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The Department of Defense announces Deferred Resignation Program
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By NASA
Of all the possible entry points to NASA, the agency’s SkillBridge Program has been instrumental in helping servicemembers transition from the military and into civilian careers. Offered in partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD), the program enables individuals to spend their final months of military service working with a NASA office or organization. SkillBridge fellows work anywhere from 90 to 180 days, contributing their unique skillsets to the agency while building their network and knowledge.
The Johnson Space Center in Houston hosted NASA’s first SkillBridge fellow in 2019, paving the way for dozens of others to follow. SkillBridge participants are not guaranteed a job offer at the end of their fellowship, but many have gone on to accept full-time positions with NASA. About 25 of those former fellows currently work at Johnson, filling roles as varied as their military experiences.
Miguel Shears during his military service (left) and his SkillBridge fellowship at Johnson Space Center.Images courtesy of Miguel Shears Miguel Shears retired from the Marine Corps in November 2023. He ended his 30 years of service as the administration, academics, and operations chief for the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, where he was also an adjunct professor. Shears completed a SkillBridge fellowship with FOD in the summer and fall of 2023, supporting the instructional systems design team. He was hired as a full-time employee upon his military retirement and currently serves as an instructional systems designer for the Instructor Training Module, Mentorship Module, and Spaceflight Academy. He conducts training needs analysis for FOD, as well.
Ever Zavala as a flight test engineer in the U.S. Air Force (left) and as a capsule communicator in the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center.Images courtesy of Ever Zavala Ever Zavala was very familiar with Johnson before becoming a SkillBridge fellow. He spent the last three of his nearly 24-year Air Force career serving as the deputy director of the DoD Human Spaceflight Payloads Office at Johnson. His team oversaw the development, integration, launch, and operation of payloads hosting DoD experiments on small satellites and the International Space Station. He also became a certified capsule communicator, or capcom, in December 2022, and was the lead capcom for SpaceX’s 28th commercial resupply services mission to the orbiting laboratory.
Zavala’s SkillBridge fellowship was in Johnson’s Astronaut Office, where he worked as a capcom, capcom instructor, and an integration engineer supporting the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program. He was involved in developing a training needs analysis and agency simulators for the human landing system, among other projects.
He officially joined the center team as a full-time contractor in August 2024. He is currently a flight operations safety officer within the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) and continues to serve as a part-time capcom.
Carl Johnson with his wife during his first visit to Johnson Space Center (left) and completing some electrical work as part of his SkillBridge fellowship. Images courtesy of Carl Johnson Carl Johnson thanks his wife for helping him find a path to NASA. While she was a Pathways intern — and his girlfriend at the time — she gave him a tour of the center that inspired him to join the agency when he was ready to leave the Army. She helped connect him to one of the center’s SkillBridge coordinators and the rest is history.
Johnson was selected for a SkillBridge fellowship in the Dynamic System Test Branch. From February to June 2023, he supported development of the lunar terrain vehicle ground test unit and contributed to the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS), which simulates reduced gravity for astronaut training.
Johnson officially joined the center team as an electrical engineer in the Engineering Directorate’s Software, Robotics, and Simulation Division in September 2023. He is currently developing a new ARGOS spacewalk simulator and training as an operator and test director for another ARGOS system.
Johnson holds an electrical engineering degree from the United States Military Academy. He was on active duty in the Army for 10 years and concluded his military career as an instructor and small group leader for the Engineer Captains Career Course. In that role, he was responsible for instructing, mentoring, and preparing the next generation of engineer captains.
Kevin Quinn during his Navy service.Image courtesy of Kevin Quinn Kevin Quinn served in the Navy for 22 years. His last role was maintenance senior chief with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31, known as “the Dust Devils.” Quinn managed the operations and maintenance of 33 aircraft, ensuring their readiness for complex missions and contributing to developmental flight tests and search and rescue missions. He applied that experience to his SkillBridge fellowship in quality assurance at Ellington Field in 2024. Quinn worked to enhance flight safety and astronaut training across various aircraft, including the T-38, WB-57, and the Super Guppy. He has continued contributing to those projects since being hired as a full-time quality assurance employee in 2025.
Andrew Ulat during his Air Force career. Image courtesy of Andrew Ulat Andrew Ulat retired from the Air Force after serving for 21 years as an intercontinental ballistic missile launch control officer and strategic operations advisor. His last role in the military was as a director of staff at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. There he served as a graduate-level instructor teaching international security concepts to mid-level officers and civilian counterparts from all branches of the military and various federal agencies.
Ulat started his SkillBridge fellowship as an integration engineer in Johnson’s X-Lab, supporting avionics, power, and software integration for the Gateway lunar space station. Ulat transitioned directly from his fellowship into a similar full-time position at Johnson in May 2024.
Ariel Vargas receives a commendation during his Army service (left) and in his official NASA portrait. Ariel Vargas transitioned to NASA after serving for five years in the Army. His last role in the military was as a signal officer, which involved leading teams managing secure communications and network operations in dynamic and mission-critical environments in the Middle East and the United States.
Vargas completed his SkillBridge fellowship in November 2023, supporting Johnson’s Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). During his fellowship, he led a center-wide wireless augmentation project that modernized Johnson’s connectivity.
He became a full-time civil servant in May 2024 and currently serves as the business operations and partnerships lead within OCIO, supporting a digital transformation initiative. In this role, he leads efforts to streamline internal business operations, manage strategic partnerships, and drive cross-functional collaboration.
“My time in the military taught me the value of service, leadership, and adaptability—qualities that I now apply daily in support of NASA’s mission,” Vargas said. “I’m proud to be part of the Johnson team and hope my story can inspire other service members considering the SkillBridge pathway.”
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By NASA
On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, technicians at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland help lower student experiments in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Nineteen teams of students from across the nation in grades 8-12 worked for months in classrooms, labs, basements, and garages for the opportunity to test their projects at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. This spring, the teams’ hard work was put to the test in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower facility at NASA Glenn.
The “2025 Drop Tower Challenge: Paddle Wheel” invited teams to design and build paddle wheels that rotate in water during free fall. The wheels could not rotate by mechanical means. A better understanding of fluid behavior in microgravity could improve spacecraft systems for cooling, life support, and propellants.
On Thursday, May 6, 2025, NASA Glenn Research Center technicians — left to right, John Doehne, Jason West, and Moses Brown — prepare the 2.2. Second Drop Tower for testing student experiments during the 2025 Drop Tower Challenge. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Based on test performance, analyses, reports, the students’ approach to the challenge, and more, the following teams have been identified as the winners:
First Place: Arth Murarka, Umar Khan, Ishaan Joshi, Alden Al-Mehdi, Rohnin Qureshi, and Omy Gokul (advised by David Dutton), Bellarmine College Preparatory, San Jose, California Second Place: Emma Lai, Keaton Dean, and Oliver Lai (advised by Stephen Lai), Houston, Texas Third Place: Chloe Benner, Ananya Bhatt, and Surabhi Gupta (advised by SueEllen Thomas), Pennridge High School, Perkasie, Pennsylvania “We’re impressed with the variety of designs students submitted for testing in Glenn’s drop tower,” said Nancy Hall, co-lead for the 2025 Drop Tower Challenge. “The teams showed significant creativity and background research through their paddle wheel designs and analysis of results.”
Students from Bellarmine College Preparatory shared how they navigated through the process to earn first place. Using NASA guidelines and resources available to assist students with the challenge, the team submitted a research proposal, including two 3D designs. Learning their team was selected, they reviewed feedback from the NASA staff and set to work.
NASA Glenn Research Center’s 2025 Drop Tower Challenge first place winners, left to right, Ishaan Joshi, Umar Khan, Rohnin Qureshi, Omy Gokul, and Arth Murarka of Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, prepare their experiment for testing in NASA Glenn’s 2.2 Second Drop Tower on Friday, May 30, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Bellarmine College Preparatory To start, students stressed that they conducted a large amount of research and testing of materials to use in their paddle wheels before deciding on the final design.
“I learned that something doesn’t need to be super expensive or complex to work,” said student Umar Khan. “We found that white board sheets or packing peanuts — just household items — can be effective [in the design].”
Student Arth Murarka added, “Our original design looks a lot different from the final.”
Bellarmine staff member and team advisor David Dutton helped the students get organized in the beginning of the process, but said they worked independently through much of the project.
Nancy Hall, left, co-lead of NASA Glenn Research Center’s 2025 Drop Tower Challenge, and intern Jennifer Ferguson prepare student experiments for testing in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Once the design was finalized, the team shipped their hardware to NASA Glenn. NASA technicians then tested how the paddle wheels performed in the drop tower, which is used for microgravity experiments.
Students said they studied concepts including capillary physics and fluid dynamics. They also learned how to write a research paper, which they said they will appreciate in the future.
The team dedicated a lot of time to the project, meeting daily and on weekends.
“We learned a lot of useful skills and had a lot of fun,” Murarka said. “It was definitely worth it.”
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By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force launched its Pacific-focused first-in-a-generation Department-Level Exercise series today in multiple locations across the United States and Indo-Pacific areas of responsibility.
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By Space Force
Developed to drive continuous improvement, the Civilian Human Capital Evaluation and Accountability Program leverages data to assess and enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and compliance of human capital programs across the force.
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By NASA
2 Min Read NASA Announces Winners of 2025 Human Lander Challenge
NASA’s Human Lander Challenge marked its second year on June 26, awarding $18,000 in prize money to three university teams for their solutions for long-duration cryogenic, or super chilled, liquid storage and transfer systems for spaceflight.
Building on the crewed Artemis II flight test, NASA’s Artemis III mission will send astronauts to explore the lunar South Pole region with a human landing system and advanced spacesuits, preparing humanity to ultimately go to Mars. In-space propulsion systems that use cryogenic liquids as propellants must stay extremely cold to remain in a liquid state and are critical to mission success. The Artemis mission architecture will need these systems to function for several weeks or even months.
Students and advisors with the 12 finalist teams for the 2025 Human Lander Challenge competed in Huntsville, Alabama, near the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center between June 24-26. NASA/Charles Beason NASA announced Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott as the overall winner and recipient of the $10,000 top prize award. Old Dominion University won second place and a $5,000 award, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in third place and a $3,000 award.
Before the winners were announced, 12 finalist teams selected in April gave their presentations to a panel of NASA and industry judges as part of the final competition in Huntsville. As part of the 2025 Human Lander Challenge, university teams developed systems-level solutions that could be used within the next 3-5 years for Artemis.
NASA selected Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott as the overall winner of NASA’s 2025 Human Lander Challenge Forum June 26. Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of NASA’s Human Landing System Program, presented the awards at the ceremony. NASA/Charles Beason “Today’s Golden Age of Innovation and Exploration students are tomorrow’s mission designers, systems engineers, and explorers,” said Juan Valenzuela, main propulsion systems and cryogenic fluid management subsystems lead for NASA’s Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The Human Lander Challenge concepts at this year’s forum demonstrate the ingenuity, passion, and determination NASA and industry need to help solve long-duration cryogenic storage challenges to advance human exploration to deep space.”
The challenge is sponsored by the agency’s Human Landing System Program within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.
Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.
For more information about Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
News Media Contact
Corinne Beckinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jun 27, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Human Lander Challenge Artemis General Human Landing System Program Humans in Space Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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