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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity 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 5 min read
Sols 4304-4006: 12 Years, 42 Drill Holes, and Now… 1 Million ChemCam Shots!
In celebration of ChemCam’s milestone, here is a stunning image from its remote micro imager, showing details in the landscape far away. This image was taken by Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4302 — Martian day 4,302 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — on Sept. 12, 2024, at 09:20:51 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024
Today, I need to talk about ChemCam, our laser and imaging instrument on the top of Curiosity’s mast. It one of the instruments in the “head” that gives Curiosity that cute look as if it were looking around tilting its head down to the rocks at the rover’s wheels. On Monday, 19th August the ChemCam team at CNES in France planned the 1 millionth shot and Curiosity executed it on the target Royce Lake on sol 4281 on Mars. Even as an Earth scientist used to really big numbers, this is a huge number that took me a while to fully comprehend. 1 000 000 shots! Congratulations, ChemCam, our champion for getting chemistry from a distance – and high-resolution images, too. If you are now curious how Curiosity’s ChemCam instrument works, here is the NASA fact sheet. And, of course, the team is celebrating, which is expressed by those two press releases, one from CNES in France and one from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the two institutions who collaborated to develop and build ChemCam and are now running the instrument for over 12 years! And the PI, Dr Nina Lanza from Los Alamos informs me that the first milestone – 10000 shots was reached as early as Sol 42, which was the sol the DAN instrument used its active mode for the first time. But before I am getting melancholic, let’s talk about today’s plan!
The drive ended fairly high up in the terrain, and that means we see a lot of the interesting features in the channel and generally around us. So, we are on a spot a human hiker would probably put the backpack down, take the water bottle out and sit down with a snack to enjoy the view from a nice high point in the landscape. Well, no such pleasures for Curiosity – and I am pretty sure sugar, which we humans love so much, wouldn’t be appreciated by rover gears anyway. So, let’s just take in the views! And that keeps Mastcam busy taking full advantage of our current vantage point. We have a terrain with lots of variety in front of us, blocks, boulders, flatter areas and the walls are layered, beautiful geology. Overall there are 11 Mastcam observations in the plan adding up to just about 100 individual frames, not counting those taken in the context of atmospheric observations, which are of course also in the plan. The biggest mosaics are on the targets “Western Deposit,” “Balloon Dome,” and “Coral Meadow.” Some smaller documentation images are on the targets “Wales Lake,” “Gnat Meadow,” and “Pig Chute.”
ChemCam didn’t have long to dwell on its milestone, as it’s busy again today. Of course, it will join Mastcam in taking advantage of our vantage point, taking three remote micro imager images on the landscape around us. LIBS chemistry investigations are targeting “Wales Lake,” “Gnat Meadow,” and “Pig Chute.” APXS is investigating two targets, “College Rock” and “Wales Lake,” which will also come with MAHLI documentation. With all those investigations together, we’ll be able to document the chemistry of many targets around us. There is such a rich variety of dark and light toned rocks, and with so much variety everywhere, it’s hard to choose and the team is excited about the three targeted sols … and planning over 4 hours of science over the weekend!
The next drive is planned to go to an area where there is a step in the landscape. Geologists love those steps as they give insights into the layers below the immediate surface. If you have read the word ‘outcrop’ here, then that’s what that means: access to below the surface. But there are also other interesting features in the area, hence we will certainly have an interesting workspace to look at! But getting there will not be easy as the terrain is very complex, so we cannot do it in just one drive. I think there is a rule of thumb here: the more excited the geo-team gets, the more skills our drivers need. Geologists just love rocks, but of course, no one likes driving offroad in a really rocky terrain – no roads on Mars. And right now, our excellent engineers have an extra complication to think about: they need to take extra care where and how to park so Curiosity can actually communicate with Earth. Why? Well, we are in a canyon, and those of you liking to hike, know what canyons mean for cell phone signals… yes, there isn’t much coverage, and that’s the same for Curiosity’s antenna. This new NASA video has more information and insights into the planning room, too! So, we’ll drive halfway to where we want to be but I am sure there will be interesting targets in the new workspace, the area is just so, so complex, fascinating and rich!
And that’s after Mars for you, after 12 years, 42 drill holes, and now 1 Million ChemCam shots. Go Curiosity go!!!
Written by Susanne Schwenzer, Planetary Geologist at The Open University
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Last Updated Sep 13, 2024 Related Terms
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Texas High School Aerospace Scholars get a virtual view of an extravehicular activity (EVA) suit in testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Photo credit: NASA/Helen Arase Vargas Explore the universe this fall without leaving your classroom through live virtual engagements with NASA space and aviation experts. NASA is offering a new lineup of stellar virtual experiences to spark STEM excitement and connect students with the agency’s missions, science, careers, and more.
The virtual engagements, managed by NASA’s Next Gen STEM project, are free to join and open to both formal and informal education groups. These options are sure to launch your students’ love of STEM:
NASA Back-to-School Career Day (Grades K-12)
On Sept. 26, NASA is hosting a Back-to-School Career Day showcasing a variety of NASA careers with virtual tours of agency facilities, live Q&A with experts, and more.
Open to K-12 formal and informal education organizations, the registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 5. In addition to the live event, the interactive platform will be available from Monday, Sept. 23, through Friday, Sept. 27.
Europa Clipper Launch Virtual Watch Party (All Grade Levels)
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch no earlier than Oct. 10 on a mission to investigate whether Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, could contain the building blocks needed to support life. The launch window opens on Oct. 10 during the school day at 12:32 p.m. EDT, and your classroom can be part of this pioneering mission. Sign up to watch the launch online, visit Europa Clipper’s Participation Hub for more opportunities, and find additional resources on Europa Clipper’s Kids Resources Hub.
NQuest Virtual Workshops (Grades 6-8)
NQuest offers 45-minute virtual workshops every Monday and Thursday. Available on a first-come, first-served basis, these free workshops include a live presentation, captivating NASA videos, and a hands-on activity to bring STEM concepts to life. All you need is a laptop, projector, and basic classroom supplies. Workshops can be scheduled to fit your school’s bell schedule between 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. EDT. Register your class by Oct. 11.
“Astro-Not-Yets” Virtual Classroom Connections (Grades K-4)
Introduce your students to the Astro-Not-Yets, a series of short stories that teach students about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. In each of these monthly virtual events, a NASA expert whose job relates to the story will read the book to students, then answer their questions.
Wednesday, Oct. 23: The Astro-Not-Yets! Explore Sound. Students will learn how sound travels and experiment with transmitting sound through a string-cup phone. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Oct. 9. Wednesday, Nov. 20: Astro-Not-Yets! Explore Energy. Students will learn how spacecraft safely bring astronauts home from space, then design and test their own system to safely land an egg on the ground. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 6. Wednesday, Dec. 11: Astro-Not-Yets! Explore Microgravity. Students will learn all about gravity, microgravity, and the International Space Station. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 27. “First Women” Virtual Classroom Connections (Grades 5-12)
This series introduces some of the women at NASA who have made significant achievements in STEM. Students get to hear their stories first-hand and ask them questions in a live Q&A.
Wednesday, Oct. 16: Meet NASA’s first female launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. She led the launch team during the uncrewed Artemis I mission around the Moon in 2022. Now, she and her team are preparing for the first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis II. Registration deadline: Monday, Sept. 30. Wednesday, Nov. 6: Meet Laurie A. Grindle and learn about NASA’s first X-43A Guinness world record. Today, Grindle is deputy center director at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, but in 2004, the X-43A aircraft she and her team developed set the Guinness World Record for “the fastest air-breathing aircraft” twice in one year. Registration deadline: Monday, Oct. 21. Wednesday, Dec. 4: Meet Dr. Ruth Jones, NASA’s 2024 Wings of Excellence Awardee. Jones will share her experience as a woman in STEM and tell students what it was like to become the first woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Registration deadline: Monday, Nov. 18. Surprisingly STEM Career Explorations Virtual Events (Grades 5-12)
The Surprisingly STEM video series highlights some of NASA’s many unexpected careers. In these events, experts from the videos discuss their unusual and exciting jobs and share their journeys that led them to NASA.
Thursday, Oct. 24: Soft robotics engineer Jim Neilan explains the importance of soft robotics in human spaceflight and some of the role’s critical skills. Registration deadline: Friday, Oct. 18. Thursday, Nov. 14: Exploration geologist Angela Garcia takes students behind the scenes of her job training NASA astronauts to explore for the “crater” good of humanity. Registration deadline: Thursday, Nov. 7. Thursday, Dec. 12: Memory metal engineer Othmane Benafan explains how he “trains” metal to bend, stretch, and twist when prompted, and how this technology benefits NASA missions. Registration deadline: Thursday, Dec. 5. Bring NASA Experts Into the Classroom (All Grades)
NASA recently launched NASA Engages, a new, database-driven platform designed to connect a wide range of audiences with experts from across the space agency – both virtually and in person. Available to classrooms from preschool to college, informal education organizations such as libraries and science centers, and other eligible groups, NASA Engages enables educators and group leaders to find inspirational guest speakers, knowledgeable science fair judges, and more.
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Find student challenges, hands-on activities, and more opportunities on the Learning Resources website managed by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. Visit How Do I Navigate NASA Learning Resources and Opportunities? to explore additional platforms and offerings to enhance your STEM curriculum. Subscribe to the weekly NASA EXPRESS e-newsletter to discover the latest events, resources, and other opportunities to bring NASA into your classroom. Explore More
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By NASA
Interstellar Lab, a small business comprised of team members from France, Texas, and Florida, took home the $750,000 grand prize for their food system, NUCLEUS, which uses a multi-pronged approach to growing and harvesting food outputs for astronauts on long-duration human space exploration missions.Credit: OSU/CFAES/Kenneth Chamberlain NASA has awarded a total of $1.25 million to three U.S. teams in the third and final round of the agency’s Deep Space Food Challenge. The teams delivered novel food production technologies that could provide long-duration human space exploration missions with safe, nutritious, and tasty food.
The competitors’ technologies address NASA’s need for sustainable food systems for long-duration habitation in space, including future Artemis missions and eventual journeys to Mars. Advanced food systems also could benefit life on Earth and inspire food production in parts of the world that are prone to natural disasters, food insecurity, and extreme environments.
“The Deep Space Food Challenge could serve as the framework for providing astronauts with healthy and delicious food using sustainable mechanisms,” said Angela Herblet, challenge manager for the Deep Space Food Challenge at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The challenge has brought together innovative and driven individuals from around the world who are passionate about creating new solutions that support our agency’s future Moon to Mars missions.”
Since the challenge’s launch in 2021, more than 300 teams from 32 countries have participated by submitting innovative food system designs. The competition, conceived and managed by NASA Centennial Challenges at NASA Marshall, is a first-of-its-kind coordinated effort between NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), which ran its own challenge in parallel.
Four American teams competed in Phase 3, which began in September 2023. The Methuselah Foundation partnered with Ohio State University to facilitate the final phase of the challenge, which included a two-month testing and demonstration period held on the university’s campus in Columbus, Ohio. Each U.S. team in Phase 3 was awarded $50,000 and took their technology to Columbus for testing.
Throughout this phase, the teams constructed full-scale food production systems that were required to pass developmental milestones like safety, sensory testing, palatability, and harvesting volumes. Each team worked with four “Simunauts,” a crew of Ohio State students who managed the testing and demonstrations for Phase 3 over the eight-week period. The data gathered from testing was delivered to a judging panel to determine the winner.
The challenge concluded at the Deep Space Food Symposium, a two-day networking and learning summit at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on Aug. 15 and 16. Throughout the event, attendees met the Phase 3 finalists, witnessed demonstrations of the food production technologies, and attended panels featuring experts from NASA, government, industry, and academia. The winners of the challenge were announced at an awards ceremony at the end of the symposium.
The U.S. winner and recipient of the $750,000 grand prize is Interstellar Lab of Merritt Island, Florida. Led by Barbara Belvisi, the small business combines several autonomous phytotrons and environment-controlled greenhouses to support a growth system involving a self-sustaining food production mechanism that generates fresh vegetables, microgreens, and insects necessary for micronutrients.
Two runners-up each earned $250,000 for their food systems’ successes: Nolux of Riverside, California, and SATED of Boulder, Colorado.
Nolux, a university team led by Robert Jinkerson, constructed an artificial photosynthetic system that can create plant and fungal-based foods without the operation of biological photosynthesis.
Standing for Safe Appliance, Tidy, Efficient & Delicious, SATED is a one-man team of Jim Sears, who developed a variety of customizable food, from pizza to peach cobbler. The product is fire-safe and was developed by long-shelf-life and in-situ grown ingredients.
NASA also selected and recognized one international team as a Phase 3 winner: Solar Foods of Lappeenranta, Finland, developed a food production system through gas fermentation that relies on single-cell protein production.
In April 2024, CSA and Impact Canada awarded the grand prize winner of its parallel challenge to Ecoation, a Vancouver-based small business specializing in greenhouses.
“Congratulations to the winners and all the finalist teams for their many years dedicated to innovating solutions for the Deep Space Food Challenge,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive for NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These food production technologies could change the future of food accessibility on other worlds and our home planet.”
Also present at the symposium was celebrity chef and cookbook author Tyler Florence. After spending time with each finalist team and getting acquainted with their food systems, Florence selected one team to receive the “Tyler Florence Award for Culinary Innovation.” Team SATED of Boulder, Colorado, received the honor for their system that impressed Florence due to its innovative approach to the challenge.
The Deep Space Food Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenge, is a coordinated effort between NASA and CSA. Subject matter experts at Johnson Space Center in Houston and Kennedy Space Center in Florida, supported the competition. NASA’s Centennial Challenges are part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and managed at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Methuselah Foundation, in partnership with NASA, oversees the United States and international competitors.
To learn more about the Deep Space Food Challenge, visit:
nasa.gov/spacefoodchallenge
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Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
321-432-4624
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-932-1940
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program Centennial Challenges Space Technology Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Early research at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley — then known as NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory – included ground tests of “hot wing” anti-icing systems on a Lockheed 12A aircraft. NASA works every day to improve air travel – and has been doing so since its creation decades ago. On National Aviation Day, NASA and all fans of aviation get the chance to celebrate the innovative research and development the agency has produced to improve capability and safety in flight.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has a historic legacy in aeronautics research. When the center was founded in 1939 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), its early research included working to reduce icing on aircraft wings.
When ice coats the wings of an airplane, it reduces lift and increases drag, which can cause the aircraft to lose altitude and control. Ames researchers developed different approaches to solve the icing challenge, including a “hot wing” thermal anti-icing system. The system worked by running hot engine exhaust along the leading edges of aircraft wings, warming them and preventing ice buildup. Ames researchers modified aircraft and tested them before traveling to Minnesota, where they were flown in icy conditions.
Today, many turbine-powered aircraft, like passenger jets, use “bleed air” anti-icing systems, which warm the leading edges of aircraft wings using compressed air from their engines. These systems are built upon the early research and testing done at Ames.
The legacy of aviation innovation continues at Ames, through aeroscience research like wind tunnel testing, air traffic management, and advanced aircraft systems.
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2024 LocationAeronautics at Ames Related Terms
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2 Min Read Orville Wright and National Aviation Day
This mural by famed aviation and space artist Bob McCall was created to celebrate the achievements of Wilbur and Orville Wright and to commemorate a century of powered flight. Central to the composition is the 1903 Wright Flyer. Credits: <br> Orville Wright wasn’t sure exactly how long his first flight lasted.
He and his brother, Wilbur, think it was about 12 seconds, but according to what Orville wrote in his diary of that December day in 1903 at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., the time is “not known exactly as watch was not promptly stopped.”
It’s perhaps a minor detail given the historic significance of what had just transpired on those wind-swept, sandy dunes along the Outer Banks – namely the first ever controlled flight of a heavier-than-air machine rising by its own power.
But there is much we do know about the first flight of an airplane. With Orville at the controls, the Wright Flyer took off at 10:35 a.m. EST and flew a distance of 120 feet, about 10 feet off the ground, at a top speed of about 6.8 mph.
Three more flights followed that day, with Wilbur and Orville taking turns at the controls, the last flight by Wilbur lasting 59 seconds and covering a distance of 852 feet. The fourth flight ended hard, damaging the airplane enough to halt any more attempts.
But it was Orville who made the first flight. In honor of that fact, President Franklin Roosevelt declared in 1939 that August 19, Orville’s birthday, would be National Aviation Day – an annual occasion to celebrate the importance of aviation.
Orville was still alive when FDR issued the directive, which called on all federal buildings and installations to display the U.S. flag. The proclamation also invited citizens to observe the day with activities that promote interest in aviation.
The proclamation was codified (36 U.S. Code § 118), allowing future sitting U.S. presidents to proclaim Aug. 19 as National Aviation Day.
Although not every president since FDR has issued the proclamation every year, the broad aviation community nevertheless recognizes the day as a means to honor the legacy of Orville Wright — and his brother — and celebrate the many ways aviation touches all of our lives.
Wilbur and Orville Wright
Wilbur, left, and Orville Wright Celebrate National Aviation Day by Getting to Know our Faces of Flight
NASA / Maria Werries In honor of National Aviation Day, we’ve put together a collection of pictures, videos, and stories that showcase some of NASA Aeronautics’ aeronautical innovators who are working to safely transform aviation for the 21st century. See, watch, and read their stories with this up close and personal look,
Enjoy this special feature here!
About the Author
Jim Banke
Managing Editor/Senior WriterJim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 35 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on the NASA website.
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2024 EditorJim BankeContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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