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The artist's work demonstrates an innate understanding of ​​Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence.

United Launch Alliance has rolled its second Vulcan Centaur rocket out to the pad ahead of launch, which is scheduled to take place on Friday (Oct. 4).

Google, Microsoft and others have taken big steps towards error-free devices, hinting that quantum computers that solve real problems aren’t far away

Google, Microsoft and others have taken big steps towards error-free devices, hinting that quantum computers that solve real problems aren’t far away

A new telescope image reveals in intricate detail a slice of a well-studied faraway stellar nursery.

Plankton that lived during the last glacial maximum have helped confirm the accuracy of our climate models – suggesting the predictions those models make about future El Niño events are accurate too

Plankton that lived during the last glacial maximum have helped confirm the accuracy of our climate models – suggesting the predictions those models make about future El Niño events are accurate too

Plankton that lived during the last glacial maximum have helped confirm the accuracy of our climate models – suggesting the predictions those models make about future El Niño events are accurate too

Here's what time the "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse on Oct. 2, 2024 will occur as well as the annular eclipse times and durations for locations in the path of annularity.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson works on a computer inside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson will share details of her recent six-month mission aboard the International Space Station in a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 4, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The news conference will air live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.

Media wishing to participate by phone must contact the newsroom no later than two hours before the start of the event. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. To ask questions by phone, media must dial into the news conference no later than 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. Questions may also be submitted on social media by using #AskNASA.

Spanning 184 days in space, Dyson’s third spaceflight covered 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a 78-million-mile journey as an Expedition 70/71 flight engineer. Dyson also conducted one spacewalk of 31 minutes, bringing her career total to 23 hours, 20 minutes on four spacewalks. Dyson returned to Earth on Sept. 23, as planned, along with her crewmates, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

Dyson launched on March 23 and arrived at the station March 25 alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

While aboard the orbiting lab, Dyson conducted dozens of scientific and technology activities to benefit future exploration in space and life back on Earth. She remotely controlled a robot on Earth’s surface from a computer aboard the station and evaluated orbit-to-ground operations. She operated a 3D bioprinter to print cardiac tissue samples, which could advance technology for creating replacement organs and tissues for transplants on Earth.

Dyson also participated in the crystallization of model proteins to evaluate the performance of hardware that could be used for pharmaceutical production and ran a program that uses student-designed software to control the station’s free-flying robots, inspiring the next generation of innovators.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook, ISS Instagram, and the space station blog.

-end-

Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov

Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Sep 30, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Humans in Space
• Astronauts
• Expedition 70
• Expedition 71
• International Space Station (ISS)
• ISS Research
• Tracy Caldwell Dyson

As a radio frequency wireless engineer in NASA’s Johnson Space Center Avionic Systems Division in Houston, Melissa Moreno makes an impact in space exploration while proudly sharing her cultural heritage in the NASA community. 

Moreno works in the Electronic Systems Test Laboratory, developing communication systems critical to Gateway, NASA’s first lunar-orbiting space station. But her success stretches far beyond the lab.   

Image courtesy of Melissa Moreno

In addition to her technical work, Moreno co-founded Johnson’s Hispanic Employee Resource Group’s mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Celestial. She performs as a violinist and vocalist at employee events and community engagements.  

“Mariachi is a large part of my culture and identity, and I enjoy sharing it,” said Moreno.

Melissa Moreno performs with NASA’s Johnson Space Center Hispanic Employee Resource Group mariachi ensemble, Mariachi Celestial, in Houston.

Originally from New Mexico, Moreno earned her master’s degree in electrical engineering from New Mexico State University—a milestone she considers her greatest achievement. “I am the only one in my family that has graduated with a master’s in engineering,” she said.  

Working on Gateway has taken Moreno to various NASA facilities, where she collaborates with engineers across the country to develop the lunar outpost. She also supports communication testing for the International Space Station Program as needed. “This has been an invaluable experience for me,” said Moreno.  

Her career has not come without challenges. As a young Hispanic woman in engineering, Moreno has faced self-doubt and the pressure of perfectionism. “I can be very hard on myself,” she said. “While I’ve made progress, I’m still working on overcoming these challenges by thinking positively, believing in myself, and doing my absolute best.” 

One key lesson she has learned along the way is the importance of adaptability. “There are times when things don’t go as planned, and adapting to such situations is important for continued success,” she said. 

Melissa Moreno, far left, performs with the Mariachi Celestial at a Cinco de Mayo event in May 2024.

Moreno is also a strong advocate for NASA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. “NASA should continue to highlight stories that showcase diversity in the workplace because they can inspire current and future underrepresented groups at NASA,” she said.   

Looking ahead, Moreno is excited about NASA’s plans to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, Gateway’s orbit around the Moon, and the eventual human landing on Mars.   

“I hope to pass on dedication and passion for the Artemis campaign,” she said.  

Coral reefs around the world are at risk of collapse due to rising temperatures and acidifying oceans, but the natural adaptability of some species may help buy time

Coral reefs around the world are at risk of collapse due to rising temperatures and acidifying oceans, but the natural adaptability of some species may help buy time

You can watch the annular solar eclipse live on Oct. 2 with this free livestream. Here's how.

Researchers found that long-duration spaceflight affected the mechanical properties of eye tissues, including reducing the stiffness of tissue around the eyeball. A better understanding of these changes could help researchers prevent, diagnose, and treat the vision impairment often seen in crew members.

SANSORI, a Canadian Space Agency investigation, examined whether reduced stiffness of eye tissue contributes to vision impairment in astronauts on long-term missions. This condition, known as Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome, or SANS, includes a range of physical changes to the eyes. This paper suggests that biomechanical changes in the eye caused by microgravity contribute to SANS. On Earth, changes in the tissue around the eyeball (the scleral wall or white of the eye) related to ocular rigidity have been associated with aging and pathological conditions such as glaucoma and myopia.

An optical coherence tomography image of the eye’s posterior segment shows choroidal thickness, with segmentation lines marking retinal boundaries. The bottom graph displays choroidal thickness and oximeter signal variations over time. Image courtesy of the University of Montreal

In April 2022, researchers identified more than 80 Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) such as Emissions of Light and Very-Low-Frequency perturbations from Electro-magnetic pulses (ELVES) and blue corona discharges, rare phenomena that are part of a group of upper atmospheric thunderstorm discharges called blue optical emissions. Insights into blue optical emissions could help scientists understand how thunderstorms affect Earth’s atmosphere and help improve meteorological and climatological predictions.

ILAN-ES (Ax-1) collected images of lightning and TLEs during Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1). TLEs are electrical phenomena above thunderstorms, which include ELVES. Researchers combined observations from the International Space Station with a global network of ground-based cameras to calculate the energy, structure, and other parameters of TLEs. This work contributes to understanding of these events and their relationship to lightning, geographic distribution, and global occurrence rate.

Read more here.

An artist’s impression of a blue jet observed from the International Space Station. The European Space Agency’s Thor-Davis investigation photographs lightning from the vantage point of space.Image courtesy of Mount Visual/University of Bergen/Technical University of Denmark Space

Two civilian astronauts from the 17-day Ax-1 mission showed normal ranges for 14 health biomarkers and both maintained good cardiac, liver, and renal health as well as adequate glucose and electrolyte balance. As more civilians travel to space, scientists need to assess their health risks and develop mitigation measures, and this study provides a baseline for beginning that process.

Cardioprotection Ax-1 analyzed cardiovascular changes in private astronaut mission crew members. Human research in space has focused on professional astronauts, but as spaceflight opportunities expand, more diverse populations have a chance to experience the space environment. The Ax-1 mission provided an opportunity to monitor civilian responses to space and yielded an initial record of civilian in-flight bioanalytics.

The 11-person crew aboard the International Space Station includes (clockwise from bottom right) Expedition 67 Commander Tom Marshburn, and Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer; and Axiom Mission 1 astronauts (center row from left) Mark Pathy, Eytan Stibbe, Larry Conner, and Michael Lopez-Alegria.

Rapid erosion caused by a geological act of “piracy” tens of thousands of years ago may have raised Earth’s crust and elevated Mount Everest by as much as 50 metres

Rapid erosion caused by a geological act of “piracy” tens of thousands of years ago may have raised Earth’s crust and elevated Mount Everest by as much as 50 metres

A full-size mockup of the space shuttle orbiter that was built as a contractor's showcase model before NASA decided on the spacecraft's final design is heading back on display in Downey, California.

Physicists showed that photons can seem to exit a material before entering it, revealing observational evidence of negative time

How did the supermassive black holes we’re now seeing in the early universe get so big so fast? Astrophysicist Sophie Koudmani is using sophisticated galaxy simulations to figure it out