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In the western US, the average maximum growth rate of fires has more than doubled over the past two decades

In the western US, the average maximum growth rate of fires has more than doubled over the past two decades

An ultraluminous nova in a nearby galaxy offers a glimpse into the mysterious workings of a rare stellar duo.

Listen to Chief AI Officer Dave Salvagnini represent NASA in a Federal Executive Forum webinar on “Artificial Intelligence Strategies in Government Progress and Best Practices 2024.”

I see an acceptance of AI as the digital assistant, that capability that is going to enable every member of the workforce to be more effective with their time.

Dave Salvagnini

NASA Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, and Chief Data Officer

Featuring Chief AI Officers and technology experts at the IRS, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Red Hat, Deloitte, and Pure Storage, this discussion covers current AI use cases across the private and public sectors. Artificial intelligence, particularly GenAI, is changing landscapes ranging from medicine to tax systems to aeronautics. The webinar covers AI use cases for medical devices, tax amendments, and more, including a segment on how NASA is using AI capabilities for earth sciences, climate modeling, and deep space exploration. Although NASA has a long history with AI, Salvagnini notes, GenAI is changing the way we view and use these technologies. How do we equip the workforce to democratized, accessible AI capabilities, and what policies should we create to mitigate potential risks like bias, inaccuracies, and copyright issues?

The webinar participants voice similar AI priorities in the coming year: building infrastructure to use these technologies at scale, equipping the workforce with training and resources, delivering AI capabilities that increase efficiencies, and establishing governance and risk management policies. The episode ends with a discussion of the near future, with each technology leader outlining their agency’s expected output and accomplishments regarding AI. At NASA, Salvagnini expects a perspective shift toward AI in our daily work. “I see an acceptance of AI as the digital assistant, that capability that is going to enable every member of the workforce to be more effective with their time.” 

The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-8 mission will return to Earth early Friday morning (Oct. 25), and you can watch their homecoming live.

Since its ​launch​​​ in 2014, ​the ​Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) ​system ​has served as NASA’s online repository for physical science data. ​Now​​​, the PSI system​ is​ ​live with new​​​ update​s​ to further align with NASA’s open data policy​.​ 

​​With its first significant update in over five years,​​ t​he data repository has been completely redesigned, featuring a new layout, improved structure, and enhanced search functionalities. This updated system was created with a focus on user experience, and more updates are anticipated as new features are introduced. 

​​A key new feature of the system is​, the PSI Submission Portal​​. This tool is designed to streamline the processes of collecting, curating, and publishing new data by enabling Principal Investigators and scientific teams to upload files directly to the system with the support of a data curator. The Portal also offers a dedicated workspace for data submitters, assigns a unique digital object identifier to each dataset, and standardizes the documentation and data structure for each investigation. 

Both the updated PSI system and Submission Portal can be accessed at PSI.NASA.gov. 

Scientists have identified one of the largest carbon-based molecules in space yet. It could help us decode the origins of life as we know it.

A new supercapacitor design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries

A new supercapacitor design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries

A new battery design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries

A new battery design that uses only water, clay and graphene could source material on Mars and be more sustainable and accessible than traditional batteries

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2. Educator Night at the Museum…

Heliophysics

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2 min read

Educator Night at the Museum of the North: Activating Science in Fairbanks Classrooms

The NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT) set out to activate science in Fairbanks classrooms in early October at the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North annual Educators’ Night. This free Fall semester event introduces educators and school staff to a variety of resources and connections, connecting attendees with resources and university departments that will support their classroom efforts.

In 2024, over 100 guests received support from exhibitors on classroom topics. The museum put several dynamic activity kits on display – Cultural Connections Northern Lights, Energetic Aurora, and Sun Discovery – and helped participants explore and engage with them as supplementary materials for their classroom units and opportunities for hands-on exploration. The museum also promoted an upcoming Spring 2025 teacher workshop focused on the aurora.

The Geophysical Institute’s (GI) Education Outreach Office – another active element of the NASA HEAT team – hosted a table to display some of their co-produced resources, including the Cultural Connections Northern Lights (Kiġuyat) student guides, which blend Iñupiaq culture and aurora borealis science. After directing educators on how to locate physical and digital resources, the GI Education Outreach team encouraged their visitors to wrap the term “heliophysics” into their own vocabulary!

The University of Alaska Museum of the North’s Education & Public Programs team are an impactful part of NASA HEAT, which is part of NASA’s Science Activation portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn

https://www.uaf.edu/museum/education/educators/educators-night

Pulled from their kits and displayed for perusing, the Cultural Connections to Northern Lights kit is ready to be explored. UAF Geophysical Education Outreach staff Kaz Storm (left) and Mariah McNamara (right) introducing educators to curriculum materials co-produced with Alaska Native communities. Share

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Last Updated

Oct 24, 2024

Editor NASA Science Editorial Team

Related Terms

• Grades 5 – 8 for Educators
• Grades 9-12 for Educators
• Grades K – 4 for Educators
• Heliophysics
• Opportunities For Educators to Get Involved
• Science Activation

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NASA has awarded $15.6 million in grant funding to 15 projects supporting the maintenance of open-source tools, frameworks, and libraries used by the NASA science community, for the benefit of all.

The agency’s Open-Source Tools, Frameworks, and Libraries awards provide support for the sustainable development of tools freely available to everyone and critical for the goals of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.

“We received almost twice the number of proposals this year than we had in the previous call,” said Steve Crawford, program executive, Open Science implementation, Office of the Chief Science Data Officer, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The NASA science community’s excitement for this program demonstrates the need for sustained support and maintenance of open-source software. These projects are integral to our missions, critical to our data infrastructure, underpin machine learning and data science tools, and are used by our researchers, every day, to advance science that protects our planet and broadens our understanding of the universe.”

This award program is one of several cross-divisional opportunities at NASA focused on advancing open science practices. The grants are funded by NASA’s Office of the Chief Science Data Officer through the agency’s Research Opportunities for Space and Earth Science. The solicitation sought proposals through two types of awards:

• Foundational awards: cooperative agreements for up to five years for open-source tools, frameworks, and libraries that have a significant impact on two or more divisions of the Science Mission Directorate.
• Sustainment awards: grants or cooperative agreements of up to three years for open-source tools, frameworks, and libraries that have significant impact in one or more divisions of the Science Mission Directorate.

2024 awardees are:

Foundation awards:

• NASA’s Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, California
  • Principal investigator: Ross Beyer
  • “Expanding and Maintaining the Ames Stereo Pipeline”
• Caltech, Pasadena, California
  • Principal investigator: Brigitta Sipőcz
  • “Enhancement of Infrastructure and Sustained Maintenance of Astroquery”
• Cornell University, Scarsdale, New York
  • Principal investigator: Ramin Zabih
  • “Modernize and Expand arXiv’s Essential Infrastructure”
• NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
  • Principal investigator: D. Cooley
  • “Enabling SMD Science Using the General Mission Analysis Tool”
• NumFOCUS, Austin, Texas
  • Principal investigator: Thomas Caswell
  • “Sustainment of Matplotlib and Cartopy”
• NumFOCUS
  • Principal investigator: Erik Tollerud
  • “Investing in the Astropy Project to Enable Research and Education in Astronomy”

Sustainment awards:

• NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California
  • Principal investigator: Cedric David
  • “Sustain NASA’s River Software for the Satellite Data Deluge,” three-year award
• Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  • Principal investigator: David Radice
  • “AthenaK: A Performance Portable Simulation Infrastructure for Computational Astrophysics,” three-year award
• United States Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia
  • Principal investigator: Trent Hare
  • “Planetary Updates for QGIS,” one-year award
• NASA JPL
  • Principal investigator: Michael Starch
  • “How To F Prime: Empowering Science Missions Through Documentation and Examples,” three-year award
• NASA Goddard
  • Principal investigator: Albert Shih
  • “Enhancing Consistency and Discoverability Across the SunPy Ecosystem,” three-year award
• Triad National Security, LLC, Los Alamos, New Mexico
  • Principal investigator: Julia Kelliher
  • “Enhancing Analysis Capabilities of Biological Data With the NASA EDGE Bioinformatics Platform,” four-year award
• iSciences LLC, Burlington, Vermont
  • Principal investigator: Daniel Baston
  • “Sustaining the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library,” three-year award
• University of Maryland, College Park,
  • Principal investigator: C Max Stevens
  • “Sustaining the Community Firn Model,” three-year award
• Quansight, LLC, Austin, Texas
  • Principal investigator: Dharhas Pothina
  • “Ensuring a Fast and Secure Core for Scientific Python – Security, Accessibility and Performance of NumPy, SciPy and scikit-learn; Going Beyond NumPy With Accelerator Support,” three-year award

For information about open science at NASA, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/open-science

-end-

Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-617-4977
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA logo

In fiscal year 2023, NASA investments supported 66,208 jobs in the state of California, generated $18.5 billion in economic output and $1 billion in tax revenue to the state’s economy.

Overall, NASA generated an estimated $9.5 billion in federal, state, and local taxes throughout the United States.

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California is one of three NASA centers in the state that contributes to this economic achievement. The center supports critical research in sustainable flight, air mobility, and airborne science, reinforcing the region as a hub of aerospace innovation.

Most notably, NASA Armstrong plays a unique role in the Quesst mission and X-59 project, aimed at reducing the sonic booms into quieter “sonic thumps,” to change regulations impeding supersonic flight over land. Additionally, maturing key airframe technologies with the X-66 aircraft in the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project which may influence the next generation single-aisle seat class airliner. The Center also supports the research of electric air taxis and drones to operate safely in the national airspace as well as supporting science aircraft for NASA’s Earth Science Mission.

NASA’s Moon to Mars campaign generated 16,129 jobs and $4.7 billion in economic output in California. Collaborations with contractors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin further extended these benefits by creating thousands of high-skilled jobs in the Antelope Valley and across the state.

NASA also fosters partnerships with educational institutions across the state, investing $39.5 million in universities to cultivate the next generation of aerospace innovators. These investments bring STEM opportunities to local communities and prepare students for careers in cutting-edge industries – adding to the agency’s most valuable asset, its workforce.

NASA embraces the challenges of exploring the unknown and making the impossible possible as we continue our global leadership in science, human spaceflight, aerospace innovation, and technology development, and support the U.S. economy and benefit all.

Read the full Economic Impact Report for Fiscal Year 2023.

-end-

Nicolas Cholula / Sarah Mann
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center
661-714-3853 / 661-233-2758
nicolas.h.cholula@nasa.gov /sarah.mann@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Oct 24, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactNicolas Cholulanicolas.h.cholula@nasa.govSarah Mannsarah.mann@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms

• Armstrong Flight Research Center

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Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro speaks in March 2022 during the annual State of NASA event at the Florida spaceport. NASA/Kim Shiflett

America is returning to the Moon with our sights set on Mars, and NASA is leading the way. Along with our industry and international partners, we’re advancing scientific research, inspiring the next generation of explorers, and ensuring reliable and continuous access to space for our nation.

NASA’s Economic Impact Report for fiscal year (FY) 2023 highlights the nation’s strong return on its investment in NASA. Our missions help unveil the secrets of the universe and our home planet while also benefitting the taxpayers, communities, and industries across the country.

Here at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, we are on track for another record-setting year of launches from our Space Coast. Recent NASA missions will tell us more about Earth’s weather and climate, explore Jupiter’s moon Europa for the ingredients of life, and enable more innovative research on the International Space Station. We’re also busy building the Artemis rockets, spacecraft, and technologies that will allow our astronauts to live and work on the Moon.

While exploring the universe for the benefit of all, NASA is also supporting the U.S. economy. During FY23, an investment of less than one-half of 1% of the federal budget, the agency generated $76 billion in total economic output nationwide.

In Florida alone, NASA activities in FY2023 supported 35,685 jobs in the state and $8.2 billion in economic output, resulting in an additional $286.6 million in state tax revenue. NASA Kennedy’s unique facilities, proven technical capabilities, and master plan enable nearly 250 partnerships with 100 private-sector partners. And the dedication and commitment of our workforce means that our spaceport remains the world’s leader in space science, human exploration, and technology development.

As we look toward a future of more exploration and discovery, I invite you to learn more about the impacts that NASA missions may have had in your life. The agency’s technology transfer initiatives transition NASA innovations into private hands, where real impacts are made. And NASA’s STEM engagements encourage research and the study of science, technology, engineering, and math at all ages.

And, of course, I hope you will learn more about the exciting work we’re doing at Earth’s premier spaceport by visiting:

www.nasa.gov/kennedy

-end-

Images of Janet Petro are available from NASA’s image library in vertical and horizontal  formats.

Patti Bielling
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-7575
patricia.a.bielling@nasa.gov

Despite talk of a green recovery, global greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise as the world emerged from coronavirus lockdowns