Columbus Technologies and Services, Inc.

Columbus is honored to receive the 2021 Jacobs Supplier Excellence Award for outstanding support and dedication to excellence in service to the Jacobs Space Exploration Group at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. We are especially appreciative of our expert staff at NASA MSFC and our dedicated program management office who made this possible.

Columbus CEO Ajay Handa presents Technical Excellence Awards to Columbus Employees Mahima Kaushik and Ralph Casasanta for their exceptional technical support of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission and the Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) respectively, as recognized by Columbus customers on the GSMO-2 and its follow-on GSMO-3 contracts.

📩 We are hiring!

Your military skills, experience and work ethic make you an exceptional candidate. We are actively recruiting candidates with security clearances for positions with NASA, NOAA, NIH, DoD and large defense contractors.

Please send resumes to [email protected]

Our employee Cynthia Parker is doing great and meaningful work at NIH.

She says "My work on HPTN 094 focuses on the opioid crisis. I believe that there is an immediate need to establish a better standard of care to reach this population and I am proud to be a part of this study."

Perseverance successfully gathered a sample the size of a piece of chalk from a different rock, late last year. The team concluded that the first rock they had chosen was so crumbly that the rover’s percussive drill likely pulverized it.

Learn more: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/testing-rocks-on-earth-to-help-nasas-perseverance-work-on-mars

Testing Rocks on Earth to Help NASA’s Perseverance Work on Mars Using carefully selected terrestrial rocks, engineers try to figure out how to work with crumbly rocks like the one the rover encountered on its first sampling attempt.

Sofia Getachew, an employee supporting the NIH, recently won the Distinguished Achievement Award for preparing and submitting packages for a variety of important projects, such as the Postbac IRTA Renewal, Staff Clinician Renewal, and Summer Student Internship packages, to name a few.

We are proud to be supporting NASA JPL on the Europa Clipper mission!

One of our employees, William Daley, received the 2021 NINDS Director's Above and Beyond Award for their contributions to the project.

They have supported with the writing of cluster-related FOAs in the stroke and cerebrovascular portfolios; and reviewed scientific progress for ongoing grant awards.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has notched up a slew of firsts since touching down on Mars one year ago, on Feb. 18, 2021, and the six-wheeled scientist has other important accomplishments in store as it speeds toward its new destination and a new science campaign.

Learn more: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-celebrates-first-year-on-mars-by-learning-to-run

NASA’s Perseverance Celebrates First Year on Mars by Learning to Run The rover has racked up a series of accomplishments, including new distance records, as it reaches the end of the first of several planned science campaigns on the Red Planet.

Our employee Karen Olsen won the 2021 NIH Director's Award. She believes that her single most important contribution during her NIH tenure has been helping disseminate information about the NIH RADx (for Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics) initiative, which has helped to speed the development and commercialization of diagnostic tests for COVID-19.

One of our employees, Tatjana Atanasijevic, was recognized with the Mentorship Achievement NIBIB Director’s Award recently.

When asked what was the most satifsying part of their job, they said: "Being able to advance science and helping people. Also, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, being able to contribute to the fight against the disease by being involved and making
funding recommendations for various NIBIB-funded projects in this area."

If you are looking for a chance to be part of historic projects that shape the future of Space Exploration, Medicine and National Security, Columbus is for you!

📩 We are hiring! Visit the link below to view all job openings.

https://careers.columbususa.com

Columbus Careers Columbus Careers

Over the last month 6 months, Bin Guan has continued to manage diagnostics testing at the Ophthalmic Genomics Laboratory (OGL) at NEI. They have several publications accepted and submitted, and have also been preparing multiple manuscripts for publications.

Bin Guan was recognized with the National Eye Institute (NEI) Director's Award, 2021.

After analyzing powdered rock samples collected from the surface of Mars by NASA’s Curiosity rover, scientists have announced that several of the samples are rich in a type of carbon that on Earth is associated with biological processes.

Learn More: http://ow.ly/vQ8S50HKoLC

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Measures Intriguing Carbon Signature on Mars The type of carbon is associated with biological processes on Earth. Curiosity scientists offer several explanations for the unusual carbon signals.

One of our employees, Linnea Lundh, has been involved in several ongoing research projects related to oculocutaneous albinism and other pigment-related disorders with the Human Biochemical Genetics Section of the NHGRI. In addition, they have been working with clinicians and scientists in the Undiagnosed Diseases Program to support laboratory clinical operations. This includes properly handling, labeling, processing, and storing research bio-specimens.

Have you ever wondered... What is the weather like on Mars?

The team at NASA JPL created a short video last year that shares exactly this information.

Watch here: http://ow.ly/60Ai50HosCf

How’s the Weather on Mars? (NASA Mars Report for November 15, 2021) Seasons change even on Mars and NASA's fleet of explorers are helping scientists learn more about the effects on the Red Planet. NASA's Perseverance and Curi...

The 17th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on Dec. 5 pushed the total flight time past the 30-minute mark.

This is a huge accomplishment for the team at NASA JPL. At Columbus, we are very proud to be supporting this mission.

http://ow.ly/OaWt50HosvW

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Reaches a Total of 30 Minutes Aloft With its recent 17th flight, the Red Planet rotorcraft reaches an airborne milestone the team never considered achievable. Its 18th flight is scheduled for no earlier than today.

The Mars 2020 team has discovered that the bedrock the Rover has been driving on is likely formed from red-hot magma. The discovery helps understand and accurately date critical events in the history of Jezero Crater – as well as the rest of the planet.

http://ow.ly/Mgmp50Hosqa

NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Makes Surprising Discoveries The findings by rover scientists highlight the diversity of samples geologists and future scientists associated with the agency’s Mars Sample Return program will have to study.

We are proud to be supporting NASA JPL on the Mars 2020 mission.

Engineers have been developing the crucial hardware needed for a series of daring space missions that will be carried out in the coming decade.

http://ow.ly/7nT150Hosg4

NASA Begins Testing Robotics to Bring First Samples Back From Mars Engineers are developing the crucial hardware needed for a series of daring space missions that will be carried out in the coming decade.

A new video from NASA JPL looks back on the six-wheeled scientist’s first 10 months on the Red Planet and all that it’s accomplished so far.

Learn more: http://ow.ly/4I3I50Hos7p

Biggest Moments on Mars: NASA’s Perseverance Rover 2021 Year in Review A new video looks back on the six-wheeled scientist’s first 10 months on the Red Planet and all that it’s accomplished so far.

For Jupiter’s moon Europa, scientists have some big questions. That's why the Europa Clipper will carry a suite of instruments more advanced and sensitive than anything that’s ever explored this Jovian moon before.

Learn more about these instruments here: http://ow.ly/JHpW50H01Xl

Instruments | Spacecraft – NASA's Europa Clipper Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. NASA’s Europa Clipper will determine if this ocean world has environments suitable for life to exist.

A radiation sensor aboard the spacecraft is providing new data on the health risks humans would face on the surface.

Learn more: http://ow.ly/J7Ya50H01Vj

How NASA’s Curiosity Rover Is Making Mars Safer for Astronauts A radiation sensor aboard the spacecraft is providing new data on the health risks humans would face on the surface.

If you are looking for a chance to be part of historic projects that shape the future of Space Exploration, Medicine and National Security, Columbus is for you!

📩 We are hiring! Visit the link below to view all job openings.

https://careers.columbususa.com

Finding plumes at Europa is an exciting prospect, but scientists warn it’ll be tricky, even from up close.

We are proud to be supporting the Europa Clipper mission.

http://ow.ly/6y3U50H01EC

Are Water Plumes Spraying From Europa? NASA’s Europa Clipper Is on the Case Finding plumes at Europa is an exciting prospect, but scientists warn it’ll be tricky, even from up close.

An artistic interpretation of Curiosity’s view high up on a Martian mountain was created by mission team members who were stunned by the sweeping landscape.

View here: http://ow.ly/WGFT50H01BY

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Sends a Picture Postcard From Mars An artistic interpretation of Curiosity’s view high up on a Martian mountain was created by mission team members who were stunned by the sweeping landscape.

Video footage from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s 13th flight on Sept. 4 provides the most detailed look yet of the rotorcraft in action.

Watch here: http://ow.ly/B7M750H01B6

NASA’s Perseverance Captures Challenging Flight by Mars Helicopter Recently downlinked imagery of a September flight has allowed the rover imaging team to put together a video of rotorcraft performing to near-perfection.

OPTIMISM, the full-scale engineering model of Perseverance, begins a series of rigorous tests to assess the risk of potential driving hazards on the surface of the Red Planet.

Learn more: http://ow.ly/QlQ050H01yV

Twin of NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover Begins Terrain Tests OPTIMISM, the full-scale engineering model of Perseverance, begins a series of rigorous tests to assess the risk of potential driving hazards on the surface of the Red Planet.

At the holiday season, our thoughts turn gratefully to our employees who have made Columbus’ success possible. The endless hours that you have spent working inspire us, and we are thankful for you!

We hope that you have a wonderful time with your loved ones, eat to your heart’s content and take a break from working so hard for a little while.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Columbus family!