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By NASA
Othmane Benafan is a NASA engineer whose work is literally reshaping how we use aerospace materials — he creates metals that can shape shift. Benafan, a materials research engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, creates metals called shape memory alloys that are custom-made to solve some of the most pressing challenges of space exploration and aviation.
“A shape memory alloy starts off just like any other metal, except it has this wonderful property: it can remember shapes,” Benafan says. “You can bend it, you can deform it out of shape, and once you heat it, it returns to its shape.”
An alloy is a metal that’s created by combining two or more metallic elements. Shape memory alloys are functional metals. Unlike structural metals, which are fixed metal shapes used for construction or holding heavy objects, functional metals are valued for unique properties that enable them to carry out specific actions.
NASA often needs materials with special capabilities for use in aircraft and spacecraft components, spacesuits, and hardware designed for low-Earth orbit, the Moon, or Mars. But sometimes, the ideal material doesn’t exist. That’s where engineers like Benafan come in.
“We have requirements, and we come up with new materials to fulfill that function,” he said. The whole process begins with pen and paper, theories, and research to determine exactly what properties are needed and how those properties might be created. Then he and his teammates are ready to start making a new metal.
“It’s like a cooking show,” Benafan says. “We collect all the ingredients — in my case, the metals would be elements from the periodic table, like nickel, titanium, gold, copper, etc. — and we mix them together in quantities that satisfy the formula we came up with. And then we cook it.”
Othmane Benafan, a materials research engineer, develops a shape memory alloy in a laboratory at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. These elemental ingredients are melted in a container called a crucible, then poured into the required shape, such as a cylinder, plate, or tube. From there, it’s subjected to temperatures and pressures that shape and train the metal to change the way its atoms are arranged every time it’s heated or cooled.
Shape memory alloys created by Benafan and his colleagues have already proven useful in several applications. For example, the Shape Memory Alloy Reconfigurable Technology Vortex Generator (SMART VG) being tested on Boeing aircraft uses the torque generated by a heat-induced twisting motion to raise and lower a small, narrow piece of hardware installed on aircraft wings, resulting in reduced drag during cruise conditions. In space, the 2018 Advanced eLectrical Bus (ALBus) CubeSat technology demonstration mission included the use of a shape memory alloy to deploy the small satellite’s solar arrays and antennas. And Glenn’s Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters technology benefits mining and geothermal applications on Earth by breaking apart rocks without harming the surrounding environment. The shape memory alloy device is wrapped in a heater and inserted into a predrilled hole in the rock, and when the heater is activated, the alloy expands, creating intense pressure that drives the rock apart.
Benafan’s fascination with shape memory alloys started after he immigrated to the United States from Morocco at age 19. He began attending night classes at the Valencia Community College (now Valencia College), then went on to graduate from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. A professor did a demonstration on shape memory alloys and that changed Benafan’s life forever. Now, Benafan enjoys helping others understand related topics.
“Outside of work, one of the things I like to do most is make technology approachable to someone who may be interested but may not be experienced with it just yet. I do a lot of community outreach through camps or lectures in schools,” he said.
He believes a mentality of curiosity and a willingness to fail and learn are essential for aspiring engineers and encourages others to pursue their ideas and keep trying.
“You know, we grow up with that mindset of falling and standing up and trying again, and that same thing applies here,” Benafan said. “The idea is to be a problem solver. What are you trying to contribute? What problem do you want to solve to help humanity, to help Earth?”
To learn more about the wide variety of exciting and unexpected jobs at NASA, check out the Surprisingly STEM video series.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Instruments in space are helping scientists map wastewater plumes flowing into the Pacific Ocean from the heavily polluted Tijuana River, seen here with the San Diego sky-line to the north. NOAA Proof-of-concept results from the mouth of the Tijuana River in San Diego County show how an instrument called EMIT could aid wastewater detection.
An instrument built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to map minerals on Earth is now revealing clues about water quality. A recent study found that EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) was able to identify signs of sewage in the water at a Southern California beach.
The authors of the study examined a large wastewater plume at the mouth of the Tijuana River, south of Imperial Beach near San Diego. Every year, millions of gallons of treated and untreated sewage enter the river, which carries pollutants through communities and a national reserve on the U.S.-Mexico border before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Contaminated coastal waters have been known to impact human health — from beachgoers to U.S. Navy trainees — and harm marine ecosystems, fisheries, and wildlife.
For decades scientists have tracked water quality issues like harmful algal blooms using satellite instruments that analyze ocean color. Shades that range from vibrant red to bright green can reveal the presence of algae and phytoplankton. But other pollutants and harmful bacteria are more difficult to monitor because they’re harder to distinguish with traditional satellite sensors.
A plume spreads out to sea in this image captured off San Diego by the Sentinel-2 satellite on March 24, 2023. Both a spectroradiometer used to analyze water samples (yellow star) and NASA’s EMIT identified in the plume signs of a type of bacterium that can sicken humans and animals.SDSU/Eva Scrivner That’s where EMIT comes in. NASA’s hyperspectral instrument orbits Earth aboard the International Space Station, observing sunlight reflecting off the planet below. Its advanced optical components split the visible and infrared wavelengths into hundreds of color bands. By analyzing each satellite scene pixel by pixel at finer spatial resolution, scientists can discern what molecules are present based on their unique spectral “fingerprint.”
Scientists compared EMIT’s observations of the Tijuana River plume with water samples they tested on the ground. Both EMIT and the ground-based instruments detected a spectral fingerprint pointing to phycocyanin, a pigment in cyanobacteria, an organism that can sicken humans and animals that ingest or inhale it.
‘Smoking Gun’
Many beachgoers are already familiar with online water-quality dashboards, which often rely on samples collected in the field, said Christine Lee, a scientist at JPL in Southern California and a coauthor of the study. She noted the potential for EMIT to complement these efforts.
“From orbit you are able to look down and see that a wastewater plume is extending into places you haven’t sampled,” Lee said. “It’s like a diagnostic at the doctor’s office that tells you, ‘Hey, let’s take a closer look at this.’”
Lead author Eva Scrivner, a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut, said that the findings “show a ‘smoking gun’ of sorts for wastewater in the Tijuana River plume.” Scrivner, who led the study while at San Diego State University, added that EMIT could be useful for filling data gaps around intensely polluted sites where traditional water sampling takes a lot of time and money.
EMIT’s Many Uses
The technology behind EMIT is called imaging spectroscopy, which was pioneered at JPL in the 1980s. Imaging spectrometers developed at JPL over the decades have been used to support areas ranging from agriculture to forest health and firefighting.
When EMIT was launched in July 2022, it was solely aimed at mapping minerals and dust in Earth’s desert regions. That same sensitivity enabled it to spot the phycocyanin pigments off the California coast.
Scrivner hadn’t anticipated that an instrument initially devoted to exploring land could reveal insights about water. “The fact that EMIT’s findings over the coast are consistent with measurements in the field is compelling to water scientists,” she said. “It’s really exciting.”
To learn more about EMIT, visit:
https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/
News Media Contacts
Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
Written by Sally Younger
2025-078
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Last Updated Jun 12, 2025 Related Terms
EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) Earth Earth Science Technology Office Human Dimensions International Space Station (ISS) Oceans Water on Earth Explore More
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By NASA
NASA/Don Pettit A flash of lightning shines brighter than the lights of nearby cities in this Oct. 29, 2024, image taken by astronaut Don Pettit while aboard the International Space Station. At the time of this photograph, little to no moonlight illuminated the scene. This allows astronauts to see and photograph a variety of light sources with a high degree of contrast against the dark land and water surfaces. Bright light associated with lightning is a common occurrence during the monsoon season across Southeast Asia.
Read more about this photo.
Text credit: NASA/Andrea Wenzel
Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit
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By NASA
NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland provides ground test facilities to industry, government, and academia specializing in the following:
Acoustics Engine Components Testing Full-Scale Engine Testing Flight Research Icing Research Materials and Structures Microgravity Space Power and Propulsion Wind Tunnels Electromagnetic Interference Laboratory Our unique facilities offer superior customer service, flexible scheduling, and state-of-the-art testing capabilities.
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Customer contacts the facility manager and/or submits a test request form. See below for the Facility Request Form. The facility manager will contact the customer to discuss the request and obtain detailed test requirements. After test requirements and schedule are finalized, the facility manager will provide a high-fidelity cost estimate for review and prepare a formal agreement for signature. Once the agreement is signed by both NASA Glenn and the customer, and the work is funded, the test execution may begin per the agreement. If you need further information about our facility capabilities or the general testing process, please complete the form below to have your inquiry answered or contact Michael McVetta at 216-433-2832.
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Name* First Last Organization*Work Phone*Work Email* Facility*If you are not sure of the facility you need, simply indicate that below. I'm not sure10×10 Supersonic Wind Tunnel1×1 Supersonic Wind Tunnel8×6 Wind Tunnel9×16 Wind Tunnel2.2 Second Drop TowerAero-Acoustic Propulsion LaboratoryAdvanced Subsonic Combustion RigCombined Effects ChamberElectric Propulsion LaboratoryElectric Propulsion Research BuildingElectromagnetic Interference LaboratoryEngine Research Building and Related FacilitiesFlight Research BuildingHypersonic Tunnel FacilityIcing Research TunnelIn-Space Propulsion FacilityPropulsion Systems LaboratoryStructural Dynamics LaboratoryStructural Static LaboratoryZero Gravity Research FacilityAdditional CommentsNameThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. View the full article
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By USH
A few days ago, a rare phenomenon was captured on video in a parking lot in Nashville, Tennessee, during a thunderstorm.
The footage shows a large flash, followed by several small fireballs sparking around parked cars, culminating in the appearance of a sizable glowing orb that appears to be a so-called ball lightning.
The ball lightning behaved erratically, moving across the lot, triggering car alarms, and causing power fluctuations throughout the area.
Ball lightning is a rare and still poorly understood phenomenon, typically described as a rapidly rotating orb of plasma. View the full article
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