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By Space Force
A joint team of AFGSC Airmen and Vandenberg SFB Guardians launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a single telemetered joint test assembly re-entry vehicle from Vandenberg SFB.
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A still image of a video that shows a plastic rod and cotton-fiberglass fabric being burned during a ground test of the Lunar-g Combustion Investigation (LUCI) experiment.Credit: Voyager Technologies An experiment studying how solid materials catch fire and burn in the Moon’s gravity was launched on Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital flight this month.
Developed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland together with Voyager Technologies, the Lunar-g Combustion Investigation (LUCI) will help researchers determine if conditions on the Moon – with reduced gravity – might be a more hazardous environment for fire safety.
The video shows a plastic rod and cotton-fiberglass fabric being burned during a ground test of the Lunar-g Combustion Investigation (LUCI) experiment. Scientists will compare the ground test video to the video recorded on the Blue Origin flight.
Credit: Voyager Technologies On this flight, LUCI tested flammability of cotton-fiberglass fabric and plastic rods, and once launched, the payload capsule rotated at a speed to simulate lunar gravity. NASA Glenn researchers will analyze data post-flight.
A plastic rod and cotton-fiberglass fabric that were burned during testing for the Lunar-g Combustion Investigation. New, unburned samples were lit on fire during the flight. Credit: Voyager Technologies LUCI’s findings will help NASA and its partners design safe spacecraft and spacesuits for future Moon and Mars missions.
For more information on LUCI and the mission, visit.
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By NASA
NASA Blue mach diamonds from the main engine nozzles and bright exhaust from the solid rocket boosters mark the successful launch of space shuttle Endeavour 25 years ago on Feb. 11, 2000. The STS-99 mission crew – including astronauts from NASA, the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), and the European Space Agency (ESA) – were aboard the shuttle.
This mission saw the deployment of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission mast and the antenna turned to its operation position. After a successful checkout of the radar systems, mapping began less than 12 hours after launch. Crewmembers split into two shifts so they could work around the clock.
Also aboard Endeavour was a student experiment called EarthKAM, which took 2,715 digital photos during the mission through an overhead flight-deck window. The NASA-sponsored program lets middle school students select photo targets and receive the images via the Internet.
Image credit: NASA
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By NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members (from left to right) Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi pictured training at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California.Credit: SpaceX Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA’s 10th rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, carrying astronauts to the International Space Station for a science expedition. The agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission is targeting launch on Wednesday, March 12, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain as commander and Nichole Ayers as pilot, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov as mission specialists. This is the first spaceflight for Ayers and Peskov, and the second mission to the orbiting laboratory for McClain and Onishi.
Media accreditation deadlines for the Crew-10 launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program are as follows:
International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 13. U.S. media and U.S. citizens representing international media organizations must apply by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 23. All accreditation requests must be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. For questions about accreditation or special logistical requests, email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. Requests for space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections are due by Friday, Feb. 21.
For other questions, please contact NASA Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371.
For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Steve Siceloff / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
Kenna Pell
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 11, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space Commercial Crew Commercial Space International Space Station (ISS) Johnson Space Center Kennedy Space Center Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
Jesse Walsh helps to bring people together in his work with project formulation management. “I try to build trust between team members by understanding everyone’s incentives and making sure all team members understand the different incentives,” he said. “We may have different angles of approach, but we all have the same goal.”Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/William Hrybyk Name: Jesse Walsh
Formal Job Classification: Project Formulation Manager
Organization: Project Formulation and Development Office, Flight Projects Directorate (Code 401.0)
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
As a formulation manager, I am the project manager in the room as we are designing science space flight missions. We develop proposals to be competed on the agency level against other NASA centers, and outside institutions.
I am also our office’s representative on the Earth science line of business.
“I help everyone negotiate a balance that fits within the cost and schedule,” said Walsh. “The diversity between and among scientists, engineers, and financial experts is what creates NASA’s innovative solutions.”Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/William Hrybyk What is your background?
In 2000, I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. In the Navy I went to flight school in Pensacola, Florida, and became a naval flight officer. I was the “Goose,” not “Maverick,” in the P-3 Orion, a four-engine prop plane that primarily hunts for submarines. I was then stationed in Hawaii as part of Patrol Squadron 9, that deployed to the Far East and Middle East. Next, I worked at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C., as a project officer for science experiments on P-3s from Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland.
I developed migraines that disqualified me from flying. In 2007, I got a master’s in civil engineering project management from the University of Maryland. I then worked in Bethesda, Maryland, constructing buildings around the beltway, as a physics teacher at our local high school, and as a project manager of secure facilities with the Army Corps of Engineers.
In 2016, I became the assistant branch head for facilities planning at Goddard. I later entered the Flight Projects Development Program, a two-year project manager training program, during which time I worked at the Flight Projects Development Office and as the payload manager for Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER), a payload on OSAM-1. I had a proposal selected for a second step, and I came back to PFDO to work proposals.
Why is this your dream job?
We are on the cutting edge of what will fly. We are designing the missions and figuring out what the world of possible will be in space in five to seven years. Scientists come to the table with ideas and engineers make those ideas reality. I make sure the whole team is working together and that all these ideas and solutions fit within our budget and schedule. We make ideas realities.
How do you translate between scientists and engineers?
It is primarily about understanding incentives. Everyone is thinking differently with different solutions, but we have the same goal. Some scientists have had an idea for years, but the idea still has to be workable. If the resulting instrument or spacecraft fails, technical issues are often the first to be examined. I help the engineers push what they are comfortable making and help the scientists understand the limits of technology.
Please talk about the competing pressures of your job.
We are responsible for taxpayer’s money. If one thing goes wrong, even on a smaller mission, the monetary loss can run into many millions. The missions we build have cost limits. We fit cutting edge science into a cost-limited opportunity.
NASA is extremely thorough. We safeguard taxpayer funds, but also push cutting-edge science.
We are on a seesaw. The engineers are more focused on technical solutions while the scientists are more focused on scientific results. I help everyone negotiate a balance that fits within the cost and schedule. The diversity between and among scientists, engineers, and financial experts is what creates NASA’s innovative solutions.
“We are on the cutting edge of what will fly,” said Jesse Walsh about his work as a project formulation manager. “We are designing the missions and figuring out what the world of possible will be in space in five to seven years.”Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/William Hrybyk What are some of your negotiating techniques?
I try to build trust between team members by understanding everyone’s incentives and making sure all team members understand the different incentives. We may have different angles of approach, but we all have the same goal. People are more likely to compromise the means if they know we will end up at the same place.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
I am proudest of our Dorado proposal because it was cutting edge science. We were trying to discover where heavy metals like gold are created in the universe. We were trying to prove that we could do fundamental science on a very lean budget, $35 million.
We did not win the final proposal, but I was extremely proud of our team, a very small, high-functioning team, that made us feel like we could discover the world.
You recently transferred to support the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC) mission. What do you most enjoy about your new role?
I am still learning what I don’t know about GDC. I am finding is fascinating to see how the plans that are made in early stages of formulation change and adapt as they run into unforeseen obstacles during implementation. I am really enjoying being part of a small, high performing team, that is mission focused.
“We fit cutting-edge science into a cost-limited opportunity,” said Jesse Walsh of his work in project formulation management.”NASA is extremely thorough. We safeguard taxpayer funds, but also push cutting-edge science.”Credits: Courtesy of Jesse Walsh Who is your favorite author?
I married a librarian, and books and stories are fundamental parts of our life. I love Hemingway because he portrays extremely complex, emotional scenarios in very simplistic terms.
Who is your science hero?
My high school physics teacher, Mr. Finkbeiner, who taught me that you understand science in your gut, not your head. Science is not memorizing equations; it is understanding how the world around you works.
What are your hobbies?
I love flyfishing on the Chesapeake’s tidal rivers and also on fresh water for trout. Flyfishing involves actively engaging with nature; reading the water and the tides, figuring out nature’s puzzle and trying to crack the code.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
I can’t wait for what’s next!
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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