NASA

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 members, (from left) Alexander Grebenkin from Roscosmos; Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, all NASA astronauts, are pictured training inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California.SpaceX Digital content creators are invited to register to attend the launch of the eighth SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket that will carry crew to the International Space Station for a science expedition mission. This mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The targeted launch date for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission is no earlier than mid-February from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will carry NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and mission specialist Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut mission specialist Alexander Grebenkin, to the International Space Station to conduct a wide range of operational and research activities. If your passion is to communicate and engage the world online, then this is the event for you! Seize the opportunity to see and share the #Crew8 mission launch. A maximum of 50 social media users will be selected to attend this three-day event and will be given access similar to news media. NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to: View a crewed launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. Tour NASA facilities at Kennedy Space Center. Meet and interact with Crew-8 subject matter experts. Meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media. NASA Social registration for the Crew-8 launch opens on Friday, Jan. 5, and the deadline to apply is at 3 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 9. All social applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. APPLY NOW Do I need to have a social media account to register? Yes. This event is designed for people who: Actively use multiple social networking platforms and tools to disseminate information to a unique audience. Regularly produce new content that features multimedia elements. Have the potential to reach a large number of people using digital platforms, or reach a unique audience, separate and distinctive from traditional news media and/or NASA audiences. Must have an established history of posting content on social media platforms. Have previous postings that are highly visible, respected, and widely recognized. Users on all social networks are encouraged to use the hashtag #NASASocial and #Crew8. Updates and information about the event will be shared on X via @NASASocial and @NASAKennedy, and via posts to Facebook and Instagram. How do I register? Registration for this event opens Friday, Jan. 5, and closes at 3 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Registration is for one person only (you) and is non-transferable. Each individual wishing to attend must register separately. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Can I register if I am not a U.S. citizen? Because of the security deadlines, registration is limited to U.S. citizens. If you have a valid permanent resident card, you will be processed as a U.S. citizen. When will I know if I am selected? After registrations have been received and processed, an email with confirmation information and additional instructions will be sent to those selected. We expect to send the acceptance notifications on Jan. 17. What are NASA Social credentials? All social applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Those chosen must prove through the registration process they meet specific engagement criteria. If you do not make the registration list for this NASA Social, you still can attend the launch offsite and participate in the conversation online. Find out about ways to experience a launch here. What are the registration requirements? Registration indicates your intent to travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and attend the three-day event in person. You are responsible for your own expenses for travel, accommodations, food, and other amenities. Some events and participants scheduled to appear at the event are subject to change without notice. NASA is not responsible for loss or damage incurred as a result of attending. NASA, moreover, is not responsible for loss or damage incurred if the event is cancelled with limited or no notice. Please plan accordingly. Kennedy is a government facility. Those who are selected will need to complete an additional registration step to receive clearance to enter the secure areas. IMPORTANT: To be admitted, you will need to provide two forms of unexpired government-issued identification; one must be a photo ID and match the name provided on the registration. Those without proper identification cannot be admitted. For a complete list of acceptable forms of ID, please visit: NASA Credentialing Identification Requirements. All registrants must be at least 18 years old. What if the launch date changes? Many different factors can cause a scheduled launch date to change multiple times. If the launch date changes, NASA may adjust the date of the NASA Social accordingly to coincide with the new target launch date. NASA will notify registrants of any changes by email. If the launch is postponed, attendees will be invited to attend a later launch date. NASA cannot accommodate attendees for delays beyond 72 hours. NASA Social attendees are responsible for any additional costs they incur related to any launch delay. We strongly encourage participants to make travel arrangements that are refundable and/or flexible. What if I cannot come to the Kennedy Space Center? If you cannot come to the Kennedy Space Center and attend in person, you should not register for the NASA Social. You can follow the conversation online using #NASASocial. You can watch the launch on NASA Television or www.nasa.gov/live. NASA will provide regular launch and mission updates on @NASA, @NASAKennedy, and @Commercial_Crew. If you cannot make this NASA Social, don’t worry; NASA is planning many other Socials in the near future at various locations! Check back here for updates. View the full article

Technicians inside NASA’s Kennedy Space Centers Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) in Florida use a crane to load the Artemis I spacecraft – now called an environmental test article – into the crew module transportation fixture in preparation for its departure to NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.NASA/Kim Shiflett From Florida to the Moon and back, NASA’s Orion spacecraft is still making moves. The crew module that flew more than 1.4 million miles during the agency’s historic Artemis I mission is getting ready for its next destination – NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Technicians inside NASA’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, use a crane to lift the Artemis I spacecraft – now called an environmental test article – into the crew module transportation fixture in preparation for its departure. Engineers will use it in qualification tests to better understand how Orion would perform in the event of a launch or inflight abort. After splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission returned to Kennedy in December 2022. Components scheduled for reuse on Artemis II were removed and the crew module was reconfigured to serve as a test article. With crew module function tests now complete, the test article has been prepared for transport with the installation of the aft, mid bay back shell, and the side hatch in final closure. View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA has modified agreements for two funded commercial space station partners that are on track to develop low Earth orbit destinations for NASA and other customers as the International Space Station retires in 2030. The changes add new technical milestones and reallocate existing funding to allow the agency to accelerate efforts as part of NASA’s goal to foster a commercial low Earth orbit economy. “These new milestones will be of immense value to NASA and the partners, and will help ensure we have a smooth transition from the International Space Station to commercial destinations,” says Phil McAlister, director of commercial space at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The milestones target key technology and risk reduction areas of our partners’ designs. The milestones also include additional hardware testing which is critically important to any spaceflight development effort. In addition, each new milestone will be an opportunity for NASA to gain further insight into our partners’ progress and technical designs.” The changes are a result of a previously announced joining of Northrop Grumman and Starlab partners originally working under separate Space Act Agreements. NASA has transferred funding freed up from the withdrawal of Northrop Grumman from its agreement with NASA, as well as other program funding, to add new milestones to the existing agreements with Blue Origin and Starlab. Blue Origin of Seattle is receiving an additional $42 million for its Orbital Reef station, bringing the total award to $172 million. The new milestones include several additional subsystem design reviews and technology maturation activities. They also include key tests and demonstrations in the environmental control and life support system, such as water filtration and atmospheric monitoring. Voyager Space’s Exploration Segment, which includes Nanoracks, will receive an additional $57.5 million for its Starlab station, bringing the total award to $217.5 million. The new milestones include the addition of development milestones for the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft, upgrading from berthing to docking to better serve Starlab and commercial markets. The new milestones also include additional Starlab development milestones focused on operations, assembly, integration, and testing as well as a rendezvous and proximity operations demonstration. Blue Origin and Voyager Space/Nanoracks have Space Act Agreements with NASA, while NASA’s other funded commercial station partner, Axiom Space, holds a firm-fixed price, contract with the agency. NASA is in the process of negotiating additional content to Axiom Space’s contract. Details are still being finalized and more information will be released by the agency as those negotiations are completed. “We continue to see an immense amount of dedication from our partners,” said Angela Hart, manager of Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “The agency is committed to continuing to work with industry with the goal having one or more stations in orbit to ensure competition, lower costs, and meet the demand of NASA and other customers.” NASA is supporting the design and development of multiple commercial space stations with the three funded partners listed above, as well as several other partners with unfunded agreements through NASA’s Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities-2 project. The current design and development phase will be followed by the procurement of services from one or more companies, where NASA aims to be one of many customers for low Earth orbit destinations.. The agency recently issued a request for information for industry to provide input on the agency’s requirements for end-to-end low Earth orbit space station services. NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit will provide the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost and enable the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars, while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions. For more information about NASA’s commercial low Earth orbit strategy, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/low-earth-orbit-economy/ – end – Joshua Finch Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov Rebecca Turkington Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 rebecca.turkington@nasa.gov Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Low Earth Orbit Economy Commercial Space Humans In Space Space Station Research and Technology View the full article

April 11,2023 You probably know from reading these that we like to start with your early years, where you were born, something about your family, if you have siblings, your parents and what they did, and mixed in with that, how early was it in your life that you developed an interest in what you’ve pursued academically and now in your career? Let’s see. I was born in Chicago, Illinois, but I grew up in Wisconsin. I left Chicago at, I think, six months old. My parents: my dad is a radiologist and the reason we were in Chicago was for his residency. My mom has a degree in English literature and teaching. I have two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother, so I’m smack in the middle. And you know, I can’t even remember when I first started getting interested in science, and in particular in astronomy and planetary science. It’s just something I was always really interested in. I have this vague memory of like third grade and having to do a report on a planet and instead of doing just one, I did all of them! (laughs) So that was probably a hint to my parents, that it was something that captured my imagination. I was just really lucky that I had parents who were excited to encourage me to pursue science and not a more practical career path. They just let me explore all the things I was interested in. You’re reminding me of one of our earlier interviews, where the young researcher said she was interested in meteorology, especially clouds. She remembers going on Sunday drives out in the Midwest and she would sit in the car looking up at the clouds and she got very interested in them. And then at some point she realized, oh my goodness, there are clouds on other planets! Isn’t that interesting? So she went down that path and became a scientist, researching planetary atmospheres. It’s interesting what triggers an interest, which is why parents expose children to all kinds of things, music, art, nature, and science. You never know what’s going to click with them. That is something my dad, with sort of a science mind, still talks to me about, like, “How do you apply radiology imaging to imaging done outside of our planet?” And my mom is very much into the arts. She took me to all the plays and had me play violin and participate in forensics and community theater, all of that. So I had a nice balance of different things. You did and you’re very fortunate. As you grew up and got into school, there was a basic curriculum early on, but then there were times when you had to make some choices in terms of majors, courses of study, and so forth. Could you talk a little bit about that? Sure. I had sort of a winding path, I think, to my major and ultimately to my PhD. I knew I was interested in science, but I didn’t know really where I was interested. So in undergraduate I was deciding between a neuroscience degree or a physics and astronomy degree. I toyed with linguistics because I’ve always loved languages and I thought, hey, that’s the “sciency” side of language. Ultimately, I got my undergraduate degree in astronomy and microbiology. I think I realized that I really was interested in planetary habitability, but I didn’t know what particular side of that, whether I was more interested in the broad, galactic point of view or the really narrow extremophile point of view. So I had these two scales of science that I was looking at. And it really took until grad school to kind of narrow in on what part I was most interested in. But it gave me some cool opportunities in undergrad to do a lot of different research. I was working in a leaf cutter ant lab and also doing extra galactic astronomy research, so I got to toy around a bit and see what was most interesting. Science is a very broad category and it gives you, especially in space science, lots of options everywhere you go. And then at some point you wound up at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for your PhD? Yes. OK. And then you found your way to NASA Ames. Can you tell us how that happened? Was it just the posting of a postdoctoral opportunity or did you have a connection from someone here? I had a connection. I was lucky enough to participate in some panels as a graduate student, and at conferences I started communicating and talking with Bob Haberle and Melinda Kahre here at Ames. And as I approached the end of my PhD, I started talking to them about opportunities and they pointed me to the NPP program. So I applied to work with Bob Haberle to kind of extend the Mars Climate Modeling Center’s work looking at exoplanets, Mars-like exoplanets. Sounds like a perfect fit. Yeah, it’s been fun to take what I learned about Mars, and this is again, kind of an extrapolation from smaller scale. We had really fine, really detailed experiments to look at present day Mars because we knew a lot about it. And I got to kind of broaden it, to say “Well, what if we were in this completely different environment? How can we apply what we learn from what’s happening on Mars today to a different environment, a different solar system, a different planetary type?” Right. So maybe this is a good time to have you talk a little bit about the work that you do, including why it’s important enough that NASA is willing to ask the American taxpayer to subsidize it. Why would they be willing to support the kind of work that you do? I think that’s a really good question and it’s something I think about because as an employee of NASA, through the Bay Area Environmental Research program, it’s my obligation as a scientist to contribute to the American people. And I want our research to be valuable to them and have, if not direct applications to their day-to-day life, still something that brings a greater sense of how our universe works and a greater sense of wonder about the world we live in. I work on both Mars, present day Mars and Paleo Mars, and exoplanets. I think those two have very different applications. When we think about exoplanets, it’s really about learning more about how our universe works and where we fit in to the broader universe. So those fundamental questions: Are we alone? What does it mean to have life develop? What are the fundamental requirements for life to develop? That’s really what I’m looking at with these exoplanets to see what kind of environments might we expect, how do we identify those environments and could they be habitable? For present day Mars, it’s a little bit closer to home in the sense that it’s our next door neighbor, but it also has a little bit more direct application. it’s interesting just to know how a planet works, but also a lot of the work we do with our climate models is to support mission development and mission work. So EDL (Entry, Descent, Landing) can rely on some of our results. I recently did a really fun project looking at the feasibility of wind energy for human missions to Mars to see if that could be something that would aid in energy stability. I listened to your Abscicon talk about that, and it was fascinating to me. I hadn’t realized that there might be a way to augment energy availability on a planet so that exploration could be better developed and supported, with more opportunities to go to more places. And that’s very interesting because, as we’ve seen the movies, there’s wind on Mars! (laughs) Exactly. There’s wind, but it’s very easy to dismiss it since the atmosphere is so thin and the winds aren’t that strong. But the technology that we develop on Earth has gotten better and better. There’s opportunity to apply what we’ve learned on Earth to other planets. So would the general value be considered in support of NASA’s strategic mission for exploration? Or is it more specific than that? Does it tie into the search for life? Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. I mean, one of the goals of the current administration is to explore the potential for habitability and life and a lot of my exoplanet work fits directly into that goal and helps prioritize future mission development in order to evaluate that potential? But then one of my favorite things about astronomy is still just the sense of wonder you can get from recognizing how much there is in the universe and how different things can be and how almost anything you can think of is out there. In some respects I feel like my research can contribute to that excitement for all ages, especially for kids coming into STEM or interested in it in the future. Has there been, in your so far relatively short career, some unusual or interesting finding, such as the wind idea, that’s cool? Anything like that that you want to talk about? Yeah, for sure. There’s been a couple, actually. My PhD is in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, so I was in a group that was very focused on Earth science and on really small scale evaluations of the Earth’s climate. And one of the most valuable experiences I got out of that was learning how to bridge the gap between Earth science and planetary science and take the things we learn from Earth and think about how they could be applicable to a different planetary environment. And two of my papers are directly related to that. The wind energy came from, the inspiration for that arose from a colleague’s presentation on wind evaluation for earth using a global climate model. And my paper on cloud formation seeded on micrometeoritic dust was inspired by polar noctilucent clouds on Earth. It’s a type of cloud that we see today in the northern hemisphere summer pole that form on these, just basically on the debris of meteors burning up in the atmosphere. And we thought, “Hey, Mars is going through that same sort of cloud of interplanetary debris, and maybe that could be responsible for some of the clouds that we’ve observed but are really difficult to replicate in models”. I’d like to ask what a typical day is like for you. We’ve had to qualify that because of the pandemic that’s ongoing but It looks like you’re back in the office now? Yeah, I’m in the office today. Have you able to do your work pretty much remotely without much problem? Do you have to be here to work in a lab or something like that. I’m lucky that as a climate modeler, most of my work is computer work, so I just have to remotely log into the NASA supercomputer and that gives me the opportunity to work pretty easily from most locations. But it has been nice to get back into the office and be able to have conversations with colleagues that really spark inspiration and ideas and excitement. That’s something that a number of researchers have mentioned that they miss more than anything. There’s a lot of convenience associated with working from home, especially if you have a commute or childcare obligations, something like that. Yes. But you do miss the interactions, the collaborations, and the fellowship of your science colleagues. It’s astounding to me that there are some new hires in the last few years who have never been on the Ames campus yet. That’s both amazing and sad. Moving on, what do you enjoy most and least about your work? Oh, that’s a hard one. I think what I enjoy most is related to what we were just saying, the sense of excitement and exploration when you’re really brainstorming new ideas with colleagues and seeing what everybody else is doing. I love going to scientific conferences and seeing all of the amazing work that people have been up to and having an opportunity to have these off the cuff conversations about how their work can relate to my work and vice versa. I think as in any job there’s always the mundanity of everyday tasks that can be tiring. As a global climate modeler, I have to deal with debugging code and that can be terrible. I imagine it can. Many a month in my graduate studies was spent trying to figure out what the hell was going on in this giant code. You learn a lot. That’s probably a low point, but is followed by the high point when you finally figure it out. I can certainly relate to that, however you’re one of the few who hasn’t mentioned the bureaucratic paperwork that you have to do all the time and that’s probably. . . I think I try not to think about it! (laughs). . . . probably because it goes without saying. But it’s obvious from your enthusiasm and just your whole demeanor that you’re happy with where you’ve landed, career wise. You’re excited about the things you’re doing and everything. But have you ever thought about, if you weren’t a research scientist for NASA, what your dream job might have been? I have thought about that actually. I said I had a lot of indecision early in my career about what I wanted to do, I think if I wasn’t in planetary science, I would be in linguistics because I love languages and that’s one of the things I still miss because I would take all the language classes I could. So I always imagined I could have worked as a translator for the UN or something. That’s interesting, and perhaps comes from your mom’s side of the family. Yes! And then of course, I have a friend and we always said one day we would open a tea shop in a college town. So we’ll see if that ever comes to pass! (laughs) I always thought that foreign languages were intimidating and then I wound up having to learn one and I realized that it’s only a matter of memorization. You just memorize more words for things. You already have huge vocabulary built up over the years from a little child, and if you just learn more words for things, it doesn’t seem as daunting, at least to me. What I’ve always liked about languages is that they make you think in slightly different ways because of the organization of the grammar and how you communicate. It’s different enough that it changes your perspective and in some sense I think coding is like that. It’s a very logical foreign language. Yes, coding is analogous to a language. it is a language. How many languages have you picked up over the years? Well, a couple. I mean, I’m only really good at maybe one or two besides English. I can speak reasonable French, I can get by. And if I practiced, my Spanish isn’t too bad. I’ve taken courses in Russian and Italian. I took a class in a language called Nahuatl, which is the Aztec language. And I took old English, which was very hard. I think that was the hardest one I’ve done. And I’ve toyed with trying to learn Swedish, that’s sort of on my bucket list of ones to learn. Have you taken any of the root languages, the fundamental languages like Latin or anything of that type? You know, I haven’t. The closest was old English. But I haven’t gotten around to Latin. I took Latin in high school and I’m not sure why, but I’m glad I did because it exemplifies the things you’ve talked about, the value of better understanding your own language. Yep. How other languages relate to each other and how words get to mean certain things. Latin is always very interesting. From that you can see how words come together and the syntactical history of the word, and that’s great. But when I was first learning, I just wanted to talk to people, and there’s not much of an opportunity for that with Latin. I’m tempted to interject a thought about the biblical story of the Tower of Babel because if there was going to be a way to interrupt what the people were trying to do, it would be hard to beat causing language confusion so they couldn’t understand each other, couldn’t communicate any more. It was a very effective means of disrupting their work. Yeah. So you’re on your way. Obviously you’re in the middle of a very successful and productive career. What advice would you give to a young up and coming PhD student, for example, or someone who would like to have a career like you are having now? One thing is to follow your passions. Find the thing that you’re interested in and, don’t let somebody tell you it’s not practical or that you should be doing something differently. And also, and this is, I think, more important, is allow something to be difficult. Just because something is hard doesn’t mean you can’t do it. I always say I was naturally better at linguistics than astronomy. Physics is hard for me. It took a lot of work for me to really dig into it and understand it. I remember looking at people around me and they just seemed to get it immediately. I thought, maybe I’m not cut out for this field. Maybe I don’t have the innate talent to do it, but I think struggling and really thinking through something, can give you an interesting perspective on it, and a really strong base to build your science on. So the struggle is important and it’s OK. That’s quite profound, actually. I remember talking with a guidance counselor who had been asked by someone who wanted to pursue a medical degree but was intimidated by the fact that it would take all those extra years, postgraduate years and then an internship, 5 or 6 years before they can actually become a practicing physician. The counselor’s question back to that person was: “Yes, but that time is still going to pass. You’re still going to be somewhere at that point. You’re not sacrificing those years. You’re just choosing your destination”. Yeah. And that just told me: “Don’t look at it as something that takes too long because you’re going to live those years anyway. It’s just a matter of where are you will be at the end of those years. I like that perspective. I’ll remember that when I’m struggling through the work now! (laughs) Would you like to share anything about your personal life, your family, kids, pets, trips, hobbies, things you like to do? I have been married six years now and we have a 1-1/2 year old, which has been new and exciting. He’s a handful and a lot of fun. And we have a great and very energetic Husky mix and she keeps our pet life interesting. For sure! Yeah. So that’s our little family. Talents? Are you musical? What do you like to do? I’ve played violin for, I don’t want to betray my age, something like 30 years now. (laughs) So that is something I still enjoy. And as a family, we like going hiking. I like that, too. Back in 2020 I took up ice skating because you know, why not? I always wanted to learn how to figure skate, so my husband got me lessons for Christmas and when I have free time, I try to do that still. That’s wonderful. Our daughter was interested in ice skating for a while, and that was back when there were ice skating rinks in the area. There was one in Sunnyvale and one in Palo Alto, I think it was called Winter Lodge, and it is still there on Middlefield Road. There’s one still down in San Jose, so I try to go to that one. It’s like the Sharks training facility, I think. There used to be one in the bottom level of Vallco shopping center in Cupertino, but it went away. The whole shopping center went away! I’m not very good at all, but it’s amazing the joy you get out of something like figuring out how to skate backwards. (laughs) Well, the one thing it’ll make you do is appreciate when you watch Olympic level figure skaters and the things that they do on the ice. When I go around my ankles are tilted inward. I can’t even stand up straight on them! (laughs) Exactly! So any other sports that you might have done along the way or were interested in? Yeah, I did a bunch of rock climbing as an undergraduate but haven’t had much opportunity to do it out here. I’ve skied my whole life. But since my son was born my free time has been severely limited. You can be forgiven for that! But a picture was posted on one of your websites of you climbing some rocks that looked like steps. That was Iceland. Oh yes, you did say it was Iceland. That was fascinating. And then you were laying in the crook of a kind of an arch and I was trying to guess what the drop off was on the side that I couldn’t see, because I don’t care for heights too much. Where was that? That was Arches National Park out in Utah and the other side, I think, was more perilous than I probably would do today, but for some reason I like really high heights. I find it very relaxing in a terrifying way! (laughs) Yeah, it’s terrifying, I would agree with that. So maybe we’ve sort of covered the basics, but once we talk about your work and your life, we like to ask “what do you do for fun?” It’s changed a lot since having kids, but in a good way. I think having a kid makes you slow down and appreciate things that you wouldn’t have recognized or paid attention to otherwise. Now I get a lot of joy out of looking at the rocks on the sidewalk and at the plants that are growing, the squirrel running down the street. Things that I would usually overlook, but to be honest, that’s a lot of my life right now. Very slow walks led by an 18 month old! That’s a great perspective because yes, when you walk with a child, all of a sudden you realize they’ve stopped and notice what has caught their attention. it’s usually a bug, or a little rock, or something that that we totally missed. And those things can be just as fascinating as the planet Mars. I don’t think the he enjoys it when I try to explain Mars geology to him at his age. (laughs) But the time will come. One of the things we ask about is what accomplishment are you the most proud of that’s not related to your NASA work? Oh, that’s a hard one! I am proud, and this is maybe a cop out easy answer, but I’m proud of just our family and being able to prioritize or balance the work, being focused on science but also having this family that I love so much, being able to participate with them. And then I think I’ve had to be resilient a lot in my career. I’ve had ups and downs and challenges and have needed to keep focused. It’s kind of like what I said before: that just because something is hard doesn’t mean that it’s not worth your time. If you’re not immediately successful it can be really disappointing but it’s not the end of the world. You can keep pushing through and keep working and can get somewhere, if not external success, then inside. And I think that has been something I’ve really learned, particularly as somebody who was a perfectionist growing up. Learning that failures are part of life and challenges are worthwhile. Since you play the violin are you particularly drawn to classical music, or are there other musical genres that are of equal or greater interest? I love all of it. I’ve listened to a lot of classical. Beethoven is my favorite, even though he’s a lot of people’s favorite. I lived in Paris for six months and I would go to the Louvre statue garden and just listen to an entire Beethoven Symphony. It was just my favorite thing to do. But I also really like bluegrass music. I like folk and acoustic. My husband is really into hard rock, so I’ve been learning how to appreciate that. We have a very musical household. You have a well-rounded family musically, that’s for sure. And how about your reading interest? What book might we find on your night stand or in your office library? That’s a great question. I read a lot of fiction and recently I’ve been getting into the genre that people call “cozy mysteries”. I’ve been reading Maisie Dobbs, which is sort of low stakes detective mysteries, not too scary, but just enough to give you a bit of a mystery to follow through on and explore. That’s exploration in its own way, isn’t it? Who or what has inspired you, or does inspire you, as you move through life? I’ve been lucky that there’s a lot of people in my life who are inspirational. Just colleagues, you know, seeing the path and the career that they’ve taken and the work that they do every day and the way that they approach scientific thought, I was always very inspired by how Bob Haberle could think through problems and how he could speak to the problems that he was working through so eloquently. I’ve always been inspired by both of my parents and their approach to the world and now to their approach to parenting, as I try to learn my way through that. I’ve also been very fortunate that I found a partner who has a unique perspective on the world that’s different than mine, so I can learn from him and be inspired by how he approaches the world and its challenges. It’s not hard to find people to look to and say, “Wow, I need to learn something from them because they’re doing something right.” You’re right and the fact is, at least the way I look at it, everybody is my superior in some way that I can learn from. I think that’s a really great perspective to have. I mentioned earlier that we’d like to include images in the post that we finally put together for you and those may certainly include ones related to your work. They can also include, family things, anything that you’ve talked about: your interests, maybe you playing a violin or taking a walk with your son, anything that tends to illustrate the things you’ve talked about but is there a particularly favorite image that you would want to include? I see a couple of pictures behind you on the wall of your office. Yeah. So you can see off to the corner, there’s this series of like, travel posters, basically for different planets in our solar system. Are those little children in front of a planet? Is that what I’m seeing? Yeah, that’s HAT-P-11 b (a Neptune like gas giant planet), so it’s a hot Neptune. If you traveled there it would be quite bright and hot. (laughs) The first ultra-hot Neptune LTT 9779b is one of nature’s improbable planets – The Archaeology (archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com) So the meaning of the poster is exploration? It’s meant to be exploration. It’s meant to be, I guess sometime in our, in our maybe distant future where you might have a travel agent suggesting that you go on a voyage across the solar system and hit all the major planets. I have three in my house, I have a Mars, a solar system tour, and then one for Kepler 16. I’ve always really liked them. And then from a more or less artistic side, I guess I always really like the Mars Express images from the ESA mission because I just think they’re amazing. Every time I see them, I’m like, how are these real photos? They’re so amazing. Well, feel free to include any of those that are meaningful to you because knowing what you’re interested in and your perspective on things helps us better understand you and that is the point. So include those as well as any others that you’d like. I always think the more pictures the better. They draw attention and help us understanding you better. This mosaic, which features the spectacular Kasei Valles, is made up of 67 images taken with the High-Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum) And also if there is a favorite quote that you’d like to have included you can share it now or you could add it later when you edit the transcript. No, I can think of two off the top and they relate to two different kinds of perspectives on life. One is kind of related to the challenges we’ve talked about and I don’t even know who said it. it’s that “There are only two possible outcomes for any endeavor: success or learning”. Oh, I like that. Yeah, and that was very comforting to me for a lot of my graduate work and even now. What a great perspective, because at the very end you’re expecting the word “failure”, but you’re not getting that. You’re getting another positive, two positives. And I like that. And the other one is from a very interesting documentary about Antarctica by Werner Herzog, He showed that at McMurdo Station there is a wooden fence, and carved into it by someone is the quote: “I Sink into Bliss”. And I don’t know, it resonated with me as a reminder to sort of be “in the moment”, recognize the joys of the present moment, and really appreciate the good things going on around you. That’s a great thought! Mark, did you want to say something? Yes, regarding your comment on the your toddler noticing things like bugs. Does it expand your view on sciences when your kids ask you questions about the bugs and the rocks they find? Theo’s not quite verbal yet, but I can see that in the future. As you look at what’s going on in the world it can make you see these small details and start questioning your perspective or how you looked at it prior and you start seeing things. Like when we were on a hike and he was digging in the sand and the top layer was wet, and the bottom layer was dry, and I started thinking about Mars regolith, and the RSL’s and how that could contribute to dust lifting. So, you know, it’s always on. I’m sure I’ll annoy my kids in the future, like “Please stop, Mom! (laughs) At least I like to think so. Well, he is going to be as fortunate growing up with you and your husband as you have been with your parents. A child’s curiosity and imagination are delightful to behold. Is there anything that you wish we had asked that we didn’t? No, I think you really covered the broad range of it. I guess since this is a public facing website too, I would just encourage anybody who is interested, that this is a possibility. Just because it’s not your typical career path doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it, if you’re interested in it. See where it lands you and pursue it. I like to see especially kids, you know, growing up in middle school and high school and I think they don’t always recognize that this is an option. It’s something you can do in your career and so realize that there are a lot of options out there. Thank you for taking the time to sit for this brief interview. I think it will be a great addition to our series. OK. That’s awesome. Thank you for reaching out to me. ************************************* (Interview conducted by Fred Van Wert and Mark Vorobets) Credits: https://victoriahartwick.wixsite.com/research Michael C. Wong (photocredit) automaticblogging.com (photocredit) https://www.cnet.com/pictures/mars-express-10-years-of-capturing-the-red-planet-in-full-color-pict View the full article

NASA/Bill Ingalls Expedition 70 NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara has her Russian Sokol Suit pressure checked ahead of launching to the International Space Station on Sept. 15, 2023. O’Hara, currently on the station, is scheduled to spend six months there. She and her fellow Expedition 70 crew members are studying an array of microgravity phenomena to benefit humans living on and off the Earth, as well as exploring heart health, cancer treatments, space manufacturing techniques, and more during their long-duration stay in Earth orbit. The NASA Headquarters photographers chose this photo as one of the best images from 2023. See the rest on Flickr. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls View the full article

(Nov. 3, 2023) NASA astronauts and Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Loral O’Hara, left, and Jasmin Moghbeli, right, work on a spacesuit aboard the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. NASA Students from North Carolina and Virginia will have separate opportunities next week to each hear from a NASA astronaut living and working aboard the International Space Station. The two Earth-to-space calls will air live Tuesday, Jan. 9, on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media. Follow events online at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv. At 9:20 a.m. EST, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will answer prerecorded questions from students at Thales Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina. In preparation for the education downlink, students will participate in an annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Day that will include presentations about the space station by Marc Fusco, one of NASA’s solar system ambassadors. Students also will participate in hands-on activities, including making space related art, building bottle rockets, and launching a model rocket. Media interested in covering the North Carolina event RSVP no later than 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8., should contact Janice Holton at: janice.holton@thalesacademy.org or 919-882-2320. At 1:05 p.m., NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara will answer prerecorded questions from students across the state of Virginia through an event hosted by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. These students studied life aboard the space station and participated in a Plant the Moon Challenge where they worked to grow plants in lunar regolith simulant for the Artemis mission. Media interested in covering the Virginia event must RSVP no later than 4 p.m. on Jan. 8., to Kristyn Damadeo at: kdamadeo@odu.edu or 202-465-5190. For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts living in space aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Near Space Network. Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the International Space Station benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration. As part of Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation – ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery. See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the space station at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation -end- Katherine Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1288 katherine.m.brown@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsJohnson Space CenterHumans in SpaceIn-flight Education DownlinksJasmin MoghbeliLearning ResourcesLoral O'HaraNASA Headquarters View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 members, (from left) Alexander Grebenkin from Roscosmos; Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, all NASA astronauts, are pictured training inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California.SpaceX Media accreditation now is open for the launch of NASA’s eighth rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft Endeavour that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station for a science expedition. This mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission is targeted for no earlier than mid-February from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch will carry NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist. This is the first spaceflight for Dominick, Epps, and Grebenkin, and the third spaceflight for Barratt. Following a short handover period, astronauts from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission are scheduled for return to Earth aboard their SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft. Media accreditation deadlines for the Crew-8 launch are as follows: U.S. media and U.S. citizens representing international media organizations must apply by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 2. International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 19. All accreditation requests must be submitted online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. For questions about accreditation or special logistical requests, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. Requests for space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections are due by Monday, Feb. 12. For other questions, please contact NASA Kennedy’s newsroom: at 321-867-2468. Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371. For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew -end- News Media Contacts: Joshua Finch Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov Steve Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov Leah Cheshier Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov Read More Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2024 EditorClaire A. O'SheaLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsCommercial SpaceCommercial CrewHumans in SpaceInternational Space Station (ISS) Explore More 5 min read NASA’s 2023 Space Station Achievements Article 1 day ago 10 min read Las mejores imágenes de las investigaciones en la estación del 2023 Article 1 week ago 6 min read Studying Combustion and Fire Safety Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

5 min read NASA Features New Discoveries at American Astronomical Society Meeting A cluster of young stars – about one to two million years old – located about 20,000 light years from Earth. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/Sejong Univ./Hur et al; Optical: NASA/STScI Experts will discuss new research from NASA missions at the 243rd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), on topics ranging from planets outside our solar system to fleeting, high-energy explosions in the universe. The meeting will take place Jan. 7-11 at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. In press conferences, scientific sessions, and town halls, scientists and agency leaders will present the latest developments in astrophysics. Press conferences – highlighting results enabled by NASA missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope (also called “Webb” or “JWST”), Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope – will stream live to the public on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel. In addition to press conferences, NASA highlights for registered attendees include: NASA Town Hall: Monday, Jan. 8, 12:45 p.m. CST James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall: Wednesday, Jan. 10, 6 p.m. CST Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall: Thursday, Jan. 11, 12:45 p.m. CST Throughout the week, expert talks at the NASA Exhibit Booth will discuss science from current NASA missions including Webb, Hubble, IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), and Chandra ahead of its 25th anniversary; NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and SPHEREx observatory; the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a concept for a future NASA flagship space telescope; the agency’s scientific Balloon Program; the 2024 total solar eclipse; and open science at NASA, among other topics. Members of the media can request interviews with NASA experts on any of these topics by contacting Alise Fisher at alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov. The full list of NASA meeting highlights is as follows. All times are Central. Monday, Jan. 8 10:15 a.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Chandra, Webb, and retired SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission will be featured: “Polarized Dust Ring in the Milky Way’s Center” “NASA Telescopes Show Famous Exploded Star in Its Best Light” 12:45 p.m. CST: NASA Town Hall Great Hall A Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, will share an update on NASA’s astrophysics programs. 2:15 p.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Hubble, SOFIA, and Fermi will be highlighted: “Asymmetric Gamma-Ray Emission from the Quiet Sun” “The Wondrous 3D World of Protostellar Shocks in NGC 2071” Tuesday, Jan. 9 10:15 a.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 A NASA-funded citizen science program and news from NASA’s Webb mission will be highlighted: “Using Citizen Science to Identify New Ultracool Benchmark Systems” “JWST Indicates Auroral Signature in an Extremely Cold Brown Dwarf” 2:15 p.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Webb and Hubble space telescopes will be highlighted: “Revealing Dual Quasars and Their Host Galaxy With JWST and ALMA” “Breaking Cosmic Scales: JWST’s Discovery of Unexpectedly Massive Black Holes” “Revealing the Environment of the Most Distant Fast Radio Burst with the Hubble Space Telescope” Wednesday, Jan. 10 10:15 a.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Fermi satellite will be highlighted: “A 12.4-Day Periodicity in a Close Binary System After a Supernova.” 12:45 p.m. CST: Splinter Session – “Habitable Worlds Observatory: Current Status and Opportunities for Engagement“ Room R08/R09 Agency experts will provide a status update as NASA’s Great Observatory Maturation Program lays the groundwork for the Habitable Worlds Observatory concept, including the recent formation of planning teams and other opportunities for community participation. 1 p.m. CST: Splinter Session – “Astrophysics and Open Science“ Room 237 NASA experts will discuss the agency’s role in supporting an inclusive culture of open science, and to empower researchers, early career scientists, and underrepresented communities with the knowledge and tools necessary to embrace open science practices. 2:15 p.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Webb and TESS missions will be highlighted: “Weakened Magnetic Braking in the Exoplanet Host Star 51 Pegasi” “JWST’s New View of Beta Pictoris Suggests Recent Episodic Dust Production from an Eccentric, Inclined Secondary Debris Disk” “An Earth-Sized Addition to a 400-Myr Planetary System in the Ursa Major Moving Group” 6 p.m. CST: James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall Room 215 Experts will provide a status update on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Now in its second year of science observations, Webb has continued to pull back the curtain on some of the farthest galaxies, stars, and black holes ever observed; solved a longstanding mystery about the early universe; found methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet outside our solar system; and offered new views and insights into planets and small objects in our own cosmic backyard. Thursday, Jan. 11 10:15 a.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Chandra and Fermi missions, as well as XMM-Newton, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with NASA contributions, will be highlighted: “Evidence of a Relic Active Galactic Nucleus Eruption” “Evidence for Large-Scale Anisotropy in the Gamma-ray Sky” “Astronomers Find Spark of Star Birth Across Billions of Years” 12:45 p.m. CST: Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall Room 207 Mission experts will provide a status update on the development of the Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next flagship observatory, which is currently in development and planned to launch by May 2027. The Roman team recently finished assembling the spacecraft’s giant camera, and Roman’s fully assembled Coronagraph Instrument passed its first big optics test. 2:15 p.m. CST: AAS News Conference Room 229 News from NASA’s Webb will be highlighted: “A Potentially Isolated Quiescent Dwarf Galaxy.” For more information on the meeting, including press registration and the complete meeting schedule, visit: https://aas.org/meetings/aas243 Media Contacts Alise Fisher / Liz Landau Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 / 202-358-0845 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / elizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2024 Related Terms Astrophysics Division Chandra X-Ray Observatory Exoplanets Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) The Universe Explore More 4 min read NASA/JAXA XRISM Mission Reveals Its First Look at X-ray Cosmos Article 2 hours ago 2 min read Hubble Views a Vast Galactic Neighborhood Article 4 hours ago 4 min read NASA’s Hubble Observes Exoplanet Atmosphere Changing Over 3 Years Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Artist’s concept of the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft. NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunkworks will unveil the aircraft on Friday, Jan. 12.NASA NASA will provide live coverage as it reveals its X-59 aircraft at 4 p.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 12, as part of the agency’s Quesst mission to make commercial supersonic flight possible. For the first time, the public will see the painted aircraft, which will be unveiled during a ceremony hosted by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California. The ceremony and rollout of the aircraft will stream live on the NASA+ streaming service. Coverage also will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and on the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media. Speakers at the event include: NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy NASA Associate Administrator James Free Bob Pearce, associate administrator, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington John Clark, vice president and general manager, Skunk Works Greg Ulmer, executive vice president of aeronautics, Lockheed Martin Members of the media with questions about attending the event should contact Skunk Works. In addition to the on-site events, NASA will host a teleconference after the ceremony for members of the media. Reporters can contact brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov to RSVP. Members of the public can sign up to get their own virtual boarding pass for the X-59’s first flight. Via NASA’s Flight Log experience, participants’ names will be digitized and downloaded onto a storage device that will be carried personally by the X-59 pilot. Participants will also receive a printable boarding pass with their names, and the flight will be entered into their logbooks. NASA’s X-59 is a one-of-a-kind experimental aircraft that will demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic while generating a gentle “sonic thump” rather than the normally loud sonic boom. Once the X-59 completes assembly and testing, NASA’s Quesst team will select several U.S. communities to fly the aircraft and gather data on how people perceive the sound it produces. The agency will provide that data to U.S. and international regulators to potentially adjust current rules that prohibit commercial supersonic flight over land. For more information about Quesst, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/Quesst -end- Rob Margetta Headquarters, Washington 202-763-5012 robert.j.margetta@nasa.gov Sasha Ellis Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 757-864-5473 sasha.c.ellis@nasa.gov Candis Roussel Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Palmdale, California 661- 264-8592 candis.s.roussel@lmco.com Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsAeronauticsLangley Research CenterSupersonic Flight View the full article

4 min read NASA/JAXA XRISM Mission Reveals Its First Look at X-ray Cosmos The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has released a first look at the unprecedented data it will collect when science operations begin later this year. The satellite’s science team released a snapshot of a cluster of hundreds of galaxies and a spectrum of stellar wreckage in a neighboring galaxy, which gives scientists a detailed look at its chemical makeup. “XRISM will provide the international science community with a new glimpse of the hidden X-ray sky,” said Richard Kelley, the U.S. principal investigator for XRISM at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’ll not only see X-ray images of these sources, but also study their compositions, motions, and physical states.” XRISM’s Resolve instrument captured data from supernova remnant N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud to create the most detailed X-ray spectrum of the object ever made. The spectrum reveals peaks associated with silicon, sulfur, argon, calcium, and iron. Inset at right is an image of N132D captured by XRISM’s Xtend instrument. Credit: JAXA/NASA/XRISM Resolve and Xtend XRISM (pronounced “crism”) is led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA, along with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency). It launched on Sept. 6, 2023. It’s designed to detect X-rays with energies up to 12,000 electron volts and will study the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity. For comparison, the energy of visible light is 2 to 3 electron volts. The mission has two instruments, Resolve and Xtend, each at the focus of an X-ray Mirror Assembly designed and built at Goddard. Resolve is a microcalorimeter spectrometer developed by NASA and JAXA. It operates at just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero inside a refrigerator-sized container of liquid helium. When an X-ray hits Resolve’s 6-by-6-pixel detector, it warms the device by an amount related to its energy. By measuring each individual X-ray’s energy, the instrument provides information previously unavailable about the source. Supernova remnant N132D lies in the central portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy about 160,000 light-years away. XRISM’s Xtend captured the remnant in X-rays, displayed in the inset. At its widest, N132D is about 75 light-years across. Although bright in X-rays, the stellar wreckage is almost invisible in the ground-based background view taken in optical light. Credit: Inset, JAXA/NASA/XRISM Xtend; background, C. Smith, S. Points, the MCELS Team and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA The mission team used Resolve to study N132D, a supernova remnant and one of the brightest X-ray sources in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy around 160,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado. The expanding wreckage is estimated to be about 3,000 years old and was created when a star roughly 15 times the Sun’s mass ran out of fuel, collapsed, and exploded. The Resolve spectrum shows peaks associated with silicon, sulfur, calcium, argon, and iron. This is the most detailed X-ray spectrum of the object ever obtained and demonstrates the incredible science the mission will do when regular operations begin later in 2024. “These elements were forged in the original star and then blasted away when it exploded as a supernova,” said Brian Williams, NASA’s XRISM project scientist at Goddard. “Resolve will allow us to see the shapes of these lines in a way never possible before, letting us determine not only the abundances of the various elements present, but also their temperatures, densities, and directions of motion at unprecedented levels of precision. From there, we can piece together information about the original star and the explosion.” XRISM’s second instrument, Xtend, is an X-ray imager developed by JAXA. It gives XRISM a large field of view, allowing it to observe an area about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full moon. XRISM’s Xtend instrument captured galaxy cluster Abell 2319 in X-rays, shown here in purple and outlined by a white border representing the extent of the detector. The background is a ground-based image showing the area in visible light. Credit: JAXA/NASA/XRISM Xtend; background, DSS Xtend captured an X-ray image of Abell 2319, a rich galaxy cluster about 770 million light-years away in the northern constellation Cygnus. It’s the fifth brightest X-ray cluster in the sky and is currently undergoing a major merger event. The cluster is 3 million light-years across and highlights Xtend’s wide field of view. “Even before the end of the commissioning process, Resolve is already exceeding our expectations,” said Lillian Reichenthal, NASA’s XRISM project manager at Goddard. “Our goal was to achieve a spectral resolution of 7 electron volts with the instrument, but now that it’s in orbit, we’re achieving 5. What that means is we’ll get even more detailed chemical maps with each spectrum XRISM captures.” Resolve is performing exceptionally and already conducting exciting science despite an issue with the aperture door covering its detector. The door, designed to protect the detector before launch, has not opened as planned after several attempts. The door blocks lower-energy X-rays, effectively cutting the mission off at 1,700 electron volts compared to the planned 300. The XRISM team will continue to explore the anomaly and is investigating different approaches to opening the door. The Xtend instrument is unaffected. NASA’s XRISM General Observer Facility, hosted at Goddard, is accepting proposals for observations from members of U.S. and Canadian institutions through Thursday, April 4. Cycle 1 of XRISM General Observer investigations will begin in the summer of 2024. XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA. NASA’s contribution includes science participation from the Canadian Space Agency. Download high-resolution images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. By Jeanette Kazmierczak NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Media Contacts: Alise Fisher NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. claire.andreoli@nasa.gov About the Author Jeanette Kazmierczak Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2024 Related Terms Galaxy clusters Goddard Space Flight Center Supernovae The Universe XRISM (X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) El ex instructor de pruebas de vuelo y actual piloto de pruebas de la NASA, Nils Larson se reunió con su antiguo alumno y actualmente astronauta Victor Glover el 21 de octubre durante una visita al Centro de Investigación Langley de la NASA en Hampton, Virginia.NASA / Dave Bowman Lee esta historia en inglés aquí. Nils Larson, ingeniero aeroespacial y piloto de pruebas del avión X-59 de la NASA, se reunió con su antiguo alumno, el astronauta de Artemis II Victor Glover, el sábado 21 de octubre durante una visita a las instalaciones del Centro de Investigación Langley de la NASA en Hampton (Virginia). Los pilotos se conocieron hace más de dos décadas, cuando Larson era instructor en la Escuela de Pilotos de Pruebas de las Fuerzas Aéreas de Estados Unidos. Larson entrenaba a sus alumnos -entre ellos Glover- con el avión T-38. “Siempre supe que Victor llegaría lejos. Es genial pensar que lejos significa la Luna”, dijo Larson, que actualmente realiza pruebas de pilotaje fundamentales para la misión Quesst de la NASA. “Me emocionó verlo elegido como astronauta, luego llegar a volar a la Estación Espacial Internacional, y ahora ir a la Luna como parte de Artemis II. ¡El cielo ya no es el límite! “. Cerca de 40.000 personas asistieron a la jornada de puertas abiertas de la NASA en Langley. Larson y Glover se reunieron en el hangar de Langley, donde otras leyendas de la NASA, como los astronautas Neil Armstrong y Alan Shepard, se entrenaron en su histórico simulador de acoplamiento Rendezvous. El simulador sigue siendo un elemento permanente del hangar. Artículo Traducido por: Elena Aguirre Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 3 min read La NASA anticipa el primer vuelo del avión experimental X-59 para 2024 Article 2 days ago 4 min read La movilidad aérea avanzada hace que los viajes sean más accesibles Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read NASA: Una jugosa historia de tomates en la Estación Espacial Internacional Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space NASA en español Explora el universo y descubre tu planeta natal con nosotros, en tu idioma. Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jan 03, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsNASA en españolAeronáutica View the full article

NASA/Daniel Rutter Read this story in English here. La NASA invita al público a enviar su nombre a la superficie de la Luna a bordo del primer rover lunar robótico de la agencia, el Vehículo de Exploración Polar para Investigación de Volátiles (VIPER, por sus siglas en inglés). Este vehículo explorador se embarcará en una misión al polo sur lunar para desentrañar los misterios del agua de la Luna y comprender mejor cómo es el entorno donde la NASA tiene planificado llevar a la primera mujer y a la primera persona de color con su programa Artemis. Como parte de la campaña “Envía tu nombre con VIPER”, la NASA aceptará los nombres que sean recibidos antes del 15 de marzo a las 11:59 p.m. hora del este. Una vez sean recibidos, la agencia tomará los nombres y los adjuntará al vehículo explorador. Para añadir tu nombre, visita el sitio web: https://www3.nasa.gov/envia-tu-nombre-con-viper/ h Este sitio web también permite a los participantes crear y descargar un recuerdo virtual —una tarjeta de embarque para la misión VIPER con su nombre— con el fin de conmemorar la experiencia. Se anima a los participantes a compartir sus solicitudes en las redes sociales utilizando la etiqueta #EnvíaTuNombre. “Con VIPER, vamos a estudiar y explorar partes de la superficie de la Luna en las que nadie ha estado antes y, con esta campaña, estamos invitando al mundo a ser parte de ese arriesgado pero gratificante viaje”, dijo Nicola Fox, administradora asociada de la Dirección de Misiones Científicas en la sede de la NASA en Washington. “Solo hay que pensarlo: nuestros nombres viajarán con VIPER mientras este navega por el accidentado terreno del polo sur lunar y recopila valiosos datos que nos ayudarán a comprender mejor la historia de la Luna y el entorno al que planeamos enviar a los astronautas de Artemis”. Esta campaña es como otros proyectos de la NASA que han permitido que decenas de millones de personas envíen su nombre para viajar junto con la misión Artemis I, así como en varias naves espaciales a Marte y la próxima misión Europa Clipper de la agencia. Se basa en la larga tradición de la agencia de enviar mensajes inspiradores en naves espaciales que han explorado nuestro sistema solar y más allá. “Nuestra misión VIPER es revolucionaria”, dijo Daniel Andrews, gerente de proyectos de VIPER en el Centro de Investigación Ames de la NASA en Silicon Valley, California. “Es la primera misión de este tipo, y ampliará nuestra comprensión de los lugares donde se podrían cosechar los recursos lunares para apoyar una presencia humana a largo plazo en la Luna”. A finales de 2024, la Misión Griffin Uno de Astrobotic Technologies tiene programado llevar a VIPER a la superficie lunar después de su lanzamiento a bordo de un cohete Falcon Heavy de SpaceX desde la Estación de la Fuerza Espacial en Cabo Cañaveral, Florida. Una vez allí, VIPER confiará en sus paneles solares y sus baterías para su misión de alrededor de 100 días donde deberá sobrevivir a temperaturas extremas y condiciones de iluminación desafiantes, mientras proporciona energía a un conjunto de instrumentos científicos que están diseñados para reunir datos sobre las características y concentraciones del hielo lunar y otros posibles recursos. El transporte del rover VIPER de la NASA es parte de su iniciativa de Servicios Comerciales de Carga Útil Lunar (CLPS, por sus siglas en inglés) para el programa Artemis. Con CLPS, así como con la exploración humana cerca del polo sur lunar, la NASA establecerá una cadencia de misiones lunares a largo plazo en preparación para enviar a los primeros astronautas a Marte. Este vehículo explorador forma parte del Programa de Descubrimiento y Exploración Lunar (LDEP, por sus siglas en inglés), gestionado por la Dirección de Misiones Científicas en la sede de la agencia y es ejecutado a través de la Oficina de Estrategia e Integración Científica de Exploración. Además de gestionar la misión, el centro Ames de la NASA lidera la investigación científica de la misión, la ingeniería de sistemas, las operaciones de superficie en tiempo real del rover y su software de vuelo. El hardware del rover está siendo diseñado y construido por el Centro Espacial Johnson de la NASA en Houston, mientras que los instrumentos son proporcionados por el centro Ames de la NASA, el Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida y el socio comercial Honeybee Robotics en Altadena, California. Para obtener más información (en inglés) acerca de VIPER, visita el sitio web: https://www.nasa.gov/viper View the full article

2 min read Hubble Views a Vast Galactic Neighborhood The Hubble Space Telescope captures a vast group of galaxies. ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features a richness of spiral galaxies: the large, prominent spiral galaxy on the right side of the image is NGC 1356; the two apparently smaller spiral galaxies flanking it are LEDA 467699 (above it) and LEDA 95415 (very close at its left) respectively; and finally, IC 1947 sits along the left side of the image. This image is a really interesting example of how challenging it can be to tell whether two galaxies are actually close together, or just seem to be from our perspective here on Earth. A quick glance at this image would likely lead you to think that NGC 1356, LEDA 467699, and LEDA 95415 were all close companions, while IC 1947 was more remote. However, we have to remember that two-dimensional images such as this one only give an indication of angular separation: that is, how objects are spread across the sphere of the night sky. What they cannot represent is the distance objects are from Earth. For instance, while NGC 1356 and LEDA 95415 appear to be so close that they must surely be interacting, the former is about 550 million light-years from Earth and the latter is roughly 840 million light-years away, so there is nearly a whopping 300 million light-year separation between them. That also means that LEDA 95415 is likely nowhere near as much smaller than NGC 1356 as it appears to be. On the other hand, while NGC 1356 and IC 1947 seem to be separated by a relative gulf in this image, IC 1947 is only about 500 million light-years from Earth. The angular distance apparent between them in this image only works out to less than 400,000 light-years, so they are actually much closer neighbors in three-dimensional space than NGC 1356 and LEDA 95415! Text credit: European Space Agency Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 05, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Related Terms Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions Science Mission Directorate Spiral Galaxies The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Galaxies Stories Stars Stories James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… View the full article

A collage of illustrations highlighting the novel concepts proposed by the 2024 NIAC Phase I awardees. Credit: clockwise, from upper right: Steven Benner, Beijia Zhang, Matthew McQuinn, Alvaro Romero-Calvo, Thomas M. Eubanks, Kenneth Carpenter, James Bickford, Alvaro Romero-Calvo, Peter Cabauy, Geoffrey Landis, Lynn Rothschild, and Ge-Cheng Zha. NASA NASA selected the 2024 Phase I awardees for its program to fund ideas that could innovate for the benefit of all and transform future agency missions. From proposals to explore low Earth orbit to the stars, the 13 concepts chosen stem from companies and institutions across the United States. The NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program fosters pioneering ideas by funding early-stage technology concept studies for future consideration and potential commercialization. The combined award is a maximum of $175,000 in grants to evaluate technologies that could enable tomorrow’s space missions. “The daring missions NASA undertakes for the benefit of humanity all begin as just an idea, and NIAC is responsible for inspiring many of those ideas,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. “The Ingenuity helicopter flying on Mars and instruments on the MarCO deep space CubeSats can trace their lineage back to NIAC, proving there is a path from creative idea to mission success. And, while not all these concepts will fly, NASA and our partners worldwide can learn from fresh approaches and may eventually use technologies advanced by NIAC.” This year’s class will explore sample return from the surface of Venus, fixed-wing flight on Mars, a swarm of probes traveling across interstellar space, and more. All NIAC studies are in the early stages of conceptual development and are not considered official NASA missions. Ge-Cheng Zha, Coflow Jet LLC in Florida, proposed flying the first fixed-wing, electric vertical takeoff, and landing craft on Mars. The vehicle nicknamed “MAGGIE,” could extend humanity’s ability to explore and conduct science on the Red Planet. Thomas Eubanks, Space Initiatives Inc. in Florida, believes a swarm of tiny spacecraft could travel to Proxima Centauri this century, sending back data about the Sun’s nearest interstellar neighbor using a novel laser sailcraft and laser communications. Geoff Landis, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, proposed a spacecraft that can not only survive Venus’ harsh environment but return a sample from the surface using innovations in high-temperature technology and solar aircraft. “The diversity of this year’s Phase I projects – from quantum sensors observing Earth’s atmosphere to a coordinated swarm of spacecraft communicating from the next star – is a testament to the truly innovative community reached by NIAC,” said Mike LaPointe, NIAC program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The NIAC awards highlight NASA’s commitment to continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.” Using their NIAC grants, the researchers, known as fellows, will investigate the fundamental premise of their concepts, roadmap necessary technology development, identify potential challenges, and look for opportunities to bring these concepts to life. In addition to the projects mentioned above, the other selectees to receive 2024 NIAC Phase I grants are: Steven Benner, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Florida: Add-on to Large-scale Water Mining Operations on Mars to Screen for Introduced and Alien Life James Bickford, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Massachusetts: Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket Peter Cabauy, City Labs, Inc., Florida: Autonomous Tritium Micropowered Sensors Kenneth Carpenter, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland: A Lunar Long-Baseline Optical Imaging Interferometer: Artemis-enabled Stellar Image Matthew McQuinn, University of Washington, Seattle: Solar System-Scale VLBI to Dramatically Improve Cosmological Distance Measurements Aaswath Pattabhi Raman, University of California, Los Angeles: Electro-Luminescently Cooled Zero-Boil-Off Propellant Depots Enabling Crewed Exploration of Mars Alvaro Romeo-Calvo, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta: Magnetohydrodynamic Drive for Hydrogen and Oxygen Production in Mars Transfer Lynn Rothschild, NASA’s Ames Research Center, California’s Silicon Valley: Detoxifying Mars: The Biocatalytic Elimination of Omnipresent Perchlorates Ryan Sprenger, Fauna Bio Inc., California: A revolutionary approach to interplanetary space travel: Studying Torpor in Animals for Space-health in Humans Beijia Zhang, MIT’s Lincoln Lab, Massachusetts: LIFA: Lightweight Fiber-based Antenna for Small Sat-Compatible Radiometry NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funds the NIAC program, as it is responsible for developing the agency’s new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities to achieve its current and future missions. To learn more about NIAC, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/niac -end- Jimi Russell Headquarters, Washington 216-704-2412 james.j.russell@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 04, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsGlenn Research CenterAmes Research CenterGoddard Space Flight CenterNASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) ProgramSpace Technology Mission DirectorateTechnology View the full article

Amazonian leaders visit “Space for Earth,” an immersive audio-visual installation that draws from near real-time satellite data and images, in NASA’s Earth Information Center at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington on Nov. 17, 2023. The leaders, joined by University of Richmond faculty and NASA representatives, gathered to discuss how NASA’s data can be used to help protect the Amazon. The NASA Headquarters photographers chose this photo as one of the best images from 2023. Explore the Earth Information Center. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Montage of twelve illustrations depicting futuristic aerospace concepts, including a solar powered glider soaring over the clouds of Venus, a fixed wing electric aircraft flying above a Mars landscape, dish satellite probes scattered across the solar system, flat circular discs floating in space and dotted with hundreds of circle sensors, and a device on the lunar surface with sensing lasers. Phase I Matthew McQuinn Solar System-Scale VLBI to Dramatically Improve Cosmological Distance Measurements University of Washington, Seattle Seattle, Washington 98195-1000 2024 Phase I Kenneth Carpenter A Lunar Long-Baseline Optical Imaging Interferometer: Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD 20771-2400 2024 Phase I Alvaro Romero-Calvo Magnetohydrodynamic Drive for Hydrogen and Oxygen Production in Mars Transfer Georgia Tech Research Corporation Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0001 2024 Phase I James Bickford Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket (TFINER) Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Cambridge, MA 02139-3539 2024 Phase I Ge-Cheng Zha Mars Aerial and Ground Global Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE) Coflow Jet, LLC Cutler Bay, Florida 33190-0000 2024 Phase I Steven Benner Add-on to Large-scale Water Mining Operations on Mars to Screen for Introduced and Alien Life Foundation For Applied Molecular Evolution Alachua, Florida 32615-9544 2024 Phase I Lynn Rothschild Detoxifying Mars: The Biocatalytic Elimination of Omnipresent Perchlorates NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Moffett Field, California 94035-1000 2024 Phase I Thomas Eubanks Swarming Proxima Centauri: Coherent Picospacecraft Swarms Over Interstellar Distances Space Initiatives, Inc. Titusville, Florida 32780 2024 Phase I Beijia Zhang LIFA: Lightweight Fiber-based Antenna for Small Sat-Compatible Radiometry University of Washington, Seattle Seattle, Washington 98195-1000 2024 Phase I Ryan Sprenger A Revolutionary Approach to Interplanetary Space Travel: Studying Torpor in Animals for Space-health in Humans (STASH) Fauna Bio Inc. Newark, California 94560-1000 2024 Phase I Geoffrey Landis Sample Return from the Surface of Venus NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3127 2024 Phase I Peter Cabauy Autonomous Tritium Micropowered Sensors City Labs, Inc. Miami, Florida 33186-6401 2024 Phase I Aaswath Pattabhi Raman Electro-luminescently Cooled Zero-boil-off Propellant Depots Enabling Crewed Exploration of Mars University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California 90095-8357 2024 Phase I Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Electro-luminescently cooled zero-boil-off propellant depots enabling crewed exploration of Mars Aaswath Pattabhi Raman Aaswath Pattabhi Raman University of California, Los Angeles Exploration of Mars has captivated the public in recent decades with high-profile robotic missions and the images they have acquired seeding our collective imagination. NASA is actively planning for human exploration of Mars and laid out some of the key capabilities that must be developed to execute successful, cost-effective programs that would put human beings on the surface of another planet and bring them home safely. One crucial area where new missions and enabling technologies are needed is the long-duration storage of cryogenic propellants in various space environments; relevant propellants include liquid Hydrogen (LH2) for high specific impulse Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) which can be deployed in strategic locations in advance of a mission. Such LH2 storage tanks could be used to refill a crewed Mars Transfer Vehicle (MTV) to send and bring astronauts home quickly, safely, and cost-effectively. We propose a breakthrough mission concept: a cryogenic liquid storage depot capable of storing LH2 with ZBO even in the severe and fluctuating thermal environment of LEO. Our innovative storage depot mission employs thin, lightweight, all-solid-state panels attached to the tank’s deep-space-facing surfaces that utilize a long-understood but as-yet-unrealized cooling technology known as Electro-Luminescent Cooling (ELC) to reject heat from cold solid surfaces as non-equilibrium thermal radiation with orders of magnitude more power density than Planck’s Law permits for equilibrium thermal radiation. Such a depot and tank would drastically lower the cost and complexity of propulsion systems for crewed Mars missions and other deep space exploration by allowing spacecraft to refill propellant tanks after reaching orbit rather than launching on the much larger rocket required to lift the spacecraft in a single-use stage. To achieve ZBO, a storage spacecraft must keep the storage tank’s temperature below the boiling point of the cryogen (e.g., ≈20 K for liquid H2). Achieving this in LEO-like thermal environments requires both excellent reflectivity toward sunlight and thermal radiation from the Earth and other nearby bodies as well as a power-efficient cooling mechanism to remove what little heat inevitably does leak in, a pair of conditions ideally suited to the the ELC panel concept that enables our mission. By enabling ZBO LH2 storage in LEO, our mission will enable cost-effective, and flexible crewed exploration of Mars. Our mission will also demonstrate capabilities with ancillary benefits to cryogenic storage in terrestrial applications and solid-state cooling technologies more generally. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of A revolutionary approach to interplanetary space travel: Studying Torpor in Animals for Space-health in Humans (STASH). Color images (top) and thermal images (bottom) show a model hibernation organism requiring low environmental temperatures for torpor study.Ryan Sprenger Ryan Sprenger Fauna Bio Inc. The use of non-model organisms in medical research is an expanding field that has already made a significant impact on human health. Insights gleaned from the study of unique mammalian traits are being used to develop novel therapeutic agents. The remarkable phenotype of mammalian hibernation confers unique physiologic and metabolic benefits that are being actively investigated for potential human health applications on Earth. These benefits also hold promise for mitigating many of the physical and mental health risks of space travel. The essential feature of hibernation is an energy-conserving state called torpor, which involves an active and often deep reduction in metabolic rate from baseline homeostasis. Additional potential benefits include the preservation of muscle and bone despite prolonged immobilization and protection against radiation injury. Despite this remarkable potential, the space-based infrastructure needed to study torpor in laboratory rodents does not currently exist, and hibernation in microgravity has never been studied. This is a critical gap in our understanding of hibernation and its potential applications for human spaceflight. We propose to remedy this situation through the design and implementation of STASH, a novel microgravity hibernation laboratory for use aboard the ISS. Some unique and necessary design features include the ability to maintain STASH at temperatures as low as 4°C, adjustable recirculation of animal chamber air enabling the measurement of metabolism via oxygen consumption, and measurement of real-time total ventilation, body temperature, and heart rate. The STASH unit will also feature animal chamber sizes that will accommodate the expected variety of future hibernating and non-hibernating species, boosting its applicability to a variety of studies on the ISS by enabling real-time physiological measurements. The STASH unit is being designed in collaboration with BioServe Space Technologies to be integrated into the Space Automated Biological Laboratory (SABL) unit. This will allow for the achievable and practical application of this research to advance our understanding of both hibernation and mammalian physiology in space. The short-term goals of the STASH project are novel investigations into the basic science of hibernation in a microgravity environment, laying the foundation for application of its potential benefits to human health. These include determining whether hibernation provides the expected protection against bone and muscle loss. The medium-term goals of the project begin developing translational applications of hibernation research. These include using STASH both for testing bioactive molecules that mimic the transcriptional signatures of hibernation and for evaluating methods of inducing synthetic torpor for their ability to provide similar protection. As a long-term goal, during a crewed mission to Mars, human synthetic torpor could act as a relevant countermeasure that would change everything for space exploration, mitigating or eliminating every hazard included in NASA’s RIDGE acronym for the hazards of space travel: Space Radiation, Isolation and Confinement, Distance from Earth, Gravity Fields, and Hostile/Closed Environments. Research performed using STASH will be an essential first step toward acquiring fundamental knowledge about the ability of hibernation to lessen the health risks of space. This knowledge will inform development of both biomimetic drug countermeasures and the future infrastructure needed to support torpor-enabled human astronauts engaged in interplanetary missions. We feel that STASH is the epitome of the high-risk, high-reward projects for which NIAC was established. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of LIFA: Lightweight Fiber-based Antenna for Small Sat-Compatible RadiometryBeijia Zhang Zhang, Beijia Zhang, Beijia Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Lincoln Lab Very large space-based RF antennas can be large and expensive to manufacture and deploy. These problems become more challenging for cases when an array of antennas are needed such as for correlation interferometers that provide high spatial resolution of Earth and space. The proposal will specifically examine the potential applicability of novel fiber-based antennas to L-band radiometry for the purpose of generating high resolution soil moisture and sea surface salinity data. Initial estimates indicate that a x10 improvement on resolution may be possible with long fiber-based antenna arrays. Lincoln Laboratory has been investigating the ability to produce large flexible RF antenna arrays embedded in polymer fibers. These lightweight fibers are flexible enough to be coiled and uncoiled, thus facilitating transport and deployment. The metal that forms the antenna structure and other conductive elements is embedded inside a polymer boule that is heated and drawn to form a novel type of fiber. The resulting fiber thus has multiple materials embedded inside for the ability to support sensing capabilities and other functionalities. Thus, this fiber fabrication process may also lead to a cost-effective means to create very large antennas. This work will include analysis of the required antenna performance and the ability of fiber-based antennas to meet those requirements, deployment strategies, satellite specifics, space tolerance of components and materials, a preliminary system-level design, and concept of operations. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Swarming Proxima Centauri: Coherent Picospacecraft Swarms Over Interstellar DistancesThomas Eubanks Thomas Eubanks Space Initiatives, Inc. Tiny gram-scale interstellar probes pushed by laser light are likely to be the only technology capable of reaching another star this century. We presuppose availability by mid-century of a laser beamer powerful enough (~100-GW) to boost a few grams to relativistic speed, lasersails robust enough to survive launch, and terrestrial light buckets (~1-sq.km) big enough to catch our optical signals. Then our proposed representative mission, around the third quarter of this century, is to fly by our nearest neighbor, the potentially habitable world Proxima b, with a large autonomous swarm of 1000s of tiny probes. Given extreme constraints on launch mass (grams), onboard power (milliwatts), and coms aperture (centimeters to meters), our team determined in our work over the last 3 years that only a large swarm of many probes acting in unison can generate an optical signal strong enough to cross the immense distance back to Earth. The 8-year round-trip time lag eliminates any practical control by Earth, therefore the swarm must possess an extraordinary degree of autonomy, for example, in order to prioritize which data is returned to Earth. Thus, the reader will see that coordinating the swarming of individuals into an effective whole is the dominant challenge for our representative mission to Proxima Centauri b. Coordination in turn rests on establishing a mesh network via low-power optical links and synchronizing probes’ on-board clocks with Earth and with each other to support accurate position-navigation-timing (PNT). Our representative mission begins with a long string of probes launched one at a time to ~0.2c. After launch, the drive laser is used for signaling and clock synchronization, providing a continual time signal like a metronome. Initial boost is modulated so the tail of the string catches up with the head (“time on target”). Exploiting drag imparted by the interstellar medium (“velocity on target”) over the 20-year cruise keeps the group together once assembled. An initial string 100s to 1000s of AU long dynamically coalesces itself over time into a lens-shaped mesh network #100,000 km across, sufficient to account for ephemeris errors at Proxima, ensuring at least some probes pass close to the target. A swarm whose members are in known spatial positions relative to each other, having state-of-the-art microminiaturized clocks to keep synchrony, can utilize its entire population to communicate with Earth, periodically building up a single short but extremely bright contemporaneous laser pulse from all of them. Operational coherence means each probe sends the same data but adjusts its emission time according to its relative position, such that all pulses arrive simultaneously at the receiving arrays on Earth. This effectively multiplies the power from any one probe by the number N of probes in the swarm, providing orders of magnitude greater data return. A swarm would tolerate significant attrition en route, mitigating the risk of “putting all your eggs in one basket,” and enabling close observation of Proxima b from multiple vantage points. Fortunately, we don’t have to wait until mid-century to make practical progress – we can explore and test swarming techniques now in a simulated environment, which is what we propose to do in this work. We anticipate our innovations would have a profound effect on space exploration, complementing existing techniques and enabling entirely new types of missions, for example picospacecraft swarms covering all of cislunar space, or instrumenting an entire planetary magnetosphere. Well before mid-century we foresee a number of such missions, starting in Earth or lunar orbit, but in time extending deep into the outer Solar system. For example, such a swarm could explore the rapidly receding interstellar object 1I/’Oumuamua or the solar gravitational lens. These would both be precursors to the ultimate interstellar mission, but also scientifically valuable in their own right. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Detoxifying Mars: the biocatalytic elimination of omnipresent perchloratesLynn Rothschild Lynn Rothschild NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) Water is the lifeblood of human survival and civilization and is critical for our sustained exploration beyond Earth. Fortunately, Mars has plenty of water to sustain our aspirations in the form of subsurface ice. Unfortunately, it is not clean water – it is contaminated by toxic perchlorates. Perchlorate and chlorate are potent oxidizers that cause equipment corrosion and are hazardous to human health even at low concentrations. It is therefore critical that Martian water be detoxified to remove these contaminating solutes before it can be used in propellant production, food production, or human consumption. The scale of anticipated water demand on Mars highlights the shortcomings of traditional water purification approaches, which require either large amounts of consumable materials, high electrical draw, or water pretreatment. What if we could make the perchlorates just vanish? This is the innovative solution we propose here, taking advantage of the reduction of chlorate and perchlorate to chloride and oxygen being thermodynamically favorable, if kinetically slow. This is the promise of our regenerative perchlorate reduction system, leveraging synthetic biology to take advantage of and improve upon natural perchlorate reducing bacteria. These terrestrial microbes are not directly suitable for off-world use, but their key genes pcrAB and cld, which catalyze the reduction of perchlorates to chloride and oxygen, have been previously identified and well-studied. This proposed work exploits the prior work studying perchlorate-reducing bacteria by engineering this perchlorate reduction pathway into the spaceflight proven Bacillus subtilis strain 168, under the control of a robust, active promoter. This solution is highly sustainable and scalable, and unlike traditional water purification approaches, outright eliminates perchlorates rather than filtering them to dump somewhere nearby. For Phase I we will explore whether this approach is feasible through these objectives: Engineer the genes PcrAB and cld into B. subtilis 168 under the control of the strong promoter pVeg and test and quantify the efficacy of perchlorate reduction under the modeled conditions. Develop B. subtilis strains that secrete the enzymes to test intra- vs extracellular efficacy. Perform a trade study comparing the performance of biological water detoxification from Objs. 1 & 2 to traditional engineering approaches in terms of mass, power, and crew time. Delineate a plan to infuse this technology in human Mars missions. Development of our detoxification biotechnology will also lead to more efficient solutions to natural and particularly industrial terrestrial perchlorate contamination on Earth. It will also shine a spotlight on the potential of using life rather than only industrial solutions to address our environmental problems, which may spur further innovations for other terrestrial environmental challenges such as climate change. The system will be launched as inert, dried spores stable at room temperature for years. Upon arrival at Mars, spores will be rehydrated and grown in a bioreactor that meets planetary protection standards. Martian water will be processed by the bioreactor to accomplish perchlorate reduction. Processed water can then be used or further purified as required. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Add-on to large-scale water mining operations on Mars to screen for introduced and alien lifeSteven Benner Steven Benner Foundation For Applied Molecular Evolution As noted at NASA’s 2019 Carlsbad Conference we have good reason to think that: Life started on Mars using the same geo-organic chemistry that started life on Earth. Martian life persists today on Mars, in near-surface ice, low elevations, and caves, all with transient liquid brines, environments that today on Earth host microbial life. Martian life must use informational polymers (like DNA); Darwinian evolution requires these, and Darwinian evolution is the only way matter can organize to give life. While Martian “DNA” may differ (possibly radically) in its chemistry from Terran DNA, the “Polyelectrolyte Theory of the Gene” limits the universe of possible alien DNA structures. Those structures ensure that Martian DNA can be concentrated from Martian water, even if very highly diluted, and even if Martian “DNA” differs from Earth DNA. On Mars as it exists today, information polymers cannot be generated without life (unlike other less reliable biosignatures such as methane), ensuring that life will not be “detected” if it is not present (the “false positive problem”). Nevertheless, as noted by Rummel and Conley, “the Mars community is not convinced that a mission to attempt detection of extant Martian life has a high priority.” Thus, NASA’s current flagship mission to Mars, derived from its 2012 Decadal Survey, involves pedestrian collection of old dry rocks to be cached, eventually to be returned to Earth to study for evidence of past life. The purpose of this NIAC project is to change this view, and to do so before human arrival planned by NASA, the Chinese National Space Agency, and SpaceX, “by 2040”, “in 2033”, and “before 2030”, according to their respective statements. Human arrival will undoubtedly complicate the search for indigenous Martian life. Thus, from an astrobiological perspective, these planned crewed missions to Mars put a very strict deadline on the search for life on a pristine Mars. However, crewed missions also offer an opportunity that we will exploit. Crewed missions to Mars will use materials found on Mars itself, “in situ”, in particular, near surface water ice. Propellant (methane and oxygen) will be generated from that water and atmospheric carbon dioxide for the return trip back to Earth. That water ice will be mined on the scale of tens to hundred tons. Further, to maximize the likelihood of safe return of the crew to Earth, robotic operations that mine tons of near surface water-ice will be in place before the first human astronauts arrive. Thus, water mined in preparation for human arrival is correctly seen as an extremely large-scale astrobiological sample, far larger than dry cached rocks. As the mined water-ice is delivered with dust that, through dust storms, survey the entire accessible surface, this humongous sample will effectively enable a highly sensitive survey of the entire accessible Mars surface for life. This NIAC project will provide an “agnostic life finding” (ALF) system capable of extracting genetic polymers (DNA or alien) from these large ISRU water samples. ALF is agnostic because it exploits what synthetic biology taught us about the limited kinds of Darwinian genetic molecules. ALF also offers tools to partly analyze the polyelectrolytes in situ. As an add-on system, ALF creates a negligible additional burden (regarding mass and energy consumption) compared to the investment in the water mining operation at this scale. Although small and low cost, this instrument will allow science to place a severe lower limit on the amount of biosphere on the accessible Martian surface. And it will do so before Homo sapiens becomes a multiplanetary species. And “multiplanetary” is the correct term. This add-on ALF system can be used on all celestial bodies where water will be mined to search for and analyze life, indigenous or introduced, Earth-like or alien. This includes Europa, Enceladus, the Moon, and exotic locales on Earth. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Mars Aerial and Ground Global Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE)Ge-Cheng Zha Ge-Cheng Zha Coflow Jet, LLC We propose to develop a novel global mobility Mars exploration platform , Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE). MAGGIE is a compact fixed wing aircraft with ultra-high productivity efficiency powered by solar energy to fly in the Martian atmosphere with vertical take-off/landing (VTOL) capability, which is enabled by advanced deflected slipstream technology with CoFlow Jet (CFJ). The cruise Mach number of MAGGIE is 0.25 with a cruise lift coefficient CL of 3.5, nearly an order of magnitude higher than conventional subsonic aircraft to overcome the low density of the Martian atmosphere. The ultra-high cruise CL with CL/CDc of 9 is made possible by CFJ that overcomes the low Reynolds number effect on Mars. The range of MAGGIE for a fully charged battery per 7.6 sol is 179 km at altitude of 1,000 m. The total range of MAGGIE per Martian year is 16,048 km. The representative mission for MAGGIE presented would conduct three atmospheric and geophysical investigations, all supporting different timescales of the Dynamic Mars science theme. These include a study of the origin and timing of the Martian core dynamo from the weak magnetic fields found in the large impact basins, a regional investigation of the source of methane signals detected by the Tunable Laser Spectrometer on the Mars Science Laboratory in Gale crater, and mapping of subsurface water ice at high resolution in the mid-latitudes where it has been observed from orbit. The conceptual MAGGIE system study indicates that the concept appears to be feasible, but need to be further investigated, designed, and verified under Martian atmospheric conditions in Phase I. MAGGIE would be able to perform the first global-scale atmospheric mission at Mars and revolutionize our capability of exploring almost the entirety of the Martian surface. It is the first concept to enable ongoing exploration of this region of Mars and would provide a substantial leap in capability for NASA’s exploration of the Red Planet. The attractiveness of airborne missions on Mars has been amply demonstrated by the Ingenuity helicopter. MAGGIE would be similarly engaging to the public, both in its audacity, and in the variety of environments it could explore, study, and image. The technology would also enhance VTOL aircraft technology on Earth and other planets. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Thin Film Isotope Nuclear Engine Rocket (TFINER)James Bickford James Bickford Charles Stark Draper Laboratory New exciting missions, such as a rendezvous with a passing interstellar object, or a multi-target observing effort at the solar gravitational focus, require velocities that are well in excess of conventional rocketry. Exotic solar sail approaches may enable reaching the required distant localities, but are unable to then make the required propulsive maneuvers in deep space. Nuclear rockets are large and expensive systems with marginal capability to reach the location. In contrast, we propose a thin film nuclear isotope engine with sufficient capability to search, rendezvous and then return samples from distant and rapidly moving interstellar objects. The same technology allows a gravitational lens telescope to be repointed so a single mission could observe numerous high-value targets. The basic concept is to manufacture thin sheets of a radioactive isotope and directly use the momentum of its decay products to generate thrust. The baseline design is a ~10-micron thick Thorium-228 radioisotope film which undergoes alpha decay with a halflife of 1.9 years. The subsequent decay chain cascade produces daughter products with four additional alpha emissions that have halflives between 300ns and 3 days. A thrust is produced when one side of the thin film is coated with a ~50-micron thick absorber that captures forward emissions. Multiple “stages” consisting of longer half-life isotopes (e.g. Ac-227) can be combined to maximize the velocity over extended mission timelines. Key differentiators of the concepts are: • Cascading isotope decay chains (Thorium cycle) increases performance by ~500% • Multiple ‘stages’ (materials) increases delta-V and lifetime without reducing thrust • Thrust sheet reconfiguration enables active thrust vectoring and spacecraft maneuvers • Substrate thermo-electrics can generate excess electrical power (e.g. ~50 kW @ eff=1%) • A substrate beta emitter can be used for charge neutralization or to induce a voltage bias that preferentially directs exhaust emissions and/or to exploit the outbound solar wind Leveraging 30kg of radioisotope (comparable to that launched on previous missions) spread over ~250 m^2 of area would provide more than 150 km/sec of delta-V to a 30 kg payload. Multiple such systems could be inserted into a solar escape trajectory with a single conventional launch vehicle allowing local search and rendezvous operations in the outer solar system. The system is scalable to other payloads and missions. Key advantages are: • Ability to reach a velocity greater than 100 km/sec with spare capacity for rendezvous operations around objects outside the solar system including options for sample return. • Simple design based on known physics and well-known materials • Scalable to smaller payloads (sensors) or to larger missions (e.g., telescopes) • Novel ability to reach deep space (> 150 AU) very quickly and then continue aggressive maneuvers (> 100 km/sec) for dim object search/rendezvous and/or retargeting telescopes at the solar gravitational focus over a period of years. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Graphic depiction of Magnetohydrodynamic Drive for Hydrogen and Oxygen Production in Mars TransferAlvaro Romero-Calvo Alvaro Romero-Calvo Georgia Tech Research Corporation Human space exploration is presented with multiple challenges, such as the near absence of buoyancy in orbit or the reliable, efficient, and sustainable operation of life support systems. The production and management of oxygen and hydrogen are of key importance for long-term space travel and, in particular, for the human transfer to Mars. However, existing technical solutions have failed to meet the reliability and efficiency levels required in such scenarios. As an alternative, we propose an efficient water-splitting architecture that combines multiple functionalities into a minimum number of subsystems, hence enhancing the overall reliability of the mission. This new approach employs a magnetohydrodynamic electrolytic cell that extracts and separates oxygen and hydrogen gas without moving parts in microgravity, hence removing the need for a forced water recirculation loop and associated ancillary equipment such as pumps or centrifuges. Preliminary estimations indicate that the integration of functionalities leads to up to 50% mass budget reductions with respect to the Oxygen Generation Assembly architecture for a 99% reliability level. These values apply to a standard four-crew Mars transfer with 3.36 kg oxygen consumption per day. A dedicated study is required to assess the feasibility of the concept and its integration into a suitable oxygen production architecture, motivating this proposal. Its successful development would effectively enable the recycling of water and oxygen in long-term space travel. Additional technologies of interest to NASA and the general public, such as water-based SmallSat propulsion or in-situ resource utilization, would also benefit from the concepts introduced here. 2024 Phase I Selection Keep Exploring Discover More NIAC Topics Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts NIAC Funded Studies About NIAC View the full article