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Sols 4475-4476: Even the Best-Laid Plans
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Sols 4475-4476: Even the Best-Laid Plans NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of “Gould Mesa,” named for a hill near NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, using its Right Navigation Camera on March 6, 2025 — sol 4472, or Martian day 4,472 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 01:37:17 UTC. NASA/JPL-CaltechWritten by Deborah Padgett, OPGS Task Lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Friday, March 7, 2025
In Curiosity’s last plan, the team decided to drive toward a very interesting nodular rock. The rover team hoped to do a detailed study of its surface texture over the weekend. However, Curiosity did not receive its expected Friday morning downlink of images taken after its drive. The MSL team did receive a tiny bit of data confirming that Curiosity’s drive finished as expected. Unfortunately, without images to determine exactly where Curiosity was located relative to its intended destination, the team was unable to do any instrument pointing at nearby objects, known as “targeted” observations. However, the rover team showed its resilience by filling the weekend plan with a full slate of fascinating remote observations of the terrain and sky around Curiosity’s current perch, high in the canyons of Mount Sharp. Our science and instrument teams always keep a list of backup observations close at hand — frequently those taking too much time to fit in a typical sol plan — in case they get an unexpected opportunity to use them!
On sol 4475, Curiosity will start its first science block midday with two back-to-back dust-devil surveys with Navcam. These searches for Martian whirlwinds will be followed by a measurement of atmospheric dust with Mastcam. Mastcam will then do its first large panorama image of the plan, an 11×3 mosaic starboard of the rover to document bedrock and regolith in an area with a dark band of material seen from orbit. This long observation will be followed by an AEGIS activity, using Navcam to find targets for ChemCam’s laser spectrograph. Curiosity will then repeat its post-drive imaging at high quality, hopefully to be received at JPL before Monday’s planning day. In the evening, APXS will do atmospheric composition studies for several hours.
The next day will be a “soliday,” without any observations. Early in the morning of sol 4476, Mastcam will take its second large panorama, which will be a fantastic 37×4 mosaic of sunrise on the slopes of Gould Mesa (see image). In the afternoon, there will be a Mastcam dust measurement, ChemCam calibration observation, ChemCam passive sky, and two more dust-devil surveys. The next morning, there will be a set of Navcam cloud movies, a dust measurement, and sky phase function observations to support the Mars aphelion cloud-belt campaign. On sol 4477, we will use the post-drive imaging taken over the weekend to plan contact science, then drive away from this location on sol 4478, continuing Curiosity’s journey toward the mysterious boxwork features to the west.
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NASA Continues BioNutrients Space-Fermented Food Research
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams displays a set of BioNutrients production packs during an experiment aboard the International Space Station. The experiment uses engineered yeast to produce nutrients and vitamins to support future astronaut health.NASANASA’s BioNutrients series of experiments is testing ways to use microorganisms to make nutrients that will be needed for human health during future long-duration deep space exploration missions. Some vital nutrients lack the shelf-life needed to span multi-year human missions, such as a mission to Mars, and may need to be produced in space to support astronaut health. To meet this need, the BioNutrients project uses a biomanufacturing approach similar to making familiar fermented foods, such as yogurt. But these foods also will include specific types and amounts of nutrients that crew will be able to consume in the future.
The first experiment in the series, BioNutrients-1, set out to assess the five-year stability and performance of a hand-held system – called a production pack – that uses an engineered microorganism, yeast, to manufacture fresh vitamins on-demand and in space. The BioNutrients-1 experiments began after multiple sets of production packs launched to the station in 2019. This collection included spare production packs as backups to be used in case an experiment needs to be re-run during the five-year study. The planned experiments concluded in January 2024 spare production packs still remaining aboard the orbiting lab and in the BioNutrients lab at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, where the ground team runs experiments in parallel to the crew operations.
Leaders at NASA’s International Space Station and Game Changing Development programs worked to coordinate the crew time needed to perform an additional BioNutrients-2 experiment using the spare packs. This extended the study’s timeline to almost six years in orbit, allowing valuable crew observations and data from the additional experiment run to be applied to a follow-on experiment, BioNutrients-3, which completed its analog astronaut experiment in April 2024, and is planned to launch to the station this year. Astronauts on the space station will freeze the sample and eventually it will be returned to Earth for analysis to see how much yeast grew and how much nutrient the experiment produced. This will help us understand how the shelf stability of the packets.
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Human System Risk Board
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Risks ConceptRisk is inherent in human spaceflight. However, specific risks can and should be understood, managed, and mitigated to reduce threats posed to astronauts. Risk management in the context of human spaceflight can be viewed as a trade-based system. The relevant evidence in life sciences, medicine, and engineering is tracked and evaluated to identify ways to minimize overall risk to the astronauts and to ensure mission success. The Human System Risk Board (HSRB) manages the process by which scientific evidence is utilized to establish and reassess the postures of the various risks to the Human System during all of the various types of existing or anticipated crewed missions. The HSRB operates as part of the Health and Medical Technical Authority of the Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer of NASA via the JSC Chief Medical Officer.
The HSRB approaches to human system risks is analogous to the approach the engineering profession takes with its Failure Mode and Effects Analysis in that a process is utilized to identify and address potential problems, or failures to reduce their likelihood and severity. In the context of risks to the human system, the HSRB considers eight missions which different in their destinations and durations (known as Design Reference Missions [DRM]) to further refine the context of the risks. With each DRM a likelihood and consequence are assigned to each risk which is adjusted scientific evidence is accumulated and understanding of the risk is enhanced, and mitigations become available or are advanced.
Human System RisksThis framework enables the principles of Continuous Risk Management and Risk Informed Decision Making (RIDM) to be applied in an ongoing fashion to the challenges posed by Human System Risks. Using this framework consistently across the 29 risks allows management to see where risks need additional research or technology development to be mitigated or monitored and for the identification of new risks and concerns. Further information on the implementation of the risk management process can be found in the following documents:
- Human System Risk Management Plan – JSC-66705
- NASA Health and Medical Technical Authority (HMTA) Implementation – NPR 7120.11A
- NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements – NPR 7120.5
The HSRB Risk Management Office governs the execution of the Human System Risk management process in support of the HSRB. It is led by the HSRB Chair, who is also referred to as the Risk Manager.
Risk Custodian TeamsAlong with the Human System Risk Manager, a team of risk custodians (a researcher, an operational researcher or physician, and an epidemiologist, who each have specific expertise) works together to understand and synthesize scientific and operational evidence in the context of spaceflight, identify and evaluate metrics for each risk in order to communicate the risk posture to the agency.
Directed Acyclic Graphs SummaryThe HSRB uses Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG), a type of causal diagramming, as visual tools to create a shared understanding of the risks, improve communication among those stakeholders, and enable the creation of a composite risk network that is vetted by members of the NASA community and configuration managed (Antonsen et al., NASA/TM– 20220006812). The knowledge captured is the Human Health and Performance community’s knowledge about the causal flow of a human system risk, and the relationships that exist between the contributing factors to that risk.
DAGs are:
- Intended to improve communication between:
- Managers and subject matter experts who need to discuss human system risks
- Subject matter experts in different disciplines where human system risks interact with one another in a potentially cumulative fashion
- Visual representations of known or suspected relationships
- Directed – the relationship flows in one direction between any two nodes
- Acyclic – cycles in the graph are not allowed
At NASA, the Human System Risks have historically been conceptualized as deriving from five Hazards present in the spaceflight environment. These are: altered gravity, isolation and confinement, radiation, a hostile closed environment, and distance from Earth. These Hazards are aspects of the spaceflight environment that are encountered when someone is launched into space and therefore are the starting point for causal diagramming of spaceflight-related risk issues for the HSRB.
These Hazards are often interpreted in relation to physiologic changes that occur in humans as a result of the exposure; however, interaction between human crew (behavioral health and performance), which may be degraded due to the spaceflight environment – and the vehicle and mission systems that the crew must operate – can also be influenced by these Hazards.
Each Human System Risk DAG is intended to show the causal flow of risk from Hazards to Mission Level Outcomes. As such, the structure of each DAG starts with at least one Hazard and ends with at least one of the pre-defined Mission Level Outcomes. In between are the nodes and edges of the causal flow diagrams that are relevant to the Risk under consideration. These are called ‘contributing factors’ in the HSRB terminology, and include countermeasures, medical conditions, and other Human System Risks. A graph data structure is composed of a set of vertices (nodes), and a set of edges (links). Each edge represents a relationship between two nodes. There can be two types of relationships between nodes: directed and undirected. For example, if an edge exists between two nodes A and B and the edge is undirected, it is represented as A–B, (no arrow). If the edge were directed, for example from A to B, then this is represented with an arrow (A->B). Each directed arrow connecting one node to another on a DAG indicates a claim of causality. A directed graph can potentially contain a cycle, meaning that, from a specific node, there exists a path that would eventually return to that node. A directed graph that has no cycles is known as acyclic. Thus, a graph with directed links and no cycles is a DAG. DAGs are a type of network diagram that represent causality in a visual format.
DAGs are updated with the regular Human System Risk updates generally every 1-2 years. Approved DAGs can be found in the NASA/TP 20220015709 below or broken down under each Human System Risk.
Documents- Directed Acyclic Graph Guidance Documentation – NASA/TM 20220006812
- Directed Acyclic Graphs: A Tool for Understanding the NASA Human Spaceflight System Risks – NASA/TP 20220015709
system risk in spaceflight
Apr 22, 2024
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npj Microgravity –Levels of evidence for human system risk
evaluation
Apr 22, 2024
PDF (2.47 MB)
npj Microgravity –Updates to the NASA human system risk management process
for space exploration
Apr 22, 2024
PDF (2.24 MB)
Points of ContactMary Van Baalen
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Risk to Vehicle Crew Egress Capability and Task Performance as Applied to Earth and Extraterrestrial Landings
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he and NASA astronaut Robert Behnken landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. The Demo-2 test flight for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley returned after spending 64 days in space. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)NASANew spacecraft that will transport crews to the Lunar and Martian surfaces and return them to Earth may have diverse landing modalities which will function in different landing environments. Additionally, the crew may be deconditioned on landing, impacting their ability to independently egress the vehicles, perform post-landing tasks in a timely manner, and perform surface EVAs post-landing -including those required for emergencies.
Boeing and NASA teams work around Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after it landed at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in New Mexico. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system’s capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Directed Acyclic Graph Files+ DAG File Information (HSRB Home Page)
+ Crew Egress Risk DAG and Narrative (PDF)
+ Crew Egress Risk DAG Code (TXT)
Human System Risks Share Details Last Updated Mar 11, 2025 EditorRobert E. LewisLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms Explore More 1 min read Risk of Toxic Substance Exposure Article 19 hours ago 1 min read Risk of Urinary Retention Article 19 hours ago 1 min read Risk to Crew Health Due to Electrical Shock (Electrical Shock Risk) Article 19 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAHumans In Space
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The NASA DC-8 Retires: Reflections on its Contributions to Earth System Science
13 min read
The NASA DC-8 Retires: Reflections on its Contributions to Earth System ScienceIntroduction
Since 1987, a highly modified McDonnell Douglas DC-8 aircraft has been a workhorse in NASA’s Airborne Science Program (ASP)—see Photo 1. The aircraft, located at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in California, flew countless missions as a science laboratory, producing science data that supports projects serving the world’s scientific community, particularly the NASA Earth science community. NASA recently decided to retire the venerable DC-8 aircraft, which made its last science flight in April 2024. The DC-8 is being replaced with a similarly refurbished Boeing 777 aircraft, which will be even more capable than the DC-8.
Photo 1. NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory flew Earth science missions for NASA’s. Airborne Science Program (ASP) from 1987–2024. The versatile aircraft was used to conduct a variety of research experiments that spanned all seven continents. Photo credit: Lori Losey [NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)]More information is available about the full history of ASP, its primary objectives, and its many achievements in an archived article: see “Flying in the ‘Gap’ Between Earth and Space: NASA’s Airborne Science Program” [The Earth Observer, September–October 2020, 32:5, 4–14].
Workshop Overview
The NASA History Office and NASA Earth Science Division cohosted a workshop, titled “Contributions of the DC-8 to Earth System Science at NASA,” on October 24–25, 2024 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters (HQ) Building in Washington, DC – see Photo 2.
The agenda included not just the DC-8’s contributions to Earth Science at NASA, but also its role supporting the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and work in space science. Many DC-8 veterans – including several who are now retired – attended the event in person or online. The program consisted of six panels and roundtables, each calling attention to a unique aspect of the DC-8 story.
Photo 2. Group photo of the in person and remote participants of the workshop on “Contributions of the DC-8 to Earth System Science at NASA,” which took place October 24–25, 2024 at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters (HQ) Building in Washington, DC. Photo credit: Rafael Luis Méndez Peña [NASA’s Ames Research Center, Earth Science Program Office]The event featured 38 individuals (speakers, panelists, and moderators) from NASA HQ, five NASA centers, eight universities, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In addition, Spanish filmmaker Rafael Luis Méndez Peña debuted a trailer for his documentary film, NASA-817, on October 24 and took photographs during the workshop. The ??? agenda a workshop recording ???, and other related materials are available through the NASA History Office.
The Tale of the NASA DC-8
The article follows the outline of the workshop that places the DC-8 in the context of the overall history of NASA aircraft observations, science campaigns, community, and international collaboration, education and outreach activities.
A History in Context: the DC-8 and NASA’s Airborne Science Program
NASA’s involvement in airborne science extends to the agency’s inception. The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 states that NASA’s first objective shall be “the expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space.” Subsequent legislation expanded NASA’s role in atmospheric and Earth system science. To fulfill this objective, NASA maintains a fleet of airborne platforms through ASP – see Figure –to study the environment, develop new technologies, verify satellite data, and monitor space vehicle activity.
Figure. The DC-8 was but one aircraft is NASA’s sizeable Airborne Science Fleet – which is maintained and operated by ASP. Note that in addition to a variety of piloted aircraft operating at different altitudes shown in this drawing, NASA also operates uncrewed aircraft systems and even uses kites to conduct Earth observations. Figure credit: NASA Science Suborbital Platforms, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Science Support OfficeNASA operated two large flying laboratories prior to the DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory. Both aircraft were converted Convair (CV) 990s. Regrettably, both aircraft succumbed to catastrophic accidents. The first, known as Galileo, collided with a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion near Moffett Field, CA, in April 1973, killing 11 NASA personnel. Its replacement, Galileo II, crashed on takeoff at March Air Force Base in July 1985. While there were no fatalities in the second accident, the ensuing fire consumed the aircraft and its instruments. The loss of Galileo II left a gaping hole in NASA’s ability to conduct essential scientific and engineering research.
In January 1986, after months of bureaucratic scrambling, NASA finalized the purchase of former commercial airliner (DC-8-72) for $24 million, which included costs to modify the aircraft to carry a science payload and crew. The modified DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory—shown in Photo 2— arrived at NASA Ames Research Center during the Summer of 1987.
Overview Presentations on Airborne Science
Jack Kaye [NASA Headquarters—Associate Director for Research of the Earth Science Division] gave the meeting’s opening remarks, where he placed the DC-8’s activities in a larger perspective. He noted that one of the features that makes airborne science so unique at NASA is the combination of platforms, sensors, systems, people, and opportunities. The DC-8 was able to carry a large number of people as well as instruments to carry out long-range operations under diverse conditions.
“[The DC-8 offered] a really versatile, flexible platform that’s allowed for lots of science,” said Kaye.
Later in the meeting, Karen St. Germain [NASA Headquarters—Director of the Earth Science Division] built upon Kaye’s comments. She noted that while NASA’s satellite missions receive most of the public’s attention, airborne science is an essential part of the NASA mission.
“This is the grassroots of science,” she stressed. “It’s where a lot of the great ideas are born. It’s where a lot of the fledgling sensor technologies are demonstrated.”
First Flight for the DC-8
NASA routinely conducts field campaigns – where ground observations are timed and coordinated with aircraft flights (often at more than one altitude) and with satellite overpasses to gain a comprehensive (multilayered, multiscale) picture of the atmosphere over a certain area. A more detailed account of two NASA field campaigns from the 1980s and 1990s, and their follow-up missions, is available in an archived article: see “Reflections on FIFE and BOREAS: Historical Perspective and Meeting Summary” [The Earth Observer, January–February 2017, 29:1, 6–23]. The article illustrates scaled observations as they were conducted during FIFE and BOREAS.
Researchers first used the DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory on a high-profile interagency field campaign – Antarctic Airborne Ozone Expedition (AAOE), the first airborne experiment to study the chemistry and dynamics of the Antarctic ozone hole. The scientific data collected during AAOE produced unequivocable evidence that human-made chemicals were involved in the destruction of ozone over the Antarctic. This data served as a major impetus toward the enactment of amendments to the Montreal Protocol, which banned the manufacture of chlorofluorocarbons.
Estelle Condon [NASA’s Ames Research Center (ARC), emeritus] was a program manager for AAOE. During the meeting, she shared her memories of the hectic days leading up to the DC-8’s first mission.
“There was an enormous task in front of [the aircraft team] – just a huge task – to get all the relay racks, all the wiring, all the ports for the windows designed and built so that when the scientists finally came, all that instrumentation could actually be put on the aircraft,” said Condon. She added that the ARC staff worked day and night and every weekend to make the plane ready.
“It’s a miracle that they were able to put everything together and get it to the tip of South America in time for the mission,” she said.
Other Noteworthy Field Campaigns Involving the DC-8
The DC-8 would go on to be used in many other field campaigns throughout its 37-year history
and was central to several of NASA’s research disciplines. For example, Michael Kurylo [NASA Headquarters—Atmospheric Composition Program Scientist] was the manager of NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Program, where he developed, promoted, and implemented an extramural research program in stratospheric and upper tropospheric composition and directed its advanced planning at a national and international level. Kurylo summarized the DC-8’s many flights to study stratospheric chemistry beyond the AAOE missions.
Kurylo also discussed the DC-8’s role in tropospheric chemistry investigations, especially through the many field campaigns that were conducted as part of the Global Troposphere Experiment (GTE). He also touched on the culture of NASA airborne science and the dynamic that existed between scientists and those who operated and maintained the aircraft. “The scientists were always referred to [by NASA pilots and groundcrew] as ‘coneheads’…. Too much college, not enough high school,” Kurylo explained. But he and his colleagues have such fond memories of their time spent working together onboard the DC-8.
James Crawford [NASA’s Langley Research Center], a project scientist for many of the GTE campaigns, explained that from 1983–2001 16 GTE aircraft-based missions, each with its own name and location, took place. Each mission collected a rich set of data records of atmospheric observations and on many occasions the data were used as baselines for subsequent campaigns. The DC-8 was one of several NASA aircraft involved, the others being the Corvair-990, Electra, and P-3B.
Joshua Schwarz [NOAA’s Chemical Sciencc Laboratory] discussed the airplane’s role in global atmospheric monitoring. He recall thinking, after his first experience with the DC-8 that this flying airborne laboratory, “…was going to make things possible that wouldn’t otherwise be possible,” Schwarz concluded after his first encounter with the DC-8.
Other workshop participants went on to describe how – for nearly four decades – investigators used data collected by instruments on the DC-8 to conduct research and write papers on important scientific and engineering topics.
The People Behind the Aircraft: The DC-8 Community
The DC-8 was a large and durable aircraft capable of long-range flights, which made it ideal for conducting scientific research. Around these research efforts a strong community emerged. Over three decades, the DC-8 accommodated many investigators from NASA, interagency offices, U.S. universities, and international organizations on extended global missions. Agency officials also moved the DC-8 base of operations several times between 1986 and 2024, thereby demanding tremendous cross-center cooperation.
“Looking around the room, it’s clear that what brought us together [for the workshop] is more than just an aircraft,” said Nickelle Reid [NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center]. “It’s been a shared commitment, decades of passion and dedication from scientists, yes, but also mechanics, technicians, integration engineers, project managers, mission planners, operations engineers, flight engineers, mission directors, mission managers, logistics technicians and, of course, pilots. This village of people has been the beating heart of the DC-8 program.”
This DC-8 community was well represented at this workshop and played a key role in its success.
The DC-8 as a Means of International Engagement
The DC-8 community expanded beyond the U.S., opening unique opportunities for international engagement. The campaigns of the DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory routinely involved foreign students, institutions, and governments. For example, the Korea–U.S. Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) campaign, an international cooperative air quality field study in Korea, took place in 2016. For more information about this campaign, see the archived Earth Observer article, “Flying in the ‘Gap’ Between Earth and Space: NASA’s Airborne Science Program” [The Earth Observer, September–October 2022, 32:5, 4–14].
Yunling Lou [NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory] spoke to the workshop audience about the value of international collaboration.
“I think [international collaboration] really helped – not just doing the collaboration [to accomplish a specific mission] but doing the training, the capacity building in these countries to build the community of global scientists and engineers,” said Lou.
Trina Dryal [LaRC—Deputy Director] continued that the DC-8 and NASA’s other airborne assets are more than just science laboratories.
“[They] are opportunities for science, diplomacy, international collaboration, cross learning, educational inspiration, and goodwill,” said Dryal—see Photo 3.
Photo 3. International collaborations included educational endeavors. Here, Walter Klein [AFRC—DC-8 Mission Manager] poses with a group of Chilean students onboard the DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory in Punta Arenas, Chile, March 2004. Photo credit: Jim Closs [NASA’s Langley Research Center]Student Investigations on the DC-8
Closer to home, the flying scientific laboratory affected the lives of many U.S. students and early career professionals. NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP), is an eight-week summer internship for rising-senior undergraduates that takes place annually on the East and West coasts of the U.S – see Photo 4. During the program, students gain hands-on experience conducting all aspects of a scientific campaign. They conduct field research, analyze the data, and gain access to one or more of NASA’s ASP flying science laboratories. Since 2009, this program alone has provided hands on experience in conducting NASA Earth science research to XXXX students.
Berry Lefer [NASA Headquarters—Tropospheric Composition Program Manager] pointed out that SARP helped to integrate American students into DC-8 scientific missions.
“I want to make sure the NASA historians understand that the DC-8 is the premier flying laboratory on the planet, bar none,” said Lefer. “You’ve seen over the whole three-decade life of the DC-8 that education and outreach, student involvement has been a hallmark of the DC-8 [program].”
Yaitza Luna-Cruz [NASA Headquarters—Program Executive] was one among several SARP alumni who delivered testimony on the impact of the SARP program at the workshop.
“SARP unleashed my potential in ways that I cannot even describe,” said Luna-Cruz. “You never know what a single opportunity could do to shape the career of a student or early career researcher.
Luna-Cruz hopes these efforts continue with the coming of NASA’s new Boeing 777 airborne laboratory.
Photo 4. One of the most popular student investigations flown on the DC-8 (and other ASP aircraft) was (is) the Student Airborne Research Program (SARP), in which upper-level undergraduate students can gain valuable hands-on experience conducting field research. Students taking part in SARP and their mentors posed with the DC-8 at AFRC in 2019 [top] and in 2022 [bottom]. The 2022 SARP group flew flights over California’s Central Valley to study air quality. Photo credit: [Top] NASA; [bottom] Lauren Hughes [ARC]Final Flight and Retirement of the DC-8
The DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory flew its last science flight during the international Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality mission (ASIA-AQ) in April 2024. Since its final flight, the aircraft has been retired to Idaho State University (ISU). Today, students in ISU’s aircraft maintenance program work on the airplane to develop real-world technical skills – continuing the DC-8’s mission as an educational platform. According to Gerald Anhorn [ISU—Dean of College of Technology], ISU students have a unique opportuning to gain experience working on a legendary research aircraft.
“Our students have that opportunity because of [NASA’s] donation” to the school, said Auborn.
Conclusion: Flying Toward the Future – From DC-8 to Boeing 777
While the DC-8 is retiring from active service, airborne observations continue to be a vital part of NASA’s mission. The agency recently acquired a Boeing 777and will modify it to support its ongoing airborne scientific research efforts. This new addition expands beyond the capacity of the DC-8 by allowing for even longer flights with larger payloads and more researchers to gather data. Several members of the Boeing 777 team from NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC) attended the workshop.
“I mentioned I was in charge of the ‘replacement’ for the DC-8,” said Martin Nowicki [LaRC—Boeing 777 Lead]. “Over the last two days, here, it’s become pretty apparent that there’s no ‘replacing’ the DC-8. It’s carved out its own place in history. It’s just done so much.”
Nowicki looks forward to working with workshop participants to identify useful lessons of the past for future operators. He concluded that the Boeing 777 will carry the legacy of the DC-8 and continue with capturing the amazing science of ASP.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Jack Kaye [NASA HQ—Associate Director of Research for the Earth Science Division] for his helpful reviews of the article draft. The first author also wishes to thank Lisa Frazier [NASA Headquarters—Strategic Events and Engagement Lead] for providing support and assistance throughout for the in-person workshop participants. and to the Earth Science Project Office team from NASA’s Ames Research Center, who performed essential conference tasks, such as website construction, audio-visual support, and food service management. This article is an enhanced version of the first author’s summary, which appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of News & Notes – The NASA History Office’s newsletter.
Bradley L. Coleman
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA History Office
bradley.l.coleman@nasa.gov
Alan B. Ward
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Global Science & Technology Inc.
alan.b.ward@nasa.gov
Summary of Special Engage Session on “Remote Sensing and the Future of Earth Observations”
27 min read
Summary of Special Engage Session on “Remote Sensing and the Future of Earth Observations”Introduction
On October 16, 2024, a special session of the NASA Goddard Engage series took place in the Goett Auditorium (Building 3) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The Engage series is intended to explain work at GSFC in an immersive and nontechnical setting. GSFC’s Office of Communications, Earth Sciences Division, and Scientific Colloquium organized this special session.
The featured speaker for this event was The Honorable Al Gore [former Vice President of the U.S.], who has a long history of advocating for the environment and raising public awareness of the worsening “climate crisis” – having received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
The event also featured a panel discussion called “Remote Sensing and the Future of Earth Observations.” Three distinguished scientists spoke about what drew their interest in Earth science and responded to questions from the moderator and the in-person and online audience.
Editor’s Note: This is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all NASA’s future plans regarding Earth Remote Sensing. Rather the panelists focused on some specific activities on which they had expertise that was intended to give a sense of the full suite of activities planned for the coming decade.
While The Earth Observer typically does not usually report on Center-specific events, the newsletter makes an exception for this event because the former Vice President participated – and because the topic of the panel discussion is directly relevant to this publications’ wider audience. The remainder of this article summarizes the Engage session, including Gore’s remarks, the panel discussion, and the question-and-answer (Q&A) session that followed. A YouTube video of the full event is available for viewing.
Opening Remarks
Dalia Kirschbaum [GSFC—Director of Earth Sciences Division] welcomed the participants – both in-person and virtual. Casey Swails [NASA Headquarters—Deputy Associate Administrator] continued by thanking Gore for being one of most influential voices in the U.S. on climate . She said that Gore’s words and actions have inspired much more than just the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission. NASA – and GSFC in particular – has been conducting environmental studies since its beginning. She named historical missions, such as Vanguard, the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS), Landsat (partnership with U.S. Geological Service), and the Earth Observing System (EOS) – including more than 20 years of observations from the three Flagship Missions: Terra, Aqua, and Aura. (The Earth Observer’s Archives Page includes a “Bibliography of Articles with Historical Content” in which links to articles written on most of the missions mentioned in the previous sentence can be found.)
Swails pointed out that GSFC is home to the largest population of Earth Scientists who produce more than 400 journal articles each year.
“It will be you and your successors who will also make NASA (GSFC) the future of Earth observations,” said Swails. “You are continuing to accelerate core science research and enable action through the newly established Earth System Observatory project office, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) project office, and new flagship missions, such as the Atmospheric Observing System (AOS) and Landsat Next.”
On behalf of – at the time of the meeting – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Swails thanked Gore for participating in the Engage event, and she thanked all the scientists and engineers – past and present – that have led the way in making NASA (GSFC) a leader in Earth observations for more than six decades.
Featured Speaker: The Honorable Al Gore
Kirschbaum then introduced Al Gore – shown in Photo 1 – whom she described as an environmental advocate and a central figure in advancing public discourse on climate and sustainability. Following Gore’s many years of political service, he confronted the world with “An Inconvenient Truth,” a documentary on climate change that helped raise global awareness of the worsening state of Earth’s climate. For these efforts, Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize on October 12, 2007.
Photo 1. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was the featured speaker at the Engage session on October 16, 2024. In addition to overall discussion of NASA’s Earth observing fleet and how Earth observations are used to investigate Earth’s changing climate, Gore’s remarks included reminiscences about his involvement in the Triana mission, which NASA canceled, then later revived and revised becoming known as DSCOVR – a NASA–NOAA partnership. See related article, “Summary of the 10th DSCOVR EPIC and NISTAR Science Team Meeting,” to learn more about DSCOVR and its scientific achievements over a decade in space. Photo credit: Travis Wohlrab [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)]Kirschbaum continued that Gore played a pivotal role in inspiring Triana , a NASA Earth science mission that would provide a near continuous view of Earth and measure Earth’s complete albedo while orbiting the first Sun–Earth Lagrange Point (hereinafter referred to as “the L1 point”). While Triana was canceled, the concept would live on and ultimately transition into the NASA–NOAA DSCOVR mission, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of its launch in February 2025. Gore made brief remarks at the opening session of the 10th DSCOVR Science Team meeting earlier in the day before coming to this meeting. A full “Summary of the 10th DSCOVR EPIC/ NISTAR Science Team Meeting” is published as a separate article in The Earth Observer.
Gore began by thanking all who worked on DSCOVR and other missions at NASA and NOAA. He thanked Makenize Lystrup [GSFC—Center Director] and the team for welcoming him. He also acknowledged the DSCOVR project leaders from GSFC: Adam Szabo [DSCOVR Project Scientist (PS)], Alexander Marshak [DSCOVR Deputy PS], Jay Herman [Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) Instrument Scientist], Richard Eckman [National Institutes of Health’s Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR) Instrument Scientist], and all those who worked on the mission.
Gore reminisced about when the Triana mission was put into storage in 2001. He remembered his former Senate colleague, Barbara Mikulski [longtime MD Senator] assuring him that they would “feed [the satellite] space snacks” and take care of it until it was ready to use – which ultimately happened in 2008. He also acknowledged those who’ve worked on the DSCOVR mission since launch to extend its capabilities. He also recognized Francisco Valero [former Triana Principal Investigator] who was at University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the time, and was integral in championing the first iteration of this mission (i.e., Triana), as well as Alan Lazarus [Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)—Research Scientist], who helped design DSCOVR’s solar particle sensor. (Jay Herman was also involved in Triana.) He also mentioned how Bill Nelson chaired the House Space Subcommittee contemporaneously to when Gore chaired the Senate Space Subcommittee.
Gore acknowledged that DSCOVR is just one member of NASA’s fleet of Earth observing satellites – see Figure 1 er– plus those of domestic and international partners. What’s unique about DSCOVR, however, is its location – orbiting the L1 point, nearly one million miles (1.1 million km) away from Earth.
Figure 1. [Top] NASA’s Earth Observing Fleet consists of over 20 satellite missions that, with one exception, continuously monitor our home planet from polar or low Earth orbit – including several installed on the International Space Station. The exception is the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) which orbits the first Earth–Sun Lagrange point in the Earth–Sun system [bottom], about 1 million mi (~1.1 million km) from Earth [bottom]. This gives the mission’s two Earth-observing instruments (EPIC and NISTAR) a unique vantage point for observing the full sunlit Earth. [Bottom] Some version of the placeholder diagram above showing DSCOVR orbiting the L1 point between Sun and Earth, 1 million miles from Earth. Figure credit: TBDIt can be argued that the modern environmental movement – which resulted in the development NASA’s Earth Observing System and other Earth observing missions – was inspired by a single image – “Earthrise,” which NASA Astronaut Bill Anders took of Earth on Christmas Eve 1968 during the Apollo 8 mission. The adage that “a picture is worth 1000 words” proved true in this instance as this single image changed how society viewed Earth, opening society’s awareness to the fragility and beauty of our home planet. Four years later, on Christmas Eve 1972, the first “Blue Marble” image was released, having been taken by Apollo-12 astronauts, as the spacecraft approached the Moon. (The image inspired subsequent “Blue Marble” images created using composites of satellite data.)
Per the Wikipedia page linked above, “The [Blue Marble image] has been identified as one of the most widely publicized and influential images since its release – particularly in the advocacy for environmental protection.”
Gore mentioned this in his remarks and stressed that this iconic image helped inspire the Triana/DSCOVR concept. This mission has helped scientists develop a more “complete picture” of Earth. He noted that today, DSCOVR/EPIC obtains a new “Blue Marble” (i.e. a full-disc image of Earth) every fifteen minutes – e.g., a set of images of Africa obtained on the 50th anniversary to mimic the original image from Apollo 12. Gore said that we learn so much about Earth from observing it from above (e.g., cloud dynamics, heating, vegetation, and the concentrations of ozone, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter in the atmosphere). More than 100 peer-reviewed papers have been published on the unique science done at the L1 point by DSCOVR.
Gore said that DSCOVR – along with the rest of NASA’s Earth observing fleet – has produced a treasure trove of information that makes it possible to make the invisible, visible. What was once a mystery can now be explained with scientific data. When DSCOVR was proposed in 1998, the scientific community was on the verge of a technological explosion via the Internet that would allow the collection, storage, processing, and display of untold mountains of information about Earth. It has now evolved even further with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), leading to another potential information explosion just at the time when having such information is crucial.
“We are in the midst of a violent collision between our current society’s organization and the surprisingly fragile ecological systems on which human flourishing depends,” said Gore.
As the participants convened to celebrate the 10th anniversary of DSCOVR, he encouraged those present to think about how this data can be applied to address the incredible challenges of our generation – chief among them the Earth’s rapidly changing climate.
“It’s hard to grapple with just how serious the [situation] is,” said Gore. However, he noted that, “Mother nature is a persuasive advocate. She has our attention!”
He cited the two hurricanes – Helene and Milton – that impacted the U.S. in the weeks prior to this event. Despite the ever-present threat, Gore also pointed to the problematic “assault on funding” for science throughout the Federal budget. To address this need, Gore spoke of the growing need for private–public partnerships to address the imposing climate crisis.
Gore discussed how Climate TRACE, the organization he cofounded, is harnessing NASA data and fusing it with other sources to pinpoint the sources of GHGs. Climate TRACE has determined the 500 million most relevant point sources, along with metadate (data describing the data). In essence, Climate TRACE seeks to reverse-engineer the GHG levels based on other environmental variables. He said that the newest Climate TRACE dataset will be released on November 14, 2024 at COP-29. Gore acknowledged that NASA [Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)] contributes data and conducts analysis of data used in Climate TRACE.
Quoting Lord Kelvin, Gore said, “you can only manage what you measure,” noting that our society has been having trouble managing global warming to date. However, thanks to organizations like NASA, our society is gaining the ability to measure it accurately.
Gore then referenced John F. Kennedy’s famous speech at Rice University in 1961 that is most remembered for the line about “going to the Moon in this decade.” But in that speech Kennedy also said, “We set sail on this new sea, because there is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won. And they must be won and used for the progress of all people.”
Gore applied this quote to the ongoing study of Earth’s climate. He said that our society is continuing to “sail on this new sea.” He gave kudos to all the people at NASA who are seizing all the opportunities to gather and reflect on “new knowledge” and apply it to issues directly relevant to societal flourishing.
Gore concluded by saying that the DSCOVR mission is a great example of combining scientific discovery and public enlightenment. It has been incredibly successful, and he feels it should be extended, counting on scientists to expand our access to the knowledge we need to ensure the survival of human civilization.
“If you ever doubt we have the political will to make changes,” said Gore, “just remember that political will is itself a renewable resource.”
After a standing ovation from the audience, Kirschbaum thanked Gore for his remarks and his continued support of the Earth science community.
Panel Discussion on the Future of Earth Science Remote Sensing
Kirschbaum then transitioned to the panel discussion. She reflected on how we live with the impacts of climate every day – e.g., air quality impacting students, hurricanes impacting coastlines and coastal communities, shifting storm patterns impacting farmers.
Since its inception in 1958, NASA has been a leader in studying Earth. The agency makes critical observations from space, aircraft, and the ground to understand climate change. NASA researchers integrate this information into climate models to understand the past, represent the present, and project the future state of our home planet.
Kirschbaum said that today’s panel discussion focuses on the future. While questions remain, she emphasized that the agency works with partners on opportunities to do things differently and open new possibilities. She then introduced three NASA scientists, who also provide leadership beyond the walls of NASA.
- Miguel Román[GSFC Earth Sciences Division—Deputy Director for Atmospheres];
- Lesley Ott [GSFC—Project Scientist for the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center]; and
- John Bolten [GSFC—Chief of Hydrological Sciences Branch].
She asked each panelist – shown in Photo 2 – to start with by sharing a bit of their story with the audience to give some initial insights into their work and background on how they themselves became interested in studying climate.
Photo 2. Following Gore’s remarks, there was a panel discussion entitled “Remote Sensing and the Future of Earth Observations.” Dalia Kirschbaum [GSFC—Director of Earth Sciences Division – left] moderated the discussion, directing questions to the three panelists seated to her right [left to right]: Miguel Román [GSFC Earth Sciences Division—Deputy Director for Atmospheres]; Lesley Ott [GSFC—Project Scientist for the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center]; and John Bolten [GSFC—Chief of Hydrological Sciences Branch]. Photo credit: Travis WohlrabRomán began his career as an intern at NASA. After rising through the ranks, he left NASA to work in private industry before recently returning to GSFC. Originally from Puerto Rico, Román has been “inside the walls of a hurricane six times in his life.” He said that American citizens are increasingly experiencing what he experienced as a youth. He noted that two things happen when one in the middle of a hurricane – barometric pressure drops (ears pop) and there is a distinctive hissing sound.
Román said the term hurricane is derived from a Taino word. He explained that in Puerto Rican folklore, Juracán (i.e., the “evil” Goddess of wind – especially hurricanes) was in opposition to Yucahu (i.e., the “good” God of creation, agriculture, peace, and tranquility).
“The hissing winds of Juracán now reverberate across Florida, “ said Román—see Figure 2.
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Figure 2. Animation of brightness temperature data obtained by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA’s Aqua mission, showing Hurricane Milton as it approached and impacted Florida in October 2024. Colder temperatures (blues) are associated with the tops of high clouds, so the storm track stands out from the warmer temperature over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Figure credit: TBD
He stressed that these winds are “different” – more intense – than the ones dealt with in the past. He added that we now have “land hurricanes” – called derechos, which are intense, widespread, and fast-moving lines of storms.
Ott said that, in a sense, “science chose her.” She was raised by two scientists who met while studying physics. But she chose to study meteorology because it seemed to her to be the most ‘personal’ of the sciences. As Kirschbaum alluded to in her remarks earlier, weather impacts us all – physically and even emotionally. She loved this aspect of weather and wanted to understand the science behind the “air that we all swim in.”
“Weather seems to be less in background and more on the ‘front page’ these days,” said Ott. “We regularly hear news stories about superstorms and devastating fires. We’re all increasingly impacted by extreme weather.”
She also spoke about the ‘untold’ costs of climate change (e.g., lost school days, lost wages, not knowing if your home will survive a natural disaster), which has impacted how Ott practices meteorology. While she is a meteorologist, Ott doesn’t work on weather prediction. Instead, she uses the same kind of predictive models that are used for weather forecasting to focus on GHGs, which could help society navigate the realities of a changing planet.
In her work, Ott tracks how climate changes – for better or worse. While the trend toward a warming world (climate) fuels more frequent and powerful extreme events (weather), e.g., heat waves, droughts, and storms, there are exceptions achieved through intentional human intervention – e.g., the recovery of the ozone hole (bought about through enforcement of the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments) and improvements of air quality. Both of these examples of positive change illustrate the value of international collaboration to address environmental issues. Ott said that research efforts can help to “track the future of the planet,” leading to more positive changes. Extending these positive changes to GHGs will help communities more effectively plan for and respond to a rapidly changing world.
Bolten began by saying that he comes from Wood County WV and is the youngest of five boys. He could see the Ohio River from his kitchen window where he swam and canoed. Bolten explained that Wood County is in an area known as chemical valley, because a large number of chemical plants in the region provide important products for the world. These plants employ many of the people living in the region.
Bolten’s father designed wastewater treatment systems for these chemical plants and passed along a deep appreciation of the impact humans can have on the environment. Similarly, Bolten spent many years enjoying the Ohio River and West Virginia wilderness, which instilled in him the value of protecting our freshwater resources. He grew up immersed in the environment and wanted to contribute to the greater good of society and make a positive difference in the world. He said that NASA is championing these same core values as an innovator and leader in Earth System Science. Bolten thanked Gore for spurring public discourse around climate.
Question and Answer Session
Kirschbaum began the Q&A session with several prepared questions followed by questions from both in-person and virtual participants – along with some more interspersed comments from the guest of honor.
Kirschbaum posed the first question to Román: How do you see GSFC (NASA) advancements in tech and science helping us to predict extreme weather (e.g., heatwaves and hurricanes)?
Román began his answer by stating that NASA’s EOS era is coming to an end – after more than two decades of observations. NASA’s EOS flagship missions – Terra, Aqua, and Aura – have each far exceeded their scheduled mission life. While scientists and engineers work together to extend the function as long as possible, practical realities (e.g., fuel supply, orbit decay) dictate that all the satellites must be decommissioned in the next few years. The EOS era has taught NASA and its partners many lessons about how to operate under what he described as “an accelerated set of extreme climate events.”
“We simply could not have anticipated some of things we’re facing now when the EOS missions were designed,” said Ramon, citing the development of derechos and the rapid intensification of tropical cyclones.
The EOS mission instrument teams developed a whole Earth observing technology toolbox on the fly. For example, scientists learned that while microwave sounders work well over water, these instruments face challenges over land due to surface emissivity variations. Infrared (IR) sounders, on the other hand, provide valuable data over all surfaces during clear conditions, but they can’t penetrate thick clouds. Investigators combined both measurements, producing a powerful tool for observing the changing Earth system and beginning to quantify the impact of those changes.
While it is sad to see the EOS era end, Román said that NASA is entering an exciting new era where new technologies will allow for miniaturization of sounders. He also mentioned new observing technologies, such as the Hyperspectral Microwave Photonic Instrument (HyMPI) . The microwave sounders currently flying – which are part of NASA’s current Program of Record – retrieve atmospheric profiles with approximately 20 vertical layers. By contrast, HyMPI can produce as many as 1000 layers, offering enhanced thermodynamic sounding skill in the Earth’s planetary boundary layer (PBL) – the first 2 km (~1 mi) of the atmosphere – over conventional microwave sounders from the current Program of Record.
Román emphasized that the PBL is an area that is still poorly observed and understood. This lowest level of the atmosphere is where humans and other plants and animals live – and where most climate impacts occur. It is thus vitally important to improve our understanding of the PBL. To emphasize this point, Román cited that one million stillbirths can be linked to tropospheric ozone pollution every year. The encouraging news is that NASA’s data can inform public health policy to help mitigate these harmful impacts.
“The problem is an integrated one,” said Román, “and the Earth System Observatory (ESO) is designed for all of its missions to be integrated.”
Román stressed that the climate challenges are complex, and ESO provides a model for all future campaigns to integrate many approaches to solve big problems.
Kirschbaum directed the next question to Ott: As the NASA leader of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center, where do you see NASA making contributions?
Ott responded that there has been tremendous innovation and advancement in the field of Earth observations over the past several decades – i.e., during the EOS era. As Al Gore alluded to in his earlier remarks, increasingly, this innovation comes from the pairing of private sector with the public data from satellites, aircraft campaigns, and ground networks that provide the infrastructure that companies need to test and improve new approaches.
NASA has also played a foundational role in developing the systems approach to studying Earth. For example, half of human-produced emissions (sources) of carbon dioxide (CO2) are absorbed by vegetation and the ocean (sinks). It remains unclear how long this balance will continue, however. NASA aims to bring together different measurements of vegetation, ocean productivity, and gases in the atmosphere and make them readily available to the public. A wholistic approach to climate requires input from multiple satellites to successfully model changes in the concentration GHGs throughout the Earth system. To achieve this goal, the best from the government (e.g., NASA data) needs to merge with private industry to produce consistent long term data records that people can trust.
Kirschbaum agreed that delivering trusted information and providing foundational datasets are core activities for NASA, and used that to segue to the next question, which she addressed to Bolten: NASA (GSFC) sits at the nexus of satellite observations and modeling. Where do you see progress of Earth Science to Action particularly in area of water quality?
Bolten said that the first image of Earth was obtained 78 years ago in 1946. It happened somewhat by chance. Soldiers and scientists at White Sands Missile Range strapped a camera to a captured German V2 rocket, and they were fortunate to get a clear image of Earth. Fast forward to today, NASA has a fleet of more than 20 Earth-observing satellites – see Figure 1 [top] – that provide routine Earth observations. These data are vital for understanding our home planet, and for decision making. The observations from these satellites can be analyzed and used to inform decisions about Earth.
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was created the same year as the first Earth image. He noted that ENIAC took up an entire room. Today, his smart phone, which fits in his pocket, is more than 230 million times faster than ENIAC – driving home the point that technology has advanced beyond what most could imagine. Bolten also noted that 2024 is NASA’s Year of Open Science.
Bolten said that his job focuses on food and water insecure areas, which often correlates with areas that lack data infrastructure. There is a vital need to strategically integrate open science and cloud-based services.
“We can’t do this [work] in a bubble,” said Bolten. “We must work together.”
Kirschbaum elevated a question from an attendee: There have been various climate change scenarios that have been offered as possibilities. Which one seems most likely to you to be correct?
Ott explained that the worst- or best-case scenarios are usually outliers (i.e., the conditions in the “real world” typically lie somewhere in between the extremes). She commented that we’ve seen a large climate change investment from the Biden Administration. Those kinds of investments will have impact and have the power to change the trajectory for the future. Part of what NASA does is to show the world that the data we collect does make a tangible difference. That gives society reason for hope. The point of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center is to bring together all these GHG observations in one place to analyze them and study them to show that we’re making progress on confronting this challenging issue. The objective is to create tangible evidence that, “when we take action, we can change things.”
As if to underscore Ott’s point, Gore responded during her presentation that he believes that public choice does significantly impact how the future unfolds.
“What we decide has consequences,” he said.
Gore is convinced the issue of our changing climate could be addressed if our society made up our collective mind to do it and then committed ourselves to take the decisive action needed to make that decision a reality in the near future.
“The future is really up to us,” said Gore.
The final three questions came from online participants.
How can NASA improve its messaging?
Bolten replied that this is a question that comes up repeatedly in the context of NASA outreach and communications. In the context of today’s discussion, he suggested the need to produce information that is not just useful but also usable (i.e., it can be applied in ways that directly benefit society). As an example, he pointed to the use of machine learning to model a flash flooding event in Ellicott City, MD (described in a 2020 article in Journal of Hydrometeorology) where waters rose from a normal levels to a devastating flash flood in about seven minutes – see Photo 3. Bolten continued that transparency, as well as connecting to people’s motivations, are keys to being more successful with NASA’s messaging.
Photo 3. In May 2018 devastating floodwaters impacted the town of Ellicott City, MD. Water levels in the small basin above the down rose from normal levels to flash flooding in seven minutes. Figure credit: NOAA’s Physical Science LaboratoryWhat big challenges could NASA turn to an opportunity to address climate change?
Román said that advances in forecasting on seasonal to sub-seasonal scales are key areas of focus for studies of Earth’s atmosphere. He noted that it is important to have observations and understand these observations to model events. For sub-seasonal prediction, we need to understand stratospheric dynamics and the chemistry going on in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
“Major fires and volcanic eruptions create massive changes in the atmosphere,” said Román. “We can’t see them like we can when we view a Landsat image.”
One tool that could help us with sub-seasonal forecasting is the Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer (STRIVE) mission, which is one of four mission proposals for the first Earth System Explorer missions chosen for initial Phase A study. This mission aims to examine the interaction between the upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere. In particular, STRIVE will make observations of Earth’s limb (i.e., a narrow slice of atmosphere), which can help scientists gain insight into aerosol loading. According to Román, this data will be key to getting an accurate 30-day forecast. He referred to this information as the “holy grail” in terms of preparedness and resilience by improving early warnings for extreme weather. Some nations are limited to only using Doppler radar and if it fails, they are essentially blind to what is coming.
Kirschbaum cited NASA’s AOS mission, which will be part of ESO, as another example of an important new measuring capability. This mission will represent the “next generation” for precipitations and aerosol observations. Scientists can use the data collected to understand how these phenomena interact with each other and with other atmospheric constituents to form storms.
“AOS will be the baseline while STRIVE would be the bottom line,” concluded Román.
What is the path forward to develop capacity for new observations while still maintaining high-quality, long-term time series and making the data accessible to the public?
Ott cited the Carbon Mapper coalition as a current example where such a balance is being achieved/. Carbon Mapper made its first light images available to the public last week. This mission brings together a unique coalition of partners (including NASA/JPL and Planet, a private company) to develop and deploy two satellites with capabilities to detect and quantify methane (CH4) – e.g., see Figure 3 – and CO2 super-emitters at a level of granularity needed to support direct mitigation action.
Figure 3. On December 4, 2024, the Tanager–1 satellite detected methane (CH4) plumes streaming downwind from oil and gas facilities in the Permian Basin (in west Texas and southeast New Mexico). This is one of more than 300 images of CH4 super-emitters from the oil and gas, coal, waste, and agriculture sectors across 25 countries that were released in February 2025. Tanager–1 launched in August 2024 and is the first satellite developed by the Carbon Mapper coalition between Planet (a private company) and NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and other partners. Planet owns, launched, and operates the satellite, which is equipped with technology from JPL. Figure credit: Carbon MapperNASA’s investments in technology via its Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) have enabled new airborne instruments that can be deployed in partnership with industry to demonstrate the quality of present-day satellite technologies and to provide a pathway toward next generation technologies. She stressed that the Federal government continues to play a crucial role in establishing standards and ensuring data integrity and continuity. NASA, for example, invests in ground-based systems and data services that help enable the commercial satellite industry. Long-term continuity of measurements is essential to connect new observations to existing ones. In this way, we can enable the continuing rise of NewSpace, while still providing foundational integrity and stability of the long-term climate data records that NASA and other Federal agencies maintain. This framework helps tie all the NewSpace endeavors together.
Gore cited an example of a public–private partnership that happened in the past. He commented that in 1998 (the same year that Triana was proposed) he was also involved in proposal for Digital Earth. The guiding vision behind Digital Earth was to be able to hover over any point and drop down through successively more detailed layers. NASA contracted with a company called Keyhole, which Google acquired in the early 2000s. Gore raised this example to point out that Google Earth is the result of those initial efforts.
Gore also connected this discussion to his work on Climate TRACE, which he had mentioned in his remarks earlier as a current example of public–private partnership. He stated that while we can see CH4 from space, the resolution is relatively low, i.e., a wide area must be scanned to get a CH4 measurement) and higher resolution is required to identify specific (or point) sources of CH4. Climate TRACE offers such higher resolution CH4 measurements, allowing researchers to focus more on identifying specific sources of pollution. By contrast the atmosphere is so enriched with CO2 that the signal-to-noise ratio is too high to measure the gas from space. For CO2 analysis, Climate TRACE uses AI to fuse together various images to allow CO2 to be detectable. The resulting measurements are precise enough to detect ripple ponds created by rotating fan blades.
Closing Remarks
Dalia Kirschbaum closed the meeting by thanking the guest of honor, Al Gore, once again for coming to the GSFC event. Gore not only spoke but was an active participant who demonstrated his knowledge of this subject area gained from years of experience working on climate issues. She quipped that “he’s the only former Vice President ever to use the Term signal-to-noise ratio correctly when talking to scientists.”.
Kirschbaum also thanked everyone who participated in this event – including the over 800 online participants. While the discussions today offered numerous glimpses into the future of Earth remote-sensing observations, this information barely scratches the surface of all the work being carried out by scientists and engineers at NASA to make these plans a reality. She thanked all of those who work at NASA – who often put in long hours, quietly, behind the scenes without much recognition – for the work they do daily to enable NASA’s mission.
Alan B. Ward
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Global Science & Technology Inc.
alan.b.ward@nasa.gov
NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim to Discuss Upcoming Launch, Mission
NASA will provide interview opportunities with astronaut Jonny Kim beginning at 9 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, March 18, to highlight his upcoming mission to the International Space Station in April.
The virtual interviews from Star City, Russia, will stream live on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Media interested in participating must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 5 p.m., Monday, March 17, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
Kim will launch on Tuesday, April 8, aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. The trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbital laboratory before returning to Earth in the fall 2025. During his time in orbit, Kim will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare the crew for future space missions and provide benefits to people on Earth.
Kim is making his first spaceflight after selection as part of the 2017 NASA astronaut class. A native of Los Angeles, he is a U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and dual designated naval aviator and flight surgeon. Kim also served as an enlisted Navy SEAL. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of San Diego and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston. He completed his internship with the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. After completing initial astronaut candidate training, Kim supported mission and crew operations in various roles, including the Expedition 65 lead operations officer, T-38 operations liaison, and space station capcom chief engineer. Follow @jonnykimusa on X and @jonnykimusa on Instagram.
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is able to focus more of its resources on deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
-end-
Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Raegan Scharfetter
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-910-4989
raegan.r.scharfetter@nasa.gov
Discovery Alert: ‘Super-Earth’ Swings from Super-Heated to Super-Chill
The Discovery
A possible “super-Earth” orbits a relatively close, Sun-like star, and could be a habitable world – but one of extreme temperature swings, from scorching heat to deep freeze.
Key Facts
The newly confirmed planet is the outermost of three detected so far around a star called HD 20794, just 20 light-years from Earth. Its 647-day orbit is comparable to Mars in our solar system. But this planet’s orbit is highly eccentric, stretched into an oval shape. That brings the planet close enough to the star to experience runaway heating for part of its year, then carries it far enough away to freeze any potential water on its surface. The planet has been bouncing between these extremes roughly every 300 days – perhaps for billions of years.
Details
The planet spends a good chunk of its year in the “habitable zone” around its star, the orbital distance that would allow liquid water to form on the surface under the right atmospheric conditions. But because of its eccentric orbit, it moves to a distance interior to the inner edge of the habitable zone when closest to the star, and outside the outer edge when farthest away. At its closest, the planet’s distance from the star is comparable to Venus’s distance from the Sun; at its farthest point, it is nearly twice the distance from Earth to the Sun. The planet is possibly rocky, like Earth, but could be a heftier version – about six times as massive as our home planet.
Star HD 20794 and its posse of possible planets have been extensively studied, but the international team of astronomers that confirmed the outer planet, led by Nicola Nari of Light Bridges S.L. and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, examined more than 20 years worth of data to pin down all three planets’ orbits and likely masses.
The scientists relied on data from two ground-based, precision instruments: HARPS, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher in La Silla, Chile, and ESPRESSO, the Echelle Spectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations in Paranal, Chile. Both instruments, connected to powerful telescopes, measure tiny shifts in the light spectrum of stars, caused by the gravity of planets tugging the star back and forth as they orbit.
But such tiny shifts in the star’s spectrum also can be caused by imposters – spots, flares, or other activity on the star’s surface, carried along as the star rotates and masquerading as orbiting planets. The science team spent years painstakingly analyzing the spectrum shifts, or “radial velocity” data, for any sign of background noise or even jitters from the instruments themselves. They confirmed the reputation of HD 20794 as a fairly quiet star, not prone to outbursts that might be confused for signs of orbiting planets.
Fun Facts
The elliptically orbiting super-Earth appears to be an ideal target for future space-based telescopes designed to search for habitable worlds, seeking possible signs of life. High on the list is NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will someday examine the atmospheres of Earth-sized planets around Sun-like stars. When launched in the decades ahead, the observatory would spread the light from such planets into a spectrum to determine which gases are present – including those that might reveal some form of life. The relative closeness of HD 20974, only 20 light-years away, its brightness, and its low level of surface activity – not to mention the third planet’s wild temperature swings – could make this system a prime candidate for scrutiny by HWO.
The Discoverers
The international science team that confirmed the eccentric super-Earth was led by researcher Nicola Nari of the Light Bridges S.L. and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and included Dr. Michael Cretignier of the University of Oxford, who first picked up the potential planet’s signal in 2022. Their paper, “Revisiting the multi-planet system of the nearby star HD 20794,” was published online by the journal, Astronomy and Astrophysics, in January 2025.
How Do We Know the Earth Isn’t Flat? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 53
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)This was a magical revelation for the Greeks and the Egyptians, who were able to see from the motions of the stars and the way the Sun moved. They saw the way the Sun’s shadow worked in different places. And they figured, well, that’s only possible if the Earth is round. And they took that information and it extended into the time of the great mariners that explored our Earth by ships.
They made the first orbit of Earth by sea, and they knew the Earth was round, allowing them to go across one ocean and come back home the other way. If the Earth were flat, they would have sailed off the end. And so we knew that.
But then, at the dawn of the space age, in the late 50s and 60s, we were able to see for ourselves that our beautiful home is a gorgeous round object known as a sphere. And that was really special. It put ourselves into context of our solar system and our universe.
We have a big round Sun and a beautiful round Earth and a round Mars.
And today we use the roundness of Earth, the spherical Earth, to use methods in space geodesy to figure out where we are, where we’re going. I haven’t been lost in years. That’s pretty good.
What’s happening to the Earth, what’s happening to our oceans as we take the pulse of our planet and consider other worlds beyond as we explore those.
So as we get ready to go back to the Moon with women and men and explore other worlds, the roundness of our solar system and our universe is a special thing. And we should embrace that as we understand why our planet isn’t flat.
[END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]
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NASA’s Chevron Technology Quiets the Skies
Shortly after dawn on March 27, 2001, NASA pilot Bill Rieke took off from an airfield just outside of Phoenix in NASA’s blue-and-white Learjet 25 and flew low over a series of microphones for the first flight test of a groundbreaking NASA technology.
On one of the plane’s engines was an experimental jagged-edged nozzle that researchers at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland had discovered made aircraft significantly quieter. These initial flight tests were an important step toward using these “chevron nozzles” on modern aircraft, lowering noise levels for communities.
NASA Glenn has been exploring ways of reducing engine noise since the first jet airliners appeared in the 1950s. New turbofan engines in the 1960s were quieter, but the expansion of the overall airline industry meant that noise was still an issue. With the introduction of noise-limiting mandates in the 1970s, NASA and engine manufacturers embarked on a decades-long search for technologies to lower noise levels.
NASA researchers discovered that the military’s use of rectangular notches, or tabs, along an engine nozzle’s exit – to help disguise a jet fighter’s infrared signature – could also reduce engine noise by helping mix the hot air from the engine core and the cooler air blowing through the engine fan. In the 1990s, Glenn researcher Dennis Huff and his colleagues discovered that a serrated, or sawtooth, shape, referred to as a chevron, offered more promise.
Dennis Huff explains chevron nozzles, seen on a table, to U.S. Senator George Voinovich and other visitors inside the Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory facility in 2006. Huff was head of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Acoustics Branch at this point.Credit: NASA/Marvin SmithNASA contracted with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney to develop an array of tab and chevron designs to be analyzed in Glenn’s unique Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory (AAPL). Extensive testing in the spring of 1997 showed the possibilities for reducing noise with these types of nozzles.
Engine manufacturers were impressed with the findings but wary of any technology that might impact performance. So, in 1998, NASA funded engine tests of the 14 most promising designs. The tests revealed the chevron nozzle had a negligible 0.25% reduction of thrust. It was a major development for jet noise research.
In September 2000, Glenn’s Flight Operations Branch was contacted about the logistics of flight-testing chevron nozzles on the center’s Learjet 25 to verify the ground tests and improve computer modeling. Nothing further came of the request, however, until early the next year when Huff informed Rieke, chief of Flight Operations, that the researchers would like to conduct flight tests in late March—with just eight weeks to prepare.
Glenn’s Acoustics Branch worked with colleagues at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and the Arizona-based engine manufacturer Honeywell on the effort. They planned to conduct testing at Estrella Sailport just outside of Phoenix from March 26 to 28, 2001.
Bill Rieke and Ellen Tom with the chevron nozzle installed on the Learjet. NASA Glenn Research Center’s small Flight Operations team was heavily involved with icing research and solar cell calibration flights during this period, so arrangements were made for Tom, a Federal Aviation Administration pilot, to assist with the chevron flights. Credit: Courtesy of Bill RiekeWith the required safety and design reviews, the eight-week target date would be difficult to meet for any test flight, but this one was particularly challenging as it involved modifications to the engine nacelle. While the special nozzle engineers created for the flights would allow them to switch between a six- and a 12-chevron design during testing, it also got hot quickly. This necessitated the installation of new sensors, rewiring of fire alarm cables, and the presence of an onboard test engineer to monitor the temperatures. The short turnaround also required expedited efforts to obtain flight plan approvals, verify the plane’s airworthiness, and perform normal maintenance activities.
Despite the challenges, Rieke and a small team delivered the Learjet to Estrella on March 25, as planned. The next day was spent coordinating with the large Langley and Honeywell team and acquiring baseline noise data. The pilots idled the unmodified engine as the Learjet flew over three perpendicular rows of microphones at an altitude of 500 feet and speed of 230 miles per hour.
View from below as NASA Glenn Research Center’s Learjet 25 passes overhead at the Estrella airfield with the experimental chevron nozzle visible on the left wing.Credit: Courtesy of Bill RiekeThe flight patterns were repeated over the next two days while alternately using the two variations of the chevron nozzle. The researchers anecdotally reported that there was no perceptible noise reduction as the aircraft approached, but significant reductions once it passed. Recordings supported these observations and showed that sideline noise was reduced, as well.
The flights of the Learjet, which was powered by a variation of GE’s J-85 turbojet, were complemented by Honeywell’s turbofan-powered Falcon 20 aircraft. These flights ultimately confirmed the noise reduction found in earlier AAPL tests.
Overall, the flight tests were so successful that just over a year later the FAA began certifying GE’s CF34–8, the first commercial aircraft engine to incorporate chevron technology. The engine was first flown on a Bombardier CRJ900 in 2003. Continued studies by both NASA and industry led to the improved designs and the incorporation of chevrons into larger engines, such as GE’s GEnx.
According to Huff, the chevron’s three-decibel noise decrease was analogous to the difference between running two lawnmowers and one. Their comparatively easy integration into engine design and minimal effect on thrust made the chevron a breakthrough in noise-reduction technology. In 2002, NASA presented an innovation award to the Glenn, Langley, and Honeywell team that carried out the flights. Today, airliners such as the 737 MAX and 787 Dreamliner use chevron nozzles to lower noise levels for communities near airports.
Explore More 3 min read NASA Selects Three University Teams to Participate in Flight Research Article 11 hours ago 5 min read About Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles Article 22 hours ago 3 min read 40 Years Ago: Space Shuttle Atlantis Makes its Public Debut Article 24 hours agoTeam Preps to Study Dark Energy via Exploding Stars With NASA’s Roman
The universe is ballooning outward at an ever-faster clip under the power of an unknown force dubbed dark energy. One of the major goals for NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is to help astronomers gather clues to the mystery. One team is setting the stage now to help astronomers prepare for this exciting science.
“Roman will scan the cosmos a thousand times faster than NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope can while offering Hubble-like image quality,” said Rebekah Hounsell, an assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland-Baltimore county working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a co-principal investigator of the Supernova Cosmology Project Infrastructure Team preparing for the mission’s High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey. “We’re going to have an overwhelming amount of data, and we want to make it so scientists can use it from day one.”
Roman will repeatedly look at wide, deep regions of the sky in near-infrared light, opening up a whole new view of the universe and revealing all sorts of things going bump in the night. That includes stars being shredded as they pass too close to a black hole, intense emissions from galaxy centers, and a variety of stellar explosions called supernovae.
This data sonification transforms a vast simulation of a cosmic survey from NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope into a symphony of stellar explosions. Each supernova’s brightness controls its volume, while its color sets its pitch –– redder, more distant supernovae correspond to deep, low tones while bluer, nearer ones correspond to higher frequencies. The sound in stereo mirrors their locations in the sky. The result sounds like celestial wind chimes, offering a way to “listen” to cosmic fireworks. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, M. Troxel, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)Cosmic Radar Guns
Scientists estimate around half a dozen stars explode somewhere in the observable universe every minute. On average, one of them will be a special variety called type Ia that can help astronomers measure the universe.
These explosions peak at a similar intrinsic brightness, allowing scientists to find their distances simply by measuring how bright they appear.
Scientists can also study the light of these supernovae to find out how quickly they are moving away from us. By comparing how fast they’re receding at different distances, scientists will trace cosmic expansion over time.
Using dozens of type Ia supernovae, scientists discovered that the universe’s expansion is accelerating. Roman will find tens of thousands, including very distant ones, offering more clues about the nature of dark energy and how it may have changed throughout the history of the universe.
“Roman’s near-infrared view will help us peer farther because more distant light is stretched, or reddened, as it travels across expanding space,” said Benjamin Rose, an assistant professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and a co-principal investigator of the infrastructure team. “And opening a bigger window, so to speak, will help us get a better understanding of these objects as a whole,” which would allow scientists to learn more about dark energy. That could include discovering new physics, or figuring out the universe’s fate.
The People’s Telescope
Members of the planning team have been part of the community process to seek input from scientists worldwide on how the survey should be designed and how the analysis pipeline should work. Gathering public input in this way is unusual for a space telescope, but it’s essential for Roman because each large, deep observation will enable a wealth of science in addition to fulfilling the survey’s main goal of probing dark energy.
Rather than requiring that many individual scientists submit proposals to reserve their own slice of space telescope time, Roman’s major surveys will be coordinated openly, and all the data will become public right away.
“Instead of a single team pursuing one science goal, everyone will be able to comb through Roman’s data for a wide variety of purposes,” Rose said. “Everyone will get to play right away.”
This animation shows a possible tiling pattern of part of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s High Latitude Time-Domain Survey. The observing program, which is being designed by a community process, is expected to have two components: wide (covering 18 square degrees, a region of sky as large as about 90 full moons) and deep (covering about 5.5 square degrees, about as large as 25 full moons). This animation shows the deeper portion, which would peer back to when the universe was about 500 million years old, less than 4 percent of its current age of 13.8 billion years.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterThis Is a Drill
NASA plans to announce the survey design for Roman’s three core surveys, including the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey, this spring. Then the planning team will simulate it in its entirety.
“It’s kind of like a recipe,” Hounsell said. “You put in your observing strategy — how many days, which filters — and add in ‘spices’ like uncertainties, calibration effects, and the things we don’t know so well about the instrument or supernovae themselves that would affect our results. We can inject supernovae into the synthetic images and develop the tools we’ll need to analyze and evaluate the data.”
Scientists will continue using the synthetic data even after Roman begins observing, tweaking all aspects of the simulation and correcting unknowns to see which resulting images best match real observations. Scientists can then fine-tune our understanding of the universe’s underlying physics.
“We assume that all supernovae are the same regardless of when they occurred in the history of the universe, but that might not be the case,” Hounsell said. “We’re going to look further back in time than we’ve ever done with type Ia supernovae, and we’re not completely sure if the physics we understand now will hold up.”
There are reasons to suspect they may not. The very first stars were made almost exclusively of hydrogen and helium, compared to stars today which contain several dozen elements. Those ancient stars also lived in very different environments than stars today. Galaxies were growing and merging, and stars were forming at a furious pace before things began calming down between about 8 and 10 billion years ago.
“Roman will very dramatically add to our understanding of this cosmic era,” Rose said. “We’ll learn more about cosmic evolution and dark energy, and thanks to Roman’s large deep view, we’ll get to do much more science too with the same data. Our work will help everyone hit the ground running after Roman launches.”
For more information about the Roman Space Telescope visit www.nasa.gov/roman.
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.
Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-1940
NASA Selects Three University Teams to Participate in Flight Research
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA / Lillian GipsonNASA has selected three university teams to help solve 21st century aviation challenges that could transform the skies above our communities.
As part of NASA’s University Leadership Initiative (ULI), both graduate and undergraduate students on faculty-led university teams will contribute directly to real-world flight research while gaining hands-on experience working with partners from other universities and industry.
By combining faculty expertise, student innovation, and industry experience, these three teams will advance NASA’s vision for the future of 21st century aviation.koushik datta
NASA Project Manager
This is NASA’s eighth round of annual ULI awards. Research topics include:
- New aviation systems for safer, more efficient flight operations
- Improved communications frequency usage for more effective and reliable information transfer
- Autonomous flight capabilities that could advance research in areas such as NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission
“By combining faculty expertise, student innovation, and industry experience, these three teams will advance NASA’s vision for the future of 21st century aviation,” said Koushik Datta, NASA University Innovation project manager at the Agency’s Ames Research Center in California.
This eighth round of annual ULI selections would lead to awards totaling up to $20.7 million for the three teams during the next three years. For each team, the proposing university will serve as lead. The new ULI selections are:
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FloridaThe team will create a framework for developing trustworthy increasingly autonomous aviation safety systems, such as those that could potentially employ artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Team members include: The Pennsylvania State University in University Park; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro; University of Florida in Gainesville; Stanford University in California; Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico; and the companies Collins Aerospace of Charlotte in North Carolina; and ResilienX of Syracuse, New York.
University of Colorado BoulderThis team will investigate tools for understanding and leveraging the complex communications environment of collaborative, autonomous airspace systems.
Team members include: Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; The University of Texas at El Paso; University of Colorado in Colorado Springs; Stanford University in California; University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis, North Carolina State University in Raleigh; University of California inSanta Barbara; El Paso Community College in Texas; Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina; the Center for Autonomous Air Mobility and Sensing research partnership; the company Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, in Manassas, Virginia; and the nonprofit Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FloridaThis team will research continuously updating, self-diagnostic vehicle health management to enhance the safety and reliability of Advanced Air Mobility vehicles.
Team members include: Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta; The University of Texas at Arlington; University of Southern California in Los Angeles; the company Collins Aerospace of Charlotte, North Carolina; and the Argonne National Laboratory.
NASA’s ULI is managed by the agency’s University Innovation project, which also includes the University Student Research Challenge and the Gateways to Blue Skies competition.
Watch the NASA Aeronautics solicitations page for the announcement of when the next opportunity will be to submit a proposal for consideration during the next round of ULI selections.
About the AuthorJohn GouldAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 5 min read NASA’s Chevron Technology Quiets the Skies Article 5 hours ago 2 min read NASA Marks 110 Years Since Founding of Predecessor Organization Article 1 week ago 3 min read NASA’s X-59 Completes Electromagnetic Testing Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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Share Details Last Updated Mar 11, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactSteven Holzsteven.m.holz@nasa.gov Related TermsAbout Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist’s concept of drones flying in an urban environment near large city skyscrapers.NASA / Maria WerriesRemotely piloted aircraft could transform the way we transport people and goods and provide our communities with better access to vital services, like medical supply deliveries and efficient transportation.
NASA’s Pathfinding for Airspace with Autonomous Vehicles (PAAV) subproject is working with partners to safely integrate remote air cargo and air taxi aircraft into our national airspace alongside traditional crewed aircraft.
These new types of vehicles could make air cargo deliveries and air travel more affordable and accessible to communities across the country.
The NeedThe United States large air cargo fleet is expected to grow significantly through 2044 to meet cargo demand, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
However, pilot shortages exacerbated by early retirements and crew reductions implemented during the coronavirus outbreak continue to present a challenge to the air cargo industry.
In the future, one pilot could potentially manage multiple aircraft remotely. This could help meet the rising demand for air cargo operations, mitigate pilot shortages and costs, and increase the number of daily air cargo deliveries.
Additionally, remotely piloted air taxis could reduce travel time for passengers and alleviate traffic congestion because they could avoid crowded roads and highways.
Identifying the Technical ChallengesCommercial companies are investing in autonomous technologies to enable remote air cargo deliveries and air taxi operations.
NASA is working with the industry along the way to identify the unique technical challenges that must be overcome to safely put these new types of aircraft into routine operation.
The agency has identified several challenges that need to be addressed for safe and scalable remote operations. Among these challenges are airspace integration, avoiding airborne and ground-based hazards, and resilient communication technologies.
The main difference between conventional crewed aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft is the location of the pilot. Remote pilots operate aircraft from a control station on the ground instead of the cockpit.
This means remote pilots will need new automation and decision support systems for operating the aircraft since they can’t rely on their eyes and view from the cockpit. Since remote pilots are on the ground, they need a reliable communications link that allows remote pilots to interact with the aircraft and maintain command and control.
If the command-and-control capabilities are lost, an autonomous system would need to take over to make sure the uncrewed aircraft can fly and land safely, according to NASA researchers. Adequate software and procedures must be in place to safely manage off-nominal losses of the command-and-control capabilities.
Air Traffic Control may help keep the uncrewed aircraft’s path clear from some traffic during takeoff and landing, while onboard automation technologies would need to avoid all other traffic, fly the aircraft along a known path, and check to ensure the runway is clear to land.
A significant related challenge is that pilots are typically responsible for looking out the window for nearby aircraft and remaining well clear of them. Since the remote pilot is not in the aircraft, they will need an electronic detect and avoid system.
Detect and avoid systems rely on information, sensors, and algorithms to help the remotely piloted aircraft remain clear of other aircraft. Some detect and avoid configurations are expected to use ground surveillance systems for detecting nearby air traffic at lower altitudes.
These systems could improve overall situational awareness of traffic near the airport by providing a more comprehensive picture of live traffic.
Additionally, automation and decision support tools could help remote pilots with other responsibilities that typically require pilot decisions from the cockpit, like integrating with traffic at non-towered airports.
Implementing SolutionsTo address these challenges and others, NASA researchers are working with industry partners to research and test technologies, concepts, and airspace procedures that will enable remotely piloted operations.
For example, industry is developing automated taxi, takeoff, and landing capabilities to help integrate remotely piloted aircraft operating at busy airports.
These technologies could enable aircraft to navigate and integrate with other airport traffic autonomously, following standard routes and air traffic control commands for safe sequencing and spacing between other aircraft.
Automated hazard detection would enable the aircraft to identify potential conflicts or hazards and take corrective actions without input from a remote pilot. This would ensure the aircraft safely navigates the airport environment even if the remote pilot is supervising multiple aircraft or their response is delayed.
NASA researchers are beginning to test emerging technologies for remotely piloted aircraft operations with commercial partners. The goal is to help mature technical standards and assist in the development of certification requirements anrtd procedures required to integrate remotely piloted operations into the airspace.
NASA aims to bridge technical and regulatory gaps through these industry partnerships involving research, testing, and development. Ultimately, NASA hopes to enable pilots to remotely fly multiple large aircraft to airports across the country at once, more efficiently transporting people and goods.
This could enable carriers to meet rising air travel and transport demands in a safe, affordable, scalable way and expand access to new communities.
PAAV is a subproject under NASA’s Air Traffic Management Exploration project within the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA Kicks off Testing Campaign for Remotely Piloted Cargo Flights Article 2 months ago 2 min read NASA Flight Rerouting Tool Curbs Delays, Emissions Article 3 months ago 3 min read NASA Moves Drone Package Delivery Industry Closer to Reality Article 3 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
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Share Details Last Updated Mar 11, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactHillary Smithhillary.smith@nasa.gov Related TermsNASA, Partners to Conduct Space Station Research During Expedition 73
NASA astronauts are gearing up for a scientific mission aboard the International Space Station. Expedition 73 NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will launch in March as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission. NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will join the crew when he launches aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft in April alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
Read more about some of the microgravity research planned by NASA and its partners:
Subjects for human research NASAAstronauts often serve as test subjects, submitting blood and other samples for research. NASA astronaut Anne McClain is pictured submitting a sample on a previous mission with assistance from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut David Saint-Jacques. McClain will participate in NASA’s Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research investigation, or CIPHER, a suite of integrated studies on physiological and psychological changes seen in space. Results could provide valuable insights for future deep space missions.
Testing lunar navigation NASAThe Expedition 73 astronauts plan to engage with students worldwide through the ISS Ham Radio program. Researchers are using the program’s hardware to test software for the Navigation and Communication Testbed (NAVCOM), which could help shape future lunar navigation. Researchers from the investigation recently launched a related study to the Moon aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost to help bridge existing Earth navigation with emerging lunar-specific solutions.
Advancing fire safety NASA
Expedition 73 is scheduled to conduct a Material Ignition and Suppression Test (SoFIE-MIST), testing material flammability in microgravity. This research could improve fire safety on future missions, contributing to models used to select materials for space facilities and helping to determine the best ways to extinguish fires in space.
Keeping blood flowing Angelo Taibi/ASIExpedition 73 crew members will participate in Drain Brain 2.0, which examines how blood flows from the brain to the heart in microgravity using this plethysmograph, a device that can record the volume of blood drainage from the skull. Results could identify which processes in the body compensate for the lack of gravity, helping to ensure proper blood flow for astronauts on future missions and people with cardiovascular issues on Earth.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars.
Learn more about the International Space Station, its research, and its crew, at:
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Share Details Last Updated Mar 11, 2025 Related Terms40 Years Ago: Space Shuttle Atlantis Makes its Public Debut
On March 6, 1985, NASA’s newest space shuttle, Atlantis, made its public debut during a rollout ceremony at the Rockwell International manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California. Under construction for three years, Atlantis joined NASA’s other three space-worthy orbiters, Columbia, Challenger, and Discovery, and atmospheric test vehicle Enterprise. Officials from NASA, Rockwell, and other organizations attended the rollout ceremony. By the time NASA retired Atlantis in 2011, it had flown 33 missions in a career spanning 26 years and flying many types of missions envisioned for the space shuttle. The Visitor Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has Atlantis on display.
Space shuttle Atlantis under construction at Rockwell International’s Palmdale, California, plant in 1984. Credit/NASA. Atlantis during the rollout ceremony in Palmdale. Credit/NASA. Workers truck Atlantis from Palmdale to NASA’s Dryden, now Armstrong, Flight Research Center. Credit/NASA.On Jan. 25, 1979, NASA announced the names of the first four space-worthy orbiters – Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis. Like the other vehicles, NASA named Atlantis after an historical vessel of discovery and exploration – the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s two-masted research ship Atlantis that operated from 1930 to 1966. On Jan. 29, NASA signed the contract with Rockwell International of Downey, California, to build and deliver Atlantis. Construction began in March 1980 and finished in April 1984. Nearly identical to Discovery but with the addition of hardware to support the cryogenic Centaur upper stage then planned to deploy planetary spacecraft in 1986, plans shelved following the Challenger accident. After a year of testing, workers prepared Atlantis for its public debut.
Atlantis arrives at NASA’s Dryden, now Armstrong, Flight Research Center to prepare for its cross-country ferry flight. Credit/NASA. Atlantis during an overnight stop at Ellington Air Force Base, now Ellington Field, in Houston. Credit/NASA. Atlantis arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Credit/NASA.Three days after the rollout ceremony, workers trucked Atlantis 36 miles overland to NASA’s Dryden, now Armstrong, Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert, for final preparations for its cross-country ferry flight. In the Mate Demate Device, workers placed Atlantis atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, to begin the ferry flight. The duo left Edwards on April 12, the fourth anniversary of the first space shuttle flight. Following an overnight stop at Houston’s Ellington Air Force Base, now Ellington Field, Atlantis arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 13.
Atlantis following its first rollout to Launch Pad 39A. Credit/NASA. The flight readiness firing of Atlantis’ three main engines.Credit/NASA. Liftoff of Atlantis on its first mission, STS-51J. Credit/NASA.Four months later, on Aug. 12, workers towed Atlantis from the processing facility to the assembly building and mated it to an external tank and twin solid rocket boosters. The entire stack rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on Aug. 30 in preparation for the planned Oct. 3 launch of the STS-51J mission. As with any new orbiter, on Sept. 13 NASA conducted a 20-second Flight Readiness Firing of Atlantis’ three main engines. On Sept. 16, the five-person crew participated in a countdown demonstration test, leading to an on time Oct. 3 launch. Atlantis had joined the shuttle fleet and begun its first mission to space.
Space shuttle Atlantis in the Visitor Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit/NASA.Over the course of its 33 missions spanning more than 26 years, Atlantis flew virtually every type of mission envisioned for the space shuttle, including government and commercial satellite deployments, deploying spacecraft to visit interplanetary destinations, supporting scientific missions, launching and servicing scientific observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope, performing crew rotations and resupplying the Mir space station, and assembling and maintaining the International Space Station. Atlantis flew the final mission of the shuttle program, STS-135, in July 2011. The following year, NASA transported Atlantis to the Kennedy Visitor Center for public display.
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