NASA
T-38 Flyover of Artemis I on Launch Pad
NASA’s T-38 jets fly in formation above the Space Launch System rocket on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Aircraft designations and passengers:
901: Chris Condon / Astronaut Zena Cardman.
902: Astronaut Candidate Nicole Ayers / Astronaut Christina Koch.
903: Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen / Astronaut Drew Morgan.
904: Chief Astronaut Reid Wiseman / Astronaut Joe Acaba.
905 (Photo Chase): Astronaut Candidate Jack Hathaway / Josh Valcarcel
Image Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Changes Ahead of September Launch
Editor’s note: This release was updated twice on Aug. 30, 2024. First, to correct Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov’s role as a mission specialist. It was updated again to correct a launch date.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, previously announced as crewmates, are eligible for reassignment on a future mission.
Hague and Gorbunov will fly to the space station as commander and mission specialist, respectively, as part of a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX Dragon.
The updated crew complement follows NASA’s decision to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed and launch Crew-9 with two unoccupied seats. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, will fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025.
The decision to fly Hague was made by NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Acaba had to balance flying a NASA crew member with previous spaceflight experience to command the flight, while ensuring NASA maintains an integrated crew with a Roscosmos cosmonaut who can operate their critical systems for continued, safe station operations.
“While we’ve changed crew before for a variety of reasons, downsizing crew for this flight was another tough decision to adjust to given that the crew has trained as a crew of four,” said Acaba. “I have the utmost confidence in all our crew, who have been excellent throughout training for the mission. Zena and Stephanie will continue to assist their crewmates ahead of launch, and they exemplify what it means to be a professional astronaut.”
The agency will share reassignment details for Cardman and Wilson when available.
“I am deeply proud of our entire crew,” said Cardman, “and I am confident Nick and Alex will step into their roles with excellence. All four of us remain dedicated to the success of this mission, and Stephanie and I look forward to flying when the time is right.”
Wilson added, “I know Nick and Alex will do a great job with their work aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 72.”
With 203 days logged in space, this will be Hague’s third launch and second mission to the orbiting laboratory. During his first launch in October 2018, Hague and his crewmate, Roscosmos’ Alexey Ovchinin, experienced a rocket booster failure, resulting in an in-flight, post-launch abort, ballistic re-entry, and safe landing in their Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft. Five months later, Hague launched aboard Soyuz MS-12 and served as a flight engineer aboard the space station during Expeditions 59 and 60. Hague conducted three spacewalks to upgrade space station power systems and install a docking adapter for commercial spacecraft. An active-duty colonel in the U.S. Space Force, Hague completed a developmental rotation at the Defense Department, and served as the Space Force’s director of test and evaluation from 2020 to 2022. In August 2022, Hague resumed duties at NASA, working on the Boeing Starliner Program until this flight assignment. Follow @astrohague on X and Instagram.
This will be Gorbunov’s first trip to space and the station. Born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia, he studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Gorbunov graduated from the military department with a specialty in operating and repairing aircraft, helicopters, and aircraft engines. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corp. Energia and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Hague and Gorbonov will become members of the Expedition 72 crew aboard the station. They will join Wilmore, Williams, fellow NASA astronaut Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner conducting scientific research and maintenance activities into the station’s 24th year of continuous human presence.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
-end-
Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov
Hubble Zooms into the Rosy Tendrils of Andromeda
2 min read
Hubble Zooms into the Rosy Tendrils of Andromeda NASA, ESA, M. Boyer (Space Telescope Science Institute), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)Clusters of stars set the interstellar medium ablaze in the Andromeda Galaxy about 2.5 million light-years away. Also known as M31, Andromeda is the Milky Way’s closest major galaxy. It measures approximately 152,000 light-years across and, with almost the same mass as our home galaxy, is headed for a collision with the Milky Way in 2-4 billion years. In the meantime, Andromeda remains an object of study for many astronomers.
As a spiral galaxy, Andromeda’s winding arms are one of its most remarkable features. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope zoomed in to get a close look at one of its tendrils in the northeast, revealing swathes of ionized gas. These regions — which are common in spiral and irregular galaxies — often indicate the presence of recent star formation. The combination of stellar nurseries and supernovae create a dynamic environment that excites the surrounding hydrogen gas, flourishing it into a garden of star-studded roses.
NASA, ESA, M. Boyer (Space Telescope Science Institute), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)Scientists probed Andromeda’s spiral arms using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to analyze the collection of stars buried in its cosmic bouquets. With ACS and WFC3’s wide spectral coverage, Hubble could peer through the hedges of gas and observe a valuable sample of these stars. The extent of the study spanned a vast range of stars, providing not just a clear view of Andromeda’s stellar history and diversity, but also more insight on stellar formation and evolution overall. By examining these stars in our local cosmic neighborhood, scientists can better understand those within galaxies in the distant universe.
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This inset image shows the location of Hubble’s view within the Andromeda galaxy. NASA, ESA, M. Boyer (Space Telescope Science Institute), J. Dalcanton (University of Washington), and KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block; Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) This inset image shows the location of Hubble’s view within the Andromeda galaxy. NASA, ESA, M. Boyer (Space Telescope Science Institute), J. Dalcanton (University of Washington), and KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Adam Block; Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Explore More
Hubble’s Galaxies
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Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
Hubble Science
Hubble’s Galaxies
Stars
25 Years Strong: NASA’s Student Launch Competition Accepting 2025 Proposals
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Student Launch, a STEM competition, officially kicks off its 25th anniversary with the 2025 handbook.By Wayne Smith
NASA’s Student Launch competition kicks off its 25th year with the release of the 2025 handbook, detailing how teams can submit proposals by Wednesday, Sept. 11, for the event scheduled next spring near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Student Launch is an annual competition challenging middle school, high school, and college students to design, build, test, and launch a high-powered amateur rocket with a scientific or engineering payload. After a team is selected, they must meet documentation milestones and undergo detailed reviews throughout the school year.
Each year, NASA updates the university payload challenge to reflect current scientific and exploration missions. For the 2025 season, the payload challenge will again take inspiration from the Artemis missions, which seek to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
As Student Launch celebrates its 25th anniversary, the payload challenge will include “reports” from STEMnauts, non-living objects representing astronauts. The 2024 challenge tasked teams with safely deploying a lander mid-air for a group of four STEMnauts using metrics to support a survivable landing. The lander had to be deployed without a parachute and had a minimum weight limit of five pounds.
“This year, we’re shifting the focus to communications for the payload challenge,” said John Eckhart, technical coordinator for Student Launch at Marshall. “The STEMnaut ‘crew’ must relay real-time data to the student team’s mission control. This helps connect Student Launch with the Artemis missions when NASA lands astronauts on the Moon.”
Thousands of students participated in the 2024 Student Launch competition – making up 70 teams representing 24 states and Puerto Rico. Teams launched their rockets to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, while attempting to make a successful landing and executing the payload mission. The University of Notre Dame was the overall winner of the 2024 event, which culminated with a launch day open to the public.
Student Launch began in 2000 when former Marshall Director Art Stephenson started a student rocket competition at the center. It started with just two universities in Huntsville competing – Alabama A&M University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville – but has continued to soar. Since its inception, thousands of students have participated in the agency’s STEM competition, with many going on to a career with NASA.
“This remarkable journey, spanning a quarter of a century, has been a testament to the dedication, ingenuity, and passion of countless students, educators, and mentors who have contributed to the program’s success,” Eckhart said. “NASA Student Launch has been at the forefront of experiential education, providing students from middle school through university with unparalleled opportunities to engage in real-world engineering and scientific research. The program’s core mission – to inspire and cultivate the next generation of aerospace professionals and space explorers – has not only been met but exceeded in ways we could have only dreamed of.”
To encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement hosts Student Launch, providing them with real-world experiences. Student Launch is one of NASA’s nine Artemis Student Challenges – a variety of activities that expose students to the knowledge and technology required to achieve the goals of Artemis.
In addition to the NASA Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Generation STEM project, NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate, Northrup Grumman, National Space Club Huntsville, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Association of Rocketry, Relativity Space and Bastion Technologies provide funding and leadership for the competition.
“These bright students rise to a nine-month challenge for Student Launch that tests their skills in engineering, design, and teamwork,” said Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region. “They are the Artemis Generation, the future scientists, engineers, and innovators who will lead us into the future of space exploration.”
For more information about Student Launch, please visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/studentlaunch
Taylor Goodwin
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
taylor.goodwin@nasa.gov
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
September’s Night Sky Notes: Marvelous Moons
NASA
by Kat Troche of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
September brings the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn back into view, along with their satellites. And while we organize celebrations to observe our own Moon this month, be sure to grab a telescope or binoculars to see other moons within our Solar System! We recommend observing these moons (and planets!) when they are at their highest in the night sky, to get the best possible unobstructed views.
The More the MerrierAs of September 2024, the ringed planet Saturn has 146 identified moons in its orbit. These celestial bodies range in size; the smallest being a few hundred feet across, to Titan, the second largest moon in our solar system.
The Saturnian system along with various moons around the planet Saturn: Iapetus, Titan, Enceladus, Rhea, Tethys, and Dione. Stellarium WebEven at nearly 900 million miles away, Titan can be easily spotted next to Saturn with a 4-inch telescope, under urban and suburban skies, due to its sheer size. With an atmosphere of mostly nitrogen with traces of hydrogen and methane, Titan was briefly explored in 2005 with the Huygens probe as part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, providing more information about the surface of Titan. NASA’s mission Dragonfly is set to explore the surface of Titan in the 2030s.
Enceladus is an icy world much like Hoth, except that it has an ocean under its frozen crust. Astronomers believe this moon of Saturn may be a good candidate for having extraterrestrial life beneath its surface. NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science InstituteSaturn’s moon Enceladus was also explored by the Cassini mission, revealing plumes of ice that erupt from below the surface, adding to the brilliance of Saturn’s rings. Much like our own Moon, Enceladus remains tidally locked with Saturn, presenting the same side towards its host planet at all times.
The Galilean GangThe King of the Planets might not have the most moons, but four of Jupiter’s 95 moons are definitely the easiest to see with a small pair of binoculars or a small telescope because they form a clear line. The Galilean Moons – Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa – were first discovered in 1610 and they continue to amaze stargazers across the globe.
The Jovian system: Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto. Stellarium Web- Ganymede: largest moon in our solar system, and larger than the planet Mercury, Ganymede has its own magnetic field and a possible saltwater ocean beneath the surface.
- Callisto: this heavily cratered moon is the third largest in our solar system. Although Callisto is the furthest away of the Galilean moons, it only takes 17 days to complete an orbit around Jupiter.
- Io: the closest moon and third largest in this system, Io is an extremely active world, due to the push and pull of Jupiter’s gravity. The volcanic activity of this rocky world is so intense that it can be seen from some of the largest telescopes here on Earth.
- Europa: Jupiter’s smallest moon also happens to be the strongest candidate for a liquid ocean beneath the surface. NASA’s Europa Clipper is set to launch October 2024 and will determine if this moon has conditions suitable to support life. Want to learn more? Rewatch the July 2023 Night Sky Network webinar about Europa Clipper here.
Be sure to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night here on Earth September 14, 2024, leading up to the super full moon on September 17th! You can learn more about supermoons in our mid-month article on the Night Sky Network page!
ASSURE 2018
ASSURE 2018 has successfully concluded.
UPDATES
- New! 2018-07-30: The ASSURE 2018 program has been announced. The final program is contingent on registration. If you haven’t already done so, please register for ASSURE 2018 via SAFECOMP 2018.
- 2018-06-21: ASSURE 2018 will be held on Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2018. The accepted papers and program will be posted here soon.
- 2018-06-12: Authors of accepted papers have been notified. The final, camera-ready version and a signed copyright release form are due on June 21, 2018. Instructions on submitting both the final version and the copyright form also have been posted.
- 2018-05-30: Paper submission deadlines have passed. Submission is now closed.
- 2018-05-18: ASSURE deadlines have been extended by a week, to May 29, 2018.
- 2018-04-09: The deadline to submit papers to ASSURE 2018 is May 22, 2018. Submit a paper now!
- 2018-03-28: See the call for papers or download the PDF call for papers.
- 2018-03-26: The ASSURE 2018 website is live!
Introduction
The 6th International Workshop on Assurance Cases for Software-intensive Systems (ASSURE 2018) is being collocated this year with SAFECOMP 2018, and aims to provide an international forum for high-quality contributions on the application of assurance case principles and techniques to provide assurance that the dependability properties of critical, software-intensive systems have been met.
The main goals of the workshop are to:
- Explore techniques for the creation and assessment of assurance cases for software-intensive systems
- Examine the role of assurance cases in the engineering lifecycle of critical systems
- Identify the dimension of effective practice in the development and evaluation of assurance cases
- Investigate the relationship between dependability techniques and assurance cases
- Identify critical research challenges and define a roadmap for future development
We invite original, high-quality research, practice, tools and position papers that have not been published/submitted elsewhere. See the full Call for Papers, for more details on topics. Also view the submission deadlines, and guidelines.
ProgramSeptember 18, 2017, from 08:00 – 17:30
08:00 – 09:00 Registration
09:00 – 11:00 Session 1. Welcome, Introduction, Keynote and Confidence Assessment
09:00 – 09:05 Welcome and Introduction, ASSURE 2018 Organizers
09:05 – 10:00 Keynote Talk. Assurance Cases: Mindsets, Methodologies and Convergence, Robin Bloomfield
10:00 – 10:30 Research on the Classification of the Relationships Among the Same Layer Elements in Assurance Case Structure for Evaluation, B. Xu, M. Lu, T. Gu, and D. Zhang
10:30 – 11:00 Morning Coffee/Tea Break
11:00 – 12:30 Session 2. Patterns and Processes
11:00 – 11:30 The Assurance Recipe: Facilitating Assurance Patterns, J. Firestone and M. Cohen
11:30 – 12:00 Incorporating Attacks Modeling into Safety Process, A. Surkovic, D. Hanic, E. Lisova, A. Causevic, K. Lundqvist, D. Wenslandt, and C. Falk
12:00 – 12:30 Assurance Case Considerations for Interoperable Medical Systems, Y. Zhang, B. Larson, and J. Hatcliff
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:30 Session 3. Tools and Automation
13:30 – 14:00 Two Decades of Assurance Case Tools: A Survey, M. Maksimov, N. Fung, S. Kokaly, and M. Chechik
14:00 – 14:30 MMINT–A: A Tool for Automated Change Impact Assessment on Assurance Cases, N. Fung, S. Kokaly, A. Di Sandro, R. Salay, and M. Chechik
14:30 – 15:00 D–Case Steps: New Steps for Writing Assurance Cases, Y. Onuma, T. Takai, T. Koshiyama, and Y. Matsuno
15:00 – 15:30 Continuous Argument Engineering: Tackling Uncertainty in Machine Learning based Systems,
F. Ishikawa, and Y. Matsuno
15:30 – 16:00 Afternoon Coffee/Tea Break
16:00 – 17:20 Session 4. Panel Session. What are Assurance Case Tools For?
17:20 – 17:30 ASSURE 2018 Conclusion and Wrap-Up
Important Dates EVENTDEADLINEWorkshop Papers Due29 May 2018Notification of Acceptance11 June 2018Camera-ready Copies Due21 June 2018ASSURE 2018 WorkshopSeptember 18, 2018SAFECOMP 2018September 19 – 21, 2018 Call for PapersSoftware plays a key role in high-risk systems, e.g., safety-, and security-critical systems. Several certification standards/guidelines now recommend and/or mandate the development of assurance cases for software-intensive systems, e.g., defense (UK MoD DS-0056), aviation (CAP 670, FAA’s operational approval guidance for unmanned aircraft systems), automotive (ISO 26262), and healthcare (FDA infusion pumps total product lifecycle guidance). As such, there is a need to develop models, techniques and tools that target the development of assurance arguments for software.
The goals of the 2018 Workshop on Assurance Cases for Software-intensive Systems (ASSURE 2018) are to:
- explore techniques for creating/assessing assurance cases for software-intensive systems;
- examine the role of assurance cases in the engineering lifecycle of critical systems;
- identify the dimensions of effective practice in the development and evaluation of assurance cases;
- investigate the relationship between dependability techniques and assurance cases; and,
- identify critical research challenges and define a roadmap for future development.
We solicit high-quality contributions: research, practice, tools and position papers on the application of assurance case principles and techniques to assure that the dependability properties of critical software-intensive systems have been met.
Papers should attempt to address the workshop goals in general.
Topics
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Assurance issues in emerging paradigms, e.g., adaptive and autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, unmanned aircraft systems, complex health care and decision making systems, etc.
- Standards: Industry guidelines and standards are increasingly requiring the development of assurance cases, e.g., the automotive standard ISO 26262 and the FDA guidance on the total product lifecycle for infusion pumps.
- Certification and Regulations: The role and usage of assurance cases in the certification of critical systems, as well as to show compliance to regulations.
- Empiricism: Empirical assessment of the applicability of assurance cases in different domains and certification regimes.
- Dependable architectures: How do fault-tolerant architectures and design measures such as diversity and partitioning relate to assurance cases?
- Dependability analysis: What are the relationships between dependability analysis techniques and the assurance case paradigm?
- Safety and security co-engineering: What are the impacts of security on safety, particularly safety cases, and how can safety and security cases (e.g., as proposed in ISO 26262 and SAE J 3061 respectively) be reconciled?
- Tools: Using the output from software engineering tools (testing, formal verification, code generators) as evidence in assurance cases / using tools for the modeling, analysis and management of assurance cases.
- Application of formal techniques for the creation, analysis, reuse, and modularization of arguments.
- Exploration of relevant techniques for assurance cases for real-time, concurrent, and distributed systems.
- Assurance of software quality attributes, e.g., safety, security and maintainability, as well as dependability in general, including tradeoffs, and exploring notions of the quality of assurance cases themselves.
- Domain-specific assurance issues, in domains such as aerospace, automotive, healthcare, defense and power.
- Reuse and Modularization: Contracts and patterns for improving the reuse of assurance case structures.
- Relations between different formalisms and paradigms of assurance and argumentation, such as Goal Structuring Notation, STAMP, IBIS, and goal-oriented formalisms such as KAOS.
Submission Instructions for Accepted Papers
If your paper has been accepted for the ASSURE 2018 Program, please follow ALL the instructions below, when preparing your final, camera-ready paper for the proceedings.
Deadline
The final paper and the signed copyright form are due on June 21, 2018. This is a firm deadline for the production of the proceedings.
Acknowledgements
Include acknowledgements of the support your work/project has received, as appropriate and if applicable, at the end of the paper.
Final Paper Submission
Submit your final, camera-ready paper using your EasyChair author account, for inclusion into the Workshop Proceedings. After you have logged in, select the Proceedings Author role to be directed to the submission page. Springer reserves the right to reformat your paper to meet their print and digital publication requirements. Consequently, you will need to submit all the source files associated with your paper. Follow the instructions after logging in, to upload two files:
- either a zipped file containing all your LaTeX sources or a Word file in the RTF format, and
- a PDF version of your camera-ready paper.
Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and publication in multiple venues are not permitted.
Copyright Release
Your paper will not be published in the proceedings unless a completed and signed copyright transfer form has been received.
- Authors must fill and sign the Springer “Consent to Publish” copyright release form using the following information:
- Title of the Book or Conference Name: Computer Safety, Reliability and Security – SAFECOMP 2018 Workshops – ASSURE, DECSoS, SASSUR, STRIVE, and WAISE.
- Volume Editor(s): Barbara Gallina, Amund Skavhaug, Erwin Schoitsch, and Friedemann Bitsch.
- One author may sign on behalf of all authors.
- Springer does not accept digital signatures. Please physically sign the form, scan, and email it in PDF or any standard acceptable image format, to the SAFECOMP 2018 Publication Chair by the deadline above.
- Alternatively, upload the signed, and completed form via EasyChair using your author account.
Corresponding Authors
Please nominate a corresponding author, whose name and email address must be included in the copyright release form. If sending the copyright release form by email, please include the corresponding author’s name and email address in the email. This author will be responsible for checking the pre-print proof of the final version of your paper that Springer will prepare.
Pre-print Checking
The publisher has recently introduced an extra control loop: once data processing is finished, they will contact all corresponding authors and ask them to check their papers within 72 hours. We expect this to happen shortly before the printing of the proceedings. At that time your quick interaction with Springer-Verlag will be greatly appreciated.
Formatting and Page Limits
Papers should strictly conform to the LNCS paper formatting guidelines. Please do not change the spacing and dimensions associated with the paper template files. Please ensure that your paper meets the page limits for your paper type. Page limits are strict.
- Regular research/practice papers: Up to 10 pages including figures, references, and appendices.
- Tools papers: Up to 10 pages, including figures, references, and appendices.
- Position papers: 6 pages including figures, references, and any appendices.
Workshop Chairs
- Ewen Denney, SGT / NASA Ames, USA
- Ibrahim Habli, University of York, UK
- Richard Hawkins ,University of York, UK
- Ganesh, Pai, SGT / NASA Ames, USA
Program Committee
- Simon Burton, Bosch Research, Germany
- Isabelle Conway, ESA/ESTEC, Netherlands
- Martin Feather, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
- Alwyn Goodloe, NASA Langley Research Center, USA
- Jérémie Guiochet, LAAS-CNRS, France
- Joshua Kaizer, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USA
- Tim Kelly, University of York, UK
- Yoshiki Kinoshita, Kanagawa University, Japan
- Andrew Rae, Griffith University, Australia
- Philippa Ryan, Adelard, UK
- Mark-Alexander Sujan, University of Warwick, UK
- Kenji Taguchi, CAV Technologies Co. Ltd., Japan
- Sean White, NHS Digital, UK
Previous ASSURE Workshops
- ASSURE 2017, Trento, Italy
- ASSURE 2016, Trondheim, Norway
- ASSURE 2015, Delft, The Netherlands
- ASSURE 2014, Naples, Italy
- ASSURE 2013, San Francisco, USA
Contact the Organizers
If you have questions about paper topics, submission and/or about ASSURE 2018 in general, please contact the Workshop Organizers.
Assure 2017
ASSURE 2017 has successfully concluded.
UPDATES
- 2017-10-01: ASSURE 2017 concluded successfully. The accepted papers appear in the SAFECOMP 2017 Workshop Proceedings. Thank you for attending! See you in 2018.
- 2017-08-28: The ASSURE 2017 Program has been announced. The final program is contingent on registration. If you haven’t already done so, please register for ASSURE 2017 via SAFECOMP 2017.
- 2017-08-27: ASSURE 2017 will be held on Tuesday, Sep. 12, 2017. The accepted papers and program will be posted here soon.
- 2017-06-02: Authors of accepted papers have been notified. The final, camera-ready version and a signed copyright release form are due on June 12, 2017. Instructions on submitting both the final version and the copyright form also have been posted.
- 2017-05-24: Paper submission deadlines have passed. Submission is now closed.
- 2016-05-16: ASSURE deadlines have been extended by a week, to May 24, 2017.
- 2017-03-27: Dr. Simon Burton, Chief Expert Safety, Reliability and Availability at Robert Bosch GmbH Central Research Division, Germany, has generously accepted to give an invited keynote talk! Watch this space for the topic and abstract for the talk.
- 2017-03-22: The deadline to submit papers to ASSURE 2017 is May 17, 2017. Submit a paper now!
- 2017-03-01: The ASSURE 2017 website is live!
Introduction
The 5th International Workshop on Assurance Cases for Software-intensive Systems (ASSURE 2017) is being collocated this year with SAFECOMP 2017, and aims to provide an international forum for high-quality contributions on the application of assurance case principles and techniques to provide assurance that the dependability properties of critical, software-intensive systems have been met.
The main goals of the workshop are to:
- Explore techniques for the creation and assessment of assurance cases for software-intensive systems
- Examine the role of assurance cases in the engineering lifecycle of critical systems
- Identify the dimension of effective practice in the development and evaluation of assurance cases
- Investigate the relationship between dependability techniques and assurance cases
- Identify critical research challenges and define a roadmap for future development
We invite original, high-quality research, practice, tools and position papers that have not been published/submitted elsewhere. See the full Call for Papers, for more details on topics. Also view the submission deadlines, and guidelines.
ProgramASSURE 2017 Program
September 12, 2017, from 08:00 – 17:30
08:00 – 09:00 Registration
09:00 – 11:00 Session 1. Welcome, Introduction, Keynote and Assurance Case Frameworks
09:00 – 09:05 Welcome and Introduction, ASSURE 2017 Organizers
09:05 – 10:00 Keynote Talk: Making the Case for Safety of Machine Learning in Highly Automated Driving, Simon Burton (with Lydia Gauerhof and Christian Heinzemann)
10:00 – 10:30 A Thought Experiment on Evolution of Assurance Cases – from a Logical Aspect, Y. Kinoshita and S. Kinoshita
10:30 – 11:00 Morning Coffee/Tea Break
11:00 – 12:30 Session 2. Assurance Case Tool Support
11:00 – 11:30 Uniform Model Interface for Assurance Case Integration with System Models, A. Wardziński and P. Jones
11:30 – 12:00 ExplicitCase: Integrated Model-based Development of System and Safety Cases, C. Cârlan, S. Barner, A. Diewald, A. Tsalidis and S. Voss
12:00 – 12:30 D-Case Communicator: A Web-Based GSN Editor for Multiple Stakeholders, Y. Matsuno
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:30 Session 3. Assurance Cases for Security
13:30 – 14:00 Reconciling Systems-Theoretic and Component-Centric Methods for Safety and Security Co-Analysis, W. Temple, Y. Wu, B. Chen and Z. Kalbarczyk
14:00 – 14:30 Towards combined safety and security constraints analysis, D. Pereira, C. Hirata, R. Pagliares and S. Nadjm-Tehrani
14:30 – 15:00 Attack Modeling for System Security Analysis and Assurance Case, A. Altawairqi and M. Maarek
15:00 – 15:30 Using an Assurance Case Framework to Develop Security Strategy and Policies, R. Bloomfield, P. Bishop, E. Butler and K. Netkachova
15:30 – 16:00 Afternoon Coffee/Tea Break
16:00 – 17:25 Session 4. Guided Discussion
17:25 – 17:30 ASSURE 2017 Conclusion and Wrap-Up
Important Dates EVENTDEADLINEWorkshop Papers Due24 May 2017Notification of Acceptance31 May 2017Camera-ready Copies Due12 June 2017ASSURE 2017 WorkshopSeptember 12, 2017SAFECOMP 2017September 13 – 15, 2017 Call for PapersSoftware plays a key role in high-risk systems, e.g., safety-, and security-critical systems. Several certification standards/guidelines now recommend and/or mandate the development of assurance cases for software-intensive systems, e.g., defense (UK MoD DS-0056), aviation (CAP 670, FAA’s operational approval guidance for unmanned aircraft systems), automotive (ISO 26262), and healthcare (FDA infusion pumps total product lifecycle guidance). As such, there is a need to develop models, techniques and tools that target the development of assurance arguments for software.
The goals of the 2017 Workshop on Assurance Cases for Software-intensive Systems (ASSURE 2017) are to:
- explore techniques for creating/assessing assurance cases for software-intensive systems;
- examine the role of assurance cases in the engineering lifecycle of critical systems;
- identify the dimensions of effective practice in the development and evaluation of assurance cases;
- investigate the relationship between dependability techniques and assurance cases; and,
- identify critical research challenges and define a roadmap for future development.
We solicit high-quality contributions: research, practice, tools and position papers on the application of assurance case principles and techniques to assure that the dependability properties of critical software-intensive systems have been met.
Papers should attempt to address the workshop goals in general.
Topics
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Assurance issues in emerging paradigms, e.g., adaptive and autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, unmanned aircraft systems, complex health care and decision making systems, etc.
- Standards: Industry guidelines and standards are increasingly requiring the development of assurance cases, e.g., the automotive standard ISO 26262 and the FDA guidance on the total product lifecycle for infusion pumps.
- Certification and Regulations: The role and usage of assurance cases in the certification of critical systems, as well as to show compliance to regulations.
- Empiricism: Empirical assessment of the applicability of assurance cases in different domains and certification regimes.
- Dependable architectures: How do fault-tolerant architectures and design measures such as diversity and partitioning relate to assurance cases?
- Dependability analysis: What are the relationships between dependability analysis techniques and the assurance case paradigm?
- Safety and security co-engineering: What are the impacts of security on safety, particularly safety cases, and how can safety and security cases (e.g., as proposed in ISO 26262 and SAE J 3061 respectively) be reconciled?
- Tools: Using the output from software engineering tools (testing, formal verification, code generators) as evidence in assurance cases / using tools for the modeling, analysis and management of assurance cases.
- Application of formal techniques for the creation, analysis, reuse, and modularization of arguments.
- Exploration of relevant techniques for assurance cases for real-time, concurrent, and distributed systems.
- Assurance of software quality attributes, e.g., safety, security and maintainability, as well as dependability in general, including tradeoffs, and exploring notions of the quality of assurance cases themselves.
- Domain-specific assurance issues, in domains such as aerospace, automotive, healthcare, defense and power.
- Reuse and Modularization: Contracts and patterns for improving the reuse of assurance case structures.
- Relations between different formalisms and paradigms of assurance and argumentation, such as Goal Structuring Notation, STAMP, IBIS, and goal-oriented formalisms such as KAOS.
Submission Instructions for Accepted Papers
If your paper has been accepted for the ASSURE 2017 Program, please follow the instructions below, when preparing your final, camera-ready paper for the proceedings.
1. Deadline
The final paper and the signed copyright form are due on June 12, 2017. This is a firm deadline for the production of the proceedings.
2. Copyright Release
- Authors must fill and sign the Springer “Consent to Publish” copyright release form using the following information:
- Title of the Book or Conference Name: Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security – SAFECOMP 2017 Workshops – ASSURE, DECSoS, SASSUR, TELERISE, and TIPS
- Volume Editor(s): Stefano Tonetta, Erwin Schoitsch, Friedemann Bitsch
- One author may sign on behalf of all authors.
- Springer does not accept digital signatures, unfortunately. Please physically sign the form, scan, and email it in PDF or any acceptable image format, to the SAFECOMP 2017 Publication Chair by the deadline above.
- Alternatively, upload the signed, and completed form via EasyChair using your author account.
3. Corresponding Authors
Please nominate a corresponding author, whose name and email address must be included in the email containing the copyright release form. This author will be responsible for checking the pre-print proof of your paper prepared by Springer.
4. Pre-print Checking
The publisher has recently introduced an extra control loop: once data processing is finished, they will contact all corresponding authors and ask them to check their papers. We expect this to happen shortly before the printing of the proceedings. At that time your quick interaction with Springer-Verlag will be greatly appreciated.
5. Formatting and Page Limits
Please do not change the spacing and dimensions associated with the paper template files. Please ensure that your paper meets the page limits for your paper type. Page limits are strict.
- Regular research/practice papers: 12 pages including figures, references, and appendices.
- Tools papers: 10 pages, including figures, references, and appendices.
- Position papers: 4 – 6 pages including figures, references, and any appendices.
6. Final Paper Submission
Submit your camera ready paper using your EasyChair author account, for inclusion into the Workshop Proceedings. After you have logged in, select the Proceedings Author role to be directed to the submission page.
Springer reserves the right to reformat your paper to meet their print and digital publication requirements. Consequently, you will need to submit all the source files associated with your paper. Follow the instructions after the login for uploading two files:
- either a zipped file containing all your LaTeX sources or a Word file in the RTF format, and
- a PDF version of your camera-ready paper.
Please follow the LNCS paper formatting guidelines when preparing the final version.
CommitteesWorkshop Chairs
- Ewen Denney, SGT / NASA Ames, USA
- Ibrahim Habli, University of York, UK
- Ganesh Pai, SGT / NASA Ames, USA
- Kenji Taguchi, AIST, Japan
Program Committee
- Robin Bloomfield, City University, and Adelard, UK
- Simon Burton, Bosch Research, Germany
- Isabelle Conway, ESA/ESTEC, Netherlands
- Martin Feather, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
- Jérémie Guiochet, LAAS-CNRS, France
- Richard Hawkins, University of York, UK
- Joshua Kaizer, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USA
- Tim Kelly, University of York, UK
- Yoshiki Kinoshita, Kanagawa University, Japan
- Terrence Martin, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
- Andrew Rae, Griffith University, Australia
- Philippa Ryan, Adelard, UK
- Roger Rivett, Jaguar Land Rover, UK
- Mark-Alexander Sujan, University of Warwick, UK
- Sean White, NHS Digital, UK
- ASSURE 2016, Trondheim, Norway
- ASSURE 2015, Delft, The Netherlands
- ASSURE 2014, Naples, Italy
- ASSURE 2013, San Francisco, USA
If you have questions about paper topics, submission and/or about ASSURE 2016 in general, please contact the Workshop Organizers.
NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP)
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA astronaut Steve Swanson harvests a crop of red romaine lettuce plants aboard the International Space Station. Grown from seeds in the Veggie facility, this crop is part of the Veg-01 study to help researchers test and validate the Veggie hardware.NASA NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP)The NASA Life Sciences Portal (NLSP) is the gateway to discovering and accessing all archive data from investigations sponsored by NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP). The HRP conducts research and develops technologies that allow humans to travel safely and productively in space. The Program uses evidence from data collected from astronauts, animals, and plants over many decades, and stored in several repositories accessible via the NLSP, including the Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) and Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health and Standard Measures repositories.
Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA)NASA’s Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA) is an archive that provides information and data from 1961 (Mercury Project) through current flight and flight analog studies (International Space Station) involving human, plant and animal subjects.
Much of the information and data are publicly available on this site. Some data are potentially attributable to individual human subjects, and thus restricted by the Privacy Act, but can be requested for research.
Human Health and Performance Products Share Details Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 EditorRobert E. LewisLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms Explore More 1 min read Participate in the Mission – Be a Human Test Subject! Article 1 year ago 1 min read Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) Article 1 year ago 1 min read Human Health and Performance Data Sharing Article 1 year ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAHumans In Space
Missions
International Space Station
Solar System
235 Years Ago: Herschel Discovers Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
On Aug. 29, 1789, German-born British astronomer William Herschel observed a tiny bright dot orbiting around Saturn. His son later named the object Enceladus. Because of its distance from Earth and proximity to bright Saturn, for the next two centuries little remained known about Enceladus other than its size, orbital parameters, and that it held the honor as the most reflective body in the solar system. It took the Voyager flybys through the Saturn system in the early 1980s and especially the detailed observations between 2005 and 2015 by the Saturn orbiter Cassini to reveal Enceladus as a truly remarkable world, interacting with Saturn and its rings. Harboring a subsurface ocean of salty water, Enceladus may possibly be hospitable to some forms of life.
Left: Portrait (1785) of William Herschel by Lemuel Francis Abbott. Image credit: courtesy National Portrait Gallery, London. Middle: Drawing of Herschel’s 40-foot telescope. Right: Portrait (1867) of John Herschel by Julia Margaret Cameron. Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Herschel’s previous astronomical accomplishments include the discovery of Uranus in 1781 and two of its moons, Oberon and Titania, in 1787. He also catalogued numerous objects he termed nebulae, but remained frustrated by the limitations of telescopes of his age. He began to build ever larger instruments, finally building the world’s largest reflecting telescope of its time. At 40 feet long, and with a 49-inch diameter primary mirror weighing a ton, it looked impressive although its optical characteristics did not advance the field as much as he had hoped. Nevertheless, Herschel used this telescope to observe Saturn and its five known moons, looking for others. On Aug. 28, 1789, he observed a bright point orbiting the planet and believed he had discovered a sixth moon. On Sept. 17, he discovered a seventh moon orbiting the ringed planet. He did not name these moons, that task fell to his son John who believed Saturn’s moons should be named after the Titans of Greek mythology. He named the first moon Enceladus and the second Mimas.
Left: Relative sizes of Earth, Earth’s Moon, and Enceladus. Right: Best Voyager 2 image of Enceladus.
For nearly two centuries, Enceladus remained not much more than a point of light orbiting Saturn, just another icy moon in the outer solar system. Astronomers estimated its diameter at around 310 miles and its orbital period around Saturn at 1.4 days, with a mean distance from the planet’s center of 148,000 miles. Enceladus has the distinction as one of the brightest objects in the solar system, reflecting almost 100 percent of the Sun’s light. Unusual telescope observations during the 20th century showed an increase in brightness on its trailing side, with no known explanation at the time. In 1966, astronomers discovered a diffuse ring around Saturn, the E-ring, and found in 1980 that its density peaked near Enceladus. The Voyager 1 spacecraft flew within 125,570 miles of Enceladus during its passage through the Saturn system on Nov. 12, 1980. Its twin Voyager 2 came within 54,000 miles on Aug. 26, 1981, during its flyby. These close encounters enabled the spacecraft to return the first detailed images of the moon, showing various terrains, including heavily cratered areas as well as smooth crater-free areas, indicating a very young surface.
Left: False color image of Enceladus from Cassini showing the tiger stripes at bottom. Middle: Limb view of Enceladus showing plumes of material emanating from its surface. Right: Cassini image of Enceladus backlit by the Sun showing the fountain-like plumes of material.
After the Cassini spacecraft entered orbit around Saturn in July 2004, our understanding of Enceladus increased tremendously, and of course raised new questions. Between 2005 and 2015, Cassini encountered Enceladus 22 times, turning its various instruments on the moon to unravel its secrets. It noted early on that the moon emitted gas and dust or ice particles and that they interacted with the E-ring. Images of the moon’s south polar region revealed cracks on the surface and other instruments detected a huge cloud of water vapor over the area. The moon likely had a liquid subsurface and some of this material reached the outside through these cracks. Scientists named the most prominent of these areas “tiger stripes” and later observations confirmed them as the source of the most prominent jets. During the most daring encounter in October 2015, Cassini came within 30 miles of the Enceladus’ surface, flying through the plume of material emanating from the moon. Analysis of the plumes revealed an organic brew of volatile gases, water vapor, ammonia, sodium salts, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. These plumes replenish Saturn’s E-ring, and some of this material enters Saturn’s upper atmosphere, an interaction unique in the solar system. More recently, the James Webb Space Telescope imaged the water vapor plume emanating from Enceladus’ south pole, extending out 40 times the size of the moon itself. The confirmation of a subsurface ocean of salty water has led some scientists to postulate that Enceladus may be hospitable to some forms of life, making it a potential target for future exploration. Enceladus may yet have more surprises, even as scientists continue to pore over the data returned by Cassini.
Left: James Webb Space Telescope image of a water vapor plume emanating from Enceladus. Right: Illustration of the interaction of Enceladus and Saturn’s E-ring.
Map of Enceladus based on imagery from Cassini, turning our view of Enceladus from a small point of light into a unique world with its own topography.
Events in world history in 1789:
January 29 – Vietnamese emperor Quang Trung defeats Chinese Qing forces at Ngọc Hồi-Đống Đa in one of the greatest military victories in Vietnamese history.
March 10 – In Japan, the Menashi-Kunashir rebellion begins between the Ainu people and the Japanese.
April 7 – Selim III succeeds Abdul Hamid I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
April 28 – Aboard the HMS Bounty in the Pacific Ocean, Fletcher Christian leads the mutiny against Captain William Bligh.
April 30 – Inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States of America.
July 14 – Citizens storm The Bastille fortress in Paris during the French Revolution.
September 15 – Birth of American writer James Fenimore Cooper in Burlington, New Jersey.
December 11 – Founding of the University of North Carolina, the oldest public university in the United States.
Explore More 11 min read 15 Years Ago: STS-128 Delivers Cargo to Enable Six-Person Space Station Crew Article 2 days ago 10 min read 40 Years Ago: President Reagan Announces Teacher in Space Project Article 3 days ago 12 min read 55 Years Ago: Apollo 11 Astronauts End Quarantine, Feted from Coast to Coast Article 1 week agoNASA Awards Intuitive Machines Lunar South Pole Research Delivery
A new set of NASA science experiments and technology demonstrations will arrive at the lunar South Pole in 2027 following the agency’s latest CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative delivery award. Intuitive Machines of Houston will receive $116.9 million to deliver six NASA payloads to a part of the Moon where nighttime temperatures are frigid, the terrain is rugged, and the permanently shadowed regions could help reveal the origin of water throughout our solar system.
Part of the agency’s broader Artemis campaign, CLPS aims to conduct science on the Moon for the benefit of all, including experiments and demos that support missions with crew on the lunar surface.
“This marks the 10th CLPS delivery NASA has awarded, and the fourth planned for delivery to the South Pole of the Moon,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By supporting a robust cadence of CLPS flights to a variety of locations on the lunar surface, including two flights currently planned by companies for later this year, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before.”
NASA has awarded Intuitive Machine’s four task orders. The company delivered six NASA payloads to Malapert A in the South Pole region of the Moon in early 2024. With this lunar South Pole delivery, Intuitive Machines will be responsible for payload integration, launch from Earth, safe landing on the Moon, and mission operations.
“The instruments on this newly awarded flight will help us achieve multiple scientific objectives and strengthen our understanding of the Moon’s environment,” said Chris Culbert, manager of the CLPS initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “For example, they’ll help answer key questions about where volatiles – such as water, ice, or gas – are found on the lunar surface and measure radiation in the South Pole region, which could advance our exploration efforts on the Moon and help us with continued exploration of Mars.”
The instruments, collectively expected to be about 174 pounds (79 kilograms) in mass, include:
- The Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications will deliver yeast to the lunar surface and study its response to radiation and lunar gravity. The payload is managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.
- Package for Resource Observation and In-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterization and Testing is a suite of instruments that will drill down to 3.3 feet (1 meter) beneath the lunar surface, extract samples, and process them in-situ in a miniaturized laboratory, to identify possible volatiles (water, ice, or gas) trapped at extremely cold temperatures under the surface. This suite is led by ESA (European Space Agency).
- The Laser Retroreflector Array is a collection of eight retroreflectors that will enable lasers to precisely measure the distance between a spacecraft and the reflector on the lander. The array is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come. The retroflector array is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
- The Surface Exosphere Alterations by Landers will investigate the chemical response of lunar regolith to the thermal, physical, and chemical disturbances generated during a landing, and evaluate contaminants injected into the regolith by the lander. It will give insight into how a spacecraft landing might affect the composition of samples collected nearby. This payload is managed by NASA Goddard.
- The Fluxgate Magnetometer will characterize certain magnetic fields to improve the understanding of energy and particle pathways at the lunar surface and is managed by NASA Goddard.
- The Lunar Compact Infrared Imaging System will deploy a radiometer – a device that measures infrared wavelengths of light – to explore the Moon’s surface composition, map its surface temperature distribution, and demonstrate the instrument’s feasibility for future lunar resource utilization activities. The imaging system is managed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Under CLPS, multiple commercial deliveries to different geographic regions will help NASA conduct science and continue working toward a long-term human presence on the Moon. Future deliveries will include sophisticated science experiments, and technology demonstrations as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign. Two upcoming CLPS flights slated to launch near the end of 2024 will deliver NASA payloads to the Moon’s nearside and South Pole, including the Intuitive Machines-2 delivery of NASA’s first on-site demonstration of searching for water and other chemical compounds 3.3 feet below the surface of the Moon, using a drill and mass spectrometer.
Learn more about CLPS and Artemis at:
-end-
Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1275
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov
Laura Sorto / Natalia Riusech
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
laura.g.sorto@nasa.gov / natalia.s.riusech@nasa.gov
NASA Leaders Tour Ames Campus, Meet with Employees
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) 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 RicheyNASA 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 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.
Share Details Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 7 min read NASA Project in Puerto Rico Trains Students in Marine Biology Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Seeks Input for Astrobee Free-flying Space Robots Article 3 days ago 2 min read NASA Develops Pod to Help Autonomous Aircraft Operators Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related TopicsMissions
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NASA Celebrates 25 Years of High School Aerospace Scholars
For 25 years, the Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center has inspired and provided high school students across the state of Texas with NASA-focused learning experiences through the High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) program. The OSTEM team celebrated the milestone on Monday, July 29 at Johnson’s Gilruth Center with poster sessions, special presentations, and a networking reception.
Fifty-one students who participated in the 2024 High School Aerospace Scholars program were invited to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to participate in an on-site experience. NASA/James BlairAn authentic STEM learning experience for Texas high school juniors, HAS provides opportunities for students to engage with NASA’s missions and become the next generation of explorers. The year-long program begins in the fall with an online, state-aligned STEM learning experience focused on Earth science, technology, aeronautics, the solar system, the International Space Station, and NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach. Students engage in approximately four months of virtual learning through curriculum including interactive lessons, rubric-based activities, and quizzes.
Students who complete the online courses with an overall average of 70% or greater receive an invitation to a five-day virtual summer experience called Moonshot. While actively mentored by NASA scientists and engineers, students work with a team to complete an Artemis-themed Moon to Mars mission and design challenge. The summer session also includes numerous gamified activities and guidance towards pathways to STEM careers.
High School Aerospace Scholars collaborated on an engineering design challenge during their on-site experience at Johnson Space Center. NASA/Bill StaffordThe top performing Moonshot teams are then invited to a four-day residential experience at Johnson, with lodging, meals, and transportation provided at no cost to the students. During the on-site session, students participate in NASA facility tours, complete engineering design challenges, and meet with NASA scientists and engineers who offer guidance on STEM careers. At the completion of the program, students can earn up to one full science elective credit for school.
The HAS 25th anniversary celebration coincided with this year’s on-site experience. During the 2023-2024 school year, 798 students participated in the HAS online course, with 359 advancing to the summer Moonshot experience. The top six Moonshot teams (51 students) were invited to Johnson.
High School Aerospace Scholars presented their Moonshot projects to Johnson Space Center team members during a poster session. NASA/James BlairThe 51 selected students kicked off the anniversary celebration with a poster session to present their Moonshot projects. Following the session, students heard from Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche and Deputy Director Steve Koerner during a fireside chat. Speakers included Pam Melroy, NASA Deputy Administrator; Arturo Sanchez, Johnson External Relations Office Director; Mike Kincaid, NASA OSTEM Associate Administrator; Greg Bonnen, member of the Texas House of Representatives; Brian Freedman, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership President; and Shelly Tornquist, director of Texas A&M University College of Engineering’s education outreach program, Spark!
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke meets with 2024 High School Aerospace Scholars.NASA/Helen Arase VargasOther notable attendees included NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, HAS activity managers from the past 25 years, and current HAS activity manager, Jakarda Varnado.
Continuing the celebration, HAS hosted the second annual Alumni Social on Wednesday, July 31 encouraging current and former HAS students and mentors to connect over lunch. The annual student rocket launch was also held onsite on Thursday, August 1.
2024 High School Aerospace Scholars prepare their model rockets for launch during the program’s on-site activities at Johnson Space Center. NASA/Josh ValcarcelAdditionally, the HAS team activated a mobile exhibit at two different on-site locations throughout the week. Over 150 guests stopped by the exhibit, which featured a HAS video montage and the opportunity to touch a lunar sample. Several of the visitors communicated their appreciation for HAS, noting the program has made significant impact on their children’s motivation, school performance, and career paths. Many alumni have gone on to pursue careers within STEM, including nearly 30 HAS participants who have been employed by NASA within the past five years.
2024 High School Aerospace Scholars connected with program alumni and HAS mentors during the Alumni Social held onsite at Johnson Space Center. NASA/Helen Arase VargasFor alumni who wish to continue their experience beyond the year-long program, HAS recently launched a mentorship course, for high school seniors. The course contains modules about leadership and STEM career opportunities and was designed to continue to engage the students as they prepare for the next step in their education or to launch their careers. Alumni also act as an additional layer of support for the junior scholars as they navigate their HAS experience.
HAS is made possible through collaborations among NASA, the State of Texas, Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and Rotary National Award for Space Achievement.
Applications will reopen in September for students interested in participating in the 2025 HAS experience.
NASA G-IV Plane Will Carry Next-Generation Science Instrument
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In a series of baseline flights beginning on June 24, 2024, the G-IV aircraft flew over the Antelope Valley to analyze aircraft performance. To accommodate a new radar instrument developed by JPL, NASA’s Airborne Science Program has selected the Gulfstream-IV aircraft to be modified and operated by Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California and will accommodate new instrumentation on board in support of the agency’s science mission directorate. Baseline flights began at NASA Armstrong in June 2024NASA/Carla ThomasIn June 2024, a new tail number swept the sky above NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Pilots conducted flights of a Gulfstream IV (G-IV) to evaluate its handling characteristics and to familiarize pilots with it before it begins structural modifications. The research plane is joining the center’s fleet serving NASA’s Airborne Science program.
The G-IV will carry the Next Generation Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR-NG), which sends and receives microwave signals to collect information about Earth’s topographic features and how they change over time. The goal for the team at NASA Armstrong is to modify the G-IV to accommodate three radars simultaneously.
“The AIRSAR-NG will be composed of three different Synthetic Aperture Radar antennas in one instrument to provide new insight into Earth’s surface more efficiently,” said Yunling Lou, principal investigator for the instrument at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “The capabilities of this new instrument will facilitate new techniques, such as three-dimensional imaging, that will be useful for future space-borne missions.”
With those and other modifications being made, the G-IV will also be able to accommodate an increased load of science instruments, which could enable NASA to support more dynamic airborne science missions.
“This aircraft will aid Armstrong in continuing our long history of supporting airborne science for the agency and maintain the expertise in conducting successful science missions for years to come,” said Franzeska Becker, the G-IV project manager at NASA Armstrong.
Transferred in February from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the G-IV will undergo additional modifications overseen by NASA Armstrong’s team. Their goal is to enrich the agency’s airborne science program by outfitting the aircraft to function as a more capable and versatile research platform.
The knowledge and expertise of professionals at NASA centers like Armstrong (G-IV, ER-2, C-20) and Langley (777, G-III) will help enable the agency to produce a well-defined and airworthy platform for science instruments and airborne science missions.
Learn more about NASA’s Airborne Science program Learn more about NASA’s AirSar project Share Details Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactErica HeimLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms Explore More 2 min read First NASA-Supported Researcher to Fly on Suborbital Rocket Article 1 day ago 7 min read NASA Project in Puerto Rico Trains Students in Marine Biology Article 2 days ago 6 min read Work Is Under Way on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAArmstrong Flight Research Center
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Saharan Dust in the Wind
The Suomi NPP satellite acquired this image of a plume of Saharan dust as winds lofted it over the Atlantic Ocean on Aug. 24, 2024.
The Sahara Desert is Earth’s largest source of airborne dust, and the particles can travel for thousands of miles. From late spring to early fall, it is common for the dry, dusty Saharan Air Layer to carry the particles westward across the Atlantic Ocean high in the atmosphere. Saharan Air Layer activity subsides after mid-August, according to NOAA, making it less likely that the plume shown here is bound for a transoceanic journey. Instead, it arcs to the north after blowing out over the ocean. Earlier in the summer, however, several clouds of fine dust from the Sahara reached the United States, creating hazy skies over Texas.
Read more about Saharan dust and why it’s interesting to scientists.
Text Credit: Lindsey Doermann
Image Credit: NASA/Lauren Dauphin, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership
Saharan Dust in the Wind
Aaron Vigil Helps Give SASS to Roman Space Telescope
The stars in the big Wyoming skies inspired Aaron Vigil as a child to dream big. Today, he’s a mechanical engineer working on the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at Goddard.
Name: Aaron Vigil
Title: Mechanical Engineer
Formal Job Classification: Aerospace Technology, Flight Structures
Organization: Mechanical Engineering, Engineering and Technology Directorate (Code 543)
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
I currently work on the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. I support daily integration and testing tasks related to the SASS assembly. I spend a lot of my time working with Goddard mechanical technicians and other engineers to execute test plans and procedures to assemble, test, and integrate SASS hardware.
What interests you about space?
I grew up in rural Wyoming. I did a lot of hiking, hunting, fishing, and camping. We were on the mountains constantly. I remember being up at night, sitting around the campfire with my family, looking up at the stars.
I was fascinated and captivated! I wanted to learn more about space.
“I currently work on the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope,” said Aaron. “I support daily integration and testing tasks related to the SASS assembly.”Photo credit: NASA/Chris GunnWhat brought you to Goddard?
In 2019, I began a B.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
In the spring of 2020, I reached out to an organization at the University of Wyoming looking for opportunities to further my education in the field of aerospace. They introduced me to the Wyoming Space Grand Consortium and, through their website, I learned of and applied to be a NASA Office of STEM Engagement intern in the spring of 2021. I received an offer and, in the summer of 2021, began working as a remote intern at Goddard on the 3D modeling and rendering of early spacecraft.
How did the Hispanic Advisory Committee for Employees (HACE) introduce you to the Pathways Program?
The summer of 2021, the different employee advisory committees at Goddard held presentations for the interns. I am Hispanic; I naturally gravitated towards HACE and fell in love with the extremely warm community they provided.
I attended their monthly meetings and I presented to the center at their end of the summer intern presentation. HACE introduced me to the Pathways Program, and the organization was instrumental in my becoming a Pathways student intern. This Pathways internship eventually led to my conversion to a fulltime employee and my current position in the Mechanical Engineering Branch here at Goddard.
What one piece of advice would you give to a new intern?
Never be afraid to ask questions and always seek out new connections. Goddard is a well of knowledge, you can learn and grow a lot from those around you.
Tell us about your mentorship at Goddard.
Jack Marshall is an aerospace engineer and the lead for SASS. When I was an intern, he showed me a glimpse into the world of engineering, providing perspective on all aspects of the project from administrative to technical. He continues to guide my engineering journey and has been instrumental in developing me into the engineer I am today. I am incredibly grateful to Jack for his welcome and his guidance.
What is the coolest part about your job?
The best parts about my job are the people I get to work with and the hardware we get to build. Whether we’re in a small lab in Goddard’s integration and testing facility or a large clean room, I get to spend most of my days working with incredible people to build, test, and integrate flight hardware. Every day there is something to be excited about and someone I get to work with who is likely to teach me something new. That excitement makes my work fun.
It’s also fun to work in facilities like the largest clean room at Goddard, where the James Webb Space Telescope was built. It was interesting getting used to being gowned up. You start with removing electronics and putting on a face mask, hair net, and shoe covers, before taking a quick air shower. Next comes the hood, coveralls, and boots, before taping your gloves and finally entering the clean room.
“Whether we’re in a small lab in Goddard’s integration and testing facility or a large clean room, I get to spend most of my days working with incredible people to build, test, and integrate flight hardware,” said Aaron. “Every day there is something to be excited about and someone I get to work with who is likely to teach me something new.”Photo credit: NASA/Jolearra TshiteyaWhat do you hope to be doing in five years?
I would hope to have the opportunity to continue learning and working here at Goddard. I love what I do, and I hope to help others interested, find a similar path to NASA.
What do you do fun?
I still love to go fishing and hiking any chance I get and have been looking forward to doing more here in Maryland. Since moving to the area, I have also been enjoying attending Nationals baseball games in D.C., and I have been looking for opportunities to continuing to play music since graduating college.
Aaron Vigil plays the sousaphone at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Photo courtesy of Aaron VigilWho inspires you?
My biggest inspirations have been my parents and grandparents, without them I would not be where I am today. I cannot thank them enough. They provided me my foundation and have supported me throughout my life, encouraging me to never give up. They have always had my back.
I also want to thank my Wyoming community where I grew up and my early mentors within that community.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
Grounded by roots, but always growing.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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.
Share Details Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Explore More 9 min read Veronica T. Pinnick Put NASA’s PACE Mission through Its Paces Article 5 months ago 7 min read Tyler Parsotan Takes a Long Look at the Transient Universe with NASA’s Swift Article 1 week ago 7 min read Xiaoyi Li Engineers Instruments and the Teams that Get Them DoneInstrument Systems Engineer Xiaoyi Li leads technical teams united by a common vision to achieve…
Article 2 weeks agoNASA JPL Developing Underwater Robots to Venture Deep Below Polar Ice
Called IceNode, the project envisions a fleet of autonomous robots that would help determine the melt rate of ice shelves.
On a remote patch of the windy, frozen Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California huddled together, peering down a narrow hole in a thick layer of sea ice. Below them, a cylindrical robot gathered test science data in the frigid ocean, connected by a tether to the tripod that had lowered it through the borehole.
This test gave engineers a chance to operate their prototype robot in the Arctic. It was also a step toward the ultimate vision for their project, called IceNode: a fleet of autonomous robots that would venture beneath Antarctic ice shelves to help scientists calculate how rapidly the frozen continent is losing ice — and how fast that melting could cause global sea levels to rise.
Warming Waters, Treacherous TerrainIf melted completely, Antarctica’s ice sheet would raise global sea levels by an estimated 200 feet (60 meters). Its fate represents one of the greatest uncertainties in projections of sea level rise. Just as warming air temperatures cause melting at the surface, ice also melts when in contact with warm ocean water circulating below. To improve computer models predicting sea level rise, scientists need more accurate melt rates, particularly beneath ice shelves — miles-long slabs of floating ice that extend from land. Although they don’t add to sea level rise directly, ice shelves crucially slow the flow of ice sheets toward the ocean.
A remote camera captured an IceNode prototype deployed below the frozen surface of Lake Superior, off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, during a field test in 2022. The three thin legs of the robot’s “landing gear” affix the prototype to the icy ceiling.NASA/JPL-CaltechThe challenge: The places where scientists want to measure melting are among Earth’s most inaccessible. Specifically, scientists want to target the underwater area known as the “grounding zone,” where floating ice shelves, ocean, and land meet — and to peer deep inside unmapped cavities where ice may be melting the fastest. The treacherous, ever-shifting landscape above is dangerous for humans, and satellites can’t see into these cavities, which are sometimes beneath a mile of ice. IceNode is designed to solve this problem.
“We’ve been pondering how to surmount these technological and logistical challenges for years, and we think we’ve found a way,” said Ian Fenty, a JPL climate scientist and IceNode’s science lead. “The goal is getting data directly at the ice-ocean melting interface, beneath the ice shelf.”
Floating FleetHarnessing their expertise in designing robots for space exploration, IceNode’s engineers are developing vehicles about 8 feet (2.4 meters) long and 10 inches (25 centimeters) in diameter, with three-legged “landing gear” that springs out from one end to attach the robot to the underside of the ice. The robots don’t feature any form of propulsion; instead, they would position themselves autonomously with the help of novel software that uses information from models of ocean currents.
JPL’s IceNode project is designed for one of Earth’s most inaccessible locations: underwater cavities deep beneath Antarctic ice shelves. The goal is getting melt-rate data directly at the ice-ocean interface in areas where ice may be melting the fastest. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechReleased from a borehole or a vessel in the open ocean, the robots would ride those currents on a long journey beneath an ice shelf. Upon reaching their targets, the robots would each drop their ballast and rise to affix themselves to the bottom of the ice. Their sensors would measure how fast warm, salty ocean water is circulating up to melt the ice, and how quickly colder, fresher meltwater is sinking.
The IceNode fleet would operate for up to a year, continuously capturing data, including seasonal fluctuations. Then the robots would detach themselves from the ice, drift back to the open ocean, and transmit their data via satellite.
“These robots are a platform to bring science instruments to the hardest-to-reach locations on Earth,” said Paul Glick, a JPL robotics engineer and IceNode’s principal investigator. “It’s meant to be a safe, comparatively low-cost solution to a difficult problem.”
Arctic Field TestWhile there is additional development and testing ahead for IceNode, the work so far has been promising. After previous deployments in California’s Monterey Bay and below the frozen winter surface of Lake Superior, the Beaufort Sea trip in March 2024 offered the first polar test. Air temperatures of minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 45 Celsius) challenged humans and robotic hardware alike.
The test was conducted through the U.S. Navy Arctic Submarine Laboratory’s biennial Ice Camp, a three-week operation that provides researchers a temporary base camp from which to conduct field work in the Arctic environment.
As the prototype descended about 330 feet (100 meters) into the ocean, its instruments gathered salinity, temperature, and flow data. The team also conducted tests to determine adjustments needed to take the robot off-tether in future.
“We’re happy with the progress. The hope is to continue developing prototypes, get them back up to the Arctic for future tests below the sea ice, and eventually see the full fleet deployed underneath Antarctic ice shelves,” Glick said. “This is valuable data that scientists need. Anything that gets us closer to accomplishing that goal is exciting.”
IceNode has been funded through JPL’s internal research and technology development program and its Earth Science and Technology Directorate. JPL is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California.
How NASA’s OMG found ocean waters are melting Greenland News Media ContactMelissa Pamer
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-314-4928
melissa.pamer@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-115
Share Details Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 7 min read NASA Project in Puerto Rico Trains Students in Marine Biology Article 23 hours ago 6 min read Work Is Under Way on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter Article 1 day ago 4 min read New NASA Study Tallies Carbon Emissions From Massive Canadian Fires Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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NASA’s Roman Space Telescope to Investigate Galactic Fossils
NASA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)
The universe is a dynamic, ever-changing place where galaxies are dancing, merging together, and shifting appearance. Unfortunately, because these changes take millions or billions of years, telescopes can only provide snapshots, squeezed into a human lifetime.
However, galaxies leave behind clues to their history and how they came to be. NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have the capacity to look for these fossils of galaxy formation with high-resolution imaging of galaxies in the nearby universe.
Astronomers, through a grant from NASA, are designing a set of possible observations called RINGS (the Roman Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey) that would collect these remarkable images, and the team is producing publicly available tools that the astronomy community can use once Roman launches and starts taking data. The RINGS survey is a preliminary concept that may or may not be implemented during Roman’s science mission.
Roman is uniquely prepared for RINGS due to its resolution akin to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and its wide field of view – – 200 times that of Hubble in the infrared – – making it a sky survey telescope that complements Hubble’s narrow-field capabilities.
Galactic ArchaeologistsScientists can only look at brief instances in the lives of evolving galaxies that eventually lead to the fully formed galaxies around us today. As a result, galaxy formation can be difficult to track.
Luckily, galaxies leave behind hints of their evolution in their stellar structures, almost like how organisms on Earth can leave behind imprints in rock. These galactic “fossils” are groups of ancient stars that hold the history of the galaxy’s formation and evolution, including the chemistry of the galaxy when those stars formed.
These cosmic fossils are of particular interest to Robyn Sanderson, the deputy principal investigator of RINGS at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She describes the process of analyzing stellar structures in galaxies as “like going through an excavation and trying to sort out bones and put them back together.”
Roman’s high resolution will allow scientists to pick out these galactic fossils, using structures ranging from long tidal tails on a galaxy’s outskirts to stellar streams within the galaxy. These large-scale structures, which Roman is uniquely capable of capturing, can give clues to a galaxy’s merger history. The goal, says Sanderson, is to “reassemble these fossils in order to look back in time and understand how these galaxies came to be.”
Shedding Light on Dark MatterRINGS will also enable further investigations of one of the most mysterious substances in the universe: dark matter, an invisible form of matter that makes up most of a galaxy’s mass. A particularly useful class of objects for testing dark matter theories are ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. According to Raja GuhaThakurta of the University of California, Santa Cruz, “Ultra faint dwarf galaxies are so dark matter-dominated that they have very little normal matter for star formation. With so few stars being created, ultra-faint galaxies can essentially be seen as pure blobs of dark matter to study.”
Roman, thanks to its large field of view and high resolution, will observe these ultra-faint galaxies to help test multiple theories of dark matter. With these new data, the astronomical community will come closer to finding the truth about this unobservable dark matter that vastly outweighs visible matter: dark matter makes up about 80% of the universe’s matter while normal matter comprises the remaining 20%.
Ultra-faint galaxies are far from the only test of dark matter. Often, just looking in an average-sized galaxy’s backyard is enough. Structures in the halo of stars surrounding a galaxy often give hints to the amount of dark matter present. However, due to the sheer size of galactic halos (they are often 15-20 times as big as the galaxy itself), current telescopes are deeply inefficient at observing them.
At the moment, the only fully resolved galactic halos scientists have to go on are our own Milky Way and Andromeda, our neighbor galaxy. Ben Williams, the principal investigator of RINGS at the University of Washington in Seattle, describes how Roman’s power will amend this problem: “We only have reliable measurements of the Milky Way and Andromeda, because those are close enough that we can get measurements of a large number of stars distributed across their stellar halos. So, with Roman, all of a sudden we’ll have 100 or more of these fully resolved galaxies.”
When Roman launches by May 2027, it is expected to fundamentally alter how scientists understand galaxies. In the process, it will shed some light on our own home galaxy. The Milky Way is easy to study up close, but we do not have a large enough selfie stick to take a photo of our entire galaxy and its surrounding halo. RINGS shows what Roman is capable of should such a survey be approved. By studying the nearby universe, RINGS can examine galaxies similar in size and age to the Milky Way, and shed light on how we came to be here.
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 Patt Molinari
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Media contact:
Claire Andreoli
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
Ann Jenkins
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Christine Pulliam
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Bring NASA Into Your Classroom This Fall Through Virtual Experiences
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Texas High School Aerospace Scholars get a virtual view of an extravehicular activity (EVA) suit in testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Photo credit: NASA/Helen Arase VargasExplore the universe this fall without leaving your classroom through live virtual engagements with NASA space and aviation experts. NASA is offering a new lineup of stellar virtual experiences to spark STEM excitement and connect students with the agency’s missions, science, careers, and more.
The virtual engagements, managed by NASA’s Next Gen STEM project, are free to join and open to both formal and informal education groups. These options are sure to launch your students’ love of STEM:
NASA Back-to-School Career Day (Grades K-12)On Sept. 26, NASA is hosting a Back-to-School Career Day showcasing a variety of NASA careers with virtual tours of agency facilities, live Q&A with experts, and more.
Open to K-12 formal and informal education organizations, the registration deadline is Thursday, Sept. 5. In addition to the live event, the interactive platform will be available from Monday, Sept. 23, through Friday, Sept. 27.
Europa Clipper Launch Virtual Watch Party (All Grade Levels)NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch no earlier than Oct. 10 on a mission to investigate whether Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, could contain the building blocks needed to support life. The launch window opens on Oct. 10 during the school day at 12:32 p.m. EDT, and your classroom can be part of this pioneering mission. Sign up to watch the launch online, visit Europa Clipper’s Participation Hub for more opportunities, and find additional resources on Europa Clipper’s Kids Resources Hub.
NQuest Virtual Workshops (Grades 6-8)NQuest offers 45-minute virtual workshops every Monday and Thursday. Available on a first-come, first-served basis, these free workshops include a live presentation, captivating NASA videos, and a hands-on activity to bring STEM concepts to life. All you need is a laptop, projector, and basic classroom supplies. Workshops can be scheduled to fit your school’s bell schedule between 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. EDT. Register your class by Oct. 11.
“Astro-Not-Yets” Virtual Classroom Connections (Grades K-4)Introduce your students to the Astro-Not-Yets, a series of short stories that teach students about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. In each of these monthly virtual events, a NASA expert whose job relates to the story will read the book to students, then answer their questions.
- Wednesday, Oct. 23: The Astro-Not-Yets! Explore Sound. Students will learn how sound travels and experiment with transmitting sound through a string-cup phone. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Oct. 9.
- Wednesday, Nov. 20: Astro-Not-Yets! Explore Energy. Students will learn how spacecraft safely bring astronauts home from space, then design and test their own system to safely land an egg on the ground. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 6.
- Wednesday, Dec. 11: Astro-Not-Yets! Explore Microgravity. Students will learn all about gravity, microgravity, and the International Space Station. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 27.
This series introduces some of the women at NASA who have made significant achievements in STEM. Students get to hear their stories first-hand and ask them questions in a live Q&A.
- Wednesday, Oct. 16: Meet NASA’s first female launch director, Charlie Blackwell-Thompson. She led the launch team during the uncrewed Artemis I mission around the Moon in 2022. Now, she and her team are preparing for the first crewed Artemis mission, Artemis II. Registration deadline: Monday, Sept. 30.
- Wednesday, Nov. 6: Meet Laurie A. Grindle and learn about NASA’s first X-43A Guinness world record. Today, Grindle is deputy center director at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, but in 2004, the X-43A aircraft she and her team developed set the Guinness World Record for “the fastest air-breathing aircraft” twice in one year. Registration deadline: Monday, Oct. 21.
- Wednesday, Dec. 4: Meet Dr. Ruth Jones, NASA’s 2024 Wings of Excellence Awardee. Jones will share her experience as a woman in STEM and tell students what it was like to become the first woman to earn a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Registration deadline: Monday, Nov. 18.
The Surprisingly STEM video series highlights some of NASA’s many unexpected careers. In these events, experts from the videos discuss their unusual and exciting jobs and share their journeys that led them to NASA.
- Thursday, Oct. 24: Soft robotics engineer Jim Neilan explains the importance of soft robotics in human spaceflight and some of the role’s critical skills. Registration deadline: Friday, Oct. 18.
- Thursday, Nov. 14: Exploration geologist Angela Garcia takes students behind the scenes of her job training NASA astronauts to explore for the “crater” good of humanity. Registration deadline: Thursday, Nov. 7.
- Thursday, Dec. 12: Memory metal engineer Othmane Benafan explains how he “trains” metal to bend, stretch, and twist when prompted, and how this technology benefits NASA missions. Registration deadline: Thursday, Dec. 5.
NASA recently launched NASA Engages, a new, database-driven platform designed to connect a wide range of audiences with experts from across the space agency – both virtually and in person. Available to classrooms from preschool to college, informal education organizations such as libraries and science centers, and other eligible groups, NASA Engages enables educators and group leaders to find inspirational guest speakers, knowledgeable science fair judges, and more.
There’s More to Explore- Find student challenges, hands-on activities, and more opportunities on the Learning Resources website managed by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement.
- Visit How Do I Navigate NASA Learning Resources and Opportunities? to explore additional platforms and offerings to enhance your STEM curriculum.
- Subscribe to the weekly NASA EXPRESS e-newsletter to discover the latest events, resources, and other opportunities to bring NASA into your classroom.
During the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, approximately 770 AudioMoth recording devices were used…
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