Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Science in Space: June 2024
The Sun wields a huge influence on Earth. Its gravity holds our planet in its orbit, and solar energy drives the seasons, ocean currents, weather, climate, radiation belts, and auroras on Earth.
The solar wind, a flow of charged particles from the Sun, constantly bombards Earth’s magnetosphere, a vast magnetic shield around the planet. The Sun occasionally releases massive amounts of energy, creating solar geomagnetic storms that can interfere with communications and navigation and disrupt the electric power grid.
The colorful aurora borealis or Northern Lights and aurora australis or Southern Lights are created by the transfer of energy from solar electrons to molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Those molecules then release that energy in the form of light. Different molecules create specific colors, such as green from oxygen.
Because Earth’s magnetic field directs solar electrons toward the poles, auroras typically are visible only at high latitudes, such as in Canada in the north and Australia in the south. But solar storms can send the lights into much lower latitudes. During a series of large solar eruptions in May 2024, for example, the display could be seen as far south as Texas and California.
Satellites captured auroras visible across the globe on May 11, 2024.
NOAA
NASA has multiple missions studying how the Sun and solar storms affect Earth and space travel. The International Space Station contributes to this research in several ways.
Improved Solar Energy Measurements
The station’s Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) measures solar irradiance, the solar energy Earth receives, and solar spectral irradiance, a measure of the Sun’s energy in individual wavelengths. Knowing the magnitude and variability of solar irradiance improves understanding of Earth’s climate, atmosphere, and oceans and enables more accurate predictions of space weather. Better predictions could in turn help protect humans and satellites in space and electric power transmission and radio communications on the ground.
The first five years of TSIS observations demonstrated improved long-term spectral readings and lower uncertainties than measurements from a previous NASA mission, the Solar Radiation and Climate satellite. The accuracy of TSIS observations could improve models of solar irradiance variability and contribute to a long-term record of solar irradiance data.
Earlier Sun Monitoring
Installation of the Solar instruments on the space station during a spacewalk.
NASA
The ESA (European Space Agency) Sun Monitoring on the External Payload Facility of Columbus, or Solar, collected data on solar energy output for more than a decade with three instruments covering most wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. Different wavelengths emitted by the Sun are absorbed by and influence Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to our climate and weather. This monitoring helps scientists see how solar irradiance affects Earth and provides data to create models for predicting its influence.
One instrument, the Solar Variable and Irradiance Monitor, covered the near-ultraviolet, visible, and thermal parts of the spectrum and helped improve the accuracy of these measurements.
The SOLar SPECtral Irradiance Measurement instrument covered higher ranges of the solar spectrum. Its observations highlighted significant differences from previous solar reference spectra and models. Researchers also reported that repeated observations made it possible to determine a reference spectrum for the first year of the SOLAR mission, which corresponded to a solar minimum prior to Solar Cycle 24.
Solar activity rises and falls over roughly 11-year cycles. The current Solar Cycle 25 began in December 2019, and scientists predicted a peak in solar activity between January and October of 2024, which included the May storms.
The third instrument, SOLar Auto-Calibrating EUV/UV Spectrometers, measured the part of the solar spectrum between extreme ultraviolet and ultraviolet. Most of this highly energetic radiation is absorbed by the upper atmosphere, making it impossible to measure from the ground. Results suggested that these instruments could overcome the problem of degrading sensitivity seen with other solar measuring devices and provide more efficient data collection.
Auroras from Space
An aurora borealis display photographed from the International Space Station.
NASA
Astronauts occasionally photograph the aurora borealis from the space station and post these images.
For the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) AuroraMAX project, crew members photographed the aurora borealis over Yellowknife, Canada, between fall 2011 and late spring 2012. The space images, coordinated with a network of ground-based observatories across Canada, contributed to an interactive display at an art and science festival to inspire public interest in how solar activity affects Earth. The project also provides a live feed of the aurora borealis online every September through April.
Student Satellites
Deployment of the Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer and other CubeSats from the space station.
NASA
The Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer CubeSat measured variation in solar X-ray activity to help scientists understand how it affects Earth’s upper atmosphere. Solar X-ray activity is enhanced during solar flares. Students at the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric Space Physics built the satellite, which deployed from the space station in early 2016.
Better data help scientists understand how solar events affect satellites, crewed missions, and infrastructure in space and on the ground. Ongoing efforts to measure how Earth’s atmosphere responds to solar storms are an important part of NASA’s plans for Artemis missions to the Moon and for later missions to Mars.
Stephanie Duchesne: Leading with Integrity and Openness for CLDP
Of all the lessons learned throughout her NASA career, the importance of relationship and personal integrity is one that has been repeatedly reinforced for Stephanie Duchesne, a Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program (CLDP) project executive.
“Each person you work with has their own unique perspectives and concerns, and in order to solve a problem or resolve a conflict, it is critical that you try and understand where they are coming from and build trust that you will do what you say,” she said. “That has been true at all levels of my career. I’ve learned that I never had to be the smartest person in the room to be able to help bring out the best ideas of the team, ask the right questions, and come up with effective and efficient solutions – that it is the collective mind and cohesion of the team that really creates the best solutions.”
Stephanie Duchesne and her wife on a camping trip near Lake Livingston in Texas.
Image courtesy of Stephanie Duchesne
Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Duchesne has been part of CLDP since 2021, but her NASA career spans more than 20 years. She started in 2003 as a contractor for KBR Wyle Services, supporting the International Space Station Program as a biomedical engineering flight controller. She worked with the flight control and medical teams to address real-time anomalies and support crewmembers through key milestones and also spent seven months in Germany to help the ESA (European Space Agency) establish its own biomedical engineering flight controller program.
Duchesne then moved to the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) engineering team, where she worked with the fledgling Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program as an ECLSS integrator and managed the integration strategy between NASA and Russian ECLSS on the International Space Station. She also served as the lead system manager for emergency response, helping to develop the space station’s ammonia leak response and related hardware. Duchesne became a civil servant in 2017 when she was hired as a Mission Evaluation Room (MER) manager for the program’s Vehicle Office.
Stephanie Duchesne (center right) and fellow International Space Station Mission Evaluation Room (MER) managers enjoy a lighthearted moment as a team.
Image courtesy of Stephanie Duchesne
Duchesne said being a MER manager was a standout experience. “It was both humbling and inspiring to come to work every day knowing that I could pull from the best minds in the space industry to find a solution to any problem that came our way,” she said. Still, she is hard-pressed to identify a favorite role or project among her varied experiences. “I’ve been fortunate to work in a lot of different areas at NASA and experience perspectives that have all provided challenges, successes, and lessons learned.”
In her current role with CLDP, Duchesne applies her extensive space station experience to leading NASA’s Space Act Agreement with commercial space station developer Starlab Space. “I love being part of the future of low Earth orbit and being able to provide these new companies with lessons learned from my years working station and connecting our partners with all the knowledgeable subject matter experts at NASA,” she said. “It feels rewarding to help the commercial industry stand on our shoulders to do new great things.”
Beyond her technical work, Duchesne strives to provide an example to her colleagues by being her authentic self in the workplace and honoring those who do the same. “I think it is so important for all of us to create safe spaces for each person to bring their whole selves to what we’re trying to achieve,” she said. “People’s unique life experiences and backgrounds provide rich space for connection and different perspectives on problems that NASA is trying to solve.”
Duchesne takes pride in NASA’s celebration of diversity in the workplace, and the value the agency places on all team members being able to live and work openly and authentically. “I feel fortunate to work in a community where I’m able to live this value in front of my children, and all the younger generations, so that it is no longer considered exceptional, but expected in their future,” she said.
Outside of work, Duchesne enjoys spending time with her wife – who also works for NASA – and their three children. “We love family road trips which give us time to connect and be together. Our dog Aston is the real boss of the house and joins us on all of our adventures.”
Stephanie Duchesne (foreground, center) and her family during a visit to Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, on one of their family road trips.
Image courtesy of Stephanie Duchesne
She hopes to share with her children and other members of the Artemis Generation a love for exploring the unknown and the confidence to achieve greatness in their own ways. “I look forward to them taking the reins, using the unique skills and techniques they have honed in today’s world – which is different than the one we grew up in,” she said. “I know this next generation will continue to accomplish great things for our world and beyond doing it their way, with open mindedness, acceptance, and integrity. I hope they remain inspired by human ingenuity and the amazing things we can accomplish when we work together, while holding reverence and awe toward all that we don’t yet know.”
First of Its Kind Detection Made in Striking New Webb Image
6 Min Read
First of Its Kind Detection Made in Striking New Webb Image
The Serpens Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Alignment of bipolar jets confirms star formation theories
For the first time, a phenomenon astronomers have long hoped to directly image has been captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam). In this stunning image of the Serpens Nebula, the discovery lies in the northern area (seen at the upper left) of this young, nearby star-forming region.
Astronomers found an intriguing group of protostellar outflows, formed when jets of gas spewing from newborn stars collide with nearby gas and dust at high speeds. Typically these objects have varied orientations within one region. Here, however, they are slanted in the same direction, to the same degree, like sleet pouring down during a storm.
Image: Serpens Nebula (NIRCam)
In this image of the Serpens Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows within one small region (the top left corner). Serpens is a reflection nebula, which means it’s a cloud of gas and dust that does not create its own light, but instead shines by reflecting the light from stars close to or within the nebula.
The discovery of these aligned objects, made possible due to Webb’s exquisite spatial resolution and sensitivity in near-infrared wavelengths, is providing information into the fundamentals of how stars are born.
“Astronomers have long assumed that as clouds collapse to form stars, the stars will tend to spin in the same direction,” said principal investigator Klaus Pontoppidan, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “However, this has not been seen so directly before. These aligned, elongated structures are a historical record of the fundamental way that stars are born.”
So just how does the alignment of the stellar jets relate to the rotation of the star? As an interstellar gas cloud crashes in on itself to form a star, it spins more rapidly. The only way for the gas to continue moving inward is for some of the spin (known as angular momentum) to be removed. A disk of material forms around the young star to transport material down, like a whirlpool around a drain. The swirling magnetic fields in the inner disk launch some of the material into twin jets that shoot outward in opposite directions, perpendicular to the disk of material.
In the Webb image, these jets are signified by bright clumpy streaks that appear red, which are shockwaves from the jet hitting surrounding gas and dust. Here, the red color represents the presence of molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide.
“This area of the Serpens Nebula – Serpens North – only comes into clear view with Webb,” said lead author Joel Green of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “We’re now able to catch these extremely young stars and their outflows, some of which previously appeared as just blobs or were completely invisible in optical wavelengths because of the thick dust surrounding them.”
Astronomers say there are a few forces that potentially can shift the direction of the outflows during this period of a young star’s life. One way is when binary stars spin around each other and wobble in orientation, twisting the direction of the outflows over time.
Stars of the Serpens
The Serpens Nebula, located 1,300 light-years from Earth, is only one or two million years old, which is very young in cosmic terms. It’s also home to a particularly dense cluster of newly forming stars (~100,000 years old), seen at the center of this image. Some of these stars will eventually grow to the mass of our Sun.
“Webb is a young stellar object-finding machine,” Green said. “In this field, we pick up sign posts of every single young star, down to the lowest mass stars.”
“It’s a very complete picture we’re seeing now,” added Pontoppidan.
So, throughout the region in this image, filaments and wisps of different hues represent reflected starlight from still-forming protostars within the cloud. In some areas, there is dust in front of that reflection, which appears here with an orange, diffuse shade.
This region has been home to other coincidental discoveries, including the flapping “Bat Shadow,” which earned its name when 2020 data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope revealed a star’s planet-forming disk to flap, or shift. This feature is visible at the center of the Webb image.
Video: A Tour Of The Serpens Nebula
Future Studies
The new image, and serendipitous discovery of the aligned objects, is actually just the first step in this scientific program. The team will now use Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) to investigate the chemical make-up of the cloud.
The astronomers are interested in determining how volatile chemicals survive star and planet formation. Volatiles are compounds that sublimate, or transition from a solid directly to a gas, at a relatively low temperature – including water and carbon monoxide. They’ll then compare their findings to amounts found in protoplanetary disks of similar-type stars.
“At the most basic form, we are all made of matter that came from these volatiles. The majority of water here on Earth originated when the Sun was an infant protostar billions of years ago,” Pontoppidan said. “Looking at the abundance of these critical compounds in protostars just before their protoplanetary disks have formed could help us understand how unique the circumstances were when our own solar system formed.”
These observations were taken as part of General Observer program 1611. The team’s initial results have been accepted in the Astrophysical Journal.
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).
Downloads
Right click any image to save it or open a larger version in a new tab/window via the browser’s popup menu.
NASA Preserves Its Past at Kennedy While Building Future of Space
From the left, NASA Kennedy Space Center’s, Maui Dalton, project manager, engineering; Katherine Zeringue, cultural resources manager; Janet Petro, NASA Kennedy Space Center director; and Ismael Otero, project manager, engineering, unveil a large bronze historical marker plaque at the location of NASA Kennedy’s original headquarters building on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Approved in April 2023 as part of the State of Florida’s Historical Markers program in celebration of National Historic Preservation Month, the marker commemorates the early days of space exploration and is displayed permanently just west of the seven-story, 200,000 square foot Central Campus Headquarters Building, which replaced the old building in 2019.
Photo credit:: NASA/Mike Chambers
Current and former employees of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida gathered recently to celebrate the installation of a Florida Historical Marker cast in bronze at the location of the spaceport’s old headquarters building.
The first of its kind inside the center’s secure area, the marker is the latest example of the center’s commitment to remembering its rich history as it continues to launch humanity’s future.
At the forefront of NASA Kennedy’s commitment to preservation is Katherine Zeringue, who serves as cultural resources manager, overseeing the center’s historic resources from buildings to historic districts to archaeological sites.
“Traditional approaches attempt to preserve things to a specific time period, including historic materials,” Zeringue said. “But that’s a challenge here because we still actively use our historic assets, which need to be modified to accommodate new missions and new spacecraft. Therefore, we rely on an adaptive reuse approach, in which the active use of a historic property helps to ensure its preservation.”
Many iconic structures are still in service at NASA Kennedy, like the Beach House where Apollo astronauts congregated with their families, the Vehicle Assembly Building where NASA rockets are still stacked, the Launch Control Center, and Launch Complex 39A. All told, 83 buildings, seven historic districts, and one National Historic Landmark are either listed or are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
To conserve these resources, the spaceport follows a variety of federal laws, regulations, and executive orders, including the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. This includes making a reasonable and good faith effort to identify any historic properties under its care and considering how its decisions affect historic properties.
“The Cultural Resources Management Program aims to balance historic preservation considerations with the agency’s mission and mandate to ensure reliable access to space for government and commercial payloads,” Zeringue said. “Finding that proper balance is challenging in the dynamic environment of our spaceport.”
Perhaps no other location embodies the center’s commitment to the past and the future more than Launch Complex 39A. Created in 1965, the launch complex was initially designed to support the Saturn V rocket, which powered the agency’s Apollo Program as it made numerous trips to the Moon. Outside of launching Skylab in 1973, the pad stood unused following Apollo’s end in 1972 until the agency’s Space Shuttle Program debuted in 1981. The transition from Apollo to space shuttle saw Launch Complex 39A transform from support of a single-use rocket to supporting the nation’s first reusable space launch and landing system.
By the time the program ended in 2011, 135 space shuttle launches had taken place within Kennedy’s boundary, 82 of which were at Launch Complex 39A. Many of those were among the program’s most notable, including the flights of astronauts Sally Ride, NASA’s first woman in space, and Guion Bluford, NASA’s first Black astronaut in space, as well as the first flight to the newly created International Space Station in 1998.
The launch complex began another transformation in 2014 when NASA signed a 20-year lease agreement with SpaceX as part of Kennedy’s transformation into a multi-user spaceport. SpaceX reconfigured Launch Complex 39A to support its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, which today launch robotic science missions and other government and commercial payloads, as well as crew and cargo to the space station. Apollo-era infrastructure is incorporated in the SpaceX Crew Launch Tower.
“Launch Complex 39A exemplifies the balance between historic preservation and supporting the mission,” Zeringue noted. “Each chapter of the space program brings change, and those changes become additional chapters in the center’s historical legacy as we continue to build the future in space exploration.”
California Teams Win $1.5 Million in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge
By Savannah Bullard
After two days of live competitions, two teams from southern California are heading home with a combined $1.5 million from NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge.
Since 2020, competitors from around the world have competed in this challenge with the common goal of inventing robots that can excavate and transport the icy regolith on the Moon. The lunar South Pole is the targeted landing site for crewed Artemis missions, so utilizing all resources in that area, including the ice within the dusty regolith inside the permanently shadowed regions, is vital for the success of a sustained human lunar presence.
The husband-and-wife duo of Terra Engineering, Valerie and Todd Mendenhall, receive the $1 million prize June 12, for winning the final phase of NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge at Alabama A&M’s Agribition Center in Huntsville. With the Terra Engineering team at the awards ceremony are from left, Daniel K. Wims, Alabama A&M University president; Joseph Pelfrey, NASA Marshall Space Flight center director; NASA’s Break the Ice Challenge Manager Naveen Vetcha, and Majed El-Dweik, Alabama A&M University’s vice president of Research & Economic Development.
NASA/Jonathan Deal
On Earth, the mission architectures developed in this challenge aim to help guide machine design and operation concepts for future mining and excavation operations and equipment for decades.
“Break the Ice represents a significant milestone in our journey toward sustainable lunar exploration and a future human presence on the Moon,” said Joseph Pelfrey, center director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. “This competition has pushed the boundaries of what is possible by challenging the brightest minds to devise groundbreaking solutions for excavating lunar ice, a crucial resource for future missions. Together, we are forging a future where humanity ventures further into the cosmos than ever before.”
The final round of the Break the Ice competition featured six finalist teams who succeeded in an earlier phase of the challenge. The competition took place at the Alabama A&M Agribition Center in Huntsville on June 11 and 12, where each team put their diverse solutions to the test in a series of trials, using terrestrial resources like gravity-offloading cranes, concrete slabs, and a rocky track with tricky obstacles to mimic the environment on the Moon.
The husband-and-wife duo of Terra Engineering took home the top prize for their “Fracture” rover. Team lead Todd Mendenhall competed in NASA’s 2007 Regolith Excavation Challenge, facilitated through NASA’s Centennial Challenges, which led him and Valerie Mendenhall to continue the pursuit of solutions for autonomous lunar excavation.
A small space hardware business, Starpath Robotics, earned the second-place prize for its four-wheeled rover that can mine, collect, and haul material. The team, led by Saurav Shroff and lead engineer Mihir Gondhalekar, developed a robotic mining tool that features a drum barrel scraping mechanism for breaking into the tough lunar surface. This allows the robot to mine material quickly and robustly without sacrificing energy.
“This challenge has been pivotal in advancing the technologies we need to achieve a sustained human presence on the Moon,” said Kim Krome, the Acting Program Manager for NASA’s Centennial Challenges. “Terra Engineering’s rover, especially, bridged several of the technology gaps that we identified – for instance, being robust and resilient enough to traverse rocky landscapes and survive the harsh conditions of the lunar South Pole.”
Starpath Robotics earned the second place prize for its four-wheeled rover that can mine, collect, and haul material during the final phase of NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. From left, Matt Kruszynski, Saurav Shroff, Matt Khudari, Alan Hsu, David Aden, Mihir Gondhalekarl, Joshua Huang, and Aakash Ramachandran.
NASA/Jonathan Deal
Beyond the $1.5 million in prize funds, three teams will be given the chance to use Marshall Space Flight Center’s thermal vacuum (TVAC) chambers to continue testing and developing their robots. These chambers use thermal vacuum technologies to create a simulated lunar environment, allowing scientists and researchers to build, test, and approve hardware for flight-ready use.
The following teams performed exceptionally well in the excavation portion of the final competition, earning these invitations to the TVAC facilities:
Terra Engineering (Gardena, California)
Starpath Robotics (Hawthorne, California)
Michigan Technological University – Planetary Surface Technology Development Lab (Houghton, Michigan)
“We’re looking forward to hosting three of our finalists at our thermal vacuum chamber, where they will get full access to continue testing and developing their technologies in our state-of-the-art facilities,” said Break the Ice Challenge Manager Naveen Vetcha, who supports NASA’s Centennial Challenges through Jacobs Space Exploration Group. “Hopefully, these tests will allow the teams to take their solutions to the next level and open the door for opportunities for years to come.”
NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge led by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center, with support from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Centennial Challenges are part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program under NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Ensemble Consultancy supports challenge competitors. Alabama A&M University, in coordination with NASA, supports the final competitions and winner event for the challenge.
Bullard, a Manufacturing Technical Solutions Inc. employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
NASA Announces Winners of 2024 Student Launch Competition
Over 1,000 students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico launched high-powered, amateur rockets on April 13, just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, as part of the agency’s annual Student Launch competition.
Teams of middle school, high school, college, and university students were tasked to design, build, and launch a rocket and scientific payload to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, while making a successful landing and executing a scientific or engineering payload mission.
High school and collegiate student teams gathered just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to participate in the agency’s annual Student Launch competition April 13.
Credits: NASA/Charles Beason
“These bright students rise to a nine-month challenge that tests their skills in engineering, design, and teamwork,” said Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region. “They are the Artemis Generation, the future scientists, engineers, and innovators who will lead us into the future of space exploration.”
NASA announced the University of Notre Dame is the overall winner of the agency’s 2024 Student Launch challenge, followed by Iowa State University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. A complete list challenge winners can be found on the agency’s student launch web page. NASA presented the 2024 Student Launch challenge award winners in a virtual award ceremony June 7.
Each year NASA implements a new payload challenge to reflect relevant missions. This year’s payload challenge is inspired by the Artemis missions, which seek to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
The complete list of award winners are as follows:
2024 Overall Winners
First place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Second place: Iowa State University, Ames
Third place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
3D Printing Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Tennessee Chattanooga
Middle/High School Level:
First place: First Baptist Church of Manchester, Manchester, Connecticut
Altitude Award
College Level:
First place: Iowa State University, Ames
Middle/High School Level:
First place: Morris County 4-H, Califon, New Jersey
Best-Looking Rocket Award:
College Level:
First place: New York University, Brooklyn, New York
Middle/High School Level:
First place: Notre Dame Academy High School, Los Angeles
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Reusable Launch Vehicle Innovative Payload Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Colorado Boulder
Second place: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Third place: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Judge’s Choice Award:
Middle/High School Level:
First place: Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Second place: Young Engineers in Action, LaPalma, California
Third place: First Baptist Church of Manchester, Manchester, Connecticut
Project Review Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Florida, Gainesville
AIAA Reusable Launch Vehicle Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Florida, Gainesville
Second place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Third place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
AIAA Rookie Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Colorado Boulder
Safety Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Second place: University of Florida, Gainesville
Third place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Social Media Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Colorado Boulder
Middle/High School Level:
First place: Newark Memorial High School, Newark, California
STEM Engagement Award:
College Level:
First place: University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Second place: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Third place: New York University, Brooklyn, New York
Middle/High School Level:
First place: Notre Dame Academy High School, Los Angeles, California
Second place: Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Third place: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia
Service Academy Award:
First place: United States Air Force Academy, USAF Academy, Colorado
Vehicle Design Award:
Middle/High School Level:
First place: First Baptist Church of Manchester, Manchester, Connecticut
Second place: Explorer Post 1010, Rockville, Maryland
Third place: Plantation High School, Plantation, Florida
Payload Design Award:
Middle/High School Level:
First place: Young Engineers in Action, LaPalma, California
Second place: Cedar Falls High School, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Third place: Spring Grove Area High School, Spring Grove, Pennsylvania
Student Launch is one of NASA’s nine Artemis Student Challenges, activities which connect student ingenuity with NASA’s work returning to the Moon under Artemis in preparation for human exploration of Mars.
The competition is managed by Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM). Additional funding and support are provided by NASA’s OSTEM via the Next Gen STEM project, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Northrup Grumman, National Space Club Huntsville, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Association of Rocketry, Relativity Space, and Bastion Technologies.
Keith Savoy Named Deputy Director at Michoud Assembly Facility
Keith Savoy has been named deputy director of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, effective June 16.
Savoy will assist in managing the day-to-day operations of one of the world’s largest manufacturing facilities, where key elements of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), and Orion spacecraft are built. Michoud, a multi-tenant manufacturing site sitting on 829 acres with over 2 million square feet of manufacturing space, is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and provides facility infrastructure and capacity for federal, state, academic, and technology-based industry partners.
Keith Savoy has been named deputy director of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.
NASA
Savoy was the chief operating officer of Michoud Assembly Facility from 2022-2024, where he oversaw the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the NASA-owned facility, helping sustain SLS and Orion production efforts and coordinating requirements and logistics with Michoud tenant leadership for approximately 3,500 Michoud employees.
He previously served as manager of the Office of Center Operations of Michoud from 2016-2022. His responsibilities included managing the facility’s planning, maintenance, design, construction, and engineering. Savoy also oversaw energy and water conservation, environmental permitting and compliance, industrial hygiene, and medical, security, and logistics services, where he was responsible for managing over $350 million of supplemental funding projects sitewide.
Savoy also held the position of lead engineer, Logistics and Operation Planning for NASA from 2007-2016 at Michoud as an expert consultant for all engineering aspects of the facility. He managed multi-phase projects and helped advance aerospace manufacturing at Michoud to meet the complex requirements of SLS and Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle programs, ensuring environmental compliance. Savoy worked closely with local, state, and federal environmental regulatory agencies to identify and resolve engineering and environmental issues. His expertise was a key contributor to ensuring NASA’s sustainable and environmental goals were achieved.
Prior to working for NASA, Savoy held several positions of increasing responsibility with Lockheed Martin from 1988-2007. As manager of Operational Planning and Layout, he was responsible for managing the Construction of Facilities. This required developing and implementing plans, outlining scope-of-work, overseeing large-scale project budgets, and Project Definition Rating assessment/score and 1509 development. Savoy implemented Six Sigma & Lean principles concepts to achieve many successes and identified innovative solutions and best practices to satisfy customer requirements. Savoy was also the manager of the Infrastructure Enhancement Team where he managed over 160 personnel and a $10 million budget.
Savoy has a Master of Science in environmental management from National Technological University in Fort Collins, Colorado, a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and a technical degree in industrial instrumentation from International Technical Institute in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Throughout his career, Savoy has received various awards including the NASA Honor Award Outstanding Leadership Medal, Director’s Commendation Honor Award, Safety Flight Awareness Awards, and several Silver Medal Group Achievement Awards.
NASA in the Park is coming back to Big Spring Park East in Huntsville, Alabama, on June 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. CDT. The event is free and open to the public.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, its partners, and collaborators will fill the park with space exhibits, music, food vendors, and hands-on activities for all ages. Marshall is teaming up with Downtown Huntsville Inc. for this unique celebration of space and the Rocket City.
“NASA in the Park gives us the opportunity to bring our work outside the gates of Redstone Arsenal and thank the community for their continuing support,” Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey said. “It’s the first time we’ve held the event since 2018, and we look forward to sharing this experience with everyone.”
Pelfrey will kick the event off with local leaders on the main stage. NASA speakers will spotlight topics ranging from space habitats to solar sails, and local rock band Five by Five will perform throughout the day.
“NASA Marshall is leading the way in this new era of space exploration, for the benefit of all humankind,” Pelfrey said. “We are proud members of the Rocket City community, which has helped us push the boundaries of science, technology, and engineering for nearly 65 years.”
Mission Success is in Our Hands is a safety initiative collaboration between NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Jacobs. As part of the initiative, eight Marshall team members are featured in testimonial banners placed around the center. This is the last in a Marshall Star series profiling team members featured in the testimonial banners. The Mission Success team also awards the Golden Eagle Award on a quarterly basis to Marshall and contractor personnel who are nominated by their peers or management. Candidates for this award have made significant, identifiable contributions that exceed normal job expectations to advance flight safety and mission assurance. Nominations for 2024 are open now online on Inside Marshall.
Baraka Truss is the Avionics and Software Branch chief at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
NASA/Charles Beason
Baraka Truss is the Avionics and Software Branch chief in the Safety and Mission Assurance Organization, Vehicle Systems Department, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Her key responsibilities include being viewed as a leadership role model, “demonstrating commitment to the mission and NASA’s core values, creating the most impact for the greater agency, and engaging in activities that promote supervisory excellence and value beyond the immediate organization.”
Truss has worked at Marshall for 28 years. Her previous roles have been software engineer, Software Engineering Process Group lead, special assistant to the center director, Independent Assessment Team lead, Software Quality Discipline lead engineer, Software Assurance Team lead, and SLS (Space Launch System) Software chief safety officer.
A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Truss earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from Alabama A&M University in Huntsville.
Question: How does your work support the safety and success of NASA and Marshall missions?
Truss: My work involves daily managing and interactions with the avionics and software team members whose mission is to ensure the safety of hardware and software for various programs and projects at Marshall and NASA.
Question: What does the initiative campaign “Mission Success is in Our Hands” mean to you?
Truss: That when risks arise, we should be sure to listen to all sides and make informed decisions, be held accountable, and speak up for what is safe when we need to do so.
Question: Do you have a story or personal experience you can share that might help others understand the significance of mission assurance or flight safety? What did you learn from it?
Truss: In my experience, mission assurance requires you to “believe the unlikely.” I have learned that believing what you have never seen requires you to stretch your imagination, because we are prone to discount and devalue things that we have not seen. We are skeptical about things that have never been seen, never been done, never been achieved, or never been accomplished.
Because according to our limited logic if it’s never been seen, never been done, never been achieved, or never been accomplished, then it’s not likely to be seen, not likely to be done, not likely to be achieved, and not likely to be accomplished. Therefore, we see no need to attempt it, try it, believe it, or invest in it because while we’ll acknowledge that it’s possible, we quickly add it’s not probable, because our idea of likelihood is limited by our experience. My experiences working for NASA have stretched me to an amazing place of accountability, assurance, and mission success.
Question: How can we work together better to achieve mission success?
Truss: Again, by listening to all sides and making informed decisions, being held accountable, and speaking up for what is safe when we need to do so.
Smith, a Media Fusion employee and the Marshall Star editor, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
That’s the Spirit: Marshall Team Members Show Support at Community Softball Game
NASA shows its team spirit during the Armed Forces Celebration Community Softball Game on June 12 at Toyota Field. Marshall Space Flight Center’s Robert Champion and Jason Adam joined Team Redstone to take on the North Alabama Rockets, made up of community leaders. (Huntsville Sports Commission)
Coming in Hot: NASA’s Chandra Checks Habitability of Exoplanets
This graphic shows a three-dimensional map of stars near the Sun. These stars are close enough that they could be prime targets for direct imaging searches for planets using future telescopes. The blue haloes represent stars that have been observed with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. The yellow star at the center of this diagram represents the position of the Sun. The concentric rings show distances of 5, 10, and 15 parsecs (one parsec is equivalent to roughly 3.2 light-years).
Astronomers are using these X-ray data to determine how habitable exoplanets may be based on whether they receive lethal radiation from the stars they orbit, as described in a press release. This type of research will help guide observations with the next generation of telescopes aiming to make the first images of planets like Earth.
This video shows a three-dimensional map of stars near the Sun on the left side of the screen and a dramatic illustration of a star with a planet orbiting around it on the right side.
Movie: Cal Poly Pomona/B. Binder; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
Researchers examined stars that are close enough to Earth that telescopes set to begin operating in the next decade or two – including the Habitable Worlds Observatory in space and Extremely Large Telescopes on the ground – could take images of planets in the stars’ so-called habitable zones. This term defines orbits where the planets could have liquid water on their surfaces.
There are several factors influencing what could make a planet suitable for life as we know it. One of those factors is the amount of harmful X-rays and ultraviolet light they receive, which can damage or even strip away the planet’s atmosphere.
Based on X-ray observations of some of these stars using data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, the research team examined which stars could have hospitable conditions on orbiting planets for life to form and prosper. They studied how bright the stars are in X-rays, how energetic the X-rays are, and how much and how quickly they change in X-ray output, for example, due to flares. Brighter and more energetic X-rays can cause more damage to the atmospheres of orbiting planets.
The researchers used almost 10 days of Chandra observations and about 26 days of XMM observations, available in archives, to examine the X-ray behavior of 57 nearby stars, some of them with known planets. Most of these are giant planets like Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune, while only a handful of planets or planet candidates could be less than about twice as massive as Earth.
These results were presented at the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, by Breanna Binder (California State Polytechnic University in Pomona).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
NASA Announces New System to Aid Disaster Response
In early May, widespread flooding and landslides occurred in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, leaving thousands of people without food, water, or electricity. In the following days, NASA teams provided data and imagery to help on-the-ground responders understand the disaster’s impacts and deploy aid.
Building on this response and similar successes, on June 13, NASA announced a new system to support disaster response organizations in the U.S. and around the world.
Members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue team in Adiyaman, Turkey, conducting rescue efforts in the wake of powerful earthquakes that struck the region in February 2023. NASA provided maps and data to support USAID and other regional partners during these earthquakes.
USAID
“When disasters strike, NASA is here to help – at home and around the world,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “As challenges from extreme weather grow, so too does the value of NASA’s efforts to provide critical Earth observing data to disaster-response teams on the frontlines. We’ve done so for years. Now, through this system, we expand our capability to help power our U.S. government partners, international partners, and relief organizations across the globe as they take on disasters – and save lives.”
The team behind NASA’s Disaster Response Coordination System gathers science, technology, data, and expertise from across the agency and provides it to emergency managers. The new system will be able to provide up-to-date information on fires, earthquakes, landslides, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme events.
“The risk from climate-related hazards is increasing, making more people vulnerable to extreme events,” said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “This is particularly true for the 10% of the global population living in low-lying coastal regions who are vulnerable to storm surges, waves and tsunamis, and rapid erosion. NASA’s disaster system is designed to deliver trusted, actionable Earth science in ways and means that can be used immediately, to enable effective response to disasters and ultimately help save lives.”
Agencies working with NASA include the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Agency for International Development – as well as international organizations such as World Central Kitchen.
“With this deliberate and structured approach, we can be even more effective in putting Earth science into action,” said Josh Barnes, at NASA’s Langley Research Center. Barnes manages the Disaster Response Coordination System.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks June 13 during an event launching a new Disaster Response Coordination System that will provide communities and organizations around the world with access to science and data to aid disaster response.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA Disasters Team Aiding Brazil
When the floods and landslides ravaged parts of Brazil in May, officials from the U.S. Southern Command – working with the U.S. Space Force and Air Force, and regional partners – reached out to NASA for Earth-observing data.
Response coordinators from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology produced flood extent maps using data from the NASA and U.S. Geological Survey Landsat mission and from ESA’s (the European Space Agency) Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite. Response coordinators at NASA’s Johnson Space Center also provided photographs of the flooding taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Building on Previous Work
The Brazil event is just one of hundreds of responses NASA has supported over the past decade. The team aids decision-making for a wide range of natural hazards and disasters, from hurricanes and earthquakes to tsunamis and oil spills.
“NASA’s Disasters Program advances science for disaster resilience and develops accessible resources to help communities around the world make informed decisions for disaster planning,” said Shanna McClain, manager of NASA’s Disasters Program. “The new Disaster Response Coordination System significantly expands our efforts to bring the power of Earth science when responding to disasters.”
