National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

IT Talk

Jul - Sep 2021 Volume 11 • Issue 3
IT Talk

Jul - Sep 2021 Volume 11 • Issue 3

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

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.

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10

Message From 

the NASA CIO

DAPHNE Connects 

Satellites to

the Cloud

Cloud Tools Power 

Perseverance’s

Mission to Mars

iPhone 12 and

Apple Magnet Safety 

Information

NASA CIO Named

One of Best Bosses

in Federal IT!

In this Issue
A cloud innovation implemented in the mission environment is saving NASA millions of dollars, and it’s giving scientists quicker access to their data. The cloud 

solution is called “DAPHNE,” which stands for Data Acquisition Processing and 

Handling Network Environment. This system was developed to eliminate the need 

for mission-specific hardware at ground stations. In this issue, we’ll learn how 

DAPHNE is a technological leap over existing systems.

We’ll also explore how cloud tools helped power Perseverance’s mission to Mars 

and how they are keeping future NASA missions connected.

Finally, being able to work anytime and anyplace has become our new “norm.” The 

NASA Office of the Chief Information Officer is working diligently to deliver the dependable IT capabilities that the NASA team needs to support both onsite and offsite work. We’ll look at how NASA Centers are gearing up to support a hybrid work 

environment as we return to more onsite work, including upgrades to our NASA 

conference room capabilities and low-cost devices that can add virtual meeting 

capabilities to smaller rooms when needed. 

I hope the information in this issue is helpful, and we always welcome your feedback.

Jeff Seaton

NASA Chief Information Officer

Supporting Return to Onsite Work with Video 

Teleconferencing Services Microsoft Teams Integration

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

As NASA begins planning to bring personnel back to Centers with the best 

possible work experience, videoconferencing capability will play a larger 

role than ever before. The Communications Program (CP) is working to 

bring more tools to conference rooms 

of all sizes by utilizing a new solution to enable Video Teleconferencing 

Services (ViTS) videoconferencing with 

popular collaboration services already 

in use across the Agency, including 

Microsoft Teams.

Smaller conference rooms will be able 

to use web camera and audio units, 

while medium-sized and large rooms 

will be able to use a new, upgraded 

videoconferencing bridge to enable 

this capability. Larger rooms will be 

able to integrate Microsoft Teams calls 

directly into videoconferences.

A new USB video bar built for small 

rooms and huddle areas will be able to 

easily add video- and audioconferencing capabilities and videoconferencing 

integration with Microsoft Teams and 

other Agency collaboration services, 

such as Cisco Webex.

Soon, everyone will be able to participate in a wide array of videoconferences from NASA conference rooms, 

offices onsite at NASA Centers, and 

remote locations. For more information, please contact your CP Center 

Customer Service Representative.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sep 2021 3

Message from the NASA CIO 
iPhone 12 and Apple Magnet Safety Information

By Theresa Roberts, End User Services Program Office Communications, Marshall Space Flight Center

In May, the U.S. Food and Drug 

Administration (FDA) released safety 

information announcing that magnets 

in cell phones and smart watches 

may affect pacemakers and other 

implanted medical devices. This 

follows safety guidance published 

by Apple earlier this year about the 

magnets inside iPhone 12 models 

and other devices and accessories. 

The iPhone 12 is not currently approved to be offered as an enterprisemanaged device, although a few Apple 

devices and accessories with magnets 

are orderable from the Enterprise 

Service Desk (ESD) catalog. Please 

keep the following information in mind 

if you obtain these devices or accessories for personal use or if the iPhone 

12 (or other devices/accessories) are 

approved to be offered at a later time.

What is MagSafe?

MagSafe is a technology Apple previously used to create a breakaway 

magnetic charging cable for the 

MacBook. The repurposed MagSafe name now refers to technology inside all of the iPhone 12 models and applicable accessories. 

MagSafe uses a ring of magnets 

built into the back of the iPhone to 

connect to accessories, like cases 

and chargers, which also have magnets built inside. So, for example, 

a MagSafe charger will snap to the 

back of an iPhone 12 similarly to a 

magnet snapping to a refrigerator. 

These powerful magnets, as well as 

other components of the iPhone 12, 

emit electromagnetic fields that might 

interfere with medical devices, such as 

implanted pacemakers and defibrillators. 

These medical devices can contain sensors that respond to magnets and other 

components of the iPhone 12 and MagSafe accessories when in close contact. 

What Precautions Should I Take?

Apple advises users to keep devices 

and accessories containing magnets a safe distance (more than 6 

inches/15 centimeters apart or more 

than 12 inches/30 centimeters apart 

if wirelessly charging) away from 

medical devices and to consult with 

a physician and the medical device 

manufacturer for specific guidelines. 

If you suspect iPhone, Apple devices, or any MagSafe accessories 

are interfering with your medical 

device, stop using your iPhone, 

device, or MagSafe accessories immediately and contact your physician 

and medical-device manufacturer.

4 www.nasa.gov
Sending Out a Survey? Here’s What You Need To 

Know About the Paperwork Reduction Act

By Claire Little, Agency PRA Officer, NASA Headquarters

Data and information are what make 

our work, well, work. But the way 

you gather that information could 

trigger something called the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), meaning that the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) has to approve 

your collection mechanism before you start using it. But how do 

you know when this is the case, or 

whom you should talk to for help?

The “when” is a little tricky. If you 

are collecting information only from 

civil servants, you do not need to go 

through PRA, simple as that. If you are 

collecting from members of the public—including contractors—you probably do. But why only probably? Well, 

if you are asking fewer than 10 people 

for information, then you are not subject to PRA. If you are asking for very 

brief and simple customer feedback 

or for an open-ended response to a 

casual question—for example, asking 

folks to click a happy or sad face to 

rate service, or a NASA social media 

account asking something like “What’s 

your favorite star?”—then also no 

to PRA. Finally, something that is an 

explicitly defined part of that person’s 

job, like a pilot filing a flight plan or a 

police officer writing a traffic citation, 

does not need to go through PRA. Everything else, though? Yes...probably. 

It is complicated.

As for the “how,” there are different answers depending on what you 

are doing. If you are sending out a 

survey, you just need to submit a 

short form with about a two-week 

turnaround. If you are doing anything 

else—an application, a registration form, etc.—it is a 5- to 6-month 

process, so get started early!

The “who” is the easiest! Whether you 

know for sure or just think your collection might be subject to PRA, contact 

me, the Agency’s PRA officer. I will help 

you figure out what you need to do and 

help you do it.

Communications Program Accelerates Cloud 

Connectivity for NASA to Drive Innovation

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

The Communications Program (CP) is 

accelerating and enhancing connectivity to cloud service providers for NASA 

to keep the Agency ahead of the transition from on-premises data centers to 

cloud-based services for critical applications, including e-mail, collaboration, 

and real-time chat. CP manages NASA 

connectivity to NASA cloud partners 

such as Amazon Web Services, Google 

Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. 

Just recently, CP completed a major 

upgrade to double the capacity of 

NASA’s primary connectivity to Microsoft 365 cloud services (Office, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams) and enable 

up to 500 percent growth over the 

previous throughput.

CP is introducing an innovation for 

NASA’s on-premises data centers 

to benefit from cloudlike functionality. The new Data Center Networking 

(DCN) capability enables customers 

using the Johnson Space Center (JSC) 

and Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 

data centers to migrate virtual servers 

between JSC and KSC seamlessly, 

without the need to reconfigure the 

servers after migration. This capability provides customers with the agility 

to easily move workloads between 

the two data centers quickly, increasing efficiency and reducing downtime. 

Workloads can also move between the 

data centers to avoid disruptions from 

weather or infrastructure outages to 

help keep NASA personnel connected 

and productive.

CP is working to modernize, standardize, and upgrade NASA’s connectivity to additional cloud providers. This 

initiative will transition current cloud 

connectivity to utilize the Equinix Cloud 

Exchange Fabric (ECX) at independent 

exchange facilities located throughout 

the country, providing virtual direct 

connections with hundreds of cloud 

service providers to the NASA corporate network. This will reduce the time 

and cost to securely connect NASA 

to cloud providers while significantly 

increasing computing capacity.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sep 2021 5
6 www.nasa.gov
DAPHNE Connects Satellites to the Cloud

By Salem El-Nimri, DAPHNE Project Development Lead and Steve Sirotzky, Branch Head, Goddard Space Flight Center

How do we ensure that our rainwater is clean? How do we know about 

changes in Earth’s connection to the 

Sun? Can we thrive on another planet? 

Getting climate and planetary data 

to the scientists who analyze them is 

what NASA does best. NASA’s goal is 

to explore and advance knowledge for 

the benefit of humankind. To realize 

that, we at NASA reach up to space 

with scientific instruments to expand 

human understanding. Our probes 

collect vital data and send them back 

to Earth so scientists can decode the 

universe’s mysteries. 

To receive data from satellite missions, NASA depends on a collection 

of ground station antennas located all 

around the world. Because missions 

frequently have different wireless communication requirements, these ground 

stations are often equipped with “mission unique” hardware to allow these 

specific requirements to be met. These 

requirements can include special wireless modulation, handshaking to confirm that data were received properly, 

prioritization of certain types of data, 

the checking of science data for trends 

of interest, or distribution to special 

stakeholders. Having unique hardware 

to meet all of these needs adds cost to 

the Government. 

An added complexity is that the majority of ground stations are located at 

remote places. Maintenance of unique 

hardware requires travel and shipping 

of parts that may support only one 

mission. This situation reduces scalability of those resources. In addition, 

the Agency has historically covered the 

cost of owning telecommunications at 

these remote sites. Each of these adds 

to the annual cost. 

Recently, a solution was developed 

at Goddard Space Flight Center. The 

Telecommunication Networks and 

Technology Branch (Code 566) and its 

engineers created the “Data Acquisition Processing and Handling Network 

Environment” (DAPHNE) system. This 

system was developed and deployed 

to eliminate the need for mission-specific hardware at ground stations. 

The system is composed of two parts: 

one piece of streamlined hardware that 

is local to the station, and a second 

“virtual” component in the cloud. The 

local DAPHNE system occupies a 

small footprint with general-purpose, 

easy-to-maintain hardware. When a 

satellite mission passes overhead, 

DAPHNE ingests the data and securely 

pushes the prioritized data to its counterpart in the cloud. Once in the cloud, 

all the mission-specific functionality 

can be executed using the full processing resources of our cloud partners. 

Removing the need for multiple generations of mission-specific hardware 

also significantly reduces the footprint 

at the ground station. It is reduced 

from racks of ever-growing missionunique hardware to just half a rack of a 

shared resource. In addition, DAPHNE 

removes the need for owning or leasing costly connections. The system 

is designed to connect to the nearest 

cloud backbone global infrastructure 

network, benefiting from economies 

of scale to reduce the communication 

cost significantly. This saves the Agency money and positions NASA to take 

advantage of commercially upgraded 

and maintained technology. 

The system also allows missions to 

be more nimble. Within the cloud, 

DAPHNE is customizable, with an architecture that is fully data-driven and 

scalable. Missions can spin up servers 

in seconds to process the influx of data 

with the handshaking and data protocols they need. When done, DAPHNE 

releases those servers and has no 

more financial commitment. This has 

accelerated and helped streamline the 

data capture, process, and delivery. 

Once scientists receive the instrument 

data, they can also access the full 

processing power of commercial cloud 

providers. Scientists can spin up thousands of servers to look for patterns in 

their measurements for mere pennies 

to the Agency. The benefits extend 

from there to interagency data, science 

sharing, and collaborations. 

Many cloud providers offer a suite of 

tools including Artificial Intelligence 

(AI), data mining, and other innovations. These capabilities give NASA 

scientists and their partners a rich 

toolbox to understand our universe. 

The DAPHNE team has deployed the 

system at two stations, one in Alaska, 

United States, and the other at the remote Arctic island of Svalbard, Norway. 

The team will deploy two more systems to other ground stations (Puntas 

Arenas, Chile, and Wallops Island, 

Virginia, United States), with more stations to be integrated in the coming 

year from international partners in Asia 

and Australia. 

The DAPHNE system is certainly 

a technological leap over existing 

systems. It has contributed to millions 

of dollars of savings to the Agency. 

Its true innovation is in its ability to 

drive new ideas. The system puts new 

methods of collaboration and processing within the reach of those able to 

expand human knowledge. To the 

science community, DAPHNE makes 

available computational resources that 

were previously difficult to navigate. 

From there, the sky is the limit.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sep 2021 7
Cloud Tools Power Perseverance’s 

Mission to Mars

Daniel Horton, End User Services Program Office Communications, Marshall Spaceflight Center

The small town of Titusville could be 

like any other place in Florida. With a 

population of just over 40,000 people, 

a courthouse on a town square, and 

a sampling of shops and restaurants 

nearby, it is a small city that resembles 

many others in our country. However, 

most small towns are not home to a 

team hard at work on projects like missions to Mars.

In early 2020, many residents of 

Titusville who previously had been 

collaborating in person at Kennedy 

Space Center, had been working 

from their homes to ensure a successful launch of the Perseverance 

Rover. This work to get the mission 

on the way to Mars took virtual teamwork and the use of cloud functionality to keep them connected.

Before landing on the Red Planet in 

February 2021, it took the work of 

teams like the Safety and Mission 

Assurance Launch Services Division 

to keep the mission to Mars on track. 

Mike Haddad is part of this team and 

has been working remotely from his 

home office in Titusville on Mars Perseverance and other missions.

“When it came to learning from the 

pandemic and how to collaborate, it 

was tough. Especially with a big mission like Mars 2020,” Haddad commented. “Microsoft Teams was an 

incredible help with daily interaction.”

This interaction would include the 

file-sharing functionality provided by 

Teams and Office 365. Through collaborating on documents in the cloud, 

the Mission Assurance Launch Services Team were empowered to continue 

their work as if they were all physically 

in the same office.

“We learned a lot of lessons from talking over e-mail, chat, or even video 

chat,” mentioned Haddad. The use of 

these collaboration tools and cloud 

interactivity made for an increase in 

productivity that supported the team 

in this period. Haddad went on to 

say that “Teams benefited our daily 

interaction; it took the place of normal 

person-to-person connection.”

The ability to continue normal operations would enable Haddad’s team 

to support a successful launch and 

journey to Mars. In February, as NASA 

held its breath through the “seven 

minutes of terror” upon entry into the 

Martian atmosphere, another type of 

long-distance file sharing came into 

play. Video and images were beamed 

back from the Red Planet, allowing 

everyone on Earth to witness the successful landing.

“Seeing it land was inspiring,” said 

Haddad. “Having a hand in that mission was so rewarding on so many 

levels. Not only am I able to talk to 

my nieces and nephews about this 

car-sized rover on Mars, but when 

you’re able to send videos to people 

not involved with the mission, they can 

see how cool it is too.”

In the same way that files were collaborated on and shared from Kennedy 

Space Center to other NASA Centers, 

these image and video files would be 

shared from Mars for everyone back 

on Earth to enjoy. From images of the 

rocky red surface to video of the Ingenuity Helicopter conducting the first 

Martian flight, these files would lead to 

further appreciation and understanding 

of our closest planetary neighbor.

“That’s a benefit to society,” 

added Haddad. “It makes me 

feel very appreciative and very 

humbled. It also gives me inspiration for future missions as well.”

8 www.nasa.gov
Mission Cloud Platform (MCP)—

Transforming the Mission

Environment at NASA

By Catie Tresslar, Project Support Specialist, Goddard Space Flight Center

Through executive orders to modernize national cybersecurity, the Biden 

administration has accelerated cloud 

and zero-trust architecture adoption 

efforts. NASA is embracing the shift 

from legacy data centers to cloud.

On-premise IT infrastructure is vulnerable to security compromises as 

evidenced by numerous high-profile 

breaches, including a breach of 40 

million Target credit and debit card accounts, plus 70 million customer data 

records; a Home Depot breach of 56 

million credit card accounts; and an 

eBay breach of 145 million customer 

accounts.

All of these incidents occurred in data 

centers. Reliance on legacy technology poses risks to space flight and sensitive mission data. Routine operations 

and maintenance of legacy systems 

are both time-consuming and costly to 

maintain. The Mission Cloud Platform 

(MCP) is an innovative program operating to fill this critical mission need.

MCP evolved from a Goddard Space 

Flight Center (GSFC) innovation pilot 

program to address the growing interest in cloud technologies and enterprise need for secure cloud computing 

services. The initial MCP platform and 

team stood up in ten months, received 

its Authority to Operate (ATO) in December 2019, and has become a key 

enabler of digital transformation and 

mission modernization across NASA.

MCP is accelerating mission cloud 

migration and adoption throughout 

NASA by offering a scalable and consolidated mission cloud service within 

NASA. MCP customers save time and 

money by leveraging scalable on-demand resources that eliminate wasted 

capacity and the cost of static data 

centers. MCP provides the expertise 

to launch, prototype, and integrate 

cloud solutions into existing and future 

ground systems.

MCP cloud engineers preconfigure 

cloud accounts with integrated tools 

for security and Information Technology management while protecting 

NASA data. Access to public-facing 

services is approved through a tightly 

controlled configuration management 

process to mitigate risk. The MCP 

model lowers barriers to cloud entry 

by implementing compliance guardrails while supplying fully customizable 

services to support tenant-specific 

needs. MCP delivers the power of 

cloud computing via centralized and 

consolidated cloud management ideal 

for enterprise consumption of cloud 

services.

Currently supporting over 100 projects 

across seven NASA Centers, MCP 

supports a diverse mission portfolio, 

consisting of artificial intelligence (AI) 

and machine learning (ML), science, 

engineering, and flight projects. Key 

customers such as the Data Acquisition Processing and Handling Network 

Environment (DAPHNE), the Conjunction Assessment and Risk Analysis 

(CARA), and the Flight Dynamics 

Facility (FDF) use MCP for a variety 

of science, mission, and general-use 

cases.

Will you be next?

To reach the Mission Cloud Platform 

team, e-mail AGCY-MissionCloud@

mail.nasa.gov.

CP Stats at

a Glance

2020–21

By Sylvester Placid, 

Communications 

Strategist, Communications 

Program, Marshall Space Flight Center

During the last 15 months of mandatory 

telework, the Communications Program 

(CP) accomplished the following:

• Supported a 300 percent 

increase in telework

• Achieved a completion status of 

84 percent in transitioning NASA to 

Voice-over-Internet Protocol phones

• Completed installation of 20,000 

feet of upgraded optical cable 

across 3.5 miles of protected 

marshland for launch operations at Wallops Flights Facility

• Transported more than two 

terabytes of real-time telemetry data for Space Launch System (SLS) Green Run tests

• Improved network performance by 

90 percent for SLS manufacturing at Michoud Assembly Facility

• Developed Live Town Hall service 

in 60 days from the start of telework to provide video streaming 

for large virtual events supporting 250,000 total views and more 

than 35,000 concurrent viewers

• Deployed 30,000 Jabber clients to provide softphone capability for remote users and 

nine Agency help desks

• Supported an average of more 

than 6,400 Webex meetings with 

more than 114,000 attendees 

totaling more than 6.9 million minutes per month; increased Webex 

Events’ participant limit to 3,000 

• Managed more than 150 Video 

Teleconferencing Services conference room buildouts, refreshes, and 

remote configurations for missioncritical facilities across NASA Centers 

during telework access restrictions

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - Sep 2021 9
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Office of the Chief Information Officer

300 E Street SW

Washington, DC 20546

www.nasa.gov

NASA

NASA CIO Named One of Best Bosses in Federal IT!

By Eldora Valentine, OCIO Communications Manager, NASA Headquarters

Congratulations to NASA Chief Information Officer Jeff 

Seaton for being one of the winners of the 2021 FedScoop Award for Best Bosses in Federal IT. FedScoop 

is honoring the Best Bosses in Federal IT, this year 

with an emphasis on celebrating the leaders in Federal 

technology who have helped guide their organizations 

through the continuing challenges of the COVID-19 

pandemic. 

Seaton says the past 16 months have been difficult 

and many people have been put to the test personally and professionally in dealing with the COVID-19 

crisis. But he says the experience has taught him 

how to be an even better leader. “Throughout the 

response to COVID-19, I have tried to take a forwardleaning approach to prioritizing the health and safety 

of my workforce. For me it’s important to be realistic 

and human in dealing with people. We are all in this 

together. COVID-19 has turned everyone’s life upside 

down. I’ve put our employees first by maximizing flexibilities for them to perform their NASA work while also 

enabling them to care for themselves and their families. I have encouraged my supervisors to provide the 

greatest amount of flexibility in what hours employees 

work., e.g., allowing them to change start/stop times or 

to break up their eight-hour workdays into sections to 

better accommodate their family needs at home.”

As a leader, Seaton says he is keeping his eyes on 

some key top priorities for 2021–22. They include 

protecting NASA’s IT infrastructure, delivering great 

customer experiences, achieving consistent operational 

excellence, modernizing and transforming NASA Information Technology, and adopting more digital tools.

You can learn more about other FedScoop Best Bosses 

by visiting https://www.fedscoop.com/list/fedscoopannounces-the-best-bosses-in-federal-it-2021/.

Winners were selected by their peers and colleagues 

through open voting that occurred over the last few 

months.

IT Talk