Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative Member Co-Authors Award-Winning Paper in Insects
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 members pose together for a portrait inside the vestibule between the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft. Clockwise from left, are NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.NASA NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17.
NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station. Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are completing a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return time-sensitive research to Earth.
Mission managers will continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon’s undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA and SpaceX will confirm the specific splashdown location closer to the Crew-9 return.
Watch Crew-9 return activities on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of additional platforms, including social media. For schedule information, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/live
For Crew-9 return, NASA’s live operations coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Monday, March 17
10:45 p.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+
Tuesday, March 18
12:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+
1:05 a.m. – Undocking
Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will switch to audio only.
Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume on March 18 on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.
4:45 p.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+
5:11 p.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)
5:57 p.m. – Splashdown (time is approximate)
7:30 p.m. – Return-to-Earth media conference on NASA+, with the following participants:
Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’ Space Operations Mission Directorate Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Jeff Arend, manager for systems engineering and integration, NASA’s International Space Station, NASA’s International Space Station Office Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX To participate in the briefing media must contact the newsroom at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston by 5 p.m., March 17, at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111. To ask questions, media must dial in no later than 10 minutes before the start of the call. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online.
Find full mission coverage, NASA’s commercial crew blog, and more information about the Crew-9 mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Kenna Pell / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Steve Siceloff / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Mar 16, 2025 EditorJennifer M. DoorenLocationNASA Headquarters View the full article
-
By NASA
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, carrying NASA’s EZIE spacecraft into orbit. SpaceX Under the nighttime California sky, NASA’s EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 11:43 p.m. PDT on March 14.
Taking off from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Santa Barbara, the EZIE mission’s trio of small satellites will fly in a pearls-on-a-string configuration approximately 260 to 370 miles above Earth’s surface to map the auroral electrojets, powerful electric currents that flow through our upper atmosphere in the polar regions where auroras glow in the sky.
At approximately 2 a.m. PDT on March 15, the EZIE satellites were successfully deployed. Within the next 10 days, the spacecraft will send signals to verify they are in good health and ready to embark on their 18-month mission.
“NASA has leaned into small missions that can provide compelling science while accepting more risk. EZIE represents excellent science being executed by an excellent team, and it is delivering exactly what NASA is looking for,” said Jared Leisner, program executive for EZIE at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The electrojets — and their visible counterparts, theauroras — are generated duringsolar storms when tremendous amounts of energy get transferred into Earth’s upper atmosphere from the solar wind. Each of the EZIE spacecraft will map the electrojets, advancing our understanding of the physics of how Earth interacts with its surrounding space. This understanding will apply not only to our own planet but also to any magnetized planet in our solar system and beyond. The mission will also help scientists create models for predicting space weather to mitigate its disruptive impacts on our society.
“It is truly incredible to see our spacecraft flying and making critical measurements, marking the start of an exciting new chapter for the EZIE mission,” said Nelli Mosavi-Hoyer, project manager for EZIE at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. “I am very proud of the dedication and hard work of our team. This achievement is a testament to the team’s perseverance and expertise, and I look forward to the valuable insights EZIE will bring to our understanding of Earth’s electrojets and space weather.”
Instead of using propulsion to control their polar orbit, the spacecraft will actively use drag experienced while flying through the upper atmosphere to individually tune their spacing. Each successive spacecraft will fly over the same region 2 to 10 minutes after the former.
“Missions have studied these currents before, but typically either at the very large or very small scales,” said Larry Kepko, EZIE mission scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “EZIE will help us understand how these currents form and evolve, at scales we’ve never probed.”
The mission team is also working to distribute magnetometer kits called EZIE-Mag, which are available to teachers, students, and science enthusiasts who want to take their own measurements of the Earth-space electrical current system. EZIE-Mag data will be combined with EZIE measurements made from space to assemble a clear picture of this vast electrical current circuit.
The EZIE mission is funded by the Heliophysics Division within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA Goddard. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory leads the mission for NASA. Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, Colorado, built the CubeSats, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built the Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram, which will map the electrojets, for each of the three satellites.
For the latest mission updates, follow NASA’s EZIE blog.
By Brett Molina
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Share
Details
Last Updated Mar 15, 2025 Editor Vanessa Thomas Contact Sarah Frazier sarah.frazier@nasa.gov Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Heliophysics Auroras CubeSats EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Division Missions Small Satellite Missions The Sun Explore More
5 min read NASA’s EZIE Launching to Study Magnetic Fingerprints of Earth’s Aurora
Article
3 weeks ago
5 min read NASA Rockets to Fly Through Flickering, Vanishing Auroras
Article
2 months ago
5 min read How NASA Tracked the Most Intense Solar Storm in Decades
Article
10 months ago
View the full article
-
By NASA
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. (Credit: NASA) Four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission launched at 7:03 p.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a science expedition aboard the International Space Station.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. The spacecraft will dock autonomously to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 15. Shortly after docking, the crew will join Expedition 72/73 for a long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.
“Congratulations to our NASA and SpaceX teams on the 10th crew rotation mission under our commercial crew partnership. This milestone demonstrates NASA’s continued commitment to advancing American leadership in space and driving growth in our national space economy,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “Through these missions, we are laying the foundation for future exploration, from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. Our international crew will contribute to innovative science research and technology development, delivering benefits to all humanity.”
During Dragon’s flight, SpaceX will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA’s live coverage resumes at 9:45 p.m., March 15, on NASA+ with rendezvous, docking, and hatching opening. After docking, the crew will change out of their spacesuits and prepare cargo for offload before opening the hatch between Dragon and the space station’s Harmony module around 1:05 a.m., Sunday, March 16. Once the new crew is aboard the orbital outpost, NASA will broadcast welcome remarks from Crew-10 and farewell remarks from the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 crew, beginning at about 1:40 a.m.
Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
The number of crew aboard the space station will increase to 11 for a short time as Crew-10 joins NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner. Following a brief handover period, Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov will return to Earth no earlier than Wednesday, March 19.Ahead of Crew-9’s departure from station, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida.
During their mission, Crew-10 is scheduled to conduct material flammability tests to contribute to future spacecraft and facility designs. The crew will engage with students worldwide via the ISS Ham Radio program and use the program’s existing hardware to test a backup lunar navigation solution. The astronauts also will serve as test subjects, with one crew member conducting an integrated study to better understand physiological and psychological changes to the human body to provide valuable insights for future deep space missions.
With this mission, NASA continues to maximize the use of the orbiting laboratory, where people have lived and worked continuously for more than 24 years, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to operate future commercial destinations in low Earth orbit and explore farther from our home planet. Research conducted at the space station benefits people on Earth and paves the way for future long-duration missions to the Moon under NASA’s Artemis campaign and beyond.
More about Crew-10
McClain is the commander of Crew-10 and is making her second trip to the orbital outpost since her selection as an astronaut in 2013. She will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73 aboard the space station. Follow McClain on X.
Ayers is the pilot of Crew-10 and is flying her first mission. Selected as an astronaut in 2021, Ayers will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73. Follow Ayers on X and Instagram.
Onishi is a mission specialist for Crew-10 and is making his second flight to the space station. He will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73. Follow Onishi on X.
Peskov is a mission specialist for Crew-10 and is making his first flight to the space station. Peskov will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73.
Learn more about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission and the agency’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Steven Siceloff / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
Kenna Pell / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Mar 14, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Test flights help airplane and drone manufacturers identify which parts of the aircraft are creating the most noise. Using hundreds of wired microphones makes it an expensive and time-consuming process to improve the design to meet noise requirements. Credit: NASA Airplane manufacturers running noise tests on new aircraft now have a much cheaper option than traditional wired microphone arrays. It’s also sensitive enough to help farmers with pest problems. A commercial wireless microphone array recently created with help from NASA can locate crop-threatening insects by listening for the sounds they make in fields.
Since releasing its first commercial product in 2017, a sensor for wind tunnel testing developed with extensive help from NASA (Spinoff 2020), Interdisciplinary Consulting Corporation (IC2) has doubled its staff and moved to a larger lab and office space to produce its new WirelessArray product. Interested in making its own flight tests more affordable, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, supported this project with Small Business Innovation Research contracts and expert consulting.
Airplanes go through noise testing and require certification that they don’t exceed the noise level set for their body type by the Federal Aviation Administration. When an airplane flies directly overhead, the array collects noise data to build a two-dimensional map of the sound pressure and its source. A custom software package translates that information for the end user.
For previous NASA noise testing, multiple semi-trucks hauled all the sensors, wires, power generators, racks of servers, and other equipment required for one flight test. The setup and teardown took six people three days. By contrast, two people can pack the WirelessArray into a minivan and set it up in a day.
IC2 is working with an entomologist to use acoustic data to listen for high-frequency insect sounds in agricultural settings. Discovering where insects feed on crops will make it possible for farmers to intervene before they do too much damage while limiting pesticide use to those areas. Whether it’s helping planes in the sky meet noise requirements or keeping harmful insects away from crops, NASA technology is finding sound-based solutions for the benefit of all.
Read More Share
Details
Last Updated Mar 14, 2025 Related Terms
Technology Transfer & Spinoffs Spinoffs Technology Transfer Explore More
2 min read What is a NASA Spinoff? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 53
Article 1 week ago 3 min read NASA Partners with US Patent and Trademark Office to Advance Technology Transfer
Article 3 months ago 3 min read NASA Gives The World a Brake
Article 3 months ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Langley Expertise and Facilities
Humans in Space
Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
NICER (left) is shown mounted to the International Space Station, and LEXI (right) is shown attached to the top of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost in an artist’s rendering.NASA/Firefly Aerospace The International Space Station supports a wide range of scientific activities from looking out at our universe to breakthroughs in medical research, and is an active proving ground for technology for future Moon exploration missions and beyond. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission-1 landed on the Moon on March 2, 2025, kicking off science and technology operations on the surface, including three experiments either tested on or enabled by space station research. These projects are helping scientists study space weather, navigation, and computer performance in space— knowledge crucial for future Moon missions.
One of the experiments, the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), is a small telescope designed to study the Earth’s magnetic environment and its interaction with the solar wind. Like the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope mounted outside of the space station, LEXI observes X-ray sources. LEXI and NICER observed the same X-ray star to calibrate LEXI’s instrument and better analyze the X-rays emitted from Earth’s upper atmosphere, which is LEXI’s primary target. LEXI’s study of the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s protective magnetosphere could help researchers develop methods to safeguard future space infrastructure and understand how this boundary responds to space weather.
Other researchers sent the Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC) to the Moon to test how computers can recover from radiation-related faults. Before RadPC flew on Blue Ghost, researchers tested a radiation tolerant computer on the space station and developed an algorithm to detect potential hardware faults and prevent critical failures. RadPC aims to demonstrate computer resilience in the Moon’s radiation environment. The computer can gauge its own health in real time, and RadPC can identify a faulty location and repair it in the background as needed. Insights from this investigation could improve computer hardware for future deep-space missions.
In addition, the Lunar Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) located on the lunar surface has officially received a GNSS signal at the farthest distance from Earth, the same signals that on Earth are used for navigation on everything from smartphones to airplanes. Aboard the International Space Station, Navigation and Communication Testbed (NAVCOM) has been testing a backup system to Earth’s GNSS using ground stations as an alternative method for lunar navigation where GNSS signals may have limitations. Bridging existing systems with emerging lunar-specific navigation solutions could help shape how spacecraft navigate the Moon on future missions.
The International Space Station serves as an important testbed for research conducted on missions like Blue Ghost and continues to lay the foundation for technologies of the future.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
International Space Station News
Space Station Research and Technology Tools and Information
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
The goal of the CLPS project is to enable rapid, frequent, and affordable access to the lunar surface by helping…
Space Station Research Results
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.