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NASA, along with members of the FAA and commercial drone engineers, gathered in the Dallas area May 25, 2024, to view multiple delivery drones operating in a shared airspace beyond visual line of sight using an industry-developed, NASA-originated uncrewed aircraft system traffic management system.NASA NASA’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Beyond Visual Line of Sight (UTM BVLOS) subproject aims to support the growing demand for drone flights across the globe. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, offer an increasing number of services, from package delivery to critical public safety operations, like search and rescue missions. However, without special waivers, these flights are currently limited to visual line of sight – or only as far as the pilot can see – which is roughly no farther than one mile from the operator. As the FAA works to authorize flights beyond this point, NASA is working with industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operationalize an uncrewed traffic management system for these operations. NASA’s UTM Legacy NASA’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management, or UTM, was first developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley in 2013, and enables drones to safely and efficiently integrate into air traffic that is already flying in low-altitude airspace. UTM is based on digital sharing of each user’s planned flight details, ensuring each user has the same situational awareness of the airspace. NASA performed a series of drone flight demonstrations using UTM concepts in rural areas and densely populated cities under the agency’s previous UTM project . And commercial drone companies have since utilized NASA’s UTM concepts and delivery operations in limited areas. Several projects supporting NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility or AAM mission are working on different elements to help make AAM a reality and one of these research areas is automation.NASA / Graphics UTM Today NASA research is a driving force in making routine drone deliveries a reality. The agency is supporting a series of commercial drone package deliveries beyond visual line of sight, some of which kicked off in August 2024 in Dallas, Texas. Commercial operators are using NASA’s UTM-based capabilities during these flights to share data and planned flight routes with other operators in the airspace, detect and avoid hazards, and maintain situational awareness. All of these capabilities allow operators to safely execute their operations in a shared airspace below 400 feet and away from crewed aircraft. These drone operations in Dallas are a collaboration between NASA, the FAA, industry drone operators, public safety operators, and others. These initial flights will help validate UTM capabilities through successful flight operation evaluations and inform the FAA’s rulemaking for safely expanding drone operations beyond visual line of sight. The agency will continue to work with industry and government partners on more complex drone operations in communities across the country. NASA is also working with partners to leverage UTM for other emerging operations, including remotely piloted air cargo delivery and air taxi flights. UTM infrastructure could also support high-altitude operations for expanded scientific research, improved disaster response, and more. NASA UTM BVLOS NASA’s UTM Beyond Visual Line of Site (UTM BVLOS) subproject is leading this effort, under the Air Traffic Management eXploration portfolio within the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. This work is in support of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility Mission, which seeks to transform our communities by bringing the movement of people and goods off the ground, on demand, and into the sky. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Credit: NASA NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio to build the Next-Generation Space Weather Magnetometer for the Lagrange 1 Series project as a part of NOAA’s Space Weather Next program. This cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is valued at approximately $26.1 million and includes the development of two magnetometer instruments. The anticipated period of performance is from December 2024 through January 2034. The work will take place at the awardee’s facility in San Antonio, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The contract scope includes design, analysis, development, fabrication, integration, test, verification, and evaluation of the magnetometer instruments; launch support; supply and maintenance of ground support equipment; and support of post-launch mission operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility. These instruments will measure the interplanetary magnetic field carried by the solar wind. The instruments provide critical data to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which issues forecasts, warnings and alerts that help mitigate space weather impacts, including electric power outages and interruption to communications and navigation systems. NASA and NOAA oversee the development, launch, testing, and operation of all the satellites in the Lagrange 1 Series project. NOAA is the program owner providing the requirements and funding along with managing the program, operations, data products, and dissemination to users. NASA and its commercial partners develop and build the instruments, spacecraft, and provide launch services on behalf of NOAA. For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov -end- Tiernan Doyle Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov Jeremy Eggers Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 757-824-2958 jeremy.l.eggers@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsScience Mission DirectorateGoddard Space Flight CenterHeliophysicsJoint Agency Satellite DivisionKennedy Space CenterNOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)Space Weather View the full article

6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This animation shows data taken by NASA’s PACE and the international SWOT satellites over a region of the North Atlantic Ocean. PACE captured phytoplankton data on Aug. 8, 2024; layered on top is SWOT sea level data taken on Aug. 7 and 8, 2024. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio One Earth satellite can see plankton that photosynthesize. The other measures water surface height. Together, their data reveals how sea life and the ocean are intertwined. The ocean is an engine that drives Earth’s weather patterns and climate and sustains a substantial portion of life on the planet. A new animation based on data from two recently launched missions — NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) and the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellites — gives a peek into the heart of that engine. Physical processes, including localized swirling water masses called eddies and the vertical movement of water, can drive nutrient availability in the ocean. In turn, those nutrients determine the location and concentration of tiny floating organisms known as phytoplankton that photosynthesize, converting sunlight into food. These organisms have not only contributed roughly half of Earth’s oxygen since the planet formed, but also support economically important fisheries and help draw carbon out of the atmosphere, locking it away in the deep sea. “We see great opportunity to dramatically accelerate our scientific understanding of our oceans and the significant role they play in our Earth system,” said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This visualization illustrates the potential we have when we begin to integrate measurements from our separate SWOT and PACE ocean missions. Each of those missions is significant on its own. But bringing their data together — the physics from SWOT and the biology from PACE — gives us an even better view of what’s happening in our oceans, how they are changing, and why.” A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), the SWOT’ satellite launched in December 2022 to measure the height of nearly all water on Earth’s surface. It is providing one of the most detailed, comprehensive views yet of the planet’s ocean and its freshwater lakes, reservoirs, and rivers. Launched in February 2024, NASA’s PACE satellite detects and measures the distribution of phytoplankton communities in the ocean. It also provides data on the size, amount, and type of tiny particles called aerosols in Earth’s atmosphere, as well as the height, thickness, and opacity of clouds. “Integrating information across NASA’s Earth System Observatory and its pathfinder missions SWOT and PACE is an exciting new frontier in Earth science,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, program scientist for SWOT and the Integrated Earth System Observatory at NASA Headquarters. Where Physics and Biology Meet The animation above starts by depicting the orbits of SWOT (orange) and PACE (light blue), then zooms into the North Atlantic Ocean. The first data to appear was acquired by PACE on Aug. 8. It reveals concentrations of chlorophyll-a, a vital pigment for photosynthesis in plants and phytoplankton. Light green and yellow indicate higher concentrations of chlorophyll-a, while blue signals lower concentrations. Next is sea surface height data from SWOT, taken during several passes over the same region between Aug. 7 and 8. Dark blue represents heights that are lower than the mean sea surface height, while dark orange and red represent heights higher than the mean. The contour lines that remain once the color fades from the SWOT data indicate areas of the ocean with the same height, much like the lines on a topographic map indicate areas with the same elevation. The underlying PACE data then cycles through several groups of phytoplankton, starting with picoeukaryotes. Lighter green indicates greater concentrations of this group. The final two groups are cyanobacteria — some of the smallest and most abundant phytoplankton in the ocean — called Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus. For Prochlorococcus, lighter raspberry colors represent higher concentrations. Lighter teal colors for Synechococcus signal greater amounts of the cyanobacteria. The animation shows that higher phytoplankton concentrations on Aug. 8 tended to coincide with areas of lower water height. Eddies that spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere tend to draw water away from their center. This results in relatively lower sea surface heights in the center that draw up cooler, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean. These nutrients act like fertilizer, which can boost phytoplankton growth in sunlit waters at the surface. Overlapping SWOT and PACE data enables a better understanding of the connections between ocean dynamics and aquatic ecosystems, which can help improve the management of resources such as fisheries, since phytoplankton form the base of most food chains in the sea. Integrating these kinds of datasets also helps to improve calculations of how much carbon is exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean. This, in turn, can indicate whether regions of the ocean that absorb excess atmospheric carbon are changing. More About SWOT The SWOT satellite was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. The Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations were provided by CNES. The KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly was provided by CSA. To learn more about SWOT, visit: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov More About PACE The PACE mission is managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which also built and tested the spacecraft and the Ocean Color Instrument, which collected the data shown in the visualization. The satellite’s Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 was designed and built by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration was developed and built by a Dutch consortium led by Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Airbus Defence, and Space Netherlands. To learn more about PACE, visit: https://pace.gsfc.nasa.gov News Media Contacts Jacob Richmond (for PACE) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. jacob.a.richmond@nasa.gov Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang (for SWOT) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874 jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-169 Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 Related TermsPACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem)Climate ScienceOceansSWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) Explore More 7 min read Six Ways Supercomputing Advances Our Understanding of the Universe Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read NASA Data Helps International Community Prepare for Sea Level Rise Article 4 weeks ago 6 min read Inia Soto Ramos, From the Mountains of Puerto Rico to Mountains of NASA Earth Data Dr. Inia Soto Ramos became fascinated by the mysteries of the ocean while growing up… Article 4 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

This artist’s concept shows interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) after its discovery in 2017. While itself not a dark comet, ‘Oumuamua’s motion through the solar system has helped researchers better understand the nature of the 14 dark comets discovered so far.European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser These celestial objects look like asteroids but act like comets now come in two flavors. The first dark comet — a celestial object that looks like an asteroid but moves through space like a comet — was reported less than two years ago. Soon after, another six were found. In a new paper, researchers announce the discovery of seven more, doubling the number of known dark comets, and find that they fall into two distinct populations: larger ones that reside in the outer solar system and smaller ones in the inner solar system, with various other traits that set them apart. The findings were published on Monday, Dec. 9, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists got their first inkling that dark comets exist when they noted in a March 2016 study that the trajectory of “asteroid” 2003 RM had moved ever so slightly from its expected orbit. That deviation couldn’t be explained by the typical accelerations of asteroids, like the small acceleration known as the Yarkovsky effect. “When you see that kind of perturbation on a celestial object, it usually means it’s a comet, with volatile material outgassing from its surface giving it a little thrust,” said study coauthor Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “But try as we might, we couldn’t find any signs of a comet’s tail. It looked like any other asteroid — just a pinpoint of light. So, for a short while, we had this one weird celestial object that we couldn’t fully figure out.” Weird Celestial Objects Farnocchia and the astronomical community didn’t have to wait long for another piece of the puzzle. The next year, in 2017, a NASA-sponsored telescope discovered history’s first documented celestial object that originated outside our solar system. Not only did 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) appear as a single point of light, like an asteroid, its trajectory changed as if it were outgassing volatile material from its surface, like a comet. “‘Oumuamua was surprising in several ways,” said Farnocchia. “The fact that the first object we discovered from interstellar space exhibited similar behaviors to 2003 RM made 2003 RM even more intriguing.” By 2023, researchers had identified seven solar system objects that looked like asteroids but acted like comets. That was enough for the astronomical community to bestow upon them their own celestial object category: “dark comets.” Now, with the finding of seven more of these objects, researchers could start on a new set of questions. “We had a big enough number of dark comets that we could begin asking if there was anything that would differentiate them,” said Darryl Seligman, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Physics at Michigan State University, East Lansing, and lead author of the new paper. “By analyzing the reflectivity,” or albedo, “and the orbits, we found that our solar system contains two different types of dark comets.” Two Kinds of Dark Comets The study’s authors found that one kind, which they call outer dark comets, have similar characteristics to Jupiter-family comets: They have highly eccentric (or elliptical) orbits and are on the larger side (hundreds of meters or more across). The second group, inner dark comets, reside in the inner solar system (which includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), travel in nearly circular orbits, and are on the smaller side (tens of meters or less). Like so many astronomical discoveries, Seligman and Farnocchia’s research not only expands on our knowledge of dark comets, but it also raises several additional questions: Where did dark comets originate? What causes their anomalous acceleration? Could they contain ice? “Dark comets are a new potential source for having delivered the materials to Earth that were necessary for the development of life,” said Seligman. “The more we can learn about them, the better we can understand their role in our planet’s origin.” For more information about asteroids and comets, visit: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/topics/asteroids/ Small Body Research at JPL NASA Learns More About Interstellar Visitor 'Oumuamua Lesson: Comet on a Stick News Media Contacts Ian J. O’Neill Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-2649 ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Molly Wasser NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov Bethany Mauger Michigan State University, East Lansing maugerbe@msu.edu 2024-168 Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 Related TermsCometsAsteroidsThe Solar System Explore More 8 min read NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four… Article 3 hours ago 3 min read Leader of NASA’s VERITAS Mission Honored With AGU’s Whipple Award Article 3 hours ago 9 min read Towards Autonomous Surface Missions on Ocean Worlds Through advanced autonomy testbed programs, NASA is setting the groundwork for one of its top… Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Astronaut cognitive performance remains generally stable Researchers found that astronauts on six-month missions to the International Space Station demonstrated generally stable cognitive performance but mild changes in certain areas, including processing speed, working memory, attention, and willingness to take risks. This research provides baseline data that could help identify cognitive changes on future missions and support development of appropriate countermeasures. Research to date has suggested mild decreases in some cognitive performance domains during spaceflight, likely influenced by spaceflight stressors such as radiation and sleep disruption. Longer missions represent greater exposure to these hazards and possible increases in individual vulnerabilities to them. Standard Measures collects a set of psychological and physiological measurements related to human spaceflight risks, including a cognition test battery, from astronauts before, during, and after missions. This paper includes the largest sample of professional astronauts published to date. NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren performs a cognition test on the space station. NASA Scientific discoveries result from NSF/CASIS research Researchers published highlights of discoveries resulting from a collaboration between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) in support of research on transport phenomena in space. A few examples include: combustion studies that advance our understanding of soot formation, wildfires, flame-spread in buildings, and other fundamental combustion phenomena important in everyday life on Earth heat transfer studies that provide insight into how the physics of evaporation and condensation affect cooling systems on spacecraft and in microelectronics and other industries on the ground fluid dynamics studies validating theories of how drops spread, relevant to the design of thermal management systems and for fluid processing on spacecraft, as well as in medical devices and other ground-based applications Removing gravity enables research on fundamental physical phenomena that is difficult or impossible to conduct on Earth. The investigations that led to the findings above are Spherical Cool Flames, which observed the chemical reactions of cool diffusion flames for insight into combustion and fire behavior; Constrained Vapor Bubble, a study of how evaporation and condensation affect the efficiency of cooling devices; and Capillary Flow Experiment 2, research on wetting (a liquid’s ability to spread across a surface) to support design of better systems to process liquids. European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst works on the Capillary Flow Experiment.NASAView the full article

NASA/Joel Kowsky On Dec. 6, 2024, NASA leaders unveiled a portrait of the late Mary W. Jackson, pioneering aerospace engineer and mathematician at NASA’s Langley Research Center. The portrait is displayed at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington. Jackson accepted a position with the NACA Langley Aeronautical Laboratory’s segregated West Area Computers in 1951, where her supervisor was Dorothy Vaughan. In 1958, she became NASA’s first African American female engineer. In 1979, seeing that the glass ceiling was the rule, rather than the exception for Langley’s female professionals, she made a final, dramatic career change, leaving engineering and voluntarily accepting a reduction-in-grade to serve as an administrator in the Equal Opportunity Specialist field. After undergoing training at NASA Headquarters, she returned to Langley and filled the open position of Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager. There, she worked hard to impact the hiring and promotion of the next generation of all of NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers and scientists. Jackson retired from Langley in 1985. Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Members of NASA’s VERITAS science team pose for a photo on July 31, 2023, after arriving in Iceland to begin a campaign to study the volcanic island’s geology in support of the future mission to Venus. Principal Investigator Suzanne Smrekar is holding the VERITAS logo.NASA/JPL-Caltech Suzanne Smrekar, geophysicist and principal investigator of the agency’s upcoming VERITAS mission to Venus, is NASA JPL’s first recipient of the prestigious award. Suzanne Smrekar, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, received the Fred Whipple Award on Monday, Dec. 9, in Washington at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Named for astronomer Fred Whipple, the prestigious award recognizes contributions to the field of planetary science. Smrekar also gave the Whipple Lecture “To Venus: A love letter from Earth and beyond” at the event. Smrekar is the principal investigator of NASA’s VERITAS mission, short for Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy. Slated for launch in the early 2030s, the orbiter will study Venus from surface to core to understand how a rocky planet about the same size as Earth took a very different path, developing into a world covered in volcanic plains and deformed terrain hidden beneath a thick, hot, toxic atmosphere. Smrekar’s passion for modeling and studying how rocky planets evolve led her to a previous stint as deputy principal investigator of NASA’s Mars InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), which revealed new details about the Red Planet’s marsquakes and interior layers, including its crust, mantle, and liquid core. Based at JPL since 1992, Smrekar worked early in her career on NASA’s Magellan mission. “I got to see the first radar images come back from the surface of Venus, and I got to sit around the table with brilliant scientists from around the world examining these bizarre new landscapes, trying to imagine the forces that created them,” she recalled. “It was exhilarating! I was hooked on space exploration, and on Venus!” A recent reexamination of Magellan data found evidence of active volcanism on the planet, and additional indirect evidence of activity, based on estimates of the heat coming out of the planet’s interior from specific tectonic features, has only added to the eagerness to explore Venus. Managed by JPL, VERITAS will study the planet in concert with NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission, which is managed by NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is also launching in the early 2030s. More About VERITAS VERITAS partners include Lockheed Martin Space, the Italian Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center, and Centre National d’Études Spatiales in France. The Discovery Program is managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. VERITAS science team explores Iceland to prep for Venus Exploring the Deep Truths of Venus News Media Contact Ian J. O’Neill Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-2649 ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-167 Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 Related TermsVERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography & Spectroscopy)ADEOS (Advanced Earth Observing Satellite) / MIDORIJet Propulsion LaboratoryVenus Explore More 3 min read Students Aim High at NASA JPL ‘Candy Toss’ Competition Article 3 days ago 5 min read NASA JPL Unveils the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail Article 3 days ago 4 min read NASA’s C-20A Studies Extreme Weather Events Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Se espera que Panamá y Austria firmen los Acuerdos de Artemis el miércoles 11 de diciembre de 2024, con lo cual se alcanzarán los 50 signatarios. Los compromisos de los Acuerdos de Artemis y los esfuerzos de los firmantes por avanzar en la implementación de estos principios fomentan la exploración segura y sostenible del espacio.Crédito: NASA Read this release in English here. El miércoles 11 de diciembre, Panamá y Austria firmarán los Acuerdos de Artemis en la sede de la NASA en Washington. Tras las ceremonias de firma, el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson, se reunirá con los medios de comunicación para destacar avances de los acuerdos, entre ellos el haber alcanzado los 50 signatarios. Los actos comenzarán a las siguientes horas: 11 a.m. hora del este (EST) – Nelson recibirá a José Miguel Alemán Healy, embajador de la República de Panamá en Estados Unidos, y a funcionarios del Departamento de Estado de EE.UU. para la ceremonia de firma de Panamá. 2 p.m. – Nelson recibirá a Petra Schneebauer, embajadora de la República de Austria en Estados Unidos, y a funcionarios del Departamento de Estado para la ceremonia de firma del acuerdo con Austria. 2:30 p.m. – Nelson tendrá disponibilidad para los medios de comunicación para hablar sobre los Acuerdos de Artemis. Todos los eventos son presenciales. Los medios de comunicación interesados en asistir a los mismos deberán confirmar su participación antes de las 5 p.m. del martes 10 de diciembre a: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. La política de acreditación de medios de comunicación de la NASA está disponible en línea (en inglés). Estados Unidos, liderado por la NASA con el Departamento de Estado, y otros siete países signatarios iniciales, establecieron los Acuerdos de Artemis en 2020, identificando un conjunto de principios que promueven el uso beneficioso del espacio para la humanidad. A fecha de hoy, 48 países han firmado los Acuerdos de Artemis, 39 de ellos durante la Administración Biden-Harris, incluyendo 15 nuevos firmantes en 2024. Los Acuerdos de Artemis se basan en el Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre y en otros acuerdos, como el Convenio sobre registro, el Acuerdo sobre rescate y retorno, así como en las mejores prácticas y normas de comportamiento responsable que la NASA y sus socios han respaldado, incluida la divulgación pública de datos científicos. Las ceremonias tendrán lugar en el Auditorio James E. Webb de la agencia, situado en el vestíbulo oeste de la sede central de la NASA, en el edificio Mary W. Jackson, 300 E St. SW, en Washington. Más información (en inglés) sobre los Acuerdos de Artemis en: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords -fin- Meira Bernstein / Elizabeth Shaw / María José Viñas Sede, Washington 202-358-1600 meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov / maria-jose.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsArtemis AccordsNASA HeadquartersOffice of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) View the full article

Panama and Austria are expected to sign the Artemis Accords to reach 50 signatories on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The commitments of the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space.Credit: NASA Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. On Wednesday, Dec. 11, Panama and Austria will sign the Artemis Accords at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Following the signing ceremonies, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will hold an in-person media availability to highlight progress on the accords, including reaching 50 signatories. Events will start at the following times: 11 a.m. – Nelson hosts José Miguel Alemán Healy, ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the United States, and officials of the U.S. Department of State for Panama’s signing ceremony. 2 p.m. – Nelson hosts Petra Schneebauer, ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United States, and State Department officials for Austria’s signing ceremony. 2:30 p.m. – Artemis Accords media availability with Nelson. All events are in-person only. Media interested in attending the events must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10 to: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. The United States, led by NASA with the U.S. Department of State, and seven other initial signatory nations established the Artemis Accords in 2020, identifying a set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for humanity. As of today, 48 nations will have signed the Artemis Accords, including 39 under the Biden-Harris Administration and 15 in 2024 alone. The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data. The ceremonies will take place at the agency’s James E. Webb Auditorium in the West Lobby at NASA Headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson building, 300 E St. SW in Washington. Learn more about the Artemis Accords at: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords -end- Meira Bernstein / Elizabeth Shaw Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsArtemis AccordsNASA HeadquartersOffice of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) View the full article

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams aboard the International Space Station on Oct. 15, 2024. (Credit: NASA) Students from U.S. military families based overseas will have the chance to hear NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station answer their prerecorded questions. On Wednesday, Dec. 11, NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams will respond to questions submitted by students from Stuttgart Elementary, followed by another call on Thursday, Dec. 12, with Nick Hague answering questions from Kwajalein School System students. Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth calls on NASA+ at 12:25 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. EST, respectively. Learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media. Stuttgart Elementary, part of the Department of Defense Education Activity’s Europe East District, will host a space-themed science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) night, featuring a live education downlink as the evening’s highlight. The school, located on Panzer Kaserne near Stuttgart, serves military-connected students from pre-kindergarten to grade five. Media interested in covering the event in person must RSVP by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10, to Chrissy Mitchell at chrissy.mitchell@dodea.edu or 0-631-7106-7060. Additionally, the Kwajalein School System, situated on a secure army installation on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, will host an event that brings together local STEM resources to inspire students. For media access, RSVP to Sherman Hogue at sherman.hogue.civ@army.mil or 808-580-4848. For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network. Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery. See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation -end- Abbey Donaldson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov View the full article

7 Min Read 2024 Be An Astronaut Campaign NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan tethered to the International Space Station during a spacewalk. Credits: NASA NASA astronauts have been traveling to space for more than six decades and living there continuously since 2000. Now, NASA’s Artemis program is preparing to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon. As NASA continues to expand human exploration in our solar system, we will need more than the currently active astronauts to crew spacecraft bound for deep-space destinations. Every four years, NASA opens its doors and welcomes thousands of applicants to join a new class of astronauts that will push human spaceflight to new depths. Astronaut applications opened March 5, 2024, and closed April 16, 2024. In those 42 days, NASA’s 2024 Be An Astronaut Campaign used various platforms to promote the beauty of human spaceflight, explore opportunities to reach untapped and underserved audiences, encourage the younger generations to follow their dreams and pursue a career as an astronaut, and inspire the world about the capabilities we have as humans to explore farther than we ever have before. Official “Be a NASA Astronaut” Video To kick off the astronaut recruitment campaign, NASA, NASA Johnson, NASA Artemis, and NASA Astronauts accounts collaborated on a video narrated by Morgan Freeman on Instagram reaching over 9.7 million views. This video, seen below, was shared across agency social media platforms, YouTube, and digital sites to introduce the start of the astronaut application period. The Universe is Calling: Apply to Be a NASA Astronaut, official NASA astronaut recruitment video featuring a voice over by Morgan Freeman. "Spaceflight is just one part of it. You are a team member before you are any thing in this role." April Jordan Manager of NASA Astronaut Selection Throughout the campaign, #BeAnAstronaut was utilized to increase campaign awareness and engagement. This hashtag was used by 36 agency accounts and totaled 167 posts across the agency. With over 15,000 social media mentions, 256,655 total page views throughout the campaign, and news presence on the Today Show, TIME Magazine, Yahoo News, The New York Times, and more, the Be An Astronaut campaign was a successful and exciting project that inspired aspiring astronauts to follow their dreams. 2024 Astronaut Graduation On March 5, 2024, not only did astronaut applications open, but the 2021 class of NASA astronaut candidates graduated, officially making them astronauts and eligible for spaceflight. These newly graduated astronauts created a superlative to demonstrate just how NASA’s astronaut corps works as a team and family as they passed the torch down to NASA’s next class of astronauts. The 2024 astronaut graduating class gives you an insider’s look at not only the who’s who of their graduating class, but it allows you to get a glimpse of the accomplished astronauts’ personalities. To see them together as a group, connecting through laughter helps to illustrate how much they value team care. These classic superlatives give the scoop on which astronaut is the best dancer, the funniest, and more. Enjoy seeing a lighter side of “The Flies” in this fun and upbeat montage of the 2024 astronaut graduating class. Astronaut Candidate Countdown Our astronaut graduation countdown campaign celebrated the most recent graduating class of astronauts. The previous class completed two years of rigorous training at Johnson Space Center before they officially gained their wings. This campaign not only highlighted their achievements, but hopefully inspired potential candidates by showcasing the journey from trainee to astronaut. During the graduation ceremony, applications for the next astronaut class were announced, continuing the legacy of excellence and exploration. NASA astronaut Luke Delaney poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Jessica Wittner poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Jack Hathaway poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Andre Douglas poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Marcos Berrios poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center astronaut Nora AlMatrooshi poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Anil Menon poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Deniz Burnham poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center astronaut Mohammed AlMulla poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Christina Birch poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Christopher Williams poses for the Astronaut Graduation Countdown.Credit: NASA NASA Tumblr Thread For many people, human spaceflight has been a part of their lives for decades. After years of exploring, hundreds of astronauts have shared their unique experiences with the world and inspired many to want to follow in their footsteps. With over 100 thousand impressions on Tumblr, NASA posted a unique thread on “5 Myths About Becoming an Astronaut”. https://www.tumblr.com/nasa/132538793869/5-myths-about-becoming-an-astronaut Merriam-Webster Word of the Day: Astronaut NASA astronaut and member of the recently graduated 2021 class of NASA astronauts, Deniz Burnham, participated in the “Word of the Day” series with Merriam-Webster defining the word ‘astronaut’. Just weeks after officially becoming an astronaut, Deniz’s video was featured on Merriam-Webster’s website and social media platforms. NASA astronaut Deniz Burnham featured in Merriam-Webster’s word of the day video defining the word “astronaut”. Houston, We Have a Podcast On NASA’s top-rated podcast, “Houston We Have a Podcast,” our astronaut recruitment episode garnered over 4,000 plays on Apple Podcasts and more than 1,000 plays on Spotify. In this episode, the manager of NASA astronaut selection discussed the selection process and how to apply for an out-of-this-world career. A lone spacesuit can be seen in the middle of the image, as a black shadow of the helmet reflects three question marks.Credit: NASA United States Army Astronaut Recruitment Video NASA astronaut and U.S. Army Col. Anne McClain discussed her experience as an astronaut and how other members of the U.S. Army can apply to become an astronaut and travel to space like her. This video was posted on the U.S. Army’s social media as well as posted to YouTube reaching thousands of supporters in and of the military. Col. Anne McClain, commander of the U.S. Army NASA detachment, shares information on eligibility as well as where and when to apply to become a NASA astronaut like herself. Credit: U.S. Army Read More Become An Astronaut Webpage NASA’s ‘Become An Astronaut’ webpage drove 246,655 viewers to the page throughout the duration of the recruitment campaign from internal and external collaborations across various digital platforms and events. Listing job requirements, frequently asked questions, and how to apply, the webpage consisted of 87.1% new visitors to the site and had almost 28 thousand referrals from Instagram. NASA’s ‘Become An Astronaut’ webpage.Credit: NASA Read More The 2024 Be An Astronaut Campaign ranged from March 5, 2024 to April 16, 2024 and successfully integrated various platforms, outreach opportunities, and educational resources into the recruitment of our next class of astronauts. With over 15 thousand social media mentions, 2 thousand news outlet mentions, $4.6 million in publicity value, a 91% positive sentiment, and 195 countries involved in the conversation, the campaign was able to inspire NASA’s future space explorers and push the agency closer to returning to the Moon and going to Mars. Share Details Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 Related TermsBecoming an AstronautAstronautsGeneralHumans in SpaceWhy Go To Space Explore More 3 min read Protected: Space Station Trajectory Data There is no excerpt because this is a protected post. Article 4 days ago 2 min read Protected: How do I Spot The Station? Article 4 days ago 11 min read Protected: Spot the Station Frequently Asked Questions Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Members belonging to one of three teams from Oakwood School aim their devices — armed with chocolate-coated-peanut candies — at a target during JPL’s annual Invention Challenge on Dec. 6.NASA/JPL-Caltech Teams competed with homemade devices to try to launch 50 peanut candies in 60 seconds into a target container.NASA/JPL-Caltech More points were awarded for successfully landing the candy into the highest, smallest level of the triangular Plexiglas target — not an easy task.NASA/JPL-Caltech Treats went flying through the air by the dozens at the annual Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The 25th Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which welcomed more than 200 students to compete using home-built devices, was pretty sweet this year. Literally. That’s because the challenge at the Friday, Dec. 6, competition was to construct an automated machine that would launch, within 60 seconds, 50 chocolate-coated-peanut candies over a barrier and into a triangular Plexiglas container 16 feet (5 meters) away. The mood was tense as teachers, parents, and JPL employees watched the “Peanut Candy Toss Contest” from the sidelines, some of them eating the ammunition. Students on 21 teams from Los Angeles and Orange county middle and high schools turned to catapults, slingshots, flywheels, springs, and massive rubber bands. There was lots of PVC piping. A giant device shaped like a blue bunny shot candy out of its nose with the help of an air compressor, while other entries relied on leaf blowers and vacuums. A team from Santa Monica High School won the 2024 Invention Challenge at JPL on Dec. 6 with a device was based on a crossbow.NASA/JPL-Caltech Some were more successful than others. Ultimately, it was an old-school design that won first place for a team from Santa Monica High School: a modified crossbow. “I tried to come up with something that was historically tried and true,” said Steele Winterer, a senior on the team who produced the initial design. Like his teammates, Steele is in the school’s engineering program and helped build the device during class. He described the process as “nerve-wracking,” “messy,” and “disorganized,” but everyone found their role as the design was refined. Second and third place went to teams from Oakwood School in North Hollywood, which both took a firing-line approach, using four parallel wooden devices, with one student per device firing after each other in quick succession. Two regional Invention Challenges held at Costa Mesa High School and Augustus Hawkins High School in South L.A. last month had winnowed the field to the 21 teams invited to the final event at JPL. At the finals, three JPL-sponsored teams from out-of-state schools and two teams that included adult engineers faced off in a parallel competition. In this second competition group, retired JPL engineer Alan DeVault took first place, followed by Boston Charter School of Science coming in second, and Centaurus High School from Colorado in third. Competing with a wooden device at the 2024 Invention Challenge, retired JPL engineer and longtime participant Alan DeVault won first place among JPL-sponsored teams, which included professionals and out-of-state students. Challenge organizer Paul MacNeal kneels at right.NASA/JPL-Caltech Held since 1998 (with a two-year break during the COVID-19 pandemic), the contest was designed by JPL mechanical engineer Paul MacNeal to inspire students to discover a love for building things and solving problems. Student teams spend months designing, constructing, and testing their devices to try to win the new challenge that MacNeal comes up with each year. “When student teams come to the finals, they are engaged just as engineers are engaged in the work we do here at JPL,” MacNeal said. “It’s engineering for the joy of it. It’s problem-solving but it’s also team building. And it’s unique because the rules change every year. The student teams get to see JPL engineering teams compete side by side. I started this contest to show students that engineering is fun!” The event is supported by dozens of volunteers from JPL, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena for NASA. News Media Contact Melissa Pamer Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-314-4928 melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-166 Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 Related TermsJet Propulsion Laboratory Explore More 5 min read NASA JPL Unveils the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail Article 5 hours ago 4 min read NASA’s C-20A Studies Extreme Weather Events Article 2 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Europa Clipper: Millions of Miles Down, Instruments Deploying Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read Sols 4384-4385: Leaving the Bishop Quad NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image of Mount Sharp (at right), its upper layers distinctive for its yardangs — ridges formed over a long period of time by wind stripping away the soft and loose material in between. Curiosity acquired this image using its Right Navigation Camera on sol 4383 — Martian day 4,383 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — on Dec. 4, 2024, at 13:07:53 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 As the Curiosity rover climbs west toward the broad saddle separating Gediz Vallis from its neighboring canyon on the slopes of Mount Sharp, the rover is also approaching the edge of its current geological quadrangle or “quad” map on Mars. The current quad, designated “Bishop,” has meant that all of the targets studied by Curiosity since August 2023 have been named after places of geological interest near Bishop, California, on Earth. The Earthly Bishop quad includes locales in the Sierra Nevada, Owens Valley, and Inyo/White Mountains of California. The team has taken great pleasure in visiting some of Curiosity’s target namesakes during the past year during their off hours, practicing geology while enjoying lovely mountains, lakes, and deserts. However, in the next few plans, readers of this blog will see a different target naming scheme for Curiosity targets. Previous quads have honored regions of Scotland and Brazil, among other places. Read “Mission Update” for Friday, Dec. 6, or Monday, Dec. 9, to find out what the next Martian quad theme will be! Curiosity’s drive on Monday completed successfully. The quote of the day during planning was, “I wish all SRAPs were this easy!” The translation is that all six of Curiosity’s wheels are firmly seated on solid ground, ensuring that the rover will not “pop a wheelie” when the heavy robotic arm reaches out to take close-ups of the nearby rock formations. This paves the way for a very full sol of science investigations prior to the next drive. This plan’s science emphasis is on fractures and light-colored veins in the rocks, indicating that cracks in the rocks experienced groundwater intrusion at some point in the distant past. On sol 4384, APXS and MAHLI will study “Three Brothers.” This is a vertical vein with a tricky arm approach, and MAHLI will use rotational stereo imaging to get a 3D perspective of it at close range. “Three Brothers” is named for a monumental set of peaks on the north side of Yosemite Valley. John Muir considered the view from the northernmost peak to be the best view of Yosemite Valley. MAHLI will also obtain finely detailed images of “Placerville,” a set of small pebbles named for the famous California Gold Rush town. ChemCam will do laser spectroscopy of a vein network in target “Cyclone Meadow,” honoring a lovely alpine meadow at around 9,400 feet in the Southern Sierra Nevada. ChemCam will also take telescopic RMI images of the bright “yardang” wind-eroded upper layers of Mount Sharp seen in the distance in the accompanying Navcam image. Mastcam will obtain before/after high resolution imaging of the laser target, as well as a large 22×1 stereo mosaic of “Dusy Branch,” named for Dusy Branch, a mountain stream flowing into the Bishop Creek canyon. Mastcam will also take smaller mosaics of the vein structures in “Groveland,” named for the western gateway town of Yosemite National Park, as well as images of red pebbles and exotic cobbles. Following that science block, Curiosity will drive 43 meters (about 141 feet) toward the west, ending with a MARDI image in addition to the usual post-drive image panoramas. On sol 4384, ChemCam and Navcam will be used together to obtain AEGIS observations of nearby bedrock. Atmospheric observations of dust opacity, clouds, and dust devils will complete the science for this plan. The next plan will see Curiosity drive uphill to the west and away from our beloved Bishop quad. Written by Deborah Padgett, OPGS Task Lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 3 min read Sols 4382-4383: Team Work, Dream Work Article 3 days ago 3 min read Sols 4375-4381: A Stuffed Holiday Plan Article 4 days ago 3 min read Sols 4732-4735: I’ll Zap You, My Pretty, and Your Pebble Too Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

With a look back at 2024, NASA is celebrating its many innovative and inspiring accomplishments this year including for the first time, landing new science and technology on the Moon with an American company, pushing the boundaries of exploration by launching a new mission to study Jupiter’s icy moon Europa; maintaining 24 years of continuous human exploration off the Earth aboard the International Space Station, and unveiling the first look at its supersonic quiet aircraft for the benefit of humanity. The agency also shared the wonder of a total eclipse with millions of Americans, conducted the final flight of its Ingenuity helicopter on the Red Planet, demonstrated the first laser communications capability in deep space, tested the next generation solar sail in space, made new scientific discoveries with its James Webb Space Telescope, completed a year-long Mars simulation on Earth with crew, announced the newest class of Artemis Generation astronauts, and much more. “In 2024, NASA made leap after giant leap to explore, discover, and inspire – all while bringing real, tangible, and substantial benefits to the American people and to all of humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We deepened the commercial and international partnerships that will help NASA lead humanity back to the Moon and then to the red sands of Mars. We launched new missions to study our solar system and our universe in captivating new ways. We observed our changing Earth through our eyes in the sky – our ever-growing fleet of satellites and instruments – and shared that data with all of humanity. And we opened the doors to new possibilities in aviation, new breakthroughs on the International Space Station, and new wonders in space travel.” Through its Moon to Mars exploration approach, the agency continued moving forward with its Artemis campaign, including progress toward its first mission around the Moon with crew in more than 50 years and advancing plans to explore more of the Moon than ever before. So far in 2024, 15 countries signed the Artemis Accords, committing to the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of space with the United States. As part of efforts to monitor climate change, the agency launched multiple satellites to study our changing planet and opened its second Earth Information Center to provide data to a wider audience. With the release of its latest Economic Impact Report, NASA underscored the agency’s $75.6 billion impact on the U.S. economy, value to society, and return on investment for taxpayers. “To invest in NASA is to invest in American workers, American innovation, the American economy, and American economic competitiveness. Through continued investments in our workforce and our infrastructure, NASA will continue to propel American leadership on Earth, in the skies, and in the stars,” said Nelson. Key 2024 agency highlights across its mission areas include: Preparing for Moon, Mars This year, NASA made strides toward the Artemis Generation of scientific discovery at the Moon while validating operations and systems to prepare for human missions to Mars. The agency advanced toward Artemis II, the first crewed flight under Artemis: NASA announced results of its Orion heat shield investigation and updated its timelines for Artemis II and III. Teams delivered the core stage and launch vehicle stage adapter of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and began stacking the rocket’s booster segments. Engineers carried out a series of tests of the mobile launcher and systems at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B ahead of the test flight and added an emergency egress system to keep crew and other personnel at the launch pad safe in the case of an emergency. NASA performed key integrated testing of the Orion spacecraft that will send four astronauts around the Moon and bring them home, including testing inside an altitude chamber simulating the vacuum conditions of deep space. The crew and other teams performed key training activities to prepare for flight, including practicing recovery operations at sea, as well as launch countdown and mission simulations. In February, the first Moon landing through the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative brought NASA science to the lunar surface on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander successfully capturing data that will help us better understand the Moon’s environment and improve landing precision and safety. In August, NASA announced that a new set of NASA science experiments and technology demonstrations will arrive at the lunar South Pole in 2027 following the agency’s latest CLPS initiative delivery award. To return valuable samples from Mars to Earth, NASA sought innovative designs and announced a new strategy review team to assess various design studies to reduce cost, risk, and complexity. NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft celebrated 10 years of exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. After three years, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter ended its mission in January, with dozens more flights than planned. In September, the NASA Space Communications and Navigation team awarded a contract to Intuitive Machines to support the agency’s lunar relay systems as part of the Near Space Network, operated by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. NASA identified an updated set of nine potential landing regions near the lunar South Pole for its Artemis III mission. Capturing the current state of the Moon to Mars architecture, NASA released the second revision of its Architecture Definition Document. NASA formalized two international agreements for key Artemis elements, including with the United Arab Emirates for the Gateway airlock module, and with Japan to provide a pressurized rover for the lunar surface. Astronauts, scientists, and engineers took part in testing key technologies and evaluating hardware needed to work at the Moon, including simulating moonwalks in geologically Moon-like areas of Arizona, practiced integration between the crew and mission controllers, participated in human factors testing for Gateway, and evaluated the developmental hardware. NASA worked collaboratively with SpaceX and Blue Origin on their human lunar landers for Artemis missions, exercising an option under existing contracts to develop cargo variants of their human landers. In August, as part of its commitment to a robust, sustainable lunar exploration program for the benefit of all, NASA announced it issued a Request for Information to seek interest from American companies and institutions in conducting a mission using the agency’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) Moon rover. The agency selected three companies to advance capabilities for a lunar terrain vehicle that Artemis astronauts will use to travel around the lunar surface. NASA completed a critical design review on the second mobile launcher, which will launch the more powerful Block 1B version of the SLS rocket. Engineers at NASA Kennedy continued outfitting the Artemis III and IV Orion crew modules and received the European-built Orion service module for Artemis III; they also received several sections of the Artemis III and IV SLS core stages, and upgraded High Bay 2 in the Vehicle Assembly Building. NASA completed its second RS-25 certification test series at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, setting the stage for production of new engines to help power future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) 1 crew completed a 378-day mission in a ground-based Mars habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these “gravity assists,” Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030.Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA newest class of astronauts, selected in 2021, graduate during a ceremony on March 5, 2024, at the at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Credit: NASA NASA and Boeing welcomed Starliner back to Earth following the uncrewed spacecraft’s successful landing at 10:01 p.m. MDT Sept. 6, 2024, at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Credit: NASA NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the apron outside Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility at dawn in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to address one of the primary challenges to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter.Credit: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Five NASA astronauts wore eye-protecting specs in anticipation of viewing the solar eclipse from the International Space Station’s cupola. The Expedition 70 crewmates had three opportunities on April 8 to view the Moon’s shadow as it tracked across the Earth surface during the eclipse.Credit: NASA/Loral O’Hara This enhanced color view of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was generated using data collected by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover on Aug. 2, 2023, the 871st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The image was taken a day before the rotorcraft’s 54th flight.Credit: NASA The CHAPEA crew egress from their simulated Mars mission July 6, 2024, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. From left: Kelly Haston, Nathan Jones, Anca Selariu, and Ross Brockwell.Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel An artist’s concept of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in orbit.Credit: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart Office of STEM Engagement Deputy Associate Administrator Kris Brown, right, and U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary Cindy Marten, left, watch as a student operates a robot during a STEM event to kickoff the 21st Century Community Learning Centers NASA and U.S. Department of Education partnership, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at Wheatley Education Campus in Washington. Students engaged in NASA hands-on activities and an engineering design challenge. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani On Feb. 22, 2024, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander captures a wide field of view image of Schomberger crater on the Moon approximately 125 miles (200 km) uprange from the intended landing site, at approximately 6 miles (10 km) altitude.Credit: Intuitive Machines NASA’s Artemis II crew members from left to right CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman walk in the well deck of the USS San Diego during Underway Recovery Test 11 (URT-11), as NASA’s Exploration Ground System’s Landing and Recovery team and partners from the Department of Defense aboard the ship practice recovery procedures using the Crew Module Test Article off the coast of San Diego, California on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. URT-11 is the eleventh in a series of Artemis recovery tests, and the first time NASA and its partners put their Artemis II recovery procedures to the test with the astronauts.Credit: NASA/Isaac Watson Observing, Learning About Earth NASA collects data about our home planet from space and on land, helping understand how our climate on Earth is changing. Some of the agency’s key accomplishments in Earth science this year include: After launching into space in February, NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite mission is successfully transmitting first-of-their-kind measurements of ocean health, air quality, and the effects of a changing climate. Using the agency’s TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) instrument, NASA made available new near-real time data providing air pollution observations at unprecedented resolutions – down to the scale of individual neighborhoods. Launched in May and June, NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment) CubeSats started collecting data on the amount of heat in the form of far-infrared radiation that the Arctic and Antarctic environments emit to space. NASA rolled out the Disaster Response Coordination System, a new resource that delivers up-to-date information on fires, earthquakes, landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme events to emergency managers. The agency partnered with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to open the Earth Information Center exhibit. Exploring Our Solar System, Universe NASA’s Europa Clipper embarked Oct. 14 on its long voyage to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with an enormous subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. NASA collaborated with multiple partners on content and social media related to the launch, including engagements with the National Hockey League, U.S. Figure Skating, 7-Eleven, e.l.f., Girl Scouts, Crayola, Library of Congress, and others. NASA’s 2024 space exploration milestones also include: NASA’s groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope marked more than two years in space, transforming our view of the universe as designed, by studying the most distant galaxies ever observed, while raising exciting new questions about the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system. As part of an asteroid sample exchange, NASA officially transferred to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) a portion of the asteroid Bennu sample collected by the agency’s OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission in a ceremony on Aug. 22. After surviving multiple challenges this year, NASA’s Voyager mission continues to collect data on the furthest reaches of our Sun’s influences. NASA selected a new space telescope for development that will survey ultraviolet light across the entire sky, called UVEX (UltraViolet Explorer). This year, all remaining major components were delivered to NASA Goddard to begin the integration phase for the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. NASA developed, tested, and launched the patch kit that astronauts will use to repair the agency’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) telescope on the International Space Station. The agency continued preparing the SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission to launch by April 2025. To manage the maturation of technologies necessary to develop the Habitable Worlds Observatory telescope, NASA established a project office at NASA Goddard. NASA and partners declared that the Sun reached solar maximum in 2024, a period of heightened solar activity when space weather becomes more frequent. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, a joint mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA, discovered its 5,000th comet in March. NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program provided low-cost access to space for scientific research, technology development, and educational missions. NASA launched 14 sounding rocket missions in 2024. Scientists announced findings from a sounding rocket launched in 2022 that confirmed the existence of a long-sought global electric field at Earth. The agency established a new class of astrophysics missions, called Astrophysics Probe Explorers, designed to fill a gap between NASA’s flagship and smaller-scale missions. Living, Conducting Research in Space In 2024, a total of 25 people lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, helping to complete science for the benefit of humanity, open access to space to more people, and support exploration to the Moon in preparation for Mars. A total of 14 spacecraft visited the microgravity laboratory in 2024, including eight commercial resupply missions from Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, as well as international partner missions, delivering more than 40,000 pounds of science investigations, tools, and critical supplies to the space station. NASA also helped safely return the uncrewed Boeing Starliner spacecraft to Earth, concluding a three-month flight test to the International Space Station. In addition: In March, NASA welcomed its newest class of Artemis Generation astronauts in a graduation ceremony. The agency also sought new astronaut candidates, and more 8,000 people applied. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa returned to Earth at the conclusion of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission aboard the International Space Station. The three crew members, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, splashed down in March off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, completing a six-and-a-half-month mission contributing to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations. In June, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely arrived at the space station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft following launch of their flight test. With Starliner’s arrival, it was the first time in station history three different spacecraft that carried crew to station were docked at the same time. Starliner returned uncrewed in September following a decision by NASA. Wilmore and Williams, now serving as part of the agency’s Crew-9 mission, will return to Earth in February 2025. NASA astronaut Don Pettit, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, arrived at the orbital laboratory in September to begin a six-month mission. Completing a six-month research mission in September, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson returned to Earth with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov launched on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the space station. Concluding a nearly eight-month science mission, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission safely returned to Earth, splashing down on Oct. 25, off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. NASA and Axiom Space successfully completed the third private astronaut mission to the space station in February, following an 18-day mission, where the crew conducted 30 experiments, public outreach, and commercial activities in microgravity. The agency announced SpaceX was selected to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, which will safely move the space station out of orbit and into a remote area of an ocean at the end of its operations. NASA and SpaceX monitored operations as the company’s Dragon spacecraft performed its first demonstration of reboost capabilities for the space station. NASA concluded the final mission of its Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment, or Saffire, putting a blazing end to an eight-year series of investigations looking at fire’s behavior in space. A robotic surgical tool aboard space station was successfully controlled remotely by surgeons on Earth. The Robotic Surgery Tech Demo tested the performance of a small robot to evaluate the effects of microgravity and time delays between space and ground. The first successful metal 3D print was conducted aboard the space station, depositing a small s-curve in liquified stainless steel for the Metal 3D Printer investigation to test additive manufacturing of small metal parts in microgravity for equipment maintenance on future long-duration missions. In 2024, 17 NASA Biological and Physical Science research payloads were delivered to the orbital laboratory, spanning quantum, plant biology, and physical sciences investigations. More than 825,000 photos of Earth were taken from the space station in 2024 so far, contributing to research tracking how our planet’s landscapes are changing over time. Expedition 71 produced more than 630,000 images, the most taken during a single mission. In total, more than 5.3 million photos have been taken from the space station, providing imagery for urban light studies, studies of lightning flashes, and 14 natural disaster events in 2024 alone. Imagining Future Flight NASA researchers worked to advance innovations that will transform U.S. aviation, furthering the Sustainable Flight National Partnership and other efforts to help the country reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. NASA also unveiled its X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, the centerpiece of its Quesst mission to make quiet overland supersonic flight a reality. NASA aeronautics initiatives also worked to bring air taxis, delivery drones, and other revolutionary technology closer to deployment to benefit the U.S. public and industry. Over the past year, the agency: Began testing the quiet supersonic X-59’s engine ahead of its first flight. Made further progress in research areas of Quesst mission, including ground recording station testing and advancement and structural tests on the aircraft. Publicly unveiled the X-59 in January, providing the first look at this unique aircraft. Tested a wind-tunnel model of the X-66, an experimental aircraft designed to reduce the carbon footprint. Began building the X-66 simulator that will allow pilots and engineers to run real-life scenarios in a safe environment. Funded new studies looking at the future of sustainable aircraft for the 2050 timeframe and beyond. Built a new simulator to study how passengers may experience air taxi rides. The results will help designers create new aircraft types with passenger comfort in mind. Developed a computer software tool called OVERFLOW to predict aircraft noise and aerodynamic performance. This tool is now being used by several air taxi manufacturers to test how propellers or wings perform. In collaboration with Sikorsky and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), flew two helicopters autonomously using NASA-designed collision avoidance software. Designed and flew a camera pod with sensors to help advance computer vision for autonomous aviation. Launched a new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics kit focused on Advanced Air Mobility so students can learn more about air taxis and drones. Continued to reduce traffic and save fuel at major U.S. airports as part of NASA’s to work to improve air travel and make it more sustainable. Worked with partners to demonstrate a first-of-its-kind air traffic management concept for aircraft to safely operate at higher altitudes. Advanced Hybrid-Electric technologies with GE Aerospace under the Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project. Conducted new ground and flight tests for the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, which works to create hybrid electric powertrains for regional and single-aisle aircraft, alongside GE Aerospace and magniX. Collaborated with the Federal Aviation Administration and police and fire departments to strategize on integrating public safety drones into the national airspace. Launched a new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics kit focused on Advanced Air Mobility so students can learn more about air taxis and drones. Improving Life on Earth, in Space with Technology NASA develops essential technologies to drive exploration and the space economy. In 2024, NASA leveraged partnerships to advance technologies and test new capabilities to help the agency develop a sustainable presence on the lunar surface and beyond, while benefiting life on our home planet and in low Earth orbit. The following are 2024 space technology advancements: Deployed NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System in space, marking a successful test of its composite boom technology. Performed record-breaking laser communications with NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration by sending a laser signal from Earth to NASA’s Psyche spacecraft about 290 million miles away. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System and Deep Space Optical Communications were named among TIME’s Inventions of 2024, along with the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. Supported 84 tests of technology payloads via 38 flights with six U.S. commercial flight providers through NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program. Enabled the first NASA-supported researcher to fly with their payload aboard a commercial suborbital rocket. Advanced critical capabilities for autonomous networks of small spacecraft with NASA’s Starling demonstration, the first satellite swarm to autonomously distribute information and operations data between spacecraft. Demonstrated space-age fuel gauge technology, known as a Radio Frequency Mass Gauge, on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander, to develop technology to accurately measure spacecraft fuel levels. Performed an in-space tank to tank transfer of cryogenic propellent (liquid oxygen) on the third flight test of SpaceX’s Starship. Licensed a new 3-D printed superalloy, dubbed GRX-810, to four American companies to make stronger, more durable airplane and spacecraft parts. Manufactured 3D-printed, liquid oxygen/hydrogen thrust chamber hardware as part of NASA’s Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology project, which earned the agency’s 2024 “Invention of The Year” award for its contributions to NASA and commercial industry’s deep space exploration goals. Pioneered quantum discovery using the Cold Atom Lab, including producing the first dual-species Bose-Einstein Condensates in space, the first dual-species atom interferometers in space, and demonstrating the first ultra-cool quantum sensor for the first time in space. Announced two new consortia to carry out ground-based research investigations and conduct activities for NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Space Biology Program, totaling $5 million. Awarded $4.25 million across the finales of three major NASA Centennial Challenges, including Break the Ice, Watts on the Moon, and Deep Space Food to support NASA’s Artemis missions and future journeys into deep space. Launched a collaborative process to capture the aerospace community’s most pervasive technical challenges, resulting in a ranked list of 187 civil space shortfalls to help guide future technology development projects, investments, and technology roadmaps. Growing Global Partnerships Through the Artemis Accords, almost 50 nations have joined the United States, led by NASA with the U.S. State Department, in a voluntary commitment to engage in the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The Artemis Accords represent a robust and diverse group of nation states, representing all regions of the world, working together for the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond with NASA. More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the weeks and months ahead. During a May workshop with Artemis Accords signatories in Montreal, Canada, NASA led a tabletop exercise for 24 countries centered on further defining and implementing key tenets, including considering views on non-interference, interoperability, and scientific data sharing among nations. A NASA delegation participated in the 75th International Astronautical Congress in Milan. During the congress, NASA co-chaired the Artemis Accords Principals’ Meeting, which brought together 42 nations furthering discussions on the safe and responsible use of space for the benefit of all. Celebrating Total Solar Eclipse During the total solar eclipse on April 8, NASA helped the nation enjoy the event safely and engaged millions of people with in-person events, live online coverage, and citizen science opportunities. NASA also funded scientists around North America to take advantage of this unique position of the Sun, Moon, and Earth to learn more about the Sun and its connection to our home planet. Highlights of the solar celebration include: The space station crew were among the millions viewing the solar eclipse. NASA collaborated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Google, NCAA Women’s Final Four, Peanuts Worldwide, Microsoft, Sésamo, LEGO, Barbie, Major League Baseball, Third Rock Radio, Discovery Education, and others on eclipse-inspired products and social posts to support awareness of the eclipse and the importance of safe viewing. More than 50 student teams participated in NASA’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, with some becoming the first to measure atmospheric gravity waves caused by eclipses. Building Low Earth Orbit Economy In August, NASA announced the development of its low Earth orbit microgravity strategy by releasing 42 objectives for stakeholder feedback. The strategy helps to guide the next generation of human presence in low Earth orbit and advance microgravity science, technology, and exploration. NASA is refining the objectives with collected input and will finalize the strategy before the end of the year. Additional advancements include: NASA modified agreements for two funded commercial space station partners that are on track to develop low Earth orbit destinations for the agency and other customers. A NASA-funded commercial space station, Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef, completed multiple testing milestones for its critical life support system as part of the agency’s efforts for new destinations in low Earth orbit. A full-scale ultimate burst pressure test on Sierra Space’s LIFE (Large Integrated Flexible Environment) habitat structure was conducted, an element of a NASA-funded commercial space station. The agency’s industry partners, through the second Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities initiative and Small Business Innovation Research Ignite initiative, completed safety milestones, successful flight tests, and major technological advancements. As NASA opens access to space by working with private industry, the agency shared its medical expertise, human system integration knowledge, utilization requirements, and commercial space food insight to aid in developing safe, reliable, innovative, and cost-effective space stations. To address a rapidly changing space operating environment and ensure its preservation for generations to come, NASA released its integrated Space Sustainability Strategy in April. The agency tested the Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane for the extreme environments of space at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland streamed 4K video footage from an aircraft to the space station and back for the first time using optical, or laser, communications. Inspiring Artemis Generation of STEM Students NASA continues to offer a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives and activities, reaching and engaging the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers. The agency’s STEM engagements are enhanced through collaborations with partner organizations, the distribution of various grants, and additional strategic activities. Key 2024 STEM highlights include: Awarded nearly $45 million to 21 higher-education institutions to help build capacity for research, and announced the recipients of grants that will support scientific and technical research projects for more than 20 universities and organizations across the United States. Planted a “Moon Tree,” a seedling that traveled around the Moon and back aboard the agency’s Artemis I mission in 2022, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The event highlighted a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service that invited organizations across the country to host the seedlings. Partnered with Microsoft’s Minecraft to engage students in a game-based learning platform, where players can experience NASA’s discoveries with interactive modules on star formation, planets, and galaxy types, modeled using real James Webb Space Telescope images. Collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education to bring STEM to students during after-school hours under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which aims to reach thousands of students in more than 60 sites across 10 states. Launched NASA Engages, a platform to connect and serve the public by providing agency experts to share their experiences working on agency missions and programs. With more than 55,000 applications for NASA internships across the spring, summer and fall sessions, a new recruitment record, NASA helped students and early-career professionals make real contributions to space and science missions. Expanded the agency’s program to help informal educational institutions like museums, science centers, libraries, and other community organizations bring STEM content to communities, resulting in 42 active awards across 26 states and Puerto Rico. Hosted the 30th Human Exploration Rover Challenge, one of NASA’s longest-standing student challenges, with participation from more than 600 students and 72 teams from around the world. Reaching New, Future Explorers NASA’s future-forward outreach to current and new audiences is key to providing accessibility to the agency’s scientific discoveries and to growing the future STEM workforce. NASA’s creative and inclusive 2024 strategies to reach the public include: NASA’s on-demand streaming service, NASA+, achieved four times the viewership of the agency’s traditional cable channel, marking a major milestone in its ongoing web modernization efforts. As part of the digital transformation, NASA said goodbye to NASA Television, its over-the-air broadcast, streamlining how it delivers the latest space, science, and technology news. NASA+ marked its first year of operation Sept. 23, and visitors have played 1,036,389 hours of programming. April 8, the day of the total solar eclipse, brought in 32 million views to NASA’s websites, more than 15 times additional views than the average this year. On average, NASA websites receive 33.4 million views every month. NASA social media accounts saw an increase of 4% in followers since 2023, from 391.2 million in 2023 to 406.8 million this year. On average, NASA accounts see close to 25 million engagements each month.Notable live social media events in 2024 included the first-ever Reddit Ask Me Anything with the platform’s 23-million member “Explain Like I’m Five” community; the first X Spaces conversation from space; and NASA’s first Instagram Live of a launch, which contributed 410,000 of the 6.6 million views of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test launch. NASA Twitch launched custom emotes, issued channel points for the first time, and collaborated with an external Twitch creator, a how-to conversation with astrophotographers and NASA experts about photographing the Moon. NASA aired live broadcasts for 14 mission launches in 2024. The agency’s official broadcast of the 2024 total solar eclipse and its telescope feed are the top two most-watched livestreams this year on NASA’s YouTube.The agency’s YouTube livestreams in 2024 surpassed 84.7 million total views. NASA broadcasts often were enhanced by the presence of well-known athletes, artists, and cultural figures. The solar eclipse broadcast alone featured musician Lance Bass, actor Scarlett Johannson, NFL quarterback Josh Dobbs, and Snoopy. The agency’s podcasts surpassed 9.7 million all-time plays on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The NASA app was installed more than 2.1 million times in 2024. The number of subscribers to NASA’s flagship and Spanish newsletters total more than 5 million. NASA celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Hidden Figures Way street renaming. The program honored the legacy of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Christine M. Darden, and others who were featured in Margot Shetterly’s book – and the subsequent movie – Hidden Figures, and their commitment to science, justice, and humanity. The agency signed Space Act agreements with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to increase engagement and equity for underrepresented students pursuing STEM fields and reduce barriers to agency activities and opportunities. As part of its plans to reach new audiences, NASA continued to focus on developing Spanish-language content. This year, the agency:Launched its second season of the Spanish-language podcast Universo curioso de la NASA.More than doubled the number of yearly posts to its science-focused website in Spanish, Ciencia de la NASA, and grew the website’s traffic by five-fold.Produced live broadcasts for the 2024 total solar eclipse and for the launch of the Europa Clipper mission, which reached a combined audience of more than 5 million viewers around the world.Published a video about how NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) cooperate to train astronauts. Released an astrobiology graphic novel and the agency’s economic impact yearly report in Spanish, among other outreach materials. Relaunched the NASA Art Program with two space-themed murals in New York’s Hudson Square neighborhood in Manhattan. The vision of the reimagined NASA Art Program is to inspire and engage the Artemis Generation with community murals and art projects for the benefit of humanity. A DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory Workshop documented and celebrated the important scientific work conducted aboard NASA’s legendary DC-8 and captured lessons of the past for current and future operators. The Deep Space Network beamed a Missy Elliott song to space on July 12. NASA partnered with Crayola Education to develop content for Crayola’s annual Creativity Week held in January, which reached more than 6 million kids from 100 countries. On the eve of the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, NASA Johnson named one of its central buildings the “Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo.” Actress Octavia Spencer narrated a video for the event. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley hosted social media creators in space, science, and engineering for a behind-the-scenes tour of the center’s world-class facilities. Engaging largely untapped NASA audiences of more than 155,000 in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota, NASA’s Glenn launched NASA in the Midwest, an integrated approach to bring awareness to the agency’s connections to the region to large-scale festivals and surrounding community institutions. Reaching 500,000 in-person attendees, NASA Stennis supported the agency’s return to the ESSENCE Festival of Culture in New Orleans. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia developed a dance engagement program in partnership with the Eastern Shore Ballet Theatre, introducing new audiences to the agency while blending arts and science. NASA participated in more than 3,700 events planned with an estimated reach of more than 17 million worldwide. This was accomplished through in-person, hybrid, and virtual outreach activities and events. The agency’s Virtual Guest Program engaged 277,370 virtual guests across 13 events, with an average of 145 countries, regions, and territories represented per event. There also were many notable engagements highlighting the intersection of space and sports in 2024, including the Stanley Cup visiting NASA Kennedy for photographs as part of the agency’s growing partnership with the National Hockey League. NASA Glenn also collaborated with The Ohio State University Marching Band for its halftime show during the university’s football game on Sept. 21. A video greeting from astronauts aboard the International Space Station introduced the show, which featured aerospace-themed music and numerous formations including the final formation the NASA Meatball. For more about NASA’s missions, research, and discoveries, visit: https://www.nasa.gov -end- Meira Bernstein / Cheryl Warner Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsGeneralAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateArtemisArtemis AccordsCommercial CrewCommercial SpaceEarthExploration Systems Development Mission DirectorateHumans in SpaceInternational Space Station (ISS)ISS ResearchLow Earth Orbit EconomyNASA Centers & FacilitiesNASA DirectoratesNASA en españolOffice of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR)People of NASAScience & ResearchScience Mission DirectorateSocial MediaSpace Operations Mission DirectorateSpace Technology Mission DirectorateSTEM Engagement at NASAThe Solar SystemThe Universe View the full article

Credit: NASA NASA has selected Nova Space Solutions, LLC of Anchorage, Alaska, to provide operations, services, maintenance, and infrastructure support for NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Combined Operations, Services, Maintenance, and Infrastructure Contract is a cost-plus-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price, and indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that has a value of approximately $822.7 million. The performance period begins July 1, 2025, and extends eight years and three months, with a 15-month base period, followed by a one-year option period and three two-year option periods. Under the contract, Nova Space Solutions will be responsible for contract management, logistics, safety, health and environmental compliance, engineering and manufacturing support services, site services, facility operations and maintenance services, and environmental services and program management. NASA’s Stennis Space Center is the nation’s largest propulsion test site, with infrastructure to support projects ranging from component and subscale testing to large engine hot fires. Researchers from NASA, other government agencies, and private industry use NASA Stennis test facilities for technology and propulsion research and developmental projects. NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, managed by the agency’s Marshall Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is the nation’s premier site for manufacturing and assembly of large-scale space structures and systems. For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov -end- Tiernan Doyle Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov C. Lacy Thompson Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi 228-363-5499 calvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov Lance D. Davis Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama 256-640-9065 lance.d.davis@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsStennis Space CenterMarshall Space Flight CenterMichoud Assembly Facility View the full article

Congratulations to the selected teams and their schools who will participate in the Lunar Autonomy Challenge! 31 teams were selected for the qualifying round, engaging 229 students from colleges and universities in 15 states. Teams will now move on to a Qualifying Round where they will virtually explore and map the lunar surface using a digital twin of NASA’s lunar mobility robot, the ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx). Teams will develop software that can perform set actions without human intervention, navigating the digital IPEx in the harsh, low-light conditions of the Moon. The Qualifying Round will extend to February 28, when the top-scoring teams will proceed to the Final Round, with the winners announced in May 2025. The Lunar Autonomy Challenge is a collaboration between NASA, The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Caterpillar Inc., and Embodied AI. ​ Learn more: https://lunar-autonomy-challenge.jhuapl.edu/ ​ SchoolCityStateAmerican Public University SystemCharles TownWest VirginiaArizona State UniversityTempeArizonaCalifornia Polytechnic Institute, Pomona (1)PomonaCaliforniaCalifornia Polytechnic Institute, Pomona (2)PomonaCaliforniaCarnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburghPennsylvaniaEmbry Riddle Aeronautical UniversityDaytona BeachFloridaEssex County CollegeNewarkNew JerseyGeorgia Institute of Technology & Arizona State UniversityAtlanta & TempeGeorgia & ArizonaHarvard UniversityAllstonMassachusettsJohns Hopkins University Whiting School of EngineeringBaltimoreMarylandMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCambridgeMassachusettsNew York University Tandon School of EngineeringBrooklynNew YorkNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleighNorth CarolinaPenn State (1)University ParkPennsylvaniaPenn State (2)University ParkPennsylvaniaPurdue UniversityWest LafayetteIndianaRochester Institute of TechnologyRochester New YorkRose Hulman Institue of TechnologyTerre HauteIndianaStanford UniversityStanfordCalifornia Texas A&M UniversityCollege StationTexasUniversity of AlabamaTuscaloosaAlabamaUniversity of Buffalo, State University of New YorkBuffaloNew YorkUniversity of California, StanislausTurlockCaliforniaUniversity of Illinois Urbana Champaign (1)UrbanaIllinoisUniversity of Illinois Urbana Champaign (2)UrbanaIllinoisUniversity of MarylandCollege ParkMarylandUniversity of Pennsylvania (1)Philadelphia PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania (2)Philadelphia PennsylvaniaUniversity of Southern California & Stanford UniversityLos Angeles & StanfordCaliforniaWest Virginia UniversityMorgantownWest VirginiaWorcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcesterMassachusetts Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative ISRU Pilot Excavator Education & Opportunities We are committed to providing educational opportunities for students interested in pursuing professional experiences in the life science disciplines. Our… View the full article

JPL Director Laurie Leshin, flanked by a model of the Voyager spacecraft and an image of Ed Stone, addresses the audience during the unveiling of the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail on Dec. 6, 2024, at the lab. Ed Stone Memorial Plaque Dedication Ceremony Requester: Susie Woodall Date: 06-DEC-2024 Photographer: Ryan Lannom A series of plaques stretching through the heart of the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers highlights of the space explorer’s career and the Voyager mission he led. Family members, colleagues, and local dignitaries gathered on Friday, Dec. 6, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the unveiling of a memorial honoring Ed Stone, best known as the longtime project scientist of the agency’s Voyager mission. Stone died in June 2024 at age 88 after leading the mission for half a century and leading JPL for a decade. Stretching through the heart of the lab, the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail traces the arc of Stone’s distinguished career and the long journeys of the twin Voyager space probes. Designed with simple line drawings, 24 disc-shaped plaques along the trail offer career and mission highlights while evoking the Golden Record aboard both spacecraft. The Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail begins in front of the building where Stone served as JPL’s director. NASA/JPL-Caltech Launched in the summer of 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 have since traveled more than 15.4 billion and 12.9 billion miles (24 billion and 20 billion kilometers), respectively — farther than any other human-made object. The plaques trace their trajectories to Jupiter and Saturn as well as their diverging paths, with Voyager 2 heading toward Uranus and Neptune as Voyager 1 made a beeline for interstellar space. Other stops along the trail honor Stone’s work creating the W.M. Keck Observatory in 1985, his appointment as JPL’s director in 1991, and his being honored with the Distinguished Service Award 2013. “To follow in the footsteps of Ed Stone is to walk the path of an extraordinary person who dedicated his time on Earth to reaching for the stars, and who paved the way for others to do the same,” said Laurie Leshin, director of JPL. “This trail is a testament to Ed’s bold curiosity, visionary leadership, and passion for science that have enabled us to explore farther into the cosmos than ever before. It’s also a reminder of his influence on so many of our endeavors to reach new frontiers in space.” Embedded in the pavement, 24 additional plaques trace the approximate trajectories of the Voyager spacecraft. The shape and design language of the plaques evoke the design of the Gold Record.NASA/JPL-Caltech Blazing a Trail Stone’s penchant for walking was one of the topics that came up when members of JPL’s Office of the Director, its DesignLab, and the Voyager team began discussing ways to honor his outsize contributions to JPL and science. From those initial brainstorming sessions came the question, “How can we do something to memorialize him at JPL that gets people to walk?” recalled DesignLab’s graphic manager, Lauren Shapiro. The distances between the plaques are roughly proportional the distances between the events they highlight, and the team even tried to make flight trajectories of the probes as accurate as possible, given the challenges of avoiding buildings and the like. Designer Kaelyn Richards relied on the Voyager Golden Record as a guide for the visual language. “I referenced a lot of old scientific diagrams that were made by artists in the ’70s and ’80s, and I used a solar system modeling program to show the exact position of the planets on the day that the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ was taken,” she said, referring to the plaque honoring the famous 1990 image Voyager 1 took of Earth from beyond Neptune. “Everyone seemed to agree that Voyager was Ed Stone. Yes, he did so much more, but this was really his biggest legacy,” Shapiro said. “So we’re honoring both the mission and the person alongside each other. And they both, in a poetic way, have had very long, incredible lives.” Voyager 1 and 2 both carry the Golden Record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials with sounds and images that portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech After retiring as Voyager’s project scientist, Stone returned to teaching and research at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. Before attending the unveiling, Caltech President Thomas Rosenbaum said, “Ed was a whirlwind of activity. I have many good memories of running after Ed in the midst of conversation as he charged across campus. Ed’s ambition, drive, and vision were accompanied by his warmth, humility, and commitment to Caltech and our students. He served as a mentor for generations of scholars who have gone on to be leaders in their fields. He conveyed a curiosity and a thirst for discovery that inspired.” Stone had joined the Caltech faculty as an assistant professor in 1967 and, from 1983 to 1988, chaired the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. He went on to serve as vice president for astronomical facilities from 1988 to 1990 and as vice provost for special projects from 2004 to 2022. In 2023, Caltech established a new faculty position, the Edward C. Stone Professorship. But there was another academic honor that Stone also cherished: the 2012 naming of the Edward Stone Middle School in his hometown of Burlington, Iowa. A short walk from the plaque marking that milestone is the final stop of the Exploration Trail, its simple inscription reading: “Ed Stone’s leadership and pursuit of scientific knowledge expanded humanity’s understanding of the universe. His legacy lives on through the Voyager mission, and the countless people he has inspired.” News Media Contacts Matthew Segal / Calla Cofield Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-8307 / 626-808-2469 matthew.j.segal@jpl.nasa.gov / calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-165 Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 Related TermsVoyager ProgramHeliophysicsJet Propulsion LaboratoryVoyager 1Voyager 2 Explore More 4 min read NASA’s C-20A Studies Extreme Weather Events Article 2 days ago 2 min read This Thanksgiving, We’re Grateful for NASA’s Volunteer Scientists! This year, we’re giving thanks to you for Doing NASA Science! You and the millions… Article 1 week ago 5 min read NASA’s Europa Clipper: Millions of Miles Down, Instruments Deploying Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

NASA/Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Lava encroaches on the Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination in Iceland, in this Nov. 24, 2024, Landsat 9 image overlaid with an infrared signal. The infrared signal helps distinguish the lava’s heat signature. A volcanic fissure burst open on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula four days prior, heralded by a series of earthquakes. A plume of gas, consisting primarily of sulfur dioxide, streamed from the lava. The Reykjanes peninsula eruption is the seventh in a series of events that began in December 2023. Image credit: NASA/Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership View the full article

NASA: Best of 2024

El 28 de junio de 2024, la nave espacial Orion de Artemis II es retirada de la Celda de Ensamblaje Final y Pruebas del Sistema (FAST, por sus siglas en inglés) y colocada en la cámara de altitud oeste dentro del Edificio de Operaciones y Revisión del Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida. Dentro de la cámara de altitud, la nave espacial se sometió a una serie de pruebas que simulaban las condiciones de vacío del espacio profundo.Crédito de la foto: NASA / Rad Sinyak Read this story in English here. Tras extensos análisis y pruebas, la NASA ha identificado la causa técnica de la pérdida imprevista de material carbonizado en el escudo térmico de la nave espacial Orion de Artemis I. Los ingenieros determinaron que, cuando Orion regresaba de su misión sin tripulación alrededor de la Luna, los gases generados dentro del material ablativo exterior del escudo térmico, denominado Avcoat, no pudieron ventilarse y disiparse como estaba previsto. Esto permitió que se acumulara presión y se produjeran grietas, lo que causó que parte del material carbonizado se desprendiera en varios lugares. “Nuestros primeros vuelos de Artemis son una campaña de prueba, y el vuelo de prueba de Artemis I nos dio la oportunidad de comprobar nuestros sistemas en el entorno del espacio profundo antes de incorporar a la tripulación en futuras misiones”, dijo Amit Kshatriya, administrador asociado adjunto de la Oficina del programa De la Luna a Marte, en la sede de la NASA en Washington. “La investigación sobre el escudo térmico ayudó a garantizar que comprendiéramos completamente la causa y la naturaleza del problema, así como el riesgo que les pedimos a nuestras tripulaciones que asuman cuando emprendan su viaje a la Luna”. Los hallazgos Los equipos técnicos adoptaron un enfoque metódico para comprender e identificar el origen del problema de pérdida de material carbonizado, incluyendo el muestreo detallado del escudo térmico de Artemis I, la revisión de las imágenes y los datos de los sensores de la nave espacial, y pruebas y análisis exhaustivos en tierra. Durante Artemis I, los ingenieros utilizaron la técnica de guiamiento de reentrada atmosférica doble para el regreso de Orion a la Tierra. Esta técnica ofrece más flexibilidad ya que amplía el alcance del vuelo de Orion después del punto de reentrada para llevarlo hasta un lugar de amerizaje en el océano Pacífico. Con esta maniobra, Orion se sumergió en la parte superior de la atmósfera de la Tierra y utilizó la resistencia atmosférica para reducir su velocidad. A continuación, Orion utilizó la sustentación aerodinámica de la cápsula para rebotar y salir de nuevo de la atmósfera, para luego volver a entrar en el descenso final con paracaídas para su amerizaje. Utilizando los datos de la respuesta del material Avcoat de Artemis I, el equipo de investigación pudo simular el entorno de la trayectoria de entrada de Artemis I —una parte clave para comprender la causa del problema— dentro de la instalación de chorro en arco del Centro de Investigación Ames de la NASA en California. Observaron que, durante el período entre las inmersiones en la atmósfera, las tasas de calentamiento disminuyeron y la energía térmica se acumuló dentro del material Avcoat del escudo térmico. Esto condujo a la acumulación de gases que forman parte del proceso de ablación (desgaste) previsto. Debido a que el Avcoat no tenía “permeabilidad”, la presión interna se acumuló y produjo el agrietamiento y el desprendimiento desigual de la capa exterior. Los equipos técnicos realizaron extensas pruebas en tierra para simular el fenómeno de rebote en la reentrada antes de la misión Artemis I. Sin embargo, hicieron pruebas a velocidades de calentamiento mucho más altas que las que la nave espacial experimentó durante su vuelo. Las altas velocidades de calentamiento puestas a prueba en tierra permitieron que el material carbonizado permeable se formara y se desgastara como estaba previsto, liberando la presión del gas. El calentamiento menos severo observado durante la reentrada real de Artemis I desaceleró el proceso de formación de material carbonizado, al tiempo que siguió creando gases en esta capa de material. La presión del gas se acumuló hasta el punto de agrietar el Avcoat y liberar partes de la capa carbonizada. Las mejoras recientes en la instalación de chorro en arco han permitido una reproducción más precisa de los entornos de vuelo registrados por Artemis I, de modo que este comportamiento de agrietamiento pudo demostrarse en pruebas en tierra. Si bien Artemis I no estaba tripulado, los datos del vuelo mostraron que, si la tripulación hubiera estado a bordo, habría estado a salvo. Los datos de la temperatura de los sistemas del módulo de tripulación dentro de la cabina también estaban dentro de los límites y se mantenían estables, con temperaturas alrededor de los 24 grados centígrados (75 grados Fahrenheit). El desempeño del escudo térmico superó las expectativas. Los ingenieros comprenden tanto el fenómeno material como el entorno con el que interactúan los materiales durante la entrada a la atmósfera. Al cambiar el material o el entorno, pueden predecir cómo responderá la nave espacial. Los equipos de la NASA acordaron por unanimidad que la agencia puede desarrollar un análisis de vuelo aceptable que mantenga a la tripulación segura utilizando el actual escudo térmico de Artemis II con cambios operativos para su entrada en la atmósfera. El proceso de investigación de la NASA Poco después de que los ingenieros de la NASA descubrieran las condiciones del escudo térmico de Artemis I, la agencia comenzó un extenso proceso de investigación, el cual contó con un equipo multidisciplinario de expertos en sistemas de protección térmica, aerotermodinámica, pruebas y análisis térmicos, análisis de estrés (fatiga de materiales), pruebas y análisis de materiales, y muchos otros campos técnicos relacionados. El Centro de Ingeniería y Seguridad de la NASA también participó para aportar su experiencia técnica, incluyendo evaluación no destructiva, análisis térmico y estructural, análisis de árbol de fallas y otros métodos de respaldo de las pruebas. “Nos tomamos muy en serio nuestro proceso de investigación del escudo térmico, con la seguridad de la tripulación como la fuerza impulsora que mueve esta investigación”, dijo Howard Hu, gerente del Programa Orion del Centro Espacial Johnson de la NASA en Houston. “El proceso fue extenso. Le dimos al equipo el tiempo necesario para investigar todas las causas posibles, y trabajaron incansablemente para asegurarse de que entendiéramos el fenómeno y los pasos necesarios para mitigar este problema en futuras misiones”. El escudo térmico de Artemis I estaba muy cargado de instrumentos para este vuelo, e incluía sensores de presión, extensómetros y termopares a diferentes profundidades del material ablativo. Los datos de estos instrumentos acrecentaron el análisis de muestras físicas, lo que permitió al equipo validar modelos informáticos, crear reconstrucciones de entornos, proporcionar perfiles de temperatura interna y dar información sobre el momento de la pérdida de material carbonizado. Alrededor de 200 muestras de Avcoat fueron extraídas del escudo térmico de Artemis I en el Centro de Vuelo Espacial Marshall de la NASA en Alabama para su análisis e inspección. El equipo llevó a cabo una evaluación no destructiva para “ver” dentro del escudo térmico. Uno de los hallazgos más importantes que arrojó el examen de estas muestras fue que algunas superficies en la zona del Avcoat permeable, las cuales habían sido identificadas antes del vuelo, no sufrieron agrietamiento ni pérdida de material carbonizado. Dado que estas superficies eran permeables al comienzo de la entrada en la atmósfera, los gases producidos por la ablación pudieron ventilarse adecuadamente, eliminando la acumulación de la presión, el agrietamiento y la pérdida de material carbonizado. Los ingenieros hicieron ocho campañas separadas de pruebas térmicas posteriores al vuelo para respaldar el análisis del origen de estas condiciones, y completaron 121 pruebas individuales. Estas pruebas fueron llevadas a cabo en instalaciones en diferentes lugares de Estados Unidos que cuentan con capacidades únicas, entre ellas: la Instalación de Calentamiento Aerodinámico en el Complejo de Chorro en Arco del centro Ames, para poner a prueba perfiles de calentamiento convectivo con diversos gases de prueba; el Laboratorio de Evaluación de Materiales Endurecidos por Láser en la Base de la Fuerza Aérea Patterson-Wright en Ohio, con el fin de poner a prueba perfiles de calentamiento radiativo y proporcionar radiografías en tiempo real; y la Instalación de Calentamiento por Interacción del centro Ames, para poner a prueba perfiles combinados de calentamiento convectivo y radiativo en el aire en bloques completos, esto es, aplicando todas las pruebas en cada bloque de material. Los expertos en aerotermia también completaron dos campañas de pruebas en el túnel de viento hipersónico del Centro de Investigación Langley de la NASA en Virginia y en las instalaciones de pruebas aerodinámicas del CUBRC en Buffalo, Nueva York, para realizar pruebas con una diversidad de configuraciones de pérdida de material carbonizado, y mejorar y validar los modelos analíticos. También se realizaron pruebas de permeabilidad en el centro Kratos en Alabama, en la Universidad de Kentucky y en el centro Ames para caracterizar aún mejor el volumen elemental y la porosidad del Avcoat. La instalación de pruebas del centro de investigaciones Advanced Light Source, una instalación para usuarios científicos del Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos en el Laboratorio Nacional Lawrence Berkeley, también fue utilizada por los ingenieros para examinar el comportamiento del calentamiento del Avcoat a nivel microestructural. En la primavera de 2024, la NASA creó un equipo de revisión independiente que realizó una revisión exhaustiva del proceso de investigación, los hallazgos y los resultados de la agencia. La revisión independiente fue dirigida por Paul Hill, un exdirectivo de la NASA que se desempeñó como director principal de vuelo del transbordador espacial para el programa Return to Flight (Regreso a los vuelos) después del accidente del Columbia, quien también dirigió la Dirección de Operaciones de Misiones de la NASA y es miembro actual del Panel Asesor de Seguridad Aeroespacial de la agencia. La revisión se llevó a cabo durante un período de tres meses a fin de evaluar las condiciones del escudo térmico posteriores al vuelo, los datos del entorno para la entrada a la atmósfera, la respuesta térmica del material ablativo y el avance de las investigaciones de la NASA. El equipo de revisión estuvo de acuerdo con los hallazgos de la NASA sobre la causa técnica del comportamiento físico del escudo térmico. Avances en el escudo térmico Al saber que la permeabilidad de Avcoat es un parámetro clave para evitar o minimizar la pérdida de material carbonizado, la NASA tiene la información correcta para garantizar la seguridad de la tripulación y mejorar el desempeño de los futuros escudos térmicos del programa Artemis. A lo largo de su historia, la NASA ha aprendido de cada uno de sus vuelos e incorporado mejoras en el hardware y las operaciones. Los datos recopilados a lo largo del vuelo de prueba de Artemis I han proporcionado a los ingenieros información valiosísima para guiar futuros diseños y refinamientos. Los datos de desempeño del vuelo de retorno lunar y un sólido programa de calificación de pruebas en tierra, mejorado después de la experiencia del vuelo de Artemis I, están respaldando las mejoras en la producción del escudo térmico de Orion. Los futuros escudos térmicos para el regreso de Orion en las misiones de alunizaje de Artemis están en producción para lograr una uniformidad y permeabilidad consistente. El programa de calificación se está completando actualmente, junto con la producción de bloques de Avcoat más permeables, en la Instalación de Ensamblaje Michoud de la NASA en Nueva Orleans. Para obtener más información sobre las campañas Artemis de la NASA, visita el sitio web (en inglés): https://www.nasa.gov/artemis -fin- Meira Bernstein / Rachel Kraft / María José Viñas Sede, Washington 202-358-1600 meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov / maria-jose.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) has helped astronomers better understand the shapes of structures essential to a black hole – specifically, the disk of material swirling around it, and the shifting plasma region called the corona. The stellar-mass black hole, part of the binary system Swift J1727.8-1613, was discovered in the summer of 2023 during an unusual brightening event that briefly caused it to outshine nearly all other X-ray sources. It is the first of its kind to be observed by IXPE as it goes through the start, peak, and conclusion of an X-ray outburst like this. This illustration shows NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft, at lower left, observing the newly discovered binary system Swift J1727.8-1613 from a distance. At the center is a black hole surrounded by an accretion disk, shown in yellow and orange, and a hot, shifting corona, shown in blue. The black hole is siphoning off gas from its companion star, seen behind the black hole as an orange disk. Jets of fast-moving, superheated particles stream from both poles of the black hole. Author: Marie Novotná Swift J1727 is the subject of a series of new studies published in The Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy & Astrophysics. Scientists say the findings provide new insight into the behavior and evolution of black hole X-ray binary systems. “This outburst evolved incredibly quickly,” said astrophysicist Alexandra Veledina, a permanent researcher at the University of Turku, Finland. “From our first detection of the outburst, it took Swift J1727 just days to peak. By then, IXPE and numerous other telescopes and instruments were already collecting data. It was exhilarating to observe the outburst all the way through its return to inactivity.” Until late 2023, Swift J1727 briefly remained brighter than the Crab Nebula, the standard X-ray “candle” used to provide a baseline for units of X-ray brightness. Such outbursts are not unusual among binary star systems, but rarely do they occur so brightly and so close to home – just 8,800 light years from Earth. The binary system was named in honor of the Swift Gamma-ray Burst Mission which initially detected the outburst with its Burst Alert Telescope on Aug. 24, 2023, resulting in the discovery of the black hole. X-ray binary systems typically include two close-proximity stars at different stages of their lifecycle. When the elder star runs out of fuel, it explodes in a supernova, leaving behind a neutron star, white dwarf, or black hole. In the case of Swift J1727, the powerful gravity of the resulting black hole stripped material from its companion star, heating the material to more than 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit and producing a vast outpouring of X-rays. This matter formed an accretion disk and can include a superheated corona. At the poles of the black hole, matter also can escape from the binary system in the form of relativistic jets. IXPE, which has helped NASA and researchers study all these phenomena, specializes in X-ray polarization, the characteristic of light that helps map the shape and structure of such ultra-powerful energy sources, illuminating their inner workings even when they’re too distant for us to see directly. Because light itself can’t escape their gravity, we can’t see black holes. We can only observe what is happening around them and draw conclusions about the mechanisms and processes that occur there. IXPE is crucial to that work. /wp-content/plugins/nasa-blocks/assets/images/article-templates/anne-mcclain.jpg Alexandra Veledina NASA Astrophysicist “Because light itself can’t escape their gravity, we can’t see black holes,” Veledina said. “We can only observe what is happening around them and draw conclusions about the mechanisms and processes that occur there. IXPE is crucial to that work.” Two of the IXPE-based studies of Swift J1727, led by Veledina and Adam Ingram, a researcher at Newcastle University in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, focused on the first phases of the outburst. During the brief period of months when the source became exceptionally bright, the corona was the main source of observed X-ray radiation. “IXPE documented polarization of X-ray radiation traveling along the estimated direction of the black hole jet, hence the hot plasma is extended in the accretion disk plane,” Veledina said. “Similar findings were reported in the persistent black hole binary Cygnus X-1, so this finding helps verify that the geometry is the same among short-lived eruptive systems.” The team further monitored how polarization values changed during Swift J1727’s peak outburst. Those conclusions matched findings simultaneously obtained during studies of other energy bands of electromagnetic radiation. A third and a fourth study, led by researchers Jiří Svoboda and Jakub Podgorný, both of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, focused on X-ray polarization at the second part of the Swift J1727’s outburst and its return to a highly energetic state several months later. For Podgorný’s previous efforts using IXPE data and black hole simulations, he recently was awarded the Czech Republic’s top national prize for a Ph.D. thesis in the natural sciences. The polarization data indicated that the geometry of the corona did not change significantly between the beginning and the end of the outburst, even though the system evolved in the meantime and the X-ray brightness dropped dramatically in the later energetic state. The results represent a significant step forward in our understanding of the changing shapes and structures of accretion disk, corona, and related structures at black holes in general. The study also demonstrates IXPE’s value as a tool for determining how all these elements of the system are connected, as well as its potential to collaborate with other observatories to monitor sudden, dramatic changes in the cosmos. “Further observations of matter near black holes in binary systems are needed, but the successful first observing campaign of Swift J1727.8–1613 in different states is the best start of a new chapter we could imagine,” said Michal Dovčiak, co-author of the series of papers and leader of the IXPE working group on stellar-mass black holes, who also conducts research at the Czech Academy of Sciences. More about IXPE IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. IXPE is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Ball Aerospace, headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe Elizabeth Landau NASA Headquarters elizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov 202-358-0845 Lane Figueroa NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center 256-544-0034 lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 Related TermsIXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)Marshall Science Research & ProjectsMarshall Space Flight Center Explore More 3 min read NASA, USAID Launch SERVIR Central American Hub Article 7 mins ago 4 min read NASA AI, Open Science Advance Disaster Research and Recovery By Lauren Perkins When you think of NASA, disasters such as hurricanes may not be… Article 1 week ago 4 min read NASA Marshall Thermal Engineering Lab Provides Key Insight to Human Landing System Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, William H. Duncan, speaks to attendees at the SERVIR Central America launch in San Salvador. SERVIR SERVIR, NASA’s flagship partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), launched a new regional center, or hub, in Central America on Dec. 3. The new hub is in partnership with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Turrialba, Costa Rica, and is supported by the USAID Central America and Mexico Regional Program. The launch event took place in San Salvador, El Salvador. The event introduced guests to the structure and mission of the new hub, featuring remarks from SERVIR Global Program Manager Dan Irwin and video overviews of some of its planned projects. Karen St Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division and U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, William H. Duncan, provided recorded remarks congratulating the new program. Central America holds a special place in SERVIR’s history. Over three decades ago, Dan Irwin, research scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and SERVIR’s founder and Global Program Manager, was working in Guatemala to use satellite data to map a new forest reserve. During this time, Irwin met with representatives from Central American environmental ministries to demonstrate how NASA Earth data could help to address environmental challenges and reduce disaster risk. “In this meeting, I realized that NASA has a vast library of Earth data, but this information wasn’t being used by experts across the globe who have the best understanding of local development issues. I wanted to find a way to bridge that gap,” Irwin shared. Under Irwin’s leadership, NASA and USAID partnered to create the SERVIR program, which was formally established in 2005. SERVIR’s mission is to “connect space to village,” increasing global access to NASA Earth data to support locally led environmental and development efforts. SERVIR Global Program Manager Dan Irwin from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center speaks about the history of the SERVIR program at the Central America launch in San Salvador. SERVIR SERVIR soon expanded its partnerships across the globe, with regional hubs in South America, Asia, and Africa. SERVIR Central America will work to serve more than 40 million people throughout the region, collaborating with governments, universities, and civil society organizations to support existing natural resource management and development decision-making. The hub will support resilience against environmental challenges including hurricanes, droughts, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. SERVIR Central America will also strengthen the region’s technical capacity to use Earth observations and promote opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math. The hub will expand the use of geospatial technology by young people and other groups with limited access to these tools. “The launch of SERVIR Central America marks a milestone in the collaboration between space-based technology and Central America’s local needs,” said Irwin. “This initiative represents NASA and USAID’s commitment to putting advanced technology at the service of the region.” To learn more about SERVIR, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/servir Elizabeth Vlock Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov Lane Figueroa Huntsville, Alabama 256.544.0034 lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 LocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsSERVIR (Regional Visualization and Monitoring System)Marshall Earth SciencesMarshall Science Research & ProjectsMarshall Space Flight Center Explore More 5 min read NASA’s IXPE Details Shapes of Structures at Newly Discovered Black Hole Article 4 mins ago 4 min read NASA AI, Open Science Advance Disaster Research and Recovery By Lauren Perkins When you think of NASA, disasters such as hurricanes may not be… Article 1 week ago 4 min read NASA Marshall Thermal Engineering Lab Provides Key Insight to Human Landing System Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

3 min read Annual Science Conference to Highlight NASA Research NASA scientists will be presenting research at the annual American Geophysical Union conference, beginning on December 9, including results from science experiments conducted during the 2024 solar eclipse. In this image, a total solar eclipse is seen from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Indianapolis, Indiana. NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA researchers will present findings on Earth science, planetary science, and heliophysics at the upcoming American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 annual meeting in Washington, DC, beginning on Monday, Dec. 9. New NASA science results will be presented regarding the 2024 solar eclipse, the future of rotorcraft on other planets, a new initiative to create the most comprehensive airborne mineral map in the United States, and studies of the most volcanic body in our solar system, Jupiter’s Moon Io. Throughout the conference, in-depth roundtable chats with NASA scientists – including discussing NASA and IBM’s work to use AI to advance studies of our home planet, the Moon, the Sun, and beyond, as well as information about the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center and Parker Solar Probe’s upcoming visit to the Sun — are also set to take place. Several AGU media events will feature NASA scientists. News Briefings, Events with NASA Participation (All Times EST) Monday, Dec. 9 2:30 p.m. Media Availability Securing a Sustainable Energy Future: GEMx Mineral Map of the US 3:30 p.m. Media Workshop Explore the Latest Freshwater Data from NASA and USGS Tuesday, Dec. 10 9:00 a.m. News Briefing Science from the Shadow: NASA’s Initial Findings From the 2024 Solar Eclipse 1:30 p.m. Media Roundtable Parker Solar Probe Preps for Record-Breaking Closest Approach to the Sun 3:30 p.m. Media Workshop How to Use NASA Data to Map Urban Heat and Drought Wednesday, Dec. 11 9:00 a.m. News Briefing The First Aircraft Crash Investigation on Another World – Results, and Legacy of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter and the Future of Exo-Atmospheric Aviation 10:00 a.m. Media Availability NASA and IBM Team Up to Advance AI, Making Science More Accessible Thursday, Dec. 12 9:00 a.m. News Briefing The Heart of Io’s Rage – What Makes the Most Volatile World in the Solar System Tick? 10:00 a.m. Media Availability The US Greenhouse Gas Center: Supporting cooperation in public and private GHG information 11:00 a.m. News Briefing The View from the Top: Perseverance’s First Results from the Summit of Jezero Crater 4:30 p.m. Media Availability Understanding Arctic Sea Ice Melt, Clouds, and a Changing Climate with NASA’s ARCSIX Mission Media can register on AGU’s website to participate in live briefings online. All briefings will be posted afterward on AGU’s YouTube channel. For those attending the meeting, 50 hyperwall talks at the NASA Exhibit will highlight the current state of NASA Earth, planetary, and heliophysics science. Media Contacts Karen Fox / Liz Vlock Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 karen.fox@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) When it comes to NASA’s ASTRO CAMP®, the numbers – and impact – of the initiative to help students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) just continue to grow and grow and grow. As in recent years, the NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners (ACCP) program surpassed previous milestone marks in fiscal year 2024 by partnering with 373 community sites, including 50 outside the United States, to inspire youth, families, and educators. Participants included students from various population segments, focusing on students from underrepresented groups, accessibility for differently-abled students, and reaching under-resourced urban and rural settings. “This year has been extremely impactful for the students at ACCP collaborating partner sites,” said Kelly Martin-Rivers, principal investigator for NASA’s ACCP. “A particular highlight was being a part of NASA’s focus on the solar eclipses of 2024, supporting over 42,000 students at 52 NASA ACCP events. Supporting more and more exciting research and activities by the Science Activation grantees and Globe citizen scientists also continues to bring hands-on experiences directly to students across the country and around the world.” NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® continued its success in fiscal year 2024 as students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners program partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine.NASA ASTRO CAMP® NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® continued its success in fiscal year 2024 as students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners program partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine.NASA ASTRO CAMP® NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® continued its success in fiscal year 2024 as students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners program partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine.NASA ASTRO CAMP® NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® continued its success in fiscal year 2024 as students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners program partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine.NASA ASTRO CAMP® NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® continued its success in fiscal year 2024 as students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners program partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine.NASA ASTRO CAMP® NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® continued its success in fiscal year 2024 as students across the nation and world learn about NASA and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The NASA ASTRO CAMP® Community Partners program partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine.NASA ASTRO CAMP® In the most recent year, the NASA ACCP partnered with 323 sites in 29 states and the District of Columbia. It also reached beyond the borders to partner with 50 sites in six countries, including Mexico, India, Turkey, Canada, Spain, and Ukraine. Overall, almost 150,000 students took part in the program, a 30% increase from fiscal year 2023. In addition, almost 107,000 students took part in special STEM activities, an increase of 43.6% from the previous year’s total of more than 74,000. ACCP trained 1,454 facilitators during Educator Professional Development sessions as well, representing an increase of 25.3% from the prior year. Taken together, the total NASA ACCP impact exceeded a quarter of a million (257,765) people. As part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program, ACCP continues to make strides in bridging disparities and breaking barriers in STEM. Demographically, the initiative reached a range of ethnic and multiethnic groups. One-third of participants were African American, with another 13% identified as Hispanic. Participants were almost equally divided between male (52%) and female (48%). In terms of age, 38% of participants were elementary school students. Another 30% were middle school aged, with the remaining 38% high school students. In a final breakdown, more than 42,000 of the participants were impacted during 52 NASA ACCP solar eclipse events in the spring of 2024. ACCP activities offer real-world opportunities for students to enhance scientific understanding and contribute to NASA science missions, while also inspiring lifelong learning. The ACCP theme was “NASA Science … Fire to Water to Ice and Beyond!” The program featured materials and activities related to NASA science missions, astrophysics, heliophysics, Earth science, and planetary science. The unique methodology teaches students to work collaboratively to complete missions and provides trained community educators to implement the themed NASA modules, developed by the ACCP team, seated at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. ASTRO CAMP began at NASA Stennis as a single one-week camp in the 1990s. Since then, it has developed into several adaptable models for schools, museums, universities, libraries, and youth service organizations, enabling a worldwide expansion. For more information about becoming a NASA ASTRO CAMP Collaborative Community Partner, contact: Kelly Martin-Rivers at kelly.e.martin-rivers@nasa.gov or 228-688-1500; or Maria Lott at maria.l.lott@nasa.gov or 228-688-1776. For more on the ASTRO CAMP Collaborative Community Partner Program, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/stennis/stem-engagement-at-stennis/nasa-accp/. Share Details Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related TermsStennis Space Center Explore More 4 min read Lagniappe for December 2024 Article 2 days ago 5 min read NASA Stennis – An Ideal Place for Commercial Companies Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read NASA Stennis Propulsion Testing Contributes to Artemis Missions Article 3 weeks ago View the full article

Hubble Space Telescope Home Hubble Spots a Spiral in the… Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts E-books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Glossary Posters Hubble on the NASA App More 35th Anniversary 2 min read Hubble Spots a Spiral in the Celestial River This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 1637. ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is NGC 1637, a spiral galaxy located 38 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus, the River. This image comes from an observing program dedicated to studying star formation in nearby galaxies. Stars form in cold, dusty gas clouds that collapse under their own gravity. As young stars grow, they heat their nurseries through starlight, winds, and powerful outflows. Together, these factors play a role in controlling the rate at which future generations of stars form. NGC 1637 holds evidence of star formation scattered throughout its disk, if you know where to look. The galaxy’s spiral arms have pockets of pink clouds, many with bright blue stars. The pinkish color comes from hydrogen atoms excited by ultraviolet light from young, massive stars forming within the clouds. This contrasts with the warm yellow glow of the galaxy’s center, which is home to a densely packed collection of older, redder stars. The stars that set their cloudy birthplaces aglow are comparatively short-lived, and many of these stars will explode as supernovae just a few million years after they’re born. In 1999, NGC 1637 played host to a supernova named SN 1999EM, lauded as the brightest supernova seen that year. When a massive star expires as a supernova, the explosion outshines its entire home galaxy for a short time. While a supernova marks the end of a star’s life, it can also jump start the formation of new stars by compressing nearby clouds of gas, beginning the stellar lifecycle anew. Explore More Hubble’s Galaxies Exploring the Birth of Stars Homing in on Cosmic Explosions Hubble’s Nebulae Hubble Focus E-Book: Galaxies through Space and Time Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD Share Details Last Updated Dec 05, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Spiral Galaxies Stars Supernovae View the full article