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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
By Beth Ridgeway
NASA’s Student Launch competition celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 4, just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, bringing together more than 980 middle school, high school, college, and university students from across the U.S. to showcase and launch their high-powered rocketry designs.
The event marked the conclusion of the nine-month challenge where teams designed, built, and launched more than 50 rockets carrying scientific payloads—trying to achieve altitudes between 4,000 and 6,000 feet before executing a successful landing and payload mission.
“This is really about mirroring the NASA engineering design process,” Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region, said. “It gives students hands-on experience not only in building and designing hardware, but in the review and testing process. We are helping to prepare and inspire students to get out of classroom and into the aerospace industry as a capable and energizing part of our future workforce.”
NASA announced James Madison University as the overall winner of the agency’s 2025 Student Launch challenge, followed by North Carolina State University, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville. A complete list of challenge winners can be found on the agency’s Student Launch webpage.
Participants from James Madison University – the overall winner of the 2025 NASA Student Launch competition – stand around their team’s high-powered rocket as it sits on the pad before launching on May 4 event. NASA/Krisdon Manecke Each year, a payload challenge is issued to the university teams, and this year’s task took inspiration from the agency’s Artemis missions, where NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefit, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. Teams were challenged to include sensor data from STEMnauts, non-living objects representing astronauts. The STEMnaut “crew” had to relay real-time data to the student team’s mission control, just as the Artemis astronaut crew will do as they explore the lunar surface.
Student Launch is one of NASA’s seven Artemis Student Challenges – activities that connect student ingenuity with NASA’s work returning to the Moon under Artemis in preparation for human exploration of Mars.
The competition is managed by Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement. Additional funding and support are provided by the Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Generation STEM project, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Northrup Grumman, National Space Club Huntsville, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Association of Rocketry, Relativity Space, and Bastion Technologies Inc.
To watch the full virtual awards ceremony, please visit NASA Marshall’s YouTube channel.
For more information about Student Launch, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/nasa-student-launch/
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Last Updated Jun 16, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
2 Min Read NASA Seeks Commercial Feedback on Space Communication Solutions
An illustration of a commercial space relay ecosystem. Credits: NASA / Morgan Johnson NASA is seeking information from U.S. and international companies about Earth proximity relay communication and navigation capabilities as the agency aims to use private industry satellite communications services for emerging agency science missions.
“As part of NASA’s Communications Services Project, the agency is working with private industry to solve challenges for future exploration,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s SCaN Program. “Through this effort, NASA missions will have a greater ability to command spacecraft, resolve issues in flight, and bring home more data and scientific discoveries collected across the solar system.”
In November 2024, NASA announced the TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) system, the agency’s network of satellites relaying communications from the International Space Station, ground controls on Earth, and spacecraft, will support only existing missions.
NASA, as one of many customers, will obtain commercial satellite services rather than owning and operating a replacement for the existing satellite system. As NASA transitions to commercial relay services, the agency will leverage commercial capabilities to ensure support for future missions and stimulate private investment into the Earth proximity region. Commercial service offerings could become available to NASA missions as early as 2028 and will continue to be demonstrated and validated through 2031.
NASA’s SCaN issued a Request for Information on May 30. Responses are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 11.
NASA’s SCaN Program serves as the management office for the agency’s space communications and navigation. More than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on SCaN’s two networks, the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, to support astronauts aboard the International Space Station and future Artemis missions, monitor Earth’s weather, support lunar exploration, and uncover the solar system and beyond.
Learn more about NASA’s SCaN Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/scan
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Last Updated Jun 16, 2025 EditorJimi RussellContactMolly KearnsLocationGlenn Research Center Related Terms
Commercial Space General Glenn Research Center The Future of Commercial Space Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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By NASA
Heading into a recent staff meeting for Johnson Space Center’s Business Development & Technology Integration Office, Jason Foster anticipated a typical agenda of team updates and discussion. He did not expect an announcement that he had been named a 2025 Rookie of the Year – Honorable Mention through the Federal Laboratory Consortium’s annual awards program.
Foster was one of only three technology transfer professionals across the federal government to be recognized in the Rookie of the Year category, which is open to early-career individuals with less than three years of experience. “It was definitely a surprise,” he said. “It was quite an honor, because it’s not only representing Johnson Space Center but also NASA.”
Jason Foster recognized at the Federal Laboratory Consortium Award Ceremony as a Rookie of the Year – Honorable Mention.Image courtesy of Jason Foster Foster is a licensing specialist and New Technology Report (NTR) specialist within Johnson’s Technology Transfer Office in Houston. That team works to ensure that innovations developed for aeronautics and space exploration are made broadly available to the public, maximizing their benefit to the nation. Foster’s role involves both capturing new technologies developed at Johnson and marketing and licensing those technologies to companies that would like to use and further develop them.
He describes much of his work as “technology hunting” – reaching out to branches, offices, and teams across Johnson to teach them about the Technology Transfer Office, NTRs, and the value of technology reporting for NASA and the public. “NTRs are the foundation that allows our office to do our job,” he said. “We need to know about a technology in order to transfer it.”
Jason Foster (left) visited NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, with his colleague Edgar Castillo as part of the Technology Transfer Office’s work to capture new technology and innovations developed at Johnson and affiliated facilities. Image courtesy of Jason Foster Foster’s efforts to streamline and strengthen the reporting and patenting of Johnson’s innovations led to his recognition by the consortium. His proactive outreach and relationship-building improved customer service and contributed to 158 NTRs in fiscal year 2024 – the highest number of NTRs disclosed by federal employees at any NASA center. Foster also proposed a three-month NTR sprint, during which he led a team of seven in an intensive exercise to identify and report new technologies. This initiative not only cleared a backlog of leads for the office, but also resulted in more than 120 previously undisclosed NTRs. “We are still using that process now as we continue processing NTRs,” Foster said. On top of those achievements, he helped secure the highest recorded number of license agreements with commercial entities in the center’s history, with 41 licenses executed in fiscal year 2024.
“I am very proud of my accomplishments, none of it would be possible without the open-mindedness and continuous support of my incredible team,” Foster said. “They have always provided a space to grow, and actively welcome innovation in our processes and workflows.”
Jason Foster educated Johnson employees about the Technology Transfer Office and the importance of submitting New Technology Reports during the center’s annual Innovation Showcase.Image courtesy of Jason Foster A self-described “space nerd,” Foster said he always envisioned working at NASA, but not until much later in his career – ideally as an astronaut. He initially planned to pursue an astrophysics degree but discovered a passion for engineering and fused that with his love of space by studying aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering instead. In his last semester of college at California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo, he landed a Universities Space Research Association internship at Johnson, supporting flight software development for crew exercise systems on the International Space Station and future exploration missions. “I got really involved in the Johnson Space Center team and the work, and I thought, what if I joined NASA now?”
He was hired as a licensing specialist on the Technology Transfer team under the JETS II Contract as an Amentum employee shortly after graduating and continually seeks new opportunities to expand his role and skillsets. “The more I can learn about anything NASA’s doing is incredible,” he said. “I found myself in this perfect position where literally my job is to learn everything there is to learn.”
Jason Foster holding up Aerogel during his visit to the Hypervelocity Impact Testing Laboratory at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The visit was part of the Technology Transfer Office’s work to capture new technology and innovations developed at Johnson and affiliated facilities. Image courtesy of Jason Foster Foster celebrates three years with NASA this July. In his time at the agency, he has learned the value of getting to know and understand your colleagues’ needs in order to help them. Before he meets with someone, he takes time to learn about the organization or team they are a part of, the work they are involved in, and what they might discuss. It is also important to determine how each person prefers to communicate and collaborate. “Doing your homework pays dividends,” Foster said. He has found that being as prepared as possible opens doors to more opportunities, and it helps to save valuable time for busy team members.
Jason Foster practices fire spinning on a California beach. Image courtesy of Jason Foster When he is not technology hunting, you might find Foster practicing the art of fire spinning. He picked up the hobby in college, joining a club that met at local beaches to practice spinning and capturing different geometric patterns through long exposure photos. “It was kind of a strange thing to get into, but it was really fun,” he said. His love of learning drives his interest in other activities as well. Gardening is a relatively new hobby inspired by a realization that he had never grown anything before.
“It’s a genuine joy, I think, coming across something with curiosity and wanting to learn from it,” he said. “I think it especially helps in my job, where your curiosity switch has to be on at least 90% of the time.”
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By NASA
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for a launch pad abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. NASA/Isaac Watson NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) teamed up June 11 and 12 to simulate emergency procedures they would use to rescue the Artemis II crew in the event of a launch emergency. The simulations, which took place off the coast of Florida and were supported by launch and flight control teams, are preparing NASA to send four astronauts around the Moon and back next year as part of the agency’s first crewed Artemis mission.
The team rehearsed procedures they would use to rescue the crew during an abort of NASA’s Orion spacecraft while the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is still on the launch pad, as well as during ascent to space. A set of test mannequins and a representative version of Orion called the Crew Module Test Article, were used during the tests.
The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flight controllers in mission control at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, as well as the mission management team, all worked together, exercising their integrated procedures for these emergency scenarios.
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for a launch pad abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.NASA/Isaac Watson “Part of preparing to send humans to the Moon is ensuring our teams are ready for any scenario on launch day,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, NASA’s assistant deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, and who also is chair of the mission management team for Artemis II. “We’re getting closer to our bold mission to send four astronauts around the Moon, and our integrated testing helps ensure we’re ready to bring them home in any scenario.”
The launch pad abort scenario was up first. The teams conducted a normal launch countdown before declaring an abort before the rocket was scheduled to launch. During a real pad emergency, Orion’s launch abort system would propel Orion and its crew a safe distance away and orient it for splashdown before the capsule’s parachutes would then deploy ahead of a safe splashdown off the coast of Florida.
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for a launch pad abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. NASA/Isaac Watson For the simulated splashdown, the test Orion with mannequins aboard was placed in the water five miles east of Kennedy. Once the launch team made the simulated pad abort call, two Navy helicopters carrying U.S. Air Force pararescuers departed nearby Patrick Space Force Base. The rescuers jumped into the water with unique DoD and NASA rescue equipment to safely approach the spacecraft, retrieve the mannequin crew, and transport them for medical care in the helicopters, just as they would do in the event of an actual pad abort during the Artemis II mission.
The next day focused on an abort scenario during ascent to space.
The Artemis recovery team set up another simulation at sea 12 miles east of Kennedy, using the Orion crew module test article and mannequins. With launch and flight control teams supporting, as was the Artemis II crew inside a simulator at Johnson, the rescue team sprung into action after receiving the simulated ascent abort call and began rescue procedures using a C-17 aircraft and U.S. Air Force pararescuers. Upon reaching the capsule, the rescuers jumped from the C-17 with DoD and NASA unique rescue gear. In an actual ascent abort, Orion would separate from the rocket in milliseconds to safely get away prior to deploying parachutes and splashing down.
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for an ascent abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, June 12, 2025. NASA/Isaac Watson Rescue procedures are similar to those used in the Underway Recovery Test conducted off the California coast in March. This demonstration ended with opening the hatch and extracting the mannequins from the capsule, so teams stopped without completing the helicopter transportation that would be used during a real rescue.
Exercising procedures for extreme scenarios is part of NASA’s work to execute its mission and keep the crew safe. 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.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Students from Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, build their own paper planes as part of a project during NASA Aero Fair on April 9, 2025.NASA/Genaro Vavuris A new generation of aerospace explorers will soon embark on a hands-on summer experience focusing on careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM). This month, NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and the Flight Test Museum Foundation will launch the 2025 Junior Test Pilot School.
Held at Blackbird Airpark and Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale, California, this six-week program invites elementary-aged students to step into the shoes of test pilots and engineers from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, June 16 through July 25. Registration is free through participating school districts and the Flight Test Museum. Students will have direct access to legendary aircraft such as A-12, SR-71, U-2, F-86 Sabre, and NASA Boeing 747 Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
The Junior Test Pilot School combines authentic NASA-designed curriculum, immersive aerospace activities, and direct engagement with engineers, test pilots, and scientists to inspire future aerospace professionals in the Antelope Valley – home to one of the nation’s highest concentrations of STEM careers.
“This program offers more than a glimpse into aerospace, it provides students a hands-on opportunity to solve real-world problems and see themselves in future STEM roles,” said Dr. Amira Flores, program integration manager for NASA’s California Office of STEM Engagement.
Daily lessons cover eight core modules: flight principles, stealth engineering, altitude effects, speed and g-force, payload impact, maneuverability, reconnaissance design, and jet engine systems.
Additionally, in collaboration with NASA Armstrong’s Aero Fair program, students will be guided through the program’s Wildfire Design Challenge by a NASA volunteer. Following the engineering design process, students will collaborate to design and build a prototype of an aerial vehicle that suppresses wildfires.
“Our junior test pilots learn to analyze the aircraft to figure out why they were designed the way they are and think like an engineer,” said Lisa Sheldon Brown, director of education at the Flight Test Museum. “Research shows that academic trajectory is set by fifth grade, making this the critical window to inspire STEM interest and career awareness.”
The program is delivered in partnership with the City of Palmdale and is supported by industry sponsors, including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. These partners not only provide funding and volunteers but also elevate career exposure by introducing students to diverse aerospace professionals within the region.
NASA Armstrong is a hub of aeronautical innovation and STEM workforce development in the Antelope Valley. Through programs like Aero Fair and partnerships like Junior Test Pilots School, Armstrong inspires and equips the next generation of engineers, pilots, and scientists.
The Flight Test Museum Foundation preserves the legacy and promotes the future of aerospace through education programs and historical preservation at the Blackbird Airpark and forthcoming Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California.
For more about NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/armstrong
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Elena Aguirre
Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
(661) 276-7004
elena.aguirre@nasa.gov
Dede Dinius
Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
(661) 276-5701
darin.l.dinius@nasa.gov
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