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By NASA
NASA/Ben Smegelsky & Virgil Cameron In this image from Aug. 26, 2023, participants from the 14th First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 launch at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Students and advisors from University of Washington, University of Colorado-Boulder, and an international team from Queens University – the 2023 First Nations Launch grand prize teams – traveled to Kennedy for a VIP tour, culminating in viewing the Crew-7 launch.
Grand prize teams also went on a guided tour of historic Hangar AE, led by James Wood (Osage Nation and Loyal Shawnee), chief engineer of NASA’s Launch Services Program, technical advisor for the Crew-7 launch, and First Nations mentor and judge.
One of NASA’s Artemis Student Challenges, the First Nations Launch competition comprises students from tribal colleges and universities, Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, and collegiate chapters of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society who design, build, and launch a high-powered rocket from a launch site in Kansasville, Wisconsin.
Explore more Minority University Research and Education Project opportunities and resources here.
Image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky & Virgil Cameron
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By NASA
NASA researchers Guan Yang, Jeff Chen, and their team received the 2024 Innovator of The Year Award at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for their exemplary work on a lidar system enhanced with artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Engineer Jeffrey Chen tests a lidar prototype on the roof of Building 33 at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Chen and his team earned the center’s 2024 Innovator of the Year award for their work on CASALS, a lidar system enhanced with artificial intelligence and other technologies.NASA Like a laser-based version of sonar, lidar and its use in space exploration is not new. But the lidar system Yang and Chen’s team have developed — formally the Concurrent Artificially-intelligent Spectrometry and Adaptive Lidar System (CASALS) — can produce higher resolution data within a smaller space, significantly increasing efficiency compared to current models.
The true revolution in CASALS is a unique combination of related technologies, such as highly efficient laser and receiver designs, wavelength-based, non-mechanical beam steering, multispectral imaging, and the incorporation of artificial intelligence to allow the instrument to make its own decisions while in orbit, instead of waiting for direction from human controllers on the ground.
“Existing 3D-imaging lidars struggle to provide the 2-inch resolution needed by guidance, navigation and control technologies to ensure precise and safe landings essential for future robotic and human exploration missions,” team engineer Jeffrey Chen said in an earlier interview. “Such a system requires 3D hazard-detection lidar and a navigation doppler lidar, and no existing system can perform both functions.”
The CASALS lidar is being developed to study land and ice topography, coastline changes, and other Earth science topics. Future applications in solar system science beyond our planet are already in the works, including space navigation improvements and high-resolution lunar mapping for NASA’s Artemis campaign to return astronauts to the Moon.
An effective and compact lidar system like CASALS could also map rocky planets like Venus or Mars.
NASA leveraged contributions from external Small Business Innovation Research companies such as Axsun Technologies, Freedom Photonics, and Left Hand for laser and optical technology to help make CASALS a reality.
The Internal Research and Development (IRAD) Innovator of The Year award is presented by Goddard’s Office of the Chief Technologist to a person or team within the program with a notable contribution to cutting-edge technology. The CASALS team was presented their award at a technology poster session on Nov. 6, 2024, at NASA Goddard.
By Avery Truman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Nov 15, 2024 EditorRob GarnerContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This video shows IPEx in the digital simulation environment.Credit: Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben/Beverly Jensen Space is hard, but it’s not all hardware.
The new Lunar Autonomy Challenge invites teams of students from U.S. colleges and universities to test their software development skills. Working entirely in virtual simulations of the Moon’s surface, teams will develop an autonomous agent using software that can accomplish pre-defined tasks without help from humans. These agents will be used to navigate a digital twin of NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) and map specified locations in the digital environment. The IPEx is an autonomous mobility robot engineered to efficiently collect and transport lunar regolith, the loose rocky material on the Moon’s surface.
Autonomous systems allow spacecraft, rovers, and robots to operate without relying on constant contact with astronauts or mission control. Before hardware is trusted to operate independently on location, which for Artemis missions includes the Moon, it must be tested virtually. High-fidelity virtual simulations allow NASA to anticipate and improve how systems, both software and hardware, will function in the physical world. Testing in virtual simulations also allows technologists to explore different mission scenarios, observe potential outcomes, and reduce risks.
In the Lunar Autonomy Challenge, students will develop their knowledge of autonomous systems by working with the same simulation tools created in-house by Caterpillar Inc. of Irving, Texas, over decades of research and development. Teams will need to utilize the IPEx digital twin’s cameras and orientation sensors to accurately map surface elevation and identify obstacles. Like with real lunar missions, teams must also manage their energy usage and consider the Moon’s harsh terrain and low-light conditions. Through the competition, participants will learn more about autonomous robotic operation, surface mapping, localization, orientation, path planning, and hazard detection.
Eligibility
Teams must be comprised of at least four undergraduate and/or graduate students and a faculty advisor at a U.S. college or university.
Challenge Timeline & Structure
The challenge will take place between November 2024 and May 2025 and will include both a qualifying round and a final round. Interested teams must apply by Thursday, Nov. 7.
Round 1: Selected teams will develop and train their agent using provided virtual environments. Teams will have three opportunities to submit their agent to run in a qualification environment. For each submission, their agent will be scored based on performance.
The top scoring teams will be invited to continue. Round 2: Teams will work to further refine the agents. Teams will have multiple opportunities in total to submit their agents to the competition environment. The top three teams will be named challenge winners. Challenge Guidelines
Interested teams should carefully review the Challenge Guidelines and the Lunar Autonomy Challenge site for more details, including proposal requirements, FAQs, and additional technical guidance.
Prizes
The top three highest-scoring teams on the leaderboard in the finals will be awarded cash prizes:
First Place: $10,000
Second Place: $5,000
Third Place: $3,000
Application Submissions
Applications must be submitted to NASA STEM Gateway by Nov. 7, 2024.
Learn more about the challenge: https://lunar-autonomy-challenge.jhuapl.edu
The Lunar Autonomy Challenge is a collaboration between NASA, The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Caterpillar Inc., and Embodied AI. APL is managing the challenge for NASA.
NASA’s ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx) during a flight-like demonstration at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Swamp Works testing facility. Credit: NASA Authored by: Stephanie Yeldell, Education Integration Lead
Space Technology Mission Directorate
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
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By NASA
The NASA Science Activation (SciAct) Program has been selected to receive the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2024 Excellence in Earth and Space Science Education Award. This prestigious, annual award, established in 1995, honors a mid-career or senior scientist team, individual, or group that has demonstrated a sustained commitment to broad, positive impact on Earth and space science education at any education level from kindergarten through postgraduate studies.
SciAct engages learners of all ages in all 50 states and 4 US territories with Earth and space science. Through an extensive network of nearly 600 partners, SciAct develops, co-creates, validates, and disseminates effective learning resources and activities to support the needs of learners in their pursuit of knowledge, including specific underrepresented groups such as: Black, blind and low vision, community college, differently abled, Hispanic, immigrant, Indigenous, multilingual, neurodiverse, rural, and other underserved communities. Furthermore, SciAct project teams share lessons-learned and best practices across the SciAct community to facilitate ongoing learning and growth for the entire SciAct community, ensuring the implementation of ever-more effective approaches for reaching all learners.
Since SciAct began in January 2016, its network has grown in strength and capacity. When reach data were collected for the first time in 2019, SciAct reported 15 million learner interactions. Four years later, in 2023, SciAct reported nearly 76 million learner interactions, a 506% increase. With many SciAct resources freely available online, 10 million of those interactions occurred across 170 other countries. In April 2024 alone, as part of a larger NASA-led eclipse mobilization, SciAct reported more than 62 million learner interactions, intentionally bringing the excitement of that celestial event to people in all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada, to include learners far beyond the path of totality.
The SciAct model is built on a foundation of NASA science. NASA Earth and space science research content areas, missions, scientists and other technical experts, and data are the building blocks of all SciAct learning resources and activities. Nearly 1,000 subject matter experts support the SciAct program to ensure science content is accurate, up-to-date, and – working with education/learning experts – accessible to diverse learner communities. Through these interactions, SciAct also influences scientists, showing them effective ways to contribute towards learning goals and reach new audiences. An increasing number of activities are specifically focused on giving scientists – especially early career scientists – the skills and knowledge to connect with learners outside the research community.
SciAct began as an experiment for conducting NASA Science education and outreach in a new, more coordinated way. Eight years later, that experiment has given rise to a powerful and effective approach for sharing the wonder of NASA science, content, and experts with the world. It is an honor for the NASA Science Activation program to be recognized by AGU, the world’s largest Earth and space science association, for its role in advancing science, transforming our understanding of the world, impacting our everyday lives, improving our communities, and contributing to solutions for a sustainable future.
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Last Updated Sep 23, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has selected eight companies for a new award to help acquire Earth observation data and provide related services for the agency.
The Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract is a firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple-award contract with a maximum value of $476 million, cumulatively amongst all the selected contractors, and a performance period through Nov. 15, 2028.
The selectees are:
BlackSky Geospatial Solutions, Inc. in Herndon, Virginia ICEYE US Inc. in Irvine, California MDA Geospatial Service Inc. in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada Pixxel Space Technologies, Inc in El Segundo, California Planet Labs Federal, Inc. in Arlington, Virginia Satellogic Federal, LLC in Davidson, North Carolina Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. in Huntsville, Alabama The Tomorrow Companies Inc. in Boston Under the contract, the recipients will be responsible for acquiring observation data from commercial sources that support NASA’s Earth science research and application activities that help improve life on the planet. The goal of the awards is to give NASA a cost-effective way to augment or complement the Earth observations acquired by the agency and other U.S. government and international agencies for the benefit of all.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
-end-
Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 06, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
SmallSats Program Earth Earth Observatory NASA Headquarters Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate View the full article
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