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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Members of NASA’s VERITAS science team pose for a photo on July 31, 2023, after arriving in Iceland to begin a campaign to study the volcanic island’s geology in support of the future mission to Venus. Principal Investigator Suzanne Smrekar is holding the VERITAS logo.NASA/JPL-Caltech Suzanne Smrekar, geophysicist and principal investigator of the agency’s upcoming VERITAS mission to Venus, is NASA JPL’s first recipient of the prestigious award.
Suzanne Smrekar, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, received the Fred Whipple Award on Monday, Dec. 9, in Washington at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Named for astronomer Fred Whipple, the prestigious award recognizes contributions to the field of planetary science. Smrekar also gave the Whipple Lecture “To Venus: A love letter from Earth and beyond” at the event.
Smrekar is the principal investigator of NASA’s VERITAS mission, short for Venus Emissivity, Radio science, InSAR, Topography, And Spectroscopy. Slated for launch in the early 2030s, the orbiter will study Venus from surface to core to understand how a rocky planet about the same size as Earth took a very different path, developing into a world covered in volcanic plains and deformed terrain hidden beneath a thick, hot, toxic atmosphere.
Smrekar’s passion for modeling and studying how rocky planets evolve led her to a previous stint as deputy principal investigator of NASA’s Mars InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), which revealed new details about the Red Planet’s marsquakes and interior layers, including its crust, mantle, and liquid core.
Based at JPL since 1992, Smrekar worked early in her career on NASA’s Magellan mission. “I got to see the first radar images come back from the surface of Venus, and I got to sit around the table with brilliant scientists from around the world examining these bizarre new landscapes, trying to imagine the forces that created them,” she recalled. “It was exhilarating! I was hooked on space exploration, and on Venus!”
A recent reexamination of Magellan data found evidence of active volcanism on the planet, and additional indirect evidence of activity, based on estimates of the heat coming out of the planet’s interior from specific tectonic features, has only added to the eagerness to explore Venus. Managed by JPL, VERITAS will study the planet in concert with NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission, which is managed by NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and is also launching in the early 2030s.
More About VERITAS
VERITAS partners include Lockheed Martin Space, the Italian Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center, and Centre National d’Études Spatiales in France. The Discovery Program is managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Planetary Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
VERITAS science team explores Iceland to prep for Venus Exploring the Deep Truths of Venus News Media Contact
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-167
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Last Updated Dec 09, 2024 Related Terms
VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography & Spectroscopy) ADEOS (Advanced Earth Observing Satellite) / MIDORI Jet Propulsion Laboratory Venus Explore More
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By European Space Agency
The third Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite was launched on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. Sentinel-1C extends the legacy of its predecessors, delivering high-resolution radar imagery to monitor Earth’s changing environment, supporting a diverse range of applications and advancing scientific research. Additionally, Sentinel-1C introduces new capabilities for detecting and monitoring maritime traffic.
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By NASA
The Fresh Eyes on Ice team receives the C. Peter Magrath exemplary project award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. H. Buurman Congratulations to the Fresh Eyes on Ice project, which received a C. Peter Magrath exemplary project award from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities! The award recognizes programs that demonstrate how colleges and universities have redesigned their learning, discovery, and engagement missions to deepen their partnerships and achieve broader impacts in their communities.
“Thank you to all of you for making this project what it is.” said Fresh Eyes on Ice project lead Research Professor Katie Spellman from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. “We couldn’t do it without you.”
Fresh Eyes on Ice tracks changes in the timing and thickness of ice throughout Alaska and the circumpolar north. You can get involved by downloading the GLOBE Observer app and taking photos of ice conditions using the GLOBE Land Cover protocol.
Fresh Eyes on Ice is supported by the Navigating the New Arctic Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation and the NASA Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program.
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Last Updated Dec 05, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Jeff Renshaw is the lead attorney for procurement law in the Office of the General Counsel for NASA’s Stennis Space Center and the NASA Shared Services Center. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA attorney Jeff Renshaw’s work has primarily revolved around two things: serving others and solving problems.
The New Orleans native retired as an U.S. Air Force judge advocate following more than two decades of service. Renshaw now has worked for more than eight years as an attorney advisor at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
As the nation’s largest multiuser propulsion test site, NASA Stennis supports and helps power both national and commercial space efforts and missions. Any activity at NASA Stennis is authorized by some form of written agreement. The Office of General Counsel, which Renshaw is a part of, works to ensure that work is conducted appropriately.
“I’m dedicated to being the best public civil servant I can be,” Renshaw said. “In this position, you are representing your client, which is NASA, the federal government, and the taxpayers, so it is important for me to stay updated with the latest legal developments to be the best advocate and advisor I can be.”
As lead attorney for procurement law, the Metairie, Louisiana, resident works alongside the Office of Procurement serving both NASA Stennis and the NASA Shared Services Center.
Some of Renshaw’s work includes reviewing Space Act contract agreements for commercial companies that use NASA Stennis facilities, along with activities for some of the more than 50 federal, state, academic, public, and private aerospace, technology, and research organizations that are part of the NASA Stennis federal city.
Renshaw is motivated to be an expert in his line of work – whether deployed as a U.S. Air Force procurement law attorney to Baghdad, the Horn of Africa, and Afghanistan, or working at NASA to help the nation return to the Moon. He spends a lot of time with NASA engineers to understand the in-and-outs of ongoing projects since any activity happening onsite involves the Office of General Counsel.
In addition to the U.S. Air Force, Renshaw has served in other legal profession roles, including as a law clerk for a Louisiana district court judge and a position in the Louisiana State Attorney General’s Office. He said working for NASA gives him the opportunity to focus on his area of expertise, while being involved in the agency’s great mission of exploration and discovery.
“I love NASA, and it is good to feel part of the team and to know that you are contributing to the mission,” he said.
Learn more about the people who work at NASA Stennis View the full article
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read
Sols 4382-4383: Team Work, Dream Work
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Right Navigation Camera on sol 4373 — Martian day 4,373 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — on Nov. 24, 2024, at 08:32:59 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Monday, Dec. 2, 2024
Today, after a weeklong holiday break, the team was eager to take a look at Curiosity’s new workspace. After driving 51 meters (about 167 feet) alongside Texoli butte (pictured) we had a whole host of new rocks to examine, and it was one of those curiously perfect planning days where everything falls into place. Our team of geologists here on Earth was busy studying the images our Martian geologist had downlinked to Earth prior to planning, and we scheduled 1.5 hours of science activities on the first sol of this plan. An interesting and varied workspace today saw lots of instruments working together to study the rocks in-depth — teamwork really does make the dream work.
To begin, we are targeting a vertical rock face called “Coronet Lake” near the rover. Coronet Lake has a cluster of nodules on show and we are getting information on the composition of these nodules with APXS and a ChemCam LIBS, as well as a close-up image with our MAHLI instrument. We also have a second MAHLI activity scheduled on a flat rock called “Excelsior Mountain.” Our observant team spotted an interesting-looking rock named “Admiration Point.” This rock may have fallen from the nearby Texoli butte, or could be a meteorite. To test these hypotheses further, we are targeting Admiration Point with a Mastcam mosaic and a ChemCam passive. ChemCam and Mastcam work together again on a target named “Olancha,” an area of rocks that could contain evidence of deformation from when the rocks first formed. Olancha will be targeted with a ChemCam long-distance RMI and a Mastcam mosaic.
Mastcam is finishing off the geological observations here with mosaics of “Angels Camp,” a rock containing veins where water may have once flowed, “Bare Island Lake,” a gray rock containing interesting polygonal ridges, and a trough feature close to Coronet Lake. ChemCam is taking another look back at Gediz Vallis channel to see a transition between light- and dark-toned rocks with a long-distance RMI, and we are rounding off this plan with our standard environmental observations.
As the Geology and Mineralogy theme group Keeper of the Plan for today’s planning, I made sure that this sol was packed full of science activities that the team wanted to schedule. After this busy first sol, Curiosity will be driving about 50 meters (about 164 feet), continuing to make our way out of Gediz Vallis, and we are all very excited to see what the rest of the sulfate-bearing unit has to offer us.
Written by Emma Harris, graduate student at Natural History Museum, London
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Last Updated Dec 03, 2024 Related Terms
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