Metis employee Patrick Viruel was recognized with the prestigious Space Flight Awareness (SFA) Team Award as a member of the Aerospace Testing and Facilities Operation and Maintenance (ATOM) contract led by Jacobs Engineering. 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!
NASA’s SFA Program recognizes civil service and contractor employees for outstanding job performance and contribution to human spaceflight safety and mission success.
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