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By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Knowing whether or not a planet elsewhere in the galaxy could potentially be habitable requires knowing a lot about that planet’s sun. Sarah Peacock relies on computer models to assess stars’ radiation, which can have a major influence on whether or not one of these exoplanets has breathable atmosphere.
Name: Sarah Peacock
Title: Assistant Research Scientist
Formal Job Classification: Astrophysicist
Organization: Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, Astrophysics Division, Science Directorate (Code 667)
Sarah Peacock is a research scientist with the Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.Courtesy of Sarah Peacock What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
My overarching research goal is to find habitable planets in other solar systems. To do this, I study the high-energy radiation that specific stars produce to help determine if life can exist on any earthlike planets that orbit them.
What is your educational background?
In 2013, I received a Bachelor of Arts in astrophysics from the University of Virginia. I received both my master’s and doctorate degrees from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in 2016 and 2019, respectively.
What drew you to study the stars?
In high school, I took an astronomy class. We had a planetarium in our school and I had a wonderful teacher who inspired me to fall in love with the stars. She also showed us how many of the Harry Potter characters are drawn from the constellations and that spoke to my heart because I am a Harry Potter fan!
How did you come to Goddard?
I started at Goddard as a NASA post-doctoral fellow in July 2020, but I first saw the center the day before Goddard shut down due to COVID.
How does high-energy radiation show you what planets outside our solar system might be habitable?
High-energy radiation can cause a planet to lose its atmosphere. If a planet is exposed to too much high-energy radiation, the atmosphere can be blown off, and if there is no atmosphere, then there is nothing for life as we know it to breathe.
We cannot directly measure the specific radiation that I study, so we have to model it. The universe has so many stars, and almost all stars host a planet. There are approximately 5,500 confirmed exoplanets so far, with an additional 7,500 unconfirmed exoplanets.
I help identify systems that either have too much radiation, so planets in the habitable zone (the region around a star where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface) are probably lifeless, or systems that have radiation levels that are safer. Ultimately, my research helps narrow down the most likely systems to host planets that should have stable atmospheres.
Sarah Peacock research goal is to find habitable planets in other solar systems.Courtesy of Sarah Peacock Where does your data come from?
I predominately use data from the Hubble Space Telescope and from the now-retired spacecraft GALEX. My work itself is more theory-focused though: I create a modeled stellar spectrum across all wavelengths and use observations to validate my modeling.
What other areas of research are you involved in?
I am working with a team analyzing data from the James Webb Space Telescope to see if earthlike planets around M-type stars (a star that is cooler and smaller than the Sun) have atmospheres and, if so, what the composition of those atmospheres is. An exciting result from this work is that we may have detected water in the atmosphere of a rocky planet for the first time ever. However, we cannot yet distinguish with our current observations if that water comes from the planet or from spots on the star (starspots on this host star are cold enough for water to exist in gas form).
I am also helping manage a NASA Innovative Advance Concept (NIAC) study led by my mentor, Ken Carpenter, to work on the Artemis Enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI). If selected for further development, this imager would be an ultraviolet/optical interferometer located on the South Pole of the Moon. With this telescope, we would be able to map the surface of stars, image accretion disks, and image the centers of Active Galactic Nuclei.
As a relatively new employee to Goddard, what have been your first impressions?
Everyone who I have met, especially those in my lab, are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Starting during the pandemic, I was worried about feeling isolated, but instead, I was blown away by how many folks in my lab reached out to set up calls to introduce themselves and suggest opportunities for collaboration. It made me feel welcome.
Who is your mentor and what did your mentor advise you?
Ken Carpenter is my mentor. He encourages me to pursue my aspirations. He supports letting me chart my own path and being exposed to many different areas of research. I thank Ken for his support and encouragement and for including me on his projects.
“Everyone who I have met, especially those in my lab, are incredibly friendly and welcoming.”Courtesy of Sarah Peacock What do you do for fun?
I am a new mom, so my usual hobbies are on pause! Right now, fun is taking care of my baby and introducing life experiences to him.
As a recently selected member of the Executive Committee for NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG), what are your responsibilities?
The NASA ExoPAG is responsible for soliciting and coordinating scientific community input into the development and execution of NASA’s exoplanet exploration program. We solicit opinions and advice from any scientist who studies exoplanets. We are a bridge between NASA’s exoplanet scientists and NASA Headquarters in Washington.
What is a fun fact about yourself?
I got married the same day I defended my Ph.D. I had my defense in the morning and got married in the afternoon at the courthouse.
Who is your favorite author?
I love to read; I always have three books going. My favorite author is Louise Penny, who writes mysteries, but I read all genres. Right now, I am reading a biography about Marjorie Merriweather Post.
What is your favorite quote?
“The most that can be expected from any model is that it can supply a useful approximation to reality: All models are wrong; some models are useful.” —Box and Draper 1987
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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.
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Last Updated Dec 10, 2024 Related Terms
People of Goddard Goddard Space Flight Center People of NASA Explore More
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By NASA
NASA, along with members of the FAA and commercial drone engineers, gathered in the Dallas area May 25, 2024, to view multiple delivery drones operating in a shared airspace beyond visual line of sight using an industry-developed, NASA-originated uncrewed aircraft system traffic management system.NASA NASA’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Beyond Visual Line of Sight (UTM BVLOS) subproject aims to support the growing demand for drone flights across the globe.
Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), or drones, offer an increasing number of services, from package delivery to critical public safety operations, like search and rescue missions. However, without special waivers, these flights are currently limited to visual line of sight – or only as far as the pilot can see – which is roughly no farther than one mile from the operator. As the FAA works to authorize flights beyond this point, NASA is working with industry and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operationalize an uncrewed traffic management system for these operations.
NASA’s UTM Legacy
NASA’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management, or UTM, was first developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley in 2013, and enables drones to safely and efficiently integrate into air traffic that is already flying in low-altitude airspace. UTM is based on digital sharing of each user’s planned flight details, ensuring each user has the same situational awareness of the airspace.
NASA performed a series of drone flight demonstrations using UTM concepts in rural areas and densely populated cities under the agency’s previous UTM project . And commercial drone companies have since utilized NASA’s UTM concepts and delivery operations in limited areas.
Several projects supporting NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility or AAM mission are working on different elements to help make AAM a reality and one of these research areas is automation.NASA / Graphics UTM Today
NASA research is a driving force in making routine drone deliveries a reality. The agency is supporting a series of commercial drone package deliveries beyond visual line of sight, some of which kicked off in August 2024 in Dallas, Texas. Commercial operators are using NASA’s UTM-based capabilities during these flights to share data and planned flight routes with other operators in the airspace, detect and avoid hazards, and maintain situational awareness. All of these capabilities allow operators to safely execute their operations in a shared airspace below 400 feet and away from crewed aircraft. These drone operations in Dallas are a collaboration between NASA, the FAA, industry drone operators, public safety operators, and others.
These initial flights will help validate UTM capabilities through successful flight operation evaluations and inform the FAA’s rulemaking for safely expanding drone operations beyond visual line of sight.
The agency will continue to work with industry and government partners on more complex drone operations in communities across the country. NASA is also working with partners to leverage UTM for other emerging operations, including remotely piloted air cargo delivery and air taxi flights. UTM infrastructure could also support high-altitude operations for expanded scientific research, improved disaster response, and more.
NASA UTM BVLOS
NASA’s UTM Beyond Visual Line of Site (UTM BVLOS) subproject is leading this effort, under the Air Traffic Management eXploration portfolio within the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. This work is in support of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility Mission, which seeks to transform our communities by bringing the movement of people and goods off the ground, on demand, and into the sky.
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By NASA
9 Min Read Towards Autonomous Surface Missions on Ocean Worlds
Artist’s concept image of a spacecraft lander with a robot arm on the surface of Europa. Credits:
NASA/JPL – Caltech Through advanced autonomy testbed programs, NASA is setting the groundwork for one of its top priorities—the search for signs of life and potentially habitable bodies in our solar system and beyond. The prime destinations for such exploration are bodies containing liquid water, such as Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Initial missions to the surfaces of these “ocean worlds” will be robotic and require a high degree of onboard autonomy due to long Earth-communication lags and blackouts, harsh surface environments, and limited battery life.
Technologies that can enable spacecraft autonomy generally fall under the umbrella of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and have been evolving rapidly in recent years. Many such technologies, including machine learning, causal reasoning, and generative AI, are being advanced at non-NASA institutions.
NASA started a program in 2018 to take advantage of these advancements to enable future icy world missions. It sponsored the development of the physical Ocean Worlds Lander Autonomy Testbed (OWLAT) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the virtual Ocean Worlds Autonomy Testbed for Exploration, Research, and Simulation (OceanWATERS) at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.
NASA solicited applications for its Autonomous Robotics Research for Ocean Worlds (ARROW) program in 2020, and for the Concepts for Ocean worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTech) program in 2021. Six research teams, based at universities and companies throughout the United States, were chosen to develop and demonstrate autonomy solutions on OWLAT and OceanWATERS. These two- to three-year projects are now complete and have addressed a wide variety of autonomy challenges faced by potential ocean world surface missions.
OWLAT
OWLAT is designed to simulate a spacecraft lander with a robotic arm for science operations on an ocean world body. The overall OWLAT architecture including hardware and software components is shown in Figure 1. Each of the OWLAT components is detailed below.
Figure 1. The software and hardware components of the Ocean Worlds Lander Autonomy Testbed and the relationships between them. NASA/JPL – Caltech The hardware version of OWLAT (shown in Figure 2) is designed to physically simulate motions of a lander as operations are performed in a low-gravity environment using a six degrees-of-freedom (DOF) Stewart platform. A seven DOF robot arm is mounted on the lander to perform sampling and other science operations that interact with the environment. A camera mounted on a pan-and-tilt unit is used for perception. The testbed also has a suite of onboard force/torque sensors to measure motion and reaction forces as the lander interacts with the environment. Control algorithms implemented on the testbed enable it to exhibit dynamics behavior as if it were a lightweight arm on a lander operating in different gravitational environments.
Figure 2. The Ocean Worlds Lander Autonomy Testbed. A scoop is mounted to the end of the testbed robot arm. NASA/JPL – Caltech The team also developed a set of tools and instruments (shown in Figure 3) to enable the performance of science operations using the testbed. These various tools can be mounted to the end of the robot arm via a quick-connect-disconnect mechanism. The testbed workspace where sampling and other science operations are conducted incorporates an environment designed to represent the scene and surface simulant material potentially found on ocean worlds.
Figure 3. Tools and instruments designed to be used with the testbed. NASA/JPL – Caltech The software-only version of OWLAT models, visualizes, and provides telemetry from a high-fidelity dynamics simulator based on the Dynamics And Real-Time Simulation (DARTS) physics engine developed at JPL. It replicates the behavior of the physical testbed in response to commands and provides telemetry to the autonomy software. A visualization from the simulator is shown on Figure 4.
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Figure 7. Screenshot of OceanWATERS lander on a terrain modeled from the Atacama Desert. A scoop operation has just been completed. NASA/JPL – Caltech The autonomy software module shown at the top in Figure 1 interacts with the testbed through a Robot Operating System (ROS)-based interface to issue commands and receive telemetry. This interface is defined to be identical to the OceanWATERS interface. Commands received from the autonomy module are processed through the dispatcher/scheduler/controller module (blue box in Figure 1) and used to command either the physical hardware version of the testbed or the dynamics simulation (software version) of the testbed. Sensor information from the operation of either the software-only or physical testbed is reported back to the autonomy module using a defined telemetry interface. A safety and performance monitoring and evaluation software module (red box in Figure 1) ensures that the testbed is kept within its operating bounds. Any commands causing out of bounds behavior and anomalies are reported as faults to the autonomy software module.
Figure 5. Erica Tevere (at the operator’s station) and Ashish Goel (at the robot arm) setting up the OWLAT testbed for use. NASA/JPL – Caltech OceanWATERS
At the time of the OceanWATERS project’s inception, Jupiter’s moon Europa was planetary science’s first choice in searching for life. Based on ROS, OceanWATERS is a software tool that provides a visual and physical simulation of a robotic lander on the surface of Europa (see Figure 6). OceanWATERS realistically simulates Europa’s celestial sphere and sunlight, both direct and indirect. Because we don’t yet have detailed information about the surface of Europa, users can select from terrain models with a variety of surface and material properties. One of these models is a digital replication of a portion of the Atacama Desert in Chile, an area considered a potential Earth-analog for some extraterrestrial surfaces.
Figure 6. Screenshot of OceanWATERS. NASA/JPL – Caltech JPL’s Europa Lander Study of 2016, a guiding document for the development of OceanWATERS, describes a planetary lander whose purpose is collecting subsurface regolith/ice samples, analyzing them with onboard science instruments, and transmitting results of the analysis to Earth.
The simulated lander in OceanWATERS has an antenna mast that pans and tilts; attached to it are stereo cameras and spotlights. It has a 6 degree-of-freedom arm with two interchangeable end effectors—a grinder designed for digging trenches, and a scoop for collecting ground material. The lander is powered by a simulated non-rechargeable battery pack. Power consumption, the battery’s state, and its remaining life are regularly predicted with the Generic Software Architecture for Prognostics (GSAP) tool. To simulate degraded or broken subsystems, a variety of faults (e.g., a frozen arm joint or overheating battery) can be “injected” into the simulation by the user; some faults can also occur “naturally” as the simulation progresses, e.g., if components become over-stressed. All the operations and telemetry (data measurements) of the lander are accessible via an interface that external autonomy software modules can use to command the lander and understand its state. (OceanWATERS and OWLAT share a unified autonomy interface based on ROS.) The OceanWATERS package includes one basic autonomy module, a facility for executing plans (autonomy specifications) written in the PLan EXecution Interchange Language, or PLEXIL. PLEXIL and GSAP are both open-source software packages developed at Ames and available on GitHub, as is OceanWATERS.
Mission operations that can be simulated by OceanWATERS include visually surveying the landing site, poking at the ground to determine its hardness, digging a trench, and scooping ground material that can be discarded or deposited in a sample collection bin. Communication with Earth, sample analysis, and other operations of a real lander mission, are not presently modeled in OceanWATERS except for their estimated power consumption. Figure 7 is a video of OceanWATERS running a sample mission scenario using the Atacama-based terrain model.
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Figure 7. Screenshot of OceanWATERS lander on a terrain modeled from the Atacama Desert. A scoop operation has just been completed. NASA/JPL – Caltech Because of Earth’s distance from the ocean worlds and the resulting communication lag, a planetary lander should be programmed with at least enough information to begin its mission. But there will be situation-specific challenges that will require onboard intelligence, such as deciding exactly where and how to collect samples, dealing with unexpected issues and hardware faults, and prioritizing operations based on remaining power.
Results
All six of the research teams funded by the ARROW and COLDTech programs used OceanWATERS to develop ocean world lander autonomy technology and three of those teams also used OWLAT. The products of these efforts were published in technical papers, and resulted in development of software that may be used or adapted for actual ocean world lander missions in the future. The following table summarizes the ARROW and COLDTech efforts.
Principal Investigator (PI) PI Institution Project Testbed Used Purpose of Project ARROW Projects Jonathan Bohren Honeybee Robotics Stochastic PLEXIL (SPLEXIL) OceanWATERS Extended PLEXIL with stochastic decision-making capabilities by employing reinforcement learning techniques. Pooyan Jamshidi University of South Carolina Resource Adaptive Software Purpose-Built for Extraordinary Robotic Research Yields (RASPBERRY SI) OceanWATERS & OWLAT Developed software algorithms and tools for fault root cause identification, causal debugging, causal optimization, and causal-induced verification. COLDTech Projects Eric Dixon Lockheed Martin Causal And Reinforcement Learning (CARL) for COLDTech OceanWATERS Integrated a model of JPL’s mission-ready Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm (COLDarm) into OceanWATERS and applied image analysis, causal reasoning, and machine learning models to identify and mitigate the root causes of faults, such as ice buildup on the arm’s end effector. Jay McMahon University of Colorado Robust Exploration with Autonomous Science On-board, Ranked Evaluation of Contingent Opportunities for Uninterrupted Remote Science Exploration (REASON-RECOURSE) OceanWATERS Applied automated planning with formal methods to maximize science return of the lander while minimizing communication with ground team on Earth. Melkior Ornik U Illinois, Urbana-Champaign aDaptive, ResIlient Learning-enabLed oceAn World AutonomY (DRILLAWAY) OceanWATERS & OWLAT Developed autonomous adaptation to novel terrains and selecting scooping actions based on the available image data and limited experience by transferring the scooping procedure learned from a low-fidelity testbed to the high-fidelity OWLAT testbed. Joel Burdick Caltech Robust, Explainable Autonomy for Scientific Icy Moon Operations (REASIMO) OceanWATERS & OWLAT Developed autonomous 1) detection and identification of off-nominal conditions and procedures for recovery from those conditions, and 2) sample site selection Acknowledgements: The portion of the research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology was performed under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). The portion of the research carried out by employees of KBR Wyle Services LLC at NASA Ames Research Center was performed under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80ARC020D0010). Both were funded by the Planetary Science Division ARROW and COLDTech programs.
Project Leads: Hari Nayar (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology), K. Michael Dalal (KBR, Inc. at NASA Ames Research Center)
Sponsoring Organizations: NASA SMD PESTO
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By NASA
8 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Virtual meetings feeling a little stale? NASA has just unveiled a suite of new Artemis backgrounds to elevate your digital workspace.
From the majesty of the Artemis I launch lighting up the night sky to the iconic image of the Orion spacecraft with the Moon and Earth in view, these virtual backgrounds allow viewers to relive the awe-inspiring moments of Artemis I and glimpse the bright future that lies ahead as the Artemis campaign enables humans to live and work at the Moon’s South Pole region.
Scroll through to download your next virtual background for work, school, or just for fun, and learn about all things Artemis as the agency and its partners cross off milestones leading up to Artemis II and missions beyond.
Artemis I Launch
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test on Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission was the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47 a.m. EST from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy.
Artemis II Crew
Credit: NASA Meet the astronauts who will fly around the Moon during the Artemis II mission. From left are Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
Astronaut Regolith
Credit: NASA An artist’s concept of two suited Artemis crew members working on the lunar surface. The samples collected during future Artemis missions will continue to advance our knowledge of the solar system and help us understand the history and formation of Earth and the Moon, uncovering some of the mysteries that have long eluded scientists.
Exploration Ground Systems
Credit: NASA NASA’s mobile launcher, atop Crawler Transporter-2, is at the entrance to High Bay 3 at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Sept. 8, 2018, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is the first time that the modified mobile launcher made the trip to the pad and the VAB. The mobile launcher is the structure that is used to assemble, process, and launch the SLS rocket.
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA’s SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 4, 2022, as Crawler Transporter-2 departs the pad following rollout at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credit: NASA After Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, west of Baja California, the spacecraft was recovered by personnel on the USS Portland from the U.S. Department of Defense, including Navy amphibious specialists, Space Force weather specialists, and Air Force specialists, as well as engineers and technicians from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations. Personnel from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems led the recovery efforts.
Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher as it rolls out to Launch Complex 39B for the first time on March 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At left is the Vehicle Assembly Building.
First Woman
Credit: NASA “First Woman” graphic novel virtual background featuring an illustration of the inside of a lunar space station outfitted with research racks and computer displays. To learn more about the graphic novel and interactive experiences, visit: nasa.gov/calliefirst/
Credit: NASA “First Woman” graphic novel virtual background featuring the illustration of the inside of a lunar space station outfitted with research racks and computer displays, along with zero-g indicator suited rubber duckies floating throughout. To learn more about the graphic novel and interactive experiences, visit: nasa.gov/calliefirst/
Credit: NASA This “First Woman” graphic novel virtual background features an illustrated scene from a lunar mission. At a lunar camp, one suited astronaut flashes the peace sign while RT, the robot sidekick, waves in the foreground. To learn more about the graphic novel and interactive experiences, visit: nasa.gov/calliefirst/
Gateway
Credit: NASA The Gateway space station hosts the Orion spacecraft and SpaceX’s deep space logistics spacecraft in a polar orbit around the Moon, supporting scientific discovery on the lunar surface during the Artemis IV mission.
Credit: Northrop Grumman and Thales Alenia Space The Gateway space station’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) module, one of two of Gateway’s habitation elements where astronauts will live, conduct science, and prepare for lunar surface missions, successfully completed welding in Turin, Italy. Following a series of tests to ensure its safety, the future home for astronauts will travel to Gilbert, Arizona, for final outfitting ahead of launch to lunar orbit. Gateway will be humanity’s first space station in lunar orbit and is an essential component of the Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon for scientific discovery and chart a path for human missions to Mars.
Lunar Surface
Credit: SpaceX Artist’s concept of SpaceX Starship Human Landing System, or HLS, which is slated to transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface during Artemis III and IV.
Credit: Blue Origin Artist’s concept of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon MK-2 human lunar lander, which is slated to land astronauts on the Moon during Artemis V.
Credit: NASA The “Moon buggy” for NASA’s Artemis missions, the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV), is seen here enabling a pair of astronauts to explore more of the Moon’s surface and conduct science research farther away from the landing site. NASA has selected Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab to advance capabilities for an LTV.
Credit: JAXA/Toyota An artist’s concept of the pressurized rover — which is being designed, developed, and operated by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) — is seen driving across the lunar terrain. The pressurized rover will serve as a mobile habitat and laboratory for the astronauts to live and work for extended periods of time on the Moon.
Logo
Credit: NASA The NASA “meatball” logo. The round red, white, and blue insignia was designed by employee James Modarelli in 1959, NASA’s second year. The design incorporates references to different aspects of NASA’s missions.
Credit: NASA The NASA meatball logo (left) and Artemis logo side by side.
Moon Phases
Credit: NASA The different phases of the Moon, shown in variations of shadowing, extend across this virtual background.
Orion
Credit: NASA On flight day 5 during Artemis I, the Orion spacecraft took a selfie while approaching the Moon ahead of the outbound powered flyby — a burn of Orion’s main engine that placed the spacecraft into lunar orbit. During this maneuver, Orion came within 81 miles of the lunar surface.
Credit: NASA On flight day 13 during Artemis I, Orion reached its maximum distance from Earth at 268,563 miles away from our home planet, traveling farther than any other spacecraft built for humans.
Credit: NASA This first high-resolution image, taken on the first day of the Artemis I mission, was captured by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft was 57,000 miles from home and distancing itself from planet Earth as it approached the Moon and distant retrograde orbit.
Silhouettes
Credit: NASA In this virtual background, various scenes from Earth, Moon, and Mars are depicted within the silhouette outlines of three suited astronauts, artistically representing the interconnected nature of human space exploration from low Earth orbit to the Moon and, one day, human missions to Mars.
SLS (Space Launch System)
Credit: Joel Kowsky In this sunrise photo at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA’s SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations continued for the Artemis I launch.
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky In this close-up image, NASA’s SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 12, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA’s SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen at sunrise atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B on Nov. 7, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Earth, Moon, and Mars
Credit: NASA From left, an artist’s concept of the Moon, Earth, and Mars sharing space. NASA’s long-term goal is to send humans to Mars, and we will use what we learn at the Moon to help us get there. This is the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.
Credit: NASA In this artist’s concept, the upper portion of a blended sphere represents the Earth, Moon, and Mars.
Credit: NASA An artist’s concept showing, from left, the Earth, Moon, and Mars in sequence. Mars remains our horizon goal for human exploration because it is a rich destination for scientific discovery and a driver of technologies that will enable humans to travel and explore far from Earth.
About the Author
Catherine E. Williams
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Last Updated Dec 02, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
From the Mission Control Center to community celebrations, Kenneth Attocknie blends safety expertise with a commitment to cultural connection.
For the past 25 years at NASA, Attocknie has dedicated his career to safeguarding the International Space Station and supporting real-time mission operations at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As a principal safety engineer in the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, Attocknie ensures the safe operation of the space station’s environmental control and life support system. This system is vital for maintaining the life-sustaining environment aboard the orbiting laboratory— a critical foundation for similar systems planned for future Artemis missions.
Official portrait of Kenneth Attocknie.NASA/Bill Stafford As a contractor with SAIC, Attocknie has served as a flight controller, astronaut crew office engineer, and astronaut crew instructor. He joined NASA just as the first two modules of the space station, Zarya and Unity, connected in space on Dec. 6, 1998.
“I’ve supported the space station ever since and have been blessed to witness the remarkable progression of this amazing orbiting experiment,” he said. “I feel I have found a way to contribute positively to NASA’s mission: to improve life for all people on our planet.”
He also contributed to closing out the Space Shuttle Program and worked in system safety for the Constellation program.
As part of SAIC’s Employee Resource Group, Attocknie supports the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement project, which uses project-based learning to inspire high school students from underrepresented communities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. He continues to advocate for Native Americans as a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, helping NASA engage with college students across Indian Country.
Flight controller Kenneth Attocknie on console in the Blue Flight Control Room during Expedition 11. NASA/Mark Sowa Attocknie strives to contribute to a space exploration legacy that uplifts and unites cultures, paving the way for a future in human spaceflight that honors and empowers all.
A member of the Comanche and Caddo tribes of Oklahoma, he has made it his mission to create a cross-cultural exchange between NASA and Native communities to provide opportunities for Natives to visit Johnson.
One of his proudest moments was organizing a Native American Heritage Month event with NASA’s Equal Opportunity and Diversity Office. The celebration brought together Native dancers and singers from Oklahoma and Texas to honor their heritage at Johnson.
“Seeing the Johnson community rally around this event was amazing,” said Attocknie. “It was a profound experience to share and celebrate my culture here.”
A traditional dance exhibition during a Native American cultural celebration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Allison Bills Overcoming challenges and setbacks has been part of his NASA experience as well. “Finding and achieving my purpose is always an ongoing journey,” he said. “Accepting what might seem like a regression is the first step of growth. There’s always a lesson to be found, and every disappointment can fuel a new ambition and direction. Ride the waves, be humble, learn lessons, and above all, always keep going.”
He believes that NASA’s mission is deeply connected to diversity and inclusion. “You can’t truly benefit humankind if you don’t represent humankind,” said Attocknie. “The status quo may feel comfortable, but it leads to stagnation and is the antithesis of innovation.”
Kenneth Attocknie (middle) celebrates his Native American culture with the Caddo tribe of Oklahoma.NASA/Allison Bills Attocknie’s hope for the Artemis Generation? “A healthier planet, society, and the desire to pass on lessons of stewardship for our environment. All life is precious.”
He sees NASA as a gateway to a brighter future: “NASA can truly harness its influence to be an example for our planet, not only in the new heavenly bodies we journey to but also in the new human spirits we touch.”
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