News Sep 9, 2021

Jacobs Team Members Receive NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Award

Quick response to anomaly investigation and redesign scores prestigious award

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SpaceX_Demo-2_Launch_(Photo_Credit-_NASA-Bill_Ingalls)
SpaceX Demo-2 Launch (Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

This just in!

NASA awarded Jacobs team members, part of the Aerospace Testing and Facilities Operation and Maintenance (ATOM) contract, with the prestigious Space Flight Awareness (SFA) Team Award. Friends, family and colleagues joined in celebrating NASA’s SFA Team Award recipients on September 1. Members of the ATOM team earned their recognition for supporting an Agency-wide team on the combined anomaly resolution investigation and redesign effort for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that included contributions from individuals at Ames Research Center, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX.

The combined team rapidly responded to perform initial investigations and redesign efforts following the Thermal Protection System anomaly which occurred on the SpaceX Demo-2 spaceflight. Consisting of government, support contractor and prime contractor personnel, the team came together quickly and efficiently to analyze and identify the anomaly root cause, then joined in collaboration for potential fixes. Using tools such as advanced engineering analysis techniques and testing in the Arc Jet facility at Ames, the combined team finalized and implemented a design to correct the anomaly and ensure crew safety aboard future Dragon flights.

The successful performance of the redesign on the Cargo Resupply Mission 21 proved just that: The team’s redesign worked!

The ATOM team provides aerospace testing and facility operation and maintenance support at NASA Ames Research Center. The team is comprised of employees from Jacobs, Sierra Lobo Inc. and Metis Technology Solutions Inc.

Jacobs’ recipients of the NASA SFA Team award are Cesar Acosta, Douglas Gray, Garrison Heersche, Froilan Jimenez, Aaron Poulin, Brandon Ross, Pedro Solano, Eduardo Tamez and Peter Zhou.

NASA's SFA Program recognizes civil service and contractor employees for outstanding job performance and contribution to human spaceflight safety and mission success.