Feed aggregator

Video: 00:02:54

Proba-3 is ESA’s – and the world’s – first precision formation flying mission. A pair of satellites will fly together relative to the Sun so that one casts a precisely-controlled shadow onto the other, to create a prolonged solar eclipse in orbit. In the process the mission will open up the Sun’s faint surrounding coronal atmosphere for sustained study. Normally this corona is rendered invisible by the brilliant face of the Sun, like a firefly next to a bonfire.

Due for launch together this autumn, the two Proba-3 satellites will fly 144-m apart for up to six hours at a time to create these eclipses. Beside its scientific interest, this experiment will be a perfect method to demonstrate the precise positioning of the two platforms. It will be enabled using a novel combination of guidance technologies. In this video the Proba-3 team details the mission concept.

Find out more here.

Access the related broadcast quality video material.

A new collaboration between ESA and Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands has got passengers thinking about space. Digital screens throughout the airport featuring stunning  satellite images of Earth have been stopping travellers in their tracks. That's because these pictures from space are part of a fun Where on Earth? travel quiz.

Production of Galileo Second Generation satellites advances at full speed after two independent Satellite Critical Design Review boards have confirmed that the satellite designs of the respective industries meet all mission and performance requirements. This achievement is another crucial milestone hit on time in the ambitious schedule to develop the first 12 satellites of the Galileo Second Generation fleet.

A small trial has found that electrical stimulation of arm muscles while people do physiotherapy exercises leads to more improvement

A small trial has found that electrical stimulation of arm muscles while people do physiotherapy exercises leads to more improvement

4 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NWCG Executive Board members stand in front of giant turbines in the National Full Scale Aerodynamic Complex during their visit to Ames Research Center on May 23, 2024. USAF/Patrick Goulding

On May 21-23, 2024, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) visited NASA Ames Research Center, with participants representing 13 agencies and organizations. NWCG is a cooperative group focused on providing national leadership to enable interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners. NASA became an associate member of NWCG in February 2024, with the goal of increasing collaboration across agencies and leveraging NASA data, technology, and innovation for nation-wide efforts in wildland fire management.    

NASA’s Approach to Wildland Fire Management

Across the agency, NASA’s approach to wildland fire management involves the application of research and technology before, during, and after a fire, in order to help ecosystems, animals, and human communities thrive. At Ames, two examples of these capabilities are the project office for FireSense and the Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project. 

Wildland fire solutions are a major theme within NASA’s Earth Action strategy. FireSense is part of this NASA-wide approach to wildland fire management, working with operational agencies and partners to measure pre-fire fuels conditions, active fire behavior, post-fire impacts and threats, and provide air quality forecasting. ACERO develops cutting-edge technology to remotely identify, monitor, and suppress wildland fire through the use of uncrewed aircraft.  

Team members from both projects participated in the NWCG visit, and are represented in NWCG; NASA’s involvement is supported by Parimal Kopardekar (Director of the NASA Aeronautics Research Institute and the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Mission Integration Office) and Michael Falkowski (NASA Wildland Fires and FireSense Program Manager). Together, they represent NASA’s cross-mission directorate approach to managing wildland fire across the fire life cycle.  

NASA Ames’ Involvement in NWCG: Data and Human Performance Characteristics

By hosting NWCG’s annual offsite Executive Board meeting, Ames personnel were able to connect board members with NASA subject matter experts and project managers, provide tours of Ames facilities relevant to wildland fire management, and discuss NASA’s core capabilities and how they can augment the NWCG’s nation-wide fire management efforts. Specifically, NASA’s data capabilities and human performance characteristics studies were at the forefront of the day’s events.  

On the data front, conversation centered around how to collectively tackle data continuity, storage, and accessibility. Large-scale computing resources are increasingly essential to store, manage, and incorporate data relevant to wildland fire management. With more advanced sensors on crewed aircraft, uncrewed aircraft, and satellites, addressing data continuity, storage, and accessibility are an essential piece of supporting wildland fire managers. 

Ian Brosnan, Principal Investigator for NASA Earth eXchange (NEX), provided details about the NEX supercomputing and data analytics platform at Ames. The platform serves as a tool to increase availability of data from NASA missions and other sources, models, analysis tools, and research results, and the team uses this platform to investigate questions relevant to the increasing impact of wildland fire. For instance, their work uses machine learning and complex data integration to link air quality emissions and fire behavior, in order to detect wildfire ignition and spread. 

The other focus of the Ames tour was NASA simulations and studies surrounding human performance characteristics, which refers to the human component of wildland fire management – such as managing fatigue in the field. Supporting the workforce is a primary goal for improving overall response to wildland fire management, as highlighted in the Wildfire Mitigation and Management Commission Report.  

On this visit, NWCG members were able to meet with Jessica Nowinski, Division Chief of the Human Systems Integration Division, for a Human Factors overview, followed by a presentation by Immanuel Barshi on astronaut and pilot training, and a presentation by Cassie Hilditch on fatigue studies. NWCG Executive Board members were also able to tour the Airspace Operations Laboratory, with a particular focus on drones. The visit concluded with a tour of the National Full Scale Aerodynamic Complex, colloquially referred to as the Wind Tunnel.   

The NWCG tour concluded in the National Full Scale Aerodynamic Complex; the group provides a sense of scale for just how massive the turbines are that pull air into the 120-foot wind tunnel. Patrick Goulding/USAF The Future of NASA and NWCG

NWCG’s strength is fostering partnership, and many discussions over the three-day visit leveraged complementary strengths between the agencies. Bringing together research specialties, technology innovation, existing programs and campaigns, and subject expertise makes the national approach to wildland fire management more unified, efficient, and effective.  

Looking forward, NASA’s involvement with NWCG will continue to produce partnership opportunities and further the national wildland fire management goals. NASA personnel are connecting with NWCG committees – including Data Management, Geospatial, Aviation and Risk Management – and will continue to support NWCG objectives by connecting subject matter experts across the agency with NWCG subject matter experts in the field.  

About the AuthorMilan LoiaconoScience Communication Specialist

Milan Loiacono is a science communication specialist for the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center.

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 Related Terms

• General

Many astronomy-interested people know of the Hyades and the Pleiades. They’re star clusters in the Taurus constellation. They’re two out of a handful of star clusters that are visible to the unaided eye under dark sky conditions.

It turns out that these clusters, along with more than 150 other nearby clusters, all originated in only three massive star-forming regions.

Open star clusters like Hyades and Pleiades contain hundreds of stars that are loosely bound together by mutual gravitation. They have fewer stars than globular clusters and aren’t as tightly packed. They also aren’t spherical like globulars; instead, they follow the galactic plane. They’re usually found in the Milky Way’s spiral arms rather than the halo where globulars reside.

Eventually, open clusters lose their gravitational bond with one another and are called stellar associations. They still move through space together and are then known as a moving group. Their movement allows astronomers to understand their origins.

In a new research article in Nature, a team of researchers traced the origins of 155 young star clusters within about 3,500 light years from the Sun. The article is titled “Most nearby young star clusters formed in three massive complexes.” The authors are from institutions in Austria, Germany, and the United States.

“Young star clusters are excellent for exploring the history and structure of the Milky Way. By studying their movements in the past and thus their origin, we also gain important insights into the formation and evolution of our galaxy,” says João Alves from the University of Vienna, co-author of the study.

The researchers used Gaia data and spectroscopic observations of star clusters to trace their histories back over 60 million years. They uncovered three families of star clusters, each one associated with one of three star-formation regions. “This indicates that the young star clusters originate from only three very active and massive star-forming regions,” says Alves.

The researchers began with a sample of 272 clusters. They found that between 30 and 50 million years ago, almost 60% of their trajectories converged in three locations. This showed that “a large fraction of clusters in the solar neighbourhood share common origins.”

The three families of clusters are named after their most prominent members: Collinder 135 (Cr135), Messier 6 (M6), and Alpha Persei (?Per). The clusters contain 39, 34, and 82 clusters, respectively. Collectively, they contain 57% of the 272 clusters in the sample and 59% of the 48,514 stars in the sample.

This figure from the research shows the all-sky positions of the clusters’ stars along with some optical images of some of their members. The Alpha Persei members are more spread across the sky because they’re closest to the Sun. (Interactive Version Here.)Image Credit: Swiggum et al. 2024.

“These findings offer a clearer understanding of how young star clusters in our galactic neighbourhood are interconnected, much like members of a family or ‘bloodlines’,” says lead author Cameron Swiggum, a doctoral student at the University of Vienna. “By examining the 3D movements and past positions of these star clusters, we can identify their common origins and locate the regions in our galaxy where the first stars in these respective star clusters formed up to 40 million years ago.”

The team’s research uncovered more than just the history of star clusters. They also worked out that over 200 supernova explosions must have occurred in the three star-forming regions to eject all of these clusters. But supernova explosions are extraordinarily powerful and 200 of them release enough energy to shape their environment on a grand scale.

The authors say that these explosions created a gigantic bubble in the ISM. “This could explain the formation of a superbubble, a giant bubble of gas and dust with a diameter of 3,000 light-years around the Cr135 family,” Swiggum said in a press release.

Our Solar System is also inside one of these bubbles, called the Local Bubble. Inside the bubble the gas is thinner and hotter than outside it. “The Local Bubble is probably also linked to the history of one of the three star cluster families,” adds Swiggum. “And it has likely left traces on Earth, as suggested by measurements of iron isotopes (60Fe) in the Earth’s crust.”

This figure from the research shows three star cluster families and other local features on a dust map. The dust is shown in grey, and two prominent dust features, the Vela Molecular Ridge and the Radcliffe Wave, are labelled. The Sun is the yellow dot, and the Local Bubble is shown in blue. (Interactive Version Here.) Image Credit: Swiggum et al. 2024.

It’s a truism to say that finding connections between things creates meaning. The stars in the sky aren’t just “there.” There’s a long story to be told by unravelling what we see as static. This research is another example of the powerful Gaia spacecraft’s ability to find relationships between stars and weave an evidence-based tale of their histories. And we’re somewhere in the middle of it all.

“We can practically turn the sky into a time machine that allows us to trace the history of our home galaxy,” says João Alves. “By deciphering the genealogy of star clusters, we also learn more about our own galactic ancestry.”

The post The Nearby Star Clusters Come from Only Three Places appeared first on Universe Today.

Starfield might have disappointed some at launch, but in typical Bethesda fashion, it's continuing to expand and giving more power to the players.

More than 200 Chinese scientists gathered in Beijing recently for a seminar about the geology of the Chang'e 6 mission's landing area. Samples from the site are scheduled to arrive on Earth on June 25.

It’s been known for years that there are large quantities of water ice locked up in the Martian poles. Around the equator however it is a barren dry wasteland devoid of any surface ice. Recent observations of Mars have discovered frost on the giant shield volcanoes but it only appears briefly after sunrise and soon evaporates. Estimates suggest that 150,000 tons of water cycle between the surface and atmosphere on a daily basis. 

The polar caps of Mars have been the subject of many studies in particular, since the discovery of water ice in 2008. They are permanent but vary in size with the seasons. During the winter and in complete darkness, the surface chills allowing gas in the atmosphere to deposit on the surface as great bit chunks of carbon dioxide ice. Then the poles are exposed to sunlight again the frozen carbon dioxide sublimes straight back into a gas. 

Mars’ north polar ice cap, captured by NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Aside from the carbon dioxide, the poles are mostly composed of frozen water ice. The carbon dioxide deposits are relatively thin compared to the water ice, only about 1metre thick over the north pole. The south pole has a more permanent carbon dioxide cap about 8 metres thick. 

A team of planetary scientists led by Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral fellow at Brown University who led the work as a PhD student at the University of Bern have detected water frost on top of the Tharsis volcanoes on Mars. These volcanoes are among the tallest on the planet and indeed one of them; Olympus Mons is the tallest in the solar system. 

Olympus Mons, captured by the ESA’s Mars Express mission from orbit. Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck

The frost was discovered using high-resolution images from the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) which is just one of the instruments on the ESA Trace Gas Orbiter. The discovery was validated using further independent observations from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express Orbiter. 

Visualisation of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter aerobraking at Mars. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab.

This is the first time water frost has been discovered in the vicinity of the planet’s equator calling for a rethink of the planets climate dynamics. Until now, we thought it was quite unlikely for frost to form around the equator due to the levels of solar radiation and the thin atmosphere. The conditions mean the surface temperatures can reach reasonably high temperatures, too high for frosts to form even at the top of the volcanoes. 

The study seems to show that frost is only fleeting present for a few hours after sunrise before the high temperatures cause it to evaporate in the solar radiation. It is important to note that even though the frost is only a very thin later (just about the width of a human hair) it is thought that there is something like 150,000 tons of water that cycles between the surface and the atmosphere every day. 

The frost the team have discovered deposits in the caldera of the volcanoes. These hollows are the openings at the summit of the volcano where eruptions have previously exploded out through the crust. It is now thought that there are unusual microclimates at the tops of the volcanoes which allows the thin layers of frost to form. 

The discovery means we need to model how the frost forms to get a real understanding of where water might exist on Mars, how it moves and how it interacts with the atmosphere. 

Source : In a significant first, researchers detect water frost on solar system’s tallest volcanoes

The post Frost Seen on Olympus Mons for the First Time appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA logo. Credit: NASA

NASA will award funding to nearly 250 small business teams to develop new technologies to address agency priorities, such as carbon neutrality and energy storage for various applications in space and on Earth. The new awards from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program invest in a diverse portfolio of American small businesses and research institutions to support NASA’s future missions.

About 34% of the companies selected are first-time NASA SBIR/STTR recipients. Each proposal team will receive $150,000 to establish the merit and feasibility of their innovations for a total agency investment of $44.85 million.

“NASA is proud to continue its commitment to the creation and elevation of technologies that blaze trails in space and on Earth,” said Jenn Gustetic, director of early-stage innovation and partnerships for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

The Phase I SBIR contract awards small businesses and lasts for six months, while the Phase I STTR contract awards small businesses in partnership with a research institution and lasts for 13 months. In total, 209 small businesses received SBIR awards, and 39 small businesses and their research institution partners – including eight Minority Serving Institutions – received STTR awards. The complete list of this year’s SBIR and STTR awardees are available online.

One of the firms working to address carbon neutrality is Exquadrum Inc., a minority-owned small business in Victorville, California. Exquadrum’s proposed technology will contribute to NASA’s effort to make the U.S. carbon neutral by 2050. The proposed technology offers higher energy conversion efficiency with no emission of pollutants. The propulsion system is compact and lightweight compared to current systems. The fuel and its products are safe to handle, and the propulsion system is reliable under extreme weather conditions. The propulsion system has the potential to aid the exploration of planets that have atmospheres like that of Mars.

“Through our partnership with, and investment in, small businesses and research institutions, NASA continues to forge a crucial path in the development of technologies that have a concerted focus on long-term commercial uses,” said Jason L. Kessler, program executive for NASA’s SBIR/STTR program. “Our ongoing support of diverse innovators from throughout the country will continue to foster an ecosystem that will nurture the intrapreneurial spirit to drive innovation and exciting results.”

The new SBIR/STTR investments will impact 41 states, including a team with Energized Composite Technologies, in Orlando, Florida, partnering with the University of Central Florida. Together, they will explore using carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite structural batteries for repurposable space applications, offering a multifunctional solution that integrates structural integrity with energy storage capabilities. The proposed structural battery panels integrate energy storage functionality into the structural components of the spacecraft, minimizing the additional space required for electrical storage while maximizing the available volume for payload. The structural battery panels used for the space vehicle could be repurposed after landing because the thermoplastic-based structural panels can be reshaped for other uses.

NASA selected Phase I proposals to receive funding by judging their technical merit and responsiveness to known challenges. Based on their progress during Phase I, companies may submit proposals for up to $850,000 in Phase II funding to develop a prototype and subsequent SBIR/STTR Post Phase II opportunities.

To learn more about NASA’s SBIR/STTR program and apply to future opportunities, visit:

https://sbir.nasa.gov/

-end-

Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov

The JWST has proven itself to be a "supernova discovery machine" by finding 80 exploding stars in the infant universe, including the most distant and earliest supernova ever seen.

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

NASA’s Flight Opportunities program sent two university payloads on suborbital flight tests onboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity on June 8 when it launched from Spaceport America in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The payloads carrying scientific research from University of California, Berkeley and Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, align with critical technology needs that NASA has identified in pursuit of the agency’s space commerce and exploration goals. The payload from UC Berkeley studied a new type of 3D printing and the payload from Purdue studied how sloshing of liquid propellant affects spacecraft direction.

The need to print building materials in space without having to transport them will be critical in the coming years as humans live and work in space for longer durations. Optimizing spacecraft and satellite design will help us increase the rate of scientific discoveries both here on our home planet and on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. 

“Our program enables researchers to move from the lab to flight test rapidly, and in many cases, multiple flight tests across different commercial vehicles. This allows them the invaluable opportunity to learn from initial tests, implement improvements, and then fly again – or as we like to say, ‘fly, fix, fly,’” said Danielle McCulloch, program manager for Flight Opportunities at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

Photo credit: Virgin Galactic

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactSarah Mannsarah.mann@nasa.gov Related Terms

• Armstrong Flight Research Center
• Flight Opportunities Program
• Space Technology Mission Directorate

Explore More 2 min read Food Safety Program for Space Has Taken Over on Earth

System created for Apollo astronaut food has become the global standard for hazard prevention

Article 2 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Laser Relay System Sends Pet Imagery to, from Space Station Article 5 days ago 1 min read The First Responder UAS Wireless Data Gatherer Challenge Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Space Technology Mission Directorate

STMD Flight Opportunities

Armstrong Space Projects

Aurora and airglow are seen from the International Space Station in 2015.Credits: NASA/JSC/ESRS

NASA has selected three proposals for concept studies of missions to investigate the complex system of space weather that surrounds our planet and how it’s connected to Earth’s atmosphere.

The three concepts propose how to enact the DYNAMIC (Dynamical Neutral Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling) mission, which was recommended by the 2013 Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics. The DYNAMIC mission is designed to study how changes in Earth’s lower atmosphere influence our planet’s upper atmosphere, where space weather like auroras and satellite disruptions are manifested. This knowledge will benefit humanity by helping us understand how space weather can interfere with crucial technology like navigation systems and satellites.

“Earth and space are an interconnected system that reaches from the heart of our solar system, the Sun, to the lowest reaches of the atmosphere where we live and extends to the edge of our heliosphere – the boundary of interstellar space,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “While space weather can spark the beautiful auroras across our skies, it also has the potential to cause disruptions for us here on Earth and can be dangerous for our spacecraft and astronauts in space. The DYNAMIC mission will expand our understanding of how Earth itself shapes space weather events that influence our home planet.”

The DYNAMIC mission is designed to make measurements within Earth’s upper atmosphere between about 50-125 miles (80-200 kilometers) in altitude. With multiple spacecraft, DYNAMIC’s simultaneous observations from different locations can give scientists a more complete picture of how waves propagate upwards through this part of the atmosphere.

NASA’s fiscal year 2023 appropriation directed NASA to initiate this first phase of study. As the first step of a two-step selection process, each proposal will receive $2 million for a concept study. NASA solicited missions with a cost cap of $250 million, which does not include the launch. The studies will last nine months.

The selected concept teams are:

• University of Colorado, Boulder, led by principal investigator Tomoko Matsuo

Key partners include Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts.

• University of Colorado, Boulder, led by principal investigator Aimee Merkel

Key partners include BAE Systems in Westminster, Colorado, and the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, led by principal investigator Scott Bailey

Key partners include Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah, Global Atmospheric Technologies and Sciences in Newport News, Virginia, and Computational Physics, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information on NASA heliophysics missions, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics

-end-

Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.fox@nasa.gov

Sarah Frazier
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
202-853-7191
sarah.frazier@nasa.gov

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Space Weather
• Earth's Atmosphere
• Heliophysics
• Science & Research
• Science Mission Directorate

Ed Stone, former director of JPL and project scientist for the Voyager mission, died on June 9, 2024. A friend, mentor, and colleague to many, he was known for his straightforward leadership and commitment to communicating with the public.NASA/JPL Caltech

Known for his steady leadership, consensus building, and enthusiasm for engaging the public in science, Stone left a deep impact on the space community.

Edward C. Stone, former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and longtime project scientist of the agency’s Voyager mission, died on June 9, 2024. He was 88. He was preceded in death by his wife, Alice Stone. They are survived by their two daughters, Susan and Janet Stone, and two grandsons.

Stone also served as the David Morrisroe professor of physics and vice provost for special projects at Caltech in Pasadena, California, which last year established a new faculty position, the Edward C. Stone Professorship.

“Ed Stone was a trailblazer who dared mighty things in space. He was a dear friend to all who knew him, and a cherished mentor to me personally,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Ed took humanity on a planetary tour of our solar system and beyond, sending NASA where no spacecraft had gone before. His legacy has left a tremendous and profound impact on NASA, the scientific community, and the world. My condolences to his family and everyone who loved him. Thank you, Ed, for everything.”

Ed Stone, former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and longtime project scientist of the Voyager mission, passed away on June 9, 2024. He was 88 years old. In this 2018 video, Stone talks about the Voyager 2 spacecraft reaching interstellar space, six years after Voyager 1 reached the same milestone.
NASA/JPL Caltech

NASA/JPL Caltech

Stone served on nine NASA missions as either principal investigator or a science instrument lead, and on five others as a co-investigator (a key science instrument team member). These roles primarily involved studying energetic ions from the Sun and cosmic rays from the galaxy. He was one of the few scientists involved with both the mission that has come closest to the Sun (NASA’s Parker Solar Probe) and the one that has traveled farthest from it (Voyager).

Ed Stone became project scientist for the Voyager mission in 1972, five years before launch, and served in the role for a total of 50 years. During that time, he also served as director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Voyager mission for the agency. NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Ed will be remembered as an energetic leader and scientist who expanded our knowledge about the universe — from the Sun to the planets to distant stars — and sparked our collective imaginations about the mysteries and wonders of deep space,” said Laurie Leshin, JPL director and Caltech vice president. “Ed’s discoveries have fueled exploration of previously unseen corners of our solar system and will inspire future generations to reach new frontiers. He will be greatly missed and always remembered by the NASA, JPL, and Caltech communities and beyond.”

From 1972 until his retirement in 2022, Stone served as the project scientist from NASA’s longest-running mission, Voyager. The two Voyager probes took advantage of a celestial alignment that occurs just once every 176 years to visit Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. During their journeys, the spacecraft revealed the first active volcanoes beyond Earth on Jupiter’s moon Io, and an atmosphere rich with organic molecules on Saturn’s moon Titan. Voyager 2 remains the only spacecraft to fly by Uranus and Neptune, revealing Uranus’ unusual tipped magnetic poles, and the icy geysers erupting from Neptune’s moon Triton.

“Becoming Voyager project scientist was the best decision I made in my life,” Stone said in 2018. “It opened a wonderful door of exploration.”

During Stone’s tenure as JPL’s director from 1991 to 2001, the federally funded research and development facility was responsible for more than two dozen missions and science instruments. Among them was NASA’s Pathfinder mission, which landed on Mars in 1996 with the first Red Planet rover, Sojourner. The next year saw the launch of the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Cassini/Huygens mission.

JPL also developed six missions for planetary exploration, astrophysics, Earth sciences, and heliophysics under Stone’s leadership.

Journey to Space

The eldest of two sons, Stone was born in Knoxville, Iowa, during the Great Depression and grew up in the nearby commercial center of Burlington. After high school, he studied physics at Burlington Junior College and went on to the University of Chicago for graduate school. Shortly after he was accepted there, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, and the Space Age began. Stone joined a team building instruments to launch into space.

“Space was a brand-new field waiting for discovery,” Stone recalled in 2018.

In 1964, he joined Caltech as a postdoctoral fellow, running the Space Radiation Lab together with Robbie Vogt, who had been a colleague at Chicago. They worked on a number of NASA satellite missions, studying galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles.  

Depending on the mission, Stone served as a co-investigator or principal investigator for the missions’ instrument teams, and Vogt could see his leadership potential. “Ed didn’t let emotions get in the way of doing the best possible job,” he said. “His personality is to solve a problem when it arises.” In 1972, Vogt recommended Stone to JPL leadership to be Voyager project scientist.

Among Stone’s many awards is the National Medal of Science from President George H.W. Bush. In 2019, he was presented with the Shaw Prize in Astronomy, with an award of $1.2 million, for his leadership in the Voyager project. Stone was also proud to have a middle school named after him in Burlington, Iowa, as an inspiration to young learners.

News Media Contact

Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-808-2469
calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov

2024-081

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 Related Terms

• Voyager Program
• Heliophysics
• Heliosphere
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Jupiter
• Neptune
• Planetary Science
• Saturn
• The Solar System
• Uranus
• Voyager 1
• Voyager 2

Explore More 6 min read NASA Watches Mars Light Up During Epic Solar Storm Article 2 days ago 5 min read Webb Finds Plethora of Carbon Molecules Around Young Star

An international team of astronomers has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the…

Article 6 days ago 4 min read Jonathan Lunine Appointed Chief Scientist of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Article 6 days ago

Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo of our home planet from the Moon in 1968, was killed on June 7, 2024. Anders was flying alone in his Beechcraft T-34 Mentor aircraft  when the plane plunged into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. Anders was 90.

“At every step of Bill’s life was the iron will of a pioneer, the grand passion of a visionary, the cool skill of a pilot, and the heart of an adventurer who explored on behalf of all of us,” said NASA Administrator Bill in Nelson in a statement. “His impact will live on through the generations. All of NASA, and all of those who look up into the twinkling heavens and see grand new possibilities of dazzling new dreams, will miss a great hero who has passed on.”

A video of the accident taken by a bystander who witnessed the crash appears to show Anders failing to pull up at the bottom of a loop, with the plane impacting the water at high speed.

His family issued a statement that they were devastated. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly,” they said.

After becoming a fighter pilot in the Air Force, Anders was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1964. He was backup pilot for the Gemini XI and Apollo 11 flights, and he was lunar module pilot for Apollo 8, the first mission with humans on board to enter lunar orbit.  

During the first three orbits around the Moon, the Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders kept the Apollo Command Module’s windows pointing down toward the surface of the Moon while they hurriedly filmed and photographed the craters and mountains below. One of their main tasks was reconnaissance for future Apollo landings.

The Earth rising over the Moon’s surface, as seen by the Apollo 8 mission. Credit: NASA

On the fourth swing around from the Moon’s farside, Borman rolled the spacecraft to a different orientation, pointing the windows toward the horizon to get a navigational fix. A few minutes later, Anders spotted a blue and white object appearing over the Moon’s horizon, a heart-catching sight of planet Earth, a “grand oasis in the vast loneliness of space,” as Lovell later described it.

“Oh my God, look at that picture over there!” Anders said. “There’s the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!” Anders called for Lovell to quickly grab some color film.

Apollo 8’s flight was a bold and unexpected move by NASA to send a crew to lunar orbit, but the audacious flight in December 1968 set the stage for the Apollo 11 Moon landing seven months later. Apollo 8 also capped off a turbulent year on Earth, following the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the escalating Vietnam War and anti-war protests that led to violence, and an intensifying Cold War with the USSR. After the Apollo 8 crew returned home, a well-wisher sent a telegram to the crew, saying that they had saved 1968.

Apollo 8 crew. Credit: NASA

The Earthrise photo has been called one of the most important images ever taken.

On Earth Day in 2008, Anders reflected on the famous picture that’s become one of the most frequently used images ever. Anders said even though it wasn’t in the original flight plan to take pictures of Earth, it didn’t take much time for him to realize how striking this view of the Earth was, and quickly snapped the celebrated image.

“I instantly thought it was ironic; we had come all this way to study the moon, and yet it was this view of the Earth that was one of the most important events for Apollo,” said Anders in an interview on NASA TV.

“There are basically two messages that came to me,” Anders said of the picture. “One of them is that the planet is quite fragile. It reminded me of a Christmas tree ornament. But the other message to me, and I don’t think this one has really sunk in yet, is that the Earth is really small. We’re not the center of the universe; we’re way out in left field on a tiny dust mote, but it is our home and we need to take care of it.”

Anders said it didn’t take long after the crew had returned home for this photograph to become iconic for the environmental movement.

Earthrise in the original orientation that was seen by the Apollo 8 astronauts. Image credit: NASA

“Back in the 60’s, it gave us a sense that the world was a place we all shared together,” Anders said. “We couldn’t see any boundaries from space.”

Anders left NASA in 1969 to become the executive secretary of the National Aeronautics and Space Council. In 1973, he was appointed to the Atomic Energy Commission, where he led all nuclear and non-nuclear power research and development. Later, he was named the U.S. chairman of the technology exchange program for nuclear fission and fusion power with the Soviet Union.

Very saddened about the passing of my friend, USAF Major Gen Bill Anders. Bill, you will always be an inspiration and you will be missed. My deepest condolences to Bill’s family during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/ccDf8Pblbv

— Dr. Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) June 8, 2024

In 1975, Anders was named the first chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At the end of his term, he was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Norway, a position he held until 1977.

Anders served on several organizational boards and joined General Electric as its vice president and the general manager of its nuclear products division and later the general manager of GE’s aircraft equipment division. Then he became vice chairman of General Dynamics and, in 1991, its chairman and chief executive officer. He retired as CEO in 1993 and the left the company in 1994.

Anders retired from the Air Force reserves in 1988 with the rank of major general.

In retirement, Anders  and his family founded the Heritage Flight Museum in Washington state, which features a variety of aircraft, several antique military vehicles, a library and many artifacts donated by veterans, according to the museum’s website.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating the crash that killed Anders.

Bill Anders forever changed our perspective of our planet and ourselves with his famous Earthrise photo on Apollo 8. He inspired me and generations of astronauts and explorers. My thoughts are with his family and friends. https://t.co/duYdSbSZ0C

— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) June 8, 2024

“Bill Anders forever changed our perspective of our planet and ourselves with his famous Earthrise photo on Apollo 8,” said retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, who is now a US Senator from Arizona Senator.  “He inspired me and generations of astronauts and explorers. My thoughts are with his family and friends.”

The post Remembering Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders appeared first on Universe Today.

So far, scientists have found around 34,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) that could serve as humanity’s stepping stone to the stars. These balls of rock and ice hold valuable resources as we expand throughout the solar system, making them valuable real estate in any future space economy. But the 34,000 we know of only make up a small percentage of the total number of asteroids in our vicinity – some estimates theorize that up to 1 billion asteroids larger than a modern car exist near Earth. A project from the Trans Astronautics Corp (TransAstra), an asteroid-hunting start-up based in California, hopes to find the missing billion.

The Sutter Ultra project is funded by NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts and received a Phase II grant in 2021. Before we get into what Sutter Ultra is, it’s best to understand why we have such a hard time finding the hundreds of millions of small asteroids in our vicinity.

To put it bluntly, the problem is twofold—brightness and speed. Most ground-based observatories have long exposure times, allowing them to capture brighter but more stationary objects. NEAs, on the other hand, zip by the planet quickly and typically are so faint that the long exposure times on most observatories fail to see them at all. Since they move multiple pixels during each exposure, they don’t appear bright enough to capture in this kind of survey.

Presentation at the end of NIAC Phase II by TransAstra President Joel Sercel.
Credit – TransAstra YouTube Channel

That’s where Sutter Ultra comes in. It’s named after the Sutter Mill discovery that started the California gold rush of 1849 (and unfortunately, not after our own resident astrophysics expert – Paul Sutter). However, TransAstra’s idea is significantly more technologically advanced than the prospector’s pan used in that discovery. Sutter Ultra would be three separate systems, each containing over one hundred 30 cm telescopes. They would fly in coordination in a type of orbit called a heliocentric Psuedo Geocentric Distant Retrograde (PRO) oribt. This would allow all three spacecraft to regularly focus on Earth and triangulate their readings in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

Once the data has been captured, TransAstra has developed an algorithm to track individual asteroids on the paths they could travel throughout the image. They also released a neat explainer video that details the process they use and how it’s superior to existing asteroid tracking techniques.

The company’s calculations show that it is by far superior. Their write-up for the Sutter Ultra project estimates that the program could find 300x the total number of NEAs humanity has ever found in only its first year of operation. That would garner an astonishing 10 million asteroid finds every year, or 19 every minute of every day. And yet, it would still only be 1% of the total number of NEAs out there.

NEAs are some of the most dangerous objects in the solar system, as Fraser explains.

If that wasn’t enough reason to be interested in the project, Sutter Ultra can also be used to track space debris, which is becoming an ever-increasing problem as most and most junk starts to fill the orbital space. Plenty of companies have developed business models around deorbiting space junk or zapping it with lasers, but if it lives up to the hype, Sutter Ultra would be by far the best way to track it.

For now, the company is tempering its ambitions with a three-step approach, which would make the $400 million potential price tag a bit more digestible for funding agencies. TransAstra has a ground system in place as part of its NIAC Phase II project. They’re currently focusing on defining a “Sutter Alpha” mission utilizing a CubeSat platform as a proof of concept. A Sutter Survey mission would then follow with three crafts in LEO with four telescopes each.

That means timing for the Sutter Ultra mission is still unclear, and the end goal of the original grant is in jeopardy. But even with a scaled down version that is more palatable to funding agencies, TransAstra is leading the charge on surveying systems for nearby asteroids. If they are lucky they might just strike more gold than even the Californian 49ers could dream of.

Learn More:
Joel Sercel – Sutter Survey: Telescope Breakthrough Enables MicroSats to Map Accessible NEOs
UT – A New Space Telescope will Map the Universe and Help Protect the Earth from Asteroids
UT – Next-Generation Radar Will Map Threatening Asteroids
UT – What are Asteroids?

Lead Image:
Artist’s depiction of a Sutter demonstration mission.
Credit – Sercel / TransAstra Corporation / Anthony Longman

The post A Mission To Find 10 Million Near Earth Asteroids Every Year appeared first on Universe Today.

NASA's fleet of robotic Martian explorers measured the effects of May's dramatic solar storms, experiencing the equivalent of undergoing about 30 chest X-rays all at once.

Hurricane Idalia brought significant storm surge, heavy rains, and strong winds to Florida as a Category 3 hurricane in 2023. This image is from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite, acquired at 11:35 a.m. EDT on Aug. 29, 2023.Credits: NASA Earth Observatory

NASA invites media to an event at the agency’s headquarters at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 13, to learn about a new Disaster Response Coordination System that will provide communities and organizations around the world with access to science and data to aid disaster response.  

The event will be held in NASA’s James E. Webb Auditorium at 300 E St. SW, Washington, and air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website. To attend the briefing in person, media should RSVP no later than 12 p.m. EDT June 13, to Liz Vlock at elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.

The briefing speakers include:

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
• NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy
• Nicky Fox, associate administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate
• Karen St. Germain, division director, NASA Earth Sciences Division
• Jainey Bavishi, deputy administrator, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
• Erik Hooks, deputy administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
• David Applegate, director, U.S. Geological Survey
• Dianna Darsney de Salcedo, assistant to the U.S. Agency for International Development administrator
• Clayton Turner, director, NASA Langley Research Center
• Shanna McClain, program manager, NASA Disasters Program
• Joshua Barnes, manager, NASA Disaster Response Coordination System
• Judith Mitrani-Reiser, senior scientist, National Institute of Standards and Technology

The Disaster Response Coordination System will connect NASA’s Earth science data, technology, and expertise with disaster response organizations in the U.S. and internationally. The goal is to reduce disaster impacts to lives and livelihoods through timely, actionable, and accurate information.

For more information about NASA’s Disasters program, visit: 

https://disasters.nasa.gov/response

-end-

Liz Vlock
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov

Share

Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Natural Disasters
• Earth Observatory
• Earth Science
• Science & Research
• Science Mission Directorate