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Mars: Perseverance (Mars 2020) Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 2 min read
Looking Out for ‘Lookout Hill’
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover looked backward to capture this image of its tracks over monotonous terrain, using its Rear Right Hazard Avoidance Camera. Pico Turquino, a bedrock mesa on the Jezero crater rim, is just visible in the background. Perseverance acquired this image on Nov. 29, 2024 (Sol 1343, or Martian day 1,343 of the Mars 2020 mission), at the local mean solar time of 11:58:52. NASA/JPL-Caltech At Pico Turquino, a bedrock mesa on the Jezero crater rim, the science and engineering teams planned proximity science on Percy’s 30th abrasion patch, Rio Chiquito. SCAM and ZCAM characterized the rock near the abrasion, while SHERLOC and PIXL instruments were deployed for proximity science. The data from Rio Chiquito will help characterize the Pico Turquino area in addition to helping scientists understand the broader story and complex geologic history of Jezero crater.
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover captured this image of the Rio Chiquito abrasion patch, using its SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. Image acquired on Nov. 20, 2024 (Sol 1334, or Martian day 1,334 of the Mars 2020 mission) at the local mean solar time of 16:18:39. NASA/JPL-Caltech After reaching the 30th abrasion milestone, Percy — along with the rover team back on Earth — took a couple of sols of much-deserved break over the Thanksgiving holiday before getting back to work.
Percy has since left Pico Turquino and has started moving to the next geologically significant stop, called Witch Hazel Hill. There is also a planned stop along the way near the highest point of the crater rim that the rover will traverse, a locale aptly named “Lookout Hill” where we will get outstanding views of both the interior of Jezero crater and the surrounding landscape, as if in a lookout tower. The path to get to these stops is mostly covered in regolith (soil) and lacks interesting rock outcrops, so the team’s focus over the next few weeks is on making and monitoring drive progress. As the rover drives, however, it will still have science cameras trained on interesting rock outcrops in the far distant hills to gather additional clues about the rocks that make up the Jezero crater rim.
Personally, I can’t wait for our stop at Lookout Hill, the apex of the crater rim, to see some gorgeous views inside and outside of Jezero from one of the highest spots around! Along with analyzing other returned data while Percy progresses toward Witch Hazel Hill, we’ll be anxiously scanning our post-drive images to look out for Lookout Hill coming into view
Written by Eleanor Moreland, Ph.D. student collaborator at Rice University
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Last Updated Dec 10, 2024 Related Terms
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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.
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Catherine E. Williams
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Last Updated Dec 02, 2024 Related Terms
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Artist’s concept of a future airliner based on the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 submission from awardee Electra. The team’s project focuses on electric propulsion, integrated aircraft technologies, and vehicle design.Electra Picture yourself at an airport a few decades from now. What does your airliner look like? It’s more efficient, with lower emissions than today’s aircraft – what kinds of designs or technology make that possible? NASA is working to answer those questions by commissioning five new design studies looking to push the boundaries of possibility for sustainable aircraft.
Through NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative, the agency asked industry and academia to come up with studies looking at aircraft concepts, key technologies, and designs that could offer the transformative solutions needed to secure commercial aviation’s sustainable future by 2050. NASA issued five awards, worth a total of $11.5 million, to four companies and one university. These new NASA-funded studies will help the agency identify and select promising aircraft concepts and technologies for further investigations.
Artist’s concept of a future airliner based on the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 submission from awardee Georgia Institute of Technology. The team’s project focuses on exploring scenarios and technologies based on an aircraft concept the institute has developed, known as ATH2ENA.Georgia Institute of Technology “Through initiatives like AACES, NASA is positioned to harness a broad set of perspectives about how to further increase aircraft efficiency, reduce aviation’s environmental impact and enhance U.S. technological competitiveness in the 2040s, 2050s, and beyond,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “As a leader in U.S. sustainable aviation research and development, these awards are one example of how we bring together the best ideas and most innovative concepts from the private sector, academia, research agencies, and other stakeholders to pioneer the future of aviation.”
For decades, NASA has connected government agencies, industry, and academia to develop sustainable aviation technologies. In 2021, NASA launched its Sustainable Flight National Partnership, focused on technologies that could be incorporated into aircraft by the 2030s. The partnership’s research and development led to current NASA work including the experimental X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator aircraft, its Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, and the development of more efficient engine cores and processes for the rapid manufacturing of lightweight composite materials.
Artist’s concept of a Pratt & Whitney advanced propulsion concept for the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 initiative. The Pratt & Whitney project focuses on commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.Pratt & Whitney The new AACES awards are initiating a similar process, but on a longer timeline, focusing on technologies to help transform aviation beyond SFNP with aircraft that could enter service by 2050. The kinds of partnerships NASA develops through SFNP and AACES are critical for the agency to support the U.S. goal of net-zero aviation emissions by 2050 and to help put aviation on a path toward energy-resilience.
“The AACES 2050 solicitation drew significant interest from the aviation community and as a result the award process was highly competitive,” said Nateri Madavan, director for NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program. “The proposals selected come from a diverse set of organizations that will provide exciting and wide-ranging explorations of the scenarios, technologies, and aircraft concepts that will advance aviation towards its transformative sustainability goals.”
An artist’s concept of JetZero’s blended wing body, which the company’s team will use to evaluate technologies for the NASA Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability 2050 initiative. JetZero’s project will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.JetZero The AACES 2050 awards went to organizations that will form networks of university and corporate partners to advance their studies. NASA expects the awardees to complete their studies by mid-2026. The new awardee institutions are:
Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, whose team will perform a comprehensive, “open-aperture” exploration of technologies and aircraft concepts for the 2050 timeframe. This will include examining new alternative aviation fuels, propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies, and aircraft configurations along with other technology areas that arise throughout the study. The Electra-led team will explore extending Electra’s novel distributed electric propulsion and its unique aerodynamic design capabilities to develop innovative wing and fuselage integrations that deliver sustainable aviation focused on enabling community-friendly emission reduction, noise reduction, and improved air travel access. The company’s existing small aircraft prototype has been flying for over a year, demonstrating Electra’s technology that aims to transform air travel with reduced environmental impact and improved operational efficiency. Georgia Institute of Technology will perform a comprehensive exploration of sustainability technologies, including alternative fuels, propulsion systems, and aircraft configurations. The institute’s team will then explore new aircraft concepts incorporating the selected technologies with their Advanced Technology Hydrogen Electric Novel Aircraft (ATH2ENA) as a starting point. JetZero will explore technologies that enable cryogenic, liquid hydrogen to be used as a fuel for commercial aviation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These technologies will be evaluated on both tube-and wing and JetZero’s blended wing body – an airplane shape that provides more options for larger hydrogen fuel tanks within the aircraft. Pratt and Whitney a division of RTX Corporation, will explore a broad suite of commercial aviation propulsion technologies targeting thermal and propulsive efficiency improvements to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Pratt & Whitney team will then down-select high-priority and alternative propulsion concepts for potential integration studies with various airframe concepts for aircraft in 2050 and beyond. Artist’s concept of a 50-60 passenger hydrogen fuel cell electric plane created by Boeing through its future flight concept efforts. Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, received an award through NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for Environmental Sustainability (AACES) 2050 initiative to examine new alternative aviation fuels propulsion systems, aerodynamic technologies, and aircraft configurations, along with other technology areas.Boeing AACES 2050 is part of NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project, which explores and develops technology to further NASA’s vision for the future development of fixed-wing transport aircraft with revolutionary energy efficiency. The project falls under NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program, which evaluates and develops technologies for new aircraft systems and explores promising air travel concepts.
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By NASA
Earth Observer Earth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives 9 min read
Looking Back on Looking Up: The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
Credit: NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) Introduction
First as a bite, then a half Moon, until crescent-shaped shadows dance through the leaves and the temperature begins to drop – a total solar eclipse can be felt growing in the atmosphere. As the sky darkens in the few minutes before totality, the sounds of animals begin to dissipate along with the vibrancy of red and orange hues, and we enter the mesopic zone, or twilight vision. All is quiet in these cold, silvery-blue moments, until the Moon lines up perfectly with the Sun from our viewpoint on Earth – an odd quirk of the Moon–Earth system, and an occurrence that does not exist elsewhere in the solar system.
Millions of people gazed up at the sky on April 8, 2024, as a total solar eclipse darkened the skies across a thin ribbon of North America – spanning Mexico’s Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada – see Figure 1.
Figure 1. A total solar eclipse was visible along a narrow track stretching from Texas to Maine on April 8, 2024. A partial eclipse was visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states. Figure credit: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio A pearly, iridescent halo lined the perimeter of the Moon as it crossed in front of the Sun, revealing the Sun’s corona – see Photo 1. Solar prominences – bright features made of plasma flowing outwards through tangled structures of magnetic fields along the Sun’s surface – were observable as reddish-pink dots rising from the edges of the eclipsed Sun – see Photo 2.
Photo 1. The moment of totality in Cleveland, OH. Photo credit: NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) Photo 2. Solar prominence [lower right of the solar disc] seen during totality in Cleveland, OH. Photo credit: GRC Snapshots of NASA Science Outreach Along the Path of Totality
Over 400 NASA staff took up positions along the path of totality, hosting various events to engage the public in outreach activities spanning the scope of NASA Science. NASA staff hosted 14 “SunSpot” locations across 7 states (Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine), including 224 NASA engagement and Science Activation events. As an example, Zoe Jenkins [NASA Headquarters/Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) Federal—Graphic Designer] was stationed in Maine to view the eclipse –see Photos 3–4. More information about events at these SunSpots is available at the eclipse website. The Science Activation Program furthered NASA’s message, reaching all 50 states through public events by sharing information and providing professional development programming for educators. (To learn more about NASA’s Science Activation Program, see NASA Earth Science and Education Update: Introducing the Science Activation Program, The Earth Observer, 35:6, 6–12.)
Photo 3. NASA Eclipse celebration at the SunSpot in Houlton, ME. Photo credit: Zoe Jenkins/NASA Headquarters (HQ)/Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC) Federal Photo 4. View of the black hole of the Moon’s shadow over the Sun during totality in Houlton, ME. Photo credit: Zoe Jenkins Among the SunSpot locations across the path of totality, NASA’s Science Support Office (SSO) staffed events at two of them: in Cleveland, OH and Kerrville, TX.
The Great Lakes Science Center and its two partners – NASA’s Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the Cleveland Orchestra – presented “Total Eclipse Fest 2024,” a three-day celestial celebration at North Coast Harbor in downtown Cleveland beginning April 6 and culminating on the day of the eclipse. The event included free concerts, performances, speakers, and hands-on science activities.
At the heart of the festival was the “NASA Village,” an immersive experience featuring the agency’s major missions and projects aimed at advancing space exploration and revolutionizing air travel. Figure 2 shows the location of each outreach tent in the village, while Figure 3 provides descriptions of each activity. More than 36,000 attendees visited the NASA village over the three-day event.
Exhibits focused on innovations in aeronautics, space, solar, and lunar science, and best practices for ensuring a safe solar eclipse viewing experience. Through virtual and augmented simulations, attendees had the opportunity to take a supersonic flight, walk on Mars, and visit the International Space Station. Attendees of all ages participated in hands-on activities and talked to NASA scientists and engineers about their work and how to join the NASA team. Attendees could also walk through Journey to Tomorrow, a traveling exhibit complete with interactive English and Spanish-language content, and see an Apollo-era Moon rock. Visitors also explored large-scale, inflatable displays of the X-59 plane designed to quiet supersonic air travel, the Space Launch System rocket slated to take the first woman and person of color to the Moon, and a Mars habitat concept. Throughout the NASA Village, attendees could take advantage of several photo opportunities, including iconic NASA cutouts and displays. NASA also hosted astronaut autograph signing sessions, as well as special guest “meet and greets.”
Figure 2. Map of the “NASA Village” at the Eclipse festival in Cleveland, OH, hosted by GRC. See Figure 3 for activity descriptions. Figure credit: GRC Figure 3. Descriptions of each outreach activity stationed at individual tents within the NASA Village over the three-day festival. See Figure 2 for map. Figure credit: GRC A View of the Eclipse from Cleveland
In Cleveland, the eclipse began at 1:59 PM EDT, with totality spanning 3:13–3:17 PM. The eclipse concluded at 4:28 PM. SSO staff supported total eclipse outreach from April 5–9, specifically engaging attendees at the Solar Science tent within the NASA Village and providing information about eclipse safety and heliophysics, and handing out items such as the NASA Science calendar, NASA tote bags, and other outreach materials. SSO also supported a NASA photo booth with eclipse-themed props and took hundreds of souvenir photos for visitors to remember their time at the festival – see Photos 5–9.
Photo 5. SSO staff member Dalia Kirshenblat [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)/Global Science and Technology Inc.(GST)] handed out NASA Science calendars, eclipse glasses, posters, and other NASA outreach materials. The materials informed attendees about eclipse viewing safety and shared NASA science, engaging in topics that explained how eclipses occur. Photo credit: GRC Photo 6. Jack Kaye [NASA HQ—Associate Director for Research, Earth Science Division (ESD)] hands out eclipse posters and other outreach materials to attendees at Eclipse Fest 2024. Photo credit: GRC Photo 7. Steve Graham [GSFC/GST], Dalia Kirshenblat, and Danielle Kirshenblat [Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)] pose with NASA SSO photo booth props at Eclipse Fest 2024. SSO staff took hundreds of pictures of visitors with the photo booth props as keepsakes. Photo credit: NASA Photo 8. Dalia Kirshenblat and Danielle Kirshenblat watching the eclipse begin in Cleveland, OH, at approximately 2:00 PM EDT. Photo credit: NASA Photo 9. Steve Graham, Dalia Kirshenblat, Danielle Kirshenblat, and other Eclipse Fest attendees gaze at the celestial show unfolding above them as totality begins in Cleveland, OH, at approximately 3:13 PM EDT. Photo credit: Danielle Kirshenblat Eclipse Engagement in Texas
In addition to the Cleveland eclipse festival, SSO staff members supported total eclipse engagement in Kerrville, TX, from April 5–9, including several small events at Cailloux Theatre, Doyle Community Center, Trailhead Garden, and Kerrville-Schreiner Park leading up to the eclipse. (While a bit more remote than Cleveland, Kerville was chosen as a SunSpot location during the total eclipse because it was also in the path of the October 2023 annular eclipse, NASA had outreach activities in Kerville for that eclipse as well). The events culminated on April 8 at Louise Hays Park. NASA’s impact on the community was wide-reaching, engaging approximately 4000 individual interactions with community members and visitors. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and appreciative. On April 8, SSO provided astronaut handler support for NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman – who will command the Artemis II Moon mission – during a “photos with an astronaut” session. SSO staff also escorted Wiseman to and from a main stage speaking engagement and the NASA broadcast engagement – see Photos 10–13.
Photo 10. Ellen Gray [GSFC/KBR—Senior Outreach Specialist] engaging attendees in Kerrville, TX with various NASA Science outreach materials. Photo credit: NASA Photo 11. NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman poses with a potential future astronaut and attendee at the Eclipse event in Kerrville, TX. Photo credit: NASA Photo 12. Astronaut Reid Wiseman speaks at a NASA broadcast in Kerrville, TX. Photo credit: NASA Photo 13. [left to right] Nicola Fox [NASA HQ—Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD)], Alex Lockwood [NASA HQ—Strategic Engagement Lead], and Astronaut Reid Wiseman. Photo credit: NASA NASA Science Engagement Across the Agency
As millions gazed at totality from the ground, NASA was conducting science from the skies. Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path (APEP), a NASA sounding rocket mission, launched three rockets from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study how the sudden dip in sunlight that occurs during an eclipse affects the upper atmosphere. Each rocket deployed four scientific instruments that measured changes in electric and magnetic fields, density, and temperature – see Photo 14.
Photo 14. The Atmospheric Perturbations launched around the Eclipse Period (APEP) sounding rocket during the total eclipse on April. This photo shows the third APEP sounding rocket – launched during the October 2023 annular eclipse – leaving the launchpad. Photo credit: WSMR Army Photo As part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, student teams constructed hundreds of balloons and launched them during the eclipse, encouraging students to consider careers in the STEM workforce.
Also, two WB-57 aircraft carried instruments to further extend scientific observations made during the eclipse. By taking images above Earth’s atmosphere, scientists were able to see new details of structures in the middle and lower corona. The observations – taken with a camera that images in infrared and visible light at high resolution and high speed – could improve our understanding of the dust ring around the Sun and help search for asteroids that may orbit near the Sun. The WB-57 flights also carried instruments to learn more about the temperature and chemical composition of the corona and coronal mass ejections – or large bursts of solar material. By flying these instruments on a WB-57, the scientists extended their time in the Moon’s shadow by over two minutes from what could be achieved using ground-based observations. A third experiment used an ionosonde to study the ionosphere – the charged layer of Earth’s upper atmosphere. The device functions like a simple radar, sending out high frequency radio signals and listening for their echo rebounding off the ionosphere. The echoes allow researchers to measure how the ionosphere’s charge changed during the eclipse – see Photo 15.
Photo 15. Pilots prepare for the 2024 total solar eclipse experiments on the NASA WB-57 aircraft on April 8, 2024 at Ellington Field in Houston, TX. Photo credit: NASA/James Blair The eclipse also provided an opportunity for the public to contribute to the NASA Citizen Science program – a project called Eclipse Soundscapes reached over 900 people during their training programs to prepare for the eclipse. Over 36,000 individual citizen scientists contributed more than 60,000 data submissions across the eclipse path, recording the reactions of wildlife before, during, and after this celestial event.
As part of NASA’s Heliophysics Big Year to celebrate the Sun, NASA played a key role in enabling safe participation as well as working with new-to-NASA audiences. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate ordered and distributed 2.05 million eclipse glasses across the country, with distribution locations including K–12 schools, libraries, minority-serving institutions, community events, museums, partner organizations, underserved communities, science centers, and NASA personnel.
As of April 8, Science Activation reached over 2000 educators across the country through programming designed to prepare educators for the eclipse and provide them with educational resources to train students in STEM. NASA broadcasted a livestream of engagement events on NASA+, the NASA App, NASA.gov, and NASA social media channels. By 4:30 PM EDT, NASA’s websites spiked (e.g., nasa.gov, science.nasa.gov, plus.nasa.gov, and ciencia.nasa.gov) with nearly 28.9 million views and 15.6 million unique visitors. At its peak, 1,458,212 people watched the eclipse broadcast live, experiencing the eclipse together through the eyes of NASA. Total viewership as of 4:30 PM EDT was 13,511,924.
NASA’s Office of Communications Engagement Division organized at least 17 in-person and digital partner interactions, including several Major League Baseball games, Google eclipse safety Doodle and search effect, coverage of NASA on NASDAQ’s screen in Times Square, a solar songs request weekend on Third Rock Radio, and a Snoopy visit to the Cleveland sunspot. Several partners also interacted on social media, including Barbie, Cookie Monster, Elmo, Snoopy, LEGO, and other partner accounts.
Conclusion
The 2024 total eclipse brought joy and awe to millions, inspiring so many to look up, be curious about the natural world around them, and explore the sky. The next total solar eclipse will occur in 2026 and will be visible in Spain, a small area of Portugal, as well as Iceland, Greenland, and Russia. We won’t see another total eclipse in the U.S. until 2044.
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Movie. Timelapse of the eclipse’s totality in Cleveland, OH. Video credit: Danielle Kirshenblat Dalia Kirshenblat
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Global Science and Technology, Inc.
dalia.p.zelmankirshenblat@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 22, 2024 Related Terms
Earth Science View the full article
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By NASA
Interview with NESC Director, Tim Wilson
NESC Director, Tim Wilson Upon reaching its 20th year of operations at NASA in 2023, the NESC is busier than it has ever been. With a portfolio of more than 160 in-progress requests from Agency programs, NESC Director Tim Wilson spends much of his day prioritizing, allocating funds from the organization’s fixed budget to NASA’s most pressing issues. Of late, the NESC has focused on priority-one requests—projects in the flight phase—such as the Artemis missions and those of NASA’s commercial partners, while lower priority requests like discipline-advancing activities have been placed on hold until the next fiscal year. For Mr. Wilson, each day is a new shuffle of requests, funding, and resources.
When he joined the newly formed NESC in 2003, Mr. Wilson could not have predicted the impact the organization would have on Agency operations. “To be honest, I didn’t really think we’d still be here,” he said. “The NESC was an experiment.” Initiated by the results of the Columbia accident investigation, the idea behind it was that NASA programs would benefit from expert, unbiased perspectives on its tough engineering problems. The vision for the organization was straightforward, but the execution was far more challenging than Mr. Wilson expected.
“When we started those first assessments with the CALIPSO satellite and Shuttle, we had to elbow our way to the table to be accepted. We were new, and no one knew who we were or what we were doing. Back then, programs were worried that we might slow them down or cause problems.” Though Agency leadership had given them the green light, it was up to Mr. Wilson and the NESC’s early members to prove they deserved a seat at those tables. “You have to produce some results before folks respect you,” he said. It was hard won, but with each assessment, the NESC gained that respect by bringing ideas and solutions programs could use.
Two decades in, Mr. Wilson is happy to say the NESC is now invited to the table. “That’s part of why demand has grown as much as it has. Our team is respected, and we’re asked to participate. We’ve gone from being an unknown to an organization they reach out to as a trusted partner: someone who can help them be successful, bring expertise or resources they don’t have, or sometimes just bring another perspective to break a logjam and help them get things done. That’s the shift I have seen over the years. It’s been really encouraging to see it.”
The NESC portfolio of work also has shifted from the early, hectic pace of Shuttle assessments where quick, real-time solutions were needed. In the years following the Shuttle’s retirement, the NESC had the luxury of time to invest in longer-term projects like the design and construction of a composite crew module that would be leveraged in the development of Orion and commercial spacecraft. Today, the pace has ramped up again as Artemis, Dragon, and Starliner head to the Moon and ISS.
“These are real-time activities where you have to engage immediately and be able to add value out of the chute. You don’t have time to come up to speed on the system,” Mr. Wilson said. “We learned with Shuttle that it was important to move quickly and be pre-positioned to help.” Over the years the NESC has cultivated good relationships with programs—keeping people plugged in to their day-to-day activities so that when problems arose, they could engage right away.
“The lesson we learned is you need people doing routine work for those programs all along so that they understand the subsystems and hardware and they’re ready to engage when there’s a real-time problem.” It’s been a balancing act to keep close ties yet remain independent, but Mr. Wilson said the NESC has found an equilibrium. Independent yet parallel modeling and simulation (M&S) is a good example of finding that balance, he said. “We build our own M&S tools in parallel with the programs’ tools to give them a second set of eyes to a problem.” Since 2012, for example, NESC-built M&S trajectory tools have help mitigate risks for Artemis missions’ ascent to orbit, and entry, descent, and landing simulations for CCP provider vehicles.
With capped budgets, the NESC must adjust its scope continually to keep up with the increasing tempo of space exploration. For now, that means focusing on what is most critical and has the highest payback. “We’ll continue to focus on the heavy hitters, the programs that are flying and have a critical immediate need. There are a lot of those, and the pace is ramping up.”
As for the future, Mr. Wilson said, “I have not seen very many Agency initiatives persist the way the NESC has, so I’m thrilled that we have met the needs that we were placed here to meet and that we continue to deliver value, because I think that’s what has kept us rolling and growing over all of this time.”
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