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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity 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 2 min read
Sols 4307-4308: Bright Rocks Catch Our Eyes
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image while exploring a rock-strewn channel of Gediz Vallis on the Red Planet. Mission scientists were particularly intrigued to investigate several bright-toned rocks (at the middle-right, bottom-right and bottom-center of the image), similar to rocks that Curiosity had encountered previously that were unexpectedly rich in sulfur. This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera aboard Curiosity on Sol 4306 — Martian day 4,306 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission — on Sept. 16, 2024 at 12:47:18 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Monday, Sept. 16, 2024
We made good progress through Gediz Vallis in the weekend drive, landing in a segment of the channel containing a mix of loose rubble and other channel-filling debris. Amongst the jumbled scene, though, particular objects of interest caught our eye: bright rocks. In past workspaces in Gediz Vallis, similar bright rocks have been associated with very high to almost pure sulfur contents. As all good geologists know, however, color is not diagnostic, so we cannot assume these are the same as sulfur-rich rocks we have encountered previously. The only way to know is to collect data, and that was a significant focus of today’s plan.
We planned multiple mosaics across the examples of bright rocks visible in the image above. Mastcam and ChemCam RMI will cover “Bright Dot Lake” and “Sheep Creek” both in the right midfield of the image. Mastcam imaged the example in the bottom right corner of the image at “Marble Falls,” and ChemCam LIBS targeted one of the small bright fragments along the bottom of the image at “Blanc Lake.” There was also a small bit of bright material in the workspace, but unfortunately, it was not reachable by APXS. APXS analyzed a spot near the bright material, at target “Frog Lake,” and MAHLI was able to tack on a few extra images around that target that should capture the bright material. MAHLI also imaged a vuggy target in the workspace at “Grasshopper Flat.” The wider context of the channel was also of interest for imaging, so we captured the full expanse of the channel with one Mastcam mosaic, and focused another on mounds distributed through the channel at target “Copper Creek.”
Even with all this rock imaging, we did not miss a beat with our environmental monitoring. We planned regular RAD, REMS, and DAN measurements, mid and late day atmospheric dust observations, a cloud movie, and dust devil imaging.
Our drive is planned to take us up onto one of the ridges in the channel. Will we find more bright rocks there? Or something new and unexpected that was delivered down Gediz Vallis by some past Martian flood or debris flow? Only the channel knows!
Written by Michelle Minitti, Planetary Geologist at Framework
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA/Frank Michaux On Aug. 21, 2024, engineers and technicians deployed and tested NASA’s Europa Clipper giant solar arrays. Each array measures about 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long and about 13.5 feet (4.1 meters) high.
Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch Oct. 10, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Scientists predict Europa has a salty ocean beneath its icy crust that could hold the building blocks necessary to sustain life.
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By NASA
Almost a decade ago, then-grad student Kyle Helson contributed to early paperwork for NASA’s EXCITE mission. As a scientist at Goddard, Helson helped make this balloon-based telescope a reality: EXCITE launched successfully on Aug. 31.
Name: Kyle Helson
Title: Assistant Research Scientist
Organization: Observational Cosmology Lab (Code 665), via UMBC and the GESTAR II cooperative agreement with NASA Goddard
Dr. Kyle Helson is an assistant research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo credit: Dr. Amy Bender How did you know you wanted to work at NASA Goddard?
When I was finishing my physics Ph.D. at Brown University in 2016, I was talking to Ed Wollack and Dave Chuss at Goddard about the NASA postdoc program, and they suggested I apply. Luckily, I got the postdoc fellowship to come here to Goddard to work on cosmic microwave background detector testing and other related research.
I don’t think I would have realized or been interested in coming here had I not had that NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship when I was in grad school and gotten the opportunity to spend some time here and work with Ed and Dave.
What is the name of your team that you’re working with right now?
One of the projects I work on is the Exoplanet Climate Infrared TELescope (EXCITE). EXCITE is a scientific balloon-borne telescope that is designed to measure the spectra of hot, Jupiter-like exoplanet atmospheres in near-infrared light.
Related: NASA’s EXCITE Mission Prepared for Scientific Balloon Flight What is your role for that?
I do a little bit of everything. During grad school, I worked on the first few iterations of the proposal for EXCITE back in 2015 and 2016.
Over the past few years here at Goddard, I’ve been responsible for parts of a lot of the different subsystems like the cryogenic receiver, the gondola, the electronics, and integration and testing of the whole payload.
Last year, we went to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, for an engineering flight. Unfortunately, we were not able to fly for weather reasons. We went back last month, and I was again part of the field deployment team. We take the whole instrument, break it down, carefully ship it all out to New Mexico, put it back together, test it, and get it ready for a flight.
Kyle Helson (far right) and part of the EXCITE team stand in front of EXCITE Fort Sumner, New Mexico in Oct. 2023. EXCITE successfully launched on Aug. 31, 2024. Photo credit: Annalies Kleyheeg What is most interesting to you about your role here at Goddard?
What I like about working on a project like EXCITE is that we get to kind of do a little bit of everything.
We’ve been able to see the experiment from concept and design to actually getting built, tested and hopefully flown and then subsequent data analysis after the flight. What I think is really fun is being able be with an experiment for the entire life cycle.
How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
We’re studying exoplanets, which definitely fits within the scientific mission of Goddard. We’re also a collaboration between Goddard other academic institutions, like Arizona State, like Brown University, Cornell, and several other places, and so we’re also members of the larger scientific research community beyond NASA.
We also have a number of graduate students working on EXCITE. Ballooning is a good platform for training students and young researchers to learn how to build and design instruments, do data analysis, etc. One of the missions of NASA and Goddard is to train early career scientists like graduate students and post docs, and balloons provide a good platform for that as well.
Balloon missions like EXCITE also provide a good platform for technology advancement and demonstration in preparation for future satellite missions.
How did you know cosmology was what you wanted to pursue?
When I was a kid, I loved space. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I even went to space camp.
The first time I ever got to see physics was a middle-school science class. That was the first time we ever learned physics or astronomy that was deeper than just identifying planets or constellations. We started to learn how we could use math to measure or predict experiments.
When I was in college, I remember talking to my undergraduate academic adviser, Glenn Starkman, and talking about what research I might like to do over the summer between sophomore and junior year of college. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do or what I was interested in, and he suggested I talk to some of the professors doing astrophysics and cosmology research and see if they had space for me in their lab.
I ended up finding a great opportunity working in a research lab in college — so it was working in the physics department in Case Western.
That’s where I first started learning about computer-aided design (CAD), and designing things in CAD, and that’s where I first learned how things get made in a machine shop, like on a mill, or a lathe. These skills have come in handy ever since, because I do a lot of design work in the lab. And I was lucky growing up that my dad was really hands-on and liked to fix things and build things and he taught me a lot of those skills as well.
“When I was a kid, I loved space,” said Kyle Helson. “I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid. I even went to space camp.”Photo courtesy of Kyle Helson Who has influenced you in your life?
My dad had a big influence. I think all the different people I’ve had the opportunity to learn from and work with who have been mentors along the way. My research advisers, professor John Ruhl in college, professor Greg Tucker in grad school, and Dr. Ed Wollack as a postdoc have all been very influential. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of very good post docs and research scientists during my career, Dr. Asad Aboobaker, Dr. Britt Reichborn-Kjennerud, Dr. Michele Limon, among others.
Throughout a career, there are tons of other people on the way from whom you pick up little things here and there that stick with you. You look back and you realize five years later you still do this one thing a certain way because someone helped you and taught you this skill or technique.
Where is a place you’d like to travel to?
Since I was lucky enough to go to Antarctica in graduate school, I figured that is the hardest continent to travel to, so now I have a mission to go to every continent. I’ve been to North America, I’ve been to South America, I’ve been to Asia, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand, but I’ve never been to Africa.
Kyle Helson (second from left) races the keirin at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville, PA. Photo Credit Dr. Vishrut Garg What are your hobbies, or what do you enjoy doing?
I’m a competitive track cyclist. I started racing bikes in collegiate racing as a grad student at Brown. Many summers I’ve spent many weekends driving and flying all over the U.S. to race in the biggest track cycling events in the country.
What would be your three-word-memoir?
Curious, compassionate, cat-dad.
By Tayler Gilmore
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 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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By NASA
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is seen orbiting Earth in this 13-second exposure photograph, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, from Arlington, Virginia. The mission team confirmed the spacecraft’s unique composite boom system unfurled its reflective sail on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, accomplishing a critical milestone in the agency’s demonstration of next-generation solar sail technology that will allow small spacecraft to “sail on sunlight.” Just as a sailboat is powered by wind in a sail, a spacecraft can use the pressure of sunlight on a solar sail for propulsion. This technology demonstration serves as a pathfinder for future missions powered by solar sail technology.NASA/Bill Ingalls Now that its reflective sail has deployed fully open in orbit, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System can be seen in the night sky from many locations across the world!
Stargazers can join NASA’s #SpotTheSail campaign by using the NASA app on mobile platforms to find out when the spacecraft will be visible at their location. The app, which is free to use and available on iOS and Android, provides a location-specific schedule of upcoming sighting opportunities. A built-in augmented reality tool points users to the location of the spacecraft in real time.
Can you spot the solar sail? Share your viewing experience online using the hashtag #SpotTheSail for a chance to be featured on NASA’s website and social media channels.
Here’s how to use the sighting prediction tool:
Install and open the NASA app on an iOS or Android device. Tap on the “Featured” tab on the bottom navigation bar. Tap on the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission from the Featured Missions at the top of the screen. Tap on the “Sightings” tab on the bottom navigation bar. A list of all the upcoming sightings for your location will be displayed. If you are using an iOS device, you can tap on the “Sky View” link for an augmented reality guide to help you locate the spacecraft’s real-time location during the visible pass. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is testing new technologies in low Earth orbit, including a composite boom system that supports a four-piece sail. Not to be confused with solar panels, solar sails allow small spacecraft to “sail on sunlight,” eliminating the need for rocket fuel or other conventional propellants. This propulsion technology can enable low-cost deep space missions to increase access to space.
For ongoing mission updates, follow us on social media:
X: @NASAAmes, @NASA
Facebook: NASA Ames, NASA
Instagram: @NASAAmes, @NASA
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System project and designed and built the onboard camera diagnostic system. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, designed and built the deployable composite booms and solar sail system. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program office based at NASA Ames and led by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington, funds and manages the mission. NASA STMD’s Game Changing Development program developed the deployable composite boom technology. Rocket Lab USA, Inc of Long Beach, California, provided launch services. NanoAvionics provided the spacecraft bus.
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By NASA
The powerhouse of Gateway, NASA’s orbiting outpost around the Moon and a critical piece of infrastructure for Artemis, is in the midst of several electric propulsion system tests.
The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), being manufactured by Maxar Technologies, provides Gateway with power, high-rate communications, and propulsion for maneuvers around the Moon and to transit between different orbits. The PPE will be combined with the Habitation and Logistic Outpost (HALO) before the integrated spacecraft’s launch, targeted for late 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy. Together, these elements will serve as the hub for early Gateway crewed operations and various science and technology demonstrations as the full Gateway station is assembled around it in the coming years.
In this image, PPE engineers successfully tested the integration of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s thruster with Maxar’s power procession unit and Xenon Flow Controller.
Image Credit: NASA
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