NASA

The NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize will recognize U.S. individuals and/or organizations that share effective best practices for how they support underrepresented and diverse space technology innovators, researchers, technologists, and entrepreneurs. The prize competition’s primary goals are: (1) Showcase effective strategies and approaches for developing the capacity and skill sets of these groups, enhancing their ability to succeed, (2) Expand the outreach and engagement efforts of the NASA ESIP portfolio, ensuring a diverse and inclusive pool of applicants for future funding opportunities, and (3) Recognize the efforts of those who support and nurture underrepresented and diverse individuals and organizations in the space technology sector. Award: $500,000 in total prizes Open Date: September 29, 2023 Close Date: February 22, 2024 For more information, visit: https://www.spacetechcatalystprize.org/ View the full article

2 min read Hubble Views A Vibrant Virgo Cluster Galaxy NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, and J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) It’s easy to get swept up in the swirling starry arms of this intermediate spiral galaxy, NGC 4654, in the constellation Virgo. The galaxy has a bright center and is labeled “intermediate” because it has characteristics of both unbarred and barred spirals. NGC 4654 is just north of the celestial equator, making it visible from the northern hemisphere and most of the southern hemisphere. The galaxy is around 55 million light-years from Earth. NGC 4654 is one of many Virgo Cluster galaxies that have an asymmetric distribution of stars and of neutral hydrogen gas. Astronomers reason that NGC 4654 may be experiencing a process called “ram pressure stripping,” where the gravitational pull of the Virgo galaxy cluster puts pressure on NGC 4654 as it moves through a superheated plasma made largely of hydrogen called the “intracluster medium.” This pressure feels like a gust of wind – think of a biker feeling wind even on a still day – that strips NGC 4654 of its gas. This process produced a long, thin tail of hydrogen gas on the galaxy’s southeastern side. Most galaxies that experienced ram pressure stripping hold very little cold gas, halting the galaxy’s ability to form new stars, since stars generate from dense gas. However, NGC 4654 has star formation rates consistent with other galaxies of its size. NGC 4654 also had an interaction with the companion galaxy NGC 4639 about 500 million years ago. The gravity of NGC 4639 stripped NGC 4654’s gas along its edge, limiting star formation in that region and causing the asymmetrical distribution of the galaxy’s stars. Scientists study galaxies like NGC 4654 to examine the connection between young stars and the cold gas from which they form. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope took this image in visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light. Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Oct 02, 2023 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Contact Related Terms Astrophysics Division Galaxies Hubble Space Telescope Missions Science Mission Directorate Spiral Galaxies The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Stars Stories Galaxies Stories Exoplanets Our Solar System View the full article

Our First Asteroid Sample Return Mission is Back on Earth on This Week @NASA – September 29, 2023

Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn’t Be There Artist’s rendering of planet 8 Ursae Minoris b – also known as “Halla” – amid the field of debris after a violent merger of two stars. The planet might have survived the merger, but also might be an entirely new planet formed from the debris. W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko By Pat Brennan NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program The discovery: A large planet is somehow orbiting a star that should have destroyed it. Key facts: Planet 8 Ursae Minoris b orbits a star some 530 light-years away that is in its death throes. A swollen red giant, the star would have been expected to expand beyond the planet’s orbit before receding to its present (still giant) size. In other words, the star would have engulfed and ripped apart any planets orbiting closely around it. Yet the planet remains in a stable, nearly circular orbit. The discovery of this seemingly impossible situation, relying on precise measurements using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), shows that planet formation – and destruction – are likely far more intricate and unpredictable than many scientists might have thought. Details: As stars like our Sun approach the ends of their lives, they begin to exhaust their nuclear fuel. They become red giants, expanding to their maximum size. If that happened in this case, the star would have grown outward from its center to 0.7 astronomical units – that is, about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the Sun. It would have swallowed and destroyed any nearby orbiting planets in the process. But planet b, a large gaseous world, sits at about 0.5 astronomical units, or AU. Because the planet could not have survived engulfment, Marc Hon, the lead author of a recent paper on the discovery, instead proposes two other possibilities: The planet is really the survivor of a merger between two stars, or it’s a new planet – formed out of the debris left behind by that merger. The first scenario begins with two stars about the size of our Sun in close orbit around each other, the planet orbiting both. One of the stars “evolves” a bit faster than the other, going through its red giant phase, casting off its outer layers and turning into a white dwarf – the tiny but high-mass remnant of a star. The other just reaches the red giant stage before the two collide; what remains is the red giant we see today. This merger, however, stops the red giant from expanding further, sparing the orbiting planet from destruction. In the second scenario, the violent merger of the two stars ejects an abundance of dust and gas, which forms a disk around the remaining red giant. This “protoplanetary” disk provides the raw material for a new planet to coalesce. It’s a kind of late-stage second life for a planetary system – though the star still is nearing its end. Fun facts: How can astronomers infer such a chaotic series of events from present-day observations? It all comes down to well understood stellar physics. Planet-hunting TESS also can be used to observe the jitters and quakes on distant stars, and these follow known patterns during the red-giant phase. (Tracking such oscillations in stars is known as “asteroseismology.”) The pattern of oscillations on 8 Ursae Minoris, the discovery team found, match those of red giants at a late, helium-burning stage – not one that is still expanding as it burns hydrogen. So it isn’t that the star is still growing and hasn’t yet reached the planet. The crisis has come and gone, but the planet somehow continues to exist. The discoverers: The paper describing the TESS result, “A close-in giant planet escapes engulfment by its star,” was published in the journal Nature in June 2023 by an international science team led by astronomer Marc Hon of the University of Hawaii. View the full article

NASA logoCredits: NASA NASA has selected four small explorer missions to conduct concept studies. These studies aim to expand knowledge of the dynamics of the Sun and related phenomena, such as coronal mass ejections, aurora, and solar wind to better understand the Sun-Earth connection. Any missions selected to move forward after the concept studies are conducted will join the current heliophysics mission fleet, which not only provides deeper insight into the mechanics of our universe, but also offers critical information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals, and helps enable space exploration. “These four mission concept studies were selected because they address compelling science questions and could greatly impact the field of heliophysics,” said Nicky Fox, the associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These mission proposals are exciting because they build upon and complement the science of our current mission fleet, have the potential for broad impact and could provide new and deeper insight into the solar atmosphere and space weather.” CINEMA The Cross-scale Investigation of Earth’s Magnetotail and Aurora (CINEMA) mission would work to understand the structure and evolution of Earth’s plasma sheet – a long sheet of denser space plasma in the magnetic fields flowing behind Earth, known as the magnetotail — using a constellation of nine CubeSats flown in sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit. The primary purpose of this mission is to study the role of plasma sheet structure, as well as how Earth’s magnetic fields transfer heat and change over time at multiple scales. CINEMA will complement current heliophysics missions, such as the THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms), MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale) mission, and the planned Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission. The principal investigator for the CINEMA mission concept study is Robyn Millan from Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire. CMEx The Chromospheric Magnetism Explorer (CMEx) mission would attempt to understand the magnetic nature of solar eruptions and identify the magnetic sources of the solar wind. CMEx proposes to obtain the first continuous observations of the solar magnetic field in the chromosphere – the layer of solar atmosphere directly above the photosphere or visible surface of the Sun. These observations would improve our understanding of how the magnetic field on the Sun’s surface connects to the interplanetary magnetic field. The principal investigator for this mission concept study is Holly Gilbert from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. EUV CME and Coronal Connectivity Observatory The Extreme ultraviolet Coronal Mass Ejection and Coronal Connectivity Observatory (ECCCO) consists of a single spacecraft with two instruments, a wide-field extreme ultra-violet imager and a unique imaging EUV spectrograph. ECCCO’s observations would contribute to understanding the middle corona, the dynamics of eruptive events leaving the Sun, and the conditions that produce the outward streaming solar wind. The mission would address fundamental questions about where the mass and energy flow linking the Sun to the outer corona and heliosphere originate ECCCO’s concept study principal investigator is Katharine Reeves from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MAAX The primary objective of the Magnetospheric Auroral Asymmetry Explorer (MAAX) mission would be to improve our understanding of how electrodynamic coupling between Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere regulates auroral energy flow. The mission would use two identical spacecraft equipped with dual-wavelength ultraviolet imagers to provide global imaging of northern and southern aurora. The principal investigator for the MAAX concept study is Michael Liemohn from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “These mission concept study selections provide so much promise to ongoing heliophysics research,” said Peg Luce, acting Heliophysics division director at NASA Headquarters. “The potential to gain new insights and answer longstanding questions in the field while building on the research and technology of our current and legacy missions is incredible..” Funding and management oversight for these mission concept studies is provided by the Heliophysics Explorers Program, managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. For more information on NASA heliophysics missions, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics -end- Denise Hill Headquarters, Washington 202-308-2071 denise.hill@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms HeliophysicsScience & Research View the full article

1 min read Near-Earth Asteroids as of September 2023 September 2023 Near-Earth Asteroids: Planetary Defense by the Numbers – February 2023 Each month, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office releases a monthly update featuring the most recent figures on NASA’s planetary defense efforts, near-Earth object close approaches, and other timely facts about comets and asteroids that could pose an impact hazard with Earth. Here is the what we’ve found for September. Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms General Planetary Defense Planetary Defense Coordination Office Planetary Science Planetary Science Division Science & Research Science Mission Directorate Explore More 5 min read To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse’s Shadow Article 2 hours ago 4 min read Living on the Edge: Supernova Bubble Expands in New Hubble Time-Lapse Movie Article 8 hours ago 2 min read Hubble Views a Glistening Red Nebula Article 8 hours ago View the full article

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule atop is raised to the vertical position on June 2, 2021, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for the company’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station. In view is the access arm. Dragon will deliver more than 7,300 pounds of cargo to the space station. Liftoff is scheduled for 1:29 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 3.SpaceX Media accreditation is open for SpaceX’s 29th commercial resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station. Liftoff of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket is targeted no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 1, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at NASA Kennedy. Attendance for this launch is open to U.S. citizens. The application deadline for U.S. media is 11:59 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 18. All accreditation requests should be submitted online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email upon approval. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available here. For questions about accreditation, or to request special logistical needs, please email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, please contact 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 at: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov or 321-501-8425. SpaceX’s Dragon will deliver new science investigations, food, supplies, and equipment to the international crew. The research includes work to understand interactions between weather on Earth and space, and laser communications. NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) will study atmospheric gravity waves –powerful waves formed by weather disturbances on Earth such as strong thunderstorms or brewing hurricanes – to understand the flow of energy through Earth’s upper atmosphere and space. Another experiment – Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low-Earth-Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal – (ILLUMA-T) aims to test high data rate laser communications from the space station to Earth. This will complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system by sending high-resolution data to the agency’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration, which launched in December 2021. Other investigations that will launch with the resupply mission include ESA’s (European Space Agency) Aquamembrane-3, which will test water filtration using proteins found in nature for water recycling and recovery, and Plant Habitat-06, which will evaluate the effects of spaceflight on plant defense responses using multiple genotypes of tomato. Commercial resupply by U.S. companies significantly increases NASA’s ability to conduct more investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory. These investigations lead to new technologies, medical treatments, and products that improve life on Earth. Other U.S. government agencies, private industry, and academic and research institutions can also conduct microgravity research through the agency’s partnership with the International Space Station National Laboratory. Humans have occupied the space station continuously since November 2000. In that time, 273 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbital outpost. It remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in exploration, including future missions to the Moon under Artemis, and ultimately, human exploration of Mars. For more information about commercial resupply missions, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialresupply -end- Lora Bleacher / Julian Coltre Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 lora.v.bleacher@nasa.gov / julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov Stephanie Plucinsky / Steven Siceloff Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-876-2468 stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov / steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms Commercial ResupplyCommercial SpaceHumans in SpaceInternational Space Station (ISS) View the full article

NASA logo Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, and its Falcon 9 rocket to provide the launch service for the agency’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission, a pair of small satellites that will study space weather and how the Sun’s energy affects Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere TRACERS will be an important addition to NASA’s heliophysics fleet and aims to answer long-standing questions critical to understanding the Sun-Earth system. The spinning satellites will study how solar wind, the continuous stream of ionized particles escaping the Sun and pouring out to space, interacts with the region around Earth dominated by our planet’s magnetic field. This interaction, or magnetic reconnection, is an intense transfer of energy that can happen when two magnetic fields meet, which could potentially impact operations with crew and sensitive satellites. TRACERS is led by the University of Iowa with partners at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, and Millennium Space Systems in El Segundo, California. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based out of the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in partnership with NASA’s Heliophysics Small Explorers program, announces the launch service as part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract. Learn more about NASA’s TRACERS mission online: https://blogs.nasa.gov/tracers/ -end- Joshua Finch Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov Leejay Lockhart / Laura Aguiar Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-747-8310 / 321-593-6245 leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov / laura.aguiar@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Jennifer M. Dooren Location NASA Headquarters Related Terms EarthSmall Satellite Missions View the full article

5 min read To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse’s Shadow A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets during the 2023 annular eclipse in October to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere. On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular solar eclipse in the Americas will experience the Sun dimming to 10% its normal brightness, leaving only a bright “ring of fire” of sunlight as the Moon eclipses the Sun. Those in the vicinity of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, however, might also notice sudden bright streaks across the sky: trails of scientific rockets, hurtling toward the eclipse’s shadow. A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere. The mission, known as Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path or APEP, is led by Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he directs the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab. Some 50 miles up and beyond, the air itself becomes electric. Scientists call this atmospheric layer the ionosphere because it is where the UV component of sunlight can pry electrons away from atoms to form a sea of high-flying ions and electrons. The Sun’s constant energy keeps these mutually attracted particles separated throughout the day. But as the Sun dips below the horizon, many recombine into neutral atoms for the night, only to part ways again at sunrise. During a solar eclipse, the sunlight vanishes and reappears over a small part of the landscape almost at once. In a flash, ionospheric temperature and density drop, then rise again, sending waves rippling through the ionosphere. “If you think of the ionosphere as a pond with some gentle ripples on it, the eclipse is like a motorboat that suddenly rips through the water,” Barjatya said. “It creates a wake immediately underneath and behind it, and then the water level momentarily goes up as it rushes back in.” The animation shows the changes in the number of electrons (total electron content or TEC) in the ionosphere over the US during the 2017 eclipse. Overlaid on the measurements are the contours that represent location of the outer shadow of the eclipse as it moves across the sky. Credit: Mrak, S., Semeter, J., Drob, D., & Huba, J. D. (2018). Direct EUV/X-Ray Modulation of the Ionosphere During the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(9), 3820-3828. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017GL076771 During the 2017 total solar eclipse visible across North America, instruments many hundreds of miles outside the eclipse’s path detected atmospheric changes. So did critical infrastructure like GPS and communications satellites that we rely on every day. “All satellite communications go through the ionosphere before they reach Earth,” Barjatya said. “As we become more dependent on space-based assets, we need to understand and model all perturbations in the ionosphere.” Aroh Barjatya, of Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University in Daytona Beach, Florida, leads the APEP mission. Here, Barjatya inspects the subpayloads, which will eject from the rocket mid-flight. The subpayloads carry the plasma density, neutral density, and magnetic field sensors. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Berit Bland Mechanical technician John Peterson of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Barjatya check the six booms carrying the sensitive science sensors after a successful spin deployment testing. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Berit Bland Mechanical technician John Peterson of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Barjatya check the six booms carrying the sensitive science sensors after a successful spin deployment testing. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Berit Bland To this end, Barjatya designed the APEP mission, choosing the acronym because it is also the name of the serpent deity from ancient Egyptian mythology, nemesis of the Sun deity Ra. It was said that Apep pursued Ra and every so often nearly consumed him, resulting in an eclipse. The APEP team plans to launch three rockets in succession – one about 35 minutes before local peak eclipse, one during peak eclipse, and one 35 minutes after. They will fly just outside the path of annularity, where the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. Each rocket will deploy four small scientific instruments that will measure changes in electric and magnetic fields, density, and temperature. If they are successful, these will be the first simultaneous measurements taken from multiple locations in the ionosphere during a solar eclipse. Barjatya chose sounding rockets to answer the team’s science questions because they can pinpoint and measure specific regions of space with high fidelity. They can also measure changes that happen at different altitudes as the suborbital rocket ascends and falls back to Earth. The APEP rockets will take measurements between 45 and 200 miles (70 to 325 kilometers) above the ground along their trajectory. “Rockets are the best way to look at the vertical dimension at the smallest possible spatial scales,” said Barjatya. “They can wait to launch at just the right moment and explore the lower altitudes where satellites can’t fly.” While the in-situ rocket instruments are all being built by Embry-Riddle and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, a host of ground-based observations will also support the mission. Co-investigators from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will collect ionospheric density and neutral wind measurements. Co-investigators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts, will run their radar to measure ionospheric perturbations farther away from the eclipse path. Finally, a team of students from Embry-Riddle will deploy high-altitude balloons (reaching 100,000 feet) every 20 minutes to measure weather changes as the eclipse passes by. All of these measurements will aid ionosphere modeling efforts led by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and Embry-Riddle. This won’t be the only APEP launch. The APEP rockets launched in New Mexico will be recovered and then relaunched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on April 8, 2024, when a total solar eclipse will cross the U.S. from Texas to Maine. The April launches are farther from the eclipse path than for the October annular eclipse, but will present an opportunity to measure just how widespread the effects of an eclipse are. This map details the path the Moon’s shadow will take as it crosses the contiguous U.S. during the annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, and total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Credit: NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio/Michala Garrison; eclipse calculations by Ernie Wright After these two eclipses, the next total solar eclipse over the contiguous U.S. is not until 2044, and the next annular eclipse is not until 2046. “We have to make hay while the Sun shines … or, I suppose for eclipse science, while it doesn’t,” Barjatya joked. “In all seriousness though, this data set will reveal the widespread effects that eclipses have on the ionosphere at the smallest spatial scales.” Read More APEP mission fact sheet Learn more about the upcoming eclipses View the full article

Psyche Launches to a Metal Asteroid (Official NASA Broadcast)

5 min read To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse’s Shadow On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular solar eclipse in the Americas will experience the Sun dimming to 10% its normal brightness, leaving only a bright “ring of fire” of sunlight as the Moon eclipses the Sun. Those in the vicinity of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, however, might also notice sudden bright streaks across the sky: trails of scientific rockets, hurtling toward the eclipse’s shadow. A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere. The mission, known as Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path or APEP, is led by Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he directs the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab. Some 50 miles up and beyond, the air itself becomes electric. Scientists call this atmospheric layer the ionosphere because it is where the UV component of sunlight can pry electrons away from atoms to form a sea of high-flying ions and electrons. The Sun’s constant energy keeps these mutually attracted particles separated throughout the day. But as the Sun dips below the horizon, many recombine into neutral atoms for the night, only to part ways again at sunrise. During a solar eclipse, the sunlight vanishes and reappears over a small part of the landscape almost at once. In a flash, ionospheric temperature and density drop, then rise again, sending waves rippling through the ionosphere. “If you think of the ionosphere as a pond with some gentle ripples on it, the eclipse is like a motorboat that suddenly rips through the water,” Barjatya said. “It creates a wake immediately underneath and behind it, and then the water level momentarily goes up as it rushes back in.” The animation shows the changes in the number of electrons (total electron content or TEC) in the ionosphere over the US during the 2017 eclipse. Overlaid on the measurements are the contours that represent location of the outer shadow of the eclipse as it moves across the sky.Credit: Mrak, S., Semeter, J., Drob, D., & Huba, J. D. (2018). Direct EUV/X-Ray Modulation of the Ionosphere During the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(9), 3820-3828. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017GL076771 During the 2017 total solar eclipse visible across North America, instruments many hundreds of miles outside the eclipse’s path detected atmospheric changes. So did critical infrastructure like GPS and communications satellites that we rely on every day. “All satellite communications go through the ionosphere before they reach Earth,” Barjatya said. “As we become more dependent on space-based assets, we need to understand and model all perturbations in the ionosphere.” Aroh Barjatya, of Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University in Daytona Beach, Florida, leads the APEP mission. Here, Barjatya inspects the subpayloads, which will eject from the rocket mid-flight. The subpayloads carry the plasma density, neutral density, and magnetic field sensors.Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Berit Bland Mechanical technician John Peterson of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Barjatya check the six booms carrying the sensitive science sensors after a successful spin deployment testing. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Berit Bland Mechanical technician John Peterson of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and Barjatya check the six booms carrying the sensitive science sensors after a successful spin deployment testing. Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility/Berit Bland To this end, Barjatya designed the APEP mission, choosing the acronym because it is also the name of the serpent deity from ancient Egyptian mythology, nemesis of the Sun deity Ra. It was said that Apep pursued Ra and every so often nearly consumed him, resulting in an eclipse. The APEP team plans to launch three rockets in succession – one about 35 minutes before local peak eclipse, one during peak eclipse, and one 35 minutes after. They will fly just outside the path of annularity, where the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun. Each rocket will deploy four small scientific instruments that will measure changes in electric and magnetic fields, density, and temperature. If they are successful, these will be the first simultaneous measurements taken from multiple locations in the ionosphere during a solar eclipse. Barjatya chose sounding rockets to answer the team’s science questions because they can pinpoint and measure specific regions of space with high fidelity. They can also measure changes that happen at different altitudes as the suborbital rocket ascends and falls back to Earth. The APEP rockets will take measurements between 45 and 200 miles (70 to 325 kilometers) above the ground along their trajectory. “Rockets are the best way to look at the vertical dimension at the smallest possible spatial scales,” said Barjatya. “They can wait to launch at just the right moment and explore the lower altitudes where satellites can’t fly.” While the in-situ rocket instruments are all being built by Embry-Riddle and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, a host of ground-based observations will also support the mission. Co-investigators from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will collect ionospheric density and neutral wind measurements. Co-investigators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts, will run their radar to measure ionospheric perturbations farther away from the eclipse path. Finally, a team of students from Embry-Riddle will deploy high-altitude balloons (reaching 100,000 feet) every 20 minutes to measure weather changes as the eclipse passes by. All of these measurements will aid ionosphere modeling efforts led by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder and Embry-Riddle. This won’t be the only APEP launch. The APEP rockets launched in New Mexico will be recovered and then relaunched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, on April 8, 2024, when a total solar eclipse will cross the U.S. from Texas to Maine. The April launches are farther from the eclipse path than for the October annular eclipse, but will present an opportunity to measure just how widespread the effects of an eclipse are. This map details the path the Moon’s shadow will take as it crosses the contiguous U.S. during the annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, and total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Credit: NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio/Michala Garrison; eclipse calculations by Ernie Wright After these two eclipses, the next total solar eclipse over the contiguous U.S. is not until 2044, and the next annular eclipse is not until 2046. “We have to make hay while the Sun shines … or, I suppose for eclipse science, while it doesn’t,” Barjatya joked. “In all seriousness though, this data set will reveal the widespread effects that eclipses have on the ionosphere at the smallest spatial scales.” Read More APEP mission fact sheet Learn more about the upcoming eclipses About the AuthorMiles Hatfield Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms 2023 Solar EclipseEclipsesGeneralGoddard Space Flight CenterHeliophysics DivisionIonosphereSolar EclipsesSounding RocketsSounding Rockets ProgramWallops Flight Facility Explore More 2 min read Honoring Hispanic Heritage Month: Patriot Construction Supports NASA Ames Research Center Article 20 mins ago 3 min read Two NASA Goddard Earth Scientists Receive AGU Awards Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum and Dr. John Bolten, both of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in… Article 49 mins ago 1 min read Huntsville Symphony String Quartet Performs at Marshall Article 4 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the NASA Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) is highlighting the contributions made by Hispanic-owned businesses to NASA’s mission. Through collaborative efforts, Patriot Construction, Inc. has played a pivotal role in the enhancement and maintenance of NASA’S Ames Research Center in California. They have worked on the N244 Seismic Risk Reduction, Restore Reliability of Main Switchboard for Agency Telecom Gateway N254, Historic Preservation of Building 025 Phase 2 of 2, and the N258 Hyperwall Room Remodeling. This outdoor display of the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT), on DeFrance Ave at Ames Research Center, was updated in August 2023. The display will inform the visiting public of the contributions this National Historic Landmark has made to the Nation’s aeronautical research. The projects Patriot have been involved in, Buildings N244, N254, N258 are critical buildings to NASA missions. The Restore Reliability of Main Switchboard for Agency Telecom Gateway N254 project is an upgrade to their main switchboard. This building is an essential 24/7 operation that holds the Security Operations Center (SOC) which is the nerve center for detection and monitoring of security incidents for the Agency. The N258 Hyperwall Room Remodeling is a dedicated space equipped with a hyperwall, accessible to all users NASA Supercomputer users. The Supercomputer is available to every mission directorate in NASA. Additionally, the hyperwall significantly increases efficiency, allowing wind tunnel personnel to conduct analyses more quickly. The Historic Preservation of Building 025 Phase 2 of 2 is a historical building which NASA is restoring to make it ready for occupancy. Building 025 has not received maintenance since the Navy’s departure in 1998. In accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), NASA, as a federal agency, has a responsibility to preserve and maintain the historical integrity of all properties under its jurisdiction. The N244 Seismic Risk Reduction project is a proactive initiative aimed at ensuring the safety of all personnel within building N244 during earthquakes. As we honor Hispace heritage, Patriot’s partnership with NASA exemplifies the incredible achievements that can be realized when diverse talents unite in pursuit of technological advancement. Editor: Maliya Malik, NASA Office Of Small Business Programs Intern Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

3 min read NASA’s New Horizons to Continue Exploring Outer Solar System NASA has announced an updated plan to continue New Horizons’ mission of exploration of the outer solar system. Beginning in fiscal year 2025, New Horizons will focus on gathering unique heliophysics data, which can be readily obtained during an extended, low-activity mode of operations. While the science community is not currently aware of any reachable Kuiper Belt object, this new path allows for the possibility of using the spacecraft for a future close flyby of such an object, should one be identified. It also will enable the spacecraft to preserve fuel and reduce operational complexity while a search is conducted for a compelling flyby candidate. “The New Horizons mission has a unique position in our solar system to answer important questions about our heliosphere and provide extraordinary opportunities for multidisciplinary science for NASA and the scientific community,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “The agency decided that it was best to extend operations for New Horizons until the spacecraft exits the Kuiper Belt, which is expected in 2028 through 2029.” This new, extended mission will be primarily funded by NASA’s Planetary Science Division and jointly managed by NASA’s Heliophysics and Planetary Science Divisions. NASA will assess the budget impact of continuing the New Horizons mission so far beyond its original plan of exploration. As a starting point, funding within the New Frontiers program (including science research and data analysis) will be rebalanced to accommodate extended New Horizons operations, and future projects may be impacted. Launched on January 18, 2006, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has helped scientists understand worlds at the edge of our solar system by visiting the dwarf planet Pluto (its primary mission) and then venturing farther out for a flyby of the Kuiper belt object Arrokoth, a double-lobed relic of the formation of our solar system, and other more remote observations of similar bodies. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, designed, built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft, and manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The Marshall Space Flight Center Planetary Management Office provides the NASA oversight for the New Horizons. Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, directs the mission via Principal Investigator Stern, and leads the science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Facebook logo @NASA@New Horizons @NASA@NASANewHorizons Instagram logo @NASA Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read 45 Years Ago: Astronomers Discover Pluto’s Moon Charon Article 3 months ago 2 min read New Horizons Team Discusses Discoveries from the Kuiper Belt New Horizons continues to shed light on the mysterious planets and smaller bodies of the… Article 7 months ago 4 min read New Horizons Team Adds AI Smarts to Its Kuiper Belt Object Search Article 7 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Our Solar System Overview Our planetary system is located in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy. We call it the… Kuiper Belt Overview Both Pluto and Arrokoth are in the Kuiper Belt, the doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies extending far beyond the… Solar System Exploration Overview Since 1998, NASA’s Solar System Exploration hub has served as a real-time, living encyclopedia of the scientific exploration of… Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Tricia Talbert Related Terms New HorizonsPlutoThe Kuiper Belt View the full article

3 min read Two NASA Goddard Earth Scientists Receive AGU Awards The American Geophysical Union (AGU) announced this month that two Earth scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, were receiving medals from the organization. Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum was awarded a Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists, and Dr. John Bolten received the AGU International Award. Kirschbaum is director of Goddard’s Earth Sciences Division, and Bolten leads the center’s Hydrological Sciences Lab. Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is one of three recipients of the American Geophysical Union’s 2023 Simpson Medal. Credit: NASANASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center “To receive an award named after such a prolific and impactful woman is a true honor,” Kirschbaum said. Dr. Joanne Simpson was the first woman to receive a doctorate in meteorology. As a tribute to her, AGU awards the medal to individuals with exceptional leadership qualities and an unwavering passion for scientific advancement for public service. Like Simpson’s groundbreaking research on tropical clouds and hurricanes, this award highlights mid-career scientists who have also made significant scientific breakthroughs. Kirschbaum is one of three recipients of AGU’s Simpson medal this year. “When I was an intern and Ph.D. researcher, I was fortunate enough to work at NASA and actually sit in Joanne Simpson’s office,” Kirschbaum said. “She had since retired but I was surrounded by her awards, her publications, and her contributions to NASA. She was one of the key scientific leaders to campaign for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and after the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, which is still flying today. I have worked on TRMM and then GPM for my entire scientific career, which was all enabled by her tenacity, creativity, intelligence, and insight.” The award highlights the achievements of a broad Earth science team working to benefit humanity, Kirschbaum said. TRMM and GPM data, for example, has helped communities around the globe estimate where rainfall-triggered landslides may occur. Bolten’s award likewise commemorates work with a global impact. AGU selected Bolten for their International Award “for dedication to improving lives in Southeast Asia and Africa through development and training in the use of hydrological datasets and tools,” according to their citation. Dr. John Bolten, who leads NASA Goddard’s Hydrological Sciences Lab, received AGU’s 2023 International Award.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Bolten has developed several research products to aid in water resources management around the world. Much of the work has been supported by NASA’s Applied Science Program, which enables the agency’s data products to deliver societal benefits. Bolten served as the associate program manager for water resources in the program from 2014 to 2022. “It is an incredible honor to serve the international community and to be recognized in this way,” Bolten said. “Thanks and kudos should be shared with the numerous NASA colleagues and collaborators I’ve had the privilege to work with. I am grateful for their contributions and am thrilled to be a part of the NASA family and make a positive impact in the world.” Kirschbaum echoed the globally minded mentality: Among her priorities as director of Goddard’s Earth Sciences Division is to “bring together the best of what NASA provides for societal benefit,” she said. “Our team will continue to innovate and improve these capabilities to support the agency, the nation, and the world.” Kirschbaum, who also received fellowship in AGU as part of her award, and Bolten will be recognized during the organization’s annual meeting in December. Learn more about NASA’s landslide research at https://landslides.nasa.gov, and Goddard’s hydrology lab at https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/earth/hydrology/. By Angel Kumari NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Rob Garner Contact Rob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.gov Related Terms Goddard Space Flight CenterPeople of GoddardPeople of NASA Explore More 3 min read NASA’s Webb Receives IAF Excellence in Industry Award Article 4 hours ago 5 min read Living on the Edge: Supernova Bubble Expands in New Hubble Time-Lapse Movie Though a doomed star exploded some 20,000 years ago, its tattered remnants continue racing into… Article 9 hours ago 3 min read Hubble Views a Glistening Red Nebula Just in time for the fall foliage season, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space… Article 9 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli works on microbe samples aboard the International Space Station. Studies newly funded by NASA’s Human Research Program aim to assess how astronauts adjust to spaceflight. Credit: NASA NASA is funding eight new studies aimed at better understanding how the human body reacts to spaceflight. These studies will be done on Earth without the need for samples and data from astronauts. Collectively, these studies will help measure physiological and psychological responses to physical and mental challenges that astronauts may encounter during spaceflight. With this information, NASA may be better able to mitigate risks and protect astronaut health and performance during future long-duration missions to the International Space Station, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The selected research projects were chosen from 60 proposals submitted in response to the 2023 Human Exploration Research Opportunities, Appendix A solicitation. They will address numerous spaceflight risks related to muscle and bone health, sex differences, crew autonomy and behavior, balance and disorientation, and inflammation of the brain or spinal cord. Proposals were independently reviewed by subject matter experts in academia, industry, and government using a dual anonymous peer review process to assess scientific merit. Top scoring proposals were assessed by NASA for relevance to the agency’s Human Research Roadmap before final selections were made. The cumulative award totals about $1.2 million in funding, spread across the projects. Funding for each project will last up to one year. The selected investigators and their teams are: Heather Allaway, Louisiana State University and A&M College, “A time course of bone microarchitectural and material property changes in male and female mice during simulated unloading and spaceflight.” Kelly Crowe, Xavier University, “Assessment of Sialylation in Skeletal Muscle Atrophy due to Simulated Microgravity.” Anthony Lau, College of New Jersey, “Effects of Acute and Protracted Proton Radiation Exposure on Bone Health.” Ranjana Mehta, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, “Characterizing and mitigating the interactive impacts of fatigue- and altered gravity-related stressors on sensorimotor, behavioral, and operational outcomes.” Kathleen Mosier, Teamscape LLC, “Negotiating Crew Autonomy during Space Operations.” Talmo Pereira, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, “Automated deep learning for spaceflight rodent behavior quantification and health phenotyping.” Shubhankar Suman, Georgetown University, “Senescent cell targeting to alleviate space radiation-induced neuroinflammation.” Danyal Turkoglu, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation – Space, “Radioisotope to Enable X-Ray Based Inflight Space Radiology.” ______ NASA’s Human Research Program, or HRP, pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, and the International Space Station, HRP scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives HRP’s quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space travel expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Explore More 4 min read Science in Space: Week of Sept. 29, 2023 – Fire Safety in Space Article 1 hour ago 5 min read Life Encapsulated: Inside NASA’s Orion for Artemis II Moon Mission Article 1 hour ago 3 min read Government and Industry Collaboration Leads to First Air Taxi Delivery  Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Living in Space Artemis Human Research Program Space Station Research and Technology View the full article

Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted a variety of scientific investigations during the week ending Sept. 29, 2023, including FLARE. This JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) investigation explores the flammability of materials in microgravity. Current tests of materials that are used in crewed spacecraft do not consider gravity, which significantly affects combustion phenomena. The ability for flames to spread over solid materials, for example, is affected by the forces of buoyancy, which are absent in microgravity. Removing the effects of buoyancy by conducting combustion experiments in microgravity also gives researchers a better understanding of specific flame behaviors. JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa sets up hardware for the FLARE investigation. NASA Other investigations on the space station have examined the behavior, spread, and growth of fire. This work helps guide selection of spacecraft cabin materials, improve understanding of early fire growth behavior, validate models used to determine material flammability, and identify optimal fire suppression techniques. Developing ways to prevent and extinguish fire is of critical importance to the safety of crew members and vehicles in space and in confined spaces such as aircraft on Earth. These settings limit the options for suppressing fires and can be difficult to evacuate from. Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) was one of the first investigations to examine how to extinguish a variety of fuels burning in microgravity. Putting out fires in space must consider the geometry of the flame and characteristics of the materials and methods used to extinguish it, as those used on the ground could be ineffective or even make the flame worse. Analysis of 59 BASS burn tests provided data on heat flow, flame size, effects of fuel mixture flow, and other important parameters. BASS-II examined the burning and extinction characteristics of a variety of fuel samples to test the hypothesis that materials burn as well if not better in microgravity than in normal gravity, given adequate ventilation and identical conditions such as pressure, oxygen concentration, and temperature. A number of papers have been published based on results from BASS-II, with findings including a report on the differences between flame spread and fuel regression and comparison of flame spread rates. Image of a flame burning during the BASS experiments on extinguishing burning fuels. NASA Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction – Growth and Extinction Limit (SoFIE-GEL), a research collaboration between NASA and Roscosmos, analyzes how the temperature of a fuel affects material flammability. Researchers report that experimental observations agree with trends predicted by the models. This investigation is the first in a series using the SoFIE insert for the station’s Combustion Integrated Rack. ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti works on the SoFIE-GEL investigation of materials flammability.NASA Saffire is a series of experiments conducted aboard uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft after they depart the station. Using these cargo vehicles provides distance from the crewed station and enables tests of larger fires. Results have shown that a flame spreading over thin fabrics in microgravity reaches a steady spread rate and a limiting length, which can be used to establish the rate of heat release in a spacecraft, and found that reducing pressure slows down the flame spread. A sample of fabric burns inside an uncrewed Cygnus cargo craft for the Saffire-IV experiment. NASA Confined Combustion, sponsored by the ISS National Lab, examines the behavior of flame spread in confined spaces of different shapes. Confinement has been shown to have significant effects on fire characteristics and hazards. Researchers report specifics on interactions between a flame and its surrounding walls and the fate of the flame, such as growth or extinction. These data provide guidance for design of structures and fire safety codes and response in space and on Earth. Other results suggest that confinement can increase or decrease solid fuel flammability depending on conditions. Researchers also demonstrated that color pyrometry – capturing flame emission simultaneously at three broad spectral bands – can determine the temperature of a flame without disrupting its spread. Flame studies help keep crews in space and people on Earth safe. This research also can lead to more efficient combustion, reducing impurities and producing greener and more efficient flames for uses on Earth such as heating and transportation. Facebook logo @ISS @ISS@ISS_Research Instagram logo @ISS Linkedin logo @company/NASA Keep Exploring Discover More Topics Latest News from Space Station Research ISS National Laboratory Station Science 101: Physical Science International Space Station View the full article

5 min read Life Encapsulated: Inside NASA’s Orion for Artemis II Moon Mission Artemis II crew members, shown inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, stand in front of their Orion crew module on Aug. 8, 2023. From left are: Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; Reid Wiseman, commander; and Christina Hammock Koch, mission specialist. On NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission, four astronauts will fly inside the Orion spacecraft and venture around the Moon, becoming the first to lay their eyes on our celestial neighbor at a relatively close distance in more than 50 years. Orion will be home for NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen during their 600,000-mile, nearly 10-day journey. They will live and work in Orion’s crew module while its service module provides the essential commodities astronauts need to stay alive, including potable water and nitrogen and oxygen to breathe. As the first time astronauts will fly aboard Orion, Artemis II will include several objectives to check out many of the spacecraft’s life support systems operating in space for the first time. The crew will provide valuable feedback for future Artemis missions to the Moon. Artemis II crew members inspect their Orion crew module inside the high bay of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Aug. 7, 2023. Spacecraft Life Orion’s cabin has a habitable volume of 330 cubic feet, giving the crew about as much living space as two minivans. After their ride to space atop NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the crew will stow Koch and Hansen’s seats until the day of return, giving them more room to move around during the flight. The backs of Wiseman and Glover’s seats, as commander and pilot respectively, will remain out but their foot pans will be stowed. Orion has nearly 60 percent more space than the Apollo command module’s 210 cubic feet. A view of the interior of the Orion spacecraft medium-fidelity mockup used for astronaut training and systems familiarization at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. What’s on the Menu? Food scientists in the Space Food Systems Laboratory at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are working with the crew to pre-select their meals long before departing Earth. While they won’t have the day-to-day options that a space station crew has during their expeditions, the Artemis II astronauts will have a set menu based on their personal preferences and nutritional needs. Orion is outfitted with a water dispenser and food warmer to rehydrate and heat food, and the crew will have dedicated meal times in their schedule to refuel. Artemis II crew members undergo food testing in the Space Food Systems Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where they rate and choose foods that they want to bring with them on their journey around the Moon.NASA/James Blair Fit for Flight Each astronaut will dedicate 30 minutes daily to exercise, minimizing the muscle and bone loss that occurs without gravity. Orion is equipped with a flywheel, a small device installed directly below the side hatch used to enter and exit Orion and will conveniently be used as a step when the crew get inside Orion on launch day. The flywheel is a simple cable-based device for aerobic exercises like rowing and resistance workouts like squats and deadlifts. It works like a yo-yo, giving astronauts as much load as they put into it, maxing out at 400 pounds. On the International Space Station, astronauts have several exercise machines that collectively weigh more than 4,000 pounds and occupy about 850 cubic feet. While effective for space station crew members, Orion’s exercise equipment must accommodate more stringent mass and volume constraints. The flywheel weighs approximately 30 pounds and is slightly smaller than a carry-on suitcase. The Artemis II crew will exercise on Orion using a flywheel, a simple cable-based device for aerobic exercises like rowing and resistance workouts like squats and deadlifts. It works like a yo-yo, giving astronauts as much load as they put into it, maxing out at 400 pounds. Keeping it Clean The hygiene bay includes doors for privacy, a toilet, and space for the crew to bring in their personal hygiene kits. The kits typically include items like a hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, and shaving supplies. Astronauts can’t shower in space but use liquid soap, water, and rinseless shampoo to remain clean. When nature inevitably comes calling, crew members will use Orion’s toilet, the Universal Waste Management System, a feature Apollo crews did not have. Nearly identical to a version flying on NASA’s space station, the system collects urine and feces separately. Urine will be vented overboard while feces are collected in a can and safely stowed for disposal upon return. Should the toilet malfunction, the crew will be able to use collapsible contingency urinals, a system that collects urine in a bag and interfaces with the venting system to send the urine overboard. With two different styles designed to accommodate both females and males, the bags hold about a liter of urine each. Should the UWMS fail, the crew will still use the toilet for fecal collection, only without the fan that helps with fecal separation. A team member at Johnson Space Center in Houston demonstrates lifting the urine hose of the Universal Waste Management System out of its cradled position like a crew member would for use. A funnel (not shown) is attached to the open end of this hose and can then be easily replaced or removed for disinfection. Medical Care In case of minor medical needs during the mission, Orion will have a medical kit on board that includes everything from basic first aid items to diagnostic tools, such as a stethoscope and an electrocardiogram, that can be used to provide data to physicians on the ground. The crew will also have regular private medical conferences with flight surgeons in mission control to discuss their health and well-being. Catching Some Shuteye With a jam-packed schedule, the Artemis II crew will have a full eight hours of sleep built into their schedule to ensure they’re well rested and can make the most of their mission. For most of the mission, all four crew will sleep at the same time, attaching sleeping bags to Orion’s walls for some shuteye. Artemis II crew sleeping bag configurations are tested in the Orion spacecraft medium-fidelity mockup at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, used for astronaut training and systems familiarization. Keeping in Touch Inside Orion, the astronauts will use a handheld microphone and speaker or wear a headset to communicate with mission controllers, conduct medical checks with flight physicians, and catch up with their families. The crew will also have tablets and laptops they can use to review procedures and load entertainment onto before launch. Artemis II will confirm all Orion’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space. The mission will pave the way for future lunar surface missions, including by the first woman and first person of color, establishing long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities, and inspire the next generation of explorers – The Artemis Generation. About the AuthorErika Peters Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms ArtemisArtemis 2Orion Multi-Purpose Crew VehicleOrion Program Explore More 2 min read Artemis II SLS Rocket Booster Segments Arrive to Kennedy Space Center The 10 booster motor segments for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help… Article 4 days ago 3 min read New NASA Report Looks at Societal Considerations for Artemis Article 1 week ago 6 min read NASA Kennedy Ready for Artemis II Moon Mission Ground Systems Testing Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

3 min read NASA’s Perseverance Captures Dust-Filled Martian Whirlwind NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this Martian dust devil moving east to west at a clip of about 12 mph (19 kph) along “Thorofare Ridge” on Aug. 30. The video, which was sped up 20 times, is composed of 21 frames taken four seconds apart. It was enhanced in order to show maximal detail.NASA/JPL-Caltech The six-wheeled geologist spotted the twister as part of an atmospheric exploration of Jezero Crater. The lower portion of a Martian dust devil was captured moving along the western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance rover on Aug. 30, 2023, the 899th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The video, which was sped up 20 times, is composed of 21 frames taken four seconds apart by one of the rover’s Navcams. Much weaker and generally smaller than Earth’s tornadoes, dust devils are one of the mechanisms that move and redistribute dust around Mars. Scientists study them to better understand the Martian atmosphere and improve their weather models. Using data from the imagery, mission scientists determined that this particular dust devil was about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away, at a location nicknamed “Thorofare Ridge,” and moving east to west at about 12 mph (19 kph). They calculated its width to be about 200 feet (60 meters). And while only the bottom 387 feet (118 meters) of the swirling vortex are visible in the camera frame, the scientists could also estimate its full height. “We don’t see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it throws gives us a good indication of its height,” said Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and a member of the Perseverance science team. “Most are vertical columns. If this dust devil were configured that way, its shadow would indicate it is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) in height.” Dust devils, which occur on Earth as well, form when rising cells of warm air mix with descending columns of cooler air. The Martian versions can grow to be much larger than those found on Earth. And while they are most prominent during the spring and summer months (Mars’ northern hemisphere, where Perseverance is located, is currently in summer), scientists can’t predict when they’ll appear at a specific location. So Perseverance and its fellow NASA Mars rover Curiosity routinely monitor in all directions for them, taking images in black-and-white to reduce the amount of data sent to Earth. More About the Mission A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 agle@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Alana Johnson NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0668 / 202-672-4780 alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov 2023-138 Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms Jet Propulsion LaboratoryMarsMars Sample Return (MSR)Perseverance (Rover)PlanetsThe Solar System Explore More 5 min read NASA-Led Study Pinpoints Areas of New York City Sinking, Rising Article 2 days ago 5 min read New Simulations Shed Light on Origins of Saturn’s Rings and Icy Moons Article 3 days ago 1 min read Meet the Creators, Part 2 By Miles HatfieldNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Two solar eclipses will cross the United States… Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

1 min read Huntsville Symphony String Quartet Performs at Marshall By Jessica Barnett NASA Marshall Space Flight Center team members were treated to a special 30-minute performance by musicians from the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra inside Activities Building 4316 on Sept. 21. The string quartet included two violinists, a violist, and a cellist performing several recognizable classical compositions, including Gershwin’s “Summertime” and Mouret’s “Rondeau.” A string quartet of musicians from the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra performs in Marshall’s Activities Building 4316 on Sept. 21. The musicians are, from left, Jennifer Whittle, Joe Lester, Charles Hogue, and Ariana Arcu. Credits: NASA/Christopher Blair The performance was part of “Symphony in the City,” an educational and outreach campaign providing free live performances throughout North Alabama. The string quartet performed earlier that afternoon inside the Java Café for Redstone Arsenal personnel. The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra originally began performing in 1955 and today serves as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization offering concerts, educational programs and more with leading musicians from around the world. Barnett, a Media Fusion employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications. Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Related Terms General Explore More 2 min read NASA Publishes Beta Flagship, Science Websites as Improvements Continue Article 22 hours ago 4 min read Eleasa Kim: Supporting NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program Article 22 hours ago 5 min read Marshall Teams Combine to Make Space Station Science Reality Article 23 hours ago View the full article

3 min read NASA’s Webb Receives IAF Excellence in Industry Award The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) has awarded its Excellence in Industry Award to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The award will be presented at the 2023 International Astronautical Congress, taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 through Oct. 6, 2023. Artist Concept for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.NASA The IAF Excellence in Industry Award is intended to distinguish organizations worldwide for introducing innovative space technologies to the global marketplace. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will accept the award on behalf of NASA. The award recognizes the contributions of the team that designed, developed, and now operates Webb, which also includes ESA (European Space Agency), CSA (Canadian Space Agency), NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Northrop Grumman. “The James Webb Space Telescope continues to astound us,” said Melroy. “We are only a little over a year into Webb’s science mission, and already it has solved longstanding mysteries about the early universe and opened up exciting new questions in the search for habitable worlds. These transformative discoveries are only possible thanks to the massive, international team that worked for decades to make Webb a reality. I can’t wait to see where Webb’s mission to explore the secrets of the universe takes us next.” Launched Dec. 25, 2021, after more than a decade of preparation, Webb successfully performed a complex series of deployments shortly after leaving Earth orbit. About a month later, the telescope reached its working orbit at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, a stable orbit in space well beyond that of the Moon. Once there and fully commissioned, the 21-foot (6.5-meter) telescope began its record-breaking work. Webb operates at infrared wavelengths. The combination of sensitive instrumentation with its large primary mirror allows the telescope to see farther and more clearly than any previous observatory of its kind. Discoveries from existing and newly identified targets began to accumulate almost immediately. The first images were unveiled on July 12, 2022. The ever-growing list of Webb discoveries includes direct imaging of exoplanets and the identification of key molecules in their atmospheres; tracking clouds on Saturn’s moon Titan; identifying new details in a cluster of galaxies; imaging the incredibly faint rings around Uranus; capturing the galactic merger of Arp 220; discovering sand-bearing clouds on a remote exoplanet; measuring the temperature of a rocky exoplanet; detecting the most distant active supermassive black hole to date; and observing galaxies seen in their earliest years, when the universe was just 350 million years old – about two percent of its current age. Founded in 1951, the International Astronautical Federation is a space advocacy body with members in 75 countries, including all leading space agencies, companies, research institutions, universities, societies, associations, institutes, and museums worldwide. The Federation advances knowledge about space, supporting the development and application of space assets by promoting global cooperation. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever built. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. Rob Gutro NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Jamie Adkins Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Goddard Space Flight CenterJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST) View the full article

3 min read NASA Prize Targets Inclusive Community Building for Tech Development Howard University student Miles Phillips gives NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins a demonstration of his work with lasers during a tour of the Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory at Howard University, Friday, March 31, 2023, in Washington.NASA/Aubrey Gemignani Revolutionary space technology research and development relies on novel ideas across America. To that end, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is rolling out an innovative engagement strategy to help enhance outreach efforts, reduce barriers to entry, and attract high-quality proposals from a diverse pool of researchers. A new NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize sets out to expand the agency’s network of proposers and foster effective engagement approaches within NASA’s Early-Stage Innovations and Partnerships (ESIP) portfolio. Through this prize, NASA will recognize U.S. individuals and/or organizations that share effective best practices on approaches and methods for how they successfully engage underrepresented and diverse space technology innovators, researchers, technologists, and entrepreneurs. “Diversity leads to greater innovation in space technology, better research, deeper discoveries, and achievements in human spaceflight,” said Shahra Lambert, senior advisor for engagement and equity at NASA. “We won’t discover new possibilities alone – it will take the best of all of us to get us there. When we enable more people to participate, we provide space for all possible talent, perspectives, and innovations. This empowers NASA to achieve the greatest success in discovering and expanding knowledge for the benefit of all humanity.” Numerous individuals and/or teams will each be awarded $25,000, and the cohort of winners will be invited to an in-person event at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. During the event, NASA aims to learn industry best practices for engaging and building a diverse community of space technology research and development professionals to inform future NASA plans and grow partnership potential. Applicants may include teachers, mentors, and other individuals. Universities, non-profits, businesses, and other organizations are also encouraged to apply. Interested and eligible individuals and organizations should register and fill out the submission form on the competition website, provide references, and submit a short video. Applicants will be asked to describe the groups they currently engage with, what barriers their engagement approaches have addressed, an explanation of how NASA investment will further their work, and more. “We want to create a network of NASA space technology champions that bring our funding opportunities to their communities and new ideas to NASA,” said Jenn Gustetic, the Early-Stage Innovation and Partnerships director in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “The agency can learn a lot from individuals and organizations already doing successful outreach to and engagement with underrepresented groups to inform our future engagement and capacity building efforts to researchers and businesses that haven’t worked with NASA ESIP.” Interested applicants should register online by Feb. 8, 2024. Applications must be completed and submitted by Feb. 22, 2024. For more information about the NASA Space Tech Catalyst Prize and details on eligibility criteria and how to participate, visit: www.spacetechcatalystprize.org The Space Technology Mission Directorate and ESIP annually invests in more than 700 early-stage projects and activities through six programs. Facebook logo @NASATechnology @NASA_Technology Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing NASA bridges its expertise with the ingenuity of industry experts, universities, and the public to help advance space technology solutions. Get Involved Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Loura Hall Related Terms Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing ProgramSpace Technology Mission Directorate View the full article

4 min read Living on the Edge: Supernova Bubble Expands in New Hubble Time-Lapse Movie NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, Ravi Sankrit (STScI) Though a doomed star exploded some 20,000 years ago, its tattered remnants continue racing into space at breakneck speeds – and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has caught the action. The nebula, called the Cygnus Loop, forms a bubble-like shape that is about 120 light-years in diameter. The distance to its center is approximately 2,600 light-years. The entire nebula has a width of six full Moons as seen on the sky. Astronomers used Hubble to zoom into a very small slice of the leading edge of this expanding supernova bubble, where the supernova blast wave plows into surrounding material in space. Hubble images taken from 2001 to 2020 clearly demonstrate how the remnant’s shock front has expanded over time, and they used the crisp images to clock its speed. By analyzing the shock’s location, astronomers found that the shock hasn’t slowed down at all in the last 20 years, and is speeding into interstellar space at over half a million miles per hour – fast enough to travel from Earth to the Moon in less than half an hour. While this seems incredibly fast, it’s actually on the slow end for the speed of a supernova shock wave. Researchers were able to assemble a “movie” from Hubble images for a close-up look at how the tattered star is slamming into interstellar space. “Hubble is the only way that we can actually watch what’s happening at the edge of the bubble with such clarity,” said Ravi Sankrit, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. “The Hubble images are spectacular when you look at them in detail. They’re telling us about the density differences encountered by the supernova shocks as they propagate through space, and the turbulence in the regions behind these shocks.” A very close-up look at a nearly two-light-year-long section of the filaments of glowing hydrogen and ionized oxygen shows that they look like a wrinkled sheet seen from the side. “You’re seeing ripples in the sheet that is being seen edge-on, so it looks like twisted ribbons of light,” said William Blair of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. “Those wiggles arise as the shock wave encounters more or less dense material in the interstellar medium.” The time-lapse movie over nearly two decades shows the filaments moving against the background stars but keeping their shape. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Video Credit: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, STScI; Acknowledgment: NSF's NOIRLab, Akira Fujii , Jeff Hester , Davide De Martin , Travis A. Rector , Ravi Sankrit (STScI), DSS “When we pointed Hubble at the Cygnus Loop we knew that this was the leading edge of a shock front, which we wanted to study. When we got the initial picture and saw this incredible, delicate ribbon of light, well, that was a bonus. We didn’t know it was going to resolve that kind of structure,” said Blair. Blair explained that the shock is moving outward from the explosion site and then it starts to encounter the interstellar medium, the tenuous regions of gas and dust in interstellar space. This is a very transitory phase in the expansion of the supernova bubble where invisible neutral hydrogen is heated to one million degrees Fahrenheit or more by the shock wave’s passage. The gas then begins to glow as electrons are excited to higher energy states and emit photons as they cascade back to low energy states. Further behind the shock front, ionized oxygen atoms begin to cool, emitting a characteristic glow shown in blue. The Cygnus Loop was discovered in 1784 by William Herschel, using a simple 18-inch reflecting telescope. He could have never imagined that a little over two centuries later we’d have a telescope powerful enough to zoom in on a very tiny slice of the nebula for this spectacular view. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Video Credits: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, ESA, STScI; Acknowledgment: NSF's NOIRLab, Akira Fujii , Jeff Hester , Davide De Martin , Travis A. Rector , Ravi Sankrit (STScI), DSS Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Contact Related Terms Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions Nebulae Science Mission Directorate The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Stars Stories Galaxies Stories James Webb Space Telescope Our Solar System View the full article

3 min read Hubble Views a Glistening Red Nebula NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, ESA/Hubble, R. Sahai Just in time for the fall foliage season, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features a glistening scene in red. It reveals a small region of the nebula Westerhout 5, which lies about 7,000 light-years from Earth. Suffused with bright red light, this luminous image hosts a variety of interesting features, including a free-floating Evaporating Gaseous Globule (frEGG). The frEGG in this image is the small tadpole-shaped dark region in the upper center-left. This buoyant-looking bubble is lumbered with two names – [KAG2008] globule 13 and J025838.6+604259. FrEGGs are a particular class of Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGs). Both frEGGs and EGGs are denser regions of gas that photoevaporate less easily than the less dense gas surrounding them. Photoevaporation occurs when gas is ionized and dispersed away by an intense source of radiation – typically young, hot stars releasing vast amounts of ultraviolet (UV) light. EGGs were identified fairly recently, most notably at the tips of the iconic Pillars of Creation captured by Hubble in 1995. FrEGGs were classified even more recently and are distinguished from EGGs because they are detached and have a distinct ‘head-tail’ shape. FrEGGs and EGGs are of particular interest because their density makes it more difficult for intense UV radiation, found in regions rich in young stars, to penetrate them. Their relative opacity means that the gas within them is protected from ionization and photoevaporation. Astronomers think this is important for the formation of protostars, and that many FrEGGs and EGGs play host to the birth of new stars. FrEGGs are a particular class of Evaporating Gaseous Globules (EGGs). Both frEGGs and EGGs are denser regions of gas that photoevaporate less easily than the less dense gas surrounding them. Photoevaporation occurs when gas is ionized and dispersed away by an intense source of radiation – typically young, hot stars releasing vast amounts of ultraviolet (UV) light. EGGs were identified fairly recently, most notably at the tips of the iconic Pillars of Creation captured by Hubble in 1995. FrEGGs were classified even more recently and are distinguished from EGGs because they are detached and have a distinct ‘head-tail’ shape. FrEGGs and EGGs are of particular interest because their density makes it more difficult for intense UV radiation, found in regions rich in young stars, to penetrate them. Their relative opacity means that the gas within them is protected from ionization and photoevaporation. Astronomers think this is important for the formation of protostars, and that many FrEGGs and EGGs play host to the birth of new stars. The frEGG in this image is a dark spot in the sea of red light. The red color is a type of light emission known as H-alpha emission. H-alpha occurs when a very energetic electron within a hydrogen atom loses a set amount of its energy, releasing this distinctive red light as it becomes less energetic. Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA) Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Sep 29, 2023 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Contact Related Terms Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions Nebulae Science Mission Directorate The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Stars Stories Galaxies Stories Exoplanets Our Solar System View the full article

NASA’s Psyche Mission to a Metal-Rich Asteroid (Teaser Trailer)

NASA has switched its primary World Wide Web addresses to a beta version of the new NASA.gov and science.nasa.gov websites, continuing the long-term development and consolidation of its public web presence. The new sites will offer visitors an improved, intuitive web design and elevated user experience. The ongoing work on the agency’s upgraded website is the first step to a broad new digital experience from NASA, which will include a new on-demand streaming service called NASA + and an updated NASA app. This enhanced digital presence will allow the space agency to share science, research, exploration, and innovation with the world through cohesive platforms, encouraging users to spend more time experiencing the universe through the eyes of NASA. This new site will be the foundation of a one-stop-shop for the agency’s missions and research, climate data, Artemis updates and more. The new, topic-driven experience will ensure easier, integrated access to NASA information currently found across the agency’s many websites. Design features of the new site include enlarged image formats and NASA’s collection of imagery covering all agency research and programs. NASA will continue to update and improve the site on a rolling-basis as it receives feedback from website visitors. This is the eighth significant update for NASA’s website, which first launched in 1993. The site won the Webby Award for best government website four times, and received the People’s Voice, voted on by the public 10 times. The agency will continue to connect NASA websites and multimedia libraries into this new digital experience to further streamline the information shared across its centers, missions, and programs. Share Details Last Updated Sep 28, 2023 Related Terms General View the full article