NASA - Breaking News
NASA Photographer Honored for Thrilling Inverted In-Flight Image
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA research pilot Nils Larson and photographer Jim Ross complete aerobatic maneuvers in a NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California owned T-34C aircraft during a proficiency flight. NASA/Jim RossRiding in the back seat of a car can be boring. Riding in the back of a NASA aircraft is exhilarating, especially for photographers capturing NASA’s story. Jim Ross, photo lead at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, was awarded first place for an image he took while flying upside down in a two-seat T-34C research aircraft.
In the photo, which was announced as the NASA Photo of the Year 2023 in the People category on April 15, 2024. Ross captures NASA research pilot Nils Larson in full flight gear, while the aircraft is doing aerobatic maneuvers. Most of us would struggle to keep our bearings, let alone operate a camera and frame a perfectly balanced image. NASA Armstrong photographers do this every flight day.
“When we fly proficiency flights, my mind is always thinking about what kind of photo I can take that will share what I am experiencing in the aircraft,” Ross said. “This photo was one that I feel is able to tell that story.” It’s telling the story that makes Ross’s work so important to NASA. Much of what NASA works on can only be witnessed by researchers and scientists, but having it capture in photo and video allows us to share the images with the world.
Jim Ross, photo lead at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, took a photo of an aerobatic maneuver from the back seat of a T-34C that was selected as first place in the NASA Photo of the Year 2023 Contest in the People category.NASA/Genaro VavurisRoss began his aviation photography career in 1989 when he joined the photography staff at NASA’s Armstrong (then Dryden) Flight Research Center, now known as NASA Armstrong. He became the photo lead in 1997, a title he retains. In his 30 years of flying, he has flown on more than 900 missions and has about 1,100 flight hours in aircraft including T-33, T-34, T-38, F-15, F-16, F-18, KC-10, KC-135, C-12, C-20A, Boeing 747SP, and helicopters.
NASA previously recognized Ross for his work with the agency’s Public Service Medal and the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal. NASA also made a photo book of his work titled, “NASA Photo One,” which highlights 100 photos of his career. He also won the Best of the Best award from the Aviation Week & Space Technology photo contest in 2001. His work has appeared in many publications, including Aviation Week & Space Technology, National Geographic, and Air & Space Smithsonian.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 17, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 6 min read Kate A. McGinnis: Ready to “Go” with PACE Testing Article 1 day ago 5 min read Shawnta M. Ball Turns Obstacles into Opportunities in Goddard’s Education Office Article 7 days ago 3 min read NASA Langley Team to Study Weather During Eclipse Using Uncrewed Vehicles Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAArmstrong Flight Research Center
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NASA to Hoist Its Sail: Solar Sail Mission Gets Ready for Launch
A NASA mission testing a new way of navigating our solar system is ready to hoist its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is targeting launch on Tuesday, April 23 (Wednesday, April 24 in New Zealand) aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will deploy the mission’s CubeSat about 600 miles above Earth – more than twice the altitude of the International Space Station. To test the performance of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, the spacecraft must be in a high enough orbit for the tiny force of sunlight on the sail – roughly equivalent to the weight of a paperclip resting on your palm – to overcome atmospheric drag and gain altitude.
After a busy initial flight phase, which will last about two months and includes subsystems checkout, the microwave oven-sized CubeSat will deploy its reflective solar sail. The weeks-long test consists of a series of pointing maneuvers to demonstrate orbit raising and lowering, using only the pressure of sunlight acting on the sail.
Stay tuned for updates as NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System sets out to prove its ability to sail across space, increasing access and enabling low-cost missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the project and designed and built the onboard camera diagnostic system. NASA’s Langley Research Center in Langley, Virginia, designed and built the deployable composite booms and solar sail system. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program office, within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), funds and manages the mission. STMD’s Game Changing Development program developed the deployable composite boom technology. Rocket Lab USA, Inc of Long Beach, California, is providing launch services.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 17, 2024 Related TermsNASA Announces Winners of Power to Explore Challenge
NASA announced the winners on Wednesday of the third annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the power of radioisotopes for space exploration.
The competition asked students to learn about NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), “nuclear batteries” the agency uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in the solar system and beyond. In 250 words or less, students wrote about a mission of their own enabled by these space power systems and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.
“The Power to Explore Challenge is the perfect way to inspire students – our Artemis Generation – to reach for the stars and beyond and help NASA find new ways to use radioisotopes to power our exploration of the cosmos,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Entries were split into three groups based on grade level, and a winner was chosen from each. The three winners, along with a guardian, are invited to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for a VIP tour of its world-class research facilities.
The winners are:
- Rainie Lin, Lexington, Kentucky, kindergarten through fourth grade
- Aadya Karthik, Redmond, Washington, fifth through eighth grade
- Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, New Jersey, ninth through 12th grade
“Congratulations to this year’s winners and participants – together, we discover and explore for the benefit of all,” Fox said.
The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn about space power, celebrate their strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received nearly 1,787 submitted entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico.
Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event held on March 15 that announced the 45 national semifinalists. Additionally, the national semifinalists received a NASA RPS prize pack.
NASA announced three finalists in each age group (nine total) during Total Eclipse Fest 2024 in Cleveland on April 8, a day when millions of Americans saw a brief glimpse of life without sunlight, creating an opportunity to shed light on how NASA could power missions without the Sun’s energy at destinations such as deep lunar craters or deep space. Finalists also were invited to discuss their mission concepts with a NASA scientist or engineer during a virtual event.
The challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s RPS Program Office and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
For more information on radioisotope power systems visit:
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Karen Fox / Charles Blue
Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-802-5345
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / charles.e.blue@nasa.gov
Kristin Jansen
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-296-2203
kristin.m.jansen@nasa.gov
NASA Invites Media for Climate Update, New Earth Missions
In anticipation of Earth Day, NASA invites media to a briefing at the agency’s headquarters on Friday, April 19, at 11 a.m. EDT. The event will share updates on NASA’s climate science and early data from the agency’s ocean-watching PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission, as well as reveal upcoming Earth airborne missions.
The speakers include:
- NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
- Karen St. Germain, division director, NASA Earth Sciences Division
- Tom Wagner, associate director for Earth Action
The briefing will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website.
To attend the briefing in person in the James E. Webb Auditorium at 300 E St. SW, Washington, or to participate via teleconference, media should RSVP no later than 9 a.m. Friday to Liz Vlock at elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
Media and the public are also invited to participate in NASA’s Earth Day celebration: “Water Touches Everything.” Attendees will be able to explore the complex connections between sea, air, land, and climate through a mix of in-person and virtual activities, talks, and trivia. The celebration begins Thursday, April 18 at 9 a.m. EDT and continues through April 19 until 5 p.m., both online and in person at the NASA Earth Information Center.
For more information on NASA’s Earth Science Division visit:
-end-
Liz Vlock
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov
Tech Today: Taking Earth’s Pulse with NASA Satellites
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This natural-color image of mountains of central Pennsylvania taken by Landsat 8 shows the colors of changing leaves and the unique topography of the region. Thanks to more than 50 years of planetary observation from low-Earth orbit, it’s possible to see natural changes and those engineered by humans.Credit: NASANatural disasters like volcanic eruptions, floods, and tornados can dramatically change the surface of Earth to the point where alterations are visible in space. Changes driven by human actions and interventions, such as mining and deforestation, are also visible in satellite imagery.
For over 50 years, NASA’s Landsat satellites have recorded our planet’s changing surface. Now, terraPulse Inc., a North Potomac, Maryland-based company, applies artificial intelligence to create meaningful maps to help academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses understand the many impacts of climate change.
By combining data from multiple NASA and European satellites, terraPulse helps businesses make data-driven decisions regarding ecological impacts. That same data helps scientists understand environmental changes and the processes driving them, which can provide practical information to local decision-makers for infrastructure planning and disaster preparedness.
Measurements taken from space are still undergoing significant research and development. NASA’s Earth Sciences Division funds several remote sensing initiatives to expand our understanding of the impact of land cover change, including a terraPulse effort using FitBits to track and assess the health of wild deer and the impacts of their habitat change.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, which manages many of the agency’s Earth-monitoring satellite missions, supports a comprehensive view of our planet. Industries are looking to satellite data to plan for resilience to climate change by monitoring worldwide facilities, identifying manageable risk factors, and more.
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Article 5 hours ago 4 min read NASA’s Near Space Network Enables PACE Climate Mission to ‘Phone Home’ Article 10 hours ago 5 min read Astronauts To Patch Up NASA’s NICER TelescopeNASA is planning to repair NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on…
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Astronauts To Patch Up NASA’s NICER Telescope
4 min read
Astronauts To Patch Up NASA’s NICER TelescopeNASA is planning to repair NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, during a spacewalk later this year. It will be the fourth science observatory in orbit serviced by astronauts.
In May 2023, scientists discovered that NICER had developed a “light leak.” Unwanted sunlight was entering the instrument and reaching the telescope’s sensitive detectors. While the team took immediate steps to mitigate the impact on observations, they also began thinking about a potential repair.
“The sunlight interferes with NICER’s ability to collect viable X-ray measurements during the station’s daytime,” said Zaven Arzoumanian, NICER’s science lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Nighttime observations are unaffected, and the telescope continues to produce incredible science. Hundreds of published papers have used NICER since the mission began. Blocking some of the light leaking in would allow us to return to more normal operations around the clock.”
This image, obtained June 8, 2018, shows NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) on the International Space Station, where it studies neutron stars and other X-ray sources. NICER is about the size of a washing machine. The sunshades of its X-ray concentrators are visible as an array of circular features. NASADownload high-resolution images and videos from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Arzoumanian presented efforts to address the issue during a talk on Friday, April 12, at the 21st meeting of the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society in Horseshoe Bay, Texas.
NICER is located near the station’s inner starboard solar panels. From that perch, it looks out at the X-ray sky, collecting data on many cosmic phenomena, like regular pulses from superdense stellar remnants called neutron stars and “light echoes” from flaring black holes. Observing these objects helps answer questions about their nature and behavior and increases our understanding of matter and gravity. In 2017, NICER also demonstrated the use of pulsing neutron stars in our galaxy to serve as navigational beacons for future deep space exploration through a program called SEXTANT (Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology).
The telescope has 56 aluminum X-ray concentrators. Each concentrator has a set of nested mirrors, designed to skip X-rays into a detector. In front of the concentrator lies a thin filter, called a thermal shield, that blocks out sunlight. The concentrator is topped by a hollow circular piece of carbon composite, called a sunshade, with six segments that resemble a sliced pie. The sunshade is designed to keep the concentrators cool in sunlight and protect the delicate thermal shields. After the light leak developed, photos revealed several small areas of damage in some of the shields, though what caused them is still unclear.
“We didn’t design NICER for mission servicing. It was installed robotically, and we operate it from the ground,” said Keith Gendreau, NICER’s principal investigator at Goddard. “The possibility of a repair has been an exciting challenge. We considered both spacewalk and robotic solutions, puzzling out how to install patches using what’s already present on the telescope and in space station toolkits.”
The International Space Station appears in this photograph taken by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking on Oct. 4, 2018. NICER is the small white box standing above the station’s main truss at far right, adjacent to the inner solar panel. NASA/RoscosmosAfter many months of consideration, the spacewalk was selected as the path forward. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and Solar Maximum Mission, as well as AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, also on the station) are the only other science observatories repaired by astronauts in orbit.
NICER’s solution is straightforward. Five pie piece-shaped wedges will slot into the sunshades above the areas with the greatest damage and lock into place. The patches are designed to take advantage of an existing piece of astronaut equipment, called a T-handle tool.
“While we worked hard to ensure the patches are mechanically simple, most repair activities in space are very complicated,” said Steve Kenyon, NICER’s mechanical lead at Goddard. “We’ve been conducting tests to confirm the repair work will be both an effective fix for NICER’s light leak and completely safe for the astronauts on the spacewalk and the space station.”
The patches are currently scheduled to launch to the space station aboard Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply services mission later this year. Astronauts will complete their installation during a spacewalk, along with other tasks.
NICER is an Astrophysics Mission of Opportunity within NASA’s Explorers Program, which provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space utilizing innovative, streamlined, and efficient management approaches within the heliophysics and astrophysics science areas. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate supports the SEXTANT component of the mission, demonstrating pulsar-based spacecraft navigation.
NICER also collaborates in automated tandem with JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s) experiment MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image) to rapidly observe stars and other objects that flare unpredictably, advancing scientific understanding of our dynamic universe.
By Jeanette Kazmierczak
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team Says Goodbye … for Now
The final downlink shift by the Ingenuity team was a time to reflect on a highly successful mission — and to prepare the first aircraft on another world for its new role.
Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter assembled for one last time in a control room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Tuesday, April 16, to monitor a transmission from the history-making helicopter. While the mission ended Jan. 25, the rotorcraft has remained in communication with the agency’s Perseverance Mars rover, which serves as a base station for Ingenuity. This transmission, received through the antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network, marked the final time the mission team would be working together on Ingenuity operations.
Now the helicopter is ready for its final act: to serve as a stationary testbed, collecting data that could benefit future explorers of the Red Planet.
Throughout its mission on the Red Planet, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter received thousands of electronic postcards filled with well wishes from all over the world via the mission’s website. In this video, members of the helicopter team read some of those messages. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech“With apologies to Dylan Thomas, Ingenuity will not be going gently into that good Martian night,” said Josh Anderson, Ingenuity team lead at JPL. “It is almost unbelievable that after over 1,000 Martian days on the surface, 72 flights, and one rough landing, she still has something to give. And thanks to the dedication of this amazing team, not only did Ingenuity overachieve beyond our wildest dreams, but also it may teach us new lessons in the years to come.”
Originally designed as a short-lived technology demonstration mission that would perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, the first aircraft on another world operated from the Martian surface for almost three years, flew more than 14 times farther than the distance expected, and logged more than two hours of total flight time.
Ingenuity’s mission ended after the helicopter experienced a hard landing on its last flight, significantly damaging its rotor blades. Unable to fly, the rotorcraft will remain at “Valinor Hills” while the Perseverance rover drives out of communications range as it continues to explore the western limb of Jezero Crater.
Bytes and CakeThe team enjoyed some “Final Comms” chocolate cake while reviewing the latest data from over 189 million miles (304 million kilometers) away. The telemetry confirmed that a software update previously beamed up to Ingenuity was operating as expected. The new software contains commands that direct the helicopter to continue collecting data well after communications with the rover have ceased.
Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity together monitored a transmission from the history-making helicopter in a JPL control room on April 16. They confirmed the operation of a software patch that will allow the helicopter to act as a stationary testbed and collect data that could benefit future Mars explorers.NASA/JPL-CaltechWith the software patch in place, Ingenuity will now wake up daily, activate its flight computers, and test the performance of its solar panel, batteries, and electronic equipment. In addition, the helicopter will take a picture of the surface with its color camera and collect temperature data from sensors placed throughout the rotorcraft. Ingenuity’s engineers and Mars scientists believe such long-term data collection could not only benefit future designers of aircraft and other vehicles for the Red Planet, but also provide a long-term perspective on Martian weather patterns and dust movement.
During this final gathering, the team received a farewell message from Ingenuity featuring the names of people who worked on the mission. Mission controllers at JPL sent the message to Perseverance the day before, which handed it off to Ingenuity so that it could transmit the farewell back to Earth.
Decades of RoomIf a critical electrical component on Ingenuity were to fail in the future, causing data collection to stop, or if the helicopter eventually loses power because of dust accumulation on its solar panel, whatever information Ingenuity has collected will remain stored on board. The team has calculated Ingenuity’s memory could potentially hold about 20 years’ worth of daily data.
“Whenever humanity revisits Valinor Hills — either with a rover, a new aircraft, or future astronauts — Ingenuity will be waiting with her last gift of data, a final testament to the reason we dare mighty things,” said Ingenuity’s project manager, Teddy Tzanetos of JPL. “Thank you, Ingenuity, for inspiring a small group of people to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds at the frontiers of space.”
Tzanetos and other Ingenuity alumni are currently researching how future Mars helicopters — including the Mars Science Helicopter concept — could benefit explorations of the Red Planet and beyond.
More About the MissionThe Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System. At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars helicopter.
For more information about Ingenuity:
https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter
News Media ContactsDC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
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Share Details Last Updated Apr 16, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read Comet Geyser: Perseverance’s 24th Rock CoreAfter investigating the high-standing bedrock at the Bunsen Peak workspace deep within the Margin Unit,…
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Article 11 hours agoA Clinical Decision Support System for Earth-independent Medical Operations
Deep space exploration requires a paradigm shift in astronaut medical support toward Earth-independent medical operations. Currently, astronauts rely on real-time communication with ground-based medical providers. However, as the distance from Earth increases, so do communication delays and disruptions. Deep space exploration crews will need to autonomously detect, diagnose, treat, and prevent medical conditions. One potential solution is to augment the long duration exploration crew’s knowledge, skills, and abilities with a digital clinical decision support system, or CDSS. The Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) element of NASA’s Human Research Program is investigating the feasibility and value of advanced capabilities to promote and enhance EIMO.
Main findings: The ExMC research team has produced a CDSS concept in which medical data would be continuously gathered, through both passive and active monitoring, and delivers real-time guidanance. This helps improve patient outcomes and reduce the workload of health maintenance.
Impact: The assistive technology of ExMC’s envisioned CDSS stands to significantly enhance a crew’s medical capability. Private applications for this approach are currently being considered by commercial space flight programs, a timely example of how ARC Space Biosciences research benefits the entire space sector.
Reference: Russell, B., Burian, B., …, Beard, B., Martin, K., Pletcher, D., … The value of a spaceflight clinical decision support system for earth-independent medical operations. Nature: NPJ Microgravity 9, 46 (2023).
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA NASA Biological & Physical SciencesBPS administers NASA’s: BPS partners with the research community and a wide range of organizations to accomplish its mission. Grants…
International Space Station
Humans In Space
Ames Research Center
Space Life Science Highlights
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)Spaceflight Atrophy Studied with Machine Learning
Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria Found on
ISS Mutating to Become Functionally Distinct
On-demand Nutrient Production System
for Long-duration Missions
A Clinical Decision Support System for
Earth-independent Medical Operations in Space Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA NASA Biological & Physical Sciences
BPS administers NASA’s: BPS partners with the research community and a wide range of organizations to accomplish its mission. Grants…
International Space Station
Human Research Program
Ames Research Center
BioNutrients Flight Experiments
When astronauts embark on long space missions, they’ll need to grow their own food because pre-packaged meals from Earth lose their nutritional value over time. The BioNutrients project at Ames Research Center’s Space Biosciences Division has solved this problem by using genetic engineering to create microbially-based food that can produce nutrients and compounds, such as medicines, with minimal resources. The process involves storing dried microbes and food-grade media in small bioreactors, which can be rehydrated and grown years later. The project has already produced carotenoids for antioxidants, follistatin for muscle loss, and yogurt and kefir for a healthy gut biome.
Astronaut mixing the yeast cultures in the Gen-0 bioreactors from the Bionutrients-1 ISS experiment. After a successful first mission, a more compact container was designed as the flat-pack Gen-1 bioreactors.Main Findings: Two different engineered baker’s yeasts were cultured in the BioNutrients-1 (BN-1) Gen-0 bioreactors, producing beta-carotene and zeaxanthin, and their ambient shelf life on the International Space Station (ISS) has now been demonstrated out to 3.9 years. Four additional organism types and products were flown on BioNutrients-2 (BN-2), demonstrating the production of carotenoids, follistatin, yogurt, and kefir products in the Gen-1 bioreactors which have a 91% reduced mass and a flat pack design. The shelf life of yeast-based products is expected to meet 5 years at ambient storage conditions. Analysis of yogurt and kefir is underway.
Impact: BN-1 and BN-2 successes pave the way for further biomanufacturing processes that will ensure the safe consumption of essential nutrients and compounds for long-duration space missions.
Co-Investigators: John Hogan and Frances Donovan
Team: Ball, N., Sharif, S., Downing, S., Gresser, A., Hami, R., Oscar, R., Hindupur, A., Hiromi, K., Kostakis, A., Levri, J., Murikami, M., Settles, A.M., Sims, K., Villanueva, A., Vu, S.
Spaceflight Atrophy Studied with Machine Learning
Background: Even intense exercise by astronauts cannot compensate for muscle atrophy caused by microgravity. Atrophy occurs, in part, by way of an underlying mechanism that regulates calcium uptake. Recent research has shown exposure to spaceflight alters the uptake of calcium in muscles. However, the molecular mechanisms that drive these changes are not well studied.
Researchers at Ames Research Center investigated these mechanisms by applying Machine Learning (ML) to identify patterns in datasets on mice exposed to microgravity. ML methods are particularly effective in identifying patterns in complex biological data and are suited for space biological research where small datasets are often combined to increase statistical power.
In the image above, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 32 flight engineer, exercises on the load-bearing treadmill in the ISS. Resistance training can counteract the negative health effects of microgravity on muscle atrophy, but new Ames Research Center research seeks to understand the physiological mechanisms at play to identify biomarkers that can inform innovative counter measures. The study was a project of NASA’s Space Life Sciences Training Program at Ames Research Center, which provided funding.
Findings: Machine Learning analysis shows molecular drivers to physiological changes in the calcium channel sarcoplasmic/ endoplasmic reticulum (SERCA) pump, leading to muscle changes and muscle loss in spaceflight rodents. ML models were created to identify proteins that could predict an organism’s resilience to microgravity with respect to calcium uptake in muscles. Specific proteins, Acyp1 and Rps7, were found to be the most predictive biomarkers associated with enhanced calcium intake in fast-twitch muscles.
Impact: This study offered a first look at the use of ML on calcium uptake in muscle when exposed to microgravity conditions. This study demonstrated the role of NASA’s open science initiative in accelerating space biology by its reliance on ARC’s Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) and Analysis Working Groups, as well as the involvement of an international research team from the US, Canada, Denmark, and Australia. Notably, the article’s first author was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, demonstrating the unlimited potential of NASA-Berkeley collaborations in life sciences research with the upcoming Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park.
Reference: Li, K., Desai, R., Scott, R., Steele, J.,… Sanders, L., Costes, S. Explainable machine learning identifies multi-omics signatures of muscle response to spaceflight in mice. npj Microgravity 9, 90 (December 2023).
Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria Found on ISS Mutating to Become Functionally Distinct
In a new scientific paper funded by an Ames Space Biology grant, Principal Investigator Dr. Kasthuri Venkateswaran of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory strains of the bacterial species Enterobacter bugandensis isolated from the International Space Station (ISS) were studied. Thirteen strains of E. bugandensis, a bacterium notorious for being multi-drug resistant, were isolated from the ISS. Study findings indicate under stress, the ISS isolated strains were mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their Earth counterparts. The strains were able to viably persist in the ISS over time with a significant abundance. E. bugandensis coexisted with multiple other microorganisms, and in some cases could have helped those organisms survive.
Publication Impact: Closed human-built environments, such as the ISS, are unique areas that provide an extreme environment subject to microgravity, radiation, and elevated carbon dioxide levels. Any microorganisms introduced to these areas must adapt to thrive. By delving into microbial dynamics in extreme environments, this research opens doors to effective preventative measure for astronaut health.
Reference: Sengupta P, Muthamilselvi Sivabalan SK, Singh NK, Raman K, Venkateswaran K.
Genomic, functional, and metabolic enhancements in multidrug-resistant Enterobacter bugandensis facilitating its persistence and succession in the International Space Station. Microbiome. 2024 Mar 23;12:62. ISS results funded by a 2012 Space Biology NNH12ZTT001N grant nos. 19-12829-26 under Task Order NNN13D111T award to K.V., which also funded post-doctoral fellowship for N.K.S. K.R. acknowledges support from the Science and Engineering Board (SERB) MATRICS Grant MTR/2020/000490, IIT Madras, Centre for Integrative Biology and Systems mEdicine (IBSE) and Robert Bosch Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBCDSAI).
Comet Geyser: Perseverance’s 24th Rock Core
3 min read
Comet Geyser: Perseverance’s 24th Rock Core Mastcam-Z image (Sol 1088, zcam05068) of the Comet Geyser core. The partially illuminated core is visible in this image of Perseverance’s coring bit. The diameter of the core is 1.3 cm. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUAfter investigating the high-standing bedrock at the Bunsen Peak workspace deep within the Margin Unit, the unique nature and composition of this rock was deemed worthy for collection of Perseverance’s 24th rock core sample, Comet Geyser!
Bunsen Peak is named after a prominent peak in Yellowstone National, Park, Wyoming, USA, and the namesake for Comet Geyser is the silica-sintered cone geyser also in Yellowstone National Park.
Although this rock’s origin remains under investigation and the rover team continues to explore different hypotheses, this core is particularly exciting because it appears to be composed primarily of two minerals: carbonate and silica. Carbonate and silica are both excellent minerals for preserving biosignatures (ancient signs of life). These minerals also have the potential to record the environmental conditions in which they formed, making them important minerals for understanding the habitability of Jezero crater billions of years ago.
The presence of carbonate within the Comet Geyser sample suggests that water, carbon dioxide, and chemical elements derived from rocks or sediments in and around ancient Jezero crater once reacted here to form carbonate. Carbonate minerals from Earth’s rock record are often used to reconstruct ancient climate–including conditions like temperature, precipitation, and aridity–and the history of life. Similarly, silica phases form when water interacts with rocks or sediments. The composition and crystallinity of silica can reveal the extent of the interaction with water, such as the intensity or duration of weathering and the pressure/temperature conditions during formation.
On Earth, biosignatures can be preserved in carbonate and silica for millions of years, or even billions of years in the case of silica. Some of the oldest evidence we have of life on Earth is from rocks that contain fragments of microbial cells that were “permineralized” by silica, a fossilization process that entombs the residues of ancient life and protects them from degradation. Thus, rocks containing these materials are considered among the highest priority samples for investigating whether Jezero crater was once host to microbial life. Perseverance’s 24th core sample at Bunsen Peak represents a significant milestone towards collection of a scientifically diverse set of samples for eventual return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return mission.
With rock core #24 now onboard, Perseverance presses forward towards its next strategic objective of investigating a location called Bright Angel, which is a light-toned outcrop exposed in the ancient channel wall of Neretva Vallis. Challenges may arise on this journey, as the terrain ahead is littered with sharp boulders and sand that are proving difficult for the rover’s auto-navigation system. The mission’s rover planners are working hard to manually navigate this tricky terrain. In the meantime, the science team is eagerly anticipating the secrets the rocks of Bright Angel may hold!
Written by Adrian Broz, Postdoctoral Scientist at Purdue University/University of Oregon
Share Details Last Updated Apr 16, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read Sols 4157-4158: What is That??Article
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NASA’s Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan Confirmed
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NASA’s Dragonfly Rotorcraft Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan ConfirmedNASA has confirmed its Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan. The decision allows the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science instruments.
Artist’s concept of Dragonfly soaring over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben“Dragonfly is a spectacular science mission with broad community interest, and we are excited to take the next steps on this mission,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Exploring Titan will push the boundaries of what we can do with rotorcraft outside of Earth.”
In early 2023, the mission successfully passed all the success criteria of its Preliminary Design Review. At that time, however, the mission was asked to develop an updated budget and schedule to fit into the current funding environment. This updated plan was presented and conditionally approved in November 2023, pending the outcome of the fiscal year 2025 budget process. In the meantime, the mission was authorized to proceed with work on final mission design and fabrication to ensure that the mission stayed on schedule.
With the release of the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget request, Dragonfly is confirmed with a total lifecycle cost of $3.35 billion and a launch date of July 2028. This reflects a cost increase of about two times the proposed cost and a delay of more than two years from when the mission was originally selected in 2019. Following that selection, NASA had to direct the project to replan multiple times due to funding constraints in fiscal years 2020 through 2022. The project incurred additional costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain increases, and the results of an in-depth design iteration. To compensate for the delayed arrival at Titan, NASA also provided additional funding for a heavy-lift launch vehicle to shorten the mission’s cruise phase.
The rotorcraft, targeted to arrive at Titan in 2034, will fly to dozens of promising locations on the moon, looking for prebiotic chemical processes common on both Titan and the early Earth before life developed. Dragonfly marks the first time NASA will fly a vehicle for science on another planetary body. The rotorcraft has eight rotors and flies like a large drone.
Dragonfly is being designed and built under the direction of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, which manages the mission for NASA. Elizabeth Turtle of APL is the principal investigator. The team includes key partners at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado; NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California; NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia; Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania; Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California; Honeybee Robotics in Pasadena, California; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) in Paris; the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany; and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in Tokyo. Dragonfly is the fourth mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 16, 2024 Editor Bill Keeter Related TermsBioNutrients-3 Experiment Completed During Analog Astronaut Mission
From March 4 to 9 at the Hawaiian Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) located on Mauna Loa volcano on the Big Island, NASA Ames Scientist Katie Fisher participated as Mission Commander for the 6-day lunar analog. During the mission, she collaborated with the Synthetic Biology BioNutrients team to test continuous passaging and growth methods of BioNutrients-3 kefir cultures.
The mission was a great learning experience for the team of five international analog astronauts. They worked together to overcome connectivity issues and a power outage while still completing experiments, reports, and medical evaluations.
By successfully accomplishing the kefir passaging experiment the team has demonstrated the ability to produce daily fresh cultures of kefir that will provide future astronauts valuable probiotic cultures and nutrients. Overall, the experiment was simple to execute with minimal resources and time. The pH indicator and color board allowed the crew to easily determine when the culture had reached the optimal pH. All 15 experimental bags were shipped back to Ames and are pending analysis of pH, viability, and contamination checks.
Analog Astronauts Katie Fisher and Tuğcağ Dumlupinar of Turkey perform bag hydration and passaging step of kefir cultures. Top right: Pre-incubation. Bottom right: 24 h post-incubation. Pictures courtesy of Katie Fisher.NASA to Host a Pair of Briefings for Starliner Crew Flight
NASA will host two media opportunities on Thursday, April 25, in preparation for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. The mission is targeting launch at 10:34 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will lift off aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and dock at the orbiting laboratory, where they will stay for about a week.
As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, the mission is the first crewed flight for the Starliner spacecraft. The mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and return to Earth in the western United States. Following a successful crewed flight test, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and systems for crewed missions to the space station.
The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Thursday, April 25
1 p.m.: Crew arrival media event at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the following participants:
- Janet Petro, director, NASA Kennedy
- Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
- NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore
- NASA astronaut Suni Williams
Crew arrival will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media. Questions are limited to in-person media only. Follow Commercial Crew and Kennedy Space Center for the latest arrival updates.
6 p.m.: Flight Test Readiness Review media teleconference (no less than one hour following completion of the readiness review), with the following participants:
- Jim Free, NASA associate administrator
- Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
- Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
- Dana Weigel, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
- Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Boeing Commercial Crew Program
Media may participate via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than 4 p.m. on April 25, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars.
For NASA’s launch blog and more information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.oshea@nasa.gov
Steven Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
Leah Cheshier / Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov / anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov
The next full Moon is the Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon, the Pesach or Passover Moon
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The next full Moon is the Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon, the Pesach or Passover MoonThe next full Moon is the Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon, the Pesach or Passover Moon, the Hanuman Jayanti Festival Moon, and Bak Poya.
The next full Moon will be Tuesday evening, April 23, 2024, appearing opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 7:49 PM EDT. This will be on Wednesday from the time zones of the UK, Ireland, and Portugal eastward across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia to the International Date Line in the mid-Pacific. The Moon will appear full for about 3 days around this time, from Monday morning to Thursday morning.
The phases of the Moon for April 2024 NASA/JPL-CaltechThe Maine Farmers’ Almanac began publishing “Indian” names for full Moons in the 1930s and these names are now widely known and used. According to this almanac, as the full Moon in April the tribes of the northeastern United States called this the Pink Moon, named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox, a plant native to the eastern USA that is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring. Other names for this Moon include the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Fish Moon, as this was when the shad swam upstream to spawn.
This is the Pesach or Passover Moon. In the Hebrew calendar this full Moon is in the middle of Nisan, with Pesach or Passover beginning on the 15th day of Nisan. Pesach or Passover begins at sundown on Monday, April 22, and ends at nightfall on April 30, 2024. The Seder feasts are on the first two evenings of Passover.
There are a number of variations of the Hindu lunisolar calendar, but for most regions this full Moon corresponds with the Hanuman Jayanti festival, the celebration of the birth of Lord Hanuman.
For Buddhists, especially in Sri Lanka, this full Moon is Bak Poya, commemorating when the Buddha visited Sri Lanka and settled a dispute between chiefs, avoiding a war.
This full Moon is near the middle of ShawwÄl, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar and the middle of the third month of the Chinese year of the Dragon.
As usual, the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full Moon. Enjoy the early flowers and sprouting grass of spring, leave an extra seat at the table, and avoid starting any wars!
As for other celestial events between now and the full Moon after next (with specific times and angles based on the location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC):
As spring continues the daily periods of sunlight continue to lengthen, having changed at their fastest around the equinox on March 19, 2024. On Tuesday, April 23 (the day of the full Moon), morning twilight will begin at 5:18 AM EDT, sunrise will be at 6:20 AM, solar noon will be at 1:06 PM when the Sun will reach its maximum altitude of 64.0 degrees, sunset will be at 7:53 PM, and evening twilight will end at 8:56 PM. By Thursday, May 23 (the day of the full Moon after next), morning twilight will begin at 4:40 AM, sunrise will be at 5:49 AM, solar noon will be at 1:05 PM when the Sun will reach its maximum altitude of 71.9 degrees, sunset will be at 8:21 PM, and evening twilight will end at 9:30 PM.
Meteor ShowersThis year, the Aquariids (031 ETA) meteor shower is predicted to peak the afternoon of May 5, 2024 (when we can’t see them from the Washington, DC area). If you are in the tropics or the southern hemisphere, the predicted peak rate (under the best possible conditions) is about 50 visible meteors per hour (called zenithal hourly rate or ZHR). However, this meteor shower has a broad peak. As reported by the International Meteor Organization, data since 1984 show that ZHRs are generally above 30 from May 3 to May 10 and modeling suggests there may be enhanced activity near the peak sometime between May 4 and May 6.
Viewing conditions from the Washington, DC area will be far from ideal, as DC is on the northern edge of visibility. With the ZHR relatively low (compared to the three big meteor showers of the year) and the radiant low on the horizon, viewing these meteors from our light-polluted urban areas will be difficult. But if you find yourself out in the early morning between May 3 and May 10 in an area with clear, dark skies and a clear view towards the east-southeastern horizon, you may see some meteors! These meteors are caused by debris from Halley’s Comet entering our atmosphere at 66 kilometers per second (148,000 miles per hour).
For the DC area the time to look closest to the peak should be the early morning of Monday, May 6. The radiant (the point that the meteors will appear to radiate out from) will rise on the eastern horizon (around 2:35 AM EDT) about 2.5 hours before morning twilight beings. At radiant rise, half of the meteors are hidden by the horizon, so the higher the radiant, the better the viewing. The radiant will be about 27 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon by the time morning twilight begins (at 4:59 AM), so the hour or so before this should be the best time to look.
If you go looking for these meteors, be sure to give your eyes plenty of time to adapt to the dark. The rod cells in your eyes are more sensitive to low light levels but play little role in color vision. Your color-sensing cone cells are concentrated near the center of your view with more of the rod cells on the edge of your view. Since some meteors are faint, you will tend to see more meteors from the “corner of your eye” (which is why you need to view a large part of the sky). Your color vision (cone cells) will adapt to darkness in about 10 minutes, but your more sensitive night vision rod cells will continue to improve for an hour or more (with most of the improvement in the first 35 to 45 minutes). The more sensitive your eyes are, the more chance you will have of seeing meteors. Even a short exposure to light (from passing car headlights, etc.) will start the adaptation over again (so no turning on a light or your cell phone to check what time it is).
Evening Sky HighlightsOn the evening of Tuesday, April 23, 2024 (the evening of the day of the full Moon), as twilight ends (at 8:56 PM EDT), the rising Moon will be 10 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. The bright planet Jupiter will be 4 degrees above the west-northwestern horizon. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will be Regulus at 63 degrees above the southern horizon. Regulus is the 21st brightest star in our night sky and the brightest star in the constellation Leo the lion. The Arabic name for Regulus translates as “the heart of the lion.” Although we see Regulus as a single star, it is actually four stars (two pairs of stars orbiting each other). Regulus is about 79 light-years from us.
As this lunar cycle progresses, Jupiter and the background of stars will appear to shift westward each evening (as the Earth moves around the Sun). April 29 will be the last evening Jupiter will be above the west-northwestern horizon as evening twilight ends. The waxing Moon will pass by Pollux on May 12, Regulus on May 15, and Spica on May 19.
By the evening of Thursday, May 23 (the evening of the day of the full Moon after next), as twilight ends (at 9:30 PM EDT), the rising Moon will be 4 degrees above the southeastern horizon with the bright star Antares just off the edge of the Moon. For parts of South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and parts of the eastern USA (including DC) the Moon will be passing in front of Antares, blocking it from view. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will be Arcturus at 60 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. Arcturus is the brightest star in the constellation Boötes the herdsman or plowman and the 4th brightest star in our night sky. It is 36.7 light years from us. While it has about the same mass as our Sun, it is about 2.6 billion years older and has used up its core hydrogen, becoming a red giant 25 times the size and 170 times the brightness of our Sun.
Morning Sky HighlightsOn the morning of Tuesday, April 23, 2024 (the morning of the day of the full Moon), as twilight begins (at 5:18 AM EDT), the setting full Moon will be 7 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon with the bright star Spica 2.5 degrees to the lower left of the Moon. The planet Mars will be 5 degrees above the eastern horizon and the planet Saturn will be 7 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. The planet Mercury will rise 22 minutes after morning twilight begins and will be faint, making it difficult to see in the glow of dawn. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will be the star Vega at 86 degrees above the eastern horizon. Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra the lyre and is one of the three bright stars in the “Summer Triangle” along with Deneb and Altair. Vega is the 5th brightest star in our night sky, about 25 light-years from Earth, twice the mass of our Sun, and shines 40 times brighter than our Sun.
As this lunar cycle progresses, Saturn and the background of stars will appear to shift westward each evening, while Mars will hover low on the eastern horizon, drifting slightly to the left. Mercury will brighten and shift higher in the eastern sky, making it easier to see in the glow of dawn, but will not rise until after morning twilight begins. Mercury will reach its greatest angular separation from the Sun on May 9. The waning Moon will pass by Antares on April 26 and 27, Saturn on May 4, Mars on May 5, and Mercury on May 6. Although viewing conditions will not be good from the DC area (and latitudes farther north), the η-Aquariids meteor shower will be near its peak from May 3 to May 10, with our peak viewing expected the hour or so before morning twilight begins on May 6.
By the morning of Thursday, May 23 (the morning of the day of the full Moon after next), as twilight begins (at 4:40 AM EDT), the setting full Moon will be 7 degrees above the southwestern horizon. The planet Mars will be 10 degrees above the eastern horizon and the planet Saturn will be 22 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon. Mercury will rise on the east-northeastern horizon 14 minutes after morning twilight begins. The bright object appearing closest to overhead will still be the star Vega at 78 degrees above the western horizon, with Deneb a close second at 76.5 degrees above the northeastern horizon.
Detailed Daily GuideHere for your reference is a day-by-day listing of celestial events between now and the full Moon after next. The times and angles are based on the location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and some of these details may differ for where you are (I use parentheses to indicate times specific to the DC area).
Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, April 17 to 18, 2024, the bright star Regulus will be to the lower left of the waxing gibbous Moon. As twilight ends (at 8:49 PM EDT) Regulus will be 7.5 degrees from the Moon. When Regulus sets on the west-northwestern horizon (at 4:12 AM) it will be 4.5 degrees from the Moon.
Thursday evening into Friday morning, April 18 to 19, 2024, the waxing gibbous Moon will have shifted to the other side of the bright star Regulus. As twilight ends (at 8:50 PM EDT) Regulus will be 6 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. About 1 hour later (at 9:53 PM) the Moon will reach its highest for the night with Regulus 6 degrees to the right. Regulus will rotate clockwise and away from the Moon as the night progresses, reaching about 8 degrees to the lower right around 3 AM.
Friday night, April 19, 2024, at 10:09 PM EDT, the waxing gibbous Moon will be at apogee, its farthest from the Earth for this orbit.
Friday morning, April 19, 2024, will be the first morning that the planet Mercury will rise on the eastern horizon more than 30 minutes before sunrise, a very rough estimate of the earliest it might start being visible in the glow of dawn. Mercury will be quite faint, but will brighten each morning as it shows a larger illuminated crescent towards the Earth. However, this will not be a favorable apparition for Mercury viewing, as even at its highest it will not rise before twilight begins.
Sunday, April 21, 2024 will be when the comet 12P/Pons-Brooks will be at its closest to the Sun. The week or two before this might be a good time to look for this comet with binoculars. If the trail of gas and dust the comet is giving off doesn’t change significantly (a very big and uncertain “if”) then the brightness of the comet should increase to a maximum on April 21. However, interference from the light of the waxing Moon will also increase beginning April 9, and the comet will shift closer to the horizon each evening. As twilight ends on April 21 (at 8:53 PM EDT) the Moon will be 96% illuminated and the comet will be only 2.7 degrees above the horizon. April 24 will be the last evening the comet will be above the horizon before evening twilight ends (at 8:57 PM).
Monday, April 22, 2024, is International Mother Earth Day. See https://www.un.org/en/observances/earth-day for more information.
Monday evening into Tuesday morning, April 22 to 23, 2024, the bright star Spica will be to the lower right of the full Moon. Spica will be a little more than 1 degree from the Moon as twilight ends and will shift closer until little before midnight, after which they will separate again. Spica will be 1 degree from the Moon as the Moon reaches its highest for the night (at 12:31 AM EDT) and will be 2.5 degrees from the Moon as twilight begins (at 5:18 AM).
As mentioned above, the full Moon will be Tuesday evening, April 23, 2024, at 7:49 PM EDT. This will be on Wednesday from the time zones of the UK, Ireland, and Portugal eastward across Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia to the International Date Line. The Moon will appear full for about 3 days centered on this time, from Monday morning to Thursday morning.
Friday morning, April 26, 2024, the bright star Antares will be near the waning gibbous Moon. Antares will be about 8 degrees to the lower left around midnight, about 7 degrees to the left around the time the Moon reaches its highest for the night (at 2:48 AM EDT), and about 6 degrees to the upper left as morning twilight begins (at 5:13 AM). For parts of the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa, and the Indian Ocean, the Moon will actually block Antares from view. See http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0426zc2366.htm for a map and information on the areas that can see this occultation.
By late Friday night into Saturday morning, April 26 to 27, 2024, the waning gibbous Moon will have moved to the other side of the bright star Antares. As the Moon rises (at 11:09 PM EDT) Antares will be 4 degrees to the upper right, and will shift clockwise and away from the Moon as the night progresses, appearing 6 degrees to the upper right when the Moon is at its highest (at 3:42 AM) and 7 degrees to the lower right as morning twilight begins (at 5:12 AM).
Monday evening, April 29, 2024, will be the last evening that the planet Jupiter will be above the west-northwestern horizon as evening twilight ends (at 9:03 PM EDT).
Wednesday morning, May 1, 2024, the waning Moon will appear half-full as it reaches its last quarter at 7:27 AM EDT (when the Moon will be visible in our daylight sky).
Saturday morning, May 4, 2024, the planet Saturn will be 6 degrees to the upper right of the waning crescent Moon with the planet Mars 9 degrees to the lower left of the Moon. On the eastern horizon, Saturn will rise first (at 3:51 AM EDT), the Moon next 17 minutes later (at 4:09 AM), and Mars last 18 minutes after that (at 4:27 AM). The Moon will be 9 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins (at 5:02 AM). Later in the day (when we can’t see) the Moon will shift past Mars. For part of the Indian Ocean off of Madagascar, the Moon will actually block Mars from view. See http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/planets/0505mars.htm for a map and information on the areas that can see this occultation.
Sunday morning, May 5, 2024, the waning crescent Moon will have shifted to the other side of Mars. The Moon will rise last (at 4:35 AM EDT) on the eastern horizon with Mars 4 degrees to the upper right. The Moon will be 4 degrees above the horizon as morning twilight begins (at 5 AM).
As described in the summary above, the η-Aquariids (031 ETA) meteor shower is expected to peak when North America is on the wrong side of our planet. For dark, rural areas near Washington, DC, the time to look closest to the peak should be the early morning of Monday, May 6, 2024. The radiant (the point that the meteors will appear to radiate out from) will rise on the eastern horizon (around 2:35 AM EDT) about 2.5 hours before morning twilight begins and will reach 27 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon as morning twilight begins (at 4:59 AM). The higher the radiant, the better the viewing, so the hour or so before the start of twilight should be the best time to look. Seeing these meteors from our light-polluted urban areas (like Washington, DC) will be very difficult, but if you find yourself in an area with clear, dark skies and a clear view towards the east-southeastern horizon between May 3 and May 10 an hour or so before morning twilight begins, you may see some meteors.
Sunday evening, May 5, 2024, at 6:11 PM EDT, the waning crescent Moon will be at perigee, its closest to the Earth for this orbit.
Monday morning, May 6, 2024, if you have a very clear view of the east-northeastern horizon, you might be able to see in the glow of dawn the planet Mercury 3.5 degrees to the lower right of the thin, waning crescent Moon. Mercury will rise last (at 5:09 AM EDT) 10 minutes after morning twilight begins (at 4:59 AM). Mercury will likely be easier to see, as the Moon will be a very thin crescent that you may need binoculars to spot.
Tuesday night, May 7, 2024, at 11:22 PM EDT, will be the new Moon, when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and will not be visible.
The day of or the day after the New Moon marks the start of the new month for most lunar and lunisolar calendars. The fourth month of the Chinese calendar starts on May 8, 2024. In the Islamic calendar the months traditionally start with the first sighting of the waxing crescent Moon. Many Muslim communities now follow the Umm al-Qura Calendar of Saudi Arabia, which uses astronomical calculations to start months in a more predictable way. Using this calendar, sundown on Wednesday evening, May 8, will probably mark the beginning of Dhu al-Qadah, the eleventh month of the Islamic calendar. Dhu al-Qadah is also called “Master of Truces” and is one of the four sacred months in Islam during which warfare is prohibited (except in self defense).
Thursday afternoon, May 9, 2024, will be when the planet Mercury reaches its greatest angular separation from the Sun as seen from the Earth for this apparition (called greatest elongation). Although Mercury will be bright enough to see in the glow of dawn, for this apparition it will not be above the horizon before morning twilight begins.
Sunday evening into early Monday morning, May 12 to 13, 2024, the bright star Pollux, the brighter of the twin stars in the constellation Gemini the twins, will be to the right of the waxing crescent Moon. Pollux will be 2.5 degrees from the Moon as evening twilight ends (at 9:18 PM EDT). By the time the Moon and Pollux set together on the northwestern horizon (at 1:14 AM) they will be 4 degrees apart.
Wednesday morning May 15, 2024, the Moon will appear half-full as it reaches its first quarter at 7:48 AM EDT (when the Moon will be below our horizon).
Friday afternoon, May 17, 2024, at 3 PM EDT, the waxing gibbous Moon will be at apogee, its farthest from the Earth for this orbit.
Saturday afternoon, May 18, 2024, the bright planet Jupiter will be passing on the far side of the Sun as seen from the Earth, called conjunction. Because Jupiter orbits outside of the orbit of Earth it will be shifting from the evening sky to the morning sky and will begin emerging from the glow of dawn on the east-northeastern horizon in early June (depending upon viewing conditions).
Sunday evening into Monday morning, May 19 to 20, 2024, the bright star Spica will be near the waxing gibbous Moon. Spica will be 4.5 degrees to the lower left of the Moon as evening twilight ends (at 9:26 PM EDT). The Moon will reach its highest in the sky for the night an hour later (at 10:28 PM) with Spica 4 degrees to the lower left. By the time the Moon sets on the west-southwestern horizon (at 4:06 AM) Spica will be 2 degrees to the left of the Moon.
The full Moon after next will be on Thursday morning, May 23, 2024, at 9:53 AM EDT. This will be on Friday morning from the Lord Howe time zone eastward to the International Date Line. The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Tuesday night through early Friday evening. Thursday night the bright star Antares will appear so close to the Moon that for the Washington, DC area, the Moon will pass in front of Antares, blocking it from view, although the brightness of the full Moon will make it difficult to see the star vanish behind the Moon.
SWOT Satellite Helps Gauge the Depth of Death Valley’s Temporary Lake
Data from the international Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission helped researchers to calculate the depth of water in this transient freshwater body.
California’s Death Valley, the driest place in North America, has hosted an ephemeral lake since late 2023. A NASA-led analysis recently calculated water depths in the temporary lake over several weeks in February and March 2024, demonstrating the capabilities of the U.S.-French Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, which launched in December 2022.
The analysis found that water depths in the lake ranged from about 3 feet (1 meter) to less than 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) over the course of about 6 weeks. This period included a series of storms that swept across California, bringing record amounts of rainfall.
To estimate the depth of the lake, known informally as Lake Manly, researchers used water level data collected by SWOT and subtracted corresponding U.S. Geological Survey land elevation information for Badwater Basin.
The researchers found that the water levels varied across space and time in the roughly 10-day period between SWOT observations. In the visualization above, water depths of about 3 feet (1 meter) appear dark blue; those of less than 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) appear light yellow. Right after a series of storms in early February, the temporary lake was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) long and 3 miles (5 kilometers) wide. Each pixel in the image represents an area that is about 330 feet by 330 feet (100 meters by 100 meters).
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Using data from SWOT, this video shows changes in water depth for Death Valley’s temporary lake from February into March of this year. Depths ranged between about 3 feet (1 meter) deep (dark blue) to less than 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) deep (light yellow). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech“This is a really cool example of how SWOT can track how unique lake systems work,” said Tamlin Pavelsky, the NASA freshwater science lead for SWOT and a hydrologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Unlike many lakes around the world, Death Valley’s lake is temporary, relatively shallow, and strong winds are enough to move the freshwater body a couple of miles, as happened from Feb. 29 to March 2. Since there isn’t typically water in Badwater Basin, researchers don’t have permanent instruments in place for studying water in this area. SWOT can fill the data gap for when places like this, and others around the world, become inundated.
Since shortly after launch, SWOT has been measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth’s surface, developing one of the most detailed and comprehensive views of the planet’s oceans and freshwater lakes and rivers. Not only can the satellite detect the extent of water, as other satellites can, but SWOT is also able to measure water surface levels. Combined with other types of information, SWOT measurements can yield water depth data for inland features like lakes and rivers.
The SWOT science team makes its measurements using the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument. With two antennas spread 33 feet (10 meters) apart on a boom, KaRIn produces a pair of data swaths as it circles the globe, bouncing radar pulses off water surfaces to collect surface-height information.
“We’ve never flown a Ka-band radar like the KaRIn instrument on a satellite before,” said Pavelsky, so the data represented by the graphic above is also important for scientists and engineers to better understand how this kind of radar works from orbit.
More About the MissionLaunched in December 2022 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California, SWOT is now in its operations phase, collecting data that will be used for research and other purposes.
SWOT was jointly developed by NASA and the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the KaRIn instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. CNES provided the Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations. CSA provided the KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly. NASA provided the launch vehicle and the agency’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, managed the associated launch services.
To learn more about SWOT, visit:
News Media ContactsJane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874
jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-043
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Article 4 days ago 4 min read Media Get Close-Up of NASA’s Jupiter-Bound Europa Clipper Article 5 days agoSeeing the Solar Eclipse from 223,000 Miles Away
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse from hundreds of thousands of miles away. The camera suite aboard the LRO usually retrieves high resolution black and white images of the Moon’s surface; these images provide knowledge of polar illumination conditions, identify potential resources, hazards, and enable safe landing site selection. To take an image of Earth, the LRO has to rapidly rotate to build up the image.
Learn more about the LRO’s cameras and how this image was taken.
Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University
NASA Welcomes Switzerland as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory
Switzerland became the 37th country to sign the Artemis Accords at NASA Headquarters in Washington on Monday, April 15, affirming Switzerland’s commitment to the sustainable and beneficial use of space for all humankind.
“Today, we marked a giant leap forward in the partnership between the United States and Switzerland,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “As we welcome you into the Artemis Accords family, we expand our commitment to explore the unknown openly and peacefully. Discovery strengthens goodwill on Earth, and we are excited to expand our countries’ shared values and principles to the cosmos.”
At approximately 11:30 a.m., Guy Parmelin, Swiss Federal Councillor and Minister for Economic Affairs, Education & Research, signed the Accords on behalf of Switzerland. Other participants in the ceremony included:
- Valda Vikmanis-Keller, acting deputy assistant secretary, Department of State
- Martina Hirayama, state secretary, Head of the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation
- Jacques Pitteloud, Swiss Ambassador to the U.S.
- ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Marco Sieber, Swiss national
- Renato Krpoun, Head of Swiss Space Office
- Professor Peter Wurz, Director Space and Planetary Sciences, University of Bern
“Switzerland has a long-standing partnership with NASA on human space exploration as well as space and Earth sciences,” said Parmelin. “With the signature of the Artemis Accords we renew our commitment to jointly explore the heavens above us.”
The Artemis Accords, established by NASA and the U.S. Department of State in 2020, reinforce the 1968 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies otherwise known as the Outer Space Treaty. They also emphasize a commitment on behalf of the U.S. to the Registration Convention, the Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, and other standards that NASA and its partners support.
Many more countries are anticipated to join the Artemis Accords in the months and years to come, as NASA continues to facilitate a safe, peaceful, and prosperous future in space with its international partners.
For more information on the Artemis Accords, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords
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Lauren Low
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
lauren.e.low@nasa.gov
