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Start Your Engines: NASA to Begin Critical Testing for Future Artemis Missions
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By NASA
Team H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) from The University of California, Santa Barbara won the $1 million grand prize in NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. Their team developed a low-mass, high efficiency cable and featured energy storage batteries on both ends of their power transmission and energy storage system. Credit: NASA/GRC/Sara Lowthian-Hanna NASA has awarded a total of $1.5 million to two U.S. teams for their novel technology solutions addressing energy distribution, management, and storage as part of the agency’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. The innovations from this challenge aim to support NASA’s Artemis missions, which will establish long-term human presence on the Moon.
This two-phase competition has challenged U.S. innovators to develop breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies that could enable long-duration Moon missions to advance the nation’s lunar exploration goals. The final phase of the challenge concluded with a technology showcase and winners’ announcement ceremony Friday at Great Lakes Science Center, home of the visitor center for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
“Congratulations to the finalist teams for developing impactful power solutions in support of NASA’s goal to sustain human presence on the Moon,” said Kim Krome-Sieja, acting program manager for NASA Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “These technologies seek to improve our ability to explore and make discoveries in space and could have implications for improving power systems on Earth.”
The winning teams are:
First prize ($1 million): H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) of Santa Barbara, California Second prize ($500,000): Orbital Mining Corporation of Golden, Colorado Four teams were invited to refine their hardware and deliver full system prototypes in the final stage of the competition, and three finalist teams completed their technology solutions for demonstration and assessment at NASA Glenn. The technologies were the first power transmission and energy storage prototypes to be tested by NASA in a vacuum chamber mimicking the freezing temperature and absence of pressure found at the permanently shadowed regions of the Lunar South Pole. The simulation required the teams’ power systems to demonstrate operability over six hours of solar daylight and 18 hours of darkness with the user three kilometers (nearly two miles) away from the power source.
During this competition stage, judges scored the finalists’ solutions based on a Total Effective System Mass (TESM) calculation, which measures the effectiveness of the system relative to its size and weight – or mass – and the total energy provided by the power source. The highest-performing solution was identified based on having the lowest TESM value – imitating the challenges that space missions face when attempting to reduce mass while meeting the mission’s electrical power needs.
Team H.E.L.P.S. (High Efficiency Long-Range Power Solution) from University of California, Santa Barbara, won the grand prize for their hardware solution, which had the lowest mass and highest efficiency of all competitors. The technology also featured a special cable operating at 800 volts and an innovative use of energy storage batteries on both ends of the transmission system. They also employed a variable radiation shield to switch between conserving heat during cold periods and disposing of excess heat during high power modes. The final 48-hour test proved their system design effectively met the power transmission, energy storage, and thermal challenges in the final phase of competition.
Orbital Mining Corporation, a space technology startup, received the second prize for its hardware solution that also successfully completed the 48-hour testwith high performance. They employed a high-voltage converter system coupled with a low-mass cable and a lithium-ion battery.
“The energy solutions developed by the challenge teams are poised to address NASA’s space technology priorities,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive for Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These solutions support NASA’s recently ranked civil space shortfalls, including in the top category of surviving and operating through the lunar night.”
During the technology showcase and winners’ announcement ceremony, NASA experts, media, and members of the public gathered to see the finalist teams’ technologies and hear perspectives from the teams’ participation in the challenge. After the winners were announced, event attendees were also welcome to meet NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen.
The Watts on the Moon Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge led by NASA Glenn. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center manages Centennial Challenges, which are part of the agency’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA contracted HeroX to support the administration of this challenge.
For more information on NASA’s Watts on the Moon Challenge, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/wattson
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Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
321-432-4624
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
Brian Newbacher
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-469-9726
Brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov
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By NASA
4 Min Read NASA Data Helps Protect US Embassy Staff from Polluted Air
This visualization of aerosols shows dust (purple), smoke (red), and sea salt particles (blue) swirling across Earth’s atmosphere on Aug. 23, 2018, from NASA’s GEOS-FP (Goddard Earth Observing System forward processing) computer model. Credits:
NASA’s Earth Observatory United States embassies and consulates, along with American citizens traveling and living abroad, now have a powerful tool to protect against polluted air, thanks to a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. State Department.
Since 2020, ZephAir has provided real-time air quality data for about 75 U.S. diplomatic posts. Now, the public tool includes three-day air quality forecasts for PM2.5, a type of fine particulate matter, for all the approximately 270 U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. These tiny particles, much smaller than a grain of sand, can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
“This collaboration with NASA showcases how space-based technology can directly impact lives on the ground,” said Stephanie Christel, climate adaptation and air quality monitoring program lead with the State Department’s Greening Diplomacy Initiative. “This is not something the State Department could have done on its own.” For instance, placing air quality monitors at all U.S. diplomatic posts is prohibitively expensive, she explained.
“NASA’s involvement brings not only advanced technology,” she added, “but also a trusted name that adds credibility and reliability to the forecasts, which is invaluable for our staff stationed abroad.”
The forecasts, created using NASA satellite data, computer models, and machine learning, are crucial for U.S. embassies and consulates, where approximately 60,000 U.S. citizens and local staff work. Many of these sites are in regions with few local air quality monitors or early warning systems for air pollution.
“ZephAir’s new forecasting capability is a prime example of NASA’s commitment to using our data for societal benefit,” said Laura Judd, an associate program manager for Health and Air Quality at NASA. “Partnering with the State Department allows us to extend the reach of our air quality data, providing embassies and local communities worldwide with vital information to protect public health.”
Enhancing Health, Safety with NASA Air Quality Data
To manage air pollution exposure, the tool can assist diplomatic staff with decisions on everything from building ventilation to outdoor activities at embassy schools.
For many embassies, especially in regions with severe air pollution, having reliable air quality forecasts is crucial for safeguarding staff and their families, influencing both daily decisions and long-term planning. “Air quality is a top priority for my family as we think about [our next assignment], so having more information is a huge help,” said Alex Lewis, a political officer at the U.S. embassy in Managua, Nicaragua.
A screenshot of the ZephAir web dashboard featuring air quality forecasts for Managua, Nicaragua. U.S. Department of State Previously, ZephAir only delivered data on current PM2.5 levels using air quality monitors on the ground from about 75 U.S. diplomatic locations and about 50 additional sources. Now, the enhanced tool provides PM2.5 forecasts for all sites, using the Goddard Earth Observing System forward processing (GEOS-FP), a weather and climate computer model. It incorporates data on tiny particles or droplets suspended in Earth’s atmosphere called aerosols from MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites.
Aerosols are tiny airborne particles that come from both natural sources, like dust, volcanic ash, and sea spray, and from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels. PM2.5 refers to particles or droplets that are 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter — about 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
“We use the GEOS-FP model to generate global aerosol forecasts,” said Pawan Gupta, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the lead scientist on the project. “Then we calibrate the forecasts for embassy locations, using historical data and machine learning techniques.”
As of August 2024, the forecasting feature is available on the ZephAir web and mobile platforms.
The new forecasts are about more than just protecting U.S. citizens and local embassy staff; they are also contributing to global action on air quality. The State Department engages with local governments and communities to raise awareness about air quality issues. “These forecasts are a critical part of our strategy to mitigate the impacts of air pollution not only for our personnel but also for the broader community in many regions around the world,” Christel said.
Officials with the Greening Diplomacy Initiative partnered with NASA through the Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team to develop the new forecasts and will continue the collaboration through support from the Satellite Needs Working Group.
Looking ahead, the team aims to expand ZephAir’s capabilities to include ground-level ozone data, another major pollutant that can affect the health of embassy staff and local communities.
By Emily DeMarco
NASA’s Earth Science Division, Headquarters
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Last Updated Sep 20, 2024 Editor Rob Garner Contact Rob Garner rob.garner@nasa.gov Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NAACP Board Chair Leon Russell, left, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, right, sign a Space Act Agreement between NASA and the NAACP during a 5th Annual Hidden Figures Street Naming Anniversary event Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. NASA/Keegan Barber During an event Thursday, NASA and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) signed a Space Act Agreement to increase engagement and equity for underrepresented students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and to improve access to agency activities and opportunities.
“NASA and the NAACP share a longstanding commitment to attracting more diverse students to STEM education and ultimately careers,” said Shahra Lambert, senior advisor for engagement and equity, NASA headquarters. “This agreement reaffirms that commitment and solidifies a partnership that will enable us to expand opportunities for more students of color to build their STEM identity and gain real-world experience through NASA STEM education, mentorship, and career awareness. With the NAACP’s help we’ll be able to truly impact young minds who will be our future scientists, engineers, explorers and more.”
As part of the agreement, the NAACP will incorporate NASA STEM lessons, content, and themes into its Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) achievement program, which is a series of competitions where students compete for scholarships and other incentives in areas ranging from performing and culinary arts to business and STEM. In turn, NASA will provide guidance on programming, participate in information sharing, provide mentorship, and facilitate tours of NASA facilities when appropriate.
“Much like NASA, brave, brilliant, Black women were critical to the success of the NAACP,” said Leon W. Russell, Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors. “For years, we’ve worked to increase the number of diverse STEM students by providing scholarships and establishing key initiatives. Through our ACT-SO program and this new partnership with NASA, both organizations will make even greater progress to help pave the way for more Katherine Johnsons and Mary Jacksons. By enacting today’s agreement, we hope to increase the number of Black and underrepresented students in the STEM fields and help them reach for the stars.”
While initial efforts will be led by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, the umbrella agreement also allows for further collaboration and partnership in the future. Specifically, the agency and the NAACP will look to support certain areas of NASA’s Equity Action Plan.
NASA works to explore the secrets of the universe and solve the world’s most complex problems, which requires creating space for all people to participate in and learn from its work in space. Providing access to opportunities where young minds can be curious and see themselves potentially at NASA and beyond is how the agency will continue to inspire the next generation of STEM innovators.
For more information on how NASA inspires students to pursue STEM visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources
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Last Updated Sep 19, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft is pictured docked to the International Space Station’s Prichal module in this long-duration photograph as it orbited 258 miles above Nigeria.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, will depart from the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, and return to Earth.
Dyson, Chub, and Kononenko will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module at 4:37 a.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 23, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 8 a.m. (5 p.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.
NASA’s live coverage of return and related activities will stream on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
A change of command ceremony also will stream on NASA platforms at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22. Kononenko will hand over station command to NASA astronaut Suni Williams for Expedition 72, which begins at the time of undocking.
Spanning 184 days in space, Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, and arrived at the station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.
Kononenko and Chub, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, will return after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.
Dyson spent her fourth spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and departs with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record 1,111 days in orbit, and Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.
After returning to Earth, the three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.
NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Sunday, Sept. 22
10:15 a.m. – Expedition 71/72 change of command ceremony begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
Monday, Sept. 23
12:45 a.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
1:05 a.m. – Hatch closing
4 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
4:37 a.m. – Undocking
6:45 a.m. – Coverage begins for deorbit burn, entry, and landing on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
7:05 a.m. – Deorbit burn
8 a.m. – Landing
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing more resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for future human missions to Mars.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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By NASA
As RS-25’s operations integrator, Chris Pereira is responsible for ensuring that the many pieces of the program – from tracking on-time procurement of supplies and labor loads to coordinating priorities on various in-demand machine centers – come together to deliver a quality product. Chris Pereira can personally attest to the immense gravitational attraction of black holes. He’s been in love with space ever since he saw a video on the topic in a high school science class.
But it wasn’t just any science class. It was one specially designed for English learners.
“I was born and raised in Guatemala,” Pereira said. “I came here at 14 unable to speak any English.”
Pereira did not know how to navigate the U.S. educational system either, but after that class, he was certain he wanted a career in space.
Thus began a journey that ultimately landed him at L3Harris Technologies, where he works in the Aerojet Rocketdyne segment as an engineer and operations integrator on the RS-25 engine – used to power the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will launch astronauts to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Pereira’s first step was to stay after class and ask to borrow a copy of the video on black holes. His teacher not only obliged but took him across the street to the local library to get his first library card.
Pereira quickly recognized that the pathway to his desired career in space was through higher education. It was equally clear, however, that he was not yet on that pathway. English as a Second Language classes, including that science class, did not count toward college admissions. His guidance counselor, meanwhile, was nudging him toward the trades.
But with the help of teachers and a new guidance counselor, he got himself on the college-bound track.
“I came to understand there were multiple career pathways to explore my interest in space,” Pereira said “One was engineering.”
There was a lot of catching up to do, so Pereira took eight classes per day, including honors courses. He also worked every day after school cleaning a gymnasium from 6 to 11 p.m. to help his family make ends meet.
Pereira earned his mechanical engineering degree at California State University at Los Angeles while also working as a senior educator at the California Science Center to cover the cost of his college tuition and living expenses.
Pereira’s first career experience was as an intern in manufacturing engineering at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “I learned that making 100% mission-success engines requires a strong culture of attention to detail, teamwork and solid work ethics.” Pereira said. His first full-fledged engineering job was with Honeywell Aerospace working on aircraft programs.
Eventually, space came calling — literally. “My mentor at Aerojet Rocketdyne called me up and said, ‘Chris, I have a job for you,’” Pereira said.
He began his new job working on rocket engine programs including the AR1 and RS-68 but shifted to the RS-25 after NASA awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a contract for newly manufactured versions of the engine. Initial versions of the SLS are using refurbished engines from the Space Shuttle Program. Evolved versions of the RS-25 recently concluded a critical test series and will debut with the fifth Artemis flight.
As RS-25’s operations integrator, Pereira is responsible for ensuring that the many pieces of the program – from tracking on-time procurement of supplies and labor loads to coordinating priorities on various in-demand machine centers – come together to deliver a quality product.
Playing a key role in the nation’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon feels a bit like coming home again, Pereira said. “You develop your first love, work really hard, take different pathways and encounter new passions,” he said. “It’s almost funny how the world and life work out – it’s like I’ve taken a big circle back to my first love.”
NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
Read other I am Artemis features.
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