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In the Starlight: Tristan McKnight Brings NASA’s Historic Moments to Life
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
That’s a great question. And it’s a question that NASA will seek to answer with the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Europa is a moon of Jupiter. It’s about the same size as Earth’s Moon, but its surface looks very different. The surface of Europa is covered with a layer of ice, and below that ice, we think there’s a layer of liquid water with more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined.
So because of this giant ocean, we think that Europa is actually one of the best places in the solar system to look for life beyond the Earth.
Life as we know it has three main requirements: liquid water — all life here on Earth uses liquid water as a basis.
The second is the right chemical elements. These are elements like carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur. They’re elements that create the building blocks for life as we know it on Earth. We think that those elements exist on Europa.
The third component is an energy source. As Europa orbits around Jupiter, Jupiter’s strong gravity tugs and pulls on it. It actually stretches out the surface. And it produces a heat source called tidal heating. So it’s possible that hydrothermal systems could exist at the bottom of Europa’s ocean, and it’s possible that those could be locations for abundant life.
So could there be life on Europa? It’s possible. And Europa Clipper is going to explore Europa to help try to answer that question.
[END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]
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Last Updated Feb 25, 2025 Related Terms
Science Mission Directorate Astrobiology Europa Europa Clipper Planetary Science Planetary Science Division The Solar System Explore More
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By European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to harness space technology for humanitarian assistance worldwide. The partnership will combine ESA's space expertise with ICRC's humanitarian reach to develop space-enabled solutions that can help protect and assist communities affected by disasters and conflicts across Europe and beyond.
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By NASA
One semester as a NASA Pathways intern was enough to inspire Portia Keyes to sign up for a Russian language class at college. After interning in the Johnson Space Center’s Office of Procurement, Keyes hoped to someday use her new language skills in support of the International Space Station Program.
Now, 12 years later, Keyes is the deputy manager of the procurement office for the International Space Station and Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Programs. That means she is responsible for implementing and overseeing acquisition solutions that enable the purchasing of goods and services in support of both programs.
Official NASA portrait of Portia Keyes.NASA It has also given her a chance to use some of what she learned from her Russian language course. One of Keyes’ favorite NASA projects involved negotiating a contract modification with Roscosmos to secure transportation of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station via Soyuz spacecraft following the space shuttle’s retirement. “This project stands out to me both for its impact on NASA’s missions and the way it transcended political and geographical boundaries,” Keyes said. Being a part of this effort reinforced the importance of collaboration on a global scale. “It demonstrated how shared goals and values can unite people across different nations, regardless of external circumstances,” she said. “The world is more connected than we often realize.”
Keyes values collaboration on a smaller scale, as well, noting that her procurement role involves working with a wide variety of subject matter experts who are passionate about their respective fields. She acknowledged that procurement staff are sometimes seen as obstructing or slowing a mission rather than enabling it, although she has overcome this challenge through effective communication with stakeholders – striving to understand their perspectives and present mutually beneficial solutions.
“My commitment is to advancing NASA’s missions through the responsible management of taxpayer dollars,” she said. “Collaborating closely with my technical counterparts, I have been able to secure mission-critical services and supplies, all while adhering to regulatory, schedule, and resource constraints.”
Keyes poses for a picture outside of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Image courtesy of Portia Keyes Adaptability has also been important to Keyes’ success. “Whether it’s shifting priorities due to unforeseen challenges, navigating cultural differences within international teams, or adjusting to new acquisition regulations, being flexible and open to change has allowed me to not just survive in dynamic environments, but thrive,” she said.
At the same time, Keyes strives to maintain balance in the workplace. “What I have learned about myself is that I can do anything, but not everything,” she said. “Maturing in my career has meant accepting that I have limited time, energy, and resources, so it is important to discern what truly matters and focus my efforts there.”
Portia Keyes, fourth from left, received a JSC Director’s Commendation Award in June 2024 for significant contributions to Johnson’s Office of Procurement. From left are Johnson Associate Director for Vision and Strategy Douglas Terrier, Office of Procurement Director Brad Niese, Office of Procurement Functional Lead Candice Palacios-Hoang, Keyes, and Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche.NASA Keyes’ hard work has been recognized with several awards throughout her career. She is proudest of earning the Office of Procurement Bubbee’s Coach Award, which is given to the team member most likely to serve as a mentor to colleagues. “Much of my professional and personal growth has stemmed from formal and informal mentors who supported me in navigating challenges, developing new skills, and creating environments for me to thrive,” she said. “I have a great appreciation for those mentors, and I strive to impact those around me similarly.”
Keyes hopes to encourage the Artemis Generation to approach the future – and periods of uncertainty – with curiosity, resilience, and a responsibility to care for our planet and the universe. She looks forward to the continued expansion of access to space.
“I hope to be around for the days where I can afford a reasonably priced, roundtrip ticket to the Moon,” she said. “Perhaps by then they will sell functional spacesuits in the local sporting goods stores.”
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s SPHEREx mission will survey the Milky Way galaxy looking for water ice and other key ingredients for life. In the search for these frozen compounds, the mission will focus on molecular clouds — collections of gas and dust in space — like this one imaged by the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, ESA, CSA Where is all the water that may form oceans on distant planets and moons? The SPHEREx astrophysics mission will search the galaxy and take stock.
Every living organism on Earth needs water to survive, so scientists searching for life outside our solar system, are often guided by the phrase “follow the water.” Scheduled to launch no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 27, NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) mission will help in that quest.
After its ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force base in California, the observatory will search for water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other key ingredients for life frozen on the surface of interstellar dust grains in the clouds of gas and dust where planets and stars eventually form.
While there are no oceans or lakes floating freely in space, scientists think these reservoirs of ice, bound to small dust grains, are where most of the water in our universe forms and resides. Additionally, the water in Earth’s oceans as well as those of other planets and moons in our galaxy likely originated in such locations.
The Perseus Molecular Cloud, located about 1,000 light-years from Earth, was imaged by NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope. NASA’s SPHEREx mission will search the galaxy for water ice and other frozen compounds in clouds of gas and dust in space like this one. NASA/JPL-Caltech The mission will focus on massive regions of gas and dust called molecular clouds. Within those, SPHEREx will also look at some newly formed stars and the disks of material around them from which new planets are born.
Although space telescopes such as NASA’s James Webb and retired Spitzer have detected water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other compounds in hundreds of targets, the SPHEREx observatory is the first to be uniquely equipped to conduct a large-scale survey of the galaxy in search of water ice and other frozen compounds.
Get the SPHEREx Press Kit Rather than taking 2D images of a target like a star, SPHEREx will gather 3D data along its line of sight. That enables scientists to see the amount of ice present in a molecular cloud and observe how the composition of the ices throughout the cloud changes in different environments.
By making more than 9 million of these line-of-sight observations and creating the largest-ever survey of these materials, the mission will help scientists better understand how these compounds form on dust grains and how different environments can influence their abundance.
Tip of the Iceberg
It makes sense that the composition of planets and stars would reflect the molecular clouds they formed in. However, researchers are still working to confirm the specifics of the planet formation process, and the universe doesn’t always match scientists’ expectations.
For example, a NASA mission launched in 1998, the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS), surveyed the galaxy for water in gas form — including in molecular clouds — but found far less than expected.
BAE Systems employees work on NASA’s SPHEREx observatory in the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Jan. 16. Targeting a Feb. 27 launch, the mission will map the entire sky in infrared light. NASA/JPL-Caltech “This puzzled us for a while,” said Gary Melnick, a senior astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and a member of the SPHEREx science team. “We eventually realized that SWAS had detected gaseous water in thin layers near the surface of molecular clouds, suggesting that there might be a lot more water inside the clouds, locked up as ice.”
The mission team’s hypothesis also made sense because SWAS detected less oxygen gas (two oxygen atoms bound together) than expected. They concluded that the oxygen atoms were sticking to interstellar dust grains, and were then joined by hydrogen atoms, forming water. Later research confirmed this. What’s more, the clouds shield molecules from cosmic radiation that would otherwise break those compounds apart. As a result, water ice and other materials stored deep in a cloud’s interior are protected.
As starlight passes through a molecular cloud, molecules like water and carbon dioxide block certain wavelengths of light, creating a distinct signature that SPHEREx and other missions like Webb can identify using a technique called absorption spectroscopy.
In addition to providing a more detailed accounting of the abundance of these frozen compounds, SPHEREx will help researchers answer questions including how deep into molecular clouds ice begins to form, how the abundance of water and other ices changes with the density of a molecular cloud, and how that abundance changes once a star forms.
Powerful Partnerships
As a survey telescope, SPHEREx is designed to study large portions of the sky relatively quickly, and its results can be used in conjunction with data from targeted telescopes like Webb, which observe a significantly smaller area but can see their targets in greater detail.
“If SPHEREx discovers a particularly intriguing location, Webb can study that target with higher spectral resolving power and in wavelengths that SPHEREx cannot detect,” said Melnick. “These two telescopes could form a highly effective partnership.”
More About SPHEREx
SPHEREx is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace) built the telescope and the spacecraft bus. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data will be conducted by a team of scientists located at 10 institutions in the U.S., two in South Korea, and one in Taiwan. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA. The mission principal investigator is based at Caltech with a joint JPL appointment. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available at the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive.
For more information about the SPHEREx mission visit:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spherex/
6 Things to Know About SPHEREx Why NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Will Make ‘Most Colorful’ Cosmic Map Ever News Media Contact
Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-808-2469
calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
2025-020
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Last Updated Feb 13, 2025 Related Terms
SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe and Ices Explorer) Astrophysics Exoplanets Galaxies Jet Propulsion Laboratory Stars The Universe Explore More
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