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By NASA
6 min read
NASA Research To Be Featured at American Astronomical Society Meeting
In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team From new perspectives on the early universe to illuminating the extreme environment near a black hole, discoveries from NASA missions will be highlighted at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). The meeting will take place Jan. 12-16 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Press conferences highlighting results enabled by NASA missions will stream live on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel. Additional agency highlights for registered attendees include:
NASA Town Hall: Monday, Jan. 13, 12:45 p.m. EST Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall: Tuesday, Jan. 14, 6:30 p.m. EST James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 6:30 p.m. EST Throughout the week, experts at the NASA Exhibit Booth will deliver science talks about missions including NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (also called “Webb” or “JWST”), Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), and NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station that will be repaired in a spacewalk Jan. 16. Talks will also highlight future missions such as Pandora, Roman, LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), the Habitable Worlds Observatory, and SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), which is targeted to launch in late February; as well as mission concepts for NASA’s new Probe Explorers mission class in astrophysics, open science, heliophysics, and NASA Science Activation.
Members of the media can request interviews with NASA experts on any of these topics by contacting Alise Fisher at alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov.
Schedule of Highlights (EST)
Monday, Jan. 13
10 a.m.: Special Session – “SPHEREx: The Upcoming All-Sky Infrared Spectroscopic Survey”
Chesapeake 4-5
10 a.m.: Special Session – “Early Science Results from XRISM [X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission]”
National Harbor 10
10:15 a.m.: AAS News Conference – “A Feast of Feasting Black Holes”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News based on data from NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, NICER, NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array), and Hubble, as well as XMM-Newton, an ESA (European Space Agency) mission with NASA contributions, will be featured:
“Witnessing the Birth of a New Plasma Jet from a Supermassive Black Hole” “Rapidly Evolving X-Ray Oscillations in the Active Galaxy 1ES 1927+654” “Uncovering the Dining Habits of Supermassive Black Holes in Our Cosmic Backyard with NuLANDS” “The Discovery of a Newborn Quasar Jet Triggered by a Cosmic Dance” 12:45 p.m.: NASA Town Hall
Mark Clampin, acting deputy associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
Potomac Ballroom AB
2:15 p.m.: AAS News Conference – “Supernovae and Massive Stars”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News from NASA’s Webb and Hubble space telescopes will be highlighted:
“JWST Discovery of a Distant Supernova Linked to a Massive Progenitor in the Early Universe” “Core-Collapse Supernovae as Key Dust Producers: New Insights from JWST” “JWST Tracks the Expanding Dusty Fingerprints of a Massive Binary” “Stellar Pyrotechnics on Display in Super Star Cluster” “A Blue Lurker Emerges from a Triple-System Merger” Tuesday, Jan. 14
10:15 a.m.: AAS News Conference – “Black Holes & New Outcomes from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News based on data from NASA’s NuSTAR, Chandra, and Webb missions will be highlighted:
“A Variable X-Ray Monster at the Epoch of Reionization” “JWST’s Little Red Dots and the Rise of Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei in the Early Universe” “Revealing the Mid-Infrared Properties of the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole” 2 p.m.: Special Session – “Open Science: NASA Astrophysics in the Roman Era”
Chesapeake 4-5
2:15 p.m.: AAS News Conference – “New Information from Milky Way Highlights”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News from NASA’s Webb and Chandra missions will be highlighted:
“Infrared Echoes of Cassiopeia A Reveal the Dynamic Interstellar Medium” “A Path-Breaking Observation of the Cold Neutral Medium of the Milky Way Through Thermal Light Echoes” “X-Ray Echoes from Sgr A* Provide Insight on the 3D Structure of Molecular Clouds in the Galactic Center” 3:40 p.m.: Plenary – “A Detector Backstory: How Silicon Detectors Came to Enable Space Missions”
Shouleh Nikzad, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Potomac Ballroom AB
6:30 p.m.: Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall
National Harbor 11
Wednesday, Jan. 15
8 a.m.: Plenary – “HEAD Bruno Rossi Prize Lecture: The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)”
Martin Weisskopf, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (emeritus), and Paolo Soffitta, INAF-IAPS (National Institute for Astrophysics-Institute of Space Astrophysics and Planetology)
Potomac Ballroom AB
10 a.m.: Special Session – Habitable Worlds Observatory
Potomac Ballroom C
10:15 a.m.: AAS News Conference – “Discovering the Universe Beyond Our Galaxy”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News from NASA’s Hubble and Webb will be highlighted:
“The Hubble Tension in Our Own Backyard” “JWST Reveals the Early Universe in Our Backyard” “Growing in the Wind: Watching a Galaxy Seed Its Environment” 11:40 a.m.: Plenary – “Are We Alone? The Search for Life on Habitable Worlds”
Giada Arney, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Potomac Ballroom AB
2:15 p.m.: AAS News Conference – “New Findings About Stars”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News based on data from NASA’s Webb and Solar Dynamics Observatory will be highlighted:
“A Super Star Cluster Is Born: JWST Reveals Dust and Ice in a Stellar Nursery” “The Discovery of Ancient Relics in a Distant Evolved Galaxy” “Exploring the Sun’s Active Regions in the Moments Before Flares” 6:30 p.m.: James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall
Potomac Ballroom C
Thursday, Jan. 16
10:15 a.m.: AAS News Conference – “Exoplanets: From Formation to Disintegration”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News from NASA’s Pandora, Chandra, TESS, and Webb missions, as well as XMM-Newton, will be highlighted:
“A New NASA Mission to Characterize Exoplanets and Their Host Stars” “X-Rays in the Prime of Life: Irradiating Vulnerable Planets” “Bright Star, Fading World: Dusty Debris of a Dying Planet” “JWST Exposes Hot Rock Entrails from a Planet’s Demise” 2:15 p.m.: AAS News Conference – “Galactic Histories and Policy Futures”
Maryland Ballroom 5/6
News from NASA’s Webb and Hubble will be highlighted:
“The Boundary of Galaxy Formation: Constraints from the Ancient Star Formation of the Isolated, Extremely Low-Mass Galaxy Leo P” “Resolving 90 Million Stars in the Southern Half of Andromeda” For more information on the meeting, including press registration and the complete meeting schedule, visit:
https://aas.org/meetings/aas245
Media Contacts
Alise Fisher / Liz Landau
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546 / 202-358-0845
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / elizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 10, 2025 Related Terms
Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Chandra X-Ray Observatory Hubble Space Telescope IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) The Universe Explore More
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By NASA
A collage of artist concepts highlighting the novel approaches proposed by the 2025 NIAC awardees for possible future missions.Credit: NASA/Left to Right: Saurabh Vilekar, Marco Quadrelli, Selim Shahriar, Gyula Greschik, Martin Bermudez, Ryan Weed, Ben Hockman, Robert Hinshaw, Christine Gregg, Ryan Benson, Michael Hecht NASA selected 15 visionary ideas for its NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program which develops concepts to transform future missions for the benefit of all. Chosen from companies and institutions across the United States, the 2025 Phase I awardees represent a wide range of aerospace concepts.
The NIAC program nurtures innovation by funding early-stage technology concept studies for future consideration and potential commercialization. The combined award for the 2025 concepts is a maximum of $2.625M in grants to evaluate technologies that could enable future aerospace missions.
“Our next steps and giant leaps rely on innovation, and the concepts born from NIAC can radically change how we explore deep space, work in low Earth orbit, and protect our home planet” said Clayton Turner, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. “From developing small robots that could swim through the oceans of other worlds to growing space habitats from fungi, this program continues to change the possible.”
The newly selected concepts include feasibility studies to explore the Sun’s influence on our solar system, build sustainable lunar habitats from glass, explore Saturn’s icy moon, and more. All NIAC studies are in the early stages of conceptual development and are not considered official NASA missions.
Ryan Weed, Helicity Space LLC in Pasadena, California, proposes a constellation of spacecraft powered by the Helicity Drive, a compact and scalable fusion propulsion system, that could enable rapid, multi-directional exploration of the heliosphere and beyond, providing unprecedented insights on how the Sun interacts with our solar system and interstellar space. Demonstrating the feasibility of fusion propulsion could also benefit deep space exploration including crewed missions to Mars.
Martin Bermudez, Skyeports LLC in Sacramento, California, presents the concept of constructing a large-scale, lunar glass habitat in a low-gravity environment. Nicknamed LUNGS (Lunar Glass Structure), this approach involves melting lunar glass compounds to create a large spherical shell structure. This idea offers a promising solution for establishing self-sustaining, large-scale habitats on the lunar surface.
Justin Yim, University of Illinois in Urbana, proposes a jumping robot appropriately named LEAP (Legged Exploration Across the Plume), as a novel robotic sampling concept to explore Enceladus, a small, icy moon of Saturn that’s covered in geysers, or jets. The LEAP robots could enable collection of pristine, ocean-derived material directly from Enceladus’s jets and measurement of particle properties across multiple jets by traveling from one to another.
“All advancements begin as an idea. The NIAC program allows NASA to invest in unique ideas enabling innovation and supporting the nation’s aerospace economy,” said John Nelson, program executive for NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts in Washington.
The NIAC researchers, known as fellows, will investigate the fundamental premise of their concepts, identify potential challenges, and look for opportunities to bring these concepts to life.
In addition to the projects mentioned above, the following selectees received 2025 NIAC Phase I grants:
Michael Hecht, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge: EVE (Exploring Venus with Electrolysis) Selim Shahriar, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois: SUPREME-QG: Space-borne Ultra-Precise Measurement of the Equivalence Principle Signature of Quantum Gravity Phillip Ansell, University of Illinois, Urbana: Hy2PASS (Hydrogen Hybrid Power for Aviation Sustainable Systems) Ryan Benson, ThinkOrbital Inc., Boulder, Colorado: Construction Assembly Destination Gyula Greschik, Tentguild Engineering Co, Boulder, Colorado: The Ribbon: Structure Free Sail for Solar Polar Observation Marco Quadrelli, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California’s Silicon Valley: PULSAR: Planetary pULSe-tAkeRv Ben Hockman, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California’s Silicon Valley: TOBIAS: Tethered Observatory for Balloon-based Imaging and Atmospheric Sampling Kimberly Weaver, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland: Beholding Black Hole Power with the Accretion Explorer Interferometer John Mather NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland: Inflatable Starshade for Earthlike Exoplanets Robert Hinshaw, NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California: MitoMars: Targeted Mitochondria Replacement Therapy to Boost Deep Space Endurance Christine Gregg, NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California: Dynamically Stable Large Space Structures via Architected Metamaterials Saurabh Vilekar, Precision Combustion, North Haven, Connecticut: Thermo-Photo-Catalysis of Water for Crewed Mars Transit Spacecraft Oxygen Supply NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funds the NIAC program, as it is responsible for developing the agency’s new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities to achieve its current and future missions.
To learn more about NIAC, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/niac
-end-
Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
321-431-4624
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 10, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program Space Technology Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
5 Min Read NASA and Italian Space Agency Test Future Lunar Navigation Technology
The potentially record-breaking Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) payload will be the first known demonstration of GNSS signal reception on and around the lunar surface. Credits: NASA/Dave Ryan As NASA celebrates 55 years since the historic Apollo 11 crewed lunar landing, the agency also is preparing new navigation and positioning technology for the Artemis campaign, the agency’s modern lunar exploration program.
A technology demonstration helping pave the way for these developments is the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) payload, a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency to demonstrate the viability of using existing GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals for positioning, navigation, and timing on the Moon.
During its voyage on an upcoming delivery to the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, LuGRE would demonstrate acquiring and tracking signals from both the U.S. GPS and European Union Galileo GNSS constellations during transit to the Moon, during lunar orbit, and finally for up to two weeks on the lunar surface itself.
The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) will investigate whether signals from two Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellations, the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and European Union’s Galileo, can be tracked at the Moon and used for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). The LuGRE payload is one of the first demonstrations of GNSS signal reception and navigation on and around the lunar surface, an important milestone for how lunar missions will access navigation and positioning technology. If successful, LuGRE would demonstrate that spacecraft can use signals from existing GNSS satellites at lunar distances, reducing their reliance on ground-based stations on the Earth for lunar navigation.
Today, GNSS constellations support essential services like navigation, banking, power grid synchronization, cellular networks, and telecommunications. Near-Earth space missions use these signals in flight to determine critical operational information like location, velocity, and time.
NASA and the Italian Space Agency want to expand the boundaries of GNSS use cases. In 2019, the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission broke the world record for farthest GPS signal acquisition 116,300 miles from the Earth’s surface — nearly half of the 238,900 miles between Earth and the Moon. Now, LuGRE could double that distance.
“GPS makes our lives safer and more viable here on Earth,” said Kevin Coggins, NASA deputy associate administrator and SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “As we seek to extend humanity beyond our home planet, LuGRE should confirm that this extraordinary technology can do the same for us on the Moon.”
NASA, Firefly, Qascom, and Italian Space Agency team members examine LuGRE hardware in a clean room.Firefly Aerospace Reliable space communication and navigation systems play a vital role in all NASA missions, providing crucial connections from space to Earth for crewed and uncrewed missions alike. Using a blend of government and commercial assets, NASA’s Near Space and Deep Space Networks support science, technology demonstrations, and human spaceflight missions across the solar system.
“This mission is more than a technological milestone,” said Joel Parker, policy lead for positioning, navigation, and timing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We want to enable more and better missions to the Moon for the benefit of everyone, and we want to do it together with our international partners.”
This mission is more than a technological milestone. We want to enable more and better missions to the Moon for the benefit of everyone…
JOEL PARKER
PNT Policy Lead at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
The data-gathering LuGRE payload combines NASA-led systems engineering and mission management with receiver software and hardware developed by the Italian Space Agency and their industry partner Qascom — the first Italian-built hardware to operate on the lunar surface.
Any data LuGRE collects is intended to open the door for use of GNSS to all lunar missions, not just those by NASA or the Italian Space Agency. Approximately six months after LuGRE completes its operations, the agencies will release its mission data to broaden public and commercial access to lunar GNSS research.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander is carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.Firefly Aerospace “A project like LuGRE isn’t about NASA alone,” said NASA Goddard navigation and mission design engineer Lauren Konitzer. “It’s something we’re doing for the benefit of humanity. We’re working to prove that lunar GNSS can work, and we’re sharing our discoveries with the world.”
The LuGRE payload is one of 10 NASA-funded science experiments launching to the lunar surface on this delivery through NASA’s CLPS initiative. Through CLPS, NASA works with American companies to provide delivery and quantity contracts for commercial deliveries to further lunar exploration and the development of a sustainable lunar economy. As of 2024, the agency has 14 private partners on contract for current and future CLPS missions.
Demonstrations like LuGRE could lay the groundwork for GNSS-based navigation systems on the lunar surface. Bridging these existing systems with emerging lunar-specific navigation solutions has the potential to define how all spacecraft navigate lunar terrain in the Artemis era.
Artist’s concept rendering of LuGRE aboard the Blue Ghost lunar lander receiving signals from Earth’s GNSS constellations.NASA/Dave Ryan The payload is a collaborative effort between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Italian Space Agency. Funding and oversight for the LuGRE payload comes from the agency’s SCaN Program office. It was chosen by NASA as one of 10 funded research and technology demonstrations for delivery to the lunar surface by Firefly Aerospace Inc, a flight under the agency’s CLPS initiative.
About the Author
Korine Powers
Senior Writer and Education LeadKorine Powers, Ph.D. is a writer for NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office and covers emerging technologies, commercialization efforts, education and outreach, exploration activities, and more.
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Last Updated Jan 09, 2025 EditorGoddard Digital TeamContactKorine Powerskorine.powers@nasa.govLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center Artemis Blue Ghost (lander) Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Communicating and Navigating with Missions Earth's Moon Near Space Network Space Communications & Navigation Program View the full article
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This September 2024 aerial photograph shows the coastal launch range at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Wallops is the agency’s only owned-and-operated launch range.Courtesy Patrick J. Hendrickson; used with permission A suborbital rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window extending from Monday, Jan. 13, through Thursday, Jan. 16. This launch supports the Missile Defense Agency, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division’s White Sands Detachment, and other Department of Defense organizations.
No real-time launch status updates will be available. The launch will not be livestreamed, and updates will not be provided during the countdown. The rocket launch may be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region.
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Last Updated Jan 10, 2025 EditorAmy BarraLocationWallops Flight Facility Related Terms
Wallops Flight Facility Explore More
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