From left, team members Annie Meier, Malay Shah, and Jamie Toro assemble the flight hardware for NASA’s Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor, or OSCAR, on Oct. 10, 2019, in the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. OSCAR began as an Early Career Initiative project at the spaceport that studies technology to convert trash and human waste into useful gasses such as methane, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide.
NASA/Cory Huston
There’s no “I” in team, and that holds true for NASA and its partners as the agency ramps up efforts to recruit tenured professors to research science for a semester at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tenured teachers work for up to a year in an area where the agency needs specific expertise.
NASA often finds tenured professors – someone who has been guaranteed a job with their university until they retire – through seminars or publications. Assignments must be mutually beneficial to the agency and organizations involved.
“At NASA, we want researchers who are doing something that could help us, that could be synergistic, and to not reinvent the wheel,” said Dr. Jose Nuñez, University Partnerships and Small Sat Capabilities manager at NASA Kennedy. “The goal is to find professors who can benefit the agency in an area that needs more research.”
The U.S. government’s Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program allows the temporary assignment of personnel between the federal, state, local governments, colleges and universities, Indian tribal governments, federally funded research and development centers, and other eligible organizations.
Dr. Reza Toufiq, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, is the first professor to leverage school funds to spend a semester at NASA Kennedy and work on projects dealing with waste and resource recovery.
Toufiq specializes in how to convert everyday trash into energy, including the ash or char left behind from thermally treated trash. He worked with Dr. Annie Meier, who leads a team that converts astronauts’ trash into gasses that can be used for fuel.
Flight hardware for NASA’s Orbital Syngas Commodity Augmentation Reactor, or OSCAR, is inside the Applied Physics Lab inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2022. By processing small pieces of trash in a high-temperature reactor, OSCAR is advancing new and innovative technology for managing waste in space.
NASA/Kim Shiflett
“I wanted to learn on the terrestrial side how we can infuse some of our technology, and he wanted to learn from us to grow into the space sector, so it was a really cool match,” said Meier, technical lead for situ resource utilization and waste management resource recovery systems at NASA Kennedy.
Although Toufiq’s sabbatical with NASA is over, his work is not. Meier just received approval for a project through a Space Act Agreement, which allows a research sponsor to use NASA scientists and facilities to benefit both parties. Meier and other researchers at NASA will give Toufiq information on space waste products and lunar regolith stimulants; in turn, he will do the testing, and provide data to the agency because some of that information is currently unknown.
“He’s learning a lot about the fundamentals of different things with waste that we aren’t really doing, so we lean on academia to get some of that information and offer a fresh perspective,” Meier said.
An intergovernmental assignment is generally approved for up to two years, but it can extend for up to six years with authorization. The length of the appointment also depends on the agency’s needs and university’s sabbatical guidelines, which could pay for one or more semesters.
The University Partnerships team now is working to bring on two professors to NASA Kennedy next semester.
“There are many tenured professors and universities who would like to come here, but we are careful to use due diligence to make sure what they’re doing is something that aligns with our research and technology interests,” Nuñez said.
To learn more about the wide range of research happening at the Florida spaceport, click here.
NASA Transmits Hip-Hop Song to Deep Space for First Time
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This illustration of the large Quetzalpetlatl Corona located in Venus’ southern hemisphere depicts active volcanism and a subduction zone, where the foreground crust plunges into the planet’s interior. A new study suggests coronae reveal locations where active geology is shaping Venus’ surface.
The stars above and on Earth aligned as an inspirational message and lyrics from the song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” by hip-hop artist Missy Elliott were beamed to Venus via NASA’s DSN (Deep Space Network). The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California sent the transmission at 10:05 a.m. PDT on Friday, July 12.
As the largest and most sensitive telecommunication service of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, DSN has an array of giant radio antennas that allow missions to track, send commands, and receive scientific data from spacecraft venturing to the Moon and beyond. To date, the system has transmitted only one other song into space, making the transmission of Elliott’s song a first for hip-hop and NASA.
“Both space exploration and Missy Elliott’s art have been about pushing boundaries,” said Brittany Brown, director, Digital and Technology Division, Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington, who initially pitched ideas to Missy’s team to collaborate with the agency. “Missy has a track record of infusing space-centric storytelling and futuristic visuals in her music videos so the opportunity to collaborate on something out of this world is truly fitting.”
The song traveled about 158 million miles (254 million kilometers) from Earth to Venus — the artist’s favorite planet. Transmitted at the speed of light, the radio frequency signal took nearly 14 minutes to reach the planet. The transmission was made by the 34-meter (112-foot) wide Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13) radio dish antenna, located at the DSN’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, near Barstow in California. Coincidentally, the DSS-13 also is nicknamed Venus.
Elliott’s music career started more than 30 years ago, and the DSN has been communicating with spacecraft for over 60 years. Now, thanks to the network, Elliott’s music has traveled far beyond her Earth-bound fans to a different world.
“I still can’t believe I’m going out of this world with NASA through the Deep Space Network when “The Rain” (Supa Dupa Fly) becomes the first ever hip-hop song to transmit to space!,” said Elliott. “I chose Venus because it symbolizes strength, beauty, and empowerment and I am so humbled to have the opportunity to share my art and my message with the universe!”
Two NASA missions, selected in 2021, will explore Venus and send data back to Earth using the DSN. DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging), led out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is slated to launch no earlier than 2029. The VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy), launching no earlier than 2031, is lead out of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. NASA and the DSN are also partnering with the European Space Agency’s Venus mission, Envision. A team at JPL is developing the spacecraft’s Venus Synthetic Aperture Radar (VenSAR).
In continuous operations since 1963, NASA SCaN’s DSN is composed of three complexes spaced equidistant from each other — approximately 120 degrees apart in longitude — around the planet. The ground stations are in Goldstone in California, Madrid, and Canberra in Australia.
The Deep Space Network is managed by JPL for the SCaN program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate, based at NASA Headquarters.
For more information about NASA’s Deep Space Network, visit:
Painters work on the official NASA insignia, nicknamed “the meatball,” on the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 29, 2020.
NASA/Kim Shiflett
NASA’s official logo, nicknamed the “meatball,” turned 65 on July 15, 2024. The insignia dates back to 1959, when the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) metamorphosed into an agency that would advance both space and aeronautics: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. After a NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center illustrator’s design was chosen for the new agency’s official seal, the head of Lewis’ Research Reports Division, James Modarelli, was asked by the executive secretary of NACA to design a logo that could be used for less formal purposes.
In the design, the sphere represents a planet, the stars represent space, the red chevron is a wing representing aeronautics (the latest design in hypersonic wings at the time the logo was developed), and then there is an orbiting spacecraft going around the wing. The red, white, and blue design, which includes elements representing NASA’s space and aeronautics missions, became the official logo of the United States’ new space agency in 1959.
NASA’s Webb Investigates Eternal Sunrises, Sunsets on Distant World
6 Min Read
NASA’s Webb Investigates Eternal Sunrises, Sunsets on Distant World
Artists concept of WASP-39 b (full image below).
Near-infrared spectral analysis of terminator confirms differences in morning and evening atmosphere
Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have finally confirmed what models have previously predicted: An exoplanet has differences between its eternal morning and eternal evening atmosphere. WASP-39 b, a giant planet with a diameter 1.3 times greater than Jupiter, but similar mass to Saturn that orbits a star about 700 light-years away from Earth, is tidally locked to its parent star. This means it has a constant dayside and a constant nightside—one side of the planet is always exposed to its star, while the other is always shrouded in darkness.
Using Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), astronomers confirmed a temperature difference between the eternal morning and eternal evening on WASP-39 b, with the evening appearing hotter by roughly 300 Fahrenheit degrees (about 200 Celsius degrees). They also found evidence for different cloud cover, with the forever morning portion of the planet being likely cloudier than the evening.
Image A: Artist Concept WASP-39 b
This artist’s concept shows what the exoplanet WASP-39 b could look like based on indirect transit observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope as well as other space- and ground-based telescopes. Data collected by Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) show variations between the eternal morning and evening atmosphere of the planet.
Astronomers analyzed the 2- to 5-micron transmission spectrum of WASP-39 b, a technique that studies the exoplanet’s terminator, the boundary that separates the planet’s dayside and nightside. A transmission spectrum is made by comparing starlight filtered through a planet’s atmosphere as it moves in front of the star, to the unfiltered starlight detected when the planet is beside the star. When making that comparison, researchers can get information about the temperature, composition, and other properties of the planet’s atmosphere.
“WASP-39 b has become a sort of benchmark planet in studying the atmosphere of exoplanets with Webb,” said Néstor Espinoza, an exoplanet researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute and lead author on the study. “It has an inflated, puffy atmosphere, so the signal coming from starlight filtered through the planet’s atmosphere is quite strong.”
Previously published Webb spectra of WASP-39b’s atmosphere, which revealed the presence of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, water vapor, and sodium, represent the entire day/night boundary – there was no detailed attempt to differentiate between one side and the other.
Now, the new analysis builds two different spectra from the terminator region, essentially splitting the day/night boundary into two semicircles, one from the evening, and the other from the morning. Data reveals the evening as significantly hotter, a searing 1,450 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius), and the morning a relatively cooler 1,150 degrees Fahrenheit (600 degrees Celsius).
Image B: Transmission Spectra
“It’s really stunning that we are able to parse this small difference out, and it’s only possible due Webb’s sensitivity across near-infrared wavelengths and its extremely stable photometric sensors,” said Espinoza. “Any tiny movement in the instrument or with the observatory while collecting data would have severely limited our ability to make this detection. It must be extraordinarily precise, and Webb is just that.”
Extensive modeling of the data obtained also allows researchers to investigate the structure of WASP-39 b’s atmosphere, the cloud cover, and why the evening is hotter. While future work by the team will study how the cloud cover may affect temperature, and vice versa, astronomers confirmed gas circulation around the planet as the main culprit of the temperature difference on WASP-39 b.
On a highly irradiated exoplanet like WASP-39 b that orbits relatively close to its star, researchers generally expect the gas to be moving as the planet rotates around its star: Hotter gas from the dayside should move through the evening to the nightside via a powerful equatorial jet stream. Since the temperature difference is so extreme, the air pressure difference would also be significant, which in turn would cause high wind speeds.
Image C: Transit Light Curve
Using General Circulation Models, 3-dimensional models similar to the ones used to predict weather patterns on Earth, researchers found that on WASP-39 b the prevailing winds are likely moving from the night side across the morning terminator, around the dayside, across the evening terminator and then around the nightside. As a result, the morning side of the terminator is cooler than the evening side. In other words, the morning side gets slammed with winds of air that have been cooled on the nightside, while the evening is hit by winds of air heated on the dayside. Research suggests the wind speeds on WASP-39 b can reach thousands of miles an hour!
“This analysis is also particularly interesting because you’re getting 3D information on the planet that you weren’t getting before,” added Espinoza. “Because we can tell that the evening edge is hotter, that means it’s a little puffier. So, theoretically, there is a small swell at the terminator approaching the nightside of the planet.”
WASP-39 b was among the first targets analyzed by Webb as it began regular science operations in 2022. The data in this study was collected under Early Release Science program 1366, designed to help scientists quickly learn how to use the telescope’s instruments and realize its full science potential.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
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Sky High Sustainability: NASA Johnson’s Pocket Prairie Flourishes Atop Building 12
Buzzing with bees, baby birds, and wildflowers, the rooftop garden atop building 12 at Johnson Space Center in Houston reflects NASA’s commitment to environmental stewardship. Originally constructed in 1963, the facility was transformed in 2012, incorporating energy-efficient features that earned it LEED Gold certification. The certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. Today, the building serves as a testament to NASA’s commitment to ecological innovation.
Nestled between the Mission Control Center and building 16, this hidden gem is part of a series of pioneering efforts at Johnson to demonstrate how even the most unexpected locations can become vibrant ecosystems.
Aerial views of Johnson Space Center’s rooftop garden.
NASA/Bill Stafford
Initiated by Joel Walker, director of Center Operations, and designed alongside NASA engineers, the rooftop garden exemplifies green architecture with integrated solar panels, an underfloor air distribution system, and wind turbines.
“It was something of an experiment to see what worked well and what we might use in future projects,” said Walker.
Native Texas Bluebonnet atop building 12 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The Center Operations team leads sustainability efforts at Johnson, working across multiple directorates and teams. Together, they manage Johnson’s 1,600 acres, which host a diverse array of plants and wildlife.
Building 12’s green roof provides benefits such as reduced potable water and energy usage, better stormwater management, protection from UV rays, and increased stability in high winds. This unique space provides an ideal environment for nesting birds and visiting pollinators and boasts a projected lifespan of 50 years, significantly longer than the 20 to 25 years typical of a conventional roof.
“I was genuinely surprised by the variety of native species thriving in our rooftop garden,” said Johnson’s wildlife biologist Strausser. “We’ve observed far more species than we ever anticipated, which is both fascinating and encouraging for our conservation efforts.”
Johnson team members meet on the building 12 rooftop to assess and monitor the plants.
Initially, the project started with non-native ornamental plants that failed in the harsh Houston climate. Replanting the garden yielded mixed results until the team hand-scattered a blend of native grass seed and wildflowers. This method proved to be a successful, at a fraction of the cost estimated for professional planting.
“Sometimes the easiest way is the best!” said Walker. “It looks great now and is much more durable too.”
