Tag Archives: Nasa News Digest

NASA News Digest: Space Science For 24 May – 28 June 2016

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

The NASA News Service provides up-to-date announcements of NASA policy, news events, and space science. A recent selection of space science articles are provided below, including direct links to the full announcements. Those interested in receiving these announcements from NASA can subscribe to their service by sending an email to: hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov?subject=subscribe

NASA Telescopes Find Clues For How Giant Black Holes Formed So Quickly

RELEASE 16-054 (Click here for the full article) – 24 May 2016

black_seed_images_1920x1200.jpgUsing data from NASA’s Great Observatories, astronomers have found the best evidence yet for cosmic seeds in the early universe that should grow into supermassive black holes.

Researchers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope to identify these possible black hole seeds. They discuss their findings in a paper that will appear in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

“Our discovery, if confirmed, explains how these monster black holes were born,” said Fabio Pacucci of Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy, who led the study. “We found evidence that supermassive black hole seeds can form directly from the collapse of a giant gas cloud, skipping any intermediate steps.”

For more on NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, visit: www.nasa.gov/chandra

For more on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, visit: www.nasa.gov/hubble

For more on NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: www.nasa.gov/spitzer

NASA Satellite Finds Unreported Sources Of Toxic Air Pollution

RELEASE 16-055 (Click here for the full article) – 1 June 2016

16-055-masterUsing a new satellite-based method, scientists at NASA, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and two universities have located 39 unreported and major human-made sources of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions.

A known health hazard and contributor to acid rain, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of six air pollutants regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Current, sulfur dioxide monitoring activities include the use of emission inventories that are derived from ground-based measurements and factors, such as fuel usage. The inventories are used to evaluate regulatory policies for air quality improvements and to anticipate future emission scenarios that may occur with economic and population growth.

For more information about, and access to, NASA’s air quality data, visit: so2.gsfc.nasa.gov

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more information about NASA Earth science research, visit: www.nasa.gov/earth

NASA’s Juno Spacecraft To Risk Jupiter’s Fireworks For Science

RELEASE 16-063 (Click here for the full article) – 16 June 2016

On July 4, NASA will fly a solar-powered spacecraft the size of a basketball court within 2,900 miles (4,667 kilometers) of the cloud tops of our solar system’s largest planet.

As of Thursday, Juno is 18 days and 8.6 million miles (13.8 million kilometers) from Jupiter. On the evening of July 4, Juno will fire its main engine for 35 minutes, placing it into a polar orbit around the gas giant. During the flybys, Juno will probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more about the planet’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

“At this time last year our New Horizons spacecraft was closing in for humanity’s first close views of Pluto,” said Diane Brown, Juno program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now, Juno is poised to go closer to Jupiter than any spacecraft ever before to unlock the mysteries of what lies within.”

More information on the Juno mission is available at: www.nasa.gov/juno

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: www.facebook.com/NASAJuno and www.twitter.com/NASAJuno

NASA’s Space Launch System Booster Passes Major Milestone On Journey To Mars

RELEASE 16-069 (Click here for the full article) – 28 June 2016

Booster Test for Space Launch System RocketA booster for the most powerful rocket in the world, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), successfully fired up Tuesday for its second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah. This was the last full-scale test for the booster before SLS’s first uncrewed test flight with NASA’s Orion spacecraft in late 2018, a key milestone on the agency’s Journey to Mars.

“This final qualification test of the booster system shows real progress in the development of the Space Launch System,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Seeing this test today, and experiencing the sound and feel of approximately 3.6 million pounds of thrust, helps us appreciate the progress we’re making to advance human exploration and open new frontiers for science and technology missions in deep space.”

For more information about NASA’s Journey to Mars, visit: www.nasa.gov/journeytomars

For more information on SLS, visit: www.nasa.gov/sls

NASA News Digest: Space Science For 5 May – 18 May 2016

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

The NASA News Service provides up-to-date announcements of NASA policy, news events, and space science. A recent selection of space science articles are provided below, including direct links to the full announcements. Those interested in receiving these announcements from NASA can subscribe to their service by sending an email to: hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov?subject=subscribe

NASA Makes Dozens Of Patents Available In Public Domain To Benefit U.S. Industry

RELEASE 16-050 (Click here for the full article) – 5 May 2016

2016may18_public_domain_thumbnail.verticalNASA has released 56 formerly-patented agency technologies into the public domain, making its government-developed technologies freely available for unrestricted commercial use. In addition to the release of these technologies, a searchable database now is available that catalogs thousands of expired NASA patents already in the public domain.

These technologies were developed to advance NASA missions but may have non-aerospace applications and be used by commercial space ventures and other companies free of charge, eliminating the time, expense and paperwork often associated with licensing intellectual property. The technologies include advanced manufacturing processes, sensors, propulsion methods, rocket nozzles, thrusters, aircraft wing designs and improved rocket safety and performance concepts.

To search the database of NASA-developed technologies now in the public domain, visit: technology.nasa.gov/publicdomain

To learn more about the Technology Transfer Program, visit: technology.nasa.gov

NASA’s Kepler Mission Announces Largest Collection Of Planets Ever Discovered

RELEASE 16-051 (Click here for the full article) – 10 May 2016

2016may18_kepler_all-planets_may2016NASA’s Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets – the single largest finding of planets to date.

“This announcement more than doubles the number of confirmed planets from Kepler,” said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth.”

Analysis was performed on the Kepler space telescope’s July 2015 planet candidate catalog, which identified 4,302 potential planets. For 1,284 of the candidates, the probability of being a planet is greater than 99 percent – the minimum required to earn the status of “planet.” An additional 1,327 candidates are more likely than not to be actual planets, but they do not meet the 99 percent threshold and will require additional study. The remaining 707 are more likely to be some other astrophysical phenomena. This analysis also validated 984 candidates previously verified by other techniques.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit: www.nasa.gov/kepler

For briefing materials from Tuesday’s media teleconference where the new group of planets was announced, visit: www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/kepler/briefingmaterials160510

Critical NASA Science Returns To Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

RELEASE 16-052 (Click here for the full article) – 11 May 2016

2016may18_dragon-depart-final_smA SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 2:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 11, about 261 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station.

The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach where some cargo will be removed and returned to NASA, and then be prepared for shipment to SpaceX’s test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing.

A variety of technology and biology studies conducted in the unique microgravity environment of the space station returned aboard the commercial resupply spacecraft, including research in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology. The Microchannel Diffusion study, for example, examined how microparticles interact with each other and their delivery channel in the absence of gravitational forces. In this one-of-a-kind laboratory, researchers were able to observe nanoscale behaviors at slightly larger scales – knowledge which may have implications for advancements in particle filtration, space exploration and drug delivery technologies.

Get more information about SpaceX’s mission to the International Space Station at: www.nasa.gov/spacex

Get more information about the International Space Station at: www.nasa.gov/station

From ‘Magnetoshells’ To Growable Habitats, NASA Invests In Next Stage Of Visionary Technology Development

RELEASE 16-053 (Click here for the full article) – 13 May 2016

2016-phase-ii-graphic-for-press-release-banner-graphicNASA has selected eight technology proposals for investment that have the potential to transform future aerospace missions, introduce new capabilities, and significantly improve current approaches to building and operating aerospace systems.

Awards under Phase II of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program can be worth as much as $500,000 for a two-year study, and allow proposers to further develop concepts funded by NASA for Phase I studies that successfully demonstrated initial feasibility and benefit.

“The NIAC program is one of the ways NASA engages the U.S. scientific and engineering communities, including agency civil servants, by challenging them to come up with some of the most visionary aerospace concepts,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington. “This year’s Phase II fellows have clearly met this challenge.”

For a complete list of the selected proposals, and more information about NIAC, visit: www.nasa.gov/feature/niac-2016-phase-i-and-phase-ii-selections

For more information about NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, visit: www.nasa.gov/spacetech

NASA Invites Media, Social Media To June Deep Space Rocket Booster Test

RELEASE 16-055 (Click here for the full article) – 18 May 2016

2016may18_m16-055aMedia and social media followers are invited to watch as NASA tests the largest, most powerful booster in the world for the agency’s new deep space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), on June 28 at Orbital ATK Aerospace System’s test facility in Promontory, Utah. SLS and NASA’s Orion spacecraft will launch astronauts on missions to explore multiple destinations on the journey to Mars.

NASA social media followers can apply for credentials to attend the booster test firing as part of a NASA Social event. A maximum of 45 participants will be selected to attend events on June 27, which include tours of the Orbital ATK facilities and opportunities for interviews with NASA and Orbital ATK officials. Participants also will have the opportunity to view, and feel, the powerful test firing on June 28.

For more information about SLS, visit: www.nasa.gov/sls

NASA News Digest: Space Science For 9 March – 29 March 2016

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

The NASA News Service provides up-to-date announcements of NASA policy, news events, and space science. A recent selection of space science articles are provided below, including direct links to the full announcements. Those interested in receiving these announcements from NASA can subscribe to their service by sending an email to: hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov?subject=subscribe

NASA Targets May 2018 Launch of Mars InSight Mission

RELEASE 16-026 (Click here for the full article) – 9 March 2016

2016march31__16_026NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission to study the deep interior of Mars is targeting a new launch window that begins May 5, 2018, with a Mars landing scheduled for Nov. 26, 2018.

InSight’s primary goal is to help us understand how rocky planets – including Earth – formed and evolved. The spacecraft had been on track to launch this month until a vacuum leak in its prime science instrument prompted NASA in December to suspend preparations for launch.

InSight project managers recently briefed officials at NASA and France’s space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), on a path forward; the proposed plan to redesign the science instrument was accepted in support of a 2018 launch.

For addition information about the mission, visit: www.nasa.gov/insight

More information about NASA’s journey to Mars is available online at: www.nasa.gov/journeytomars

NASA Announces Dates for One of World’s Largest Hackathons

RELEASE 16-034 (Click here for the full article) – 23 March 2016

2016march31_space-apps-challenge2NASA’s open innovation incubator, the International Space Apps Challenge, will take place April 22-24. The global main stage for this year’s event will be in Pasadena, California, with local events taking place simultaneously in 193 locations spanning 72 countries.

On April 23 and 24, participants are asked to develop mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualizations and platform solutions that could contribute to space exploration missions and help improve life on Earth.

This year’s challenge will include a Data Bootcamp on April 22, streamed live from the global main stage. The bootcamp is open to the public and will give participants the opportunity to learn new skills with computer coding and data.

“We’re reaching out to women’s organizations influential in the data and maker communities to participate, and we encourage women-led teams in the hackathon,” said Deborah Diaz, chief technology officer for information technology.

A more information about the Space Apps Challenge, and a full list of NASA challenges, go to: spaceappschallenge.org

Follow the challenge on Twitter at: twitter.com/spaceapps

NASA Gets Down to Earth This Year With Globe-Spanning Expeditions

RELEASE 16-039 (Click here for the full article) – 23 March 2016

NASA is sending scientists around the world in 2016 – from the edge of the Greenland ice sheet to the coral reefs of the South Pacific – to delve into challenging questions about how our planet is changing and what impacts humans are having on it.

While Earth science field experiments are nothing new for NASA, the next six months will be a particularly active period with eight major new campaigns taking researchers around the world on a wide range of science investigations. The public is invited to follow this journey of exploration online through NASA’s social media channels and the new Earth Expeditions webpage, which will feature regular video, photos and blog posts from these missions and other ongoing field activities.

“Combining the long-term global view from space with detailed measurements from field experiments is a powerful way of deciphering what’s happening in our world,” said Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington. “Scientists worldwide use NASA Earth science field data together with satellite data and computer models to tackle many of today’s environmental challenges and advance our knowledge of how the Earth works as a complex, integrated system.”

To follow all the NASA Earth Expeditions, visit: www.nasa.gov/earthexpeditions

NASA Selects Instrument Team to Build Next-Gen Planet Hunter

RELEASE 16-038 (Click here for the full article) – 29 March 2016

2016march31_16-038_0NASA has selected a team to build a new, cutting-edge instrument that will detect planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets, by measuring the miniscule “wobbling” of stars. The instrument will be the centerpiece of a new partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) called the NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research program, or NN-EXPLORE.

The instrument, named NEID (pronounced “nee-id”), which is short for NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy, will measure the tiny back-and-forth wobble of a star caused by the gravitational tug of a planet in orbit around it. The wobble tells scientists there is a planet orbiting the star, and the size of the wobble indicates how massive the planet is.

The highly precise instrument, to be built by a Pennsylvania State University research group led by Dr. Suvrath Mahadevan, will be completed in 2019 and installed on the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

For more information, visit: exep.jpl.nasa.gov/NNExplore/

NASA’s ‘Spaceport of the Future’ Reaches Another Milestone

RELEASE 16-037 (Click here for the full article) – 29 March 2016

2016mar31_16-037NASA has completed a major milestone on its journey to Mars and is ready to begin another phase of work on its spaceport of the future, where the next generation of astronauts will launch to Mars and other deep-space destinations.

The agency recently wrapped up a comprehensive and successful review of plans for the facilities and ground support systems that will process the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“NASA is developing and modernizing the ground systems at Kennedy to safely integrate Orion with SLS, move the vehicle to the pad, and successfully launch it into space,” said Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Division at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “Modernizing the ground systems for our journey to Mars also ensures long-term sustainability and affordability to meet future needs of the multi-use spaceport.”

For more information on GSDO, visit: www.nasa.gov/groundsystems

For more information on Orion, visit: www.nasa.gov/orion

NASA News Digest: Space Science For 6 – 22 January 2016

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

The NASA News Service provides up-to-date announcements of NASA policy, news events, and space science. A recent selection of space science articles are provided below, including direct links to the full announcements. Those interested in receiving these announcements from NASA can subscribe to their service by sending an email to: hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov?subject=subscribe

NASA’s CORAL Campaign Will Raise Reef Studies to a New Level

RELEASE 16-003 (Click here for the full article) – 6 January 2016

2016jan25_16_003A new three-year NASA field expedition gets underway this year that will use advanced instruments on airplanes and in the water to survey more of the world’s coral reefs in far greater detail than has ever been assessed before. The COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) will measure the condition of these threatened ecosystems and create a unique database of uniform scale and quality.

Coral reefs, sometimes called the rainforests of the sea, are home to a quarter of all ocean fish species. They protect shorelines from storms and provide food for millions of people, yet very little of the world’s reef area has been studied scientifically. Virtually all measurements have been made by expensive, labor-intensive diving expeditions. Many reefs never have been surveyed, and those reefs that have been studied were measured only at a few dive sites.

“Right now, the state of the art for collecting coral reef data is scuba diving with a tape measure,” said Eric Hochberg, CORAL principal investigator and scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George’s. “It’s analogous to looking at a few trees and then trying to say what the forest is doing.”

To find out more about NASA’s Earth science research, visit: www.nasa.gov/earth

UPDATE: NASA Advisory Panel Releases 2015 Safety Report

RELEASE 16-004 (Click here for the full article) – 13 January 2016

2016jan25_asap_annualreportThe Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), an advisory committee that reports to NASA and Congress, has issued its 2015 annual report examining NASA’s safety performance over the past year and highlighting accomplishments, issues and concerns to agency and government officials.

The report, released Wednesday, is based on the panel’s 2015 fact-finding and quarterly public meetings; “insight” visits and meetings; direct observations of NASA operations and decision-making processes; discussions with NASA management, employees and contractors; and the panel members’ own experience.

“The panel continues to steadfastly believe competition between Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) is essential to achieving a safe and productive Commercial Crew program. The Orbital-3, SpaceX CRS-7, and Russian Soyuz/Progress 59 cargo accidents underscore this position,” said Joseph W. Dyer, retired U.S. Navy vice admiral and ASAP chairman. “The three cargo accidents, and resulting loss of resupply missions, yielded a challenging year for the International Space Station (ISS), but NASA’s planning and logistics stewardship of the ISS minimized impact and allowed for continued operations.

For more information about the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, and to view the 2015 report, visit: oiir.hq.nasa.gov/asap/index.html

NASA, NOAA Analyses Reveal Record-Shattering Global Warm Temperatures in 2015

RELEASE 16-008 (Click here for the full article) – 20 January 2016

Earth’s 2015 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 shattered the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius). Only once before, in 1998, has the new record been greater than the old record by this much.

The 2015 temperatures continue a long-term warming trend, according to analyses by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York (GISTEMP). NOAA scientists concur with the finding that 2015 was the warmest year on record based on separate, independent analyses of the data. Because weather station locations and measurements change over time, there is some uncertainty in the individual values in the GISTEMP index. Taking this into account, NASA analysis estimates 2015 was the warmest year with 94 percent certainty.

The full 2015 surface temperature data set and the complete methodology used to make the temperature calculation are available at: data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/

The slides for the Wednesday, Jan. 20 news conference are available at: go.nasa.gov/2015climate

For more information about NASA’s Earth science activities, visit: www.nasa.gov/earth

NASA Remembers Its Fallen Heroes, 30th Anniversary of Challenger Accident

RELEASE 16-002 (Click here for the full article) – 22 January 2016

2016jan25_dor2015NASA will pay will tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other NASA colleagues, during the agency’s Day of Remembrance on Thursday, Jan. 28, the 30th anniversary of the Challenger accident. NASA’s Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Deputy Administrator Dava Newman, and other agency senior officials will hold an observance and wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia starting at 9 a.m. EST. Following the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington, various NASA centers will hold remembrance events Thursday for employees and the families of those lost in service to America’s space program.

At 10 a.m., NASA Television will provide live coverage of a wreath-laying ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial located at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The observance is hosted by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, which is a private, not-for-profit organization. It built and maintains the Space Mirror Memorial, which was dedicated in 1991 to honor all astronauts who lost their lives on missions or during training. It has been designated a National Memorial by Congress.

The agency also is paying tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content available beginning Wednesday, Jan. 27 at: www.nasa.gov/dor

For NASA Television downlink information, schedule information and streaming video, visit: www.nasa.gov/nasatv

NASA News Digest: NASA Reaches New Heights in 2015

Greetings fellow astrophiles,

The NASA News Service put together a great summary of a whole lot of amazing, publicly-funded science and engineering that may have started years and years in the past (think New Horizons launch in 2006, which only happened after the team was organized in 2000), but finally came to fruition in 2015 (and what a year it’s been!).

The NASA News Service provides up-to-date announcements of NASA policy, news events, and space science. A recent selection of space science articles are provided below, including direct links to the full announcements. Those interested in receiving these announcements from NASA can subscribe to their service by sending an email to: hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov?subject=subscribe

NASA Reaches New Heights in 2015

RELEASE 15-232 (Click here for the full article) – 21 December 2015

In 2015, NASA explored the expanse of our solar system and beyond, and the complex processes of our home planet, while also advancing the technologies for our journey to Mars, and new aviation systems as the agency reached new milestones aboard the International Space Station.

“It was a fantastic year that brought us even closer to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “Our space program welcomed advances from commercial partners who will soon launch astronauts from the United States to the International Space Station, and progress on new technologies and missions to take us into deep space, improve aviation and explore our universe and home planet.”

For more about NASA’s missions, research and discoveries, visit: www.nasa.gov