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<\/a><\/figure>Whittington is part of the NASA Exploration Systems Simulations (NExSyS) team, which develops physics-based simulations to evaluate various vehicles and mission concepts. Her role includes working with lunar and Mars architecture teams within NASA\u2019s Strategy and Architecture Office to assess current and potential future elements of vehicle design, logistics, and planning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOur simulations help inform engineers, astronauts, and managers about the new, challenging environments that await us on the Moon and Mars,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
One of the most challenging and rewarding projects she is working on is the Artemis Distributed Simulation. \u201cNExSyS develops and maintains several individual simulations such as rovers, landers, and habitats. However, human exploration on other planetary bodies requires careful integration and coordination of these individual pieces,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The distributed simulation brings those pieces together to enable agency teams to envision a complete Artemis mission to the lunar surface. Different elements can be added or removed to create a wide variety of scenarios. The simulation can run automatically with predetermined settings or be responsive to real-time and randomized changes. Participants can operate the team\u2019s video walls, mock-up mission control console, virtual reality platforms, and lander piloting facility to interact together within the chosen Artemis mission scenario.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\u201cI am very proud to know that the simulations I help develop have impacted some of the decisions being made by NASA\u2019s architecture teams,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
She is excited to take on a new responsibility, as well. Whittington recently became project manager of the JSC Engineering Orbital Dynamics software package. Also known as JEOD, this open-source tool was created by NASA to model spacecraft trajectories, such as proposed flight paths for a lunar lander. JEOD calculates gravitational and other environmental forces acting on spacecraft to simulate the position and orientation of those vehicles over time, whether they are orbiting a cosmic body or traveling between planets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Whittington\u2019s family moved frequently during her childhood, calling five different states home as she grew up. Their time in Florida would have a life-long impact.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents drove me and my sister across the state to visit NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. It was mesmerizing, awe-inspiring, and seemingly a whole different world from where my 8-year-old self thought I was living,\u201d she said. Her love of space never waned, and a high school physics teacher encouraged her to study aerospace engineering in college. \u201cThat was the turning point when I realized space exploration didn\u2019t have to stay in my dreams \u2013 it was a career field I could actually work in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Whittington took her teacher\u2019s advice, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She also completed two internships at Johnson through the Universities Space Research Association and interned with a NASA contractor after graduation. While pursuing a master\u2019s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue, Whittington was accepted to NASA\u2019s Pathways Program and did two rotations with the Simulation and Graphics Branch before joining the team as a full-time employee in June 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n