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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Callista PuchmeyerCredit: NASA Cleveland State University (CSU) inducted Callista Puchmeyer, chief counsel at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, into the CSU College of Law Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Nov. 1.
Puchmeyer provides expert legal advice to NASA Glenn’s center director and other senior leaders. She also manages Glenn’s Office of the General Counsel, a diverse legal staff that advises Glenn clients on a broad spectrum of federal matters.
Established in 2017, CSU’s Law Hall of Fame honors the outstanding contributions of its distinguished alumni, faculty, staff, friends, and community leaders.
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By NASA
NASA HLS (Human Landing System) Program strategic communicator and U.S. Navy Reservist Public Affairs Officer Joe Vermette brings a wealth of public service to Artemis communication activities. NASA/Ken Hall Coming from a Navy family, Vermette was inspired to military service by the example of his brother, uncles and father, who admired President John Kennedy’s call to land on the Moon and for citizens to do what they can for our country. Photo courtesy Joe Vermette While some stand on the sidelines and witness history, others are destined to play a part in it. And then there are those who document it, bringing the people, the action, the images, the words, and the personalities to the world. U. S. Navy Reservist Public Affairs Officer and program strategic communicator for NASA’s HLS (Human Landing System) Joe Vermette stands at the nexus of all three.
Spurred to action to serve his country by the events of September 11, 2001; veteran of numerous overseas deployments with the Navy, and responsible for communicating NASA’s return to the Moon through the Artemis campaign, Vermette has played a part in history while he communicates humanity’s greatest endeavors to the world.
Vermette joined NASA in August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where he was a regional communications director. Right off the bat, he rose to the challenge of learning about space exploration, Artemis, and communicating the new way the HLS Program would work with commercial providers for Moon landing services, rather than specifying spacecraft to be built.
“I was used to being right in the middle of the action,” Vermette said. “The pandemic challenged me to work in a new way. At the same time, NASA and HLS were working in a new way, having just brought on our first commercial provider, SpaceX,” he said. In May 2023, the HLS Program brought on a second commercial provider, Blue Origin, for human landing services.
After earning a degree in military history with a minor in communications from Florida State University, Vermette worked as a video journalist and spot writer for CNN. But it was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, that really shaped his career in government service. “Three weeks later, I went down to the recruiting office and began the process of joining the military. I saw an opportunity to help the country in the best capacity I could,” Vermette said.
Since then, his career has been dotted by active deployments, from the Middle East to Europe to stateside; onboard Navy ships, at U.S. Central Command, at U. S. Special Operations Command, and more.
NASA’s HLS Program and Artemis have benefitted from Vermette’s experience and steady hand helping guide strategic communications since 2020. He recently answered the call to active duty again but intends to return to NASA once his military obligations are fulfilled.
“NASA is a different world than the military or disaster response. But I’ve been fortunate enough to see – and communicate about – government success stories in all three arenas, Vermette said. “Seeing NASA put astronauts on the Moon again will be the best ‘mission complete’ I could have.”
With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits, Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
For more on HLS, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/human-landing-system
Corinne Beckinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
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By NASA
Portraits of Mike Kincaid, associate administrator, Office of STEM Engagement (left), and Alexander MacDonald, chief economist (right). NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday Mike Kincaid, associate administrator, Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM), and Alexander MacDonald, chief economist, will retire from the agency.
Following Kincaid’s departure on Nov. 30, Kris Brown, deputy associate administrator for strategy and integration in OSTEM, will serve as acting associate administrator for that office beginning Dec. 1, and after MacDonald’s departure on Dec. 31, research economist Dr. Akhil Rao from NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy will serve as acting chief economist.
“I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to Mike Kincaid and Alex MacDonald for their service to NASA and our country,” said Nelson. “Both have been essential members of the NASA team – Mike since his first days as an intern at Johnson Space Center and Alex in his many roles at the agency. I look forward to working with Kris Brown and Dr. Akhil Rao in their acting roles and wish Mike and Alex all the best in retirement.”
As associate administrator of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, Kincaid led the agency’s efforts to inspire and engage Artemis Generation students and educators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). He also chaired NASA’s STEM Board, which assesses the agency’s STEM engagement functions and activities, as well as served as a member of Federal Coordination in STEM, a multiagency committee focused on enhancing STEM education efforts across the federal government. In addition, Kincaid was NASA’s representative on the International Space Education Board, leading global collaboration in space education, sharing best practices, and uniting efforts to foster interest in space, science, and technology among students worldwide.
Having served at NASA for more than 37 years, Kincaid first joined the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as an intern in 1987, and eventually led organizations at Johnson in various capacities including, director of education, deputy director of human resources, deputy chief financial officer and director of external relations. Kincaid earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M and a master’s degree from University of Houston, Clear Lake.
MacDonald served as the first chief economist at NASA. He was previously the senior economic advisor in the Office of the Administrator, as well as the founding program executive of NASA’s Emerging Space Office within the Office of the Chief Technologist. MacDonald has made significant contributions to the development of NASA’s Artemis and Moon to Mars strategies, NASA’s strategy for commercial low Earth orbit development, NASA’s Earth Information Center, and served as the program executive for the International Space Station National Laboratory, leading it through significant leadership changes. He also is the author and editor of several NASA reports, including “Emerging Space: The Evolving Landscape of 21st Century American Spaceflight,” “Public-Private Partnerships for Space Capability Development,” “Economic Development of Low Earth Orbit,” and NASA’s biennial Economic Impact Report.
As chief economist, MacDonald has guided NASA’s economic strategy, including increasing engagement with commercial space companies, and influenced the agency’s understanding of space as an engine of economic growth. MacDonald began his career at NASA’s Ames Research Center in the Mission Design Center, and served at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an executive staff specialist on commercial space before moving to NASA Headquarters. MacDonald received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Queen’s University in Canada, his master’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia, and obtained his doctorate on the long-run economic history of American space exploration from the University of Oxford.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
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Meira Bernstein / Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov
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By European Space Agency
Image: ESA Astronaut Reserve training kicks off at EAC View the full article
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By NASA
Listen to Chief AI Officer Dave Salvagnini represent NASA in a Federal Executive Forum webinar on “Artificial Intelligence Strategies in Government Progress and Best Practices 2024.”
I see an acceptance of AI as the digital assistant, that capability that is going to enable every member of the workforce to be more effective with their time.
Dave Salvagnini
NASA Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, and Chief Data Officer
Featuring Chief AI Officers and technology experts at the IRS, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Red Hat, Deloitte, and Pure Storage, this discussion covers current AI use cases across the private and public sectors. Artificial intelligence, particularly GenAI, is changing landscapes ranging from medicine to tax systems to aeronautics. The webinar covers AI use cases for medical devices, tax amendments, and more, including a segment on how NASA is using AI capabilities for earth sciences, climate modeling, and deep space exploration. Although NASA has a long history with AI, Salvagnini notes, GenAI is changing the way we view and use these technologies. How do we equip the workforce to democratized, accessible AI capabilities, and what policies should we create to mitigate potential risks like bias, inaccuracies, and copyright issues?
The webinar participants voice similar AI priorities in the coming year: building infrastructure to use these technologies at scale, equipping the workforce with training and resources, delivering AI capabilities that increase efficiencies, and establishing governance and risk management policies. The episode ends with a discussion of the near future, with each technology leader outlining their agency’s expected output and accomplishments regarding AI. At NASA, Salvagnini expects a perspective shift toward AI in our daily work. “I see an acceptance of AI as the digital assistant, that capability that is going to enable every member of the workforce to be more effective with their time.”
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