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NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Anne McClain is pictured near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays during a spacewalk.NASA/Nichole Ayers In this May 1, 2025, photo taken by fellow NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Anne McClain works near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays during a spacewalk. During the May 1 spacewalk – McClain’s third and Ayers’ first – the astronaut pair relocated a space station communications antenna and completed the initial mounting bracket installation steps for an International Space Station Rollout Solar Array, or IROSA, that will arrive on a future SpaceX commercial resupply services mission, in addition to some get ahead tasks.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog.
Image credit: NASA/Nichole Ayers
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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.
For more information about NASA missions, visit:
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 Related Terms
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8 Min Read NASA Telescopes Tune Into a Black Hole Prelude, Fugue
The first sonification features WR124, an extremely bright, massive star. Here, the star is shown in a short-lived phase preceding the possible creation of a black hole. NASA released three new pieces of cosmic sound Thursday that are associated with the densest and darkest members of our universe: black holes. These scientific productions are sonifications — or translations into sound — of data collected by NASA telescopes in space including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
This trio of sonifications represents different aspects of black holes and black hole evolution. WR124 is an extremely bright, short-lived massive star known as a Wolf-Rayet that may collapse into a black hole in the future. SS 433 is a binary, or double system, containing a star like our Sun in orbit with either a neutron star or a black hole. The galaxy Centaurus A has an enormous black hole in its center that is sending a booming jet across the entire length of the galaxy. Data from Chandra and other telescopes were translated through a process called “sonification” into sounds and notes. This new trio of sonifications represents different aspects of black holes. Black holes are neither static nor monolithic. They evolve over time, and are found in a range of sizes and environments.
WR 124
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: (Herschel) ESA/NASA/Caltech, (Spitzer) NASA/JPL/Caltech, (WISE) NASA/JPL/Caltech; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) The first movement is a prelude to the potential birth of a black hole. WR124 is an extremely bright, short-lived massive star known as a Wolf-Rayet at a distance of about 28,000 light-years from Earth. These stars fling their outer layers out into space, creating spectacular arrangements seen in an image in infrared light from the Webb telescope. In the sonification of WR124, this nebula is heard as flutes and the background stars as bells. At the center of WR124, where the scan begins before moving outward, is a hot core of the star that may explode as a supernova and potentially collapse and leave behind a black hole in its wake. As the scan moves from the center outward, X-ray sources detected by Chandra are translated into harp sounds. Data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is heard as metallic bell-like sounds, while the light of the central star is mapped to produce the descending scream-like sound at the beginning. The piece is rounded out by strings playing additional data from the infrared telescopic trio of ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Herschel Space Telescope, NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, and NASA’s retired Wide Image Survey Explorer (WISE) as chords.
SS 433
Credit: X-ray: (IXPE): NASA/MSFC/IXPE; (Chandra): NASA/CXC/SAO; (XMM): ESA/XMM-Newton; IR: NASA/JPL/Caltech/WISE; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/VLA/B. Saxton. (IR/Radio image created with data from M. Goss, et al.); Image Processing/compositing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk & K. Arcand; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) In the second movement of this black hole composition, listeners can explore a duet. SS 433 is a binary, or double, system about 18,000 light-years away that sings out in X-rays. The two members of SS 433 include a star like our Sun in orbit around a much heavier partner, either a neutron star or a black hole. This orbital dance causes undulations in X-rays that Chandra, IXPE, and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescopes are tuned into. These X-ray notes have been combined with radio and infrared data to provide a backdrop for this celestial waltz. The nebula in radio waves resembles a drifting manatee, and the scan sweeps across from right to left. Light towards the top of the image is mapped to higher-pitch sound, with radio, infrared, and X-ray light mapped to low, medium, and high pitch ranges. Bright background stars are played as water-drop sounds, and the location of the binary system is heard as a plucked sound, pulsing to match the fluctuations due to the orbital dance.
Centarus A
Credit: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Optical: ESO; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand, J. Major, and J. Schmidt; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) The third and final movement of the black hole-themed sonifications crescendos with a distant galaxy known as Centaurus A, about 12 million light-years away from Earth. At the center of Centaurus A is an enormous black hole that is sending a booming jet across the entire length of the galaxy. Sweeping around clockwise from the top of the image, the scan encounters Chandra’s X-rays and plays them as single-note wind chimes. X-ray light from IXPE is heard as a continuous range of frequencies, producing a wind-like sound. Visible light data from the European Southern Observatory’s MPG telescope shows the galaxy’s stars that are mapped to string instruments including foreground and background objects as plucked strings.
For more NASA sonifications and information about the project, visit https://chandra.si.edu/sound/
These sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), with support from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA’s Universe of Learning program, which is part of the NASA Science Activation program. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Matt Russo, and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project), along with consultant Christine Malec.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The agency’s IXPE is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. The IXPE mission is led by Marshall. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.
To learn more about NASA’s space telescopes, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/universe
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
https://www.nasa.gov/chandra
https://chandra.si.edu
Visual Description
This release features three sonifications related to black holes, presented as soundtracks to short videos. Each sonification video features a composite image representing a different aspect of the life of a black hole. These images are visualizations of data collected by NASA telescopes. During each video, a line sweeps through the image. When the line encounters a visual element, it is translated into sound according to parameters established by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand, astrophysicist Matt Russo, musician Andrew Santaguida, and consultant Christine Malec.
The first sonification features WR124, an extremely bright, massive star. Here, the star is shown in a short-lived phase preceding the possible creation of a black hole. At the center of the composite image is the large gleaming star in white and pale blue. The star sits at the heart of a mottled pink and gold cloud, its long diffraction spikes extending to the outer edges. Also residing in the cloud are other large gleaming stars, glowing hot-pink dots, and tiny specks of blue and white light. In this sonification, the sound activation line is an ever-expanding circle which starts in the center of the massive star and continues to grow until it exits the frame.
The second sonification features SS 433, a binary star system at the center of a supernova remnant known as the Manatee Nebula. Visually, the translucent, blobby teal nebula does, indeed, resemble a bulbous walrus or manatee, floating in a red haze packed with distant specs of light. Inside the nebula is a violet streak, a blue streak, and a large bright dot. The dot, represented by a plucking sound in the sonification, is the binary system at the heart of the nebula. In this sonification, the vertical activation line begins at our right edge of the frame, and sweeps across the image before exiting at our left.
The third and final sonification features Centaurus A, a distant galaxy with an enormous black hole emitting a long jet of high-energy particles. The black hole sits at the center of the composite image, represented by a brilliant white light. A dark, grainy, oblong cloud cuts diagonally across the black hole from our lower left toward our upper right. A large, faint, translucent blue cloud stretches from our upper left to our lower right. And the long, thin jet, also in translucent blue, extends from the black hole at the center toward the upper lefthand corner. In this sonification, the activation line rotates around the image like the hand of a clock. It begins at the twelve o’clock position, and sweeps clockwise around the image.
News Media Contact
Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
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Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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Explore Hubble Science Hubble Space Telescope NASA’s Hubble Pinpoints… Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 7 Min Read NASA’s Hubble Pinpoints Roaming Massive Black Hole
This six-panel illustration of a tidal disruption event around a supermassive black hole shows the collision with a star followed by an explosion detected in X-ray as well as Hubble Space Telescope visible-light observations. Credits:
Artwork: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI) Like a scene out of a sci-fi movie, astronomers using NASA telescopes have found “Space Jaws.”
Lurking 600 million light-years away, within the inky black depths between stars, there is an invisible monster gulping down any wayward star that plummets toward it. The sneaky black hole betrayed its presence in a newly identified tidal disruption event (TDE) where a hapless star was ripped apart and swallowed in a spectacular burst of radiation. These disruption events are powerful probes of black hole physics, revealing the conditions necessary for launching jets and winds when a black hole is in the midst of consuming a star, and are seen as bright objects by telescopes.
The new TDE, called AT2024tvd, allowed astronomers to pinpoint a wandering supermassive black hole using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, with similar supporting observations from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the NRAO Very Large Array telescope that also showed that the black hole is offset from the center of the galaxy.
The paper will be published in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
This six-panel illustration of a tidal disruption event around a supermassive black hole shows the following: 1) A supermassive black hole is adrift inside a galaxy, its presence only detectable by gravitational lensing; 2) A wayward star gets swept up in the black hole’s intense gravitational pull; 3) The star is stretched or “spaghettified” by gravitational tidal effects; 4) The star’s remnants form a disk around the black hole; 5) There is a period of black hole accretion, pouring out radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from X-rays to radio wavelengths; and 6) The host galaxy, seen from afar, contains a bright flash of energy that is offset from the galaxy’s nucleus, where an even more massive black hole dwells. Artwork: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI) Surprisingly, this one million-solar-mass black hole doesn’t reside exactly in the center of the host galaxy, where supermassive black holes are typically found, and actively gobble up surrounding material. Out of approximately 100 TDE events recorded by optical sky surveys so far, this is the first time an offset TDE has been identified. The rest are associated with the central black holes of galaxies.
In fact, at the center of the host galaxy there is a different supermassive black hole weighing 100 million times the mass of the Sun. Hubble’s optical precision shows the TDE was only 2,600 light-years from the more massive black hole at the galaxy’s center. That’s just one-tenth the distance between our Sun and the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole.
This bigger black hole spews out energy as it accretes infalling gas, and it is categorized as an active galactic nucleus. Strangely, the two supermassive black holes co-exist in the same galaxy, but are not gravitationally bound to each other as a binary pair. The smaller black hole may eventually spiral into the galaxy’s center to merge with the bigger black hole. But for now, it is too far separated to be gravitationally bound.
A TDE happens when an infalling star is stretched or “spaghettified” by a black hole’s immense gravitational tidal forces. The shredded stellar remnants are pulled into a circular orbit around the black hole. This generates shocks and outflows with high temperatures that can be seen in ultraviolet and visible light.
“AT2024tvd is the first offset TDE captured by optical sky surveys, and it opens up the entire possibility of uncovering this elusive population of wandering black holes with future sky surveys,” said lead study author Yuhan Yao of the University of California at Berkeley. “Right now, theorists haven’t given much attention to offset TDEs. “I think this discovery will motivate scientists to look for more examples of this type of event.”
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole. Science: NASA, ESA, STScI, Yuhan Yao (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) A Flash in the Night
The star-snacking black hole gave itself away when several ground-based sky survey telescopes observed a flare as bright as a supernova. But unlike a supernova, astronomers know that this came from a black hole snacking on a star because the flare was very hot, and showed broad emission lines of hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, and silicon. The Zwicky Transient Facility at Caltech’s Palomar Observatory, with its 1.2-meter telescope that surveys the entire northern sky every two days, first observed the event.
“Tidal disruption events hold great promise for illuminating the presence of massive black holes that we would otherwise not be able to detect,” said Ryan Chornock, associate adjunct professor at UC Berkeley and a member of the ZTF team. “Theorists have predicted that a population of massive black holes located away from the centers of galaxies must exist, but now we can use TDEs to find them.”
The flare was seemingly offset from the center of a bright massive galaxy as cataloged by Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and the DESI Legacy Imaging Survey. To better determine that it was not at the galactic center, Yao’s team used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to confirm that X-rays from the flare site were also offset.
It took the resolving power of Hubble to settle any uncertainties. Hubble’s sensitivity to ultraviolet light also allows it to pinpoint the location of the TDE, which is much bluer than the rest of the galaxy.
This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole. Both telescopes caught a tidal disruption event (TDE) caused by the black hole eating a star. Science: NASA, ESA, STScI, Yuhan Yao (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Origin Unknown
The black hole responsible for the TDE is prowling inside the bulge of the massive galaxy. The black hole only becomes apparent every few tens of thousands of years when it “burps” from capturing a star, and then it goes quiet again until its next meal comes along.
How did the black hole get off-center? Previous theoretical studies have shown that black holes can be ejected out of the centers of galaxies because of three-body interactions, where the lowest-mass member gets kicked out. This may be the case here, given the stealthy black hole’s close proximity to the central black hole. “If the black hole went through a triple interaction with two other black holes in the galaxy’s core, it can still remain bound to the galaxy, orbiting around the central region,“ said Yao.
An alternative explanation is that the black hole is the surviving remnant of a smaller galaxy that merged with the host galaxy more than 1 billion years ago. If that is the case, the black hole might eventually spiral in to merge with the central active black hole sometime in the very far future. So at present, astronomers don’t know if it’s coming or going.
Erica Hammerstein, another UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher, scrutinized the Hubble images as part of the study, but did not find any evidence of a past galaxy merger. But she explained, “There is already good evidence that galaxy mergers enhance TDE rates, but the presence of a second black hole in AT2024tvd’s host galaxy means that at some point in this galaxy’s past, a merger must have happened.”
Specialized for different kinds of light, observatories like Hubble and Chandra work together to pinpoint and better understand fleeting events like these. Future telescopes that will also be optimized for capturing transient events like this one include the National Science Foundation’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory and NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. They will provide more opportunities for follow-up Hubble observations to zero in on a transient’s exact location.
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The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
ZTF is a public-private partnership, with equal support from the ZTF Partnership and from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images & Videos
Six panel illustration of Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd
This is a six-panel illustration of a tidal disruption event around a supermassive back hole.
Black Hole TDE AT2024tvdu00a0
This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole.
Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd (Hubble + Chandra)
This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole.
Black Hole TDE AT2024tvd Compass Image
This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of a distant galaxy that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole.
Black Hole Tidal Disruption Event
This is a video animation of a tidal disruption event (TDE), an intense flash of radiation caused by the supermassive black hole eating a star. The video begins by zooming into a galaxy located 600 million light-years away.
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Last Updated May 08, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact Media Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
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Space Telescope Science Institute
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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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