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By NASA
Astronaut Anne McClain is pictured on May 1, 2025, near one of the International Space Station’s main solar arrays.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi will answer prerecorded questions submitted by middle and high school students from New York and Ohio. Both groups will hear from the astronauts aboard the International Space Station in two separate events.
The first event at 10:20 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 20, includes students from Long Beach Middle School in Lido Beach, New York. Media interested in covering the event at Long Beach Middle School must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. Monday, May 19, to Christi Tursi at: ctursi@lbeach.org or 516-771-3960.
The second event at 11 a.m. EDT on Friday, May 23, is with students from Vermilion High School in Vermilion, Ohio. Media interested in covering the event at Vermilion High School must RSVP no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, May 22, to Jennifer Bengele at: jbengele@vermilionschools.org or 440-479-7783.
Watch both 20-minute Earth-to-space calls live on NASA STEM YouTube Channel.
Long Beach Middle School will host the event for students in grades 6 through 8. The school aims to provide both the students and community with an experience that bridge gaps in space sciences with teaching and learning in classrooms.
Vermilion High School will host the event for students in grades 9 through 12, to help increase student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics career pathways.
For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars, inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.
See videos of astronauts aboard the space station at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
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Gerelle Dodson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
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Last Updated May 16, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space In-flight Education Downlinks International Space Station (ISS) Johnson Space Center Learning Resources NASA Headquarters View the full article
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is seen during its “aluminum bird” systems testing at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California. The test verified how the aircraft’s hardware and software work together, responding to pilot inputs and handling injected system failures. Lockheed Martin / Garry Tice NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft successfully completed a critical series of tests in which the airplane was put through its paces for cruising high above the California desert – all without ever leaving the ground.
“The idea behind these tests is to command the airplane’s subsystems and flight computer to function as if it is flying,” said Yohan Lin, the X-59’s lead avionics engineer at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
The goal of ground-based simulation testing was to make sure the hardware and software that will allow the X-59 to fly safely are properly working together and able to handle any unexpected problems.
Any new aircraft is a combination of systems, and identifying the little adjustments required to optimize performance is an important step in a disciplined approach toward flight.
“We thought we might find a few things during the tests that would prompt us to go back and tweak them to work better, especially with some of the software, and that’s what we wound up experiencing. So, these tests were very helpful,” Lin said.
Completing the tests marks another milestone off the checklist of things to do before the X-59 makes its first flight this year, continuing NASA’s Quesst mission to help enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.
Simulating the Sky
During the testing, engineers from NASA and contractor Lockheed Martin turned on most of the X-59’s systems, leaving the engine off. For example, if the pilot moved the control stick a certain way, the flight computer moved the aircraft’s rudder or other control surfaces, just as it would in flight.
At the same time, the airplane was electronically connected to a ground computer that sends simulated signals – which the X-59 interpreted as real – such as changes in altitude, speed, temperature, or the health of various systems.
Sitting in the cockpit, the pilot “flew” the aircraft to see how the airplane would respond.
“These were simple maneuvers, nothing too crazy,” Lin said. “We would then inject failures into the airplane to see how it would respond. Would the system compensate for the failure? Was the pilot able to recover?”
Unlike in typical astronaut training simulations, where flight crews do not know what scenarios they might encounter, the X-59 pilots mostly knew what the aircraft would experience during every test and even helped plan them to better focus on the aircraft systems’ response.
NASA test pilot James Less sits in the cockpit of the X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft as he participates in a series of “aluminum bird” systems tests at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California.Lockheed Martin / Garry Tice Aluminum vs. Iron
In aircraft development, this work is known as “iron bird” testing, named for a simple metal frame on which representations of the aircraft’s subsystems are installed, connected, and checked out.
Building such a testbed is a common practice for development programs in which many aircraft will be manufactured. But since the X-59 is a one-of-a-kind airplane, officials decided it was better and less expensive to use the aircraft itself.
As a result, engineers dubbed this series of exercises “aluminum bird” testing, since that’s the metal the X-59 is mostly made of.
So, instead of testing an “iron bird” with copies of an aircraft’s systems on a non-descript frame, the “aluminum bird” used the actual aircraft and its systems, which in turn meant the test results gave everyone higher confidence in the design,
“It’s a perfect example of the old tried and true adage in aviation that says ‘Test what you fly. Fly what you test,’” Lin said.
Still Ahead for the X-59
With aluminum bird testing in the rearview mirror, the next milestone on the X-59’s path to first flight is take the airplane out on the taxiways at the airport adjacent to Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, where the X-59 was built. First flight would follow those taxi tests.
Already in the X-59’s logbook since the fully assembled and painted airplane made its public debut in January 2024:
A Flight Readiness Review in which a board of independent experts from across NASA completed a study of the X-59 project team’s approach to safety for the public and staff during ground and flight testing. A trio of important structural tests and critical inspections that included “shaking” the airplane to make sure there were no unexpected problems from the vibrations. Firing up the GE Aerospace jet engine for the first time after installation into the X-59, including a series of tests of the engine running with full afterburner. Checking the wiring that ties together the X-59’s flight computer, electronic systems, and other hardware to be sure there were no concerns about electromagnetic interference. Testing the aircraft’s ability to maintain a certain speed while flying, essentially a check of the X-59’s version of cruise control. The X-59 Tests in 59
Watch this video about the X-59 aluminum bird testing. It only takes a minute. Well, 59 seconds to be precise. 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 May 15, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactMatt Kamletmatthew.r.kamlet@nasa.gov Related Terms
Aeronautics Advanced Air Vehicles Program Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Ames Research Center Armstrong Flight Research Center Commercial Supersonic Technology Glenn Research Center Integrated Aviation Systems Program Langley Research Center Low Boom Flight Demonstrator Quesst (X-59) Quesst: The Vehicle Supersonic Flight View the full article
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Chaitén Volcano in southern Chile erupted on May 2, 2008 for the first time inn 9,000 years. NASA satellites that monitor changes in vegetation near volcanoes could aid in earlier eruption warnings.Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientists know that changing tree leaves can indicate when a nearby volcano is becoming more active and might erupt. In a new collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, scientists now believe they can detect these changes from space.
As volcanic magma ascends through the Earth’s crust, it releases carbon dioxide and other gases which rise to the surface. Trees that take up the carbon dioxide become greener and more lush. These changes are visible in images from NASA satellites such as Landsat 8, along with airborne instruments flown as part of the Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean (AVUELO).
Ten percent of the world’s population lives in areas susceptible to volcanic hazards. People who live or work within a few miles of an eruption face dangers that include ejected rock, dust, and surges of hot, toxic gases. Further away, people and property are susceptible to mudslides, ashfalls, and tsunamis that can follow volcanic blasts. There’s no way to prevent volcanic eruptions, which makes the early signs of volcanic activity crucial for public safety. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA’s Landsat mission partner, the United States is one of the world’s most volcanically active countries.
Carbon dioxide released by rising magma bubbles up and heats a pool of water in Costa Rica near the Rincón de LaVieja volcano. Increases in volcanic gases could be a sign that a volcano is becoming more active.Josh Fisher/Chapman University When magma rises underground before an eruption, it releases gases, including carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. The sulfur compounds are readily detectable from orbit. But the volcanic carbon dioxide emissions that precede sulfur dioxide emissions – and provide one of the earliest indications that a volcano is no longer dormant – are difficult to distinguish from space.
The remote detection of carbon dioxide greening of vegetation potentially gives scientists another tool — along with seismic waves and changes in ground height—to get a clear idea of what’s going on underneath the volcano. “Volcano early warning systems exist,” said volcanologist Florian Schwandner, chief of the Earth Science Division at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, who had teamed up with Fisher and Bogue a decade ago. “The aim here is to make them better and make them earlier.”
“Volcanoes emit a lot of carbon dioxide,” said volcanologist Robert Bogue of McGill University in Montreal, but there’s so much existing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that it’s often hard to measure the volcanic carbon dioxide specifically. While major eruptions can expel enough carbon dioxide to be measurable from space with sensors like NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2, detecting these much fainter advanced warning signals has remained elusive. “A volcano emitting the modest amounts of carbon dioxide that might presage an eruption isn’t going to show up in satellite imagery,” he added.
Gregory Goldsmith from Chapman University launches a slingshot into the forest canopy to install a carbon dioxide sensor in the canopy of a Costa Rican rainforest near the Rincón de LaVieja volcano.Josh Fisher/Chapman University Because of this, scientists must trek to volcanoes to measure carbon dioxide directly. However, many of the roughly 1,350 potentially active volcanoes worldwide are in remote locations or challenging mountainous terrain. That makes monitoring carbon dioxide at these sites labor-intensive, expensive, and sometimes dangerous.
Volcanologists like Bogue have joined forces with botanists and climate scientists to look at trees to monitor volcanic activity. “The whole idea is to find something that we could measure instead of carbon dioxide directly,” Bogue said, “to give us a proxy to detect changes in volcano emissions.”
“There are plenty of satellites we can use to do this kind of analysis,” said volcanologist Nicole Guinn of the University of Houston. She has compared images collected with Landsat 8, NASA’s Terra satellite, ESA’s (European Space Agency) Sentinel-2, and other Earth-observing satellites to monitor trees around the Mount Etna volcano on the coast of Sicily. Guinn’s study is the first to show a strong correlation between tree leaf color and magma-generated carbon dioxide.
Confirming accuracy on the ground that validates the satellite imagery is a challenge that climate scientist Josh Fisher of Chapman University is tackling with surveys of trees around volcanoes. During the March 2025 Airborne Validation Unified Experiment: Land to Ocean mission with NASA and the Smithsonian Institution scientists deployed a spectrometer on a research plane to analyze the colors of plant life in Panama and Costa Rica.
Alexandria Pivovaroff of Occidental College measures photosynthesis in leaves extracted from trees exposed to elevated levels of carbon dioxide near a volcano in Costa Rica.Josh Fisher/Chapman University Fisher directed a group of investigators who collected leaf samples from trees near the active Rincon de la Vieja volcano in Costa Rica while also measuring carbon dioxide levels. “Our research is a two-way interdisciplinary intersection between ecology and volcanology,” Fisher said. “We’re interested not only in tree responses to volcanic carbon dioxide as an early warning of eruption, but also in how much the trees are able to take up, as a window into the future of the Earth when all of Earth’s trees are exposed to high levels of carbon dioxide.”
Relying on trees as proxies for volcanic carbon dioxide has its limitations. Many volcanoes feature climates that don’t support enough trees for satellites to image. In some forested environments, trees that respond differently to changing carbon dioxide levels. And fires, changing weather conditions, and plant diseases can complicate the interpretation of satellite data on volcanic gases.
Chapman University visiting professor Gaku Yokoyama checks on the leaf-measuring instrumentation at a field site near the Rincón de LaVieja volcano.Josh Fisher/Chapman University Still, Schwandner has witnessed the potential benefits of volcanic carbon dioxide observations first-hand. He led a team that upgraded the monitoring network at Mayon volcano in the Philippines to include carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide sensors. In December 2017, government researchers in the Philippines used this system to detect signs of an impending eruption and advocated for mass evacuations of the area around the volcano. Over 56,000 people were safely evacuated before a massive eruption began on January 23, 2018. As a result of the early warnings, there were no casualties.
Using satellites to monitor trees around volcanoes would give scientists earlier insights into more volcanoes and offer earlier warnings of future eruptions. “There’s not one signal from volcanoes that’s a silver bullet,” Schwandner said. “And tracking the effects of volcanic carbon dioxide on trees will not be a silver bullet. But it will be something that could change the game.”
By James Riordon
NASA’s Earth Science News Team
Media contact: Elizabeth Vlock
NASA Headquarters
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James R. Riordon
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Last Updated May 15, 2025 LocationAmes Research Center Related Terms
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By NASA
6 min read
NASA Observes First Visible-light Auroras at Mars
On March 15, 2024, near the peak of the current solar cycle, the Sun produced a solar flare and an accompanying coronal mass ejection (CME), a massive explosion of gas and magnetic energy that carries with it large amounts of solar energetic particles. This solar activity led to stunning auroras across the solar system, including at Mars, where NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover made history by detecting them for the first time from the surface of another planet.
The first visible-light image of green aurora on Mars (left), taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. On the right is a comparison image of the night sky of Mars without aurora but featuring the Martian moon Deimos. The moonlit Martian night sky, lit up mostly by Mars’ nearer and larger moon Phobos (outside the frame) has a reddish-brown hue due to the dust in the atmosphere, so when green auroral light is added, the sky takes on a green-yellow tone, as seen in the left image. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI “This exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for auroral research and confirms that auroras could be visible to future astronauts on Mars’ surface.” said Elise Knutsen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo in Norway and lead author of the Science Advances study, which reported the detection.
Picking the right aurora
On Earth, auroras form when solar particles interact with the global magnetic field, funneling them to the poles where they collide with atmospheric gases and emit light. The most common color, green, is caused by excited oxygen atoms emitting light at a wavelength of 557.7 nanometers. For years, scientists have theorized that green light auroras could also exist on Mars but suggested they would be much fainter and harder to capture than the green auroras we see on Earth.
Due to the Red Planet’s lack of a global magnetic field, Mars has different types of auroras than those we have on Earth. One of these is solar energetic particle (SEP) auroras, which NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission discovered in 2014. These occur when super-energetic particles from the Sun hit the Martian atmosphere, causing a reaction that makes the atmosphere glow across the whole night sky.
While MAVEN had observed SEP auroras in ultraviolet light from orbit, this phenomenon had never been observed in visible light from the ground. Since SEPs typically occur during solar storms, which increase during solar maximum, Knutsen and her team set their sights on capturing visible images and spectra of SEP aurora from Mars’ surface at the peak of the Sun’s current solar cycle.
Coordinating the picture-perfect moment
Through modeling, Knutsen and her team determined the optimal angle for the Perseverance rover’s SuperCam spectrometer and Mastcam-Z camera to successfully observe the SEP aurora in visible light. With this observation strategy in place, it all came down to the timing and understanding of CMEs.
“The trick was to pick a good CME, one that would accelerate and inject many charged particles into Mars’ atmosphere,” said Knutsen.
That is where the teams at NASA’s Moon to Mars (M2M) Space Weather Analysis Office and the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), both located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, came in. The M2M team provides real-time analysis of solar eruptions to the CCMC for initiating simulations of CMEs to determine if they might impact current NASA missions. When the simulations suggest potential impacts, the team sends out an alert.
At the University of California, Berkeley, space physicist Christina Lee received an alert from the M2M office about the March 15, 2024, CME. Lee, a member of the MAVEN mission team who serves as the space weather lead, determined there was a notable solar storm heading toward the Red Planet,which could arrive in a few days. She immediately issued the Mars Space Weather Alert Notification to currently operating Mars missions.
“This allows the science teams of Perseverance and MAVEN to anticipate impacts of interplanetary CMEs and the associated SEPs,” said Lee.
“When we saw the strength of this one,” Knutsen said, “we estimated it could trigger aurora bright enough for our instruments to detect.”
A few days later, the CME impacted Mars, providing a lightshow for the rover to capture, showing the aurora to be nearly uniform across the sky at an emission wavelength of exactly 557.7 nm. To confirm the presence of SEPs during the aurora observation, the team looked to MAVEN’s SEP instrument, which was additionally corroborated by data from ESA’s (European Space Agency) Mars Express mission. Data from both missions confirmed that the rover team had managed to successfully catch a glimpse of the phenomenon in the very narrow time window available.
“This was a fantastic example of cross-mission coordination. We all worked together quickly to facilitate this observation and are thrilled to have finally gotten a sneak peek of what astronauts will be able to see there some day,” said Shannon Curry, MAVEN principal investigator and research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder).
The future of aurora on Mars
By coordinating the Perseverance observations with measurements from MAVEN’s SEP instrument, the teams could help each other determine that the observed 557.7 nm emission came from solar energetic particles. Since this is the same emission line as the green aurora on Earth, it is likely that future Martian astronauts would be able to see this type of aurora.
“Perseverance’s observations of the visible-light aurora confirm a new way to study these phenomena that’s complementary to what we can observe with our Mars orbiters,” said Katie Stack Morgan, acting project scientist for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “A better understanding of auroras and the conditions around Mars that lead to their formation are especially important as we prepare to send human explorers there safely.”
On September 21, 2014, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how Mars’ atmosphere responds to the Sun and solar wind NASA/JPL-Caltech More About Perseverance and MAVEN
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio and NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
The MAVEN mission, also part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio, is led by LASP at CU Boulder. It’s managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and was built and operated by Lockheed Martin Space, with navigation and network support from NASA’s JPL.
—
By Willow Reed
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), University of Colorado Boulder
Media Contact:
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Nancy N. Jones
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
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Last Updated May 14, 2025 Related Terms
Mars Goddard Space Flight Center MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) View the full article
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By NASA
NASA Glenn Research Center’s Associate Director Larry Sivic, front row, third from left, joins in a group photo with Slovenian government officials and representatives from the Ohio Governor’s Office during a visit to the center on Friday, April 11, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland hosted a delegation of Slovenian government officials and representatives from the Ohio Governor’s Office on April 11. NASA Glenn leadership provided the group with an overview of the center’s vital role within the agency. The delegation also visited key space-related and aeronautics facilities, including tours of the Zero Gravity Research Facility, Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory, and Icing Research Tunnel.
Republic of Slovenia Minister of Defense Borut Sajovic and Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the United States Iztok Mirosic headed the delegation. Joe Zeis, who is the senior advisor for Aerospace and Defense for the Office of the Governor, and Tobias Engel, who is with the Ohio Department of Development International Affairs, also attended.
Facility Manager Dennis Eck, second from left, points out features of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Icing Research Tunnel to a delegation of Slovenian government officials and representatives from the Ohio Governor’s Office during a tour to the center on Friday, April 11, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis The Slovenia Space Office — under the Ministry of the Economy, Industry, and Sport — coordinates Slovenia’s space activities within ESA (European Space Agency). Slovenia recently became a member state of ESA, enabling more international opportunities for Slovenian scientists and engineers. Last year, Slovenia joined the Artemis Accords, which provides a common set of principles to enhance the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space, as the 39th participant.
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