NASA Awards NOAA’s Solar Wind Plasma Sensors Contract

NASA has selected the University of New Hampshire in Durham to build Solar Wind Plasma Sensors for the Lagrange 1 Series project, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Next Program.

This cost-plus-no-fee contract is valued at approximately $24.3 million and includes the development of two sensors that will study the Sun’s constant outflow of solar wind. The data collected will support the nation’s efforts to better understand space weather around Earth and to provide warnings about impacts such as radio and GPS interruptions from solar storms.

The overall period of performance for this contract will be from Thursday, Oct. 24, and continue for a total of approximately nine years, concluding 15 months after the launch of the second instrument. The work will take place at the university’s facility in Durham, New Hampshire, and at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Johns Hopkins is the significant subcontractor.

Under this contract, the University of New Hampshire will be required to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, verify, and evaluate the sensors, support their launch, supply and maintain the instrument ground support equipment, and support post-launch mission operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.

The Solar Wind Plasma Sensors will measure solar wind, a supersonic flow of hot plasma from the Sun, and provide data to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which issues forecasts, warnings and alerts that help mitigate space weather impacts. The measurements will be used to characterize coronal mass ejections, corotating interaction regions, interplanetary shocks and high-speed flows associated with coronal holes. The measurements will also include observing the bulk ion velocity, ion temperature and density and derived dynamic pressure.

NASA and NOAA oversee the development, launch, testing, and operation of all the satellites in the L1 Series project. NOAA is the program owner that provides funds and manages the program, operations, and data products and dissemination to users. NASA and commercial partners develop, build, and launch the instruments and spacecraft on behalf of NOAA.

For information about NASA and agency programs, please visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Jeremy Eggers
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
757-824-2958
jeremy.l.eggers@nasa.gov

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Rob Garner

An Orange Blue Moon

Clouds curling around the full “blue” moon gives the night sky an eerie feel in this image from Aug. 19, 2024. As seen here, a blue moon is not actually blue; the third full moon in a season with four full Moons is called a “blue” moon.

Another moon will be visible in the sky the morning of Oct. 25: Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, the destination of NASA’s recently launched Europa Clipper, will be easily observable with binoculars on one side of Jupiter by itself.

Get more skywatching tips.

Image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Monika Luabeya

NASA Chief AI Officer on the Federal Executive Forum: How Agencies Are Strategizing About AI

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

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

Dave Salvagnini

NASA Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, and Chief Data Officer

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

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

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Maya L. Kikuchi

PSI Database is Live with New Features to Improve User Experience

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

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

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

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

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Explore More

3 min read

Europa Trek: NASA Offers a New Guided Tour of Jupiter’s Ocean Moon

Article


1 day ago

6 min read

NASA, NOAA: Sun Reaches Maximum Phase in 11-Year Solar Cycle

Article


1 week ago

3 min read

Eclipse Megamovie Coding Competition

Article


1 week ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…

Perseverance Rover

This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial…

Parker Solar Probe

On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona…

Juno

NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to…

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…