NASA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An artist’s concept of the completed design of NASA’s VIPER, or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. VIPER will get a close-up view of the location and concentration of ice and other resources at the Moon’s South Pole, bringing us a significant step closer to NASA’s ultimate goal of a long-term presence on the Moon – making it possible to eventually explore Mars and beyond. NASA/Daniel Rutter NASA is inviting people to send their names to the surface of the Moon aboard the agency’s first robotic lunar rover, VIPER – short for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. The rover will embark on a mission to the lunar South Pole to unravel the mysteries of the Moon’s water and better understand the environment where NASA plans to land the first woman and first person of color under its Artemis program. As part of the “Send Your Name with VIPER” campaign, NASA will accept names received before 11:59 p.m. EST, March 15. Once collected, the agency will take the names and attach them to the rover. To add your name, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-viper The site also enables participants to create and download a virtual souvenir – a boarding pass to the VIPER mission featuring their name – to commemorate the experience. Participants are encouraged to share their requests on social media using the hashtag #SendYourName. “With VIPER, we are going to study and explore parts of the Moon’s surface no one has ever been to before – and with this campaign, we are inviting the world to be part of that risky yet rewarding journey,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Just think: Our names will ride along as VIPER navigates across the rugged terrain of the lunar South Pole and gathers valuable data that will help us better understand the history of the Moon and the environment where we plan to send Artemis astronauts.” This campaign is like other NASA projects that have enabled tens of millions of people to send their names to ride along with Artemis I, several Mars spacecraft, and the agency’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission. It draws from the agency’s long tradition of shipping inspirational messages on spacecraft that have explored our solar system and beyond. “Our VIPER is a game-changer,” said Daniel Andrews, VIPER’s project manager at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. “It’s the first mission of its kind, expanding our understanding of where lunar resources could be harvested to support a long-term human presence on the Moon.” In late 2024, Astrobotic Technologies’ Griffin Mission One is scheduled to deliver VIPER to the lunar surface after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Once there, VIPER will rely on its solar panels and batteries for its roughly 100-day mission to survive extreme temperatures and challenging lighting conditions, while powering a suite of science instruments designed to gather data about the characteristics and concentrations of lunar ice and other possible resources. NASA’s VIPER delivery is part of its CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative under the Artemis program. With CLPS, as well as with human exploration near the lunar South Pole, NASA will establish a long-term cadence of Moon missions in preparation for sending the first astronauts to Mars. The rover is part of the LDEP (Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program), managed by the Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters and is executed through the Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office. In addition to managing the mission, NASA Ames leads the mission’s science, systems engineering, real-time rover surface operations, and flight software. The rover hardware is designed and built by NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while the instruments are provided by NASA Ames, the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and commercial partner Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California. For more information about VIPER, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/viper -end- Karen Fox / Alise Fisher Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1275 / 202-358-2546 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov Rachel Hoover Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley 650-604-4789 rachel.hoover@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jan 04, 2024 Related TermsVIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover)Missions View the full article

4 min read NASA’s Hubble Observes Exoplanet Atmosphere Changing Over 3 Years By combining several years of observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope along with conducting computer modelling, astronomers have found evidence for massive cyclones and other dynamic weather activity swirling on a hot, Jupiter-sized planet 880 light-years away. The planet, called WASP-121 b, is not habitable. But this result is an important early step in studying weather patterns on distant worlds, and perhaps eventually finding potentially habitable exoplanets with stable, long-term climates. This is an artist’s concept of the exoplanet WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos. The exoplanet’s appearance is based on Hubble simulation data of the object. Using Hubble observations, another team of scientists had previously reported the detection of heavy metals such as magnesium and iron escaping from the upper atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter exoplanet; marking it as the first of such detection. The exoplanet is orbiting dangerously close to its host star, roughly 2.6% of the distance of Earth to the Sun, placing it on the verge of being ripped apart by the star’s tidal forces. The powerful gravitational forces have altered the planet’s shape. An international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of the exoplanet in the years 2016, 2018 and 2019. This provided them with a unique data-set that allowed them to not only analyze the atmosphere of WASP-121 b, but also to compare the state of the exoplanet’s atmosphere across several years. They found clear evidence that the observations of WASP-121 b were varying in time. The team then used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet’s atmosphere. NASA, ESA, Quentin Changeat (ESA/STScI), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble) For the past few decades, detailed telescopic and spacecraft observations of neighboring planets in our solar system show that their turbulent atmospheres are not static but constantly changing, just like weather on Earth. This variability should also apply to planets around other stars, too. But it takes lots of detailed observing and computational modelling to actually measure such changes. To make the discovery, an international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of WASP-121 b taken in 2016, 2018, and 2019. They found that the planet has a dynamic atmosphere, changing over time. The team used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these dramatic temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet’s atmosphere. The team found that WASP-121 b’s atmosphere shows notable differences between observations. Most dramatically, there could be massive weather fronts, storms, and massive cyclones that are repeatedly created and destroyed due to the large temperature difference between the star-facing side and dark side of the exoplanet. They also detected an apparent offset between the exoplanet’s hottest region and the point on the planet closest to the star, as well as variability in the chemical composition of the exoplanet’s atmosphere (as measured via spectroscopy). The team reached these conclusions by using computational models to help explain observed changes in the exoplanet’s atmosphere. “The remarkable details of our exoplanet atmosphere simulations allows us to accurately model the weather on ultra-hot planets like WASP-121 b,” explained Jack Skinner, a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and co-leader of this study. “Here we make a significant step forward by combining observational constraints with atmosphere simulations to understand the time-varying weather on these planets.” To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This visualization shows the temperature forecast spanning 130 exoplanet-days, across sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight for the exoplanet WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos. The brighter yellow regions depict areas in the day side of the exoplanet where temperatures soar well above 2,100 degrees Kelvin (3,320 degrees Fahrenheit); due to the close proximity to its host star, roughly 2.6% of the distance of Earth to the Sun. Due to the extreme temperature difference between the day and night sides, astronomers suspect evaporated iron and other heavy metals escaping into the higher layers of atmosphere on the day side partially fall back onto lower layers, making it rain iron at night. Some of the heavy metals also escape the planet’s gravity from the upper atmosphere. It only takes WASP-121 b roughly 31 hours to complete an orbit around its star. An international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of the exoplanet in the years 2016, 2018, and 2019. This provided them with a unique data-set that allowed them to not only analyze the atmosphere of WASP-121 b, but also to compare the state of the exoplanet’s atmosphere across several years. They found clear evidence that the observations of WASP-121 b were varying in time. The team then used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet’s atmosphere, as seen here. The international team of astronomers in this study consists of: Q. Changeat (European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), University College London); J.W. Skinner (California Institute of Technology, Brandeis University); J. Y-K. Cho, (Brandeis University, Center for Computational Astrophysics/Flatiron Institute); J. Nättilä (Center for Computational Astrophysics/ Flatiron Institute, Columbia University); I.P. Waldmann (University College London); A.F. Al-Refaie (University College London); A. Dyrek (Université Paris Cité, Université Paris-Saclay); B. Edwards (Netherlands Institute for Space Research, University College London); T. Mikal-Evans (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy); M. Joshua (Blue Skies Space Ltd.); G. Morello (Chalmers University of Technology, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias); N. Skaf (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Université de Paris, University College London); A. Tsiaras (University College London); O. Venot (Université de Paris Cité, Université Paris Est Creteil); and K.H. Yip (University College London). Credit: NASA, ESA, Quentin Changeat (ESA/STScI), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble) “This is a hugely exciting result as we move forward for observing weather patterns on exoplanets,” said one of the principal investigators of the team, Quentin Changeat, a European Space Agency Research Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. “Studying exoplanets’ weather is vital to understanding the complexity of exoplanet atmospheres on other worlds, especially in the search for exoplanets with habitable conditions.” WASP-121 b is so close to its parent star that the orbital period is only 1.27 days. This close proximity means that the planet is tidally locked so that the same hemisphere always faces the star, in the same way that our Moon always has the same side pointed at Earth. Daytime temperatures approach 3,450 degrees Fahrenheit (2,150 degrees Kelvin) on the star-facing side of the planet. The team used four sets of Hubble archival observations of WASP-121 b. The complete data-set included observations of WASP-121 b transiting in front of its star (taken in June 2016); WASP-121 b passing behind its star, also known as a secondary eclipse (taken in November 2016); and the brightness of WASP-121 b as a function of its phase angle to the star (the varying amount of light received at Earth from an exoplanet as it orbits its parent star, similar to our Moon’s phase-cycle). These data were taken in March 2018 and February 2019, respectively. “The assembled data-set represents a significant amount of observing time for a single planet and is currently the only consistent set of such repeated observations,” said Changeat. The information that we extracted from those observations was used to infer the chemistry, temperature, and clouds of the atmosphere of WASP-121 b at different times. This provided us with an exquisite picture of the planet changing over time.” Hubble’s capabilities also are evident in the broad expanse of science programs it will enable through its Cycle 31 observations, which began on December 1. About two-thirds of Hubble’s time will be devoted to imaging studies, while the remainder is allotted to spectroscopy studies, like those used for WASP-121 b. More details about Cycle 31 science are in a recent announcement. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This visualization shows the weather patterns on the exoplanet WASP-121 b, also known as Tylos. This video has been slowed to observe the patterns in the exoplanet’s atmosphere in closer detail. An international team of astronomers assembled and reprocessed Hubble observations of the exoplanet in the years 2016, 2018, and 2019. This provided them with a unique data-set that allowed them to not only analyze the atmosphere of WASP-121 b, but also to compare the state of the exoplanet’s atmosphere across several years. They found clear evidence that the observations of WASP-121 b were varying in time. The team then used sophisticated modelling techniques to demonstrate that these temporal variations could be explained by weather patterns in the exoplanet’s atmosphere, as seen here. The science team’s models found that their results could be explained by quasi-periodic weather patterns: specifically, massive cyclones that are repeatedly created and destroyed due to the huge temperature difference between the star-facing and dark side of the exoplanet. This result represents a significant step forward in potentially observing weather patterns on exoplanets. The international team of astronomers in this study consists of: Q. Changeat (European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), University College London); J.W. Skinner (California Institute of Technology, Brandeis University); J. Y-K. Cho, (Brandeis University, Center for Computational Astrophysics/Flatiron Institute); J. Nättilä (Center for Computational Astrophysics/ Flatiron Institute, Columbia University); I.P. Waldmann (University College London); A.F. Al-Refaie (University College London); A. Dyrek (Université Paris Cité, Université Paris-Saclay); B. Edwards (Netherlands Institute for Space Research, University College London); T. Mikal-Evans (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy); M. Joshua (Blue Skies Space Ltd.); G. Morello (Chalmers University of Technology, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias); N. Skaf (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Université de Paris, University College London); A. Tsiaras (University College London); O. Venot (Université de Paris Cité, Université Paris Est Creteil); and K.H. Yip (University College London). Credit: NASA, ESA, Quentin Changeat (ESA/STScI), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble) LEARN MORE: Recognizing Worlds Beyond Our Sun Finding Planetary Construction Zones 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 Bethany Downer ESA/Hubble Science Contact: Quentin Changeat ESA/STScI Share Details Last Updated Jan 04, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Astrophysics 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. Exoplanet Stories Exoplanets Solar System Exploration View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The International Space Station is a hub for scientific research and technology demonstration. Currently, in its third decade of human-tended operations, the orbiting lab is building on previous research to produce pivotal results while conducting cutting-edge science. Read highlights of some of the groundbreaking space station science conducted in 2023 that is benefiting humanity on Earth and preparing humans for journeys to the Moon and beyond. Bringing Back the Benefits to People on Earth The first human knee meniscus successfully 3D bioprinted in orbit using the BioFabrication Facility. Redwire The first human knee meniscus was successfully bioprinted in orbit using the space station’s BioFabrication Facility. BFF-Meniscus-2 evaluates 3D printing knee cartilage tissue using bioinks and cells. Demonstration of this capability in space supports continued and expanded commercial use of the space station for fabricating tissues and organs for transplant on the ground. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara pose in front of the International Space Station’s Cold Atom Lab. NASA For the first time in space, scientists produced a quantum gas containing two types of atoms using station’s Cold Atom Laboratory. This new capability could allow researchers to study the quantum properties of individual atoms as well as quantum chemistry, which focuses on how different types of atoms interact and combine in a quantum state. This research could enable a wider range of Cold Atom Lab experiments, harnessing the facility to develop new space-based quantum technologies. Quantum tools are used in everything, from cell phones to medical devices, and could deepen our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature. Monitoring Climate Change from Above On Sept. 14, 2023, NASA announced that July 2023 was the hottest recorded month since 1880. The space station is helping monitor climate change by collecting data using multiple Earth-observing instruments mounted on its exterior. The Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers NASA’s EMIT after retrieving it from the trunk of the SpaceX Dragon. NASA Since launching in 2022, NASA’s EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) has detected more than surface minerals. The imaging spectrometer is now identifying point-source emissions of greenhouse gases with a proficiency that surprises even its designers. Detecting methane was not part of EMIT’s primary mission, but with more than 750 emissions sources now identified, the instrument has proven effective at spotting sources both big and small. This is an important factor in identifying “super-emitters” – sources that produce disproportionate shares of total emissions. Tracking human-caused emissions could offer a low-cost, rapid approach to reducing greenhouse gases. Evaporative Stress Index over San Joaquin Valley, CA.NASA Models using NASA’s ECOSTRESS data found that photosynthesis in plants begins to fail at 116 degrees Fahrenheit (F) (46.7 degrees Celsius (C)). ECOSTRESS is helping to explore the implications of climate change within tropical rainforests. According to this study, average temperatures have increased 0.5 C per decade in some tropical regions, and temperature extremes are becoming more pronounced. It is unknown whether tropical vegetation temperatures could soon approach this threshold, but this result raises awareness of the need to mitigate climate change effects on rainforests, a primary producer of the world’s oxygen. Studying for the Journey Beyond Low Earth Orbit NASA now has the ability to recycle 98% of the water collected from the US segment on the space station – meeting the threshold necessary for water recovery on long-duration space exploration missions. Credit: NASA/ ScienceCasts NASA has achieved 98% water recovery aboard the U.S. segment of the space station, a necessary milestone for space missions that venture to distant destinations. NASA uses the station to develop and test life support systems that can regenerate or recycle consumables such as food, air, and water. Ideally, life support systems need to recover close to 98% of the water that crews bring along at the start of a long journey. In 2023, the space station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System demonstrated this ability NASA’s Laser Communications Roadmap – proving the technology’s validity in a variety of environments. NASA / Dave Ryan NASA’s ILLUMA-T, a laser communications demonstration, completed its first link — a critical milestone for the agency’s first two-way laser relay system. Laser communications send and receive information at higher rates, providing spacecraft with the capability to send more data back to Earth in a single transmission. Testing operational laser communications in a variety of scenarios could refine the capability for future missions to the Moon and Mars. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video NASA astronaut Frank Rubio harvests tomatoes for the Veg-05 experiment. Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Frank Rubio completed a record-breaking science mission, spending 371 days in space. During his time in orbit, Rubio was the first astronaut to participate in a study examining how exercising with limited gym equipment affects the human body and is one of a handful of astronauts to help researchers test whether an enhanced diet can improve adaptation to life in space. Rubio’s contributions help researchers understand how spaceflight affects human physiology and psychology and prepare for long-duration missions. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi harvests leaves from thale cress plants for the Plant Habitat-03 experiment.NASA The completion of one of the first multi-generational plant studies aboard the space station could help researchers assess whether genetic adaptations in one generation of plants grown in space can transfer to the next. Plant Habitat-03 results could provide insight into how to grow repeated generations of crops to provide fresh food and other services on future space missions. A sample of fabric burns inside an uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft for the Saffire-IV experiment. NASA Saffire-VI (Spacecraft Fire Experiment-IV) marked the completion of a series of combustion experiments helping researchers understand the risks and behaviors of fire in space. Because flame-related experiments are difficult to conduct aboard an occupied spacecraft, Saffire (Spacecraft Fire Experiments) use the unmanned Cygnus resupply vehicle after it departs from the space station to test flammability at different oxygen levels and to demonstrate fire detection and monitoring capabilities. Christine Giraldo International Space Station Program Research Office Johnson Space Center Search this database of scientific experiments to learn more about those mentioned above. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Latest News from Space Station Research International Space Station Gallery Humans In Space Climate Change NASA is a global leader in studying Earth’s changing climate. 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23 Min Read The Next Full Moon is the Cold, Frost or Winter Moon A full moon rises about California’s Vasquez Rocks Credits: NASA/Preston Dyches January 2024 The Next Full Moon is the Cold, Frost, or Winter Moon; the Long Night Moon; the Moon after Yule; the Datta Jayanti and Thiruvathira Festival Moon; Unduvap Poya; and the Chang’e Moon. The next full Moon will be Tuesday evening, December 26, 2023, appearing opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 7:33 PM EST. This will be on Wednesday in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and for most of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. Many commercial calendars use UTC and will show this full Moon on Wednesday. The Moon will appear full for 3 days, from Monday evening to Thursday morning. The Maine Farmers’ Almanac began publishing “Indian” names for full Moons in the 1930s. Over time these names have become widely known and used. According to this almanac, as the full Moon in December this is the Cold Moon, due to the long, cold nights. Other names are the Frost Moon, for the frosts as winter nears or the Winter Moon. As the full Moon closest to the winter solstice, this is the Long Night Moon. The plane of the Moon’s orbit around the Earth nearly matches the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. When the path of the Sun appears lowest in the sky for the year, the path of the full Moon opposite the Sun appears near its highest. For the Washington, DC, area, on Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, December 7 to 8, 2023, the Moon will be in the sky for a total of 15 hours 57 minutes, with 14 hours 33 minutes of this when the Sun is down, making this the longest full Moon night of the year. The Moon will reach a maximum altitude of 79.0 degrees at 24 minutes after midnight. As the full Moon after the winter solstice, some consider this the Moon after Yule. Yule was a 3- to 12-day festival near the winter solstice in pre-Christian Europe. In the tenth century King Haakon I associated Yule with Christmas as part of the Christianization of Norway, and this association spread throughout Europe. However, when Yule was celebrated is unclear. Some sources associate it with the 12 days of Christmas, which puts the Moon after Yule in January. Other sources suggest that Yule is an old name for the month of January, so the Moon after Yule is in February. In the absence of better information, I’m going with the full Moon after the winter solstice as the Moon after Yule. This full Moon corresponds with Datta Jayanti, also known as Dattatreya Jayanti, a Hindu festival commemorating the birth day of the Hindu god Dattatreya (Datta). This full Moon corresponds with the Thiruvathira festival celebrated by Hindus in the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. For the Buddhists of Sri Lanka, this is Unduvap Poya. In the third century BCE, Sanghamitta Theri, the daughter of Emperor Asoka of India and founder of an order of Buddhist nuns in Sri Lanka, brought a branch of the Bodhi Tree to Sri Lanka. This sapling was planted in 288 BCE by King Devanampiya Tissa in the Mahamevnāwa Park in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, where it still grows today, making it the oldest living human-planted tree with a known planting date. We could also call this the Chang’e Moon, after the three Chinese lunar landers that launched and landed on the Moon this time of year. These missions get their name from the Chinese goddess of the Moon, Chang’e, who lived on the Moon with her pet rabbit, Yutu. The Chang’e 3 lander and its companion Yutu-1 rover launched on December 1 and landed on the Moon on December 14, 2013. The Chang’e 4 lander and Yutu-2 rover launched December 7, 2018, and landed on the Moon on January 3, 2019. The Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission launched on November 23 (in UTC, November 24 in China’s time zone), collected samples from the Moon, and returned them to Earth on December 16, 2020, humanity’s first lunar sample return since 1976. In many lunar and lunisolar calendars the months change with the new Moon and full Moons fall in the middle of the lunar month. This full Moon is in the middle of the eleventh month of the Chinese calendar, Tevet in the Hebrew calendar, and Jumada al-Thani in the Islamic calendar, also known as Jumada al-Akhirah or Jumada al-Akhir. As usual, the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full Moon. Make sure you are ready for winter and take advantage of these early sunsets to enjoy and share the wonders of the night sky. As for other celestial events between now and the full Moon after next (with times and angles based on the location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC): As winter continues, the daily periods of sunlight continue lengthening. On Tuesday, December 26, 2023 (the day of the full Moon), morning twilight will begin at 6:22 AM, sunrise will be at 7:25 AM, solar noon will be at 12:09 PM when the Sun will reach its maximum altitude of 27.8 degrees, sunset will be at 4:52 PM, and evening twilight will end at 5:56 PM. Our 24-hour clock is based on the average length of the solar day. Although the day of the winter solstice is sometimes called the “shortest day of the year” (because it has the shortest period of sunlight), the solar days near the solstice are actually the longest solar days of the year. Because of this, the earliest sunset of the year occurs before the solstice and the latest sunrise of the year (ignoring Daylight Savings Time) occurs after the solstice. For the Washington, DC area and similar latitudes (I’ve not checked other latitudes), Friday, January 5, 2024, will have the latest (non-daylight-savings time) sunrise of the year (with sunrise at 7:26:56 AM EST). By Thursday, January 25 (the day of the full Moon after next), morning twilight will begin at 6:24 AM, sunrise will be at 7:27 AM, solar noon will be at 12:13 PM when the Sun will reach its maximum altitude of 28.5 degrees, sunset will be at 5:00 PM, and evening twilight will end at 6:03 PM. Meteor Showers The Quadrantids (010 QUA) meteor shower is predicted to be active from December 28, 2023 to January 12, 2024, peaking early Thursday morning, January 4. This shower can have visible meteor rates as high as the other two reliably rich meteor showers (the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December), but is harder to see because the peak is narrower (only a few hours) and these meteors are fainter. The best time to look may be the morning of January 4 for the hour or two before the Moon rises (at 2:29 AM EST), as moonlight will interfere at the time of the predicted peak at 4 AM EST. The International Meteor Organization (IMO) reports that video and radio forward scatter data from the last few years suggest the peak may be a few hours ahead of the predicted peak and that the maximum may be wider than the usually quoted 4 hours, making the time before moonrise more promising. The area of the sky that these meteors will appear to radiate out from (called the radiant) will rise above the north-northeastern horizon Wednesday night at around 10 PM EST. The higher the radiant is above the horizon the fewer meteors will be hidden, so it’s generally best to look after midnight but before moonrise. To see these meteors you will need a dark place far from the glow of city lights with a clear view of a large part of the sky, and for the weather to cooperate by providing a clear sky without clouds or haze. This is particularly important because these meteors tend to be faint. Be sure to give your eyes plenty of time to adapt to the dark. The rod cells in your eyes are more sensitive to low light levels but play little role in color vision. Your color-sensing cone cells are concentrated near the center of your view with more rod cells on the edge of your view. Since some meteors are faint, you will tend to see more meteors from the “corner of your eye” (which is why you need to view a large part of the sky). Your color vision (cone cells) will adapt to darkness in about 10 minutes, but your more sensitive night vision rod cells will continue to improve for an hour or more (with most of the improvement in the first 35 to 45 minutes). The more sensitive your eyes are, the more chance you have of seeing meteors. Even a short exposure to light (from passing car headlights, etc.) will start the adaptation over again (so no turning on a light or your cell phone to check what time it is). These meteors are caused by a stream of debris that enters the Earth’s atmosphere at 41 kilometers per second (92,000 miles per hour). The source of this debris might be the asteroid (196256) 2003 EH1, which may be an extinct comet and may be related to a comet discovered by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean astronomers in 1490 (called C/1490 Y1). Evening Sky Highlights Despite the cold weather, these still should be great evenings for Jupiter and Saturn watching, especially with a backyard telescope. Both will appear to shift westward each night. Jupiter was at its closest and brightest on November 2, 2023, and will be high in the sky as evening twilight ends. Saturn was at its closest and brightest for the year on August 27, and will be lower in the sky, gradually shifting towards the west-southwestern horizon. With clear skies and a telescope you should be able to see Jupiter’s four bright moons, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io, noticeably shifting positions in the course of an evening. For Saturn, you should be able to see Saturn’s rings as well as Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. On the evening of Tuesday, December 26 (the evening of the night of the full Moon), as evening twilight ends (at 5:56 PM EST), the rising Moon will be 15 degrees above the east-northeastern horizon. Two planets will be visible. The brightest will be Jupiter at 51 degrees above the southeastern horizon. Saturn will be 33 degrees above the south-southwestern horizon. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will be the star Deneb at 52 degrees above the west-northwestern horizon, with Jupiter a close second. Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus the swan and is one of the three bright stars of the “Summer Triangle” (along with Vega and Altair). Deneb is about 20 times more massive than our Sun and has used up its hydrogen, becoming a blue-white supergiant about 200 times the diameter of the Sun. If Deneb were where our Sun is, it would extend to about the orbit of the Earth. Deneb is about 2,600 light years from us and is the 19th brightest star in our night sky. As this lunar cycle progresses, Jupiter, Saturn, and the background of stars will appear to shift westward each evening (as the Earth moves around the Sun). The still full Moon will appear near the bright star Pollux on December 27 and the waxing Moon will pass by Saturn on January 14, 2024, Jupiter on January 18, the Pleiades star cluster on January 20, and Pollux on January 24. By the evening of Thursday, January 25 (the evening of the day of the full Moon after next), as evening twilight ends (at 6:22 PM EST), the rising Moon will be 11 degrees above the east-northeastern horizon. Two planets will be visible. The brightest will be Jupiter at 64 degrees above the southern horizon, making Jupiter the bright object closest to overhead. Saturn will be 15 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon. Morning Sky Highlights On the morning of Wednesday, December 27, 2023 (the morning of the night of the full Moon), as morning twilight begins (at 6:22 AM EST), the setting full Moon will be 18 degrees above the west-northwestern horizon. The only visible planet will be bright Venus at 19 degrees above the southeastern horizon. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will be the star Arcturus at 61 degrees above the southeastern horizon. Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes the herdsman or plowman, is the 4th brightest star in our night sky, and is 36.7 light years from us. While it has about the same mass as our Sun, it is about 2.6 billion years older and has used up its core hydrogen, becoming a red giant 25 times the size and 170 times the brightness of our Sun. As this lunar cycle progresses, the background of stars will appear to shift westward each evening, while Venus will gradually shift the other direction towards the southeastern horizon. After December 28 the planet Mercury will join Venus in the morning sky, rising on the east-southeastern horizon before morning twilight begins. Mercury will reach its highest as morning twilight begins on January 8, 2024, after which it will shift towards the horizon again. After January 20 the planet Mars will join Venus and Mercury, rising on the east-southeastern horizon before morning twilight begins. The waning Moon will pass near Pollux on December 28, Regulus on December 31, Spica on January 4 and 5, Antares and bright Venus on January 8 (with Mercury farther to the left), and Mercury on January 9. One of the three major meteor showers of the year, the Quadrantids, is predicted to peak early January 4. The best time to look may be the hour or two before the Moon rises (at 2:29 AM EST), as moonlight will interfere by the time of the predicted peak at 4 AM. By the morning of Thursday, January 25 (the morning of the day of the full Moon after next), as morning twilight begins (at 6:19 AM EST), the setting full Moon will be 13 degrees above the west-northwestern horizon. Three planets will be visible in the sky (although two will be very low on the horizon). The brightest will be Venus at 10 degrees above the southeastern horizon. Next in brightness will be Mercury at 1.5 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. To the lower left of Mercury will be Mars, just barely above the horizon. Mercury and Mars will appear at their closest to each other two mornings later. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will still be the star Arcturus at 70 degrees above the southern horizon. Detailed Daily Guide Here for your reference is a day-by-day listing of celestial events between now and the full Moon after next. The times and angles are based on the location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and some of these details may differ for where you are (I use parentheses to indicate times specific to the DC area). Thursday evening, December 21, 2023, at 10:27 PM EST, will be the winter solstice. This will be the day with the shortest period of daylight (9 hours, 26 minutes, 13 seconds long). Worldwide there are many festivals associated with the winter solstice, including Yule and the Chinese Dongzhi Festival. Europeans have used two main ways to divide the year into seasons and define winter. The old Celtic calendar used in much of pre-Christian Europe considered winter to be the quarter of the year with the shortest periods of daylight and the longest periods of night, so that winter started around Halloween and ended around Groundhog Day (hence the origin of these traditions). However, since it takes time for our planet to cool off, the quarter year with the coldest average temperatures starts later than the quarter year with the shortest days. In our modern calendar we approximate this by having winter start on the winter solstice and end on the spring equinox. For the Washington, DC area at least, the quarter year with the coldest average temperatures actually starts the first week of December and ends the first week of March. Solar noon on Thursday, December 21, to solar noon on Friday, December 22, 2023, will be the longest solar day of the year, 24 hours 29.8 seconds long. In this sense, the “shortest day of the year” is also the “longest day of the year!” Thursday night into Friday morning, December 21 to 22, 2023, the bright planet Jupiter will appear near the waxing gibbous Moon. Jupiter will be 8 degrees to the lower left of the Moon as evening twilight ends (at 5:53 PM EST). The Moon will reach its highest in the sky for the night 2 hours later (at 7:53 PM) with Jupiter 7 degrees to the left. By the time the Moon sets on the west-northwestern horizon (at 2:50 AM) Jupiter will be 4 degrees to the upper left of the Moon. Friday afternoon, December 22, 2023, the planet Mercury will be passing between the Earth and the Sun as seen from the Earth, called inferior conjunction. Planets that orbit inside of the orbit of Earth can have two types of conjunctions with the Sun, inferior (when passing between the Earth and the Sun) and superior (when passing on the far side of the Sun as seen from Earth). Mercury will be shifting from the evening sky to the morning sky and will begin emerging from the glow of dawn on the east-southeastern horizon in late December (depending upon viewing conditions). Friday evening, December 22, 2023, the waxing gibbous Moon will have shifted to the other side of the bright planet Jupiter, with Jupiter appearing 6.5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. Jupiter will appear to shift clockwise around the Moon, moving farther away as the night progresses. Saturday evening into Sunday morning, December 23 to 24, 2023, the Pleiades star cluster will appear near the waxing gibbous Moon. The Pleiades will be about 6 degrees to the lower left as evening twilight ends (at 5:54 PM EST) and will shift clockwise around the Moon, appearing about 4 degrees to the upper left by the time the Moon reaches its highest in the sky (at 9:34 PM). By the time the Moon sets on the west-northwestern horizon (at 5:11 AM) the Pleiades will be less than 2 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. Due to the glare of the nearly full Moon, it may be difficult to see the Pleiades without very clear and dark skies or binoculars. As mentioned above, the next full Moon will be Tuesday evening, December 26, 2023, at 7:33 PM EST. This will be on Wednesday in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and for most of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. Many commercial calendars use UTC and will show this full Moon on Wednesday. The Moon will appear full for 3 days, from Monday evening to Thursday morning. Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, December 27 to 28, 2023, the bright star Pollux will appear near the still full Moon. As evening twilight ends (at 5:56 PM EST) Pollux will be 6.5 degrees to the lower left of the Moon low on the east-northeastern horizon. By the time the Moon reaches its highest in the sky for the night 7 hours later (at 1:15 AM) Pollux will be 3 degrees to the upper left. As morning twilight begins (at 6:22 AM) Pollux will be 2.5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. Thursday morning, December 28, 2023, will be the first morning the planet Mercury will be above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins (at 6:22 AM EST). Thursday night, December 28, 2023, the waning gibbous Moon will have shifted to the other side of the bright star Pollux. As the Moon rises (at 6:22 PM EST) above the east-northeastern horizon 25 minutes after evening twilight ends, Pollux will be 7 degrees to the upper right of the Moon, and the pair will separate as the night progresses. Saturday night into Sunday morning, December 30 to 31, 2023, the bright star Regulus will appear near the waning gibbous Moon. As Regulus rises above the east-northeastern horizon (at 8:59 PM EST) it will be 5.5 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. By the time the Moon reaches its highest in the sky for the night (at 3:38 AM) Regulus will be 3.5 degrees below the Moon. As morning twilight begins (at 6:23 AM) Regulus will be 3 degrees to the lower left of the Moon. Monday morning, January 1, 2024, at 10:29 AM EST, the Moon will be at apogee, its farthest from the Earth for this orbit. Tuesday evening, January 2, 2024, the Earth will be at perihelion, the closest we get to the Sun in our orbit. Between perihelion and 6 months later at aphelion there is about a 6.7% difference in the intensity of the sunlight reaching the Earth, one of the reasons the seasons in the Southern hemisphere are more extreme than in the Northern Hemisphere. Perihelion is also when the Earth is moving the fastest in its orbit around the Sun, so if you run east at local midnight, you will be moving about as fast as you can (at least in Sun-centered coordinates) for your location. Wednesday evening, January 3, 2024, the waning Moon will appear half-full as it reaches its last quarter at 10:31 PM EST. The Quadrantids (010 QUA) meteor shower is predicted to peak early Thursday morning, January 4, 2024. The best time to look may be the hour or two before the Moon rises (at 2:29 AM EST). See the meteor shower summary above for more information. Friday morning, January 5, 2024, the bright star Spica will appear to the upper right of the waning crescent Moon. As the Moon rises on the east-southeastern horizon (at 1:25 AM EST) Spica will be 4 degrees to the upper right. By the time morning twilight begins (at 6:24 AM) Spica will be 5.5 degrees to the upper right. Ignoring Daylight Savings Time, for the Washington, DC area and similar latitudes, (I’ve not checked elsewhere), Friday, January 5, 2024, will be the morning with the latest sunrise of the year, 7:26:56 AM EST. Sunday morning, January 7, 2024, as morning twilight begins (at 6:24 AM EST), the waning crescent Moon will be 22 degrees above the south-southeastern horizon, with the bright planet Venus to the lower left at 15 degrees above the southeastern horizon, the bright star Antares to the lower right of Venus at 11 degrees above the horizon, and the planet Mercury farther to the lower left of Venus at 5 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. The planet Mars will join this lineup 8 minutes later, rising in the glow of dawn to the lower left of Mercury. Monday morning, January 8, 2024, the Moon, Venus, and Antares will appear clustered together above the southeastern horizon, with Mercury farther to the lower left. As morning twilight begins (at 6:24 AM EST) the bright planet Venus will appear 7 degrees to the upper left of the waning crescent Moon with the bright star Antares 1.5 degrees to the lower left of the Moon. The planet Mercury will be farther to the lower left of the Moon, Venus, and Antares, this being the morning when Mercury will be at its highest as twilight begins, a little over 6 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. Mars will rise 7 minutes later, joining this grouping. By Tuesday morning, January 9, 2024, the Moon will have shifted to 8 degrees to the lower right of Mercury, appearing only 3 degrees above the southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins (at 6:24 AM EST). The Moon will be a thin crescent and may be hard to see. Mars will rise in the glow of dawn 7 minutes later to the lower left of Mercury. Thursday morning, January 11, 2024, at 6:57 AM EST, will be the new Moon, when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible from the Earth. The day of or the day after the New Moon usually marks the start of the new month for most lunisolar calendars. Sundown on Wednesday, January 10, marks the start of Shevat in the Hebrew calendar. The twelfth month of the Chinese year of the Rabbit starts on January 11. Friday morning, January 12, 2024, will be when the planet Mercury reaches its greatest angular separation from the Sun as seen from the Earth for this apparition (called greatest elongation). Because the angle of the line between the Sun and Mercury and the horizon changes, when Mercury and the Sun appear farthest apart as seen from the Earth is not always when Mercury appears highest above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins, which occurred January 8. In the Islamic calendar the months traditionally start with the first sighting of the waxing crescent Moon. Many Muslim communities now follow the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia, which uses astronomical calculations to start months in a more predictable way. Using this calendar, sundown on Friday evening, January 12, 2024, will probably mark the beginning of Rajab, the seventh month of the Islamic calendar. Rajab is one of the four sacred months in which warfare and fighting are forbidden. Saturday morning, January 13, 2024, at 5:36 AM EST, the Moon will be at perigee, its closest to the Earth for this orbit. Sunday evening, January 14, 2024, the planet Saturn will appear to the lower right of the waxing crescent Moon. The pair will be 7 degrees apart as evening twilight ends (at 6:11 PM EST) and Saturn will set first on the west-southwestern horizon a little over 2 hours later (at 8:26 PM). Wednesday evening, January 17, 2024, the Moon will appear half-full as it reaches its first quarter at 10:53 PM EST. Thursday evening into early Friday morning, January 18 to 19, 2024, the bright planet Jupiter will appear below the waxing gibbous Moon. Jupiter will be 3 degrees to the lower right of the Moon as evening twilight ends (at 6:15 PM EST) and will be 6 degrees below the Moon by the time Jupiter sets on the west-northwestern horizon 7 hours later (at 1:17 AM). Saturday morning, January 20, 2024, will be the first morning that the planet Mars will be above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins (at 6:22 AM EST). Saturday evening into Sunday morning, January 20 to 21, 2024, the Pleiades star cluster will appear near the waxing gibbous Moon. The Pleiades will be 5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon as evening twilight ends (at 6:17 PM EST). The Moon will reach its highest for the night 2 hours later (at 8:23 PM) with the Pleiades 6 degrees to the right. By the time the Pleiades set on the west-northwestern horizon (at around 3:25 AM) they will be 9 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. Late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, January 23 to 24, 2024, the bright star Pollux will appear near the nearly full Moon. As evening twilight ends (at 6:20 PM EST) Jupiter will be 10 degrees to the lower left of the Moon, but will shift closer as it swings clockwise around the Moon. When the Moon reaches its highest for the night 5 hours later (at 11:08 PM) Jupiter will be 8 degrees to the left of the Moon. By the time morning twilight begins (at 6:20 AM) Jupiter will be 5 degrees above the Moon. Thursday night into Friday morning, January 24 to 25, 2024, the Moon will have shifted to the other side of the bright star Pollux. Pollux will appear 3.5 degrees above the Moon as evening twilight ends (at 6:21 PM EST) and will appear to swing clockwise around the Moon as they move apart. When the Moon reaches its highest for the night (at midnight) Pollux will be 5.5 degrees to the upper right. As morning twilight begins (at 6:19 AM) Pollux will be 8 degrees to the lower right of the Moon. The full Moon after next will be Thursday afternoon, January 25, 2024, at 12:54 PM EST. This will be on Friday morning from Myanmar time eastward to the International Dateline in the mid-Pacific. The Moon will appear full for about 3 days around this time, from around midnight Wednesday morning through about midnight Friday night. About the Author Gordon Johnston Program Executive (Retired) – NASA Headquarters Read More View the full article

8 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Name: Joshua Schlieder Title: Wide Field Instrument Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and Operations Project Scientist for the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Formal Job Classification: Research Astrophysicist Organization: Stellar Astrophysics and Exoplanets Laboratory, Astrophysics Division, Sciences and Exploration Directorate (Code 667) Joshua Schlieder is the Wide Field Instrument scientist for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. “I am never bored (but sometimes stressed),” he said. “Every day is a new adventure.”Courtesy of Joshua Schlieder What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission? As the Wide Field Instrument scientist for the Roman Space Telescope, I am a member of the project science team and work with other scientists, engineers, and managers to ensure that the Wide Field Instrument, the primary wide field survey camera on Roman, meets its science requirements. As the operations project scientist for NASA’s Swift Observatory, I work with the principal investigator and project team to ensure that Swift is operating efficiently and obtaining data to meet our science goals and the needs of the astrophysics community. I also do fundamental astrophysics research focusing on low-mass stars and their exoplanets. What is your educational background? From a very young age I was fascinated by the natural world and was constantly trying to understand how it worked. There wasn’t a question I wouldn’t ask or a rock I wouldn’t turn over to understand a little more. This curiosity led me to a B.S. in physics from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. I then received an M.A. and Ph.D. in physics with a concentration in astrophysics from Stony Brook University in New York. How did you come to Goddard? Why do you stay? From 2014 – 2016, I had a postdoctoral fellowship at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California to develop science programs for the James Webb Space Telescope and analyze data from the exoplanet hunting K2 mission. In 2016, I went to the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the California Institute of Technology as a member of the Exoplanet Archive team. In 2017, I came to Goddard to work on the latest exoplanet hunting mission, TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Goddard is truly unique compared to other academic institutions. It has an outstanding scientific environment where you can perform cutting edge astrophysics research and directly contribute to developing and implementing NASA missions. Goddard astrophysicist Joshua Schlieder helps make sure the Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument meets its science requirements. He also gardens, spends time outdoors, and goes to minor league baseball games in his spare time.Courtesy of Joshua Schlieder What is most interesting about your role on Roman? We are working to build and test a new scientific instrument that will fly on a space telescope. I have the privilege of contributing to this effort and working with really excellent people from all disciplines. We combine our different scientific and technical backgrounds to solve difficult problems. I am never bored (but sometimes stressed). Every day is a new adventure. What is most interesting about your role on Swift? Swift has been operating for many years. I enjoy working on a team that is a well-oiled machine. The observatory is dynamic, it is always doing something new and can observe about 100 targets each day. Unlike many space telescopes, it can rapidly respond to astronomical events and re-point very quickly, delivering new science on short notice. Swift was designed in a way that enables it to observe many different types of targets over a wide range of wavelengths and it is exciting to be a part of the planning and execution of its diverse science program. What basic astrophysics research do you do? What is the one, big discovery you would like to make? I study red dwarf stars and the exoplanets that orbit them. Red dwarfs are a class of star that are generally about half the size of the Sun or smaller, very faint, and have red colors because of their relatively low temperatures. Red dwarfs are everywhere, they make up more than 70% of the stars in our galaxy! But, because they are not very bright, you cannot see them with the naked eye. I also study exoplanets. Exoplanets are planets that are outside our solar system orbiting other stars. We know of many exoplanets that orbit red dwarf stars. It is common to find a red dwarf with several Earth sized planets in a compact system that would easily fit inside the orbit of Mercury in our solar system. I hope someday that the astrophysics community will detect enough planets around red dwarf stars to truly understand the population and disentangle how such small stars can form so many planets. Since red dwarfs are the most common type of star, most planets in the galaxy orbit them. They may be our best opportunity to find planets that are similar to Earth and are close enough to study in great detail. Goddard astrophysicist Joshua Schlieder grows tropical plants indoors when he isn’t working on the Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument. “Research is never done, but that does not mean you should be doing it all the time. Having aspects of your life that are separate from astrophysics will keep you healthy and happy.”Courtesy of Joshua Schlieder What makes a good astrophysicist? You have to be imaginative and think outside the box but also learn from criticism. You have to enjoy collaborating with many people because the best ideas come from the combined efforts of people with different backgrounds and different experiences. You need a deep desire to push forward to understand the unknown, even if you do not know what path you may follow. You need to have a drive for new knowledge and an ability to go in different directions at the same time to solve a problem. You have to embrace big ideas. What in the universe is waiting to be understood? How do I take what I know and work with other people to try to figure it out? Astrophysicists are both linear and abstract thinkers. In general, we have to be abstract in coming up with ideas and linear in solving them but many times we rely on both ways of thinking. We also have to be able to explain these ideas to others in the community and the public. Communicating our work and explaining why it is important is a critical skill. As a mentor, what is the most important advice you give? Trust in your own ideas and abilities. You will run into setbacks and difficult times when projects are slow to move forward or even regress, but every day is progress and you will get there. You have to expect, accept, and learn from constructive criticism. When someone pushses back on an idea, an approach, or a result, know that you are capable and use it as an opportunity to improve. Ask questions, meet people, and build your community. Seek out those who may have the answers you need. You are not alone. Many people will be working on similar ideas, so work with them to see how everyone can build on an idea together. Being a scientist is tough, it is very competitive and everyone, whether they admit it or not, needs support. These people will be your support network. Most importantly, take time for yourself. Research is never done, but that does not mean you should be doing it all the time. Having aspects of your life that are separate from astrophysics will keep you healthy and happy. Goddard astrophysicist Joshua Schlieder relaxes at a Bowie Baysox game. “I also really enjoy minor league baseball, I try to see the local team in every city I visit. I have several dozen minor league team hats.”Courtesy of Joshua Schlieder Who inspires you? The early career scientists that I work with. They bring huge enthusiasm and new ideas to projects and are willing and able to dive into big problems. I am always impressed with their ingenuity, capability, and resilience. It is a privilege to work with people that are bound to be future leaders in the field. What is your hobby? I like to garden and grow outdoor plants. I like plants that produce fruit. I am growing several fig trees, a plum tree, a paw paw, and raspberry, blueberry, and goji berry bushes. I also grow tropical plants indoors including orchids, which can be difficult but rewarding. I enjoy going on long distance bicycle rides and recently completed a 100 km “metric century.” I also love being outdoors hiking, camping, and fishing. I also really enjoy minor league baseball, I try to see the local team in every city I visit. I have several dozen minor league team hats. Who is your favorite author? I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy novels. I especially enjoy books by N. K. Jemisin and Alastair Reynolds. What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words. Feet on the Ground, Head in the Stars. (I know this is eight words, but I was struggling to fit one to six.) Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage. By Elizabeth M. Jarrell NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Jan 03, 2024 EditorJessica EvansContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.gov Related TermsPeople of GoddardAstrophysicsGoddard Space Flight CenterNancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Explore More 5 min read NASA’s Juno to Get Close Look at Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io on Dec. 30 Article 1 week ago 6 min read A Look Through Time with NASA’s Lead Photographer for the James Webb Space Telescope Nearly two years ago in the early morning hours of Dec. 25, NASA’s James Webb… Article 2 weeks ago 6 min read Meet the Infrared Telescopes That Paved the Way for NASA’s Webb Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

NASA / Keegan Barber On March 30, 2023, NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins, and Robert Hines took part in STEM demonstrations with local students in Washington. Lindgren, Hines, and Watkins spent 170 days in space as part of Expeditions 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station. While aboard, the crew studied ways to reverse the aging of immune cells, how wounds heal in microgravity, and cardiovascular health. They also participated in spacewalks, tested new technology to diagnose medical conditions, explored the development of new construction materials in space, grew red dwarf tomatoes, and observed liquid behavior in artificial gravity to support missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. The NASA Headquarters photographers chose this photo as one of the best images from 2023. See the rest on Flickr. Image Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber View the full article

June 5, 2015 – NASA has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) adopting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Spaceport America Commercial Launch Site. Click here for the NASA ROD May 4, 2015 – NASA has issued a FONSI adopting the FAA EA for the Launch & Reentry of SpaceShipTwo Resusable Suborbital Rockets at the Mojave Air & Space Port, published in May 2012. Click here for the NASA FONSI Click here for FAA’s FEA & FONSI To return to the NEPA homepage, click here. Last Updated: Aug 4, 2017 Editor: Samuel Serafini View the full article

X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; Infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/SST; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, K. Arcand A colorful, festive image shows different types of light containing the remains of not one, but at least two, exploded stars. This supernova remnant is known as 30 Doradus B (30 Dor B for short) and is part of a larger region of space where stars have been continuously forming for the past 8 to 10 million years. It is a complex landscape of dark clouds of gas, young stars, high-energy shocks, and superheated gas, located 160,000 light-years away from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The new image of 30 Dor B was made by combining X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple), optical data from the Blanco 4-meter telescope in Chile (orange and cyan), and infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (red). Optical data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope was also added in black and white to highlight sharp features in the image. A team of astronomers led by Wei-An Chen from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, have used over two million seconds of Chandra observing time of 30 Dor B and its surroundings to analyze the region. They found a faint shell of X-rays that extends about 130 light-years across. (For context, the nearest star to the Sun is about 4 light-years away). The Chandra data also reveals that 30 Dor B contains winds of particles blowing away from a pulsar, creating what is known as a pulsar wind nebula. When taken together with data from Hubble and other telescopes, the researchers determined that no single supernova explosion could explain what is being seen. Both the pulsar and the bright X-rays seen in the center of 30 Dor B likely resulted from a supernova explosion after the collapse of a massive star about 5,000 years ago. The larger, faint shell of X-rays, however, is too big to have resulted from the same supernova. Instead, the team thinks that at least two supernova explosions took place in 30 Dor B, with the X-ray shell produced by another supernova more than 5,000 years ago. It is also quite possible that even more happened in the past. This result can help astronomers learn more about the lives of massive stars, and the effects of their supernova explosions. The paper led by Wei-An Chen describing these results was recently published in the Astronomical Journal. The co-authors of the paper are Chuan-Jui Li, You-Hua Chu, Shutaro Ueda, Kuo-Song Wang, Sheng-Yuan Liu, all from the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, in Taipei, Taiwan, and Bo-An Chen from National Taiwan University. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. For more Chandra images, multimedia and related materials, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/ Visual Description: Today’s release features a spectacular composite image of a large region of space where stars have been continuously forming for the past eight to ten million years. At the center of this complex landscape of brilliant, colorful gas clouds is a supernova remnant. Known as 30 Doradus B, the remnant likely contains the remains of at least two exploded stars. The entire image is awash in intricate clouds, and swathes of superheated gas. At our upper lefthand corner is a thick, coral pink and wine-colored cloud with a texture resembling cotton candy. At our lower and upper right is a network of deep red clouds that resemble streaks of thick red syrup floating in water. A layer of wispy blue cloud appears to be present across the entire image, but is most evident at our lower left which is free of overlapping gas. Glowing pink, orange, and purple specks of light, which are stars, dot the image. In the center of the frame is a bright purple and pink cloud, aglow with brilliant white dots, and streaked with lightning-like veins. This is 30 Doradus B, which is delineated by a faint shell of X-rays identified by Chandra. Within this supernova remnant are high energy shocks and winds of particles blowing away from a pulsar. News Media Contact Megan Watzke Chandra X-ray Center Cambridge, Mass. 617-496-7998 Jonathan Deal Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, Ala. 256-544-0034 View the full article