National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

Welcome to

JPL’s MetaVerse!

IT Talk

Apr - Jun 2022 Volume 12 • Issue 2
IT Talk

Apr - Jun 2022 Volume 12 • Issue 2

Office of the CIO

NASA Headquarters

300 E Street SW

Washington, D.C. 20546

Chief Information Officer

Jeff Seaton

Editor & Publication Manager

Eldora Valentine

Graphic & Web Designer

Michael Porterfield

Copy Editor

Meredith Isaacs

Mia Roundtree

Cover Art

NASA-Caltech/JPL

IT Talk is an official publication of the 

Office of the Chief Information Officer 

of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, Headquarters, 

Washington, D.C. It is published 

by the OCIO office for all NASA 

employees and external audiences.

For distribution questions or to 

suggest a story idea, email:

eldora.valentine-1@nasa.gov

To read IT Talk online visit:

www.nasa.gov/offices/ocio/ittalk

For more info on the OCIO:

v www.nasa.gov/offices/ocio

v nasa.sharepoint.com/sites/cio/

 (Internal NASA network only)

v www.nasa.gov/open/

www.facebook.com/NASAcio

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Message From 

the NASA CIO

Welcome to

JPL’s MetaVerse

CP Completes Innovative 

Fiber Optic Cable 

Installation at Wallops 

Flight Facility

Fusing Together Strategic 

IT Services for Flight 

Projects at Wallops

Digitally Transformed:

AI Machine Learning on the 

International Space Station

In this Issue
As many of us are thinking about the future of work, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have exciting potential beyond our conversation today around 

hybrid meetings. Both technologies bring together a virtual/online element in 

engaging ways, although the technology is continuing to mature. VR and AR are 

changing the way we use screens, creating new and exciting interactive experiences that are moving beyond the gaming world into more and more business 

applications. In this issue we’ll explore how NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is 

using these technologies to improve collaboration and efficiency for an increasingly 

remote workforce.

We’ll also look at how artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) through an innovative pilot effort 

where a new prototype model helps to detect spacesuit glove damage through 

rapid inspection.

We will examine how NASA’s Chief Health and Medical Officer and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) are 

collaborating on a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that’s helping with NASA’s business processing and 

reporting needs.

And finally, I’d like to recognize some of the great work being done by the OCIO Team. Many of our people have won 

Agency Honor Awards for their outstanding contributions to the agency mission. If you recognize any names, be sure to 

congratulate your colleagues. 

I hope you enjoy reading this edition which is filled with many inspiring stories that highlight the great work being done in 

our IT community at NASA. 

Sincerely,

Jeff Seaton

NASA Chief Information Officer

NASA OCIO IT Talk Apr - Jun 2022 3

Message from the NASA CIO 

Workplace and Collaboration Services (WCS) News and Updates

Check out the latest news from WCS (all links are internal to NASA):

• Internet Explorer 11 Retiring June 15, 2022

• Remote Work Enhancements

• Use WIMS to Track ESD Order Progress

• External Drive Encryption with BitLocker To Go Now Available

• New Process for Intern Computer Ordering

• Delay or Schedule Sending Email Messages

• Enterprise-Managed Product Updates

• See What's New with ICAM

• Getting Started with Planning Your Virtual Event

• Future of Work
4 www.nasa.gov

Fusing Together Strategic IT Services for

Flight Projects at Wallops

By Hilary Gambale, Strategic Communications Specialist, Goddard Flight Space Center

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is 

located on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. WFF is NASA’s 

only owned and operated range, 

providing flight and launch range 

services for both the Government and 

the commercial sector. On February 

19, Northrop Grumman launched its 

Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus 

resupply spacecraft to the International 

Space Station from the Wallops facility. 

WFF was recently selected by Rocket 

Lab as the home for its new Neutron 

rocket’s first launch pad and production facility, thus increasing the facility’s ability to provide services to the 

commercial space sector. All launches 

at WFF, including the Antares launch, 

rely heavily on IT services supported 

and managed by the local WFF Office 

of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) 

team. The WFF OCIO team includes 

the Facility-Unique and Specialized 

IT Engineering (FUSE) team, which 

provides specialized services that are 

instrumental in making launches such 

as Antares successful.

The FUSE team consists of only seven 

civil servants, but as a group they have 

many years of experience in the development, operation, maintenance, and 

modernization of Wallops critical range 

support and safety systems. FUSE 

team members are highly integrated 

with flight and mission personnel to 

provide specialized, facility/missionunique support, such as networking, 

voice, video, infrastructure, computing, 

and IT security services and solutions. 

Senior leaders at Wallops rely heavily on the expertise of the FUSE team 

to advise them on current capabilities 

when evaluating new business requirements, recommending strategic IT 

infrastructure planning for growth and 

cost savings, and providing agile support for mission-critical systems. 

The team works directly with Wallops 

tenants, partners, and new customers 

to ensure proper integration of their 

requirements with the capabilities of 

the range systems. In addition, they 

ensure that missions are complying 

with Agency IT policies. Members of 

the team are highly integrated and 

embedded in the mission engineering 

process through the entire life cycle, 

from pre-planning and pre-formulation 

to operations and sustainment. Whenever immediate IT services are required, FUSE members are on console 

or strategically placed in key locations 

to provide direct launch support. The 

team also serves on several range IT 

system review boards and launch or 

range readiness review sessions. 

Wallops is recognized for a providing a low-cost but reliable option 

for missions and commercial space 

companies to launch, fly, land, and test 

aeronautical equipment and technologies. As such, Wallops leadership 

requires the IT expertise of the WFF 

OCIO to fully support, integrate, and 

work with mission personnel through 

the entire engineering life cycle from 

concept to launch. Lastly, with Rocket 

Lab, Wallops launches will increase 

by 15 to 20 annually, a roughly 100 

percent increase in flights. Those missions will require additional IT services 

and solutions, and the local OCIO team 

is excited about the opportunity and 

ready to support!

Wallops’ Range Control Center (RCC) and Multiple Operation Control Center (MOCC), with technology managed by the FUSE team.
Exploring the GVIS Lab

By Herb Schilling and Libby Hancock, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Glenn Research Center

Glenn Research Center (GRC) is 

home to the Graphics and Visualization (GVIS) Lab, which is part of the 

GRC Scientific Computing and Visualization Team. For over 30 years, 

the lab has been providing insight to 

researchers, scientists, and engineers through interactive visualizations of their data and models. Most 

recently, the team provided NASA’s 

Aerosciences Evaluation and Test 

Capabilities (AETC) Portfolio Office 

with a way for guests to virtually visit 

the wind tunnel at GRC (which was 

inaccessible due to safety restrictions). Thanks to their efforts, visitors can now tour the tunnel lobby 

by visiting a website and using their 

computer keyboard and mouse to 

navigate. The team is also reviewing 

future capabilities to make the room 

accessible through a virtual reality 

(VR) headset. 

A few of the other projects planned 

for the GVIS Lab include installing a state-of-the-art 3D spatial 

audio system in their Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE), 

further developing extended reality 

(XR) collaboration applications with 

gestural control, as well as creating 

X-Plane visualizations in VR. X-Plane 

is a high-fidelity flight simulator that 

makes it possible for users to create 

their own 3D models to be implemented within the simulators flight 

engine, using real-time mathematical 

calculations.

Simulated wind tunnel lobby at GRC.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Apr - Jun 2022 5
Welcome to JPL’s MetaVerse

By Whitney Haggins, IT Communication Strategist, and Chris Mattmann, Chief Technology 

and Innovation Officer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

In the early months of the pandemic, 

JPL, like many employers, experienced 

a shift to large-scale remote work. As 

the Lab’s workforce dispersed across 

the country, employees wondered 

what this new phase meant for JPL’s 

culture, particularly the move from 

in-person collaboration and meetings 

to videoconferencing and the now-alltoo-familiar impacts of “Zoom fatigue.” 

JPL’s key business of engineering future planetary and deep space remote 

sensing satellites, landers, and autonomous robots is predicated on dynamic 

communication and collaboration 

among teams. Enabling that via videoconference is extremely challenging. 

To meet the challenge, JPL’s IT organization initiated the “Welcome to 

Our MetaVerse” project. The project 

will initially scan significant spaces at 

JPL into the MetaVerse using Oculus 

Quest 2 technology and the Spatial.

io application. This virtual reality (VR) 

solution leverages Apple’s ARKit and 

commodity iPad systems to scan 

rooms using light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technology. Rooms are 

digitally reconstructed and imported 

into the Spatial.io application, where 

a user wearing a VR Quest 2 headset 

can virtually attend a meeting within a 

scanned location, whether that is in a 

public space or in an individual’s building or office. Next, the project aims to 

bring the participants themselves into 

the MetaVerse using Spatial.io’s 3D 

face-scanning technology, enabling 

customization of a very realistic avatar 

to represent the meeting participant. 

JPL participants can congregate, meet, 

and take advantage of VR capabilities from the Quest 2, including spatial 

audio and gestures (e.g., high-five, 

thumbs up), as well as other features 

that add to the sense of realism and interactivity and the experience of “being 

together” in as full a sense as possible. 

With the MetaVerse, remote and 

hybrid teams can innovate, create, 

and perform engineering activities 

without having to physically procure 

and manipulate actual materials and 

assemblies. The project leverages 

JPL’s ProtoSpace to meet engineering challenges. ProtoSpace, a proven 

collaboration tool for engineering 

activities, uses augmented reality (AR) 

capabilities and Microsoft HoloLens 

to allow engineers to import complex 

computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, including JPL mission hardware, 

which can then be visualized and realized in a clean room alongside partially 

finished builds of the same hardware. 

Engineers can perform just-in-time and 

early phase assessments and adjustments, evolving engineering design activities for missions at an extremely low 

cost with a high payoff. ProtoSpace 

has been used by multiple missions, 

including Mars 2020, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, 

NASA-ISRO (Indian Space Research 

Organisation) Synthetic Aperture Radar 

6 www.nasa.gov
(NISAR), and Europa. ProtoSpace 

was JPL’s 2021 Software of the Year 

and received a NASA 2021 Software 

of the Year honorable mention. 

Working within the MetaVerse comes 

with its own challenges, such as striving for seamless integration of the 

technologies that leverage powerful 

and complex digital and mixed reality 

options while facilitating the MetaVerse 

experience for different types of users 

and enabling interaction between remote and on-Lab participants. Another 

issue to resolve was how to include 

more people into the MetaVerse than 

the allowable platform limit. The solution was to create a workaround that 

mimicked a videoconference integration using screen and audio sharing. 

In testing, 25 people joined the MetaVerse in VR while an additional 30 

joined via videoconference through the 

workaround solution. Participants from 

either platform were able to interact 

with those in the other platform seamlessly. This not only provided a solution 

to the limit on the number of participants but also offered a lower barrier 

to entry for those who are VR-hesitant.

Solving the challenge of integration 

of these technologies for different 

types of users has huge implications. 

For example, engineers can enter a 

clean room and, using the AR capabilities, look at a partially completed and 

physically built spacecraft assembly for 

the NISAR mission—a future synthetic 

aperture radar (SAR) mission looking 

at earthquakes in partnership with our 

colleagues at ISRO—and then look 

at the fully realized NISAR spacecraft 

using ProtoSpace. Seeing the full, 

realized, and completed assembly in 

mixed reality enables assessment, 

adaptation, and full end-to-end engineering without having to finish and 

test the CAD model and fabricate it 

fully in production, thus saving costs, 

energy, and critical resources. 

Using the HoloLens and with ProtoSpace loaded, JPL engineers can build 

the elements for complex interplanetary missions much earlier, faster, and 

more collaboratively than if they were 

performing these activities solely based 

on what was occurring in real life. Next 

steps will be to make it so that the 

environments can be viewed only by 

remote users or those on the Web.

These successes have encouraged 

further exploration of capabilities in 

the MetaVerse, including early loading of digital CAD models of our 

most recent missions, assessing 

and updating engineering designs 

long before completion, leading to 

significant cost savings in development. In March, our project/JPL was 

named a 2022 CIO 100 winner. 

But we are not done. We are only 

getting started, and we look forward 

to seeing you in the MetaVerse.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Apr - Jun 2022 7
CP Completes Innovative Fiber Optic Cable 

Installation at Wallops Flight Facility

By Sylvester Placid, Communications Strategist, Communications Program, Marshall Space Flight Center

The monumental effort by the Communications Program (CP) to install 

upgraded fiber optic cable across 

protected marshland for launch 

operations at Wallops Flight Facility 

(WFF) is complete. The strategically 

critical project was accomplished on 

schedule despite the difficult terrain, environmental challenges, hard 

deadlines, and inclement weather.

Project Stats:

• 4.3 years from beginning of design 

stage to construction closeout

• 11 months to obtain required 

environmental approvals

• 2 years for compressed construction schedule around nesting season for Eastern Black 

Rail endangered species

• 6,100-foot 8-inch bore from mainland to Walker Island is one of the 

longest single bores for fiber optic 

cable in marshland in the world

• 12-feet is all the 6,100-foot bore 

across Watts Bay missed its surveyed exit point mark by – more 

than a mile of underground drilling 

surfaced just several feet off target

• 20,000-foot single segment of fiber with no splices 

(just under 4 miles of fiber)

• 9 miles of additional fiber to buildings at WFF main base and ten additional buildings on Wallops Island

• 240-feet/minute or 25 minutes to install the first 6,100-feet 

of fiber using “fiber jetting”

• 4 hours to place 10,000-feet of 

fiber in its final resting position 

to work around tide schedule

Difficult Terrain Required Innovation

The soft marshland presented a 

unique challenge for installing nearly 

20,000 feet (nearly 4 miles) of fiber 

optic cable under two bodies of water 

to the launchpads at WFF. Horizontal 

directional drilling (HDD) was utilized 

for minimal impact, trenchless, secure installation of the fiber pathway 

through the marsh. To reach stable 

soil conditions, the HDD pathway 

needed to be 100 feet underwater. 

This required specialized equipment transported on barges while 

navigating shifting tides and frequent 

winter storms every several days 

during the construction period.

The long distance deep under protected marshland meant opportunities 

to access the cable were extremely 

limited. Installing the fiber using traditional pulling in methods would not be 

possible without stressing the cable 

and exceeding tension limits. A new, 

high-tech method called fiber jetting 

(or blowing) was utilized instead.

This method uses a high volume of 

air pressure to “float” the fiber inside of the duct, minimizing the friction between the cable and duct 

itself, and allowing for extended 

installation distances. Specialized 

equipment employed tractor feeds 

to precisely control the speed of 

the fiber during installation—which 

exceeded expectations. The first 

6,100 feet of cable was installed using this method in just 25 minutes, 

or roughly 240 feet per minute.

Meticulous organization and highly 

skilled personnel fed 17,000 feet of 

fiber through the duct in the marshland from the mainland to Wallops 

Island with each duct exit requiring 

the fiber to be strategically placed in a 

figure-eight coil, flipped, and then fed 

into the next duct to complete installation. With precise planning, 10,000 

feet of fiber (roughly 2 miles) was 

installed in an eight-hour day—with 

more than half of the day required to 

move equipment barges to the island 

while navigating the tide schedule.

Winter Weather and Endangered 

Species Threatened Schedule

Winter weather posed additional 

difficulty for the project with temperatures ranging in the 20s and 

30s, resulting in equipment failures. 

The construction phase of the project could only take place during the 

winter months due to the nesting 

season for the Eastern Black Rail, an 

endangered species native to Wallops Island, presenting the team with 

hard deadlines and narrow completion 

windows for each of the two winters 

that construction was scheduled.

Additional deconfliction was required around Unmanned Aerial 

Systems (UAS) flight operations at 

the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) runway airfield where 

the final fiber segment would exit, 

as well as closure of Wallops Island for the fueling of the Cygnus 

capsule for the Northrop Grumman 

Antares launch in February 2022. 

The arrival of a powerful nor’easter 

winter storm that same month created additional time pressure.

8 www.nasa.gov
Despite these obstacles, the drilling 

and installation equipment was off 

the marshland a full month ahead of 

schedule. Responsibility plans are 

being finalized to monitor restoration 

of disturbed areas on Wallops Island 

for the next three years, including 

biannual inspections and reporting to 

the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. The final step of the project 

was an environmental inspection that 

was successfully completed on March 

29, enabling closeout of all activities before Eastern Black Rail nesting 

season begins on April 1 (the second 

season in a row project activity completed before nesting season, despite 

environmental factors and delays 

caused by the COVID-19 pandemic).

Ensuring Wallops Success 

for Decades

Meeting these challenges and 

completing the massive project 

successfully and on schedule 

required significant effort by everyone 

involved. CP Cable Plant Service 

Manager Ted Dean wishes to thank 

Cable Plant Project Manager Chip 

Palumbo and OCIO Project Manager 

Karalyn Springle for engaging with 

the multiple organizations involved in 

the project – NASA range operations 

which manages the launchpads at 

WFF; MARS, which operates the UAS 

runway airfield at Wallops; the U.S. 

Navy Surface Combat Systems Center, 

which conducts testing at Wallops; 

and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 

which operates the Chincoteague 

National Wildlife Refuge on the island.

The newly installed fiber will enable 

next-generation mission requirements, 

including faster data transfer rates, 

4K/8K video, and future capabilities 

over the next 30 years to support 

rapidly growing demand at WFF.

Ted Dean, Chip Palumbo, and Karalyn Springle with members of the project team

CP Enables Record 816,000 Live Viewers for

James Webb Space Telescope Launch

By Sylvester Placid, Communications Strategist, Communications Program, Marshall Space Flight Center

When the James Webb Space 

Telescope launched on Christmas 

morning, 2021, from Kourou, French 

Guiana, more than 800,000 viewers 

watched across NASA livestreams 

enabled by the Communications 

Program’s (CP’s) Enterprise Video 

Content Delivery Network (EVCDN) 

solution.

This was the highest viewership for 

any launch in 2021 (crewed or uncrewed), the highest viewership for a 

launch of a science mission, and the 

second-highest viewership for any 

mission milestone in 2021—the first 

was the landing of Mars Perseverance with 4 million viewers.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Apr - Jun 2022 9
Digitally Transformed: AI Machine Learning 

on the International Space Station

By Martin Garcia, Enterprise Services Team—Information Resources Directorate, Infrastructure and Applications Office, 

Johnson Space Center; Edward L. McLarney, Digital Transformation Lead for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, 

Langley Research Center; and Jill Marlowe, NASA Digital Transformation Officer, NASA Headquarters

As part of NASA’s Digital Transformation (DT) strategic initiative, profiled in the January–March 2022 IT 

Talk, a team with Johnson Space Center (JSC) has 

delivered a DT-in-space first: successfully testing an 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML) prototype model to inspect astronaut glove readiness 

for spacewalks (also known as extravehicular activities, or EVAs) on the International Space Station. 

Artificial intelligence is a constellation of many different 

technologies working together to enable machines to 

sense, comprehend, act, and learn with human-like levels of intelligence. Maybe that’s why it seems as though 

everyone’s definition of artificial intelligence is different: AI 

isn’t just one thing. But this is a fitting definition for the efforts made by NASA’s pioneers striving to not only explore 

distant constellations but create digital ones that serve 

our mission. Space—once considered the final frontier—

has witnessed another leap from human technology as 

artificial intelligence travels to space as a NASA asset.

On December 16, 2021, the JSC Infrastructure and Applications Office announced the first successful test and deployment of the AIML model to detect spacesuit glove damage 

on the International Space Station (ISS). The AIML Glove 

Inspection Model was possible only with a small seed 

investment from DT and enlisted subject matter expertise 

(SME) teamwork between DT, the JSC OCIO, the EVA team, 

Microsoft Azure, and the Engineering Office at JSC. The 

team multiplied that investment many times via ISS Mission 

SME contributions, as well as contributions from the industry. AIML was an exciting success, and efforts continue to 

leverage AIML technology and identify future use opportunities, including a collaboration with the EVA dust-mitigation team at JSC to adapt the glove detection models from 

ISS-based EVA to lunar-based EVA, by inspecting dusty, 

dirty gloves like those expected from the Artemis missions. 

The AIML model was a prototype test leveraging Microsoft Azure machine learning image recognition techniques to prototype astronaut glove inspection, and it 

was used to validate the AIML concept designed by the 

Infrastructure and Applications Office team. The test 

was a two-step effort: to test the machine learning software on the ground with test images and run the model, 

then run the same model on the ISS with the same test 

images. Glove inspection tests run with AIML models 

substantiated ground tests and successfully detected 

glove damage in space. The tags used are associated 

with different damage modalities identified in the training 

dataset for the classification model. Space-run test probability outputs matched probabilities from the groundbased machines ranging from laptops to ground-based 

Spaceborne Computer Two (SBC-2). It is important to 

understand the implications driving this validation test:

• Using Microsoft Custom Vision, it is possible to distinguish between “Go” and “NoGo” gloves utilizing classification models.

• The results are preliminary and have not been confirmed with EMU Glove subject matter experts.

• This AIML model is not in the safety review 

process to decide, but it is intended to augment the Mission Control Center flight-control 

and ground-team workers in the future.

The implications could optimize glove inspection by 

reducing hours invested in safety protocols associated with glove integrity. The glove inspection process 

is normally performed by a group of individuals and requires multiple days to analyze data and develop a consensus on a “Go” or “No-Go” recommendation. The 

AIML model was able to perform diagnostics and generate a recommendation in less than 45 seconds. 

The ISS glove inspection prototype is part of a multipronged 

AIML Foundation early win intended to make secure cloud 

based AIML services secure and affordable for NASA. The 

team will continue to demonstrate AIML model aptitude 

testing once post-EVA Glove photos are input to SBC-2 

directly by the astronauts on the ISS, without the need for 

(Continued on p. 14)

10 www.nasa.gov
Salesforce... It’s More Than a Customer 

Relationship Management Tool

By the NASA Salesforce Enterprise Service Management Team, Marshall Space Flight Center

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the 

United States in early 2020, NASA, 

along with the rest of the world, was 

faced with challenges. NASA not only 

needed to manage the workforce 

safely but also needed to keep the 

workplace safe for those individuals 

working on mission-critical activities. 

Safety precautions presented challenges because there was no system 

in place for tracing and 

tracking individuals who 

had been exposed to 

a highly transmissible 

illness, such as COVID-19. To solve this 

problem, NASA’s Chief 

Health and Medical 

Office and the Office of 

the Chief Information 

Officer (OCIO) came 

together to implement 

a new system. Within 

private industry, Salesforce was being used 

to tackle the contact 

tracing and tracking 

related to COVID-19. 

NASA, with the help of 

a contracting partner, 

was able to implement 

this solution with a few 

modifications to suit 

NASA’s needs. The 

NASA Contact Tracing 

and Tracking application 

is still in use at NASA 

and has proven to be an effective tool.

While primarily a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, 

Salesforce has extensive capabilities/

modules that have been successfully 

configured to meet NASA business 

processing and reporting needs. In addition to CRM and reporting/dashboard 

capabilities, Salesforce can streamline 

information gathering and data intake; 

enable proactive communication, outreach, and external engagement and 

collaboration; and automate workflows 

and case management. Salesforce 

is a FedRAMP-certified, partitioned 

instance of Salesforce.com’s multi-tenant public cloud infrastructure, specifically for use by U.S. Federal, state, and 

local government customers.

The Applications Division within the 

OCIO established Salesforce as a 

service, identified a set of approved 

Salesforce enterprise capabilities, 

staffed an Enterprise Service Management Team (ESMT), and stood up a 

Salesforce Center of Excellence (COE). 

The COE consists of civil servants 

and contractors who assist interested 

programs/projects/Centers in determining if Salesforce will meet their 

needs. The NASA ESMT serves as 

a single focal point for defining and 

managing the Salesforce platform for 

the Agency and offers a broad range 

of services, including blanket purchase 

agreement (BPA) consultations and use 

case analysis. The ESMT is responsible 

for overall leadership, governance, 

coordination, infrastructure, and delivery of the 

Salesforce service. The 

Salesforce ESMT also 

provides a community 

where Centers and Program Offices can share 

ideas and collaborate 

with each other, explore 

common needs, and 

benefit from the investments that other Centers and program offices 

may have already made. 

Currently, NASA has 22 

Salesforce applications 

in production and 2 in 

the development and 

implementation phase. 

An Enterprise management approach to 

Salesforce comes with 

multiple benefits for the 

Agency, including the 

reduction in implementation and operating 

costs and the elimination of duplicate apps/systems. If you 

want to know more about Salesforce, 

contact NASA’s Salesforce ESMT via 

email at agency-dl-salesforce@mail.

nasa.gov. You can also learn more 

about Salesforce@NASA and the 

Salesforce ESMT by visiting NASA’s 

Salesforce SharePoint site at https://

nasa.sharepoint.com/sites/Salesforce.

Image via Salesforce

NASA OCIO IT Talk Apr - Jun 2022 11
Agency Honor Awards

Congratulations to colleagues within the Office of the Chief Information Officer 

(OCIO) who have been selected for the 2021 Agency Honor Awards. The honor 

awards are an opportunity to express gratitude and appreciation to NASA employees who have helped the Agency achieve great things throughout the year. NASA 

medals and certificates are subsequently presented to the recipients by the Agency’s highest officials at the annual awards ceremonies held at NASA Headquarters 

and each NASA Center. Here’s a list of the OCIO winners. Way to go, team!

NASA Group Achievement Award

COVID-19 Contact Tracing and 

Tracking Team—In recognition of 

the outstanding cross-organizational 

teamwork demonstrated by the rapid 

development and deployment of the 

Agency COVID-19 Contact Tracing and 

Tracking application in response to the 

pandemic.

Christopher Aguirre, Joey Anders, 

Leigh Anderson, Gary Arrington, 

Gregory Barrall, Sittra Battle, Elizabeth Beecham, Christopher Bertagnolli, Robert Birchmeier, Christopher 

Blakeley, Melody Bowling, Stephanie 

Chandler, Deepak Chawla, Milton 

Checchi, Angela Claud, Chad Collier, 

Tatiana Cooke, Kyle Cossey, Whitney 

Craig, Dennis daCruz, Sherry Davidson, Esteban Duenas, Leland Dutro, 

Mignonwoalo Edorh, Shari Feinberg, 

Tim Fiedorowicz, Dr. Jordan Firestone, Babajide Folarin, Walter Franklin, Justin Fraser, Brittany Freeman, 

Mark Fridye, Sowmya Gadang, Jeffrey 

Gernand, Caroline Gerughty, Dr. Susan 

Gifford, Yekaterina Gilbo, Brandon 

Goss, Marshall Guillory, Brittany Higgins, Cris Holderman, Tarrie Hood, 

Stacye Hoult, Lorna Howell, Shannon 

Jackson, Shelby Johnson, Kirk Johnson, Doris Jones, Becky Kaufman, 

Robert Keasling, Heather Kimley, 

David King, Christopher Kusek, Jason 

Larche, Smith Larona, John McCardle, 

Barbet McLain, Vivek Mehta, David 

Meza, Dr. Vincent Michaud, Priyada 

Mohen, Safiatu Mojidi, Donald Monell, 

Rupa Nallani, Karen Northon, Patricia 

Oleksiak, Cheryl Oscar, Michael Pannell, Vanessa Pao, Stephen Pilkenton, 

Phil Posey, Albert Praetorius, Madhavi 

Puli, Terri Ratcliff, Benjamin Reist, Iresha Ricks, Stephen Sayousanat, Brent 

Sherman, Jeffrey Sinnamon, MarKeisha Snaith, Shenandoah Speers, Patti 

Stockman, Ronald Thompson, Emily 

Townsend, Eldora Valentine, Ramprisad Varri, David Vivian, Dylan Volk, 

Anita Webster, Kellie White, Keith 

Winters, Tami Wisniewski, Allison Wolff, 

Penny Woods, E. Yates, and Suneetha 

Yellamaraju

Silver Group Achievement Award

EUSO/CP Strategic Communications 

Team – For exemplary service to NASA 

in support of IT communications during 

COVID-19.

Brittany Higgins, Daniel Horton, Jaleah 

Morris, Sylvester Placid, Shaina Strom, 

Emily Townsend

12 www.nasa.gov
Exceptional Public Service Medal

Hilary Gambale at Goddard Space Flight 

Center (GSFC)—For her dedicated efforts to provide Center-wide training and 

user support for Office 365 applications 

amid the global pandemic and GSFC’s 

change to a remote workforce.

Silver Group Achievement Award

Goddard’s NASA ground communications system (NASCOM) Mission 

Operations Team—For unwavering 

dedication, including risking personal 

safety, while providing onsite support 

for NASA’s mission-critical activities 

during the pandemic.

Group Achievement Award

Goddard Mission Cloud Platform 

Team—For outstanding achievements in 

developing, securing, and implementing 

the new Mission Cloud Platform (MCP), 

a critical component of NASA’s mission 

technology transformation.

NASA Group Achievement Award

The End User Services Program 

COVID-19 Telework Team—For exceptional support and performance ensuring telework readiness for the Agency 

during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Troy Farsoun, 

JaLeah Morris, Lauren 

Strickland, Kirk Johnson, Chris Story, 

Josh Atchley, Stephanie Elliot, Brittany Garner, Kyle Westbrook, Laura 

Coil, Steven Foote, T.W. Fowler, Daniel 

Horton, Rachel Morris, Kim Solomon, 

James Stovall, Shaina Strom, Emily 

Townsend, Bobbie Williams, Robert 

Wilson, Pinar Moore, and Paul Rydeen

NASA Group Achievement Award

The Druva Cloud Backup Solution 

Team—For exemplary performance in 

development, planning, management, 

and deployment of the Druva Cloud 

Backup Solution.

Troy Farsoun, Kirk Johnson, Kyle Westbrook, Robert Wilson, Steve Foote, 

Bobbie Williams, Emily Townsend, and 

Daniel Horton

NASA Group Achievement Award

Collaboration Modernization Team—

For recognition of the successful integrated, timely, and effective modernization of the Glenn Research Center 

Collaboration platforms.

Brian Sommers & Nick Meyer-Fladwood

NASA Silver Group 

Achievement Award

NASA Stennis Space Center IT Pandemic Response Team—For outstanding support of the NASA workforce 

during the COVID-19 pandemic mandatory teleworking environment.

Allecia Kimble

Space Flight Awareness Award

For O365 Trainings and Communications during the transition to remote 

telework.

Brittany Garner, Shaina Strom, Daniel 

Horton, and Emily Townsend

Group Special Act Award

Cybersecurity and Privacy Division 

Data Call—For exceptional analysis 

and going above normal working hours 

and days for the White House data call.

Phil Posey

Agency Honor Award Exceptional 

Achievement Medal

Sittra Battle at Marshall Space Flight 

Center (MSFC). For outstanding 

achievement leadership during transition to the NASA End-user Services 

and Technologies contract and supporting agencywide telework. 

NASA Group Achievement Award 

NSSC Information Management Team. 

For outstanding performance in transforming records management at NSSC 

into a cohesive, technology-driven 

Information Management Program.

Julia Akhidue, Colby Albasini, Tammy 

Bridenbeck, Wendy Byrd, Alina Davis, 

Maria Etheridge, Harvey Frazier, Jeffrey 

Hennessey, Lisa Herring, Liz Howard, 

Doug LeMere, Brandi Mckinley, Brittany McLaurin, Jamie Mettler, Barbara 

Miramon, Cindy Mroueh, Paul Rydeen, 

Cynthia Schwingshakl, Jesse Shiyou, 

Nathan Sisco, Dawnyel Stuart, Tammy 

Thompson, Deirdre Wolverton and 

Bobbie Young.

Hilary Gambale

Sittra Battle

NASA OCIO IT Talk Apr - Jun 2022 13
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www.nasa.gov

the ground team to uplink these photos. 

This will hopefully demonstrate the autonomy needed for Artemis and Mars missions, where communications bandwidth 

and time delays affect inspections. While 

the team members have their hands full 

with post-EVA photo analysis, they are also 

documenting the real-time inspection steps 

of the process. With the addition of the HD 

camera on the Extravehicular Mobility Unit 

(EMU), the operations team gains access to 

a 720p signal, enough detail to perform a 

glove analysis in real time via video stream 

as the crew performs a spacewalk. The 

research team is in preliminary planning 

stages to test the scenario later this year. 

A special thanks goes to everyone who supported this project by either providing guidance, developing code, and sharing ideas. 

Every member of the team was enthusiastic, motivated, and determined to succeed 

from start to finish. It really took a village 

to accomplish this endeavor. And the work 

would not have occurred without the support from NASA leadership who recognized 

the potential AIML technology provides to 

the agency’s Human Space Flight program.

Digitally Transformed (Continued from p. 10)

IT Talk