Feed aggregator

The Sun blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament over a three-hour period on Feb. 24, 2015. Because this occurred way over near the edge of the Sun, it was unlikely to have any effect on Earth.NASA

The NASA-ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft captured this extreme ultraviolet wavelength image of the Sun on Feb. 24, 2015, during a three-hour period in which our closest star blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament. While some of the strands fell back into the Sun, a substantial part raced into space in a bright cloud of particles.

Launched in December 1995, the joint NASA-ESA SOHO mission, was designed to study the Sun inside out. Though its mission was scheduled to run until only 1998, it has continued collecting data, adding to scientists’ understanding of our closest star, and making many new discoveries, including more than 5,000 comets.

NASA continues to study the Sun with various spacecraft. Soon, there will be three new ways to study the Sun’s influence across the solar system with the launch of a trio of NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft. Expected to launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23, the missions include NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1) spacecraft.

Image credit: NASA

The Sun blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament over a three-hour period on Feb. 24, 2015. Because this occurred way over near the edge of the Sun, it was unlikely to have any effect on Earth.NASA

The NASA-ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft captured this extreme ultraviolet wavelength image of the Sun on Feb. 24, 2015, during a three-hour period in which our closest star blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament. While some of the strands fell back into the Sun, a substantial part raced into space in a bright cloud of particles.

Launched in December 1995, the joint NASA-ESA SOHO mission, was designed to study the Sun inside out. Though its mission was scheduled to run until only 1998, it has continued collecting data, adding to scientists’ understanding of our closest star, and making many new discoveries, including more than 5,000 comets.

NASA continues to study the Sun with various spacecraft. Soon, there will be three new ways to study the Sun’s influence across the solar system with the launch of a trio of NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft. Expected to launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 23, the missions include NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and NOAA’s SWFO-L1 (Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1) spacecraft.

Image credit: NASA

Honolulu is pictured here beside a calm sea in 2017. A JPL technology recently detected and confirmed a tsunami up to 45 minutes prior to detection by tide gauges in Hawaii, and it estimated the speed of the wave to be over 580 miles per hour (260 meters per second) near the coast.NASA/JPL-Caltech

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before.

A recent tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula sent pressure waves to the upper layer of the atmosphere, NASA scientists have reported. While the tsunami did not wreak widespread damage, it was an early test for a detection system being developed at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Called GUARDIAN (GNSS Upper Atmospheric Real-time Disaster Information and Alert Network), the experimental technology “functioned to its full extent,” said Camille Martire, one of its developers at JPL. The system flagged distortions in the atmosphere and issued notifications to subscribed subject matter experts in as little as 20 minutes after the quake. It confirmed signs of the approaching tsunami about 30 to 40 minutes before waves made landfall in Hawaii and sites across the Pacific on July 29 (local time).

“Those extra minutes of knowing something is coming could make a real difference when it comes to warning communities in the path,” said JPL scientist Siddharth Krishnamoorthy.

Near-real-time outputs from GUARDIAN must be interpreted by experts trained to identify the signs of tsunamis. But already it’s one of the fastest monitoring tools of its kind: Within about 10 minutes of receiving data, it can produce a snapshot of a tsunami’s rumble reaching the upper atmosphere.

The dots in this graph indicate wave disturbances in the ionosphere as measured between ground stations and navigation satellites. The initial spike shows the acoustic wave coming from the epicenter of the July 29 quake that caused the tsunami; the red squiggle shows the gravity wave the tsunami generated.NASA/JPL-Caltech

The goal of GUARDIAN is to augment existing early warning systems. A key question after a major undersea earthquake is whether a tsunami was generated. Today, forecasters use seismic data as a proxy to predict if and where a tsunami could occur, and they rely on sea-based instruments to confirm that a tsunami is passing by. Deep-ocean pressure sensors remain the gold standard when it comes to sizing up waves, but they are expensive and sparse in locations.

“NASA’s GUARDIAN can help fill the gaps,” said Christopher Moore, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Tsunami Research. “It provides one more piece of information, one more valuable data point, that can help us determine, yes, we need to make the call to evacuate.”

Moore noted that GUARDIAN adds a unique perspective: It’s able to sense sea surface motion from high above Earth, globally and in near-real-time.

Bill Fry, chair of the United Nations technical working group responsible for tsunami early warning in the Pacific, said GUARDIAN is part of a technological “paradigm shift.” By directly observing ocean dynamics from space, “GUARDIAN is absolutely something that we in the early warning community are looking for to help underpin next generation forecasting.”

How GUARDIAN works

GUARDIAN takes advantage of tsunami physics. During a tsunami, many square miles of the ocean surface can rise and fall nearly in unison. This displaces a significant amount of air above it, sending low-frequency sound and gravity waves speeding upwards toward space. The waves interact with the charged particles of the upper atmosphere — the ionosphere — where they slightly distort the radio signals coming down to scientific ground stations of GPS and other positioning and timing satellites. These satellites are known collectively as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

While GNSS processing methods on Earth correct for such distortions, GUARDIAN uses them as clues.

SWOT Satellite Measures Pacific Tsunami

The software scours a trove of data transmitted to more than 350 continuously operating GNSS ground stations around the world. It can potentially identify evidence of a tsunami up to about 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) from a given station. In ideal situations, vulnerable coastal communities near a GNSS station could know when a tsunami was heading their way and authorities would have as much as 1 hour and 20 minutes to evacuate the low-lying areas, thereby saving countless lives and property.

Key to this effort is the network of GNSS stations around the world supported by NASA’s Space Geodesy Project and Global GNSS Network, as well as JPL’s Global Differential GPS network that transmits the data in real time.

The Kamchatka event offered a timely case study for GUARDIAN. A day before the quake off Russia’s northeast coast, the team had deployed two new elements that were years in the making: an artificial intelligence to mine signals of interest and an accompanying prototype messaging system.

Both were put to the test when one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded spawned a tsunami traveling hundreds of miles per hour across the Pacific Ocean. Having been trained to spot the kinds of atmospheric distortions caused by a tsunami, GUARDIAN flagged the signals for human review and notified subscribed subject matter experts.

Notably, tsunamis are most often caused by large undersea earthquakes, but not always. Volcanic eruptions, underwater landslides, and certain weather conditions in some geographic locations can all produce dangerous waves. An advantage of GUARDIAN is that it doesn’t require information on what caused a tsunami; rather, it can detect that one was generated and then can alert the authorities to help minimize the loss of life and property. 

While there’s no silver bullet to stop a tsunami from making landfall, “GUARDIAN has real potential to help by providing open access to this data,” said Adrienne Moseley, co-director of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre. “Tsunamis don’t respect national boundaries. We need to be able to share data around the whole region to be able to make assessments about the threat for all exposed coastlines.”

To learn more about GUARDIAN, visit:

https://guardian.jpl.nasa.gov

News Media Contacts

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

Written by Sally Younger

2025-117

Explore More 5 min read New U.S.-European Sea Level Satellite Will Help Safeguard Ships at Sea Article 4 days ago 13 min read The Earth Observer Editor’s Corner: July–September 2025

NOTE TO READERS: After more than three decades associated with or directly employed by NASA,…

Article 5 days ago 21 min read Summary of the 11th ABoVE Science Team Meeting

Introduction The NASA Arctic–Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) is a large-scale ecological study in the northern…

Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Honolulu is pictured here beside a calm sea in 2017. A JPL technology recently detected and confirmed a tsunami up to 45 minutes prior to detection by tide gauges in Hawaii, and it estimated the speed of the wave to be over 580 miles per hour (260 meters per second) near the coast.NASA/JPL-Caltech

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before.

A recent tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula sent pressure waves to the upper layer of the atmosphere, NASA scientists have reported. While the tsunami did not wreak widespread damage, it was an early test for a detection system being developed at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Called GUARDIAN (GNSS Upper Atmospheric Real-time Disaster Information and Alert Network), the experimental technology “functioned to its full extent,” said Camille Martire, one of its developers at JPL. The system flagged distortions in the atmosphere and issued notifications to subscribed subject matter experts in as little as 20 minutes after the quake. It confirmed signs of the approaching tsunami about 30 to 40 minutes before waves made landfall in Hawaii and sites across the Pacific on July 29 (local time).

“Those extra minutes of knowing something is coming could make a real difference when it comes to warning communities in the path,” said JPL scientist Siddharth Krishnamoorthy.

Near-real-time outputs from GUARDIAN must be interpreted by experts trained to identify the signs of tsunamis. But already it’s one of the fastest monitoring tools of its kind: Within about 10 minutes of receiving data, it can produce a snapshot of a tsunami’s rumble reaching the upper atmosphere.

The dots in this graph indicate wave disturbances in the ionosphere as measured between ground stations and navigation satellites. The initial spike shows the acoustic wave coming from the epicenter of the July 29 quake that caused the tsunami; the red squiggle shows the gravity wave the tsunami generated.NASA/JPL-Caltech

The goal of GUARDIAN is to augment existing early warning systems. A key question after a major undersea earthquake is whether a tsunami was generated. Today, forecasters use seismic data as a proxy to predict if and where a tsunami could occur, and they rely on sea-based instruments to confirm that a tsunami is passing by. Deep-ocean pressure sensors remain the gold standard when it comes to sizing up waves, but they are expensive and sparse in locations.

“NASA’s GUARDIAN can help fill the gaps,” said Christopher Moore, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Tsunami Research. “It provides one more piece of information, one more valuable data point, that can help us determine, yes, we need to make the call to evacuate.”

Moore noted that GUARDIAN adds a unique perspective: It’s able to sense sea surface motion from high above Earth, globally and in near-real-time.

Bill Fry, chair of the United Nations technical working group responsible for tsunami early warning in the Pacific, said GUARDIAN is part of a technological “paradigm shift.” By directly observing ocean dynamics from space, “GUARDIAN is absolutely something that we in the early warning community are looking for to help underpin next generation forecasting.”

How GUARDIAN works

GUARDIAN takes advantage of tsunami physics. During a tsunami, many square miles of the ocean surface can rise and fall nearly in unison. This displaces a significant amount of air above it, sending low-frequency sound and gravity waves speeding upwards toward space. The waves interact with the charged particles of the upper atmosphere — the ionosphere — where they slightly distort the radio signals coming down to scientific ground stations of GPS and other positioning and timing satellites. These satellites are known collectively as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

While GNSS processing methods on Earth correct for such distortions, GUARDIAN uses them as clues.

SWOT Satellite Measures Pacific Tsunami

The software scours a trove of data transmitted to more than 350 continuously operating GNSS ground stations around the world. It can potentially identify evidence of a tsunami up to about 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) from a given station. In ideal situations, vulnerable coastal communities near a GNSS station could know when a tsunami was heading their way and authorities would have as much as 1 hour and 20 minutes to evacuate the low-lying areas, thereby saving countless lives and property.

Key to this effort is the network of GNSS stations around the world supported by NASA’s Space Geodesy Project and Global GNSS Network, as well as JPL’s Global Differential GPS network that transmits the data in real time.

The Kamchatka event offered a timely case study for GUARDIAN. A day before the quake off Russia’s northeast coast, the team had deployed two new elements that were years in the making: an artificial intelligence to mine signals of interest and an accompanying prototype messaging system.

Both were put to the test when one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded spawned a tsunami traveling hundreds of miles per hour across the Pacific Ocean. Having been trained to spot the kinds of atmospheric distortions caused by a tsunami, GUARDIAN flagged the signals for human review and notified subscribed subject matter experts.

Notably, tsunamis are most often caused by large undersea earthquakes, but not always. Volcanic eruptions, underwater landslides, and certain weather conditions in some geographic locations can all produce dangerous waves. An advantage of GUARDIAN is that it doesn’t require information on what caused a tsunami; rather, it can detect that one was generated and then can alert the authorities to help minimize the loss of life and property. 

While there’s no silver bullet to stop a tsunami from making landfall, “GUARDIAN has real potential to help by providing open access to this data,” said Adrienne Moseley, co-director of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre. “Tsunamis don’t respect national boundaries. We need to be able to share data around the whole region to be able to make assessments about the threat for all exposed coastlines.”

To learn more about GUARDIAN, visit:

https://guardian.jpl.nasa.gov

News Media Contacts

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

Written by Sally Younger

2025-117

Explore More 5 min read New U.S.-European Sea Level Satellite Will Help Safeguard Ships at Sea Article 3 days ago 13 min read The Earth Observer Editor’s Corner: July–September 2025

NOTE TO READERS: After more than three decades associated with or directly employed by NASA,…

Article 4 days ago 21 min read Summary of the 11th ABoVE Science Team Meeting

Introduction The NASA Arctic–Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) is a large-scale ecological study in the northern…

Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Week in images: 08-12 September 2025

Discover our week through the lens

CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, alongside NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, will launch on the Artemis II mission early next year. The crew will participate in human research studies to provide insights about how the body performs in deep space as part of this mission. Credit: (NASA/James Blair)

A sweeping collection of astronaut health studies planned for NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon will soon provide agency researchers with a glimpse into how deep space travel influences the human body, mind, and behavior.

During an approximately 10-day mission set to launch in 2026, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will collect and store their saliva, don wrist monitors that track movement and sleep, and offer other essential data for NASA’s Human Research Program and other agency science teams. 

“The findings are expected to provide vital insights for future missions to destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including Mars,” said Laurie Abadie, an aerospace engineer for the program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who strategizes about how to carry out studies on Artemis missions. “The lessons we learn from this crew will help us to more safely accomplish deep space missions and research,” she said.

One study on the Artemis II mission, titled Immune Biomarkers, will explore how the immune system reacts to spaceflight. Another study, ARCHeR (Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness), will evaluate how crew members perform individually and as a team throughout the mission, including how easily they can move around within the confined space of their Orion spacecraft. Astronauts also will collect a standardized set of measurements spanning multiple physiological systems to provide a comprehensive snapshot of how spaceflight affects the human body as part of a third study called Artemis II Standard Measures. What’s more, radiation sensors placed inside the Orion capsule cells will collect additional information about radiation shielding functionality and organ-on-a-chip devices containing astronaut cells will study how deep space travel affects humans at a cellular level.

“Artemis missions present unique opportunities, and challenges, for scientific research,” said Steven Platts, chief scientist for human research at NASA Johnson.

Platts explained the mission will need to protect against challenges including exposure to higher radiation levels than on the International Space Station, since the crew will be farther from Earth.

“Together, these studies will allow scientists to better understand how the immune system performs in deep space, teach us more about astronauts’ overall well-being ahead of a Mars mission, and help scientists develop ways to ensure the health and success of crew members,” he said.

Another challenge is the relatively small quarters. The habitable volume inside Orion is about the size of a studio apartment, whereas the space station is larger than a six-bedroom house with six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window. That limitation affects everything from exercise equipment selection to how to store saliva samples.

Previous research has shown that spaceflight missions can weaken the immune system, reactivate dormant viruses in astronauts, and put the health of the crew at risk. Saliva samples from space-based missions have enabled scientists to assess various viruses, hormones, and proteins that reveal how well the immune system works throughout the mission.

But refrigeration to store such samples will not be an option on this mission due to limited space. Instead, for the Immune Biomarkers study, crew members will supply liquid saliva on Earth and dry saliva samples in space and on Earth to assess changes over time. The dry sample process involves blotting saliva onto special paper that’s stored in pocket-sized booklets.

“We store the samples in dry conditions before rehydrating and reconstituting them,” said Brian Crucian, an immunologist with NASA Johnson who’s leading the study. After landing, those samples will be analyzed by agency researchers.

For the ARCHeR study, participating crew members will wear movement and sleep monitors, called actigraphy devices, before, during, and after the mission. The monitors will enable crew members and flight controllers in mission control to study real-time health and behavioral information for crew safety, and help scientists study how crew members’ sleep and activity patterns affect overall health and performance. Other data related to cognition, behavior, and team dynamics will also be gathered before and after the mission.

“Artemis missions will be the farthest NASA astronauts have ventured into space since the Apollo era,” said Suzanne Bell, a NASA psychologist based at Johnson who is leading the investigation. “The study will help clarify key mission challenges, how astronauts work as a team and with mission control, and the usability of the new space vehicle system.” 

Another human research study, Artemis II Standard Measures, will involve collecting survey and biological data before, during, and after the Artemis II mission, though blood collection will only occur before and after the mission. Collecting dry saliva samples, conducting psychological assessments, and testing head, eye, and body movements will also be part of the work. In addition, tasks will include exiting a capsule and conducting simulated moonwalk activities in a pressurized spacesuit shortly after return to Earth to investigate how quickly astronauts recover their sense of balance following a mission.

Crew members will provide data for these Artemis II health studies beginning about six months before the mission and extending for about a month after they return to Earth.

NASA also plans to use the Artemis II mission to help scientists characterize the radiation environment in deep space. Several CubeSats, shoe-box sized satellites that will be deployed into high-Earth orbit during Orion’s transit to the Moon, will probe the near-Earth and deep space radiation environment. Data gathered by these CubeSats will help scientists understand how best to shield crew and equipment from harmful space radiation at various distances from Earth.

Crew members will also keep dosimeters in their pockets that measure radiation exposure in real time. Two additional radiation-sensing technologies will also be affixed to the inside of the Orion spacecraft. One type of device will monitor the radiation environment at different shielding locations and alert crew if they need to seek shelter, such as during a solar storm. A separate collection of four radiation monitors, enabled through a partnership with the German Space Agency DLR, will be placed at various points around the cabin by the crew after launch to gather further information.

Other technologies also positioned inside the spacecraft will gather information about the potential biological effects of the deep space radiation environment. These will include devices called organ chips that house human cells derived from the Artemis II astronauts, through a project called AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response). After the Artemis II lands, scientists will analyze how these organ chips responded to deep space radiation and microgravity on a cellular level.

Together, the insights from all the human research science collected through this mission will help keep future crews safe as humanity extends missions to the Moon and ventures onward to Mars.

____

NASA’s Human Research Program

NASA’s Human Research Program pursues methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, the International Space Station and Artemis missions, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives the program’s quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission ready as human space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Explore More 9 min read Artemis II Crew Both Subjects and Scientists in NASA Deep Space Research Article 4 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Northrop Grumman CRS-23 Infographics & Hardware Article 4 days ago 4 min read NASA Uses Colorado Mountains for Simulated Artemis Moon Landing Course Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Living in Space

Artemis

Human Research Program

Space Station Research and Technology

CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, alongside NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Christina Koch, will launch on the Artemis II mission early next year. The crew will participate in human research studies to provide insights about how the body performs in deep space as part of this mission. Credit: (NASA/James Blair)

A sweeping collection of astronaut health studies planned for NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon will soon provide agency researchers with a glimpse into how deep space travel influences the human body, mind, and behavior.

During an approximately 10-day mission set to launch in 2026, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will collect and store their saliva, don wrist monitors that track movement and sleep, and offer other essential data for NASA’s Human Research Program and other agency science teams. 

“The findings are expected to provide vital insights for future missions to destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including Mars,” said Laurie Abadie, an aerospace engineer for the program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, who strategizes about how to carry out studies on Artemis missions. “The lessons we learn from this crew will help us to more safely accomplish deep space missions and research,” she said.

One study on the Artemis II mission, titled Immune Biomarkers, will explore how the immune system reacts to spaceflight. Another study, ARCHeR (Artemis Research for Crew Health and Readiness), will evaluate how crew members perform individually and as a team throughout the mission, including how easily they can move around within the confined space of their Orion spacecraft. Astronauts also will collect a standardized set of measurements spanning multiple physiological systems to provide a comprehensive snapshot of how spaceflight affects the human body as part of a third study called Artemis II Standard Measures. What’s more, radiation sensors placed inside the Orion capsule cells will collect additional information about radiation shielding functionality and organ-on-a-chip devices containing astronaut cells will study how deep space travel affects humans at a cellular level.

“Artemis missions present unique opportunities, and challenges, for scientific research,” said Steven Platts, chief scientist for human research at NASA Johnson.

Platts explained the mission will need to protect against challenges including exposure to higher radiation levels than on the International Space Station, since the crew will be farther from Earth.

“Together, these studies will allow scientists to better understand how the immune system performs in deep space, teach us more about astronauts’ overall well-being ahead of a Mars mission, and help scientists develop ways to ensure the health and success of crew members,” he said.

Another challenge is the relatively small quarters. The habitable volume inside Orion is about the size of a studio apartment, whereas the space station is larger than a six-bedroom house with six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window. That limitation affects everything from exercise equipment selection to how to store saliva samples.

Previous research has shown that spaceflight missions can weaken the immune system, reactivate dormant viruses in astronauts, and put the health of the crew at risk. Saliva samples from space-based missions have enabled scientists to assess various viruses, hormones, and proteins that reveal how well the immune system works throughout the mission.

But refrigeration to store such samples will not be an option on this mission due to limited space. Instead, for the Immune Biomarkers study, crew members will supply liquid saliva on Earth and dry saliva samples in space and on Earth to assess changes over time. The dry sample process involves blotting saliva onto special paper that’s stored in pocket-sized booklets.

“We store the samples in dry conditions before rehydrating and reconstituting them,” said Brian Crucian, an immunologist with NASA Johnson who’s leading the study. After landing, those samples will be analyzed by agency researchers.

For the ARCHeR study, participating crew members will wear movement and sleep monitors, called actigraphy devices, before, during, and after the mission. The monitors will enable crew members and flight controllers in mission control to study real-time health and behavioral information for crew safety, and help scientists study how crew members’ sleep and activity patterns affect overall health and performance. Other data related to cognition, behavior, and team dynamics will also be gathered before and after the mission.

“Artemis missions will be the farthest NASA astronauts have ventured into space since the Apollo era,” said Suzanne Bell, a NASA psychologist based at Johnson who is leading the investigation. “The study will help clarify key mission challenges, how astronauts work as a team and with mission control, and the usability of the new space vehicle system.” 

Another human research study, Artemis II Standard Measures, will involve collecting survey and biological data before, during, and after the Artemis II mission, though blood collection will only occur before and after the mission. Collecting dry saliva samples, conducting psychological assessments, and testing head, eye, and body movements will also be part of the work. In addition, tasks will include exiting a capsule and conducting simulated moonwalk activities in a pressurized spacesuit shortly after return to Earth to investigate how quickly astronauts recover their sense of balance following a mission.

Crew members will provide data for these Artemis II health studies beginning about six months before the mission and extending for about a month after they return to Earth.

NASA also plans to use the Artemis II mission to help scientists characterize the radiation environment in deep space. Several CubeSats, shoe-box sized satellites that will be deployed into high-Earth orbit during Orion’s transit to the Moon, will probe the near-Earth and deep space radiation environment. Data gathered by these CubeSats will help scientists understand how best to shield crew and equipment from harmful space radiation at various distances from Earth.

Crew members will also keep dosimeters in their pockets that measure radiation exposure in real time. Two additional radiation-sensing technologies will also be affixed to the inside of the Orion spacecraft. One type of device will monitor the radiation environment at different shielding locations and alert crew if they need to seek shelter, such as during a solar storm. A separate collection of four radiation monitors, enabled through a partnership with the German Space Agency DLR, will be placed at various points around the cabin by the crew after launch to gather further information.

Other technologies also positioned inside the spacecraft will gather information about the potential biological effects of the deep space radiation environment. These will include devices called organ chips that house human cells derived from the Artemis II astronauts, through a project called AVATAR (A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response). After the Artemis II lands, scientists will analyze how these organ chips responded to deep space radiation and microgravity on a cellular level.

Together, the insights from all the human research science collected through this mission will help keep future crews safe as humanity extends missions to the Moon and ventures onward to Mars.

____

NASA’s Human Research Program

NASA’s Human Research Program pursues methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, the International Space Station and Artemis missions, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research drives the program’s quest to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission ready as human space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

Explore More 9 min read Artemis II Crew Both Subjects and Scientists in NASA Deep Space Research Article 3 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Northrop Grumman CRS-23 Infographics & Hardware Article 3 days ago 4 min read NASA Uses Colorado Mountains for Simulated Artemis Moon Landing Course Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Living in Space

Artemis

Human Research Program

Space Station Research and Technology

A study of festivalgoers suggests that drinking beer and sharing a bed makes you more attractive to mosquitoes

A study of festivalgoers suggests that drinking beer and sharing a bed makes you more attractive to mosquitoes

Forensic scientist Michael Haag explains how laser scanners could be used to lock down the crime scenes where Charlie Kirk was fatally shot, letting investigators revisit angles, trajectories and vantage points long after the fact.

Image:

Group photo taken at the General Assembly on Defence, Space and Cybersecurity, held on Friday 12 September 2025, at ESRIN, ESA’s Centre for Earth Observation Programmes in Italy. 

The event was organised by the European Parliament and the European Commission, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, to promote dialogue between European and national decision-makers and industry leaders. Representatives from major European entities debated the future of the European Union, which is facing unprecedented challenges, in an increasingly complex geopolitical context. Participants examined Europe’s needs in key sectors such as space, cybersecurity, and defence, within the broader context of the Atlantic Alliance. Acting at the European level, as demonstrated by projects like Galileo, EGNOS, and Copernicus, not only brings extraordinary added value in terms of innovation, industrial competitiveness, economies of scale, and spending efficiency, but also strengthens Europe’s strategic autonomy, the security of its citizens, and the protection of its critical infrastructure.

The group included experts from major European entities, including: Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defence and Space; Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy; Matteo Piantedosi, Italian Minister of the Interior; Gen. B. Luigi Vinciguerra, Brigade General of the Guardia di Finanza – Head of the III Operations Department, General Command; Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency; Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESRIN; Carlo Corazza, Head of the European Parliament Office in Italy; Ammiraglio Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee; Teodoro Valente, President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI); Hans de Vries, Chief Cybersecurity and Operations Officer (COO) - ENISA; Fabio di Stefano, Communications at the European Parliament in Italy.

Watch here a replay of ESA Director General's intervention and find the transcript of his speech.

NSTGRO Homepage

Andrew Arends
University of California, Davis
Astronaut-Powered Laundry Machine

Allan Attia
Stanford University
Computational Modeling of Lithium Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster for Nuclear Electric Propulsion

Michael Auth
University of California, Santa Barbara
Non-Contact, Real-Time Diagnostics of Battery Aging in 18650 Cells During the Lunar Night Using Acoustic Spectroscopy

Nicholas Brennan
Cornell University
Spin Wave-Based Neuromorphic Coprocessor for Advanced AI Applications

John Carter
Purdue University
Spectroscopic Measurements and Kinetic Modeling of Non-Boltzmann CN for Entry Systems Modeling

Thomas Clark
University of Colorado, Boulder
Data-Driven Representations of Trajectories in Cislunar Space

Nicholas Cmkovich
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Development of Radiation Tolerant Additively Manufactured Refractory Compositionally Complex Alloys

Kara Hardy
Michigan Technological University
Design and Optimization of Cuttlebone-Inspired Cellular Materials Using Turing Systems

Tyler Heggenes
Utah State University
Mitigating Spacecraft Charging Issues Through High-Precision, Temperature-Dependent Measurements of Dynamic Radiation Induced Conductivity

Joseph Hesse-Withbroe
University of Colorado, Boulder
Decreasing Astronaut Radiation Doses with Magnetic Shields

Niya Hope-Glenn
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Investigating the Selectivity of CO2 Hydrogenation to Ethylene in a Plasma Reactor for Mars ISRU

Adrianna Hudyma
University of Minnesota
Biorthogonal Translation System for Production of Pharmaceuticals During Space Missions

Tushaar Jain
Carnegie Mellon University
Towards On-Demand Planetary Landing Through On-Board Autonomous Mapping and Cross-Modality Map Relative Localization

Devin Johnson
Purdue University
Numerical and Experimental Methodology to Optimize Propellant Injection, Mixing, and Response in Rotating Detonation Engines

Jack Joshi
University of Texas at Austin
State Representations for Measurement Fusion and Uncertainty Propagation in Cislunar Regime

John Knoll
William Marsh Rice University
Dexterous Manipulation via Vision-Intent-Action Models

Joseph Ligresti
Purdue University
Effects of Vacuum Conditions on FORP Reactivity and Long-Term Viability of MON-25/MMH Thrusters

Alexander Madison
University of Central Florida
Hybrid Microwave Sintering of Lunar Regolith with 2.45GHz and 18-28GHz

Aurelia Moriyama-Gurish
Yale University
Investigating Fundamental High Strain Rate Deformation Mechanisms to Bridge the Experiment-Computation Gap and Local Thermal Shock Response in C103

Sophia Nowak
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pulsed Laser System for Calibration of High Resolution X-ray Microcalorimeters

Jacob Ortega
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Forging the Future Lunar Settlement with In-Situ Aluminum Extraction

John Riley O’Toole
University of Michigan
Laser-Based Measurements of Electron Properties in Hall Effect Thrusters with Non-Conventional Propellants Enabling for Cis-Lunar, Mars, and Deep Space Missions

Cort Reinarz
Texas A&M University
Utilizing Biometrics in Closed-Loop Compression Garment Systems as a Countermeasure for Orthostatic Intolerance

Erica Sawczynec
University of Texas at Austin
A Monolithic Cross-Dispersed Grism for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Ingrid Shan
California Institute of Technology
Micro-Architected Metallic Lattices for Lunar Dust Mitigation

Pascal Spino
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Centimeter-Scale Robots for Accessing Europa’s Benthic Zone

Benjamin Stern
Northwestern University, Chicago
A Near-Field Thermoreflectance Approach for Nanoscale Thermal Mapping on Nanostructured Sige

Titus Szobody
William Marsh Rice University
Leveraging Polymeric Photochemistry in Ionic Liquid-Based Mirror Synthesis for Space Telescope Optics

Seneca Velling
California Institute of Technology
Constraining Weathering Kinetics Under Experimentally Simulated Venus Conditions

Zhuochen Wang
Georgia Institute of Technology
Optimal Covariance Steering on Lie Groups for Precision Powered Descent

Stanley Wang
Stanford University
Compact Robots with Long Reach for Space Exploration and Maintenance Tasks

Thomas Westenhofer
University of California, Irvine
Kinetic Modeling of Carbon Mass Loss in Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Andrew Witty
Purdue University
Scalable Nanoporous Paints with High Solar Reflectance and Durability in Space Environments

Jonathan Wrieden
University of Maryland, College Park
A Stochastic Model for Predicting Charged Orbital Debris Probability Densities by Utilizing Earth’s Electromagnetic Field to Guide Active Debris Remediation Efforts

Jasen Zion
California Institute of Technology
Large-Format, Fast SNSPD Cameras Benchmarked with Neutral Atom Arrays

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Space Technology Research Grants

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO)

Technology

Share

Details Last Updated Sep 12, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms

• Space Technology Research Grants
• Space Technology Mission Directorate

NSTGRO Homepage

Andrew Arends
University of California, Davis
Astronaut-Powered Laundry Machine

Allan Attia
Stanford University
Computational Modeling of Lithium Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster for Nuclear Electric Propulsion

Michael Auth
University of California, Santa Barbara
Non-Contact, Real-Time Diagnostics of Battery Aging in 18650 Cells During the Lunar Night Using Acoustic Spectroscopy

Nicholas Brennan
Cornell University
Spin Wave-Based Neuromorphic Coprocessor for Advanced AI Applications

John Carter
Purdue University
Spectroscopic Measurements and Kinetic Modeling of Non-Boltzmann CN for Entry Systems Modeling

Thomas Clark
University of Colorado, Boulder
Data-Driven Representations of Trajectories in Cislunar Space

Nicholas Cmkovich
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Development of Radiation Tolerant Additively Manufactured Refractory Compositionally Complex Alloys

Kara Hardy
Michigan Technological University
Design and Optimization of Cuttlebone-Inspired Cellular Materials Using Turing Systems

Tyler Heggenes
Utah State University
Mitigating Spacecraft Charging Issues Through High-Precision, Temperature-Dependent Measurements of Dynamic Radiation Induced Conductivity

Joseph Hesse-Withbroe
University of Colorado, Boulder
Decreasing Astronaut Radiation Doses with Magnetic Shields

Niya Hope-Glenn
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Investigating the Selectivity of CO2 Hydrogenation to Ethylene in a Plasma Reactor for Mars ISRU

Adrianna Hudyma
University of Minnesota
Biorthogonal Translation System for Production of Pharmaceuticals During Space Missions

Tushaar Jain
Carnegie Mellon University
Towards On-Demand Planetary Landing Through On-Board Autonomous Mapping and Cross-Modality Map Relative Localization

Devin Johnson
Purdue University
Numerical and Experimental Methodology to Optimize Propellant Injection, Mixing, and Response in Rotating Detonation Engines

Jack Joshi
University of Texas at Austin
State Representations for Measurement Fusion and Uncertainty Propagation in Cislunar Regime

John Knoll
William Marsh Rice University
Dexterous Manipulation via Vision-Intent-Action Models

Joseph Ligresti
Purdue University
Effects of Vacuum Conditions on FORP Reactivity and Long-Term Viability of MON-25/MMH Thrusters

Alexander Madison
University of Central Florida
Hybrid Microwave Sintering of Lunar Regolith with 2.45GHz and 18-28GHz

Aurelia Moriyama-Gurish
Yale University
Investigating Fundamental High Strain Rate Deformation Mechanisms to Bridge the Experiment-Computation Gap and Local Thermal Shock Response in C103

Sophia Nowak
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pulsed Laser System for Calibration of High Resolution X-ray Microcalorimeters

Jacob Ortega
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Forging the Future Lunar Settlement with In-Situ Aluminum Extraction

John Riley O’Toole
University of Michigan
Laser-Based Measurements of Electron Properties in Hall Effect Thrusters with Non-Conventional Propellants Enabling for Cis-Lunar, Mars, and Deep Space Missions

Cort Reinarz
Texas A&M University
Utilizing Biometrics in Closed-Loop Compression Garment Systems as a Countermeasure for Orthostatic Intolerance

Erica Sawczynec
University of Texas at Austin
A Monolithic Cross-Dispersed Grism for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Ingrid Shan
California Institute of Technology
Micro-Architected Metallic Lattices for Lunar Dust Mitigation

Pascal Spino
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Centimeter-Scale Robots for Accessing Europa’s Benthic Zone

Benjamin Stern
Northwestern University, Chicago
A Near-Field Thermoreflectance Approach for Nanoscale Thermal Mapping on Nanostructured Sige

Titus Szobody
William Marsh Rice University
Leveraging Polymeric Photochemistry in Ionic Liquid-Based Mirror Synthesis for Space Telescope Optics

Seneca Velling
California Institute of Technology
Constraining Weathering Kinetics Under Experimentally Simulated Venus Conditions

Zhuochen Wang
Georgia Institute of Technology
Optimal Covariance Steering on Lie Groups for Precision Powered Descent

Stanley Wang
Stanford University
Compact Robots with Long Reach for Space Exploration and Maintenance Tasks

Thomas Westenhofer
University of California, Irvine
Kinetic Modeling of Carbon Mass Loss in Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

Andrew Witty
Purdue University
Scalable Nanoporous Paints with High Solar Reflectance and Durability in Space Environments

Jonathan Wrieden
University of Maryland, College Park
A Stochastic Model for Predicting Charged Orbital Debris Probability Densities by Utilizing Earth’s Electromagnetic Field to Guide Active Debris Remediation Efforts

Jasen Zion
California Institute of Technology
Large-Format, Fast SNSPD Cameras Benchmarked with Neutral Atom Arrays

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Space Technology Mission Directorate

Space Technology Research Grants

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO)

Technology

Share

Details Last Updated Sep 12, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms

• Space Technology Research Grants
• Space Technology Mission Directorate

Whether intermittent fasting helps anyone is unclear, but it does have known health risks. Who can try the dieting trend, and who should avoid it?

Astronomers have detected an explosion of gamma rays that repeated several times over the course of a day, an event unlike anything ever witnessed before. It took place in a distant galaxy and was first detected on July 2nd. Scientists are trying to understand what could've caused it.

Extremophiles are a favorite tool of astrobiologists. But not only are they good for understanding the kind of extreme environments that life can survive in, sometimes they are useful as actual tools, creating materials necessary for other life, like oxygen, in those extreme environments. A recent paper from Daniella Billi of the University of Rome Tor Vergata , published in pre-print form in Acta Astronautica, reviews how one particular extremophile fills the role of both useful test subject and useful tool all at once.

Explore Hubble

• Hubble Home
• Overview
• Impact & Benefits
• Science
• Observatory
• Team
• Multimedia
• News
• More

2 min read

Hubble Surveys Cloudy Cluster This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the nebula LMC N44C. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, J. Maíz Apellániz

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. With a mass equal to 10–20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small galaxies that orbit our galaxy.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is home to several massive stellar nurseries where gas clouds, like those strewn across this image, coalesce into new stars. Today’s image depicts a portion of the galaxy’s second-largest star-forming region, which is called N11. (The most massive and prolific star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula, is a frequent target for Hubble.) We see bright, young stars lighting up the gas clouds and sculpting clumps of dust with powerful ultraviolet radiation.

This image marries observations made roughly 20 years apart, a testament to Hubble’s longevity. The first set of observations, which were carried out in 2002–2003, capitalized on the exquisite sensitivity and resolution of the then-newly-installed Advanced Camera for Surveys. Astronomers turned Hubble toward the N11 star cluster to do something that had never been done before at the time: catalog all the stars in a young cluster with masses between 10% of the Sun’s mass and 100 times the Sun’s mass.

The second set of observations came from Hubble’s newest camera, the Wide Field Camera 3. These images focused on the dusty clouds that permeate the cluster, providing us with a new perspective on cosmic dust.

Facebook logo @NASAHubble

@NASAHubble

Instagram logo @NASAHubble

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Share

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

Details

Last Updated

Sep 12, 2025

Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Related Terms

• Astrophysics
• Astrophysics Division
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Nebulae
• Star-forming Nebulae

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble’s Nebulae

These ethereal veils of gas and dust tell the story of star birth and death.

Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge

35 Years of Hubble Images

Explore Hubble

• Hubble Home
• Overview
• Impact & Benefits
• Science
• Observatory
• Team
• Multimedia
• News
• More

2 min read

Hubble Surveys Cloudy Cluster This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the nebula LMC N44C. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray, J. Maíz Apellániz

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a cloudy starscape from an impressive star cluster. This scene is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy situated about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. With a mass equal to 10–20% of the mass of the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small galaxies that orbit our galaxy.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is home to several massive stellar nurseries where gas clouds, like those strewn across this image, coalesce into new stars. Today’s image depicts a portion of the galaxy’s second-largest star-forming region, which is called N11. (The most massive and prolific star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula Nebula, is a frequent target for Hubble.) We see bright, young stars lighting up the gas clouds and sculpting clumps of dust with powerful ultraviolet radiation.

This image marries observations made roughly 20 years apart, a testament to Hubble’s longevity. The first set of observations, which were carried out in 2002–2003, capitalized on the exquisite sensitivity and resolution of the then-newly-installed Advanced Camera for Surveys. Astronomers turned Hubble toward the N11 star cluster to do something that had never been done before at the time: catalog all the stars in a young cluster with masses between 10% of the Sun’s mass and 100 times the Sun’s mass.

The second set of observations came from Hubble’s newest camera, the Wide Field Camera 3. These images focused on the dusty clouds that permeate the cluster, providing us with a new perspective on cosmic dust.

Facebook logo @NASAHubble

@NASAHubble

Instagram logo @NASAHubble

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Share

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  

Details

Last Updated

Sep 12, 2025

Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Related Terms

• Astrophysics
• Astrophysics Division
• Goddard Space Flight Center
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Nebulae
• Star-forming Nebulae

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope

Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.

Hubble’s Nebulae

These ethereal veils of gas and dust tell the story of star birth and death.

Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge

35 Years of Hubble Images

Participants are encouraged to dialogue before, during, and after the workshop. Contact the organizing committee for further questions.

Participants are encouraged to dialogue before, during, and after the workshop. Contact the organizing committee for further questions.