The discovery of this massive feature comes courtesy of Juno’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument, contributed by the Italian Space Agency.
“Juno had two really close flybys of Io during Juno’s extended mission,” said the mission’s principal investigator, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “And while each flyby provided data on the tormented moon that exceeded our expectations, the data from this latest — and more distant — flyby really blew our minds. This is the most powerful volcanic event ever recorded on the most volcanic world in our solar system — so that’s really saying something.”
The source of Io’s torment: Jupiter. About the size of Earth’s Moon, Io is extremely close to the mammoth gas giant, and its elliptical orbit whips it around Jupiter once every 42.5 hours. As the distance varies, so does the planet’s gravitational pull, which leads to the moon being relentlessly squeezed. The result: immense energy from frictional heating that melts portions of Io’s interior, resulting in a seemingly endless series of lava plumes and ash venting into its atmosphere from the estimated 400 volcanoes that riddle its surface.
Close Flybys
Designed to capture the infrared light (which isn’t visible to the human eye) emerging from deep inside Jupiter, JIRAM probes the gas giant’s weather layer, peering 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 kilometers) below its cloud tops. But since NASA extended Juno’s mission, the team has also used the instrument to study the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Images of Io captured in 2024 by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno show signif-icant and visible surface changes (indicated by the arrows) near the Jovian moon’s south pole. These changes occurred between the 66th and 68th perijove, or the point during Juno’s orbit when it is closest to Jupiter.Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Jason Perry During its extended mission, Juno’s trajectory passes by Io every other orbit, flying over the same part of the moon each time. Previously, the spacecraft made close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, getting within about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of its surface. The latest flyby took place on Dec. 27, 2024, bringing the spacecraft within about 46,200 miles (74,400 kilometers) of the moon, with the infrared instrument trained on Io’s southern hemisphere.
Io Brings the Heat
“JIRAM detected an event of extreme infrared radiance — a massive hot spot — in Io’s southern hemisphere so strong that it saturated our detector,” said Alessandro Mura, a Juno co-investigator from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Rome. “However, we have evidence what we detected is actually a few closely spaced hot spots that emitted at the same time, suggestive of a subsurface vast magma chamber system. The data supports that this is the most intense volcanic eruption ever recorded on Io.”
The JIRAM science team estimates the as-yet-unnamed feature spans 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometers). The previous record holder was Io’s Loki Patera, a lava lake of about 7,700 square miles (20,000 square kilometers). The total power value of the new hot spot’s radiance measured well above 80 trillion watts.
Picture This
The feature was also captured by the mission’s JunoCam visible light camera. The team compared JunoCam images from the two previous Io flybys with those the instrument collected on Dec. 27. And while these most recent images are of lower resolution since Juno was farther away, the relative changes in surface coloring around the newly discovered hot spot were clear. Such changes in Io’s surface are known in the planetary science community to be associated with hot spots and volcanic activity.
An eruption of this magnitude is likely to leave long-lived signatures. Other large eruptions on Io have created varied features, such as pyroclastic deposits (composed rock fragments spewed out by a volcano), small lava flows that may be fed by fissures, and volcanic-plume deposits rich in sulfur and sulfur dioxide.
Juno will use an upcoming, more distant flyby of Io on March 3 to look at the hot spot again and search for changes in the landscape. Earth-based observations of this region of the moon may also be possible.
“While it is always great to witness events that rewrite the record books, this new hot spot can potentially do much more,” said Bolton. “The intriguing feature could improve our understanding of volcanism not only on Io but on other worlds as well.”
More About Juno
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) funded the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft. Various other institutions around the U.S. provided several of the other scientific instruments on Juno.
More information about Juno is available at:
https://www.nasa.gov/juno
News Media Contacts
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600 / 202-358-1501
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
Deb Schmid
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio
210-522-2254
dschmid@swri.org
2025-010
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Last Updated Jan 28, 2025 Related Terms
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