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American Astronomical Society Sets Goals for Improving Gender Equity in Astronomy


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The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has endorsed a new set of recommendations to improve the status of gender equity in astronomy. The recommendations, endorsed at the 205th meeting of the Society in San Diego from January 8 to 13, 2005, were prepared by the Society's Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA).

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      A test rover with shape memory alloy spring tires traverses rocky, Martian-simulated terrain.Credit: NASA The mystique of Mars has been studied for centuries. The fourth planet from the Sun is reminiscent of a rich, red desert and features a rugged surface challenging to traverse. While several robotic missions have landed on Mars, NASA has only explored 1% of its surface. Ahead of future human and robotic missions to the Red Planet, NASA recently completed rigorous rover testing on Martian-simulated terrain, featuring revolutionary shape memory alloy spring tire technology developed at the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland in partnership with Goodyear Tire & Rubber.

      Rovers — mobile robots that explore lunar or planetary surfaces — must be equipped with adequate tires for the environments they’re exploring. As Mars has an uneven, rocky surface, durable tires are essential for mobility. Shape memory alloy (SMA) spring tires help make that possible.

      Shape memory alloys are metals that can return to their original shape after being bent, stretched, heated, and cooled. NASA has used them for decades, but applying this technology to tires is a fairly new concept.
      “We at Glenn are one of the world leaders in bringing the science and understanding of how you change the alloy compositions, how you change the processing of the material, and how you model these systems in a way that we can control and stabilize the behaviors so that they can actually be utilized in real applications,” said Dr. Santo Padula II, materials research engineer at NASA Glenn.
      Researchers from NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Airbus Defence & Space pose with a test rover on Martian-simulated terrain.Credit: NASA Padula and his team have tested several applications for SMAs, but his epiphany of the possibilities for tires came about because of a chance encounter.
      While leaving a meeting, Padula encountered Colin Creager, a mechanical engineer at NASA Glenn whom he hadn’t seen in years. Creager used the opportunity to tell him about the work he was doing in the NASA Glenn Simulated Lunar Operations (SLOPE) Laboratory, which can simulate the surfaces of the Moon and Mars to help scientists test rover performance. He brought Padula to the lab, where Padula immediately took note of the spring tires. At the time, they were made of steel.
      Padula remarked, “The minute I saw the tire, I said, aren’t you having problems with those plasticizing?” Plasticizing refers to a metal undergoing deformation that isn’t reversible and can lead to damage or failure of the component.
      “Colin told me, ‘That’s the only problem we can’t solve.’” Padula continued, “I said, I have your solution. I’m developing a new alloy that will solve that. And that’s how SMA tires started.”
      From there, Padula, Creager, and their teams joined forces to improve NASA’s existing spring tires with a game-changing material: nickel-titanium SMAs. The metal can accommodate deformation despite extreme stress, permitting the tires to return to their original shape even with rigorous impact, which is not possible for spring tires made with conventional metal.

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      First NASA Neurodiversity Network Intern to Present at the American Geophysical Union Annual Conference
      The NASA Science Activation Program’s NASA’s Neurodiversity Network (N3) project sponsors a summer internship program for high school students, in which learners on the autism spectrum are matched with NASA Subject Matter Experts. N3 intern Lillian Hall and mentor Dr. Juan Carlos Martinez Oliveros presented Lilly’s summer research project on December 9 at the 2024 American Geophysical Union conference in Washington, D.C. Their poster, entitled “Eclipse Megamovie: Image Processing”, represents the first time an N3 intern has co-authored a presentation at the prestigious AGU conference.
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      Lilly Hall with her Eclipse Megamovie Image Processing poster. Kristen Hall Share








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    • By NASA
      6 min read
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      Press conferences highlighting results enabled by NASA missions will stream live on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel. Additional agency highlights for registered attendees include:
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      10:15 a.m.: AAS News Conference – “Discovering the Universe Beyond Our Galaxy”
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      News from NASA’s Hubble and Webb will be highlighted:
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      Giada Arney, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
      Potomac Ballroom AB
      2:15 p.m.: AAS News Conference – “New Findings About Stars”
      Maryland Ballroom 5/6
      News based on data from NASA’s Webb and Solar Dynamics Observatory will be highlighted:
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      10:15 a.m.: AAS News Conference – “Exoplanets: From Formation to Disintegration”
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      Media Contacts
      Alise Fisher / Liz Landau
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-2546 / 202-358-0845
      alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / elizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov
      Share








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      Live launch coverage will air on NASA+ with prelaunch events starting Monday, Jan. 13. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. Follow all events at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/live/
      After the launch, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon before landing on the lunar surface in early March. The lander will carry 10 NASA science investigations to further our understanding of the Moon’s environment and help prepare for future human missions to the lunar surface, as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach. 
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      The deadline has passed for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch. The agency’s media accreditation policy is available online. More information about media accreditation is available by emailing: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
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      Monday, Jan. 13
      2:30 p.m. – Lunar science media teleconference with the following participants:
      Chris Culbert, CLPS program manager, NASA’s Johnson Space Center Maria Banks, CLPS project scientist, NASA Johnson Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website:
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      Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 1:30 p.m. EST Jan. 13, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
      Tuesday, Jan. 14
      1 p.m. – Lunar delivery readiness media teleconference with the following participants:
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      12:30 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
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      NASA Launch Coverage
      Audio only of the media teleconferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, or -7135. On launch day, the full mission broadcast can be heard on -1220 and -1240, while the countdown net only can be heard on -7135 beginning approximately one hour before the mission broadcast begins.
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      NASA Website Launch Coverage
      Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 12:30 a.m. EST Jan. 15, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our launch blog for updates.
      NASA Virtual Guests for Launch
      Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. Registrants will receive mission updates and activities by email, including curated mission resources, schedule updates, and a virtual guest passport stamp following a successful launch. Print your passport and get ready to add your stamp!
      Watch, Engage on Social Media
      Let people know you’re following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtag #Artemis. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
      X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASAArtemis, @NASAMoon
      Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, NASAArtemis
      Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASAArtemis
      Coverage en Español
      Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en español? Check out NASA en español on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for additional mission coverage.
      Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
      For media inquiries relating to the launch provider, please contact SpaceX’s communications department by emailing: media@spacex.com. For media inquiries relating to the CLPS provider, Firefly Aerospace, please contact Firefly’s communication department by emailing: press@fireflyspace.com.
      For more information about the agency’s CLPS initiative, see:
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      -end-
      Karen Fox / Alise Fisher
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      Natalia Riusech
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      nataila.s.riusech@nasa.gov
      Antonia Jaramillo
      Kennedy Space Center, Florida
      321-501-8425
      antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov
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      Educator enrollment is still open via the participant registration form:
      https://forms.gle/G34vCzz63ko5RRrM8
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      June 2024 teacher participants in front of the Lick Observatory’s historic 36-inch refracting telescope. SETI Institute/C. Clark Share








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