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By NASA
NASA/Ben Smegelsky & Virgil Cameron In this image from Aug. 26, 2023, participants from the 14th First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 launch at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Students and advisors from University of Washington, University of Colorado-Boulder, and an international team from Queens University – the 2023 First Nations Launch grand prize teams – traveled to Kennedy for a VIP tour, culminating in viewing the Crew-7 launch.
Grand prize teams also went on a guided tour of historic Hangar AE, led by James Wood (Osage Nation and Loyal Shawnee), chief engineer of NASA’s Launch Services Program, technical advisor for the Crew-7 launch, and First Nations mentor and judge.
One of NASA’s Artemis Student Challenges, the First Nations Launch competition comprises students from tribal colleges and universities, Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, and collegiate chapters of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society who design, build, and launch a high-powered rocket from a launch site in Kansasville, Wisconsin.
Explore more Minority University Research and Education Project opportunities and resources here.
Image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky & Virgil Cameron
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By NASA
Clayton P. Turner, associate administrator for Space Technology Mission DirectorateCredit: NASA Clayton P. Turner will serve as the associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday. His appointment is effective immediately.
Turner has served as the acting associate administrator of STMD since July. In this role, Turner will continue to oversee executive leadership, strategic planning, and overall management of all technology maturation and demonstration programs executed from the directorate enabling critical space focused technologies that deliver today and help create tomorrow.
“Under Turner’s skilled and steady hand, the Space Technology Mission Directorate will continue to do what it does best: help NASA push the boundaries of what’s possible and drive American leadership in space,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “I look forward to what STMD will achieve under Turner’s direction.”
As NASA embarks on the next era of space exploration, STMD leverages partnerships to advance technologies and test new capabilities helping the agency develop a sustainable presence on the Moon and beyond. As associate administrator of STMD, Turner will plan, coordinate, and evaluate the mission directorate’s full range of programs and activities, including budget formulation and execution, as well as represent the programs to officials within and outside the agency.
Previously, Turner served as NASA Langley Research Center Director since September 2019 and has been with the agency for more than 30 years. He has held several roles at NASA Langley, including engineering director, associate center director, and deputy center director. Throughout his NASA career, he has worked on many projects for the agency, including: the Earth Science Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation Project; the materials technology development Gas Permeable Polymer Materials Project; the Space Shuttle Program’s Return to Flight work; the flight test of the Ares 1-X rocket; the flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System; and the entry, descent, and landing segment of the Mars Science Laboratory.
In recognition of his commitment to the agency and engineering, Turner has received many prestigious awards, such as the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal. He is also an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a Board of Trustees member of his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology.
NASA Glenn Research Center Deputy Director, Dawn Schaible, became acting Langley Center Director in July and will continue to serve in this role. At NASA Langley, Schaible leads a skilled group of more than 3,000 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers, and support staff, who work to advance aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and develop technology for space exploration.
For more about Turner’s experience, visit his full biography online at:
https://go.nasa.gov/48UmkmS
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Meira Bernstein / Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 18, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Space Technology Mission Directorate View the full article
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By Space Force
Space Force officials selected 14 senior master sergeants for promotion to chief master sergeant and 25 master sergeants for promotion to senior master sergeant.
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By NASA
Twelve-year-old, Aadya Karthik of Seattle, Washington; nine-year-old, Rainie Lin of Lexington, Kentucky; and eighteen-year-old, Thomas Lui, winners of the 2023-2024 Power to Explore Student Writing Challenge observe testing at a NASA Glenn cleanroom during their prize trip to Cleveland. Credit: NASA NASA’s fourth annual Power to Explore Student Challenge kicked off November 7, 2024. The science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) writing challenge invites kindergarten through 12th grade students in the United States to learn about radioisotope power systems, a type of nuclear battery integral to many of NASA’s far-reaching space missions.
Students are invited to write an essay about a new nuclear-powered mission to any moon in the solar system they choose. Submissions are due Jan. 31, 2025.
With freezing temperatures, long nights, and deep craters that never see sunlight on many of these moons, including our own, missions to them could use a special kind of power: radioisotope power systems. These power systems have helped NASA explore the harshest, darkest, and dustiest parts of our solar system and enabled spacecraft to study its many moons.
“Sending spacecraft into space is hard, and it’s even harder sending them to the extreme environments surrounding the diverse moons in our solar system,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s Power to Explore Student Challenge provides the incredible opportunity for our next generation – our future explorers – to design their own daring missions using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to explore space and discover new science for the benefit of all, while also revealing incredible creative power within themselves. We cannot wait to see what the students dream up!”
Entries should detail where students would go, what they would explore, and how they would use radioisotope power systems to achieve mission success in a dusty, dark, or far away moon destination.
Judges will review entries in three grade-level categories: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Student entries are limited to 275 words and should address the mission destination, mission goals, and describe one of the student’s unique powers that will help the mission.
One grand prize winner from each grade category will receive a trip for two to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to learn about the people and technologies that enable NASA missions. Every student who submits an entry will receive a digital certificate and an invitation to a virtual event with NASA experts where they’ll learn about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and explore.
Judges Needed
NASA and Future Engineers are seeking volunteers to help judge the thousands of contest entries anticipated submitted from around the country. Interested U.S. residents older than 18 can offer to volunteer approximately three hours to review submissions should register to judge at the Future Engineers website.
The Power to Explore Student Challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office and managed and administered by Future Engineers under the direction of the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
To learn more about the challenge, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/power-to-explore
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Kristin Jansen
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-296-2203
kristin.m.jansen@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 07, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Opportunities For Students to Get Involved Science Mission Directorate STEM Engagement at NASA View the full article
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By NASA
NASA has selected four new crew members to participate in the final simulated mission to Mars in 2024 inside the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog. From left are Kristen Magas, Anderson Wilder, Obaid Alsuwaidi, and Tiffany Snyder.Credit: C7M4 Crew NASA selected a crew of four research volunteers to participate in its last simulated mission to Mars in 2024 within a habitat at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Obaid Alsuwaidi, Kristen Magas, Tiffany Snyder, and Anderson Wilder will step into the 650-square-foot HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) facility on Friday, Nov. 1. Once inside, the team will live and work like astronauts for 45 days. The crew will exit the facility on Monday, Dec. 16, after simulating their return to Earth. Jordan Hundley and Robert Wilson also were named as alternate crew members.
Scientists use HERA studies to examine how crew members adapt to isolation, confinement, and remote conditions before NASA sends astronauts on deep space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The studies provide data about human health and performance in an enclosed environment over time with crews facing different challenges and tasks.
The four volunteers will carry out scientific research and operational tasks throughout their simulated mission, including raising shrimp, growing vegetables, and “walking” on the surface of Mars using virtual reality. They will also experience communication delays lasting up to five minutes as they “near” Mars, allowing researchers to see how crews may respond to the type of delays astronauts will encounter in deep space. Astronauts traveling to the Red Planet may encounter one-way communication delays lasting as long as 20 minutes.
As with the previous HERA missions, crew members will conduct 18 human health studies during the mission through NASA’s Human Research Program. Collectively, the work helps scientists understand how a spaceflight-like environment contributes to the physiological, behavioral, and psychological health of crew members. Insights gleaned from the studies will allow researchers to develop and test strategies aimed at helping astronauts overcome obstacles on deep space missions.
Primary Crew
Obaid Alsuwaidi
Obaid Alsuwaidi serves as captain engineer for the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Ministry of Defense. In this role, he provides guidance in civil and marine engineering and addresses challenges facing the organization. Previously, Alsuwaidi worked as a project manager for the defense ministry, helping to streamline productivity, establish high standards of professionalism, and build a team of experts to serve the UAE’s needs.
Alsuwaidi earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Western Sydney University in Australia, followed by a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from George Washington University in Washington.
In his free time, Alsuwaidi enjoys horseback riding, swimming, and running.
Kristen Magas
Kristen Magas is an educator and engineer, currently teaching at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin, Massachusetts. She also mentors students involved in a NASA design and prototyping program, helping them develop and fabricate products to improve life in space on both International Space Station and Artemis missions. Magas was a finalist for the 2025 Massachusetts State Teacher of the Year.
Magas received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She also holds a master’s degree in Vocational Education from Westfield State University in Massachusetts. She has worked as a community college professor as well as a design engineer in municipal water and wastewater treatment.
In her spare time, Magas enjoys coaching robotics and track and field, hiking, biking, and staying connected with her community. She has two children and resides in North Attleboro, Massachusetts with her husband of 25 years.
Tiffany Snyder
Tiffany Snyder is a supervisor for the Cybersecurity Mission Integration Office at NASA, helping to ensure agency missions are shielded against cybersecurity threats. She has more than 20 years of information technology and cybersecurity experience, working with the Air National Guard and as a special agent with the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency. She joined NASA in 2018 as an IT specialist, and later served as the deputy chief information security officer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, providing cybersecurity oversight.
Snyder holds a bachelor’s degree in Earth Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s degree in Digital Forensics from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
In her spare time, she enjoys playing with her dogs — Artemis and Apollo, gardening, running, and visiting the beach with her family.
Anderson Wilder
Anderson Wilder is a Florida Institute of Technology graduate student working on his doctorate in Psychology. His research focuses on team resiliency and human-machine interactions. He also works in the campus’s neuroscience lab, investigating how spaceflight contributes to neurobehavioral changes in astronauts.
Wilder previously served as an executive officer and engineer for an analog mission at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. There, he performed studies related to crew social dynamics, plant growth, and geology.
Wilder received his bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics and in Psychology from Ohio State University in Columbus. He also holds master’s degrees in Space Studies from International Space University in Strasbourg, France, and in Aviation Human Factors from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is completing another master’s degree in Cognitive Experimental Psychology at Cleveland State University in Ohio.
Outside of school, Wilder works as a parabolic flight coach, teaching people how to fly in reduced gravity environments. He also enjoys chess, reading, video games, skydiving, and scuba diving. On a recent dive, he explored a submerged section of the Great Wall of China.
Alternate Crew
Jordan Hundley
Jordan Hundley is a senior consultant at a professional services firm, offering federal agencies technical and programmatic support. Prior to his current position, he focused on U.S. Department of Defense clients, performing model-based system engineering and serving as a subject matter expert for related operations.
Hundley was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. While on active duty, he served as an intercontinental ballistic missile operations officer. He later joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Currently, he is a space operations officer with experience in space battle management and electromagnetic warfare.
Hundley earned a master’s degree in Engineering Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in Systems Engineering at the university.
Hundley holds a private pilot license and is a certified rescue diver. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and camping, researching theology, and learning musical instruments.
Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson is a senior researcher and project manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. He leads work enhancing human-machine collaborations, developing human prediction models, and integrating that technology into virtual reality and robotic systems designed to operate in isolated, constrained, and extreme environments. His human-machine teaming expertise also extends into responsible artificial intelligence development. He recently participated in a United Nations Roundtable discussion about artificial intelligence in security and defense.
Wilson received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University in 2013 and 2015, respectively. He earned his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2020.
Outside of work, Wilson is an avid outdoors enthusiast. He enjoys scuba diving, winter camping, backcountry skiing, and hiking through the woods or mountains throughout the year. At home, he also likes to tinker in computer networking and self-hosted systems.
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NASA’s Human Research Program pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, and the International Space Station, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research continues to drive NASA’s mission to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as human space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
For more information about human research at NASA, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/hrp
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