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Through Astronaut Eyes, Virtual Reality Propels Gateway Forward
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Astronauts living aboard the Gateway lunar space station will be the first humans to make their home in deep space. To fine-tune the design of the next-generation science lab, solar-powered spaceship, and home-away-from home for international teams of astronauts, NASA calls on the likes of Raja Chari and Nicole Mann, experienced astronauts who know a thing or two about living and working on a space station.
Commanders of the SpaceX Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions to the International Space Station, respectively, Chari and Mann recently brought their long-duration mission experience to bear when they strapped into virtual reality (VR) headsets to tour Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon.
NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann exploring Gateway’s HALO module.During VR testing, astronauts engage in a variety of tasks that they expect to encounter in their day-to-day life on Gateway during real Artemis missions, including performing science experiments, retrieving supplies, and preparing warm meals. By combining VR models with real-world astronaut experience, NASA designers can make tweaks to Gateway’s interior design for a safer and comfier space station.
Gateway is poised to revolutionize deep space exploration at the Moon and beyond as a testbed for next-generation technology and new science to better understand the impact of space on humans. This space station is a critical component of the Artemis campaign to return humans to the lunar surface for scientific discovery and pave the way for the first human missions to Mars.
NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Image credits: NASA/Bill Stafford/Josh Valcarcel
Northern white rhino could be saved from extinction using frozen skin
Northern white rhino could be saved from extinction using frozen skin
Prosthetic hands are easier to control using unrelated muscles
Prosthetic hands are easier to control using unrelated muscles
Making Ultra-fast Electron Measurements in Multiple Directions to Reveal the Secrets of the Aurora
The energetic electrons that drive the aurora borealis (the northern lights) have a rich and very dynamic structure that we currently do not fully understand. Much of what we know about these electrons comes from instruments that have fundamental limitations in their ability to sample multiple energies with high time resolution. To overcome these limitations, NASA is using an innovative approach to develop instrumentation that will enhance our measurement capabilities by more than an order of magnitude—revealing a wealth of new information about the amazing physics happening within the aurora.
Typical electron instruments rely on a technique called electrostatic deflection, which requires changing a voltage to select different energies of electrons to measure. These instruments have been flown on many different space missions and have provided almost all of the in-situ electron measurements made inside the aurora. They work great when observing on timescales of seconds or even down to around a tenth of a second, but they fundamentally cannot observe down to smaller (millisecond) timescales due to the time it takes to sweep through voltages.
Ground-based optical observations of the aurora have shown that there can be rapid spatial and temporal variations that are beyond the observing capabilities of traditional electron instruments. Therefore, members of the Geophysics Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center developed an instrument called the Acute Precipitating Electron Spectrometer (APES) that can measure electron precipitation within the aurora at a one millisecond cadence. APES uses a strong magnetic field inside the instrument to separate electrons with different energies onto different spatial regions of the detector. This method allows the instrument to measure the entire electron energy spectrum simultaneously at a very high rate (every 1 ms).
Team members Albert Risco Patino and Ellen Robertson assembling an electronics stack for an APES instrument to go on a sounding rocket.Image Credit: NASA GSFC Precipitating electron spectra measured inside the aurora at one millisecond time resolution using the APES instrument on the Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom Sensing-2 (VISIONS-2) sounding rocket flight. This entire plot covers a period of 300 milliseconds. The slanted red stripes in the middle of the figure are on the order of 10 milliseconds apart. Image credit: NASA GSFCIn the design of APES, one major trade-off had to be made. For the magnetic field geometry to work properly, the instrument can only observe in one direction. This concept works well if the goal is just to measure the precipitating (downgoing) electrons in the aurora that ultimately hit the atmosphere. However, we know that electrons in the aurora also move in other directions; in fact, these electrons contain a lot of information about other physical processes happening farther out in space.
To enable measurement of electrons in more than one direction, the Goddard team developed the APES-360 instrument concept. To create the APES-360 design, the team employed the same operating principles used in APES, but updated them to accommodate a multi-look direction geometry that covers a 360-degree field of view using 16 different sectors. The team had to overcome several technical challenges to develop the APES-360 concept. In particular, the electronics design had to accommodate many more anodes (charge detecting surfaces) and the associated circuitry in a small area.
The design of the mechanical assembly of the magnetic optics section for APES-360. The actual magnets are the orange rectangles near the middle. The entrance aperture is a gap between the green and red outer bands. Image credit: NASA GSFCThe APES-360 prototype that is currently being built will be tested and calibrated at Goddard and will fly on a sounding rocket into active aurora in the winter of 2025. This flight will provide real-life data from inside the aurora that will be used to validate the instrument performance and inform future design improvements.
Magnet assembly of prototype APES-360 instrument for simultaneously measuring electron spectra in 16 different directions. Image credit: NASA GSFCThe APES-360 instrument is being designed to fit into a CubeSat form factor so that it can be used on future CubeSat missions to study the aurora. The instrument could also ultimately be flown on larger orbital missions, as well.
PROJECT LEAD:Dr. Robert G Michell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS:Heliophysics, Geospace Physics Laboratory (GSFC Code 673) and H-TIDeS.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 09, 2024 Related TermsThe Totality Experience: S&T’s Eclipse Stories
With Sky & Telescope’s editors and writers scattered across the eclipse path, we have dozens of stories to share. Here are a few.
The post The Totality Experience: S&T’s Eclipse Stories appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
NASA Wallops Launches 3 Rockets During Eclipse in Virginia
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)Three Black Brant IX sounding rockets launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia April 8, 2024, during the solar eclipse. The rockets launched for the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) mission to study the disturbances in the electrified region of Earth’s atmosphere known as the ionosphere created when the Moon eclipses the Sun. The rockets launched before, during, and after peak local eclipse time on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Photo Credit: NASA/Garon Clark
Future quantum computers will be no match for 'space encryption' that uses light to beam data around — with the 1st satellite launching in 2025
No Spoilers, Please! Why Curiosity Makes Us Patient
Curiosity makes people hungry for knowledge—but not necessarily in a hurry
NASA Shares Medical Expertise with New Space Station Partners
NASA is opening access to space for more people by working with private industry on the development of new commercial space stations for low Earth orbit where the agency’s astronauts could fly in the future.
New commercial space stations will be available to people beyond government or professional astronauts with years of specialized training and evaluation, so NASA is sharing its lessons learned from decades of human spaceflight experience, including more than 25 years of International Space Station operations, to help ensure future flights are as safe as possible for potential fliers.
“Since the majority of orbital human spaceflight programs have been owned and operated by governments, there are few industry best practices or established government regulations that inform maintaining the health and safety of humans during orbital spaceflight missions,” said Dr. Rahul Suresh, medical officer, Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. “NASA is keen to fill this void by sharing its practices to assist and inform nascent commercial spaceflight programs and to ensure they are prepared to host future agency crewed missions aboard their platforms.”
Dr. Rahul Suresh, NASA Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program medical officer, participates in a discussion during the medical operations meeting series. Topics of discussion included medical risk management, medical selection standards, medical system design, and more.NASA/David DeHoyosNASA recently hosted a meeting series at the agency’s Johnson’s Space Center in Houston to share a variety of medical standards, processes, best practices, along with providing access to subject matter experts. Commercial companies in attendance included Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Vast, and Voyager Space. All companies are working with the agency through funded or unfunded agreements for commercial space station development.
During the meetings and overall development process, the agency is offering guidance for evaluation of potential spaceflight participants from selection and training to in-flight and post-flight support, which are crucial to a platform’s success.
People may be living and working the commercial destinations for different purposes and for different lengths of time. Commercial providers will need to ensure people are ready to fly their mission for the safety of the individual, other fliers, and the destination.
Astronaut selection, training Commercial Crew Program astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore prepares for Expedition 62 International Space Station spacewalk maintenance training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston on Nov. 30, 2018.NASA/Robert MarkowitzNASA astronauts undergo a rigorous selection process and years of training prior to a mission. For example, the astronaut candidate selection process includes a behavioral health screening program implemented by qualified psychologists and psychiatrists through multiple evaluation methods including validated screen tests, structured interviews, and observation of operational simulations to ensure that the assessments provide a comprehensive measure of a candidate’s behavioral health.
These evaluations help identify important traits such as problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, self-regulation, resilience, and adaptability – traits that NASA has found are directly related to success during training and spaceflight. They also identify disqualifying psychiatric conditions.
NASA has already shared and implemented similar screening requirements, including psychiatric evaluations and psychological testing, for recent private astronaut missions. The agency has publicly released its astronaut medical selection standards that includes both physiological and psychological testing requirements with screening criteria to enable success of these future platforms and commercial missions.
In-flight and post-flight support View of Koichi Wakata, Expedition 38 flight engineer, exercising on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, in Node 3 on the International Space Station on Nov. 15, 2013.NASAAdditionally, spaceflight poses numerous risks to maintaining the health and performance of astronauts during their missions. For example, the microgravity environment in low Earth orbit can cause bones and muscles to weaken, elevated radiation increases the long-term risk of conditions such as cancer and cataracts, and even otherwise healthy astronauts can develop life-threatening medical conditions such as kidney stones.
NASA has gained a wealth of knowledge over the years on the impacts of space on the human body and has been able to employ countermeasures to prevent these issues and maintain astronaut performance to ensure mission success. For instance, astronauts aboard the station exercise about one hour per day and eat a will balanced nutritional diet to combat bone density and muscle mass losses.
Even with countermeasures in place, astronauts still experience some physiological changes during a mission. Therefore, once an astronaut crew returns to Earth, there is a period of post-flight reconditioning, which begins on landing day and lasts for about 45 days. This reconditioning program is designed to return astronauts to their pre-flight physical condition.
The complex medical operations that go into any spaceflight mission, starting with astronaut selection and training though post-flight support, are critical for commercial space station partners to understand.
“After the success of our payload operations meeting series hosted at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, earlier this year, this medical operations series is another great example of how we are providing immense value to our commercial low Earth orbit partners to ensure their success,” said Angela Hart, manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program. “By enabling companies to have unique access to NASA experts and data, we are actively supporting those build schedules to be ready for the retirement of the space station.”
NASA flight surgeon Dr. William Tarver delivers a presentation on post-launch medical support, mission readiness, and NASA’s health stabilization program. NASA/David DeHoyosNASA plans to continue providing best practices documents on its public website along with offering additional meeting series in the future to commercial partners to continue the sharing of knowledge to enable a successful commercial space ecosystem.
For more information about NASA’s commercial space strategy, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/
Keep Exploring Discover More TopicsLow Earth Orbit Economy
Commercial Destinations in Low Earth Orbit
Commercial Space
Space Station Research and Technology
NASA’s Lola Fatoyinbo Receives Royal Geographical Society Prize
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) During a research trip to Fiji, Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo poses in a cluster of coastal mangroves, just one of the aspects of forested and coastal ecosystems that she studies.Courtesy of Dr. Lola FatoyinboDr. Lola Fatoyinbo, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, received the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Prize on April 8 in London. The prize, according to the RGS, recognizes “outstanding achievement by an individual in the pursuit and/or application of geographical research, with a particular emphasis on wildlife conservation and environmental research studies.”
The late and renowned conservationist Esmond Bradley Martin founded the annual prize via a bequest; Fatoyinbo is the second recipient. The Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society Prize recognizes outstanding achievement by individuals undertaking research into wildlife conservation and environmental studies, reflecting Esmond’s tireless work for the protection of wildlife and our natural environment. Fatoyinbo is part of the Biospheric Sciences Lab at NASA Goddard, where she develops and uses advanced remote sensing technologies and data to understand forested and coastal ecosystems. The lab also studies mathematical modeling and advanced analytical techniques that allows scientists to characterize and predict environmental changes due to natural and anthropogenic processes at local to global scales.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to receive this award,” Fatoyinbo said. “Being the recipient right after Dr. Paula Kahumbu, whose work and mission I admire, and in the name of Esmond Bradley Martin, is inspiring and humbling. This recognition also profoundly motivates me to continue producing the environmental data and knowledge that I believe will help protect life on our planet.”
Fatoyinbo has authored or co-authored 60 publications in scientific journals, and she has also partnered with organizations to help protect ecosystems and provide pathways for her research to inform policy decisions.
“In her work, Lola manages to accomplish something of an engineering-theoretical, ecology applications trifecta,” said Woody Turner, NASA’s program manager for ecological conservation, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By using complex active remote sensing from radars and lidars, she tests cutting edge theories of how tropical and subtropical coastal systems function. But she does all that without losing sight of the practical applications of her team’s work for real people making real decisions in dynamic environments. That kind of synthesis is very difficult to achieve and arises only from an extremely curious individual. Lola brings it all together.”
Her work on airborne light detection and ranging, or lidar, and satellite imagery campaigns after Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, the impact of oil exploration in the Niger Delta, and studies of mangrove forests across the Americas, Africa, and Asia, have increased global understanding of some of Earth’s most critical systems and supported the voices of those that depend on them.
Fatoyinbo said she is also dedicated to training and mentoring the next generation of scientists looking to understand and help protect our home planet, starting with the junior researchers in her lab.
“Lola’s work exemplifies how geographical research has a real-world impact,” said Nigel Clifford, RGS president and chair of the awarding panel. “Her commitment to ensuring that scientific study influences policy shows true leadership in conservation and environmental research and makes her the perfect recipient for the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society Prize.”
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is the learned society and professional body for geography. Formed in 1830, their Royal Charter of 1859 is for the advancement of geographical science.
By Jake Richmond
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
The multiverse could be much, much bigger than we ever imagined
The multiverse could be much, much bigger than we ever imagined
Could Gravitational-Wave ‘Memories’ Prove Einstein Wrong?
According to Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the universe remembers every gravitational wave—and scientists could soon test these cosmic recollections
60 Years Ago: Gemini 1 Flies a Successful Uncrewed Test Flight
On April 8, 1964, Gemini 1 successfully completed the first uncrewed test flight of the Gemini spacecraft and its Titan II booster. The three-orbit mission proved the structural integrity of the spacecraft and the launch vehicle, paving the way for a second uncrewed test flight and ultimately missions with astronauts. The primary goals of Project Gemini included proving the techniques required for the Apollo Program to fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. Of primary importance, Gemini demonstrated the rendezvous and docking techniques necessary to implement the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous method NASA chose for the Moon landing mission. Additionally, Gemini proved that astronauts could work outside their spacecraft during spacewalks and that spacecraft and astronauts could function for at least eight days, considered the minimum time for a roundtrip lunar mission.
Left: Cutaway diagram of the Gemini spacecraft. Middle: Workers at the McDonnell plant in St. Louis examine a Gemini spacecraft mockup. Right: Workers at Martin Marietta’s Baltimore facility test Gemini 1’s Titan II rocket.
Wedged between the pioneering Project Mercury and the historic Apollo missions to the Moon lies the less-heralded Project Gemini. The project’s 12 missions, two uncrewed test flights and 10 crewed missions, bridged the gap between Mercury that proved human spaceflight possible, and that Apollo could achieve President Kennedy’s goal. The Gemini missions flown between April 1964 and November 1966 demonstrated all the techniques required to make Apollo possible and gave astronauts the necessary training and flight experience while maturing the ground support infrastructure. The Gemini spacecraft grew out of studies for an upgraded Mercury capsule with an extended orbital life that could carry two astronauts and maneuver in space. On Dec. 7, 1961, NASA approved the development of the two-seat spacecraft, giving the contract to the McDonnell Corporation of St. Louis, the same company that built Mercury. To launch the spacecraft, NASA ordered the modification of the U.S. Air Force’s Titan II missile, built by the Martin Marietta Corporation in Baltimore. On Jan. 13, 1962, NASA officially named the project Gemini and established a formal Gemini Project Office later that month. But before any astronauts took flight aboard a Gemini spacecraft, it required thorough testing with a crew.
Left: The first stage of Gemini 1’s Titan II rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Pad 19. Middle left: Static test of the Titan II’s two stages. Middle right: Workers lift Gemini 1 to mate it with its Titan II rocket. Right: Workers lower Gemini 1 onto its Titan II rocket.
The agency approved the Gemini spacecraft design on March 31, 1962. The first spacecraft for the uncrewed Gemini 1 test mission arrived at Cape Canaveral on Oct. 4, 1963. In lieu of the two crew ejection seats, the spacecraft contained instrument pallets to monitor and record conditions during the mission. The Titan II rocket for Gemini 1 arrived at Cape Canaveral on Oct. 26 and three days later workers first stacked its two stages in a side-by-side configuration on Launch Pad 19 to prepare for the sequence compatibility test. That test, successfully carried out on Jan. 21, 1964, consisted of 30-second sequential static firings of the two stages. Following the test, workers vertically stacked the two stages and on March 5 mounted and mechanically mated the Gemini spacecraft to the second stage. Engineers completed a simulated countdown on April 2 and a simulated flight test on April 5, leading to the start of the countdown to launch on April 7.
Left: Liftoff of Gemini 1 from Launch Pad 19. Middle: Aerial view of Gemini 1 rising from Launch Pad 19. Right: Gemini 1 continues its ascent to space.
On April 8, 1964, at 11:00 a.m. EST, Gemini 1 lifted off from Launch Pad 19. The primary objectives of the mission included verifying the structural integrity of the Titan II launch vehicle and the Gemini spacecraft, and the ability of the rocket to place the spacecraft into the proper orbit. After five minutes and 37 seconds of powered flight, during which the expended first stage dropped away and the second stage completed the ascent, Gemini 1, still attached to the second stage, achieved orbit. The slightly higher than expected velocity imparted to the spacecraft resulted in placing it in an orbit 21 miles higher than expected, an anomaly not considered serious.
Left: The Mission Control Center (MCC) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: In the MCC, Flight Directors Christopher C. Kraft, left, and John D. Hodge, monitor the Gemini 1 mission. Right: In the auditorium of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth introduces the Gemini 3 crew to the press.
In the Gemini Mission Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Flight Director Christopher C. Kraft led a team of flight controllers that monitored all aspects of the flight. The flight plan called for Gemini 1 to remain attached to its second stage for the duration of its mission that included only the first three orbits and ended about 4 hours 50 minutes after launch, with no plans to recover the spacecraft. The worldwide network continued to track Gemini 1 until it reentered the atmosphere on April 12, on its 64th orbit, over the southern Atlantic Ocean. Program managers declared the mission an unqualified success. The success of Gemini 1 led to optimism that NASA could carry out Gemini 2, a suborbital uncrewed test flight, in August 1964, followed by Gemini 3, the first crewed mission in November – the missions actually took place in January and March 1965, respectively. Riding on the optimism, on April 13, just five days after Gemini 1, in the newly open auditorium at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth introduced the Gemini 3 crew to the press. NASA assigned Mercury 4 veteran Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Group 2 astronaut John W. Young as the prime crew, with Mercury 8 veteran Walter M. Schirra and Group 2 astronaut Thomas P. Stafford serving as their backups.
Explore More 6 min read From NASA’s First Astronaut Class to Artemis II: The Importance of Military Jet Pilot Experience Article 8 hours ago 16 min read 40 Years Ago: STS-41C, the Solar Max Repair Mission Article 4 days ago 11 min read Eclipses Near and Far Article 5 days agoProba-2 sees the Moon eclipse the Sun
ESA’s Proba-2 captured two partial solar eclipses on 8 April 2024.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, totally or partially blocking the Sun from Earth’s point of view. On 8 April, lucky viewers across North America witnessed the Moon blocking out the Sun in its entirety for a few minutes, while those north and south of the ‘total eclipse path’ witnessed a partial eclipse.
Throughout the eclipse period, the Moon crossed Proba-2’s field of view twice, appearing as a partial solar eclipse. The satellite flies around 700 km above Earth’s surface in what is called a Sun-synchronous orbit, each orbit lasting around 100 minutes.
The video was produced from images taken by Proba-2’s SWAP telescope, which observes the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light. At these wavelengths, the turbulent nature of the Sun's surface and corona – the Sun's extended atmosphere – become visible. These measurements have to be made from space, because Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t allow such short wavelengths of light to pass through.
A total solar eclipse provides a unique opportunity to see the Sun’s corona from Earth's surface, using visible light. As the Moon blocks most of the Sun’s bright light, the faint corona can be discerned. By comparing the SWAP ultraviolet images to what is seen by (visible light) telescopes on Earth, we can learn about the temperature and behaviour of different structures in the corona.
Other solar missions also made the most of the unique measurement opportunities provided by the eclipse. For example, ESA’s Solar Orbiter was positioned close to the Sun and at a 90-degree angle from Earth’s view throughout the eclipse. This allowed it to complement Earth-based observations by monitoring the Sun’s corona side-on, including any solar eruptions pointing in Earth’s direction.