VOLUME 25 | ISSUE 9 | SEPTEMBER 2023 National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

Celebrating Summerfest!
Hundreds Gather 

for Center Picnic

AeroSpace Frontiers

is an official publication of NASA’s Glenn 

Research Center. It is published the 

second Friday of each month by the Office 

of Communications in the interest of the 

Glenn workforce, retirees, government 

officials, business leaders, and the general 

public. 

Submit short articles and calendar items 

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

Editor: Doreen B. Zudell, ATS, 

 216–433–5317

Design: Rhys Sampson, ATS

Managing Editor: Kelly R. DiFrancesco

On Sept. 21, we’re hosting our 

annual Safety and Health Awareness 

Event. This year’s theme is “Go 

Above and Beyond for Safety!” The 

morning session will be a safety 

stand-down to allow all employees 

to participate and to promote a 

renewed commitment to safety, 

whether you’re on- or off-site. The 

program will feature former NASA 

astronaut Mike Massimino as the 

keynote speaker, along with vendor 

booths, the annual health walk/

Golden Shoe competition, and 

more! This year’s program again 

promises to be an informative and 

exciting event. Please see Inside 

Glenn for more information.

DIRECTOR’S

SAFETY CORNER

Safety and Health 

Awareness Event

GRC-2023-C-06722

GRC-2023-C-06856

Nearly 1,700 employees, interns, and retirees came together for the 2023 Glenn 

Summerfest on Aug. 9—celebrating the 10th annual center picnic. Held in front of 

the Research Support Building, along Taylor Road at Lewis Field, the event provided 

lunch, music, activities, exhibits, and entertainment. Other highlights included the 

annual Vehicle Show, a tour of Glenn’s in-house manufacturing facility, and a Glenn 

Exchange fashion show. Special thanks to the dedicated committee members and all 

the volunteers who year after year make this event a great experience for us all!

On the cover:

Employees, summer interns, and retirees gather together during Glenn’s Summerfest. 

GRC-2023-C-06779 Photo by Jef Janis

Photo by Bridget Caswell

Photo by Jef Janis

Glenn retirees
SEPTEMBER 2023

GRC-2023-C-06774

GRC-2023-C-06858

GRC-2023-C-06782

GRC-2023-C-06837

GRC-2023-C-06690

Photo by Jef Janis

Photo by Jef Janis

Photo by Bridget Caswell 

Photo by Jef Janis

Photo by Jef Janis

Summerfest Planning Team

3
History is peppered with obstacles for women pursuing 

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) 

careers, reinforcing this glass ceiling. The glass remains 

thick for women and other marginalized people. Yet 

cracks have begun to form.

NASA is embracing inclusion and is pursuing a set of 

missions that will shatter the highest of glass ceilings: 

landing the first woman and person of color on the Moon. 

While the first Moon landing in 1969 was named after 

the Greek god Apollo, NASA’s return is referred to as 

Artemis—Apollo’s twin sister and goddess of the Moon.

Four generations of women at NASA Glenn reflected on 

their STEM career experiences. To read the story, visit 

https://go.nasa.gov/3swm5NG. 

Deputy Center Director Dawn Schaible, right, examines 

one of the entries in the student poster contest during the 

5th annual John Glenn Memorial Symposium held at Case 

Western Reserve University, July 17 to 19. Every summer, 

NASA Glenn and the American Astronautical Society 

bring together leaders, researchers, engineers, and other 

experts from across NASA, industry, and academia to 

discuss pioneering approaches and the challenges of space 

exploration and flight. This year, powering innovation from 

the Earth to Mars was our focus, featuring conversations on 

everything from lunar surface power and infrastructure to 

space law and the future of commercial flight. 

Glenn intern Lillian Kish won the 2023 American Astronomical 

Society Award for best poster by an undergraduate at the 

John Glenn Memorial Symposium for her poster, “Solid Fuel 

Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE).”

Shattering the 

Glass Ceiling

Symposium 

Encourages 

Pioneering Spirit

GRC-2023-C-06159 Photo by Bridget Caswell

Launching Soon:

A New Digital and Mobile-Friendly

AeroSpace Frontiers Newsletter

in October 2023!

Stay Tuned...

4
NASA Glenn staff introduced Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to 

STEM-related activities during national gatherings this summer.

Left, Glenn’s Jen Pierce shares information on NASA’s 

mission during the Girl Scout 2023 National Convention 

in Orlando. The NASA exhibit included hands-on demos, 

handouts, and visits from EVA, the costumed astronaut. 

NASA lead Nancy Hall participated in a Mentor Zone 

event with Girl Scouts, providing them with background 

about her work and then answering questions from them. 

Glenn staff, with help from NASA personnel from other 

centers, highlighted Artemis and Heliophysics (highlighting 

upcoming solar eclipses) during the event that drew close 

to 10,000 people. 

Astronaut, Eagle Scout, and Scout leader 

Kjell Lindgren, center, addressed overflowing 

crowds at the 2023 National Jamboree of 

the Boy Scouts of America, held in southern 

West Virginia. Other NASA leaders, including 

Associate Administrator for Diversity and 

Equal Opportunity Elaine Ho, back right, gave 

presentations as well. Dennis Stocker, back 

left, and other members of NASA’s STEM 

Quest team engaged visitors in the 20- by 

40-foot tent packed with exhibits and handson activities. Lindgren recognized Stocker for 

his years of stewardship in connecting NASA 

and scouting. 

It was another great year hosting students 

from Cleveland’s Aerospace Career Education 

(ACE) Academy. The 8th through 12th graders 

learned about careers in aerospace from some 

of Glenn’s engineers, participated in a STEM 

activity, and finished their visit with a tour of 

our Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory and 

research aircraft hangar. Many got to sit in the 

cockpit of a T-34 aircraft! 

NASA Connects Scouts With STEM

Inspiring 

Aviators Visit

GRC-2023-CN-00018

GRC-2023-CN-00017

Photo by Jove Yambot

Photo by Nancy Hall

GRC-2023-C-05531 Photo by Bridget Caswell

SEPTEMBER 2023

5
More Than a Memory

Prok

Lorenzo

Monnin

Manco

Manco Was Talented, Respected Technician 

Richard A. Manco II, 62, an HX5 Sierra employee working as an engineering 

research technician at NASA Glenn for over 30 years, died Aug. 5. Manco 

dedicated his early career as a senior technician in Glenn’s Exhibits Office. 

He went on to support multiple projects in the Research and Engineering 

Directorate. He designed, fabricated, and demonstrated equipment and tools 

that made significant contributions to NASA missions.

Manco most recently worked on the Mars Spring Tire Program, where he built 

the tires and provided test support. He also contributed to the design and 

operation of many new tire test facilities.

Manco’s co-workers said he was always one step ahead of everyone Sometimes they didn’t even 

need to ask him to fix or build something—he just did it. He was the glue that held them all together.

Manco earned a Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy award and was a two-time recipient of Glenn’s 

Steven V. Szabo Engineering Excellence Award.

Carl F. Lorenzo, 88, a 1999 retiree with 42 years of NASA service, died June 20. 

Lorenzo started as a co-op student and he was an accomplished engineer who worked 

in a variety of areas. He was the center lead on the agency’s Pogo Interface Working 

Group for the Space Shuttle and project engineer for the hot firing Centaur rocket in the 

B-2 facility. Lorenzo later headed the Analysis Section in the Aerodynamics and Engine 

Systems Division and the Advanced Control Technology Branch. He co-authored papers 

and earned numerous awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. 

Carl F. Monnin, 86, a 1994 retiree with 32 years of NASA service, died June 23. He 

began his career in the Electromagnetic Propulsion Division and authored several 

technical reports related to flows in magnetic fields and atomic hydrogen. He then 

worked in and later headed the Software Engineering Office in the Engineering Support 

Division. He helped advance NASA’s missions on projects that included Atlas-Centaur 

Launch, Voyager, and the Space Shuttle. He earned two NASA Special Achievement 

Awards, an Exceptional Engineering Award, and an Exceptional Service Award. 

George M. Prok, 92, a 1988 retiree with 36 years of NASA service, died July 31. 

Prok served as a technical manager of the NASA/DOE Alternative Fuels Utilization 

Project and project engineer in the Automotive Gas Turbine and Diesel Project Office. 

He later joined the Technology Assessment Office as a technical manager in fuels and 

combustion research and space power research for isotope heat source and Brayton 

system radiator. He also managed the Small Business Innovation Research Program. 

Prok received several NASA awards and published 30 technical reports and articles.

6
7

Fiscal Year 2023 Small 

Business Awards 

Nominations open through Nov. 15

Small Business Advocates Awards 

Small Business Industry Awards

For information, visit 

https://osbp.nasa.gov/award.html.

Retirements

Mobley

Michael J. Lichter, Avionics Branch, 

retired Aug. 12, 2023, with 34 years of 

NASA service.

Priscilla A. Mobley, Office of STEM 

Engagement, retired July 29, 2023, with 35 

years of NASA service.

Safety and Health Awareness Event

Thursday, Sept. 21

Theme: Go Above and 

Beyond for Safety!

Speakers, events, prizes 

and the Center Health Walk

Keynote Speaker

Former Astronaut Mike Massimino

See Inside Glenn for details.

SEPTEMBER 2023

7
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John H. Glenn Research Center 

Lewis Field

21000 Brookpark Road

Cleveland, Ohio 44135 

Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility 

3597 E. Scheid Road 

Sandusky, Ohio 44870

www.nasa.gov

Read AeroSpace Frontiers online at https://www.nasa.gov/glenn/aerospacefrontiers.

Emergency and Inclement Weather Lines 

Lewis Field: 216–433–9328 (WEAT) 

Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility: 419–621–3333

Connect With Glenn

Three STEM student winners of NASA’s Power to 

Explore Challenge explored behind the scenes at 

NASA Glenn and Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) 

in Cleveland after drafting the top papers in the 

national essay contest. 

The competition for kindergarten through 12th 

grade students focuses on the enabling power of 

radioisotopes. Students were challenged to learn 

how NASA has powered some of its most famous 

science missions and to dream up how their 

personal “superpower” would energize their own 

radioisotope-powered science mission. 

Judges narrowed down over a thousand creative 

essays to 45 semi-finalists, who received prize 

packs, nine finalists, who participated in a 

videoconference with NASA experts, and three 

winners, who were awarded with a visit to NASA 

Glenn.

To read more about the tour and links to the essays, 

visit https://go.nasa.gov/3YLLVcv. 

GRC-2023-CN-00016

GRC-2023-C-06381

Photo by Tanya Silva

Photo by NASA/Jordan Salkin

Front row, left to right, student winners, Rainelle Yasa, Audrielle Paige Esma, and Luca Pollack, 

connect with back row, left to right, Glenn’s Kristin Jansen, Carl Sandifer, Josh Freeh, and Dr. 

Michael J. Barrett, during the tour.

Francesca Esma, Rainelle Yasa, Luca Pollack, and Audrielle Paige Esma interact with a NASA plane in virtual reality at Glenn’s Graphics and Visualization Lab.

Students Earn Close Encounter Visit to Glenn