National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

Enabling 

NASA’s New 

Hybrid Work 

Environment

IT Talk

Jul - Sep 2022 Volume 12 • Issue 3
IT Talk

Jul - Sep 2022 Volume 12 • 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

Mia Roundtree

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

3

6

8

4

11

Message From 

the NASA CIO

How the MICS Team 

Enabled NASA’s

New Hybrid Work 

Environment

Enabling the Future

of JPL’s Hybrid

Work Model

NASA Completes Fiber 

Communications 

Ring Enabling Launch 

Range of the Future

How Mission Freezes 

Support Computer

Stability During 

Launch Activities

In this Issue
Over the past two and a half years, many employers have found themselves at a 

crossroads, trying to ensure that employees have technology and resources available to maintain their productivity in a work environment that has quickly changed. 

Working from home has become the new norm and paved the way for new ways 

of collaborating and the hybrid workplace of the future. Now, many employers, 

including NASA, offer a mix of in-office and remote work arrangements. While some 

organizations are moving to return to pre-pandemic onsite work norms, many others, like NASA, are looking to capture what has been learned from our remote work 

experiences to create the workplace of the future. In reality, NASA was already a 

very distributed workplace with team members on most projects from multiple centers and non-NASA organizations. Hybrid service offerings provide rich communication between meeting participants wherever they are in today’s distributed world.

In this issue, we’ll look at how NASA and its field centers are creating a successful 

and inclusive hybrid environment while ensuring that the number-one focus is on 

accomplishing the NASA mission. We’ll explore how our colleagues are using various technologies to connect onsite, such as joining Microsoft Teams meetings from 

legacy videoconferencing rooms. We’ll see how the new Book-a-Space Hoteling 

Reservation Tool (internal to NASA) allows NASA employees to reserve shared workspaces like cubicles, desks, and offices to find spaces to work when onsite. And we’ll see how the various collaboration tools NASA has in place make virtual 

work much more productive.

And finally, recently I had an opportunity to visit a few of our NASA centers to see some of the fantastic work being done 

in our IT community and the great mission work that is being supported. Our NASA IT environment is getting stronger 

each day and helping to deliver critical capabilities to enable the NASA mission. 

I hope you find the information in this issue helpful. As always, I welcome your feedback.

With gratitude,

Jeff Seaton

NASA Chief Information Officer

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - SEP 2022 3

Message from the NASA CIO 

NASA Johnson Space Center Welcomes New CIO

By Eldora Valentine, OCIO Communications Manager, NASA Headquarters

Dr. Lauren Goodwin joins Johnson Space Center as Chief 

Information Officer. Goodwin comes to NASA from JP Morgan Chase, where she was the head of security architecture. 

She has a strong background in the application of technology, data, analytics, and automation to solve business challenges, as well as expertise in risk management. 

Lauren is no stranger to NASA or the space industry; she 

began her career on the VIPER team, accountable for Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) for the 

International Space Station. She also worked for Booz Allen 

Hamilton before moving to SpaceX, where she headed the 

cybersecurity assurance program to secure the autonomous 

Crew Dragon space vehicle. She transitioned into the energy 

industry, leading a center of excellence for data analytics 

in support of automated and predictive modeling using 

artificial intelligence. Lauren was one of the first leaders 

to introduce automated expertise identification via data 

analytics, becoming a recognized expert and speaking at 

conferences globally. In this industry she also served as 

vice president of digital transformation and as the digital 

security and risk officer.

Lauren has a Bachelor of Science degree from American 

University in Washington, DC, and a Master of Science 

degree from Columbia University in New York, where she 

received the Alumni Digital Innovation Award for her work 

on virtual and augmented reality for child cancer treatment. 

She also currently serves as a member of the associate faculty there. Most recently, Lauren earned her doctorate degree at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing her research 

on educational neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
4 www.nasa.gov

NASA Completes Fiber Communications Ring 

Enabling Launch Range of the Future

By Jeremy Eggers, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Communications, Wallops Flight Facility;

Photo credit: NASA Wallops/Patrick Black

Wallops Flight Facility celebrated the 

completion of a mission-critical, $11.2 

million fiberoptic cable project, key 

to enabling the Wallops launch range 

of the future during a ribbon-cutting 

ceremony Wednesday, April 20.

Technicians installed 13 miles of 

fiberoptic cable across marshland and 

uplands completing a communications 

ring that now spans a total of 23 miles 

ensuring reliable, redundant communications between main base operations 

centers and the island launch assets.

“Along with being critical to our operations, the marsh fiber project is a vital 

component to meeting the needs of 

our nation’s launch range of the future 

program,” said David L. Pierce, Wallops Flight Facility director. “Having the 

critical infrastructure in place and ready 

to support future demand for assured 

access to and from space is a huge 

undertaking, and I want to congratulate our information technology team 

for identifying the need early-on and 

successfully bringing this project to 

completion.”

Wallops Director David L. Pierce and 

Wallops IT Associate Division Chief Debbie 

Watson cut the ribbon to formally dedicate 

the completion of the Wallops Marsh Fiber 

Project during a ceremony on April 20, 2022. 

The marsh fiber project completes a 

communications ring that runs from 

the Wallops main base, down Atlantic Road to Wallops Island, and then 

across the marsh back from north 

Wallops Island to main base. The ring 

provides redundant communications, 

important for mission assurance, along 

with ensuring launch system monitoring, sending commands to launch assets and receiving mission data during 

launch operations.

Some notable statistics from the project include:

• Installation of a single, nearly 

four-mile-long fiberoptic cable 

segment with no splices

• A 6,100-foot, 8-inch bore from 

the mainland to the west edge 

of Walker Island in the marsh 

that is among the world’s longest, single-bore solutions 

in marshland conditions

• $11.2 million project

• 13 miles of fiberoptic cable installed including a four-mile 

portion under the marsh

The project, six and a half years from 

conception to completion, was not 

without challenges. Technicians conducted horizontal directional drilling to 

install the fiber pathway through the 

marsh, drilling some 100-feet beneath 

the marsh to reach stable soil. Specialized barges were required to complete the work, which occurred under 

changing tide conditions, storms, and 

average temperatures falling between 

20° and 30° Fahrenheit. Over the entire 

project, a government shutdown, the 

COVID pandemic, managing endangered species, budget uncertainty, and 

working around mission operations 

were further challenges to overcome.

“I am so proud of the Marsh Fiber team 

and all that they have accomplished 

among the challenges that came up 

during the project,” said Debbie Watson, Wallops IT services division chief. 

“We knew that challenges would arise, 

and the measure of a team is how they 

respond to those challenges – in a 

word, this team responded brilliantly.”

Wallops Marsh Fiber Project Team

During the ceremony, officials recognized the contributions of Wallops’ J. 

Scott Webb in identifying the need and 

spearheading the marsh fiber project. 

Unfortunately, Webb passed away 

before the project was completed. 

“Scott’s foresight in identifying the 

need to complete the communications ring and then working the project 

details and requirements have ensured we’re in a good position moving forward,” said Pierce. “Sadly, we 

lost Scott way too soon; however, his 

legacy lives on in this project. Scott 

will long be remembered as among the 

Wallops pioneers who put their heart 

and soul into embracing the dreams 

and opportunities we have here at Wallops and turning them into reality.”

Members of the Webb family attended 

the ceremony and were recognized 

during the event.

The Wallops Range, NASA’s only 

owned-and-operated launch range, is 

one of just four major launch ranges in 

the United States. The range mission 

is to provide safe, assured access to 

space; having reliable, redundant communications between the island assets 

and the control centers on main base 

is vital to providing this service.
GSFC, HQ, & WFF Lead Hybrid Conference Room Efforts 

Amid Future of Work Transformation and Pandemic

By Taylor Bromante, Project Support Specialist, Goddard Space Flight Center

The new hybrid work culture has 

become a focal point for NASA, demanding more flexibility for meeting 

participants using collaborative environments. As such, Goddard Space 

Flight Center (GSFC), NASA Headquarters (HQ), and Wallops Flight 

Facility (WFF) teamed up to provide 

hybrid solutions that will make communication and collaboration more 

advantageous in the work setting. 

The team’s objective was to create a 

solid collection of hybrid solutions for 

customers that also integrated with 

the existing standard NASA services 

located in collaboration spaces 

like conference rooms. The hybrid 

service offerings also needed to align 

with the agency and center Future 

of Work requirements and enable 

productive communication between 

meeting participants.

After much review and research, as 

well as collaboration with the OCIO 

Future of Work team, the GSFC/

HQ/WFF team selected the ViTS 

Teams Bridge, the Meeting Owl Pro, 

the Poly Studio, and the Logitech 

GROUP as the hybrid meeting devices that would be made available to 

customers. Dave Smith, the Project 

Technical Lead, said, “ViTS, the video 

teleconferencing system, is a series 

of rooms created by NASA that allow 

conversations with other ViTS rooms. 

The agency created a gateway, 

called the VTC, which allows communications between ViTS and MS 

Teams, without needing a computer 

but using the existing ViTS machine 

in the conference room.” The Poly 

Studio, on the other hand, provides 

a 120-degree view of the conference room with enhanced capability 

of picking up sound near and far. It 

also zooms in on the individuals who 

are speaking. The Owl Pro, the most 

immersive of the hybrid meeting 

devices, shows a 360-degree view 

of a conference room and displays 

up to three people talking simultaneously by projecting split screens. The 

Owl Pro has echolocation technology 

like the Poly Studio, and both project 

with high quality.

As the team was determining what 

hybrid devices to choose, they 

also had to take into consideration 

the existing use of Microsoft (MS) 

Teams, Zoom, WebEx, and Slack. 

A copious amount of testing was 

performed and is still underway, as 

well as documenting the optimal 

baseline configuration. The team has 

been coordinating with directorate 

and remote site customers to outline 

essential operating capabilities and 

implement funded solutions within 

each unique space. Engagements 

with customers throughout GSFC 

and WFF were integral for assessing 

each space. Customers were provided with thorough demonstrations 

of each hybrid solution and advised 

which hybrid device would best suit 

their needs while taking into consideration their requirements. As of 

now, 56 demonstrations of the hybrid 

technology were provided throughout 

GSFC, WFF, HQ, and NASA’s Katherine Johnson Independent Verification 

and Validation Facility.

“For me, this is an exciting effort 

because we are helping bring our 

customers into the next era of hybrid 

work by connecting them to their 

colleagues no matter where they may 

be,” said Project Manager Shaun 

Piazza. “Reviewing the latest and 

greatest technology is also quite 

fun,” he added. What’s even more 

exciting? The Owls hoot when you 

boot them up and when you feed 

them...feed them software upgrades, 

that is.

Dave Smith, Hybrid Technology 

Project Technical Lead using 

the Owl device in MS Teams.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - SEP 2022 5
How the Modern and Inclusive Collaboration 

Spaces (MICS) Team Enabled NASA’s New 

Hybrid Work Environment

By Penny Hubbard (ARC), in collaboration with the DT and MICS Project Teams: Jules Casuga (ARC), David Kelldorf (JSC), 

Joshua Kinne (LaRC), Keith Krut (HQ), Jill Marlowe (HQ), and Patrick Murphy (HQ)

With pandemic cases dropping in the 

spring of 2021, the expectation that 

NASA personnel would return to Centers looked imminent. However, after 

discovering how productive remote 

work could be, using the OCIO’s key 

collaboration tools (Office 365 Suite, 

Teams, WebEx, Box, OneDrive), many 

employees wanted to continue working 

remotely. This sentiment was echoed 

across NASA during Future of Work 

(FoW) Town Hall meetings focused on 

post-pandemic return to onsite work. 

The Agency’s Digital Transformation 

(DT) team listened to the workforce 

and anticipated that NASA would need 

mechanisms to quickly become proficient with hybrid teaming and began 

imagining how to create a work environment that would equally empower 

both onsite and remote team members 

as they worked together. 

The goal was formidable: how best 

to transform NASA’s workforce and 

workplace by rapidly jump-starting 

productive, equitable, consistent, and 

inclusive hybrid teaming as a FoW 

foundation at the agency. In April 2021, 

the DT team rapidly formulated a project approach to pilot hybrid meeting 

solutions including testing and recommending the required technologies and 

basic behavioral changes that would 

need to be made. By early May, the 

first project meeting was held. With 

sponsorship by the FoW team and 

representation from the OCIO and the 

Offices of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO), Strategic Infrastructure 

(OSI), Procurement (OP), and Diversity 

and Equal Opportunity (ODEO), the 

Modern and Inclusive Collaboration 

Spaces project (MICS—pronounced 

“mikes”) was formally launched. 

At the time, NASA expected that its hybrid teaming would ramp up in earnest 

by fall/winter 2021, which led to an aggressive six-month goal for MICS to test 

and deliver hybrid meeting solutions 

that would be accessible and effective 

across the agency. In early spring 2021, 

the MICS technology team completed 

initial evaluations, which established 

recommended hardware features and 

options of Teams Room platforms for 

most internal NASA hybrid meeting 

needs (optimized for compatibility with 

our O365 suite), as well as for Surface 

Hub and WebEx Room offerings for 

those with advanced or unique external 

collaboration requirements. During the 

summer of 2021, MICS quickly ramped 

up human-centered design workshops 

to scope requirements from early hybrid 

meeting practitioners who had already 

been exploring early offerings. They 

6 www.nasa.gov
also conducted a NASA@Work campaign to solicit employee perspectives 

on additional hybrid meeting needs 

while developing a consistent framework of technical requirements for 

threshold hybrid meeting capabilities 

(e.g., basic, enhanced, enhanced+), and 

they conducted center assessments 

that determined that all centers already 

met nominal technology requirements. 

These findings led to a focus on external benchmarking of hybrid meeting 

behavior best practices and, ultimately, 

the development of on-demand training resources in SATERN. This included 

the Intro to Hybrid Meetings training 

(released in early 2022) introducing 

concepts, best practices, and how to 

ensure that our meetings are not only 

inclusive but productive—regardless of 

attendees’ locations.

The fall and winter of 2021 saw the 

global resurgence of COVID with the 

Delta variant, and it became clear 

that NASA’s ramp-up in hybrid teaming would be delayed. However, new 

market offerings for hybrid meeting 

technologies were being introduced, 

and the MICS technology team linked 

up with Workplace and Collaboration 

Services (WCS) to initiate testing to 

include in-place meeting tech such as 

Teams Room and WebEx Room. Testing ensured the ability to join conference rooms seamlessly with a single 

click and to host meetings natively, in 

the respective collaboration platforms, 

and allowed Surface Hubs to enable 

physical, interactive whiteboarding 

via touchscreens. The team organized 

early adopters across the agency to 

conduct the evaluation and, as a result, 

forged relationships with several manufacturers (Crestron, Cisco, Microsoft) 

to secure loaner evaluation equipment 

and explore available features vs. price 

points; established three hybrid meeting room test sites (HQ, LaRC, MSFC); 

and formed End User, Cybersecurity 

and Device Support focus groups. The 

focus groups identified work environment scenarios, gathered usability 

feedback, optimized feature configurations, and evaluated compatibility with 

existing Agency software. Parameters 

for Authorizations to Operate (ATOs), 

including acceptable risks, were also 

established. 

The WCS team then worked with the 

Advanced Enterprise Global IT Solutions (AEGIS) contract to establish 

support and cost structures for initial 

rollout and long-term support for these 

offerings, leveraging lessons learned 

from other existing and successful 

contract models. The MICS project 

is currently finalizing the AEGIS procurement of a starter kit with these 

advanced features to provide to every 

center so that employees across the 

Agency (not just at the initial three test 

sites) will have the ability to perform 

hands-on testing of the latest hybrid 

meeting technology and to inform immediate procurement plans. The MICS 

project team also shared findings along 

the way by engaging in and supporting 

FoW discussions at the Mission Support Forum, Lunch and Learns, and the 

Supervisors’ Series Townhall. 

What’s Next for NASA’s Hybrid 

Work Environment? 

As personnel realize that they are productive in a variety of settings, hybrid 

is becoming the new work standard. 

While technology and requirements 

will be ever-evolving, here are the next 

steps for the MICS project as it winds 

down by fall 2022: 

• Distributing advanced hybrid meeting starter kits at centers

• Handing off MICS to centers 

to manage the new capabilities 

(knowledge, tools, how to continue 

established activities) 

• Creating new SATERN courses, 

including How to Survive a Bad 

Hybrid Meeting 

• Training a cadre of hybrid meeting 

facilitators for larger events

• Creating a longer-term plan to 

include new hybrid teaming technologies at Incubation Labs (GRC, 

MSFC, HQ)

• Transitioning MICS products and 

processes to WCS and OCHCO to 

continuously refine NASA hybrid 

teaming capabilities and skills as 

we look to the future

The MICS project was a catalyst for 

change by imagining what could be, integrating and aligning efforts from early 

adopters across NASA, and taking the 

pivotal steps to enable Modern and Inclusive Collaboration Spaces at NASA. 

There are a lot of fascinating potential 

hybrid work scenarios in our future. 

Imagine creating virtual reality training 

for collecting geological samples from 

other planets, or preplanning experiment logistics with multi-center team 

members using a wind tunnel digital 

twin, or having distant experts spontaneously join inspection of a hardware 

anomaly through augmented reality, or 

even conducting interplanetary hybrid meetings when humankind goes 

to Mars! There are so many amazing 

opportunities, today and in the future, 

to thrive in the new NASA hybrid work 

environment.

INTRO TO HYBRID 

MEETINGS IN SATERN

(Search for: Course AG-HMTV): 

This training includes a series of 

short, individual on-demand videos, two longer experiential sessions you can participate in with 

your team, and some tips and 

tricks and checklists to help you 

learn how to survive and thrive in 

a hybrid work environment. 

Watching these on-demand 

videos and using the checklists 

will help you to manage and 

participate in the new Future of 

Work and learn how to make 

sure everyone in your meeting 

feels included, heard, and valued, regardless of their physical 

working location.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - SEP 2022 7
Enabling the Future of

JPL’s Hybrid Work Model

By Emily Tjaden, Communications Specialist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

JPL’s Information and Technology 

Solutions Directorate (ITSD) is 

dedicated to facilitating the Lab’s 

continually evolving work practices in 

all environments. After ensuring that 

personnel could remain connected 

and productive throughout the 

pandemic’s period of mandatory 

teleworking, it is equally committed 

to ensuring that JPL’s current hybrid 

work model remains as effective for 

those onsite as for those teleworking.

Hybrid Conference Rooms

Optimizing the audio and visual 

experience in conference rooms 

throughout the Lab has become 

paramount in creating an equitable 

meeting experience, regardless of 

whether someone is physically in the 

room or joining remotely. Updates to 

hybrid-optimized conference rooms 

include a variety of physical and digital 

technology enhancements. Ceilingmounted speakers and microphones 

help filter out background noise while 

also improving sound delivery to and 

from different parts of the room. Digital 

wall-mounted cameras equipped with a 

wide-angle lens are able to capture more 

of the room and its participants. Multiple 

screens will allow flexibility in data 

display; for example, presentations can 

be on one side and the faces of remote 

participants can be on the other. And 

new operating systems are providing 

an easier and more streamlined 

way to host hybrid meetings.

Workspace Hoteling

ITSD has led the effort to bring Indoor 

Finders, a commercial off-the-shelf 

workspace scheduling tool, into use 

at JPL. The application is poised to 

facilitate the hybrid work model’s 

incorporation of hoteling, which is the 

practice of scheduling office space 

dynamically rather than assigning it to 

one particular person. The workspace 

scheduling tool allows personnel to 

register for spaces using a map and 

to check in and out via a QR code, 

showing others looking for open areas 

whether someone has physically 

entered or left a space. Each registered 

building will have one or more admins 

within the system who can set up 

floor plans, create and cancel user 

registrations, monitor activity, and 

provide support. Numerous mission 

personnel successfully piloted the 

application in 2020, and in early 2021, 

the product went live with the support 

of cross-organizational partners. 

IT Hardware Vending Machine

JPL’s new Material Automation 

Exchange (MAX) vending machines 

stock high-demand computer 

accessories such as adapters, cables, 

smartcard readers, and much more. 

The MAX was customized by ManTech 

for JPL and can be found in three 

convenient locations throughout the 

Lab. For employees onsite, having IT 

hardware instantly available can save a 

lot of time. As an added convenience, 

those looking to purchase items can 

preview inventory availability and see 

what is in stock via the JPL IT Catalog 

before making the trip to the machine. 

The MAX scans a user’s badge to 

complete assignment of charges. A 

receipt is e-mailed moments later.

Whether by enhancing 

teleconferencing capabilities in the 

Lab’s conference rooms, providing 

ways to find temporary workspaces 

on Lab, or setting up vending 

machines with easy-to-forget IT items, 

especially when going back and forth 

between home and the office—ITSD 

is supporting the way JPL works, 

both today and in the future.

VIDEO: How to join a Microsoft Teams Meeting 

from a ViTS Conference Room

By Sylvester Placid, Communications Team Lead, Marshall Space Flight Center

As NASA returns to onsite work, 

the demand for hybrid meetings is 

increasing. The Communications 

Program (CP) Video Teleconferencing Services (ViTS) Conference 

Room Services site on SharePoint 

now features an instructional video

so you can learn how to easily join 

Microsoft Teams meetings from 

a ViTS conference room at your 

Center, along with a list of all ViTS 

conference rooms with Microsoft 

Teams videoconferencing integration and contact information for 

dedicated center support.

8 www.nasa.gov
CP Transforming Enterprise Network Operations Center with Data Analytics

By Sylvester Placid, Communications Team Lead, Marshall Space Flight Center

The Communications Program (CP) 

Corporate Network Operations 

Center (CNOC) has been renamed to 

the Enterprise Network Operations 

Center (ENOC) as NASA continues to 

transition agency IT infrastructure to 

an enterprise model. CNOC was responsible for the health and sustainment of network transport (both Wide 

Area Networks and Local Area Networks); network boundary and edge 

security; Remote Access Services 

(RAS), including the enterprise Virtual 

Private Network (VPN); and Domain 

Name System (DNS), Dynamic Host 

Configuration Protocol (DHCP), and 

IP Address Management (DDI).

The ENOC continues the CNOC 

legacy of providing robust and reliable services and adds data analytics 

professionals on the operations floor. 

These highly specialized personnel 

bring predictive analytics of both 

open-source data and data provided 

by other Federal agencies such as 

the Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). New 

tools give ENOC current Advanced 

Persistent Threat (APT) activities and 

Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures 

(TTPs), common malware exploits, 

and a range of other cybersecurity 

and network tools to analyze anomalies and network events. With these 

new capabilities, ENOC will enable a 

more proactive security posture for 

NASA enterprise networks and continue to deliver world-class services 

to our agency customers.

Workplace and Collaboration Services Provides

Book-a-Space Hoteling Reservation Tool

By Daniel Horton, Communications Specialist, Workplace & Collaboration Services, Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA is an agency that never backs 

down from a challenge. For over 60 

years, the agency has collected a long 

list of accomplishments that include 

better understanding of our place in 

the universe and sending astronauts to 

low-Earth orbit to live and work.

A little over two years ago, one of the 

largest challenges in recent memory 

introduced itself, as an unprecedented 

pandemic forced NASA and other 

workplaces to rethink how modern 

workplaces operate.

The newly transformed Workplace and 

Collaboration Services (WCS) was up 

to meeting this unique challenge.

Assisting NASA in adapting to a hybrid 

workplace was a task that WCS was 

more than equipped to handle. The 

recently formed WCS Collaboration 

Team combined skill sets across the 

agency to work on new solutions, such 

as utilizing shared workspaces in hoteling environments.

The new Book-a-Space Hoteling Reservation Tool allows NASA to reserve 

shared workspaces like cubicles, 

desks, and offices. If you are working 

onsite for limited days a week, you are 

now able to use this tool to find spaces 

available at the times needed.

The tool is quick and easy to use. 

You can select a time, location, and 

date at your desired center location. 

From there, a list of available spaces is 

shown. Hoteling spaces can be reserved one day at a time and can be 

reserved for a block of time between a 

half hour and a full eight-hour day. After 

booking the space, an e-mail confirmation is sent and visible as an appointment on your Outlook calendar. More 

information on using the tool is available 

online in the Book-a-Space User Guide.

This new tool went live on May 15 to 

meet the agency’s Return to Work 

deadline, and it has received great reviews from customers. Kennedy Space 

Center IT specialist Kimmarie Martinez 

explains that users “have provided 

positive feedback and suggestions that 

have been valuable in making adjustments and improvements to the tool.”

Martinez goes on to point out that 

the recent OCIO Transformation was 

critical in supporting the development 

of the Book-a-Space tool. “The collective experience of the newly formed 

WCS Collaboration Team allowed the 

quick development and deployment 

of an agency solution for hoteling 

reservations,” she notes. “Because of 

the diverse backgrounds, each team 

member was able to contribute valuable insight and experience to take 

a concept for hoteling and make it a 

valuable tool supporting the agency 

efforts for Return to Work and Future of 

Work.”

Booking a hoteling space is a functionality that was needed in the future 

of work, and the recently transformed 

WCS was excited to meet the challenge. Utilizing the combined knowhow of professionals across the 

agency has been crucial in similar 

solutions, allowing WCS to continue to 

support NASA to return to the Moon 

and beyond.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - SEP 2022 9
NASA’s CIO 

Leadership 

Team Visits 

Centers This 

Spring

From left to right: Dr. Lauren Goodwin, 

JSC CIO; Jeff Seaton, NASA CIO; 

Mike Witt, SAISO; Annette Moore, 

DCIO for Strategy; Neil Rodgers, DCIO 

for Operations; Sean Gallagher, Sr. 

Advisor for OCIO Transformation.

Photo credit: NASA/Jaumarro Cuffee

Below: NASA’s CIO Leadership Team 

with Stennis Space Center and NASA 

Shared Services Center personnel at 

sites across the centers. Photo Credit: 

NASA/Norah Moran

10 www.nasa.gov
How Mission Freezes Support Computer 

Stability During Launch Activities

By Daniel Horton, Communications Specialist, Workplace & Collaboration Services, Marshall Space Flight Center

In March 2022, excitement grew near 

the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at 

Kennedy Space Center (KSC). For the 

first time, the integrated Space Launch 

System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission began 

rolling outside the VAB doors.

The four-mile journey atop the crawler 

to Launch Complex 39B represented a 

large first step in the program that will 

return astronauts to the Moon. 

Once Artemis I arrived at the launch 

pad, it underwent a number of tests 

as a part of the Wet Dress Rehearsal 

(WDR). This multiday process saw the 

Artemis I launch team demonstrate 

launch processes—from loading propellants to running a practice launch 

countdown. 

Another part of the WDR process 

involved the OCIO’s Workplace and 

Collaboration Services (WCS) team. 

As part of Artemis I’s rehearsal, WCS 

executed a process known as a mission freeze.

A mission freeze is a restriction placed 

on specific computers that prevents 

changes before, during, and immediately after a launch activity. While 

a computer is frozen in this window, 

it is unable to install updates or new 

software. This freeze ensures that a 

computer will remain stable and not 

run into any issues during launch 

activities.

John Leavitt of the OCIO Mission 

Requirements Team says, “Since 

COVID, program personnel have had 

the ability to work remotely using 

their devices and have access to the 

displays and communications systems 

they would normally have if manning a 

mission console.” He continues, “Our 

computers and devices are no longer 

used just as administration systems. 

The programs use their collaboration 

capabilities to communicate better 

with various disciplines supporting the 

launch.”

During a process like the Artemis I 

WDR, vital computers are identified 

a month prior to the mission activity. 

Key personnel review the computers 

to ensure that requirements are met 

and that these specific computers are 

frozen when necessary.

WCS works with other service lines 

and agency-level offices within OCIO 

to ensure that they are following the 

prescribed mission freeze negotiated 

with the Launch Program of each mission area.

IT and support requirements are specified within each mission freeze requirements Memorandum of Agreement 

(MOA). This ensures that other aspects 

of OCIO, such as networks, applications, and IT security, are aware of and 

supporting critical mission activities. 

In addition to mission activities like 

WDR, freezes also take place in many 

other scenarios. These include vehicle 

launches, International Space Station 

dockings, and crew return windows. In 

each activity, computers listed ahead 

of time will be frozen to ensure their 

stability.

Freezes for targeted computers can 

begin from T-48 or T-24 hours before 

a mission activity and can extend for 

T+4 hours or more, depending on the 

type of mission.

Freezes can also take place centerwide in many scenarios. For example, 

Kennedy Space Center, Marshall 

Space Flight Center, and NASA Headquarters have the entire center frozen 

in a small window of time around WDR 

support. Centerwide freezes also 

frequently occur for KSC around Commercial Crew launch windows.

The full listing of upcoming mission 

freezes is available, detailing the location and timing for each freeze.

(This link is internal to NASA.)

CP Supports Successful Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2

By Sylvester Placid, Communications Team Lead, Marshall Space Flight Center

Teams across the Communications 

Program (CP) supported the successful launch, docking/undocking, 

and splashdown of Boeing Orbital 

Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) as the Crew 

Space Transportation (CST)-100 

Starliner spacecraft completed an 

uncrewed, six-day mission to the 

International Space Station (ISS). CP 

support included transmitting data, 

voice, and video between NASA 

Mission resources and Roscosmos 

(the Russian space agency). This 

real-time communication between 

mission specialists kept both Mission Control Centers in Houston and 

Moscow synchronized for successful 

execution of procedures with the ISS 

and visiting vehicles.

NASA OCIO IT Talk Jul - SEP 2022 11
NASA Data Catalog Seeks to Enhance Data Discoverability 

By Tanner Griffin; Information, Data, and Analytics Services (IDAS) Data Architect; Langley Research Center

Have you ever had the need to discover existing NASA data but did not know where to start? 

Have you ever wanted to document and share 

your organization’s data assets with others to 

enhance collaboration and create even more 

value from data? If so, the NASA Data Catalog 

can help.

As a CIO service provided and supported by 

the OCIO’s Information, Data, and Analytics 

Services (IDAS), the NASA Data Catalog offers a 

standardized process and database to organize, 

document, report, share, search for, discover, 

reuse, and collaborate with data.

Researchers, scientists, and, more generally, 

data users have a compelling need to know 

and understand what data assets are available 

internally here at NASA that could be reused for 

a myriad of other purposes and use cases. In 

short, data must be FAIR—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. 

NASA possesses substantial quantities of data 

that often have value beyond their primary 

use case waiting to be unlocked. Furthermore, 

details and awareness of the data themselves 

are often unknown. Data should be managed 

appropriately to ensure future use for exponential gains. In this regard, the NASA Data Catalog 

serves three basic needs:

1. It provides a centralized location for NASA 

personnel to discover and potentially access and reuse existing data assets, as well 

as discover collaborative opportunities.

2. It provides an efficient mechanism for 

data stewards to document, organize, and 

share data assets with the broader NASA 

community.

3. It supports the Federal Data Strategy and 

Federal Mandate within Public Law 115-

435 for Federal agencies to create and 

report on agencywide data inventories.

If a data user would like to discover data, that 

data user may visit and browse the NASA Data 

Catalog to begin the quest to make use of 

existing NASA data. If a data steward would 

like to document data assets or create their 

own data catalog to make data searchable and 

findable for the broader NASA community, that 

data steward would simply need to request the 

role of “Data Steward” (via NAMS ID 255271) 

to begin working within the NASA Data Catalog. 

The NASA Data Catalog initiative has grown to 

include data assets and users throughout the 

agency and has attracted the interest of many 

agency teams and organizations. By scaling 

the tool for agencywide use and identifying 

and onboarding more data stewards, NASA 

will enable data users to more easily find and 

leverage data pertinent to their work. The NASA 

Data Catalog will allow more opportunities for 

users to collaborate and gather knowledge 

from across the agency in the coming months 

and for years to come. 

The NASA Data Catalog (link internal to NASA) 

and other IDAS services will be accessible to 

NASA personnel through the IDAS SharePoint 

site, launching July 31 to coincide with Wave 2 

OCIO Transformation efforts.

More Than 300 CP Mission Customers 

Attend NASCOM Connect Virtual Conference

By Sylvester Placid, Communications Team Lead, Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Communications (NASCOM) held the 

quarterly NASCOM Connect conference on 

June 21 with more than 300 customers and 

stakeholders attending virtually via Microsoft 

Teams. This conference serves as a bridge to 

the annual Mission Communications Working 

Group (MCWG) event organized by NASCOM to 

provide more frequent connection points with 

Communications Program (CP) Mission customers. NASCOM Connect offers an opportunity 

for CP to educate, inform, and engage with our 

customer base, as well as to provide updates on 

the latest NASCOM activities and projects.

NASCOM Connect brings together subject matter experts from across the agency to discuss 

updates to the NASCOM Mission Network—the 

enterprise, global, and mission-critical terrestrial network supporting spacecraft operations. 

The CP NASCOM Mission Network provides 

voice, video, and data communications services and connects Space Communications 

and Navigation (SCaN) resources to NASA 

customers. SCaN resources include the Near 

Space Network (NSN), the Deep Space Network 

(DSN), and the Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) at 

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

Topics covered during the conference included 

an update on the CP transition to the Network 

and Telecommunications Services (NaTS) 

service line; an overview of the Advanced 

Enterprise Global IT Solutions (AEGIS) contract, 

which replaced the NASA Integrated Communications Services (NICS) contract on May 

1; a demo of the new iSite contract management portal for OCIO; and a technical overview 

of the planned agency upgrade from IPv4 to 

IPv6. A review of NASCOM readiness to support the upcoming Artemis I launch scheduled 

for August and implementation of the GSFC 

Mission Next Generation Voice (MNGV) project 

to upgrade voice communications for Mission 

customers were presented. 

The event was successful and enables CP and 

NASCOM to continue to create a more customer-centric organization. The next NASCOM 

customer forum will be the Mission Communications Working Group (MCWG), which will be 

held virtually on September 20–22.

12 www.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Office of the Chief Information Officer

300 E Street SW

Washington, DC 20546

www.nasa.gov

IT Talk

Workplace and Collaboration Services (WCS)

News and Updates

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

• What Is a Mission Freeze?

• Webex Service Now Available

• macOS Security Updates

• Using CUI Sensitivity Labels

• Reserve a Shared Workspace Now!

• Enterprise-Managed Product Updates

• See What's New with ICAM

• Data Backup for End Users Without 

an Assigned Computer