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55 Years Ago: Star Trek Final Episode Airs, Relationship with NASA Endures

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The voyages of the Starship Enterprise came to a sudden and premature end on June 3, 1969, with the airing of the final episode of the Star Trek original television series. Ironically, the show’s cancellation came just six weeks before humanity embarked on its first voyage to land on another celestial body. Although the show ran for only three seasons, it generated a devoted fan base disappointed by the cancellation despite their write-in campaign to keep it on the air. But as things turned out, over the decades Star Trek evolved into a global phenomenon, first with the original episodes replayed in syndication, followed by a series of full-length motion pictures, and eventually a multitude of spin-off series. With its primary focus on space exploration, along with themes of diversity, inclusion, and innovation, the Star Trek fictional universe formed a natural association with NASA’s real life activities.

A scene from “The Man Trap,” the premiere episode of Star Trek The cast of the original Star Trek series from a promotional ad for the 1968-9 season A scene from “Turnabout Intruder,” the final episode of the original series
Left:  A scene from “The Man Trap,” the premiere episode of Star Trek. Middle: The cast of the original Star Trek series from a promotional ad for the 1968-9 season. Right: A scene from “Turnabout Intruder,” the final episode of the original series. Image credits: courtesy NBC-TV.

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first had the idea for a science fiction television series in 1964. He presented his idea, a show set in the 23rd century aboard a starship with a crew dedicated to exploring the galaxy, to Desilu Productions, an independent television production company headed by Lucille Ball. They produced a pilot titled “The Cage,” selling it to the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) network that then bought a second pilot titled “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” NBC introduced the show to its fall 1966 lineup, with the first episode “The Man Trap” airing on Sep. 8. To put that date in perspective, NASA launched Gemini XI four days later, one of the missions that helped the agency achieve the Moon landing nearly three years later. Meanwhile, Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise continued its fictional five-year mission through the galaxy to “seek out new life and new civilizations.” The makeup of the Enterprise’s crew made the show particularly attractive to late 1960s television audiences. The major characters included an African American woman communications officer, an Asian American helmsman, and a half-human half-Vulcan science officer, later joined by a Russian-born ensign. While the show enjoyed good ratings during its first two seasons, cuts to its production budget resulted in lower quality episodes during its third season leading to lower ratings and, despite a concerted letter-writing campaign from its dedicated fans, eventual cancellation.

NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left, with the creator and cast members of Star Trek at the September 1976 rollout of space shuttle Enterprise The cast members give the Vulcan salute
Left: NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left, with the creator and cast members of Star Trek at the September 1976 rollout of space shuttle Enterprise. Right: The cast members give the Vulcan salute.

Despite the show’s cancellation, Star Trek lived on and prospered in syndication and attracted an ever-growing fan base, turning into a worldwide sensation. Often dubbed “trekkies,” these fans held the first of many Star Trek conventions in 1972. When in 1976 NASA announced that it would name its first space shuttle orbiter Constitution, in honor of its unveiling on the anniversary of the U. S. Constitution’s ratification, trekkies engaged in a dedicated letter writing campaign to have the orbiter named Enterprise, after the starship in the television series. This time the fans’ letter writing campaign succeeded. President Gerald R. Ford agreed with the trekkies and directed NASA to rechristen the first space shuttle. When on Sept. 17, 1976, it rolled out of its manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, appropriately accompanied by a band playing the show’s theme song, it bore the name Enterprise. Many of the original cast members of the show as well as its creator Rodenberry participated in the rollout ceremony, hosted by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher. Thus began a lengthy relationship between the space agency and the Star Trek brand.

Star Trek cast member Nichelle Nichols, left, in the shuttle simulator with astronaut Alan L. Bean at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston Nichols at the controls of the shuttle simulator Nichols, left, in JSC’s Mission Control Center during filming of the recruiting video
Left: Star Trek cast member Nichelle Nichols, left, in the shuttle simulator with astronaut Alan L. Bean at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. Middle: Nichols at the controls of the shuttle simulator. Right: Nichols, left, in JSC’s Mission Control Center during filming of the recruiting video.

During the development of the space shuttle in the 1970s, the need arose to recruit a new group of astronauts to fly the vehicle, deploy the satellites, and perform the science experiments. When NASA released the call for the new astronaut selection on July 8, 1976, it specifically encouraged women and minorities to apply. To encourage those applicants, NASA chose Nichelle Nichols, who played communications officer Lt. Uhura on the Starship Enterprise, to record a recruiting video and speak to audiences nationwide. She came to NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston in March 1977, and accompanied by Apollo 12 and Skylab 3 astronaut Alan L. Bean, toured the center and filmed scenes for the video in Mission Control and other facilities. NASA hoped that her stature and popularity would encourage women and minorities to apply, and indeed they did. In January 1978, when NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronauts from more than 8,000 applicants, for the first time the astronaut class included women and minorities. All distinguished themselves as NASA astronauts and paved the way for others in subsequent astronaut selections. Nichols returned to JSC in September 2010 with the Traveling Space Museum, an organization that partners with schools to promote space studies. She toured Mission Control and the International Space Station trainer accompanied by NASA astronaut B. Alvin Drew. She also flew aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) airborne telescope aircraft managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, in September 2015.

Nichols, center, aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy aircraft Nichols, center, aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy aircraft
Left: Nichelle Nichols, middle, with NASA astronaut B. Alvin Drew in the space station trainer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Right: Nichols, center, aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Star Trek brand renewed itself in 1979 as a full-length motion picture with the original TV series cast members reprising their roles. Over the years, several sequels followed this first film. And on the small screen, a reboot of sorts occurred in 1987 with the premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a new series set in the 24th century aboard the Enterprise-D, a next generation starship with a new crew. That series lasted seven seasons, followed by a near-bewildering array of spin-off series, all built on the Star Trek brand, that continue to this day.

Actor James Doohan visits NASA’s Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in California in 1967 with NASA pilot Bruce A. Peterson, in front of the M2-F2 lifting body aircraft At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Doohan sits in the commander’s seat of the space shuttle simulator, as NASA astronaut Mario Runco looks on Doohan, second from left, during his retirement party with fellow Star Trek stars George Takei, left, and Nichelle Nichols, and Apollo 11 astronaut Neil A. Armstrong
Left: Actor James Doohan visits NASA’s Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in California in 1967 with NASA pilot Bruce A. Peterson, in front of the M2-F2 lifting body aircraft. Middle: At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Doohan sits in the commander’s seat of the space shuttle simulator, as NASA astronaut Mario Runco looks on. Right: Doohan, second from left, during his retirement party with fellow Star Trek stars George Takei, left, and Nichelle Nichols, and Apollo 11 astronaut Neil A. Armstrong. Credit: Image courtesy Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times.

James Doohan, the actor who played Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, the Starship Enterprise’s chief engineer, had early associations with NASA. In April 1967, Doohan visited NASA’s Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in California, spending time with NASA test pilot Bruce A. Peterson. A month later, Peterson barely survived a horrific crash of the experimental M2-F2 lifting body aircraft. He inspired the 1970s TV series The Six-Million Dollar Man, and the show’s opening credits include film of the crash. Doohan narrated a documentary film about the space shuttle released shortly before Columbia made its first flight in April 1981. In January 1991, Doohan visited JSC and with NASA astronaut Mario Runco (who sometimes went by the nickname “Spock”) toured the shuttle trainers, Mission Control, and tried his hand at operating the shuttle’s robotic arm in the Manipulator Development Facility. In a unique tribute, astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, the first person to step on the lunar surface, spoke at Doohan’s retirement in 2004, addressing him as “one old engineer to another.”

Takei and Robonaut both give the Vulcan greeting Takei and Robonaut both give the Vulcan greeting
Left: Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Michael L. Coats presents actor George Takei with a commemorative plaque. Right: Takei and Robonaut both give the Vulcan greeting.

George Takei, who played Enterprise helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu, and his husband Brad, visited JSC in May 2012. Invited by both Asian American and LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups, Takei spoke of leadership and inclusiveness, including overcoming challenges while in Japanese American internment camps during World War II and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. He noted that Star Trek remained ahead of its time in creating a future when all members of society could equally participate in great undertakings, at a time when the country struggled through the Civil Rights movement and the conflict in Southeast Asia. The inclusiveness that is part of NASA’s culture greatly inspired him. JSC Director Michael L. Coats presented Takei with a plaque including a U.S. flag flown aboard space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-135 mission. He also visited Mission Control and spent some time with Robonaut.

Star Trek cast member Leonard Nimoy gives the Vulcan greeting in front of space shuttle Enterprise after its arrival in New York in 2012 Expedition 43 crew member European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gives the Vulcan salute to honor the late actor Nimoy
Left: Star Trek cast member Leonard Nimoy gives the Vulcan greeting in front of space shuttle Enterprise after its arrival in New York in 2012. Right: Expedition 43 crew member European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gives the Vulcan salute to honor the late actor Nimoy. 

Leonard Nimoy played the science officer aboard the Starship Enterprise, the half-human, half-Vulcan Mr. Spock. The actor watched in September 2012 when space shuttle Enterprise arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, on the last leg of its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, where it currently resides. “This is a reunion for me,” observed Nimoy. “Thirty-five years ago, I met the Enterprise for the first time.” As noted earlier, the Star Trek cast attended the first space shuttle’s rollout in 1976. Following his death in 2015, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti paid tribute to Nimoy aboard the International Space Station by wearing a Star Trek science officer uniform, giving the Vulcan greeting, and proclaiming, “Of all the souls I have encountered … his was the most human.”

Star Trek cast member William Shatner, left, receives the Distinguished Public Service Medal from NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Robert N. Jacobs in 2014 Shatner, upper left, moderates a virtual panel at the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con with NASA spacesuit engineer Lindsay T. Aitchison, upper right, NASA astronauts Nicole A. Mann, lower left, and Kjell N. Lindgren, and NASA technology expert LaNetra C. Tate Shatner experiences weightlessness during his suborbital trip to the edge of space aboard a New Shepard vehicle
Left: Star Trek cast member William Shatner, left, receives the Distinguished Public Service Medal from NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Robert N. Jacobs in 2014. Middle: Shatner, upper left, moderates a virtual panel at the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con with NASA spacesuit engineer Lindsay T. Aitchison, upper right, NASA astronauts Nicole A. Mann, lower left, and Kjell N. Lindgren, and NASA technology expert LaNetra C. Tate. Image credit: courtesy Comic-Con International. Right: Shatner experiences weightlessness during his suborbital trip to the edge of space aboard a New Shepard vehicle. Image credit: courtesy Blue Origin.

Captain James T. Kirk, played by actor William Shatner, a life-long advocate of science and space exploration, served at the helm of the Starship Enterprise. His relationship with NASA began during the original series, with references to the space agency incorporated into several story lines. In 2011, Shatner hosted and narrated a NASA documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle program, and gave his time and voice to other NASA documentaries. NASA recognized Shatner’s contributions in 2014 with a Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award NASA bestows on non-government individuals. NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications Robert “Bob” N. Jacobs presented the medal to Shatner. The award’s citation read, “For outstanding generosity and dedication to inspiring new generations of explorers around the world, and for unwavering support for NASA and its missions of discovery.” In 2019, Shatner narrated the NASA video We Are Going, about NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon. He has spoken at numerous NASA-themed events and moderated panels about NASA’s future plans. On Oct. 13, 2021, at the age of 90, Shatner reached the edge of space during the NS-18 suborbital flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, experiencing three minutes of weightlessness.

Patch for the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), including the Klingon writing just below the letters “WORF.” Astronaut Naoki Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the WORF rack after its installation aboard the space station during STS-131 The STS-54 crew dressed as Starfleet officers
Left: Patch for the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF), including the Klingon writing just below the letters “WORF.” Middle: Astronaut Naoki Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the WORF rack after its installation aboard the space station during STS-131. Right: The STS-54 crew dressed as Starfleet officers.

The Space Flight Awareness (SFA) poster for the Expedition 21 crew The SFA poster for the STS-134 crew
Left: The Space Flight Awareness (SFA) poster for the Expedition 21 crew. Right: The SFA poster for the STS-134 crew.

Elements of the Star Trek universe have made their way not only into popular culture but also into NASA culture. As noted above, Star Trek fans had a hand in naming the first space shuttle Enterprise. NASA’s Earth observation facility aboard the space station that makes use of its optical quality window bears the name the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF). The connection between that acronym and the name of a Klingon officer aboard the Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series seemed like an opportunity not to be missed – the facility’s official patch bears its name in English and in Klingon. Several astronaut crews have embraced Star Trek themes for their unofficial photographs. The STS-54 crew dressed in the uniforms of Starship Enterprise officers from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, the second full-length feature motion picture of the series. Space shuttle and space station crews created Space Flight Awareness (SFA) posters for their missions, and more than one embraced Star Trek themes. The Expedition 21 crew dressed in uniforms from the original series, while the STS-134 crew chose as their motif the 2009 reboot motion picture Star Trek.

Picture of the Gemini VI launch in the background in the 1967 Star Trek episode “Court Martial.” NASA astronaut Mae C. Jemison, left, and actor LeVar Burton in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation NASA astronauts Terry W. Virts, left, and E. Michael Fincke, right, flank actor Scott Bakula on the set of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005
Left: Picture of the Gemini VI launch in the background in the 1967 Star Trek episode “Court Martial.” Credit: Image courtesy of Collectspace.com. Middle: NASA astronaut Mae C. Jemison, left, and actor LeVar Burton in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Credit: Image courtesy CBS. Right: NASA astronauts Terry W. Virts, left, and E. Michael Fincke, right, flank actor Scott Bakula on the set of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005. Credit: Image courtesy CBS.

As much as Star Trek has influenced NASA, in turn the agency has left its mark on the franchise, from episodes referencing actual and future spaceflight events to NASA astronauts making cameo appearances on the show. The first-season episode “Court Martial” that aired in February 1967 featured a photograph of the December 1965 Gemini VI launch adorning a wall aboard a star base. In the second-season episode “Return to Tomorrow,” airing in February 1968, Captain Kirk in a dialogue about risk-taking remarks, “Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn’t reached the Moon?” a prescient reference to the first Apollo mission to reach the Moon more than 10 months after the episode aired. Astronaut Mae C. Jemison, who credits Nichelle Nichols as her inspiration to become an astronaut, appeared in the 1993 episode “Second Chances” of Star Trek: The Next Generation, eight months after her actual spaceflight aboard space shuttle Endeavour. In May 2005, two other NASA astronauts, Terry W. Virts and E. Michael Fincke, appeared in “These are the Voyages…,” the final episode of the series Star Trek: Enterprise.

NASA astronaut Victor J. Glover, host of the 2016 documentary “NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space.” Actress Nichelle Nichols appearing in the documentary “NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space.”
Left: NASA astronaut Victor J. Glover, host of the 2016 documentary “NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space.” Right: Actress Nichelle Nichols appearing in the documentary “NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space.”

In the 2016 documentary “NASA on the Edge of Forever: Science in Space,” host NASA astronaut Victor J. Glover states, “Science and Star Trek go hand-in-hand.” The film explores how for 50 years, Star Trek influenced scientists, engineers, and even astronauts to reach beyond their potential. While the space station doesn’t speed through the galaxy like the Starship Enterprise, much of the research conducted aboard the orbiting facility can make the fiction of Star Trek come a little closer to reality. Several of the cast members from the original TV series share their viewpoints in the documentary, along with those of NASA managers and scientists. Over the years, NASA has created several videos highlighting the relationship between the agency and the Star Trek franchise. In 2016, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden led a video tribute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Star Trek episode.

In a tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry on the 100th anniversary of his birth, his son Rod, upper left, hosts a virtual panel discussion about diversity and inspiration
In a tribute to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry on the 100th anniversary of his birth, his son Rod, upper left, hosts a virtual panel discussion about diversity and inspiration.

In 2021, on the 100th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s birth, his son Rod hosted a virtual panel discussion, introduced by NASA Administrator C. William “Bill” Nelson, about diversity and inspiration, two ideals the Star Trek creator infused into the series. Panelists included Star Trek actor Takei, Tracy D. Drain, flight systems engineer for the Europa Clipper spacecraft at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, Swati Mohan, guidance and operations lead for the Mars 2020 rover at JPL, and Hortense B. Diggs, Director of the Office of Communication and Public Engagement at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mutual attraction between NASA and Star Trek stems from, to paraphrase the opening voiceover from the TV series, that both seek to explore and discover new worlds, and to boldly go where no one has gone before. The diversity, inclusion, and inspiration involved in these endeavors ensure that they will live long and prosper.

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      Aeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
      Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More
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    • NASA
      NASA, French SWOT Satellite Offers Big View of Small Ocean Features
      By NASA
      6 min read
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      Sunlight reflects off the ocean surface near Norfolk, Virginia, in this 1991 space shuttle image, highlighting swirling patterns created by features such as internal waves, which are produced when the tide moves over underwater features. Data from the international SWOT mission is revealing the role of smaller-scale waves and eddies.NASA The international mission collects two-dimensional views of smaller waves and currents that are bringing into focus the ocean’s role in supporting life on Earth.
      Small things matter, at least when it comes to ocean features like waves and eddies. A recent NASA-led analysis using data from the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite found that ocean features as small as a mile across potentially have a larger impact on the movement of nutrients and heat in marine ecosystems than previously thought.
      Too small to see well with previous satellites but too large to see in their entirety with ship-based instruments, these relatively small ocean features fall into a category known as the submesoscale. The SWOT satellite, a joint effort between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), can observe these features and is demonstrating just how important they are, driving much of the vertical transport of things like nutrients, carbon, energy, and heat within the ocean. They also influence the exchange of gases and energy between the ocean and atmosphere.
      “The role that submesoscale features play in ocean dynamics is what makes them important,” said Matthew Archer, an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Some of these features are called out in the animation below, which was created using SWOT sea surface height data.

      This animation shows small ocean features — including internal waves and eddies — derived from SWOT observations in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. White and lighter blue represent higher ocean surface heights compared to darker blue areas. The purple colors shown in one location represent ocean current speeds.
      NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio “Vertical currents move heat between the atmosphere and ocean, and in submesoscale eddies, can actually bring up heat from the deep ocean to the surface, warming the atmosphere,” added Archer, who is a coauthor on the submesoscale analysis published in April in the journal Nature. Vertical circulation can also bring up nutrients from the deep sea, supplying marine food webs in surface waters like a steady stream of food trucks supplying festivalgoers.
      “Not only can we see the surface of the ocean at 10 times the resolution of before, we can also infer how water and materials are moving at depth,” said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, SWOT program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
      Fundamental Force
      Researchers have known about these smaller eddies, or circular currents, and waves for decades. From space, Apollo astronauts first spotted sunlight glinting off small-scale eddies about 50 years ago. And through the years, satellites have captured images of submesoscale ocean features, providing limited information such as their presence and size. Ship-based sensors or instruments dropped into the ocean have yielded a more detailed view of submesoscale features, but only for relatively small areas of the ocean and for short periods of time.
      The SWOT satellite measures the height of water on nearly all of Earth’s surface, including the ocean and freshwater bodies, at least once every 21 days. The satellite gives researchers a multidimensional view of water levels, which they can use to calculate, for instance, the slope of a wave or eddy. This in turn yields information on the amount of pressure, or force, being applied to the water in the feature. From there, researchers can figure out how fast a current is moving, what’s driving it and —combined with other types of information — how much energy, heat, or nutrients those currents are transporting.  
      “Force is the fundamental quantity driving fluid motion,” said study coauthor Jinbo Wang, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University in College Station. Once that quantity is known, a researcher can better understand how the ocean interacts with the atmosphere, as well as how changes in one affect the other.
      Prime Numbers
      Not only was SWOT able to spot a submesoscale eddy in an offshoot of the Kuroshio Current — a major current in the western Pacific Ocean that flows past the southeast coast of Japan — but researchers were also able to estimate the speed of the vertical circulation within that eddy. When SWOT observed the feature, the vertical circulation was likely 20 to 45 feet (6 to 14 meters) per day.
      This is a comparatively small amount for vertical transport. However, the ability to make those calculations for eddies around the world, made possible by SWOT, will improve researchers’ understanding of how much energy, heat, and nutrients move between surface waters and the deep sea.
      Researchers can do similar calculations for such submesoscale features as an internal solitary wave — a wave driven by forces like the tide sloshing over an underwater plateau. The SWOT satellite spotted an internal wave in the Andaman Sea, located in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean off Myanmar. Archer and colleagues calculated that the energy contained in that solitary wave was at least twice the amount of energy in a typical internal tide in that region.
      This kind of information from SWOT helps researchers refine their models of ocean circulation. A lot of ocean models were trained to show large features, like eddies hundreds of miles across, said Lee Fu, SWOT project scientist at JPL and a study coauthor. “Now they have to learn to model these smaller scale features. That’s what SWOT data is helping with.”
      Researchers have already started to incorporate SWOT ocean data into some models, including NASA’s ECCO (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean). It may take some time until SWOT data is fully a part of models like ECCO. But once it is, the information will help researchers better understand how the ocean ecosystem will react to a changing world.
      More About SWOT
      The SWOT satellite was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. Managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the Ka-band radar interferometer (KaRIn) instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. The Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations were provided by CNES. The KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly was provided by CSA.
      To learn more about SWOT, visit:
      https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov
      News Media Contacts
      Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
      626-491-1943 / 626-379-6874
      jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
      2025-070
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      Last Updated May 15, 2025 Related Terms
      SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) Jet Propulsion Laboratory Oceanography Oceans Explore More
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    • NASA
      Will the Sun Ever Burn Out? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 60
      By NASA
      1 min read
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      Will the Sun ever burn out?

      Well, the Sun, just like the stars we see at night, is a star. It’s a giant ball of super hot hydrogen.

      Gravity squeezes it in and it creates energy, which is what makes the Sun shine. Eventually, it will use up all of that hydrogen. But in the process, it’s creating helium. So it will then use the helium. And it will continue to use larger and larger elements until it can’t do this anymore.

      And when that happens, it will start to expand into a red giant about the size of the inner planets. Then it will shrink back down into a very strange star called a white dwarf — super hot, but not very bright and about the size of the Earth.

      But our Sun has a pretty long lifetime. It’s halfway through its 10-billion-year lifetime.

      So the Sun will never really burn out, but it will change and be a very, very different dim kind of star when it reaches the end of its normal life.

      [END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]

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      Last Updated May 15, 2025 Related Terms
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