Not All (HEO) Heroes Wear Capes
Capes are decidedly missing from all the portraits lining Douglas Loverro’s Twitter feed highlighting who he believes are Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) HEROs, but all those selected for the recognition have one thing in common: pride.
Whether it’s pride in their work supporting the Artemis program directly or indirectly facilitating the success of human space exploration as NASA counts down to a Moon landing, Loverro, who recently joined NASA as associate administrator for the HEO Mission Directorate, is keenly aware of the shifting puzzle pieces involved in pulling off the agency’s next giant leap. Those puzzle pieces are controlled by people at NASA centers around the country, and Loverro is calling out their contributions in a poignant way.
“The strength and success of our team is largely because of the contributions of individual HEO HEROs making it happen every day,” Loverro said. “As you may know, I wear a special lapel pin every day with the number of days left to meet the president’s challenge for NASA to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by the end of 2024. When I was sworn in at NASA Headquarters on Dec. 2, the number on my pin was 1,856.”
As those numbers diminish, the pressure is on to orchestrate a new entry for the history books — and social media, of course. But Loverro wanted a tangible way to recognize the HEO members going above and beyond every day to get the job done. Enter: the “I made it happen” pin. On Jan. 6, he began presenting them to selected team members. While currently only civil servants are eligible for the award, the next phase will include NASA contractors and suppliers — a notable force in making spaceflight a reality.
At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, two women recently received the honor. Lara Kearney (day 1,797) and Beverly Yell (day 1,786) both have “I made it happen” pins of their own.
“It was a big honor to be recognized by Mr. Loverro as the HEO HErO for the admin duties, as well as other duties assigned in support of the Orion program,” said Yell, executive assistant to the Orion program. “I am excited to be part of this awesome team and to have a major contribution as the property custodian, accepting and transferring Orion spacecraft hardware between the NASA centers and the contractor and international partners. I’m also looking forward to the first Artemis 1 uncrewed flight test around the Moon, the first in a series of progressively more complex missions ultimately meeting the goal.”
Kearney, meanwhile, has the Moon very obviously in her future as deputy manager of the Gateway program. But she also understands that the program is much more than one person, or even hundreds.
“Receiving the ‘I made it happen’ pin is really special, because it recognizes the little things that people do every day,” Kearney said. “The little things are hugely important, and it will take every one of us, all working together, to get back to the Moon.”
Kearney enjoys seeing everyone at the center come together for a common goal. “Our industry thrives on challenges, and we are at our very best when we are given big goals. It’s fun and energizing to watch everyone step up with a ‘can-do’ attitude. Those of us working on Artemis get the amazing benefit of being able to incorporate lessons learned from the other programs, like the International Space Station and Commercial Crew Program, and all of the expertise in the supporting institutional organizations. Even if you are not working directly on Artemis, your work has laid the foundation that will make Artemis successful.”
And whether or not you end up semi-famous on Loverro’s Twitter feed,
one thing is for certain: All our actions and efforts add up, even as the
numbers count down.
