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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This low-angle self-portrait of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the site from which it reached down to drill into a rock target called “Buckskin” on lower Mount Sharp. When NASA conducts research beyond our world, scientists on Earth prepare as much as possible before sending instruments on extraterrestrial journeys. One way to prepare for these exploration missions is by using machine learning techniques to develop algorithms with data from commercial instruments or from flight instruments on planetary missions.
For example, NASA uses mass spectrometer instruments on Mars missions to analyze surface samples and identify organic molecules. Developing machine learning algorithms before missions can help make the process of analyzing planetary data faster and more efficient during time-limited space operations.
In 2022, Victoria Da Poian, a data scientist supporting machine learning research at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, collaborated with NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation to run two machine learning-based open science challenges, which sought ideas and solutions from the public. Solvers worldwide were invited to analyze chemical data sampled from commercial instruments located at NASA centers and data from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) testbed, which is a replica of the instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover. The challenges encouraged participants to be creative in their approaches and to provide detailed descriptions of their method and code.
Da Poian said her team decided to use public competitions for this project to gain new perspectives: “We were really interested in hearing from people who aren’t in our field and weren’t biased by the data’s meaning or our scientific rules.”
As a result, more than 1150 unique participants from all over the world participated in the competitions, and more than 600 solutions contributing models to analyze rock and soil samples relevant to planetary science were submitted. The challenges served as proof-of-concept projects to analyze the feasibility of combining data from multiple sources in a single machine learning application.
In addition to benefitting from the variety of perspectives offered by challenge participants, Da Poian says the challenges were both time- and cost-efficient methods for discovering solutions. At the same time, the challenges invited the global community to participate in NASA research in support of future space exploration missions, and winners received $60,000 in total prizes across the two opportunities.
Da Poian used lessons learned to develop a new challenge with Frontier Development Lab , an international research collaboration that brings together researchers and domain experts to tackle complex problems using machine learning technologies.
The competition, titled “Stay Curious: Leveraging Machine Learning to Analyze & Interpret the Measurements of Mars Planetary Instruments,” ran from June to August 2024. Results included cleaning SAM data collected on Mars, processing data for a consistent, machine learning-ready dataset combining commercial and flight instrument data, investigating data augmentation techniques to increase the limited data volume available for the challenge, and exploring machine learning techniques to help predict the chemical composition of Martian terrain.
“The machine learning challenges opened the door to how we can use laboratory data to train algorithms and then use that to train flight data,” said Da Poian. “Being able to use laboratory data that we’ve collected for many years is a huge opportunity for us, and the results so far are extremely encouraging.”
Find more opportunities: https://www.nasa.gov/get-involved/
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By NASA
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin onboard, Sunday, March 3, 2024, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA/Aubrey Gemignani NASA invites the public to participate as virtual guests in the launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, will embark on a flight aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, launching no earlier than 1:17 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 28, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Members of the public can register to attend the launch virtually. Virtual guests for this mission will receive curated resources, interactive opportunities, updates with the latest news, and a mission-specific collectible stamp for their virtual guest passport after liftoff. Don’t have a passport yet? Print yours here and get ready to add a stamp!
Live coverage and countdown commentary will begin at 9:10 a.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 28, streaming on NASA+ agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content on a variety of platforms, including social media.
Want to learn more about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program? Follow along on the mission blog, Commercial Crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, or check out Commercial Crew on Facebook.
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By USH
Reports of alien abductions first became widespread during the 1960s and 70s. Alleged abductees frequently described undergoing experimental procedures performed by extraterrestrial beings. Some even claimed that these aliens had inserted unknown objects into their bodies.
In many cases, these so-called "alien implants" are metallic and have been reported to emit radio frequency waves. Often, they are found attached to nerve endings within the body.
One of the most prominent figures in this field of research was Dr. Roger Leir, who passed away on March 14, 2014. Along with his surgical team, Dr. Leir performed 17 surgeries on individuals who claimed to have been abducted by aliens, removing 13 distinct objects suspected to be alien implants.
These objects were subjected to scientific analysis by prestigious laboratories, including Los Alamos National Labs, New Mexico Tech, and the University of California at San Diego. The findings have been puzzling, with some comparisons made to meteorite samples, and isotopic ratios in some tests suggesting materials not of Earthly origin.
One such case is that of Terry Lovelace, a former Air Force medic, who kept a disturbing secret for 40 years. In 2012, a routine x-ray revealed a small square object about the size of a fingernail which was buried deep in Terry's right leg the doctor had never see anything like it.
Then Terry suddenly remembered the terrifying experience he had tried to forget - an event during a camping trip at Devil's Den State Park that he had never spoken of, knowing no one would believe him without proof. Yet the evidence had always been there: a strange metal object embedded in his leg, something that was not man-made.
In 1977, Terry and a friend had an extraordinary encounter at Devil's Den State Park, where they witnessed a massive triangular craft. This experience resulted in missing time and unexplained injuries. Years later, Terry was faced with a difficult choice: reveal his story of alien contact or remain silent. His decision led him into conflict with powerful forces and uncovered a conspiracy that extended beyond our world.
While some remain skeptical, believing these implants are man-made and part of a secretive human agenda, Dr. Leir’s work, along with Terry Lovelace's experience at Devil’s Den and the mysterious object found in his leg, suggests that 'alien' implants may not be mere fiction.
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By NASA
“It’s 2 a.m. in the morning on a Sunday. You have your headset in your hand. You’re about to walk into Mission Control. And you understand — in the darkness, the crickets chirping, the lights shining on the building — you understand where you’re going and what you’re a part of.
“This is the building where we heard astronauts say, ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem.’ Where we heard, ‘the Eagle has landed.’ And the people on the ground supporting those historic missions were in this building — and now I get to be a part of that.
“There is just this undying sense of wonder every time I walk into this building. Not to say that there isn’t an undying sense of wonder at many of the other buildings at Johnson [Space Center]. But with this building in particular, having that ownership and that responsibility as I walk in — that will never go away. It’s wonderful.”
—Gary Jordan, Public Affairs Manager, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Image Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
Interviewer: NASA/Thalia Patrinos
Check out some of our other Faces of NASA.
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