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By NASA
NASA’s Glenn Research Center leaders stand with Evening With the Stars presenters. Left to right: Tim Smith, Nikki Welch, Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, Acting Deputy Director Dr. Wanda Peters, and Carlos Garcia-Galan. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis NASA Glenn Research Center’s “An Evening With the Stars” showcased research and technology innovations that addressed this year’s theme, NASA Glenn’s Spotlight on the Stars: 10 Years and Counting. The event featured presentations from Glenn subject matter experts and a networking reception.
Held at Windows on the River near Cleveland’s historic waterfront on Nov. 20, the event attracted sponsors and guests from more than 50 companies, universities, and organizations eager to learn more about the center’s recent accomplishments.
Special guests Dennis Andersh, CEO and president of Parallax Advanced Research/Ohio Aerospace Institute; Terrence Slaybaugh, vice president of Sites and Infrastructure for JobsOhio; and Dr. Wanda Peters, NASA Glenn’s acting deputy director, provided remarks.
Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon took the stage to welcome visitors and share some accomplishments from an exciting year at NASA Glenn. Kenyon then introduced the presenters – NASA’s stars of the evening – and their topics.
“I relish this evening each year because it spotlights what is most important to our success at NASA: our people,” Kenyon said.
Nikki Welch is the digital manager in the Office of Communications. In this role, she helps to tell the NASA Glenn story in engaging ways for Glenn’s hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. Welch shared details about her efforts and the importance of “Connecting People to the Mission.”
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Nikki Welch talks about connecting people to the NASA mission through storytelling. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Tim Smith leads high-temperature alloy development at NASA Glenn and has led research that resulted in over a dozen research licenses and four commercial licenses. As one of the inventors of the metal alloy GRX-810, Smith shared information about Glenn’s “Super Alloy Achievements.”
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Tim Smith talks about NASA’s superalloy achievements. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Carlos Garcia-Galan is the manager of the Orion program’s European Service Module Integration Office. This module, being provided by ESA (European Space Agency), is Orion’s powerhouse. Garcia-Galan shared information on the topic “Dreaming of Going to the Moon.”
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Carlos Garcia-Galan talks about the spacecraft that will bring humanity back to the Moon. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Return to Newsletter Explore More
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By NASA
The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Maurice Valdez, Niki Parenteau, Dori Myer, and Judy Alfter. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaborative disposition needed to explore this world and beyond.
Space Science and Astrobiology Star: Maurice Valdez
Maurice Valdez is a system administrator, supporting desktop systems and website development for the Space Science and Astrobiology Division. Maurice is recognized for his focus and commitment to supporting the division’s scientific productivity by keeping systems compliant and functioning. His can-do attitude makes him instrumental in the success of the team, whether he is finding new solutions for hybrid meetings, fixing equipment, patching systems, or troubleshooting issues.
Photo credit: Pacific Science Center Space Science and Astrobiology Star: Niki Parenteau
Niki Parenteau, a research scientist for the Exobiology Branch, embodies the true spirit of an interdisciplinary astrobiologist. She has applied her expertise to identify potential biosignatures of life on exoplanets and has taken a leading role in the project office for the development of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), where she facilitates collaborative efforts of Ames scientists across the division and shepherds the larger scientific community to enable observations of biosignatures with HWO.
Space Biosciences Star: Dori Myer
Archivist Dori Myer has made an outstanding contribution in the Flight Systems Implementation Branch’s multi-year effort to digitize and preserve institutional knowledge. Under her guidance, the records management team digitized tens of thousands of historical records, preserving the branch’s institutional knowledge for years to come. Her exceptional initiative and dedication have transformed our record management processes, ensuring the accessibility of NASA’s rich institutional knowledge while streamlining its access in the modern age.
Earth Science Star: Judy Alfter
Judy Alfter, a Deputy Project Manager in the Earth Science Project Office (ESPO), has excelled in her multi-faceted role during the field campaign for the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Post-launch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX). Judy launched the deployment phase of PACE-PAX, leading the effort to set up Twin Otter flight operations at Marina Municipal Airport in California. Following this phase, she transitioned to Santa Barbara in California to support the mobilization of PACE-PAX ship operations and concluded deployment activities at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s main campus as ESPO site manager for ER-2 flight operations.
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By NASA
Michelle Dominguez proudly displays her award at the Women of Color STEM Conference in Detroit, Michigan, October 2024.NASA Dorcas Kaweesa holding her award at the Women of Color STEM Conference in Detroit, Michigan, October 2024. NASA In October 2024, Michelle Dominguez and Dorcas Kaweesa from the Ames Aeromechanics Office were each awarded as a “Technology Rising Star” at the Women of Color STEM Conference in Detroit, Michigan. Rising Star awards are for “young women, with 21 years or less in the workforce, who are helping to shape technology for the future.” Ms. Dominguez is a Mechanical Systems Engineer working on rotorcraft design for vertical-lift vehicles such as air taxis and Mars helicopters. Dr. Kaweesa is a Structural Analysis Engineer and Deputy Manager for planetary rotorcraft initiatives including Mars Exploration Program and Mars Sample Return. More information on this award is at https://intouch.ccgmag.com/mpage/woc-stem-conference-awardees .
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By NASA
Earth (ESD) Earth Explore Climate Change Science in Action Multimedia Data For Researchers About Us 6 min read
NASA Flights Map Critical Minerals from Skies Above Western US
Various minerals are revealed in vibrant detail in this sample mineral map of Cuprite, Nevada, following processing of imaging spectrometer data. USGS On a crystal-clear afternoon above a desert ghost town, a NASA aircraft scoured the ground for minerals.
The plane, a high-altitude ER-2 research aircraft, had taken off early that morning from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Below pilot Dean Neeley, the landscape looked barren and brown. But to the optical sensors installed on the plane’s belly and wing, it gleamed in hundreds of colors.
Neeley’s flight that day was part of GEMx, the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment led by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to map critical minerals across more than 190,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) of North American soil. Using airborne instruments, scientists are collecting these measurements over parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon. That’s an area about the size of Spain.
An ER-2 science aircraft banks away during a flight over the southern Sierra Nevada. The high-altitude plane supports a wide variety of research missions, including the GEMx campaign, which is mapping critical minerals in the Western U.S. using advanced airborne imaging developed by NASA. Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas Lithium, aluminum, rare earth elements such as neodymium and cerium — these are a few of the 50 mineral commodities deemed essential to U.S. national security, to the tech industry, and to clean energy. They support a wide range of technologies from smartphones to steelmaking, from wind turbines to electric vehicle batteries. In 2023, the U.S. imported its entire supply of 12 of these minerals and imported at least 50% of its supply of another 29.
The GEMx team believes that undiscovered deposits of at least some of these minerals exist domestically, and modern mineral maps will support exploration by the private sector.
“We’ve been exploring the earth beneath our feet for hundreds of years, and we’re discovering that we’ve only just begun,” said Kevin Reath, NASA’s associate project manager for GEMx.
The View From 65,000 Feet
To jumpstart mineral exploration, USGS is leading a nationwide survey from the inside out, using tools like lidar and magnetic-radiometric sensors to probe ancient terrain in new detail.
The collaboration with NASA brings another tool to bear: imaging spectrometers. These advanced optical instruments need to stay cold as they fly high. From cryogenic vacuum chambers on planes or spacecraft, they detect hundreds of wavelengths of light — from the visible to shortwave infrared — reflected off planetary surfaces. The technology is now being used to help identify surface minerals across dry, treeless expanses of the Western U.S.
Every molecule reflects a unique pattern of light, like a fingerprint. Processed through a spectroscopic lens, a desert expanse can appear like an oil painting popping with different colorful minerals, including pale-green mica, blue kaolinite, and plummy gypsum.
“We’re not digging for gold. We’re revealing what’s hidden in plain sight,” said Robert Green, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who helped pioneer spectroscopic imaging at NASA JPL in the late 1970s. Like many of the scientists involved with GEMx, he has spent years surveying other worlds, including the Moon and Mars.
A handful of such instruments exist on Earth, and Green is in charge of two of them. One, called EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) flies aboard the International Space Station. Surveying Earth’s surface from about 250 miles (410 kilometers) above, EMIT has captured thousands of images at a resolution of 50 by 50 miles (80 by 80 kilometers) in a wide belt around Earth’s mid-section.
The other instrument rides beneath the fuselage of the ER-2 aircraft. Called AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer), it’s helping guide geologists to critical minerals directly and indirectly, by spotting the types of rocks that often contain them. It’s joined by another instrument developed by NASA, the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER), which senses thermal infrared radiance. Both instruments provide finely detailed measurements of minerals that complement what EMIT sees on a broader scale.
A crew of life support staff prepare pilot Dean Neeley for an ER-2 flight. A specialized suit – similar to an astronaut’s – allows the pilot to work, breathe, and eat at altitudes almost twice as high as a cruising passenger jet. NASA/Carla Thomas Old Mines, New Finds
In and around the multimillion-year-old magmas of the Great Basin of the Western U.S., lithium takes several forms. The silvery metal is found in salty brines, in clay, and locked in more than 100 different types of crystals. It can also be detected in the tailings of abandoned prospects like Hector Mine, near Barstow, California.
Abandoned years before a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked the region in 1999, the mine is located on a lode of hectorite, a greasy, lithium-bearing clay. Geologists from USGS are taking a second look at legacy mines like Hector as demand for lithium rises, driven primarily by lithium-ion batteries. A typical battery pack in an electric vehicle uses about 17 pounds (eight kilograms) of the energy-dense metal.
Australia and Chile lead worldwide production of lithium, which exceeded 180,000 tons in 2023. The third largest producer is China, which also hosts about 50% of global lithium refining capacity. Total U.S. production was around 1,000 tons, sourced entirely from a deposit in northern Nevada. Known reserves in the state are estimated to contain more than a million metric tons of lithium, according to data collected by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology.
Mine wastes are also potential sources of lithium, said Bernard Hubbard, a remote sensing geologist at USGS, and many other byproduct commodities that are considered critical today but were discarded by previous generations.
“There are old copper and silver mines in the West that were abandoned long before anyone knew what lithium or rare earth element deposits were,” Hubbard said. “What has been a pollution source for communities could now be a resource.”
Following a winter pause, high-altitude GEMx flights over the American West will resume in the spring of 2025, after which USGS will process the raw data and release the first mineral maps. Already, the project has collected enough data to start producing a complete hyperspectral map of California — the first of its kind.
The value of these observations extends beyond identifying minerals. Scientists expect they’ll provide new insight into invasive plant species, waste from mines that can contaminate surrounding environments, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and wildfires.
“We are just beginning to scratch the surface in applying these measurements to help the nation’s economy, security, and health,” said Raymond Kokaly, USGS research geophysicist and lead of the GEMx survey.
More About GEMx
The GEMx research project will last four years and is funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (EarthMRI), through investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The initiative will capitalize on both the technology developed by NASA for spectroscopic imaging as well as the expertise in analyzing the datasets and extracting critical mineral information from them.
Data collected by GEMx is available here.
By Sally Younger
NASA’s Earth Science News Team
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Last Updated Dec 05, 2024 Contact Sally Younger Related Terms
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