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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio to build three coronagraphs for the Lagrange 1 Series project, part of NOAA’s Space Weather Next program.
Once operational, the coronagraphs will provide critical data to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which issues forecasts, warnings, and alerts that help mitigate space weather impacts, including electric power outages and interruption to communications and navigation systems.
This cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is valued at approximately $60 million, and the anticipated period of performance is from this November through January 2034, concluding after launch of the second coronagraph aboard a NOAA spacecraft. The third coronagraph will be delivered as a flight spare.
This contract award marks a transfer of coronagraph development from the government to the U.S. commercial sector. The contract scope includes design, analysis, development, fabrication, integration, test, verification, and evaluation of the coronagraphs; launch support; supply and maintenance of ground support equipment; and support of post-launch instrument operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility. The work will take place at Southwest Research Institute’s facility in San Antonio.
The coronagraphs will observe the density structure of the Sun’s faint outermost atmosphere — the corona — and will detect Earth-directed coronal mass ejections shortly after they erupt, providing the longest possible lead time for geomagnetic storm watches. With this forewarning, public and private organizations affected by space weather can take actions to protect their assets. The coronagraphs will also provide data continuity from the Space Weather follow-on Lagrange 1 mission.
NASA and NOAA oversee the development, launch, testing and operation of all the satellites in the project. NOAA is the program owner providing the requirements and funding along with managing the program, operations, data products, and dissemination to users. NASA and its commercial partners develop and build the instruments, spacecraft, and provide launch services on behalf of NOAA.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov
Jeremy Eggers
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
757-824-2958
jeremy.l.eggers@nasa.gov
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By European Space Agency
The 2025 ESA internship opportunities are now live! Positions are open in a wide range of fields, including engineering, science, IT, natural and social sciences, business, economics, and administrative services. This is your chance to launch your career in the extraordinary world of space exploration—don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to gain hands-on experience with one of the world’s leading space organisations!
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By NASA
A mentor of research scientist Meloë Kacenelenbogen once shared a sentiment from French author André Gide: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Kacenelenbogen pushes beyond her comfort zone to explore the unknown.
Name: Meloë S. Kacenelenbogen
Formal Job Classification: Research scientist
Organization: Climate and Radiation Laboratory, Science Directorate (Code 613)
Dr. Meloë S. Kacenelenbogen is a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She studies the impact of aerosols on air quality and the Earth’s climate.Photo courtesy of Meloë Kacenelenbogen What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
I study the impact of aerosols — suspended particles from, for example, wildfire smoke, desert dust, urban pollution, and volcanic eruptions — on air quality and the Earth’s climate. I use space, air, and ground-based observations, as well as models.
Why did you become a scientist? What is your educational background?
I never made a deliberate choice to become a scientist. I started with very little confidence as a child and then built up my confidence by achieving things I thought I could not do. I chose the hardest fields to work on along the way. Science looked hard and so did fluid mechanics, remote sensing, and atmospheric physics. I have failed many times, but I always learn something and move on. I do get scared and maybe even paralyzed for a day or two, but I never let fear or failure immobilize me for long.
I was born in Maryland, but my family moved to France when I was young, so I am fluent in French. I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and physical methods in remote sensing from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI, Jussieu). In 2008, I got a Ph.D. in atmospheric physics for applying satellite remote sensing to air quality at the Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (USTL), France.
What are some of your career highlights?
After my Ph.D., I worked for the Atmospheric Lidar Group at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), on spaceborne and ground-based lidars. In 2009, I got a NASA Post-doctoral Program (NPP) fellowship at the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, where I worked for 13 years on space-based, aircraft-based, and ground-based atmospheric aerosol vertical distribution and aerosol typing.
In 2022, I came to work at the Climate and Radiation Lab at Goddard.
What is most interesting about aerosols?
Aerosols are very topical because they have a huge impact on the air we breathe and our Earth’s climate. The smaller the aerosol, the deeper it can get into our lungs. Among other sources, aerosols can come from cars, factories, or wildfires. We all know that wildfires are becoming bigger and more frequent. They are expected to happen even more frequently in the future due to climate change. Both when I was living in California and here in Maryland, I have experienced first-hand choking from the wildfire smoke. I will always remember how apocalyptic it felt back in the summer of 2020 in California when wildfire smoke was paired with COVID confinement, and the sky turned Mars-like orange.
Please tell us about your involvement with the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS)?
I am incredibly lucky to be able to contribute to the next generation of NASA’s satellites. I am working on AOS, which will observe aerosols, clouds, convention, and precipitation in the Earth’s atmosphere. I am part of the team that is helping design several instruments and algorithms.
My role is to connect this spaceborne observing system to all our other space, ground, and air-based measurements at the time of launch. We are making a mesh of observations to address the science questions, run the algorithms, and validate the spaceborne measurements. I am constantly pushed to expand my horizon and my own knowledge.
Why do you enjoy always challenging yourself intellectually?
I started that way. I had no confidence, so I felt that the only way I could build my confidence was to try doing things that scared me. I may sometimes be a little scared, but I am never bored.
What did you learn from your mentors?
A few years ago, a mentor shared a quote from André Gide with me that encapsulates what we are talking about: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” In other words, it is OK, maybe preferable, to be out of my comfort zone to explore the unknown as scary as it may be.
Along the way, it has been extremely important for me to deliberately choose mentors. To me, a good mentor has earned the respect of all who have worked with them, is uplifting, reassuring, and gives me the invaluable guidance and support that I need. I deliberately try to surround myself with the right people. I have been very, very fortunate to find incredible people to encourage me.
As a mentor, what do you advise?
I tell them to deliberately choose their mentors. I also tell them that it is OK to be uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is the nature of our field. To do great things, we often need to be uncomfortable.
Why do you enjoy working on a team?
I love working on teams, I love to feed off the positive energy of a team whether I lead it or am part of it. In my field, teamwork with a positive energy is incredibly satisfying. Everybody feeds off everybody’s energy, we go further, are stronger, and achieve more. This may not happen often, but when it does it makes it all worth it.
What are the happiest moments in your career?
I am always happiest when the team publishes a paper and all our efforts, are encapsulated in that one well-wrapped and satisfying peer-reviewed paper that is then accessible to everyone online. Every paper we publish feels, to me, the same as a Ph.D. in terms of the work, pain, energy, and then, finally, satisfaction involved.
What do you hope to achieve in your career?
I want to have been a major contributor to the mission by the time the AOS satellites launch.
What do you do for fun?
I do mixed martial arts. I love the ocean, diving, and sailing. I also love going to art galleries, especially to see impressionist paintings to reconnect with my Parisian past.
Meloë Kacenelenbogen once shared a sentiment from French author André Gide: “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”Photo courtesy of Meloë Kacenelenbogen Who is your favorite author?
I love Zweig, Kafka, Dostoyevsky, Saint-Exupéry, and Kessel. The latter two wrote a lot about aviators in the early 1900s back in the days when it was new and very dangerous. Those pilots, like Mermoz, were my heroes growing up.
Who would you like to thank?
I would like to thank my family for being my rock.
What are your guiding principles?
To paraphrase Dostoevsky, everyone is responsible to all men for all men and for everything. I have a strong sense of purpose, pride, justice, and honor. This is how I try to live my life for better or for worse.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Oct 22, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir conducts cardiac research using tissue chip platforms in the Life Sciences Glovebox aboard space station in March of 2022.NASA The International Space Station offers a unique microgravity environment where cells outside the human body behave similarly to how they do inside the human body. Tissue chips are small devices containing living cells that mimic complex functions of specific human tissues and organs. Researchers can run experiments using tissue chips aboard space station to understand disease progression and provide faster and safer alternatives for preparing medicine for clinical trials.
Researchers placed engineered heart tissues on tissue chips sent to study how microgravity impacts cardiac functions in space. Data collected by the chips showed these heart tissues experienced impaired contractions, subcellular structural changes, and increased stress, which can lead to tissue damage and disease. Previous studies conducted on human subjects have displayed similar outcomes. In the future, engineered heart tissues could accurately model the effects of spaceflight on cardiac function.
Another investigation used muscle-on-a-chip technology to evaluate whether engineered muscle tissues can mimic the characteristics of reduced muscle regeneration in microgravity. Researchers found that engineered muscle-on-a-chip platforms are viable for studying muscle-related bioprocesses in space. In addition, samples treated with drugs known to stimulate muscle regeneration showed partial prevention of the effects of microgravity. These results demonstrate that muscle-on-chip can also be used to study and identify drugs that may prevent muscle decline in space and age-related muscle decline on Earth.
NASA astronaut Megan McArthur works on the Cardinal Muscle investigation in the Life Sciences Glovebox aboard the space station in August of 2021.NASA Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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