by the Team
MONACO. NASA’s Vision: To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity. NASA Leadership – Administrator Jim Bridenstine – Portrait of Jim Bridenstine – in the NASA Headquarters in Washington. (Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls) -James Frederick “Jim” Bridenstine was nominated by President Donald Trump, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and sworn in as NASA’s 13th administrator on April 23, 2018. Bridenstine was elected in 2012 to represent Oklahoma’s First Congressional District. In Congress he served on the Armed Services Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. Bridenstine’s career in federal service began in the U.S. Navy, flying the E-2C Hawkeye off the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. He flew combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and accrued most of his 1,900 flight hours and 333 carrier-arrested landings.
Centers and Facilities: Ames Research Center: IT, fundamental aeronautics, bio and space science technologies, Director: Eugene L. Tu; Armstrong Flight Research Center:-Flight research, Director: David D. McBride; Glenn Research Center: Aeropropulsion and communications technologies, Director: Dr. Marla E. Pérez-Davis; Goddard Space Flight Center: Earth, the solar system, universe observations, and space communications and navigation, Director: Dennis Andrucyk. Headquarters: Agency leadership, Executive Director, HQ Operations: Jay Henn; Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Robotic exploration of the solar system, Director: Michael Watkins; Johnson Space Center: Human space exploration, Director: Mark S. Geyer; Kennedy Space Center: Prepare and launch missions around the Earth and beyond, Director: Robert Cabana; Langley Research Center: Aviation, space technology and Earth science, Director: Clayton P. Turner; Marshall Space Flight Center: Space transportation and propulsion technologies, Director: Jody Singer; Stennis Space Center: Rocket propulsion testing and remote sensing technology, Director: Richard J. Gilbrech; Goddard Institute for Space Studies: Broad study of global climate change, Director: Gavin A. Schmidt; Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility: provides safety and cost-effectiveness for mission critical software, Director: Gregory D. Blaney; Michoud Assembly Facility: manufacture and assembly of critical hardware for exploration vehicles; NASA Engineering and Safety Center: Independent testing, analysis, and assessments of NASA’s high-risk projects, Director: Tim Wilson; NASA Safety Center: Development of personnel, processes and tools needed for the safe and successful achievement of strategic goals, Director: Alan Phillips; NASA Shared Services Center: Financial management, human resources, information technology, and procurement, Executive Director: Anita Harrell; Wallops Flight Facility: Suborbital Research Programs, Director: David L. Pierce.
ASTRONAUTS: The term “astronaut” derives from the Greek words meaning “space sailor,” and refers to all who have been launched as crew members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond. The term “astronaut” has been maintained as the title for those selected to join the NASA corps of astronauts who make “space sailing” their career profession.
ACTIVE ASTRONAUTS eligible for flight assignment. Management Astronauts: Currently employed at NASA but are no longer eligible for flight assignment. Astronaut Candidates: Selected by NASA as candidates for the NASA astronaut corps.
Current Station Crew: Andrew Morgan, Alexander Skvortsov, Luca Parmitano, Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir and Christina Koch.
NASA Former Astronauts: The 318 ( of which 32 women) former astronauts are those who have left NASA, including those who are deceased. NASA astronauts who died on duty are memorialized at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Merritt Island, Florida. In the USA perhaps the most appalling accident arrived 28, 1986, when a faulty seal in a booster rocket led the space shuttle Challenger to explode 73 seconds after launch. Seven people died. They were Commander Richard Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Greg Jarvis and Christa McAuliffe, who was chosen to be the first teacher in space. Among non-fatal incident during spaceflight perhaps the most famous arrived on April 13 1970 during the Apollo 13 mission. The incident became viral worldwide in 1995, when Ron Howard directed a docudrama film starring Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris, and Tom Hanks pronouncing the famous phrase “Houston, we have a problem”.
The crew came home safely after a violent rupture of a liquid oxygen tank deprived the Service Module of its ability to produce electrical power, crippling their spacecraft en route to the Moon. They survived the loss of use of their command ship by relying on the Lunar Module as a “life boat” to provide life support and power for the trip home.