Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Local creators representing food, tourism, apparel, and professional sports industries tour several of NASA Glenn Research Center’s facilities. They stop to pose in the Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory, a world-class facility for conducting aero-propulsion noise reduction research.
Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna
NASA’s Glenn Research Center has made contributions to nearly every NASA mission since the agency’s inception. These contributions go beyond science and engineering to include designing NASA’s iconic logo. Affectionally called the “meatball,” it was created in Cleveland at the lab that would become NASA Glenn by graphic artist James Modarelli.
This timeless brand symbol turned 65 last month. In honor of the occasion, NASA Glenn’s Office of Communications (OCOMM) hosted a Cleveland Creators Tour on July 10 and welcomed creators representing food, tourism, apparel, and professional sports industries to the center. During the event, they learned about NASA Glenn’s work and ways they can appropriately use NASA’s iconic logo. Like Modarelli, their creative interpretations could engage a new generation of creators, explorers, and space lovers.
Local creatives learn about ways they can appropriately use NASA’s iconic logo.
Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna
Deputy Center Director Dawn Schaible provided a welcome and center overview, followed by NASA Merchandising and Branding Manager Aimee Crane, who explained how to work with the agency to use NASA brand symbols. Tours of several Glenn research facilities highlighted how Cleveland is improving flight and exploring space.
Center Director, Eva the Astronaut Join Guardians Game
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
“Mustard,” NASA Glenn Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, Eva the Astronaut mascot, and “Onion” stop for a photo after the hot dog derby at the Guardians’ game.
Credit:NASA/Kristen Parker
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon threw out the first pitch that started the game between the Cleveland Guardians and San Francisco Giants on July 7. He was joined by Glenn’s Eva the Astronaut mascot, who had a ball hanging out with the Guardians’ Slider mascot during NASA Day at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Employees, their families, and other Guardians fans enjoyed the first pitch and having Eva represent the center.
NASA Glenn’s Eva the Astronaut mascot and the Guardians’ Slider at NASA Day at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
NASA Demonstrates ‘Ultra-Cool’ Quantum Sensor for First Time in Space
NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, shown where it’s installed aboard the International Space Station, recently demonstrated the use of a tool called an atom interferometer that can precisely measure gravity and other forces — and has many potential applications in space.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Future space missions could use quantum technology to track water on Earth, explore the composition of moons and other planets, or probe mysterious cosmic phenomena.
NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, a first-of-its-kind facility aboard the International Space Station, has taken another step toward revolutionizing how quantum science can be used in space. Members of the science team measured subtle vibrations of the space station with one of the lab’s onboard tools — the first time ultra-cold atoms have been employed to detect changes in the surrounding environment in space.
The study, which appeared in Nature Communications on Aug. 13, also reports the longest demonstration of the wave-like nature of atoms in freefall in space.
The Cold Atom Lab science team made their measurements with a quantum tool called an atom interferometer, which can precisely measure gravity, magnetic fields, and other forces. Scientists and engineers on Earth use this tool to study the fundamental nature of gravity and advance technologies that aid aircraft and ship navigation. (Cell phones, transistors, and GPS are just a few other major technologies based on quantum science but do not involve atom interferometry.)
Physicists have been eager to apply atom interferometry in space because the microgravity there allows longer measurement times and greater instrument sensitivity, but the exquisitely sensitive equipment has been considered too fragile to function for extended periods without hands-on assistance. The Cold Atom Lab, which is operated remotely from Earth, has now shown it’s possible.
“Reaching this milestone was incredibly challenging, and our success was not always a given,” said Jason Williams, the Cold Atom Lab project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It took dedication and a sense of adventure by the team to make this happen.”
Power of Precision
Space-based sensors that can measure gravity with high precision have a wide range of potential applications. For instance, they could reveal the composition of planets and moons in our solar system, because different materials have different densities that create subtle variations in gravity.
This type of measurement is already being performed by the U.S.-German collaboration GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on), which detects slight changes in gravity to track the movement of water and ice on Earth. An atom interferometer could provide additional precision and stability, revealing more detail about surface mass changes.
Precise measurements of gravity could also offer insights into the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two major cosmological mysteries. Dark matter is an invisible substance five times more common in the universe than the “regular” matter that composes planets, stars, and everything else we can see. Dark energy is the name given to the unknown driver of the universe’s accelerating expansion.
“Atom interferometry could also be used to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity in new ways,” said University of Virginia professor Cass Sackett, a Cold Atom Lab principal investigator and co-author of the new study. “This is the basic theory explaining the large-scale structure of our universe, and we know that there are aspects of the theory that we don’t understand correctly. This technology may help us fill in those gaps and give us a more complete picture of the reality we inhabit.”
A Portable Lab
NASA’s Cold Atom Lab studies the quantum nature of atoms, the building blocks of our universe, in a place that is out of this world – the International Space Station. This animated explainer explores what quantum science is and why NASA wants to do it in space. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
About the size of a minifridge, the Cold Atom Lab launched to the space station in 2018 with the goal of advancing quantum science by putting a long-term facility in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit. The lab cools atoms to almost absolute zero, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273 degrees Celsius). At this temperature, some atoms can form a Bose-Einstein condensate, a state of matter in which all atoms essentially share the same quantum identity. As a result, some of the atoms’ typically microscopic quantum properties become macroscopic, making them easier to study.
Quantum properties include sometimes acting like solid particles and sometimes like waves. Scientists don’t know how these building blocks of all matter can transition between such different physical behaviors, but they’re using quantum technology like what’s available on the Cold Atom Lab to seek answers.
In microgravity, Bose-Einstein condensates can reach colder temperatures and exist for longer, giving scientists more opportunities to study them. The atom interferometer is among several tools in the facility enabling precision measurements by harnessing the quantum nature of atoms.
Due to its wave-like behavior, a single atom can simultaneously travel two physically separate paths. If gravity or other forces are acting on those waves, scientists can measure that influence by observing how the waves recombine and interact.
“I expect that space-based atom interferometry will lead to exciting new discoveries and fantastic quantum technologies impacting everyday life, and will transport us into a quantum future,” said Nick Bigelow, a professor at University of Rochester in New York and Cold Atom Lab principal investigator for a consortium of U.S. and German scientists who co-authored the study.
More About the Mission
A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL designed and built Cold Atom Lab, which is sponsored by the Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. BPS pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations that are not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomena under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth.
Crew Explores Satellites and Lunar Cement Mixing for Space Construction
NASA astronaut Mike Barratt collects and organizes medical supplies aboard the Harmony module.
Science looked to construction at the beginning of the week aboard the International Space Station as the lab residents explored a variety of space assembly techniques. A new cargo craft also is due to arrive later this week replenishing the orbital crewmates with food, fuel, and supplies for the next several months.
NASA and its international partners are studying ways to make it economical to construct satellites in space, as well as build crew habitats on the Moon. Building the materials on Earth and launching them aboard rockets is costly in terms of mass and fuel. One option engineers are considering includes autonomous satellites that can navigate to other satellites for refueling, spacecraft repair, and orbital manufacturing. Another possibility, is using the microgravity environment to mix lunar soil with other materials to make cement and build habitable structures on the Moon.
NASA Flight Engineer Jeanette Epps activated a pair of Astrobee robotic free-flying assistants inside the Kibo laboratory module Monday morning. She then attached a connecting interface system, called CLINGERS with an embedded navigation sensor, to the cube-shaped, toaster-sized devices. For a few hours, Epps, with assistance from ground controllers, monitored the Astrobees as they demonstrated autonomous docking maneuvers with the CLINGERS device that may benefit construction in space.
NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick explored how microgravity affects the production of cement materials that could be used to build infrastructure on the lunar surface. He mixed two bags containing simulated lunar soil and other materials with a liquid solution, he placed another bag with hot water in between them, then he inserted them inside a thermos can for overnight incubation. After several more weeks of settling at ambient temperature, the concrete samples will be returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft for analysis.
After her workout machine job, Williams inspected and cleaned a carbon dioxide removal device in the Destiny laboratory module. She then took turns with fellow NASA astronaut and Crew Flight Test member Butch Wilmore for a standard hearing test. The duo also participated in a conference with Boeing flight controllers before wrapping up the day configuring computer tablets inside the Unity module.
NASA Flight Engineer Tracy C. Dyson had a light duty day aboard the orbital outpost spending a few moments packing computer gear for return to Earth and installing air quality monitors in the Zarya module.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub trained for the arrival of the Progress 89 cargo craft due to dock to the rear port of the Zvezda service module at 1:56 a.m. EDT on Saturday. The duo practiced using the telerobotically operated rendezvous unit, or TORU. The TORU would be used to remotely control the Roscosmos spaceship in the unlikely event it would be unable to complete its automated docking. The Progress 87 cargo craft will undock and vacate the rear Zvezda port at 10 p.m. on Monday for a destructive, but safe reentry above the Pacific Ocean completing a six-month resupply mission.
Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin spent the first part of his day cleaning water tanks and performing other orbital plumbing work. After lunchtime, he explored ways international crews and flight controllers can improve communication then conducted photographic inspections inside Zvezda.
Researchers tested a treatment on cartilage and bone tissue cultures subjected to compressive impact injury and found differences in the metabolites and proteins released by cells in space and on Earth along with partial improvement in both gravity conditions. The findings suggest the treatment is safe and could help ensure the health of crew members on future missions and patients on Earth.
Astronauts have high rates of musculoskeletal injuries, and post-traumatic osteoarthritis from joint injuries is a major contributor to disability across all ages on the ground. MVP Cell-06 used cultures of human knee cartilage and bone cells from two donors to study how spaceflight affects musculoskeletal disease. Results could lead to ways to prevent and treat bone and cartilage degradation in astronauts and people on Earth following joint injury.
Expedition 60 Flight Engineer Drew Morgan works with the Multi-use Variable-g Platform (MVP) Experiment Module used in the MVP Cell-02 investigation.
NASA/Christina Koch
NASA and Roscosmos researchers examined brazing of an aluminum-silicon material and found that gravity had a moderate effect with small quantities of the alloy and a more significant effect with larger quantities. The finding couldinform techniques for manufacturing on future space missions.
SUBSA-BRAINS examined capillary flow, interface reactions, and bubble formation during solidification of brazing alloys in microgravity. Brazing, which bonds similar and dissimilar materials at temperatures above 450°C, is a potential tool for construction, manufacture, and repair of space vehicles and habitats.
Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Oleg Novitskiy swaps hardware inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module’s Microgravity Science Glovebox for a physics investigation.
NASA/Shane Kimbrough
Analysis of the pain experience of two Axiom-1 astronauts suggests that spaceflight may affect sensory perception and regulation, a finding similar to previous studies. Researchers recommend developing measurement tools with greater sensitivity and questions that capture previous spaceflight experience and astronaut status (commercial or professional) to assess pain experiences.
Astronauts frequently report pain during missions and after returning to Earth, particularly in the back and neck. Microgravity Pain Sensation (Ax-1) assessed how short-term exposure to microgravity affects pain sensation, biomechanics, bone physiology, and the musculoskeletal system. Results suggested that spaceflight may affect various aspects of sensory perception and regulation, and further investigation is needed to support development of countermeasures and treatments.
The 11-person crew aboard the International Space Station comprises of (clockwise from bottom right) Expedition 67 Commander Tom Marshburn with Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer; and Axiom Mission 1 astronauts (center row from left) Mark Pathy, Eytan Stibbe, Larry Conner, and Michael Lopez-Alegria.
NASA
The 13th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC), sponsored by the ISS National Lab, brought together more than 900 leaders in academia, industry, and government to discuss the space station’s role in future research and development.
The event was held in Boston July 30 to Aug 1. Speakers included White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Assistant Director for Space Policy Jinni Meehan, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, and representatives from the International Space Station international and commercial partners.
