NASA

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), an advisory committee that reports to NASA and Congress, issued its 2023 annual report Thursday examining the agency’s safety performance, accomplishments, and challenges over the past year. The report highlights 2023 activities and observations on NASA’s: Strategic Vision and Guiding Principles Agency Governance Moon to Mars Program Management In 2023, NASA continued to make meaningful progress toward meeting the intent of the broad-ranging recommendations the panel made in 2022. As a result, the ASAP’s latest report includes information on the advances NASA made in its operations, decision-making, program and personnel management, and the tasks that remain. “This report reflects the panel’s strong emphasis on strategic-level aspects of NASA leadership, risk management, and safety culture – a primary focus over the past two years – while also giving attention to the tactical level of technical execution. We believe that the principles and processes the agency employs to evaluate and make decisions, manage programs, and communicate to its workforce have a direct and consequential impact on safety and mission assurance,” said Dr. Patricia Sanders, ASAP chair. “We also highlight some steps that the Congress can take to assist NASA in safely accomplishing its challenging mission.” The report highlights the progress made toward top recommendations offered in 2022, including the establishment of a Moon to Mars Program Office, as well as the NASA 2040 new agencywide initiative to operationalize the agency’s vision and strategic objectives across headquarters and centers. Furthermore, this report addresses safety assessments for both the Moon to Mars Program and the operations – current and future – in low Earth orbit. It also touches on relevant areas of human health and medicine in space, regulatory requirements for commercial space operations as they affect NASA, and the impact of budget constraints and uncertainty on safety. The 2023 report provides details on the concrete actions the agency should take to fulfill the 2022 recommendations. It spotlights recommendations for the agency moving ahead, including the establishment of a comprehensive International Space Station to Commercial low Earth Orbit destination transition plan. The report is based on the panel’s 2023 fact-finding and quarterly public meetings; direct observations of NASA operations and decision-making; discussions with NASA management, employees, and contractors; and the panel members’ past experiences. Congress established the panel in 1968 to provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator on safety matters after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire claimed the lives of three American astronauts. For more information about the ASAP, view the 2023 report or reports from previous years, visit: https://oiir.hq.nasa.gov/asap -end- Roxana Bardan Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 roxana.bardan@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters View the full article

Family members of fallen astronauts Kathie Scobee Fulgham, Lowell Grissom, Sheryl Chaffee, and Karen Bassett Stevenson place a wreath at the Space Mirror Memorial at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, during the agency’s Day of Remembrance. The annual tradition pays tribute to fallen astronauts and astronaut candidates who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger STS-51L, and Columbia STS-107. Burt Summerfield, associate director, management, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spoke during the annual Day of Remembrance to honor fallen astronauts and astronaut candidates. “Today is an important day for NASA and the nation to recognize the contribution and sacrifice made in pursuit of space exploration and discovery for all.” Summerfield said. “As we push forward to the Moon and continue our missions to the International Space Station, it’s vital that we always remember and implement the lessons from the past in our preparations.” View additional photos of the Day of Remembrance here. Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett View the full article

Administrator Bill Nelson announces the end of Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

NASA’s history-making Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has ended its mission at the Red Planet after surpassing expectations and making dozens more flights than planned. While the helicopter remains upright and in communication with ground controllers, imagery of its Jan. 18 flight sent to Earth this week indicates one or more of its rotor blades sustained damage during landing, and it is no longer capable of flight. Originally designed as a technology demonstration to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, the first aircraft on another world operated from the Martian surface for almost three years, performed 72 flights, and flew more than 14 times farther than planned while logging more than two hours of total flight time. “The historic journey of Ingenuity, the first aircraft on another planet, has come to end,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best – make the impossible, possible. Through missions like Ingenuity, NASA is paving the way for future flight in our solar system and smarter, safer human exploration to Mars and beyond.” NASA to Discuss Ingenuity Mission in Media Call Today In addition to video comments shared from Nelson about the mission’s conclusion, NASA will host a media teleconference at 5 p.m. EST today, Thursday, Jan. 25, to provide an update on Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Audio of the call will stream live on the agency’s website. Participants in the call are expected to include: Lori Glaze, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington Laurie Leshin, director, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity project manager, NASA JPL Media who wish to participate by phone can request dial-in information by emailing hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. Ingenuity landed on Mars Feb. 18, 2021, attached to the belly of NASA’s Perseverance rover and first lifted off the Martian surface on April 19, proving that powered, controlled flight on Mars was possible. After notching another four flights, it embarked on a new mission as an operations demonstration, serving as an aerial scout for Perseverance scientists and rover drivers. In 2023, the helicopter executed two successful flight tests that further expanded the team’s knowledge of its aerodynamic limits. “At NASA JPL, innovation is at the heart of what we do,” said Leshin. “Ingenuity is an exemplar of the way we push the boundaries of what’s possible every day. I’m incredibly proud of our team behind this historic technological achievement and eager to see what they’ll invent next.” Ingenuity’s team planned for the helicopter to make a short vertical flight on Jan. 18 to determine its location after executing an emergency landing on its previous flight. Data shows that, as planned, the helicopter achieved a maximum altitude of 40 feet (12 meters) and hovered for 4.5 seconds before starting its descent at a velocity of 3.3 feet per second (1 meter per second). However, about 3 feet (1 meter) above the surface, Ingenuity lost contact with the rover, which serves as a communications relay for the rotorcraft. The following day, communications were reestablished and more information about the flight was relayed to ground controllers at NASA JPL. Imagery revealing damage to the rotor blade arrived several days later. The cause of the communications dropout and the helicopter’s orientation at time of touchdown are still being investigated. 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. After its 72nd flight on Jan. 18, 2024, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this color image showing the shadow of one of its rotor blades, which was damaged during touchdown. NASA/JPL-Caltech Triumphs, Challenges Over an extended mission that lasted for almost 1,000 Martian days, more than 33 times longer than originally planned, Ingenuity was upgraded with the ability to autonomously choose landing sites in treacherous terrain, dealt with a dead sensor, cleaned itself after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, performed three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter. Designed to operate in spring, Ingenuity was unable to power its heaters throughout the night during the coldest parts of winter, resulting in the flight computer periodically freezing and resetting. These power “brownouts” required the team to redesign Ingenuity’s winter operations in order to keep flying. With flight operations now concluded, the Ingenuity team will perform final tests on helicopter systems and download the remaining imagery and data in Ingenuity’s onboard memory. The Perseverance rover is currently too far away to attempt to image the helicopter at its final airfield. “It’s humbling Ingenuity not only carries onboard a swatch from the original Wright Flyer, but also this helicopter followed in its footsteps and proved flight is possible on another world,” said Ingenuity’s project manager, Teddy Tzanetos of NASA JPL. “The Mars helicopter would have never flown once, much less 72 times, if it were not for the passion and dedication of the Ingenuity and Perseverance teams. History’s first Mars helicopter will leave behind an indelible mark on the future of space exploration and will inspire fleets of aircraft on Mars – and other worlds – for decades to come.” More About Ingenuity The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by NASA JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System. At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars helicopter. For more information about Ingenuity: https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter -end- Alise Fisher / Alana Johnson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 / 202-358-1501 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 agle@jpl.nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsIngenuity (Helicopter)Missions View the full article

2 min read Hubble Captures a Faint Bridge of Stars This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features a member of the galaxy group Arp 295. NASA/ESA/J. Dalcanton (University of Washington)/R. Windhorst (Arizona State University)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) One of the galaxies from a galactic group known as Arp 295 is visible in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, along with part of the faint 250,000-light-year-long bridge of stars and gas that stretches between two of the galaxies. The galaxies have passed close enough together that their mutual gravity created this cosmic streamer. When galaxies pass close enough to gravitationally disrupt each other’s shape, they are known as interacting galaxies. This type of interaction happens over billions of years and repeated close passages can result in the merger of the two galaxies. Galactic mergers are thought to be common, and even our own Milky Way is expected to merge with the massive, neighboring Andromeda galaxy in about 4 billion years. Arp 295 is made up of three spiral galaxies designated Arp 295a, Arp 295b, and Arp 295c. Arp 295a is the edge-on galaxy seen in the center of the image, and Arp 295c is the smaller and bluer face-on spiral to its right. Arp 295b is off the top left of this image and not visible here. Together, they are the largest of a loose grouping of galaxies located about 270 million light-years in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. LEARN MORE: Hubble’s Cosmic Collisions Hubble Science: Galaxy Details and Mergers Hubble Science: Tracing the Growth of Galaxies Download this image Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Galaxies Stories Stars Stories James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA pilots along with Sikorsky safety pilots flying Sikorsky’s Black Hawk Optionally Piloted Vehicle, left, and SARA S-76B over Long Island Sound Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. These flights will allow NASA researchers to test and evaluate multiple Advanced Air Mobility autonomous flight software products designed by NASA.NASA/Steve Freeman In late October, two research helicopters from the manufacturer Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, made a dozen test flights over Long Island Sound, Connecticut taking care to avoid other aircraft in the area around them. Except the ordinary-looking helicopters were flying autonomously – guided by NASA-designed software – and those other aircraft were virtual, part of a simulation to test pilotless flight systems. This was the first time two autonomous aircraft were flying at one another using NASA designed collision avoidance software. The test flights were part of a collaboration by NASA, Sikorsky, and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Researchers were able to collect data that will advance completely autonomous flight —systems that can operate an aircraft without a pilot from takeoff to touchdown. The work was part of NASA’s efforts to design and evaluate technologies that could eventually lead to air taxis and other new, automated air transportation options. For the tests, the team used two experimental helicopters adapted for autonomous systems, known as the SARA (Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft) a modified S-76B and the larger OPV (Optionally Piloted Vehicle) Black Hawk. Researchers loaded five NASA-designed software systems into the helicopters, which worked with the automated flight system already integrated by Sikorsky and DARPA. “These flight tests using Sikorsky’s SARA and OPV helicopters show how we can stack technologies together to increase automation over time in a maintainable and scalable way,” says Adam Yingling, NASA project lead. “These efforts demonstrate that we can safely integrate operations to fly the aircraft using several technologies in one navigation tablet.” A NASA and a Sikorsky safety pilot onboard each helicopter supervised the flight tests. Sikorsky’s flight autonomy system, in combination with NASA software, running on tablets the agency designed, allowed the helicopters to fly autonomously along multiple planned routes. The tablets also enabled the safety pilots to monitor flight path options the software selected whenever course corrections needed to occur. The safety pilots observed how the helicopters responded to software-initiated commands, and NASA researchers evaluated how the different software systems worked together to control each aircraft. The tests also assessed how human pilots interacted with the autonomous systems. During the flights, the NASA research pilots were outfitted with specially designed glasses to understand how long they interacted with the navigation tablets and how they physiologically responded to information the tablets provided. Researchers will employ this user experience data to assist in future visual and interactive designs for the software and tablets. The team flew 12 successful flights covering 70 different flight test maneuvers and generating more than 30 flight hours for each aircraft. The NASA collaboration with Sikorsky and DARPA offered a foundation for furthering testing of the automation technology. Virtual flight data is shown from the Dallas-Fort Worth urban area overlaid onto the actual flight test area over the Long Island Sound, near Bridgeport, Connecticut allowing pilots to fly in a mixed reality airspace while testing autonomous software systems.NASA/Stewart Nelson Mixed-Reality Airspace The tests demonstrated the software’s capabilities in a mixed-reality setting. As the SARA and OPV helicopters flew over Long Island Sound, multiple virtual aircraft were added into the same airspace. “For this test, we are using a model of future Advanced Air Mobility airspace with more than 150 virtual aircraft and their flight plans integrated with the flight path management software and the Sikorsky mission manager technology to fly the two helicopters in a mixed-reality mode,” said Mark Ballin, principal investigator for flight path management system development. The NASA-designed software, which commanded both the SARA and OPV helicopters simultaneously, allowed research pilots and engineers to run planned interactions with the virtual aircrafts’ flight plans. The multiple software systems aboard the helicopters worked together, making adjustments to avoid the virtual aircraft and each other. That meant changing altitude, speed, and direction to avoid virtual “collisions” or maintain orbital patterns for landing. This NASA, Sikorsky, and DARPA collaboration will help usher in a new era of autonomy in aviation that could save lives, aircraft, and resources. NASA uses these tests to support the integration of automated systems research that will inform the Federal Aviation Administration with data on flight procedures to help introduce Advanced Air Mobility systems into the national airspace. Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactLaura Mitchelllaura.a.mitchell@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAdvanced Air MobilityAeronauticsAir Mobility Pathfinders projectAirspace Operations and Safety ProgramAmes Research CenterLangley Research Center Explore More 4 min read NASA Selects Winners of Third TechRise Student Challenge Article 1 day ago 5 min read NASA Glenn’s Langley Legacy Article 3 days ago 5 min read Robot Team Builds High-Performance Digital Structure for NASA Greater than the sum of its parts: NASA tests the capability of a system that… Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Ames Research Center Langley Research Center Airspace Operations and Safety Program View the full article

5 min read NASA’s Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere This is an artist’s concept of the exoplanet GJ 9827d, the smallest exoplanet where water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere. The planet could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy. With only about twice Earth’s diameter, the planet orbits the red dwarf star GJ 9827. Two inner planets in the system are on the left. The background stars are plotted as they would be seen to the unaided eye looking back toward our Sun. The Sun is too faint to be seen. The blue star at upper right is Regulus; the yellow star at center bottom is Denebola; and the blue star at bottom right is Spica. The constellation Leo is on the left, and Virgo is on the right. Both constellations are distorted from our Earth-bound view from 97 light-years away. NASA/ESA/Leah Hustak (STScI)/Ralf Crawford (STScI) Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed the smallest exoplanet where water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere. At only approximately twice Earth’s diameter, the planet GJ 9827d could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy. “This would be the first time that we can directly show through an atmospheric detection, that these planets with water-rich atmospheres can actually exist around other stars,” said team member Björn Benneke of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Université de Montréal. “This is an important step toward determining the prevalence and diversity of atmospheres on rocky planets.” “Water on a planet this small is a landmark discovery,” added co-principal investigator Laura Kreidberg of Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. “It pushes closer than ever to characterizing truly Earth-like worlds.” However, it remains too early to tell whether Hubble spectroscopically measured a small amount of water vapor in a puffy hydrogen-rich atmosphere, or if the planet’s atmosphere is mostly made of water, left behind after a primeval hydrogen/helium atmosphere evaporated under stellar radiation. “Our observing program, led by principal investigator Ian Crossfield of Kansas University in Lawrence, Kansas, was designed specifically with the goal to not only detect the molecules in the planet’s atmosphere, but to actually look specifically for water vapor. Either result would be exciting, whether water vapor is dominant or just a tiny species in a hydrogen-dominant atmosphere,” said the science paper’s lead author, Pierre-Alexis Roy of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Université de Montréal. “Until now, we had not been able to directly detect the atmosphere of such a small planet. And we’re slowly getting in this regime now,” added Benneke. “At some point, as we study smaller planets, there must be a transition where there’s no more hydrogen on these small worlds, and they have atmospheres more like Venus (which is dominated by carbon dioxide).” Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have observed water vapor in the atmosphere of the smallest exoplanet ever detected. Located 97 light-years away, planet GJ 9827d is approximately twice the size of Earth. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Lead Producer: Paul Morris Because the planet is as hot as Venus, at 800 degrees Fahrenheit, it definitely would be an inhospitable, steamy world if the atmosphere were predominantly water vapor. At present the team is left with two possibilities. One scenario is that the planet is still clinging to a hydrogen-rich atmosphere laced with water, making it a mini-Neptune. Alternatively, it could be a warmer version of Jupiter’s moon Europa, which has twice as much water as Earth beneath its crust.” The planet GJ 9827d could be half water, half rock. And there would be a lot of water vapor on top of some smaller rocky body,” said Benneke. If the planet has a residual water-rich atmosphere, then it must have formed farther away from its host star, where the temperature is cold and water is available in the form of ice, than its present location. In this scenario, the planet would have then migrated closer to the star and received more radiation. The hydrogen was heated and escaped, or is still in the process of escaping the planet’s weak gravity. The alternative theory is that the planet formed close to the hot star, with a trace of water in its atmosphere. The Hubble program observed the planet during 11 transits – events in which the planet crossed in front of its star – that were spaced out over three years. During transits, starlight is filtered through the planet’s atmosphere and has the spectral fingerprint of water molecules. If there are clouds on the planet, they are low enough in the atmosphere so that they don’t completely hide Hubble’s view of the atmosphere, and Hubble is able to probe water vapor above the clouds. “Observing water is a gateway to finding other things,” said Thomas Greene, astrophysicist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. “This Hubble discovery opens the door to future study of these types of planets by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. JWST can see much more with additional infrared observations, including carbon-bearing molecules like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and methane. Once we get a total inventory of a planet’s elements, we can compare those to the star it orbits and understand how it was formed.” GJ 9827d was discovered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope in 2017. It completes an orbit around a red dwarf star every 6.2 days. The star, GJ 9827, lies 97 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pisces. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble and Webb science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C. Media Contacts: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD Science Contacts: Pierre-Alexis Roy Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Université de Montréal Björn Benneke Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Université de Montréal Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Exoplanets Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions Studying Exoplanets The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Exoplanets Science Missions James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… View the full article

4 min read NASA Collaborating on European-led Gravitational Wave Observatory in Space The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, led by ESA (European Space Agency) with NASA contributions, will detect gravitational waves in space using three spacecraft, separated by more than a million miles, flying in a triangular formation. Lasers fired between the satellites, shown in this artist’s concept, will measure how gravitational waves alter their relative distances. AEI/MM/Exozet The first space-based observatory designed to detect gravitational waves has passed a major review and will proceed to the construction of flight hardware. On Jan. 25, ESA (European Space Agency), announced the formal adoption of LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, to its mission lineup, with launch slated for the mid-2030s. ESA leads the mission, with NASA serving as a collaborative partner. “In 2015, the ground-based LIGO observatory cracked open the window into gravitational waves, disturbances that sweep across space-time, the fabric of our universe,” said Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “LISA will give us a panoramic view, allowing us to observe a broad range of sources both within our galaxy and far, far beyond it. We’re proud to be part of this international effort to open new avenues to explore the secrets of the universe.” The LISA mission will enable observations of gravitational waves produced by merging supermassive black holes, seen here in a computer simulation. Most big galaxies contain central black holes weighing millions of times the mass of our Sun. When these galaxies collide, eventually their black holes do too. Download high-resolution video from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Noble; simulation data, d’Ascoli et al. 2018 NASA will provide several key components of LISA’s instrument suite along with science and engineering support. NASA contributions include lasers, telescopes, and devices to reduce disturbances from electromagnetic charges. LISA will use this equipment as it measures precise distance changes, caused by gravitational waves, over millions of miles in space. ESA will provide the spacecraft and oversee the international team during the development and operation of the mission. Gravitational waves were predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity more than a century ago. They are produced by accelerating masses, such as a pair of orbiting black holes. Because these waves remove orbital energy, the distance between the objects gradually shrinks over millions of years, and they ultimately merge. These ripples in the fabric of space went undetected until 2015, when LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, measured gravitational waves from the merger of two black holes. This discovery furthered a new field of science called “multimessenger astronomy” in which gravitational waves could be used in conjunction with the other cosmic “messengers” – light and particles – to observe the universe in new ways. Along with other ground-based facilities, LIGO has since observed dozens more black hole mergers, as well as mergers of neutron stars and neutron star-black hole systems. So far, the black holes detected through gravitational waves have been relatively small, with masses of tens to perhaps a hundred times that of our Sun. But scientists think that mergers of much more massive black holes were common when the universe was young, and only a space-based observatory could be sensitive to gravitational waves from them. “LISA is designed to sense low-frequency gravitational waves that instruments on Earth cannot detect,” said Ira Thorpe, the NASA study scientist for the mission at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “These sources encompass tens of thousands of small binary systems in our own galaxy, as well as massive black holes merging as galaxies collided in the early universe.” Gravitational waves from a simulated population of compact binary systems in our galaxy were used to construct this synthetic map of the entire sky. Such systems contain white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes in tight orbits. Maps like this using real data will be possible once the LISA mission becomes active in the next decade. The center of our Milky Way galaxy lies at the center of this all-sky view, with the galactic plane extending across the middle. Brighter spots indicate sources with stronger gravitational signals and lighter colors indicate those with higher frequencies. Larger colored patches show sources whose positions are less well known. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center LISA will consist of three spacecraft flying in a vast triangular formation that follows Earth in its orbit around the Sun. Each arm of the triangle stretches 1.6 million miles (2.5 million kilometers). The spacecraft will track internal test masses affected only by gravity. At the same time, they’ll continuously fire lasers to measure their separations to within a span smaller than the size of a helium atom. Gravitational waves from sources throughout the universe will produce oscillations in the lengths of the triangle’s arms, and LISA will capture these changes. The underlying measurement technology was successfully demonstrated in space with ESA’s LISA Pathfinder mission, which operated between 2015 and 2017 and also included NASA participation. The spacecraft demonstrated the exquisite control and precise laser measurements needed for LISA. By Francis Reddy NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Media contacts: Alise Fisher Headquarters, Washington (202) 358-2546 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov Claire Andreoli claire.andreoli@nasa.gov NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (301) 286-1940 Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 Related Terms Astrophysics Black Holes Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes Goddard Space Flight Center Gravitational Waves Jet Propulsion Laboratory Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) Stellar-mass Black Holes Supermassive Black Holes The Universe Uncategorized Explore More 5 min read NASA’s Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere Article 5 mins ago 9 min read How NASA Chases and Investigates Bright Cosmic Blips Article 1 day ago 1 min read Hubble Spies Side-by-Side Galaxies Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) As NASA continues to make progress toward sending astronauts to the lunar South Pole region with its Artemis campaign, data from a NASA-funded study is helping scientists better understand this strategic part of the Moon. The study presents evidence that moonquakes and faults generated as the Moon’s interior gradually cools and shrinks are also found near and within some of the areas the agency identified as candidate landing regions for Artemis III, the first Artemis mission planned to have a crewed lunar landing. The epicenter of one of the strongest moonquakes recorded by the Apollo Passive Seismic Experiment was located in the lunar south polar region. However, the exact location of the epicenter could not be accurately determined. A cloud of possible locations (magenta dots and light blue polygon) of the strong shallow moonquake using a relocation algorithm specifically adapted for very sparse seismic networks are distributed near the pole. Blue boxes show locations of proposed Artemis III landing regions. Lobate thrust fault scarps are shown by small red lines. The cloud of epicenter locations encompasses a number of lobate scarps and many of the Artemis III landing regions. NASA/LROC/ASU/Smithsonian Institution “Our modeling suggests that shallow moonquakes capable of producing strong ground shaking in the south polar region are possible from slip events on existing faults or the formation of new thrust faults,” said Tom Watters of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, lead author of a paper on the research published January 25 in the Planetary Science Journal. “The global distribution of young thrust faults, their potential to be active, and the potential to form new thrust faults from ongoing global contraction should be considered when planning the location and stability of permanent outposts on the Moon.” Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) mosaic of the Wiechert cluster of lobate scarps (left pointing arrows) near the lunar south pole. A thrust fault scarp cut across an approximately 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) diameter degraded crater (right pointing arrow). NASA/LRO/LROC/ASU/Smithsonian Institution The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera onboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has detected thousands of relatively small, young thrust faults widely distributed in the lunar crust. The scarps are cliff-like landforms that resemble small stair-steps on the lunar surface. They form where contractional forces break the crust and push or thrust it on one side of the fault up and over the other side. The contraction is caused by cooling of the Moon’s still-hot interior and tidal forces exerted by Earth, resulting in global shrinking. The lobate scarps are formed when the lunar crust is pushed together as the Moon contracts. This causes the near-surface materials to break forming a thrust fault. The thrust fault carries crustal materials up and sometimes over adjacent crustal materials. Slip events on existing faults or the formation of new thrust faults trigger shallow moonquakes that can cause strong seismic shaking tens of miles (many tens of kilometers) away from the scarp.Arizona State University/Smithsonian The formation of the faults is accompanied by seismic activity in the form of shallow-depth moonquakes. Such shallow moonquakes were recorded by the Apollo Passive Seismic Network, a series of seismometers deployed by the Apollo astronauts. The strongest recorded shallow moonquake had an epicenter in the south-polar region. One young thrust-fault scarp, located within the de Gerlache Rim 2, an Artemis III candidate landing region, is modeled in the study and shows that the formation of this fault scarp could have been associated with a moonquake of the recorded magnitude. The team also modeled the stability of surface slopes in the lunar south polar region and found that some areas are susceptible to regolith landslides from even light seismic shaking, including areas in some permanently shadowed regions. These areas are of interest due to the resources that might be found there, such as ice. Image shows predicted areas of surface slope instability in the south polar region. Models are for a one-meter-thick (about 3.3-foot) regolith landslide. Blue dots are areas with the least unstable slopes, green dots are moderately unstable slopes, and red dots are most unstable slopes. Image centered on Shackleton crater and the lunar south pole. Locations of proposed Artemis III landing regions are shown by the blue boxes. The model predicts large portions of the interior walls of Shackleton crater are suspectable to landslides (inset) as well as portions of interior crater walls in the Nobile Rim 1 landing region.NASA/LROC/ASU/Smithsonian Institution “To better understand the seismic hazard posed to future human activities on the Moon, we need new seismic data, not just at the South Pole, but globally,” said Renee Weber, a co-author of the paper at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. “Missions like the upcoming Farside Seismic Suite will expand upon measurements made during Apollo and add to our knowledge of global seismicity.” “LRO is committed to acquiring data of the lunar surface to aid scientists in understanding important features such as thrust faults,” said LRO Deputy Project Scientist Maria Banks of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a co-author of the paper. “This study is a good demonstration of one of the many ways in which LRO data is being used to assist planning for our return to the Moon.” This research was funded by NASA’s LRO mission, launched on June 18, 2009. LRO is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. With Artemis missions, NASA is exploring the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. Share Details Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 EditorWilliam SteigerwaldContactWilliam Steigerwaldwilliam.a.steigerwald@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsEarth's MoonArtemis 3 Explore More 5 min read Kennedy Space Center Looks Ahead to a Busy Year in 2024 Article 1 month ago 2 min read Connect with NASA at FAN EXPO San Francisco 2023 Article 2 months ago 4 min read Mira cómo la NASA construye su primer vehículo lunar robótico Article 3 months ago View the full article

On Jan. 25, 1984, President Ronald W. Reagan directed NASA to build a permanently inhabited Earth orbiting space station within a decade. The President’s announcement turned years of NASA studies into a real program. As originally envisioned, the modular space station would use the space shuttle for assembly and serve as a microgravity research laboratory and observation platform, a servicing station for satellites, and a staging ground for exploration missions. The President urged NASA to invite its international partners to participate in the program. The complexity and cost of such an outpost resulted in multiple redesigns, with the initial Space Station Freedom ultimately evolving into the International Space Station. On-orbit assembly began in 1998, with permanent human habitation beginning two years later. Left: Wernher von Braun demonstrates a model of his wheel-shaped space station in 1956. Middle: Illustration of one concept of a space base as proposed by the Space Task Group in 1969. Right: The Skylab space station, photographed by the third and final crew after its departure in 1974. As early as the 1950s, American space pioneer Wernher von Braun already had ideas for large orbiting space stations. He envisioned a wheel-shaped facility, slowly rotating to provide artificial gravity to its several thousand occupants. While such an orbital outpost exceeded available technologies for the foreseeable future, shortly after its founding in 1958, NASA began considering more modest space stations. With President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 pronouncement of a Moon landing as a national goal, plans for space stations took a back seat until after NASA achieved that objective. The Space Task Group (STG) that President Richard M. Nixon commissioned in 1969 to assess post-Apollo space objectives proposed an Earth-orbiting space station for the mid-1970s followed later by a much larger space base among several other ambitious projects. Economic realities of the time precluded such lofty goals; President Nixon approved the space shuttle in 1972, the only STG-recommended project to receive funding. Approval of an American space station awaited a later president. In the meantime, the highly successful experimental Skylab space station, based on Apollo hardware, housed three successive crews of three astronauts each, for 28, 59, and 84 days, in 1973 and 1974. Left: President Ronald W. Reagan during his 1984 State of the Union address to Congress. Right: Space Station Power Tower reference configuration (1984). During his Jan. 25, 1984, State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Reagan directed NASA to develop a “permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade.” His comments reflected his view of American pre-eminence in space, but also explicitly stated that the United States would invite other nations to join in the project. President Reagan spelled out the benefits to be derived from such an orbiting platform: Our progress in space—taking giant steps for all mankind—is a tribute to American teamwork and excellence. Our finest minds in government, industry, and academia have all pulled together. And we can be proud to say: We are first; we are the best; and we are so because we’re free. America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. … A space station will permit quantum leaps in our research in science, communications, in metals, and in lifesaving medicines which could be manufactured only in space. We want our friends to help us meet these challenges and share in their benefits. NASA will invite other countries to participate so we can strengthen peace, build prosperity, and expand freedom for all who share our goals. In response to President Reagan’s direction, NASA Administrator James M. Beggs said, “The space program is alive and well, and we have a new initiative. … The space station will give us a permanent presence in low Earth orbit … and will be the cornerstone of our activities in space through the end of the century and beyond.” He added that the President’s initiatives, “are the right ones for the right time in our history.” In the optimism that followed President Reagan’s announcement, NASA laid out an ambitious plan for a space station composed of three separate orbital platforms to conduct microgravity research as well as Earth and celestial observations, to serve as a transportation and servicing node for space vehicles and satellites, and to stage missions for deep-space exploration. NASA signed agreements with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan’s National Space Development Agency (NASDA), now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), to provide their own research modules. Canada agreed to provide a robotic servicing system. In April 1985, NASA established a Space Station Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Assessments of the original “Dual Keel” design determined that it was overly complex to build and cost estimates for the ambitious space station continued to rise. Over the next several years, engineers and managers redesigned the facility and simplified it to a single-truss configuration with the pressurized modules clustered near the core and the solar arrays for power generation at the ends of the truss. In July 1988, President Reagan announced that the orbital facility would be called Space Station Freedom, and two months later the Unites States, Japan, Canada and nine ESA member states signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for its construction and utilization. The redesigned facility would focus on microgravity research. Left: Model of the Space Station showing the proposed dual keel configuration (1985). Middle: Illustration of Space Station Freedom by Alan Chinchar (1991). Right: Russian space station Mir photographed from Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-91 mission (1998). Space Station Freedom underwent several more redesigns to keep it cost-effective. In the meantime, the Soviet Union operated its Mir space station beginning with the launch of its first module in 1986. Over the years, the Soviets added several elements to increase the facility’s research and habitation capabilities. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the future of Mir and its planned Mir-2 successor faced uncertainty in the new cash-strapped Russia. To take advantage of its extensive experience with operating space stations and keeping crews on orbit for up to a year, in 1993 President William J. “Bill” Clinton invited Russia to join the space station program as a full partner, essentially adding modules planned for Mir-2 to U.S., European, Japanese, and Canadian elements from Space Station Freedom. The new outpost would be called the International Space Station. In preparation for space station operations, between 1995 and 1998, seven American astronauts joined Russian cosmonauts as long-duration residents aboard Mir, with space shuttles providing transportation and resupply logistics. On Jan. 29, 1998, representatives from the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and 11 participating ESA countries met at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., and signed an updated IGA on Space Station Cooperation. The new IGA established the overall cooperative framework for the design, development, operation, and utilization of the space station and addressed several legal topics, including civil and criminal jurisdiction, intellectual property, and the operational responsibilities of the partners. Left: Signatories of the 1998 Intergovernmental Agreement visit the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and pose in front of the Unity Node 1 module being prepared for launch. Middle: Zarya, left, and Unity, the first two modules of the nascent space station. Right: The Expedition 1 crew of Yuri P. Gidzenko of the Russian Space Agency (RSA), now Roscosmos, William M. Shepherd of NASA, and Sergei K. Krikalev of RSA. Ten months after the signing of the 1998 IGA, on-orbit construction of the space station began during the STS-88 mission, with the joining of the first two elements, the Zarya and Unity modules. The first expedition crew of NASA astronaut William M. Shepherd and Russian Space Agency, now Roscosmos, cosmonauts Yuri P. Gidzenko and Sergei K. Krikalev arrived to take up residence aboard the station on Nov. 2, 2000. More than 23 years later, multinational crews continue to live and work aboard a much enlarged and permanently inhabited space station, a unique microgravity laboratory for conducting research in a wide variety of scientific disciplines and a testbed for future human exploration programs. The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021. View the full article

NASA Day of Remembrance 2024 – Honoring Our Fallen Heroes

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft is pictured from the International Space Station as it approaches while orbiting 261 miles above the coast of the Garabogazköl Basin in Turkmenistan.NASA NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting 12:29 p.m. EST on Monday, Jan. 29, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station for the agency and its partners. This launch is the 20th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency. Live launch coverage will begin at 12:15 p.m. and air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and on the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Friday, Jan. 26. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms. Filled with more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, carried on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It will arrive at the space station Wednesday, Jan. 31. NASA coverage of rendezvous and capture will begin at 2 a.m., followed by installation coverage at 5 a.m. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will capture Cygnus using the station’s robotic arm, and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara will act as backup. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port. Highlights of space station research facilitated by delivery aboard this Cygnus are: the first surgical robot on the space station an orbit re-entry platform that collects thermal protection systems data a 3D cartilage cell culture that maintains healthy cartilage in a lower gravity the MSTIC facility, an autonomous semiconductor manufacturing platform and a metal 3D printer that will test the capability for printing small metal parts Media interested in speaking to a subject matter expert about science aboard, should contact Sandra Jones at sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov. The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until May when it will depart the orbiting laboratory at which point it will harmlessly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. This spacecraft is named the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson after the former NASA astronaut. NASA coverage of the mission is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations): Friday, Jan. 26: 1 p.m. – The International Space Station National Lab will host a science webinar with the following participants: Lisa Carnell, director, NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division Meg Everett, deputy scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Shane Farritor, co-founder and chief scientific officer, Virtual Incision Corporation Mark Fernandez, principal investigator of Spaceborne Computer-2, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Mary Murphy, director of programs, Nanoracks Michael Roberts, chief scientific officer, International Space Station National Lab Nicole Wagner, chief executive officer, LambdaVision Abba Zubair, medical director, Mayo Clinic Media must register for the science webinar by 12 p.m., Jan. 26, at: https://bit.ly/48W97IW 6 p.m. – Prelaunch media teleconference (no earlier than one hour after completion of the Launch Readiness Review) with the following participants: Dina Contella, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program Meghan Everett, deputy program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX Cyrus Dhalla, vice president and general manager, tactical space systems, Northrop Grumman Arlena Moses, launch weather officer, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron Media who wish to participate by phone must request dial-in information by 4 p.m. Jan. 26, by emailing Kennedy’s newsroom at ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. Monday, Jan. 29: 12:15 p.m. – Launch coverage begins 12:29 p.m. – Launch Wednesday, Jan. 31: 2 a.m. – Rendezvous coverage begins 3:35 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus with the space station’s robotic arm 5 a.m. – Cygnus installation operations coverage NASA Television launch coverage Live coverage of the launch on NASA Television will begin at 12:15 p.m., Jan. 29. For downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit: https://nasa.gov/nasatv. Audio of the news teleconference and launch coverage will not be carried on the NASA “V” circuits. Launch coverage without NASA TV commentary via a tech feed will not be available for this launch. NASA website launch coverage Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 12:15 p.m., Monday, Jan. 29, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our International Space Station blog for updates. Attend launch virtually Members of the public can register to attend the launch virtually. Virtual guests will have access to curated resources, schedule changes, and mission-specific information straight to your inbox. Following each activity, virtual guests are sent a mission-specific collectable stamp for their virtual guest passport. Watch, engage on social media Let people know you’re watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts: X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASASocial, @Space_Station, @ISS_Research, @ISS_CASIS Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov. Learn more about the commercial resupply mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-20/. -end- Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov Stephanie Plucinsky / Steven Siceloff Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-876-2468 stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov / steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Ellen Klicka Northrop Grumman, Cygnus 703-402-4404 ellen.klicka@ngc.com Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA HeadquartersJohnson Space CenterKennedy Space Center View the full article

23 Min Read The Marshall Star for January 24, 2024 NASA’s IXPE Team Awarded Prestigious Rossi Prize By Rick Smith NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) team has been awarded a top prize in high-energy astronomy. The High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) has awarded the 2024 Bruno Rossi Prize to retired NASA astrophysicist Martin Weisskopf, Italian Space Agency principal investigator Paolo Soffitta, and their team for development of IXPE, “whose novel measurements advance our understanding of particle acceleration and emission from astrophysical shocks, black holes and neutron stars,” according to the AAS announcement. NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission, led by retired NASA astrophysicist Martin Weisskopf, left, and Italian Space Agency principal investigator Paolo Soffitta, has received the 2024 Rossi Prize in high-energy astronomy, awarded annually by the American Astronomical Society. NASA/INAF “IXPE is a realization of decades of work and belief in the importance of X-ray polarization measurements for X-ray astronomy. I am honored and excited to share this prize with Paolo Soffitta and the entire IXPE team,” said Weisskopf, who was IXPE’s principal investigator during its development. He retired from NASA in 2022. “IXPE is the demonstration of how an idea pursued for more than 30 years has been transformed into a successful mission, thanks to the collaboration between the United States and Italy,” Soffitta said. “It’s incredible to receive this prize along with Martin Weisskopf and on behalf of so many people whose expertise and enthusiasm have made this breakthrough in astrophysics possible.” Developed by NASA, the Italian Space Agency, and partners in a dozen countries, IXPE was launched to space on Dec. 9, 2021. Today, it orbits Earth some 340 miles up to observe X-ray emissions from powerful cosmic phenomena hundreds or thousands of light-years away. In 2023 alone, its subjects of study included blazars such as Markarian 501 and Markarian 421, supernova remnants including Tycho and SN 1006, and the supermassive black hole at the center of our own galaxy. Its success led NASA to formally extend the mission for an additional 20 months, through at least September 2025. An artist’s illustration of the IXPE spacecraft in orbit, studying high-energy phenomena light-years from Earth.NASA “We at NASA are incredibly proud of Dr. Weisskopf and the IXPE team around the world,” said acting Marshall Center Director Joseph Pelfrey. “IXPE allows us to look at the universe through a vantage point never seen before. It’s particularly gratifying to continue Marshall’s long association with the Rossi Prize, which identifies singular breakthroughs and unprecedented innovation in high-energy astrophysics – a field in which our researchers excel.” Weisskopf, together with Harvard astrophysicist Harvey Tananbaum, previously received the Rossi Prize in 2004 for their work to develop and fly NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which continues to study X-ray phenomena across the cosmos. Marshall researchers Gerald Fishman and Colleen Wilson-Hodge also were awarded the Rossi Prize in 1994 and 2018, respectively. Fishman was honored for his contributions to the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory’s BATSE (Burst and Transient Source Experiment) mission, Wilson-Hodge for her work with the Fermi GBM (Gamma-ray Burst Monitor) in August 2017, detecting gravitational and light waves from the spectacular smashup of two neutron stars in a distant galaxy. The Rossi Prize is awarded annually for a significant recent contribution to high-energy astrophysics. The honor includes an engraved certificate and a $1,500 award. Smith, an Aeyon/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications. › Back to Top National Mentoring Month: The Right Type of Mentorship with Erika Alvarez and Dave Reynolds By Celine Smith Erika Alvarez’s path to becoming a Systems Engineering & Integration manager at NASA Headquarters has impacted the way she mentors. “What we do at NASA takes a village,” Alvarez said. “It may take one person to make something, but there could be 10 or 15 or 20 people who help them get there.” Erika Alvarez, System Engineering and Integration manager at NASA Headquarters, and mentor to Dave Reynolds, a deputy program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.NASA Alvarez wants to be one of many guiding others to meet their goals, which is how she began mentoring Dave Reynolds, a deputy program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Alvarez and Reynolds don’t have a traditional mentorship. Both began in Marshall’s propulsion systems department in 2004. While Alvarez is younger than Reynolds, Alvarez is mentoring Reynolds. Alvarez may not have decades more experience than Reynolds, but Alvarez joining the SES (Senior Executive Service) coincided with Reynolds wanting to transition to the SES. Their shared working experience and similar goal made a perfect fit for their mentorship. Reynolds is currently being mentored by Alvarez in preparation for a Senior Executive Service position.NASA Hoping their experience can help others during National Mentoring Month, they discussed their insight about finding the right type of mentorship. Question: What does mentorship mean to you? Reynolds: Mentorship is an outside perspective that benefits me by providing a better solution. You can ask your mentor about your ideas to self-examine the path that you’re on. They know you and have your best interest in mind. Your decisions are not directly going to affect them, so they can offer candid advice. Alvarez: For me, mentorship is worth the time investment because we can get stuck in our day-to-day routine. It’s a refreshing time during the week to sit down with someone knowing what they’re experiencing and helping them, so they don’t have to navigate certain challenges on their own. I have templates, articles, rubrics, books, and other perspectives I gained through my first year in SES. Now I can offer those resources. It’s something that I want to pass on to somebody else because it takes a village to do this. Mentoring is very energizing and fruitful. It reminds me that I love NASA and it’s a great place to work. I hope that I can provide that feeling and energy to someone else and it just keeps going. Question: What impact has mentorship had on you and your career? Alvarez: With Dave and I starting from the same department, we had some of the same mentors early on. Mentors give you confidence to move to the next role when you’re down in the details, doing the work, and years into a position. I would also say I was fortunate enough to have a great mentor that was outside of my department. The most important trait she gave to me was resiliency. There are many times when you go for something and are unsuccessful. Having somebody that believes in you during those times is huge. Reynolds: My first formal mentor was assigned to me while I was in the Mid-Level Leadership Program and she was in SES at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. She encouraged me to get out of engineering, because she believed I was ready for a leadership role. Without her, I wouldn’t have transitioned as quickly as I did. My current mentorship is also kicking me to the next level and informing me of all the options I need to consider. Having a mentor that has known you for a long time, like Alvarez, is beneficial. You can trust their guidance more because they’ve seen you fail, and they still believe in your success. Question: What was the initial goal and how has that impacted the type of mentoring relationship you built? Reynolds: The initial goal was Alvarez prepping me to become SES qualified and she’s helped me at every step. Alvarez encouraged me to apply for the ASPIRE program. Programs and tools like that are exactly what I need to know about. She’s provided a lot of information that I didn’t know I would need to consider. A young Alvarez, third from left, and Reynolds, far right, smile for a photo taken while they were both working in the propulsion systems department at Marshall.NASA Alvarez: I mentor a lot of people at different levels. Reynolds is a unique mentee because he is seeking out a big goal. Other mentees coming to me are in different stages, or they’re in a similar field and want to discuss the type of work I do. His goal is personal. I don’t want Reynolds to feel unprepared. I want him to go into his interview and any future roles with confidence and his best foot forward. I want Dave’s future peers to know he’s ready to lead. If Dave is successful in achieving his goal, I want to help him through that transition during the first year of his new role as well, especially with the person who last had the position being gone. I have executive mentors who are the only people I can discuss certain topics with. A part of the goal is Reynolds’ long-term success, which is why it’s important for him to have access to that network of people. If Reynolds needs help with something I’m not well-versed in, I can get him in contact with someone who is. Question: How do you think the dynamic between mentor and mentee may differ in a formal mentoring relationship compared to an informal, casual mentoringencounter? Reynolds: Formal mentoring relationships are more deliberate. We have a goal that we set. We’re not just having lunch, we set a scheduled time where we each have ideas we bring to discuss. Formal encounters are more structured. With informal mentorships you can also have casual lunches where good advice is thrown back and forth, but I have noticed if you’re more deliberate, you’ll get concrete progress. Alvarez: Dave having a specific objective made the mentorship formal. The structure provided time for me to gather materials I found helpful in preparation for SES. With a hands-on approach, I could help Reynolds during his time in the ASPIRE program. We methodically planned how to reach each goal and in turn the objective. As we’re doing the work, we’re checking in consistently. Informal mentorships are hard. There’s no set amount of time spent together, and its disorganization makes it easier to lose momentum toward the objective. Informal mentorships also make it harder to feel a sense of accomplishment because progress is harder to assess. Question: What advice do you have for someone else considering finding or being a mentor? Alvarez: Think outside the box. Some people come in with an unconscious bias of what a mentor is. Mentees can become overly concerned with a mentor’s background. Not knowing their background is a good thing. Remain open minded about what someone else can offer you. You’re always going to get some good nuggets out of a mentorship. If someone suggests a mentor to you, take it. They might see something that neither of you do that would make a great pairing. I also recommend that some people choose mentors with a different career path like Dave and me. We shared the same foundation but then we went off in two different branches. Getting to combine those different insights is amazing because it makes us stronger. Reynolds: As a mentee, check that you have humility. It’d be easy for me to dismiss Alvarez as a mentor because of our similarities. I recognize, she’s had a completely different life and is therefore capable of giving me an outside perspective. She’s also wicked smart, and I listen to wicked smart people. I’ve heard people reject advice from others because they are on the same tier or below career wise. That’s not a good approach. Ask yourself who can help with growth as opposed to finding somebody that that will help you up the ladder. Editor’s note: This is the second in a Marshall Star series during National Mentoring Month in January. Marshall team members can learn more about the benefits of mentoring on Inside Marshall. Smith, a Media Fusion employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications. › Back to Top Larry Leopard Named Acting Director of Marshall’s Engineering Directorate Larry Leopard has been named acting director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Engineering Directorate upon the retirement of Don Holder this month. He will fill the role until a permanent director is named as well as continuing his duties as Marshall’s associate director, technical. Larry Leopard, Marshall’s associate director, technical, has been named acting director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Engineering Directorate.NASA As Marshall’s associate director, technical, Leopard provides expert advice in all facets of the center’s responsibilities by conducting special studies; provides authoritative advice and assistance in policy review; manages and reports on centerwide and directorate metrics; and develops benchmark strategies. He was appointed to the position in December 2020. Leopard previously served as director of the Engineering Directorate from 2018 to 2020. Lisa Bates will remain as deputy director of Marshall’s Engineering Directorate.NASA Lisa Bates will remain as deputy director and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Engineering Directorate. › Back to Top I Am Artemis: Erick Holsonback Whether he’s advising student robotic competitions or managing production of a powerful, new Moon rocket stage, Erick Holsonback meets technical challenges with enthusiasm. Holsonback, a Jacobs Technology employee, is subsystem manager for production and launch operations of the exploration upper stage (EUS) for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. SLS is NASA’s super heavy lift rocket that will launch the agency’s Artemis campaign to the Moon. The exploration upper stage is one of two upgrades to the SLS rocket as it evolves to the Block 1B variant for missions beginning with Artemis IV. Along with the rocket’s new universal stage adapter, the SLS rocket in its Block 1B configuration will be able to send 40% more payload to the Moon in a single launch. Eric Holsonback, a Jacobs Technology employee, is subsystem manager for production and launch operations of the exploration upper stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.NASA/Michael DeMocker Holsonback’s job stretches from setting up production for the future upper stage at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, where it’s built, to preparing it for launch from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. “It’s exciting to be part of a capability that will send more crew and cargo to the Moon in a single launch than any other current rocket,” Holsonback said. “That’s going to make operations in the challenging space environment a lot simpler.” Growing up in North Georgia, Holsonback remembers wanting to be an astronaut and turning street cars into hot rods. He figured he’d wind up in the auto industry, until Pratt & Whitney offered him a job working on space shuttle main engine turbomachinery straight out of college in 1997. He briefly left the space business but jumped at a chance to get back in with the SLS Program in 2016 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. “I wanted to come back and do rockets,” he recalled. “It gets in your blood. You’re part of something bigger that just yourself. Through Artemis, we are truly impacting the space program at its foundational level of how we are getting back to the Moon and to Mars.” Holsonback’s enthusiasm for space challenges doesn’t end at the office door. In his free time, Holsonback has mentored and coached his two daughters’ technology challenge competitions. While the challenge is foremost a robotics contest, Holsonback is proud of the lessons in problem solving, technology, and project management he’s helped impart to the team along the way – which he likens to his NASA job. You could say Erick Holsonback is working on the future personally as well as professionally, but it’s hard to beat working on a Moon rocket. “I’ve had some great opportunities with NASA, but my current role is pretty amazing – getting to be part of building and launching,” he reflected. “I get to play a little part in the overall foundation work that is going to be part of the history of our country for years to come.” NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch. › Back to Top Mission Success is in Our Hands: Greg Drayer By Wayne Smith Mission Success is in Our Hands is a safety initiative collaboration between NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Jacobs. As part of the initiative, eight Marshall team members are featured in new testimonial banners placed around the center. This is the third in a Marshall Star series profiling team members featured in the testimonial banners. Greg Drayer is the JSEG (Jacobs Space Exploration Group) team lead for EV74, the Systems Analysis Branch, working at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. He is also the JSEG Tech Fellow for Modeling and Simulation. Greg Drayer is the JSEG (Jacobs Space Exploration Group) team lead for EV74, the Systems Analysis Branch, working at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA/Charles Beason He previously was a Modeling and Simulation integration systems engineer, representing NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program to the Data Integration Integrated Task Team and supporting the certification of Design Math Models. He started working at Marshall in 2020. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Drayer is a graduate of both Universidad Simon Bolivar, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and magister in systems engineering, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned his doctorate with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State International Fulbright Science and Technology Program. Question: What are some of your key responsibilities? Drayer: I am responsible for the proactive management of the EV74 Branch JSEG Task Order and Systems Evaluation personnel to ensure the safe and effective accomplishment of Marshall requirements by providing engineering, scientific, and technical support to various NASA programs. My team is a high-performing group of three different sub-teams executing challenging tasks for Marshall’s Systems Engineering and Integration Division (EV70) in support of SLS, HLS (Human Landing System), and MAV (Mars Ascent Vehicle) programs, providing unique expertise in the following domains: Program compliance with the NASA Standard for Models and Simulations, NASA-STD-7009. Vehicle mass properties and weight management. SLS photogrammetric imaging and analysis. Data integration tools, systems, and processes. Adoption of model-based systems engineering methodologies. Question: How does your work support the safety and success of NASA and Marshall missions? Drayer: The goal of our Modeling and Simulation Sub-Team at NASA is to help reduce the risks associated with models and simulations-influenced decisions by properly conveying the credibility of results to those making critical decisions in support of program compliance with NASA-STD-7009, Standard for Models and Simulations. We ensure the NASA’s commitment to excellence in satisfying the requirements of NASA-STD-7009, an outcome resulting from the Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report. Question: What does the Mission Success is in Our Hands initiative mean to you? Drayer: Working in support of NASA-STD-7009, this initiative hits close to home as another reminder of why we do our work the way we are required. Beyond any statistics, to me this campaign is a reminder and a challenge to ensure that we ‘Know what we build. Test what we build. Test what we fly. Test like we fly.’ We should continue learning from our past to make sure that it does not repeat in the future. This initiative helps us dedicate the time to remember why we do things the way we do them, and how we arrived at today’s NASA culture. Question: Do you have a story or personal experience you can share that might help others understand the significance of mission assurance or flight safety? Drayer: Coming back from COVID-19 has been a great challenge to overcome. Incredibly, we all have found some strange comfort zones from which we are now needing to come back to collaborate better. I know how much some of us value our ability to telework at times. However, I would like us all to also understand how some in-person conversations can save us many if not several hours of unending electronic communications. I would like all of us to demonstrate to ourselves why we truly need to be present in our meetings and engage as best as we can to reap the fruit of those interactions. Let us lead by example and ‘preach’ about it along the way with our actions, to the benefit of the NASA culture in a post-COVID era. As an agency, this can greatly impact our ability to ensure mission success and flight safety. Question: How can we work together better to achieve mission success? Drayer: We go all the way to the Moon in search of discoveries, science, and developing new technologies. And even beyond all these, we go to the Moon to find ourselves personally and each other. That journey has begun already with each weekday and at times weekends that we dedicate to work with the mission in mind, working hard to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers and our stakeholders, most important of which are our astronauts and their families. Smith, a Media Fusion employee and the Marshall Star editor, supports the Marshall Office of Communications. › Back to Top NASA Continues Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Tests with First Hot Fire of 2024 NASA continued a critical test series for future flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in support of the Artemis campaign Jan. 17 with a full-duration hot fire of the RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Data collected from the test series will be used to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, to help power the SLS rocket on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, beginning with Artemis V. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the SLS Program. NASA completed a full-duration, 500-second hot fire of an RS-25 certification engine Jan. 17, continuing a critical test series to support future SLS (Space Launch System) missions to the Moon and beyond as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams are evaluating the performance of several new engine components, including a nozzle, hydraulic actuators, flex ducts, and turbopumps. The current series is the second and final series to certify production of the upgraded engines. NASA completed an initial 12-test certification series with the upgraded components in June 2023. During the Jan. 17 test, operators followed a “test like you fly” approach, firing the engine for the same amount of time – almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds) – needed to launch SLS and at power levels ranging between 80% to 113%. The Jan. 17 test comes three months after the current series began in October. During three tests last fall, operators fired the engine for durations from 500 to 650 seconds. The longest planned test of the series occurred on Nov. 29 when crews gimbaled, or steered, the engine during an almost 11-minute (650 seconds) hot fire. The gimbaling technique is used to control and stabilize SLS as it reaches orbit. Each SLS flight is powered by four RS-25 engines, firing simultaneously during launch and ascent to generate over 2 million pounds of thrust. The first four Artemis missions with SLS are using modified space shuttle main engines that can power up to 109% of their rated level. The newly produced RS-25 engines will power up to the 111% level to provide additional thrust. Testing to the 113% power level provides an added margin of operational safety. With the completion of the test campaign in 2024, all systems are expected to be “go” for production of 24 new RS-25 engines for missions beginning with Artemis V. Through Artemis, NASA will establish a long-term presence at the Moon for scientific exploration with commercial and international partners, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of Mars. › Back to Top Station Crew Assists Ax-3 on Advanced Space Research The Expedition 70 crew spent Jan. 23 on a host of research activities and spacesuit maintenance while assisting their Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) guests on the International Space Station. The four Ax-3 crew members had their hands full as they explored cancer research, space botany, and robotics for Earth and space benefits. The Ax-3 crew arrived Jan. 20. Astronauts Andreas Mogensen, Loral O’Hara, and Satoshi Furukawa dedicated part of their schedule to the Ax-3 mission. The trio helped the four private astronauts get up to speed with life on orbit as well as conduct advanced microgravity science. The four Axiom Mission 3 astronauts, front row, and the seven Expedition 70 crew members wave to the camera following a crew greeting ceremony on the International Space Station on Jan. 20. NASA TV Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency) spent a couple of hours ensuring the Ax-3 crewmates are familiarized with systems throughout the orbital lab. O’Hara from NASA set up the LSG (Life Science Glovebox) for an Ax-3 space botany investigation while Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration) activated a microscope to look at cell samples for an Ax-3 cancer study. Ax-3 Commander Michael López-Alegría and Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı worked in the Kibo laboratory module’s LSG and tested the genetic editing of space-grown plants. Results may enable genetic modifications allowing plants to adapt to weightlessness and promote crew health. Ax-3 Pilot Walter Villadei peered at cell samples inside the Kermit microscope to learn how to predict and prevent cancer both on Earth and in space. Ax-3 Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt tested the ability to remotely control robots on Earth from the space station. Working in the Columbus laboratory module, Wandt used a laptop computer to command a team of Earth-bound robots simulating a robotic exploration mission on another planet controlled from a spacecraft. Mogensen would go on to organize food packs, charge virtual reality hardware for a mental health study, then videotape a space physics demonstration for junior high school students. Furukawa serviced science freezers and combustion research gear before cleaning vents inside the Unity module. Furukawa wrapped up his day with eye checks with NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli. O’Hara operated the medical imaging gear examining the optic nerve, retina, and cornea of both astronauts. Moghbeli earlier installed and tested a camera and lights on a spacesuit helmet. The orbiting lab’s three cosmonauts from Roscosmos focused on operations in their segment. Veteran Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko spent his day inspecting the Zvezda service module and servicing communication and computer systems in the Nauka science module. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub photographed the condition of Zvezda’s windows then studied how microgravity conditions such as magnetic and electrical fields affect fluid physics. Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov deactivated Earth observation gear, downloaded vibration data the station experiences while orbiting Earth, then worked on orbital plumbing duties. The Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog. › Back to Top NASA’S OSIRIS-REx Curation Team Reveals Remaining Asteroid Sample The astromaterials curation team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center has completed the disassembly of the OSIRIS-REx sampler head to reveal the remainder of the asteroid Bennu sample inside. On Jan. 10, they successfully removed two stubborn fasteners that had prevented the final steps of opening the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism) head. A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside.NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold Erika Blumenfeld, creative lead for AIVA (Advanced Imaging and Visualization of Astromaterials) and Joe Aebersold, AIVA project lead, captured a photograph of the open TAGSAM head including the asteroid material inside using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure. The result is an image that shows extreme detail of the sample. Next, the curation team will remove the round metal collar and prepare the glovebox to transfer the remaining sample from the TAGSAM head into pie-wedge sample trays. These trays will be photographed before the sample is weighed, packaged, and stored at Johnson, home to the most extensive collection of astromaterials in the world. The remaining sample material includes dust and rocks up to about 0.4 inch in size. The final mass of the sample will be determined in the coming weeks. The curation team members had already collected 2.48 ounces of asteroid material from the sample hardware before the lid was removed, surpassing the agency’s goal of bringing at least 2.12 ounces to Earth. The curation team will release a catalog of all the Bennu samples later this year, which will allow scientists and institutions around the world to submit requests for research or display. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. › Back to Top View the full article

NASA and Sierra Space team members move the Dream Chaser spaceplane into NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.Credits: Sierra Space/Shay Saldana As part of NASA’s efforts to expand commercial resupply in low Earth orbit, media are invited to view Sierra Space’s uncrewed commercial spaceplane ahead of its first demonstration flight for the agency to the International Space Station in 2024. The Dream Chaser event is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 1, at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. For the first time, the spaceplane is coupled with its companion Shooting Star cargo module in a 55-foot-tall vertical stack for environmental testing in the Mechanical Vibration Facility at Armstrong Test Facility’s Space Environments Complex. During the event, the following officials will provide brief remarks about the agency’s efforts to enable commercial industry, the unique capabilities of the NASA test facility, as well as share more about Dream Chaser and its ongoing testing at NASA Glenn: Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, director, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland Tom Vice, chief executive officer, Sierra Space A question-and-answer session will follow remarks. Dr. Tom Marshburn, former NASA astronaut and chief medical officer for Sierra Space, also will be in attendance and available for interviews. Media interested in attending must RSVP by 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, to Brian Newbacher at brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov or 216-433-5644. Attendance is in-person only and limited to participants, invited guests, and credentialed media. Dream Chaser and its cargo module are undergoing testing on NASA’s spacecraft shaker table, exposing the stack to vibrations like those it will experience during launch and re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. Armstrong Test Facility is part of NASA Glenn. Located on 6,400 acres, it is home to some of the world’s largest and most capable space simulation test facilities, where ground tests are conducted for the U.S. and international space and aeronautics communities. In 2016, NASA awarded a Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract to Sierra Space to resupply the International Space Station with its Dream Chaser spaceplane and companion Shooting Star cargo module. NASA is opening access to space to more science by enabling commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station for the crew members aboard the microgravity laboratory. The agency is helping build a low Earth orbit economy where NASA is one of many customers of U.S. private industry for cargo, crew, and space destinations for the benefit of humanity. As NASA transitions low Earth orbit to industry, the agency also is returning to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for Mars. Learn more about Dream Chaser at: https://go.nasa.gov/3Oe9wi0 -end- Joshua Finch Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov Brian Newbacher Glenn Research Center, Cleveland 216-433-5644 brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov Leah Cheshier Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov View the full article

NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, stand on the Martian landscape in this poster created to commemorate their 20th landing anniversary. The rovers landed in January 2004, on opposite sides of the planet in locales that scientists suspected had been affected by liquid water in the past. Their main scientific objective was to search for a range of rocks and soil types and then look for clues for past water activity on Mars—and what they found rewrote textbooks. In addition to proving that water once existed on Mars, the rovers also far exceeded their initial planned lifetimes. Spirit operated for 6 years, 2 months, and 19 days, more than 25 times its original intended lifetime, and Opportunity operated for almost 15 years, setting several records. Download the poster free here. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech View the full article

From left to right: Tim Richardson, chargé d’affaires, U.S. Embassy Belgium, Raphaël Liégeois, Belgian astronaut, Thomas Dermine, Belgian secretary of state for science policy, Hadja Lahbib, Belgian minister of foreign affairs, and Frank De Winne, Belgian astronaut, during the Artemis Accords signing ceremony in Brussels. Credits: Nathan De Fortunato During a ceremony at the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels on Tuesday, Belgium became the 34th country to sign the Artemis Accords. The accords establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations, including those participating in NASA’s Artemis campaign. “Congratulations to Belgium on becoming the newest member of the Artemis Accords family,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “It’s clear that countries around the world understand the opportunity that space presents. As the 34th signatory of the Artemis Accords, Belgium is showing great leadership in committing to responsible exploration in the 21st century.” Hadja Lahbib, minister of foreign affairs, European affairs and foreign trade, and the federal cultural institutions, and Thomas Dermine, state secretary for economic recovery and strategic investments, in charge of science policy, signed on behalf of Belgium. “Joining the Artemis Accords reflects our logic of cooperation and enables Belgium to join the working group of states that have already signed,” said Dermine. “Belgium always has its feet on the ground and its head in the stars,” said Lahbib. “Our country is one of the world leaders in space exploration. The signing of the Artemis Accords shows our ongoing commitment to sustainable and responsible space, and will strengthen ties with international partners. It will also open new economic opportunities for our companies, which have world-renowned expertise in the space sector.” NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, established the Artemis Accords in 2020 together with seven other original signatories. Since then, the Accords signatories have held focused discussions on how best to implement the Artemis Accords principles. The Artemis Accords reinforce and implement key obligations in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. They also strengthen the commitment by the United States and signatory nations to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data. More countries are expected to sign the accords in the months and years ahead, which is important to advancing safe, peaceful, and prosperous activities in space. Learn more about the Artemis Accords at: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords -end- Faith McKie / Roxana Bardan Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 faith.mckie@nasa.gov / roxana.bardan@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsArtemisArtemis AccordsOffice of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This map shows the location where the small asteroid 2024 BX1 harmlessly impacted Earth’s atmosphere over Germany, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Berlin, on Jan. 21. A NASA system called Scout predicted the impact time and site within 1 second and about 330 feet (100 meters).NASA/JPL-Caltech The Scout impact assessment system calculated where and when the asteroid 2024 BX1 would impact Earth’s atmosphere, providing a useful demonstration of planetary defense capability. A small asteroid about 3 feet (1 meter) in size disintegrated harmlessly over Germany on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 1:32 a.m. local time (CET). At 95 minutes before it impacted Earth’s atmosphere, NASA’s Scout impact hazard assessment system, which monitors data on potential asteroid discoveries, gave advance warning as to where and when the asteroid would impact. This is the eighth time in history that a small Earth-bound asteroid has been detected while still in space, before entering and disintegrating in our atmosphere. The asteroid’s impact produced a bright fireball, or bolide, which was seen from as far away as the Czech Republic and may have scattered small meteorites on the ground at the impact site about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Berlin. The asteroid was later designated 2024 BX1. Explore the 3D of asteroids, comets, and near-Earth objects While NASA reports on near-Earth objects (NEOs) of all sizes, the agency has been tasked by Congress with detecting and tracking NEOs 140 meters in size and larger that could cause significant damage on the ground if they should impact our planet. Those objects can be spotted much further in advance than small ones like 2024 BX1. Tiny asteroids like this one impact our planet from time to time. They pose no hazard to life on Earth but can provide a useful demonstration of NASA’s planetary defense capabilities such as Scout’s rapid-response trajectory computation and impact alerts. How It Was Predicted The asteroid 2024 BX1 was first observed less than three hours before its impact by Krisztián Sárneczky at Piszkéstető Mountain Station of the Konkoly Observatory near Budapest, Hungary. These early observations were reported to the Minor Planet Center – the internationally recognized clearinghouse for the position measurements of small solar system bodies – and automatically posted on the center’s Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page so that other astronomers could make additional observations. Scout, which was developed and is operated by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, automatically fetched the new data from that page, deducing the object’s possible trajectory and chances of impacting Earth. CNEOS calculates the orbit of every known NEO to provide assessments of potential impact hazards for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. With three observations posted to the confirmation page over 27 minutes, Scout initially identified that an impact was possible and that additional observations were urgently needed. As astronomers across Europe reported new data to the Minor Planet Center, the asteroid’s trajectory became better known and the probability of its impacting Earth significantly increased. Seventy minutes after 2024 BX1 was first spotted, Scout reported a 100% probability of Earth impact and began to narrow down the location and time. As tracking continued and more data became available over the next hour, Scout improved estimates of the time and location. Since the asteroid disintegrated over a relatively populated part of the world, many photos and videos of the fireball were posted online minutes after the event. Tracking NEOs The first asteroid to be discovered and tracked well before impacting our planet was 2008 TC3, which entered our atmosphere and broke up over Sudan in October 2008. That 13-foot-wide (4-meter-wide) asteroid scattered hundreds of small meteorites over the Nubian Desert. In early 2023, another tiny asteroid, designated 2023 CX1, was detected seven hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere over northwestern France. As with 2024 BX1, Scout accurately predicted the location and time of impact. With NEO surveys becoming more sophisticated and sensitive, more of these harmless objects are being detected before entering our atmosphere, providing real exercises for NASA’s planetary defense program. The detals gathered from such events are helping to inform the agency’s mitigation strategies should a large and hazardous object on a collision course with our planet be detected in the future. More information about asteroids, near-Earth objects, and planetary defense at NASA can be found at: https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense News Media Contacts Ian J. O’Neill Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-2649 ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Charles Blue NASA Headquarters karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / charles.e.blue@nasa.gov 2024-006 Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 Related TermsAsteroidsMeteors & MeteoritesNear-Earth Asteroid (NEA)Planetary Defense Coordination Office Explore More 3 min read Save the Date: Apophis 2029 Innovation (A29I) Listening Workshop Article 4 weeks ago 5 min read NASA Asteroid Sampling Mission Renamed OSIRIS-APEX for New Journey The former OSIRIS-REx spacecraft sets off on a journey to study asteroid Apophis and take… Article 1 month ago 6 min read NASA’s NEOWISE Celebrates 10 Years, Plans End of Mission Article 1 month ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

This artist’s concept shows Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander on the surface of the Moon. This robotic delivery, part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, will transport agency science and technology demonstrations to the Moon for the benefit of all.Intuitive Machines NASA will host a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 31, to discuss its science and technology demonstrations flying aboard Intuitive Machines’ first flight to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Audio of the CLPS science call will livestream on the agency’s website at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Briefing participants include: Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Debra Needham, program scientist, Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office, NASA Headquarters Chris Culbert, program manager, CLPS, NASA Johnson Space Center Trent Martin, vice president, Space Systems, Intuitive Machines To participate, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the briefing by emailing ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov. The Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and carry NASA robotic science and other commercial payloads to the Moon. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeted for a multi-day launch window, which opens no earlier than mid-February from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Among the items on its lander, this first Intuitive Machines mission will carry NASA science instruments focusing on plume-surface interactions, space weather and lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies. In May 2019, the agency awarded a task order for scientific payload delivery to Intuitive Machines. Through Artemis, commercial robotic deliveries will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon in advance of Artemis Generation astronaut missions to the lunar surface, in preparation for future missions to Mars. NASA is working with several U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface through the CLPS initiative. This pool of companies may bid on task orders. A task order award includes payload integration and operations, as well as launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. NASA’s CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028. For CLPS updates including launch follow: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis -end- Alise Fisher Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov Nilufar Ramji Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov Antonia Jaramillo Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-501-8425 antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsCommercial SpaceArtemisCommercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)Commercial Space ProgramsMissions View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Pictured here from left to right, Zephyr Proffitt and Tayah Day of Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona work on building their experiment during last year’s TechRise Student Challenge. Red Mountain High School NASA is announcing 60 winning teams for its third TechRise Student Challenge, a nationwide contest to engage students in technology, science, and space exploration. The student teams will work together to turn their proposed science and technology experiments into reality ahead of NASA-sponsored suborbital flight tests this summer. The challenge opened for submissions in August to students in grades six through 12 at U.S. public, private, or charter schools, including those in U.S. territories. The winning teams include more than 490 students representing 46 states and territories. Their experiments will fly on one of two commercial suborbital flight platforms: a high-altitude balloon operated by World View of Tucson, Arizona, or the Xodiac rocket-powered lander operated by Astrobotic of Pittsburgh. “Cultivating creativity and curiosity and inspiring students to pursue STEM careers is one of NASA’s most important missions,” said Prasun Desai, deputy associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “TechRise is a unique opportunity that allows students to gain hands-on knowledge while developing real payloads for flight, and it’s an experience they can carry with them during their educational and early career journeys.” Winning proposals address a wide variety of science and technology challenges, including studying the effects of stratospheric conditions, such as solar and ionizing radiation on plant seeds; testing radiation shielding materials; and using sensors such as thermal cameras and lidar to map a simulated lunar surface. A complete list of winning teams is available on the TechRise website. Each team will receive $1,500 to build their experiments, a flight box to house it, technical support from Future Engineers, and an assigned spot for their experiments on a suborbital flight test scheduled for this summer. The challenge is managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, which rapidly demonstrates technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. Experiments tested on the high-altitude balloon will experience approximately four hours of flight time at approximately 70,000 feet with exposure to Earth’s upper atmosphere, high-altitude radiation, and perspective views of Earth. During flight, they will experience the stratosphere’s unique thermal and atmospheric environment, providing conditions that ground-based testing cannot replicate. The high-altitude balloon will also allow payloads to observe the surface below them and collect data on land features such as vegetation and bodies of water. Those tested on the lander will fly for approximately two minutes at an altitude of 80 feet over Astrobotic’s Lunar Surface Proving Ground, a test field designed to simulate the Moon’s surface, located at Astrobotic’s test site at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California. During flight, payloads will be able to collect information on the features of the simulated lunar surface and discover hidden objects. Student experiments can also study the physics and characteristics of the lander’s flight environment. “I am most excited about the hands-on experience that building the NASA TechRise experiment will offer my students,” said Amy Becker, TechRise educator lead for the winning team from Clear Creek Middle School in Ellijay, Georgia. “They will not only acquire technical knowledge but also learn essential skills like effective communication and critical thinking. The prospect of seeing their ideas materialize into a tangible project, one that will ascend about 70,000 feet into the stratosphere, is both thrilling and educational.” A group of approximately 200 volunteer judges with expertise in engineering, space, and Earth science reviewed entries and selected the nationwide winners. Judges evaluated proposals based on experiment originality, its impact on education or society, feasibility within the allotted timeframe and budget, and the quality of the build plan. Criteria were also designed to encourage equitable student participation and geographic representation, and scoring included additional points for Title I-eligible schools. Managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and administered by Future Engineers, TechRise is designed to inspire a deeper understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, surface features, and climate. It also provides students the opportunity to learn more about space exploration, coding, electronics, and the value of test data. TechRise is one of many NASA Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing efforts within STMD offering opportunities to participate in America’s space program. Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactSarah Mannsarah.mann@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterFlight Opportunities ProgramGame Changing Development ProgramSpace Technology Mission Directorate Explore More 4 min read NASA Invests in Small Business Tech to Advance Alternative Fuels, More Article 6 days ago 5 min read Robot Team Builds High-Performance Digital Structure for NASA Greater than the sum of its parts: NASA tests the capability of a system that… Article 7 days ago 5 min read Brr, It’s Cold in Here! NASA’s Cryo Efforts Beyond the Atmosphere Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Space Technology Mission Directorate STMD Flight Opportunities NASA Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing View the full article

Celebrating Pride: Meet Bob Lutz At NASA, diversity and inclusion drive workplace creativity, innovation and mission success. For #PrideMonth we’re celebrating the stories of our #LGBTQ community. Bob Lutz skiing in St. Anton, Austria. What is your role at NASA? I’m a computer engineer. I’m presently leading a task performing sustaining engineering for flight software on launched Earth and space science missions. I had worked for 10 years in the development of ground systems for two weather satellites: the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and the Joint Polar Satellite System. I’m also Co-Chair of the LGBT Advisory Committee and a long-time member of the Engineering and Technology Directorate Diversity and Inclusion Committee. How long have you worked here? I worked 18 years a contractor and 19 years as a civil servant. What is your background/what did you do before working at NASA? I have a Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Meteorology and Oceanography and a PhD in Remote Sensing – Geography. Before coming to NASA I was a graduate student at University of Maryland. Why did you chose to work at NASA and what makes you stay? I worked at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) when I was a graduate student in NYC. I have always been interested in the Earth and space sciences. I am a lifer here – I enjoy the campus-like atmosphere and the ability to grow intellectually by attending seminars and interacting with scientists and engineers with different backgrounds and expertise. What has been your favorite project or memory from your time here? My favorite project was supporting the establishment of a field experiment in the boreal forests of Canada (BOREAS) led by Piers Sellers (who became an astronaut). We had to bushwhack through the dense boreal forest with compasses to find the optimal place to build air chemical flux towers to be used in the experiment. Fun work, but not exactly your typical NASA-type work! Why is working in a diverse environment critical to our mission? Here at NASA we solve problems – lots of them are hard! People with different backgrounds and different ways of thinking contribute to a solution set that maximizes our chance for success. What do you like to do outside of work? I enjoy spending time with my partner Brian, where we have been together almost 34 years. We’re now living and having fun in DC. I’m also an avid skier (30 plus days a year), and I enjoy the outdoors – hiking, camping, biking and kayaking. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Having travelled quite a bit in Europe since we ski there – something very different – like seeing the pyramids. What is your proudest accomplishment (personal or professional)? Being successful in a long-term relationship, obtaining my PhD and running and completing the Marine Corps Marathon twice. Is there anything else you would like to add? NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a great place to work and a big shout of appreciation to the leadership at GSFC in supporting LGBT as well as Diversity and Inclusion issues. Ready to explore the extraordinary? View all of our current vacancies at nasa.usajobs.gov. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA LGBTQ Pride NASA Careers: Diversity Drives Innovation Careers People of NASA View the full article

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson speaks during a NASA Safety Town Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The Safety Town Hall is held annually near the Day of Remembrance to learn from past errors and pay tribute to those that lost their lives in the quest for space exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) View the full article

9 min read How NASA Chases and Investigates Bright Cosmic Blips Astronomers think a long GRB (gamma-ray burst) arises from a massive, rapidly rotating star when its core runs out of fuel and collapses, forming a black hole in the star’s center. In this artist’s concept, two jets emerge from the dying star and interact with surrounding gas and dust. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab Stephen Lesage’s phone started vibrating just after halftime on Oct. 9, 2022, while he was watching a soccer game in Atlanta with a friend. When Lesage saw the incoming messages, the match no longer seemed important. There had been a rare cosmic event, and he needed to get to his computer immediately. NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Satellite and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory had spotted an unusually bright signal in space, and sent automatic alerts to scientists. Lesage’s team’s Fermi chat channel lit up with messages as scientists coordinated their follow-up strategy. “Everyone in that group was like, ‘this thing’s crazy! Who’s on duty to analyze this? This is what we’ve been waiting for,’” Lesage, a graduate student at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, recalled. “Time to go!” The unusual event turned to be a cosmic burst that may have been the brightest at X-ray and gamma-ray energies since civilization began. Astronomers dubbed it the BOAT, “the brightest of all time.” Lesage led an analysis of Fermi data that demonstrated just how bright the BOAT really was. More than 150 telescopes in space and on Earth followed up to get more details of the event including NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer ), Hubble Space Telescope, and James Webb Space Telescope, as well as the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton telescope. The Universe is Changing The BOAT is an example of what astronomers call Time-Domain and Multi-Messenger Astronomy. The “Time Domain” part refers to events that happen in the universe that telescopes can observe as they unfold, such as a supernova or the merger of two neutron stars. “Multimessenger Astronomy” refers to the variety of “messengers” that deliver information from the universe, including all forms of light, high-energy particles, and ripples in spacetime called gravitational waves. While the universe may seem like it changes extremely slowly, over millions or even billions of years, its celestial occupants do sometimes produce dramatic changes on the order of days or even fractions of seconds. Galactic centers brighten as their central black holes eat material. Black holes siphon plasma from nearby stars. Stars explode. Neutron stars collide with black holes, neutron stars collide with neutron stars, and black holes merge with black holes. Even distant crashes of celestial objects can send powerful ripples that can be detected by space– and ground-based telescopes and instruments. Many of these phenomena are unpredictable in terms of both where and when they might happen next. NASA has two “watchdog” satellites with wide fields of view that send out alerts when they detect a sudden brightening of gamma rays: Fermi and Swift. Fermi’s Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor and Large Area Telescope, and Swift’s Burst Alert Telescope, are key instruments that might be the first to observe these events. “When something impulsive happens, when something goes boom and explodes or something goes crunch and collapses, they trigger,” said Valerie Connaughton, who leads the high-energy astrophysics portfolio and the Time-Domain and Multimessenger Astronomy Initiative within the Astrophysics Division at NASA’s Headquarters in Washington. Once scientists receive an alert on their computers and phones, they may be able to collaborate with other telescopes to follow up on the event. By using a variety of different space-based observatories and instruments to study these largely unpredictable flashes, scientists can piece together what, where, when, and why they observed a “blip” in the usual calm of space. After comparing observations of the BOAT from numerous telescopes, scientists determined that this unusually bright burst came from a supernova and specifically, the core collapse of a massive star rotating rapidly. Later, with data from NASA’s NuSTAR mission, scientists found that the jet of material shooting out from the exploding star had a more complicated shape than they originally thought. “A giant star just exploded, and we get to study it and figure out what happened, and reverse engineer the pieces and put it back together,” Lesage said. Time-domain astronomy lets us gets fundamental answers on the properties of the universe, of fundamental physics itself, and the origin of the elements.” ERIC BURNS Astrophysicist, Louisiana State University New Bright Signals Just five months after the BOAT, scientists received an alert from Fermi about the second-brightest gamma-ray burst seen in the last 50 years. This newer signal, GRB 230307A, which happened in March 2023, joined the BOAT in the category of “long” gamma ray bursts, lasting 200 seconds, compared to 600 for the BOAT. Thanks to infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scientists determined that GRB 230307A may have had a very different origin: the merger of two neutron stars about a billion light-years away from Earth. What’s more, Webb detected the rare element tellurium, suggesting that neutron star mergers create heavy elements like this. This result still puzzles astronomers such as Eric Burns, a co-author of the GRB 230307A paper and member of the Fermi team at Louisiana State University. Merging neutron stars shouldn’t produce such long gamma-ray bursts, and current models of atomic physics do not entirely explain the mid-infrared wavelengths that Webb detected. He hopes Webb will help us learn more about these kinds of events in the next few years. “Time-domain astronomy lets us gets fundamental answers on the properties of the universe, of fundamental physics itself, and the origin of the elements,” Burns said. This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument highlights Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 230307A and its associated kilonova, as well as its former home galaxy, among their local environment of other galaxies and foreground stars. The GRB likely was powered by the merger of two neutron stars. The neutron stars were kicked out of their home galaxy and traveled the distance of about 120,000 light-years, approximately the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy, before finally merging several hundred million years later. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Levan (Radboud University and University of Warwick) A Multitude of Messengers Cosmic “messengers” associated with fleeting cosmic blips also help scientists reconstruct their origins. The initial 2015 discovery of gravitational waves by LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, showed that the universe could be observed in a brand new way, and began a new era of possibility for using multiple messengers to study sudden blips in the universe. In 2017, scientists demonstrated that potential by combining gravitational wave observations with data from many different ground and space-based observatories to study a kilonova, or neutron star merger, called GW170817. Among the insights from the extensive study of this kilonova, Burns and colleagues used it to make the first precise measurement of the speed of gravity, “the last major confirmation of a prediction from Einstein,” he said. Today, the network of the U.S. NSF (National Science Foundation)-supported LIGO, Europe’s VIRGO, and Japan’s KAGRA looks out for gravitational wave events. This animation captures phenomena observed over the course of nine days following the neutron star merger known as GW170817, detected on Aug. 17, 2017. They include gravitational waves (pale arcs), a near-light-speed jet that produced gamma rays (magenta), expanding debris from a kilonova that produced ultraviolet (violet), optical and infrared (blue-white to red) emission, and, once the jet directed toward us expanded into our view from Earth, X-rays (blue). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab Light is the only kind of “messenger” from the universe that has been detected for both the BOAT and the gamma ray burst that seems to have produced tellurium. An experiment near the South Pole called IceCube, supported by the NSF, looked for high-energy neutrinos coming from the same area of the sky as each event, but did not find any. However, the lack of neutrinos observed helps scientists constrain the possibilities for how these events unfolded. “This multi-messenger approach is important, even when you don’t have a detection,” said Michela Negro, astrophysicist and assistant professor at Louisiana State University. “It really helps rule out some scenarios, on top of telling us something new when we have detections.” A Bright Future for TDAMM For Lesage, who is writing his dissertation about the BOAT, time-domain and multimessenger astronomy is an exciting area of study. The BOAT itself is still keeping him and other astronomers busy as they look at all of the processes revealed by the exceptionally bright light from this extreme event. But more transient events are sure to come, and will keep scientists on their toes as they chase after them with a wide variety of telescopes and instruments. “That’s just transient events — look now or you’re going to miss it,” Lesage said. “Look as quickly as you possibly can.” Doomed neutron stars whirl toward their demise in this illustration. Gravitational waves bleed away orbital energy, causing the stars to move closer together and merge. As they collide, some of the debris blasts away in particle jets moving at nearly the speed of light, producing a brief burst of gamma rays. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab Further Reading: Telescopes on the Case In the next few years NASA will be launching new “watcher” satellites to help look out for sudden transient events like these. They include several CubeSats, which are a class of miniaturized spacecraft built in standardized units of cubes around 4 inches (10 cm) on a side: BurstCube, launching in March 2024, to monitor gamma-ray signals BlackCat, launching in 2025, to detect X-ray light Starburst, launching in 2027, to monitor gamma-ray signals International partnerships also involve this kind of science: ULTRASAT (Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite), a small satellite from the Israeli Space Agency and the the Weizmann Institute of Science, with a wide field of view specializing in ultraviolet light, has NASA contributions. Expected to launch in 2026. ESA’s LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, which would be the first time that gravitational waves could be detected from space, has NASA contributions. Expected to launch in the 2030s. Additionally, NASA telescopes with other primary goals can help look out for these unusual events: Psyche, on its way to the metal-rich asteroid Psyche, has a gamma-ray spectrometer that astronomers can use to detect gamma-ray bursts as the spacecraft cruises toward its destination over the next several years. WISE, which mapped the sky at infrared wavelengths, found many new distant objects and cosmic phenomena. The NEOWISE mission, which reuses the WISE telescope, surveys near-Earth space for potentially hazardous asteroids. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, an infrared observatory that will illuminate longstanding mysteries of dark energy and discover thousands of exoplanets, is designed to have a wide view of the sky and will undoubtedly pick up on transient infrared signals. The observatory will do several surveys to look for these phenomena, and the mission will support many teams to study relevant topics ranging from variable stars, the birth of black holes and active galaxies. Roman is scheduled to launch by May 2027, and will also provide alerts about the changes in the sky it discovers. The NEO Surveyor mission will use infrared detectors to broaden the search for asteroids and comets that may pose a hazard to the Earth. The images to be taken by NEO Surveyor also are expected to capture many more distant background objects. Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 Related Terms Astrophysics Division Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope Gamma-Ray Bursts Gravitational Waves James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Explore More 2 min read Hubble Glimpses a Bright Galaxy Group Article 1 day ago 3 min read New U.S. Postal Service Stamps Feature Iconic NASA Webb Images Article 2 days ago 2 min read Hubble Observes an Askew Galaxy Coaxing Star Formation from its Partner Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

1 min read Hubble Spies Side-by-Side Galaxies This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases a resplendent pair of galaxies known as Arp 140. NASA/ESA/R. Foley (University of California – Santa Cruz)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) A barred spiral galaxy and a lenticular galaxy come together to create this interacting pair known as Arp 140. The lenticular galaxy, NGC 274, is visible on the right side of this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, and the barred spiral, NGC 275, is at left. The twosome is located in the constellation Cetus. Lenticular galaxies and barred spiral galaxies have different structures. In barred spiral galaxies, a bar of stars runs through the central bulge of the galaxy (seen here as a bright-white, vertical haze in NGC 275). Typically, the arms of the galaxy start at the end of the bar. Lenticular galaxies, on the other hand, are classified somewhere between elliptical and spiral galaxies. They get their name from the edge-on appearance that resembles a disk. Lenticular galaxies have large central bulges and flattened disk-like spirals, but no spiral arms. They don’t have much gas and dust and are made up primarily of old stars. LEARN MORE: Hubble’s Cosmic Collisions Hubble Science: Galaxy Details and Mergers Hubble Science: Tracing the Growth of Galaxies Download this image Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 24, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Galaxies Stories Stars Stories James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… View the full article

NOAA’s Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) is offloaded from a C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft onto the flatbed of a heavy-lift truck at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. Crews transported the satellite to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida to prepare it for launch. NASA/Isaac Watson The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U), the fourth and final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series, is now in Florida. The satellite landed on Tuesday, Jan. 23, in a United States Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy cargo plane at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Data from the environmental monitoring satellite constellation enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires, and solar storms. Teams spent several hours offloading GOES-U then transferring it to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in nearby Titusville where they will process the spacecraft and perform final checkouts as part of launch preparations. “GOES is a special circumstance because it’s a series of missions,” said Rex Engelhardt, GOES-U mission manager for NASA’s Launch Services Program. “Knowledge carries over from mission to mission, which makes for a really strong and a very experienced team. To procure and integrate satellites like GOES-U onto commercial rockets, the launch services team understands the requirements of what the satellites are going to need to reach orbit, and that knowledge is critical in bringing additional reliability to the integration process to help ensure success.” Fueling will be one of the key steps to readying the spacecraft to operate for 15 years in orbit. Technicians will add about 5,000 pounds of hypergolic propellants to GOES-U, then mate the spacecraft to a payload adapter and encapsulate it in a protective payload fairing as part of launch processing. After testing and fueling are complete, the encapsulated spacecraft will move to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy. GOES-U is scheduled to launch no earlier than Tuesday, April 30, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. NOAA’s Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) is offloaded from a C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft onto the flatbed of a heavy-lift truck at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. Crews transported the satellite to the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida to prepare it for launch. NASA/Isaac Watson On board GOES-U are seven instruments, including a new Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1) instrument. As a part of NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On mission, CCOR-1 will observe the Sun’s outermost layer, called the corona, for large explosions of plasma that could produce geomagnetic solar storms. The CCOR-1 instrument will enhance capabilities to provide advance warnings up to four days ahead of these storms that can cause widespread damage to satellites, power grids, and communication and navigation systems. The GOES-R Series satellites are planned to operate into the 2030s. Looking forward, NOAA is working with NASA to develop the next generation of geostationary satellites, called Geostationary Extended Observations, which will bring new capabilities in support of U.S. weather, ocean, and climate operations beyond the 2030s. NASA will manage the development of the geostationary satellites and launch them for NOAA. “The GOES-R program demonstrates the tremendous value of NASA’s longstanding collaboration with NOAA,” said Renee Falden, program executive in the Joint Agency Satellite Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are taking the best qualities of that collaboration forward into the GeoXO program, which will continue NOAA’s key observations from geostationary orbit while generating new data streams for a broad community of users across the country.” NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the GOES-U mission. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception. View the full article

NASA released on Tuesday the outcomes of its 2023 Moon to Mars Architecture Concept Review, the agency’s process to build a roadmap for exploration of the solar system for the benefit of humanity. The Moon to Mars architecture approach incorporates feedback from U.S. industry, academia, international partners, and the NASA workforce. The 2023 Architecture Concept Review refined the existing architecture and strategies for the first crewed missions to Mars, including identifying seven key decisions in development that need to be made early in the process of establishing a plan to send astronauts to the Red Planet. “Our new documents reflect the progress we’ve made to define a clear approach to exploration and lay out how we’ll incorporate new elements as technologies and capabilities in the U.S. and abroad mature,” said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This process is ensuring that everything we are doing as an agency and together with our partners is focused on achieving our overarching exploration goals for the benefit of all.” Newly released documents include the 2023 Architecture Definition Document, a detailed, technical look at NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture approach and process; an executive overview; and 13 white papers about frequently raised topics on NASA’s exploration path. “Over the last year we’ve been able to refine our process for Moon to Mars architecture concept development to unify the agency,” said Nujoud Merancy, deputy associate administrator for strategy and architecture, NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “Our process in the coming months will focus on addressing gaps in the architecture and further reviewing the decisions the agency needs to make to successfully mount crewed Mars missions.” In April 2023, NASA shared the inaugural Architecture Definition Document with detailed information about how NASA’s Moon to Mars Objectives, which serve as guideposts for exploration, map to specific architecture elements. The agency hosted workshops to obtain feedback and held an internal concept review late in the year, during which leaders from across NASA came together to discuss architecture needs and refinements. NASA will continue this cadence going forward, refining the architecture each year. Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all. Find NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture documents at: https://www.nasa.gov/moontomarsarchitecture -end- Rachel Kraft Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 23, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsArtemisMissions View the full article