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By Space Force
During CSO Gen. Chance Saltzman’s keynote address at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference, he explained how the service will transform to thrive in a new environment optimized for Great Power Competition.
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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 2 min read
Reaching New Heights to Unravel Deep Martian History!
This is an image of the rim that the Perseverance rover took on sol 383 (March 19th, 2022) when it was traversing the crater floor. Dox Castle is located at the top of the image in the far ground. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU The Perseverance rover is reaching new heights as it ascends the rim of Jezero crater (over 300 meters in elevation higher than the original landing site)! The rover is now enroute to its first campaign science stop Dox Castle (image in the far ground) a region of interest for its potential to host ancient Mars’ bedrock in the exposed rocks on the rim.
Impact craters like Jezero may be the key to piecing together the early geologic history of Mars, as they provide a window into the history of the ancient crust by excavating and depositing deep crustal materials above the surface. Crater rims act as keepers of ancient Martian history, uplifting and exposing the stratigraphy of these impacted materials. Additionally, extreme heat from the impact can encourage the circulation of fluids through fractures similar to hydrothermal vents, which have implications for early habitability and may be preserved in the exposed rim bedrock. With the Perseverance rover we have the potential to explore some of the oldest exposed rocks on the planet.
Exploring such diverse terrains takes a lot of initial planning! The team has been preparing for the Crater Rim Campaign these last few months by working together to map out the types of materials Perseverance may encounter during its traverse up and through the rim. Using orbital images from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument, the science team divided the rim area into 36 map quadrants, carefully mapping different rock units based on the morphologies, tones, and textures they observed in the orbital images. Mapping specialists then connected units across the quads to turn 36 miniature maps into one big geologic map of the crater rim. This resource is being used by the team to plan strategic routes to scientific areas of interest on the rim.
On Earth, geologic maps are made using a combination of orbital images and mapping in the field. Planetary scientists don’t typically get to check their map in the field, but we have the unique opportunity to validate our map using our very own robot geologist! Dox Castle will be our first chance to do rim science – and we’re excited to search for evidence of the transition between the margin and rim materials to start piecing together the stratigraphic history of the rocks that make up the rim of Jezero crater.
Written by Margaret Deahn, Ph.D. student at Purdue University
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Last Updated Sep 16, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has been immortalized at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington as the latest awardee of the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Bestowed annually by the National Aeronautic Association, the trophy recognizes groundbreaking aerospace achievements.
Members of the OSIRIS-REx team at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., with the Collier trophy on June 13, 2024. From left to right: Nayi Castro, mission operations manager, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Nicole Lunning, curator, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston; Anjani Polit, mission implementation systems engineer, University of Arizona, Tucson; Coralie Adam, OSIRIS-REx optical navigation lead, KinetX Inc.; Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager, NASA Goddard; Dennis Reuter, OVIRS instrument scientist, NASA Goddard; Ronald Mink, OSIRIS-REx missions systems engineer, NASA Goddard; Joshua Wood, system design lead, Lockheed Martin Space; Peter Antreasian, OSIRIS-REx navigation team chief, KinetX Inc.; Sandy Freund, program manager, Lockheed Martin Space; Eric Sahr, optical navigation engineer, KinetX Inc.NASA/Rani Gran OSIRIS-REx, formally the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer, was honored “for successfully executing the first American retrieval of an asteroid sample and its return to Earth,” according to the award citation. The award was announced in March, and the OSIRIS-REx team visited the museum on June 13, 2024, to see the mission’s name engraved in brass at the base of the statue.
“It just blows me away to see the OSIRIS-REx team engraved on the Collier trophy, next to names like Orville Wright, the Apollo 8 crew, and the Voyager Mission Team,” said Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “I’m so proud of our amazing team that their excellence and sacrifice to make the OSIRIS-REx mission so successful have been recognized with this prestigious award.”
While NASA’s accomplishments have been honored with the Collier award many times, this is one of just a handful of instances that NASA Goddard has been a major partner on a winning team. NASA Goddard most recently claimed a share of the award in 2022 for the James Webb Space Telescope. Previous wins also include 1993 honors for the Hubble Space Telescope and the 1974 prize for a NASA–U.S. Geological Survey satellite that began the long-running Landsat program that studies and monitors changes to Earth’s land masses.
The OSIRIS-REx team includes NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado; the University of Arizona, Tucson; and KinetX in Tempe, Arizona. NASA’s Johnson Space Center is responsible for the curation of the Bennu sample material that OSIRIS-REx returned to Earth in September 2023.
The Collier Trophy resides in a glass case in the “America by Air” section on the museum’s first floor. The century-old trophy stands at over 7 feet tall and weighs 525 pounds. The bronze sculpture depicts a globe, with three figures emerging from it. The sculpture rests on two walnut bases, each adorned with an engrave brass plaque bearing the names of the recipients.
Baltimore sculptor Ernest Wise Keyser designed the Trophy in 1910 for Robert J. Collier, the publisher of Collier’s Weekly magazine and president of the Aero Club of America.
By Rani Gran
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Jun 18, 2024 EditorRob GarnerContactRani Gran Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) View the full article
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By NASA
13 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
In honor of Women’s History Month, we caught up with the ASIA-AQ team on the other side of the Earth and asked the women from Langley about their inspirations and challenges as scientists.
The ASIA-AQ (Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality) mission is an international cooperative field study designed to address local air quality challenges. ASIA-AQ will contribute to improving the integration of satellite observations with existing air quality ground monitoring and modeling efforts across Asia.
Langley’s Angelique Demetillo, center, in her flight suit after a flight in the Philippines for the ASIA-AQ mission along with mission partners from the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Manila Observatory.NASA/Kevin Rohr Mary Angelique G. Demetillo, Ph.D., NASA Post-doctoral Program Fellow and instrument operator on board Langley’s G-III aircraft, operates the GeoCAPE Airborne Spectrometer (GCAS) remote sensor.
What do you do at Langley?
I focus on using high-resolution remote-sensing measurements to study air pollution inequality in cities. Currently, I am using airborne LIDAR measurements to understand lower tropospheric ozone variability over Houston, Texas.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I just wanted to be helpful–at first, I wanted to be a teacher and then a doctor and then a biomedical engineer. Then, I found atmospheric chemistry research and discovered I could combine the knowledge I learned in the classroom to 1) work with scientific instruments that could measure the unseen, 2) to understand the world around me, and 3) provide policy-useful information towards addressing air pollution inequality.
Are there obstacles you have had to overcome to be successful?
Hmmmm, this is a hard one. I think I was very lucky to have access to good education and food and housing security so I could focus on my studies such that any obstacles I encountered really ended up being stepping-stones in my development as a scientist. Growing up in America under immigrant parents, it was tricky navigating the reconciliation of two very different cultural and generational perspectives. The largest impact of this dichotomy was that it wasn’t common for first-generation Filipina-Americans to be anything other than nurses or in the medical field. As such, I didn’t really know being a scientist was an accessible career to me and was even actively discouraged to pursue it. But I’m glad I did, and still am, and feel incredibly lucky to be able to do great work with awesome people while navigating this pipeline.
Were you treated differently as a woman in a science field?
I may have been and didn’t recognize it since I was very shy and quiet. However, I did realize being confident in my abilities and knowledge and speaking up for myself and others were critical to participating and succeeding in male-dominated fields like physics and atmospheric science.
Who were your mentors growing up? Who are your mentors now?
I have been incredibly lucky to come across many people from whom I learned different things and looked up to in different ways. Most notably however, were my elementary school computer teacher, my 5th grade science teacher, my graduate school advisor, and my current postdoc advisor! Each of them were/are critical to developing my self-confidence as a scientist and person.
What’s the best part of your job?
It’s hard to pick! You can’t beat the work –getting to fly and work closely with the instrument/measurement teams whose data I use for my research; collaboration across cultures and expertise on field campaigns; and exercising scientific precision, accuracy, and creativity for data-driven, policy-relevant solutions is a surreal job to have. But since I’m still building my career, I would really have to say the people are the best part—from speaking with experienced scientists, mechanics, engineers, and project managers to growing alongside the next-generation atmospheric chemists as we shape our contribution to the field as individuals and cohort, makes the work even more fun and exciting.
Why does science matter to you?
Science matters to me because it served as a platform through which I could understand the world around me. As I grow more in this field, I am also learning science truly requires collaboration. Science can serve as a testbed for new solutions and innovations while bridging the gap between language, culture, and backgrounds. And with increasing interdisciplinary science, it will not only challenge our ability to connect different perspectives of information together, but also strengthen our connections to each other.
Langley’s Francesco Gallo in front of NASA Armstrong’s DC-8 aircraft in South Korea during ASIA-AQ.NASA/Eddie Winstead Francesco Gallo, Ph.D., research scientist, operates Langley Aerosol Research Group (LARGE) instruments on board Armstrong’s DC-8 aircraft for ASIA-AQ.
What do you do at Langley?
I do a lot of data analysis of aerosol datasets from previous and current NASA campaigns.
Are there obstacles you have had to overcome to be successful?
I’ve always been very much supported by my family and mentors. Being a foreign national has been often an obstacle. Luckily, becoming a lawful permanent resident last year has helped things improve.
Were you treated differently as a woman in a science field?
No.
What’s the best part of your job?
Thinking I can somehow support the understanding of climate change for better environmental justice.
Langley’s Carolyn Jordan with the LARGE instrument panel she operates on NASA Armstrong’s DC-8 aircraft at Clark Air Base, Philippines.NASA/Eddie Winstead Carolyn Jordan, Ph.D., research scientist senior, is a member of the Langley Aerosol Research Group (LARGE). For ASIA-AQ, Jordan operates a rack on Armstrong’s DC-8 that measures aerosol properties and is developing a new measurement called the Spectral Aerosol Light Absorption Detector (SALAD).
What do you do at Langley?
Primarily, I am a data analyst with LARGE working up various data sets and writing papers focused on our aerosol measurements. I also work in the lab with other members of our group. We have developed two new ground-based measurement capabilities for spectral extinction (SpEx) and absorption. We are now transitioning those methods to enable them to be used from airborne platforms.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be an astronaut and even wrote to NASA as a young teenager (13-14 or so) to ask what one had to do to become one. They didn’t tell me, but they did send me a lovely photograph of Saturn!
Are there obstacles you have had to overcome to be successful?
I grew up in a tiny farm town in rural Wisconsin, but I was very fortunate to be surrounded by people who didn’t think it was crazy to want to be an astronaut. I was also extremely fortunate to have excellent teachers in high school and college who were supportive and helpful when I questioned whether I could manage the material as a physics major. I was lucky my obstacles were few, and I have been very fortunate in the opportunities that came my way.
Were you treated differently as a woman in a science field?
Sometimes. The important thing is even in the 1980s (my college, grad school, and early career years), those who did so were considered to be out of line, so I never paid much attention to those who treated me as if I didn’t belong.
Who were your mentors growing up? Who are your mentors now?
My high school teachers Dr. Neil C. Goodspeed, Mrs. Peggy Johnson, Mr. Ted Moskonas, and Ms. Pam Wilson, my college professors Dr. Dino Zei, Dr. Wayne Broshar, and Dr. Mary Williams-Norton. At this point in my career I don’t have mentors so much as excellent colleagues from whom I continue to learn a great deal.
What’s the best part of your job?
I have great colleagues and interesting research. Even after all these years, I still have a great time doing the work that I do. The most interesting thing for me is to look at the data. One always finds something interesting and often something unexpected. Working to understand what is there is the most fun for me.
Why does science matter to you?
Science is how we learn things. It’s how we identify solutions to problems. But there is also something to be said for expanding our knowledge of the universe we live in for its own sake.
What’s next?
I don’t know, we’ll see where the data tells us to look.
Langley’s Laura Judd and Barry Lefer from NASA HQ after a science flight at Clark Air Base, Philippines.NASA/Barry Lefer Laura Judd, Ph.D., research physical scientist and platform scientist for Langley’s G-III aircraft on ASIA-AQ.
What do you do on the ASIA-AQ mission?
I lead science flight planning and execution with our remote sensing payload and instrument and aircraft teams. In the field, I spend my days working with the forecasting team to identify flight opportunities and real-time decision-making during science flights. I also continue my role I did as an instrument team member, which includes data processing and analysis with high resolution maps of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde from one of our satellite proxy instruments.
What do you do at Langley?
I think my job fits largely three roles: (1) I contribute to planning of upcoming field studies This year it’s been STAQS (Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science) and ASIA-AQ. (2) I use data collected from those field studies to research spatial and temporal changes in pollution over major cities from satellites, aircraft, and ground-based data. This also includes validating satellite products and collaborating with other researchers using our data for topics such as model evaluation and air quality event analysis, etc. (3) I also am an associate program manager for the Health and Air Quality area in Earth Action. This comes with managing a portfolio of air quality projects that are integrating NASA datasets within decision making frameworks for stakeholders in air quality management and the public health sector.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I always wanted to study the weather. This came from growing up in Nebraska and constantly being bombarded with dramatic shifts in day-to-day weather, including severe storms. This is typical of most meteorology colleagues I have met. Going in the air pollution direction didn’t come until I graduated with my degree in meteorology through a NASA internship, but the weather is one of three major factors in why air pollution events unfold like they do from region-to-region (the other two being emissions and chemistry).
Were you treated differently as a woman in a science field?
I have definitely encountered a subset of people who have not given me the respect due to being a woman throughout my career. There are definitely instances where I am the only woman around, too, especially during field work. Luckily, I have been extremely fortunate to be overwhelmed with colleagues and mentors who do not treat me differently because I am a woman but rather see my potential and together make a good team.
Who were your mentors growing up? Who are your mentors now?
Barry Lefer [NASA’s Tropospheric Composition Program Manager] has been a huge advocate for me and many other women as scientists. While statistically there are less women in STEM, there is no way to balance it out in the future without advocates like him. He was my first mentor in doing airborne science as a student and continues to be at NASA.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is being on the forefront of new science. I get to work with some of the top experts in our field in the world and a lot of them I get to now call my friends. We are all learning together to come up with new ways to improve our understanding of air quality with the hope of seeing cleaner air in the future. You also can’t beat an office view from 28,000 feet during these sporadic missions!
Why does science matter to you?
The science we are doing directly affects our quality of life, especially for the millions living with poor air quality. I am also encouraged. I am early in my career and have already seen positive changes in air quality happen in some regions. I find that encouraging to keep going.
What’s next?
For me, it’s to keep pushing bounds on what we can learn from combining new satellite, airborne, and ground-based air quality data.
Langley’s Katie Travis on the flight line at Osan Airbase, South Korea. NASA’s DC-8 and G-III aircraft can be seen behind her along with a partner aircraft from the Korea Meteorological Administration.NASA/Francesca Gallo Katie Travis, Ph.D., research scientist, compares model forecast simulations with local air quality monitoring sites on the ASIA-AQ mission. Travis also performs quick evaluations of the aircraft data as it becomes available after each flight.
What do you do at Langley?
I work to put together all parts of the integrated observing system for air quality by interpreting satellite, aircraft, and ground-based data with models to improve our understanding of surface air quality and atmospheric composition.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
A journalist!
Are there obstacles you have had overcome to be successful?
The main obstacle I have had to overcome is balancing having children with the demands of a scientific career.
Were you treated differently as a woman in a science field?
That is a difficult question to answer. However, I can say that getting my bachelor’s degree in engineering from a women’s college (Smith College) gave me a wonderful start to working in science in a very supportive environment.
Who were your mentors growing up? Who are your mentors now?
I am very grateful for the wonderful community in the field of atmospheric chemistry and at NASA. It was a professor at Smith College, Paul Voss, who introduced me to air quality. Now I am lucky to be part of the IMPAQT group (Integrating Multiple Perspectives of Air Quality Team) at NASA and be mentored by senior scientists as well as work with colleagues with a range of expertise in both air pollution and policy.
What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is getting to learn something new every day and getting to explore questions about the world that I think are important.
Why does science matter to you?
Studying environmental issues, to me, means working to understand the impact human activities have on our environment so that we can protect it for future generations.
What’s next?
More science.
For more information on the ASIA-AQ mission and the Science Directorate at Langley:
https://www-air.larc.nasa.gov/missions/asia-aq/index.html
https://science.larc.nasa.gov/
https://science-data.larc.nasa.gov/large/
https://science.larc.nasa.gov/impaqt/
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4 min read Langley Celebrates Women’s History Month: Melanie Grande
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By NASA
Melanie Grande works in mission design and systems analysis at NASA’s Langley Research Center, where she has contributed to planning for human exploration of both the Moon and Mars. Starting in Langley’s Space Mission Analysis Branch (SMAB) as a Pathways co-op student in 2016, Melanie currently works as an aerospace engineer on the Mars Architecture Team, where she is involved in exploring possible Mars mission campaigns and modeling the many decisions needed for the Mars architecture.
Who or what inspired you to choose your career and why?
When I was in middle school, we went on a class field trip to NASA Kennedy Space Center, and I was absolutely amazed by the rockets, the exploration of the Moon, and everything about space. I decided to be an astronaut right then and there! Eventually, I also learned about engineering and how engineering was a career where people solve hard problems with creativity, and that appealed to me. I studied aerospace engineering in college, and eventually I found a Pathways position in SMAB, which offered me an opportunity to work on human space exploration and to solve the big picture problems, and I’ve been doing it ever since!
What do you find most rewarding about working with NASA?
I feel inspired by our mission to send humans to explore the Moon and Mars, and I also love working with so many passionate people who, just like me, enjoy chewing on high-level problems. NASA is the leading organization in the world for space exploration, and it’s because everyone at NASA is working hard every day to make these incredibly challenging missions possible. On top of that, I also really appreciate how my team and my branch have encouraged me to take on new opportunities and grow in a way that has really shaped my career so far.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I find public policy quite interesting, and more than anything, I see how regulatory support is critical not only for the aerospace industry but for human exploration in particular. So, outside of my regular job, I also serve on the AIAA Public Policy Committee as the Co-Chair of the Advocacy Working Group. It’s a great opportunity to help organize events both on Capitol Hill and for AIAA members to raise awareness for aerospace industry issues. Outside of that, I also enjoy traveling as much as I can, skiing, and working on crochet projects.
How does your background and heritage contribute to your perspective and approach in your role at NASA?
Being a woman in engineering, I’ve always been aware of being part of a minority—there were plenty of jokes in college about being noticeable, being one of only 5 or so women. And I didn’t have any role models of female engineers that I knew growing up. But my family has always encouraged me to work hard and follow my dreams. Also, I had a pretty diverse cohort of aerospace engineering peers in college, and we all banded together to survive the late nights in the Aero Lab! It’s a little different now—there are a lot of awesome female leaders and role models in NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate! But I still carry with me the perspective that we all have to work together and use our unique and diverse strengths, because otherwise, we won’t ever be able to make it all the way to Mars.
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