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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Fans at the 51st Annual Bayou Classic in New Orleans snap a photo with cardboard images of NASA’s Artemis II crew on Nov. 30. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA was on full display during the 51st Annual Bayou Classic Fan Fest activity on Nov. 30, hosting an informational booth and interacting with event participants. Kicking off the Fan Fest on stage were Ken Newton, director of the NASA Shared Services Center Service Delivery Directorate; Pam Covington, director of the NASA Stennis Office of Communications; and Dawn Davis, chief of the NASA Stennis Engineering & Test Directorate Office of Technology Development.
NASA representatives, including HBCU alumni, supported the morning-long event, providing Fan Fest attendees with promotional items and information about student internship and employment opportunities with the agency.
The annual Bayou Classic event attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year and features several days of activities, including a nationally broadcast football game, involving two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Louisiana – Southern University in Baton Rouge and Grambling State University in Grambling.
The NASA outreach and engagement effort during this year’s event focused on the theme – There’s Space for Everybody at NASA. It was part of an ongoing agencywide commitment to advance equity and reach deeper into underrepresented and underserved segments of society and was in support of efforts to advance racial equity in the federal government.
NASA at the Bayou Classic Fan Fest video View the full article
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By NASA
Scientists find that cometary dust affects interpretation of spacecraft measurements, reopening the case for comets like 67P as potential sources of water for early Earth.
Researchers have found that water on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has a similar molecular signature to the water in Earth’s oceans. Contradicting some recent results, this finding reopens the case that Jupiter-family comets like 67P could have helped deliver water to Earth.
Water was essential for life to form and flourish on Earth and it remains central for Earth life today. While some water likely existed in the gas and dust from which our planet materialized around 4.6 billion years ago, much of the water would have vaporized because Earth formed close to the Sun’s intense heat. How Earth ultimately became rich in liquid water has remained a source of debate for scientists.
Research has shown that some of Earth’s water originated through vapor vented from volcanoes; that vapor condensed and rained down on the oceans. But scientists have found evidence that a substantial portion of our oceans came from the ice and minerals on asteroids, and possibly comets, that crashed into Earth. A wave of comet and asteroid collisions with the solar system’s inner planets 4 billion years ago would have made this possible.
This image, taken by ESA’s Rosetta navigation camera, was taken from a about 53 miles from the center of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on March 14, 2015. The image resolution is 24 feet per pixel and is cropped and processed to bring out the details of the comet’s activity. ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM While the case connecting asteroid water to Earth’s is strong, the role of comets has puzzled scientists. Several measurements of Jupiter-family comets — which contain primitive material from the early solar system and are thought to have formed beyond the orbit of Saturn — showed a strong link between their water and Earth’s. This link was based on a key molecular signature scientists use to trace the origin of water across the solar system.
This signature is the ratio of deuterium (D) to regular hydrogen (H) in the water of any object, and it gives scientists clues about where that object formed. Deuterium is a rare, heavier type — or isotope — of hydrogen. When compared to Earth’s water, this hydrogen ratio in comets and asteroids can reveal whether there’s a connection.
Because water with deuterium is more likely to form in cold environments, there’s a higher concentration of the isotope on objects that formed far from the Sun, such as comets, than in objects that formed closer to the Sun, like asteroids.
Measurements within the last couple of decades of deuterium in the water vapor of several other Jupiter-family comets showed similar levels to Earth’s water.
“It was really starting to look like these comets played a major role in delivering water to Earth,” said Kathleen Mandt, planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Mandt led the research, published in Science Advances on Nov. 13, that revises the abundance of deuterium in 67P.
About Kathleen Mandt
But in 2014, ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosetta mission to 67P challenged the idea that Jupiter-family comets helped fill Earth’s water reservoir. Scientists who analyzed Rosetta’s water measurements found the highest concentration of deuterium of any comet, and about three times more deuterium than there is in Earth’s oceans, which have about 1 deuterium atom for every 6,420 hydrogen atoms.
“It was a big surprise and it made us rethink everything,” Mandt said.
Mandt’s team decided to use an advanced statistical-computation technique to automate the laborious process of isolating deuterium-rich water in more than 16,000 Rosetta measurements. Rosetta made these measurements in the “coma” of gas and dust surrounding 67P. Mandt’s team, which included Rosetta scientists, was the first to analyze all of the European mission’s water measurements spanning the entire mission.
The researchers wanted to understand what physical processes caused the variability in the hydrogen isotope ratios measured at comets. Lab studies and comet observations showed that cometary dust could affect the readings of the hydrogen ratio that scientists detect in comet vapor, which could change our understanding of where comet water comes from and how it compares to Earth’s water.
What are comets made of? It’s one of the questions ESA’s Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko wanted to answer. “So I was just curious if we could find evidence for that happening at 67P,” Mandt said. “And this is just one of those very rare cases where you propose a hypothesis and actually find it happening.”
Indeed, Mandt’s team found a clear connection between deuterium measurements in the coma of 67P and the amount of dust around the Rosetta spacecraft, showing that the measurements taken near the spacecraft in some parts of the coma may not be representative of the composition of a comet’s body.
As a comet moves in its orbit closer to the Sun, its surface warms up, causing gas to release from the surface, including dust with bits of water ice on it. Water with deuterium sticks to dust grains more readily than regular water does, research suggests. When the ice on these dust grains is released into the coma, this effect could make the comet appear to have more deuterium than it has.
Mandt and her team reported that by the time dust gets to the outer part of the coma, at least 75 miles from the comet body, it is dried out. With the deuterium-rich water gone, a spacecraft can accurately measure the amount of deuterium coming from the comet body.
This finding, the paper authors say, has big implications not only for understanding comets’ role in delivering Earth’s water, but also for understanding comet observations that provide insight into the formation of the early solar system.
“This means there is a great opportunity to revisit our past observations and prepare for future ones so we can better account for the dust effects,” Mandt said.
By Lonnie Shekhtman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Dec 03, 2024 Editor Lonnie Shekhtman Contact Lonnie Shekhtman lonnie.shekhtman@nasa.gov Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Comets Goddard Space Flight Center Planetary Science Planetary Science Division Rosetta Science Mission Directorate The Solar System View the full article
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By NASA
Dec. 2, 2024
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. DysonNASA RELEASE: J24-015
Expedition 71 Astronauts to Discuss Mission in NASA Welcome Home Event
Four NASA astronauts will participate in a welcome home ceremony at Space Center Houston after recently returning from a mission aboard the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson will share highlights from their mission beginning at 6 p.m. CST Wednesday, Dec. 4, during a free, public event at NASA Johnson Space Center’s official visitor center. The crew will also recognize key contributors to mission success in an awards ceremony following the presentation.
The astronauts will be available at 5 p.m. for media interviews before the event. Media may request an in-person interview no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, by emailing Dana Davis at dana.l.davis@nasa.gov.
Expedition 71
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission launched to the space station in March 2024 as the eighth commercial crew rotation mission. The crew spent 235 days in space, traveled 100 million miles, and completed 3,760 orbits around the Earth, splashing down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, on Oct. 25, 2024. This was the first spaceflight for Dominick and Epps and the third spaceflight for Barratt, who has logged 447 days in space over the course of his career. The crew also saw the arrival and departure of eight visiting vehicles during their mission.
Dyson flew with an international crew, launching aboard the Soyuz MS-25 in March 2024. The six-month research mission was the third spaceflight of her career, and her second long-duration spaceflight. Dyson’s third spaceflight covered 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles as an Expedition 70/71 flight engineer. She has now logged a total of 373 days in space, including more than 23 hours in four spacewalks. Dyson and her crewmembers landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sept. 24, 2024.
While aboard the station, the Expedition 71 crew contributed to hundreds of technology demonstrations and experiments including the bioprinting of human tissues. These higher quality tissues printed in microgravity could help advance the production of organs and tissues for transplant and improve 3D printing of foods and medicines on future long-duration space missions. The crew also looked at neurological organoids, created with stem cells from patients to study neuroinflammation, a common feature of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The organoids provide a platform to study these diseases and their treatments and could help address how extended spaceflight affects the brain.
Stay current on space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the station Facebook and Instagram accounts and the space station blog.
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Jaden Jennings
Johnson Space Center, Houston
713-281-0984
jaden.r.jennings@nasa.gov
Dana Davis
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-244-0933
dana.l.davis@nasa.gov
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By NASA
Skywatching Home What’s Up: December 2024… Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Eclipses Explore the Night Sky Night Sky Network More Tips and Guides FAQ
Download the Video
Catch December’s Celestial Highlights!
This month, Venus dazzles as the “Evening Star,” Jupiter reaches its brightest for the year, and the Geminid meteor shower peaks under challenging moonlit skies.
Skywatching Highlights
All Month – Planet Visibility:
Mercury: Visible very low in the southeast just before sunrise during the last half of the month. Venus: Shines brightly as the “Evening Star” in the southwest after sunset, climbing higher each evening. Mars: Brightens significantly during December, rising in the east-northeast and visible from late evening to early morning. Jupiter: Reaches opposition on December 7, making it visible all night, rising in the east-northeast. Saturn: Visible after sunset in the southern sky, shifting slightly westward as the month progresses. December 3-5 – Venus and the Moon: Look southwest after sunset to see a beautiful pairing. On December 4, a slim crescent Moon will sit directly below Venus.
December 7 – Jupiter at Opposition: Jupiter will shine at its brightest for the year, rising in the east-northeast among Taurus’s stars. Best viewed through a telescope for details like the Galilean moons and atmospheric belts.
December 14 – Jupiter, the Moon, and Aldebaran: Look for Jupiter midway between the nearly full Moon and bright orange star Aldebaran in the evening sky.
December 17 – Mars and the Moon: Mars, glowing brightly in its approach to opposition, appears super close to the waning gibbous Moon.
All Month – Winter Triangle: Formed by Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse, this asterism marks the arrival of winter skies and is a prominent feature throughout the season.
December 13-14 – Geminid Meteor Shower: The peak occurs under a nearly full Moon, reducing visibility, but bright meteors may still be spotted the week before.
December 21 – Winter Solstice: At 4:20 a.m. EST, the solstice marks the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
Transcript
What’s Up for December?
Venus, Jupiter, and Mars shine brightly; the stars of winter and their pointy little friend; and “Meteors, meet the Moon.”
Sky chart showing the changing position of Venus after sunset during December. NASA/JPL-Caltech Starting off with the planets, Venus is hard to miss in the southwest after sunset – it’s that dazzling bright “evening star.” You’ll find it getting a bit higher in the sky each evening through the month. On December 4th, look for a slim crescent Moon hanging right below it, making for a great photo opportunity!
Sky chart showing the changing position of Venus after sunset during December. NASA/JPL-Caltech Saturn is visible toward the south beginning at nightfall. Look for it to track a bit farther to the west as the weeks go by. Meanwhile, Jupiter reaches opposition on December 7th, meaning it’s at its brightest for the year and visible all night long. You’ll find it rising in the east-northeast as darkness falls, among the stars of the constellation Taurus. Mid-month, around December 14th, watch for Jupiter sitting between the nearly full Moon and Taurus’s brightest star, orange-colored Aldebaran.
Next, Mars will also be putting on its own show, doubling its brightness during December as it heads toward its own opposition in January. Early in the month, it rises about four hours after dark, but by New Year’s Eve, it’s rising just about 90 minutes after sunset – always shining with its distinctive reddish hue. And on December 17th, you’ll find the Red Planet super close to the Moon, which will be just two days past its full phase.
The stars of winter are making their grand entrance in December. As evening falls, you’ll see the mighty hunter Orion rising in the east, with Taurus the bull above it, and the stars of the twins in Gemini to their left. These constellations host some wonderful sights – like the Crab Nebula and Pleiades star cluster in Taurus and the misty Orion Nebula, which hangs below Orion’s belt. If you look to the western sky soon after dark, you can still spot the three bright stars of the Summer Triangle getting quite low on the horizon. But as they depart, three bright stars of winter bring their own prominent triangular shape to mark the season.
Once you spot Orion’s distinctive belt of three stars, you’re well on your way to finding what we call the Winter Triangle. Just follow the belt stars to the left and slightly downward – they point right to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. Then look upward and to the left of Sirius to spot Procyon, and back up toward Orion to find reddish Betelgeuse at its shoulder. These three bright stars form an equilateral triangle that’s visible throughout the season.
The Geminid meteor shower peaks after midnight in the early morning of December 14th, and they’re usually one of the best meteor showers of the year under good conditions. This year, the nearly full Moon will wash out the fainter meteors on the peak night. Still, the Geminids are known for bright meteors, and it’s common to spot their shooting stars up to a week before the peak. If you’re up before dawn that week, it’s worth looking up, just in case you spot a speck of dust from space streaking through the morning sky.
And here are the phases of the Moon for December.
The phases of the Moon for December 2024. NASA/JPL-Caltech Stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at NASA Science.
I’m Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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By NASA
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft departs the International Space Station as it orbits 264 miles above the south Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand.Credit: NASA NASA and its international partners are set to receive scientific research samples and hardware as a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft departs the International Space Station on Thursday, Dec. 5, for its return to Earth.
NASA’s live coverage of undocking and departure begins at 10:50 a.m. EST on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
The Dragon spacecraft will undock from the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module at 11:05 a.m., and fire its thrusters to move a safe distance away from the station after receiving a command from ground controllers at SpaceX.
After re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft will splash down off the coast of Florida. NASA will not stream the splashdown and will post updates on the agency’s space station blog.
Filled with nearly 6,000 pounds of crew supplies, science investigations, and equipment, the spacecraft arrived to the orbiting laboratory Nov. 5 after it launched Nov. 4 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the agency’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission.
Dragon will carry back to Earth thousands of pounds of supplies and scientific experiments designed to take advantage of the space station’s microgravity environment. Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the experiments to NASA’s Space Systems Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, allowing researchers to collect data with minimal sample exposure to Earth’s gravity.
Scientific hardware and samples returning to Earth include GISMOS (Genes in Space Molecular Operations and Sequencing), which successfully conducted in-orbit sequencing of microbial DNA from the space station water system, and marks the first real look at the microbial population of the water system. In addition, SpaceTED (Space Tissue Equivalent Dosimeter) returns to Earth after collecting data on crew radiation exposure and characterizes the space radiation environment. The dosimeter is a student-developed technology demonstration and effectively operated for 11 months on station – six months longer than intended because of its success.
Additionally, two specimens printed with ESA’s (European Space Agency) Metal 3D Printer, will go to researchers for post-processing and analysis. Researchers will compare the specimens printed in microgravity with those printed on Earth. The goal is to demonstrate the capability to perform metal deposition, or the layering of metals, in 3D under sustained microgravity conditions and manufacture test specimens. Researchers aim to understand the performance and limitations of the chosen technology and become familiar with crewed and remote operations of the instrument onboard a space habitat.
Also returning on spacecraft is the International Space Art and Poetry Contest, which invited students and educators around the world to submit drawings, paintings, or poems. Winning art submissions were printed on station, photographed in the cupola, and will be returned to their creators on Earth. In addition, Plasmonic Bubbles researchers will observe high-speed video of bubble behavior in microgravity to understand fundamental processes that occur on a heated bubble surface. Results may improve understanding of how molecules are deposited on bubble surfaces and enhance detection methods for health care and environmental industries.
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing more resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of its Artemis campaign in preparation for future human missions to Mars.
Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about the International Space Station at:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station
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Claire O’Shea / Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Dec 02, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
International Space Station (ISS) Commercial Resupply ISS Research Johnson Space Center SpaceX Commercial Resupply View the full article
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