Cyber Securit

Awareness Mo

IT Talk

October - December 2015 Volume 5 • Issue 4

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov
IT Talk

Oct - Dec 2015 Volume 5 • Issue 4

Office of the CIO

NASA Headquarters

300 E Street, SW

Washington, D.C. 20546

Chief Information Officer

Renee Wynn

Editor and Publication Manager

Eldora Valentine

Graphic and Web Design

Rahsaan Williams

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/ocio

v insidenasa.nasa.gov/ocio

 (Internal NASA network only)

v www.nasa.gov/open/

www.facebook.com/NASAcio

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Message from

the CIO

Cyber Security 

Awareness Month

IT’s All About the Data

The Internet of Things

I3P Update

In this Issue
~Renee

Former NASA Chief Information Officer Larry Sweet will retire on November 30, 2015. Sweet has been 

with the Federal Government for 

nearly 28 years and is responsible 

for leading the Agency’s information 

technology efforts and capabilities.

Larry came to NASA HQ in June 

2013 as the NASA CIO. He focused 

on increasing collaboration among 

the Centers and with the other executive branch agencies, strengthened NASA’s IT security posture, 

identified inefficiencies, reduced 

costs in current programs, and 

maximized the use of the Enterprise 

Service Desk and shared services. 

Sweet joined the Agency in 1987 

at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, where he first served as a 

contractor and then transitioned 

to a civil servant and worked as a 

NASA supervisor and manager until 

his selection as the Agency’s senior 

information technology executive.

Sweet is originally from Texas and 

plans to retire there with his wife, 

Cheryl. We wish him well as he 

moves on to the next chapter of 

his life.

I’m very excited about my journey 

as the new NASA Chief Information 

Officer. My official tour of duty started 

September 26, 2015. It’s been a 

whirlwind. I started my tenure with 

this Agency as Deputy CIO in July 

2015. I joined NASA after 25 years at 

the Environmental Protection Agency. 

This new beginning has been 

thrilling. Larry Sweet has turned over 

the reins in good working order. It is 

never easy filling the shoes of your 

predecessor. Everyone has his or her 

own leadership and management 

style. In these last few months, 

I’ve learned a great deal about 

NASA’s culture and critical issues 

and have built relationships with 

employees and senior leaders. My 

hope is to continue to provide a solid 

foundation for the future of NASA’s 

information technology. 

Earlier this year, the Business 

Services Assessment (BSA) team 

recommended that the Office of the 

Chief Information Officer establish 

a more efficient operating model 

that maintains a minimum set of 

capabilities and meets current 

and future mission needs. This 

includes promoting Enterprise 

Services where feasible, reducing 

redundancies, addressing service 

gaps, and maintaining mission 

unique requirements. It’s a 

challenging task, but I know it can 

be done.

There’s a lot of great work 

happening in this Agency, and many 

of the good people are working 

in CIO offices at the Centers. I’m 

proud to be a part of this team. 

In the coming months, I will be 

working with NASA leadership 

and colleagues to formulate my 

priorities for the next fiscal year. I 

look forward to receiving input from 

our team on how we can continue to 

set a reasonable agenda and deliver 

good results!

Starting October 4, 2015, John T. 

Donohue will serve as the acting 

Deputy Chief Information Officer on 

a four month detail. Donohue comes 

to NASA Headquarters from Goddard 

Space Flight Center (GSFC) where 

he has been the Deputy CIO. John 

has worked for the Agency for 31 

years. He has made many technical 

and managerial contributions to 

NASA and Goddard which have 

resulted in numerous NASA Honor 

Awards. Welcome aboard John!

NASA OCIO IT Talk Oct - Dec 2015 3

Message 

from the 

NASA CIO — 

Changing of 

the Guard

Farewell to 

NASA’s Larry 

Sweet!
Robotics researchers at the 

Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

(JPL) have been working on 

biologically inspired climbing 

robots for several years. These 

robots use some of the same 

techniques that insects and 

geckos use when climbing 

walls. One day, they could 

explore the vertical cliff walls 

and crater rims of inhospitable 

places on Earth, Mars, the 

Moon, and other locations.

When you climb walls, every 

gram counts, so our team tries to 

find ways to shrink the parts to 

reduce mass. Three-dimensional 

(3D) printing has proven to be 

a valuable tool in this research; 

it allows the fabrication of 

lightweight parts out of strong 

plastic materials that could not 

be fabricated using traditional 

machining techniques. The 

challenge is that it takes a lot of 

time to do the research, fabricate 

the robot, and then test it. During 

the time delays, inspiration 

and ideas are frequently lost. 

To speed up the process in an 

affordable way, the team had 

been using desktop-style 3D 

printers. They are fantastic 

tools for hobbyists, and the 

technique helped us visualize 

and get closer to a solution, 

but the resolution of the parts 

was not adequate for the 

climbing robots. It turns out 

that human manufacturing is 

still nowhere near as intricate 

as the gecko’s ability to grow 

complex microstructures. 

So our team ended up sending 

models to professional 3D 

printing vendors to meet our 

resolution requirements, but this 

incurred a delay of 1 or more 

weeks and slowed down the 

pace of innovation and invention.

The JPL robotics team and 

Office of the Chief Information 

Officer (OCIO) jointly tackled 

this problem and innovated 

together to bring the right 

equipment for the right job to 

the engineers right when they 

needed it. Together, they found a 

new Stratasys Connex 2 printer 

that had the resolution needed 

for these types of robots while 

being straightforward to operate. 

It also filled a multimaterial hole 

in the 3D-printing ecosystem. 

The team also innovated the 

enterprise support option. They 

pioneered a new Satellite 3D 

Printing Service Center. The 

printer is located in the robotics 

lab while being supported by 

the institution. This provides a 

perfect blend of 24/7 availability 

to the robotics engineers, 

availability to the rest of 

JPL, and complete support 

by the JPL institution. As 

a result, design and test 

iterations that used to take 

6 weeks now take 1 day!

The machine has been 

running nonstop over the 

last 3 months (since we 

bought it), and we have 

printed more than 1,000 

parts in 100 trays. Other 

projects have taken note 

too. The equipment has 

become a resource for 

many JPL teams, with over 

10 different projects making 

use of the capability. 

To speed innovation, getting 

the right tools into the 

hands of the engineers was 

critical to making progress 

quickly, and it has resulted in 

reaching a project milestone. The 

adhesive technology and many 

of the newly printed robotic parts 

were featured in a recent JPL 

Crazy Engineering episode on 

YouTube with tens of thousands 

of views: https://www.youtube.

com/watch?v=6zasTmmR95E.

The parts also traveled on a 

recent flight experiment aboard 

NASA’s Reduced Gravity Airplane, 

the Weightless Wonder, in which 

the climbing robots successfully 

drove across flat panels, flexible 

thermal blankets, and the 

interior and exterior of a 1-meter 

cylinder while in free float! 

The OCIO and the robotics teams 

innovated together to bring in 

an enabling tool, and they put 

it right where the engineers 

needed it! They are now thinking 

about what follows the gecko.

Arron Parness demonstrates the Gecko Robot

4 www.nasa.gov

3D Printed Gecko Robots That Climb

By Aaron Parness, Group Leader of Robotics Engineers, and Tom Soderstrom, IT Chief Technology 

and Innovation Officer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
The new virtual lab to explore the Internet of Things (IoT) 

at Johnson Space Center is now in full operation and 

can be seen at the 1958 Coworker Space (Buildings 

56 and 57). The Office of the Chief Information Officer 

Technology Infusion Team represents a partnership 

with organizations from across the Agency, now with 

representatives from Ames Research Center (ARC), 

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Armstrong Flight 

Research Center (AFRC), Kennedy Space Center 

(KSC), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the White 

Sands Test Facility (WSTF), Johnson Space Center 

(JSC), and Headquarters currently participating. 

This project is using a variety of connected devices 

for evaluation. The results of the investigation will 

be used to develop profiles for the devices, which 

can be used to assess their value to the end user 

and the Agency. Phase I of the project will result in 

a white paper with findings, lessons learned, and 

recommendations. Due the expansive nature of IoT 

and the expected large impact on every aspect of our 

business and lives, the Technology Infusion team plans 

to move immediately into Phase II of this investigation 

and will continue to solicit input from missions and 

programs throughout NASA. In Phase II, we will be 

using a Gartner template to build a base platform for 

coordinating and aggregating IoT systems and devices.

The project has also created four subteams 

to investigate various aspects of IoT:

•Security

•Protocols and monitoring

•Data analytics

•End users’ experience

NASA recently had three IoT security and software 

experts from the MITRE Corporation visit and share 

insights from across the Federal Government. 

The MITRE senior researcher, Jay Crossler, said, 

“NASA should be proud to be a leader in this 

space—you are one of the first agencies to set 

up a lab to scrutinize the security and network 

implications of this flourishing technology. We 

are impressed with the skill and ingenuity of your 

team. Thank you for your willingness to share 

lessons learned on how to get ahead of the coming 

onslaught of data hitting corporate networks.”

More information about IoT efforts and the 16 devices 

Information Architecture & Management (NIAM) Web 

site: https://niam.nasa.gov/portfolio/iot-lab/

(accessible to internal NASA users only).

The Information Technology Directorate at 

NASA’s Ames Research Center (ARC) has been 

participating in the Agency’s investigation of 

emerging Internet of Things (IoT) technologies 

since February 2015. In collaboration with the 

Communications Emerging Technologies (CET) 

lab at ARC, an IoT test bed was established 

to evaluate the capabilities, performance, and 

security of IoT devices. As part of the OCIO 

Technology and Innovation Division’s effort 

to explore IoT capabilities, the test bed will 

coordinate with IoT labs at NASA’s Johnson 

and Armstrong Centers, as well as with other 

IoT-related efforts across the Agency. 

Initial ARC IoT work focuses on wireless sensor 

networks for space missions and security for IoT 

devices. An ARC-led partnership successfully flew 

a set of low-cost wireless sensors, based on the 

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 

(IEEE) 802.15.4 wireless network protocol, aboard 

the SOAREX-8 sounding rocket mission in July 

2015. This partnership includes the ARC IT 

Directorate; the SOAREX/TechEdSat missions, 

led by Marcus Murbach of the ARC Mission 

Design Division; the Wireless Connections in 

Space project, led by Rick Alena of the ARC 

Intelligent Systems Division; and students 

from several universities. The team is currently 

preparing an upgraded set of wireless sensors, 

based on the ZigBee mesh networking protocol, 

for the upcoming TechEdSat-5 nanosatellite 

launch from the International Space Station.

Many key IoT work elements were performed by 

students. IT Directorate interns wrote critical flight 

software for SOAREX-8, evaluated a ZigBee-toInternet Protocol (IP) gateway that enables the 

streaming of sensor data to IP-based servers, and 

created a new authentication mechanism enabling 

IoT devices lacking built-in authentication 

capabilities to be associated with specific users.

The Internet of Things has great potential to 

enhance NASA missions and projects both 

on Earth and in space. The collaborative 

efforts at Ames Research Center, combined 

with those around the Agency, will ensure 

that NASA takes full advantage of this 

exciting new class of devices.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Oct - Dec 2015 5

NASA’s Internet 

of Things 

Laboratory

By John Sprague, Deputy CTO for IT; James 

McClellan, Tech Infusion Chief; Nick Skytland, 

Data Evangelist; and David Kelldorf, CTO for 

Johnson Space Center

Internet of Things 

Research at NASA’s 

Ames Research 

Center

By Ray Gilstrap, Project Engineer for IT 

Directorate, AMES
Strengthening NASA’s Cyber Security 

Through Awareness!

kitchen table to the classroom, 

from business transactions 

to essential Government 

operations and services, 

cyber security is an issue that 

touches all of us. Recent largescale data breaches across 

health-care, financial, and 

Government-related industries 

are proof that anyone’s 

information can be a target 

of malicious attacks. Hackers 

thrive on gathering user e-mail 

addresses and passwords.

National Cyber Security 

Awareness Month is designed 

to engage and educate, 

raising awareness about cyber 

security and increasing the 

resiliency of the Nation in the 

event of a cyber incident. 

October 2015 marks the 

12th Annual National Cyber 

Security Awareness Month 

sponsored by the Department 

of Homeland Security (DHS). 

NASA is teaming up with 

DHS to promote awareness 

and improve understanding 

of the importance of cyber 

security in our everyday lives. 

Since our way of life depends 

on critical infrastructure and 

the digital technology that 

operates it, cyber security 

is one of our country’s most 

important national security 

priorities, and we each have a 

role to play. Cyber security is a 

shared responsibility that begins 

and ends with you, the NASA 

employee. It is critical that 

we learn how to protect and 

safeguard NASA information 

and information systems. 

By learning best practices, 

we will be equipped to better 

protect sensitive information 

as well as the NASA IT 

infrastructure. Every small step 

toward better understanding 

of effective cyber security 

practices helps to ensure 

that we are improving our 

IT security posture.

To protect NASA and its 

data, members of the NASA 

community are reminded to 

STOP | THINK | CONNECT:

•STOP: Before you use 

the Internet, take time 

to understand the risks 

and learn how to spot 

potential problems. 

STOP

THINK

CONNECT

Living in the 21st century, 

we are more interconnected 

today than ever before. Few 

of us need to be reminded of 

the impact that cyberspace 

has on our lives. From the 

6 www.nasa.gov
•THINK: Take a moment 

to be certain that the path 

ahead is clear. Consider 

how your actions online 

could impact your safety 

or your family’s. 

•CONNECT: Enjoy the 

Internet with greater 

confidence, knowing 

you’ve taken the right 

steps to safeguard yourself 

and your computer.

The best practices to protect 

and safeguard NASA’s 

information and assets 

include the following:

•Be alert for phishing 

e-mails; do not click 

on unfamiliar links.

•Never reveal your 

password to anyone!

•Do not include passwords 

in your e-mail messages.

•Lock or log off your 

computer when away 

from your desk.

•Shut down your 

computer at night.

•Do not send classified, 

sensitive but unclassified, 

or otherwise confidential 

information unencrypted 

through e-mail.

•Choose passwords that 

are strong, long, easy 

to remember, and hard 

for others to guess.

•Protect your badge and 

passwords like you would 

your house and car keys.

Remember, no country, industry, 

community, or individual is 

immune to cyber risks. For 

questions or to report any 

suspicious Agency IT security 

or cyber security incidents, 

please contact NASA’s OCIO 

Security Operations Center 

(SOC), available 24/7 at 

1-877-627-2732 (1-877-NASASEC) or soc@nasa.gov. 

For more information on how 

to keep yourself, your assets, 

and your personal information 

safe online, visit the DHS 

Web site at http://www.dhs.

gov/stopthinkconnect.

NASA OCIO NASA OCIO IT Talk IT Talk Oct - Dec 2015 Dec 2015 7
NASA has been in the information 

technology business since its 

inception in 1958. During the last 57 

years, computers have evolved from 

mainframes to desktops to mobile 

devices. Over that time, security 

techniques focused on better device 

management and more-secure 

network perimeter protection.

Recently, our Federal information 

systems have been under attack by 

means of advanced persistent threat 

techniques, which have caused 

tremendous amounts of data loss. 

Even as we continue to work harder 

at protecting our end devices and 

networks, the evolutionary method 

of device management is not 

adequately protecting our data.

 The NASA Chief Technology 

Officers (CTOs) and Enterprise 

Architecture Teams are developing 

a new strategy for NASA to manage 

its most important asset—the 

data. The new strategy focuses on 

a framework of architecture that 

accommodates the chaotic nature of 

today’s IT. We need a revolutionary 

way of thinking that addresses our 

data life cycle and securely delivers 

data to any device on any network 

to provide better services to our 

business partners as well as our 

teleworkers. The new framework 

assumes that every device is 

untrusted and every network is 

compromised. The new mantra is 

“Protect the data, not the device.”

This concept is new to NASA, but it 

is business as usual for the Internet, 

where neither the device nor the 

network can be controlled. It pushes 

NASA to identify and manage our 

data by using techniques such as 

grouping, tagging, and monitoring.

Centralizing our data and moving 

our security controls closer to the 

data reduce our attack surface and 

provide a focused touch point for 

continuous monitoring. Identifying 

and managing our data will take 

time and resources, but we need to 

be able to protect our data today. 

To this end, Agency services are 

being developed for legacy systems 

that provide secure data access 

using three paths—the Web, 

It’s All About the Data

By David Kelldorf, Chief Technology Officer, Johnson Space Center

There are many Identity, Credential, 

and Access Management 

(ICAM) initiatives for FY16. One 

of the major actions is the nextgeneration Personal Identity 

Verification (PIV) smartcard rollout. 

The new card will hold up to four 

certificates: encryption, signing, 

PIV authentication, and card 

authentication. An Agency-wide 

Visitor Management solution will be 

deployed that will replace individual 

Center Visitor Management 

solutions and offer one system that 

will track visitors and visits across 

Identity, Credential, 

and Access 

Management Update

virtual applications, and machineto-machine microservices. This 

framework proposes to right-size 

our protection of end devices and 

perimeters with zoning techniques. It 

will also focus our limited resources 

on moving data off end devices to 

reduce the impact of devices’ being 

lost or compromised. This revolution 

is taking off with two major initiatives 

at Johnson Space Center (JSC). The 

first is the Internet of Things (IoT) Lab 

located at JSC. The IoT Lab provides 

a safe haven to assess and develop 

mitigation strategies for managing 

the risks created by the explosion of 

untrusted devices now available and 

a safe haven to test new products 

“off” the main JSC networks. The 

second initiative is the data-centric 

prototype, which is giving us insight 

into the techniques needed to 

provide secure access to data from 

public networks and any device.

These initiatives support the mission 

of NASA and help ensure that 

programs will have the information 

they need for future exploration 

because it’s all about the data. 

the Agency. Also in the works 

for FY16 is a NASA “smartcard” 

for individuals who are not 

eligible to receive a PIV card 

(people who will be at a NASA 

facility for less than 180 days). 

Cyber Sprint activities will 

continue requiring Center ICAM 

support. ICAM is also continuing 

to increase the number of 

platforms that support PIV 

smartcard authentication. The 

tools and workflows to support 

PIV smartcard authentication 

for Windows 8 and Windows 

10 are currently in work, and 

ICAM anticipates having a PIV 

smartcard solution for unprivileged 

Mac and Linux users in FY16.

Along with the Center ICAM 

involvement for all of these 

initiatives, the ICAM subject matter 

experts and service element 

technical experts will continue to 

be involved in all of the Identity 

Manager 3.0 project reviews. 

ICAM Working Group holds meeting 

at Kennedy Space Center

8 www.nasa.gov
The management and operational 

control of the National Center for 

Critical Information Processing and 

Storage (NCCIPS) facility transferred 

from Stennis Space Center (SSC) to 

the NASA Shared Services Center 

(NSSC) in April 2015. The primary goal 

is to better align the shared services 

mission of NCCIPS with the shared 

services mission of the NSSC. 

NCCIPS is a near–Tier III, as defined 

by the Uptime Institute: a Federal 

shared services data center designed 

for sensitive and secure processing 

and storage. NCCIPS operates under 

a shared services cost model that 

calls for the data center customers to 

proportionally share in the costs of the 

data center based on each customer’s 

relative footprint.

NCCIPS is a Government-Owned, 

Contractor-Operated (GOCO) facility supported by the NCCIPS Facility 

Support contractor (SAIC) and the 

NCCIPS Government Business Office 

Financial Support contract (Deltha). 

NCCIPS’s current customers are 

the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Government Services 

Agency (GSA), the United States Navy 

Department of Defense Supercomputing Resource Center (NDSRC), the 

Department of Transportation (DOT), 

the NASA SSC Data Center, and the 

NASA NSSC Data Center.

NCCIPS provides a secure and costeffective data center solution. There 

is considerable interest in the facility 

in conjunction with the Government 

mandates of the Federal Data Center 

Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI). NCCIPS management is involved in the 

Government Technology Research 

Alliance and is working closely with 

Federal agencies in marketing the 

NCCIPS facility and capabilities in an 

effort to provide the best solution at 

the most affordable price.

NCCIPS has been operating as a 

24/7/365 shared services data center 

since 2006. In 2010, based on a congressional mandate, NASA successfully transitioned NCCIPS from NDSRC 

management to NASA management 

without any interruption of services or 

adverse impact to NCCIPS customers. 

Since 2010, NASA has continually 

improved the NCCIPS and the shared 

services model into a state-of-thepractice, near–Tier III data center. The 

customer base, as well as the amount 

of leased data center square footage, 

has increased steadily. The reliability of 

the data center electrical distribution 

and cooling infrastructure has improved to its current near–Tier III state. 

The amount of available fiber backbone, bandwidth, and reliability has 

increased exponentially. There is now 

more circuit and carrier diversity available to NCCIPS customers. Continued 

success compels access to a Working 

Capital Fund (WCF) for sustainability 

of capital equipment.

The NSSC operates a WCF to provide 

for long-term capital investment. Authorization for an NCCIPS WCF project 

will allow funds to be collected over 

time and held for the eventuality of 

replacing critical and expensive equipment. NCCIPS would greatly benefit 

from access to a WCF for sustainability of the NCCIPS infrastructure. 

L to R: Kathy Linn, 

Enterprise Service 

Center Manager, CSC; 

Paul Rydeen, ESD 

Service Office Manager, 

NASA; Renee Wynn, 

NASA CIO; Larry Sweet 

(former CIO); Daniel 

Harvill, NSSC, CIO. 

Below: NASA CIO 

Renee Wynn takes a call 

in the ESD, supported 

by Colt Burkett, 

ESD Call Agent.

NCCIPS Now Under NSSC Management

Larry Sweet and Renee Wynn visit the ESD Call Center
IT Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) Update

Communications Service Office 

(CSO)

The Communications Service 

Office currently has two projects 

in progress that will improve 

the security posture of NASA’s 

corporate networks and IT 

infrastructure and meet Department 

of Homeland Security mandates. 

The Enterprise Internal Border–

Network Access Control (EIBNAC) project’s primary goal is to 

implement and transition users 

to an Agency-wide network 

access control solution that will 

automatically place computing 

devices and users into network 

zones. These zones will be based on 

NASA’s established authentication, 

security, and authorization policies. 

Additionally, the project will provide 

Enterprise guest registration 

services for guest network access 

(Internet) and a standard, consistent 

guest registration service. This will 

increase operational efficiency and 

provide a standard set of tools to 

manage guest access. EIB-NAC will 

significantly enhance NASA’s ability 

to control, identify, and monitor 

devices connecting to NASA 

corporate networks while giving 

NASA employees, contractors, 

and guests an Enterprise 

standard process for gaining 

access to the NASA corporate 

networks across each Center. 

The Enterprise External Border 

Protection (EBPro) project’s 

primary goal is to provide improved 

access, monitoring, and protection 

capabilities against cyber threats 

and provide opportunities for 

consolidation of security tools 

across the Agency into a centrally 

managed solution. Both projects 

are in the design phase and are 

expected to be deployed in 2016. 

Computing Services Service 

Organization (CSSO)

The OCIO Computing Services Service Organization (CSSO) is pleased 

to announce the launch of the 

Enterprise Managed Cloud Computing (EMCC) website! Information, 

guidance, and materials on the site, 

are designed to answer employees’ 

questions about the use of cloud 

computing at NASA. Visitors are 

also able to submit a cloud-related 

inquiry for follow-up by one of our 

CSSO team members.

While the cloud-computing model 

continues to evolve, it is already 

clear “The Cloud” is going to change 

the way NASA manages and uses 

information. Every day, more and 

more teams are learning the benefits 

of cloud computing. We know there 

are many questions about how to 

securely and responsibly use these 

services, and we believe the new site 

helps to address these questions.

CSSO has made great strides developing the framework and processes 

to facilitate the adoption of cloud 

computing across the Agency. We 

have been assigned responsibility for 

managing the heavy-lifting of adhering to the myriad of cloud computing 

compliance, regulatory, and security 

details, so you and your teams can 

focus on your projects and missions. 

CSSO looks forward to engaging 

with you to “make the cloud work 

for NASA.” Visit the EMCC website

today, to begin your partnership with 

CSSO.

End-User Services Office (EUSO) 

Computer Refreshes: ACES 

is beginning computer refreshes 

this fall, with upgraded seat 

offerings that provide users with 

more lightweight laptop options, 

greater random-access memory 

(RAM), and more choices to 

meet their computing needs. 

The timing for refresh is based 

on several factors, including the 

age of a user’s computer. Prior 

to their refresh, users will receive 

e-mail notifications indicating the 

actions they must take to engage 

in the refresh process. During 

this refresh cycle, peripherals, 

such as monitors, mice, and 

keyboards, will not be replaced 

unless there is a compatibility issue 

between old and new devices. 

This is part of NASA’s effort to 

“green” technology and to be 

more environmentally friendly. 

Users are encouraged to study the 

available computer models and 

their specifications to ensure that 

they are making the best choice 

to meet their needs. For more 

information about the computer 

refresh process, refer to ACES 

Compute Refresh at https://aces.

ndc.nasa.gov/subnav/seat.html.

Mobile Device Management 

Implementation Update: 

NASA is implementing Mobile 

Device Management (MDM) to 

better protect NASA-related 

information and assets and 

reduce potential risks to NASA 

systems. Agency-wide MDM 

implementation is planned this 

fall for ACES-managed iPhones, 

Android devices, and iPads. This 

will be followed later by nonACES Government Furnished 

Equipment (GFE) and personal 

devices. Going forward, end users 

receiving a new or refreshed 

iPhone, Android, or iPad device 

will be required to complete MDM 

enrollment upon receipt of the 

new device. For more information, 

go to NASA Mobile Device 

Management at https://aces.ndc.

nasa.gov/subnav/mdm.html.

OS X Yosemite Upgrades 

Begin October 2015: Beginning 

in October, Mac computers 

running a version of OS X 10.8 

(Mountain Lion) or OS X 10.9 

(Mavericks) will be upgraded to 

OS X 10.10 (Yosemite). End users 

will receive instructions to install 

OS X 10.10 via Hewlett-Packard 

Client Automation (HPCA) SelfService Manager (SSM). Once 

entitled, SSM enables end users 

to install the software at a time 

that is convenient for them. For 

more information on this OS X 

upgrade, go to Mac OS X Yosemite 

Upgrade at https://aces.ndc.

nasa.gov/subnav/os-mac.html.

10 www.nasa.gov
Enterprise Applications Service 

Office (EASO)

The NEACC transitioned from the 

Integrated Service Request System 

(ISRS) to the NASA Integrated 

Service Management System (NISM) 

in August, allowing the NEACC 

to better manage upgrades and 

configurations and to reduce costs 

associated with managing Service 

Requests (SRs). The transition to a 

Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) 

BMC Remedy System provides a 

simplified user interface and allows 

the NEACC to leverage the BMC 

Remedy suite for service-request 

assignment, fulfillment tracking, 

customer-satisfaction metrics, and 

a full range of service management 

features. Other significant 

benefits include optimized system 

patching and workflow, enabling 

more accurate trending data for 

continuous service improvement. 

The successful completion of this 

project helps to prepare the NEACC 

for its next big transition, the start 

of the EAST2 contract, scheduled 

to occur February 1, 2016. 

The NEACC completed the SAP 

Business Object (BOBj) upgrade 

to Service Pack 6 in August. 

This upgrade addressed several 

outstanding issues and provided 

additional features. The issues 

addressed and additional features 

include performance improvements 

for the Analysis for Online Analytical 

Processing (OLAP) prompts in the 

variable entry screen, a resolution 

for the BOBj server logoff issue, 

the ability to export key and text 

attributes to Excel in separate 

columns, a resolution for issues 

with the default for Find/Folder 

box as it now defaults to Folder, 

the ability to separate variable 

values with a semicolon, and 

the ability to calculate results 

as summation is improved. The 

upgrade did introduce an issue 

where end period/dates for interval 

type variables are disappearing 

after the workspace is saved. The 

NEACC is working with the vendor 

to have this issue resolved. 

The NEACC, Identity Credential 

and Access Management (ICAM), 

and NASA Center participants 

collaborated to enhance NASA’s 

security posture. In 30 short days, 

they completed an entire security 

application design and deployment 

life cycle at an extremely accelerated 

pace. Activities included product 

selection, procurement, formal 

reviews, infrastructure design 

and deployment, security and 

contingency plan documentation, 

a pilot testing period, extensive 

communications, user training, and 

Enterprise help desk knowledge 

articles. Moreover, the NEACC and 

ICAM successfully implemented a 

security software upgrade planned 

for 90 days in less than 30 days. 

The fast-tracked implementation 

included application installation 

and regression testing across 

the nonproduction landscape, 

vendor testing, and deployment 

planning and coordination. This 

successful software completion 

milestone and associated hardware 

decommission improved NASA’s 

security footprint Agency-wide 

with minimal mission impact. 

Enterprise Service Desk (ESD)

The ESD Tier 0 Web site is 

getting a new look and feel 

effective October 5, 2015.

NSSC developers have been hard 

at work all summer preparing a 

fresh new look for the familiar 

ESD Tier 0 Web site (https://esd.

nasa.gov). Users can expect 

all the same features they have 

grown used to, presented in a 

new way and with enhanced 

functionality. “Order Services” was 

updated in June; now it’s time to 

modernize the rest of the site.

Users will be able to create tickets 

for themselves and for other 

employees, request services, view 

their assets, search our self-help 

knowledge base, and more—all 

the familiar features they need to 

get their jobs done. The new site 

is very intuitive and user-friendly. 

Training sessions will be offered 

the week prior to go-live, and we 

expect most users to be able to 

easily navigate the features.

Go-live is currently being 

planned for October 5, 2015. 

Representatives from all Centers 

were invited to test the new site 

to ensure that all functionality 

is in place before go-live. 

Training sessions are underway, 

and trainings slides will be 

posted in SATERN for users 

who miss the live sessions.

Stay tuned for more information. 

Web Services Office (WSO)

For the first time in many years, we 

were able to develop and deploy a 

solution allowing visitors of www.

NASA.gov to enter the domain 

name without the “www” and 

successfully redirect to https://

www.nasa.gov. Although it may 

sound like a simple task, the large 

infrastructure and thousands of 

subdomains made it challenging 

from both a technical and policy 

standpoint. We are thrilled to 

provide our customers with a better, 

more modern user experience.

...continued on page 12

NASA OCIO IT Talk Oct - Dec 2015 11
IT Talk

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Office of the Chief Information Officer

300 E Street, SW

Washington, DC 20546

www.nasa.gov

JPL Web 

and Mobile 

Application 

Development 

Manager 

Recognized 

as a 2015 

Rising Star

The Federal Computer Week 

2015 Rising Star awards program 

recognized Evan Chan, manager 

of JPL’s Web and Mobile 

Application Development group 

with the Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. In his role, 

Chan’s leadership, technical, and 

customer relationship skills have 

inspired and motivated those 

around him to excel, from his direct 

reports and JPL colleagues, to 

those outside of JPL who have 

partnered with him. Chan led the 

successful implementation of JPL’s 

paperless procurement system 

and the introduction of mobile 

and wearable development 

patterns, allowing JPL to 

be the first within NASA to 

deploy a 3D-enabled mobile 

application environment. He 

serves as an active participant in 

outreach activities to students and 

others with an interest in science 

and technology and is engaged 

with local universities to help 

students prepare for careers in IT.

Chan is the only NASA 

representative on the 2015 list. The 

honoree list can be found at http://

fcw.com/articles/2015/09/10/2015-

rising-stars.aspx and the complete 

profiles for all the 2015 Rising 

Stars will be available later this 

year. Chan and his fellow honorees 

will be officially recognized at the 

GCN Awards Gala in October.

Searching for documents? 

WESTPrime has the answer 

with substantial cost savings! 

WESTPrime deployed an internal 

Enterprise Search to replace Google 

Appliances. The search solution 

indexes millions of documents, 

provides excellent search results, and 

saves thousands of dollars. Designed 

and developed using the Solr and 

Hadoop frameworks, it was deployed 

ahead of time under an aggressive 

timeline with an impending license 

extension for Google Appliance. 

WESTPrime’s Drupal-as-aService (DaaS) is in production: 

Over the past few months, we have 

launched four new sites to the Drupalas-a-Service infrastructure: https://

exchange.msfc.nasa.gov, https://mcdc.

msfc.nasa.gov, https://partnerships.

msfc.nasa.gov, and https://science.

msfc.nasa.gov. The DaaS infrastructure 

already hosts about a dozen sites, 

including http://inside.nasa.gov and 

http://communications.nasa.gov, 

and can host about 30 sites in all.

The WESTPrime DaaS infrastructure is 

proving to be a cost-effective solution 

and huge savings to customers and 

stakeholders. The DaaS momentum 

continues to build with 11 more 

sites already in development. 

Contact Web services at 

http://inside.nasa.gov/webservices

for more information.

...continued on page 12