Janet Petro, Director, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Invest: spoke to Janet Petro, the director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, about the center’s activities over the last two years, missions to come, and the array of technologies being developed there to support the future of human deep space exploration.
What are the strategic goals for the Kennedy Space Center, and how do they align with NASA’s broader mission objectives?
We are closely aligned with the agency’s objectives. Our moon-to-Mars and deep space exploration goals are prominent in our priorities. We also have workforce and climate goals, but I will focus on the deep space exploration goals of the moon and Mars. The agency has a rigorous process, an architectural concept review, that talks about how we’re going to go back to the moon, what we’re going to do there, and then how we’re going to go on to Mars from there. Here at Kennedy, we are the agency’s primary launch site, and we developed a strategy that aligns with all of those agency objectives. As Earth’s premier spaceport, our launch tempo and cadence have increased exponentially over the last couple of years. We have several programs that directly support the agency’s moon to Mars objectives. Artemis I had a successful launch and landing in 2022, for example.
We have our Exploration Ground Systems program that integrates and tests NASA’s Space Launch System rocket along with the Orion spacecraft and the ground systems needed for launch. We also launch that vehicle, and we recover the spacecraft and crew after splashdown. That’s one huge program we do here, and to do that, you can imagine all of the infrastructure and the ground systems needed to support everything, from processing in the Vehicle Assembly Building to launching off of Pad 39B and conducting the recovery in the Pacific Ocean.
Another example, our Deep Space Logistics program will provide logistics to the Gateway, a planned lunar orbiting outpost around the moon. We think of it as an orbital laboratory similar to the space station. It’ll be orbiting around the moon and will provide a destination for astronauts, logistics, and supplies. In future missions, astronauts can dock to the Gateway, take a lander to the moon, and then return to that orbiting station. Eventually, that outpost will support trips to Mars. From a strategic perspective, Kennedy is posturing to help NASA reach these moon to Mars goals in various other ways such as developing technologies to support life in deep space, including ways to grow fresh food in space and build habitats using resources available on the moon.
What are some updates on the Space Launch System (SLS) program and its significance for the future of deep space exploration?
I mentioned Artemis I, which was uncrewed and launched successfully in November 2022. Our Artemis II mission is coming up next year, in the fall of 2025. The four-person international crew will orbit the moon before returning to Earth. To prepare for that launch, we are now installing many life and crew support systems on our ground systems, such as the emergency egress system off the tower and the crew access arm that allows the crew to walk into the Orion Capsule before we launch it into space.
Then Artemis III will be the exciting one. It will have four crew members as well, and two will go down to the lunar surface. We will rely on both international and commercial partners for these missions. For example, we have SpaceX with their Starship and Blue Origin with their New Glenn rocket to support the Human Landing System for the moon. After arriving at the Gateway in lunar orbit, the crew will use the Human Landing System to transit to the lunar surface and back to Gateway. When it’s time to come home, the astronauts will board Orion for their trip back to Earth. It’s complicated because different vehicles need to rendezvous in deep space. These missions will be exciting for the nation. There was tremendous excitement around Artemis I, and when you put a crew back on that vehicle, you get even more excitement.
When we talk about deep space exploration, some say, didn’t we already do that during the Apollo program? There are three pillars to why NASA wants to remain in this deep exploration endeavor. It first starts with science. If you add up all the astronauts’ time during the Apollo program and all those missions, it was less than 30 days on the surface. The lunar samples of rocks they brought back were super-interesting, and they still have scientists performing research on them today. This time, we want to go back to the lunar surface sustainably. We have so much more to learn.
National posture is the second pillar. NASA wants to retain leadership in space. The United States, like during the Apollo years, is considered the leader in space. It was a race to get there before the Soviet Union, and we want to retain that national leadership in space. Natural posture is important for us as a nation as we explore deeper into space with our international partners. Part of that leadership is working to encourage all nations to follow the key principles of the Artemis Accords, such as peaceful exploration, transparency, deconflicting activities, sharing scientific data, and the like, so space exploration benefits all.
Finally, inspiration is the third pillar. Many students and people in the United States and worldwide are inspired and excited by what we can do as we explore deep into our universe and in deep space. Inspiring the next generation to become scientists, engineers, and researchers is good for the future of our agency and the nation. I can’t think of a more inspirational agency than NASA.
How have partnerships with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin transformed the operations and objectives at Kennedy Space Center?
We’ve undergone a huge transformation over the last decade with the end of the Space Shuttle program. Kennedy Space Center had been an all-government operation. The post-shuttle vision for Kennedy was to become a multi-user spaceport. Today, we have a robust and vibrant spaceport. As evidence of that, a good year in the past might have been six to eight launches a year from the Space Coast. In 2022, we had 57 launches, including Artemis I. Last year, we had 72, and this year, we are projected to have over 100 launches from NASA and Space Force properties.
Through our center’s master planning process, we have created opportunities for private companies to optimize their business processes by moving some of their manufacturing and production closer to the launch site. We have enabled them to develop large campuses on or around our property. We are the place to come and operate.
I also have to mention our world-class visitor complex. It is a mecca for anybody who’s a space geek or the least interested in space to come and visit. I promise it will be a great day.
What are some of the Space Center’s most groundbreaking technological innovations in development or being utilized?
We have a couple of technologies flying on some early missions to the lunar surface. We are working on MSOLO, PRIME, and VIPER, which will help us find and extract water ice to use on the moon. We’re excited about that.
Another one is electrostatic dust repelling technology. The dust was a big problem during the Apollo missions. It’s called regolith on the lunar surface – it’s lunar dust. It’s very abrasive and has a static charge, so it would stick to the suits and jam up the Rovers’ wheels. Our teams have worked on this electrodynamic dust shield technology, which repels the dust to protect our astronauts and their equipment.
We also have a lot of people who are excited about our plant research. In sending crops up to the International Space Station, we’re learning how to grow food in microgravity. We have the control plant habitats here that mirror the research happening on the International Space Station. We do a lot of research and experiments on what plants need to grow, with the goal that our astronauts can get fresh food and additional nutrients while living and working in space for these long, deep space exploration missions.
