Astro Campers SCoPE Out New Worlds

Teachers at Smokey Mountain Elementary School have collaborated with the NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program’s Smoky Mountains STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Collaborative (SMSC) and project coordinator, Randi Neff, to create a summer camp for students who are passionate about STEM topics. What started as a small summer camp has since evolved into Astro Camp, a two-week community program from the NASA Astro Camp Community Partners (part of the NASA SciAct program infrastructure) with many engaging student activities.

Many students have enjoyed this camp from the beginning, and those who have participated annually have become increasingly interested in more challenging and robust activities to continue their learning adventures. With the help of SciAct’s NASA SCoPE (the NASA Science Mission Directorate Community of Practice for Education) team, Neff was able to connect teachers with a NASA Subject Matter Expert, Dr. Alissa Bans, to help draft new, challenging activities for the students who were ready to take them on in June 2024. Of course, new attendees and learners continued to excitedly engage in the foundational Astro Camp activities, as appropriate for their learning levels.

Thanks to Dr. Bans and the ongoing collaboration of these three SciAct teams, returning campers took on new challenges identifying and observing goldilocks exoplanets and zones (habitable planets outside our solar system and zones where conditions might be just right – neither too hot nor too cold – for life) and exploring the various conditions that might support life on a planet. Having the opportunity to seek out and tackle more advanced STEM topics, learners developed critical thinking skills and found satisfaction in expanding their science identities.

The Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative, NASA SCoPE, and NASA Astro Camp Community Partners projects are supported by NASA as part of the Science Activation program 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

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A ‘FURST’ of its Kind: Sounding Rocket Mission to Study Sun as a Star

By Jessica Barnett 

From Earth, one might be tempted to view the Sun as a unique celestial object like no other, as it’s the star our home planet orbits and the one our planet relies on most for heat and light. But if you took a step back and compared the Sun to the other stars NASA has studied over the years, how would it compare? Would it still be so unique?

The Full-sun Ultraviolet Rocket SpecTrograph (FURST) aims to answer those questions when it launches aboard a Black Brant IX sounding rocket Aug. 11 at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

“When we talk about ‘Sun as a star’, we’re treating it like any other star in the night sky as opposed to the unique object we rely on for human life. It’s so exciting to study the Sun from that vantage point,” said Adam Kobelski, institutional principal investigator for FURST and a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

FURST will obtain the first high-resolution spectra of the “Sun as a star” in vacuum ultraviolet (VUV), a light wavelength that is absorbed in Earth’s atmosphere meaning it can only be observed from space. Astronomers have studied other stars in the vacuum ultraviolet with orbiting telescopes, however these instruments are too sensitive to be pointed to the Sun. The recent advancements in high-resolution VUV spectroscopy now allow for the same observations of our own star, the Sun.

“These are wavelengths that Hubble Space Telescope is really great at observing, so there is a decent amount of Hubble observations of stars in ultraviolet wavelengths, but we don’t have comparable observations of our star in this wavelength range,” said Kobelski. Marshall was the lead field center for the design, development, and construction of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Because Hubble is too sensitive to point at Earth’s Sun, new instruments were needed to get a spectrum of the entire Sun that is of a similar quality to Hubble’s observations of other stars. Marshall built the camera, supplied avionics, and designed and built a new calibration system for the FURST mission. Montana State University (MSU), which leads the FURST mission in partnership with Marshall, built the optical system, which includes seven optics that will feed into the camera that will essentially create seven exposures, covering the entire ultraviolet wavelength range.

Charles Kankelborg, a heliophysics professor at MSU and principal investigator for FURST, described the mission as a very close collaboration with wide-ranging implications.

“Our mission will obtain the first far ultraviolent spectrum of the Sun as a star,” Kankelborg said. “This is a key piece of information that has been missing for decades. With it, we will place the Sun in context with other stars.”

Kobelski echoed the sentiment.

“How well do the observations and what we know about our Sun compare to our observations or what we know of other stars?” Kobelski said. “You’d expect that we know all this information about the Sun – it’s right there – but it turns out, we actually don’t. If we can get these same observations or same wavelengths as we’ve observed from these other sources, we can start to connect the dots and connect our Sun to other stars.”

FURST will be the third launch led by Marshall for NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program within five months, making 2024 an active year for the program. Like the Hi-C Flare mission that launched in April, the sounding rocket will launch and open during flight to allow FURST to observe the Sun for approximately five minutes before closing and falling back to Earth’s surface. Marshall team members will be able to calibrate the instruments during launch and flight, as well as retrieve data during flight and soon after landing.

Kobelski and Kankelborg each said they’re grateful for the opportunity to fill the gaps in our knowledge of Earth’s Sun.

The launch will be livestreamed on Sunday, Aug. 11, with a launch window of 11:40 a.m.– 12:40 p.m. CDT. Tune in on NASA’s White Sands Test Facility Launch Channel.

The FURST mission is led by Marshall in partnership with Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, with additional support from the NASA’s Sounding Rockets Office and the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research’s High Altitude Observatory. Launch support is provided at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico by NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program is managed by the agency’s Heliophysics Division.

Lane Figueroa 
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 
256.544.0034  
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov 

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NASA Teams Change Brakes to Keep Artemis Crew Safe

Recently, teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center met with engineering teams at a central Florida amusement park to share knowledge on a new braking system NASA is using for its launch pad emergency egress system for Artemis missions.

“We have a new magnetic braking system for the Artemis emergency egress system and NASA hasn’t used this technology on the ground infrastructure side before to support launches,” said Jesse Berdis, mobile launcher 1 deputy project manager for EGS. “I realized we have neighbors 50 miles from us in Orlando that are essentially the world experts on magnetic braking systems.”

For Artemis, teams will use a track cable that connects the mobile launcher to the terminus site near the perimeter of NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B, where four baskets, similar to gondola lifts, can ride down. This is where the magnetic braking system operates to help control the acceleration of the baskets in multiple weight and environmental conditions. At the pad terminus site, armored emergency response vehicles are stationed to take personnel safely away from the launch pad to a designated safe site  at Kennedy.

Many roller coaster manufacturers employ the use of an “eddy current braking system,” which involves using magnetics to help slow down a vehicle. Though the applications used on the roller coasters differ slightly from what the EGS teams are using for Artemis, the concept is the same, explained Amanda Arrieta, mobile launcher 1 senior element engineer.

However, unlike roller coasters which are typically in use daily for multiple hours on end, the Artemis emergency egress system is there for emergency situations only.

“We don’t plan to ever run our system unless we’re testing it or performing maintenance,” Berdis said.

Regardless of this, teams at Kennedy have ensured the system is able to function for years to come to support future Artemis missions.

“The maintenance crews [at the amusement park] were awesome because they showed us their nightly, monthly, and yearly inspections on what they were doing,” Berdis said. “That gave our operations teams a really good foundation and baseline knowledge of what to expect when they maintain and operate this system for the Artemis missions.”

Some of the conversations and suggestions teams shared include adding an acceleration sensor in the emergency egress baskets during testing. The sensor will help detect how fast the baskets are going when they ride down.

The emergency egress system is one of several new additions the EGS team is implementing  to prepare for future crewed missions starting with Artemis II, and this system especially emphasizes the importance of safety.

“We have a mission, and a part of that mission is in case of an emergency, which we don’t expect, is to protect our astronauts and supporting teams at the launch pad,” Berdis said. “We want our teams to be safe and, for any scenario we put them in, especially on the ground infrastructure side, it’s important for us to do our due diligence. That includes talking to other groups that are the experts in their field to ensure we have looked at all possibilities across the board to ensure our mission is a safe one for our teams.”

During the Space Shuttle Program, teams used a similar system for the escape route astronauts and other personnel take in the event of an emergency during a launch countdown. However, instead of using a magnetic braking system for the baskets, teams used a mechanical braking system, which involved using a catch net and drag chain to slow and then halt the baskets sliding down the wire.

For the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, SpaceX also uses a catch net and drag chain for its slidewire cable at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A pad and a deployable chute at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Boeing and United Launch Alliance also use a slidewire, but instead of baskets, the team deploys seats, like riding down a zip line, that ride down the slide wires at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.

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Regina Caputo Charts the Future of High-Energy Astrophysics

Research astrophysicist Regina Caputo puzzles out how the universe works by studying the most extreme events in the cosmos.

​​Name: Regina Caputo
Title: Research Astrophysicist 
Organization: Astroparticle Physics Laboratory (Code 661)

What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard?

I’m a research astrophysicist in the particle astrophysics lab at Goddard. I’m really interested in the most extreme events that happen in the universe, so I work on current gamma-ray missions and develop technology for future gamma-ray telescopes. 

The most exciting part of my work is trying to figure out how the universe works and how it got the way it is today.

What is your educational background?

In 2006, I got my bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the Colorado School of Mines. Then, in 2011 I got my Ph.D. in particle physics from Stony Brook University. 

I’ve always been inclined to bridge the gap between science and engineering, so my undergraduate education was where I learned to build things, develop instruments, and analyze data. Then, through my Ph.D. program, I started trying to understand the fundamental building blocks of matter. Eventually, I found my way to astro-particle physics. Particles on the ground are cool, but particles in space are even cooler!

What brought you to Goddard?

I arrived at Goddard in 2017, and I think it was a natural confluence of building telescopes, doing high energy astrophysics, and working in a collaborative environment.

What were the most exciting moments of your career?

I am very fortunate because there have been a couple exciting moments. I was a student working on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider when the Higgs Boson was discovered, so that was really exciting.

Then, after I had gotten into particle astrophysics, we discovered in 2017 that merging neutron stars created gravitational waves and gamma-ray bursts. Around the same time, we discovered an active galaxy that produced neutrinos with ultra-high-energy gamma-ray flares. This was like the birth of multi-messenger astrophysics, so it felt like a whole new era of discovery. I really felt like the universe was telling me something. 

How does your work involve different teams?

I’m on a few different teams on different scales. On the science side, I’m a part of the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) collaboration — an international group of scientists supporting Fermi, analyzing data, and doing science.

I’m also a Swift Observatory project scientist. I support the mission by making sure it’s fulfilling its obligations to the public and various stakeholders.

The technology development teams are the ones that I’m leading in preparation for a next-generation gamma-ray telescope. I have a group of postdocs, students, and other scientists — 10 or 15 people around the world. We are developing and characterizing silicon CMOS detectors, called AstroPix, to make sure that they meet our requirements, and think about the next steps to implement them in different experiments. 

The other team, called Compton-Pair Telescope (ComPair), built a prototype gamma-ray telescope that was launched as a balloon payload last summer. Right now, we’re working on the next generation of it.

What is challenging about your position?

I think one of the most challenging things is communicating effectively with an international group of people. You have to be like an events coordinator to make sure people have the resources they need.

What role do you serve for early career scientists?

I think it’s really important that scientists think about the next generation of scientists and technically minded people. It’s really important to me to make sure that we are giving junior folks the field opportunities they need to achieve their goals. 

What science outreach do you do?

I really enjoy science outreach, so I like to jump in whenever there’s an opportunity — like Black Hole Week, career days, or public talks. I like to be able to say, “Hey, you’re paying us to explore the universe — here’s what we found!”

What goals do you have for the future?

It would be so cool to see the detectors we develop to be in a next-generation gamma-ray telescope that flies and takes data. It’s a hard goal, but hey, I shoot for the stars.

By Laine Havens
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.

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