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By NASA
Dr. Steven “Steve” Platnick stepped down from his role at NASA on August 8, 2025, after more than three decades of public service. Steve began his career at NASA as a physical scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center in 2002. He moved to the Earth Science Division in 2009, where he has served in various senior management roles, including as the Earth Observing System (EOS) Senior Project Scientist. In this role, he led the EOS Project Science Office and continued periodic meetings of the EOS Project Scientists, initiated by Michael King during his tenure. Steve expanded these meetings to include representatives of non-EOS Earth observing missions and representatives from Earth Science Mission Operations (ESMO). In addition, Steve was named Deputy Director for Atmospheres in the Earth Science Division in January 2015 and served in this position until July 2024.
Dr. Steve Platnick Image credit: NASA During his time at NASA, Steve played an integral role in the development, sustainability, and advancement of NASA’s Earth Observing System platforms. From January 2003 – February 2010, Steve served as Deputy Project Scientist for Aqua. In this role, he applied his expertise in theoretical and experimental studies of satellite, aircraft, and ground-based cloud remote sensing to improve algorithms to benefit the data gathered from remote observing systems.
Taking the Lead to Improve Algorithms
Steve was actively involved in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Science Team, serving as the MODIS Atmosphere Team Lead. Steve helped advance several key components of the MODIS instrument, which flies on NASA’s Terra and Aqua platforms. He led a team that enhanced, maintained, and evaluated MODIS algorithms that support the Level-2 (L2) Cloud Optical/Microphysical Properties components (e.g., COD06 and MYD06) for MODIS on Terra and Aqua. The algorithms were designed to retrieve thermodynamic phase, optical thickness, effective particle radius, and water path for liquid and ice clouds. The team’s work also contributes to L3 products that address cloud mask, aerosols, clouds, and clear sky radiance for data within 1° grids over one-day, eight-day, and one-month repeat cycles. Under Steve’s leadership, the team also developed L2 products (e.g., MODATML2 and MYDATML2) that include essential atmosphere datasets of samples collected at 5–10 km (3–6 mi) that is consistent with L3 products to ease storage requirements of core atmospheric data.
Steve is also a member of the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) Atmosphere Team, working on operational cloud optical and microphysical products. In this role, he contributed to algorithm development and refinement for the Cloud Product. In particular, he helped address a critical gap in the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) spectral channel, which was not designed to collect information for carbon dioxide (CO2) slicing and water vapor data in the same way as MODIS. Steve and his colleagues developed a suite of L2 algorithms for the spectral channels that were common to both MODIS and VIIRS to address cloud mask and cloud optical/microphysical properties. Through these efforts, the project has established a continuous cloud data record gathered from both instruments from 2017 to the present.
Steve also participated in numerous other working groups during the past 30 years. He participated in the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX) Cloud Assessment Working Group (2008–present), Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) Science Team (2023–present), ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) Earth–Venture Suborbital (EVS)-2 Science Team (2014–2023), Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Science Team (2014–present), Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Science Team (2014–2023), PACE Science Definition Team, Deputy Chair (2011–2012), Glory Science Team (2010–2014) NASA Observations for Modeling Intercomparison Studies (obs4MIPs) Working Group (2011), Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Science Definition Team (2009–2011), and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) R-series Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Cloud Team (2005–2009).
Steve has also participated in numerous major airborne field campaigns in various roles, including: GSFC Lidar Observation and Validation Experiment (GLOVE, 2025), PACE Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PAX, 2024), the Westcoast & Heartland Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor Intensive Experiment (WH2yMSIE, 2024), ORACLES Science Team (2015–2019), Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) Science Team (2011–2015), Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) Management Team (2007), Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers – Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE) Science Management Team (2002), Southern Africa Fire-Atmosphere Research Initiative (SAFARI, 2000), First ISCCP Regional Experiment (FIRE) Arctic Cloud Experiment (ACE) (1998), Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST, 1994), and ACE (1992).
Supporting Earth Science Communications
Through his senior leadership roles within ESD Steve has been supportive of the activities of NASA’s Science Support Office (SSO). He has participated in many NASA Science exhibits at both national and international scientific conferences, including serving as a Hyperwall presenter numerous times. He has met with task leaders frequently and has advocated on behalf of the SSO to management at NASA Headquarters, GSFC, and Global Sciences & Technology Inc.
For The Earth Observer newsletter publication team in particular, Steve replaced Michael King as Acting EOS Senior Project Scientist in June 2008, taking over the authorship of “The Editor’s Corner” beginning with the May–June 2008 issue [Volume 20, Issue 3]. The Acting label was removed beginning with the January–February 2010 issue [Volume 22, Issue 1]. Steve has been a champion of continuing to retain a historical record of NASA meetings to maintain a chronology of advances made by different groups within the NASA Earth Science community. He was supportive of the Executive Editor’s efforts to create a series called “Perspectives on EOS,” which ran from 2008–2011 and told the stories of the early years of the EOS Program from the point of view of those who lived them. He also supported the development of articles to commemorate the 25th and 30th anniversary of The Earth Observer. Later, Steve helped guide the transition of the newsletterfrom a print publication – the November–December 2022 issue was the last printed issue – to fully online by July 2024, a few months after the publication’s 35th anniversary. The Earth Observer team will miss Steve’s keen insight, historical perspective, and encouragement that he has shown through his leadership for the past 85 issues of print and online publications.
A Career Recognized through Awards and Honors
Throughout his career, Steve has amassed numerous honors, including the Robert H. Goddard Award for Science: MODIS/VIIRS Cloud Products Science Team (2024) and the William Nordberg Memorial Award for Earth Science in 2023. He received the Verner E. Suomi Award from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) in 2016 and was named an AMS Fellow that same year.
Steve has received numerous NASA Group Achievement Awards, including for the Cloud, Aerosol and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) Field Campaign Team (2020), Fire Influence of Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) Field Campaign Team (2020), ORACLES Field Campaign Team (2019), obs4MIPs Working Group (2015), SEAC4RS Field Campaign Team (2015), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) Instrument Recovery Team (2013), Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Mission Concept Team (2012), Earth Science Constellation Red Team (2011), Science Mission Directorate ARRA Team (2011), TC4 Team (2009), MODIS Science Data Support Team (2007), Aqua Mission Team (2003), CRYSTAL-FACE Science Team (2003), and SAFARI 2000 International Leadership Team (2002).
Steve received two NASA Agency Honor Awards – the Exceptional Service Medal in 2015 and the Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2008. He was also part of the NASA Agency Team Excellence Award in 2017 for his work with the Satellite Needs Assessment Team. The Laboratory for Atmospheres honored him with the Best Senior Author Publication Award in 2001 and the Scientific Research Peer Award in 2005.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively. He earned a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Arizona. He began his career at the Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) at University of Maryland Baltimore County in 1996 as a research associate professor. He held this appointment until 2002. Steve has published more than 150 scholarly articles.
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By NASA
NASA has demonstrated a breakthrough in 3D-printable high-temperature materials that could lead to stronger, more durable parts for airplanes and spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin NASA’s Inventions and Contributions Board (ICB) has awarded Commercial Invention of the Year to NASA Glenn Research Center’s GRX-810: A 3D Printable Alloy Designed for Extreme Environments.
NASA Alloy GRX–810, an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy, can endure temperatures over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is more malleable and can survive more than 1,000 times longer than existing state-of-the-art alloys. This new alloy can be used to build aerospace parts for high-temperature applications, like those inside aircraft and rocket engines, because ODS alloys can withstand harsher conditions before reaching their breaking point.
The NASA Glenn team of inventors includes Dr. Timothy Smith (co-lead), Dr. Christopher Kantzos (co-lead), Robert Carter, and Dr. Michael Kulis.
Four American companies have been granted co-exclusive licenses to produce and market GRX-810 material. All four have replicated NASA Glenn’s patented process and are selling fully coated materials. This benefits the United States economy as a return on investment of taxpayer dollars.
For more information on this technology, visit 3D Printed Alloy and New Material Built to Withstand Extreme Conditions.
The NASA insignia is 3D printed using the GRX-810 superalloy.
Video Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin
Additionally, the ICB selected NASA Glenn’s High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) project for an honorable mention in the Software of the Year category. HDTN is a protocol suite that extends terrestrial internet principles to the space environment, creating a high-speed data transfer path for spacecraft and different communication systems. It is an optimized version of the DTN standard for high-rate radio frequency and optical links.
The ICB reviews and recommends awards for significant scientific and technical contributions to the agency’s aeronautical and space activities. These awards recognize technologies that not only advance NASA’s mission but also benefit the public through commercialization.
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4622-4623: Kicking Off (Earth) Year 14 With an Investigation of Veins
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity, using its Left Navigation Camera, caught the shadow of the rover’s mast looking ahead to new terrain as the mission started its 14th Earth year on Mars. Curiosity acquired this image on Aug. 6, 2025 — Sol 4621, or Martian day 4,621 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 06:24:09 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.
Today was a very special day for Curiosity as the rover celebrated the start of a 14th year on Mars. Curiosity is currently exploring the mysterious boxwork formations. On Monday, the rover positioned itself at the side of one of the ridges, where the team had spotted tantalizing hints of a complex network of razor-thin veins that may give insight into what is holding the ridges up, compared to the surrounding hollows.
In this plan, the team will use the instruments on Curiosity’s arm and mast to investigate the geometry and composition of these veins to learn more about them. APXS and MAHLI will both observe “Repechón,” a loose block with dark-toned, mottled material exposed on top, as well as “Lago Poopó,” a bright, relatively clean vein network. MAHLI will also collect a side view of “Repechón.” ChemCam will use its laser to analyze two targets, “Vicguna,” a protruding vein edge with nodular texture, and “Ibare,” which has some exposed light-toned veins. Outside of the vein investigation, ChemCam’s telescopic RMI camera will observe layering in a nearby butte and the Mishe Mokwa feature, while Mastcam will take mosaics on “Cachiniba,” a broken block, “Yapacani,” the side of another large boxwork ridge, and “Llullaillaco,” a faraway feature that we imaged from a slightly different location in a previous plan. Additional environmental monitoring observations will round out the plan, followed by a straight-line drive to the east, to an area where several large boxwork ridges intersect that the team has been informally calling “the peace sign” because of its shape.
I usually get nostalgic around landing anniversaries, or “landiversaries,” and this year, I found myself looking back through pictures of landing night. One of my favorites shows me standing next to science team member Kirsten Siebach right after we received the first images from Curiosity. The two of us have the biggest, most excited grins on our faces. We were both graduate students at the time, and both of us were writing thesis chapters analyzing orbital data over regions we hoped to explore with Curiosity one day. I was studying a layer in Mount Sharp that contained hematite, and the team named this feature “Vera Rubin ridge” when Curiosity reached it in 2017. Kirsten, who is now a professor at Rice University, was focused on the boxwork structures, pondering how they formed and hypothesizing what they might tell us about the history of Martian habitability when we reached them.
Thirteen years later, I had another big grin on my face today, as I listened to Kirsten and our incredible science team members excitedly discussing Curiosity’s new images of these same boxwork structures. I was also filled with gratitude for the thousands of people it took to get us to this moment. It was the absolute best way to spend a landiversary.
Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments
For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates
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Last Updated Aug 07, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Andy Burroughs (left) and Paul Friz in the roles of air taxi pilots running through air taxi integration simulations focusing on urban air space at NASA’s Langley Research in Hampton, Virginia on Sept. 25, 2024.Credit: NASA NASA’s latest open Software Catalog, released Wednesday, offers more than 1,200 downloadable codes developed by agency engineers that could enable faster solutions to energize the space economy and stimulate American ingenuity. The catalog is part of NASA’s effort to place advanced technologies, including agency software, into the hands of businesses, researchers, and entrepreneurs to foster economic growth and innovation.
Agency developers will provide more information about the Software Catalog, the only repository of its kind in the federal government, during NASA’s summer software webinar series beginning Tuesday, July 22.
“NASA has droves of talented experts creating software to automate elements of agency missions,” said Dan Lockney, program executive, Technology Transfer at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The resulting efficiency benefits humankind, and its public value increases exponentially when the agency provides access to those software programs for companies, enabling them to save time and money, improve commercial offerings, and build their businesses.”
The four webinars accompanying this year’s NASA Software Catalog feature developers of popular programs for mission planning, systems design, propulsion analysis, and more, each consisting of a presentation followed by a live question-and-answer session.
Programs offered in NASA’s 2025-2026 Software Catalog are grouped into 15 categories that may be useful for organizations working with spacecraft and aircraft. For example, the Vehicle Management category includes a tool for designing satellite constellations and a software library for minimizing public safety risks around expendable launch vehicles. The Aeronautics section includes several programs that are widely used by industry for creating, modifying, and analyzing aircraft designs.
Although the categories have specific themes, the codes are meant to be useful to various innovators. Companies can use aircraft programs NASA wrote to design cars, trucks, and countless other products. The catalog’s Business Systems and Project Management section includes software for estimating project costs, building and assessing complex schedules, and uncovering root causes of mishaps. Other popular programs support 3D rendering for simulation and virtual reality, bring hyper-accuracy to GPS tracking, and analyze electrical power system architectures.
NASA released its first Software Catalog more than a decade ago in 2013, and since then, the agency’s annual rate of software downloads has skyrocketed, reaching up to 5,722 downloads in a single year.
The Software Catalog is a product of NASA’s Technology Transfer program, managed by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA routinely makes improvements to the Software Catalog website, ensuring the process is fast and easy. Access restrictions apply to some software that may be limited to use by U.S. citizens or for U.S. government purposes only.
View and learn more about NASA’s Software Catalog by visiting:
https://software.nasa.gov
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Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
321-432-4624
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 16, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Space Technology Mission Directorate Ames Research Center Armstrong Flight Research Center Glenn Research Center Johnson Space Center Kennedy Space Center Langley Research Center Marshall Space Flight Center NASA Headquarters Stennis Space Center View the full article
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has awarded a contract to MacLean Engineering & Applied Technologies, LLC of Houston to provide simulation and advanced software services to the agency.
The Simulation and Advanced Software Services II (SASS II) contract includes services from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2030, with a maximum potential value not to exceed $150 million. The contract is a single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality contract with the capability to issue cost-plus-fixed-fee task orders and firm-fixed-price task orders.
Under the five-year SASS II contract, the awardee is tasked to provide simulation and software services for space-based vehicle models and robotic manipulator systems; human biomechanical representations for analysis and development of countermeasures devices; guidance, navigation, and control of space-based vehicles for all flight phases; and space-based vehicle on-board computer systems simulations of flight software systems. Responsibilities also include astronomical object surface interaction simulation of space-based vehicles, graphics support for simulation visualization and engineering analysis, and ground-based and onboarding systems to support human-in-the-loop training.
Major subcontractors include Tietronix Software Inc. in Houston and VEDO Systems, LLC, in League City, Texas.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/
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Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov
Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
Chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 02, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Technology Johnson Space Center View the full article
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