CLEVELAND — Fourteen NASA employees and contractor personnel recently received the Silver Snoopy Award at a ceremony held at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The Ares I-X Upper Stage Purge and Hazardous Gas Detection Systems team was also honored with the Space Flight Awareness Award.
Astronaut and Ohio native Sunita Williams presented this year’s awards. Williams set the record in 2007 for the longest spaceflight by a woman, after spending 195 days in orbit during her mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts give the Silver Snoopy Award annually to individuals who display the highest achievements in dedication to quality in human spaceflight safety.
Glenn Silver Snoopy Award winners are:
Robert Brock, software engineer for ZIN Technologies, Inc., was recognized for excellent technical leadership to ensure the Fluids and Combustion Facility was successfully completed for safe and reliable operation on the International Space Station. Brock resides in Cleveland Heights.
Michael W. Capelety, quality assurance specialist, was recognized for his outstanding leadership in the approval of the Fluids and Combustion Facility bound for the International Space Station. Capelety ensured all hardware met NASA standards vital to the successful operation of spaceflight hardware. Capelety resides in Grafton.
Joyce A. Dever, materials engineer, was recognized for outstanding leadership developing test and calibration practices to simulate space solar ultraviolet exposure. She led studies of ultraviolet effects on materials and coatings, and her research results supported several NASA missions. Dever resides in Westlake.
Dr. Walter Duval, project scientist, was recognized for his outstanding contributions for the Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures Experiment (CSLM). The importance of the CSLM experiment is its potential to provide new physics that can be incorporated into design codes used by major companies to improve the development of alloy systems that will impact our manufacturing capability of materials used in jet turbine blades, automobiles and suspension bridges. Duval is a resident of Lakewood.
Catherine A. Frey, payload integration/operations engineer, ZIN Technologies Inc., was honored for exceptional support of Binary Colloidal Alloy Tests and Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures Payloads. Frey trained forty astronauts to perform these experiments on the International Space Station and was integral in their completion. Frey resides in Medina.
Robert D. Green, project scientist, was recognized for his outstanding contributions on the Capillary Flow Experiments conducted in the maintenance work area aboard the International Space Station. Green resides in North Olmsted.
Dr. DeVon Griffin, project manager, was recognized for his outstanding contributions in developing spaceflight medical hardware and computational simulations of human physiology to ensure the health and safety of crew members during long duration exploration missions. Griffin resides in Medina.
Michael D. Herlacher, electrical engineer for the Analex Corporation, was recognized for his exceptional contribution on the development of an automated testing and reporting process that significantly improved Electromagnetic Compatibility verification. Herlacher resides in Avon Lake.
Dr. Jerry G. Myers Jr., deputy project manager, was recognized for outstanding technical leadership on the Integrated Medical Model (IMM). The IMM forecasts health risks associated with specific missions, equipment and consumables that impact crew health. Myers resides in Valley City.
Scott A. Numbers, space shuttle quality audit manager, was recognized for his outstanding contributions in Supplier Assurance for the Space Shuttle Program which led to improved hardware and supplier quality awareness for the shuttle program. Numbers resides in Macedonia.
Paul J. Passe, systems engineer for the Analex Corporation was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the Acoustical Testing Laboratory that enabled effective and efficient acoustic emissions verification testing on a broad range of space flight payloads. Passe resides in Hinckley.
Chip Redding, mechanical designer, was recognized for his contribution to design concepts for advancing NASA space flight capabilities. His work included developing the solid model concepts for the crew seating safety on the Crew Exploration Vehicle. Redding resides in Lakewood.
Sherice L. Sampson, bonded storage technician for Sierra Lobo, Inc., received the award for her exceptional support of several large and small research projects which were delivered for deployment and flown on the International Space Station. Sampson resides in Maple Heights.
Edward J. Zampino, aerospace engineer, was rewarded for exceptional leadership of the Reliability and Maintainability engineering on NASA Fluids and Combustion Facility Project. Zampino resides in Seven Hills.
The “Silver Snoopy” is awarded to only the top 1% of qualified spaceflight employees. Each honoree received a sterling silver pin in the form of Snoopy, the “Peanuts” cartoon character outfitted in a space helmet and spacesuit, a certificate and a letter of commendation signed by Williams citing the appreciation of the astronaut corps for the recipients’ outstanding performance.
Space Flight Awareness Award Honorees
Members of Glenn’s Ares I-X Upper Stage Purge and Hazardous Gas Detection Systems received the Space Flight Awareness Award for their outstanding contributions, dedication and development of preliminary designs for these flight-critical systems.
The team includes NASA employees: Carol M. Tolbert of Cleveland Heights, Bruce J. Frankenfield of Lakewood, Karen S. Edwards of North Ridgeville, Joseph S. Powell of Wellington, Chip Redding of Lakewood, Louis A. Spinelli of Avon, and Eric D. Baumann and Ted Tin of Fairview Park. NASA contract personnel include: Analex Corporation employees Marian F. Cronin of Strongsville, Robert J. Kocsis of Copley and Emily R. Owens of Strongsville; N&R Engineering staff Richard A. Blech of Strongsville and Jan Swider of Simi Valley Calif.; Science Application International Corporation personnel: Patrick F. Cleary of Strongsville and Maria A. Havenhill of Olmsted Falls; Mark E. Stewart of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation from Westlake; and John C. Zang of Plum Brook Operations Group from Sandusky.
Glenn Research Center is designing the purge system and hazardous gas detection systems for the crew launch vehicle upper stage. The systems operate in the instrument unit, the aft skirt, the thrust cone and the interstage. The purge system provides a noncombustible, thermally conditioned environment to compartment interior volumes. It also provides directed cooling flow to avionics and other systems. The hazardous gas detection system samples the compartments to ensure hazardous gas levels are not reached.
Photographs are available upon request.
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