All's not as it appears, this tale has many twists -
but if I wasn't here documenting the story
would that mean that the plot did not exist?

— Peter Hammill

NASA

NASA JPL Prepping for Full Year of Launches, Mission Milestones

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 01/23/2025 - 12:55pm
NASA JPL is readying for, clockwise from lower right, the launches of CADRE (its engineering models are seen here), Lunar Trailblazer, NISAR (seen in an artist’s concept), Sentinel-6B (artist’s concept), and SPHEREx, as well as the Mars gravity assist of Europa Clipper (artist’s concept).NASA/JPL-Caltech/BAE Systems/Lockheed Martin Space

Missions will study everything from water on the Moon to the transformation of our universe after the big bang and ongoing changes to Earth’s surface.

With 2024 receding into the distance, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is already deep into a busy 2025. Early in the new year, the Eaton Fire came close to JPL, destroying the homes of more than 200 employees, but work has continued apace to maintain mission operations and keep upcoming missions on track.

Several missions managed by NASA JPL are prepping for launch this year. Most have been years in the making and launches are, of course, only part of the bigger picture. Other milestones are also on the docket for the federal laboratory, which Caltech manages for NASA.

Here’s a glimpse of what lies ahead this year.

Mysterious Universe

Shaped like the bell of a trumpet and as big as a subcompact car, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory is aiming for the stars. Known formally as the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, the mission will create four 3D maps of the entire sky in order to improve humanity’s understanding of the universe — how it expanded after the big bang, where ingredients of life can be found in ice grains, and much more. Target launch date: no earlier than Feb. 27 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Moon’s Icy Secrets

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer aims to help resolve an enduring mystery: Where is the Moon’s water? Scientists have seen signs suggesting it exists even where temperatures soar on the lunar surface, and there’s good reason to believe it can be found as surface ice in permanently shadowed craters, places that have not seen direct sunlight for billions of years. Managed by NASA JPL and led by Caltech, the small satellite will help provide answers, mapping the Moon’s surface water in unprecedented detail to determine the water’s abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. The small satellite will hitch a ride, slated for late February, on the same launch as the Intuitive Machines-2 delivery to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

Earth’s Changing Surface

A collaboration between the United States and India, NISAR is a major addition to the fleet of satellites studying our changing planet. Short for NASA-Indian Space Research Organisation Synthetic Aperture Radar, the mission’s name is a nesting doll of acronyms, and the spacecraft is a nesting doll of capabilities: The first spacecraft to carry both L-band and S-band radars, it will see surface changes related to volcanoes, earthquakes, ice sheet motion, deforestation, and more in unprecedented detail after it launches in a few months’ time.

Sea Level

Targeting a November launch, Sentinel-6B will provide global sea surface height measurements — some of the most accurate data of its kind yet — that will improve climate models and hurricane tracking, as well as our understanding of phenomena like El Niño. A collaboration between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), the spacecraft will take the baton from its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which launched in 2020. Together, the satellites are extending for another 10 years a nearly three-decade record of global sea surface height.

Moon Rover Trio

As a technology demonstration, the CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) project marks another step NASA is taking toward developing robots that, by operating autonomously, can boost the efficiency of future missions. The project team at JPL will soon be packing up and shipping CADRE’s three suitcase-size rovers to Texas in preparation for their journey to the Moon aboard a commercial lander through one of NASA’s future CLPS deliveries. The rovers are designed to work together as a team without direct input from mission controllers back on Earth. And, by taking simultaneous measurements from multiple locations, they are meant to show how multirobot missions could enable new science and support astronauts.

Quantum Technology

Having arrived at the International Space Station in November, SEAQUE (Space Entanglement and Annealing QUantum Experiment) is testing two technologies that, if successful, could enable communication using entangled photons between two quantum systems. The research from this experiment, which gets underway in 2025, could help develop the building blocks for a future global quantum network that would allow equipment such as quantum computers to transfer data securely across large distances.

Gravity Assist to Reach Jupiter

Launched this past October, Europa Clipper will arrive at Jupiter in 2030 to investigate whether an ocean beneath the ice shell of the gas giant’s moon Europa has conditions suitable for life. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) to reach its destination. Since there are limitations on how much fuel the spacecraft can carry, mission planners are having Europa Clipper fly by Mars on March 1, using the planet’s gravity as a slingshot to add speed to its journey.

For more about NASA missions JPL supports, go to:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/

Meet SPHEREx, NASA’s newest cosmic mapper How NISAR will track Earth’s changing surface CADRE’s mini-rovers will team up to explore the Moon Instruments deployed, Europa Clipper is Mars-bound News Media Contact

Matthew Segal
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-8307
matthew.j.segal@jpl.nasa.gov

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Share Details Last Updated Jan 23, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 5 min read Study Finds Earth’s Small Asteroid Visitor Likely Chunk of Moon Rock Article 5 days ago 5 min read How New NASA, India Earth Satellite NISAR Will See Earth Article 6 days ago 4 min read NASA Scientists, Engineers Receive Presidential Early Career Awards  Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

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NASA Worm as Art

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 01/23/2025 - 12:02pm
Museum of Modern Art Opens Exhibition Featuring NASA Worm

The iconic NASA logotype, commonly known as the worm and designed by Bruce Blackburn and Richard Danne in 1976, made its premiere Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2025 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York as part of the museum’s new exhibition “Pirouette: Turning Points in Design,” which runs through Oct. 18.


MoMA accessioned the logotype for its permanent collection, as well as the original NASA Graphics Standards Manual published in 1976, also gifted by NASA. The exhibit also includes a letterform sketch of the NASA worm gifted by the Bruce Blackburn Estate.

The “Pirouette: Turning Points in Design” exhibition showcases widely recognized design icons and those known to more niche audiences, highlighting pivotal moments in design history.

Credit: NASA/Bert Ulrich

Categories: NASA

Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A

APOD - Thu, 01/23/2025 - 12:00pm

Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

NASA Tests Air Traffic Surveillance Technology Using Its Pilatus PC-12 Aircraft

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 01/23/2025 - 10:58am

3 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Equipped with state-of-the-art technology to test and evaluate communication, navigation, and surveillance systems NASA’s Pilatus PC-12 performs touch-and-go maneuvers over a runway at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California on Sept. 23, 2024. Researchers will use the data to understand Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) signal loss scenarios for air taxi flights in urban areas. To prepare for ADS-B test flights pilots and crew from NASA Armstrong and NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, ran a series of familiarization flights. These flights included several approach and landings, with an emphasis on avionics, medium altitude air-work with steep turns, slow flight and stall demonstrations.NASA/Steve Freeman

As air taxis, drones, and other innovative aircraft enter U.S. airspace, systems that communicate an aircraft’s location will be critical to ensure air traffic safety.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires aircraft to communicate their locations to other aircraft and air traffic control in real time using an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system. NASA is currently evaluating an ADS-B system’s ability to prevent collisions in a simulated urban environment. Using NASA’s Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, researchers are investigating how these systems could handle the demands of air taxis flying at low altitudes through cities.  

When operating in urban areas, one particular challenge for ADS-B systems is consistent signal coverage. Like losing cell-phone signal, air taxis flying through densely populated areas may have trouble maintaining ADS-B signals due to distance or interference. If that happens, those vehicles become less visible to air traffic control and other aircraft in the area, increasing the likelihood of collisions.

NASA pilot Kurt Blankenship maps out flight plans during a pre-flight brief. Pilots, crew, and researchers from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California and NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland are briefed on the flight plan to gather Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast signal data between the aircraft and ping-Stations on the ground at NASA Armstrong. These flights are the first cross-center research activity with the Pilatus-PC-12 at NASA Armstrong.NASA/Steve Freeman

To simulate the conditions of an urban flight area and better understand signal loss patterns, NASA researchers established a test zone at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Sept. 23 and 24, 2024.

Flying in the agency’s Pilatus PC-12 in a grid pattern over four ADS-B stations, researchers collected data on signal coverage from multiple ground locations and equipment configurations. Researchers were able to pinpoint where signal dropouts occurred from the strategically placed ground stations in connection to the plane’s altitude and distance from the stations. This data will inform future placement of additional ground stations to enhance signal boosting coverage.  

“Like all antennas, those used for ADS-B signal reception do not have a constant pattern,” said Brad Snelling, vehicle test team chief engineer for NASA’s Air Mobility Pathfinders project. “There are certain areas where the terrain will block ADS-B signals and depending on the type of antenna and location characteristics, there are also flight elevation angles where reception can cause signal dropouts,” Snelling said. “This would mean we need to place additional ground stations at multiple locations to boost the signal for future test flights. We can use the test results to help us configure the equipment to reduce signal loss when we conduct future air taxi flight tests.”

Working in the Mobile Operations Facility at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, NASA Advanced Air Mobility researcher Dennis Iannicca adjusts a control board to capture Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) data during test flights. The data will be used to understand ADS-B signal loss scenarios for air taxi flights in urban areas.NASA/Steve Freeman

The September flights at NASA Armstrong built upon earlier tests of ADS-B in different environments. In June, researchers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland flew the Pilatus PC-12 and found a consistent ADS-B signal between the aircraft and communications antennas mounted on the roof of the center’s Aerospace Communications Facility. Data from these flights helped researchers plan out the recent tests at NASA Armstrong. In December 2020, test flights performed under NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility National Campaign used an OH-58C Kiowa helicopter and ground-based ADS-B stations at NASA Armstrong to collect baseline signal information.

NASA’s research in ADS-B signals and other communication, navigation, and surveillance systems will help revolutionize U.S. air transportation. Air Mobility Pathfinders researchers will evaluate the data from the three separate flight tests to understand the different signal transmission conditions and equipment needed for air taxis and drones to safely operate in the National Air Space. NASA will use the results of this research to design infrastructure to support future air taxi communication, navigation, and surveillance research and to develop new ADS-B-like concepts for uncrewed aircraft systems.

Share Details Last Updated Jan 23, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactLaura Mitchelllaura.a.mitchell@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms Explore More 2 min read NASA Glenn Trains Instructors for After-School STEM Program  Article 2 days ago 1 min read NASA Glenn Helps Bring Joy to Children in Need Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Sets Sights on Mars Terrain with Revolutionary Tire Tech Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

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NASA Invests in Artemis Studies to Support Long-Term Lunar Exploration

NASA - Breaking News - Thu, 01/23/2025 - 10:23am
Artist’s rendering of astronauts managing logistics on the lunar surface. Credit: NASA

NASA awarded new study contracts Thursday to help support life and work on the lunar surface. As part of the agency’s blueprint for deep space exploration to support the Artemis campaign, nine American companies in seven states are receiving awards.

The Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Appendix R contracts will advance learning in managing everyday challenges in the lunar environment identified in the agency’s Moon to Mars architecture

“These contract awards are the catalyst for developing critical capabilities for the Artemis missions and the everyday needs of astronauts for long-term exploration on the lunar surface,” said Nujoud Merancy, deputy associate administrator, Strategy and Architecture Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The strong response to our request for proposals is a testament to the interest in human exploration and the growing deep-space economy. This is an important step to a sustainable return to the Moon that, along with our commercial partners, will lead to innovation and expand our knowledge for future lunar missions, looking toward Mars.”

The selected proposals have a combined value of $24 million, spread across multiple companies, and propose innovative strategies and concepts for logistics and mobility solutions including advanced robotics and autonomous capabilities:

  • Blue Origin, Merritt Island, Florida – logistical carriers; logistics handling and offloading; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; surface cargo and mobility; and integrated strategies
  • Intuitive Machines, Houston, Texas – logistics handling and offloading; and surface cargo and mobility
  • Leidos, Reston, Virginia – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; and integrated strategies
  • Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colorado – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; and surface cargo and mobility
  • MDA Space, Houston – surface cargo and mobility
  • Moonprint, Dover, Delaware – logistical carriers
  • Pratt Miller Defense, New Hudson, Michigan – surface cargo and mobility
  • Sierra Space, Louisville, Colorado – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; and integrated strategies
  • Special Aerospace Services, Huntsville, Alabama – logistical carriers; logistics handling and offloading; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; surface cargo and mobility; and integrated strategies

NASA is working with industry, academia, and the international community to continuously evolve the blueprint for crewed exploration and taking a methodical approach to investigating solutions that set humanity on a path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

For more on NASA’s mission to return to the Moon, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis

-end-

Cindy Anderson / James Gannon
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
cindy.a.anderson@nasa.gov / james.h.gannon@nasa.gov 

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Artist’s Concept of Gemini Spacecraft

NASA Image of the Day - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 5:20pm
This is an artist's concept of a two-person Gemini spacecraft in flight, showing a cutaway view. The Gemini program was designed as a bridge between the Mercury and Apollo programs.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Artist’s Concept of Gemini Spacecraft

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 5:19pm
NASA

Two astronauts are seated inside the Gemini spacecraft in this artist’s concept made in January 1965. The Gemini program was an early NASA human spaceflight program designed to bridge the Mercury and Apollo programs. Its main goal was to test equipment and mission procedures in Earth orbit and to train astronauts and ground crew for future Apollo missions. The first two Gemini missions were uncrewed; crew members flew on the 10 following missions.

See more photos and illustrations from the Gemini missions.

Image credit: NASA

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NASA Awards Logistics, Metrology Support Services Contract

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 4:26pm
Credit: NASA

NASA has awarded a small business set-aside contract to Apache Innovations JV of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to provide logistics, and related support services to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

The Glenn Logistics and Metrology (GLAM) contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a maximum potential value of approximately $72.3 million. The contract phase-in begins Monday, Feb. 17 and is followed by a two-year base period beginning April 1, a two-year option, a one-year option, and a potential extension of performance through Sept. 30, 2030. 

Under this contract, the company will provide NASA Glenn with logistics management, disposal operations, equipment management, lifecycle logistics and supply chain management, mail management, supply and materials management operations, transportation management, and other logistical services. Apache also will perform calibration services, measuring and test equipment procurement, and supply purchases.

For information about NASA visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov

Brian Newbacher
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-433-5644
brian.t.newbacher@nasa.gov

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I am Artemis: Jon Carabello

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 3:04pm
Jon Carabello has spent his entire career at TURBOCAM, which produces 10 core stage main engine turbomachinery components for the RS-25 main engine on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) heavy lift exploration rocket.Photo: TURBOCAM

Jon Carabello did not begin his career journey with an eye on space, but when NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration campaign came calling, he was all in.

Born, raised, and college-educated in New Hampshire, Carabello has spent his entire professional career at TURBOCAM – a turbomachinery development and manufacturing company – in the southeast corner of the Granite State. 

That’s a long way from the southern and western states commonly associated with U.S. human spaceflight activities.

Asked about his early memories of America’s space program, Carabello mentions movies like Apollo 13, and notes that Christa McAulliffe, the teacher-astronaut who died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger accident, taught high school in New Hampshire.

Little did he know that his future employer, a maker of complex machined hardware for a variety of industrial applications, has long been a component supplier to programs including the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.

There was never much question that Carabello, who started tinkering with engines and other machinery at a young age, would make a career of mechanical engineering. “I like to solve problems – that’s my big thing,” he says. 

He learned about TURBOCAM when company representatives made a presentation to his University of New Hampshire engineering class. “That’s how I figured out I knew wanted to work at TURBOCAM and work with 5-axis machining,” he says. “Machining amazes me.”

Five axis machine tools can machine metal blanks from multiple angles to create geometrically complex parts for industrial hardware. TURBOCAM produces 10 core stage main engine turbomachinery components for the RS-25 main engine on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) heavy lift exploration rocket. L3Harris Technologies is the prime contractor for the RS-25 engines.

It was his fascination with machining rather than the opportunity to work on rocket engines that drew Carabello to TURBOCAM, where he initially worked on machinery for the oil and gas industry, heating and air conditioning systems, and aerospace. 

But then one day, a supervisor asked him to take over the company’s RS-25 portfolio. He remembers the conversion quite clearly.

“It was a Thursday afternoon,” he says. “I was sitting in my office and my manager came in and said, ‘we have somebody leaving and need someone to take over project management and ownership of the RS-25.’ I said, ‘yes’ and he said, ‘you have a call with the program tomorrow.’ That was about five years ago.”

It was a significant change, but Carabello knew the company needed his problem-solving skills on the RS-25 program. “I know how to bring a team together to deliver a quality product. It’s rewarding to know I’m helping return humans to the Moon and paving the way to Mars with the Artemis campaign.”

Self-confidence notwithstanding, Carabello admits to being a bit nervous given that NASA astronauts will be relying on his work. That point was driven home when NASA and L3Harris representatives visited TURBOCAM in the spring of 2024 for a series of presentations on Artemis. The remark that resonated with him the most was by NASA astronaut Dr. Lee Morin, who said the most important part of any human spaceflight mission is bringing astronauts safely home. 

“That meant a lot to me,” says Carabello, whose team is responsible for all aspects of TURBOCAM’S RS-25 effort, including quality control, inspection, and resource allocation. He is constantly reminding his team of what’s really at stake for astronauts bound for space: “We’re helping them to return home,” he says. 

Read other I am Artemis features.

Categories: NASA

Study Finds Earth’s Small Asteroid Visitor Likely Chunk of Moon Rock

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 12:01pm

5 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Typically, asteroids — like the one depicted in this artist’s concept — originate from the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but a small population of near-Earth objects may also come from the Moon’s surface after being ejected into space by an impact.NASA/JPL-Caltech

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The near-Earth object was likely ejected into space after an impact thousands of years ago. Now it could contribute new insights to asteroid and lunar science.

The small near-Earth object 2024 PT5 captured the world’s attention last year after a NASA-funded telescope discovered it lingering close to, but never orbiting, our planet for several months. The asteroid, which is about 33 feet (10 meters) wide, does not pose a hazard to Earth, but its orbit around the Sun closely matches that of our planet, hinting that it may have originated nearby.

As described in a study published Jan. 14 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, researchers have collected further evidence of 2024 PT5 being of local origin: It appears to be composed of rock broken off from the Moon’s surface and ejected into space after a large impact.

“We had a general idea that this asteroid may have come from the Moon, but the smoking gun was when we found out that it was rich in silicate minerals — not the kind that are seen on asteroids but those that have been found in lunar rock samples,” said Teddy Kareta, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, who led the research. “It looks like it hasn’t been in space for very long, maybe just a few thousand years or so, as there’s a lack of space weathering that would have caused its spectrum to redden.”

The asteroid was first detected on Aug. 7, 2024, by the NASA-funded Sutherland, South Africa, telescope of the University of Hawai’i’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Kareta’s team then used observations from the Lowell Discovery Telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawai’i to show that the spectrum of reflected sunlight from the small object’s surface didn’t match that of any known asteroid type; instead, the reflected light more closely matched rock from the Moon.

Not (Old) Rocket Science

A second clue came from observing how the object moves. Along with asteroids, Space Age debris, such as old rockets from historic launches, can also be found in Earth-like orbits.

The difference in their orbits has to do with how each type responds to solar radiation pressure, which comes from the momentum of photons — quantum particles of light from the Sun — exerting a tiny force when they hit a solid object in space. This momentum exchange from many photons over time can push an object around ever so slightly, speeding it up or slowing it down. While a human-made object, like a hollow rocket booster, will move like an empty tin can in the wind, a natural object, such as an asteroid, will be much less affected.

Researchers studying asteroid 2024 PT5 have plotted its looping motion on two graphs. To a trained eye, they show that the object never gets captured by Earth’s gravity but, instead, lingers nearby before continuing its orbit around the Sun. NASA/JPL-Caltech

To rule out 2024 PT5 being space junk, scientists at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, analyzed its motion. Their precise calculations of the object’s motion under the force of gravity ultimately enabled them to search for additional motion caused by solar radiation pressure. In this case, the effects were found to be too small for the object to be artificial, proving 2024 PT5 is most likely of natural origin.

“Space debris and space rocks move slightly differently in space,” said Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz, a study coauthor and NASA postdoctoral fellow at JPL working with the CNEOS team. “Human-made debris is usually relatively light and gets pushed around by the pressure of sunlight. That 2024 PT5 doesn’t move this way indicates it is much denser than space debris.”

Asteroid Lunar Studies

The discovery of 2024 PT5 doubles the number of known asteroids thought to originate from the Moon. Asteroid 469219 Kamo’oalewa was found in 2016 with an Earth-like orbit around the Sun, indicating that it may also have been ejected from the lunar surface after a large impact. As telescopes become more sensitive to smaller asteroids, more potential Moon boulders will be discovered, creating an exciting opportunity not only for scientists studying a rare population of asteroids, but also for scientists studying the Moon.

If a lunar asteroid can be directly linked to a specific impact crater on the Moon, studying it could lend insights into cratering processes on the pockmarked lunar surface. Also, material from deep below the lunar surface — in the form of asteroids passing close to Earth — may be accessible to future scientists to study.

“This is a story about the Moon as told by asteroid scientists,” said Kareta. “It’s a rare situation where we’ve gone out to study an asteroid but then strayed into new territory in terms of the questions we can ask of 2024 PT5.”

The ATLAS, IRTF, and CNEOS projects are funded by NASA’s planetary defense program, which is managed by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 

For more information about asteroids and comets, visit:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/topics/asteroids/

NASA Asteroid Experts Create Hypothetical Impact Scenario for Exercise NASA Researchers Discover More Dark Comets Lesson Plan: How to Explore an Asteroid News Media Contacts

Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov

Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov

Kevin Schindler
Lowell Observatory Public Information Officer
928-607-1387
kevin@lowell.edu

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Share Details Last Updated Jan 22, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 5 min read NASA JPL Prepping for Full Year of Launches, Mission Milestones Article 10 hours ago 5 min read How New NASA, India Earth Satellite NISAR Will See Earth Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Sets Sights on Mars Terrain with Revolutionary Tire Tech Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics

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NASA 3D-Printed Antenna Takes Additive Manufacturing to New Heights

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 10:31am
4 Min Read NASA 3D-Printed Antenna Takes Additive Manufacturing to New Heights The 3D-printed antenna mounted to a ladder prior to testing at NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas. Credits: NASA/Peter Moschetti

In fall 2024, NASA developed and tested a 3D-printed antenna to demonstrate a low-cost capability to communicate science data to Earth. The antenna, tested in flight using an atmospheric weather balloon, could open the door for using 3D printing as a cost-effective development solution for the ever-increasing number of science and exploration missions.

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NASA developed and tested a 3D-printed antenna to demonstrate a low-cost capability to communicate science data to Earth.NASA/Kasey Dillahay Printing

For this technology demonstration, engineers from NASA’s Near Space Network designed and built a 3D-printed antenna, tested it with the network’s relay satellites, and then flew it on a weather balloon.

The 3D printing process, also known as additive manufacturing, creates a physical object from a digital model by adding multiple layers of material on top of each other, usually as a liquid, powder, or filament. The bulk of the 3D-printed antenna uses a low electrical resistance, tunable, ceramic-filled polymer material.

Using a printer supplied by Fortify, the team had full control over several of the electromagnetic and mechanical properties that standard 3D printing processes do not. Once NASA acquired the printer, this technology enabled the team to design and print an antenna for the balloon in a matter of hours. Teams printed the conductive part of the antenna with one of several different conductive ink printers used during the experiment.

For this technology demonstration, the network team designed and built a 3D-printed magneto-electric dipole antenna and flew it on a weather balloon. [JF1]  A dipole antenna is commonly used in radio and telecommunications. The antenna has two “poles,” creating a radiation pattern similar to a donut shape.

Testing

The antenna, a collaboration between engineers within NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program and the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, was created to showcase the capabilities of low-cost design and manufacturing.

Following manufacturing, the antenna was assembled and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in the center’s electromagnetic anechoic chamber.

The anechoic chamber is the quietest room at Goddard — a shielded space designed and constructed to both resist intrusive electromagnetic waves and suppress their emission to the outside world. This chamber eliminates echoes and reflections of electromagnetic waves to simulate the relative “quiet” of space.

To prepare for testing, NASA intern Alex Moricette installed the antenna onto the mast of the anechoic chamber. The antenna development team used the chamber to test its performance in a space-like environment and ensure it functioned as intended.

NASA Goddard’s anechoic chamber eliminates echoes and reflections of electromagnetic waves to simulate the relative “quiet” of space. Here, the antenna is installed on the mast of the anechoic chamber.NASA/Peter Moschetti

Once completed, NASA antenna engineers conducted final field testing at NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, before liftoff.

The team coordinated links with the Near Space Network’s relay fleet to test the 3D-printed antenna’s ability to send and receive data.

The team monitored performance by sending signals to and from the 3D-printed antenna and the balloon’s planned communications system, a standard satellite antenna. Both antennas were tested at various angles and elevations. By comparing the 3D-printed antenna with the standard antenna, they established a baseline for optimal performance.

Field testing was performed at NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, prior to liftoff. To do this, the 3D-printed antenna was mounted to a ladder.NASA/Peter Moschetti In the Air

During flight, the weather balloon and hosted 3D-printed antenna were tested for environmental survivability at 100,000 feet and were safely recovered.

For decades, NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program, managed by NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, has used balloons to carry science payloads into the atmosphere. Weather balloons carry instruments that measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and direction. The information gathered is transmitted back to a ground station for mission use.

The demonstration revealed the team’s anticipated results: that with rapid prototyping and production capabilities of 3D printing technology, NASA can create high-performance communication antennas tailored to mission specifications faster than ever before.

Implementing these modern technological advancements is vital for NASA, not only to reduce costs for legacy platforms but also to enable future missions.

The Near Space Network is funded by NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program office at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The network is operated out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

By Kendall Murphy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

About the AuthorKendall MurphyTechnical Writer

Kendall Murphy is a technical writer for the Space Communications and Navigation program office. She specializes in internal and external engagement, educating readers about space communications and navigation technology.

Share Details Last Updated Jan 22, 2025 EditorGoddard Digital TeamContactKendall Murphykendall.t.murphy@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Explore More 4 min read NASA to Embrace Commercial Sector, Fly Out Legacy Relay Fleet  Article 3 months ago 3 min read NASA Enables Future of Science Observation through Tri-band Antennas Article 2 years ago 4 min read NASA’s Near Space Network Enables PACE Climate Mission to ‘Phone Home’ Article 9 months ago
Categories: NASA

Advanced Modeling Enhances Gateway’s Lunar Dust Defense

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 9:15am
2 Min Read Advanced Modeling Enhances Gateway’s Lunar Dust Defense A sample holder in a vacuum chamber spins during a lunar dust adhesion test at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Credits: NASA/Josh Litofsky

NASA’s Artemis campaign aims to return humans to the Moon, develop a sustainable presence there, and lay the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars. As the agency prepares for longer stays on and around the Moon, engineers are working diligently to understand the complex behavior of lunar dust, the sharp, jagged particles that can cling to spacesuits and jam equipment.

Lunar dust has posed a problem since astronauts first encountered it during the Apollo missions. Ahead of more frequent and intense contact with dust, NASA is developing new strategies to protect equipment as astronauts travel between the Moon and spacecraft like Gateway, humanity’s first lunar space station.

Josh Litofsky, systems engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, scoops material designed to behave like lunar dust to test how it adheres to Gateway materials. NASA/Bill Stafford

Unlike Apollo-era spacecraft that faced lunar dust exposure just once, Gateway will encounter it each time a Human Landing System spacecraft returns to the space station from the lunar South Pole region. Dust could enter Gateway’s environment, risking damage to science instruments, solar arrays, robotic systems, and other important hardware.

Josh Litofsky is the principal investigator and project manager leading a Gateway lunar dust adhesion testing campaign at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. His team tracks how the dust interacts with materials used to build Gateway.

An artist’s rendering of the Gateway lunar space station in polar orbit around the Moon. NASA/Alberto Bertolin

“The particles are jagged from millions of years of micrometeoroid impacts, sticky due to chemical and electrical forces, and extremely small,” Litofsky said. “Even small amounts of lunar dust can have a big impact on equipment and systems.”

Litofksy’s work seeks to validate the Gateway On-orbit Lunar Dust Modeling and Analysis Program (GOLDMAP), developed by Ronald Lee, also of Johnson Space Center. By considering factors such as the design and configuration of the space station, the materials used, and the unique conditions in lunar orbit, GOLDMAP helps predict how dust may move and settle on Gateway’s external surfaces.

Josh Litofsky, systems engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, places a sample holder inside a vacuum chamber to test how lunar dust sticks to Gateway materials. NASA/Bill StaffordNASA/Bill Stafford

Early GOLDMAP simulations have shown that lunar dust can form clouds around Gateway, with larger particles sticking to surfaces.

The data from these tests and simulations will help NASA safeguard Gateway, to ensure the space station’s longevity during the next era of lunar exploration.

The lessons learned managing lunar dust and other harsh conditions through Gateway and Artemis will prepare NASA and its international partners for missions deeper into the cosmos.

Learn More About Gateway Facebook logo @NASAGateway @NASA_Gateway Instagram logo @nasaartemis Share Details Last Updated Jan 22, 2025 ContactLaura RochonLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms Explore More 4 min read NASA Technology Helps Guard Against Lunar Dust Article 10 months ago 3 min read NASA Science Payload to Study Sticky Lunar Dust Challenge Article 1 month ago 3 min read Measuring Moon Dust to Fight Air Pollution Article 4 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

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International teams of astronauts will explore the scientific mysteries of deep space with Gateway, humanity’s first space station around the…

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Categories: NASA

NASA Faces of Technology: Meet Lauren Best Ameen

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 8:03am

1 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

If you tell Lauren Best Ameen something is hard and cannot be done, she will likely reply, “Watch me.”  

As deputy manager for the Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project Office at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ameen and her team look for innovative ways to keep rocket fuel cold for long-duration missions. Work in this area could be important in enabling astronauts to go to the Moon and Mars. 

Watch the NASA Faces of Technology video that highlights her work:

For more information about NASA’s Cryogenic Fluid Management Program, visit this page.  

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Categories: NASA

NASA Glenn Trains Instructors for After-School STEM Program 

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 8:03am

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) During the 21st Century Community Learning Centers workshop, after-school educators learn to build the “Move It” student activity from NASA’s Build, Launch and Recover Student Activity Guide.Credit: Kristen Marlatt

NASA and the U.S. Department of Education are teaming up to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education during after-school hours. The interagency program strives to reach approximately 1,000 middle school students in more than 60 sites across 10 states to join the program, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC). 

Members of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Office of STEM Engagement traveled to Lansing, Michigan, last month to participate in a two-day professional development training with local after-school educators and facilitators. The training focused on integrating real-world STEM challenges into the 21st CCLC programs. 

After-school educators engage in a student activity from NASA’s Build, Launch, and Recover Student Activity Guide. In this challenge, students become engineers and NASA crawler operators while working in teams to design and build a rubber band-powered model of NASA’s crawler-transporter that can carry the most mass possible the farthest distance without failure. Credit: Kristen Marlatt 

“By engaging in NASA learning opportunities, students are challenged to use critical thinking and creativity to solve real-world challenges that scientists and engineers may face,” said Darlene Walker, NASA Glenn’s Office of STEM Engagement director. “Through the 21st CCLC program, NASA and the Department of Education aim to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators through high-quality educational content that ignites curiosity and fosters a joy of learning for students across the country.” 

NASA Glenn education specialists will continue to provide NASA-related content and academic projects for students, in-person staff training, program support, and opportunities for students to engage with NASA scientists and engineers.  

For more information on NASA Glenn’s STEM Engagement, visit https://www.nasa.gov/glenn-stem/

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NASA Glenn Helps Bring Joy to Children in Need

NASA - Breaking News - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 8:02am

1 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Glenn employees donated 11 boxes of new, unwrapped gifts to the Toys for Tots program. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna 

NASA’s Glenn Research Center continued a decades-long tradition of participating in the Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program during the 2024 holiday season. On Dec. 9, members of the Marine Corps Reserve (3rd Battalion, 25th Marines) picked up 11 boxes of toys donated by employees from NASA Glenn’s facilities in Cleveland and Sandusky, Ohio. 

Marine Corps representatives stand at far left and far right of NASA Glenn’s Associate Director Larry Sivic, left, Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, center, and Acting Deputy Director Dr. Wanda Peters. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna 

The Glenn Veterans Employee Resource Group led the donation drive. The Toys for Tots campaign collects and distributes new, unwrapped toys to less fortunate children in the area for Christmas.  

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M83: The Southern Pinwheel

APOD - Wed, 01/22/2025 - 8:00am

Beautiful and bright


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

NASA Marshall Invites Media to Local Day of Remembrance Event

NASA - Breaking News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 3:28pm

1 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Marshall will hold a candle-lighting ceremony and wreath placement at 9:30 a.m. CST. The ceremony will include remarks from Larry Leopard, associate director, and Bill Hill, director of Marshall’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. NASA/ Krisdon Manecke

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, invites media to attend its observance of the agency’s Day of Remembrance at 9:30 a.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 23, in the lobby of Building 4221.

Day of Remembrance honors the members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. 

The event will include brief remarks from NASA Marshall leaders, followed by a candle lighting and moment of silence for the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Speakers will include:

  • Larry Leopard, associate director, technical.
  • Bill Hill, director, Office of Safety and Mission Assurance.

Media interested in attending the event must confirm by 12 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, with Molly Porter at: molly.a.porter@nasa.gov.

The agency will also pay tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content, updated on NASA’s Day of Remembrance, at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/dor/

Molly Porter
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-424-5158
molly.a.porter@nasa.gov

Share Details Last Updated Jan 21, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayContactMolly Portermolly.a.porter@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms Explore More 5 min read Exoplanets Need to Be Prepared for Extreme Space Weather, Chandra Finds Article 7 days ago 4 min read NASA Instrument on Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lander to Study Lunar Interior Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read NASA to Test Solution for Radiation-Tolerant Computing in Space Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics

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60 Years Ago: Uncrewed Gemini 2 Paves the Way for the First Crewed Mission

NASA - Breaking News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 1:52pm

On Jan. 19, 1965, Gemini 2 successfully completed the second of two uncrewed test flights of the spacecraft and its Titan II booster, clearing the way for the first crewed mission. The 18-minute suborbital mission achieved the primary goals of flight qualifying the Gemini spacecraft, especially its heat shield during a stressful reentry. Recovery forces retrieved the capsule following its splashdown, allowing engineers to evaluate how its systems fared during the flight. The success of Gemini 2 enabled the first crewed mission to fly two months later, beginning a series of 10 flights over the following 20 months. The astronauts who flew these missions demonstrated the rendezvous and docking techniques necessary to implement the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous method NASA chose for the Moon landing mission. They also proved that astronauts could work outside their spacecraft during spacewalks and that spacecraft and astronauts could function for at least eight days, the minimum time for a roundtrip lunar mission. The Gemini program proved critical to fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s. 

Cutaway diagram of the Gemini spacecraft. Workers at Launch Pad 19 lift Gemini 2 to mate it with its Titan II rocket. At Pad 19, engineers verify the flight simulators inside Gemini 2.

Following the success of Gemini 1 in April 1964, NASA had hoped to fly the second mission before the end of the year and the first crewed mission by January 1965. The two stages of the Titan II rocket arrived at Cape Kennedy from the Martin Marietta factory in Baltimore on July 11, and workers erected it on Launch Pad 19 five days later. A lightning strike at the pad on Aug. 17 invalidated all previous testing and required replacement of some pad equipment. A series of three hurricanes in August and September forced workers to partially or totally unstack the vehicle before stacking it for the final time on Sept. 14. The Gemini 2 spacecraft arrived at Cape Kennedy from its builder, the McDonnell Company in St. Louis, on Sept. 21, and workers hoisted it to the top of the Titan II on Oct. 18. Technical issues delayed the spacecraft’s physical mating to the rocket until Nov. 5. These accumulated delays pushed the launch date back to Dec. 9. 

The launch abort on Dec. 9, 1964. Liftoff of Gemini 2 from Launch Pad 19 on Jan. 19, 1965. Engineers in the blockhouse monitor the progress of the Titan II during the ascent.

Fueling of the rocket began late on Dec. 8, and following three brief holds in the countdown, the Titan’s two first stage engines ignited at 11:41 a.m. EST on Dec. 9. and promptly shut down one second later. Engineers later determined that a cracked valve resulted in loss of hydraulic pressure, causing the malfunction detection system to switch to its backup mode, forcing a shutdown of the engines. Repairs meant a delay into the new year. On Jan. 19, 1965, following a mostly smooth countdown, Gemini 2 lifted off from Pad 19 at 9:04 a.m. EST. 

The Mission Control Center (MCC) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the MCC, astronauts Eugene Cernan, left, Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper, Donald “Deke” Slayton, and Virgil “Gus” Grissom monitor the Gemini 2 flight.

In the Gemini Mission Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Flight Director Christopher C. Kraft led a team of flight controllers that monitored all aspects of the flight. At the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, a team of controllers led by Flight Director John Hodge passively monitored the flight from the newly built Mission Control Center. They would act as observers for this flight and Gemini 3, the first crewed mission, before taking over full control with Gemini IV, and control all subsequent American human spaceflights. The Titan rocket’s two stages placed Gemini 2 into a suborbital trajectory, reaching a maximum altitude of 98.9 miles, with the vehicle attaining a maximum velocity of 16,709 miles per hour. Within a minute after separating from the Titan’s second stage, Gemini 2 executed a maneuver to orient its heat shield in the direction of flight to prepare for reentry. Flight simulators installed where the astronauts normally would sit controlled the maneuvers. About seven minutes after liftoff, Gemini 2 jettisoned its equipment section, followed by firing of the retrorockets, and then separation of the retrorocket section, exposing the spacecraft’s heat shield. 

View from a camera mounted on a cockpit window during Gemini 2’s reentry. View from the cockpit window during Gemini 2’s descent on its parachute.

Gemini 2 then began its reentry, the heat shield protecting the spacecraft from the 2,000-degree heat generated by friction with the Earth’s upper atmosphere. A pilot parachute pulled away the rendezvous and recovery section. At 10,000 feet, the main parachute deployed, and Gemini 2 descended to a splashdown 2,127 miles from its launch pad, after a flight of 18 minutes 16 seconds. The splashdown took place in the Atlantic Ocean about 800 miles east of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and 25 miles from the prime recovery ship, the U.S.S. Lake Champlain (CVS-39). 

A U.S. Navy helicopter hovers over the Gemini 2 capsule following its splashdown as a diver jumps into the water. Sailors hoist Gemini 2 aboard the U.S.S. Lake Champlain.

U.S. Navy helicopters delivered divers to the splashdown area, who installed a flotation collar around the spacecraft. The Lake Champlain pulled alongside, and sailors hoisted the capsule onto the carrier, securing it on deck one hour forty minutes after liftoff. The spacecraft appeared to be in good condition and arrived back at Cape Kennedy on Jan. 22 for a thorough inspection. As an added bonus, sailors recovered the rendezvous and recovery section. Astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, whom along with John Young NASA had selected to fly the first crewed Gemini mission, said after the splashdown, “We now see the road clear to our flight, and we’re looking forward to it.” Flight Director Kraft called it “very successful.” Gemini Program Manager Charles Matthews predicted the first crewed mission could occur within three months. Gemini 3 actually launched on March 23. 

Enjoy this NASA video of the Gemini 2 mission. 

Postscript 

The Gemini-B capsule and a Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) mockup atop a Titan-IIIC rocket in 1966. The flown Gemini-B capsule on display at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum in Florida. Former MOL and NASA astronaut Robert Crippen stands beside the only flown Gemini-B capsule – note the hatch in the heat shield at top.

Gemini 2 not only cleared the way for the first crewed Gemini mission and the rest of the program, it also took on a second life as a test vehicle for the U.S. Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). The Air Force modified the spacecraft, including cutting a hatch through its heat shield, renamed it Gemini-B, and launched it on Nov. 3, 1966, atop a Titan IIIC rocket. The test flight successfully demonstrated the hatch in the heat shield design during the capsule’s reentry after a 33-minute suborbital flight. Recovery forces retrieved the Gemini-B capsule in the South Atlantic Ocean and returned it to the Air Force for postflight inspection. This marked the only repeat flight of an American spacecraft intended for human spaceflight until the advent of the space shuttle. Visitors can view Gemini 2/Gemini-B on display at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum.  

Categories: NASA

Astronauts Set to Swab the Exterior of Station for Microbial Life

NASA - Breaking News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 1:00pm
NASA astronaut Victor Glover tests collection methods for ISS External Microorganisms in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center.NASA

Astronauts are scheduled to venture outside the International Space Station to collect microbiological samples during crew spacewalks for the ISS External Microorganisms experiment. This investigation focuses on sampling at sites near life support system vents to examine whether the spacecraft releases microorganisms, how many, and how far they may travel.

This experiment could help researchers understand whether and how these microorganisms survive and reproduce in the harsh space environment and how they may perform at planetary destinations such as the Moon and Mars. Extremophiles, or microorganisms that can survive harsh environments, are also of interest to industries on Earth such as pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

Spacecrafts and spacesuits are thoroughly sterilized before missions; however, humans carry their own microbiomes and continuously regenerate microbial communities. It’s important to understand and address how well current designs and processes prevent or limit the spread of human contamination.  The data could help determine whether changes are needed to crewed spacecraft, including spacesuits, that are used to explore destinations where life may exist now or in the past.

Learn more about how researchers monitor microbes on the space station.

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How New NASA, India Earth Satellite NISAR Will See Earth

NASA - Breaking News - Tue, 01/21/2025 - 12:22pm
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory used radar data taken by ESA’s Sentinel-1A satellite before and after the 2015 eruption of the Calbuco volcano in Chile to create this inter-ferogram showing land deformation. The color bands west of the volcano indicate land sinking. NISAR will produce similar images.ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech A SAR image — like ones NISAR will produce — shows land cover on Mount Okmok on Alaska’s Umnak Island. Created with data taken in August 2011 by NASA’s UAVSAR instrument, it is an example of polarimetry, which measures return waves’ orientation relative to that of transmitted signals.NASA/JPL-Caltech Data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft, which launched in 1989, was used to create this image of Crater Isabella, a 108-mile-wide (175-kilometer-wide) impact crater on Venus’ surface. NISAR will use the same basic SAR principles to measure properties and characteristics of Earth’s solid surfaces.NASA/JPL-Caltech

Set to launch within a few months, NISAR will use a technique called synthetic aperture radar to produce incredibly detailed maps of surface change on our planet.

When NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) new Earth satellite NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) launches in coming months, it will capture images of Earth’s surface so detailed they will show how much small plots of land and ice are moving, down to fractions of an inch. Imaging nearly all of Earth’s solid surfaces twice every 12 days, it will see the flex of Earth’s crust before and after natural disasters such as earthquakes; it will monitor the motion of glaciers and ice sheets; and it will track ecosystem changes, including forest growth and deforestation.  

The mission’s extraordinary capabilities come from the technique noted in its name: synthetic aperture radar, or SAR. Pioneered by NASA for use in space, SAR combines multiple measurements, taken as a radar flies overhead, to sharpen the scene below. It works like conventional radar, which uses microwaves to detect distant surfaces and objects, but steps up the data processing to reveal properties and characteristics at high resolution.

To get such detail without SAR, radar satellites would need antennas too enormous to launch, much less operate. At 39 feet (12 meters) wide when deployed, NISAR’s radar antenna reflector is as wide as a city bus is long. Yet it would have to be 12 miles (19 kilometers) in diameter for the mission’s L-band instrument, using traditional radar techniques, to image pixels of Earth down to 30 feet (10 meters) across.

Synthetic aperture radar “allows us to refine things very accurately,” said Charles Elachi, who led NASA spaceborne SAR missions before serving as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from 2001 to 2016. “The NISAR mission will open a whole new realm to learn about our planet as a dynamic system.”

A collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation, NISAR will use synthetic aperture radar to offer insights into change in Earth’s solid surfaces, including the Antarctic ice sheet. The spacecraft, depicted here in an artist’s concept, will launch from India.NASA/JPL-Caltech How SAR Works

Elachi arrived at JPL in 1971 after graduating from Caltech, joining a group of engineers developing a radar to study Venus’ surface. Then, as now, radar’s allure was simple: It could collect measurements day and night and see through clouds. The team’s work led to the Magellan mission to Venus in 1989 and several NASA space shuttle radar missions.

An orbiting radar operates on the same principles as one tracking planes at an airport. The spaceborne antenna emits microwave pulses toward Earth. When the pulses hit something — a volcanic cone, for example — they scatter. The antenna receives those signals that echo back to the instrument, which measures their strength, change in frequency, how long they took to return, and if they bounced off of multiple surfaces, such as buildings.

This information can help detect the presence of an object or surface, its distance away, and its speed, but the resolution is too low to generate a clear picture. First conceived at Goodyear Aircraft Corp. in 1952, SAR addresses that issue.

“It’s a technique to create high-resolution images from a low-resolution system,” said Paul Rosen, NISAR’s project scientist at JPL.

As the radar travels, its antenna continuously transmits microwaves and receives echoes from the surface. Because the instrument is moving relative to Earth, there are slight changes in frequency in the return signals. Called the Doppler shift, it’s the same effect that causes a siren’s pitch to rise as a fire engine approaches then fall as it departs.

Computer processing of those signals is like a camera lens redirecting and focusing light to produce a sharp photograph. With SAR, the spacecraft’s path forms the “lens,” and the processing adjusts for the Doppler shifts, allowing the echoes to be aggregated into a single, focused image.

Using SAR

One type of SAR-based visualization is an interferogram, a composite of two images taken at separate times that reveals the differences by measuring the change in the delay of echoes. Though they may look like modern art to the untrained eye, the multicolor concentric bands of interferograms show how far land surfaces have moved: The closer the bands, the greater the motion. Seismologists use these visualizations to measure land deformation from earthquakes.

Another type of SAR analysis, called polarimetry, measures the vertical or horizontal orientation of return waves relative to that of transmitted signals. Waves bouncing off linear structures like buildings tend to return in the same orientation, while those bouncing off irregular features, like tree canopies, return in another orientation. By mapping the differences and the strength of the return signals, researchers can identify an area’s land cover, which is useful for studying deforestation and flooding.

Such analyses are examples of ways NISAR will help researchers better understand processes that affect billions of lives.

“This mission packs in a wide range of science toward a common goal of studying our changing planet and the impacts of natural hazards,” said Deepak Putrevu, co-lead of the ISRO science team at the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, India.

Learn more about NISAR at:

https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov

News Media Contacts

Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov

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