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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Abigail Reigner, a systems engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, supports the agency’s research in electrified aircraft propulsion to enable more sustainable air travel. Behind her is a 25% scale model of NASA’s SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan aircraft concept used to test and demonstrate hybrid electric propulsion systems for emission reductions and performance boosts in future commercial aircraft.
Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna Growing up outside of Philadelphia, Abigail Reigner spent most of her childhood miles away from where her family called home, and where there was little trace of her Native American tribe and culture.
Belonging to the Comanche Nation that resides in Lawton, Oklahoma, Reigner’s parents made every effort to keep her connected to her Indigenous heritage and part of a community that would later play a key role in her professional journey.
“My parents were really adamant on making sure my brother and I were still involved in the Native American traditions."
Abigail Reigner
“My parents were really adamant on making sure my brother and I were still involved in the Native American traditions,” Reigner said. “We would go down to Oklahoma often in the summertime, spending time with family and staying immersed in our culture.”
Both her parents come from a teaching background, so Reigner was surrounded by hands-on learning experiences early in life. As a school teacher, her mother would participate in local outreach events each year, talking and interacting with students. Her father, a middle school technology education teacher, taught Reigner how to use computer-aided design (CAD) and helped introduce her to the world of engineering at a young age.
These unique experiences helped spark Reigner’s curiosity for learning about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and connecting with others in her community who shared these interests. Reigner says she never takes her upbringing for granted.
“I feel pretty lucky to have grown up with so many educational opportunities, and I try to use them as a way to give back to my community,” Reigner said.
After participating in various engineering and robotics classes in high school and realizing a career in STEM was the right fit for her, Reigner went on to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.
During her time there, she joined the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) where she got the unique opportunity to connect with other Indigenous students and mentors in STEM fields and gain leadership experience on projects that eventually set her up for internship opportunities at NASA.
“The opportunities I got through AISES led me to get an internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the summer of 2021, and then an eight-month co-op the following year working in the center’s materials science division,” Reigner said.
Through AISES, Reigner also met Joseph Connolly, an aerospace engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland who was looking to recruit Indigenous students for full-time positions in the agency. Upon graduating from college, Reigner joined NASA Glenn as an engineer in the summer of 2024.
Abigail Reigner (top far left) and Joseph Connolly (middle far right) pose with NASA employees while staffing a booth at an American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) conference to help recruit Indigenous students to the agency. Credit: Abigail Reigner Today, Reigner works as a systems engineer supporting NASA Glenn’s efforts to test and demonstrate electrified aircraft propulsion technologies for future commercial aircraft as part of the agency’s mission to make air travel more sustainable.
One of the projects she works on is NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD), where she supports risk-reduction testing that enables the project to explore the feasibility of hybrid electric propulsion in reducing emissions and improving efficiency in future aircraft.
“It’s always good to know that you’re doing something that is furthering the benefit of humanity,” Reigner said. “Seeing that unity across NASA centers and knowing that you are a part of something that is accelerating technology for the future is very cool.”
“I really feel like the reason I am here at NASA is because of the success of not just the Native American support group here at Glenn, but also Natives across the agency.”
Abigail Reigner
The growing community of Native Americans at NASA Glenn has fostered several initiatives over the years that have helped recruit, inspire, and retain Indigenous employees.
Leveraging some of the agency’s diversity programs that provide educational STEM opportunities for underrepresented communities, the Native Americans at NASA group has encouraged more students with Indigenous backgrounds to get involved in technical projects while developing the skills needed to excel in STEM fields.
“The Native American support group at NASA has been around since the mid-to-late 1980s and was actually one of the first Native American employee resources groups at the agency,” Connolly said. “Through this, we’ve been able to connect a number of Native employees with senior leaders across NASA and establish more agencywide recruitment efforts and initiatives for Native Americans.”
These initiatives range from support through NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) to help recruit more Indigenous students, to encouraging participation in hands-on learning experiences through projects such as NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI) and the agency’s involvement in the First Nations Launch competition, which helps provide students with opportunities to conduct research while developing engineering and team-building skills.
The efforts of the Native American community at NASA Glenn and across the agency have been successful in not only creating a direct pipeline for Indigenous students into the NASA workforce, but also allowing them to feel seen and represented in the agency, says Connolly.
For Reigner, having this community and resource group at NASA to help guide and support her through her journey has been crucial to her success and important for the future of diversity within the agency.
“I really feel like the reason I am here at NASA is because of the success of not just the Native American support group here at Glenn, but also Natives across the agency,” Reigner said. Without their support and initiatives to recruit and retain students, I wouldn’t be here today.”
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By NASA
5 Min Read Wearable Tech for Space Station Research
A wearable monitoring device is visible on the left wrist of NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps. Credits: NASA Science in Space Nov 2024
Many of us wear devices that count our steps, measure our heart rate, track sleep patterns, and more. This information can help us make healthy decisions – research shows the devices encourage people to move more, for example – and could flag possible problems, such as an irregular heartbeat.
Wearable monitors also have become common tools for research on human health, including studies on the International Space Station. Astronauts have worn special watches, headbands, vests, and other devices to help scientists examine sleep quality, effectiveness of exercise, heart health, and more.
Warm to the core
Spaceflight can affect body temperature regulation and daily rhythms due to factors such as the absence of convection (a natural process that transfers heat away from the body) and changes in the cardiovascular and metabolic systems.
A current investigation from ESA (European Space Agency), Thermo-Mini or T-Mini examines how the body regulates its core temperature during spaceflight. The study uses a non-invasive headband monitor that astronauts can wear for hours at a time. Data from the monitor allow researchers to determine the effect on body temperature from environmental and physiological factors such as room temperature and humidity, time of day, and physical stress. The same type of sensor already is used on Earth for research in clinical environments, such as improving incubators, and studies of how hotter environments affect human health.
Thermolab, an earlier ESA investigation, examined thermoregulatory and cardiovascular adaptations during rest and exercise in microgravity. Researchers found that core body temperature rises higher and faster during exercise in space than on Earth and that the increase was sustained during rest, a phenomenon that could affect the health of crew members on long-term spaceflight. The finding also raises questions about the thermoregulatory set point humans are assumed to have as well as our ability to adapt to climate change on Earth.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague wears the T-mini device while exercising.NASA To sleep, perchance to dream
Spaceflight is known to disrupt sleep-wake patterns. Actiwatch Spectrum, a device worn on the wrist, contains an accelerometer to measure motion and photodetectors to monitor ambient lighting. It is an upgrade of previous technology used on the space station to monitor the length and quality of crew member sleep. Data from earlier missions show that crew members slept significantly less during spaceflight than before and after. The Actiwatch Sleep-Long investigation used an earlier version of the device to examine how ambient light affects the sleep-wake cycle and found an association between sleep deficiency and changes during spaceflight in circadian patterns, or the body’s response to a normal 24-hour light and dark cycle. Follow up studies are testing lighting systems to address these effects and help astronauts maintain healthy circadian rhythms.
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams wears an Actiwatch as she conducts research.NASA Wearable Monitoring tested a lightweight vest with embedded sensors to monitor heart rate and breathing patterns during sleep and help determine whether changes in heart activity affect sleep quality. The technology offers a significant advantage by monitoring heart activity without waking the test subject and could help patients on Earth with sleep disorders. Researchers reported positive performance and good quality of recorded signals, suggesting that the vest can contribute to comprehensive monitoring of individual health on future spaceflight and in some settings on Earth as well.
These and other studies support development of countermeasures to improve sleep for crew members, helping to maintain alertness and lessen fatigue during missions.
(Not) waiting to exhale
Humans exhale carbon dioxide and too much of it can build up in closed environments, causing headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms. Spacecraft have systems to remove this substance from cabin air, but pockets of carbon dioxide can form and be difficult to detect and remove. Personal CO2 Monitor tested specially designed sensors attached to clothing to monitor the wearer’s immediate surroundings. Researchers reported that the devices functioned adequately as either crew-worn or static monitors, an important step toward using them to determine how carbon dioxide behaves in enclosed systems like spacecraft.
One of the wearable carbon dioxide monitors clipped to the wall near a crew sleeping compartment. Radiation in real time
EVARM, an investigation from CSA (Canadian Space Agency), used small wireless dosimeters carried in a pocket to measure radiation exposure during spacewalks. The data showed that this method is a feasible way to measure radiation exposure, which could help focus routine dosage monitoring where it is most needed. Any shielding and countermeasures developed also could help protect people who work in high-radiation areas on Earth.
ESA’s Active Dosimeter tested a radiation dosimeter worn by crew members to measure changes in their exposure over time based on the space station’s orbit and altitude, the solar cycle, and solar flares. Measurements from the device allowed researchers to analyze radiation dosage across an entire space mission.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet holds one of the mobile units for the Active Dosimeter study.NASA The Active Dosimeter also was among the instruments used to measure radiation on NASA’s Orion spacecraft during its 25.5-day uncrewed Artemis I mission around the Moon and back in 2022.
Another device tested on the space station and then on Artemis I, AstroRad Vest is designed to protect astronauts from solar particle events. Researchers used these and other radiation measuring devices to show that Orion’s design can protect its crew from potentially hazardous radiation levels during lunar missions.
The International Space Station serves as an important testbed for these technologies and many others being developed for future missions to the Moon and beyond.
Melissa Gaskill
International Space Station Research Communications Team
Johnson Space Center
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By European Space Agency
Space startups and SMEs can meet ESA’s SME Office at Space Tech Expo, a space technology trade fair and conference in Bremen, Germany from 19–21 November.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in its run stall at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, firing up its engine for the first time. These engine-run tests start at low power and allow the X-59 team to verify the aircraft’s systems are working together while powered by its own engine. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter.NASA/Carla Thomas NASA’s Quesst mission marked a major milestone with the start of tests on the engine that will power the quiet supersonic X-59 experimental aircraft.
These engine-run tests, which began Oct. 30, allow the X-59 team to verify the aircraft’s systems are working together while powered by its own engine. In previous tests, the X-59 used external sources for power. The engine-run tests set the stage for the next phase of the experimental aircraft’s progress toward flight.
The X-59 team is conducting the engine-run tests in phases. In this first phase, the engine rotated at a relatively low speed without ignition to check for leaks and ensure all systems are communicating properly. The team then fueled the aircraft and began testing the engine at low power, with the goal of verifying that it and other aircraft systems operate without anomalies or leaks while on engine power.
Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin sits in the cockpit of NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft in a run stall at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California prior to its first engine run. These engine-run tests featured the X-59 powered by its own engine, whereas in previous tests, the aircraft depended on external sources for power. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter.NASA/Carla Thomas “The first phase of the engine tests was really a warmup to make sure that everything looked good prior to running the engine,” said Jay Brandon, NASA’s X-59 chief engineer. “Then we moved to the actual first engine start. That took the engine out of the preservation mode that it had been in since installation on the aircraft. It was the first check to see that it was operating properly and that all the systems it impacted – hydraulics, electrical system, environmental control systems, etc. – seemed to be working.”
The X-59 will generate a quieter thump rather than a loud boom while flying faster than the speed of sound. The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which will gather data on how people perceive these thumps, providing regulators with information that could help lift current bans on commercial supersonic flight over land.
The engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust, which will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot – atop the aircraft — to aid in making the X-59 quieter.
Engine runs are part of a series of integrated ground tests needed to ensure safe flight and successful achievement of mission goals. Because of the challenges involved with reaching this critical phase of testing, the X-59’s first flight is now expected in early 2025. The team will continue progressing through critical ground tests and address any technical issues discovered with this one-of-a-kind, experimental aircraft. The X-59 team will have a more specific first flight date as these tests are successfully completed.
The testing is taking place at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. During later phases, the team will test the aircraft at high power with rapid throttle changes, followed by simulating the conditions of an actual flight.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits in its run stall at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, prior to its first engine run. Engine runs are part of a series of integrated ground tests needed to ensure safe flight and successful achievement of mission goals. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter.NASA/Carla Thomas “The success of these runs will be the start of the culmination of the last eight years of my career,” said Paul Dees, NASA’s deputy propulsion lead for the X-59. “This isn’t the end of the excitement but a small steppingstone to the beginning. It’s like the first note of a symphony, where years of teamwork behind the scenes are now being put to the test to prove our efforts have been effective, and the notes will continue to play a harmonious song to flight.”
After the engine runs, the X-59 team will move to aluminum bird testing, where data will be fed to the aircraft under both normal and failure conditions. The team will then proceed with a series of taxi tests, where the aircraft will be put in motion on the ground. These tests will be followed by final preparations for first flight.
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Last Updated Nov 06, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactMatt Kamletmatthew.r.kamlet@nasa.gov Related Terms
Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Ames Research Center Armstrong Flight Research Center Glenn Research Center Langley Research Center Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Quesst (X-59) Quesst: The Vehicle Supersonic Flight View the full article
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By European Space Agency
When disaster strikes, maintaining communication is critical. Yet, terrestrial (ground) networks are often compromised, leaving civilians stranded and first responders without access to vital information. Limited bandwidth can severely delay crisis management efforts, potentially costing lives. Recent events around the world, including devastating floods and wildfires, underscore the increasing relevance and urgency for advanced disaster response technology.
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