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Anthocyanins protect seeds in space

After exposure to space outside the International Space Station, purple-pigmented rice seeds rich in anthocyanin had higher germination rates than non-pigmented white rice seeds. This result suggests that anthocyanin, a flavonoid known to protect plants from UV irradiation, could help preserve seed viability on future space missions.

Plants are key components for systems being designed to produce nutrients and recycle carbon for future sustained space habitation, but space has been shown to reduce seed viability. Tanpopo-3, part of a series of investigations from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), examined the role of anthocyanins in maintaining seed viability. Results of this and previous experiments suggest that solar light in space is more detrimental to seeds than radiation.

Preflight image of the Tanpopo panel used to expose seeds and other samples to space. Tanpopo-3 team

Low-cost, autonomous technology validated for space research

Researchers verified a pair of devices for conducting experiments in space that have multi-step reactions and require automatic mixing of solutions. This type of low-cost, autonomous technology expands the possibilities for space-based research, including work by commercial entities.

Ice Cubes #6- Kirara, an investigation from ESA (European Space Agency) developed by the Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation, used a temperature-controlled incubator to crystallize proteins in microgravity. The Kirara facility also enables production of polymers, including cellulose, which have different uses than protein crystals. This experiment synthesized and decomposed cellulose.

The Kirara incubator used for experiments in microgravity. United Arab Emirates/Sultan Alneyadi

Insights from observations of an X-ray binary star

Researchers used Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) to observe the timing of 15 X-ray bursts from 4U 1820–30, an ultracompact X-ray binary (UCXB) star. An X-ray binary is a neutron star orbiting a companion from which it takes matter. If confirmed with future observations, this result makes 4U 1820–30 the fastest-spinning neutron star known in an X-ray binary system and provides insights into the physics of neutron stars.

NICER makes high-precision measurements of neutron stars (the ultra-dense matter created when massive stars explode as supernovas) and other phenomena to increase our understanding of the universe. NICER has monitored 4U 1820–30 since its launch in June 2017. A short orbital period indicates a relatively small binary system, and 4U 1820–30 has the shortest known orbital period among low-mass X-ray binaries.

Animated image of a binary star system,NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith

When Ariel Vargas joined NASA in 2023, he knew he wanted to make an impact. Despite his relatively short tenure, he has earned the reputation of a Digital Transformer in his work as a Network and ICAM (Identity, Credential, and Access Management) Service Integrator at Johnson Space Center (JSC). No matter the task at hand, Ariel is motivated by measurable transformation. “I wanted to have my fingerprint on something no matter what it was, big or small. To be able to see an impact,” he says. “And a lot of the things that I’m doing, both within my role and within Digital Transformation, I can see really flourishing already.”  

In his current role, Ariel oversees the integration and management of various network services to ensure compliance and smooth operation. This includes the modernization of NASA’s Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to consolidate the agency’s telephone systems and enhance wireless communications. He is involved in rolling out wall-to-wall wireless and coverage improvements on campus at JSC. Ariel also spearheads efforts in streamlining communications across NASA by integrating new capabilities into familiar platforms like Microsoft Teams. With these projects in progress, he aims to foster a more flexible, collaborative work environment aligned with Digital Transformation’s goal of inclusive teaming.  

Ariel appreciates the cultural side of Digital Transformation, particularly the challenges involved in pursuing constant innovation. He recognizes that growth “often requires a period of adjustment, especially for those encountering new tools or methods for the first time.” Ariel strives to ensure cohesive collaboration across teams and centers in establishing interoperable architectures, processes, and tools. His team measures the impact of their transformation efforts by several metrics, including increased network performance and adoption rates of new tools and technologies. For instance, the VoIP modernization initiative aims to remove 50% of telephones at NASA centers. Of the over 1300 users affected by the NASA-wide service shut-off of non-compliant phones at JSC, only 6% reported issues post-implementation. This reflected a positive and proactive collaboration with users on finding alternative solutions and embracing future innovations. 

I really believe in embracing changes and innovation and driving impactful results, being able to see it.

Ariel Vargas

Network and ICAM (Identity, Credential, and Access Management) Service Integrator at Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Lynn Vernon, JSC’s Digital Transformation lead and Chief Engineer for IT, notes Ariel’s ability to engage with partners, understand their mission needs, and identify innovative solutions to barriers. “Ariel looks at things from a new perspective and is willing to ask ‘why’ or ‘why not.’ Why do we do it this way? Why not try this? He is consistently willing to explore new technologies and capabilities to transform the way we work,” says Lynn. Ariel’s passion for continuous improvement and learning positions him as a natural leader within the Digital Transformation community. 

Ariel took a unique path to NASA and sees his prior experiences as building blocks toward becoming the Digital Transformer he is today. Although his upbringing in Florida near Cape Canaveral sparked an early interest in space, Ariel initially pursued pre-medicine after high school before transitioning into the Army. After his service, he joined NASA as an intern through the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge program, which offers career assistance to transitioning military personnel. His ability to learn NASA’s culture and demonstrate mission value quickly led to a full-time, civil servant position. 

Between his initial interest in medicine, his service in the Army, and his current focus on digital transformation and technology, Ariel sees a common theme of problem-solving. “You have to figure out what the problem is, and you have to be up to date with the newest, the latest and greatest, to help solve these problems.” Ariel followed this thread to complete a master’s degree in computer science and is currently pursuing a doctorate in instructional design and performance technology. Even outside his work at NASA, Ariel pursues pathways that further his capacity as a champion of Digital Transformation initiatives. 

Looking to the future, Ariel is excited by the possibility of supporting NASA’s space missions through AI and data integration. He is motivated by the prospect of seeing his current work make a difference in the near-term future. “I really believe in embracing changes and innovation and driving impactful results, being able to see it,” he says. Given his accomplishments of the past year, Ariel is well on his way to realizing the future he envisions.  

Participants from the 14th First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 launch from the Banana Creek viewing site at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. Students and advisors from University of Washington, University of Colorado-Boulder, and an international team from Queens University – this year’s First Nations Launch grand prize teams – traveled to Kennedy for a VIP tour, culminating in viewing the Crew-7 launch.

NASA/Ben Smegelsky & Virgil Cameron

In this image from Aug. 26, 2023, participants from the 14th First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 launch at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Students and advisors from University of Washington, University of Colorado-Boulder, and an international team from Queens University – the 2023 First Nations Launch grand prize teams – traveled to Kennedy for a VIP tour, culminating in viewing the Crew-7 launch.

Grand prize teams also went on a guided tour of historic Hangar AE, led by James Wood (Osage Nation and Loyal Shawnee), chief engineer of NASA’s Launch Services Program, technical advisor for the Crew-7 launch, and First Nations mentor and judge.

One of NASA’s Artemis Student Challenges, the First Nations Launch competition comprises students from tribal colleges and universities, Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions, and collegiate chapters of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society who design, build, and launch a high-powered rocket from a launch site in Kansasville, Wisconsin.

Explore more Minority University Research and Education Project opportunities and resources here.

Image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky & Virgil Cameron

We've rounded up the top space gifts from Amazon this Black Friday. Happy shopping!

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Changes to the structure of DNA within fat cells may be why it is often so hard to keep weight off after you have lost it

Changes to the structure of DNA within fat cells may be why it is often so hard to keep weight off after you have lost it

On Nov. 16, 2009, space shuttle Atlantis began its 31st trip into space, on the third Utilization and Logistics Flight (ULF3) mission to the International Space Station, the 31st shuttle flight to the orbiting lab. During the 11-day mission, the six-member STS-129 crew worked with the six-person Expedition 21 crew during seven days of docked operations. The mission’s primary objectives included delivering two external logistics carriers and their spare parts, adding nearly 15 tons of hardware to the station, and returning a long-duration crew member, the last to return on a shuttle. Three of the STS-129 astronauts conducted three spacewalks to transfer spare parts and continue assembly and maintenance of the station. As a group of 12, the joint crews celebrated the largest and most diverse Thanksgiving gathering in space.

Left: Official photograph of the STS-129 crew of Leland D. Melvin, left, Charles O. Hobaugh, Michael J. Foreman, Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher, Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore, and Randolph “Randy” J. Bresnik. Middle: The STS-129 crew patch. Right: The ULF3 payload patch.

The six-person STS-129 crew consisted of Commander Charles O. Hobaugh, Pilot Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore, and Mission Specialists Randolph “Randy” J. Bresnik, Michael J. Foreman, Leland D. Melvin, and Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher. Primary objectives of the mission included launch and transfer to the station of the first two EXPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC-1 and ELC-2) and their multiple spare parts, and the return of NASA astronaut and Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole P. Stott, the last astronaut to rotate on the shuttle.

Left: In the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers finish processing Atlantis for STS-129. Right: Space shuttle Atlantis rolls over from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Left: Atlantis rolls out to Launch Pad 39A. Right: The STS-129 crew during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test.

Atlantis returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) from its previous mission, STS-125, on June 2, 2009, and workers towed it to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to prepare it for STS-129. The orbiter rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 6, and after mating with its external tank and twin solid rocket boosters, rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on Oct. 14, targeting a Nov. 16 launch. Six days later, the six-member crew participated in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, essentially a dress rehearsal of the actual countdown for launch, returning to Houston for final training. They returned to KSC on Nov. 13 to prepare for launch.

Left: With Atlantis sitting on Launch Pad 39A, the Ares 1-X rocket lifts off from Launch Pad 39B. Right: The payload canister arrives at Launch Pad 39A.

Left: The STS-129 astronauts leave crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A. Right: Liftoff of space shuttle Atlantis on STS-129.

On Nov. 16, at 2:28 p.m. EST, space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A to begin its 31st trip into space, carrying its six-member crew on the ULF3 space station outfitting and resupply mission. Eight and a half minutes later, Atlantis and its crew had reached orbit. The flight marked Hobaugh’s third time in space, having flown on STS-104 and STS-118, Foreman’s and Melvin’s second, having flown on STS-123 and STS-122, respectively, while Wilmore, Bresnik, and Satcher enjoyed their first taste of weightlessness.

Left: The two EXPRESS Logistics Carriers in Atlantis’ payload bay. Middle: Leland D. Melvin participates in the inspection of Atlantis’ thermal protection system. Right: The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System grasps the Orbiter Boom Sensor System for the inspection.

After reaching orbit, the crew opened the payload bay doors, deployed the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. The astronauts spent six hours on their second day in space conducting a detailed inspection of Atlantis’ nose cap and wing leading edges, with Hobaugh, Wilmore, Melvin, and Bresnik taking turns operating the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), or robotic arm, and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS).

Left: The International Space Station as seen from Atlantis during the rendezvous and docking maneuver. Middle: Atlantis as seen from the space station, showing the two EXPRESS Logistics Carriers (ELC) in the payload bay. Right: View of the space station from Atlantis during the rendezvous pitch maneuver, with the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System grasping ELC-1 in preparation for transfer shortly after docking.

On the mission’s third day, Hobaugh assisted by his crewmates brought Atlantis in for a docking with the space station. During the rendezvous, Hobaugh stopped the approach at 600 feet and completed the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver so astronauts aboard the station could photograph Atlantis’ underside to look for any damage to the tiles. Shortly after docking, the crews opened the hatches between the two spacecraft and the six-person station crew welcomed the six-member shuttle crew. After the welcoming ceremony, Stott joined the STS-129 crew, leaving a crew of five aboard the station. Melvin and Bresnik used the SRMS to pick up ELC-1 from the payload bay and hand it off to Wilmore and Expedition 21 NASA astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams operating the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), who then installed it on the P3 truss segment.

Images from the first spacewalk. Left: Michael J. Foreman unstows the S-band Antenna Support Assembly prior to transferring it to the station. Middle: Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher lubricates the robotic arm’s Latching End Effector. Right: Satcher’s image reflected in a Z1 radiator panel.

During the mission’s first of three spacewalks on flight day four, Foreman and Satcher ventured outside for six hours and 37 minutes. During the excursion, with robotic help from their fellow crew members, they transferred a spare S-band Antenna Support Assembly from the shuttle’s payload bay to the station’s Z1 truss. Satcher, an orthopedic surgeon by training, performed “surgery” on the station’s main robotic arm as well as the robotic arm on the Kibo Japanese module, by lubricating their latching end effectors. One day after joining Atlantis’ crew, Stott celebrated her 47th birthday.

Left: Space station crew member Jeffery N. Williams assists STS-129 astronaut Leland D. Melvin in operating the space station’s robotic arm to transfer and install the second EXPRESS Logistics Carrier (ELC2) on the S3 truss. Middle: The station robotic arm installs ELC2 on the S3 truss. Right: Michael J. Foreman, left, and Randolph J. Bresnik during the mission’s second spacewalk.

On the mission’s fifth day, the astronauts performed another focused inspection of the shuttle’s thermal protection system. The next day, through another coordinated robotic activity involving the shuttle and station arms, the astronauts transferred ELC-2 and its complement of spares from the payload bay to the station’s S3 truss. Foreman and Bresnik completed the mission’s second spacewalk. Working on the Columbus module, they installed the Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing (GATOR) fixture that includes a system used for ship identification and an antenna for Ham radio operators. They next installed a wireless video transmission system on the station’s truss. This spacewalk lasted six hours and eight minutes.

Left: Randolph J. Bresnik during the third STS-129 spacewalk. Middle: Robert “Bobby” L. Satcher during the third spacewalk. Right: The MISSE 7 exposure experiment suitcases installed on ELC2.

Following a crew off duty day, on flight day eight Satcher and Bresnik exited the airlock for the mission’s third and final spacewalk. Their first task involved moving an oxygen tank from the newly installed ELC-2 to the Quest airlock. They accomplished this task with robotic assistance from their fellow crew members. Bresnik retrieved the two-suitcase sized MISSE-7 experiment containers from the shuttle cargo bay and installed them on the MISSE-7 platform on ELC-2, opening them to begin their exposure time. This third spacewalk lasted five hours 42 minutes.

Left: An early Thanksgiving meal for 12 aboard the space station. Right: After the meal, who has the dishes?

Thanksgiving Day fell on the day after undocking, so the joint crews celebrated with a meal a few days early. The meal represented not only the largest Thanksgiving celebration in space with 12 participants, but also the most international, with four nations represented – the United States, Russia, Canada, and Belgium (representing the European Space Agency).

Left: The 12 members of Expedition 21 and STS-129 pose for a final photograph before saying their farewells. Right: The STS-129 crew, now comprising seven members.

A selection of STS-129 Earth observation images. Left: Maui. Middle: Los Angeles. Right: Houston.

Despite their busy workload, as with all space crews, the STS-129 astronauts made time to look out the windows and took hundreds of photographs of their home planet.

Left: The space station seen from Atlantis during the flyaround. Middle: Atlantis as seen from the space station during the flyaround, with a now empty payload bay. Right: Astronaut Nicole P. Stott looks back at the station, her home for three months, from the departing Atlantis.

On flight day nine, the joint crews held a brief farewell ceremony. European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, the first European to command the space station, handed over command to NASA astronaut Williams. The two crews parted company and closed the hatches between the two spacecraft. The next day, with Wilmore at the controls, Atlantis undocked from the space station, having spent seven days as a single spacecraft. Wilmore completed a flyaround of the station, with the astronauts photographing it to document its condition. A final separation burn sent Atlantis on its way.

The astronauts used the shuttle’s arm to pick up the OBSS and perform a late inspection of Atlantis’ thermal protection system. On flight day 11, Hobaugh and Wilmore tested the orbiter’s reaction control system thrusters and flight control surfaces in preparation for the next day’s entry and landing. The entire crew busied themselves with stowing all unneeded equipment.

Left: Atlantis about to touch down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: Atlantis touches down. Right: Atlantis deploys its drag chute as it continues down the runway.

Left: Six of the STS-129 astronauts pose with Atlantis on the runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Right: The welcome home ceremony for the STS-129 crew at Ellington Field in Houston.

On Nov. 27, the astronauts closed Atlantis’ payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats, a special recumbent one for Stott who had spent the last three months in weightlessness. Hobaugh fired Atlantis’ two Orbital Maneuvering System engines to bring them out of orbit and head for a landing half an orbit later. He guided Atlantis to a smooth touchdown at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

The landing capped off a very successful STS-129 mission of 10 days, 19 hours, 16 minutes. The six astronauts orbited the planet 171 times. Stott spent 90 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes in space, completing 1,423 orbits of the Earth. After towing Atlantis to the OPF, engineers began preparing it for its next flight, STS-132 in May 2010. The astronauts returned to Houston for a welcoming ceremony at Ellington Field.

Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-129 mission.

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Use your mouse to explore this 360-degree view of Gediz Vallis channel, a region of Mars that NASA’s Curiosity rover surveyed before heading west to new adventures. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The rover captured a 360-degree panorama before leaving Gediz Vallis channel, a feature it’s been exploring for the past year.

NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing for the next leg of its journey, a monthslong trek to a formation called the boxwork, a set of weblike patterns on Mars’ surface that stretches for miles. It will soon leave behind Gediz Vallis channel, an area wrapped in mystery. How the channel formed so late during a transition to a drier climate is one big question for the science team. Another mystery is the field of white sulfur stones the rover discovered over the summer.

Curiosity imaged the stones, along with features from inside the channel, in a 360-degree panorama before driving up to the western edge of the channel at the end of September.

The rover is searching for evidence that ancient Mars had the right ingredients to support microbial life, if any formed billions of years ago, when the Red Planet held lakes and rivers. Located in the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain, Gediz Vallis channel may help tell a related story: what the area was like as water was disappearing on Mars. Although older layers on the mountain had already formed in a dry climate, the channel suggests that water occasionally coursed through the area as the climate was changing.

Scientists are still piecing together the processes that formed various features within the channel, including the debris mound nicknamed “Pinnacle Ridge,” visible in the new 360-degree panorama. It appears that rivers, wet debris flows, and dry avalanches all left their mark. The science team is now constructing a timeline of events from Curiosity’s observations.

NASA’s Curiosity captured this panorama using its Mastcam while heading west away from Gediz Vallis channel on Nov. 2, 2024, the 4,352nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The Mars rover’s tracks across the rocky terrain are visible at right.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The science team is also trying to answer some big questions about the sprawling field of sulfur stones. Images of the area from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) showed what looked like an unremarkable patch of light-colored terrain. It turns out that the sulfur stones were too small for MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) to see, and Curiosity’s team was intrigued to find them when the rover reached the patch. They were even more surprised after Curiosity rolled over one of the stones, crushing it to reveal yellow crystals inside.

Science instruments on the rover confirmed the stone was pure sulfur — something no mission has seen before on Mars. The team doesn’t have a ready explanation for why the sulfur formed there; on Earth, it’s associated with volcanoes and hot springs, and no evidence exists on Mount Sharp pointing to either of those causes.

“We looked at the sulfur field from every angle — from the top and the side — and looked for anything mixed with the sulfur that might give us clues as to how it formed. We’ve gathered a ton of data, and now we have a fun puzzle to solve,” said Curiosity’s project scientist Ashwin Vasavada at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this last look at a field of bright white sulfur stones on Oct. 11, before leaving Gediz Vallis channel. The field was where the rover made the first discovery of pure sulfur on Mars. Scientists are still unsure exactly why theses rocks formed here. Spiderwebs on Mars

Curiosity, which has traveled about 20 miles (33 kilometers) since landing in 2012, is now driving along the western edge of Gediz Vallis channel, gathering a few more panoramas to document the region before making tracks to the boxwork.

Viewed by MRO, the boxwork looks like spiderwebs stretching across the surface. It’s believed to have formed when minerals carried by Mount Sharp’s last pulses of water settled into fractures in surface rock and then hardened. As portions of the rock eroded away, what remained were the minerals that had cemented themselves in the fractures, leaving the weblike boxwork.

On Earth, boxwork formations have been seen on cliffsides and in caves. But Mount Sharp’s boxwork structures stand apart from those both because they formed as water was disappearing from Mars and because they’re so extensive, spanning an area of 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 kilometers).  

Scientists think that ancient groundwater formed this weblike pattern of ridges, called boxwork, that were captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Dec. 10, 2006. The agency’s Curiosity rover will study ridges similar to these up close in 2025.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona This weblike crystalline structure called boxwork is found in the ceiling of the Elk’s Room, part of Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing for a journey to a boxwork formation that stretches for miles on Mars’ surface.

“These ridges will include minerals that crystallized underground, where it would have been warmer, with salty liquid water flowing through,” said Kirsten Siebach of Rice University in Houston, a Curiosity scientist studying the region. “Early Earth microbes could have survived in a similar environment. That makes this an exciting place to explore.”

More About Curiosity

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.), in Boulder, Colorado. JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more about these missions:

science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity

science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter

News Media Contacts

Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Nov 18, 2024 Related Terms

• Curiosity (Rover)
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Mars
• Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

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Clayton P. Turner, associate administrator for Space Technology Mission DirectorateCredit: NASA

Clayton P. Turner will serve as the associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday. His appointment is effective immediately.

Turner has served as the acting associate administrator of STMD since July. In this role, Turner will continue to oversee executive leadership, strategic planning, and overall management of all technology maturation and demonstration programs executed from the directorate enabling critical space focused technologies that deliver today and help create tomorrow.

“Under Turner’s skilled and steady hand, the Space Technology Mission Directorate will continue to do what it does best: help NASA push the boundaries of what’s possible and drive American leadership in space,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “I look forward to what STMD will achieve under Turner’s direction.”

As NASA embarks on the next era of space exploration, STMD leverages partnerships to advance technologies and test new capabilities helping the agency develop a sustainable presence on the Moon and beyond. As associate administrator of STMD, Turner will plan, coordinate, and evaluate the mission directorate’s full range of programs and activities, including budget formulation and execution, as well as represent the programs to officials within and outside the agency.

Previously, Turner served as NASA Langley Research Center Director since September 2019 and has been with the agency for more than 30 years. He has held several roles at NASA Langley, including engineering director, associate center director, and deputy center director. Throughout his NASA career, he has worked on many projects for the agency, including: the Earth Science Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation Project; the materials technology development Gas Permeable Polymer Materials Project; the Space Shuttle Program’s Return to Flight work; the flight test of the Ares 1-X rocket; the flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System; and the entry, descent, and landing segment of the Mars Science Laboratory.

In recognition of his commitment to the agency and engineering, Turner has received many prestigious awards, such as the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal. He is also an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and a Board of Trustees member of his alma mater, Rochester Institute of Technology.

NASA Glenn Research Center Deputy Director, Dawn Schaible, became acting Langley Center Director in July and will continue to serve in this role. At NASA Langley, Schaible leads a skilled group of more than 3,000 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers, and support staff, who work to advance aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and develop technology for space exploration.

For more about Turner’s experience, visit his full biography online at:

https://go.nasa.gov/48UmkmS

-end-

Meira Bernstein / Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov

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Details Last Updated Nov 18, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms

• Space Technology Mission Directorate

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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

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Designers at NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio work alongside researchers and scientists to create high-quality, engaging animations and visualizations of data. This animation shows global carbon dioxide emissions forming and circling the planet.Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Captivating images and videos can bring data to life. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) produces visualizations, animations, and images to help scientists tell stories of their research and make science more approachable and engaging.

Using the Discover supercomputer at the Center for Climate Simulation at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, visualizers use datasets generated by supercomputer models to create highly detailed, accurate, and stunning visualizations with Hollywood filmmaking tools like 3D modeling and animation.

Using supercomputing models, SVS visualizers created this data-driven animation of carbon dioxide emissions moving around the planet. The visualization is driven by massive climate data sets and highly detailed emissions maps created by NASA researchers and external partners. The resulting visualization shows the impact of power plants, fires, and cities, and how their emissions are spread across the planet by weather patterns and airflow.

“Both policymakers and scientists try to account for where carbon comes from and how that impacts the planet,” said NASA Goddard climate scientist Lesley Ott, whose research was used to generate the final visualization. “You see here how everything is interconnected by the different weather patterns.”

By combining visual storytelling with supercomputing power, the SVS team continues their work to captivate and connect with audiences while educating them on NASA’s scientific research and efforts.

The NASA Center for Climate Simulation is part of the NASA High-End Computing Program, which also includes the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility at Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

NASA is showcasing 29 of the agency’s computational achievements at SC24, the international supercomputing conference, Nov. 18-22, 2024, in Atlanta. For more technical information, visit: ​ 

https://www.nas.nasa.gov/sc24

For news media: 

Members of the news media interested in covering this topic should reach out to the NASA Ames newsroom. 

About the AuthorTara Friesen

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Details Last Updated Nov 18, 2024 Related Terms

• Ames Research Center
• Earth Science Division
• General
• Goddard Space Flight Center

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Leading researchers warn that relying on "passive" carbon sinks such as forests to absorb ongoing carbon emissions will doom the world to continued warming

Even JWST can’t separate these tiny planets from their host stars – as they orbit their stars too closely. But there is a way to “see” the planet’s atmosphere from this entangled light.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a small galaxy, just a tenth of the Milky Way’s mass. It is about 160,000 light years away, which is remarkably close in cosmic terms. In the southern hemisphere it spans the width of 20 Moons in the night sky. While the galaxy seems timeless and unchanging to our short human lives, it is, in fact, a dynamic system undergoing a near collision with our galaxy. Now astronomers are beginning to observe that process.

The LMC is unusual for a dwarf galaxy because it’s unusually dense. Based on stellar motion within the LMC, it appears to have a rather small halo surrounding it. This has led some astronomers to argue that the galaxy is not in orbit around the Milky Way. Instead, it is simply passing our galaxy, having made its closest approach. As the galaxy passed through the large and relatively dense halo of the Milky Way, some of the LMC halo would have been stripped away, trailing behind it in a diffuse tail. It’s a likely scenario, but proving it has been a difficult challenge. The halo of the Large Magellanic Cloud is too dark and diffuse for us to observe directly. But this new study has finally observed the LMC halo thanks to some distant quasars.

Plot of the observed LMC halo. Credit: Mishra, et al

Quasars are powerful beacons powered by supermassive black holes in distant galaxies. Though they are billions of light-years away, their light can be easily observed by radio telescopes and space telescopes such as the Hubble. Using Hubble data, the team looked for quasars in locations where the LMC halo was likely to be. In this way, the light of those quasars would pass through the halo before reaching us, and some of the quasar light would be absorbed by the halo. By measuring the spectra of 28 quasars in the LMC sky region, the team was able to make the first mapping of the small galaxy’s halo. Assuming the LMC had a large halo similar to other small galaxies before its flyby of the Milky Way, the team estimates that the LMC has only held on to about 10% of its original halo. The rest of the halo now streams behind the galaxy like a comet’s tail, though that has yet to be observed.

In the future, the team would like to use more quasars to further map the LMC halo, particularly in the front region where the halo is directly colliding with that of the Milky Way. Such work will help us better understand what happens when galaxies interact and how that can affect the evolution of those galaxies.

Reference: Mishra, Sapna, et al. “The Truncated Circumgalactic Medium of the Large Magellanic Cloud.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.11960 (2024).

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Back in 2007, I talked with Rob Manning, engineer extraordinaire at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and he told me something shocking. Even though he had successfully led the entry, descent, and landing (EDL) teams for three Mars rover missions, he said the prospect of landing a human mission on the Red Planet might be impossible.

But now, after nearly 20 years of work and research — as well as more successful Mars rover landings — Manning says the outlook has vastly improved.

“We’ve made huge progress since 2007,” Manning told me when we chatted a few weeks ago in 2024. “It’s interesting how its evolved, but the fundamental challenges we had in 2007 haven’t gone away, they’ve just morphed.”

Image of the Martian atmosphere and surface obtained by the Viking 1 orbiter in June 1976. (Credit: NASA/Viking 1)

The problems arise from the combination of Mars’ ultra-thin atmosphere—which is over 100 times thinner than Earth’s — and the ultra-large size of spacecraft needed for human missions, likely between 20 – 100 metric tons.

“Many people immediately conclude that landing humans on Mars should be easy,” Manning said back in 2007, “since we’ve landed successfully on the Moon and we routinely land human-carrying vehicles from space to Earth. And since Mars falls between the Earth and the Moon in size and in the amount of atmosphere, then the middle ground of Mars should be easy.”

But Mars’ atmosphere provides challenges not found on Earth or the Moon. A large, heavy spacecraft  streaking through Mars’ thin, volatile atmosphere only has just a few minutes to slow from incoming interplanetary speeds (for example, the Perseverance rover was traveling 12,100 mph [19,500 kph] when it reached Mars) to under Mach 1, and then quickly transition to a lander to slow to be able to touch down gently.

Universe Today publisher Fraser Cain’s video about the challenges of landing Mars, with more details in this article.

In 2007, the prevailing notion among EDL engineers was that there’s too little atmosphere to land like we do on Earth, but there is actually too much atmosphere on Mars to land heavy vehicles like we do on the Moon by using propulsive technology alone.

“We call it the Supersonic Transition Problem,” said Manning, again in 2007. “Unique to Mars, there is a velocity-altitude gap below Mach 5. The gap is between the delivery capability of large entry systems at Mars and the capability of super-and sub-sonic decelerator technologies to get below the speed of sound.”

The largest payload to land on Mars so far is the Perseverance rover, which has a mass of about 1 metric ton. Successfully landing Perseverance and its predecessor Curiosity required a complicated, Rube Goldberg-like series of maneuvers and devices such as the Sky Crane. Larger, human-rated vehicles will be coming in even faster and heavier, making them incredibly difficult to slow down.

Rob Manning, Chief Engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Sky Crane for landing rovers on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keck Institute

“So, how do you slow down to subsonic speeds,” Manning said now in 2024 as the chief engineer at JPL, “to get to speeds where traditionally we know how to fire our engines to enable touchdown? We thought bigger parachutes or supersonic decelerators like LOFTID (Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator) tested by NASA) would allow us to maybe slow down better, but there were still issues with both those devices.”

“But there was one trick we didn’t know anything about it,” Manning continued. “How about using your propulsion system and firing the engines backwards —retro propulsion — while you are flying at supersonic speeds to shed velocity? Back in 2007, we didn’t know the answer to that. We didn’t even think it was possible.”

Why not? What could go wrong?

“When you fire engines backwards as you are moving through an atmosphere, there’s a shock front that forms and it would be moving around,” Manning explained, “so it could come along and whack the vehicle and cause it to go unstable or cause damage. You’re also flying right into the plume of the rocket engine exhaust, so there could be extra friction and heating possibilities on the vehicle.”

All of this is very hard to model and there was virtually no experience doing it, as in 2007, no one had ever used propulsive technology alone to slow and then land a spacecraft back on Earth. This is mostly because our planet’s beautiful, luxuriously thick atmosphere slows a spacecraft down easily, especially with a parachute or creative flying as the space shuttle did.

“People did study it a bit, and we came to the conclusion it would be great to try it and find out whether we could fire engines backwards and see what happens,” Manning mused, adding that there wasn’t any extra funding laying around to launch a rocket just to watch it come down again to see what happened.

A SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket poised to launch Dragon from Cape Canaveral. Credit: NASA

But then, SpaceX started doing tests in attempt to land their Falcon 9’s first stage booster back on Earth to re-use them.

“SpaceX said they were going to try it,” Manning said, “And to do that they needed to slow the booster down in the supersonic phase while in Earth’s upper atmosphere. So, there’s a portion of the flight where they fire their engines backwards at supersonic speeds through a rarified atmosphere which is very much what’s like at Mars.”

As you can imagine, this was incredibly intriguing to EDL engineers thinking about future Mars missions.

After a few years of trial, error, and failures, on September 29, 2013, SpaceX performed the first supersonic retropropulsion (SRP) maneuver to decelerate the reentry of the first stage of their Falcon 9 rocket. While it ultimately hit the ocean and was destroyed, the SRP actually worked to slow down the booster.

NASA asked if their EDL engineers could watch and study SpaceX’s data, and SpaceX readily agreed. Beginning in 2014, NASA and SpaceX formed a three-year public-private partnership centered on SRP data analysis called the NASA Propulsive Descent Technology (PDT) project.  The F9 boosters were outfitted with special instruments to collect data specifically on portions of the entry burn which fell within the range of Mach numbers and dynamic pressures expected at Mars. Additionally, there were visual and infrared imagery campaigns, flight reconstruction, and fluid dynamics analysis – all of which helped both NASA and SpaceX.

To everyone’s surprise and delight, it worked. On December 21, 2015, an F9 first stage returned and successfully landed on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral, the first-ever orbital class rocket landing. This was a game changing demonstration of SRP, which advanced the knowledge and tested the technology of using SRP on Mars.

View of SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage approaching Landing Zone 1 on Dec. 21, 2015. Credit: SpaceX

“Based on the analyses completed, the remaining SRP challenge is characterized as one of prudent flight systems engineering dependent on maturation of specific Mars flight systems, not technology advancement,” wrote an EDL team, detailing the results of the PDT project in a paper. In short, SpaceX’s success meant it wouldn’t require any fancy new technology or breaking the laws of physics to land large payloads on Mars.

“It turns out, we learned some new physics,” Manning said. They found that the shock front ‘bubble’ created around the vehicle by firing the engines somehow insulates the spacecraft from any buffeting, as well as from some of the heating.

EDL engineers now believe that SRP is the only Mars entry, descent and landing technology that is intrinsically scalable across a wide range and size of missions to shed enough velocity during atmospheric flight to enable safe landings. Alongside aerobraking, this is one of the leading means of landing heavy equipment, habitats and even humans on Mars.

But still, numerous issues remain unsolved when it comes to landing a human mission on Mars. Manning mentioned there are multiple unknowns, including how a big ship such as SpaceX’s Starship would be steered and flown through Mars’ atmosphere; can fins be used hypersonically or will the plasma thermal environment melt them? The amount of debris kicked up by large engines on human-sized ship could be fatal, especially for the engines you’d like to reuse for returning to orbit or to Earth, so how do you protect the engines and the ship? Mars can be quite windy, so what happens if you encounter wind shears or a dust storm during landing? What kind of landing legs will work for a large ship on Mars’ rocky surface? Then there are logistics problems such as how will all the infrastructure get established? How will ships be refueled to return home?

“This is all going to take a lot of time, more time than people realize,” Manning said. “One of the downsides of going to Mars is that it is hard to do trial and error unless you are very patient. The next time you can try again is 26 months later because of the timing of the launch windows between our two planets. Holy buckets, what a pain that is going to be! But I think we’re going to learn a lot whenever we can try it for the first time.”

And at least the supersonic retropropulsion question has been answered.

“We’re basically doing what Buck Rogers told us to do back in the 1930s: fire your engines backwards while you’re going really fast.”

2007 article: The Mars Landing Approach: Getting Large Payloads to the Surface of the Red Planet

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