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By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are returning to Earth after months aboard the International Space Station conducting scientific experiments and technology demonstrations for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. The four launched on March 3 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Here’s a look at some scientific milestones accomplished during their mission:
Revealing resistant microorganisms
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps extracts DNA for the Genomic Enumeration of Antibiotic Resistance in Space experiment, which surveys the station for antibiotic-resistant organisms and sequences their DNA to examine adaptations to space. Results could support development of measures to protect astronauts and people in buildings and facilities on Earth, such as hospitals, from resistant bacteria.
NASA Brain organoid models
NASA astronaut Mike Barratt processes samples for Human Brain Organoid Models for Neurodegenerative Disease & Drug Discovery. This investigation uses human brain organoids created with stem cells from patients to study neuroinflammation, a common feature of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The organoids provide a platform to study these diseases and their treatments and to potentially address how extended spaceflight affects the brain.
NASA Bioprinting human tissues
Tissue samples bioprinted in microgravity are higher quality than those printed on the ground. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick processes cardiac tissue samples for the Redwire Cardiac Bioprinting Investigation. Results could advance the production of organs and tissues for transplant and improve 3D printing of foods and medicines on future long-duration space missions.
NASA Growing better drugs
NASA astronaut Mike Barratt works on Pharmaceutical In-space Laboratory – 02, which uses the station’s Advanced Space Experiments Processor to study how microgravity affects the production of various types of protein crystals. The ability to produce better crystals could lead to manufacturing improvements and new applications and better performance for pharmaceutical compounds, potentially providing more positive patient experiences.
NASA Alloy solidification
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps works on Materials Science Lab Batch 3a, two projects investigating the solidification of metallic alloys in space. Insights gained could help improve alloy solidification processes on the ground, supporting the development of materials with superior chemical and physical properties for applications in space and on Earth.
NASA Fueling the flames
The Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction- Growth and Extinction Limit investigation determines how fuel temperature affects material flammability. This image shows the fuel surface during a burn (the black part of the sphere) and the distance traveled by the flame (blue). Results could improve researchers’ understanding of fire growth and inform the development of optimal fire suppression techniques to protect crews on future missions.
NASA Very long-distance calls
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps wraps up an ISS Ham Radio session on April 10, with students in Italy. The program connects students and enthusiasts with astronauts in space via amateur radio. Participants study space, radio waves, and related topics to prepare questions before their scheduled call.
NASA Student robotics competition
For Astrobee-Zero Robotics, students compete to have their code control one of the space station’s Astrobee robots. The experience helps inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers. NASA astronaut Mike Barratt works with the Astrobee robot named Bumble during operations for the project.
NASA Immune function in space
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps prepares samples for Immunity Assay, a study of how spaceflight affects immune function. Previously, astronaut immune function could only be examined pre- and postflight, but a newly developed assay allows for testing during flight. This capability provides a more precise assessment of the immune changes that happen in space.
NASA Getting weighed in weightlessness
The Space Linear Acceleration Mass Measurement Device calculates a crew member’s mass based on Newton’s Second Law of Motion, which states force equals mass times acceleration. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick performs maintenance on the device, used in support of multiple NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) investigations on how spaceflight affects the body.
NASA Satellites for science
NASA astronaut Mike Barratt prepares for the Nanoracks Cubesat Deployer Mission 27on April 16. The mission deployed seven research satellites: a reflectometer to measure sea ice, tests of telemetry instruments and solar cells, a hyperspectral thermal imager, a gamma-ray burst detector, a new remote sensing technique, and a magnetic field measurement test.
NASA Remote-controlled robots
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps remotely manipulates a robot on the ground for Surface Avatar. The investigation tests system ergonomics, operator response to feedback, and the potential challenges for actual orbit-to-ground remote control. Such operation is an important capability for future exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.
NASA The power of photographs
NASA astronauts Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Loral O’Hara take photographs in the station’s cupola, adding to the more than 4.7 million images produced for Crew Earth Observations. These images support scientific studies on topics ranging from aquatic organisms and icebergs to the effects of artificial lighting at night and inform the response of decision-makers to natural disasters such as volcanoes and floods.
NASA Reflections on the Moon
For Earthshine from ISS, astronauts photograph the Moon throughout the lunar cycle to study changes in the light it reflects from Earth. Results could help validate the concept of observing Earth’s climate from satellite-borne instruments and add to researchers’ understanding of how the planet’s climate is changing.
NASA Packing a Dragon
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Tracy C. Dyson pack frozen samples into the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for return to Earth and analysis by researchers. The spacecraft launched to the orbiting laboratory on March 21 for NASA’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply services mission, carrying scientific experiments and supplies, and returned to Earth on April 30.
NASA Cygnus delivers
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm before being released from the space station on July 12. NASA’s Northrop Grumman 20th commercial resupply services mission arrived Feb. 1 with experiments on 3D printing, robotic surgery, tissue cartilage, and more.
NASA Melissa Gaskill
International Space Station Research Communications Team
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Download high-resolution photos and videos of the research mentioned in this article. Search this database of scientific experiments to learn more about those mentioned in this article.
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By NASA
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson works on a computer inside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson will share details of her recent six-month mission aboard the International Space Station in a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 4, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The news conference will air live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.
Media wishing to participate by phone must contact the newsroom no later than two hours before the start of the event. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. To ask questions by phone, media must dial into the news conference no later than 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. Questions may also be submitted on social media by using #AskNASA.
Spanning 184 days in space, Dyson’s third spaceflight covered 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a 78-million-mile journey as an Expedition 70/71 flight engineer. Dyson also conducted one spacewalk of 31 minutes, bringing her career total to 23 hours, 20 minutes on four spacewalks. Dyson returned to Earth on Sept. 23, as planned, along with her crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.
Dyson launched on March 23 and arrived at the station March 25 alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.
While aboard the orbiting lab, Dyson conducted dozens of scientific and technology activities to benefit future exploration in space and life back on Earth. She remotely controlled a robot on Earth’s surface from a computer aboard the station and evaluated orbit-to-ground operations. She operated a 3D bioprinter to print cardiac tissue samples, which could advance technology for creating replacement organs and tissues for transplants on Earth.
Dyson also participated in the crystallization of model proteins to evaluate the performance of hardware that could be used for pharmaceutical production and ran a program that uses student-designed software to control the station’s free-flying robots, inspiring the next generation of innovators.
Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook, ISS Instagram, and the space station blog.
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Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 30, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space Astronauts Expedition 70 Expedition 71 International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research Tracy Caldwell Dyson View the full article
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By NASA
On Sept. 30, 1994, space shuttle Endeavour took to the skies on its 7th trip into space. During the 11-day mission, the STS-68 crew of Commander Michael A. Baker, Pilot Terrence “Terry” W. Wilcutt, and Mission Specialists Steven L. Smith, Daniel W. Bursch, Peter J.K. “Jeff” Wisoff, and Payload Commander Thomas “Tom” D. Jones operated the second Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2) as part of NASA’s Mission to Planet Earth. Flying five months after SRL-1, results from the two missions provided unprecedented insight into Earth’s global environment across contrasting seasons. The astronauts observed pre-selected sites around the world as well as a volcano that erupted during their mission using SRL-2’s U.S., German, and Italian radar instruments and handheld cameras.
Left: The STS-68 crew patch. Right: Official photo of the STS-68 crew of Thomas D. Jones, front row left, Peter J.K. “Jeff” Wisoff, Steven L. Smith, and Daniel W. Bursch; Michael A. Baker, back row left, and Terrence W. Wilcutt.
In August 1993, NASA named Jones as the SRL-2 payload commander, eight months before he flew as a mission specialist on STS-59, the SRL-1 mission. When NASA could not meet JPL’s request to fly their personnel as payload specialists on the SRL missions, the compromise solution reached had one NASA astronaut – in this case, Jones – fly on both missions. Selected as an astronaut in 1990, STS-59 marked Jones’ first flight and STS-68 his second. In October 1993, NASA named the rest of the STS-68 crew. For Baker, selected in 1985, SRL-2 marked his third trip into space, having flown on STS-43 and STS-52. Along with Jones, Wilcutt, Bursch, and Wisoff all came from the class of 1990, nicknamed The Hairballs. STS-68 marked Wilcutt’s first spaceflight, while Bursch had flown once before on STS-51 and Wisoff on STS-57. Smith has the distinction as the first from his class of 1992 – The Hogs – assigned to a spaceflight, but the Aug. 18 launch abort robbed him of the distinction of the first to actually fly, the honor going instead to Jerry M. Linenger when STS-64 ended up flying before STS-68.
Left: The Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) in Endeavour’s payload bay in the Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: Endeavour on Launch Pad 39A. Right: STS-68 crew in the Astrovan on its way to Launch Pad 39A for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.
The SRL payloads consisted of three major components – the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C), built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) sponsored by the German Space Agency DLR and the Italian Space Agency ASI, and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS), built by NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Scientists from 13 countries participated in the SRL data gathering program, providing ground truth at preselected observation sites. The SIR system first flew as SIR-A on STS-2 in November 1981, although the shortened mission limited data gathering. It flew again as SIR-B on STS-41G in October 1984, and gathering much useful data.
Building on that success, NASA planned to fly an SRL mission on STS-72A, launching in March 1987 into a near-polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force, now Space Force, Base in California, but the Challenger accident canceled those plans. With polar orbits no longer attainable, a 57-degree inclination remained the highest achievable from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, still allowing the radar to study more than 75% of Earth’s landmasses. As originally envisioned, SRL-2 would fly about six months after the first mission, allowing data gathering during contrasting seasons. Shuttle schedules moved the date of the second mission up to August 1994, only four months after the first. But events intervened to partially mitigate that disruption.
Left: Launch abort at Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right: A few days after the launch abort, space shuttle Discovery arrives at Launch Pad 39B, left, with space shuttle Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A, awaiting its rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building.
Endeavour arrived back at KSC following its previous flight, the STS-59 SRL-1 mission, in May 1994. Workers in KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility refurbished the SRL-1 payloads for their reflight and serviced the orbiter, rolling it over to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on July 21 for mating with its External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). Endeavour rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on July 27. The six-person STS-68 crew traveled to KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test on Aug. 1, essentially a dress rehearsal for the launch countdown. They returned to KSC on Aug. 15, the same day the final countdown began.
Following a smooth countdown leading to a planned 5:54 a.m. EDT launch on Aug. 18, Endeavour’s three main engines came to life 6.6 seconds before liftoff. With just 1.8 seconds until the two SRBs ignited to lift the shuttle stack off the pad, the Redundant Set Launch Sequencer (RSLS) stopped the countdown and shutdown the three main engines, two of which continued running past the T-zero mark. It marked the fifth and final launch abort of the shuttle program, and the closest one to liftoff. Bursch now had the distinction as the only person to have experienced two RSLS launch aborts, his first one occurring on STS-51 just a year earlier. Engineers traced the shutdown to higher than anticipated temperatures in a high-pressure oxygen turbopump in engine number three. The abort necessitated a rollback of Endeavour to the VAB on Aug. 24 to replace all three main engines with three engines from Atlantis on its upcoming STS-66 mission. Engineers shipped the suspect engine to NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for extensive testing, where it worked fine and flew on STS-70 in July 1995. Meanwhile, Endeavour returned to Launch Pad 39A on Sept. 13.
Liftoff of Endeavour on the STS-68 mission.
On Sept. 30, 1994, Endeavour lifted off on time at 6:16 a.m. EDT, and eight and half minutes later delivered its crew and payloads to space. Thirty minutes later, a firing of the shuttle’s Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines placed them in a 132-mile orbit inclined 57 degrees to the equator. The astronauts opened the payload bay doors, deploying the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight.
Left: The Space Radar Laboratory-2 payload in Endeavour’s cargo bay, showing SIR-C (with the JPL logo on it), X-SAR (the long bar atop SIR-C), and MAPS (with the LaRC logo on it). Middle: The STS-68 Blue Team of Daniel W. Bursch, top, Steven L. Smith, and Thomas D. Jones in their sleep bunks. Right: Tile damage on Endeavour’s starboard Orbital Maneuvering System pod caused by a strike from a tile from Endeavour’s front window rim that came loose during the ascent.
Left: Steven L. Smith, left, and Peter J.K. “Jeff” Wisoff set up the bicycle ergometer in the shuttle’s middeck. Middle: The STS-68 Red Team of Terrence W. Wilcutt, top, Wisoff, and Michael A. Baker in their sleep bunks. Right: Wilcutt consults the flight plan for the next maneuver.
The astronauts began to convert their vehicle into a science platform, and that included breaking up into two teams to enable 24-hour-a-day operations. Baker, Wilcutt, and Wisoff made up the Red Team while Smith, Bursch, and Jones made up the Blue Team. Within five hours of liftoff, the Blue Team began their sleep period while the Red Team started their first on orbit shift by activating the SIR-C and X-SAR instruments in the payload bay and some of the middeck experiments. During inspection of the OMS pods, the astronauts noted an area of damaged tile, later attributed to an impact from a tile from the rim of Endeavour’s front window that came loose during the ascent to orbit. Engineers on the ground assessed the damage and deemed it of no concern for the shuttle’s entry.
Left: Michael A. Baker prepares to take photographs through the commander’s window. Middle: Thomas D. Jones, left, Daniel W. Bursch, and Baker hold various cameras in Endeavour’s flight deck. Right: Terrence W. Wilcutt with four cameras.
Left: Thomas D. Jones, left, and Daniel W. Bursch consult a map in an atlas developed specifically for the SRL-2 mission. Middle: Jones takes photographs through the overhead window. Right: Steven L. Smith takes photographs through the overhead window.
By sheer coincidence, the Klyuchevskaya volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula began erupting on the day STS-68 launched. By the mission’s second day, the astronauts trained not only their cameras on the plume of ash reaching 50,000 feet high and streaming out over the Pacific Ocean but also the radar instruments. This provided unprecedented information of this amazing geologic event to scientists who could also compare these images with those collected during SRL-1 five months earlier.
Left: Eruption of Klyuchevskaya volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Middle: Radar image of Klyuchevskaya volcano. Right: Comparison of radar images of Mt. Pinatubo in The Philippines taken during SRL-1 in April 1994 and SRL-2 in October 1994.
The STS-68 crew continued their Earth observations for the remainder of the 11-day flight, having received a one-day extension from Mission Control. On the mission’s eighth day, they lowered Endeavour’s orbit to 124 miles to begin a series of interferometry studies that called for extremely precise orbital maneuvering to within 30 feet of the orbits flown during SRL-1, the most precise in shuttle history to that time. These near-perfectly repeating orbits allowed the construction of three-dimensional contour images of selected sites. The astronauts repaired a failed payload high rate recorder and continued working on middeck and biomedical experiments.
Left: Steven L. Smith, left, conducts a biomedical experiment as Michael A. Baker monitors. Right: Peter J.K. “Jeff” Wisoff, left, and Smith repair a payload high rate recorder.
A selection of STS-68 crew Earth observation photographs. Left: The San Francisco Bay area. Middle left: The Niagara Falls and Buffalo area. Middle right: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Right: Another view of the Klyuchevskaya volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
The high inclination orbit afforded the astronauts great views of the aurora australis, or southern lights.
On this mission in particular, the STS-68 astronauts spent considerable time looking out the window, their images complementing the data taken by the radar instruments. Their high inclination orbit enabled views of parts of the planet not seen during typical shuttle missions, including spectacular views of the southern lights, or aurora australis.
Two versions of the inflight STS-68 crew photo.
On flight day 11, with most of the onboard film exposed and consumables running low, the astronauts prepared for their return to Earth the following day. Baker and Wilcutt tested Endeavour’s reaction control system thrusters and aerodynamic surfaces in preparation for deorbit and descent through the atmosphere, while the rest of the crew busied themselves with shutting down experiments and stowing away unneeded equipment.
Left: Endeavour moments before touchdown at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. Middle: Michael A. Baker brings Endeavour home to close out STS-68 and a successful SRL-2 mission. Right: Baker gets a congratulatory tap on the shoulder from Terrence W. Wilcutt following wheels stop.
Left: As workers process Endeavour on the runway, Columbia atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) flies overhead on its way to the Palmdale facility for refurbishment. Right: Mounted atop an SCA, Endeavour departs Edwards for the cross-country trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On Oct. 11, the astronauts closed Endeavour’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats for entry and landing. Thick cloud cover at the KSC primary landing site forced first a two-orbit delay in their landing, then an eventual diversion to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California. The crew fired Endeavour’s OMS engines to drop out of orbit. Baker piloted Endeavour to a smooth landing at Edwards, ending the 11-day 5-hour 46-minute flight. The crew had orbited the Earth 182 times. Workers at Edwards safed the vehicle and placed it atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight back to KSC. The duo left Edwards on Oct. 19, and after stops at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas, Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas, and Eglin AFB in the Florida panhandle, arrived at KSC the next day. Workers there began preparing Endeavour for its next flight, STS-67, in March 1995. Meanwhile, a Gulfstream jet flew the astronauts back to Ellington Field in Houston for reunions with their families.
Diane Evans, SIR-C project scientist, summarized the scientific return from STS-68, “We’ve had a phenomenally successful mission.” The radar instrument collected 60 terabits of data, filling 67 miles of magnetic tape during the mission. In 1990s technology, that equated to a pile of floppy disks 15 miles high! In 2006, using an updated comparison, astronaut Jones equated that to a stack of CDs 65 feet high. The radar instruments completed 910 data takes of 572 targets during about 80 hours of imaging. To complement the radar data, the astronauts took nearly 14,000 photographs using 14 different cameras. To image the various targets required more than 400 maneuvers of the shuttle, requiring 22,000 keystrokes in the orbiter’s computer. The use of interferometry, requiring precision orbital tracking of the shuttle, to create three-dimensional topographic maps, marks another significant accomplishment of the mission. Scientists published more than 5,000 papers using data from the SRL missions.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-68 mission. Read Wilcutt’s recollections of the mission in his oral history with the JSC History Office.
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Whole Air Sampling (WAS) group, from the 2024 Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) West Coast cohort, poses in front of the natural sciences building at UC Irvine, during their final presentations on August 13, 2024. NASA Ames/Milan Loiacono Faculty Advisor: Dr. Donald Blake, University of California, Irvine
Graduate Mentor: Katherine Paredero, Georgia Institute of Technology
Katherine Paredero, Graduate Mentor
Katherine Paredero, graduate student mentor for the 2024 SARP West Whole Air Sampling (WAS) group, provides an introduction for each of the group members and shares behind-the scenes moments from the internship.
Mikaela Vaughn
Urban Planning Initiative: Investigation of Isoprene Emissions by Tree Species in the LA Basin
Mikaela Vaughn, Virginia Commonwealth University
Elevated ozone concentrations have been a concern in Southern California for decades. The interaction between volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrous oxides (𝑁𝑂!) in the presence of sunlight leads to enhanced formation of tropospheric ozone (𝑂”) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA). This can lead to increased health hazards, exposing humans to aerosols that can enter and be absorbed by the lungs, as well as a warming effect caused by ozone’s role as a greenhouse gas in the lower levels of the atmosphere. This study will focus on a VOC that is of particular interest, isoprene, which has an atmospheric lifetime of one hour, making it highly reactive in the presence of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and resulting in rapid ozone formation. Isoprene is a biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emitted by vegetation as a byproduct of photosynthesis. This BVOC has been overlooked but should be investigated further because of its potential to form large sums of ozone. In this study the reactivity of isoprene with OH dominated ozone formation as compared to other VOCs. Ambient isoprene concentrations were measured aboard NASA’s airborne science laboratory (King Air B200) along with whole air sampling canisters. Additionally, isoprene emissions of varying tree species, with one to three samples per type, were compared to propose certain trees to plant in urban areas. Results indicated that Northern Red Oaks and the Palms family emitted the most isoprene out of the nineteen species documented. The species with the lowest observed isoprene emissions was the Palo Verde and the Joshua trees. The difference in isoprene emissions between the Northern Red Oak and Joshua trees is approximately by a factor of 45. These observations show the significance of considering isoprene emissions when selecting tree species to plant in the LA Basin to combat tropospheric ozone formation.
Joshua Lozano
VOC Composition and Ozone Formation Potential Observed Over Long Beach, California
Joshua Lozano, Sonoma State University
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), when released into the atmosphere, undergo chemical reactions in the presence of sunlight that can generate tropospheric ozone, which can have various health effects. We can gauge this ozone formation by multiplying the observed mixing ratios of VOCs by their respective rate constants (with respect to OH radicals). The OH radical reacts very quickly in the atmosphere and accounts for a large sum of ozone formation from VOCs as a result, giving us an idea of the ozone formation potential (OFP) for each VOC. In this study, we investigate observed mixing ratios of VOCs in order to estimate their contribution to OFP over Long Beach, California. The observed species of VOCs with the highest mixing ratios differs from the observed species with the highest OFP, which highlights that higher mixing ratios of certain VOCs in the atmosphere do not necessarily equate to a higher contribution to ozone formation. This underscores the importance of understanding mixing ratios of VOC species and their reaction rates with OH to gauge impacts on ozone formation. In the summer there were significantly lower VOC concentrations compared to the winter, which was expected because of differences in boundary layer height within the seasons. Additionally, a decrease in average mixing ratios was observed between the summer of 2014 and the summer of 2022. A similar trend was observed in OFP, but by a much smaller factor. This may indicate that even though overall VOC emissions are decreasing in Long Beach, the species that dominate in recent years have a higher OFP. This research provides a more comprehensive view of how VOCs contribute to air quality issues across different seasons and over time, stressing the need for targeted strategies to mitigate ozone pollution based on current and accurate VOC composition and reactivity.
Sean Breslin
Investigating Enhanced Methane and Ethane Emissions over the Long Beach Airport
Sean Breslin, University of Delaware
As climate change continues to worsen, the investigation and tracking of greenhouse gas emissions has become increasingly important. Methane, the second most impactful greenhouse gas, has accounted for over 20% of planetary warming since preindustrial times. Methane emissions primarily originate from biogenic and thermogenic sources, such as dairy farms and natural gas extraction. Ethane, an abundant hydrocarbon emitted from biomass burning and natural gas, contributes to the formation of tropospheric ozone. The data for this project was collected in December 2021 and June 2022 aboard the DC-8 aircraft, where whole air samples were taken during low approaches to find potential sources of methane and ethane emissions. Analysis of these samples using gas chromatography revealed a noticeable increase in methane and ethane concentrations over Long Beach Airport, an area surrounded by numerous plugged oil and gas wells extracting crude oil and natural gas. In this study, we observe that methane and ethane concentrations were lower in the summer and higher in the winter, which can be primarily attributed to seasonal variations in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer height. Our results show that in both summer and winter campaigns, the ratio of these two gases over the airport was approximately 0.03, indicating that for every 100 methane molecules, there are 3 ethane molecules. This work identifies methane and ethane hotspots and provides a critical analysis on potential fugitive emission sources in the Long Beach area. These results emphasize a need to perform in depth analyses on potential point sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the Long Beach area.
Katherine Skeen
Investigating Elevated Levels of Toluene during Winter in the Imperial Valley
Katherine Skeen, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The Imperial County in Southern California experiences pollutants that do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and as a result, residents are suffering from adverse health effects. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are compounds with a high vapor pressure at room temperature. They are readily emitted into the atmosphere and form ground level ozone. Toluene is a VOC and exposure poses significant health risks, including neurological and respiratory effects. This study aims to use airborne data to investigate areas with high toluene concentrations and investigate potential source. Flights over the Imperial Valley were conducted in the B200 King Air. Whole air canisters were used to collect ambient air samples from outside the plane. These Whole Air Canisters were put through the UCI Rowland Blake Lab’s gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, which identifies different gasses and quantifies their concentrations. Elevated values of toluene were found in the winter as compared to the summer in the Imperial Valley, with the town of Brawley having the most elevated amounts in the air. Excel and QGIS were utilized to analyze data trends. Additionally, a backward trajectory calculated using the NOAA HYSPLIT model revealed the general air flow on days exhibiting high toluene concentrations. Here we suggest Long Beach may be a source of enhanced toluene levels in Brawley. Both areas exhibited enhanced levels of toluene with slightly lower concentrations observed in Brawley. We additionally observed other VOCs commonly emitted in urban areas, and saw a similar decrease in gasses from Long Beach to Brawley. This trend may indicate transport of toluene from Long Beach to Brawley. Further research could be done to investigate the potential for other regions that may contribute to high toluene concentrations in Brawley. My study contributes valuable insights to the poor air quality in the Imperial Valley, providing a foundation for future studies on how residents are specifically being affected.
Ella Erskine
Characterizing Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions from Surface Expressions of the Salton Sea Geothermal System (SSGS)
Ella Erskine, Tufts University
At the southeastern end of the Salton Sea, surface expressions of an active geothermal system are emitting an assemblage of potentially toxic and tropospheric ozone-forming gasses. Gas measurements were taken from ~1 to 8 ft tall mud cones, called gryphons, in the Davis-Schrimpf seep field (~50,000 ft2). The gaseous compounds emitted from the gryphons were collected using whole air sampling canisters. The canisters were then sent to the Rowland-Blake laboratory for analysis using gas chromatography techniques. Samples from June of 2022, 2023, and 2024 were utilized for a time-series analysis of VOC distribution. Originally, an emission makeup similar to petroleum was expected, as it has previously been found in some of the seeps. It is thought that hydrothermal fluid can rapidly mature organic matter into hydrothermal petroleum, so it is logical that the emission makeup could be similar. However, unexpectedly high levels of the VOC benzene were recorded, unlike concentrations generally observed in crude oil emissions. This may indicate a difference between the two sources in regard to their formation process or parent material composition. A possible cause of the elevated benzene could be its relatively high aqueous solubility compared to other hydrocarbons, which could allow it to be more readily incorporated into the hydrothermal fluid. Since the gryphons attract almost daily visitors, it is important to quantify their human health effects. Benzene harms the bone marrow, which can result in anemia. It is also a carcinogen. Additionally, benzene can react with the OH radical to form ozone, an additional health hazard. Future studies should revisit the Davis-Schrimpf field to continue the time series analysis and collect samples of the water seeps. Additionally, drone and ground studies should be conducted in the geothermal power plant adjacent to the gryphons to determine if benzene is being emitted from drilling activities.
Amelia Brown
Airborne and Ground-Based Analysis of Los Angeles County Landfill Gas Emissions
Amelia Brown, Hamilton College
California has the highest number of landfills of any individual US state. These landfills are concentrated in densely populated areas of California, especially within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Landfills produce three main byproducts: heat, leachate, and landfill gas (LFG). LFG is primarily composed of methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), with small concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other trace gases. The CH4 and CO2 components of LFG are well documented, but the VOCs and trace gases in LFG remain underexplored. This study investigates the emission of trace gases from four landfills in Los Angeles County, with a particular focus on substances known to have high Ozone Depletion Potentials (ODPs) and Global Warming Potentials (GWPs). The four landfills sampled were Chiquita Canyon Landfill, Lopez Canyon Landfill, Sunshine Canyon Landfill, and Toyon Canyon Landfill. Airborne samples were taken above the four landfills and ground samples were taken at Lopez Canyon as this was the only site accessible by our research team. The substances of interest were chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and halons. Airborne CH4 and CO2 measurements over the four landfills were obtained using the Picarro instrument onboard NASA’s B-200 aircraft. Ground samples were collected using whole air sampling canisters and were analyzed to determine the concentrations of these gases. The analytical approach for the ground samples combined Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) with Flame Ionization Detection (FID) and Mass Selective Detection (MSD), providing a comprehensive profile of the emitted compounds. Findings reveal elevated levels of substances with high ODP and GWP, which were banned under the Montreal Protocol of 1987 and its subsequent amendments due to their contributions to stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. These results underscore the importance of monitoring and mitigating landfill gas emissions, particularly for those containing potent greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances.
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By NASA
A decade ago, on Sept. 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, beginning its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how Mars’ atmosphere responds to the Sun and solar wind, and how these interactions can explain the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space.
During its first 10 years at Mars, MAVEN has helped to explain how the Red Planet evolved from warm and wet early on into the cold, dry world that we see today.
Download this video in high-resolution from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14690/
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Dan Gallagher Today, MAVEN continues to make exciting new discoveries about the Red Planet that increase our understanding of how atmospheric evolution affected Mars’ climate and the previous presence of liquid water on its surface, potentially determining its prior habitability.
“It is an incredibly exciting time for the MAVEN team as we celebrate 10 years of Martian science and see the tremendous impact this mission has had on the field,” said Shannon Curry, the principal investigator of MAVEN and a researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. “We also look forward to the future discoveries MAVEN will bring.”
In celebration of this mission milestone, we recap some of the most significant scientific results of this unique and long-lasting Mars aeronomy mission.
Extreme atmospheric erosion
One of MAVEN’s first big results was discovering that the erosion of Mars’ atmosphere increases significantly during solar storms. The team studied how the solar wind — a stream of charged particles continually streaming from the Sun — and solar storms continually strip away Mars’ atmosphere, and how this process played a key role in altering the Martian climate from a potentially habitable planet to today’s cold, arid planet. Sputtering to space
To better understand how Mars lost much of its atmosphere, MAVEN measured isotopes of argon gas in the upper Martian atmosphere. Argon is a noble gas, meaning it rarely reacts with other constituents in the Martian atmosphere. The only way it can be removed is by atmospheric sputtering — a process where ions crash into the Martian atmosphere at high enough speeds that they knock gas molecules out of the atmosphere. When the MAVEN team analyzed argon isotopes in the upper atmosphere, they were able to estimate that roughly 65% of the argon originally present had been lost through sputtering over the planet’s history. A new type of aurora
MAVEN has discovered several types of auroras that flare up when energetic particles plunge into the atmosphere, bombarding gases and making them glow. The MAVEN team showed that protons, rather than electrons, create auroras at Mars. On Earth, proton auroras only occur in very small regions near the poles, whereas at Mars they can happen everywhere. Martian dust storm
In 2018, a runaway series of dust storms created a dust cloud so large that it enveloped the planet. The MAVEN team studied how this “global” dust storm affected Mars’ upper atmosphere to understand how these events affect how the escape of water to space. It confirmed that heating from dust storms can loft water molecules far higher into the atmosphere than usual, leading to a sudden surge in water lost to space. Map of Martian winds
MAVEN researchers created the first map of wind circulation in the upper atmosphere of Mars. The new map is helping scientists better understand the Martian climate, including how terrain on the planet’s surface is disturbing high-altitude wind currents. The results provide insight into how the dynamics of the upper Martian atmosphere have influenced the Red Planet’s climate evolution in the past and present. Twisted tail
Mars has an invisible magnetic “tail” that is twisted by its interaction with the solar wind. Although models predicted that magnetic reconnection causes Mars’ magnetotail to twist, it wasn’t until MAVEN arrived that scientists could confirm that the predictions were correct. The process that creates the twisted tail could also allow some of Mars’ already thin atmosphere to escape to space. Mapping electric currents
Researchers used MAVEN data to create a map of electric current systems in the Martian atmosphere. These form when solar wind ions and electrons smash into the planet’s induced magnetic field, causing the particles to flow apart. The resulting electric currents, which drape around the planet, play a fundamental role in the atmospheric loss that transformed Mars from a world that could have supported life to an inhospitable desert. Disappearing solar wind
MAVEN recently observed the unexpected “disappearance” of the solar wind. This was caused by a type of solar event so powerful that it created a void in its wake as it traveled across the solar system. MAVEN’s measurements showed that when it reached Mars, the solar wind density dropped significantly. This disappearance of the solar wind allowed the Martian atmosphere and magnetosphere to balloon out by thousands of kilometers. Ultraviolet views of the Red Planet
MAVEN captured stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along the Red Planet’s orbit around the Sun. By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways. Mars’ response to solar storms
In May 2024, a series of solar events triggered a torrent of energetic particles that quickly traveled to Mars. Many of NASA’s Mars missions, including MAVEN, observed this celestial event and captured images of glowing auroras over the planet. MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. LASP is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support.
By Willow Reed
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), University of Colorado Boulder
Media Contact: Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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