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The Moon and Amaey Shah
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Sometimes a story about a NASA volunteer just grabs your heart and won’t let go. NASA Scientist Dr. Brian Day shared with us the incredible story of what first ignited his passion for involving the public in his scientific research. It’s a story about a boy named Amaey Shah.
Amaey Shah’s passion for science helped inspire NASA’s MoonDiff Project. Credit: Purvi Shah
“Through the NASA Speakers Bureau, I was paired with a local teacher, Leslie Herleikson, and her after-school science program for K-12 students” Brian began. “I’d talk to the students in the program periodically and take them on tours of the NASA Ames facilities.”
“One of the kids in Leslie’s elementary program, a young boy named Amaey Shah, was recovering from treatment for childhood leukemia when I first met him. He was feeling fatigued from the treatment. As we did the tours of Ames he sometimes had to rest. But he was a very precocious kid. He remained very excited about science, posing a rapid stream of very insightful questions, and always full of joyous enthusiasm for the new things that he would learn.
Over time, Amaey rallied and his strength improved, fueled by his insatiable curiosity. I continued to meet with Amaey and his fellow students, with our discussions spanning the Solar System and beyond.
Then, one day, I showed up at the after-school program and Amaey was not there. Leslie took me aside after my presentation and let me know that Amaey had had a relapse which seemed pretty serious. He was going to need a bone marrow transplant. This news hit me especially hard. Shortly before the class meeting, I had been diagnosed with cancer myself. Just as Amaey was going to be heading in for whole body radiation as part of his bone marrow transplant, I was going to be going in for radiation for my own cancer treatment.
Leslie shared my situation with Amaey and his parents. She also asked if I would be willing to come talk with him about our upcoming shared experience. The idea seemed strangely comforting and healthy. So I showed up at his house. Amaey and I sat down together, with his parents and older brother sitting off to the side in the same room.
I said: Well, I understand we have something in common.
He said, Well, we both like science!
I said: That’s true.
He said: And we both wear glasses.
I said: Yes.
Then, I said: And we’re both incredibly handsome!
We all had a good laugh. But then he looked at me and got serious.
He said: And we both have cancer.
I said: Yes, and we’re both going to get radiation.
And he said: Yeah.
So I said: How do we feel about that?
He told me what was bothering him most. He said that in his case, the radiation was to kill all of his bone marrow, and hopefully the cancer that was within it. Then he would get a transplant of new bone marrow. But during the period of time in between losing his old bone marrow and when his new bone marrow kicked in, he would essentially be without an immune system. He would become a bubble boy—confined to a room for a very long period of time. He expressed that he was really going to miss going out and exploring, going out and looking up at the night sky, because one of the things he really, really wanted to do was explore space.
I’d been given a warning about this from his parents, so I’d come prepared with my laptop. I pulled up MoonZoo. MoonZoo was a citizen science application that asked people to look at pieces of lunar real estate and identify and count craters. Crater counts are the primary way of estimating the ages of various lunar terrains. If we want to understand the history and evolution of the lunar surface, getting these crater counts and the ages they represent is a really critical endeavor.
Amaey was quite excited to work on MoonZoo. We played with that for a long while! Then I pulled up GalaxyZoo, another Zooniverse project.
We reviewed the fact that galaxies come in a great variety of sizes and shapes. And we see a mind-bending number of galaxies out there. To understand their formation and evolution, we must first understand what kinds of galaxies they are. So, we need people to help classify these galaxies—which involves looking at a lot of galaxies. Amaey really liked that too.
We went into our respective cancer treatments. Amaey did indeed become confined in isolation after his irradiation and transplant—but I heard from his teacher Leslie that from his room he was keeping himself busy exploring the Moon, counting craters with MoonZoo, and classifying galaxies with GalaxyZoo. Even though Amaey was physically confined to his room, his intellect and curiosity were free to roam the Solar System and the Universe, exploring limitless expanses, thanks to the citizen science tools that he put to such good use. Soon, I got distracted with my own treatment, and I wasn’t online as much as I would have liked to have been.
Amaey with his brother Arjun. Credit: Purvi Shah
As I was going through my own treatment, I didn’t get the news. Amaey’s treatment didn’t work. His parents and teachers opted not to tell me that he had passed away while I was in the midst of fighting my own battle.
The day after I successfully finished my final radiation treatment, I remember talking to Leslie on the phone. I told her that I was done, and I wanted to come talk to the kids again as soon as I was feeling a bit stronger. She said she had something to tell me. She let me know that Amaey had passed away. I was devastated.
Leslie also told me that Amaey’s funeral service was coming up soon. Amaey’s parents then contacted me, asking me if I might be feeling well enough to come speak at the service. I had to go. There was no way I could not be there!
There were many people gathered together at the service and several speakers. At one point, Amaey’s grandfather got up and in a quiet, sorrowful way, explained how Amaey’s desire had always been to be a scientist. Amaey had wanted to study the stars, do research, and contribute. One of the great sadnesses of the grandfather’s own life was that Amaey never had the opportunity to become a scientist, to explore the Universe, and to contribute to the science like he had so loved.
Then it was my turn to speak. I stood up, and I said that I mean no disrespect—I fully understood the sorrow that the family was feeling. But the very important fact of the matter was that Amaey did not miss this opportunity! Amaey HAD realized his dream. He DID become a scientist. From his isolation room, Amaey DID explore. He DID do research. He DID make contributions. Amaey’s ambitions had been realized, and his discoveries had been added to the scientific record.
I said we can all take heart in knowing that under very difficult circumstances Amaey had achieved his dream. That seemed to become a source of comfort to Amaey’s family. And that’s because he stepped up to the role and adventure of being a citizen scientist.”
Brian Day is the staff scientist at NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, headquartered at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. His duties include serving as science lead for NASA’s Solar System Treks Project a family of open science online portals that make it easy to analyze the surfaces of the Moon and other planetary bodies in our Solar System. The project has a citizen science component called MoonDiff, which invites you to help search for changes and newly formed features on the Moon.
You can make your own contributions to science! Check out Brian’s project, MoonDiff. And if you know any other children like Amaey, please share it with them.
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Webb Spots a Starburst
The James Webb Space Telescope observed “starburst” galaxy NGC 4449, seen in this image released on May 29, 2024. Starbursts are intense periods of star formation usually concentrated at a galaxy’s core, but NGC 4449’s activity is much more widespread — likely due to past interactions with its galactic neighbors. Astronomers can study this galaxy to look into the past: NGC 4449 is similar to early star-forming galaxies, which also grew by merging with other systems.
See more Webb images from this year.
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University) and the FEAST JWST team
China is about to land on the far side of the moon with Chang'e 6
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Cleaner ship emissions may warm the planet far faster than expected
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NASA Welcomes Peru as 41st Artemis Accords Signatory
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson welcomed Peru as the newest nation to sign the Artemis Accords Thursday during a ceremony with the U.S. State Department at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Peru joins 40 other countries in a commitment to advancing principles for the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.
“NASA is proud to welcome Peru to the Artemis Accords family,” said Nelson. “This giant leap forward for our countries is a result of decades of work Peru has done to further its reach in the cosmos. We live in the golden era of space exploration. Together, we will continue to explore the cosmos openly, responsibly, as partners, for all.”
Javier González-Olaechea, foreign minister, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Peru. Alfredo Ferrero Diez Canseco, ambassador of Peru to the U.S. and Jennifer R. Littlejohn, acting assistant secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State, also participated in the signing ceremony.
“Peru, by joining the Artemis Accords, seeks not only to express a common vision with the other member countries but also to establish cooperation mechanisms with these countries, especially with the United States, to participate in activities of exploration and sustainable use of resources found in space, as well as to promote aerospace scientific development in our country,” said González-Olaechea.
The United States and seven other nations were the first to sign the Artemis Accords in 2020, which identified an early set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for all humanity. The accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data. More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years to come.
The commitments of the Artemis Accords, and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles, support NASA’s Artemis campaign with its partners, as well as for the success of the safe and sustainable exploration activities of the other accords signatories.
For more information about the Artemis Accords, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/
-end-
Faith McKie / Jennifer Dooren
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
faith.d.mckie@nasa.gov / jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov
Travel
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Prior to traveling, refer to the GSA State Tax Information webpage: https://smartpay.gsa.gov/smarttax. Select your State/US territory of interest to see the exemption status and download the appropriate form, if required.
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NASA’s standard reduced per diem rate for ETDY travel is 65 percent under the current policy as defined in the NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 9750.1-3.1.2.
a. Consistent with 41 CFR 301-11.200, an ETDY authorization can include reasonable further reductions from this standard rate or limitations on approved lodging for unique circumstances, to the extent it can be determined in advance that such will substantially lower costs without mission impact. For example, if lodging is obtained at 50 percent per diem, the ETDY authorization should be adjusted to authorize a lower rate.
b. The reduced rate of reimbursement begins on the first day of travel regardless of the mode of transportation, except as noted in 3.1.3. Allowances are covered by the reduced per diem rate; therefore, NASA will authorize the employee a per diem rate (up to 65 percent) to reasonably cover expenses for a one bedroom furnished apartment. For ETDY greater than 90 days, first consideration should be given to long-term lodging facilities. Long-term lodging facilities are available on the GSA schedule at http://www.gsa.gov. If a long-term facility is not selected, proper justification should be provided.
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Allowable ETDY Expenses Included in Reduced Per Diem Rate
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GSA’s Schedule 48 is designed for lodging needs of 30 days or more. This program provides housing accommodations for temporary or permanent relocation. Typical facilities include apartment or condominium type properties that may be furnished with all the amenities of a regular home. The current list of vendors is available by clicking on the link above. Most of these properties will accommodate NASA Extended TDY travelers within the 65% reduce per diem rate and will allow use of the government charge card.
Foreign TravelPlease consult the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), NPR 9710.1, and NPR 9750.1. Please call the NSSC Contact Center at 1-877-NSSC-123 (1-877-677-2123) for additional information.
Solar Orbiter traces solar wind back to its mysterious source for 1st time
Twin NASA Satellites Ready to Help Gauge Earth’s Energy Balance
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Earth’s polar regions radiates much of the heat initially absorbed at the tropics out to space, mostly in the form of far-infrared radiation. Clouds in the Arctic — like these seen over a Greenland glacier — and Antarctic can trap far-infrared radiation on Earth, increasing global temperatures.NASA/GSFC/Michael Studinger
Information from the PREFIRE mission will illuminate how clouds and water vapor in the Arctic and Antarctic influence the amount of heat the poles radiate into space.
A pair of new shoebox-size NASA satellites will help unravel an atmospheric mystery that’s bedeviled scientists for years: how the behavior of clouds and water vapor at Earth’s polar regions affects our planet’s climate.
The first CubeSat in NASA’s Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) mission launched from New Zealand on Saturday, May 25. The second PREFIRE CubeSat is targeted to lift off on Saturday, June 1, with a launch window opening at 3 p.m. NZST (11 p.m. EDT, Friday, May 31).
The mission will measure the amount of heat Earth emits into space from the two coldest, most remote regions on the planet. Data from PREFIRE will improve computer models that researchers use to predict how Earth’s ice, seas, and weather will change in a warming world.
This video gives an overview of the PREFIRE mission, which aims to improve global climate change predictions by expanding scientists’ understanding of heat radiated from Earth at the polar regions. NASA/JPL-CaltechEarth absorbs a lot of the Sun’s energy in the tropics, and weather and ocean currents transport that heat toward the poles (which receive much less sunlight). Ice, snow, and clouds, among other parts of the polar environment, emit some of that heat into space, much of it in the form of far-infrared radiation. The difference between the amount of heat Earth absorbs at the tropics and that radiated out from the Arctic and Antarctic is a key influence on the planet’s temperature, helping to drive dynamic systems of climate and weather.
But far-infrared emissions at the poles have never been systematically measured. This is where PREFIRE comes in. The mission will help researchers gain a clearer understanding of when and where Earth’s polar regions emit far-infrared radiation to space, as well as how atmospheric water vapor and clouds influence the amount that escapes.
One of the two shoebox-size CubeSats that make up NASA’s PREFIRE mission sits on a table at Blue Canyon Technologies. The company built the satellite bus and integrated the JPL-provided thermal infrared spectrometer instrument.NASA/JPL-Caltech
Clouds and water vapor can trap far-infrared radiation on Earth, thereby increasing global temperatures — part of the greenhouse effect.
“It’s critical that we get the effects of clouds right if we want to accurately model Earth’s climate,” said Tristan L’Ecuyer, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and PREFIRE’s principal investigator.
Clouds in Climate ModelingClouds and water vapor at Earth’s poles act like windows on a summer day: A clear, relatively dry day in the Arctic is like opening a window to let heat out of a stuffy room. A cloudy, relatively humid day traps heat like a closed window.
The types of clouds — and the altitude at which they form — influence how much heat the polar atmosphere retains. Like a tinted window, low-altitude clouds, composed mainly of water droplets, tend to have a cooling effect. High-altitude clouds, made mainly of ice particles, more readily absorb heat, generating a warming effect. Because clouds at mid-altitudes can have varying water-droplet and ice-particle contents, they can have either a warming or cooling effect.
But clouds are notoriously difficult to study: They’re made up of microscopic particles that can move and change in a matter of seconds to hours. When it rains or snows, there’s a great reshuffling of water and energy that can alter the character of clouds entirely. These ever-changing factors complicate the task of realistically capturing cloud behavior in climate models, which try to project global climate scenarios.
Inconsistencies in how various climate models represent clouds can mean the difference between predicting 5 or 10 degrees Fahrenheit (3 or 6 degrees Celsius) of warming. The PREFIRE mission aims to reduce that uncertainty.
The thermal infrared spectrometer on each spacecraft will make crucial measurements of wavelengths of light in the far-infrared range. The instruments will be able to detect clouds largely invisible to other types of optical instruments. And PREFIRE’s instruments will be sensitive enough to detect the approximate size of particles to distinguish between liquid droplets and ice particles.
“PREFIRE will give us a new set of eyes on clouds,” said Brian Kahn, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a member of the PREFIRE science team. “We’re not quite sure what we’re going to see, and that’s really exciting.”
More About the MissionPREFIRE was jointly developed by NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and provided the spectrometers. Blue Canyon Technologies built the CubeSats, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will process and analyze the data the instruments collect.
NASA’s Launch Services Program selected Rocket Lab to launch both spacecraft as part of the agency’s Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract. CubeSats like PREFIRE serve as an ideal platform for technical and architecture innovation, contributing to NASA’s science research and technology development.
To learn more about PREFIRE, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/prefire/
5 Things to Know About NASA’s Tiny Twin Polar Satellites Get the PREFIRE fact sheet Meet NASA’s Twin Spacecraft Headed to the Ends of the Earth 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
2024-076
Share Details Last Updated May 30, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 6 min read NASA to Measure Moonquakes With Help From InSight Mars Mission Article 1 day ago 6 min read Ongoing Venus Volcanic Activity Discovered With NASA’s Magellan Data Article 3 days ago 6 min read New Images From Euclid Mission Reveal Wide View of the Dark Universe Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related TopicsMissions
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Chicks link shapes with 'bouba' and 'kiki' sounds just like humans
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A New Telescope Can Observe Even in Broad Daylight
Astronomy is a profession that, so far, has only been done at night, at least on Earth. Light from the Sun overwhelms any light from other stars, making it impractical for both professional and amateur astronomers to look at the stars during daytime. There are several disadvantages to this, not the least of which is that many potentially exciting parts of the sky aren’t visible at all for large chunks of the year as they pass too close to the Sun. To solve this, a team from Macquarie University, led by graduate student Sarah Caddy, developed a multi-camera system for a local telescope that allows them to observe during daytime.
The University has a system known as the Huntsman Telescope, named after the famous Australian spider species. Its design was inspired by the Dragonfly Telescope Array, initially designed by researchers at the University of Toronto and Yale, among other institutions. Both telescopes feature an array of 10 telephoto lenses from Canon, the camera manufacturer, arranged in a honeycomb pattern.
Typically, the telescope is used for nighttime astronomy at the Siding Spring Observatory, about a seven-hour drive from Sydney. However, Ms. Caddy thought it could do better and potentially continue observations during the day.
An image of Betelgeuse during the day using the Huntsman Telescope.Credit – Macquarie University
They originally tested their ideas, which focused on a number of broadband filters and a single-lens test version of the Huntsman telescope. This allowed them to optimize things like exposure times and timing and show a proof of concept that they then wrote up in a paper in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.
In particular, Ms. Caddy and her colleagues are excited about several use cases. One is tracking particular stars that might soon undergo an exciting event. Betelgeuse comes to mind, as astronomers expect it to undergo a supernova sometime “soon,” though soon in astronomical terms could mean anywhere between tomorrow and 10 million years from now. If Betelgeuse happens to be on the other side of the Sun when it goes supernova, without daylight astronomy, there would be months of a gap where we would miss out on collecting data on the supernova that happened nearest to us in recorded history, and astronomers everywhere would be frustrated.
This is exactly why the Huntsman team used a daytime image of Betelgeuse as part of their proof of concept. While it might not look like a typical image of the star that is 650 light years away, the fact that it is visible at all during the daytime is striking.
Betelgeuse is one of the most interesting stars in the sky – a potential supernova that goes through occasional dimming periods, as Fraser explains.Another use case is the tracking of satellites. As the orbital space around Earth becomes increasingly crowded, there’s a higher likelihood that satellites will begin colliding, which could eventually result in something as severe as Kessler syndrome, which we’ve discussed before here at UT. Unfortunately, astronomers can only track satellites during the night, so if one of their orbits happens to shift for some reason during a day cycle, it would be impossible for them to suggest changes to the orbital paths of other satellites that are close by.
Unless you have daytime astronomy, which allows you to track satellites during the day, there’s a significantly decreased risk of two running into each other unexpectedly. This data can be combined with radar readings to help avoid catastrophic collisions, no matter how crowded orbital space gets.
This proof of concept is a step toward making those observations a reality. As it is more fully tested, the southern sky will become much more accessible, and it could pave the way for other daytime astronomy projects in other parts of the world.
Learn More:
Macquarie University – Stargazing in broad daylight: How a multi-lens telescope is changing astronomy
Caddy, Spitler & Ellis – An Optical Daytime Astronomy Pathfinder for the Huntsman Telescope
UT – Astro-Challenge: Adventures in Daytime Astronomy
UT – Why Can We See the Moon During the Day?
Lead Image:
Macquarie’s Huntsman Telescope can potentially observe space during the day.
Credit – Macquarie University
The post A New Telescope Can Observe Even in Broad Daylight appeared first on Universe Today.
Space debris from SpaceX Dragon capsule crashed in the North Carolina mountains. I had to go see it (video)
Our writers pick their favourite science fiction books of all time
Our writers pick their favourite science fiction books of all time
Volcanoes on Venus Might Be Erupting Right Now
Scientists have found signs of fresh flowing lava on Venus in decades-old data from NASA's Magellan spacecraft