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Martians Wanted: NASA Opens Call for Simulated Yearlong Mars Mission
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Students celebrate after a successful performance in the 2024 Student Launch competition at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama.NASA NASA has selected 71 teams from across the U.S. to participate in its 25th annual Student Launch Challenge, one of the agency’s Artemis Student Challenges. The competition is aimed at inspiring Artemis Generation students to explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for the benefit of humanity.
As part of the challenge, teams will design, build, and fly a high-powered amateur rocket and scientific payload. They also must meet documentation milestones and undergo detailed reviews throughout the school year.
The nine-month-long challenge will culminate with on-site events starting on April 30, 2025. Final launches are scheduled for May 3, at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama, just minutes north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Teams are not required to travel for their final launch, having the option to launch from a qualified site. Details are outlined in the Student Launch Handbook.
Each year, NASA updates the university payload challenge to reflect current scientific and exploration missions. For the 2025 season, the payload challenge will again take inspiration from the Artemis missions, which seek to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, and pave the way for future human exploration of Mars.
As Student Launch celebrates its 25th anniversary, the payload challenge will include reports from STEMnauts, non-living objects representing astronauts. The STEMnaut crew must relay real-time data to the student team’s mission control via radio frequency, simulating the communication that will be required when the Artemis crew achieves its lunar landing.
University and college teams are required to meet the 2025 payload requirements set by NASA, but middle and high school teams have the option to tackle the same challenge or design their own payload experiment.
Student teams will undergo detailed reviews by NASA personnel to ensure the safety and feasibility of their rocket and payload designs. The team closest to their target will win the Altitude Award, one of multiple awards presented to teams at the end of the competition. Other awards include overall winner, vehicle design, experiment design, and social media presence.
In addition to the engineering and science objectives of the challenge, students must also participate in outreach efforts such as engaging with local schools and maintaining active social media accounts. Student Launch is an all-encompassing challenge and aims to prepare the next generation for the professional world of space exploration.
The Student Launch Challenge 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.
For more information about Student Launch, visit:
Student Launch Website Taylor Goodwin
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
taylor.goodwin@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Oct 04, 2024 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
Credit: NASA Two proposals for missions to observe X-ray and far-infrared wavelengths of light from space were selected by NASA for additional review, the agency announced Thursday. Each proposal team will receive $5 million to conduct a 12-month mission concept study. After detailed evaluation of those studies, NASA expects to select one concept in 2026 to proceed with construction, for a launch in 2032.
The resulting mission will become the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions within the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program. The new mission class, Probe Explorers, will fill a gap between flagship and smaller-scale missions in NASA’s exploration of the secrets of the universe.
“NASA’s Explorers Program brings out some of the most creative ideas for missions that help us reveal the unknown about our universe. Establishing this new line of missions – the largest our Astrophysics program has ever competed – has taken that creativity to new heights,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Both of the selected concepts could enable ground-breaking science responsive to the top astrophysics priorities of the decade, develop key technologies for future flagship missions, and offer opportunities for the entire community to use the new observatory, for the benefit of all.”
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2020 Decadal Survey, Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s, recommended NASA establish this new mission class, with the first mission observing either X-ray or far-infrared wavelengths of light. Mission costs for the new Probe Explorers are capped at $1 billion each, not including the cost of the rocket, launch services, or any contributions.
NASA evaluated Probe Explorers proposals based on their scientific merit in alignment with the Decadal Survey’s recommendations, feasibility of development plans, and use of technologies that could support the development of future large missions.
The selected proposals are:
Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite
This mission would be an X-ray imaging observatory with a large, flat field-of-view and high spatial resolution. It would study the seeds of supermassive black holes; investigate the process of stellar feedback, which influences how galaxies evolve; and help determine the power sources of a variety of explosive phenomena in the cosmos. The observatory would build on the successes of previous X-ray observatories, capturing new capabilities for X-ray imaging and imaging spectroscopy. Principal investigator: Christopher Reynolds, University of Maryland, College Park Project management: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics
This observatory would be a 5.9-foot (1.8-meter) telescope studying far-infrared wavelengths, helping bridge the gap between existing infrared observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and radio telescopes. By studying radiant energy that only emerges in the far-infrared, the mission would address questions about the origins and growth of planets, supermassive black holes, stars, and cosmic dust. Principal investigator: Jason Glenn, NASA Goddard Project management: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the Explorer 1 launch in 1958, which discovered Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer missions that led to Nobel prizes for their investigators.
The Explorers Program is managed by NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system and universe.
For more information about the Explorers Program, visit:
https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov
-end-
Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-617-4977
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Oct 03, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí.
NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for Europa Clipper, the agency’s mission to explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. NASA is targeting launch at 12:31 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 10, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Beyond Earth, Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the solar system’s most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa’s surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth’s oceans.
For a schedule of live events and the platforms they’ll stream on, visit:
https://go.nasa.gov/europaclipperlive
The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. NASA’s media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Tuesday, Oct. 8
1 p.m. – In-person, one-on-one interviews, open to media credentialed for this launch.
3:30 p.m. – NASA’s Europa Clipper science briefing with the following participants:
Gina DiBraccio, acting director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters Robert Pappalardo, project scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL Haje Korth, deputy project scientist, Europa Clipper, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Cynthia Phillips, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL Coverage of the science news conference will stream live on NASA+ and the agency’s website, Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Wednesday, Oct. 9
2 p.m. – NASA Social panel at NASA Kennedy with the following participants:
Kate Calvin, chief scientist and senior climate advisor, NASA Headquarters Caley Burke, Flight Design Analyst, NASA’s Launch Services Program Erin Leonard, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL Juan Pablo León, systems testbed engineer, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL Elizabeth Turtle, principal investigator, Europa Imaging System instrument, Europa Clipper, APL The panel will stream live on NASA Kennedy’s YouTube, X, and Facebook accounts. Members of the public may ask questions online by posting to the YouTube, X, and Facebook live streams or using #AskNASA.
3:30 p.m. – NASA’s Europa Clipper prelaunch news conference (following completion of the Launch Readiness Review), with the following participants:
NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program Julianna Scheiman, director, NASA Science Missions, SpaceX Jordan Evans, project manager, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, U.S. Space Force Coverage of the prelaunch news conference will stream live on NASA+, the agency’s website, the NASA app, and YouTube.
Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
5:30 p.m. – NASA’s Europa Clipper rollout show. Coverage will stream live on NASA+, the agency’s website, the NASA app, and YouTube.
Thursday, Oct. 10
11:30 a.m. – NASA launch coverage in English begins on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
11:30 a.m. – NASA launch coverage in Spanish begins on NASA+, the agency’s website and NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel.
12:31 p.m. – Launch
Audio Only Coverage
Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240 or -7135. On launch day, “mission audio,” countdown activities without NASA+ media launch commentary, is carried on 321-867-7135.
Live Video Coverage Prior to Launch
NASA will provide a live video feed of Launch Complex 39A approximately 18 hours prior to the planned liftoff of the mission on the NASA Kennedy newsroom YouTube channel. The feed will be uninterrupted until the launch broadcast begins on NASA+.
NASA Website Launch Coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the agency’s website. Coverage will include links to live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 10 a.m., Oct. 10, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff.
Follow countdown coverage on the Europa Clipper blog. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o Messod Bendayan: messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov
Attend the Launch Virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.
Watch, Engage on Social Media
Let people know you’re following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtags #EuropaClipper and #NASASocial. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
X: @NASA, @EuropaClipper, @NASASolarSystem, @NASAJPL, @NASAKennedy, @NASA_LSP
Facebook: NASA, NASA’s Europa Clipper, NASA’s JPL, NASA’s Launch Services Program
Instagram: @NASA, @nasasolarsystem, @NASAKennedy, @NASAJPL
For more information about the mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper
-end-
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser.nasa.gov
Leejay Lockhart
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Oct 03, 2024 LocationKennedy Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is depicted receiving a laser signal from the Deep Space Optical Communications uplink ground station at JPL’s Table Mountain Facility in this artist’s concept. The DSOC experiment consists of an uplink and downlink station, plus a flight laser transceiver flying with Psyche.NASA/JPL-Caltech The Deep Space Optical Communications tech demo has completed several key milestones, culminating in sending a signal to Mars’ farthest distance from Earth.
NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration broke yet another record for laser communications this summer by sending a laser signal from Earth to NASA’s Psyche spacecraft about 290 million miles (460 million kilometers) away. That’s the same distance between our planet and Mars when the two planets are farthest apart.
Soon after reaching that milestone on July 29, the technology demonstration concluded the first phase of its operations since launching aboard Psyche on Oct. 13, 2023.
“The milestone is significant. Laser communication requires a very high level of precision, and before we launched with Psyche, we didn’t know how much performance degradation we would see at our farthest distances,” said Meera Srinivasan, the project’s operations lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Now the techniques we use to track and point have been verified, confirming that optical communications can be a robust and transformative way to explore the solar system.”
Managed by JPL, the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment consists of a flight laser transceiver and two ground stations. Caltech’s historic 200-inch (5-meter) aperture Hale Telescope at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California, acts as the downlink station to which the laser transceiver sends its data from deep space. The Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory at JPL’s Table Mountain facility near Wrightwood, California, acts as the uplink station, capable of transmitting 7 kilowatts of laser power to send data to the transceiver.
This visualization shows Psyche’s position on July 29 when the uplink station for NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications sent a laser signal about 290 million miles to the spacecraft. See an interactive version of the Psyche spacecraft in NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System.NASA/JPL-Caltech By transporting data at rates up to 100 times higher than radio frequencies, lasers can enable the transmission of complex scientific information as well as high-definition imagery and video, which are needed to support humanity’s next giant leap when astronauts travel to Mars and beyond.
As for the spacecraft, Psyche remains healthy and stable, using ion propulsion to accelerate toward a metal-rich asteroid in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Exceeding Goals
The technology demonstration’s data is sent to and from Psyche as bits encoded in near-infrared light, which has a higher frequency than radio waves. That higher frequency enables more data to be packed into a transmission, allowing far higher rates of data transfer.
Even when Psyche was about 33 million miles (53 million kilometers) away — comparable to Mars’ closest approach to Earth — the technology demonstration could transmit data at the system’s maximum rate of 267 megabits per second. That bit rate is similar to broadband internet download speeds. As the spacecraft travels farther away, the rate at which it can send and receive data is reduced, as expected.
On June 24, when Psyche was about 240 million miles (390 million kilometers) from Earth — more than 2½ times the distance between our planet and the Sun — the project achieved a sustained downlink data rate of 6.25 megabits per second, with a maximum rate of 8.3 megabits per second. While this rate is significantly lower than the experiment’s maximum, it is far higher than what a radio frequency communications system using comparable power can achieve over that distance.
This Is a Test
The goal of Deep Space Optical Communications is to demonstrate technology that can reliably transmit data at higher speeds than other space communication technologies like radio frequency systems. In seeking to achieve this goal, the project had an opportunity to test unique data sets like art and high-definition video along with engineering data from the Psyche spacecraft. For example, one downlink included digital versions of Arizona State University’s “Psyche Inspired” artwork, images of the team’s pets, and a 45-second ultra-high-definition video that spoofs television test patterns from the previous century and depicts scenes from Earth and space.
This 45-second ultra-high-definition video was streamed via laser from deep space by NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration on June 24, when the Psyche spacecraft was 240 million miles from Earth. NASA/JPL-Caltech The technology demonstration beamed the first ultra-high-definition video from space, featuring a cat named Taters, from the Psyche spacecraft to Earth on Dec. 11, 2023, from 19 million miles away. (Artwork, images, and videos were uploaded to Psyche and stored in its memory before launch.)
“A key goal for the system was to prove that the data-rate reduction was proportional to the inverse square of distance,” said Abi Biswas, the technology demonstration’s project technologist at JPL. “We met that goal and transferred huge quantities of test data to and from the Psyche spacecraft via laser.” Almost 11 terabits of data have been downlinked during the first phase of the demo.
The flight transceiver is powered down and will be powered back up on Nov. 4. That activity will prove that the flight hardware can operate for at least a year.
“We’ll power on the flight laser transceiver and do a short checkout of its functionality,” said Ken Andrews, project flight operations lead at JPL. “Once that’s achieved, we can look forward to operating the transceiver at its full design capabilities during our post-conjunction phase that starts later in the year.”
More About Deep Space Optical Communications
This demonstration is the latest in a series of optical communication experiments funded by the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the agency’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program within the Space Operations Mission Directorate. Development of the flight laser transceiver is supported by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, L3 Harris, CACI, First Mode, and Controlled Dynamics Inc. Fibertek, Coherent, Caltech Optical Observatories, and Dotfast support the ground systems. Some of the technology was developed through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program.
For more information about the laser communications demo, visit:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/dsoc
NASA’s Optical Comms Demo Transmits Data Over 140 Million Miles The NASA Cat Video Explained 5 Things to Know About NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications News Media Contacts
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-130
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Last Updated Oct 03, 2024 Related Terms
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3 min read How NASA Astronauts Vote from Space Aboard International Space Station
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The American flag inside the cupola of the International Space Station (Credits: NASA).Credit: NASA NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station have the opportunity to vote in general elections through absentee ballots or early voting in coordination with the county clerk’s office where they live.
So, how is voting from space possible? Through NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Program.
Similar to most data transmitted between the space station and the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, votes cast in space travel through the agency’s Near Space Network, managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The network connects missions within 1.2 million miles of Earth with communications and navigation services – including the space station.
NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli (from left) give a thumbs up after voting as Texas residents from the International Space Station. The duo filled out electronic absentee ballots in March 2024 and downlinked them to Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which relayed the votes to the county clerk’s office.Credit: NASA
Just like any other American away from home, astronauts may fill out a Federal Post Card Application to request an absentee ballot. After an astronaut fills out an electronic ballot aboard the orbiting laboratory, the document flows through NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to a ground antenna at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
From New Mexico, NASA transfers the ballot to the Mission Control Center at NASA Johnson and then on to the county clerk responsible for casting the ballot. To preserve the vote’s integrity, the ballot is encrypted and accessible only by the astronaut and the clerk.
NASA’s Near Space Network enables astronauts on the International Space Station to communicate with Earth and electronically deliver ballots from space. Credit: NASA
Astronauts have voted in U.S. elections since 1997 when the Texas Legislature passed a bill that allowed NASA astronauts to cast ballots from orbit. That year, NASA astronaut David Wolf became the first American to vote from space while aboard the Mir Space Station. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins became the latest astronaut to vote in a presidential election, as she voted aboard the International Space Station in November 2020.
Astronauts forego many of the comforts afforded to those back on Earth as they embark on their journeys to space for the benefit of humanity. Though they are far from home, NASA’s networks connect them with their friends and family and give them the opportunity to participate in democracy and society while in orbit. While astronauts come from all over the United States, they make their homes in Texas so they can be near NASA Johnson’s training and mission support facilities.
For more than two decades, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory stay connected with Earth and their civilian lives back home by communicating with mission control through the Near Space Network. This development in communication ultimately can benefit humanity and lay the groundwork for other agency missions, like NASA’s Artemis campaign, and future human exploration of Mars.
Learn more about the International Space Station online:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
About the Author
Dominique V. Crespo
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Last Updated Oct 03, 2024 Related Terms
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