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Scientists have identified a new species of pterosaur from a 100-million-year-old fossil in Australia, which appears to have had a massive tongue to push prey down its throat

Ultrathin gold was achieved with the help of a century-old sword-making technique

XRISM could change the way we see the X-ray universe, but a jammed door presents a mighty challenge. With the door closed, low energy X-rays are impossible to detect. But trying to open the door could put the rest of the mission at risk.

Chemists are hard at work figuring out how to make tattoos last—and ensure they’re safe.

Image: Drone test of planetary landing radar

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.

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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.

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Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 Related Terms

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

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