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By NASA
Credit: NASA For the 14th consecutive year, NASA received an unmodified, or “clean,” opinion from an external auditor on its fiscal year 2024 financial statements.
The rating is the best possible audit opinion, certifying that NASA’s financial statements conform with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for federal agencies and accurately present the agency’s financial position. The audit opinion reaffirms the agency’s commitment to transparency in the use of American taxpayers’ dollars.
“For the 14th year in a row, NASA has delivered a reliable, accurate, and transparent report of our fiscal operations as we explore the unknown in air and space,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “I thank NASA’s Chief Financial Officer Margaret Schaus for her leadership, and I am proud that NASA continues to uphold the public’s trust in our goals, our missions, and our financial reporting practices. Such trust is critical to our agency’s success.”
The 2024 Agency Financial Report provides key financial and performance information and demonstrates the agency’s commitment to transparency in the use of American taxpayers’ dollars. In addition, the 2024 report presents progress during the past year, and spotlights the array of NASA missions, objectives, and workforce advanced with these financial resources.
“I am proud NASA has achieved its 14th consecutive clean bill of health on its financial statements,” said NASA Chief Financial Officer Margaret Schaus. “I want to recognize the outstanding commitment of our NASA team to ensuring sound stewardship and transparency over the resources entrusted to our agency.”
In fiscal year 2024, NASA continued preparation for Artemis II, a mission to send four astronauts around the Moon as part of the Artemis campaign. The agency also publicly unveiled the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, which will change the way we travel, paving the way for a new generation of commercial aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound. Among other highlights, NASA built upon our longstanding efforts to study our Earth as a system, advancing our work on the NASA-Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite. This joint mission between the agency and ISRO is the first radar of its kind in space to systematically map the Earth.
For more information on NASA’s budget, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/budget
-end-
Meira Bernstein / Roxana Bardan
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / roxana.bardan@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 15, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
NASA Headquarters Budget & Annual Reports Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) View the full article
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By NASA
NASA researchers Guan Yang, Jeff Chen, and their team received the 2024 Innovator of The Year Award at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for their exemplary work on a lidar system enhanced with artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Engineer Jeffrey Chen tests a lidar prototype on the roof of Building 33 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Chen and his team earned the center’s 2024 Innovator of the Year award for their work on CASALS, a lidar system enhanced with artificial intelligence and other technologies.NASA Like a laser-based version of sonar, lidar and its use in space exploration is not new. But the lidar system Yang and Chen’s team have developed — formally the Concurrent Artificially-intelligent Spectrometry and Adaptive Lidar System (CASALS) — can produce higher resolution data within a smaller space, significantly increasing efficiency compared to current models.
The true revolution in CASALS is a unique combination of related technologies, such as highly efficient laser and receiver designs, wavelength-based, non-mechanical beam steering, multispectral imaging, and the incorporation of artificial intelligence to allow the instrument to make its own decisions while in orbit, instead of waiting for direction from human controllers on the ground.
“Existing 3D-imaging lidars struggle to provide the 2-inch resolution needed by guidance, navigation and control technologies to ensure precise and safe landings essential for future robotic and human exploration missions,” team engineer Jeffrey Chen said in an earlier interview. “Such a system requires 3D hazard-detection lidar and a navigation doppler lidar, and no existing system can perform both functions.”
The CASALS lidar is being developed to study land and ice topography, coastline changes, and other Earth science topics. Future applications in solar system science beyond our planet are already in the works, including space navigation improvements and high-resolution lunar mapping for NASA’s Artemis campaign to return astronauts to the Moon.
An effective and compact lidar system like CASALS could also map rocky planets like Venus or Mars.
NASA leveraged contributions from external Small Business Innovation Research companies such as Axsun Technologies, Freedom Photonics, and Left Hand for laser and optical technology to help make CASALS a reality.
The Internal Research and Development (IRAD) Innovator of The Year award is presented by Goddard’s Office of the Chief Technologist to a person or team within the program with a notable contribution to cutting-edge technology. The CASALS team was presented their award at a technology poster session on Nov. 6, 2024, at NASA Goddard.
By Avery Truman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Nov 15, 2024 EditorRob GarnerContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson displays from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) food packets in the International Space Station galley.Credits: NASA NASA recently welcomed more than 50 commercial food and commercial space companies to learn about the evolving space food system supporting NASA missions, including unique requirements for spaceflight, menu development, and food provisioning – essential elements for human spaceflight and sustainable living in space.
The event, held at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, brought together private industry leaders, NASA astronauts, and NASA’s space food team to discuss creative solutions for nourishing government and private astronauts on future commercial space stations.
“The commercial food industry is the leader in how to produce safe and nutritious food for the consumer, and with knowledge passed on from NASA regarding the unique needs for space food safety and human health, this community is poised to support this new market of commercial low Earth orbit consumers,” said Kimberlee Prokhorov, deputy chief for the Human Systems Engineering and Integration Division at Johnson, which encompasses food systems work.
Experts from NASA’s Space Food Systems Laboratory shared the unique requirements and conditions surrounding the formulation, production, packaging, and logistics of space food for enabling the success of commercial low Earth orbit missions. Attendees heard astronaut perspectives on the importance of space food, challenges they encounter, and potential areas of improvement. They also tasted real space food and learned about the nutritional requirements critical for maintaining human health and performance in space.
“By bringing together key players in the commercial food and space industries, we were able to provide a collaborative opportunity to share fresh ideas and explore future collaborations,” said Angela Hart, manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at Johnson. “Space food is a unique challenge, and it is one that NASA is excited to bring commercial companies into. Working with our commercial partners allows us to advance in ways that benefit not only astronauts but also food systems on Earth.”
As NASA expands opportunities in low Earth orbit, it’s essential for the commercial sector to take on the support of space food production, allowing the agency to focus its resources on developing food systems for longer duration human space exploration missions.
NASA will continue providing best practices and offer additional opportunities to interested commercial partners to share knowledge that will enable a successful commercial space ecosystem.
The agency’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit will provide the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost and enable the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars, while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.
Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/
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By NASA
Hubble Space Telescope Home NASA’s Hubble, Webb… Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts E-books Lithographs Fact Sheets Glossary Posters Hubble on the NASA App More Online Activities 6 Min Read NASA’s Hubble, Webb Probe Surprisingly Smooth Disk Around Vega
Teams of astronomers used the combined power of NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes to revisit the legendary Vega disk. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona) In the 1997 movie “Contact,” adapted from Carl Sagan’s 1985 novel, the lead character scientist Ellie Arroway (played by actor Jodi Foster) takes a space-alien-built wormhole ride to the star Vega. She emerges inside a snowstorm of debris encircling the star — but no obvious planets are visible.
It looks like the filmmakers got it right.
A team of astronomers at the University of Arizona, Tucson used NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes for an unprecedented in-depth look at the nearly 100-billion-mile-diameter debris disk encircling Vega. “Between the Hubble and Webb telescopes, you get this very clear view of Vega. It’s a mysterious system because it’s unlike other circumstellar disks we’ve looked at,” said Andras Gáspár of the University of Arizona, a member of the research team. “The Vega disk is smooth, ridiculously smooth.”
The big surprise to the research team is that there is no obvious evidence for one or more large planets plowing through the face-on disk like snow tractors. “It’s making us rethink the range and variety among exoplanet systems,” said Kate Su of the University of Arizona, lead author of the paper presenting the Webb findings.
[left] A Hubble Space Telescope false-color view of a 100-billion-mile-wide disk of dust around the summer star Vega. Hubble detects reflected light from dust that is the size of smoke particles largely in a halo on the periphery of the disk. The disk is very smooth, with no evidence of embedded large planets. The black spot at the center blocks out the bright glow of the hot young star.
[right] The James Webb Space Telescope resolves the glow of warm dust in a disk halo, at 23 billion miles out. The outer disk (analogous to the solar system’s Kuiper Belt) extends from 7 billion miles to 15 billion miles. The inner disk extends from the inner edge of the outer disk down to close proximity to the star. There is a notable dip in surface brightness of the inner disk from approximately 3.7 to 7.2 billion miles. The black spot at the center is due to lack of data from saturation. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)
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Webb sees the infrared glow from a disk of particles the size of sand swirling around the sizzling blue-white star that is 40 times brighter than our Sun. Hubble captures an outer halo of this disk, with particles no bigger than the consistency of smoke that are reflecting starlight.
The distribution of dust in the Vega debris disk is layered because the pressure of starlight pushes out the smaller grains faster than larger grains. “Different types of physics will locate different-sized particles at different locations,” said Schuyler Wolff of the University of Arizona team, lead author of the paper presenting the Hubble findings. “The fact that we’re seeing dust particle sizes sorted out can help us understand the underlying dynamics in circumstellar disks.”
The Vega disk does have a subtle gap, around 60 AU (astronomical units) from the star (twice the distance of Neptune from the Sun), but otherwise is very smooth all the way in until it is lost in the glare of the star. This shows that there are no planets down at least to Neptune-mass circulating in large orbits, as in our solar system, say the researchers.
Hubble acquired this image of the circumstellar disk around the star Vega using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)
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“We’re seeing in detail how much variety there is among circumstellar disks, and how that variety is tied into the underlying planetary systems. We’re finding a lot out about the planetary systems — even when we can’t see what might be hidden planets,” added Su. “There’s still a lot of unknowns in the planet-formation process, and I think these new observations of Vega are going to help constrain models of planet formation.”
Disk Diversity
Newly forming stars accrete material from a disk of dust and gas that is the flattened remnant of the cloud from which they are forming. In the mid-1990s Hubble found disks around many newly forming stars. The disks are likely sites of planet formation, migration, and sometimes destruction. Fully matured stars like Vega have dusty disks enriched by ongoing “bumper car” collisions among orbiting asteroids and debris from evaporating comets. These are primordial bodies that can survive up to the present 450-million-year age of Vega (our Sun is approximately ten times older than Vega). Dust within our solar system (seen as the Zodiacal light) is also replenished by minor bodies ejecting dust at a rate of about 10 tons per second. This dust is shoved around by planets. This provides a strategy for detecting planets around other stars without seeing them directly – just by witnessing the effects they have on the dust.
“Vega continues to be unusual,” said Wolff. “The architecture of the Vega system is markedly different from our own solar system where giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn are keeping the dust from spreading the way it does with Vega.”
Webb acquired this image of the circumstellar disk around the star Vega using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, S. Wolff (University of Arizona), K. Su (University of Arizona), A. Gáspár (University of Arizona)
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For comparison, there is a nearby star, Fomalhaut, which is about the same distance, age and temperature as Vega. But Fomalhaut’s circumstellar architecture is greatly different from Vega’s. Fomalhaut has three nested debris belts.
Planets are suggested as shepherding bodies around Fomalhaut that gravitationally constrict the dust into rings, though no planets have been positively identified yet. “Given the physical similarity between the stars of Vega and Fomalhaut, why does Fomalhaut seem to have been able to form planets and Vega didn’t?” said team member George Rieke of the University of Arizona, a member of the research team. “What’s the difference? Did the circumstellar environment, or the star itself, create that difference? What’s puzzling is that the same physics is at work in both,” added Wolff.
First Clue to Possible Planetary Construction Yards
Located in the summer constellation Lyra, Vega is one of the brightest stars in the northern sky. Vega is legendary because it offered the first evidence for material orbiting a star — presumably the stuff for making planets — as potential abodes of life. This was first hypothesized by Immanuel Kant in 1775. But it took over 200 years before the first observational evidence was collected in 1984. A puzzling excess of infrared light from warm dust was detected by NASA’s IRAS (Infrared Astronomy Satellite). It was interpreted as a shell or disk of dust extending twice the orbital radius of Pluto from the star.
In 2005, NASA’s infrared Spitzer Space Telescope mapped out a ring of dust around Vega. This was further confirmed by observations using submillimeter telescopes including Caltech’s Submillimeter Observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and also the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Herschel Space Telescope, but none of these telescopes could see much detail. “The Hubble and Webb observations together provide so much more detail that they are telling us something completely new about the Vega system that nobody knew before,” said Rieke.
Two papers (Wolff et al. and Su et. al.) from the Arizona team will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, Colorado, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
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Finding Planetary Construction Zones
The science paper by Schuyler Wolff et al., PDF (3.24 MB)
The science paper by Kate Su et al., PDF (2.10 MB)
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Facebook logo @NASAWebb @NASAWebb Instagram logo @NASAWebb Media Contacts:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov), Laura Betz (laura.e.betz@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Ray Villard, Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
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Last Updated Nov 01, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Astrophysics Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Stars Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble and Webb
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Stare deeply at these galaxies. They appear as if blood is pumping through the top of a flesh-free face. The long, ghastly ‘stare’ of their searing eye-like cores shines out into the supreme cosmic darkness.
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