Acoustic 

Improvements 

Quiet Wind Tunnel 

Pages 2–3

VOLUME 21 • ISSUE 5 • JUNE 2019

SCaN Testbed 

Concludes 

Operations

Page 4

Kavandi, Kling 

Talk Leadership

Page 5

Employees Earn 

ARMD Awards 

Page 8
2

AeroSpace Frontiers

is an official publication of Glenn 

Research Center, National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration. It is published 

the second Friday of each month by the 

Office of Communications & External 

Relations in the interest of the Glenn 

workforce, retirees, government officials, 

business leaders and the general public. 

Submit short articles and calendar items 

to the editor at doreen.b.zudell@nasa.

gov. 

Editor: Doreen B. Zudell, ATS, 

 216–433–5317

Assistant Editor: S. Jenise Veris, ATS

Design: Jami Drost and Rhys Sampson, ATS

Managing Editor: Kelly R. DiFrancesco

Circulation: Angela Williams, ATS, 

 216–433–8921

Glenn Embraces 

Safety Culture 

Along with the National Safety Council 

and many organizations nationwide, 

Glenn is rolling out Safety and Health 

Awareness throughout the month of June! 

From learning about the Columbia Crew 

Survival Investigation in the beginning 

of the month, to a well-orchestrated set 

of events in the week of June 24 involving discussions on Mission Operations 

Success, Fatigue Management, Integrative 

Health and Mishaps, and our annual 

Golden Shoe Health Walk, we are celebrating and reminding ourselves why safety 

holds a special meaning to each of us. As 

we face exciting challenges in our effort 

to enable exploration, our safety and the 

safety of those around us remain the most 

important!

Let’s continue the safety rigor from June 

through the rest of the year.

Acoustic 

Improvements to 

Wind Tunnel Ensure 

Long-Term Viability

Testing quiet fans for aircraft engines, especially future fan 

concepts, require a quiet wind tunnel.

Upstream view of the corner 3 turning vanes, which efficiently turn the diffuser airflow 90 degrees 

to the left and absorb any noise that may be reflected back into the diffuser and test section. 

GRC-2018-C-09741 Photos by Bridget Caswell

On the Cover: 

Facility Manager David Stark stands 

in the 9 by 15-Foot Low-Speed 

Wind Tunnel test section, with the 

diffuser and corner 3 turning vanes 

in the background, which underwent 

acoustic improvements.

GRC-2019-C-02861
The tunnel’s diffuser, which helps to absorb any model-generated noise and slows the air exiting the test section over the diffuser length.

GRC-2018-C-09739

Glenn’s 9 by 15-Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel (9x15 LSWT) 

is the only national facility that can simulate takeoff, approach and landing in a continuous subsonic environment. 

Used extensively to study and acoustically characterize 

nearly all of the NASA/industry propulsor concepts over 

the past 20 years, the tunnel recently completed acoustic 

improvements to ensure its long-term viability. 

Built in 1969 in the return leg of the 8 by 6-Foot Supersonic 

Wind Tunnel (8x6 SWT), the 9x15 LSWT was originally used 

to support short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft 

model testing. In 1986, acoustic treatment was added to 

the test section to support engine fan testing and, except for 

maintenance, the acoustic treatment has remained essentially unchanged in 30-plus years.

Over the same 30-year period, engine fan noise has been reduced by about 1 decibel per year due to fan noise technology improvements. Historically, 9x15 LSWT acoustic testing 

was performed at Mach 0.1, which is below true takeoff and 

landing speeds, to take advantage of the lower background 

noise in the test section at this speed. Open rotors and other 

modern concept fans, however, will require testing at higher 

than Mach 0.1 tunnel speeds. 

“The primary objective of the 9x15 acoustic improvement 

project was to reduce the background noise levels in the 

9x15 test section without negatively affecting the test capabilities or flow quality in either the 9x15 or 8x6 test section,” 

said Facility Manager David Stark.

Stark said improvements centered on adding acoustic turning vanes and acoustic baffles in three locations; replacing 

the test section to reduce noise generated by the original 

test section flow surfaces; and reshaping and adding acoustic treatment to the diffuser. 

The project started in June 2017, with the demolition phase 

from June through September 2017. Construction began in 

September 2017 and concluded in November 2018. In April 

2019, the final diffuser acoustic boxes were installed. Testing will be performed from September through December 

2019 to document the operating conditions.

“These improvements brought the 9x15 back to world-class 

level,” Stark said. “Reducing the background noise in the 

test section will enable us to continue to support testing of 

models for engine technology development for decades.” 

By Doreen B. Zudell

JUNE 2019

Safety Month Series on Instagram: 

Protecting Our People

When furnace temperatures reach almost 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit, materials engineer 

Glen Bigelow, pictured, protects himself from the heat. His job requires special safety 

equipment, such as an aluminized jacket, gloves and hood, which are able to reflect up to 

95% of the radiant heat.

During National Safety Month, Glenn is highlighting a series of portraits featuring some 

of our researchers who dress in protective clothing to do their jobs on the @NASAglenn 

Instagram account. GRC-2019-C-01294

Bigelow 

Photo by Bridget Caswell 3
4

Pioneering SCaN Testbed Decommissioned

The decommissioning of NASA’s Space Communications and 

Navigation (SCaN) Testbed comes after 7 successful years 

and over 4,000 hours of pioneering accomplishments in the 

field of space communications. The SCaN Testbed completed 

its final experiment operation on April 18 and incinerated 

during its return to Earth earlier this month. 

Launched the summer of 2012, the Glenn-designed and 

constructed SCaN Testbed was installed aboard the 

International Space Station to serve as an on-orbit, softwaredefined radio (SDR) facility. At the core of the testbed are 

three reconfigurable communication radios. 

“SCaN Testbed demonstrated routinely the reconfiguration 

of radios in space—over 850 times—challenging the 

perception that even a single reconfiguration poses 

significant mission risk,” said Richard Reinhart, SCaN Testbed 

principal investigator. “The ability to modify or reconfigure 

radio operation reduces mission risks by allowing the 

communication system to work around unexpected hardware 

or system failures and provides multiple communications 

capabilities from the same hardware.”

The SCaN Testbed has increased the trust that missions 

place in SDR technology, in addition to showcasing multiple 

mission uses for the benefits of radio reconfiguration in 

space. Through the experiments program, almost 20 missions 

benefited from technology advancements and lessons learned 

from operations, as well as the additional benefits to others 

from the numerous publications produced. 

Over the years, Glenn partnered with nearly 40 organizations, 

including other NASA centers, universities, Small Business 

Innovation Research companies and several foreign space 

agencies, to use the SCaN Testbed to achieve many firsts in 

radio communication, networking and navigation capabilities. 

SCaN Testbed was the first full duplex NASA Ka-band mission 

to use NASA’s Space Network and the first to receive the 

Global Positioning System (GPS) Civil Navigation Message 

(CNAV) messages in space. Earlier this year, it was the first 

in-space user of the European Galileo E5a navigation signal, 

demonstrating the benefits of merging Galileo and GPS to 

precisely determine orbits of spacecraft. 

GRC-2012-CN-00034 Photo by NASA JSC

GRC-2012-C-00681 Photo by Bridget Caswell

Glenn staff preparing the testbed to ship to the Tanegashima 

Space Center in 2012.

SCaN Testbed mounted aboard

the International Space Station.

The SCaN Testbed’s Ka-band radio, developed by the Harris 

Corporation, evolved into a successful commercial product 

line for global aircraft tracking on the Iridium satellite network. 

The radio was named a R&D 100 award-winning technology 

and also inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.

Dave Chelmins is project manager for Glenn’s Cognitive 

Communications Project (CCP) that is building upon the 

successes of the SCaN Testbed. The CCP goal is to increase 

the data return and resiliency of missions by merging SDR 

technology with machine learning, networking and automation.

“We’ve demonstrated the ability to reconfigure communication 

systems on the fly,” said Chelmins. “The next step is to make 

that reconfiguration autonomous and responsive to the needs 

of the mission spacecraft.”

Last year, the SCaN Testbed demonstrated the first-ever 

adaptive space link controlled entirely by an artificial 

intelligence algorithm. Now, the CCP team is working towards 

a follow-on cube-satellite flight mission.

By S. Jenise Veris
Larry Sivic Named Associate Director 

WKYC-TV 3’s Kling Talks Leadership With 

Center Director Kavandi

JUNE 2019

5

Center Director Dr. Janet Kavandi has appointed Lawrence (Larry) A. Sivic as the 

center’s new Associate Director. He replaces Janet Watkins, who was selected to serve 

as the Mission Support Program Manager for the Office of Chief Information Officer at 

Headquarters. 

In this new position, Sivic is responsible for the management of institutional operations 

at Glenn, while managing the coordination, integration and evaluation of activities across 

directorates and organizations. 

“Larry has been an asset to NASA Glenn, overseeing one of the largest increases in 

workload and budget in our center’s history,” said Kavandi. “His leadership experience, 

coupled with his extensive knowledge of the center’s mission and organizational 

structure, will create opportunities to implement change and improve operations, 

ensuring Glenn remains a significant contributor to the agency’s future exploration and 

aeronautics missions.” 

Prior to his appointment to this position, he served as NASA Glenn’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), responsible for leading and 

managing the development, implementation and administration of all center budgeting ($850 million for fiscal year 2019), 

accounting, business systems, financial audits/internal controls and cost-estimating activities. 

Sivic

Glenn staff learned more about how Dr. Janet Kavandi’s 

career path led her to NASA Glenn during “Conversations 

on Leadership: From Earth to Space and Back,” on April 30 

at Lewis Field. The program featured a casual conversation 

between Center Director Kavandi and WKYC-TV 3 Chief 

Meteorologist Betsy Kling. 

Deputy Director Dr. Marla Pérez-Davis provided welcoming 

remarks and reflected on why Kavandi’s leadership makes 

her ideal to meet the challenges of NASA’s new mission and 

chapter in history. 

During the program, an enthusiastic Kling invited Kavandi 

to share insights on her career as an astronaut, post-flight 

assimilation into other roles within the agency and goals 

as Glenn’s director. Kling and Kavandi also talked about her 

recent achievement of being inducted into the U.S. Astronaut 

Hall of Fame. The conversation was infused with humor, antidotes and personal reflections.

Kavandi recognized members of the 2017 Astronaut Candidates class, who took time from their visit to the center to attend the 

program. She shared a few aspects of living and working in space, stressing the importance of teamwork and commitment to 

one another’s safety. 

When asked about her legacy at Glenn, Kavandi said, “I want to inspire the staff to work together as a team in achieving great 

things that will bring them pride, and earn a positive place in the history books.

Kling, left, led a conversation with Dr. Kavandi that offered her insight 

into her career, family and leadership style. 

GRC-2019-C-01691 Photo by Marvin Smith
NASA’s 2017 Astronaut Candidates learned about Glenn’s technologies and got to know some of our employees during 

their first visit to the center, April 29 and 30. Their itinerary included tours of several facilities and opportunities to interact 

with staff at Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station. They also attended Center Director Janet Kavandi’s “Conversations on 

Leadership: From Earth to Space and Back,” where she shared highlights on her career and insight on being an astronaut. 

Glenn Welcomes Astronaut Candidates

Candidates pose with some of Glenn’s senior managers. GRC-2019-C-01958 Photo by Jordan Salkin

6

GRC-2019-CN-00032 Photo by Doreen B. Zudell

Glenn Environmental Scientist Stacey Yanetta, center, works with 

students from Fairview High School’s Environmental Science class to 

place a cage around a tree to protect it from deer. On May 9, students 

planted native trees, shrubs and grasses along the stream bank of Guerin 

Ditch to help with erosion control, temperature regulation and wildlife 

habitats. Last year, students took samples to determine the makeup and 

quality of the water and develop a restoration plan. This is a continuation 

of that work under a grant project with the Rocky River Watershed 

Council and Glenn’s Environmental Management Office. 

Glenn, Students

Focus on Environmental 

Stewardship

NEWS AND EVENTS
NASA Glenn led the planning effort to host a range 

of agencywide exhibits and demonstrations at the 

inaugural COSI Science Festival in Columbus, May 

1 to 4. Festival attendees explored earth science, 

flight and space through NASA’s hands-on exhibits 

and activities. This included a virtual reality tour of 

satellites in orbit, electric aircraft, the James Webb 

space telescope and seeing sound using light waves. 

Several of the exhibits centered on Artemis, NASA’s 

program to send astronauts to the Moon in the next 5 

years with a landing on the lunar south pole.

NASA Brings Moon and More to Visitors 

at Science Festival

Carlos Gomez shares information about NASA Glenn’s

Visitor Center during the festival.

JUNE 2019

7

Andrew Smith (foreground) and Jeff Chin discuss X–57 electric aircraft.

GRC-2019-C-02109 Photos by Bridget Caswell

Aimee Crane shares information on Orion’s parachute system.

GRC-2019-C-02141

GRC-2019-C-02112

Pilot and aviation trailblazer Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, visited 

Lewis Field on March 29. After meeting with Deputy Director 

Dr. Marla Pérez-Davis, Funk toured wind tunnels and research 

laboratories, learning more about Glenn’s aeronautics and 

space research. During her stop in the Flight Research Building 

(Hangar), Funk, left, talked with Research Pilot Jim Demers. She 

was one of the Mercury 13—a group of women who trained to 

become astronauts in the early 1960s.

Trailblazing Female 

Aviator Visits

GRC-2019-C-00770 Photo by Marvin Smith
With an estimated 41,000 new aircraft needed in the next 15 years, and the total market value of those planes reaching $6.1 trillion, it is 

crucial that NASA maintains its technological preeminence in aeronautics. 

Deputy Associate Administrator of the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) Robert Pearce shared this message during his visit 

to Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station, April 23 and 24. He met with senior leadership and toured facilities to learn more about how Glenn is 

working to meet the technological challenges of the commercial aviation sector. 

At his town hall meeting at Lewis Field, Pearce discussed NASA’s Aeronautics’ budget, priorities, partnerships and challenges. He 

acknowledged the great work Glenn has accomplished over the decades and the many opportunities that lay ahead for the center. “I’m 

pleased with the performance of our aeronautics centers, projects and facilities,” he said. “A lot of important work is coming up at Glenn.”

Glenn Aeronautics Director Dr. Rubén Del Rosario announced the winners of the 2018 ARMD awards during the town hall. He stressed the 

significance of the awards, which recognize civil servants, support service contractors and students/interns who demonstrate a profound positive 

impact and benefit to ARMD, its partners and/or stakeholders. Center Director Dr. Janet Kavandi assisted Pearce in presenting the awards.

Deputy AA of Aeronautics Visits, 

Awards Achievements 

8

GRC-2019-C-01616 Photos by Rami Daud

Glenn’s Dr. Othmane Benefan, right, briefs Pearce and others on tour about the SMART–VG (Vortex Generator).

GRC-2019-C-01588

Dr. Rodger Dyson, middle, 

receives the individual 

award under Technology 

and Innovation.

Technology and Innovation—Individual Award

Dr. Rodger W. Dyson

Dyson has demonstrated sustained engineering excellence as 

the technical lead for the development of the NASA Electric 

Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) facility located at Plum Brook Station. 

His leadership has provided a broad perspective in the field of 

electrified aircraft propulsion, in part by identifying technology 

gaps that influenced innovations in the testing of components 

and systems at the NEAT facility. 

GRC-2019-C-01593

Michael Rodgers, middle, 

receives an honorable 

mention in the category 

of Leadership and 

Management Excellence.

Program and Mission Support—Group Award

Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) Project Planning 

and Control (PP&C) Team 

Langley, Glenn, Armstrong and Ames 

Glenn’s Mary Neuzil is a team member.

The LBFD PP&C Team provides all the business and management

systems to ensure successful LBFD project execution within 

specified budgets and schedules. They have set a new standard 

for PP&C excellence in establishing and baselining new 

processes and operating procedures for future NASA X-plane 

projects, which they are sharing across NASA Aeronautics. 
JUNE 2019

9

Interns and Faculty Come Aboard!

NASA Glenn welcomes its 2019 summer interns and faculty this month!

The first group of Lewis’ Educational and Research Collaborative Internship Project (LERCIP) interns 

came aboard on June 3. The second group joined the NASA team on June 10.

The NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship Program; NASA (Graduate) Fellowship Program; NASA Internship 

Project; New York Space Grant Consortium; Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium; and Experimental 

Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) all welcomed summer staff on June 3.

David F. Hamilton was selected chief 

of the Technical Services Branch in the 

Fabrication Division. Hamilton most 

recently served as facility electrical 

engineer in the 8 by 6-Foot Supersonic 

Wind Tunnel and the 9 by 15-Foot LowSpeed Wind Tunnel (9x15 LSWT). He 

provided leadership with the large-scale 

upgrades to the 9x15 LSWT.

AWARD PROMOTION

Glenn’s MacAllister “Callie” West received 

a Rising Star of the Year Award at the recent 

2019 Office of General Counsel Conference 

at NASA Johnson. This award acknowledges 

excellence in the next generation of NASA 

attorneys and leaders. A seasoned litigator, 

West has a proven track record of embracing 

challenges and raising the bar. Pictured: 

NASA’s Chief Counsel Sumara ThompsonKing, left, with West at the event.

GRC-2019-CN-00033

Photo by Robert Markowitz

GRC-2019-C-01591

Thomas Miller, middle, 

accepts the group award for 

the Smartest Failure for the 

X–57 Battery and Redesign 

Team on behalf of the team. 

Smartest Failure—Group Award

X–57 Battery Test and Redesign Team

Glenn, Armstrong and Johnson

Glenn’s Dr. Dionne Hernandez-Lugo is the team lead.

Following a major failure, the Glenn-led X–57 Battery Test and 

Redesign Team worked diligently to understand the physics of 

the failure, and further worked to methodically redesign the 

system to prevent a recurrence.

GRC-2019-C-01592

Two Glenn members of 

the High Ice Water Content 

Flight Evaluation Team, 

Acosta, second from left, 

and Ratvasky, third from left, 

were present for an honorable 

mention in the Technology 

and Innovation category.

Honorable Mentions

Technology and Innovation Team

The High Ice Water Content Flight Evaluation Team based at 

Langley. Glenn team members include Waldo Acosta, Kurt 

Blankenship, Thomas Ratvasky, Anthony Nerone and 

Walter Strapp.

Leadership and Management Excellence

Michael Rogers

This category recognizes exemplary performance by an 

individual in leading and managing people in the formulation 

and accomplishment of disciplined research in the field of 

aeronautics, demonstrating leadership qualities that invite 

collaboration and foster dedication to team excellence. 

Hamilton
The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) 

Foundation selected NASA Glenn’s Marc Gibson and Dr. 

Louis Ghosn among this year’s Stellar Award winners. 

They were recognized at the RNASA annual gala on April 

26 in Houston. 

Stellar Awards are presented, annually, to individuals and 

teams in four categories—Early Career, Mid-Career, Late 

Career and Team—to recognize the “behind-the-scene 

heroes” of the American space program. The winners are 

selected based on which accomplishments hold the greatest 

promise for furthering future activities in space. 

Gibson won in the Mid-Career Stage category for 

outstanding leadership of the groundbreaking Kilopower 

Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) experiment, 

which paves a path for NASA Space fission power systems. 

Ghosn earned a Late Career Stage award for exceptional 

knowledge and expertise in the fields of structural and 

fracture mechanics, contributing to the success of 

numerous NASA missions.

Three additional Glenn employees/teams were among the 

nominees for this year’s Stellar Awards. They include Susan 

Motil, European Service Module Integration manager; the 

Kilopower Fission Surface Reactor Team and the Space 

Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed Team. 

AWARDS

RETIREMENTS

MORE THAN A MEMORY

Dr. Louis “Lou” Rosenblum, 95, who retired with 

nearly 30 years of service, died April 4. Rosenblum was 

a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, who joined NASA 

in 1954. He became a research scientist and solar/

electric energy innovator of photovoltaic techniques and 

solar panels installed in remote sites around the world. 

He co-invented a portable electron-beam welder and 

helped develop an early nickel-zinc battery that could 

power a car. Rosenblum retired as chief of the Solar and 

Electrochemical Division. 

Dr. Rosenblum

Andrew B. McLachlan, 83, a 1992 retiree with 30 

years of service, died March 22. He was a U.S. Air Force 

veteran, who joined the NASA workforce in 1962 as an 

electronic specialist in the Test Installation Division. During 

his tenure, he earned a Suggestion “Incentive” Award 

for a switch to alert a Vidar data machine’s readiness to 

take data results. He also earned several Special Act and 

Service awards for his efforts related to center support of 

McLachlan space shuttle missions.

Barbetta Downey

Ferenc Dr. Meador Dr. Meador

James F. Saltsman, 92, a 1994 retiree with 33 years 

of NASA service, died April 18. Saltsman was a U.S. 

Army Veteran of the Korean War. He began his NASA 

career as a materials research engineer in the Nuclear 

Systems Branch at Plum Brook Station. He co-authored a 

significant report on the Design of Gas-Cooled Test Loop 

for NASA’s Plum Brook Reactor Facility. Saltsman later 

worked on the thermodynamic properties of metallic alloys 

Saltsman in jet and rocket engines at Lewis Field. 

Jackie Barbetta, Financial Services Branch, Accounting and Financial 

Analysis Division, retired April 30, 2019, with 30 years of service.

Alan Downey, System Architectures and Analytical Studies Branch, 

Communications and Intelligent Systems Division, retired April 30, 2019, 

with 42 years of service.

Lisa Ferenc, Financial Services Branch, Accounting and Financial Analysis 

Division, retired April 30, 2019, with 38 years of federal service, including 

35 with NASA.

Gary E. Gorecki, Aerospace Test Branch, Testing Division, retired Jan. 3, 

2019, with 40 years of service

George P. Jacynycz, Space Environments Test Branch, Testing Division, 

retired Dec. 22, 2018, with 40 years of service.

Dr. Mary Ann Meador, Materials Chemistry and Physics Branch, Materials 

and Structures Division, retired April 30, 2019, with 35 years of service. 

Dr. Michael A. Meador, Materials and Structures Division, Research and 

Engineering Directorate, retired April 30, 2019, with 35 1⁄2 years of service.

Gibson Dr. Louis Ghosn
JUNE 2019

11

Upcoming Center Events

NASA Glenn Employees: For more calendar information, visit https://wing.grc.nasa.gov/event-calendar/.

Deadline for next calendar section is June 19, noon. News and feature stories require additional time.

Safety and Health 

Awareness Event 

June 25 to 27, 2019

Stay tuned to Today@Glenn for details.

POC: Andrea Bonesteel, 3–2059

JOHN GLENN MEMORIAL SYMPOSIUM

The American Astronautical Society 

will bring together leaders in government, industry and academia for a 

2-day event to discuss advancements 

in aerospace technology, including 

power and propulsion, communications, hypersonics and more. The 

event is July 10 to 12 in downtown 

Cleveland. 

Visit https://astronautical.org/

events/john-glenn-memorial-symposium/ for details. 

POC: Lori Manthey, 3–9658

The Glenn Science and Engineering 

Library (GSEL) Mobile Librarian will be 

visiting building 77 from June 18 to 27, 

and building 86 from July 9 to 18 from 

1 to 3 p.m. A Glenn reference librarian 

will be ready to assist employees with 

subject searches, finding specific books 

and articles and other information needs 

on the spot. 

POC: Robin Pertz, 3–5776

GSEL MOBILE LIBRARIAN

The Emergency Management Office 

staff will conduct a mass notification 

“voice” test at building 3 at Lewis Field 

on Wednesday, July 3. An audible siren 

test will be conducted on the “Area 

Evacuation” tone on Saturday, July 6. 

POC: Allen Turner, 3–6826 

OUTDOOR SIREN TESTING

LESA will hold its next membership 

meeting, Wednesday, July 10, noon, 

in the Glenn Employee Center’s Small 

Dining Room.

IFPTE LOCAL 28, LESA MEETING

Wednesday, Aug. 7

(Rain date: Thursday, Aug. 8)

11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Lewis Field Picnic Grounds

Come enjoy lively music, picnic fare and fun 

activities with your co-workers.

Registration begins in a few weeks.

Watch Today@Glenn for details.

Retirees are cordially invited to attend,

so spread the word! 

To register, contact

Jill Noble, at 216–433–3711.

2019 Center Picnic

Save the Date
National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

John H. Glenn Research Center 

Lewis Field

21000 Brookpark Road 

Cleveland, Ohio 44135

Plum Brook Station

6100 Columbus Avenue

Sandusky, Ohio 44870

www.nasa.gov

Read AeroSpace Frontiers online at http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/news/AF/index.html.

Glenn Innovation Inducted Into

Space Technology Hall of Fame

Emergency and Inclement Weather Lines 

Lewis Field: 216–433–9328 (WEAT) 

Plum Brook Station: 419–621–3333

Connect With Glenn

GRC-2013-C-02920 Photo by Marvin Smith

Left to right: Glenn’s Kacpura, Johnson, Downey and Reinhart.

The NASA/Harris Ka-Band SDR.

Glenn’s Thomas Kacpura, Richard C. Reinhart, 

Joseph Downey and Sandra Johnson, along 

with Harris Corporation staff, were inducted into 

the Space Technology Hall of Fame, April 9, for 

developing and adapting the Ka-Band SoftwareDefined Radio (SDR). The technology allows for faster 

transmission of NASA’s scientific data back to Earth, 

and affords development of cutting-edge satellite 

systems for worldwide satellite-based aircraft and 

ship tracking capabilities.

The Space Technology Hall of Fame honors scientists, 

engineers and innovators for effectively adapting space 

technologies to improve the quality of life for all humanity. 

It also highlights the benefits of these technologies as a 

return on investment in space exploration. 

While NASA’s space missions and priorities can change, the 

hardware typically cannot. The Ka-band SDR can be adapted to 

new missions by adjusting its software. This reprogrammable radio 

is the first technology of its kind to use reconfigurable software that 

operates within the Ka-band frequency. 

Following testing aboard the International Space Station as part of 

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCAN) testbed in 

2012, the Harris Corporation further developed the reconfigurable 

technology for commercial use. Today, more than 250 orbiting 

software-defined payloads use this technology. GRC-2019-CN-00008 Photo by NASA