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Amentum Team Brings All the LEGOs Together
Written by: Rich Cooper
Jason Bollinger (Photo Credit: Amentum) Every mode of transportation brings many different pieces together if it is to go far. But what about when all the pieces come from different countries, suppliers and manufacturers? And what about when the Moon is the destination? Who puts all of it together?
Jason Bollinger and NASA’s Space Launch System (Photo Credit: Amentum)
Meet Jason Bollinger, a third-generation space veteran who works as the director of Enterprise Support Operations for Amentum’s Space Operations Division. When asked what his job is with the Artemis II mission, rather than falling into engineer speak, he cuts to the chase, “My team and I bring all the LEGO® pieces together.”
When all of the assembled LEGOs are 322 feet tall and produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust, there has to be a lot of attention to detail.
In discussing the responsibilities that he and his teammates shoulder as part of the Artemis mission team, Bollinger explained, “Amentum is the last touch for the crew and the vehicle.”
It was Amentum personnel who assisted the four-person Artemis II crew into the Orion capsule, got them buckled up, sealed the capsule door and finished the close-out checks at the launchpad.
When the close-out crew left pad 39B, it really was a full-circle moment for Bollinger and his team. Amentum puts the SLS vehicle together in the legendary Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and then places it on top of the Mobile Launcher for the crawler to take it on its 3-mile trek to the launchpad.
New Amentum Employees Need These Traits
When hiring new personnel, Bollinger knows exactly what Amentum needs when it comes to having the skills to become a team member for such a complex vehicle.
“We prioritize three things: work ethic, integrity and love of mission,” he said. “Everything builds on that.”
It also applies to the employee training that Amentum requires for its employees. Amentum has partnerships with Eastern Florida State College and other institutions, Bollinger explained, which provide between 1,500 and 2,000 certifications required for employees to work on their projects. That includes skills training from welding and cryogenics to crane operations and other calibrations.
“A lot of what we do is unique and taught on site,” Bollinger said. “Depending on the job, it may take a person three to 18 months of training before they can do a particular assignment.”
That’s why their three hiring priorities are so important.
“We cannot lose focus,” he said. “Everyone has to do their job at the highest level if we are going to be successful.”
Three Generations Dedicated to Space
When asked what his favorite moment was in the entire assembly process, with a smile Bollinger sat back, looked up and with his arms open and extended above him, he described standing under the mobile crawler with the entire SLS stack hovering above him for placement. “It was simply awesome!”
He also described the honor and the personal history of that moment. Bollinger’s grandfather worked at Cape Canaveral (now Kennedy Space Center) during the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and early space shuttle years.
His father followed in those footsteps by working through the three decades of the shuttle era. And as part of the Artemis era, Bollinger is part of a new era of history-making spaceflights.
“It’s a passion for love of mission,” he said.
One that comes with lots of assembly, LEGOs and all required.
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