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By NASA
Earth Observer Earth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives 5 min read
Updates on NASA Field Campaigns
Snippets from The Earth Observer’s Editor’s Corner
PACE-PAX
PACE–PAX had as its primary objective to gather data to validate measurements from NASA’s PACE mission. A secondary objective was validation of observations by the European Space Agency’s recently launched Earth Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission. The operations spanned Southern and Central California and nearby coastal regions, logging 81 flight hours for the NASA ER-2, which operated out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in Edwards, CA, and 60 hours for the Twin Otter aircraft, which was operated by the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) at the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA) out of Marina Municipal Airport in Marina, CA – see Photo.
Photo. The Twin Otter aircraft operated out of the Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) during the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem–Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE–PAX) campaign. The image shows the Twin Otter aircraft missing the approach at Marina Airport to check instrument performance on the aircraft against identical instrumentation on an airport control tower. Photo credit: NASA NASA’s ER-2 aircraft flies at an altitude of approximately 20 km, well above the troposphere. PACE–PAX researchers used the unique high-altitude vantage point to make observations of the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface in a similar manner to that of PACE. In so doing, they can verify the accuracy of data gathered by the satellite in orbit. Meanwhile, the Twin Otter flew at a much lower altitude in the atmosphere (~3 km). The instrumentation onboard the Twin Otter was used to sample and measure cloud droplet size, aerosol size, and the amount of light scattered or absorbed by the particles. These aircraft observations are the same atmospheric properties that PACE observes from its broader vantage point in polar orbit. In addition to the PACE and aircraft observations, the R/V Shearwater operated 15 day trips out of Santa Barbara, CA, gathering additional surface-based observations along with other vessels and floats.
Field campaigns, such as PACE–PAX, are designed to collect measurements at different scales and conditions for comparison to satellite observations. When it comes to doing this successfully, timing is everything. PACE–PAX observations were carefully coordinated so that the two aircraft were in flight and taking observations at the same time, so observations were being obtained at the surface (e.g., on the ship) as well as the satellite passing overhead. This takes a tremendous amount of effort on the part of the organizers.
BlueFlux
BlueFlux was set up to study the wetland ecosystems of South Florida. Wetland ecosystems represent the ever-changing line between land and sea, and are exceptionally vulnerable to climate disturbances, such as sea level rise and tropical cyclones. As these threats intensify, wetland ecology – and its role as a critical sink of CO2 – faces an uncertain future.
BlueFlux observations will contribute to the development of a new, remote-sensing data product called “Daily Flux Predictions for South Florida,” which will help research teams led by Ben Poulter [GSFC] explain and quantify the changing relationship between wetlands and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations (GHG). The goal is to refine global GHG budget analyses and provide regional stakeholders with information to evaluate how Florida’s wetlands are responding to natural and anthropogenic pressures in real time.
The “Daily Flux Predictions for South Florida” product will use retrievals of surface spectral reflectance captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites to estimate the rate at which various gasses are exchanged between Earth’s surface and the atmosphere. Such flux measurements in coastal wetlands are historically limited on account of the relative inaccessibility of these ecosystems. To contribute to a more robust understanding of how Florida’s coastal ecology fits into the carbon cycle, BlueFlux conducted a series of airborne fieldwork deployments out of the Miami Homestead Air Reserve Base and the Miami Executive Airport in Miami-Dade County, which are adjacent to the eastern border of the Everglades National Park. The full study region – broadly referred to as South Florida – is narrowly defined by the wetland ecosystems that extend from Lake Okeechobee and its Northern estuaries to the saltwater marshland and mangrove forests along the state’s southernmost shore.
Flux measurements were made along each flight track using a payload known as the CARbon Airborne Flux Experiment (CARAFE) flying at between about 90 m and 3000 m. The researchers configured airborne observations, along with additional ground-based flux measurements, to match the spatial and temporal resolution of spectra collected by MODIS sensors, which produce surface reflectance retrievals at a 500 m daily resolution. Mirroring the scale of MODIS observations was necessary to both train the flux product’s underlying machine-learning algorithms and validate the accuracy of predictions made using satellite data alone. Data collected during BlueFlux fieldwork campaigns is available to the general public through NASA’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). The “Daily Flux Predictions for South Florida” data product will also be accessible through NASA’s ORNL DAAC by early 2025.
Steve Platnick
EOS Senior Project Scientist
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Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
This photo shows the Optical Telescope Assembly for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which was recently delivered to the largest clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.NASA/Chris Gunn NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is one giant step closer to unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The mission has now received its final major delivery: the Optical Telescope Assembly, which includes a 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror, nine additional mirrors, and supporting structures and electronics. The assembly was delivered Nov. 7. to the largest clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where the observatory is being built.
The telescope will focus cosmic light and send it to Roman’s instruments, revealing many billions of objects strewn throughout space and time. Using the mission’s Wide Field Instrument, a 300-megapixel infrared camera, astronomers will survey the cosmos all the way from the outskirts of our solar system toward the edge of the observable universe. Scientists will use Roman’s Coronagraph Instrument to test new technologies for dimming host stars to image planets and dusty disks around them in far better detail than ever before.
“We have a top-notch telescope that’s well aligned and has great optical performance at the cold temperatures it will see in space,” said Bente Eegholm, optics lead for Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly at NASA Goddard. “I am now looking forward to the next phase where the telescope and instruments will be put together to form the Roman observatory.”
In this photo, optical engineer Bente Eegholm inspects the surface of the primary mirror for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. This 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) mirror is a major component of the Optical Telescope Assembly, which also contains nine additional mirrors and supporting structures and electronics.NASA/Chris Gunn Designed and built by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, the assembly incorporates key optics (including the primary mirror) that were made available to NASA by the National Reconnaissance Office. The team at L3Harris then reshaped the mirror and built upon the inherited hardware to ensure it would meet Roman’s specifications for expansive, sensitive infrared observations.
“The telescope will be the foundation of all of the science Roman will do, so its design and performance are among the largest factors in the mission’s survey capability,” said Josh Abel, lead Optical Telescope Assembly systems engineer at NASA Goddard.
The team at Goddard worked closely with L3Harris to ensure these stringent requirements were met and that the telescope assembly will integrate smoothly into the rest of the Roman observatory.
The assembly’s design and performance will largely determine the quality of the mission’s results, so the manufacturing and testing processes were extremely rigorous. Each optical component was tested individually prior to being assembled and assessed together earlier this year. The tests helped ensure that the alignment of the telescope’s mirrors will change as expected when the telescope reaches its operating temperature in space.
Then, the telescope was put through tests simulating the extreme shaking and intense sound waves associated with launch. Engineers also made sure that tiny components called actuators, which will adjust some of the mirrors in space, move as predicted. And the team measured gases released from the assembly as it transitioned from normal air pressure to a vacuum –– the same phenomenon that has led astronauts to report that space smells gunpowdery or metallic. If not carefully controlled, these gases could contaminate the telescope or instruments.
Upon arrival at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the Optical Telescope Assembly for the agency’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was lifted out of the shipping fixture and placed with other mission hardware in Goddard’s largest clean room. Now, it will be installed onto Roman’s Instrument Carrier, a structure that will keep the telescope and Roman’s two instruments optically aligned. The assembly’s electronics box –– essentially the telescope’s brain –– will be mounted within the spacecraft along with Roman’s other electronics.NASA/Chris Gunn Finally, the telescope underwent a month-long thermal vacuum test to ensure it will withstand the temperature and pressure environment of space. The team closely monitored it during cold operating conditions to ensure the telescope’s temperature will remain constant to within a fraction of a degree. Holding the temperature constant allows the telescope to remain in stable focus, making Roman’s high-resolution images consistently sharp. Nearly 100 heaters on the telescope will help keep all parts of it at a very stable temperature.
“It is very difficult to design and build a system to hold temperatures to such a tight stability, and the telescope performed exceptionally,” said Christine Cottingham, thermal lead for Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly at NASA Goddard.
Now that the assembly has arrived at Goddard, it will be installed onto Roman’s Instrument Carrier, a structure that will keep the telescope and Roman’s two instruments optically aligned. The assembly’s electronics box –– essentially the telescope’s brain –– will be mounted within the spacecraft along with Roman’s other electronics.
With this milestone, Roman remains on track for launch by May 2027.
“Congratulations to the team on this stellar accomplishment!” said J. Scott Smith, the assembly’s telescope manager at NASA Goddard. “The completion of the telescope marks the end of an epoch and incredible journey for this team, and yet only a chapter in building Roman. The team’s efforts have advanced technology and ignited the imaginations of those who dream of exploring the stars.”
Virtually tour an interactive version of the telescope The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech/IPAC in Southern California, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and a science team comprising scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems Inc. in Boulder, Colorado; L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California.
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
301-286-1940
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Last Updated Nov 14, 2024 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzerashley.m.balzer@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Exoplanets Goddard Space Flight Center The Universe View the full article
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Note: The following article is part of a series highlighting propulsion testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. To access the entire series, please visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/propulsion-powering-space-dreams/.
Workers making way for NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, likely did not realize they were building something that would not only withstand the test of time but transcend it.
Mosquitoes, snakes, hurricanes, and intense south Mississippi heat – early crews faced all with a spirit of resilience and adaptability that remains a hallmark characteristic of NASA Stennis six decades later.
“From going to the Moon for the first time and now returning to the Moon, you can trace a straight line of propulsion testing at NASA Stennis,” said Maury Vander, chief of the NASA Stennis Test Operations Division. “We still stand on the front lines of support for this country’s space program.”
For five decades and counting, the versatile NASA Stennis test stands have been used for stage, engine, and component testing on multiple NASA and commercial projects.
A Sept. 25, 2012, aerial image shows the three propulsion test areas at NASA’s Stennis Space Center – the E Test Complex (with 12 active test cell positions capable of component, engine, and stage test activities) in the foreground, the A Test Complex (featuring the Fred Haise, A-2, and A-3 stands for large engine testing) in the middle, and the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) that can support both engine and stage testing in the background.NASA/Stennis The Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand), pictured on Oct. 6, 2020, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, tests RS-25 flight engines to help power NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System). NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Stennis An image shows the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center – then-Mississippi Test Facility – on April 17, 1966. Less than a week later, south Mississippi would be fully ushered into the Apollo era with the site’s first-ever hot fire test. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Stennis An image shows the A-3 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on March 29, 2013. The test stand area now is under lease to Rocket Lab for commercial operations. NOTE: Right click on photo to open full image in new tab.NASA/Stennis An image shows the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Dec. 31, 2014, during buildout for testing the core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Feb. 22, 2017, following core stage buildout of the test stand for future SLS (Space Launch System) testing. NASA/Stennis Three NASA Stennis stands – Fred Haise (formerly the A-1 Test Stand), A-2, and Thad Cochran (B-1/B-2) – date to the 1960s, when they were built to test Saturn V rocket stages for Apollo missions to the Moon. The Fred Haise and A-2 stand were single-position stands for testing one Saturn V second stage at a time. The Thad Cochran featured two positions – (B-1 and B-2) – that could each house a Saturn V first stage, although only the B-2 position was used during Apollo testing.
When the Apollo Program ended, the Fred Haise, A-2, and Thad Cochran (B-1) stands were modified to test single engines rather than rocket stages. All three were used in subsequent years to test space shuttle main engines and others.
Meanwhile, the Thad Cochran (B-2) stand was maintained for full stage testing. The space shuttle Main Propulsion Test Article was tested on the stand, as was the Common Core Booster for the Delta IV rocket. Most recently, the stand was used to test the first SLS (Space Launch System) stage that helped launch the Artemis I mission in 2022.
In 2024, the Fred Haise Test Stand is dedicated to RS-25 engine testing for NASA’s Artemis initiative. Every RS-25 engine that will help launch an SLS rocket during Artemis will be tested on the stand. The A-2 stand has been leased to Relativity Space, which is modifying it to support stage testing for its new rocket. In 2023, the Thad Cochran (B-1) stand concluded more than 20 years of RS-68 testing for Aerojet Rocketdyne (now known as L3Harris) and now is open for commercial use. The Thad Cochran (B-2) stand is being prepared to test NASA’s new SLS exploration upper stage before it flies on a future Artemis mission.
“When you think about the work at NASA Stennis, this is a place that helps write history,” Vander said. “And in a sense, these test stands are timeless, still operating as designed 60 years after they were built, so there is more history yet to come.”
NASA Stennis also constructed a fourth large test structure in the 2010s. The A-3 Test Stand is uniquely designed to simulate high altitudes up to 100,000 feet for testing engines and stages that need to fire in space. Rocket Lab currently leases the A-3 Test Stand area for construction of its Archimedes Test Complex.
Crews deliver the first RS-25 flight engine, engine No. 2059, to the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly the A-1 Test Stand) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on Nov. 4, 2015. The engine was tested to certify it for use on NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. NASA/Stennis An image shows a space shuttle main engine test on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on July 21, 2003. NASA/Stennis The A-3 Test Stand, designed to test fire next-generation engines at simulated altitudes up to 100,000 feet, undergoes an activation test on Feb. 24, 2014.NASA/Stennis NASA Stennis also operates a smaller test area to conduct component, subsystem, and system level testing. The area is now known as the E Test Complex and features four facilities, all developed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.
Construction of the E-1 Test Stand, then known as the Component Test Facility, began to support a joint project involving NASA and the U.S. Air Force project. Although the project was canceled, a second joint endeavor allowed completion of the test facility.
Development of the E-2 Test Stand, originally known as the High Heat Flux Facility, began to support the National Aerospace Plane project. Following cancelation of the project, the facility was completed to support testing for component and engine development efforts.
An E-3 Test Facility was constructed to support various component and small/subscale engine and booster test projects. Relativity Space leased a partially developed E-4 test area in 2018 and has since completed construction to support its commercial testing.
All in all, the E Test Complex stands feature 12 active cells capable of various component and engine testing. The versatility of the complex infrastructure and test team allows it to support test projects for a range of commercial aerospace companies, large and small. Currently, both E-2 cells 1 and 2 are leased to Relativity Space through 2028.
An aerial image shows the E-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the E-3 test area at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis An aerial image shows the E-2 Test Stand (Cell 1) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center on May 19, 2015. The versatile four-stand E Test Complex includes 12 active test cell positions capable of various component, engine, and stage test activities. NASA/Stennis “These facilities really do not exist anywhere else in the United States,” said Kevin Power, assistant director, Office of Project Management in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. “Customers come to us with requirements for certain tests of an article, and we look at what is the best place to test it based on the facility infrastructure. We have completed component level testing, all the way up to full engines.”
The list of companies who have conducted – or are now conducting – propulsion projects in the E Test Complex reads like a who’s who of commercial aerospace leaders.
“The E Complex illustrates the NASA Stennis story,” Power said. “We have very valuable infrastructure and resources, chief of which is the test team, who adapt to benefit NASA and meet the needs of the growing commercial aerospace industry.”
For information about NASA’s Stennis Space Center, visit:
Stennis Space Center – NASA
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Last Updated Nov 13, 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
A new European Space Agency-backed study shows that the extreme heatwaves of 2023, which fuelled huge wildfires and severe droughts, also undermined the land’s capacity to soak up atmospheric carbon. This diminished carbon uptake drove atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to new highs, intensifying concerns about accelerating climate change.
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By NASA
Twelve-year-old, Aadya Karthik of Seattle, Washington; nine-year-old, Rainie Lin of Lexington, Kentucky; and eighteen-year-old, Thomas Lui, winners of the 2023-2024 Power to Explore Student Writing Challenge observe testing at a NASA Glenn cleanroom during their prize trip to Cleveland. Credit: NASA NASA’s fourth annual Power to Explore Student Challenge kicked off November 7, 2024. The science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) writing challenge invites kindergarten through 12th grade students in the United States to learn about radioisotope power systems, a type of nuclear battery integral to many of NASA’s far-reaching space missions.
Students are invited to write an essay about a new nuclear-powered mission to any moon in the solar system they choose. Submissions are due Jan. 31, 2025.
With freezing temperatures, long nights, and deep craters that never see sunlight on many of these moons, including our own, missions to them could use a special kind of power: radioisotope power systems. These power systems have helped NASA explore the harshest, darkest, and dustiest parts of our solar system and enabled spacecraft to study its many moons.
“Sending spacecraft into space is hard, and it’s even harder sending them to the extreme environments surrounding the diverse moons in our solar system,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s Power to Explore Student Challenge provides the incredible opportunity for our next generation – our future explorers – to design their own daring missions using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to explore space and discover new science for the benefit of all, while also revealing incredible creative power within themselves. We cannot wait to see what the students dream up!”
Entries should detail where students would go, what they would explore, and how they would use radioisotope power systems to achieve mission success in a dusty, dark, or far away moon destination.
Judges will review entries in three grade-level categories: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Student entries are limited to 275 words and should address the mission destination, mission goals, and describe one of the student’s unique powers that will help the mission.
One grand prize winner from each grade category will receive a trip for two to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to learn about the people and technologies that enable NASA missions. Every student who submits an entry will receive a digital certificate and an invitation to a virtual event with NASA experts where they’ll learn about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and explore.
Judges Needed
NASA and Future Engineers are seeking volunteers to help judge the thousands of contest entries anticipated submitted from around the country. Interested U.S. residents older than 18 can offer to volunteer approximately three hours to review submissions should register to judge at the Future Engineers website.
The Power to Explore Student Challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office and managed and administered by Future Engineers under the direction of the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
To learn more about the challenge, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/power-to-explore
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Kristin Jansen
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-296-2203
kristin.m.jansen@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 07, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Opportunities For Students to Get Involved Science Mission Directorate STEM Engagement at NASA View the full article
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