SFA Honorees Recognized For Contributions

A group of special United Space Alliance employees were recognized as Space Flight Awareness (SFA) honorees for outstanding contributions to the safety and mission success of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs.

The SFA event acknowledged the achievements of over 200 individuals from all NASA centers. USA’s 32 honorees represented many areas of expertise in USA and subcontractor operations at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Johnson Space Center (JSC) and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). These USA employees have a total of 480 years of experience in America’s Human Space Flight Program.

Michael Banks of Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) and Vehicle Cargo Systems (VCS) Verification at JSC, Bruce Simmons of KSC Launch Pad Production Control and Natalie Dworak of JSC Pointing Operations and Procedures were chosen for their outstanding efforts in ensuring that essential elements of Space Shuttle systems were safe and operating as designed.

“My primary task is to ensure we fly safely,” Banks said. “We thoroughly test all GNC and VCS systems prior to their release. It’s crucial that our products work safely, as expected.”

Several SFA honorees were selected for modifications and changes that have improved systems and increased safety, including Howard Kanner of Loads and Aerothermal Analysis at KSC, Cathy Clayton of MSFC Shuttle Element Hardware, and Carol Horton of JSC Configuration Management Project Support.

“Our work has concentrated on detecting any type of debris that could be produced by the SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters),” Kanner said. “It’s all about eliminating hazards to flight safety.”

Several SFA honorees were recognized for their efforts supporting critical Orbiter components and systems, including David Combs, Manager of KSC Mechanisms and Orbiter Handling, Keith Nishimi of Orbiter Element Engineering at JSC, and Steven Larchar of Orbiter Environmental Controls and Life Support Systems at KSC.

“The day prior to the STS-114 launch, we briefed the crew that the Shuttle was the safest and in the best configuration ever,” Combs said. “We’ve given the same careful preparations to Discovery for STS-121, too.”

Kathy Brand of Flight Software Application and Tools Development at JSC, George Norris of Engineering Process Integration at KSC and James Hart of Information Management Site Services at JSC ensure computer software is developed, tested and installed correctly.

“We develop the tools for testing code in Flight Software,” Brand said. “The goal is to make sure it’s done right, because we know the astronaut crews depend on us.”

Also recognized for their efforts on behalf of Space Shuttle and ISS safety and mission assurance at JSC were John Barrett of Facility Integration and Control, William Carr of Compensation and Benefits, Jan Green of Flight Software Application and Tools, Jason Harvey of On-Board Systems Simulation and James Williams of Flight Operations Modeling.

Others honored at KSC were Carolyn Alshouse of KSC Procurement; Roger Hanak of SRB Program Management; Gerald Inman of Information Management Database Administration; James Marczak of Depot Logistics; Donna McGill of Ground Requirements; Thomas Richards of Integrated Data Systems; Tina Robertson of Engineering and Maintenance Management Systems; Evelyn Rook of Orbiter Electrical Engineering; Katrine Stelges of Operations Safety; John Stirling of the Rotation Processing and Surge Facility Operations; Joanne Sutherland of
In-Place Calibration; Ray Trapp of Crawler Transporters; Eric Wolf of Ground Systems Support; Frank Mazovec of Smiths Aerospace, Electronics Systems Division and Jim Nelson of M.E. Global.

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