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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Researchers in the Verification and Validation Lab at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley monitor a simulated drone’s flight path during a test of the FUSE demonstration.NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete Through an ongoing collaboration, NASA and the Department of War are working to advance the future of modern drones to support long distance cargo transportation that could increase efficiency, reduce human workload, and enhance safety.
Researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley recently participated in a live flight demonstration showcasing how drones can successfully fly without their operators being able to see them, a concept known as beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).
Cargo drones, a type of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), carried various payloads more than 75 miles across North Dakota, between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Cavalier Space Force Station. This demonstration was conducted as part of the War Department’s UAS Logistics, Traffic, Research, and Autonomy (ULTRA) effort.
NASA’s UAS Service Supplier (USS) technology helped to demonstrate that cargo drones could operate safely even in complex, shared airspace. During the tests, flight data including location, altitude, and other critical data were transmitted live to the NASA system, ensuring full situational awareness throughout the demonstration.
Terrence Lewis and Sheryl Jurcak, members of the FUSE project team at NASA Ames, discuss the monitoring efforts of the FUSE demonstration at the Airspace Operations Lab. NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete The collaboration between NASA and the Department of War is known as the Federal USS Synthesis Effort (FUSE). The demonstration allowed FUSE researchers to test real-time tracking, situational awareness, and other factors important to safely integrating of drone traffic management into U.S. national airspace. The FUSE work marks an important step towards routine, scalable autonomous cargo drone operations and broader use for future military logistics.
“NASA and the Department of War have a long and storied partnership, collaborating with one another to contribute to continued advancement of shared American ideals,” said Todd Ericson, senior advisor to the NASA administrator. “FUSE builds upon our interagency cooperation to contribute enhanced capabilities for drones flying beyond the visual line of sight. This mission is the next big step toward true autonomous flight and will yield valuable insights that we can leverage as both the commercial drone, cargo and urban air taxi industries continue to expand and innovate. As always, safety is of paramount importance at NASA, and we are working with our partners at the FAA and Department of Transportation to ensure we regulate this appropriately.”
Autonomous and semi-autonomous drones could potentially support a broad range of tasks for commercial, military, and private users. They could transport critical medical supplies to remote locations, monitor wildfires from above, allow customers to receive deliveries directly in their backyards. NASA is researching technology to further develop the infrastructure needed for these operations to take place safely and effectively, without disrupting the existing U.S. airspace.
“This system is crucial for enabling safe, routine BVLOS operations,” said Terrence Lewis, FUSE project manager at NASA Ames. “It ensures all stakeholders can see and respond to drone activity, which provides the operator with greater situational awareness.”
NASA Ames is collaborating on the FUSE project with the War Department’s Office of the Undersecretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment. The NASA FUSE effort is also collaborating with ULTRA, a multi-entity partnership including the Office of the Secretary of War, the County of Grand Forks, the Northern Plains UAS Test Site, the Grand Sky Development, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and several other commercial partners, aiming to bolster capabilities within the National Airspace System.
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Last Updated Sep 12, 2025 Related Terms
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By Space Force
The Department of the Air Force is aligning with a new federal initiative to overhaul how government services are designed and delivered, a move leaders say will sharpen warfighting readiness, increase lethality and save taxpayer dollars.
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By NASA
NASA Stennis Buffer ZoneNASA / Stennis NASA’s Stennis Space Center is widely known for rocket propulsion testing, especially to support the NASA Artemis program to send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
What may not be so widely known is that the site also is a unique federal city, home to more than 50 federal, state, academic, and commercial tenants and serving as both a model of government efficiency and a powerful economic engine for its region.
“NASA Stennis is a remarkable story of vision and innovation,” Center Director John Bailey said. “That was the case 55 years ago when the NASA Stennis federal city was born, and it remains the case today as we collaborate and grow to meet the needs of a changing aerospace world.”
Apollo Years
Nearly four years after its first Saturn V stage test, NASA’s Stennis Space Center faced a crossroads to the future. Indeed, despite its frontline role in supporting NASA’s Apollo lunar effort, it was not at all certain a viable future awaited the young rocket propulsion test site.
In 1961, NASA announced plans to build a sprawling propulsion test site in south Mississippi to support Apollo missions to the Moon. The news was a significant development for the sparsely populated Gulf Coast area.
The new site, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, conducted its first hot fire of a Saturn V rocket stage in April 1966. Saturn V testing progressed steadily during the next years. In fall 1969, however, NASA announced an end to Apollo-related testing, leading to an existential crisis for the young test site.
What was to become of NASA Stennis?
An Expanded Vision
Some observers speculated the location would close or be reduced to caretaker status, with minimal staffing. Either scenario would deliver a serious blow to the families who had re-located to make way for the site and the local communities who had heavily invested in municipal projects to support the influx of workforce personnel.
Such outcomes also would run counter to assurances provided by leaders that the new test site would benefit its surrounding region and involve area residents in “something great.”
For NASA Stennis manager Jackson Balch and others, such a result was unacceptable. Anticipating the crisis, Balch had been working behind the scenes to communicate – and realize – the vision of a multiagency site supporting a range of scientific and technological tenants and missions.
A Pivotal Year
The months following the Saturn V testing announcement were filled with discussions and planning to ensure the future of NASA Stennis. The efforts began to come to fruition in 1970 with key developments:
In early 1970, NASA Administrator Thomas Paine proposed locating a regional environmental center at NASA Stennis. U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis (Mississippi) responded with a message of the president, “urgently requesting” that a National Earth Resources and Environmental Data Program be established at the site. In May 1970, President Richard Nixon offered assurances that an Earth Resources Laboratory would be established at NASA Stennis and that at least two agencies are preparing to locate operations at the site. U.S. congressional leaders earmarked $10 million to enable the location of an Earth Resources Laboratory at NASA Stennis. On July 9, 1970, the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Data Buoy Project (now the National Data Buoy Center) announced it was relocating to NASA Stennis, making it the first federal city tenant. The project arrived onsite two months later on September 9. On Sept. 9, 1970, NASA officially announced establishment of an Earth Resources Laboratory at NASA Stennis. Time to Grow
By the end of 1970, Balch’s vision was taking shape, but it needed time to grow. The final Saturn V test had been conducted in October – with no new campaign scheduled.
A possibility was on the horizon, however. NASA was building a reusable space shuttle vehicle. It would be powered by the most sophisticated rocket engine ever designed – and the agency needed a place to conduct developmental and flight testing expected to last for decades.
Three sites vied for the assignment. Following presentations and evaluations, NASA announced its selection on March 1, 1971. Space shuttle engine testing would be conducted at NASA Stennis, providing time for the location to grow.
A Collaborative Model
By the spring of 1973, preparations for the space shuttle test campaign were progressing and NASA Stennis was on its way to realizing the federal city vision. Sixteen agencies and universities were now located at NASA Stennis.
The resident tenants followed a shared model in which they shared in the cost of basic site services, such as medical, security, and fire protection. The shared model freed up more funding for the tenants to apply towards innovation and assigned mission work. It was a model of government collaboration and efficiency.
As the site grew, leaders then began to call for it to be granted independent status within NASA, a development not long in coming. On June 14, 1974, just more than a decade after site construction began, NASA Administrator James Fletcher announced the south Mississippi location would be renamed National Space Technology Laboratories and would enjoy equal, independent status alongside other NASA centers.
“Something Great”
For NASA Stennis leaders and supporters, independent status represented a milestone moment in their effort to ensure NASA Stennis delivered on its promise of greatness.
There still were many developments to come, including the first space shuttle main engine test and the subsequent 34-year test campaign, the arrival and growth of the U.S. Navy into the predominant resident presence onsite, the renaming of the center to NASA Stennis, and the continued growth of the federal city.
No one could have imagined it all at the time. However, even in this period of early development, one thing was clear – the future lay ahead, and NASA Stennis was on its way.
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Last Updated Sep 09, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
4 Min Read Washington State Student Wins 2025 NASA Art Contest
“My Wonders with You” by Dahyun Jung, 2025 NASA Student Art Contest grand prize winner Credits: NASA/Dahyun Jung A Washington state high school student with a passion for art, space exploration, and a curiosity about the possibility of life on other planets earned the grand prize for the 2025 NASA Student Art Contest.
Dahyun Jung’s winning piece, titled “My Wonders with You,” shows a child seated on the roof of a barn, their arm draped around a dog, watching a space shuttle blast off in the distance. The two are joined by three extraterrestrial beings that also watch in awe. Jung was a high school senior during the submission period for the 2025 competition, which was December 1 through December 31, 2024. The theme for the 2025 art contest was “Our Wonder Changes the World.”
“My Wonders with You” by Dahyun Jung, 2025 NASA Student Art Contest grand prize winner
Credit: NASA/Dahyun JungNASA/Dahyun Jung “The theme immediately sparked memories of the moment I first saw a NASA spacecraft launch into space,” Jung said. “That experience filled me with awe and endless questions—especially about how aliens might view our efforts to explore the cosmos. I began imagining what future space missions might look like if we ever made contact with extraterrestrial life. That was the moment everything clicked—the exact moment when imaginations started to fill up the tiny world in my head. I knew exactly what I wanted to draw!”
Jung said art and crafting have been a special part of her life since childhood. She enjoys using a variety of materials to create everything from drawings and paintings to keychains and crochet dolls.
“I’ve always loved drawing, but it was in middle school that I really began to delve into it more deeply,” Jung said. “I see everything that passes through my hands as a form of art.”
I see everything that passes through my hands as a form of art.
Dahyun Jung
2025 NASA Student Art Contest grand prize winner
“A Marsbulous Future” by Chloe Ji, 2025 NASA Student Art Contest First Place Winner, 1st Grade Division
Credit: NASA/Chloe JiNASA/Chloe Ji Jung was one of more than 2,300 kindergarten through 12th grade students from across the United States and its territories who participated in the 2025 art contest, a record-breaking number. Kristina Cors, art contest coordinator at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, said, “This contest gives the students a way to connect their passion for art with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and hopefully inspires them to continue exploring those connections throughout their lives.”
Jung is no stranger to the art contest. She said she first participated in 2022.
“Returning to the contest in 2025 felt both nostalgic and thrilling as I came back with improved techniques, more experience, and a fresh new idea that fit this year’s theme,” she said.
Jung used Procreate, a digital illustration and painting app, to create her award-winning work.
“For this piece, I used my customized brush in Procreate,” Jung said. “The biggest merit of using a digital platform for drawing is the variety of textured brushes they offer. They allowed me to vividly illustrate various elements—like the sky, the rocket’s exhaust plume, hair, and roof—each with its own texture and detail.”
Dahyun Jung, grand prize winner of the 2025 NASA Student Art Contest, holds her winning piece “My Wonders with You.”
Credit: NASA/Dahyun JungNASA/Dahyun Jung Jung’s artwork brought to life her own enthusiasm regarding NASA’s work advancing space exploration, aeronautics, and science.
“I’ve always been fascinated by NASA’s commitment to pushing boundaries—especially in space exploration,” Jung said. “Space feels like an undiscovered world, full of endless possibilities, but only a few have had the chance to access it. In many ways, NASA’s work mirrors how I always push creative boundaries in my own art. I’ve always dreamed of traveling to space, and it’s that sense of wonder that inspired my piece.”
Jung said she hopes her artwork can help to inspire awe and stir imagination in others.
“Changing the World” by Jane Lee, 2025 NASA Student Art Contest First Place Winner, 8th Grade Division
Credit: NASA/Jane LeeNASA/Jane Lee “I want my artwork to be the starting point of all wonders—a spark that takes people back to their childhood, when dreams were bold and limitless,” Jung said. “I hope it rekindles that sense of passion, whatever it may be, and encourages others to dare to dream again.
To view a complete list of winners by grade, please click here.
To view all 2025 art contest entries, please click here.
Brittny McGraw
NASA Langley Research Center
About the Author
Joe Atkinson
Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center
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Last Updated Aug 25, 2025 Related Terms
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By Space Force
The Air Force Chaplain Corps wrapped up its annual summit, bringing together Religious Support Teams from across the Total Force to focus on spiritual readiness and alignment under the Chaplain Corps’ new motto: HC Ready!
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