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Giant iceberg breaks off Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica
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By NASA
As the hub of human spaceflight, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston holds a variety of unique responsibilities and privileges. Those include being the home of NASA’s astronaut corps.
One of those astronauts – Nick Hague – is now preparing to launch to the International Space Station along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov on the ninth rotational mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. This will be the third launch and second mission to the space station for Hague, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and has spent 203 days in space.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Commander Nick Hague smiles and gives two thumbs up during the crew equipment interface test at SpaceX’s Dragon refurbishing facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.SpaceX Hague was born and raised in Kansas but has crisscrossed the country for college and career. He earned degrees from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and he attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Hague’s military career has taken him to New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., and included a five-month deployment to Iraq. Hague transferred from the Air Force to the U.S. Space Force in 2020 after serving as the Space Force’s director of test and evaluation at the Pentagon.
No stranger to new places, Hague vividly recalls making his first trip to Johnson when he was interviewing to join NASA’s astronaut corps. “I had no idea what to expect, and it was a bit overwhelming. I knew everyone was watching me and judging me,” he said. “Luckily, even though I wasn’t selected then, I got another chance a few years later. It’s a pretty magical place.”
Hague completed his astronaut training in July 2015 as part of NASA’s 21st astronaut class. He was the first astronaut from that group to be assigned to a mission, which launched in October 2018 but was aborted shortly after takeoff. His next spaceflight occurred in 2019, when he joined three of his classmates – NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Christina Koch, and Andrew Morgan – aboard the International Space Station for Expeditions 59 and 60.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague suits up for spacewalk training in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. NASA/James Blair Hague has made many memories at Johnson, but one that stands out is his experience working onsite amid the 2013 government shutdown. “I’m active-duty military so I still came to work,” he explained. “I remember being onsite and the center being completely empty. Being able to ride around an empty campus on the free-range bikes – it was peaceful and surreal.” It was also a preview of what many Johnson employees experienced during the pandemic and how NASA maintains round-the-clock support for spaceflight operations regardless of extenuating circumstances.
Hague now looks ahead to another journey to low Earth orbit. NASA and SpaceX officials currently plan to launch the Crew-9 mission no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25. The crew will lift off from Launch Complex 40 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov (left) and NASA astronaut Nick Hague during a visit to Kennedy Space Center for training. SpaceX Hague and Gorbonov will become members of the Expedition 72 crew aboard the station. They will join NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, and Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, and will spend about six months conducting scientific research in microgravity and completing a range of operational activities before returning home.
More details about the mission and crew can be found by following the Crew-9 blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook. You can also follow @astrohague on X and Instagram.
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By NASA
Linette Boisvert turned a childhood love of snow into a career as a sea ice scientist studying climate change.
Name: Linette Boisvert
Title: Assistant Lab Chief, Cryospheric Sciences Branch, and Deputy Project Scientist for the Aqua Satellite
Formal Job Classification: Sea Ice Scientist
Organization: Cryospheric Science Branch, Science Directorate (Code 615)
“When it snowed, school was cancelled so I loved winter weather, and I was fascinated how weather could impact our daily lives,” said Linette. “One of my undergraduate classes had a guest lecturer talk about the Arctic and that is when decided that I wanted to become an Arctic scientist.”Photo credit: NASA/Kyle Krabill What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?
As a sea ice scientist, I study interactions between the sea ice and the atmosphere. I’m interested in how the changing sea ice conditions and loss of Arctic ice are affecting the atmospheric conditions in the Artic.
Why did you become a sea ice scientist? What is your educational background?
I grew up in Maryland. When it snowed, school was cancelled so I loved winter weather, and I was fascinated how weather could impact our daily lives. One of my undergraduate classes had a guest lecturer talk about the Arctic and that is when decided that I wanted to become an Arctic scientist. This also coincided with the Arctic sea ice minimum in 2007, at the time, a record low.
In 2008, I got a B.S. in environmental science with a minor in math from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). I received my master’s and, in 2013, got a Ph.D. in atmospheric and oceanic sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park.
How did you come to Goddard?
My doctorate advisor worked at Goddard. In 2009, he brought me into Goddard’s lab to do my Ph.D. research. I became a post-doctorate in 2013, an assistant research scientist in 2016 (employed by UMD/ESSIC) and, in 2018, a civil servant.
Dr. Linette Boisvert is a sea ice scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo credit: NASA/Jeremy Harbeck What is the most interesting field work you do as the assistant lab chief of Goddard’s Cryospheric Sciences Branch?
From 2018 to 2020, I was the deputy project scientist for NASA’s largest and longest running airborne campaign, Operation IceBridge. This involved flying aircraft with scientific instruments over both land ice and sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. Every spring, we would set up a base camp in a U.S. Air Force base in Greenland and fly over parts of the sea ice over Greenland and the Arctic, and in the fall we would base out of places like Punta Arenas, Chile, and Hobart, Australia, to fly over the Antarctic.
We would fly low, at 1,500 feet above the surface. It is very, very cool to see the ice firsthand. It is so pretty, so vast, and complex. We would spend 12 hours a day on a plane just surveying the ice.
Being based out of Greenland is very remote. Everything is white. Everything looks like it is closer than it is. You do not have a point of reference for any perspective. It is very quiet. There is no background ambient noise. You do not hear bugs, birds, or cars, just quiet.
Our team was about 20 people. Other people live at the base. The campaigns lasted six to eight weeks. I was there about three to four weeks each time. Many of the group had been doing these campaigns for a decade. I felt like I had joined a family. In the evenings, we would often cook dinner together and play games. On days we could not fly, we would go on adventures together like visiting a glacier or hiking. We saw musk ox, Arctic fox, Arctic hares, and seals.
How did it feel to become the deputy project scientist for the Aqua satellite, which provided most of the data you used for your doctorate and publications?
In January 2023, I became the deputy project scientist for the Aqua satellite, which launched in 2002. Aqua measures the Earth’s atmospheric temperature, humidity, and trace gases. Most of my doctorate and publications used data from Aqua to look at how the sea ice loss in the Arctic is allowing for excess heat and moisture from the ocean to move into the atmosphere resulting in a warmer and wetter Arctic.
I am honored. I feel like I have come full circle. The team welcomed me into the mission and taught me a lot of things. I am grateful to be working with such a brilliant, hardworking team.
Who is your science hero?
My father encouraged me to get a doctorate in science. My father has a doctorate in computer science and math. He works at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. I wanted to be like him when I was growing up. I came close, working at NASA, another part of the federal government. My mother, a French pastry chef, always kept me well fed.
“We would fly low, at 1,500 feet above the surface,” said Linette. “It is very, very cool to see the ice firsthand. It is so pretty, so vast, and complex. We would spend 12 hours a day on a plane just surveying the ice.”Photo credit: NASA/John Sonntag My father is very proud of me. He thinks I am more of a superstar than he was at my age, but I do not believe it. My mother is also proud and continues to keep me well fed.
Who is your Goddard mentor?
Claire Parkinson, now an emeritus, was the project scientist for Aqua since its inception. When she retired, she encouraged me to apply for the deputy position. She had confidence in me which gave me the confidence to apply for the position. She is still always available to answer any questions. I am very thankful that she has been there for me throughout my career.
What advice do you give to those you mentor?
I recently began advising young scientists; one undergraduate student, two graduate students, and one post-doctoral scientist. We meet weekly as a group and have one-on-one meetings when appropriate. They share their progress on their work. Sometimes we practice presentations they are about to give.
It is sometimes hard starting out to think that you are smart because Goddard is full of so many smart people. I tell them that they are just as capable when it comes to their research topic. I tell them that they fit in well with the Goddard community. I want to create a comfortable, respectful, and inclusive environment so that they remain in science.
What do you do for fun?
I enjoy running and paddle boarding with my dog Remi, my long-haired dachshund. I enjoy reading. I love to travel and be around friends and family. But I do not enjoy cooking, so I do not bake French pastries like my mom.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to continue doing research including field work. It would be great if some of my students finished their studies and joined my lab. I hope that I am still making people proud of me.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
Hard-working. Smart. Inquisitive. Adventurous. Kind. Happy.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Sep 10, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By USH
The Department of Defense has appointed a new director to lead the AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office), which is responsible for investigating UFOs and UAPs. The choice of Dr. Jon T. Kosloski, a former NSA scientist, is notable. According to USAF whistleblower Dan Sherman, the NSA has been involved in tracking UFO and non-human intelligence (NHI) activity for decades. Additionally, there are claims that the NSA manages interstellar trade operations from a base in Antarctica.
Kosloski replaces Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the inaugural director of AARO, who faced criticism during his tenure. Many believed Kirkpatrick did little to support whistleblowers, hindering efforts to reveal critical information about UFOs and related phenomena.
One of the intriguing aspects of this story is the alleged NSA connection to Antarctica.
Eric Hecker a Raytheon contractor who worked at the Ice Cube Neutrino observatory at Antarctica from 2010-2011 said that this observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica is a huge air traffic control power station that monitors all interstellar craft that be operated by humans as well as non-humans.
The observatory is not the only station that tracks interstellar craft, reports from whistleblowers over the years have hinted at the presence of a vast underground military complex in the area. Allegedly, the NSA operates an office there, which also is involved in monitoring interstellar activity, possibly utilizing the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory's facilities. In addition, this office is reportedly engaged in interstellar trade. According to Navy whistleblowers, the office is managed from the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, specifically on the sixth floor.
It may sound fantastical, but the NSA has been tracking UFO activity since its inception in 1952. The agency is believed to have developed capabilities to detect UFOs anywhere on Earth but keep quiet about it.
Now, as we look to the future, institutions that shape national security believe the U.S. needs to prepare the public for disclosure, as humanity's future may lie in space. Advanced propulsion systems, including anti-gravity and torsion field technologies, are being developed to construct fleets of spacecraft that can keep pace with extraterrestrial civilizations.
Furthermore, there is a large spaceport in Alabama, near the caverns around Huntsville, where pilots from around 30 nations are reportedly being trained to fly interstellar craft under supervision of a group of extraterrestrials known as the Nordics. It is said that this underground facility already houses hundreds of these craft.
Despite the ongoing UFO cover-up, with Dr. Kosloski now leading AARO, there is hope that in particular the NSA’s involvement in these operations will become more transparent and that further revelations may follow.
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By NASA
A prototype of a robot built to access underwater areas where Antarctic ice shelves meet land is lowered through the ice during a field test north of Alaska in March. JPL is developing the concept, called IceNode, to take melt-rate measurements that would improve the accuracy of sea level rise projections.U.S. Navy/Scott Barnes Conducted through the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory’s biennial Ice Camp, this field test marked IceNode’s first in a polar environment. The team hopes to one day deploy a fleet of the autonomous robots beneath Antarctic ice shelves.U.S. Navy/Scott Barnes Called IceNode, the project envisions a fleet of autonomous robots that would help determine the melt rate of ice shelves.
On a remote patch of the windy, frozen Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California huddled together, peering down a narrow hole in a thick layer of sea ice. Below them, a cylindrical robot gathered test science data in the frigid ocean, connected by a tether to the tripod that had lowered it through the borehole.
This test gave engineers a chance to operate their prototype robot in the Arctic. It was also a step toward the ultimate vision for their project, called IceNode: a fleet of autonomous robots that would venture beneath Antarctic ice shelves to help scientists calculate how rapidly the frozen continent is losing ice — and how fast that melting could cause global sea levels to rise.
Warming Waters, Treacherous Terrain
If melted completely, Antarctica’s ice sheet would raise global sea levels by an estimated 200 feet (60 meters). Its fate represents one of the greatest uncertainties in projections of sea level rise. Just as warming air temperatures cause melting at the surface, ice also melts when in contact with warm ocean water circulating below. To improve computer models predicting sea level rise, scientists need more accurate melt rates, particularly beneath ice shelves — miles-long slabs of floating ice that extend from land. Although they don’t add to sea level rise directly, ice shelves crucially slow the flow of ice sheets toward the ocean.
A remote camera captured an IceNode prototype deployed below the frozen surface of Lake Superior, off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, during a field test in 2022. The three thin legs of the robot’s “landing gear” affix the prototype to the icy ceiling.NASA/JPL-Caltech The challenge: The places where scientists want to measure melting are among Earth’s most inaccessible. Specifically, scientists want to target the underwater area known as the “grounding zone,” where floating ice shelves, ocean, and land meet — and to peer deep inside unmapped cavities where ice may be melting the fastest. The treacherous, ever-shifting landscape above is dangerous for humans, and satellites can’t see into these cavities, which are sometimes beneath a mile of ice. IceNode is designed to solve this problem.
“We’ve been pondering how to surmount these technological and logistical challenges for years, and we think we’ve found a way,” said Ian Fenty, a JPL climate scientist and IceNode’s science lead. “The goal is getting data directly at the ice-ocean melting interface, beneath the ice shelf.”
Floating Fleet
Harnessing their expertise in designing robots for space exploration, IceNode’s engineers are developing vehicles about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, with three-legged “landing gear” that springs out from one end to attach the robot to the underside of the ice. The robots don’t feature any form of propulsion; instead, they would position themselves autonomously with the help of novel software that uses information from models of ocean currents.
JPL’s IceNode project is designed for one of Earth’s most inaccessible locations: underwater cavities deep beneath Antarctic ice shelves. The goal is getting melt-rate data directly at the ice-ocean interface in areas where ice may be melting the fastest. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Released from a borehole or a vessel in the open ocean, the robots would ride those currents on a long journey beneath an ice shelf. Upon reaching their targets, the robots would each drop their ballast and rise to affix themselves to the bottom of the ice. Their sensors would measure how fast warm, salty ocean water is circulating up to melt the ice, and how quickly colder, fresher meltwater is sinking.
The IceNode fleet would operate for up to a year, continuously capturing data, including seasonal fluctuations. Then the robots would detach themselves from the ice, drift back to the open ocean, and transmit their data via satellite.
“These robots are a platform to bring science instruments to the hardest-to-reach locations on Earth,” said Paul Glick, a JPL robotics engineer and IceNode’s principal investigator. “It’s meant to be a safe, comparatively low-cost solution to a difficult problem.”
Arctic Field Test
While there is additional development and testing ahead for IceNode, the work so far has been promising. After previous deployments in California’s Monterey Bay and below the frozen winter surface of Lake Superior, the Beaufort Sea trip in March 2024 offered the first polar test. Air temperatures of minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 Celsius) challenged humans and robotic hardware alike.
The test was conducted through the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory’s biennial Ice Camp, a three-week operation that provides researchers a temporary base camp from which to conduct field work in the Arctic environment.
As the prototype descended about 330 feet (100 meters) into the ocean, its instruments gathered salinity, temperature, and flow data. The team also conducted tests to determine adjustments needed to take the robot off-tether in future.
“We’re happy with the progress. The hope is to continue developing prototypes, get them back up to the Arctic for future tests below the sea ice, and eventually see the full fleet deployed underneath Antarctic ice shelves,” Glick said. “This is valuable data that scientists need. Anything that gets us closer to accomplishing that goal is exciting.”
IceNode has been funded through JPL’s internal research and technology development program and its Earth Science and Technology Directorate. JPL is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California.
How NASA’s OMG found ocean waters are melting Greenland News Media Contact
Melissa Pamer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-314-4928
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-115
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Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Mars: Perseverance (Mars 2020) Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read
Perseverance Kicks off the Crater Rim Campaign!
Mastcam-Z mosaic made of 59 individual Mastcam-Z images showing the area Perseverance will climb in the coming weeks on its way to Dox Castle, the rover’s first stop on the crater rim. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Perseverance is officially headed into a new phase of scientific investigation on the Jezero Crater rim!
For the last 2 months, the Perseverance rover has been exploring the Neretva Vallis region of Jezero Crater, where rocks with interesting popcorn-like textures and “leopard spot” patterns have fascinated us all. Now, the rover has begun its long ascent up the crater rim, and is officially kicking off a new phase of exploration for the mission.
Strategic (longer-term) planning is particularly important for the Mars 2020 mission given the crucial role Perseverance plays in collecting samples for Mars Sample Return, and the Mars 2020 team undertakes this planning in the form of campaigns. Perseverance has now completed four such campaigns— the Crater Floor, Delta Front, Upper Fan and Margin Unit campaigns respectively— making the Crater Rim Campaign next in line. Given its broad scope and the wide diversity of rocks we expect to encounter and sample along the way, it may be the most ambitious campaign the team has attempted so far.
The team also has less information from orbiter data to go on compared to previous campaigns, because this area of the crater rim does not have the high-resolution, hyperspectral imaging of CRISM that helped inform much of our geological unit distinctions inside the crater. This means that Mastcam-Z multispectral and SuperCam long-distance imaging will be particularly useful for understanding broadscale mineralogical distinctions between rocks as we traverse the crater rim. Such imaging has already proved extremely useful in the Neretva Vallis area, where at Alsap Butte we observed rocks that appeared similar to each other in initial imaging, but actually display an Andy-Warhol-esque array of color in multispectral products, indicative of varied mineral signatures.
Our next stop is Dox Castle where Perseverance will investigate the contact between the Margin Unit and the Crater rim, as well as rubbly material that may be our first encounter with deposits generated during the impact that created Jezero crater itself. Later in the campaign, we will investigate other light-toned outcrops that may or may not be similar to those encountered at Bright Angel, as well as rocks thought to be part of the regionally extensive olivine-carbonate-bearing unit, and whose relationship to both Séítah and the Margin Unit remains an interesting story to unravel. Throughout this next phase of exploration, comparing and contrasting the rocks we see on the rim to both each other and those previously explored in the mission will be an important part of our scientific investigations.
The whole Mars 2020 science team is incredibly excited to be embarking on the next phase of Perseverance’s adventure, and we expect these results, and the samples we collect along the way, to inform our understanding of not just Jezero itself, but the planet Mars as a whole. We can’t wait to share what we find!
Written by Eleni Ravanis, PhD Candidate and Graduate Research Assistant at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Last Updated Aug 27, 2024 Related Terms
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