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Listen to this audio excerpt from Anton Kiriwas, senior technical integration manager for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program:

When Anton Kiriwas first spotted an image of the Moon and Mars hanging over a job fair booth while in college, it captured his imagination, yet felt like a dream too distant to chase. He had no way of knowing that years later he would play a critical role in NASA’s Artemis missions, helping launch humans back to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.

Kiriwas’ journey to NASA began during the Space Shuttle Program, while he was working for United Launch Alliance, the same organization behind the memorable Moon and Mars booth that he passed by in college. Not long after, he joined NASA as a civil servant, designing electrical systems that set him on a path toward his current role with Exploration Ground Systems as senior technical integration manager. In simpler terms, Kiriwas is a problem solver.

A core part of Kiriwas’s role is to serve as a launch project engineer. Strategically positioned at the integration console in the center of Firing Room 1 of the Launch Control Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, he acts as a bridge for the test management and engineering teams. Kiriwas, along with the other launch project engineers, reports directly to the launch director, making the final technical recommendation on any issues that may arise during launch countdown. From this seat, he works across all engineering disciplines, united under one mission: launch the spacecraft and crew safely.

Despite the intensity of launch day, Kiriwas describes it can often feel easier than the hundreds of rehearsals and simulations leading up to it. The team trains rigorously, preparing for every scenario imaginable. The ideal day is smooth and uneventful, but when it’s not, he and the team are ready.

When an issue arises, Kiriwas and his team begin asking the basic questions: ‘What are the requirements? Which systems are affected? Who needs to be involved?’ He pulls the technical community together to work through the situation, come up with any troubleshooting, and ultimately give the recommendation for a “go” or “no-go” for launch. It takes clarity, experience, and discipline, especially in moments when excitement is running high.

“There is adrenaline to get to launch, but you want to be careful to never let that turn into ‘launch fever,’” said Kiriwas. “We need to launch exactly when we’re ready and not a moment before.”

With Artemis II complete, Kiriwas continues applying his problem‑solving expertise, analyzing lessons learned, and shaping future mission requirements. Artemis III hardware is currently being processed at NASA Kennedy, and the teams are carefully preparing the next steps of NASA’s return to the lunar surface.

“There’s a million little pieces that go into this, and I get to be a part of it,” said Kiriwas.

For decades, NASA has advanced on-board spacecraft computer processors that coordinate and execute the functions needed to support mission success.

Space computing originated in the 1960s with the Apollo Guidance Computers, which were pivotal for guidance, navigation, and control computations during NASA’s first Moon missions. For decades, radiation-hardened processors have been the backbone of the agency’s space exploration missions.

NASA has landed computers on other planets and operated them for years in extreme conditions, as demonstrated by the Mars rovers. These computer processors have also powered several NASA orbiters, capsules, and space telescopes.

While legacy processors have enabled some of NASA’s greatest achievements, the next generation of space missions will increase in complexity and length, which will benefit from greater computing power, autonomy, and resilience. To meet the needs of this challenge, NASA and industry leader Microchip Technology Inc. entered a public, private partnership combining agency and commercial investments to develop a new solution: High-Performance Spaceflight Computing.

Advanced Computing

The High-Performance Spaceflight Computing project is a next-generation system-on-chip that delivers over 100 times the computing capability of current space processors. By integrating computing and networking into a single device, this technology significantly reduces system cost and power consumption. Its scalable architecture allows unused functions to power down, optimizing energy efficiency for critical operations.

The High-Performance Spaceflight Computing family of processors includes multiple distinct but compatible technologies for scalable mission needs. The radiation-hardened version of the processor is built for geosynchronous, deep-space, and long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, capable of operating in harsh environments while supporting real-time autonomous tasks. Tailored for the commercial space sector, the radiation-tolerant version of the processor provides fault tolerance and cybersecurity for low Earth orbit satellites.

Using advanced Ethernet to connect multiple sensors or cluster several chips, High-Performance Spaceflight Computing technology allows spacecraft to process massive amounts of data onboard and autonomously make real-time decisions, such as driving rovers at high speeds or filtering scientific images. Continuous system health monitoring and an integrated security controller ensure these complex operations remain safe and reliable.

Computing power for Golden Age of Exploration

The High-Performance Spaceflight Computing technology is a nationwide, public-private development effort anchored by NASA, Microchip, and a broad ecosystem of academic and industry partners. This collaboration reinforces U.S. leadership in spaceflight computing, strengthens supply chain resilience and security, stimulates regional economies, and drives innovation and high-tech workforce development across the nation.

This new technology has the potential for use on all future space missions, but unlike traditional space-specific chips, High-Performance Spaceflight Computing has a design platform for other Earth-based uses.

Adopting the same high-performance computing, network switching, high-reliability and cybersecurity technologies, the company’s processors enable mission-critical edge computing for Earth-based industries such as automotive, aviation, consumer electronics, industrial systems, and aerospace. These potential applications include drones, energy grids, medical equipment, communication services, artificial intelligence, and data transmission.

By leveraging a common technology base across space and terrestrial markets, High-Performance Spaceflight Computing helps strengthen domestic industrial capabilities and reduce risk and cost for both government and commercial users.

The Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game Changing Development program based at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory led the end-to-end maturation of NASA’s High-Performance Spaceflight Computing by developing mission requirements, funding competitive industry studies, selecting and contracting with Microchip, and guiding the project through design reviews and the project life cycle to delivery.

To learn more about these chips, visit:  

https://go.nasa.gov/4cIGUKu

By: Jessica Jelke

NASA astronaut Chris Williams captured the Milky Way rising above Earth’s atmospheric glow on April 13, 2026, while aboard a SpaceX Dragon docked to the International Space Station.

This atmospheric glow is also called airglow. It occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Alternatively, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light — called a photon — in order to relax again. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation.

Image credit: NASA/Chris Williams

NASA announced Friday that Brian Hughes will return to the agency as senior director of launch operations, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In this role, Hughes will provide enterprise-level leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for NASA’s launch infrastructure.

Reporting to NASA Headquarters in Washington, Hughes will have direct responsibility for launch operations at NASA Kennedy, as well as the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. He will work across government, industry, and local leadership to strengthen coordination among stakeholders supporting NASA’s spaceports, enable increased launch cadence, and support execution of the President’s National Space Policy to ensure continued American leadership in space.

“Brian brings a unique combination of operational expertise, strategic leadership, and public service experience at the highest levels of government,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “His track record leading complex organizations and executing high-stakes missions makes him exceptionally well-suited to help shape the future of NASA’s launch operations as we accelerate into a new era of exploration and innovation.”

Most recently, Hughes served as NASA’s chief of staff, where he helped drive agencywide priorities and decision-making. Prior to NASA, he served as deputy national security advisor for Strategic Communications at the White House, helping shape policy and communications on national security matters.

Hughes also served as chief administrative officer for the City of Jacksonville, overseeing a workforce of more than 7,000 employees and managing a multi-billion-dollar budget across public safety, infrastructure, and emergency management operations. Earlier in his career, he served as chief of staff to former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and as chief executive officer of the Downtown Investment Authority, leading economic development initiatives across the city.

A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Hughes served as a KC-135 aircrew member during operations over the Middle East in support of the Gulf War.

His return comes as NASA continues advancing a growing portfolio of civil, commercial, and national security launch activities across its spaceport infrastructure.

Learn more about NASA’s mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Bethany Stevens / George Alderman
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / george.a.alderman@nasa.gov

With a small blue crane, four researchers hoist a cylindrical fuel cell, which looks like a stack of flattened silver and gold soda cans bundled together, into the air and lower it into a rectangular cart on wheels. A tangle of tubes and wires spiral away from the system, where nearly 270 sensors and 1,000 components are nestled inside.

“It’s a behemoth; it’s a researcher’s dream,” said Dr. Kerrigan Cain, lead engineer for the team at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland preparing to test this technology, known as a regenerative fuel cell system, over the next few months.

The system, about as long as a sedan and as tall as a person, operates like a rechargeable battery and could revolutionize the way NASA stores energy during future Moon missions through the Artemis program. When power is needed, it’s designed to combine hydrogen and oxygen gas into water, heat, and electricity, and then “recharge” by splitting the water back into hydrogen and oxygen — all on the lunar surface.

“It is an ideal technology for habitats, exploration with rovers, and many of the systems that are envisioned under Artemis,” Cain said. “Developing a sustainable, long-term human presence on the Moon requires power and energy storage solutions that fit those needs. Regenerative fuel cells fit into that puzzle perfectly.”

This technology can weigh less but store the same amount of energy as comparable battery systems and could even operate during cold, dark, nearly two-week-long lunar nights. Its recharging capability also would ensure astronauts make the most of their resources and energy on the lunar surface without needing new supplies delivered from Earth.

The upcoming tests are the culmination of over five years of work. The system was designed and assembled at NASA Glenn. Researchers completed initial testing in 2025 to understand the basics of how the technology functions and make modifications.

Now, the team is passing a major milestone as they get ready to operate the complete system, storing the hydrogen and oxygen gas generated during recharge for the first time. They hope to gather essential data, identify any additional challenges, and further advance the technology toward a lunar mission.

On an average test day, researchers will secure the thick double doors to the test cell where the system is located in NASA Glenn’s Fuel Cell Testing Laboratory, head to a nearby control room, and begin to run the system remotely. Once it is powered up and a test has started, the technology can operate on its own without researcher intervention.

“This testing is going to generate crucial data, so every day is exciting,” Cain said. “This effort was made possible by countless hours of work. The desire for fuel cell technology is so high, it makes it very easy to get up every morning and go, ‘All right, we have to keep moving forward so that we can be ready for Artemis.’”

Researchers will use lessons learned from testing to continue advancing regenerative fuel cell technology. Before the system can launch to the Moon, researchers will put it through its paces outside of the lab.

“We want to simulate being on the lunar surface and prove the system can work under much harsher conditions compared to a controlled laboratory environment,” Cain said.

Cain and his team noted working on the complex regenerative fuel cell system is both rewarding and challenging as they consider the impacts their research could have on NASA’s future deep space missions.

“Creating a sustainable presence on the Moon is a team effort requiring a lot of collaboration between NASA and industry,” Cain said.

NASA’s Regenerative Fuel Cell project is funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game Changing Development Program, managed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

The VC firm, which focuses on mothers as consumers, raised a $10 million debut fund.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Avride after identifying more than a dozen crashes and one minor injury.

A report by Poland’s top intelligence agency accused Russia of sabotage and hacking activities against the country’s military and civilian infrastructure.

Former cybersecurity executive Peter Williams stole several surveillance and hacking tools and sold them for $1.3 million to a Russian broker that works with Putin’s government.

The initial set of files housed on the site will include those containing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire U.S. government. The materials have been reviewed for security purposes, but many have "not yet been analyzed for resolution of any anomalies," the Department's statement read.