Q&A with Gateway: Meet Rose Mustain, Information Management and Solutions Lead for the Gateway Program
The Gateway, an outpost orbiting the Moon and vital part of NASA’s Artemis program, is built with sound engineering and operational principles that will serve as a staging point for deep space exploration and model for future missions to Mars. As the information management and solutions lead, NASA Johnson Space Center-based Rose Mustain is responsible for Gateway security, Information Technology systems, meeting support, and configuration and data management.
Keep reading to learn more about Rose Mustain, below!
What does your office do for the Gateway program?
Our team provides secure Information Technology solutions and procedures to accomplish the work done by the Gateway team members. The team establishes and maintains the Gateway technical baseline, runs Gateway team collaboration websites, evaluates the security of systems, and coordinates the program’s meetings.
What are you most excited to share about Gateway and what it will do for human exploration as part of the Artemis program?
Exploration and discovery always foster learning. I am excited to see what we discover about our technologies and ourselves. Before the first Moon landing, there were no cell phones, microwaves, or compact (laptop) computers. I was 2 when the United States landed on the Moon, and I have seen technology mature and evolve over the years. I cannot wait to see what the next phase of space exploration presents to humanity.
How has your personal background influenced your work in the Gateway program?
My mother still influences my work at NASA. She loved NASA and would always call me when something amazing like Hubble or tragic like Columbia occurred. While she passed away in 2018, she loved learning about our universe and the technology that propelled us to explore, even though she had a hard time understanding the purpose of social media.
Having been at NASA for over 30 years now, I have seen the evolution of data storage, from paper-based documentation and rooms full of file cabinets to cloud-based technology, and I have seen how people have reacted to those changes. Some embraced it and quickly learned about it (like Momma), while others fought it and thought it was NASA’s downfall. In the end, we all changed.
Being surrounded by such a high-performing group of people, what is a great piece of advice you have learned?
Question all assumptions. We only learn by challenging what we “think” we know.
In line with JSC’s DARE | UNITE | EXPLORE, how do you see yourself fitting into the vision?
Everything the Information Management and Solutions team does fits the vision of JSC and NASA.
Dare to think digitally. We need to move from Word, PDF, and Excel files into the age of digital data. Data should be available for different groups to use when needed.
Unite information. Data is required for each phase of our development, and it is needed by team members for analysis, testing, and decision making. Our goal is to ensure accurate data is available to the right people at the right time.
Explore our own assumptions about how we do things. We should work together to question why we have done things the way we have and use that to improve procedures and decrease time to complete the program’s objectives.
More about you:
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Hampton, Virginia, the location of NASA’s oldest field center: Langley Research Center.
How long have you been at JSC?
I migrated from Langley Research Center to Johnson Space Center in March of 2006 to work for the Orion program.
Describe yourself in five words:
Problem-solver, learner, teacher, challenger, and devoted.
Favorite thing(s) to do to unwind:
Reading, walking, and taking care of our cows and chickens on our small farm.
How has the pandemic shaped your working style?
I think the biggest change for me has been listening to people’s voices or seeing the tiredness in their faces, and taking a few moments to ask them what’s going on or how they are doing. I spent about 20 minutes talking about dogs in one meeting because someone’s dog was ill. In another meeting, I talked to a person about their mother being diagnosed with dementia. That has always been difficult for me to do prior to the pandemic, as I felt I was intruding or might say the wrong thing. The pandemic has taught me to ask questions, shut up, and listen.
Tell us a fun fact about you.
My first job was working at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park as a Skee-Ball attendant. The park, owned by Smitty, was on the Chesapeake Bay. The Skee-Ball had wooden balls that contestants would roll for points to win stuffed animals and toys if they scored high. When no one was there, the three attendants would override the systems and play Skee-Ball. We would always get caught by the owner and say that the machine wasn’t working right, so we were fixing it. Smitty never bought it. He would take his cigar out of his mouth, smile and say, “Well, as long as you are working.”
At Johnson, we are laser-focused on the next: going forward to our lunar neighbor to build outposts in uncharted territory while revolutionizing the strategies and technologies that will eventually open up the universe. The Gateway is a critical component of the Artemis program and embodies Johnson's DARE | UNITE | EXPLORE vision: We dare to expand frontiers. We unite with our partners to complete bold missions. We explore space to benefit humanity.
DARE | UNITE | EXPLORE
