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By NASA
NASA asked artists to imagine the future of deep space exploration in artwork meant to inspire the Artemis Generation. The NASA Moon to Mars Architecture art challenge sought creative images that represent the agency’s bold vision for crewed exploration of the lunar surface and the Red Planet. The agency has selected the recipients of the art challenge competition.
This collage features all the winners of the NASA Moon to Mars Architecture Art Challenge.Jimmy Catanzaro, Jean-Luc Sabourin, Irene Magi, Pavlo Kandyba, Antonella Di Cristofaro, Francesco Simone, Mia Nickell, Lux Bodell, Olivia De Grande, Sophie Duan The challenge, hosted by contractor yet2 through NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program, was open to artists from around the globe. Guidelines asked artists to consider NASA’s Moon to Mars Architecture development effort, which uses engineering processes to distil NASA’s Moon to Mars Objectives into the systems needed to accomplish them. NASA received 313 submissions from 22 U.S. states and 47 countries.
The architecture includes four segments of increasing complexity. For this competition, NASA sought artistic representations of the two furthest on the timeline: the Sustained Lunar Evolution segment and the Humans to Mars segment.
The Sustained Lunar Evolution segment is an open canvas for exploration of the Moon, embracing new ideas, systems, and partners to grow to a long-term presence on the lunar surface. Sustained lunar evolution means more astronauts on the Moon for longer periods of time, increased opportunities for science, and even the large-scale production of goods and services derived from lunar resources. It also means increased cooperation and collaboration with international partners and the aerospace industry to build a robust lunar economy. The Humans to Mars segment will see the first human missions to Mars, building on the lessons we learn from exploring the Moon. These early missions will focus on Martian exploration and establishing the foundation for a sustained Mars presence. NASA architects are examining a wide variety of options for transportation, habitation, power generation, utilization of Martian resources, scientific investigations, and more. Final judging for the competition took place at NASA’s annual Architecture Concept Review meeting. That review brought together agency leadership from NASA mission directorates, centers, and technical authorities to review the 2024 updates to the Moon to Mars Architecture. NASA selected the winning images below during that review:
Sustained Lunar Evolution Segment Winners
First Place:
Jimmy Catanzaro – Henderson, Nevada
Second Place:
Jean-Luc Sabourin – Ottawa, Canada
Third Place (Tie):
Irene Magi – Prato, Italy
Pavlo Kandyba – Kyiv, Ukraine
Humans to Mars Segment Winners
First Place (Tie):
Antonella Di Cristofaro – Chieti, Italy
Francesco Simone – Gatteo, Italy
Third Place:
Mia Nickell – Suwanee, Georgia
Under 18 Submission Winners
First Place:
Lux Bodell – Minnetonka, Minnesota
Second Place:
Olivia De Grande – Milan, Italy
Third Place:
Sophie Duan – Ponte Vedra, Florida
The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, managed the challenge. The program supports global public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Tim Stiglets’ work at NASA’s Stennis Space Center gives him a front-row seat to the growth and opportunity potential of NASA Stennis. His work ranges from managing data for how a test stand is configured to tracking the configuration of NASA Stennis buildings and utilities systems that make up the infrastructure for America’s largest rocket propulsion test site.NASA/Danny Nowlin Two words come to Tim Stiglets’ mind when he thinks about NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi – growth and opportunity.
The Waveland, Mississippi, resident has experienced both in his career at the south Mississippi NASA center.
He started as a summer intern onsite with Lockheed Martin in 2002. When The University of Southern Mississippi graduate joined the NASA team in 2019, he really started to understand how much activity happens at the unique federal city.
NASA Stennis is home to more than 50 companies and organizations sharing in site operating costs.
As a management and program analyst in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate, Stiglets serves as the manager of the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Program. He describes the program as a one-stop shop for engineering data.
Product lifecycle management (PLM) consists of technology, people, processes, and tools to track a product throughout its lifecycle.
Think of it in terms of building a LEGO set. From the time one gets the idea of building the set, to when it is finished, played with, and taken apart, there is a lot to track.
Stiglets’ work involves much bigger pieces, ranging from managing data for how a test stand is configured to tracking the configuration of NASA Stennis buildings and utilities systems that make up the infrastructure for America’s largest rocket propulsion test site. NASA Stennis facilities are valued at more than $2 billion.
His work gives him a front-row seat to the growth and opportunity potential of NASA Stennis.
“The cool thing about PLM is I get to be involved, in some small way, with NASA’s Artemis work, commercial test customers and all the Center Operations projects that support the federal city,” he said.
The center tests rocket engines and stages to power future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. NASA Stennis also works with such commercial test customers as Relativity Space, Blue Origin, Rolls-Royce, Evolution Space, and Vast (formerly Launcher Space).
“PLM is a center capability that we have evolved, so it does not matter if it is a water system, a test stand or building that is involved. It all kind of relies on, and ultimately somewhere down the line, hits the PLM system that has the drawings and engineering data needed for the project. That is probably the coolest thing about my work. I get to see a lot of different things that are going on in different areas.”
Stiglets said it feels like every time he turns around, there is someone leasing a new building or joining the NASA Stennis federal city. The center has lease agreements for use of land and infrastructure with Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, and Evolution Space.
“We have a get-it-done kind of attitude,” Stiglets said. “We are going to do whatever it takes to get the job done. If it is testing engines or anything else, we are going to get it done. From a propulsion testing standpoint, commercial companies that lease areas onsite can come in and have access to contract support and to the NASA folks who have decades worth of knowledge. The companies can leverage all of that expertise and tap into the knowledge.”
The Long Beach, Mississippi, native speaks with enthusiasm when describing his time at NASA Stennis, where growth and opportunity continue forward.
“How cool is it to work for NASA, even coming in as a contractor,” Stiglets said. “You get to be involved with something bigger and much beyond south Mississippi. The excitement of being involved with NASA so many years ago was very cool for me, especially being a college student. I still have that same excitement. Many years have passed, and day-to-day work changes, but ultimately, you are still looking to achieve big goals.”
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By NASA
JPL Director Laurie Leshin, flanked by a model of the Voyager spacecraft and an image of Ed Stone, addresses the audience during the unveiling of the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail on Dec. 6, 2024, at the lab. Ed Stone Memorial Plaque Dedication Ceremony Requester: Susie Woodall Date: 06-DEC-2024 Photographer: Ryan Lannom A series of plaques stretching through the heart of the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers highlights of the space explorer’s career and the Voyager mission he led.
Family members, colleagues, and local dignitaries gathered on Friday, Dec. 6, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the unveiling of a memorial honoring Ed Stone, best known as the longtime project scientist of the agency’s Voyager mission. Stone died in June 2024 at age 88 after leading the mission for half a century and leading JPL for a decade.
Stretching through the heart of the lab, the Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail traces the arc of Stone’s distinguished career and the long journeys of the twin Voyager space probes. Designed with simple line drawings, 24 disc-shaped plaques along the trail offer career and mission highlights while evoking the Golden Record aboard both spacecraft.
The Dr. Edward Stone Exploration Trail begins in front of the building where Stone served as JPL’s director. NASA/JPL-Caltech Launched in the summer of 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 have since traveled more than 15.4 billion and 12.9 billion miles (24 billion and 20 billion kilometers), respectively — farther than any other human-made object. The plaques trace their trajectories to Jupiter and Saturn as well as their diverging paths, with Voyager 2 heading toward Uranus and Neptune as Voyager 1 made a beeline for interstellar space. Other stops along the trail honor Stone’s work creating the W.M. Keck Observatory in 1985, his appointment as JPL’s director in 1991, and his being honored with the Distinguished Service Award 2013.
“To follow in the footsteps of Ed Stone is to walk the path of an extraordinary person who dedicated his time on Earth to reaching for the stars, and who paved the way for others to do the same,” said Laurie Leshin, director of JPL. “This trail is a testament to Ed’s bold curiosity, visionary leadership, and passion for science that have enabled us to explore farther into the cosmos than ever before. It’s also a reminder of his influence on so many of our endeavors to reach new frontiers in space.”
Embedded in the pavement, 24 additional plaques trace the approximate trajectories of the Voyager spacecraft. The shape and design language of the plaques evoke the design of the Gold Record.NASA/JPL-Caltech Blazing a Trail
Stone’s penchant for walking was one of the topics that came up when members of JPL’s Office of the Director, its DesignLab, and the Voyager team began discussing ways to honor his outsize contributions to JPL and science. From those initial brainstorming sessions came the question, “How can we do something to memorialize him at JPL that gets people to walk?” recalled DesignLab’s graphic manager, Lauren Shapiro.
The distances between the plaques are roughly proportional the distances between the events they highlight, and the team even tried to make flight trajectories of the probes as accurate as possible, given the challenges of avoiding buildings and the like.
Designer Kaelyn Richards relied on the Voyager Golden Record as a guide for the visual language. “I referenced a lot of old scientific diagrams that were made by artists in the ’70s and ’80s, and I used a solar system modeling program to show the exact position of the planets on the day that the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ was taken,” she said, referring to the plaque honoring the famous 1990 image Voyager 1 took of Earth from beyond Neptune.
“Everyone seemed to agree that Voyager was Ed Stone. Yes, he did so much more, but this was really his biggest legacy,” Shapiro said. “So we’re honoring both the mission and the person alongside each other. And they both, in a poetic way, have had very long, incredible lives.”
Voyager 1 and 2 both carry the Golden Record, a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials with sounds and images that portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech After retiring as Voyager’s project scientist, Stone returned to teaching and research at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA.
Before attending the unveiling, Caltech President Thomas Rosenbaum said, “Ed was a whirlwind of activity. I have many good memories of running after Ed in the midst of conversation as he charged across campus. Ed’s ambition, drive, and vision were accompanied by his warmth, humility, and commitment to Caltech and our students. He served as a mentor for generations of scholars who have gone on to be leaders in their fields. He conveyed a curiosity and a thirst for discovery that inspired.”
Stone had joined the Caltech faculty as an assistant professor in 1967 and, from 1983 to 1988, chaired the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. He went on to serve as vice president for astronomical facilities from 1988 to 1990 and as vice provost for special projects from 2004 to 2022. In 2023, Caltech established a new faculty position, the Edward C. Stone Professorship.
But there was another academic honor that Stone also cherished: the 2012 naming of the Edward Stone Middle School in his hometown of Burlington, Iowa. A short walk from the plaque marking that milestone is the final stop of the Exploration Trail, its simple inscription reading: “Ed Stone’s leadership and pursuit of scientific knowledge expanded humanity’s understanding of the universe. His legacy lives on through the Voyager mission, and the countless people he has inspired.”
News Media Contacts
Matthew Segal / Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-8307 / 626-808-2469
matthew.j.segal@jpl.nasa.gov / calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-165
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Last Updated Dec 06, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Hubble Space Telescope Home Hubble Spots a Spiral in the… Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts E-books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Glossary Posters Hubble on the NASA App More 35th Anniversary 2 min read
Hubble Spots a Spiral in the Celestial River
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 1637. ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is NGC 1637, a spiral galaxy located 38 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus, the River.
This image comes from an observing program dedicated to studying star formation in nearby galaxies. Stars form in cold, dusty gas clouds that collapse under their own gravity. As young stars grow, they heat their nurseries through starlight, winds, and powerful outflows. Together, these factors play a role in controlling the rate at which future generations of stars form.
NGC 1637 holds evidence of star formation scattered throughout its disk, if you know where to look. The galaxy’s spiral arms have pockets of pink clouds, many with bright blue stars. The pinkish color comes from hydrogen atoms excited by ultraviolet light from young, massive stars forming within the clouds. This contrasts with the warm yellow glow of the galaxy’s center, which is home to a densely packed collection of older, redder stars.
The stars that set their cloudy birthplaces aglow are comparatively short-lived, and many of these stars will explode as supernovae just a few million years after they’re born. In 1999, NGC 1637 played host to a supernova named SN 1999EM, lauded as the brightest supernova seen that year. When a massive star expires as a supernova, the explosion outshines its entire home galaxy for a short time. While a supernova marks the end of a star’s life, it can also jump start the formation of new stars by compressing nearby clouds of gas, beginning the stellar lifecycle anew.
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Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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Last Updated Dec 05, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun The spiral galaxy in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is IC 3225. It looks remarkably as if it was launched from a cannon, speeding through space like a comet with a tail of gas streaming from its disk behind it. The scenes that galaxies appear in from Earth’s point of view are fascinating; many seem to hang calmly in the emptiness of space as if hung from a string, while others star in much more dynamic situations!
Appearances can be deceiving with objects so far from Earth — IC 3225 itself is about 100 million light-years away — but the galaxy’s location suggests some causes for this active scene, because IC 3225 is one of over 1,300 members of the Virgo galaxy cluster. The density of galaxies in the Virgo cluster creates a rich field of hot gas between them, called ‘intracluster medium’, while the cluster’s extreme mass has its galaxies careening around its center in some very fast orbits. Ramming through the thick intracluster medium, especially close to the cluster’s center, places enormous ‘ram pressure’ on the moving galaxies that strips gas out of them as they go.
As a galaxy moves through space, the gas and dust that make up the intracluster medium create resistance to the galaxy’s movement, exerting pressure on the galaxy. This pressure, called ram pressure, can strip a galaxy of its star-forming gas and dust, reducing or even stopping the creation of new stars. Conversely, ram pressure can also cause other parts of the galaxy to compress, which can boost star formation. IC 3225 is not so close to the cluster core right now, but astronomers have deduced that it has undergone ram pressure stripping in the past. The galaxy looks compressed on one side, with noticeably more star formation on that leading edge (bottom-left), while the opposite end is stretched out of shape (upper-right). Being in such a crowded field, a close call with another galaxy may also have tugged on IC 3225 and created this shape. The sight of this distorted galaxy is a reminder of the incredible forces at work on astronomical scales, which can move and reshape entire galaxies!
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