Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Learn Home NASA Earth Science Education… Earth Science Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Stories Science Activation Highlights Citizen Science 2 min read
NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative Member Co-Authors Award-Winning Paper in Insects
On August 13, 2024, the publishers of the journal Insects notified authors of three papers selected to receive “Insects 2022 Best Paper Award” for research and review articles published in Insects from January 1 to December 31, 2022.
One of the winning papers was co-authored by Russanne Low, PhD, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). Low is a member of the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC), a NASA Science Activation project, and science lead for the Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Mosquito Habitat Mapper.
The paper – Integrating global citizen science platforms to enable next-generation surveillance of invasive and vector mosquitoes – was published as part of a special issue of Insects on Citizen Science Approaches to Vector Surveillance. It is in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric, which is a high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. The scoring algorithm takes various factors into account, such as the relative reach of the different sources of attention. The paper has been cited 23 times.
Papers were selected by the journal’s Award Committee according to the following criteria:
– Scientific merit and broad impact;
– Originality of the research objectives and/or the ideas presented;
– Creativity of the study design or uniqueness of the approaches and concepts;
– Clarity of presentation;
– Citations and downloads.
Each winner of the best paper award will receive CHF 500 and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Insects in 2024 after peer review.
The paper is a result of a collaboration by IGES with University of South Florida, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and iNaturalist.
Following is the full citation: Ryan M. Carney, Connor Mapes, Russanne D. Low, Alex Long, Anne Bowser, David Durieux, Karlene Rivera, Berj Dekramanjian, Frederic Bartumeus, Daniel Guerrero, Carrie E. Seltzer, Farhat Azam, Sriram Chellappan, John R. B. Palmer.Role of Insects in Human Society Citizen Science Approaches to Vector Surveillance. Insects 2022, 13(8), 675; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13080675 – 27 Jul 2022
NESEC is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AE28A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Screenshot of the Global Mosquito Observations interactive dashboard that combines various types of observations from data streams into an interoperable visualization. Each color-coded dot represents a citizen scientist’s observation and can be clicked to access the associated photos and data. Share
Details
Last Updated Sep 03, 2024 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
Earth Science Science Activation Explore More
2 min read Co-creating authentic STEM learning experiences with Latino communities
Article
4 days ago
6 min read NASA Discovers a Long-Sought Global Electric Field on Earth
An international team of scientists has successfully measured a planet-wide electric field thought to be…
Article
6 days ago
3 min read Eclipse Soundscapes AudioMoth Donations Will Study Nature at Night
Article
6 days ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
James Webb Space Telescope
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
Perseverance Rover
This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial…
Parker Solar Probe
On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona…
Juno
NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to…
View the full article
-
By NASA
An Axiom Space engineer wearing the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit) spacesuit kneels to collect simulated lunar samples using a scoop during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Axiom Space As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency is working to land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III, laying the groundwork for a long-term human presence at the Moon for the benefit of all. When the Artemis astronauts take their first steps near the South Pole of the Moon, they will be wearing a spacesuit developed by Axiom Space. In the time since NASA selected the company to provide the spacesuit and supporting systems for Artemis III, Axiom Space has continued to progress with spacesuit design and testing.
In late 2023, NASA and Axiom Space test subjects wore the next-generation lunar spacesuit during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they performed a number of maneuverability tasks that will be required during moonwalks, such as bending down to pick up lunar samples while using lunar geology tools.
Axiom Space will continue to test the lunar spacesuit in facilities such as NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, one of the world’s largest indoor pools that can simulate a partial gravity environment, as the company works to finalize the spacesuit’s design. These tests are integral to ensuring the spacesuit is effective and complies with NASA’s safety and performance requirements.
Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman, the first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone to send the first astronauts to Mars.
An Axiom Space engineer uses a hammer and chisel to chip off simulated lunar rocks while wearing the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit) spacesuit during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Axiom Space An Axiom Space engineer uses tongs to pick up a simulated lunar rock while wearing the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit) spacesuit during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Axiom SpaceView the full article
-
By NASA
6 min read
NASA Uses Two Worlds to Test Future Mars Helicopter Designs
This video combines two perspectives of the 59th flight of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. Video on the left was captured by the Mastcam-Z on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover; the black-and-white video on the right was taken by Ingenuity’s downward-pointing Navcam. The flight occurred Sept 16. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Engineers will go beyond the ends of the Earth to find more performance for future Mars helicopters.
For the first time in history, two planets have been home to testing future aircraft designs. On this world, a new rotor that could be used with next-generation Mars helicopters was recently tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, spinning at near-supersonic speeds (0.95 Mach). Meanwhile, the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has achieved new altitude and airspeed records on the Red Planet in the name of experimental flight testing.
“Our next-generation Mars helicopter testing has literally had the best of both worlds,” said Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity’s project manager and manager for the Mars Sample Recovery Helicopters. “Here on Earth, you have all the instrumentation and hands-on immediacy you could hope for while testing new aircraft components. On Mars, you have the real off-world conditions you could never truly re-create here on Earth.” That includes a whisper-thin atmosphere and significantly less gravity than on Earth.
The next-generation carbon fiber rotor blades being tested on Earth are almost 4 inches (more than 10 centimeters) longer than Ingenuity’s, with greater strength and a different design. NASA thinks these blades could enable bigger, more capable Mars helicopters. The challenge is, as the blade tips approach supersonic speeds, vibration-causing turbulence can quickly get out of hand.
To find a space big enough to create a Martian atmosphere on Earth, engineers looked to JPL’s 25-foot wide, 85-foot-tall (8-meter-by-26-meter) space simulator – a place where Surveyor, Voyager, and Cassini got their first taste of space-like environments. For three weeks in September, a team monitored sensors, meters, and cameras as the blades endured run after run at ever-higher speeds and greater pitch angles.
A dual rotor system for the next generation of Mars helicopters is tested in the 25-Foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Sept.15. Longer and stronger than those used on the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, the carbon-fiber blades reached near-supersonic speeds during testing. NASA/JPL-Caltech “We spun our blades up to 3,500 rpm, which is 750 revolutions per minute faster than the Ingenuity blades have gone,” said Tyler Del Sesto, Sample Recovery Helicopter deputy test conductor at JPL. “These more efficient blades are now more than a hypothetical exercise. They are ready to fly.”
At around the same time, and about 100 million miles (161 million kilometers) away, Ingenuity was being commanded to try things the Mars Helicopter team never imagined they would get to do.
Fourth Rock Flight Testing
Ingenuity was originally slated to fly no more than five times. With its first flight entering the mission logbook more than two-and-a-half years ago, the helicopter has exceeded its planned 30-day mission by 32 times and has flown 66 times. Every time Ingenuity goes airborne, it covers new ground, offering a perspective no previous planetary mission could achieve. But lately, Team Ingenuity has been taking their solar-powered rotorcraft out for a spin like never before.
“Over the past nine months, we have doubled our max airspeed and altitude, increased our rate of vertical and horizontal acceleration, and even learned to land slower,” said Travis Brown, Ingenuity’s chief engineer at JPL. “The envelope expansion provides invaluable data that can be used by mission designers for future Mars helicopters.”
Limited by available energy and motor-temperature considerations, Ingenuity flights usually last around two to three minutes. Although the helicopter can cover more ground in a single flight by flying faster, flying too fast can confuse the onboard navigation system. The system uses a camera that recognizes rocks and other surface features as they move through its field of view. If those features whiz by too fast, the system can lose its way.
So, to achieve a higher maximum ground speed, the team sends commands for Ingenuity to fly at higher altitudes (instructions are sent to the helicopter before each flight), which keeps features in view longer. Flight 61 established a new altitude record of 78.7 feet (24 meters) as it checked out Martian wind patterns. With Flight 62 Ingenuity set a speed record of 22.3 mph (10 meters per second) – and scouted a location for the Perseverance rover’s science team.
The team has also been experimenting with Ingenuity’s landing speed. The helicopter was designed to contact the surface at a relatively brisk 2.2 mph (1 mps) so its onboard sensors could easily confirm touchdown and shut down the rotors before it could bounce back into the air. A helicopter that lands more slowly could be designed with lighter landing gear. So, on Flights 57, 58, and 59 they gave it a whirl, demonstrating Ingenuity could land at speeds 25% slower than the helicopter was originally designed to land at.
All this Martian Chuck Yeager-ing is not over. In December, after solar conjunction, Ingenuity is expected to perform two high-speed flights during which it will execute a special set of pitch-and-roll angles designed to measure its performance.
“The data will be extremely useful in fine-tuning our aero-mechanical models of how rotorcraft behave on Mars,” said Brown. “On Earth, such testing is usually performed in the first few flights. But that’s not where we’re flying. You have to be a little more careful when you’re operating that far away from the nearest repair shop, because you don’t get any do-overs.”
More About Ingenuity
Ingenuity began its life at Mars as a technology demonstration. It first flew on April 19, 2021, hovering 10 feet (3 meters) for 30 seconds. Four more flights in as many weeks added 499 seconds and saw the helicopter flying horizontally over the surface for 1,171 feet (357 meters). After proving flight was possible on Mars, Ingenuity entered an operations demonstration phase in May 2021 to show how aerial scouting could benefit future exploration of Mars and other worlds.
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.
At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.
News Media Contacts
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Alana Johnson/ Karen Fox
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1501 / 301-286-6284
alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov
2023-173
Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 22, 2023 Related Terms
Ingenuity (Helicopter) Mars 2020 Mars Sample Return (MSR) Explore More
2 min read NASA’s Mars Fleet Will Still Conduct Science While Lying Low
Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read NASA’s Perseverance Captures Dust-Filled Martian Whirlwind
Article 2 months ago 4 min read Historic Wind Tunnel Facility Testing NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle Rocket
Article 2 months ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
iss070e002415 (Oct. 4, 2023) — ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Expedition 70 Commander Andreas Mogensen is pictured trying on his spacesuit and testing its components aboard the International Space Station’s Quest airlock in preparation for an upcoming spacewalk.NASAView the full article
-
By NASA
iss070e002889 (Oct. 9, 2023) — NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara is pictured trying on her spacesuit and testing its components aboard the International Space Station’s Quest airlock in preparation for an upcoming spacewalk.NASAView the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.