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By NASA
The study of X-ray emission from astronomical objects reveals secrets about the Universe at the largest and smallest spatial scales. Celestial X-rays are produced by black holes consuming nearby stars, emitted by the million-degree gas that traces the structure between galaxies, and can be used to predict whether stars may be able to host planets hospitable to life. X-ray observations have shown that most of the visible matter in the universe exists as hot gas between galaxies and have conclusively demonstrated that the presence of “dark matter” is needed to explain galaxy cluster dynamics, that dark matter dominates the mass of galaxy clusters, and that it governs the expansion of the cosmos.
X-ray observations also enable us to probe mysteries of the Universe on the smallest scales. X-ray observations of compact objects such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes allow us to use the Universe as a physics laboratory to study conditions that are orders of magnitude more extreme in terms of density, pressure, temperature, and magnetic field strength than anything that can be produced on Earth. In this astrophysical laboratory, researchers expect to reveal new physics at the subatomic scale by conducting investigations such as probing the neutron star equation of state and testing quantum electrodynamics with observations of neutron star atmospheres. At NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, a team of scientists and engineers is building, testing, and flying innovative optics that bring the Universe’s X-ray mysteries into sharper focus.
A composite X-ray/Optical/Infrared image of the Crab Pulsar. The X-ray image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue and white), reveals exquisite details in the central ring structures and gas flowing out of the polar jets. Optical light from the Hubble Space Telescope (purple) shows foreground and background stars as pinpoints of light. Infrared light from the Spitzer Space Telescope (pink) traces cooler gas in the nebula. Finally, magnetic field direction derived from X-ray polarization observed by the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer is shown as orange lines. Magnetic field lines: NASA/Bucciantini et al; X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA-JPL-Caltech Unlike optical telescopes that create images by reflecting or refracting light at near-90-degree angles (normal incidence), focusing X-ray optics must be designed to reflect light at very small angles (grazing incidence). At normal incidence, X-rays are either absorbed by the surface of a mirror or penetrate it entirely. However, at grazing angles of incidence, X-rays reflect very efficiently due to an effect called total external reflection. In grazing incidence, X-rays reflect off the surface of a mirror like rocks skipping on the surface of a pond.
A classic design for astronomical grazing incidence optics is the Wolter-I prescription, which consists of two reflecting surfaces, a parabola and hyperbola (see figure below). This optical prescription is revolved around the optical axis to produce a full-shell mirror (i.e., the mirror spans the full circumference) that resembles a gently tapered cone. To increase the light collecting area, multiple mirror shells with incrementally larger diameters and a common focus are fabricated and nested concentrically to comprise a mirror module assembly (MMA).
Focusing optics are critical to studying the X-ray universe because, in contrast to other optical systems like collimators or coded masks, they produce high signal-to-noise images with low background noise. Two key metrics that characterize the performance of X-ray optics are angular resolution, which is the ability of an optical system to discriminate between closely spaced objects, and effective area, which is the light collecting area of the telescope, typically quoted in units of cm2. Angular resolution is typically measured as the half-power diameter (HPD) of a focused spot in units of arcseconds. The HPD encircles half of the incident photons in a focused spot and measures the sharpness of the final image; a smaller number is better.
Schematic of a full-shell Wolter-I X-ray optic mirror module assembly with five concentrically nested mirror shells. Parallel rays of light enter from the left, reflect twice off the reflective inside surface of the shell (first off the parabolic segment and then off the hyperbolic segment), and converge at the focal plane. NASA MSFC NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been building and flying lightweight, full-shell, focusing X-ray optics for over three decades, always meeting or exceeding angular resolution and effective area requirements. MSFC utilizes an electroformed nickel replication (ENR) technique to make these thin full-shell X-ray optics from nickel alloy.
X-ray optics development at MSFC began in the early 1990s with the fabrication of optics to support NASA’s Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF-S) and then continued via the Constellation-X technology development programs. In 2001, MSFC launched a balloon payload that included two modules each with three mirrors, which produced the first focused hard X-ray (>10 keV) images of an astrophysical source by imaging Cygnus X-1, GRS 1915, and the Crab Nebula. This initial effort resulted in several follow-up missions over the next 12 years, and became known as the High Energy Replicated Optics (HERO) balloon program.
In 2012, the first of four sounding rocket flights of the Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) flew with MSFC optics onboard, producing the first focused images of the Sun at energies greater than 5 keV. In 2019 the Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator (ART-XC) instrument on the Spectr-Roentgen-Gamma Mission launched with seven MSFC-fabricated X-ray MMAs, each containing 28 mirror shells. ART-XC is currently mapping the sky in the 4-30 keV hard X-ray energy range, studying exotic objects like neutron stars in our own galaxy as well as active galactic nuclei, which are spread across the visible universe. In 2021, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), flew and is now performing extraordinary science with an MSFC-led team using three, 24-shell MMAs that were fabricated and calibrated in-house.
Most recently, in 2024, the fourth FOXSI sounding rocket campaign launched with a high-resolution MSFC MMA. The optics achieved 9.5 arcsecond HPD angular resolution during pre-flight test with an expected 7 arcsecond HPD in gravity-free flight, making this the highest angular resolution flight observation made with a nickel-replicated X-ray optic. Currently MSFC is fabricating an MMA for the Rocket Experiment Demonstration of a Soft X-ray (REDSoX) polarimeter, a sounding rocket mission that will fly a novel soft X-ray polarimeter instrument to observe active galactic nuclei. The REDSoX MMA optic will be 444 mm in diameter, which will make it the largest MMA ever produced by MSFC and the second largest replicated nickel X-ray optic in the world.
Scientists Wayne Baumgartner (left, crouched) and Nick Thomas (left, standing) calibrate an IXPE MMA in the MSFC 100 m Beamline. Scientist Stephen Bongiorno (right) applies epoxy to an IXPE shell during MMA assembly. NASA MSFC The ultimate performance of an X-ray optic is determined by errors in the shape, position, and roughness of the optical surface. To push the performance of X-ray optics toward even higher angular resolution and achieve more ambitious science goals, MSFC is currently engaged in a fundamental research and development effort to improve all aspects of full-shell optics fabrication.
Given that these optics are made with the Electroformed Nickel Replication technique, the fabrication process begins with creation of a replication master, called the mandrel, which is a negative of the desired optical surface. First, the mandrel is figured and polished to specification, then a thin layer of nickel alloy is electroformed onto the mandrel surface. Next, the nickel alloy layer is removed to produce a replicated optical shell, and finally the thin shell is attached to a stiff holding structure for use.
Each step in this process imparts some degree of error into the final replicated shell. Research and development efforts at MSFC are currently concentrating on reducing distortion induced during the electroforming metal deposition and release steps. Electroforming-induced distortion is caused by material stress built into the electroformed material as it deposits onto the mandrel. Decreasing release-induced distortion is a matter of reducing adhesion strength between the shell and mandrel, increasing strength of the shell material to prevent yielding, and reducing point defects in the release layer.
Additionally, verifying the performance of these advanced optics requires world-class test facilities. The basic premise of testing an optic designed for X-ray astrophysics is to place a small, bright X-ray source far away from the optic. If the angular size of the source, as viewed from the optic, is smaller than the angular resolution of the optic, the source is effectively simulating X-ray starlight. Due to the absorption of X-rays by air, the entire test facility light path must be placed inside a vacuum chamber.
At MSFC, a group of scientists and engineers operate the Marshall 100-meter X-ray beamline, a world-class end-to-end test facility for flight and laboratory X-ray optics, instruments, and telescopes. As per the name, it consists of a 100-meter-long vacuum tube with an 8-meter-long, 3-meter-diameter instrument chamber and a variety of X-ray sources ranging from 0.25 – 114 keV. Across the street sits the X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF), a 527-meter-long beamline with an 18-meter-long, 6-meter-diameter instrument chamber. These facilities are available for the scientific community to use and highlight the comprehensive optics development and test capability that Marshall is known for.
Within the X-ray astrophysics community there exist a variety of angular resolution and effective area needs for focusing optics. Given its storied history in X-ray optics, MSFC is uniquely poised to fulfill requirements for large or small, medium- or high-angular-resolution X-ray optics. To help guide technology development, the astrophysics community convenes once per decade to produce a decadal survey. The need for high-angular-resolution and high-throughput X-ray optics is strongly endorsed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s.In pursuit of this goal, MSFC is continuing to advance the state of the art in full-shell optics. This work will enable the extraordinary mysteries of the X-ray universe to be revealed.
Project Leads
Dr. Jessica Gaskin and Dr. Stephen Bongiorno, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Sponsoring Organizations
The NASA Astrophysics Division supports this work primarily through the Internal Scientist Funding Model Direct Work Package and competed solicitations. This work is also supported by the Heliophysics Division through competed solicitations, as well as by directed work from other government entities.
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Last Updated Oct 15, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
4 Min Read NASA’s Hidden Figures Honored with Congressional Gold Medals
Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), delivers remarks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony recognizing NASA’s Hidden Figures, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky A simple turn of phrase was all it took for U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of Katherine Johnson’s home state of West Virginia to capture the feeling in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
“It’s been said that Katherine Johnson counted everything,” she said. “But today we’re here to celebrate the one thing even she couldn’t count, and that’s the impact that she and her colleagues have had on the lives of students, teachers, and explorers.”
That sense of admiration and awe toward the legacy and impact of NASA’s Hidden Figures was palpable Wednesday during a Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony to honor the women’s work and achievements during the space race.
The Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of Katherine Johnson in recognition of her service to the United States as a Mathematician is seen during a ceremony recognizing NASA’s Hidden Figures, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Katherine Johnson’s family accepted this gold medal on her behalf.NASA/Joel Kowsky The ceremony, hosted by House Speaker Mike Johnson, honored Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Dr. Christine Darden of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, along with all the other women who served at the agency and its precursor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or the NACA, as computers, mathematicians, and engineers.
“The pioneers we honor today, these Hidden Figures — their courage and imagination brought us to the Moon. And their lessons, their legacy, will send us back to the Moon,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
Margot Lee Shetterly, whose 2016 nonfiction book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race,” brought awareness to the stories of NASA’s human computers, spoke at the event.NASA/Joel Kowsky Author Margot Lee Shetterly detailed the stories of the women from NASA Langley in her 2016 nonfiction book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race.” Though the book focused on NASA Langley, where Shetterly’s father worked, it helped raise awareness of similar stories around NASA.
A film adaptation of the book starring Taraji Henson as Johnson, Octavia Spencer as Vaughan, and Janelle Monáe as Jackson came out later that year and further elevated the topic. NASA participated under a Space Act Agreement with 20th Century Fox in activities around the movie, to provide historical guidance and advice during the filmmaking process.
In her remarks, Shetterly noted that even as the Hidden Figures made such key contributions to NASA and the NACA before it, they remained active in their communities, leading Girl Scout troops and delivering meals to the hungry.
“They spent countless hours tutoring kids so that those kids, too, would see the power and the beauty of numbers they believed in, tending to the small D democracy that binds us to each other as neighbors and as American citizens,” she said.
The medal citations were as follows:
Congressional Gold Medal to Katherine Johnson, in recognition of her service to the United States as a mathematician Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Christine Darden, for her service to the United States as an aeronautical engineer Congressional Gold Medals in commemoration of the lives of Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, in recognition of their service to the United States during the space race Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of all the women who served as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee Family members of Johnson, Vaughn, Jackson and Dr. Darden accepted medals on their behalves. Dr. Darden watched the ceremony from home.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Andrea Mosie, senior Apollo sample processor and lab manager who oversees the 842 pounds of Apollo lunar samples. Mosie accepted the medal awarded in recognition of all the women who served as computers, mathematicians, and engineers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and NASA between the 1930s and the 1970s.NASA/Joel Kowsky Andrea Mosie, senior Apollo sample processor and lab manager who oversees the 842 pounds of Apollo lunar samples, accepted the medal awarded to all NASA’s Hidden Figures. She began her career at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in the 1970s.
Mosie thanked Congress for supporting NASA’s campaign to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon as part of Artemis and the agency’s efforts to provide “opportunities for people, more representative of the way our country looks, to understand humanity’s place in the universe.”
Several NASA Langley officials attended the event to honor the legacies of the women who worked there.
“I am humbled by the significant contributions and lasting impact of these women to America’s aeronautics and space programs. Their brilliance and perseverance still echo not just through the halls of NASA Langley, but through the entire Agency,” said NASA Langley’s Acting Center Director Dawn Schaible. “They are an inspiration to me and countless others who have benefited from the paths they forged.”
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, who passed away in 2023, introduced H.R. 1396 – Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal Act on Feb. 27, 2019. It was signed into law later that year.
In 2015, President Barack Obama presented Katherine Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Brittny McGraw and Joe Atkinson
NASA Langley Research Center
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Last Updated Sep 19, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
On Sept. 18, 2024, five Congressional Gold Medals were awarded to women who contributed to the space race, including the NASA mathematicians who helped land the first astronauts on the Moon under the agency’s Apollo Program.Credit: NASA NASA Administrator Bill Nelson released his remarks as prepared for Wednesday’s Hidden Figures Congressional Gold Medal ceremony in Washington. The awards recognized the women who contributed to the space race, including the NASA mathematicians who helped land the first astronauts on the Moon under the agency’s Apollo Program.
“Good afternoon.
“The remarkable things that NASA achieves…and that America achieves…build on the pioneers who came before us.
“People like the women of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo.
“People like Mary Jackson. Dr. Christine Darden. Dorothy Vaughan. Katherine Johnson.
“Thanks to all the Members of Congress who made today possible. The late Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who we miss, and who led the effort in 2019 alongside Senator Chris Coons to bring these medals to life. Thanks to the champions for the legislation, then-Senator Kamala Harris, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Shelley Moore Capito, and Congressman Frank Lucas.
“The women we honor today made it possible for Earthlings to lift beyond the bounds of Earth, and for generations of trailblazers to follow.
“We did not come this far only to come this far.
“We continue this legacy, as one member of the audience here with us does every single day – the remarkable Andrea Mosie.
“Andrea, who has worked at NASA for nearly 50 years, is the lead processor for the Apollo sample program. She oversees the Moon rocks and lunar samples NASA brought back from Apollo, 842 pounds of celestial science! These samples are national treasures. So is Andrea.
“The pioneers we honor today, these Hidden Figures – their courage and imagination brought us to the Moon. And their lessons, their legacy, will send us back to the Moon… and then…imagine – just imagine – when we leave our footprints on the red sands of Mars.
“Thanks to these people who are part of our NASA family, we will continue to sail on the cosmic sea to far off cosmic shores.”
For more information about NASA missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Meira Bernstein / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 18, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
Figure 1. An artist’s concept of the Van Allen belts with a cutaway section of the giant donuts of radiation that surround Earth. Image Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio A new instrument is using advanced detection techniques and leveraging an orbit with specific characteristics to increase our understanding of the Van Allen belts—regions surrounding Earth that contain energetic particles that can endanger both robotic and human space missions. Recently, the instrument provided a unique view of changes to this region that were brought on by an intense magnetic storm in May 2024.
The discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts by the U.S. Explorer 1 mission in 1958 marked a prominent milestone in space physics and demonstrated that Earth’s magnetosphere efficiently accelerates and traps energetic particles. The inner belt contains protons in the MeV (million electric volt) to GeV (109 electric volt) range, and even higher concentrations of energetic electrons of 100s of keV (1000 electric volt) to MeV are found in both the inner belt and the outer belt.
The energetic electrons in these belts—also referred to as “killer electrons”—can have detrimental effects on spacecraft subsystems and are harmful to astronauts performing extravehicular activities. Understanding the source, loss, and varying concentrations of these electrons has been a longstanding research objective. High-energy resolution and clean measurements of these energetic electrons in space are required to further our understanding of their properties and enable more reliable prediction of their intensity.
Overcoming the challenges of measuring relativistic electrons in the inner belt
Measuring energetic electrons cleanly and accurately has been a challenge, especially in the inner belt, where MeV to GeV energy protons also exist. NASA’s Van Allen Probes, which operated from 2012 to 2019 in low inclination, geo-transfer-like orbits, showed that instruments traversing the heart of the inner radiation belt are subject to penetration by the highly energetic protons located in that region. The Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) and the Magnetic Electron and Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) instruments onboard the Van Allen Probes were heavily shielded but were still subject to inner-belt proton contamination.
To attempt to minimize these negative effects, a University of Colorado Boulder team led by Dr. Xinlin Li, designed the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope integrated little experiment (REPTile)—a simplified and miniaturized version of REPT—to fly onboard the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE). An effort supported by the National Science Foundation, the 3-Unit CSSWE CubeSat operated in a highly inclined low Earth orbit (LEO) from 2012 to 2014. In this highly inclined orbit, the spacecraft and the instruments it carried were only exposed to the inner-belt protons in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region where the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker, which greatly reduced the time that protons impacted the measurement of electrons.
REPTile’s success motivated a team, also led by Dr. Xinlin Li, to design REPTile-2—an advanced version of REPTile—to be hosted on the Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment (CIRBE) mission. Like CSSWE, CIRBE operates in a highly inclined low-Earth orbit to ensure the exposure to damaging inner-belt protons is minimized. The team based the REPTile-2 design on REPTile but incorporated two additional technologies—guard rings and Pulse Height Analysis—to enable clean, high-energy-resolution measurements of energetic electrons, especially in the inner belt.
Figure 2: PI observing two engineers testing the interface between the CIRBE bus and REPTile-2 on September 29, 2021. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder As shown on the left in Figure 3, the field of view (FOV) of REPTile-2 is 51o. Electrons and protons enter the FOV and are measured when they reach a stack of silicon detectors where they deposit their energies. However, very energetic protons (energy greater than 60 MeV) could penetrate through the instrument’s tungsten and aluminum shielding and masquerade as valid particles, thus contaminating the intended measurements. To mitigate this contamination, the team designed guard rings that surround each detector. These guard rings are electronically separated from the inner active area of each detector and are connected by a separate electric channel. When the guard rings are triggered (i.e., hit by particles coming outside of the FOV), the coincident measurements are considered invalid and are discarded. This anti-coincidence technique enables cleaner measurements of particles coming through the FOV.
Figure 3. Left (adapted from Figure 1 of Khoo et al., 2022): Illustration of REPTile-2 front end with key features labeled; Right: REPTile-2 front end integrated with electronic boards and structures, a computer-aided design (CAD) model, and a photo of integrated REPTile-2. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder To achieve high energy resolution, the team also applied full Pulse Height Analysis (PHA) on REPTile-2. In PHA, the magnitude of measured charge in the detector is directly proportional to the energy deposited from the incident electrons. Unlike REPTile, which employed a simpler energy threshold discrimination method yielding three channels for the electrons, REPTile-2 offers enhanced precision with 60 energy channels for electron energies ranging from 0.25 – 6 MeV. The REPT instrument onboard the Van Allen Probes also employed PHA but while REPT worked very well in the outer belt, yielding fine energy resolution, it did not function as well in the inner belt since the instrument was fully exposed to penetrating energetic protons because it did not have the guard rings implemented.
Figure 4: The CIRBE team after a successful “plugs-out” test of the CIRBE spacecraft on July 21, 2022. During this test the CIRBE spacecraft successfully received commands from ground stations and completed various performance tests, including data transmission back to ground stations at LASP. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder CIRBE and REPTile-2 Results
CIRBE’s launch, secured through the NASA CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), took place aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-7 mission on April 15, 2023. REPTile-2, activated on April 19, 2023, has been performing well, delivering valuable data about Earth’s radiation belt electrons. Many features of the energetic electrons in the Van Allen belts have been revealed for the first time, thanks to the high-resolution energy and time measurements REPTile-2 has provided.
Figure 5 shows a sample of CIRBE/REPTile-2 measurements from April 2024, and illustrates the intricate drift echoes or “zebra stripes” of energetic electrons, swirling around Earth in distinct bunches. These observations span a vast range across the inner and outer belts, encompassing a wide spectrum of energies and electron fluxes extending over six orders of magnitude. By leveraging advanced guard rings, Pulse Height Analysis (PHA), and a highly inclined LEO orbit, REPTile-2 is delivering unprecedented observations of radiation belt electrons.
Figure 5: Color-coded electron fluxes detrended between REPTile-2 measurements for a pass over the South Atlantic Anomaly region on April 24, 2023, and their average, i.e., the smoothed electron fluxes using a moving average window of ±19% in energy; Black curves plotted on top of the color-coded electron fluxes are contours of electron drift period in hr. The second horizontal-axis, L, represents the magnetic field line, which CIRBE crosses. The two radiation belts and a slot region in between are indicated by the red lines and arrow, respectively. Image Credit: Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Boulder In fact, the team recently announced that measurements from CIRBE/REPTile-2 have revealed a new temporary third radiation belt composed of electrons and sandwiched between the two permanent belts. This belt formed during the magnetic storm in May 2024, which was the largest in two decades. While such temporary belts have been seen after big storms previously, the data from CIRBE/REPTile-2 are providing a new viewpoint with higher energy resolution data than before. Scientists are currently studying the data to better understand the belt and how long it might stick around — which could be many months.
PROJECT LEAD
Dr. Xinlin Li, University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS
Heliophysics Flight Opportunities for Research & Technology (H-FORT) program, National Science Foundation
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 Related Terms
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