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IAC 2022 - ESA DG and Directors meet the press
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By NASA
Manuel Retana arrived in the U.S. at 15 years old, unable to speak English and with nothing but a dream and $200 in his pocket. Now, he plays a crucial role implementing life support systems on spacecraft that will carry humans to the Moon and, eventually, Mars—paving the way for the next frontier of space exploration.
A project manager for NASA’s Johnson Space Center Life Support Systems Branch in Houston, Retana helps to ensure astronaut safety aboard the International Space Station and for future Artemis missions. His work involves tracking on-orbit technical issues, managing the cost and schedule impacts of flight projects, and delivering emergency hardware.
Manuel Retana stands in front of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of his most notable achievements came during the qualification of the Orion Smoke Eater Filter for the Artemis II and III missions. The filter is designed to remove harmful gases and particulates from the crew cabin in the event of a fire inside the spacecraft. Retana was tasked with creating a cost-effective test rig – a critical step for making the filter safe for flight.
Retana’s philosophy is simple: “Rockets do not build themselves. People build rockets, and your ability to work with people will define how well your rocket is built.”
Throughout his career, Retana has honed his soft skills—communication, leadership, collaboration, and conflict resolution—to foster an environment of success.
Retana encourages his colleagues to learn new languages and share their unique perspectives. He even founded NASA’s first Mariachi ensemble, allowing him to share his cultural heritage in the workplace.
He believes diversity of thought is a key element in solving complex challenges as well as creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their perspectives.
“You need to be humble and have a willingness to always be learning,” he said. “What makes a strong team is the fact that not everyone thinks the same way.”
Manuel Retana, center, performs with the Mariachi Ensemble group at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. For the future of space exploration, Retana is excited about the democratization of space, envisioning a world where every country has the opportunity to explore. He is eager to see humanity reach the Moon, Mars, and beyond, driven by the quest to answer the universe’s most enigmatic questions.
To the Artemis Generation, he says, “Never lose hope, and it is never too late to start following your dreams, no matter how far you are.”
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By NASA
5 min read
NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy
Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun’s supersonic “solar wind,” a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky lineup of a NASA and an ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA spacecraft both currently studying the Sun, they may have discovered the answer — knowledge that is a crucial piece of the puzzle to help scientists better forecast solar activity between the Sun and Earth.
A paper published in the Aug. 30, 2024, issue of the journal Science provides persuasive evidence that the fastest solar winds are powered by magnetic “switchbacks,” or large kinks in the magnetic field, near the Sun.
“Our study addresses a huge open question about how the solar wind is energized and helps us understand how the Sun affects its environment and, ultimately, the Earth,” said Yeimy Rivera, co-leader of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, part of Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. “If this process happens in our local star, it’s highly likely that this powers winds from other stars across the Milky Way galaxy and beyond and could have implications for the habitability of exoplanets.”
This artist’s concept shows switchbacks, or large kinks in the Sun’s magnetic field. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez Previously, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe found that these switchbacks were common throughout the solar wind. Parker, which became the first craft to enter the Sun’s magnetic atmosphere in 2021, allowed scientists to determine that switchbacks become more distinct and more powerful close to the Sun. Up to now, however, scientists lacked experimental evidence that this interesting phenomenon actually deposits enough energy to be important in the solar wind.
“About three years ago, I was giving a talk about how fascinating these waves are,” said co-author Mike Stevens, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics. “At the end, an astronomy professor stood up and said, ‘that’s neat, but do they actually matter?’”
To answer this, the team of scientists had to use two different spacecraft. Parker is built to fly through the Sun’s atmosphere, or “corona.” ESA’s and NASA’s Solar Orbiter mission is also on an orbit that takes it relatively close to the Sun, and it measures solar wind at larger distances.
The discovery was made possible because of a coincidental alignment in February 2022 that allowed both Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter to measure the same solar wind stream within two days of each other. Solar Orbiter was almost halfway to the Sun while Parker was skirting the edge of the Sun’s magnetic atmosphere.
This conceptual image shows Parker Solar Probe about to enter the solar corona. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith An artist’s concept shows Solar Orbiter near the Sun. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
“We didn’t initially realize that Parker and Solar Orbiter were measuring the same thing at all. Parker saw this slower plasma near the Sun that was full of switchback waves, and then Solar Orbiter recorded a fast stream which had received heat and with very little wave activity,” said Samuel Badman, astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics and the other co-lead of the study. “When we connected the two, that was a real eureka moment.”
Scientists have long known that energy is moved throughout the Sun‘s corona and the solar wind, at least in part, through what are known as “Alfvén waves.” These waves transport energy through a plasma, the superheated state of matter that makes up the solar wind.
However, how much the Alfvén waves evolve and interact with the solar wind between the Sun and Earth couldn’t be measured — until these two missions were sent closer to the Sun than ever before, at the same time. Now, scientists can directly determine how much energy is stored in the magnetic and velocity fluctuations of these waves near the corona, and how much less energy is carried by the waves farther from the Sun.
The new research shows that the Alfvén waves in the form of switchbacks provide enough energy to account for the heating and acceleration documented in the faster stream of the solar wind as it flows away from the Sun.
“It took over half a century to confirm that Alfvenic wave acceleration and heating are important processes, and they happen in approximately the way we think they do,” said John Belcher, emeritus professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who co-discovered Alfvén waves in the solar wind but was not involved in this study.
In addition to helping scientists better forecast solar activity and space weather, such information helps us understand mysteries of the universe elsewhere and how Sun-like stars and stellar winds operate everywhere.
“This discovery is one of the key puzzle pieces to answer the 50-year-old question of how the solar wind is accelerated and heated in the innermost portions of the heliosphere, bringing us closer to closure to one of the main science objectives of the Parker Solar Probe mission,” said Adam Szabo, Parker Solar Probe mission science lead at NASA.
By Megan Watzke
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
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Last Updated Aug 30, 2024 Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Heliophysics Division Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Science & Research Science Mission Directorate Solar Flares Solar Orbiter Solar Science Solar Wind Space Weather The Sun The Sun & Solar Physics Explore More
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NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails examines a sample of algae through a microscope in the Space Biosciences Research Lab. Swails, alongside Director of Cross Agency Strategy Integration John Keefe and Associate Administrator Jim Free, toured the NASA Ames campus on Aug. 28.NASA/Donald Richey NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free, Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails, and Director of Cross-Agency Strategy John Keefe visited NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley on Aug. 28. The visit was an opportunity for the leaders to meet with center leadership and tour multiple Ames facilities. Free, Swails, and Keefe also met with employees to discuss the agency’s strategic initiative, NASA 2040, a strategic agency initiative aimed at driving meaningful changes that will allow the agency to realize its long-term vision for what leaders and employees want the agency to be in 2040 and beyond.
During their tour, researchers at the Space Biosciences Research Lab presented on innovative projects like the Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications, an instrument that will study how yeast reacts to the lunar environment. The three leaders also learned about innovative wildfire research and other projects that seek to advance space exploration through scientific discoveries and technical developments.
The group ended their tour by visiting NASA Research Park tenants like the USGS National Innovation Center, and viewing the proposed future site of the UC Berkeley Space Center, a 36-acre campus and innovation hub for research and advancements in aeronautics, quantum computing, climate studies, social sciences, and more.
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Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 Related Terms
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