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NASA Glenn’s AeroSpace Frontiers Newsletter Takes a Bow

NASA Glenn’s AeroSpace Frontiers Newsletter Takes a Bow

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Since April 1999, the AeroSpace Frontiers (AF) newsletter has shared information monthly on NASA Glenn Research Center’s people, projects, and progress. If you were looking for news on any of these topics, there was a good chance you could read all about them in AF each month.

The newsletter has evolved in the last 26 years, changing with the times, to improve how and when we communicate with our audiences. From updating the hard copy layout to offering the issue online, we adjusted and enhanced AF to meet our customers’ needs.

As methods of sharing news and information are now available that allow us to reach you sooner, we are shifting our focus to these platforms and discontinuing our monthly newsletter. This September issue will be our last.

We hope you’ll stay connected with us through our official website and social media channels: Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. We thank you for your readership!

Before closing, we want to celebrate and reflect on the newsletter’s remarkable tenure (and interesting names) over the years.

Credit: NASA

The Story Behind the Name: A Look Back

While the center published a newsletter continually (with a brief pause in the early 1960s) since its opening in 1942, its name, layout, and content evolved over the decades. It began in 1942 as Wing Tips, an internal biweekly newsletter, and was later renamed Orbit in October 1958 as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics transitioned to NASA. In 1961, the center paused the newsletter’s publication to focus its resources on the early space program.

The publication reemerged in 1964 as Lewis News and expanded to a larger newsletter format in 1969, in conjunction with the Apollo 11 Moon landing. This format continued until 1995, when Lewis News moved to a monthly schedule with expanded, but physically smaller, issues as part of an overall effort to reduce spending.

Then, in 1999 – prior to the center being renamed NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center – employees and center management were surveyed for a new newsletter title that would not be tied to future changes in research activities or center names. The group selected AeroSpace Frontiers to represent the modernization of the newsletter’s appearance and its expanded subject matter. It was now a monthly news magazine that included a variety of graphics and photographs, as well as additional content that addressed audiences beyond the center.

About Our Amazing Editor

Portrait of editor Doreen Zudell, taken in 1990 at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. At that time, the center newsletter was known as Lewis News.

Credit: NASA 

Doreen Zudell has served as the editor of AeroSpace Frontiers (AF) since the first issue in 1999 and has been a driving force behind the publication ever since. In addition to writing and editing stories each month, she also has navigated many format changes over the years.

A woman takes notes on a large pad of paper as she faces a man wearing glasses and a tan suit. They stand in an indoor office space, and the man clutches a laptop in his left hand.

Editor Doreen Zudell interviews NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland in 2019.

Credit: NASA/Marvin Smith

“We appreciate Doreen’s knowledge, experience, and passion for sharing Glenn’s news and accomplishments with AF readers,” said NASA Glenn Office of Communications Director Kristen Parker. “Her compassion, journalistic flair, and dedication to putting employees’ needs first is evident in everything she does.”