Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Pacific Island nations such as Kiribati — a low-lying country in the southern Pacific Ocean — are preparing now for a future of higher sea levels.NASA Earth Observatory Climate change is rapidly reshaping a region of the world that’s home to millions of people.
In the next 30 years, Pacific Island nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Fiji will experience at least 8 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level rise, according to an analysis by NASA’s sea level change science team. This amount of rise will occur regardless of whether greenhouse gas emissions change in the coming years.
The sea level change team undertook the analysis of this region at the request of several Pacific Island nations, including Tuvalu and Kiribati, and in close coordination with the U.S. Department of State.
In addition to the overall analysis, the agency’s sea level team produced high-resolution maps showing which areas of different Pacific Island nations will be vulnerable to high-tide flooding — otherwise known as nuisance flooding or sunny day flooding — by the 2050s. Released on Sept. 23, the maps outline flooding potential in a range of emissions scenarios, from best-case to business-as-usual to worst-case.
“Sea level will continue to rise for centuries, causing more frequent flooding,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, who directs ocean physics programs for NASA’s Earth Science Division. “NASA’s new flood tool tells you what the potential increase in flooding frequency and severity look like in the next decades for the coastal communities of the Pacific Island nations.”
Team members, led by researchers at the University of Hawaii and in collaboration with scientists at the University of Colorado and Virginia Tech, started with flood maps of Kiribati, Tuvalu, Fiji, Nauru, and Niue. They plan to build high-resolution maps for other Pacific Island nations in the near future. The maps can assist Pacific Island nations in deciding where to focus mitigation efforts.
“Science and data can help the community of Tuvalu in relaying accurate sea level rise projections,” said Grace Malie, a youth leader from Tuvalu who is involved with the Rising Nations Initiative, a United Nations-supported program led by Pacific Island nations to help preserve their statehood and protect the rights and heritage of populations affected by climate change. “This will also help with early warning systems, which is something that our country is focusing on at the moment.”
Future Flooding
The analysis by the sea level change team also found that the number of high-tide flooding days in an average year will increase by an order of magnitude for nearly all Pacific Island nations by the 2050s. Portions of the NASA team’s analysis were included in a sea level rise report published by the United Nations in August 2024.
Areas of Tuvalu that currently see less than five high-tide flood days a year could average 25 flood days annually by the 2050s. Regions of Kiribati that see fewer than five flood days a year today will experience an average of 65 flood days annually by the 2050s.
“I am living the reality of climate change,” said Malie. “Everyone (in Tuvalu) lives by the coast or along the coastline, so everyone gets heavily affected by this.”
Flooding on island nations can come from the ocean inundating land during storms or during exceptionally high tides, called king tides. But it can also result when saltwater intrudes into underground areas and pushes the water table to the surface. “There are points on the island where we will see seawater bubbling from beneath the surface and heavily flooding the area,” Malie added.
Matter of Location
Sea level rise doesn’t occur uniformly around the world. A combination of global and local conditions, such as the topography of a coastline and how glacial meltwater is distributed in the ocean, affects the amount of rise a particular region will experience.
“We’re always focused on the differences in sea level rise from one region to another, but in the Pacific, the numbers are surprisingly consistent,” said Ben Hamlington, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the agency’s sea level change science team lead.
The impacts of 8 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level rise will vary from country to country. For instance, some nations could experience nuisance flooding several times a year at their airport, while others might face frequent neighborhood flooding equivalent to being inundated for nearly half the year.
Researchers would like to combine satellite data on ocean levels with ground-based measurements of sea levels at specific points, as well as with better land elevation information. “But there’s a real lack of on-the-ground data in these countries,” said Hamlington. The combination of space-based and ground-based measurements can yield more precise sea level rise projections and improved understanding of the impacts to countries in the Pacific.
“The future of the young people of Tuvalu is already at stake,” said Malie. “Climate change is more than an environmental crisis. It is about justice, survival for nations like Tuvalu, and global responsibility.”
To explore the high-tide flooding maps for Pacific Island nations, go to:
https://sealevel.nasa.gov
News Media Contacts
Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-128
Share
Details
Last Updated Sep 25, 2024 Related Terms
Climate Change Earth Earth Science Jet Propulsion Laboratory Oceans Sea Level Rise Explore More
4 min read Arctic Sea Ice Near Historic Low; Antarctic Ice Continues Decline
Article 23 hours ago 4 min read NASA Helps Build New Federal Sea Level Rise Website
Article 23 hours ago 4 min read New Video Series Spotlights Engineers on NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission
Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A Hampton, Virginia, street is flooded by an exceptionally high tide in 2020. Rising seas could make high-tide flooding much more common in coastal communities around the world.Aileen Devlin/Virginia Sea Grant CC BY-ND 2.0 Designed to be user-friendly, the resource contains the latest sea level data, explainers, and other information from several U.S. agencies.
The U.S. Interagency Task Force on Sea Level Change launched the U.S. Sea Level Change website on Monday, Sept. 23. Designed to help communities prepare for rising seas, the site features the latest science on changing sea levels, details about the impact on the environment and coastal communities, and strategies to mitigate the consequences. NASA led the development of the website for the task force.
“NASA, together with our partner agencies, has studied climate change and Earth’s rising seas for decades,” said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The data collected by our satellites and ground-based instruments is crucial to helping policymakers and communities prepare for the consequences of sea level rise. By combining NASA data with information from other federal agencies, the U.S. Sea Level Change website is the latest example of government working for the benefit of humanity.”
Demonstrating a whole-of-government approach, the sea level task force sits within the U.S. Global Change Research Program and includes leading researchers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
They’ve designed a user-friendly hub that brings together information on sea level change from the various federal agencies. While being detailed and accurate for resource managers, researchers, and others seeking more technical information, the website is intended to be accessible to anyone interested in the latest science and strategies to cope with rising seas.
“Everyone will have access to accurate sea level and flooding information in their favorite U.S. coastal city and see the timing of the projected increase in water levels and flooding frequency,” added Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, who directs NASA’s sea level change team as well as the ocean physics program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.
The contributing federal agencies focus on different aspects of sea level rise, including basic scientific research and the effects of rising seas on the environment, as well as infrastructure. With the new site, users can explore the topic from different angles.
“Having this information in one place, delivered in a consistent and authoritative way through a true interagency effort, represents a big step forward for how the federal government helps coastal communities prepare for future sea level rise,” said Ben Hamlington, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Site visitors can find explainers on sea level science, summaries of what rising seas will look like for various parts of U.S. coastlines, and updates to the 2022 interagency report on sea level rise. The report concluded that U.S. coastlines will experience an average of 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) of rise above current sea levels by 2050 and that the amount of rise in the next 30 years could equal the total rise seen over the past 100 years.
The report also outlined near-term sea level rise under various levels of greenhouse gas emissions, from best-case to business-as-usual to worst-case scenarios. The scenarios are based on improved scientific understanding of how melting glaciers and ice sheets — as well as upward and downward vertical land motion — will affect ocean heights at our coasts. The data and scenarios have been updated for the task force website.
NASA contributions to the 2022 interagency report, as well as to the newly launched sea level website, are part of ongoing agency work to understand Earth’s rising seas. NASA’s efforts to monitor the ocean span more than 30 years and include satellites such as Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. Both were jointly developed by the agency and international and domestic partners. Agency partners on Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich include ESA (European Space Agency), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and NOAA. For SWOT, NASA partners include the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), CSA (the Canadian Space Agency), and the UK Space Agency.
For more on how NASA studies our home planet, see:
http://www.nasa.gov/earth
News Media Contacts
Elizabeth Vlock / Aries Keck
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600 / 202-604-2356
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov / aries.keck@nasa.gov
Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-127
Share
Details
Last Updated Sep 24, 2024 Related Terms
Climate Change Earth Jet Propulsion Laboratory NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Oceans Sea Level Rise USGS (United States Geological Survey) Explore More
4 min read Arctic Sea Ice Near Historic Low; Antarctic Ice Continues Decline
Article 25 mins ago 4 min read New Video Series Spotlights Engineers on NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission
Article 20 hours ago 6 min read Celebrating 10 Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission
A decade ago, on Sept. 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft…
Article 23 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Crane operator Rebekah Tolatovicz, a shift mechanical technician lead for Artic Slope Regional Corporation at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, operates a 30-ton crane to lift the agency’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft out of the recently renovated altitude chamber to the Final Assembly and Systems Testing, or FAST, cell inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on April 27.
During her most recent lift July 10, Tolatovicz helped transfer Orion back to the FAST cell following vacuum chamber qualification testing in the altitude chamber earlier this month. This lift is one of around 250 annual lifts performed at NASA Kennedy by seven operator/directors and 14 crane operators on the ASRC Orion team.
“At the time of the spacecraft lift, I focus solely on what’s going on in the moment of the operation,” explains Tolatovicz. “Listening for the commands from the lift director, making sure everyone is safe, verifying the vehicle is clear, and ensuring the crane is moving correctly.”
All Orion crane operators are certified after classroom and on-the-job training focusing on areas such as rigging, weight and center of gravity, mastering crane controls, crane securing, assessing safety issues, and emergency procedures. Once certified, they progress through a series of the different lifts required for Orion spacecraft operations, from simple moves to the complex full spacecraft lift.
“It’s not until after the move is complete and the vehicle is secured that I have a moment to think about how awesome it is to be a part of history on the Orion Program and do what I get to do every day with a team of the most amazing people,” Tolatovicz said.
Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Stevenson
View the full article
-
By NASA
Astronauts will test drive NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the first time during the agency’s Artemis II test flight next year. While many of the spacecraft’s maneuvers like big propulsive burns are automated, a key test called the proximity operations demonstration will evaluate the manual handling qualities of Orion.
During the approximately 70-minute demonstration set to begin about three hours into the mission, the crew will command Orion through a series of moves using the detached upper stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket as a mark. The in-space propulsion stage, called the ICPS (interim cryogenic propulsion stage), includes an approximately two-foot target that will be used to evaluate how Orion flies with astronauts at the controls.
“There are always differences between a ground simulation and what an actual spacecraft will fly like in space,” said Brian Anderson, Orion rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking manager within the Orion Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “The demonstration is a flight test objective that helps us reduce risk for future missions that involve rendezvous and docking with other spacecraft.”
After NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen are safely in space, the Moon rocket’s upper stage will fire twice to put Orion on a high Earth orbit trajectory. Then, the spacecraft will automatically separate from the rocket stage, firing several separation bolts before springs push Orion a safe distance away.
As the spacecraft and its crew move away, Orion will perform an automated backflip to turn around and face the stage. At approximately 300 feet away, Orion will stop its relative motion. The crew will take control and use the translational and rotational hand controllers and display system to make very small movements to ensure Orion is responding as expected.
Next, the crew will very slowly pilot Orion to within approximately 30 feet of the stage. A two-foot auxiliary target mounted inside the top of the stage, similar to the docking target used by spacecraft visiting the International Space Station, will guide their aim.
“The crew will view the target by using a docking camera mounted inside the docking hatch window on the top of the crew module to see how well aligned they are with the docking target mounted to the ICPS,” Anderson said.
“It’s a good stand in for what crews will see when they dock with Starship on Artemis III and to the Gateway on future missions.”
About 30 feet from the stage, Orion will stop and the crew will checkout the spacecraft’s fine handling qualities to evaluate how it performs in close proximity to another spacecraft. Small maneuvers performed very close to the ICPS will be done using the reaction control system thrusters on Orion’s European Service Module.
Orion will then back away and allow the stage to turn to protect its thermal properties. The crew will follow the stage, initiate a second round of manual maneuvers using another target mounted on the side of the stage, approach within approximately 30 feet, perform another fine handling quality check out, then back away.
At the end of the demonstration, Orion will perform an automated departure burn to move away from the ICPS before the stage then fires to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere over a remote location in the Pacific Ocean. During Orion’s departure burn, engineers will use the spacecraft’s docking camera to gather precise positioning measurements, which will help inform navigation during rendezvous activities on future missions in the lunar environment, where there is no GPS system.
Because the Artemis II Orion is not docking with another spacecraft, it is not equipped with a docking module containing lights and therefore is reliant on the ICPS to be lit enough by the Sun to allow the crew to see the targets.
“As with many of our tests, it’s possible the proximity operations demonstration won’t go exactly as expected,” said Anderson. “Even if we don’t accomplish every part of the demonstration, we’ll continue on with the test flight as planned to accomplish our primary objectives, including evaluating Orion’s systems with crew aboard in the deep space environment and keeping the crew safe during the mission.”
The approximately 10-day Artemis II flight will test NASA’s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts and will pave the way for lunar surface missions, including landing the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon.
View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Orion spacecraft from Artemis I – now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article – arrives at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, ahead of eight months of testing. Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin
The Orion spacecraft that traveled around the Moon and back during 2022’s Artemis I mission completed a different round trip when it recently returned to Ohio for testing.
Now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article, the spacecraft is undergoing ground testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. This testing is crucial to the safety and success of Artemis II – a 10-day flight test scheduled for 2025, during which four astronauts will demonstrate the spacecraft’s capabilities in the lunar vicinity. The flight will be the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, prepare the Orion Environmental Test Article for testing in advance of the Artemis II mission.
Credit: NASA/Steven Logan and Jim Zunt
Over the next eight months, engineers and technicians from NASA and Lockheed Martin will subject the test article to the extreme conditions Orion may experience during a launch abort scenario. The lengthy test campaign includes simulated lightning strikes and abort-level acoustics reaching levels of more than 160 decibels, louder than a jackhammer. It also includes deployments of the spacecraft’s docking and shielding covers and its crew module uprighting system, five airbags on top of the capsule that inflate upon splashdown. The test campaign serves to ensure Orion is ready to protect the crew if an emergency occurs during launch.
This Orion spacecraft completed months of space environmental testing in 2019 and 2020 at Armstrong Test Facility before its 2022 flight test, showing that the path to the Moon goes through Ohio. The test facility is the only place in the world capable of testing full-scale spacecraft in the extreme conditions experienced during launch and flight.
Explore More
2 min read Tech Today: Semiconductor Research Leads to Revolution in Dental Care
Article 24 hours ago 4 min read NASA Collects First Surface Science in Decades via Commercial Moon Mission
Article 5 days ago 4 min read Can Volcanic Super Eruptions Lead to Major Cooling? Study Suggests No
New research suggests that sunlight-blocking particles from an extreme eruption would not cool surface temperatures…
Article 5 days ago View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.