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Facility Systems Safety Engineer and Fall Protection Program Administrator Thu Nguyen
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By NASA
Not all heroes wear capes (or blue flight suits). At Johnson Space Center in Houston, the heroes might train their colleagues how to safely respond and evacuate their office in an emergency. They might investigate office accidents and remove potential hazards. Or they might help fix a leaky bathroom sink or a broken coffee maker.
Those heroes are approximately 135 on-site facility managers who ensure the safety and health of every building and its occupants.
Established in 2009, the Facility Manager program encompasses buildings at Johnson Space Center, Sonny Carter Training Facility, and Ellington Field. Each building has a primary Facility Manager and an alternate. These individuals develop emergency action plans and serve as facility fire wardens. They post safety alerts, notices of renovation and construction work, and share information about impending interruptions to building access or utilities. They also coordinate between building occupants, safety personnel, facility operations, and emergency responders as needed.
“We are a relatively close-knit community and rely on each other for assistance and advice, especially from the veteran facility managers,” said Vanessa Jordan, the lead facility manager for the entire Johnson site. Her role, and that of Alternate Lead Facility Manager Darrell Palmer, is to establish policies and procedures for the Facility Manager program, ensuring that all applicable safety and health regulations are disseminated and enforced site wide.
Johnson Space Center Lead Facility Manager Vanessa Jordan (left) and Alternate Lead Facility Manager Darrell Palmer. “We are responsible for advising the facility managers on new and current policies and regulations relating to the safety and security of the buildings and their occupants,” Jordan explained. “We also inform them of changes in policies or procedures and happenings around the center that affect the buildings and occupants, such as road closures or hurricanes.” Jordan and Palmer oversee Facility Manager training, as well. They provide bi-annual training for new facility managers and periodic forums with subject matter experts on topics relevant to the team’s responsibilities.
“We are available to address any questions or concerns the facility managers may have regarding their role, buildings, or occupants,” she said. “We are the liaison and advocate for them with their organizations, my organization (which controls the program), the center, and our stakeholders.”
Jordan is also a facility engineer in the Center Operations Directorate’s Facilities Management and Operations Division. She joined Johnson’s team in 2008 after working for four years at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She served as Johnson’s facility manager coordinator for seven years before becoming the lead in 2019.
“I enjoy helping, meeting people, and developing relationships,” she said. “Even though I do a lot of routine work, there is something new to experience, deal with, or learn every day.”
Helping and connecting with others is what Angel Olmedo enjoys most about being a facility manager. “There’s no greater sense of purpose than being the person people rely on to find the help or solutions they need to finish their day strong and productive,” he said. “I’ve learned new skills and had a chance to meet and interact with a lot more people than I did before.”
Angel Olmedo Olmedo has worked at Johnson for nearly five years on the Human Space Flight Technical Integration Contract. In the spring of 2024, he was offered the opportunity to become the facility manager for buildings 4 south and 4 north, and the alternate facility manager for building 17. “During my first few years working here at Johnson, I enjoyed helping people get solutions to their technical problems – be they application related, access issues, or credentials,” he said. “I found that in becoming a facility manager I can continue to do something similar in a whole new way.”
Sid Dickerson has been the prime facility manager for building 17 and alternate for buildings 4 south and 4 north since November 2022. An IT specialist and property custodian at Johnson for more than 30 years, Dickerson takes pride in resolving issues quickly and efficiently and strives to maintain excellent customer feedback. “I want to be the best facility manager for my employer and customers as I help the facility achieve maintenance, cleaning, health and safety and scheduling goals,” he said. He added that working with a team of engineers, IT specialists, and maintenance staff to modernize the building 17 elevators was one of his favorite experiences to date.
Siegfried DickersonNASA/Robert Markowitz Michael Meadows – facility manager for buildings 10, 9 south, and 260 – was inspired to join the Johnson team while delivering newspapers onsite. An Alvin Community College student at the time, Meadows noticed a facility manager plaque on the wall of Johnson’s External Relations Office. “I knew that with hard work and dedication, I would one day become a Johnson employee and support flight and see my photo on that wall!”
Meadows began working at Johnson in 1999 and has been a facility manager for 23 years. He received a Silver Snoopy Award in May 2011 in recognition of the support he provided to the International Space Station Program as the manager for Johnson’s manufacturing facilities.
Michael MeadowsNASA/Robert Markowitz Some Johnson team members are hired specifically for a facility manager position. Others may volunteer or be appointed to the role by their organization’s management. Regardless of how they became a facility manager, each person must complete an initial and a refresher training covering topics such as hazard identification and mitigation, energy conservation, security, and legal considerations. Additional training may be required depending on building assignments. Once fully trained, facility managers may stay in that role as long as they work at Johnson.
The most rewarding part of being a facility manager, said Meadows, is “the feeling you get when you keep up with the facility and make that a great home for all the occupants every day.”
Curious about all of the roles available at NASA? Visit our Careers site to explore open opportunities and find your place with us!
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By Space Force
This week the Department of Defense kicks off a three-year pilot program meant to reimburse service members up to $1,500 for travel-related expenses incurred for a temporary child care provider following a permanent change of station move.
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By Space Force
U.S. Space Command and the Department of Commerce are migrating the provision of public services relating to spaceflight safety, currently provided via space-track.org, from USSPACECOM to OSC’s new Traffic Coordination System for Space.
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By Space Force
The 8th CTS, housed within Space Delta 8 - Satellite Communications, has been working diligently to develop and provide opportunities to enhance unit members’ understanding of how they fit into the bigger picture of space operations.
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By NASA
“From my earliest childhood, flight had always captivated me. I lived out in the boonies and the farmlands, so I didn’t have neighbors to go and play with. If I wasn’t working, I was left to my own devices, and often, I would just be captivated by the wildlife and in particular, the birds of prey that I would see.
“To me, they represented a freedom of some kind or another. These birds and the view they have — they can take in so much. So, from that point on, I knew I wanted to be involved in flight and aviation.
“I [enjoyed] all things flight, all things spaceflight. I couldn’t get enough of it. I became an avid reader, whereas before, I wasn’t much of a reader. I couldn’t get enough material to read about my heroes from flight and space. They became my role models and the path that they took involved, at some point or another, a pretty rigorous education and dedication to doing well academically, physically, or athletically. So, I threw myself into that entire sort of mindset.
“When I was working for the Air Force, I was able to fly and work on aircraft that I would dream about, looking at in the magazines Aviation Week and Space Technology. Here they are, right in front of me.
“… So, my career has been as close as possible to that of a flight test engineer. And then, right on the heels of being captivated by atmospheric flight, working in human spaceflight has put me over the Moon.”
—Dr. Donald Mendoza, Chief Engineer, NASA Engineering & Safety Center, NASA’s Ames Research Center
Image Credit: NASA/Dominic Hart
Interviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos
Check out some of our other Faces of NASA.
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