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By NASA
The Rocky Mountains in Colorado, as seen from the International Space Station. Snowmelt from the mountainous western United States is an essential natural resource, making up as much as 75% of some states’ annual freshwater supply. Summer heat has significant effects in the mountainous regions of the western United States. Melted snow washes from snowy peaks into the rivers, reservoirs, and streams that supply millions of Americans with freshwater—as much as 75% of the annual freshwater supply for some states.
But as climate change brings winter temperatures to new highs, these summer rushes of freshwater can sometimes slow to a trickle.
“The runoff supports cities most people wouldn’t expect,” explained Chris Derksen, a glaciologist and Research Scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “Big cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles get water from snowmelt.”
To forecast snowmelt with greater accuracy, NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) and a team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, are developing SNOWWI, a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar that could one day be the cornerstone of future missions dedicated to measuring snow mass on a global scale – something the science community lacks.
SNOWWI aims to fill this technology gap. In January and March 2024, the SNOWWI research team passed a key milestone, flying their prototype for the first time aboard a small, twin-engine aircraft in Grand Mesa, Colorado, and gathering useful data on the area’s winter snowfields.
“I’d say the big development is that we’ve gone from pieces of hardware in a lab to something that makes meaningful data,” explained Paul Siqueira, professor of engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and principal investigator for SNOWWI.
SNOWWI stands for Snow Water-equivalent Wide Swath Interferometer and Scatterometer. The instrument probes snowpack with two Ku-band radar signals: a high-frequency signal that interacts with individual snow grains, and a low-frequency signal that passes through the snowpack to the ground.
The high-frequency signal gives researchers a clear look at the consistency of the snowpack, while the low-frequency signal helps researchers determine its total depth.
“Having two frequencies allows us to better separate the influence of the snow microstructure from the influence of the snow depth,” said Derksen, who participated in the Grand Mesa field campaign. “One frequency is good, two frequencies are better.”
The SNOWWI team in Grand Mesa, preparing to flight test their instrument. From an altitude of 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), SNOWWI can map 100 square kilometers (about 38 square miles) in just 30 minutes.
As both of those scattered signals interact with the snowpack and bounce back towards the instrument, they lose energy. SNOWWI measures that lost energy, and researchers later correlate those losses to features within the snowpack, especially its depth, density, and mass.
From an airborne platform with an altitude of 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), SNOWWI could map 40 square miles (100 square kilometers) of snowy terrain in just 30 minutes. From space, SNOWWI’s coverage would be even greater. Siqueira is working with Capella Space to develop a space-ready SNOWWI for satellite missions.
But there’s still much work to be done before SNOWWI visits space. Siqueira plans to lead another field campaign, this time in the mountains of Idaho. Grand Mesa is relatively flat, and Siqueira wants to see how well SNOWWI can measure snowpack tucked in the folds of complex, asymmetrical terrain.
For Derksen, who spends much of his time quantifying the freshwater content of snowpack in Canada, having a reliable database of global snowpack measurements would be game-changing.
“Snowmelt is money. It has intrinsic economic value,” he said. “If you want your salmon to run in mountain streams in the spring, you must have snowmelt. But unlike other natural resources, at this time, we really can’t monitor it very well.”
For information about opportunities to collaborate with NASA on novel, Earth-observing instruments, see ESTO’s catalog of open solicitations with its Instrument Incubator Program here.
Project Leads: Dr. Paul Siqueira, University of Massachusetts (Principal Investigator); Hans-Peter Marshall, University of Idaho (Co-Investigator)
Sponsoring Organizations: NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO), Instrument Incubator Program (IIP)
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Last Updated Oct 29, 2024 Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, achieved a key milestone this week for testing a new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage to fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
Over a two-week period beginning Oct. 10, crews completed a safe lift and installation of the interstage simulator component needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches.
“NASA Stennis is at the front end of the critical path for future space exploration,” said Barry Robinson, project manager for exploration upper stage Green Run testing on the Thad Cochran Test Stand. “Installing the interstage simulator is a significant step in our preparation to ensure the new, more powerful upper stage is ready to safely fly on future Artemis missions.”
Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin The EUS unit, built by Boeing at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, which will be the upper stage for the evolved Block 1B version of SLS and will enable NASA to launch its most ambitious deep space missions. The new stage will replace the current interim cryogenic propulsion stage on the Block 1 version of SLS, which features a single engine and is capable of lifting 27 tons of crew and cargo to lunar orbit.
The new exploration upper stage will be powered by four RL10 engines, manufactured by SLS engines contractor L3Harris. It will increase payload capacity by 40%, enabling NASA to send 38 tons of cargo with a crew to the Moon or 42 tons of cargo without a crew.
In the first two weeks of October 2024, crews at NASA’s Stennis Space Center completed a successful lift and installation of an interstage simulator unit on the B-2 side of the Thad Cochran test Stand. The interstage simulator is a key component for future testing of NASA’s new exploration upper stage that will fly on Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Before the first flight of the exploration upper stage on the Artemis IV mission, the stage will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems at NASA Stennis. The test series will culminate with a hot fire of the stage’s four RL10 engines, just as during an actual mission.
The simulator component installed on the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2) at NASA Stennis weighs 103 tons and measures 31 feet in diameter and 33 feet tall. It will function like the SLS interstage section to protect EUS electrical and propulsion systems during Green Run testing. The top portion of the simulator also will serve as a thrust takeout system to absorb the thrust of the EUS hot fire and transfer it back to the test stand. The four-engine EUS provides more than 97,000 pounds of thrust.
Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center complete a safe lift and install of an interstage simulator unit needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The lift and install, completed over a two-week period that began Oct. 10, marks a milestone for testing the new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage that will fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The EUS will undergo a series of Green Run tests of its integrated systems prior to its first flight. During testing, the interstage simulator component will function like the SLS interstage section that helps protect the upper stage during Artemis launches. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis crews previously lifted the interstage simulator to measure and align it relative to the test stand. It is now outfitted with all piping, tubing, and electrical systems necessary to support future Green Run testing.
Installation onto the test stand enables NASA Stennis crews to begin fabricating the mechanical and electrical systems connecting the facility to the simulator. As fabrication of the systems are completed, crews will conduct activation flows to ensure the test stand can operate to meet test requirements.
Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon; land the first woman, first person of color and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface; and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.
For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/stennis
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Last Updated Oct 25, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
With all instruments integrated, the first MetOp Second Generation-A, MetOp-SG-A1, weather satellite is now fully assembled and on schedule for liftoff next year. Meanwhile, its sibling, MetOp-SG-B1, is undergoing rigorous testing to ensure that it will withstand the vacuum and extreme temperature swings of space.
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:04:05 ESA’s Hera mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, on 7 October at 10:52 local time (16:52 CEST, 14:52 UTC).
Hera is ESA’s first planetary defence mission. It will fly to a unique target among the 1.3 million asteroids in our Solar System – the only body to have had its orbit shifted by human action – to solve lingering unknowns associated with its deflection.
Hera will carry out the first detailed survey of a ‘binary’ – or double-body – asteroid, 65803 Didymos, which is orbited by a smaller body, Dimorphos. Hera’s main focus will be Dimorphos, whose orbit around the main body was previously altered by NASA’s kinetic-impacting DART spacecraft.
By sharpening scientific understanding of this ‘kinetic impact’ technique of asteroid deflection, Hera should turn the experiment into a well-understood and repeatable technique for protecting Earth from an asteroid on a collision course.
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