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Solar Eclipse Data Story Helps the Public Visualize the April 2024 Total Eclipse
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s coverage of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse has earned two nominations for the 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominations on May 1, recognizing NASA’s outstanding work in sharing this rare celestial event with audiences around the world. The winners are set to be unveiled at a ceremony in late June.
“Total solar eclipses demonstrate the special connection between our Earth, Moon, and Sun by impacting our senses during the breathtaking moments of total alignment that only occur at this time on Earth,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s Eclipse coverage team perfectly encapsulated the awe-inspiring experience from start to finish for viewers around the world in this once-in-a-lifetime moment in American history. Congratulations to the entire NASA Eclipse coverage team for their two much-deserved Emmy award nominations!”
The two nominations include:
Outstanding Live News Special for the agency’s live broadcast coverage of the 2024 total solar eclipse. NASA’s live broadcast coverage of the 2024 total solar eclipse was the most ambitious live project ever attempted by the agency. The broadcast spanned three hours as the eclipse traveled 3,000 miles across seven states and two countries. From cities, parks, and stadiums, 11 hosts and correspondents provided on air commentary, interviews, and live coverage. Viewers tuned in from all over the world, including at watch parties in 9 locations, from the Austin Public Library to New York’s Times Square. An interactive “Eclipse Board” provided real time data analysis as the Moon’s shadow crossed North America. Live feeds from astronauts aboard the International Space Station and NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft were brought in to provide rare and unique perspectives of the solar event.
In total, NASA received almost 40 million views across its own distribution. Externally, the main broadcast was picked up in 2,208 hits on 568 channels in 25 countries.
Outstanding Show Open or Title Sequence – News for the agency’s show open for the 2024 total solar eclipse. NASA’s show open for the 2024 total solar eclipse live broadcast explores the powerful connections between the Sun, humanity, and the rare moment when day turns to night. From witnessing the Sun’s atmosphere to feeling the dramatic drop in temperature, the video captures the psychological, emotional, and cultural impact of this celestial phenomenon.
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 Related Terms
General 2024 Solar Eclipse Eclipses Heliophysics Heliophysics Division Science Mission Directorate Solar Eclipses The Solar System Explore More
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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.”
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By USH
In a groundbreaking development, advances in quantum data analysis have led to a discovery no scientist could have foreseen. NASA’s deep space monitoring system, upgraded with a quantum processor designed to filter cosmic noise and decode interstellar signals, produced something startling: an image.
A conceptual interpretation of the Voyager 1 image.
But this wasn’t an input, a simulation, or a product of algorithmic imagination. It wasn’t the result of random noise or a misfired pattern recognition process. The quantum system returned a coherent, structured, and symmetrical image, undeniably artificial. And the data it derived from? None other than Voyager 1.
Renowned physicist Michio Kaku addressed the anomaly in a recent interview: “We may be witnessing the first whisper of a new intelligence, something not man-made, not terrestrial, and certainly not random.”
The image, reconstructed via entangled qubit networks, depicted a figure: humanoid in silhouette, yet composed of geometric segments that defied any known biological or mechanical blueprint. It seemed deliberately crafted to challenge human comprehension, alien, yet eerily familiar enough to spark recognition.
Not long ago, NASA pushed the boundaries of computation by launching an experimental quantum computer, capable of processing vast, multidimensional data streams. But after this revelation, NASA abruptly shut down the system following the unexpected and unsettling incident, in 2023, though some believe the research continued in secret.
Meanwhile, Voyager 1—the most distant human-made object in space, still traveling beyond our solar system after 45 years—has been transmitting strange, inexplicable data. According to NASA engineers, the spacecraft’s Attitude Articulation and Control System (AACS) began sending signals that “do not reflect what’s actually happening onboard.”
Instead of useful telemetry, Voyager 1 has been broadcasting a puzzling sequence: a repeating pattern of ones and zeros. Initially dismissed as a glitch, engineers traced the anomaly to the Flight Data Subsystem (FDS), pinpointing a malfunctioning chip. Yet, despite their efforts, the signal persisted, a digital enigma from 24 billion kilometers away.
Is this merely a failing system showing its age? Or is something, or someone, intentionally altering the data?
What if this “error” is a message? And if so, who’s sending it?
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By NASA
Explore This Section RPS Home About About RPS About the Program About Plutonium-238 Safety and Reliability For Mission Planners Contact Power & Heat Overview Power Systems Thermal Systems Dynamic Radioisotope Power Missions Overview Timeline News Resources STEM FAQ 3 min read
NASA Selects Winners of the 2024-2025 Power to Explore Challenge
Ten-year-old, Terry Xu of Arcadia, California; 14-year-old, Maggie Hou of Snohomish, Washington; and 17-year-old, Kairat Otorov of Trumbull, Connecticut, winners of the 2024-2025 Power to Explore Student Writing Challenge. NASA/David Lam, Binbin Zheng, The Herald/Olivia Vanni, Meerim Otorova NASA has chosen three winners out of nine finalists in the fourth annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the enabling power of radioisotopes for space exploration.
“Congratulations to the amazing champions and all of the participants!
Carl Sandifer II
Program Manager, NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program
The essay competition asked students to learn about NASA’s radioisotope power systems (RPS), likened to “nuclear batteries,” which the agency has used discover “moonquakes” on Earth’s Moon and study some of the most extreme of the more than 891 moons in the solar system. In 275 words or less, students dreamed up a unique exploration mission of one of these moons and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.
“I’m so impressed by the creativity and knowledge of our Power to Explore winners,” said Carl Sandifer II, program manager of the Radioisotope Power Systems Program at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
Entries were split into three groups based on grade level, and a winner was chosen from each. The three winners, each accompanied by a guardian, are invited to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for a VIP tour of its world-class research facilities this summer.
The winners are:
Terry Xu, Arcadia, California, kindergarten through fourth grade Maggie Hou, Snohomish, Washington, fifth through eighth grade Kairat Otorov, Trumbull, Connecticut, ninth through 12th grade “Congratulations to the amazing champions and all of the participants! Your “super powers” inspire me and make me even more optimistic about the future of America’s leadership in space,” Sandifer said.
The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn about space power, celebrate their own strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received nearly 2,051 submitted entries from all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity overseas.
Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event held on March 21. There, NASA announced the 45 national semifinalists, and students learned about what powers the NASA workforce.
Additionally, the national semifinalists received a NASA RPS prize pack.
NASA announced three finalists in each age group (nine total) on April 23. Finalists were invited to discuss their mission concepts with a NASA scientist or engineer during an exclusive virtual event.
The challenge is funded by the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and administered by Future Engineers under a Small Business Innovation Research phase III contract. This task is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
For more information on radioisotope power systems visit: https://nasa.gov/rps
Karen Fox / Erin Morton
Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-805-9393
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / erin.morton@nasa.gov
Kristin Jansen
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-296-2203
kristin.m.jansen@nasa.gov
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By NASA
6 min read
NASA Data Helps Map Tiny Plankton That Feed Giant Right Whales
This North Atlantic right whale, named “Bowtie,” was spotted feeding in southern Maine waters in January 2025. A new technique aims to use NASA satellite data to see the plankton these whales depend on from space. Credit: New England Aquarium, taken under NMFS permit # 25739 In the waters off New England, one of Earth’s rarest mammals swims slowly, mouth agape. The North Atlantic right whale filters clouds of tiny reddish zooplankton — called Calanus finmarchicus — from the sea. These zooplankton, no bigger than grains of rice, are the whale’s lifeline. Only about 370 of these massive creatures remain.
For decades, tracking the tiny plankton meant sending research vessels out in the ocean, towing nets and counting samples by hand. Now, scientists are looking from above instead.
Using NASA satellite data, researchers found a way to detect Calanus swarms at the ocean surface in the Gulf of Maine, picking up on the animals’ natural red pigment. This early-stage approach, described in a new study, may help researchers better estimate where the copepods gather, and where whales might follow.
Tracking the zooplankton from space could aid both the whales and maritime industries. By predicting where these mammals are likely to feed, researchers and marine resource managers hope to reduce deadly vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements — two major threats to the species. Knowing the feeding patterns could also help shipping and fishing industries operate more efficiently.
Calanus finmarchicus, a tiny zooplankton powering North Atlantic food webs, fuels right whale populations with its energy-rich lipid reserves. Credit: Cameron Thompson “NASA invests in this kind of research because it connects space-based observation with real-world challenges,” said Cynthia Hall, a support scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington. She works with the Early Career Research Program, which partly funded the work. “It’s yet another a way to put NASA satellite data to work for science, communities, and ecosystems.”
Revealing the Ocean’s Hidden Patterns
The new approach uses data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. The MODIS instrument doesn’t directly see the copepods themselves. Instead, it reads how the spectrum of sunlight reflected from the ocean surface changes in response to what’s in the water.
When large numbers of the zooplankton rise to the surface, their reddish pigment — astaxanthin, the same compound that gives salmon its pink color — subtly alters how photons, or particles of light, from the sun are absorbed or scattered in the water. The fate of these photons in the ocean depends on the mix of living and non-living matter in seawater, creating a slight shift in color that MODIS can detect.
“We didn’t know to look for Calanus before in this way,” said Catherine Mitchell, a satellite oceanographer at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine. “Remote sensing has typically focused on smaller things like phytoplankton. But recent research suggested that larger, millimeter-sized organisms like zooplankton can also influence ocean color.”
A few years ago, researchers piloted a satellite method for detecting copepods in Norwegian waters. Now, some of those same scientists — along with Mitchell’s team — have refined the approach and applied it to the Gulf of Maine, a crucial feeding ground for right whales during their northern migration. By combining satellite data, a model, and field measurements, they produced enhanced images that revealed Calanus swarms at the sea surface, and were able to estimate numbers of the tiny animals.
“We know the right whales are using habitats we don’t fully understand,” said Rebekah Shunmugapandi, also a satellite oceanographer at Bigelow and the study’s lead author. “This satellite-based Calanus information could eventually help identify unknown feeding grounds or better anticipate where whales might travel.”
Tracking Elusive Giants
Despite decades of study, North Atlantic right whales remain remarkably enigmatic to scientists. Once fairly predictable in their movements along the Eastern Seaboard of North America, these massive mammals began abandoning some traditional feeding grounds in 2010-2011. Their sudden shift to unexpected areas like the Gulf of Saint Lawrence caught people off guard, with deadly consequences.
“We’ve had whales getting hit by ships and whales getting stuck in fishing gear,” said Laura Ganley, a research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium in Boston, which conducts aerial and boat surveys of the whales.
In 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the situation as an “unusual mortality event” in an effort to address the whales’ decline. Since then, 80 North Atlantic right whales have been killed or sustained serious injuries, according to NOAA.
NASA satellite imagery from June 2009 was used to test a new method for detecting the copepod Calanus finmarchicus in the Gulf of Maine and estimating their numbers from space. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using data from Shunmugapandi, R., et al. (2025) In the Gulf of Maine, there’s less shipping activity, but there can be a complex patchwork of lobster fishing gear, said Sarah Leiter, a scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “Each fisherman has 800 traps or so,” Leiter explained. “If a larger number of whales shows up suddenly, like they just did in January 2025, it is challenging. Fishermen need time and good weather to adjust that gear.”
What excites Leiter the most about the satellite data is the potential to use it in a forecasting tool to help predict where the whales could go. “That would be incredibly useful in giving us that crucial lead time,” she said.
PACE: The Next Generation of Ocean Observer
For now, the Calanus-tracking method has limitations. Because MODIS detects the copepods’ red pigment, not the animals themselves, that means other small, reddish organisms can be mistaken for the zooplankton. And cloud cover, rough seas, or deeper swarms all limit what satellites can spot.
MODIS is also nearing the end of its operational life. But NASA’s next-generation PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite — launched in 2024 — is poised to make dramatic improvements in the detection of zooplankton and phytoplankton.
NASA’s Ocean Color Instrument on the PACE satellite captured these swirling green phytoplankton blooms in the Gulf of Maine in April 2024. Such blooms fuel zooplankton like Calanus finmarchicus. Credit: NASA “The PACE satellite will definitely be able to do this, and maybe even something better,” said Bridget Seegers, an oceanographer and mission scientist with the PACE team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The PACE mission includes the Ocean Color Instrument, which detects more than 280 wavelengths of light. That’s a big jump from the 10 wavelengths seen by MODIS. More wavelengths mean finer detail and better insights into ocean color and the type of plankton that the satellite can spot.
Local knowledge of seasonal plankton patterns will still be essential to interpret the data correctly. But the goal isn’t perfect detection, the scientists say, but rather to provide another tool to inform decision-making, especially when time or resources are limited.
By Emily DeMarco
NASA Headquarters
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Last Updated May 05, 2025 Editor Emily DeMarco Related Terms
Earth Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Oceans PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) Explore More
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