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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA marked a key milestone Feb. 18 with installation of RS-25 engine No. E20001, the first new production engine to help power the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on future Artemis missions to the Moon.
The engine, built by lead SLS engines contractor L3Harris (formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne), was installed on the Fred Haise Test Stand in preparation for acceptance testing next month. It represents the first of 24 new flight engines being built for missions, beginning with Artemis V.
Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin The NASA Stennis test team will conduct a full-duration, 500-second hot fire, providing critical performance data to certify the engine for use on a future mission. During missions to the Moon, RS-25 engines fire for about 500 seconds and up to the 111% power level to help launch SLS, with the Orion spacecraft, into orbit.
The engine arrived at the test stand from the L3Harris Engine Assembly Facility on the engine transport trailer before being lifted onto the vertical engine installer (VEI) on the west side deck. After rolling the engine into the stand, the team used the VEI to raise and secure it in place.
The upcoming acceptance test follows two certification test series that helped verify the new engine production process and components meet all performance requirements. Four RS-25 engines help launch SLS, producing up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust.
All RS-25 engines for Artemis missions are tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis prior to use. RS-25 tests are conducted by a team of operators from NASA, L3Harris, and Syncom Space Services, prime contractor for site facilities and operations.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA / Getty Images NASA has selected two new university student teams to participate in real-world aviation research challenges meant to transform the skies above our communities.
The research awards were made through NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC), which provides students with opportunities to contribute to NASA’s flight research goals.
This round is notable for including USRC’s first-ever award to a community college: Cerritos Community College.
We’re trying to tap into the community college talent pool to bring new students to the table for aeronautics.
steven holz
NASA Project Manager
“We’re trying to tap into the community college talent pool to bring new students to the table for aeronautics,” said Steven Holz, who manages the USRC award process. “Innovation comes from everywhere, and people with different viewpoints, educational backgrounds, and experiences like those in our community colleges are also interested in aeronautics and looking to make a difference.”
Real World Research Awards
Through USRC, students interact with real-world aspects of the research ecosystem both in and out of the laboratory. They will manage their own research projects, utilize state-of-the-art technology, and work alongside accomplished aeronautical researchers. Students are expected to make unique contributions to NASA’s research priorities.
USRC provides more than just experience in technical research.
Each team of students selected receives a USRC grant from NASA – and is tasked with the additional challenge of raising funds from the public through student-led crowdfunding. The process helps students develop skills in entrepreneurship and public communication.
The new university teams and research topics are:
Cerritos Community College
“Project F.I.R.E. (Fire Intervention Retardant Expeller)” will explore how to mitigate wildfires by using environmentally friendly fire-retardant pellets dropped from drones. Cerritos Community College’s team includes lead Angel Ortega Barrera as well as Larisa Mayoral, Paola Mayoral Jimenez, Jenny Rodriguez, Logan Stahl, and Juan Villa, with faculty mentor Janet McLarty-Schroeder. This team also successfully participated with the same research topic in in NASA’s Gateway to Blue Skies competition, which aims to expand engagement between the NASA’s University Innovation project and universities, industry, and government partners.
Colorado School of Mines
The project “Design and Prototyping of a 9-phase Dual-Rotor Motor for Supersonic Electric Turbofan” will work on a scaled-down prototype for an electric turbofan for supersonic aircraft. The Colorado School of Mines team includes lead Mahzad Gholamian as well as Garret Reader, Mykola Mazur, and Mirali Seyedrezaei, with faculty mentor Omid Beik.
Complete details on USRC awardees and solicitations, such as what to include in a proposal and how to submit it, are available on the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate solicitation page.
About the Author
John Gould
Aeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
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Last Updated Feb 18, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactSteven Holzsteven.m.holz@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
An image of a coastal marshland combines aerial and satellite views in a technique similar to hyperspectral imaging. Combining data from multiple sources gives scientists information that can support environmental management.John Moisan When it comes to making real-time decisions about unfamiliar data – say, choosing a path to hike up a mountain you’ve never scaled before – existing artificial intelligence and machine learning tech doesn’t come close to measuring up to human skill. That’s why NASA scientist John Moisan is developing an AI “eye.”
Oceanographer John MoisanNASA Moisan, an oceanographer at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Virginia, said AI will direct his A-Eye, a movable sensor. After analyzing images his AI would not just find known patterns in new data, but also steer the sensor to observe and discover new features or biological processes.
“A truly intelligent machine needs to be able to recognize when it is faced with something truly new and worthy of further observation,” Moisan said. “Most AI applications are mapping applications trained with familiar data to recognize patterns in new data. How do you teach a machine to recognize something it doesn’t understand, stop and say ‘What was that? Let’s take a closer look.’ That’s discovery.”
Finding and identifying new patterns in complex data is still the domain of human scientists, and how humans see plays a large part, said Goddard AI expert James MacKinnon. Scientists analyze large data sets by looking at visualizations that can help bring out relationships between different variables within the data.
Infrared images like this one from a marsh area on the Maryland/Virginia Eastern Shore coastal barrier and back bay regions reveal clues to scientists about plant health, photosynthesis, and other conditions that affect vegetation and ecosystems.John Moisan It’s another story to train a computer to look at large data streams in real time to see those connections, MacKinnon said. Especially when looking for correlations and inter-relationships in the data that the computer hasn’t been trained to identify.
Moisan intends first to set his A-Eye on interpreting images from Earth’s complex aquatic and coastal regions. He expects to reach that goal this year, training the AI using observations from prior flights over the Delmarva Peninsula. Follow-up funding would help him complete the optical pointing goal.
“How do you pick out things that matter in a scan?” Moisan asked. “I want to be able to quickly point the A-Eye at something swept up in the scan, so that from a remote area we can get whatever we need to understand the environmental scene.”
Moisan’s on-board AI would scan the collected data in real-time to search for significant features, then steer an optical sensor to collect more detailed data in infrared and other frequencies.
Thinking machines may be set to play a larger role in future exploration of our universe. Sophisticated computers taught to recognize chemical signatures that could indicate life processes, or landscape features like lava flows or craters, might offer to increase the value of science data returned from lunar or deep-space exploration.
Today’s state-of-the-art AI is not quite ready to make mission-critical decisions, MacKinnon said.
“You need some way to take a perception of a scene and turn that into a decision and that’s really hard,” he said. “The scary thing, to a scientist, is to throw away data that could be valuable. An AI might prioritize what data to send first or have an algorithm that can call attention to anomalies, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be a scientist looking at that data that results in discoveries.”
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Last Updated Feb 10, 2025 Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center Artificial Intelligence (AI) Goddard Technology People of Goddard Technology Wallops Flight Facility Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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By NASA
“Data visualization has recently exploded as a communication tool,” said Mark SubbaRao, information technology specialist and lead for NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. “As data becomes bigger and more complex, visualization becomes an even more important tool for understanding that data.”Rachel Connolly / Courtesy of Mark SubbaRao Name: Mark SubbaRao
Title: Lead, Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS)
Formal Job Classification: Information Technology Specialist
Organization: SVS, Science Mission Directorate (Code 606.4)
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
I have an amazing job. I get to work with all the most interesting NASA science and make it visual to help people can understand it. The Scientific Visualization Studio, the SVS, supports all of NASA and is located at Goddard.
What is your educational background?
I have B.S. in engineering physics, minor in astronomy, from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I have a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Johns Hopkins University.
What is data visualization? How is it different from animation?
Data visualization is the graphical representation of actual data (in our case usually scientific data). At its most basic it takes the forms of charts, graphs, and maps. In contrast, conceptual animation, such as the work of our colleagues in the CI Lab, is the graphical representation of ideas. Conceptual animation and data visualization are both needed to communicate the full scientific process.
How did your work for the University of Chicago develop your interest in visualization?
I worked on software for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a project to create the biggest 3D map of the universe. Our goal was to map 3D positions of a million galaxies, which we did. My role was to develop the software to determine the distance to galaxies. To see the result we needed a way to see how the galaxies were distributed in 3D, which led to my interest in visualization.
Viewing this map, I felt like we had revealed a new world which no one had yet seen altogether. The desire to share that with the public led me a position at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.
“Astrographics,” a video piece Mark SubbaRao produced for the Adler Planetarium, being projected on the Merchandise Mart on the Chicago riverfront.Michael SubbaRao / Courtesy of Mark SubbaRao How did planetariums evolve during your 18 years of working for the Adler Planetarium?
I led their visualization efforts for their Space Visualization Laboratory, a laboratory that was on the museum floor and had multiple specialized displays. The local scientific community used our laboratory to present to the public including other scientists and students.
I also produced planetarium shows and designed exhibits. My last project, “Astrographics” for Art on the Mart, was a 2.6-acre, outdoor projection onto a building near the Chicago River. We believe that this is the largest, permanent outdoor digital projection in the world.
I began to see the power of the planetarium as a data visualization environment. Traditionally, a planetarium has been a place to project stars and tell stories about constellations. Planetariums have now evolved into a general-purpose visualization platform to communicate science.
I got more involved with the planetarium community, which led to me becoming president of the International Planetarium Society. A major focus of my presidency was promoting planetariums in Africa.
Why did you come to NASA’s SVS at Goddard?
I came to Goddard in December 2020. I always admired NASA’s SVS and had used their products. I consider the SVS the preeminent group using scientific visualization for public communication.
I wanted to work on visualizations for a broader variety of sciences, in particular, climate science. Our group created visualizations for the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, the fall of 2021. In March 2022, I created a visualization called Climate Spiral, which went viral.
This visualization shows monthly global temperature anomalies (changes from an average) between the years 1880 and 2021. Whites and blues indicate cooler temperatures, while oranges and reds show warmer temperatures.
Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio As the lead, how do you hope to inspire your group?
Our group is very talented, experienced, and self-motivated. Data visualization has recently exploded as a communication tool. Our goal is to continue to stay on top of this rapidly evolving field. Coupled with this, there has been an explosion in scientific data from satellites and super computers. As data becomes bigger and more complex, visualization becomes an even more important tool for understanding that data.
Karen St. Germain, NASA’s Director of Earth Science, presenting an SVS visualization of carbon dioxide to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/31168NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio Your work combines art and science. What are the benefits of combining art and science?
One huge benefit is that you can reach people through an artistic visual presentation of science who may not be interested in simply reading an article. You can go beyond teaching people, you can move them emotionally through a good, artistic presentation.
For example, in “Climate Spiral,” we did not want to just inform people that global average temperatures have increased, we wanted people to feel that the temperature has increased.
Also, our universe is just beautiful. Why not let the beauty of the universe create something artistic for you? I sometimes feel like I cheat by letting the universe do my design for me.
What do you do for fun?
Since moving to Maryland, and living near the Chesapeake Bay, I have taken up stand up paddleboarding. I like to cook too. My father is Indian, so I cook a lot of Indian food.
Who inspires you?
Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer, also wrote a lot of popular science. He played a big part in my decision to become a scientist.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Feb 10, 2025 EditorJessica EvansContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
This artist’s concept visualizes a super-Neptune world orbiting a low-mass star near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists recently discovered such a system that may break the current record for fastest exoplanet system, traveling at least 1.2 million miles per hour, or 540 kilometers per second.NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC) Astronomers may have discovered a scrawny star bolting through the middle of our galaxy with a planet in tow. If confirmed, the pair sets a new record for the fastest-moving exoplanet system, nearly double our solar system’s speed through the Milky Way.
The planetary system is thought to move at least 1.2 million miles per hour, or 540 kilometers per second.
“We think this is a so-called super-Neptune world orbiting a low-mass star at a distance that would lie between the orbits of Venus and Earth if it were in our solar system,” said Sean Terry, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Since the star is so feeble, that’s well outside its habitable zone. “If so, it will be the first planet ever found orbiting a hypervelocity star.”
A paper describing the results, led by Terry, was published in The Astronomical Journal on February 10.
A Star on the Move
The pair of objects was first spotted indirectly in 2011 thanks to a chance alignment. A team of scientists combed through archived data from MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) – a collaborative project focused on a microlensing survey conducted using the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory in New Zealand — in search of light signals that betray the presence of exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system.
Microlensing occurs because the presence of mass warps the fabric of space-time. Any time an intervening object appears to drift near a background star, light from the star curves as it travels through the warped space-time around the nearer object. If the alignment is especially close, the warping around the object can act like a natural lens, amplifying the background star’s light.
This artist’s concept visualizes stars near the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Each has a colorful trail indicating its speed –– the longer and redder the trail, the faster the star is moving. NASA scientists recently discovered a candidate for a particularly speedy star, visualized near the center of this image, with an orbiting planet. If confirmed, the pair sets a record for fastest known exoplanet system.NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC) In this case, microlensing signals revealed a pair of celestial bodies. Scientists determined their relative masses (one is about 2,300 times heavier than the other), but their exact masses depend on how far away they are from Earth. It’s sort of like how the magnification changes if you hold a magnifying glass over a page and move it up and down.
“Determining the mass ratio is easy,” said David Bennett, a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park and NASA Goddard, who co-authored the new paper and led the original study in 2011. “It’s much more difficult to calculate their actual masses.”
The 2011 discovery team suspected the microlensed objects were either a star about 20 percent as massive as our Sun and a planet roughly 29 times heavier than Earth, or a nearer “rogue” planet about four times Jupiter’s mass with a moon smaller than Earth.
To figure out which explanation is more likely, astronomers searched through data from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Gaia satellite. If the pair were a rogue planet and moon, they’d be effectively invisible – dark objects lost in the inky void of space. But scientists might be able to identify the star if the alternative explanation were correct (though the orbiting planet would be much too faint to see).
They found a strong suspect located about 24,000 light-years away, putting it within the Milky Way’s galactic bulge — the central hub where stars are more densely packed. By comparing the star’s location in 2011 and 2021, the team calculated its high speed.
This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a bow shock around a very young star called LL Ori. Named for the crescent-shaped wave made by a ship as it moves through water, a bow shock can be created in space when two streams of gas collide. Scientists think a similar feature may be present around a newfound star that could be traveling at least 1.2 million miles per hour, or 540 kilometers per second. Traveling at such a high velocity in the galactic bulge (the central part of the galaxy) where gas is denser could generate a bow shock. NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: C. R. O’Dell (Vanderbilt University) But that’s just its 2D motion; if it’s also moving toward or away from us, it must be moving even faster. Its true speed may even be high enough to exceed the galaxy’s escape velocity of just over 1.3 million miles per hour, or about 600 kilometers per second. If so, the planetary system is destined to traverse intergalactic space many millions of years in the future.
“To be certain the newly identified star is part of the system that caused the 2011 signal, we’d like to look again in another year and see if it moves the right amount and in the right direction to confirm it came from the point where we detected the signal,” Bennett said.
“If high-resolution observations show that the star just stays in the same position, then we can tell for sure that it is not part of the system that caused the signal,” said Aparna Bhattacharya, a research scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park and NASA Goddard who co-authored the new paper. “That would mean the rogue planet and exomoon model is favored.”
NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help us find out how common planets are around such speedy stars, and may offer clues to how these systems are accelerated. The mission will conduct a survey of the galactic bulge, pairing a large view of space with crisp resolution.
“In this case we used MOA for its broad field of view and then followed up with Keck and Gaia for their sharper resolution, but thanks to Roman’s powerful view and planned survey strategy, we won’t need to rely on additional telescopes,” Terry said. “Roman will do it all.”
Download additional images and video from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
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Last Updated Feb 10, 2025 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzerashley.m.balzer@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Exoplanets Astrophysics Exoplanet Discoveries Exoplanet Science Goddard Space Flight Center Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Neptune-Like Exoplanets Science & Research Studying Exoplanets The Universe Explore More
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