Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Satnav enables medical and emergency response
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory perfected aerogel for the Stardust mission. Under Stardust, bricks of aerogel covered panels on a spacecraft that flew behind a comet, with the microporous material “soft catching” any particles that might strike it and preserving them for return to Earth.NASA Consisting of 99% air, aerogel is the world’s lightest solid. This unique material has found purpose in several forms — from NASA missions to high fashion.
Driven by the desire to create a 3D cloud, Greek artist, Ioannis Michaloudis, learned to use aerogel as an artistic medium. His journey spanning more than 25 years took him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge; Shivaji University in Maharashtra, India, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
A researcher at MIT introduced Michaloudis to aerogel after hearing of his cloud-making ambition, and he was immediately intrigued. Aerogel is made by combining a polymer with a solvent to create a gel and flash-drying it under pressure, leaving a solid filled with microscopic pores.
Scientists at JPL chose aerogel in the mid-1990s to enable the Stardust mission, with the idea that a porous surface could capture particles while flying on a probe behind a comet. Aerogel worked in lab tests, but it was difficult to manufacture consistently and needed to be made space-worthy. NASA JPL hired materials scientist Steve Jones to develop a flight-ready aerogel, and he eventually got funding for an aerogel lab.
The aerogel AirSwipe bag Michaloudis created for Coperni’s 2024 fall collection debut appears almost luminous in its model’s hand. The bag immediately captured the world’s attention.Coperni
The Stardust mission succeeded, and when Michaloudis heard of it, he reached out to JPL, where Jones invited him to the lab. Now retired, Jones recalled, “I went through the primer on aerogel with him, the different kinds you could make and their different properties.” The size of Jones’ reactor, enabling it to make large objects, impressed Michaloudis. With tips on how to safely operate a large reactor, he outfitted his own lab with one.
In India, Michaloudis learned recipes for aerogels that can be molded into large objects and don’t crack or shrink during drying. His continued work with aerogels has created an extensive art portfolio.
Michaloudis has had more than a dozen solo exhibitions. All his artwork involves aerogel, drawing attention with its unusual qualities. An ethereal, translucent blue, it casts an orange shadow and can withstand molten metals.
In 2020, Michaloudis created a quartz-encapsulated aerogel pendant for the centerpiece of that year’s collection from French jewelry house Boucheron. Michaloudis also captured the fashion and design world’s attention with a handbag made of aerogel, unveiled at Coperni’s 2024 fall collection debut.
NASA was a crucial step along the way. “I am what I am, and we made what we made thanks to the Stardust project,” said Michaloudis.
Read More Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 09, 2025 Related Terms
Technology Transfer & Spinoffs Spinoffs Technology Transfer Explore More
2 min read NASA Tech Gives Treadmill Users a ‘Boost’
Creators of the original antigravity treadmill continue to advance technology with new company.
Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read Winners Announced in NASA’s 2025 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition
Article 3 weeks ago 3 min read Meet Four NASA Inventors Improving Life on Earth and Beyond
Article 1 month ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Technology Transfer & Spinoffs
Stardust
NASA’s Stardust was the first spacecraft to bring samples from a comet to Earth, and the first NASA mission to…
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Getty Images NASA has selected two more university student teams to help address real-world aviation challenges, through projects aimed at using drones for hurricane relief and improved protection of air traffic systems from cyber threats.
The research awards were made through NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC), which provides student-led teams with opportunities to contribute their novel ideas to advance NASA’s Aeronautics research priorities.
As part of USRC, students participate in real-world aspects of innovative aeronautics research both in and out of the laboratory.
“USRC continues to be a way for students to push the boundary on exploring the possibilities of tomorrow’s aviation industry.” said Steven Holz, who manages the USRC award process. “For some, this is their first opportunity to engage with NASA. For others, they may be taking their ideas from our Gateways to Blue Skies competition and bringing them closer to reality.”
In the case of one of the new awardees, North Carolina State University in Raleigh applied for their USRC award after refining a concept that made them a finalist in NASA’s 2024 Gateways to Blue Skies competition.
Each team of students selected for a USRC award receives a NASA grant up to $80,000 and is tasked with raising additional funds through student-led crowdfunding. This process helps students develop skills in entrepreneurship and public communication.
The new university teams and research topics are:
North Carolina State University in Raleigh
“Reconnaissance and Emergency Aircraft for Critical Hurricane Relief” will develop and deploy advanced Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) designed to locate, communicate with, and deliver critical supplies to stranded individuals in the wake of natural disasters.
The team includes Tobias Hullette (team lead), Jose Vizcarrondo, Rishi Ghosh, Caleb Gobel, Lucas Nicol, Ajay Pandya, Paul Randolph, and Hadie Sabbah, with faculty mentor Felix Ewere.
Texas A&M University, in College Station
“Context-Aware Cybersecurity for UAS Traffic Management” will develop, test, and pursue the implementation of an aviation-context-aware network authentication system for the holistic management of cybersecurity threats to enable future drone traffic control systems.
The team includes Vishwam Raval (team lead), Nick Truong, Oscar Leon, Kevin Lei, Garett Haynes, Michael Ades, Sarah Lee, and Aidan Spira, with faculty mentor Sandip Roy.
Complete details on USRC awardees and solicitations, such as what to include in a proposal and how to submit it, are available on the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate solicitation page.
About the Author
John Gould
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
9 min read ARMD Research Solicitations (Updated May 1)
Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read Air Force Pilot, SkillBridge Fellow Helps NASA Research Soar
Article 3 weeks ago 2 min read NASA, Boeing, Consider New Thin-Wing Aircraft Research Focus
Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Artemis
Aeronautics STEM
Explore NASA’s History
Share
Details
Last Updated May 15, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactSteven Holzsteven.m.holz@nasa.gov Related Terms
University Student Research Challenge Aeronautics Flight Innovation Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program University Innovation View the full article
-
By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
ICON’s next generation Vulcan construction system 3D printing a simulated Mars habitat for NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) missions.ICON One of the keys to a sustainable human presence on distant worlds is using local, or in-situ, resources which includes building materials for infrastructure such as habitats, radiation shielding, roads, and rocket launch and landing pads. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate is leveraging its portfolio of programs and industry opportunities to develop in-situ, resource capabilities to help future Moon and Mars explorers build what they need. These technologies have made exciting progress for space applications as well as some impacts right here on Earth.
The Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) project, funded by NASA’s Game Changing Development program and managed at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is exploring applications of large-scale, robotic 3D printing technology for construction on other planets. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but demonstrations using simulated lunar and Martian surface material, known as regolith, show the concept could become reality.
Lunar 3D printing prototype.Contour Crafting With its partners in industry and academic institutions, MMPACT is developing processing technologies for lunar and Martian construction materials. The binders for these materials, including water, could be extracted from the local regolith to reduce launch mass. The regolith itself is used as the aggregate, or granular material, for these concretes. NASA has evaluated these materials for decades, initially working with large-scale 3D printing pioneer, Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, a professor of civil, environmental and astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Khoshnevis developed techniques for large-scale extraterrestrial 3D printing under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. One of these processes is Contour Crafting, in which molten regolith and a binding agent are extruded from a nozzle to create infrastructure layer by layer. The process can be used to autonomously build monolithic structures like radiation shielding and rocket landing pads.
Continuing to work with the NIAC program, Khoshnevis also developed a 3D printing method called selective separation sintering, in which heat and pressure are applied to layers of powder to produce metallic, ceramic, or composite objects which could produce small-scale, more-precise hardware. This energy-efficient technique can be used on planetary surfaces as well as in microgravity environments like space stations to produce items including interlocking tiles and replacement parts.
While NASA’s efforts are ultimately aimed at developing technologies capable of building a sustainable human presence on other worlds, Khoshnevis is also setting his sights closer to home. He has created a company called Contour Crafting Corporation that will use 3D printing techniques advanced with NIAC funding to fabricate housing and other infrastructure here on Earth.
Another one of NASA’s partners in additive manufacturing, ICON of Austin, Texas, is doing the same, using 3D printing techniques for home construction on Earth, with robotics, software, and advanced material.
Construction is complete on a 3D-printed, 1,700-square-foot habitat that will simulate the challenges of a mission to Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The habitat will be home to four intrepid crew members for a one-year Crew Health and Performance Analog, or CHAPEA, mission. The first of three missions begins in the summer of 2023. The ICON company was among the participants in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, which aimed to advance the technology needed to build housing in extraterrestrial environments. In 2021, ICON used its large-scale 3D printing system to build a 1,700 square-foot simulated Martian habitat that includes crew quarters, workstations and common lounge and food preparation areas. This habitat prototype, called Mars Dune Alpha, is part of NASA’s ongoing Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, a series of Mars surface mission simulations scheduled through 2026 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
With support from NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, ICON is also developing an Olympus construction system, which is designed to use local resources on the Moon and Mars as building materials.
The ICON company uses a robotic 3D printing technique called Laser Vitreous Multi-material Transformation, in which high-powered lasers melt local surface materials, or regolith, that then solidify to form strong, ceramic-like structures. Regolith can similarly be transformed to create infrastructure capable of withstanding environmental hazards like corrosive lunar dust, as well as radiation and temperature extremes.
The company is also characterizing the gravity-dependent properties of simulated lunar regolith in an experiment called Duneflow, which flew aboard a Blue Origin reusable suborbital rocket system through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program in February 2025. During that flight test, the vehicle simulated lunar gravity for approximately two minutes, enabling ICON and researchers from NASA to compare the behavior of simulant against real regolith obtained from the Moon during an Apollo mission.
Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate/
Facebook logo @NASATechnology @NASA_Technology Keep Exploring Discover More …
Space Technology Mission Directorate
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts
STMD Solicitations and Opportunities
Technology
Share
Details
Last Updated May 13, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms
Space Technology Mission Directorate NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program Technology View the full article
-
By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Editor’s Note: The following is one of three related articles about the NASA Data Acquisition System and related efforts. Please visit Stennis News – NASA to access accompanying articles.
A blended team of NASA personnel and contractors support ongoing development and operation of the NASA Data Acquisition System at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Team members include, left to right: Andrew Graves (NASA), Shane Cravens (Syncom Space Services), Peggi Marshall (Syncom Space Services), Nicholas Payton Karno (Syncom Space Services), Alex Elliot (NASA), Kris Mobbs (NASA), Brandon Carver (NASA), Richard Smith (Syncom Space Services), and David Carver (NASA)NASA/Danny Nowlin Members of the NASA Data Acquisition System team at NASA’s Stennis Space Center evaluate system hardware for use in monitoring and collecting propulsion test data at the site.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA software engineer Alex Elliot, right, and Syncom Space Services software engineer Peggi Marshall fine-tune data acquisition equipment at NASA’s Stennis Space Center by adjusting an oscilloscope to capture precise measurements. NASA/Danny Nowlin Syncom Space Services software test engineer Nicholas Payton Karno monitors a lab console at NASA’s Stennis Space Center displaying video footage of an RS-25 engine gimbal test, alongside data acquisition screens showing lab measurements. NASA/Danny Nowlin Just as a steady heartbeat is critical to staying alive, propulsion test data is vital to ensure engines and systems perform flawlessly.
The accuracy of the data produced during hot fire tests at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, tells the performance story.
So, when NASA needed a standardized way to collect hot fire data across test facilities, an onsite team created an adaptable software tool to do it.
“The NASA Data Acquisition System (NDAS) developed at NASA Stennis is a forward-thinking solution,” said David Carver, acting chief of the Office of Test Data and Information Management. “It has unified NASA’s rocket propulsion testing under an adaptable software suite to meet needs with room for future expansion, both within NASA and potentially beyond.”
Before NDAS, contractors conducting test projects used various proprietary tools to gather performance data, which made cross-collaboration difficult. NDAS takes a one-size-fits-all approach, providing NASA with its own system to ensure consistency.
“Test teams in the past had to develop their own software tools, but now, they can focus on propulsion testing while the NDAS team focuses on developing the software that collects data,” said Carver.
A more efficient workflow has followed since the software system is designed to work with any test hardware. It allows engineers to seamlessly work between test areas, even when upgrades have been made and hardware has changed, to support hot fire requirements for the agency and commercial customers.
With the backing and resources of the NASA Rocket Propulsion Test (RPT) Program Office, a blended team of NASA personnel and contractors began developing NDAS in 2011 as part of the agency’s move to resume control of test operations at NASA Stennis. Commercial entities had conducted the operations on NASA’s behalf for several decades.
The NASA Stennis team wrote the NDAS software code with modular components that function independently and can be updated to meet the needs of each test facility. The team used LabVIEW, a graphical platform that allows developers to build software visually rather than using traditional text-based code.
Syncom Space Services software engineer Richard Smith, front, analyzes test results using the NASA Data Acquisition System Displays interface at NASA’s Stennis Space Center while NASA software engineer Brandon Carver actively tests and develops laboratory equipment. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA engineers, from left to right, Tristan Mooney, Steven Helmstetter Chase Aubry, and Christoffer Barnett-Woods are shown in the E-1 Test Control Center where the NASA Data Acquisition System is utilized for propulsion test activities. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA engineers Steven Helmstetter, Christoffer Barnett-Woods, and Tristan Mooney perform checkouts on a large data acquisition system for the E-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. The data acquisition hardware, which supports testing for E Test Complex commercial customers, is controlled by NASA Data Acquisition System software that allows engineers to view real-time data while troubleshooting hardware configuration.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA engineers Steven Helmstetter, left, and Tristan Mooney work with the NASA Data Acquisition System in the E-1 Test Control Center, where the system is utilized for propulsion test activities.NASA/Danny Nowlin “These were very good decisions by the original team looking toward the future,” said Joe Lacher, a previous NASA project manager. “LabVIEW was a new language and is now taught in colleges and widely used in industry. Making the program modular made it adaptable.”
During propulsion tests, the NDAS system captures both high-speed and low-speed sensor data. The raw sensor data is converted into units for both real-time monitoring and post-test analysis.
During non-test operations, the system monitors the facility and test article systems to help ensure the general health and safety of the facility and personnel.
“Having quality software for instrumentation and data recording systems is critical and, in recent years, has become increasingly important,” said Tristan Mooney, NASA instrumentation engineer. “Long ago, the systems used less software, or even none at all. Amplifiers were configured with physical knobs, and data was recorded on tape or paper charts. Today, we use computers to configure, display, and store data for nearly everything.”
Developers demonstrated the new system on the A-2 Test Stand in 2014 for the J-2X engine test project.
From there, the team rolled it out on the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly A-1), where it has been used for RS-25 engine testing since 2015. A year later, teams used NDAS on the Thad Cochran Test Stand (formerly B-2) in 2016 to support SLS (Space Launch System) Green Run testing for future Artemis missions.
One of the project goals for the system is to provide a common user experience to drive consistency across test complexes and centers.
Kris Mobbs, current NASA project manager for NDAS, said the system “really shined” during the core stage testing. “We ran 24-hour shifts, so we had people from across the test complex working on Green Run,” Mobbs said. “When the different shifts came to work, there was not a big transition needed. Using the software for troubleshooting, getting access to views, and seeing the measurements were very common activities, so the various teams did not have a lot of build-up time to support that test.”
Following success at the larger test stands, teams started using NDAS in the E Test Complex in 2017, first at the E-2 Test Stand, then on the E-1 and E-3 stands in 2020.
Growth of the project was “a little overwhelming,” Lacher recalled. The team maintained the software on active stands supporting tests, while also continuing to develop the software for other areas and their many unique requirements.
Each request for change had to be tracked, implemented into the code, tested in the lab, then deployed and validated on the test stands.
“This confluence of requirements tested my knowledge of every stand and its uniqueness,” said Lacher. “I had to understand the need, the effort to meet it, and then had to make decisions as to the priorities the team would work on first.”
Creation of the data system and its ongoing updates have transformed into opportunities for growth among the NASA Stennis teams working together.
“From a mechanical test operations perspective, NDAS has been a pretty easy system to learn,” said Derek Zacher, NASA test operations engineer. “The developers are responsive to the team’s ideas for improvement, and our experience has consistently improved with the changes that enable us to view our data in new ways.”
Originally designed to support the RPT office at NASA Stennis, the software is expanding beyond south Mississippi to other test centers, attracting interest from various NASA programs and projects, and garnering attention from government agencies that require reliable and scalable data acquisition. “It can be adopted nearly anywhere, such as aerospace and defense, research and development institutions and more places, where data acquisition systems are needed,” said Mobbs. “It is an ever-evolving solution.”
Read More Share
Details
Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
Stennis Space Center View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Multinational corporations are using the M2M Intelligence platform in data centers and other settings. The system offers automated, secure communications on a ground-based global 5G network. Getty Images Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly, as intelligent software proves capable of various tasks. The technology usually requires a “human in the loop” to train it and ensure accuracy. But long before the arrival of today’s generative artificial intelligence, a different kind of AI was born with the help of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley — one that only exists between machines, running without any human intervention.
In 2006, Geoffrey Barnard founded Machine-to-Machine Intelligence Corp. (M2Mi) at Ames’ NASA Research Park, envisioning an automated, satellite-based communication network. NASA Ames established a Space Act Agreement with the company to develop artificial intelligence that would automate communications, privacy, security, and resiliency between satellites and ground-based computers.
Central to the technology was automating a problem-solving approach known as root cause analysis, which NASA has honed over decades. This methodology seeks to identify not only the immediate cause of a problem but also all the factors that contributed to the cause. This would allow a network to identify its own issues and fix itself.
NASA Ames’ director of nanotechnology at the time wanted to develop a communications network based on small, low-powered satellites, so Ames supported M2Mi in developing the necessary technology.
Barnard, now CEO and chief technology officer of Tiburon, California-based branch of M2Mi, said NASA’s support laid the foundation for his company, which employs the same technology in a ground-based network.
The company’s M2M Intelligence software performs secure, resilient, automated communications on a system that runs across hundreds of networks, connecting thousands of devices, many of which were not built to communicate with each other. The M2Mi company worked with Vodafone of Berkshire, England, to build a worldwide network across more than 500 smaller networks in over 190 countries. The companies M2M Wireless and TriGlobal have begun using M2M Intelligence for transportation logistics.
With NASA’s help, emerging industries are getting the boost they need to rapidly develop technologies to enhance our lives.
Read More Share
Details
Last Updated Apr 29, 2025 Related Terms
Technology Transfer & Spinoffs Spinoffs Technology Transfer Explore More
2 min read NASA Engineering Sparks Innovative New Battery
Nickel-hydrogen technology is safe, durable, and long-lasting – now it’s affordable too.
Article 5 days ago 2 min read NASA Tech Developed for Home Health Monitoring
Article 3 weeks ago 2 min read NASA Cloud Software Helps Companies Find their Place in Space
Article 1 month ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Artificial Intelligence for Science
NASA is creating artificial intelligence tools to help researchers use NASA’s science data more effectively.
Ames Research Center
Solar System
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.