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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Drones were a key part of testing new technology in support of a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency’s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies. From left are Tim Wallace and Michael Filicchia of the Desert Research Institute in Nevada; Derek Abramson, Justin Hall, and Alexander Jaffe of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards California; and Alana Dachtler of International Met Systems of Kentwood, Michigan.NASA/Jackie Shuman Advancements in NASA’s airborne technology have made it possible to gather localized wind data and assess its impacts on smoke and fire behavior. This information could improve wildland fire decision making and enable operational agencies to better allocate firefighters and resources. A small team from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is demonstrating how some of these technologies work. Two instruments from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia – a sensor gathering 3D wind data and a radiosonde that measures temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity data – were installed on NASA Armstrong’s Alta X drone for a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency’s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies. “The objectives for the Alta X portion of the multi-agency prescribed burn include a technical demonstration for wildland fire practitioners, and data collection at various altitudes for the Alabama Forestry Commission operations,” said Jennifer Fowler, FireSense project manager. “Information gathered at the different altitudes is essential to monitor the variables for a prescribed burn.” Those variables include the mixing height, which is the extent or depth to which smoke will be dispersed, a metric Fowler said is difficult to predict. Humidity must also be above 30% for a prescribed burn. The technology to collect these measurements locally is not readily available in wildland fire operations, making the Alta X and its instruments key in the demonstration of prescribed burn technology. A drone from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, flies with a sensor to gather 3D wind data and a radiosonde that measures temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity data from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The drone and instruments supported a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama. The effort is part of the agency’s multi-year FireSense project, which is aimed at testing technologies that could eventually serve the U.S. Forest Service as well as local, state, and other federal wildland fire agencies.International Met Systems/Alana Dachtler In addition to the Alta X flights beginning March 25, NASA Armstrong’s B200 King Air will fly over actively burning fires at an altitude of about 6,500 feet. Sensors onboard other aircraft supporting the mission will fly at lower altitudes during the fire, and at higher altitudes before and after the fire for required data collection. The multi-agency mission will provide data to confirm and adjust the prescribed burn forecast model. Small, uncrewed aircraft system pilots from NASA Armstrong completed final preparations to travel to Alabama and set up for the research flights. The team – including Derek Abramson, chief engineer for the subscale flight research laboratory; Justin Hall, NASA Armstrong chief pilot of small, uncrewed aircraft systems; and Alexander Jaffe, a drone pilot – will set up, fly, observe airborne operations, all while keeping additional aircraft batteries charged. The launch and recovery of the Alta X is manual, the mission profile is flown autonomously to guarantee the same conditions for data collection. “The flight profile is vertical – straight up and straight back down from the surface to about 3,000 feet altitude,” Abramson said. “We will characterize the mixing height and changes in moisture, mapping out how they both change throughout the day in connection with the burn.” In August 2024, a team of NASA researchers used the NASA Langley Alta X and weather instruments in Missoula, Montana, for a FireSense project drone technology demonstration. These instruments were used to generate localized forecasting that provides precise and sustainable meteorological data to predict fire behavior and smoke impacts. Justin Link, left, pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, and Justin Hall, chief pilot for small uncrewed aircraft systems, install weather instruments on an Alta X drone at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Members of the center’s Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory used the Alta X to support the agency’s FireSense project in March 2025 for a prescribed burn in Geneva State Forest, which is about 100 miles south of Montgomery, Alabama.NASA/Steve Freeman Share Details Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactJay Levinejay.levine-1@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAirborne ScienceB200Drones & YouLangley Research CenterScience Mission Directorate Explore More 5 min read NASA Langley’s Legacy of Landing Article 7 hours ago 4 min read NASA Makes Progress on Advanced Drone Safety Management System Article 23 hours ago 2 min read What Are the Dangers of Going to Space? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 55 Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

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13 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Getty Images University Student Research Challenge (USRC) seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics. USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants for their projects and with the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign. The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public. The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies. Eligibility: NASA funding is available to all accredited U.S. institutions of higher education (e.g. universities, four-year colleges, community colleges, or other two-year institutions). Students must be currently enrolled (part-time or full-time) at the institution. NASA has no set expectations as to the team size. The number of students participating in the investigation is to be determined by the scope of the project and the student Team Leader. The USRC solicitation is currently Closed with Proposals next due June 26, 2025. Please visit NSPIRES to receive alerts when more information is available. A USRC Q&A/Info Session and Proposal Workshop will be held May 12, 2025, at 2pm ET ahead of the USRC Submission deadline in June 2025. Join the Q&A Please email us at HQ-USRC@mail.nasa.gov if you have any questions or to schedule a 1 on 1. USRC Awards Context-Aware Cybersecurity for UAS Traffic Management (Texas A&M University) Developing, testing, and pursuing transition of an aviation-context-aware network authentication and segmentation function, which holistically manages cyber threats in future UAS traffic control systems. Student Team: Vishwam Raval (Team Lead), Michael Ades, Garett Haynes, Sarah Lee, Kevin Lei, Oscar Leon, McKenna Smith, Nhan Nick Truong Faculty Mentors: Jaewon Kim and Sandip Roy Selected: 2025 Reconnaissance and Emergency Aircraft for Critical Hurricane Relief (North Carolina State University) Developing and deploying advanced unmanned aerial systems designed to locate, communicate with, and deliver critical supplies to stranded individuals in the wake of natural disasters. Student Team: Tobias Hullette (Team Lead), Jose Vizcarrondo, Rishi Ghosh, Caleb Gobel, Lucas Nicol, Ajay Pandya, Paul Randolph, Hadie Sabbah Faculty Mentor: Felix Ewere Selected: 2025 Design and Prototyping of a 9-phase Dual-Rotor Motor for Supersonic Electric Turbofan (Colorado School of Mines) Designing and prototyping a scaled-down 9-phase dual-rotor motor (DRM) for a supersonic electric turbofan. Student Team: Mahzad Gholamian (Team Lead), Garret Reader, Mykola Mazur, Mirali Seyedrezaei Faculty Mentor: Omid Beik Selected: 2024 Project F.I.R.E (Fire Intervention Retardant Expeller) (Cerritos Community College) Mitigating wildfires with drone released fire retardant pellets. Student Team: Angel Ortega Barrera (Team Lead), Larisa Mayoral, Paola Mayoral Jimenez, Jenny Rodriguez, Logan Stahl, Juan Villa Faculty Mentor: Janet McLarty-Schroeder Selected: 2024 Learning cooperative policies for adaptive human-drone teaming in shared airspace (Cornell University) Enabling new coordination and communication models for smoother, more efficient, and robust air traffic flow. Student Team: Mehrnaz Sabet (Team Lead), Aaron Babu, Marcus Lee, Joshua Park, Francis Pham, Owen Sorber, Roopak Srinivasan, Austin Zhao Faculty Mentor: Sanjiban Choudhury, Susan Fussell Selected: 2024 Crowdfunding Website Investigation on Cryogenic Fluid Chill-Down Time for Supersonic Transport Usage (University of Washington, Seattle) Investigating reducing the boil-off of cryogenic fluids in pipes using vortex generators. Student Team: Ryan Fidelis (Team Lead), Alexander Ala, Kaleb Shaw Faculty Mentor: Fiona Spencer, Robert Breidenthal Selected: 2024 Crowdfunding Website Web Article: “Students win NASA grant to develop AI for safer aerial traffic“ Clean Forever-Flying Drones: Utilizing Ocean Water for Hydrogen Extraction in Climate Monitoring (Purdue University) An ocean-based fueling station and a survey drone that can refuel in remote areas. Student Team: Holman Lau (Team Lead), Nikolai Baranov, Andrej Damjanov, Chloe Hardesty, Smit Kapadia Faculty Mentor: Li Qiao Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Intelligent drone for detection of people during emergency response operation (Louisiana State University and A&M College) Using machine learning algorithms for images and audio data, integrated with gas sensing for real-time detection of people on UAS. Student Team: Jones Essuman (Team Lead), Tonmoy Sarker, Samer Tahboub Faculty Mentor: Xiangyu Meng Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Advancing Aerospace Materials Design through High-Fidelity Computational Peridynamic Modeling and Modified SVET Validation of Corrosion Damage (California State University, Channel Islands) Modeling electrochemical corrosion nonlocally and combining efforts from bond-based and state-based theory. Student Team: Trent Ruiz (Team Lead), Isaac Cisneros, Curtis Hauck Faculty Mentor: Cynthia Flores Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Swarm Micro UAVs for Area Mapping in GPS-denied Areas (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) Using swarm robotics to map complex environments and harsh terrain with Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) Student Team: Daniel Golan (Team Lead), Stanlie Cerda-Cruz, Kyle Fox, Bryan Gonzalez, Ethan Thomas Faculty Mentor: Sergey V. Drakunov Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Web Article: “Student Research on Drone Swarm Mapping Selected to Compete at NASA Challenge“ AeroFeathers—Feathered Airfoils Inspired by the Quiet Flight of Owls (Michigan Tech University) Creating new propeller blades and fixed wing design concepts that mimic the features of an owl feather and provide substantial noise reduction benefits. Student Team: William Johnston (Team Lead), Pulitha Godakawela Kankanamalage, Amulya Lomte, Maria Jose Carrillo Munoz, Brittany Wojciechowski, Laura Paige Nobles, Gabrielle Mathews Faculty Mentor: Bhisham Sharma Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Laser Energized Aerial Drone System (LEADS) for Sustained Sensing Applications (Michigan State University) Laser based, high-efficiency optical power transfer for UAV charging for sustained flight and monitoring. Student Team: Gavin Gardner (Team Lead), Ryan Atkinson, Brady Berg, Ross Davis, Gryson Gardner, Malachi Keener, Nicholas Michaels Faculty Mentor: Woongkul Lee Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website LEADS team Website UAM Contingency Diagnosis Toolkit (Ohio State University) A UAM contingency diagnosis toolkit which that includes cognitive work requirements (CWRs) for human operators, information sharing requirements, and representational designs. Student Team: Connor Kannally (Team Lead), Izzy Furl, Luke McSherry, Abhinay Paladugu Faculty Mentor: Martijn IJtsma Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Project Website Web Article: “NASA Awards $80K to Ohio State students through University Research Challenge“ Hybrid Quadplane Search and Rescue Missions (NC A&T University) An autonomous search and rescue quadplane UAS supported by an unmanned mobile landing platform/recharge station ground vehicle. Student Team: Luis Landivar Olmos (Team Lead), Dakota Price, Amilia Schimmel, Sean Tisdale Faculty Mentor: A. Homaifar Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Drone Based Water Sampling and Quality Testing – Special Application in the Raritan River (Rutgers University, New Brunswick) An autonomous water sampling drone system. Student Team: Michael Leitner (Team Lead), Xavier Garay, Mohamed Haroun, Ruchit Jathania, Caleb Lippe, Zachary Smolder, Chi Hin Tam Faculty Mentor: Onur Bilgen Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Project Website Development of a Low-Cost Open-Source Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Machine – Arc One (Case Western Reserve University) A small-scale, modular, low-cost, and open-source Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) platform. Student Team: Vishnushankar Viraliyur Ramasamy (Team Lead), Robert Carlstrom, Bathlomew Ebika, Jonathan Fu, Anthony Lino, Garrett Tieng Faculty Mentor: John Lewandowski Selected: 2023 Crowdfunding Website Web Article: “PhD student wins funding from NASA and develops multidisciplinary team of undergraduate students to build novel machine“ Low Cost and Efficient eVTOL Platform Leveraging Opensource for Accessibility (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) Lowering the barrier of entry into eVTOL deployment and development with a low cost, efficient, and open source eVTOL platform Student Team: Martin Arguelles-Perez (Team Lead), Benjamin Bishop, Isabella Laurito, Genaro Marcial Lorza, Eman Yonis Faculty Mentor: Venkatesan Muthukumar Selected: 2022 Applying Space-Based Estimation Techniques to Drones in GPS-Denied Environments (University Of Texas, Austin) Taking real-time inputs from flying drones and outputting an accurate state estimation with 3-D error ellipsoid visualization Student Team: James Mitchell Roberts (Team Lead), Lauren Byram, Melissa Pires Faculty Mentor: Adam Nokes Selected: 2022 Crowdfunding Website Project Website Web Article: “GPS-free Drone Tech Proposal Lands Undergrads Spot in NASA Challenge“ Underwing Distributed Ducted Fan ‘FanFoil’ Concept for Transformational Aerodynamic and Aeroacoustic Performance (Texas Tech University, Lubbock) Novel highly under-cambered airfoils with electric ducted fans featuring ’samara’ maple seed inspired blades for eVTOL application Student Team: Jack Hicks (Team Lead), Harrison Childre, Guilherme Fernandes, David Gould, Lorne Greene, Muhammad Waleed Saleem, Nathan Shapiro Faculty Mentor: Victor Maldonado Selected: 2022 Crowdfunding Website Web Articles: “Improving Ducted-Fan eVTOL Efficiency” (AvWeek), “Sky Taxies“ Urban Cargo Delivery Using eVTOL Aircrafts (University Of Illinois, Chicago) A bi-objective optimization formulation minimizing total run costs of a two-leg cargo delivery system and community noise exposure to eVTOL operations Student Team: Nahid Parvez Farazi (Team Lead), Amy Hofstra, Son Nguyen Faculty Mentor: Bo Zou Selected: 2022 Crowdfunding Website Web Article: “PhD student awarded NASA grant to investigate urban cargo delivery systems“ Congestion Aware Path Planning for Optimal UAS Traffic Management (University Of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) A feasible, provably safe, and quantifiably optimal path planning framework considering fully autonomous UAVs in urban environments Student Team: Minjun Sung (Team Lead), Christoph Aoun, Ivy Fei, Christophe Hiltebrandt-McIntosh, Sambhu Harimanas Karumanchi, Ran Tao Faculty Mentor: Naira Hovakimyan Selected: 2022 Crowdfunding Website Web Article: “NASA funds UAV traffic management research“ AeroZepp: Aerostat Enabled Drone Glider Delivery System / Whisper Ascent: Quiet Drone Delivery (University of Delaware) An aerostat enabled low-energy UAV payload delivery system Student Team: Wesley Connor (Team Lead), Abubakarr Bah, Karlens Senatus Faculty Mentor: Suresh Advani Selected: 2022 Crowdfunding Website Sustainable Transport Research Aircraft for Test Operation (STRATO) (Rutgers University, New Brunswick) An open source, efficiently driven, optimized Active Flow Control (AFC) enhanced control surface for UAV research platforms Student Team: Daulton James (Team Lead), Jean Alvarez, Frederick Diaz, Michael Ferrell, Shriya Khera, Connor Magee, Roy Monge Hidalgo, Bertrand Smith Faculty Mentor: Edward DeMauro Selected: 2022 Crowdfunding Website Web Articles: “SoE Students Eligible for NASA University Student Research Challenge Award“, “Senior Design Team Captures NASA Research Challenge“ A recorded STRATO USRC Tech Talk Dronehook: A Novel Fixed-Wing Package Retrieval System (University Of Notre Dame) Envisioning a world where items can be retrieved from remote locations in a simple fashion from efficient fixed-wing UAVs Student Team: Konrad Rozanski (Team Lead), Dillon Coffey, Bruce Smith, Nicholas Orr Faculty Mentor: Jane Cleland-Huang Selected: 2021 Crowdfunding Website Web Article: “Notre Dame student team wins NASA research award for drone scoop and grab technology“ Aerial Intra-city Delivery Electric Drones (AIDED) with High Payload Capacity (Michigan State University) A high-payload capacity delivery drone capable of safely latching and charging on electrified public transportation systems Student Team: Yuchen Wang (Team Lead), Hunter Carmack, Kindred Griffis, Luke Lewallen, Scott Newhard, Caroline Nicholas, Shukai Wang, Kyle White Faculty Mentor: Woongkul Lee Selected: 2021 AIDED Crowdfunding Website AIDED Project Website or Team Website Web Articles: “Spartan Engineers win NASA research award” and “NASA Aeronautics amplification“; “Ross Davis & Gavin Gardner on The Guy Gordon Show“; “MSU Students Create Delivery Drone for NASA“; “Student drone project flying high with help from NASA“ A recorded USRC Tech Talk Robotic Fabrication Work Cell for Customizable Unmanned Aerial Systems (Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University) A robotic, multi-process work cell to autonomously fabricate topologically optimized UASs tailored for immediate application needs Student Team: Tadeusz Kosmal (Team Lead), Kieran Beaumont, Om Bhavsar, Eric Link, James Lowe Faculty Mentor: Christopher Williams Selected: 2021 Crowdfunding Website RAV-FAB Project Website Web Articles: “Drones that fly away from a 3D printer: Undergraduates create science nonfiction” and “3D printing breaks out of the box / VTx / Virginia Tech“ NASA VT USRC Web Article: “USRC Students Sees Success with Crowdfunding, NASA Grants“ Publication: Hybrid additive robotic workcell for autonomous fabrication of mechatronic systems – A case study of drone fabrication – ScienceDirect Team Social Media: Instagram: @ravfab_vt; LinkedIn: @rav-fab; YouTube View RAV-FAB USRC Tech Talk #1 or USRC Tech Talk #2 Real Time Quality Control in Additive Manufacturing Using In-Process Sensing and Machine Learning (Cornell University) A high-precision and low-cost intelligent sensor-based quality control technology for Additive Manufacturing Student Team: Adrita Dass (Team Lead), Talia Turnham, Benjamin Steeper, Chenxi Tian, Siddharth Patel, Akula Sai Pratyush, Selina Kirubakar Faculty Mentor: Atieh Moridi Selected: 2021 Crowdfunding Website AMAS Project Website Web Article: “Students win NASA challenge with 3D-printer smart sensor“ A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic AVIATA: Autonomous Vehicle Infinite Time Apparatus (University of California, Los Angeles) A drone swarm system capable of carrying a payload in the air indefinitely Student Team: Chirag Singh (Team Lead), Ziyi Peng, Bhrugu Mallajosyula, Willy Teav, David Thorne, James Tseng, Eric Wong, Axel Malahieude, Ryan Nemiroff, Yuchen Yao, Lisa Foo Faculty Mentor: Jeff Eldredge Selected: 2020 Crowdfunding Website AVIATA Project Website A recorded USRC Tech Talk on AVIATA The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Redundant Flight Control System for BVLOS UAV Operations (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) A redundant flight control system as a “back-up” to the primary flight computer to enhance safety of sUAS Student Team: Robert Moore (Team Lead), Joseph Ayd, and Todd Martin Faculty Mentor: John Robbins Selected: 2020 Crowdfunding Website Web Articles: “NASA Web Article“; “Drone Innovation Top Embry-Riddle Entrepreneurship Competition“ Follow the team’s progress at: https://www.facebook.com/Assured Autonomy A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Multi-Mode Hybrid Unmanned Delivery System: Combining Fixed-Wing and Multi-Rotor Aircraft with Ground Vehicles (Rutgers University) Extending drone delivery distance with a multi-mode hybrid delivery system Student Team: Paul Wang (Team Lead), Nolan Angelia, Muhammet Ali Gungor Faculty Mentor: Onur Bilgen Selected: 2020 Crowdfunding Website A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 AVIS: Active Vortex Inducing System for Flow Separation Control to Improve Airframe Efficiency (Georgia Institute of Technology) Use an array of vortex generators that can be adjusted throughout flight to increase wing efficiency Student Team: Michael Gamarnik (Team Lead), Shiva Khanna Yamamoto, Noah Mammen, Tommy Schrager, Bethe Newgent Faculty Mentor: Kelly Griendling Selected: 2020 Go to AVIS team site A recorded USRC Tech Talk on AVIS The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 NASA Web Article Hybrid Airplanes – An Optimum and Modular Approach (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo) Model and test powertrain to maximize the efficiency of hybrid airplanes Student Team: Nicholas Ogden (Team Lead), Joseph Shy, Brandon Bartlett, Ryker Bullis, Chino Cruz, Sara Entezar, Aaron Li, Zach Yamauchi Faculty Mentor: Paulo Iscold Selected: 2019 A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 ATLAS Air Transportation (South Dakota State University) A multipurpose, automated drone capable of comfortably lifting the weight of an average person Student Team: Isaac Smithee (Team Lead), Wade Olson, Nicolas Runge, Ryan Twedt, Anthony Bachmeier, Matthew Berg, Sterling Berg Faculty Mentors: Marco Ciarcia, Todd Letcher Selected: 2019 A recorded USRC Tech Talk #1 and USRC Tech Talk #2 on ATLAS The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 Software-Defined GPS Augmentation Network for UAS Navigation (University Of Oklahoma, Norman) A novel solution of enhanced GPS navigation for unmanned aerial vehicles Student Team: Robert Rucker (Team Lead), Alex Zhang, Jakob Fusselman, Matthew GilliamMentors: Dr. Yan (Rockee) Zhang (Faculty Mentor), Dr Hernan Suarez (Team Technical Mentor) Faculty Mentors: Marco Ciarcia, Todd Letcher Selected: 2019 Crowdfunding Website A recorded USRC Tech Talk on this topic The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 UAV Traffic Information Exchange Network (Purdue University) A blockchain-inspired secure, scalable, distributed, and efficient communication framework to support large scale UAV operations Student Team: Hsun Chao (Team Lead) and Apoorv Maheshwari Faculty Mentors: Daniel DeLaurentis (Faculty Mentor), Shashank Tamaskar Selected: 2018 Web Article: “Student-developed communication network for UAVs interests NASA“ The recorded poster session at the TACP Showcase 2021 University Student Research Challenge University Leadership Initiative University Innovation Project Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA University Research Program Makes First Award to a Community College Project Article 1 month ago 3 min read NASA Selects New Round of Student-Led Aviation Research Awards Article 1 month ago 4 min read NASA Selects University Teams to Explore Innovative Aeronautical Research Article 1 year ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Follow Us on Social Media Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsUniversity Student Research Challenge View the full article

Robert Markowitz The four astronauts who will be the first to fly to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign have designed an emblem to represent their mission that references both their distant destination and the home they will return to. The crew unveiled their patch in this April 2, 2025, photo. The crew explained the patch’s symbolism, and its play on the abbreviation of Artemis II to AII, with the following description: The Artemis II test flight begins when a mighty team launches the first crew of the Artemis generation. This patch designates the mission as “AII,” signifying not only the second major flight of the Artemis campaign, but also an endeavor of discovery that seeks to explore for all and by all. Framed in Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise photo, the scene of the Earth and the Moon represents the dual nature of human spaceflight, both equally compelling: The Moon represents our exploration destination, focused on discovery of the unknown. The Earth represents home, focused on the perspective we gain when we look back at our shared planet and learn what it is to be uniquely human. The orbit around Earth highlights the ongoing exploration missions that have enabled Artemis to set sights on a long-term presence on the Moon and soon, Mars. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will venture around the Moon in 2026 on Artemis II. The 10-day flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts. Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. Text credit: Brandi Dean, Courtney Beasley Image credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read Sols 4498-4499: Flexing Our Arm Once Again NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on March 30, 2025 — Sol 4496, or Martian day 4,496 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 20:12:48 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Conor Hayes, Graduate Student at York University Earth planning date: Monday, March 31, 2025 Planning today began with two pieces of great news. First, our 50-meter drive (about 164 feet) from the weekend plan completed successfully, bringing us oh-so-close to finally driving out of the small canyon that we’ve been traversing through and toward the “boxwork” structures to our southwest. Second, we passed our “Slip Risk Assessment Process” (SRAP), confirming that all six of Curiosity’s wheels are parked firmly on solid ground. Avid readers of this blog will be familiar with last week’s SRAP challenges, which prevented us from using the rover’s arm for the entire week. With a green light on SRAP, we were finally able to put our suite of contact science instruments back to work today. The arm gets to work early on the first sol of this plan, with an APXS integration on “Los Osos,” a bedrock target in our workspace, after it has been cleared of the ubiquitous Martian dust by DRT. The rest of our arm activities consist of a series of MAHLI observations later in the afternoon, both of Los Osos and “Black Star Canyon.” Of course, just because we managed to get contact science in this plan doesn’t mean we’re letting our remote sensing instruments take a break. In fact, we have more than two hours of remote sensing, split between the two sols and the two science teams (Geology and Mineralogy [GEO] and Atmosphere and Environment [ENV]). GEO will be using Mastcam to survey both the highs and the lows of the terrain, with mosaics of “Devil’s Gate” (some stratigraphy in a nearby ledge) and some small troughs close to the rover. We’ll also be getting even more Mastcam images of “Gould Mesa,” an imaging target in many previous plans, as we continue to drive past it. ChemCam gets involved with a LIBS observation of “Fishbowls,” which will also be imaged by Mastcam, a post-drive AEGIS, and two RMI mosaics of Gould Mesa and “Torote Bowl,” which was also imaged over the weekend. ENV’s activities are fairly typical for this time of year as Curiosity monitors the development of the Aphelion Cloud Belt (ACB) with several Navcam cloud movies, as well as seasonal changes in the amount of dust in and above Gale with Navcam line-of-sight observations and Mastcam taus. We’ll also be taking a Navcam dust devil movie to see if we can catch any cold-weather wind-driven dust movement. ENV also filled this plan with their usual set of REMS, RAD, and DAN observations. The drive planned today is significantly shorter than the one over the weekend, at just about 10 meters (about 33 feet). This is because we’re driving up a small ridge, which limits our ability to see what’s on the other side. Although our rover knows how to keep itself safe, we still prefer not to drive through terrain that we can’t see in advance, if it can be avoided. Once we’ve got a better eye on what lies in front of us, we will hopefully be able to continue our speedy trek toward the boxwork structures. Share Details Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 2 min read Sols 4495-4497: Yawn, Perched, and Rollin’ Article 3 days ago 3 min read Visiting Mars on the Way to the Outer Solar System Article 6 days ago 2 min read Sols 4493-4494: Just Looking Around Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article