NASA Tech Talks

Description

In these presentations, occurring the fourth Thursdays of the month, Mr. Montgomery Goforth and other aerospace subject matter experts will discuss the technology development challenges faced by NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the surrounding Aerospace community in our ongoing efforts as the hub of human spaceflight. Presentations will focus on the ways in which these challenges, and the associated opportunities, can be leveraged by Houston’s innovation community.

During the Thursday January 26 presentation, Raymond Wagner will discuss leveraging Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for ultra-long lived wireless sensors, the technology developed, and examples of in-space and terrestrial applications which may provide opportunities for commercialization. (RFID technology is widely used for terrestrial logistics, and NASA has begun extensively using it on the International Space Station (ISS) to support inventory monitoring and tracking. While RFID primarily provides a mechanism for a small, battery-less tag to report its identification only using power received from an RFID interrogator, protocol extensions allow for the inclusion of other information, such as sensor data, as well. Using this capability, we have developed a store-and-forward overlay to allow Internet-of-things (IoT)-style wireless sensors to use the EPC Global Class 1 Generation 2 RFID protocol as their data transmission mechanism. This gives the wireless sensor a radio that it can essentially use “for free” from the standpoint of its own power budget and significantly opens up the design space for ultra-long lived wireless sensors.

Past NASA Tech Talks have included : Montgomery B. Goforth discussing NASA Intellectual Property suitable for commercialization by small/start-up companies. Future NASA Tech Talks will include: dual-use (space/terrestrial) technologies in the areas of:

• Avionics / Communication / Sensors
• Power Storage and Distribution
• Autonomous & Robotics Systems
• Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) Systems
• Virtual/Augmented Reality in Human Spaceflight Training & Execution
• Human Health & Performance / Human Systems Research

About the Speakers

Raymond Wagner leads the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) technology development effort infusing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based, ultra-low power wireless sensors into spaceflight applications. In addition, he serves as the chief technologist of the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program 5G project office and the deputy chair of the NASA 3GPP Working Group. He also serves as the Data Standards Manager at JSC and represents the center at the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). In that role, he has led the CCSDS effort for standardization of 3GPP in spaceflight applications. He has B.S.E.E., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Rice University in Houston, TX.

Montgomery B. Goforth serves as the Assistant Director, Strategic Pursuits & Partnerships - Engineering Directorate, NASA JSC.

Mr. Goforth has more than 30 years of experience as both Engineer and Manager in a variety of highly technical space and defense-related efforts. He joined NASA in 1990 as part of the Mission Operations Directorate, working on planning systems and automated procedure execution tools for the International Space Station (ISS). He became Deputy Project Manager for the Portable Computer System, the laptop used for command and control of the ISS, in 1996, and ultimately became Chief of the Branch responsible for all laptops onboard ISS and the Space Shuttle.

In 2002 he moved to the ISS Avionics and Software Office as Manager of the Flight Software Development Office and later served as Chief Engineer. During 2005 he spent several months at NASA Headquarters working in the Robotics Lunar Exploration Program. In 2006 he joined the Constellation Program as Chief of Avionics and Software Test and Verification and became Chief of the Software and Avionics Integration Office in 2007. In this role he was responsible for leading a large nation-wide Systems Engineering & Integration (SE&I) organization which provided program-level coordination, oversight, integration and management of the system-of-systems avionics and software, including the coordination of integrated modeling and simulation and test activities across the Constellation program and the technical integration of Constellation’s Command, Control, Communications, and Information (C3I) architecture.

In 2011, he joined the Avionic Systems Division to support their Strategic Planning and Partnership efforts. In 2015, he moved onto Engineering Directorate Staff to support Strategic Pursuits and Partnerships. In this role, he put together a framework to better focus Engineering’s efforts towards Human Spaceflight technology and systems development consistent with JSC and Agency goals for exploration. This framework guides Engineering’s internal investments and external partnerships supporting Lunar and Mars Exploration.

Mr. Goforth was born in East Texas, raised in Southern California and Arizona, and graduated from Rice University (BSME 1982, MSME 1987). Prior to coming to Johnson Space Center, he was employed by a small defense contractor specializing in anti-submarine warfare.

Parking Instructions

Visitor Parking Lot: Enter 4200 Fannin Street into your GPS for directions directly to the visitor parking lot, located in front of The Ion building. Overflow Parking Instructions: Enter 4203 Fannin Street into your GPS for directions directly to this parking lot, located across the street from The Ion building.