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This is our “new area of the cosmos” in which we need to operate and and operate to need we in which cosmos” “new isThis the our of area have not may we that done work our get to trying We’re busy so all to need we that accepted and internalized have we it’sI think because in stride. change this of all take we is that me fascinates always What year JSC this at is here Telescope Webb James Space The (JWST) of side technical the on alterations significant been have there While LYNDON B.

a period of significant significant of a period Later is not an option. option. an is not Later Now? Absolutely. Necessary? Yes. You Painful? altogether. Scary? things bet. some from away walking even and differently, things doing by heat the down turn to how out Together, figure to boil. to plan let’s it’s in is starting problems. really hard solve and things new try to boldness the and imagination, and courage pressure, under grace excellence, with us associate people makes that aplace at tour. come to We work tickets buy people where aplace at We work planet. us. without missions can’t succeed Our successful. be to And—we want successful. be to want ifwe done we’ve always what year. this CMO of We review can’t keep doing azero-base conducting am I is This why mission budget. the it’s money, into going is more there If money. more us give in and come is to going Nobody mission. the support what it takes to help get there, I’m all for it. it. I’m for all there, get help to takes it what is this If Mars. to getting of part be to Iwant because Istayed Station. Space I don’t want to be the frog that realizes, all too late, that the pot of water water of pot the that late, too all realizes, that frog the be to I don’t want the on don’t work employees our of some where aplace at We work I joined NASA because I wanted to be part of building the International International the building of part be to Iwanted because NASA I joined Bob Hines Raja and Chari. Rubio, Dominick, Barron, Warren Kayla Matthew Hoburg, Frank Kim, Jonny to right, row, O’Hara; back Loral left JasminCardman, Moghbeli, , , Zena to right, row, are, front left Pictured candidates. these 12 women and men as the agency’s new chose NASA 18,300 than more of top to the applicants, since 2000. class astronaut Rising largest its selected t NASA’snear Space Center in Houston. Johnson Field Ellington at suits flight for fitted getting while photo NASA’s 2017 agroup to take stop candidates astronaut IMAGE OF THE QUARTERIMAGE THE OF o join an exciting future of space exploration, NASA has has NASA o join space exploration, of exciting an future After receivingAfter a record-breaking number of applications

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PHOTO: NASA BY CATHERINE RAGIN WILLIAMS

Universe, meet James Webb (the telescope)

BEFORE THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE leaves Earth for the outer recesses of the solar system in late 2018, it will get acquainted with deep space first at NASA’s Johnson Space Center—more specifically, in a rotund thermal vacuum chamber affectionately known to most Johnson team members as “Chamber A.” Inside what looks to be a cream-colored soda can of epic proportions will be NASA’s newest space-based observatory. This infrared telescope will, for the next decade, serve thousands of astronomers worldwide and study many phases in the history of our universe. Its sophisticated instruments will decode the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life and the evolution of our own tiny cosmic corner. But before it gets there, it must be tested here. “Once we pump down (the chamber), we’re estimating at NASA/ CHRIS GUNN

least a 93-day test if everything PHOTO: goes well,” said Jonathan Homan, Johnson’s project manager for testing the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA Johnson Space Center’s “Chamber A” in Houston Homan estimates that everything will go well—in fact, be is an enormous thermal vacuum testing chamber that successful—thanks to a series of Pathfinder tests that were run in appears to be opening its “mouth” to take in NASA’s the chamber before the actual telescope’s arrival in early May. With James Webb Space Telescope for testing. The telescope the telescope’s engineering unit, the chamber ran three simulations, and the Integrated Science Instrument Module are two of including a thermal Pathfinder evaluation, to help plan out how to the three major elements that comprise the observatory’s integrate the final test of the telescope worth a cool $4 billion. flight system and are being lifted into the chamber in this “It really let us know the predictions thermally and how we can get photo. The other is the Spacecraft Element (spacecraft all the optical tests done correctly,” Homan said. “So it was very, very bus and sunshield), which is currently under construction valuable. All these activities that we’re doing now were practiced with at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo the Pathfinder unit.” Beach, California.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER 3 PHOTO: NASA/DESIREE STOVER

It’s springtime and the deployed primary mirror of “Chamber A used to be more lunar, low-Earth-orbit-type testing,” NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope looks like a flower Homan said. “Now we’re doing deep space. We made the modifications in full bloom. In this photo, NASA technicians lifted the from 2009 to 2012 to change the chamber over from the Apollo telescope using a crane and moved it inside a cleanroom requirements to the Webb requirements. Their big things, which were at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, not probably big things on Apollo, are vibration, contamination, a much Maryland. Once launched into space, the Webb colder environment and significantly longer testing.” telescope’s 18-segment gold mirror is specially designed When inside, the telescope will be suspended in the chamber— to capture infrared light from the first galaxies that floating—free from any possible vibrations. Although a stunning formed in the early universe, and will help the telescope starscape backdrop will be missing, bitter temperatures will abound. peer inside dust clouds where stars and planetary “There’s not another facility that can do what this chamber does systems are forming today. now,” Homan noted. “We have become so efficient performance-wise. Thermally, we’ve not just met the requirements, we’ve exceeded those requirements. The chamber actually acts as a cleanroom, because the With the Pathfinder series and following test this summer and fall helium shroud, which needs to be dark (light tight) and cold, allows that will go approximately a hundred days, the chamber replicates clean air to flow from the top to bottom. Now, inside the chamber, we the actual environment the telescope will be exposed to out in L-2, can create the environment of deep space—extremely dark and cold.” or the second Lagrange point. One million miles from the creature Webb, while being assessed at Johnson, will be exposed to 19.8 comforts of our home planet, Webb will stay in line with Earth as it Kelvin (minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit)—temps so numbingly cold that moves around the sun. The satellite’s hulking sunshield will protect only a bit of helium molecules and a dash of hydrogen will still have the telescope from the light and heat of the sun, Earth and moon. the wherewithal to circulate. However, on the other side of the sunshield, things get seriously “Oxygen’s not moving, nitrogen’s not moving in that environment,” frigid for the science hardware and mirrors. Like a minus 388 degrees Homan said. “Everything is frozen out, creating a deep vacuum, which Fahrenheit better-not-forget-your-coat-before-you-go-outside kind of is what [the telescope] needs to be able to detect the early light of bone chill. the universe.”

4 LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER The simulation for Webb will be wrapped up by the end of the calendar year, and perhaps even as soon as late fall. Afterward, it will get its sunshield attached at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems and undergo one more vibration test before transport to French Guiana, the launch site. That will be the last contact with Earth before hurtling to its destiny. It’s taken an integrated team as immense as the science instrument itself and a careful orchestration of teamwork to bring the telescope

NASA/ CHRIS GUNN to life. Those working on Webb while it’s at the center include

PHOTO: PHOTO: professionals from Goddard Space Flight Center, Harris, Northrop Grumman, Ball Aerospace and, of course, a large Johnson support team. Within Johnson, the Crew and Thermal Systems Division, Center This legacy photo from May 2015 shows the fifth floor Operations, Flight Operations, Jacobs Engineering and others are of thermal vacuum Chamber A that now is being used for tending to Webb. an end-to-end test of the James Webb Space Telescope. “We’ve had about 50 people in the chamber and the cleanroom,” This photo was taken before the start of a test on the Homan said. “But we’ve had hundreds of people at Johnson directly Webb telescope Pathfinder, an engineering version of supporting, either the buildup or the test.” the telescope. Here, the contamination control engineer Although the care and evaluation of this space observatory is not on the left is doing his final FOD (Foreign Object Debris) something that is the norm for Johnson, the nucleus of human space inspection. In the center of this image, wrapped in exploration, everyone working on it recognizes it for the honor it is. the silver thermal blanketing, is the CoCoa (Center of “I love that here at Johnson we focus on exploration,” Homan Curvature optical assembly). CoCoa tests on the Webb said. “I’ve done lots of manned tests with , and I think telescope’s concave mirror segments are critical, because that is really amazing and we need to stay focused on human space they will tell engineers if all of the mirrors work together exploration. But it’s also really cool to work with some great scientists to make a telescope that has the correct shape. and know that what they plan to get out of Webb will change history and our physics books. Whatever we see from Hubble, this is going so much further back and has much different and bigger optical This three-month-and-counting test will determine if the telescope properties. We’re going to learn a lot more.” is ready for the hostile environs of L-2. This photo shows “So the big thing is, again, thermal performance,” Homan said. “Do Northrop Grumman’s the spacecraft thermal systems and flight predictions and modeling huge full-scale model of the match up with what they expect? The thermal Pathfinder was a big James Webb Space Telescope one to prove that out—that we should. And two, even more important, being displayed for the public are the optics. Hubble did not get tested optically, in a space-like from Jan. 27 to Feb. 5 during environment, with the full integrated optics like Webb. We are taking Super Bowl Live in Houston Webb to its orbital-like conditions, getting the mirrors down to orbit- near Discovery Green. predicted temperatures, and then testing the mirrors.” Interestingly, the telescope’s optics are not yet in focus. That comes later, with the cold. “The mirrors, they look really nice here, but they’re not in perfect prescription until the mirrors are down below 40 Kelvin,” Homan said. It’s a feature that was built into the science instrument, taking into consideration its final destination, and most certainly not a bug. Part of the beauty of testing in a simulated deep space environment while in the confines of the chamber is gauging that crucial optical performance. If the mirror segments align perfectly the first time, great. If not, the chamber provides a safe space for changes. “Each of the different mirror segments and the science instruments, they’re all communicating,” Homan said. “And if they’re not, we can test that out and make the adjustments. If it looks like we’re not quite right, let’s reposition something slightly. We have the fine actuators that can move things fractions of an inch. When the optical guys say ‘Yes, I’m seeing what I expect,’ that’s very successful.” PHOTO: ALBERTO ALBERTO CONTI PHOTO:

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER 5 Sharing the excitement Johnson Space Center team members close to the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST’s) preparation and testing operations share what they hope the telescope will reveal about the universe and their feelings about being a part of the buildup toward its launch in 2018.

“My favorite part of having JWST here has been the challenges of working with such a large team with so many Gretchen test objectives and test events. The series of tests that we have performed have been building in complexity over the Thomas years, and it will be fun to actually run the facility with the real flight hardware in place and see how it performs. I’ve TEST DIRECTOR enjoyed successfully running the chamber at the extremely Company: NASA low vacuum levels and super-cold temperatures that we have to achieve for the telescope, knowing that there is no other facility in the world that can do that.”

“I am hopeful JWST will help identify and provide glimpses of the formation of the first galaxies and stars in our universe. Really, I hope the JWST will eventually be held in Andrew the same high regard as the Hubble [Space] Telescope. To Francis be part of something so ambitious, with the potential to help understand the origins of the universe, can’t be beat. TEST DIRECTOR To be able to be part of a project like JWST is a once-in-a- Company: Jacobs career opportunity.”

“I make it a point each day to take a moment and look Kenneth upon the telescope as it is being prepared for testing in Building 32, reflecting on how amazing it truly is. My Anderle employees and I have dedicated much of our lives over the past 10 to 12 years preparing for this test, and it is very FACILITY TEST rewarding to see that our efforts are helping to provide OPERATIONS MANAGER humankind an instrument of exploration unlike any ever Company: Jacobs imagined.”

6 LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER “I hope [Webb] will see more evidence of the existence of other worlds that could sustain life. [I Mary have enjoyed seeing] the “My favorite part of having notoriety and publicity it’s Halligan JWST at JSC is seeing all given to JSC.” the excitement and wonder BUILDING 32 FACILITY that this brings to my fellow MANAGER, FACILITY workers and the general ENGINEER public.” Company: NASA Gary Gastler PROJECT MANAGER Company: NASA

Greg “I’m hoping the telescope reveals details on how the first galaxies in the universe formed. The idea that JWST might Stiggins be able to see the first light after the Big Bang is incredible. ELECTRICAL, DATA AND The energy and excitement surrounding the JWST project CONTROLS SECTION has been great, especially in these last few weeks since the MANAGER telescope arrived at JSC. There were many challenges over Company: Jacobs the years as we prepared Chamber A for this test, and it is very satisfying to see it all come together.”

“I think I’m most interested in the possibility of actual imaging of exoplanets, as well as just generally seeing as far back in the universe’s history as possible. Though it has Jamie been rewarding bringing the various Chamber A upgrades Garza online over the past few years, my favorite part of JWST being here has yet to happen. That moment will come at CONTROL SYSTEMS the end of a successful test here in Building 32. While not ENGINEER as dramatic as the Mars Curiosity ‘Seven Minutes of Terror,’ Company: Jacobs we will have a solid ‘90-plus days of anticipation’ as the test is conducted over this summer. With many preliminary chamber tests, we’ve prepared well though, so we’re ready to go.”

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER 7 JSC scientists find evidence of diverse BY BILL JEFFS environments in Curiosity samples

NASA SCIENTISTS HAVE FOUND a wide diversity of minerals in the initial samples of rocks collected by the Curiosity rover in the lowermost layers of Mount Sharp on Mars, suggesting that conditions changed in the water environments on the planet over time. “We have all this evidence that Mars was once really wet but now is dry and cold,” said Elizabeth Rampe, the first author of the study and a NASA exploration mission scientist at Johnson. “Today, much of the water is locked up in the poles and in the ground at high latitudes as ice.” Curiosity landed near Mount Sharp in Gale Crater in August 2012 and reached the base of the mountain in 2014. Layers of rocks at the base of Mount Sharp accumulated

as sediment within ancient lakes around NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS 3.5 billion years ago. Orbital infrared NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover examined a mudstone outcrop area called “Pahrump Hills” on lower spectroscopy shows that the mountain’s Mount Sharp, in 2014 and 2015. This view shows locations of some targets the rover studied. The lowermost layers have variations in minerals blue dots indicate where drilled samples of powdered rock were collected for analysis. that suggest changes in the ancient environments. In a paper published recently in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, in Hawaii. Moving higher in the section, scientists saw more silica-rich scientists in the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science minerals. In the “Buckskin” sample, scientists found tridymite. Tridymite (ARES) Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center report on the first four is found on Earth, for example, in rocks that formed from partial samples collected from the lower layers of Mount Sharp. melting of Earth’s crust—a strange finding, because Mars never had “We went to Gale Crater to investigate these lower layers of Mount plate tectonics. Sharp that have these minerals that precipitated from water and Scientists found clay minerals at the base, which generally form suggest different environments,” Rampe said. “These layers were in the presence of liquid water with a near-neutral pH, and therefore deposited about 3.5 billion years ago, coinciding with a time on Earth could be good indicators of past environments that were conducive to when life was beginning to take hold. We think early Mars may have life. Another mineral discovered here was jarosite, a salt that forms in been similar to early Earth, and so these environments might have acidic solutions, suggesting that there were acidic fluids at some point been habitable.” in time in this region. The minerals found in the four samples drilled near the base of Hematite was found near the base, and only magnetite was found at Mount Sharp suggest several different environments were present the top. Hematite contains oxidized iron, whereas magnetite contains in ancient Gale Crater. There is evidence for waters with different pH both oxidized and reduced forms of iron. and variably oxidizing conditions. The minerals also show that there The authors attribute this mineralogical diversity to the were multiple source regions for the rocks in “Pahrump Hills” and development of later-stage fluids. After the sediments were “Marias Pass.” deposited, acidic, oxidizing groundwater moved into the area, The paper primarily reports on three samples from the Pahrump leading to precipitation of jarosite and hematite. In this scenario, the Hills region, an outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp that contains environmental conditions present in the lake and in later groundwater sedimentary rocks scientists believe formed in a lake. The other were quite different, but both offered liquid water and a chemical sample, called “Buckskin,” was reported last year, but that data is diversity that could have been exploited by microbial life. incorporated into the paper. “We think that the rocks Curiosity has studied reveal ancient At the base of the Pahrump Hills are minerals from a primitive environmental changes that occurred as Mars started to lose its magma source; they are rich in iron and magnesium, similar to basalts atmosphere and water was lost to space,” Rampe said.

8 LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER NASA’s Curiosity rover shows the purple-hued rocks near the rover’s late-2016 location on lower Mount Mars Science Sharp. The scene’s middle distance includes higher layers that are Laboratory Operations Center future destinations for the mission. Curiosity’s tasks are scheduled, in part, by NASA Johnson Space now open Center’s Astromaterials Research and BY VICTORIA UGALDE Exploration Science Division team members in the all-new Mars Science

NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS Laboratory Operations Center, which makes collaborating on Martian THE MARS SCIENCE TEAM of the Astromaterials Research and The technology-driven missions much easier to do with teams throughout the nation’s space agency. Exploration Science (ARES) Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center area also gives ARES now has a new “space” to call home for planetary surface operations. scientists the ability to Located in Johnson’s Building 29, the brand-new Mars Science collaborate remotely—and Laboratory (MSL) Operations Center functions as a mini Mission with greater ease—with other centers like NASA’s Jet Propulsion Control Center for the ARES science team, where they conduct Laboratory (JPL). experiments remotely for Curiosity as it roves the terrain of the “We are on the science team [at Johnson], but JPL is where all Red Planet, unlocking the mysteries of Mars’ past and present the rover planners and other engineering folks sit,” Archer said. “It’s environments. the science team that’s distributed across the country and in a few ARES supports the daily rover operations on Mars to improve our international locations as well.” understanding of the planet. Additionally, ARES scientists virtually Additionally, the MSL Operations Center has the capability to serve on Opportunity and Curiosity teams to plan and implement convert, if needed, to work surface operations for another exciting science objectives. rover mission on the docket: Mars 2020. “The MSL ops center enables us to better support Curiosity’s “JSC has had people working Mars mission ops for over a decade,” exploration of Mars,” said Doug Archer, a Mars scientist at Johnson. Archer said. “Having an ops center that can support multiple people “Having the ops center has enabled us to participate in remote working simultaneously, as well as meeting in a collaborative work meetings as a group, which facilitates more discussion and a better space, will help us maintain the work we’re doing and move forward understanding of what we’re seeing on Mars.” with future Mars exploration.” The brand-new center provides a designated space for Johnson’s For more information on ARES, go to: scientists to meet and discuss upcoming objectives for Curiosity. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/astromaterials While half of this specialized control room functions as a collaborative space, the other half is equipped with individual workstations, where scientists can work privately. “We have workstations in the ops room that have a lot of screen real estate, which is incredibly useful because we use many tools simultaneously,” Archer said. “Being able to see them all at the same time helps us get our jobs done without missing anything.” From inside the center, the team can review data from the previous day, pull up current imagery taken from Mars or decide what science tasks they want Curiosity to tackle next. Whether that means taking additional photographs of a specified area on the surface

or using instruments on Curiosity such as the NASA PHOTO/JOSH VALCARCEL Sample Analysis at Mars tool to unveil the The Mars science team from NASA Johnson Space Center’s Astromaterials Research and crystalline structure in Martian samples, the Exploration Science Division provides mission support from the Mars Science Laboratory MSL-dedicated space helps ARES take part in Operations Center. missions like never before.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER 9 T+20 years and counting BY CATHERINE RAGIN WILLIAMS

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THAT SPECIAL 20-year anniversary own upgrades to support operations for space station, Commercial Crew, gift for NASA Johnson Space Center’s legendary Training Orion and NASA’s eventual journey to Mars. Facility (SCTF), home of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) and its “We’re always trying to keep up with what’s out there, that way we can titanic pool, traditional china and modern platinum options might not accommodate any new technology,” Otten said. “There’s nothing that we be the thing. More appreciated, however, would be nitrox, a mixture of can’t do—it’s just whether we can constrain it within our schedules with nitrogen and oxygen the divers and astronauts training underwater use all the other training. Today, we have spacesuits in the water at the same to breathe. To date, the facility has gone through more than 95 million time we have an ROV in the water, or a Micro-g NExT [Micro-g Neutral cubic feet of it—enough to fill NRG Stadium. Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams] event and commercial or Aircraft In fact, despite the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program and Operations Directorate [AOD] water survival going on. It has become a finished assembly of the International Space Station, the NBL still very reachable facility over the years.” maintains a full schedule of event support. The future of the NBL is as bright as the new white “We just had three spacewalks in the last four coat of paint adorning its walls. weeks,” said Raytheon NBL Operations Manager “The ultimate thing is to train the crew Kurt Otten. “There’s a lot of times we have real- here,” Otten said. That’s especially true of time mission support, where they’ll come over NASA’s newest human space exploration and do a suited event or configured scuba program, Orion, which will rely on just to validate the process and procedures oceanic splashdowns. “[The crew must] that they’re going to do up in space for the familiarize themselves for the water EVA [Extravehicular Activity, or spacewalk].” landing—how to get out of the seats, Astronaut spacewalk training is still the out the door and into their life raft. NBL’s “bread and butter,” so to speak, but And, in case that doesn’t work out right, other new operations have entered the mix. we have to train the rescue divers and “We used to do dual ops, where we would pararescue specialists in the military that run two suited runs simultaneously—have two support the landings.” NASA PHOTO: JAMES BLAIR astronauts here and two astronauts there, and View Further down the road, there’s always the they would all be in the dive tank at one time doing of astronauts option to explore other worlds—and NASA has different things, but training at the same time,” Otten said. in Extravehicular many facilities, including the NBL, for such Now, while a broad section of the pool accommodates NASA’s lofty goals. needs, the other caters to specialized commercial interests. Mobility Units and divers “A lot of folks feel that we can actually working on a mock-up “There’s a permanent ROV make some type of terrain on the bottom of [Remotely Operated Vehicle] here underwater in the pool and simulate one-sixth G [gravity] If you were alive when the from Oceaneering,” Otten said. the pool. by changing the buoyancy in their suit,” Otten NBL completed its first “The ROV is what is used offshore. said. “That’s what we do right now. We make training exercise on Jan. 7, So it’s just like space—plan, train, them neutral in their suit so they don’t go up or 1997, the world was a little fly. With the ROV, same thing.” down, and they perform a spacewalk from end to end.” different. Twenty years ago … Due to the nature of hazardous Otten indicated that with alien terrain and adjusted gravitational operations offshore, Otten noted force, astronauts could practice walks on the moon and Mars. For an • The Houston Oilers football that companies don’t want added bonus, the test conductors could throw malfunctions at the crew, team moved to Tennessee. their divers out on the oil rigs like have their rovers quit working or spacesuit issues. The possibilities in unnecessarily. Instead, they come making NASA’s explorers battle hardened for the solar system are almost • The Green Bay Packers won to the NBL and check out their as endless as the pool’s shimmering surface. Super Bowl XXXI (for the tools and procedures in the safety The SCTF is more than a colossal pool, though. Lesser known is first time since 1967). of our pool. the logistic mock-up facility connected to it, which has a full-fledged “They can remove risk by doing machine, welding and sheet metal shop. That’s where a lot of the • Gas was a cheap $1.23 per it here,” Otten said. “Otherwise, mock-ups used for training are built, as well as one-of-a-kind parts gallon. they’re paying $100,000 a day needed for AOD. • The Dow Jones Industrial testing offshore [adding more While NASA’s missions have changed in the past 20 years, some of costs], and then they actually have the NBL’s fundamental characteristics, which have made it so successful, Average closed above 7,000 to go and do the job.” have not. for the first time. And, as technology continues to “It’s a landmark facility,” Otten said. “Just listening to the astronauts rapidly advance, the infrastructure talk, the NBL is very needed to continue their training to make them at the SCTF has responded with its successful in space.”

10 LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER NASA PHOTO during theSTS-126 mission. from theInternational Space Station patch with an NBL View of Earth

NASA PHOTO NASA PHOTO recipients.award service anniversary 20th NBL spacecraft. spacecraft. the rope harness around the Tim Goddard installing from theNBL landing recovery with Flight Lead Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1 Operations training Directorate the NBL. at water survival Astronaut Peggy participates Whitson Astronaut in Aircraft

NASA PHOTO: JAMES BLAIR the Apollo Spacecraftthe Apollo Recovery Team. about his experiences working with celebration speaks and anniversary addresses thecrowd 20th theNBL at Former flight director Milt Heflin the NBL crowd.the NBL addresses Cassidy Chris Astronaut

LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

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PRSRTTD S U.S. POSTAGE PAID WEBSTER.TX Permit No. 39

The Roundup is an official publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, and is published by the External Relations Office for all Space Center employees. The Roundup office is located at the Johnson Space Center, Building 2. The mail code is AD94. Visit our website at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/roundup/ roundup_toc.html For distribution questions or to suggest a story idea, send an email to [email protected].

Catherine Ragin Williams Editor Logan Goodson Graphic Design Lynnette Madison NASA Publication Manager OR CURRENT RESIDENT

Investigation aims to identify unknown microbes in space BY JENNY HOWARD

BUILDING ON THE ABILITY TO SEQUENCE DNA in space and The miniPCR (polymerase chain reaction) device was first used aboard previous investigations, Genes in Space-3 is a collaboration to prepare, the station during the Genes in Space-1 and soon-to-be Genes in Space-2 sequence and identify unknown organisms entirely from space. When investigations, student-designed experiments in the Genes in Space NASA astronaut Kate Rubins sequenced DNA aboard the International program. Genes in Space-1 successfully demonstrated the device could be Space Station (ISS) in 2016, it was a game changer. used in microgravity to amplify DNA, a process used That first-ever sequencing of DNA in space was to create thousands of copies of specific sections of part of the Biomolecule Sequencer investigation. DNA. The second investigation arrived at the space Although it’s not as exciting as a science-fiction station on April 22 and will be tested this summer. movie may depict, the walls and surfaces of the Next came the Biomolecule Sequencer space station do experience microbial growth from investigation, which successfully tested the time to time. Currently, the only way to identify MinION’s ability to sequence strands of Earth- contaminants is to take a sample and send it back prepared DNA in an orbiting laboratory. to Earth. “Coupling these different devices [allows] “We have had contamination in parts of us to take the lab to the samples instead of us the station where fungi was seen growing or having to bring the samples to the lab,” said Aaron biomaterial has been pulled out of a clogged Burton, NASA biochemist and Genes in Space-3 waterline, but we have no idea what it is until co-investigator. the sample gets back down to the lab,” said Sarah Crew members will collect a sample from within Wallace, NASA microbiologist and the project’s the space station to be cultured aboard the orbiting

principal investigator at the NASA’s Johnson Space NASA/PHOTO laboratory. The sample will then be prepared for Center in Houston. sequencing in a process similar to the one used “On the ISS, we can regularly resupply Student Anna-Sophia Boguraev, during the Genes in Space-1 investigation using the disinfectants, but as we move beyond low-Earth winner of the Genes in Space miniPCR and, finally, sequenced and identified using orbit, where the ability for resupply is less frequent, competition, is pictured with the the MinION device. knowing what to disinfect or not becomes very miniPCR device. The miniPCR In addition to identifying microbes in space, this important,” Wallace said. will be used with the minION to technology could be used to diagnose crew member Developed in partnership by NASA’s Johnson prepare, sequence and identify a wounds or illnesses in real time, help identify Space Center and Boeing, this ISS National Lab- microorganism from start to finish DNA-based life on other planets and help with sponsored investigation will marry two pieces of aboard the space station. other investigations aboard the station. Closer to existing spaceflight technology, miniPCR and the home, this process can be used to provide real-time MinION DNA sequencer, to change that process, diagnosis of viruses in areas of the world where allowing for the first unknown biological samples to be prepared, access to a laboratory may not be possible. sequenced and then identified in space. Read the full story here: https://go.usa.gov/xNvK4

12 LYNDON B. JOHNSON SPACE CENTER