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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Swept Wing Flow Test model, known as SWiFT, with pressure sensitive paint applied, sports a pink glow under ultraviolet lights while tested during 2023 in a NASA wind tunnel at Langley Research Center in Virginia.NASA / Dave Bowman Many of us grew up using paint-by-number sets to create beautiful color pictures.
For years now, NASA engineers studying aircraft and rocket designs in wind tunnels have flipped that childhood pastime, using computers to generate images from “numbers-by-paint” – pressure sensitive paint (PSP), that is.
Now, advances in the use of high-speed cameras, supercomputers, and even more sensitive PSP have made this numbers-by-paint process 10,000 times faster while creating engineering visuals with 1,000 times higher resolution.
So, what’s the big difference exactly between the “old” capability in use at NASA for more than a decade and the “new?”
“The key is found by adding a single word in front of PSP, namely ‘unsteady’ pressure sensitive paint, or uPSP,” said E. Lara Lash, an aerospace engineer from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
With PSP, NASA researchers study the large-scale effects of relatively smooth air flowing over the wings and body of aircraft. Now with uPSP, they are able to see in finer detail what happens when more turbulent air is present – faster and better than ever before.
In some cases with the new capability, researchers can get their hands on the wind tunnel data they’re looking for within 20 minutes. That’s quick enough to allow engineers to adjust their testing in real time.
Usually, researchers record wind tunnel data and then take it back to their labs to decipher days or weeks later. If they find they need more data, it can take additional weeks or even months to wait in line for another turn in the wind tunnel.
“The result of these improvements provides a data product that is immediately useful to aerodynamic engineers, structural engineers, or engineers from other disciplines,” Lash said.
Robert Pearce, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics, who recently saw a demonstration of uPSP-generated data displayed at Ames, hailed the new tool as a national asset that will be available to researchers all over the country.
“It’s a unique NASA innovation that isn’t offered anywhere else,” Pearce said. “It will help us maintain NASA’s world leadership in wind tunnel capabilities.”
A technician sprays unsteady pressure sensitive paint onto the surface of a small model of the Space Launch System in preparation for testing in a NASA wind tunnel.NASA / Dave Bowman How it Works
With both PSP and uPSP, a unique paint is applied to scale models of aircraft or rockets, which are mounted in wind tunnels equipped with specific types of lights and cameras.
When illuminated during tests, the paint’s color brightness changes depending on the levels of pressure the model experiences as currents of air rush by. Darker shades mean higher pressure; lighter shades mean lower pressure.
Cameras capture the brightness intensity and a supercomputer turns that information into a set of numbers representing pressure values, which are made available to engineers to study and glean what truths they can about the vehicle design’s structural integrity.
“Aerodynamic forces can vibrate different parts of the vehicle to different degrees,” Lash said. “Vibrations could damage what the vehicle is carrying or can even lead to the vehicle tearing itself apart. The data we get through this process can help us prevent that.”
Traditionally, pressure readings are taken using sensors connected to little plastic tubes strung through a model’s interior and poking up through small holes in key places, such as along the surface of a wing or the fuselage.
Each point provides a single pressure reading. Engineers must use mathematical models to estimate the pressure values between the individual sensors.
With PSP, there is no need to estimate the numbers. Because the paint covers the entire model, its brightness as seen by the cameras reveals the pressure values over the whole surface.
A four-percent scale model of the Space Launch System rocket is tested in 2017 using unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint inside the 11-foot by 11-foot Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.NASA / Dominic Hart Making it Better
The introduction, testing, and availability of uPSP is the result of a successful five-year-long effort, begun in 2019, in which researchers challenged themselves to significantly improve the PSP’s capability with its associated cameras and computers.
The NASA team’s desire was to develop and demonstrate a better process of acquiring, processing, and visualizing data using a properly equipped wind tunnel and supercomputer, then make the tool available at NASA wind tunnels across the country.
The focus during a capability challenge was on NASA’s Unitary Plan Facility’s 11-foot transonic wind tunnel, which the team connected to the nearby NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility, both located at Ames.
Inside the wind tunnel, a scale model of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket served as the primary test subject during the challenge period.
Now that the agency has completed its Artemis I uncrewed lunar flight test mission, researchers can match the flight-recorded data with the wind tunnel data to see how well reality and predictions compare.
With the capability challenge officially completed at the end of 2024, the uPSP team is planning to deploy it to other wind tunnels and engage with potential users with interests in aeronautics or spaceflight.
“This is a NASA capability that we have, not only for use within the agency, but one that we can offer industry, academia, and other government agencies to come in and do research using these new tools,” Lash said.
NASA’s Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities portfolio office, an organization managed under the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, oversaw the development of the uPSP capability.
Watch this uPSP Video
About the Author
Jim Banke
Managing Editor/Senior WriterJim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 40 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on the NASA website.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More
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Last Updated Jul 03, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4584 – 4585: Just a Small Bump
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on June 27, 2025 — Sol 4582, or Martian day 4,582 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 05:28:57 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Friday, June 27, 2025
We weren’t able to unstow Curiosity’s robotic arm on Wednesday because of some potentially unstable rocks under Curiosity’s wheels, but we liked the rocks at Wednesday’s location enough that we decided to spend a sol repositioning the rover so that we’d have another chance today to analyze them. The small adjustment of the rover’s position, or “bump,” as we like to call it during tactical planning, was successful, and we found ourselves in a nice stable pose this morning which allowed us to use our highly capable robotic arm to observe the rocks in front of us.
We will be collecting APXS and MAHLI observations of two targets today. The first, “Santa Elena,” is the bumpy rock that caught our eye on Wednesday. The second, informally named “Estancia Allkamari,” is a patch of nearby sand. We’ll analyze this target to understand if and how the sand composition has changed as we’ve driven across Mount Sharp, and to better help us understand how sand may be contributing to future compositional measurements that cover mixtures of sand and rock. MAHLI and ChemCam will team up to observe a third target named “Ticatica,” which is another bumpy rock nearby that looks like it might have a dark patch on its side.
This is the final weekend of this Martian year when temperature and relative humidity in Gale crater hit the sweet spot where conditions are right for frost to form in the pre-dawn hours. We’re taking this last opportunity to see if we can catch any evidence of frost with the ChemCam laser, shooting a sandy (and hopefully cold) portion of the ground in the pre-dawn hours on a target named “Rio Huasco.” Other activities in the plan include atmospheric monitoring, Mastcam mosaics, including a 20 x 3 mosaic of the large boxwork structures in the distance, and a short drive to the southwest to check out a rocky raised ridge.
For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates
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Last Updated Jul 01, 2025 Related Terms
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4 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4582-4583: A Rock and a Sand Patch
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By USH
In 1992, Dr. Gregory Rogers a NASA flight surgeon and former Chief of Aerospace Medicine witnessed an event that would stay with him for more than three decades. Now, after years of silence, he’s finally revealing the details of a 15-minute encounter that shattered everything he thought he knew about aerospace technology.
With a distinguished career that includes support for 31 space shuttle launches, training as an F-16 pilot, and deep involvement in classified aerospace programs, Dr. Rogers brings unmatched credibility to the conversation. His firsthand account of observing what appeared to be a reverse-engineered craft, emblazoned with "U.S. Air Force" markings, raises profound questions about the true timeline of UAP development and disclosure.
The full interview spans nearly two hours. To help navigate the discussion, here’s a timeline so you can jump to the segments that interest you most.
00:00 Introduction and Dr. Rogers' Unprecedented Credentials 07:25 The 1992 Cape Canaveral Encounter Begins 18:45 Inside the Hangar: First Glimpse of the Craft 26:30 "We Got It From Them" - The Shocking Revelation 35:15 Technical Analysis: Impossible Flight Characteristics 43:40 Electromagnetic Discharges and Advanced Propulsion 52:20 The Cover Story and 33 Years of Silence 1:01:10 Why He's Speaking Out Now: Grush and Fravor's Influence 1:08:45 Bob Lazar Connections and Reverse Engineering Timeline 1:17:20 Flight Surgeon Stories: The Human Side of Classified Work 1:25:50 G-Force Brain Injuries: An Unreported Military Crisis 1:34:30 Columbia Disaster: When Safety Warnings Are Ignored 1:43:15 The Bureaucratic Resistance to Truth 1:50:40 Congressional Testimony and The Path Forward 1:58:25 Final Thoughts: Legacy vs. Truth
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By NASA
Explore Hubble 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 Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities 3D Hubble Models Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read
Hubble Studies Small but Mighty Galaxy
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the nearby galaxy NGC 4449. ESA/Hubble & NASA, E. Sabbi, D. Calzetti, A. Aloisi This portrait from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope puts the nearby galaxy NGC 4449 in the spotlight. The galaxy is situated just 12.5 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs). It is a member of the M94 galaxy group, which is near the Local Group of galaxies that the Milky Way is part of.
NGC 4449 is a dwarf galaxy, which means that it is far smaller and contains fewer stars than the Milky Way. But don’t let its small size fool you — NGC 4449 packs a punch when it comes to making stars! This galaxy is currently forming new stars at a much faster rate than expected for its size, which makes it a starburst galaxy. Most starburst galaxies churn out stars mainly in their centers, but NGC 4449 is alight with brilliant young stars throughout. Researchers believe that this global burst of star formation came about because of NGC 4449’s interactions with its galactic neighbors. Because NGC 4449 is so close, it provides an excellent opportunity for Hubble to study how interactions between galaxies can influence the formation of new stars.
Hubble released an image of NGC 4449 in 2007. This new version incorporates several additional wavelengths of light that Hubble collected for multiple observing programs. These programs encompass an incredible range of science, from a deep dive into NGC 4449’s star-formation history to the mapping of the brightest, hottest, and most massive stars in more than two dozen nearby galaxies.
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has also observed NGC 4449, revealing in intricate detail the galaxy’s tendrils of dusty gas, glowing from the intense starlight radiated by the flourishing young stars.
Text Credit: ESA/Hubble
Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
Othmane Benafan is a NASA engineer whose work is literally reshaping how we use aerospace materials — he creates metals that can shape shift. Benafan, a materials research engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, creates metals called shape memory alloys that are custom-made to solve some of the most pressing challenges of space exploration and aviation.
“A shape memory alloy starts off just like any other metal, except it has this wonderful property: it can remember shapes,” Benafan says. “You can bend it, you can deform it out of shape, and once you heat it, it returns to its shape.”
An alloy is a metal that’s created by combining two or more metallic elements. Shape memory alloys are functional metals. Unlike structural metals, which are fixed metal shapes used for construction or holding heavy objects, functional metals are valued for unique properties that enable them to carry out specific actions.
NASA often needs materials with special capabilities for use in aircraft and spacecraft components, spacesuits, and hardware designed for low-Earth orbit, the Moon, or Mars. But sometimes, the ideal material doesn’t exist. That’s where engineers like Benafan come in.
“We have requirements, and we come up with new materials to fulfill that function,” he said. The whole process begins with pen and paper, theories, and research to determine exactly what properties are needed and how those properties might be created. Then he and his teammates are ready to start making a new metal.
“It’s like a cooking show,” Benafan says. “We collect all the ingredients — in my case, the metals would be elements from the periodic table, like nickel, titanium, gold, copper, etc. — and we mix them together in quantities that satisfy the formula we came up with. And then we cook it.”
Othmane Benafan, a materials research engineer, develops a shape memory alloy in a laboratory at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. These elemental ingredients are melted in a container called a crucible, then poured into the required shape, such as a cylinder, plate, or tube. From there, it’s subjected to temperatures and pressures that shape and train the metal to change the way its atoms are arranged every time it’s heated or cooled.
Shape memory alloys created by Benafan and his colleagues have already proven useful in several applications. For example, the Shape Memory Alloy Reconfigurable Technology Vortex Generator (SMART VG) being tested on Boeing aircraft uses the torque generated by a heat-induced twisting motion to raise and lower a small, narrow piece of hardware installed on aircraft wings, resulting in reduced drag during cruise conditions. In space, the 2018 Advanced eLectrical Bus (ALBus) CubeSat technology demonstration mission included the use of a shape memory alloy to deploy the small satellite’s solar arrays and antennas. And Glenn’s Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters technology benefits mining and geothermal applications on Earth by breaking apart rocks without harming the surrounding environment. The shape memory alloy device is wrapped in a heater and inserted into a predrilled hole in the rock, and when the heater is activated, the alloy expands, creating intense pressure that drives the rock apart.
Benafan’s fascination with shape memory alloys started after he immigrated to the United States from Morocco at age 19. He began attending night classes at the Valencia Community College (now Valencia College), then went on to graduate from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. A professor did a demonstration on shape memory alloys and that changed Benafan’s life forever. Now, Benafan enjoys helping others understand related topics.
“Outside of work, one of the things I like to do most is make technology approachable to someone who may be interested but may not be experienced with it just yet. I do a lot of community outreach through camps or lectures in schools,” he said.
He believes a mentality of curiosity and a willingness to fail and learn are essential for aspiring engineers and encourages others to pursue their ideas and keep trying.
“You know, we grow up with that mindset of falling and standing up and trying again, and that same thing applies here,” Benafan said. “The idea is to be a problem solver. What are you trying to contribute? What problem do you want to solve to help humanity, to help Earth?”
To learn more about the wide variety of exciting and unexpected jobs at NASA, check out the Surprisingly STEM video series.
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