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By NASA
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA instruments and aircraft are helping identify potential sources of critical minerals across vast swaths of California, Nevada, and other Western states. Pilots gear up to reach altitudes about twice as high as those of a cruising passenger jet.NASA NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have been mapping the planets since Apollo. One team is searching closer to home for minerals critical to national security and the economy.
If not for the Joshua trees, the tan hills of Cuprite, Nevada, would resemble Mars. Scalded and chemically altered by water from deep underground, the rocks here are earthly analogs for understanding ancient Martian geology. The hills are also rich with minerals. They’ve lured prospectors for more than 100 years and made Cuprite an ideal place to test NASA technology designed to map the minerals, craters, crusts, and ices of our solar system.
Sensors that discovered lunar water, charted Saturn’s moons, even investigated ground zero in New York City were all tested and calibrated at Cuprite, said Robert Green, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. He’s honed instruments in Nevada for decades.
One of Green’s latest projects is to find and map rocky surfaces in the American West that could contain minerals crucial to the nation’s economy and security. Currently, the U.S. is dependent on imports of 50 critical minerals, which include lithium and rare earth elements used in everything from rechargeable batteries to medicine.
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are searching nationwide for domestic sources. NASA is contributing to this effort with high-altitude aircraft and sensors capable of detecting the molecular fingerprints of minerals across vast, treeless expanses in wavelengths of light not visible to human eyes.
The hills of Cuprite, Nevada, appear pink and tan to the eye (top image) but they shine with mica, gypsum, and alunite among other types of minerals when imaged spectroscopically (lower image). NASA sensors used to study Earth and other rocky worlds have been tested there.USGS/Ray Kokaly The collaboration is called GEMx, the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment, and it’s likely the largest airborne spectroscopic survey in U.S. history. Since 2023, scientists working on GEMx have charted more than 190,000 square miles (500,000 square kilometers) of North American soil.
Mapping Partnership Started During Apollo
As NASA instruments fly in aircraft 60,000 feet (18,000 meters) overhead, Todd Hoefen, a geophysicist, and his colleagues from USGS work below. The samples of rock they test and collect in the field are crucial to ensuring that the airborne observations match reality on the ground and are not skewed by the intervening atmosphere.
The GEMx mission marks the latest in a long history of partnerships between NASA and USGS. The two agencies have worked together to map rocky worlds — and keep astronauts and rovers safe — since the early days of the space race.
For example, geologic maps of the Moon made in the early 1960s at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, helped Apollo mission planners select safe and scientifically promising sites for the six crewed landings that occurred from 1969 to 1972. Before stepping onto the lunar surface, NASA’s Moon-bound astronauts traveled to Flagstaff to practice fieldwork with USGS geologists. A version of those Apollo boot camps continues today with astronauts and scientists involved in NASA’s Artemis mission.
Geophysicist Raymond Kokaly, who leads the GEMx campaign for USGS, is pictured here conducting ground-based hyperspectral imaging of rock in Cuprite, Nevada, in April 2019.USGS/Todd Hoefen The GEMx mission marks the latest in a long history of partnerships between NASA and USGS. The two agencies have worked together to map rocky worlds — and keep astronauts and rovers safe — since the early days of the space race.
Rainbows and Rocks
To detect minerals and other compounds on the surfaces of rocky bodies across the solar system, including Earth, scientists use a technology pioneered by JPL in the 1980s called imaging spectroscopy. One of the original imaging spectrometers built by Robert Green and his team is central to the GEMx campaign in the Western U.S.
About the size and weight of a minifridge and built to fly on planes, the instrument is called AVIRIS-Classic, short for Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer. Like all imaging spectrometers, it takes advantage of the fact that every molecule reflects and absorbs light in a unique pattern, like a fingerprint. Spectrometers detect these molecular fingerprints in the light bouncing off or emitted from a sample or a surface.
In the case of GEMx, that’s sunlight shimmering off different kinds of rocks.
Compared to a standard digital camera, which “sees” three color channels (red, green, and blue), imaging spectrometers can see more than 200 channels, including infrared wavelengths of light that are invisible to the human eye.
NASA spectrometers have orbited or flown by every major rocky body in our solar system. They’ve helped scientists investigate methane lakes on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and study Pluto’s thin atmosphere. One JPL-built spectrometer is currently en route to Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, to help search for chemical ingredients necessary to support life.
“One of the cool things about NASA is that we develop technology to look out at the solar system and beyond, but we also turn around and look back down,” said Ben Phillips, a longtime NASA program manager who led GEMx until he retired in 2025.
The Newest Instrument
More than 200 hours of GEMx flights are scheduled through fall 2025. Scientists will process and validate the data, with the first USGS mineral maps to follow. During these flights, an ER-2 research aircraft from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, will cruise over the Western U.S. at altitudes twice as high as a passenger jet flies.
At such high altitudes, pilot Dean Neeley must wear a spacesuit similar to those used by astronauts. He flies solo in the cramped cockpit but will be accompanied by state-of-the-art NASA instruments. In the belly of the plane rides AVIRIS-Classic, which will be retiring soon after more than three decades in service. Carefully packed in the plane’s nose is its successor: AVIRIS-5, taking flight for the first time in 2025.
Together, the two instruments provide 10 times the performance of the older spectrometer alone, but even by itself AVIRIS-5 marks a leap forward. It can sample areas ranging from about 30 feet (10 meters) to less than a foot (30 centimeters).
“The newest generation of AVIRIS will more than live up to the original,” Green said.
More About GEMx
The GEMx research project will last four years and is funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative. The initiative will capitalize on both the technology developed by NASA for spectroscopic imaging, as well as the agency’s expertise in analyzing the datasets and extracting critical mineral information from them.
Data collected by GEMx is available here.
News Media Contacts
Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Elizabeth Vlock
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov
Written by Sally Younger
2025-086
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Last Updated Jul 10, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The high-altitude WB-57 aircraft departed July 8, 2025, from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, headed to the Texas Hill Country. The aircraft will use the DyNAMITE (Day/Night Airborne Motion Imager for Terrestrial Environments) sensor system to take video mosaics of the area to assist with the emergency response effort. Photo Credit: NASA/Morgan Gridley In response to recent flooding near Kerrville, Texas, NASA deployed two aircraft to assist state and local authorities in ongoing recovery operations.
The aircraft are part of the response from NASA’s Disasters Response Coordination System, which is activated to support emergency response for the flooding and is working closely with the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the humanitarian groups Save the Children and GiveDirectly.
Persistent cloud-cover has made it difficult to obtain clear satellite imagery, so the Disasters Program coordinated with NASA’s Airborne Science Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston to conduct a series of flights to gather observations of the impacted regions. NASA is sharing these data directly with emergency response teams to inform their search and rescue efforts and aid decision-making and resource allocation.
The high-altitude WB-57 aircraft operated by NASA Johnson departed from Ellington Field on July 8 to conduct aerial surveys. The aircraft is equipped with the DyNAMITE (Day/Night Airborne Motion Imager for Terrestrial Environments) sensor.
The DyNAMITE sensor views the Guadalupe River[KA1] [RC2] and several miles of the surrounding area, providing high-resolution imagery critical to assessing damage and supporting coordination of ground-based recovery efforts. This system enables real-time collection and analysis of data, enhancing situational awareness and accelerating emergency response times.
In addition, the agency’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) is flying out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, aboard a Gulfstream III. Managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the UAVSAR team is planning to collect observations over the Guadalupe, San Gabriel, and Colorado river basins Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Because UAVSAR can penetrate vegetation to spot water that optical sensors are unable to detect, the team’s goal is to characterize the extent of flooding to help with understanding the amount of damage within communities.
Flights are being coordinated with FEMA, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and local responders to ensure data is quickly delivered to those making decisions on the ground. Imagery collected will be sent to NASA’s Disaster Response Coordination System.
Additionally, the Disasters Program, which is part of NASA’s Earth Science Division, is working to produce maps and data to assess the location and severity of flooding in the region and damage to buildings and infrastructure. These data are being shared on the NASA Disasters Mapping Portal as they become available.
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Last Updated Jul 09, 2025 Related Terms
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In 1992, Dr. Gregory Rogers a NASA flight surgeon and former Chief of Aerospace Medicine witnessed an event that would stay with him for more than three decades. Now, after years of silence, he’s finally revealing the details of a 15-minute encounter that shattered everything he thought he knew about aerospace technology.
With a distinguished career that includes support for 31 space shuttle launches, training as an F-16 pilot, and deep involvement in classified aerospace programs, Dr. Rogers brings unmatched credibility to the conversation. His firsthand account of observing what appeared to be a reverse-engineered craft, emblazoned with "U.S. Air Force" markings, raises profound questions about the true timeline of UAP development and disclosure.
The full interview spans nearly two hours. To help navigate the discussion, here’s a timeline so you can jump to the segments that interest you most.
00:00 Introduction and Dr. Rogers' Unprecedented Credentials 07:25 The 1992 Cape Canaveral Encounter Begins 18:45 Inside the Hangar: First Glimpse of the Craft 26:30 "We Got It From Them" - The Shocking Revelation 35:15 Technical Analysis: Impossible Flight Characteristics 43:40 Electromagnetic Discharges and Advanced Propulsion 52:20 The Cover Story and 33 Years of Silence 1:01:10 Why He's Speaking Out Now: Grush and Fravor's Influence 1:08:45 Bob Lazar Connections and Reverse Engineering Timeline 1:17:20 Flight Surgeon Stories: The Human Side of Classified Work 1:25:50 G-Force Brain Injuries: An Unreported Military Crisis 1:34:30 Columbia Disaster: When Safety Warnings Are Ignored 1:43:15 The Bureaucratic Resistance to Truth 1:50:40 Congressional Testimony and The Path Forward 1:58:25 Final Thoughts: Legacy vs. Truth
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A collage of artist concepts highlighting the novel approaches proposed by the 2025 NIAC awardees for possible future missions. Through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, NASA nurtures visionary yet credible concepts that could one day “change the possible” in aerospace, while engaging America’s innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey.
These concepts span various disciplines and aim to advance capabilities such as finding resources on distant planets, making space travel safer and more efficient, and even providing benefits to life here on Earth. The NIAC portfolio of studies also includes several solutions and technologies that could help NASA achieve a future human presence on Mars. One concept at a time, NIAC is taking technology concepts from science fiction to reality.
Breathing beyond Earth
Astronauts have a limited supply of water and oxygen in space, which makes producing and maintaining these resources extremely valuable. One NIAC study investigates a system to separate oxygen and hydrogen gas bubbles in microgravity from water, without touching the water directly. Researchers found the concept can handle power changes, requires less clean water, works in a wide range of temperatures, and is more resistant to bacteria than existing oxygen generation systems for short-term crewed missions. These new developments could make it a great fit for a long trip to Mars.
Newly selected for another phase of study, the team wants to understand how the system will perform over long periods in space and consider ways to simplify the system’s build. They plan to test a large version of the system in microgravity in hopes of proving how it may be a game changer for future missions.
Detoxifying water on Mars
Unlike water on Earth, Mars’ water is contaminated with toxic chemical compounds such as perchlorates and chlorates. These contaminants threaten human health even at tiny concentrations and can easily corrode hardware and equipment. Finding a way to remove contaminates from water will benefit future human explorers and prepare them to live on Mars long term.
Researchers are creating a regenerative perchlorate reduction system that uses perchlorate reduction pathways from naturally occurring bacteria. Perchlorate is a compound comprised of oxygen and chlorine that is typically used for rocket propellant. These perchlorate reduction pathways can be engineered into a type of bacterium that is known for its remarkable resilience, even in the harsh conditions of space. The system would use these enzymes to cause the biochemical reduction of chlorate and perchlorate to chloride and oxygen, eliminating these toxic molecules from the water. With the technology to detoxify water on Mars, humans could thrive on the Red Planet with an abundant water supply.
Tackling deep space radiation exposure
Mitochondria are the small structures within cells often called the “powerhouse,” but what if they could also power human health in space? Chronic radiation exposure is among the many threats to long-term human stays in space, including time spent traveling to and from Mars. One NIAC study explores transplanting new, undamaged mitochondria to radiation-damaged cells and investigates cell responses to relevant radiation levels to simulate deep-space travel. Researchers propose using in vitro human cell models – complex 3D structures grown in a lab to mimic aspects of organs – to demonstrate how targeted mitochondria replacement therapy could regenerate cellular function after acute and long-term radiation exposure.
While still in early stages, the research could help significantly reduce radiation risks for crewed missions to Mars and beyond. Here on Earth, the technology could also help treat a wide variety of age-related degenerative diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction.
Suiting up for Mars
Mars is no “walk in the park,” which is why specialized spacesuits are essential for future missions. Engineers propose using a digital template to generate custom, cost-effective, high-performance spacesuits. This spacesuit concept uses something called digital thread technology to protect crewmembers from the extreme Martian environment, while providing the mobility to perform daily Mars exploration endeavors, including scientific excursions.
This now completed NIAC study focused on mapping key spacesuit components and current manufacturing technologies to digital components, identifying technology gaps, benchmarking required capabilities, and developing a conceptional digital thread model for future spacesuit development and operational support. This research could help astronauts suit up for Mars and beyond in a way like never before.
Redefining what’s possible
From studying Mars to researching black holes and monitoring the atmosphere of Venus, NIAC concepts help us push the boundaries of exploration. By collaborating with innovators and entrepreneurs, NASA advances concepts for future and current missions while energizing the space economy.
If you have a visionary idea to share, you can apply to NIAC’s 2026 Phase I solicitation now until July 15.
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