On Dec. 6, 2024, NASA leaders unveiled a portrait of the late Mary W. Jackson, pioneering aerospace engineer and mathematician at NASA’s Langley Research Center. The portrait is displayed at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington.
Jackson accepted a position with the NACA Langley Aeronautical Laboratory’s segregated West Area Computers in 1951, where her supervisor was Dorothy Vaughan. In 1958, she became NASA’s first African American female engineer.
In 1979, seeing that the glass ceiling was the rule, rather than the exception for Langley’s female professionals, she made a final, dramatic career change, leaving engineering and voluntarily accepting a reduction-in-grade to serve as an administrator in the Equal Opportunity Specialist field. After undergoing training at NASA Headquarters, she returned to Langley and filled the open position of Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager. There, she worked hard to impact the hiring and promotion of the next generation of all of NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers and scientists. Jackson retired from Langley in 1985.
NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets
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NASA’s Hubble Celebrates Decade of Tracking Outer Planets
Hubble celebrates ten years of consistent observations of the outer planets.
Credits: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Encountering Neptune in 1989, NASA’s Voyager mission completed humankind’s first close-up exploration of the four giant outer planets of our solar system. Collectively, since their launch in 1977, the twin Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft discovered that Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were far more complex than scientists had imagined. There was a lot more to be learned.
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope observation program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) obtains long-term baseline observations of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in order to understand their atmospheric dynamics and evolution.
“The Voyagers don’t tell you the full story,” said Amy Simon of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who conducted giant planet observations with OPAL.
Hubble’s image sharpness is comparable to the Voyager views as they approached the outer planets, and Hubble spans wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared light. Hubble is the only telescope that can provide high spatial resolution and image stability for global studies of cloud coloration, activity, and atmospheric motion on a consistent time basis to help constrain the underlying mechanics of weather and climate systems.
This is a montage of NASA Hubble Space Telescope views of our solar system’s four giant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, each shown in enhanced color. The images were taken over nearly 10 years, from 2014 to 2024. This long baseline allows astronomers to track seasonal changes in each planet’s turbulent atmosphere, with the sharpness of the NASA planetary flyby probes of the 1980s. These images were taken under a program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy).
NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
All four of the outer planets have deep atmospheres and no solid surfaces. Their churning atmospheres have their own unique weather systems, some with colorful bands of multicolored clouds, and with mysterious, large storms that pop up or linger for many years. Each outer planet also has seasons lasting many years. (The James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared capabilities will be used to probe deep into atmospheres of the outer planets to complement the OPAL observations.)
Following the complex behavior is akin to understanding Earth’s dynamic weather as followed over many years, as well as the Sun’s influence on the solar system’s weather. The four distant worlds also serve as proxies for understanding the weather and climate on similar planets orbiting other stars.
Planetary scientists realized that any one year of data from Hubble, while interesting in its own right, doesn’t tell the full story of the outer planets. Hubble’s OPAL program has routinely observed the planets once a year when they are closest to the Earth.
“Because OPAL now spans 10 years and counting, our database of planetary observations is ever growing. That longevity allows for serendipitous discoveries, but also for tracking long-term atmospheric changes as the planets orbit the Sun. The scientific value of these data is underscored by the more than 60 publications to date that include OPAL data,” said Simon.
This payoff continues to be a huge archive of data that has led to a string of remarkable discoveries to share with planetary astronomers around the world. “OPAL also interfaces with other ground- and space-based planetary programs. Many papers from other observatories and space missions pull in Hubble data from OPAL for context,” said Simon.
A nine-panel collage showing Hubble images of Jupiter taken under the OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy) program from 2015 to 2024, with approximately true color. OPAL tracks the Great Red Spot (GRS) and other notable changes in Jupiter’s banded cloud structure of zones and belts over time.
NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Jupiter’s bands of clouds present an ever-changing kaleidoscope of shapes and colors. There is always stormy weather on Jupiter: cyclones, anticyclones, wind shear, and the largest storm in the solar system, the Great Red Spot (GRS). Jupiter is covered with largely ammonia ice-crystal clouds on top of an atmosphere that’s tens of thousands of miles deep.
Two views of Jupiter showcase the wealth of information provided by the spectral filters on the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) science instrument. At left, the RGB composite is created using three filters at wavelengths similar to the colors seen by the human eye. At right, the wavelength bounds are widened beyond the visible range to extend just into the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared regimes. Humans cannot perceive these extended wavelengths, but some animals (such as mantis shrimp, whose eyes function similarly to certain sensors on some NASA missions) are able to detect infrared and ultraviolet light. The result is a vivid disk that shows UV-absorbing lofty hazes as orange (over the poles and in three large storms, including the Great Red Spot), and freshly-formed ice as white (compact storm plumes just north of the equator). Astronomers, including the OPAL team, use these filters (and others not shown here) to study differences in cloud thickness, altitude, and chemical makeup.
NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Hubble’s sharp images track clouds and measure the winds, storms, and vortices, in addition to monitoring the size, shape, and behavior of the GRS. Hubble follows as the GRS continues shrinking in size and its winds are speeding up. OPAL data recently measured how often mysterious dark ovals — visible only at ultraviolet wavelengths — appeared in the “polar hoods” of stratospheric haze. Unlike Earth, Jupiter is only inclined three degrees on its axis (Earth is 23.5 degrees). Seasonal changes might not be expected, except that Jupiter’s distance from the Sun varies by about 5% over its 12-year-long orbit, and so OPAL closely monitors the atmosphere for seasonal effects. Another Hubble advantage is that ground-based observatories can’t continuously view Jupiter for two Jupiter rotations, because that adds up to 20 hours. During that time, an observatory on the ground would have gone into daytime and Jupiter would no longer be visible until the next evening.
SATURN
A “Warhol-esque” array of Saturn images depict real data from multiple filters mapped onto the RGB colors perceptible to the human eye. Each filter combination emphasizes subtle differences in cloud altitude or composition. Infrared spectra from the Cassini mission suggested that Saturn’s aerosol particles may have even more complex chemical diversity than on Jupiter. The OPAL program extends Cassini’s legacy by measuring how the subtle patterns in the clouds vary over time.
NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Saturn takes more than 29 years to orbit the Sun, and so OPAL has followed it for approximately one quarter of a Saturnian year (picking up in 2018, after the end of the Cassini mission). Because Saturn is tilted 26.7 degrees, it goes through more profound seasonal changes than Jupiter. Saturnian seasons last approximately seven years. This also means Hubble can view the spectacular ring system from an oblique angle of almost 30 degrees to seeing the rings tilted edge-on. Edge-on, the rings nearly vanish because they are relatively paper-thin. This will happen again in 2025.
This is a series of Hubble Space Telescope images of the planet Saturn taken from 2018 to 2024. This sequence shows how the tilt of the magnificent ring system changes relative to the view from Earth, as Saturn orbits the Sun. Approximately every 15 years the relatively paper-thin rings (about one mile thick) can be seen edge-on. In 2018 they were near their maximum tilt toward Earth. These images were taken under a Hubble program called OPAL (Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy).
OPAL has followed changes in colors of Saturn’s atmosphere. The varying color was first detected by the Cassini orbiter, but Hubble provides a longer baseline. Hubble revealed slight changes from year-to-year in color, possibly caused by cloud height and winds. The observed changes are subtle because OPAL has covered only a fraction of a Saturnian year. Major changes happen when Saturn progresses into the next season.
Saturn’s mysteriously dark ring spokes, which slice across the ring plane, are transient features that rotate along with the rings. Their ghostly appearance only persists for two or three rotations around Saturn. During active periods, freshly formed spokes continuously add to the pattern. They were first seen in 1981 by Voyager 2. Cassini also saw the spokes during its 13-year-long mission, which ended in 2017. Hubble shows that the frequency of spoke apparitions is seasonally driven, first appearing in OPAL data in 2021. Long-term monitoring shows that both the number and contrast of the spokes vary with Saturn’s seasons.
URANUS
Uranus is tilted on its side so that its spin axis almost lies in the plane of the planet’s orbit. This results in the planet going through radical seasonal changes along it 84-year-long trek around the Sun. The consequence of the planet’s tilt means part of one hemisphere is completely without sunlight, for stretches of time lasting up to 42 years. OPAL has followed the northern pole now tipping toward the Sun.
With OPAL, Hubble first imaged Uranus after the spring equinox, when the Sun was last shining directly over the planet’s equator. Hubble resolved multiple storms with methane ice-crystal clouds appearing at mid-northern latitudes as summer approaches the north pole. Uranus’ north pole now has a thickened photochemical haze with several little storms near the edge of the boundary. Hubble has been tracking the size of the north polar cap and it continues to get brighter year after year. As northern summer solstice approaches in 2028, the cap may grow brighter still, and will be aimed directly toward Earth, allowing good views of the rings and north pole. The ring system will then appear face-on. Understanding how Uranus changes over time will help in mission planning for NASA’s proposed Uranus Orbiter and Probe.
NEPTUNE
When Voyager 2 flew by Neptune in 1989, astronomers were mystified by a great dark spot the size of the Atlantic Ocean looming in the atmosphere. Was it long-lived like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot? The question remained unanswered until Hubble was able to show in 1994 that such dark storms were transitory, cropping up and then disappearing over a duration of two to six years each. During the OPAL program, Hubble saw the end of one dark spot and the full life cycle of a second one — both of them migrating toward the equator before dissipating. The OPAL program ensures that astronomers won’t miss another one.
Hubble observations uncovered a link between Neptune’s shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle. The connection between Neptune and solar activity is surprising to planetary scientists because Neptune is our solar system’s farthest major planet. It receives only about 1/1000th as much sunlight as Earth receives. Yet Neptune’s global cloudy weather seems to be influenced by solar activity. Do the planet’s seasons also play a role?
From its vantage point high above Earth’s atmosphere, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has completed its annual grand tour of the outer solar system – returning crisp images that are almost as good as earlier snapshots from interplanetary spacecraft. This is the realm of the giant planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – extending as far as 30 times the distance between Earth and the Sun.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lead Producer: Paul Morris
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
Leader of NASA’s VERITAS Mission Honored With AGU’s Whipple Award
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Members of NASA’s VERITAS science team pose for a photo on July 31, 2023, after arriving in Iceland to begin a campaign to study the volcanic island’s geology in support of the future mission to Venus. Principal Investigator Suzanne Smrekar is holding the VERITAS logo.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Suzanne Smrekar, geophysicist and principal investigator of the agency’s upcoming VERITAS mission to Venus, is NASA JPL’s first recipient of the prestigious award.
Suzanne Smrekar, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, received the Fred Whipple Award on Monday, Dec. 9, in Washington at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Named for astronomer Fred Whipple, the prestigious award recognizes contributions to the field of planetary science. Smrekar also gave the Whipple Lecture “To Venus: A love letter from Earth and beyond” at the event.
Smrekar is the principal investigator of NASA’s VERITAS mission, short for Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy. Slated for launch in the early 2030s, the orbiter will study Venus from surface to core to understand how a rocky planet about the same size as Earth took a very different path, developing into a world covered in volcanic plains and deformed terrain hidden beneath a thick, hot, toxic atmosphere.
Smrekar’s passion for modeling and studying how rocky planets evolve led her to a previous stint as deputy principal investigator of NASA’s Mars InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), which revealed new details about the Red Planet’s marsquakes and interior layers, including its crust, mantle, and liquid core.
Based at JPL since 1992, Smrekar worked early in her career on NASA’s Magellan mission. “I got to see the first radar images come back from the surface of Venus, and I got to sit around the table with brilliant scientists from around the world examining these bizarre new landscapes, trying to imagine the forces that created them,” she recalled. “It was exhilarating! I was hooked on space exploration, and on Venus!”
A recent reexamination of Magellan data found evidence of active volcanism on the planet, and additional indirect evidence of activity, based on estimates of the heat coming out of the planet’s interior from specific tectonic features, has only added to the eagerness to explore Venus. Managed by JPL, VERITAS will study the planet in concert with NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission, which is managed by NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is also launching in the early 2030s.
More About VERITAS
VERITAS partners include Lockheed Martin Space, the Italian Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center, and Centre National d’Études Spatiales in France. The Discovery Program is managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
NASA invita a los medios a firma de Acuerdos de Artemis con Panamá y Austria
Se espera que Panamá y Austria firmen los Acuerdos de Artemis el miércoles 11 de diciembre de 2024, con lo cual se alcanzarán los 50 signatarios. Los compromisos de los Acuerdos de Artemis y los esfuerzos de los firmantes por avanzar en la implementación de estos principios fomentan la exploración segura y sostenible del espacio.
El miércoles 11 de diciembre, Panamá y Austria firmarán los Acuerdos de Artemis en la sede de la NASA en Washington. Tras las ceremonias de firma, el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson, se reunirá con los medios de comunicación para destacar avances de los acuerdos, entre ellos el haber alcanzado los 50 signatarios.
Los actos comenzarán a las siguientes horas:
11 a.m. hora del este (EST) – Nelson recibirá a José Miguel Alemán Healy, embajador de la República de Panamá en Estados Unidos, y a funcionarios del Departamento de Estado de EE.UU. para la ceremonia de firma de Panamá.
2 p.m. – Nelson recibirá a Petra Schneebauer, embajadora de la República de Austria en Estados Unidos, y a funcionarios del Departamento de Estado para la ceremonia de firma del acuerdo con Austria.
2:30 p.m. – Nelson tendrá disponibilidad para los medios de comunicación para hablar sobre los Acuerdos de Artemis.
Todos los eventos son presenciales. Los medios de comunicación interesados en asistir a los mismos deberán confirmar su participación antes de las 5 p.m. del martes 10 de diciembre a: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. La política de acreditación de medios de comunicación de la NASA está disponible en línea (en inglés).
Estados Unidos, liderado por la NASA con el Departamento de Estado, y otros siete países signatarios iniciales, establecieron los Acuerdos de Artemis en 2020, identificando un conjunto de principios que promueven el uso beneficioso del espacio para la humanidad. A fecha de hoy, 48 países han firmado los Acuerdos de Artemis, 39 de ellos durante la Administración Biden-Harris, incluyendo 15 nuevos firmantes en 2024.
Los Acuerdos de Artemis se basan en el Tratado sobre el espacio ultraterrestre y en otros acuerdos, como el Convenio sobre registro, el Acuerdo sobre rescate y retorno, así como en las mejores prácticas y normas de comportamiento responsable que la NASA y sus socios han respaldado, incluida la divulgación pública de datos científicos.
Las ceremonias tendrán lugar en el Auditorio James E. Webb de la agencia, situado en el vestíbulo oeste de la sede central de la NASA, en el edificio Mary W. Jackson, 300 E St. SW, en Washington.
Más información (en inglés) sobre los Acuerdos de Artemis en:
NASA Invites Media to Panama, Austria Artemis Accords Signings
Panama and Austria are expected to sign the Artemis Accords to reach 50 signatories on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The commitments of the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space.
On Wednesday, Dec. 11, Panama and Austria will sign the Artemis Accords at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Following the signing ceremonies, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will hold an in-person media availability to highlight progress on the accords, including reaching 50 signatories.
Events will start at the following times:
11 a.m. – Nelson hosts José Miguel Alemán Healy, ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the United States, and officials of the U.S. Department of State for Panama’s signing ceremony.
2 p.m. – Nelson hosts Petra Schneebauer, ambassador of the Republic of Austria to the United States, and State Department officials for Austria’s signing ceremony.
2:30 p.m. – Artemis Accords media availability with Nelson.
All events are in-person only. Media interested in attending the events must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10 to: hq-media@mail.nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
The United States, led by NASA with the U.S. Department of State, and seven other initial signatory nations established the Artemis Accords in 2020, identifying a set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for humanity. As of today, 48 nations will have signed the Artemis Accords, including 39 under the Biden-Harris Administration and 15 in 2024 alone.
The Artemis Accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.
The ceremonies will take place at the agency’s James E. Webb Auditorium in the West Lobby at NASA Headquarters in the Mary W. Jackson building, 300 E St. SW in Washington.
