Summary
NASA's Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, swore in 51 new civil servants on August 10, 2026, including Fletcher Newell, who grew up in Grafton and developed an early interest in space and programming. Newell, a Stanford graduate with a focus on AI and machine learning, had previously interned at the IV&V facility and now works as a systems engineer on mission safety and security.