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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Since launching in 2023, NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution mission, or TEMPO, has been measuring the quality of the air we breathe from 22,000 miles above the ground. June 19 marked the successful completion of TEMPO’s 20-month-long initial prime mission, and based on the quality of measurements to date, the mission has been extended through at least September 2026. The TEMPO mission is NASA’s first to use a spectrometer to gather hourly air quality data continuously over North America during daytime hours. It can see details down to just a few square miles, a significant advancement over previous satellites.
“NASA satellites have a long history of missions lasting well beyond the primary mission timeline. While TEMPO has completed its primary mission, the life for TEMPO is far from over,” said Laura Judd, research physical scientist and TEMPO science team member at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “It is a big jump going from once-daily images prior to this mission to hourly data. We are continually learning how to use this data to interpret how emissions change over time and how to track anomalous events, such as smoggy days in cities or the transport of wildfire smoke.”
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By measuring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and formaldehyde (HCHO), TEMPO can derive the presence of near-surface ozone. On Aug. 2, 2024 over Houston, TEMPO observed exceptionally high ozone levels in the area. On the left, NO2 builds up in the atmosphere over the city and over the Houston Ship Channel. On the right, formaldehyde levels are seen reaching a peak in the early afternoon. Formaldehyde is largely formed through the oxidation of hydrocarbons, an ingredient of ozone production, such as those that can be emitted by petrochemical facilities found in the Houston Ship Channel. Trent Schindler/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio When air quality is altered by smog, wildfire smoke, dust, or emissions from vehicle traffic and power plants, TEMPO detects the trace gases that come with those effects. These include nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and formaldehyde in the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere.
“A major breakthrough during the primary mission has been the successful test of data delivery in under three hours with the help of NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group. This information empowers decision-makers and first responders to issue timely air quality warnings and help the public reduce outdoor exposure during times of higher pollution,” said Hazem Mahmoud, lead data scientist at NASA’s Atmospheric Science Data Center located at Langley Research Center.
…the substantial demand for TEMPO's data underscores its critical role…
hazem mahmoud
NASA Data Scientist
TEMPO data is archived and distributed freely through the Atmospheric Science Data Center. “The TEMPO mission has set a groundbreaking record as the first mission to surpass two petabytes, or 2 million gigabytes, of data downloads within a single year,” said Mahmoud. “With over 800 unique users, the substantial demand for TEMPO’s data underscores its critical role and the immense value it provides to the scientific community and beyond.” Air quality forecasters, atmospheric scientists, and health researchers make up the bulk of the data users so far.
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On April 14, strong winds triggered the formation of a huge dust storm in the U.S. central plains and fueled the ignition of grassland fires in Oklahoma. On the left, the NO2 plumes originating from the grassland fires are tracked hour-by-hour by TEMPO. Smoke can be discerned from dust as a source since dust is not a source of NO2. The animation on the right shows the ultraviolet (UV) aerosol index, which indicates particulates in the atmosphere that absorb UV light, such as dust and smoke. Trent Schindler/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio The TEMPO mission is a collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, whose Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian oversees daily operations of the TEMPO instrument and produces data products through its Instrument Operations Center.
Datasets from TEMPO will be expanded through collaborations with partner agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is deriving aerosol products that can distinguish between smoke and dust particles and offer insights into their altitude and concentration.
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On May 5, TEMPO measured NO2 emissions over the Twin Cities in the center of Minnesota during morning rush hour. The NO2 increases seen mid-day through the early evening hours are illustrated by the red and black shaded areas at the Red River Valley along the North Dakota state line. These levels are driven by emissions from the soils in agriculturally rich areas. Agricultural soil emissions are influenced by environmental factors like temperature and moisture as well as fertilizer application. Small fires and enhancements from mining activities can also be seen popping up across the region through the afternoon.Trent Schindler/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio “These datasets are being used to inform the public of rush-hour pollution, air quality alerts, and the movement of smoke from forest fires,” said Xiong Liu, TEMPO’s principal investigator at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian. “The library will soon grow with the important addition of aerosol products. Users will be able to use these expanded TEMPO products for air quality monitoring, improving forecast models, deriving pollutant amounts in emissions and many other science applications.”
The TEMPO mission detects and highlights movement of smoke originating from fires burning in Manitoba on June 2. Seen in purple hues are observations made by TEMPO in the ultraviolet spectrum compared to Advanced Baseline Imagers (ABIs) on NOAA’s GOES-R series of weather satellites that do not have the needed spectral coverage. The NOAA GOES-R data paired with NASA’s TEMPO data enhance state and local agencies’ ability to provide near-real-time smoke and dust impacts in local air quality forecasts.NOAA/NESDIS/Center for Satellite Applications and Research “The TEMPO data validation has truly been a community effort with over 20 agencies at the federal and international level, as well as a community of over 200 scientists at research and academic institutions,” Judd added. “I look forward to seeing how TEMPO data will help close knowledge gaps about the timing, sources, and evolution of air pollution from this unprecedented space-based view.”
An agency review will take place in the fall to assess TEMPO’s achievements and extended mission goals and identify lessons learned that can be applied to future missions.
The TEMPO mission is part of NASA’s Earth Venture Instrument program, which includes small, targeted science investigations designed to complement NASA’s larger research missions. The instrument also forms part of a virtual constellation of air quality monitors for the Northern Hemisphere which includes South Korea’s Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer and ESA’s (European Space Agency) Sentinel-4 satellite. TEMPO was built by BAE Systems Inc., Space & Mission Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace). It flies onboard the Intelsat 40e satellite built by Maxar Technologies. The TEMPO Instrument Operations Center and the Science Data Processing Center are operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge.
For more information about the TEMPO instrument and mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/tempo/
About the Author
Charles G. Hatfield
Science Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center
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Last Updated Jul 03, 2025 LocationNASA Langley Research Center Related Terms
Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) Earth Earth Science Earth Science Division General Langley Research Center Missions Science Mission Directorate Explore More
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By NASA
Credit: NASA NASA has awarded a contract to MacLean Engineering & Applied Technologies, LLC of Houston to provide simulation and advanced software services to the agency.
The Simulation and Advanced Software Services II (SASS II) contract includes services from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2030, with a maximum potential value not to exceed $150 million. The contract is a single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quality contract with the capability to issue cost-plus-fixed-fee task orders and firm-fixed-price task orders.
Under the five-year SASS II contract, the awardee is tasked to provide simulation and software services for space-based vehicle models and robotic manipulator systems; human biomechanical representations for analysis and development of countermeasures devices; guidance, navigation, and control of space-based vehicles for all flight phases; and space-based vehicle on-board computer systems simulations of flight software systems. Responsibilities also include astronomical object surface interaction simulation of space-based vehicles, graphics support for simulation visualization and engineering analysis, and ground-based and onboarding systems to support human-in-the-loop training.
Major subcontractors include Tietronix Software Inc. in Houston and VEDO Systems, LLC, in League City, Texas.
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/
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Tiernan Doyle
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov
Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
Chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 02, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Meteor Showers Eclipses Daily Moon Guide More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ Night Sky Network A.M./P.M. Planet Watching, Plus the Eagle Constellation
Mars shines in the evening, and is joined briefly by Mercury. Jupiter joins Venus as the month goes on. And all month, look for Aquila the eagle.
Skywatching Highlights
All Month – Planet Visibility:
Venus: Shines brightly in the east each morning during the couple of hours before sunrise, with the Pleiades and bright stars Aldebaran and Capella. Mars: Sits in the west, about 20 degrees above the horizon as twilight fades. Sets a couple of hours after dark. Jupiter: Starts to become visible low in the east in the hour before sunrise after mid-month. You’ll notice it rises a bit higher each day through August, quickly approaching closer to Venus each morning. Mercury: Visible very low in the west (10 degrees or lower) the first week or so in July. Find it for a short time before it sets, beginning 30-45 minutes after sunset. Saturn: Rises around midnight and climbs to a point high in the south as dawn approaches. Daily Highlights:
July 1 – 7 – Mercury is relatively bright and easy to spot without a telescope, beginning about 30-45 minutes after sunset for the first week or so of July. You will need an unobstructed view toward the horizon, and note that it sets within an hour after the Sun.
July 21 & 22 – Moon, Venus, & Jupiter – Look toward the east this morning to find a lovely scene, with the crescent Moon and Venus, plus several bright stars. And if you have a clear view toward the horizon, Jupiter is there too, low in the sky.
July 28 – Moon & Mars – The crescent Moon appears right next to Mars this evening after sunset.
All month – Constellation: Aquila – The Eagle constellation, Aquila, appears in the eastern part of the sky during the first half of the night. Its brightest star, Altair, is the southernmost star in the Summer Triangle, which is an easy-to-locate star pattern in Northern Hemisphere summer skies.
Transcript
What’s Up for July? Mars shines in the evening sky, sixty years after its first close-up,
July Planet Viewing
Venus brightens your mornings, and the eagle soars overhead.
First up, Mercury is visible for a brief time following sunset for the first week of July. Look for it very low in the west 30 to 45 minutes after sundown. It sets within the hour after that, so be on the ball if you want to catch it!
Mars is visible for the first hour or two after it gets dark. You’ll find it sinking lower in the sky each day and looking a bit dimmer over the course of the month, as our two planets’ orbits carry them farther apart. The crescent Moon appears right next to Mars on the 28th.
Sky chart showing Mercury and Mars in the western sky following sunset in early July. NASA/JPL-Caltech July is the 60th anniversary of the first successful flyby of Mars, by NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965. Mariner 4 sent back the first photos of another planet from deep space, along with the discovery that the Red Planet has only a very thin, cold atmosphere.
Next, Saturn is rising late in the evening, and by dawn it’s high overhead to the south.
Looking to the morning sky, Venus shines brightly all month. You’ll find it in the east during the couple of hours before sunrise, with the Pleiades and bright stars Aldebaran and Capella. And as the month goes on, Jupiter makes its morning sky debut,
Sky chart showing Venus in the morning sky in July. NASA/JPL-Caltech rising in the hour before sunrise and appearing a little higher each day.
By the end of the month, early risers will have the two brightest planets there greeting them each morning. They’re headed for a super-close meetup in mid-August, and the pair will be a fixture of the a.m. sky through late this year. Look for them together with the crescent moon on the 21st and 22nd.
Aquila, The Eagle
From July and into August, is a great time to observe the constellation Aquila, the eagle.
Sky chart showing the shape and orientation of the constellation Aquila in the July evening sky. Aquila’s brightest star, Altair, is part of the Summer Triangle star pattern. NASA/JPL-Caltech This time of year, it soars high into the sky in the first half of the night. Aquila represents the mythical eagle that was a powerful servant and messenger of the Greek god Zeus. The eagle carried his lightning bolts and was a symbol of his power as king of the gods.
To find Aquila in the sky, start by locating its brightest star, Altair. It’s one the three bright stars in the Summer Triangle, which is super easy to pick out during summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Altair is the second brightest of the three, and sits at the southernmost corner of the triangle.
The other stars in Aquila aren’t as bright as Altair, which can make observing the constellation challenging if you live in an area with a lot of light pollution. It’s easier, though, if you know how the eagle is oriented on the sky. Imagine it’s flying toward the north with its wings spread wide, its right wing pointed toward Vega. If you can find Altair, and Aquila’s next brightest star, you can usually trace out the rest of the spread-eagle shape from there. The second half of July is the best time of the month to observe Aquila, as the Moon doesn’t rise until later then, making it easier to pick out the constellation’s fainter stars.
Observing the constellation Aquila makes for a worthy challenge in the July night sky. And once you’re familiar with its shape, it’s hard not to see the mythical eagle soaring overhead among the summertime stars.
Here are the phases of the Moon for July.
The phases of the Moon for July 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I’m Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
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By NASA
Dwayne Lavigne works as a controls engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he supports NASA’s Artemis mission by programming specialized computers for engine testing.NASA/Danny Nowlin As a controls engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Dwayne Lavigne does not just fix problems – he helps put pieces together at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site.
“There are a lot of interesting problems to solve, and they are never the same,” Lavigne said. “Sometimes, it is like solving a very cool puzzle and can be pretty satisfying.”
Lavigne programs specialized computers called programmable logic controllers. They are extremely fast and reliable for automating precisely timed operations during rocket engine tests as NASA Stennis supports the agency’s Artemis missions to explore the Moon and build the foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars.
However, the system will not act unless certain parameters are met in the proper sequence. It can be a complex relationship. Sometimes, 20 or 30 things must be in the correct configuration to perform an operation, such as making a valve open or close, or turning a motor on or off.
The Picayune, Mississippi, native is responsible for establishing new signal paths between test hardware and the specialized computers.
He also develops the human machine interface for the controls. The interface is a screen graphic that test engineers use to interact with hardware.
Lavigne has worked with NASA for more than a decade. One of his proudest work moments came when he contributed to development of an automated test sequencing routine used during all RS-25 engine tests on the Fred Haise Test Stand.
“We’ve had many successful tests over the years, and each one is a point of pride,” he said.
When Lavigne works on the test stand, he works with the test hardware and interacts with technicians and engineers who perform different tasks than he does. It provides an appreciation for the group effort it takes to support NASA’s mission.
“The group of people I work with are driven to get the job done and get it done right,” he said.
In total, Lavigne has been part of the NASA Stennis federal city for 26 years. He initially worked as a contractor with the Naval Oceanographic Office as a data entry operator and with the Naval Research Laboratory as a software developer.
September marks 55 years since NASA Stennis became a federal city. NASA, and more than 50 companies, organizations, and agencies located onsite share in operating costs, which allows tenants to direct more of their funding to individual missions.
“Stennis has a talented workforce accomplishing many different tasks,” said Lavigne. “The three agencies I’ve worked with at NASA Stennis are all very focused on doing the job correctly and professionally. In all three agencies, people realize that lives could be at risk if mistakes are made or shortcuts are taken.”
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By NASA
Explore This Section Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
A behind-the-scenes look at the annual Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
Members of the Mars 2020 Science Team examine post-impact sediments within the Gardnos impact structure, northwest of Oslo, Norway, as part of the June 2025 Science Team Meeting. NASA/Katie Stack Morgan Written by Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 Acting Project Scientist
The Mars 2020 Science Team gathered for a week in June to discuss recent science results, synthesize earlier mission observations, and discuss future plans for continued exploration of Jezero’s crater rim. It was also an opportunity to celebrate what makes this mission so special: one of the most capable and sophisticated science missions ever sent to Mars, an experienced and expert Science Team, and the rover’s many science accomplishments this past year.
We kicked off the meeting, which was hosted by our colleagues on the RIMFAX team at the University of Oslo, with a focus on our most recent discoveries on the Jezero crater rim. A highlight was the team’s in-depth discussion of spherules observed at Witch Hazel Hill, features which likely provide us the best chance of determining the origin of the crater rim rock sequence.
On the second day, we heard status updates from each of the science instrument teams. We then transitioned to a session devoted to “traverse-scale” syntheses. After 4.5 years of Perseverance on Mars and more than 37 kilometers of driving (more than 23 miles), we’re now able to analyze and integrate science datasets across the entire surface mission, looking for trends through space and time within the Jezero rock record. Our team also held a poster session, which was a great opportunity for in-person and informal scientific discussion.
The team’s modern atmospheric and environmental investigations were front and center on Day 3. We then rewound the clock, hearing new and updated analyses of data acquired during Perseverance’s earlier campaigns in Jezero’s Margin unit, crater floor, and western fan. The last day of the meeting was focused entirely on future plans for the Perseverance rover, including a discussion of our exploration and sampling strategy during the Crater Rim Campaign. We also looked further afield, considering where the rover might explore over the next few years.
Following the meeting, the Science Team took a one-day field trip to visit Gardnos crater, a heavily eroded impact crater with excellent examples of impact melt breccia and post-impact sediment fill. The team’s visit to Gardnos offered a unique opportunity to see and study impact-generated rock units like those expected on the Jezero crater rim and to discuss the challenges we have recognizing similar units with the rover on Mars. Recapping our Perseverance team meetings has been one of my favorite yearly traditions (see summaries from our 2022, 2023, and 2024 meetings) and I look forward to reporting back a year from now. As the Perseverance team tackles challenges in the year to come, we can seek inspiration from one of Norway’s greatest polar explorers, Fridtjof Nansen, who said while delivering his Nobel lecture, “The difficult is that which can be done at once; the impossible is that which takes a little longer.”
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Last Updated Jul 01, 2025 Related Terms
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