Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA now is accepting proposals from student teams for a contest to design, build, and test rovers for Moon and Mars exploration through Sept. 15.
Known as the Human Exploration Rover Challenge, student rovers should be capable of traversing a course while completing mission tasks. The challenge handbook has guidelines for remote-controlled and human-powered divisions.
The cover of the HERC 2026 handbook, which is now available online. “Last year, we saw a lot of success with the debut of our remote-controlled division and the addition of middle school teams,” said Vemitra Alexander, the activity lead for the challenge at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “We’re looking forward to building on both our remote-controlled and human-powered divisions with new challenges for the students, including rover automation.”
This year’s mission mimics future Artemis missions to the lunar surface. Teams are challenged to test samples of soil, water, and air from sites along a half-mile course that includes a simulated field of asteroid debris, boulders, erosion ruts, crevasses, and an ancient streambed. Human-powered rover teams will play the role of two astronauts in a lunar terrain vehicle and must use a custom-built task tool to manually collect samples needed for testing. Remote-controlled rover teams will act as a pressurized rover, and the rover itself will contain the tools necessary to collect and test samples onboard.
“NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge creates opportunities for students to develop the skills they need to be successful STEM professionals,” said Alexander. “This challenge will help students see themselves in the mission and give them the hands-on experience needed to advance technology and become the workforce of tomorrow.”
Seventy-five teams comprised of more than 500 students participated in the agency’s 31st rover challenge in 2025. Participants represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools, across 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 nations around the world.
The 32nd annual competition will culminate with an in-person event April 9-11, 2026, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center near NASA Marshall.
The rover challenge is one of NASA’s Artemis Student Challenges, reflecting the goals of the Artemis campaign, which seeks to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world as we prepare for human missions to Mars. NASA uses such challenges to encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Since its inception in 1994, more than 15,000 students have participated in the rover challenge – with many former students now working at NASA or within the aerospace industry.
To learn more about HERC, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/
Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 15, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
4 min read NASA IXPE’s ‘Heartbeat Black Hole’ Measurements Challenge Current Theories
Article 3 days ago 6 min read NASA’s Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a…
Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read Stay Cool: NASA Tests Innovative Technique for Super Cold Fuel Storage
Article 4 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
5 min read
NASA’s Apollo Samples, LRO Help Scientists Predict Moonquakes
This mosaic of the Taurus-Littrow valley was made using images from the Narrow Angle Cameras onboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The orbiter has been circling and studying the Moon since 2009. The ancient-lava-filled valley is cut by the Lee-Lincoln thrust fault, visible as a sinuous, white line extending from South Massif (mountain in the bottom left corner) to North Massif (mountain in the top center) where the fault abruptly changes direction and cuts along the slope of North Massif. The Lee-Lincoln fault has been the source of multiple strong moonquakes causing landslides and boulder falls on both North and South massifs. The approximate location of the Apollo 17 landing site is indicated to the right of the fault with a white “x”. NASA/ASU/Smithsonian As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the surface of the Moon’s south polar region for the first time ever during the Artemis III mission, scientists are working on methods to determine the frequency of moonquakes along active faults there.
Faults are cracks in the Moon’s crust that indicate that the Moon is slowly shrinking as its interior cools over time. The contraction from shrinking causes the faults to move suddenly, which generates quakes. Between 1969 and 1977, a network of seismometers deployed by Apollo astronauts on the Moon’s surface recorded thousands of vibrations from moonquakes.
Moonquakes are rare, with the most powerful ones, about magnitude 5.0, occurring near the surface. These types of quakes are much weaker than powerful quakes on Earth (magnitude 7.0 or higher), posing little risk to astronauts during a mission lasting just a few days. But their effects on longer-term lunar surface assets could be significant. Unlike an earthquake that lasts for tens of seconds to minutes, a moonquake can last for hours, enough time to damage or tip over structures, destabilize launch vehicles on the surface, or interrupt surface operations.
“The hazard probability goes way up depending on how close your infrastructure is to an active fault,” said Thomas Watters, senior scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum in Washington.
Watters is a long-time researcher of lunar geology and a co-investigator on NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) camera. Recently, he and Nicholas Schmerr, a planetary seismologist at the University of Maryland in College Park, developed a new method for estimating the magnitude of seismic shaking by analyzing evidence of dislodged boulders and landslides in an area, as the scientists reported on July 30 in the journal Science Advances. Studies like these can help NASA plan lunar surface assets in safer locations.
Unlike an earthquake that lasts for tens of seconds to minutes, a moonquake can last for hours, enough time to damage or tip over structures, destabilize launch vehicles on the surface, or interrupt surface operations.
There are thousands of faults across the Moon that may still be active and producing quakes. Watters and his team have identified these faults by analyzing data from LRO, which has been circling the Moon since 2009, mapping the surface and taking pictures, providing unprecedented detail of features like faults, boulders, and landslides.
For this study, Watters and Schmerr chose to analyze surface changes from quakes generated by the Lee-Lincoln fault in the Taurus-Littrow valley. NASA’s Apollo 17 astronauts, who landed about 4 miles west of the fault on Dec. 11, 1972, explored the area around the fault during their mission.
By studying boulder falls and a landslide likely dislodged by ground shaking near Lee Lincoln, Watters and Schmerr estimated that a magnitude 3.0 moonquake — similar to a relatively minor earthquake — occurs along the Lee Lincoln fault about every 5.6 million years.
“One of the things we’re learning from the Lee-Lincoln fault is that many similar faults have likely had multiple quakes spread out over millions of years,” Schmerr said. “This means that they are potentially still active today and may keep generating more moonquakes in the future.”
The authors chose to study the Lee-Lincoln fault because it offered a unique advantage: Apollo 17 astronauts brought back samples of boulders from the area. By studying these samples in labs, scientists were able to measure changes in the boulders’ chemistry caused by exposure to cosmic radiation over time (the boulder surface is freshly exposed after breaking off a larger rock that would have otherwise shielded it).
This cosmic radiation exposure information helped the researchers determine how long the boulders had been sitting in their current locations, which in turn helped inform the estimate of possible timing and frequency of quakes along the Lee-Lincoln fault.
This 1972 image shows Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt sampling a boulder at the base of North Massif in the Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon. This large boulder is believed to have been dislodged by a strong moonquake that occurred about 28.5 million years ago. The source of the quake was likely a seismic event along the Lee-Lincoln fault. The picture was taken by astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Apollo 17 commander. NASA/JSC/ASU Apollo 17 astronauts investigated the boulders at the bases of two mountains in the valley. The tracks left behind indicated that the boulders may have rolled downhill after being shaken loose during a moonquake on the fault. Using the size of each boulder, Watters and Schmerr estimated how hard the ground shaking would have been and the magnitude of the quake that would have caused the boulders to break free.
The team also estimated the seismic shaking and quake magnitude that would be needed to trigger the large landslide that sent material rushing across the valley floor, suggesting that this incident caused the rupture event that formed the Lee-Lincoln fault.
A computer simulation depicting the seismic waves emanating from a shallow moonquake on the Lee-Lincoln fault in the Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon. The label “A17” marks the Apollo 17 landing site. The audio represents a moonquake that was recorded by a seismometer placed on the surface by astronauts. The seismic signal is converted into sound. Both audio and video are sped up to play 10 times faster than normal. The background image is a globe mosaic image from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Wide-Angle Camera. Red and blue are positive (upward ground motion) and negative (downward ground motion) polarities of the wave. Nicholas Schmerr Taking all these factors into account, Watters and Schmerr estimated that the chances that a quake would have shaken the Taurus-Littrow valley on any given day while the Apollo 17 astronauts were there are 1 in 20 million, the authors noted.
Their findings from the Lee-Lincoln fault are just the beginning. Watters and Schmerr now plan to use their new technique to analyze quake frequency at faults in the Moon’s south polar region, where NASA plans to explore.
NASA also is planning to send more seismometers to the Moon. First, the Farside Seismic Suite will deliver two sensitive seismometers to Schrödinger basin on the far side of the Moon onboard a lunar lander as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. Additionally, NASA is developing a payload, called the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station, for potential flight on NASA’s Artemis III mission to the South Pole region. Co-led by Schmerr, the payload will assess seismic risks for future human and robotic missions to the region.
Read More: What Are Moonquakes?
Read More: Moonquakes and Faults Near Lunar South Pole
For more information on NASA’s LRO, visit:
Media Contacts:
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Lonnie Shekhtman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
lonnie.shekhtman@nasa.gov
About the Author
Lonnie Shekhtman
Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 14, 2025 Related Terms
Apollo Apollo 17 Artemis Artemis 3 Artemis Campaign Development Division Earth’s Moon Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Goddard Space Flight Center Humans in Space Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Missions NASA Centers & Facilities NASA Directorates Planetary Geosciences & Geophysics Planetary Science Planetary Science Division Science & Research Science Mission Directorate The Solar System Explore More
4 min read Compton J. Tucker Retires from NASA and is Named NAS Fellow
Article
21 hours ago
5 min read NASA’s Hubble Uncovers Rare White Dwarf Merger Remnant
Article
1 day ago
6 min read Webb Narrows Atmospheric Possibilities for Earth-sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d
Article
1 day ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
NASA Honor Award recipients are shown with their award plaques, alongside NASA Stennis Space Center Director John Bailey and Deputy Director Christine Powell, following the ceremony at NASA Stennis on Aug. 13. Pictured (left to right) is Andrew Bracey, Briou Bourgeois, Jared Grover, Robert Simmers, Robert Williams, Richard Wear, Tom Stanley, Alison Dardar, Marvin Horne, Cary Tolman, Tim Pierce, Rebecca Mataya, Bailey, Powell, Gina Ladner, and Brittany Bouche. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Space Center Director John Bailey speaks to employees during the NASA Honor Awards ceremony at NASA Stennis on Aug. 13. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Space Center Director John Bailey and Deputy Director Christine Powell presented NASA Honor Awards to employees during an onsite ceremony Aug. 13.
One NASA Stennis employee received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal. The medal is awarded to government employees for notable leadership accomplishments that have significantly influenced the NASA mission.
Marvin Horne of Fulton, Maryland, received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for his work in the Office of Procurement that has resulted in significant cost savings for the agency. Among his accomplishments, Horne designed, implemented, and led an integrated contract management office between NASA Stennis, NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The office transformed facility services from independent models to a shared model. The innovative solution was the first joint contract management office at NASA Stennis comprised of procurement, finance, and technical personnel designed to implement effective and efficient business processes. Horne currently serves as the NASA acting administrator for procurement.
Three NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. The medal is awarded to government employees for sustained performance that embodies multiple contributions to NASA projects, programs, or initiatives.
Jared Grover of Diamondhead, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions to the success of the NASA Stennis E Test Complex through his dedication and technical expertise. As a NASA mechanical operations engineer, he has led various testing and facility preparation efforts, worked with challenging propellants, and trained new personnel. His work has supported numerous NASA and commercial aerospace projects Grover is also active in community outreach, promoting NASA’s mission and inspiring future engineers.
Tim Pierce of Long Beach, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal following 26 years with NASA and 41 years working at NASA Stennis as a contractor and civil servant in the Center Operations Directorate. Through Pierce’s contributions, NASA Stennis became a leader in drafting agreements with external agencies, streamlining administrative procedures, and enhancing partnerships. In one notable instance, he led efforts to collaborate with county officials on a sewer treatment project that will save costs and optimize underused infrastructure. Pierce retired from NASA in January 2025.
Barry Robinson of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in absentia for service to the nation’s space program and achievement across multiple propulsion test programs and projects. Robinson joined NASA in 1994 and worked on the space shuttle main engine test project, eventually becoming a test operations consultant. Over the years, Robinson held various roles, including chief of the NASA Stennis Mechanical Engineering Branch and project manager for projects supporting NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Robinson retired from NASA in December 2024.
One NASA Stennis employee received NASA’s Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal. The medal is awarded to both government and non-government individuals for exceptional engineering contributions toward achievement of NASA’s mission.
Richard Wear of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal for his contributions to the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. Wear serves as the subject matter expert in thermal and fluid systems analysis. In that role, he has greatly contributed to facilitating the use of liquid natural gas propellant in testing onsite, including by developing a Cryogenics in Propulsion Testing training course to support future test projects and programs. His contributions have significantly enhanced NASA’s support for commercial partners at NASA Stennis.
Eight NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal. This medal is awarded to any government employee for a significant specific achievement or substantial improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which contributes to the mission of NASA.
Leslie Anderson of Picayune, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in absentia for leadership and customer service as the lead accountant in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at NASA Stennis. Anderson has successfully managed critical financial activities with technical expertise, project management, and strong customer service skills. Her efforts help maintain federal partnerships worth approximately $70 million annually and contribute to the success of NASA Stennis, demonstrating NASA’s core values of integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion.
Alison Dardar of Diamondhead, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for innovation in improving financial and technical processes associated with the $1 billion-plus consolidated operations and maintenance contract for NASA Stennis and NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. As senior budget analyst in the NASA Stennis Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Dardar led in identifying and addressing key reporting and accounting issues related to the contract. Her innovations resulted in a 55% improvement in cost reporting accuracy and $20 million in savings to the contract.
Gina Ladner of Diamondhead, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for management, problem solving, and leadership during a year-long detail as chief of the NASA Stennis Facilities Services Division. During the year, Ladner led the division team through numerous changes and tackled unexpected challenges, including a severe weather event that featured confirmed tornados onsite and a contractor work stoppage activity, to ensure ongoing site operations. She also led in numerous infrastructure investments, including repairs to roadways, fire systems, and communications equipment.
Rebecca Mataya of Carriere, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for service as a budget analyst in the NASA Stennis Office of the Chief Financial Officer in improving processes and operations. As an analyst on the procurement development team for a new operations, services, and infrastructure contract, Mataya identified creative methods to increase cost savings and maximize facility projects. She also has helped secure over $408 million for facility improvements, enhancing water systems, power generation, and more.
Tom Stanley of Biloxi, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for contributions to improve NASA’s technology transfer process. As the NASA Stennis technology transfer officer, he developed a tool to standardize and automate evaluation of software usage agreements, reducing costs by 10 times and evaluation time by 75%. The changes led to record numbers of agreements awarded. Stanley also created a tool for contract closeouts, which has contributed to cost savings for the agency.
Cary Tolman of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for work in the NASA Office of the General Counsel. Beyond her role as procurement attorney, Tolman established a software and management audit review team to provide consistent and timely legal advice on software licenses and terms. Tolman’s work has helped NASA save $85 million and simplified legal support for software issues while reducing cybersecurity and financial risk.
Casey Wheeler of Gulfport, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for leadership and innovation in replacing the high pressure water industrial water system that supports crucial testing facilities at NASA Stennis. As project manager in the NASA Stennis Center Operations Directorate, Wheeler showcased his planning and coordination skills by completing the complex project without delaying rocket engine testing. His work restored the system to full design pressure in an area that directly supports NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket through RS-25 engine testing, and other critical projects.
Dale Woolridge of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in absentia for contributions as project manager in the NASA Stennis Center Operations Directorate. Woolridge successfully led multiple construction projects, completing them on time and within budget. One notable project was the refurbishment of the miter gates at NASA Stennis’ navigational lock, which supports NASA’s rocket engine testing operations. The team completed the refurbishment ahead of schedule and within budget, ensuring minimal disruption to NASA operations.
Four NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Early Career Achievement Medal. The medal is awarded to government employees for unusual and significant performance during the first 10 years of an individual’s career in support of the agency.
Briou Bourgeois of Pass Christian, Mississippi, received the NASA Early Career Achievement for his contributions in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. Bourgeois joined NASA in 2017 and has worked on various projects, including the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage Green Run test series and RS-25 engine testing for Artemis missions. Bourgeois played a key role in modifying the liquid oxygen tanking process during the SLS core stage series. He has since become test director in the NASA Stennis E Test Complex and a leader in commercial test projects at NASA Stennis.
Brandon Ladner of Poplarville, Mississippi, received the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal for contributions to the Exploration Upper Stage Test Project on the Thad Cochran Test Stand at NASA Stennis. As the NASA lead mechanical design engineer for the project, Ladner has significantly contributed to the design and build-up of the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand in preparation for Green Run testing of the new SLS (Space Launch System) upper stage. He has led in completion of numerous large design packages and provided valuable engineering oversight to improve construction schedule.
Robert Simmers of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Early Career Achievement for his expertise and versatility since joining NASA in 2015 as a member of the NASA Stennis Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate team. He serves as the safety point of contact for the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2). In that role, he supported all operations during Green Run testing of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) core stage. Simmers also has supported safety audits at various NASA centers. In 2020, he became the NASA Stennis explosive safety officer responsible for explosive safety and compliance.
Robert Williams of Gulfport, Mississippi, received the NASA Early Career Achievement for his work in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. Williams has worked with NASA for eight years, serving as a lead mechanical design engineer for several commercial test projects. Williams is recognized as a subject matter expert in structural systems and has contributed to various NASA Stennis projects, providing technical and modeling expertise.
Two NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Silver Achievement Medal. The medal is awarded to any government or non-government employee for a stellar achievement that supports one or more of NASA’s core values, when it is deemed to be extraordinarily important and appropriate to recognize such achievement in a timely and personalized manner.
Brittany Bouche of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Silver Achievement Medal for contributions in the NASA Stennis Center Operations Directorate. Bouche has held multiple key roles in the Facilities Services Division, including acting deputy, maintenance and operations lead, and project manager for several construction projects. She has successfully led various design and construction projects, completing them on time and within budget. These include a $9.1 million sewage system and treatment repair project, successfully completed with minimal service impact.
Andrew Bracey of Picayune, Mississippi, received the NASA Silver Achievement Medal for contributions as a NASA electrical design engineer at NASA Stennis. He has provided critical design support for work related to Green Run testing of the new SLS (Space Launch System) exploration upper stage. Bracey also has been crucial to the NASA Stennis vision of supporting commercial aerospace testing, leading preliminary design reviews for multiple projects onsite.
Read More on Stennis Space Center Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 14, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
Stennis Space Center Explore More
6 min read A Defining Era: NASA Stennis and Space Shuttle Main Engine Testing
Article 3 months ago 4 min read NASA Stennis Releases First Open-Source Software
Article 3 months ago 5 min read NASA Stennis Software is Built for Future Growth
Article 3 months ago View the full article
-
By NASA
While on tour at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Monday, June 23, 2025, University Student Design Challenge winners from The Ohio State University stop to hear engineer Nancy Hall, center, discuss different parts of a sealed vessel used in research and development activities focused on nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis
A student team from The Ohio State University secured first place in NASA Glenn Research Center’s 2025-2026 University Student Design Challenge for their innovative design aimed at managing fluids in space. The team will develop a working prototype as part of their senior capstone project during the upcoming academic year.
On June 23, the team visited NASA Glenn in Cleveland to present their winning designs to center leadership and tour the Zero Gravity Research Facility, where their design could undergo future testing. The challenge encourages college students to develop innovative approaches to NASA mission needs, featuring both aeronautics and space-themed projects.
University Student Design Challenge winners from The Ohio State University gather at the top of the Zero Gravity Drop Tower at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Monday, June 23, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis NASA Glenn engineers Nancy Hall and John McQuillan served as student mentors and technical advisors for the USDC SPACE I design challenge.
To learn more, explore NASA’s STEM opportunities.
Return to Newsletter View the full article
-
By NASA
Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 19 min read
A Tapestry of Tales: 10th Anniversary Reflections from NASA’s OCO-2 Mission
When woven together, the tapestry of experiences of staff and scientists provide the complete picture of OCO-2.
Breathe in… Breathe out.
This simple rhythm sets the foundation of life on Earth – and it’s a pattern that a NASA satellite has been watching from space for over a decade.
On July 2, 2024, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) celebrated 10 years since its launch. Built by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL), OCO-2 is now viewed as the gold standard for carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements from space and has quietly become a powerful driver of technological, ecological and even economic progress – including providing unexpected insights into plant health, crop-yield forecasting, drought early warning systems, and forest and rangeland management.
While the mission can point to many scientific achievements – some of which will be highlighted in the pages that follow – these accomplishments have occurred in the context of a larger human story. Scientists from around the world have come together to bring the important data from this satellite to the broader community, making OCO-2 the success that it is today.
This article provides readers an introduction to several transformative characters in this carbon story. The text peers behind the scenes to reveal the circuitous path that scientists and engineers must navigate to take a brilliant scientific concept and turn it into flight hardware that can be launched into space to make beneficial observations. The article depicts milestones that mark the mission’s successes, but also the failures, dead ends, long nights, and discouragements that make up the complexity of any science story.
2003: The First OCO Science Team Meeting
Measuring CO2 from space: Great idea but can it really be done?
When the idea for OCO was first proposed, it wasn’t universally embraced. At the time, more than a few experts scoffed at the idea that CO2 could be measured from space. Unlike nitrogen and oxygen, which are the dominant components of Earth’s atmosphere, CO2 is a trace gas, often no more than a few hundred parts per million. Miniscule, elusive, and nomadic, these measurements, though challenging, are crucial because of the important role CO2 plays in global climate.
In April 2003, a handful of hopeful scientists gathered at the California Institute for Technology (Caltech) for the first OCO Science Team meeting. To mark the occasion, they took a break during the meetings and lined up for a group photo – see Photo 1. Upon returning to work, they took up the arduous task of determining how to measure CO2 from space with a satellite and instrument hardware that simply did not exist.
OCO-2 was developed as part of NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder program, which supports small, low-cost missions that can still provide tremendous value for high-impact goals. The satellite carries a high-resolution spectrometer that collects data in three, narrow spectral bands. These spectral bands follow a divide and conquer strategy – two measure the clear “fingerprint” that CO2 leaves when it absorbs sunlight, and one takes the same measurement for oxygen (O2). The satellite is able to estimate CO2 concentrations by comparing the CO2 and O2 measurements.
Photo 1. A photo of participants during the original OCO Science Team meeting in 2003 at the California Institute of Technology. Photo credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory OCO-2 2014: A Night at Vandenberg Air Force Base – To Launch or Not to Launch
A Mother and daughter await the midnight launch.
On a warm July evening in 2014, Vivienne Payne [JPL—current OCO-2 Project Scientist] would normally have tucked her four-year-old daughter into bed. But this night was special. They were lined up in a crowd waiting for a bus to take them to Vandenberg Air Force Base (now Space Force Base) in California. The group huddled in the chill night air awaiting the launch of the OCO satellite into the cosmos.
Shortly after midnight, hundreds of guests spread blankets across the gravelly ground to make their wait more comfortable. The air was charged with excitement. The participants waited quietly, murmuring to one another while the soft slosh of the Pacific Ocean offered a steady pendulum counting down to the impending launch. Like most people there that night, Vivienne felt upbeat and excited, but she also understood the gravity of the moment – a lot was riding on this launch.
While Vivienne had not been part of OCO since inception – having joined the project in 2012 – she knew OCO’s story. The first launch in 2009 ended in failure – when a faulty launch vehicle doomed the first OCO to a watery grave just moments after launch. In the aftermath, the OCO community were left in limbo, unsure if the project would survive. All was not lost. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) had successfully launched the Greenhouse-gas Observing satellite (GOSAT or IBUKI, Japanese for “breath”) that same year. This launch gave the OCO team an opportunity to test and refine their methods and algorithms using data from GOSAT.
As the gravel poked through the thick flannel blankets, Vivienne shifted uncomfortably waiting for the interminable countdown to reach its conclusion – and then everything stopped. A technical issue was detected, triggering a command to abort the launch.
Vivienne tried to explain to her disappointed daughter that this was simply how things went with space work. Sometimes you put in 1000 work-years of labor, get up in the middle of the night, and sit on uneven ground just to have everything stopped, unceremoniously.
Fortunately, the problem was quickly resolved, and the launch was rescheduled for the very next night. The participants returned to the staging site – rinse and repeat. This time Vivienne’s daughter was decidedly more sluggish. At 3:00 AM PDT, OCO-2 launched flawlessly into space. Unfortunately, a layer of fog obscured the spectators’ view. While it could not be seen, the resounding boom of the rocket taking off could be heard for miles.
For Vivienne, the sonic boom shocked the ears and rumbled through the bodies of the assembled crowd, who erupted in cheers. Having invested a lot of her time in the OCO project during the past two years, she was thrilled to see a successful launch.
As they returned to their hotel, Vivienne’s daughter remained unimpressed. “Mummy, let’s not do that again,” she said as she splayed out on the hotel bed and soon fell fast asleep.
2014: OCO-2 Joins A Larger Earth Observing Story
Leading to surprising new insights about how we see plants – and fires.
When OCO-2 launched in 2014, it joined a tightly coordinated group of Earth-observing satellites known as the Afternoon Constellation (or the “A-Train”) – see Figure 1. Flying in formation, the satellites could combine their observations to unlock more than any one mission could reveal on its own. Around the same time, scientists discovered that OCO-2 could do more than measure CO2 – it could also detect signs of plant health.
Figure 1. As of January 2024, the international Afternoon Constellation (“A-Train”) has two missions remaining: OCO-2 and GCOM-W. While Aqua and Aura continue to collect science data, the satellites have both slowly drifted out of the constellation – and will soon be decommissioned. CALIPSO ended its scientific mission on August 1, 2023. CloudSat radar operations ceased on December 20, 2023. Figure credit: NASA This discovery opened the possibilities for many different people, including Madeleine Festin, a former wildland firefighter in Montana, to work with OCO-2 data through an internship sponsored by the DEVELOP program, under the Earth Action element (formerly known as Applied Sciences) of NASA’s Earth Science Division.
When she was on the ground battling fires, Madeleine faced the harsh reality that fire prediction is notoriously difficult. In the field, she might be surrounded by smoke with just 20 ft (6 m) of visibility and red flames tearing through dry brush. Through her internship, she’s continued to tackle fires – just from a very different vantage point.
OCO-2 can detect the faint glow given off by plants during photosynthesis. This glow, called solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), offers a fast, sensitive indicator of plant health – see Figure 2. While other satellite-based tools, such as soil moisture or vegetation indices often detect stress only after damage has already occurred, SIF values drop the moment photosynthesis slows down – even if the plant still looks green. These data open the door to new applications: monitoring crop performance, identifying flood-damaged areas, and tracking drought before it sparks wildfires. That’s exactly how Madeleine is now using the data.
Madeleine’s team, a collaboration between OCO-2 scientists and the U.S. Forest Service, is working to update fire-risk models – some of which were developed in the 1980s – by incorporating SIF data.
“It’s fulfilling to know that you’re helping people,” Madeleine says. “And it’s nice to see science and firefighting work align.”
What makes the data even more powerful is OCO-2’s synergy with its A-Train counterpart, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’S Aqua platform. MODIS contributes land-cover information that, when paired with OCO-2’s SIF measurements, creates a detailed, global dataset of plant photosynthesis far beyond what either satellite could produce on its own. This example is a perfect synergistic pairing of measurements the A-Train has made possible. This information gives Madeleine and her team a better foundation for improving fire prediction tools.
“When firefighting, I used to hear about all these fire indices and metrics, and never knew what they meant,” Madeleine says. “Now, I’m learning the science behind it. And it’s interesting to think about how to get that information to firefighters on the ground, without overburdening them. What do they really need to know, and how can we deliver it in a way that helps?”
Figure 2. OCO-2 can measure plant health and photosynthesis from space. Puente Hills in eastern Los Angeles County, CA was once one of the largest landfills in the United States. The landfill has since been closed and its surface replanted to resemble a natural hill rising above the surrounding densely populated neighborhoods. These two images show how solar induced fluorescence (SIF), or “plant glow,” measured from OCO-2 and OCO-3 can be used to study urban greenery. The satellite image of the landfill and surrounding area [left] is followed by the SIF data overlay [right]. It is possible to compare the photosynthetic activity in the reclaimed landfill to nearby green spaces, as well as the plant health in the surrounding neighborhoods. Figure credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory OCO-2, OCO-3 2016: Trekking to the Desert to Calibrate OCO-2
A technologist tramps around in the desert for instrument calibration.
Carol Bruegge [OCO-2—Technologist] had been to the Nevada desert so many times that she knew the way by heart. After skirting the Sequoia Forest and stopping for the night just past the Nevada border, she led a caravan of scientists along Highway 6 to mile marker 100, turning right onto a dirt road between two fence posts. Traveling 10 mi (16.5 km) down the road, a cloud of dust raised up from the car tires before the vehicle came to a stop at their destination – a patch of spindly instruments hammered into the barren desert floor. A big plaque marked the spot with the NASA logo and the words, “Satellite Test Site.” Standing under vast blue sky, Carol felt like she’d come home. Over the past few years, Carol had grown accustomed to leading these summer expeditions to Railroad Valley, NV. Often the team from JPL is joined by guests from Japan and other international colleagues representing various satellite missions – see Photo 2.
Photo 2. Group photo at Railroad Valley, NV during a summer field campaign. Carol Bruegge [OCO-2—Technologist, fifth from left] joins JPL members and guests from Japan working on the Greenhouse-gas Observing satellite. The group included [left to right] Hirokazu Yamamoto, Atsushi Yasuda, Hideaki Nakajima, Kei Shiomi, Thomas Pongetti, Bruegge, Dejian Fu, Junko Fukuchi, Makoto Saito, and Rio Kajiura. Photo credit: Tom Pongetti Carol knew that a successful field campaign required that they protect the instruments from the thick corrosive salt on the ground. Then the work could begin. The team hiked through the desert, collecting data that would ensure that OCO-2 could continue to provide high-quality data. As they hiked, the team carried hand-held spectrometers and measured the reflection of sunlight off Earth’s surface – timed precisely to match the moment the satellite passes overhead. By comparing the satellite’s readings with the ground-based measurements, the team can check the accuracy of the satellite readings. Reflection is one ingredient used in calculating the concentration of CO2 in the overlying air.
This remote location in Nevada wasn’t chosen by accident. In this part of the desert, the ground is perfectly flat, free of plants, and surrounded by ground littered with salt. This smooth, bare surface means no bumps and textures could disrupt the signal. For satellite calibration, it doesn’t get better than this.
2018: A Contentious Meeting in Noordwijk, Netherlands Sparks A Revolution
Could OCO-2 data be used to construct a nation-by-nation CO2 budget?
David Crisp [JPL emeritus—original OCO Principal Investigator and former OCO Science Team Leader] was tired. He didn’t know if it was jet lag or a reflection of the 16- to 18-hour workdays that had persisted for weeks. This particular week had started with a 10-hour flight from Los Angeles to the Netherlands. Now, he was standing in front of carbon scientists who had gathered from around the world.
“We need to put together a team that will be brave enough to make a CO2 budget, nation-by-nation,” David said.
His statement was met with thoughtful silence. Neither the data nor the models were ready. The consensus in the room was that the proposed venture may not work. David was magnanimous toward his critics, but he persisted with his idea.
Despite the rocky start, David met with representatives in charge of creating national emission inventories. He could see exasperation on their faces – running ragged, short-staffed, and trying to tally up every single barrel of oil and bushel of coal burned within their country’s boundaries. Even more challenging was tallying other tasks, such as deforestation and agricultural practices. David firmly believed that if OCO-2 could provide independent estimates from space as promised, it would provide the on-the-ground “carbon accountants” a reliable comparison – see Figure 3.
“We might have a satellite that can help,” Dave told them.
Although David has since retired, his perseverance is now bearing fruit. What began as a hypothetical solution is now much closer to reality. OCO-2’s high-precision measurements can now detect CO2 linked not just to countries, but large cities, industrial zones, and even individual power plants – all while researchers continue perfecting efforts to identify contributions from specific city sectors. OCO-2 provides a valuable, independent reference that nations can use to track the progress of their emission inventories. Researchers have created an entire OCO-2-sourced database of CO2 estimates by country, available through the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center.
Figure 3. A map of the net emissions and removals of carbon dioxide (CO2) for 2015–2020 using estimates informed by OCO-2. Green depressions represent countries that remove more CO2 than emitted. Tan or red ridges represent countries with higher CO2 emissions than removed. Figure credit: NASA Science Data Visualization Studio 2019: Another OCO Takes flight – This Time to The International Space Station
Using “spare parts” to get more details about plant health and the carbon cycle.
After completing OCO-2, enough spare parts remained to construct a sister mission — OCO-3, which launched in 2019 to continue the work of measuring CO2 in the atmosphere from the International Space Station (ISS). The satellite’s unique orbit gives it a new vantage point. While OCO-2 continues to orbit Earth in a near-polar path, OCO-3 travels aboard the ISS in a lower, shifting orbit that allows it to study different areas of Earth’s surface at different times of day. OCO-3 also features a special scanning mode, called the snapshot area mapping (SAM) that lets scientists zoom in on areas of interest (e.g., cities or volcanoes) to study carbon emissions and vegetation in greater detail. Together, OCO-2 and OCO-3 provide complementary perspectives on Earth’s carbon cycle and plant health at space and time resolutions that have not been possible from space before.
2021: LA During a Pandemic Is a Far Cry from Finland
A data scientist foregoes saunas and berry-picking to make the dream of OCO-2 a reality.
Otto Lamminpää [JPL—Data Scientist] opened the picture his sister had texted him. His family looked back with wide smiles, holding buckets overflowing with scarlet berries and framed by the velvety firs of Finland. It had been almost two years since he’d seen them in person. He’d moved to Los Angeles to work at JPL on the OCO-2 and OCO-3 mission just as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the planet – see Photo 3.
Photo 3. Otto Lamminpää and Amy Braveman [both from JPL] in Finland. Photo credit: Otto Lamminpää Otto had never gone a week without seeing his family or skipped a berry-hunting party in the forests of his native Finland. With the forced distance, he placed himself in his home forests in his mind. He used this memory to marvel at the capacity of the vast forests to “breathe in” CO2 and convert it into trunks, branches, and roots through photosynthesis. With the COVID-19-imposed travel restrictions, Otto wasn’t sure how long he’d have to wait to go back home.
But whenever that homecoming occurred, Otto knew that a piece of OCO-2 would be waiting for him. North of the Arctic Circle in Sodankylä, a cluster of Earth instruments nestled in a snowy meadow include a field station that is part of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) of Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS). These stations act as OCO-2 and OCO-3’s “ground crew.” As the satellites orbit Earth, the FTS simultaneously measures direct solar spectra in the near-infrared spectral region, which allows for retrieval of column-averaged CO2 concentrations, as well as other key atmospheric constituents, over the snowy meadow. Back in the lab, Otto, along with other OCO-2 and OCO-3 scientists, compare the data collected at the field station to the satellite data. This feature was detailed in The Earth Observer article, titled “Integrating Carbon from the Ground Up: TCCON Turns Ten,” was published July–August 2014, Volume 26 issue 4, pp. 13–17).
Figure 4. Global map of the ground stations, also known as the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). The red dots mark the active ground observation stations to validate OCO-2 and OCO-3 data. Figure credit: NASA-JPL/OCO-2 The station in Finland is one of about 30 similar TCCON sites scattered across the world, located in a variety of settings, from isolated tropical islands to the Pacific rim of Asia – see Figure 4. The stations in the far north play an especially valuable role since satellites often struggle to accurately measure CO2 over snow-covered ground. Therefore, reliable measurements from the ground stations become crucial to adjust and improve the satellite data.
Validation efforts such as the one described here are crucial to satellite observations. Comparisons between OCO-2 and TCCON show agreement is good, with a less than 1 ppm difference. It’s an impressive level of accuracy for a satellite orbiting more than 435 mi (700 km) away in polar orbit. The “ground truth” data collected at these field sites help to ensure that the satellite is accurately measuring “Earth’s breathing.”
For Otto, not just his family, but OCO-2 and OCO-3 itself was calling him home. As the pandemic began to ease, he returned to Finland to pick berries, jump in the sauna every night, and follow it up with snow angels. The homecoming was also coordinated with a trip past the Arctic Circle to the TCCON field station. The mission was part of him. Wherever he was, OCO-2 and OCO-3 would be there, too.
2023: The Annual Science Team Meeting Continues
Tracking changes in soil moisture during a colorful fall day.
Saswati Das [JPL—Postdoctoral Fellow] had missed the magnificent display of fall colors in deciduous forests of the East Coast of the United States. She’d seen nothing of the sort since moving to Los Angeles in 2022 to work on OCO-2. Before that, she’d been working on her Ph.D. at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where the surrounding mountain peaks, meadows, and forests burned and sparked with crimson and gold in the autumn – see Photo 4. Now she was in another mountain town, Boulder, CO, to attend the OCO science team meeting. The aspens glittered like golden lanterns as her gang carpooled up the Flatiron Range to the science institute at Table Mesa.
Photo 4. Saswati Das takes a break from her Ph.D studies at nearby Virginia Tech (located in Blacksburg, VA) to enjoy the famous fall colors in the mountains of West Virginia. Photo credit: Saswati Das The research presented that week spanned a variety of topics. OCO-2 was being used to develop early drought forecasts. Because of its ability to detect the SIF “glow” that results from plant photosynthesis, OCO-2 can hint at flash droughts as early as three months before environmental decay unfold. By pairing OCO-2 data from other satellites, such as soil moisture data from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, scientists have opened a new window into drought forecasts and how water supply affects plant growth.
Surprises about our planet have also emerged. The tropical rainforests, long nicknamed the “lungs” of our planet, don’t always inhale and store carbon. At times, this region can exhale CO2, such as during the 2015–2016 El Niño. That period saw large tropical forests temporarily transform into net carbon sources – see Figure 5. The driver for this shift varied by region. The Amazon rainforest was driven by drought. Central Africa was driven by unusually high temperatures. Indonesia was driven by widespread fires.
Figure 5. The 2015–2016 El Niño increased the net carbon dioxide released by Earth’s tropical regions into the atmosphere. Figure credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech Data from OCO-2 and OCO-3 have also been used to study emissions from both cities and large power plants. This approach offers a new way to track changing emissions over time – without needing to continuously measure them on the ground. In addition, scientists are combining the satellite data with wind models and urban maps to trace CO2 to its sources (e.g., factories, ships, and roadways), helping to disentangle emissions from overlapping city sectors. These methods have been used to isolate industrial emissions in places, such as Europe, China, as well as over cities, such as Los Angeles, Paris, and Seoul. It has also revealed pandemic-era drops in traffic-related CO2 and increases in CO2 tied to shipping backlogs at the port. Two representatives from the World Bank shared how they used data from OCO-2 to demonstrate that building subway systems in cities can lower emissions. The goal is to eventually use these tools to evaluate local strategies (e.g., bike lanes and public transit) to reduce local carbon footprints.
When massive wildfires blazed through Australian forests and bushland in 2019, researchers used OCO-2 data to study the unfolding crisis. OCO-2 captured the increase in atmospheric CO2, and scientists used this data to refine estimates of how these events contribute to the global carbon budget.
As her mind wandered from the rich research she’d been immersed in for the past hour, Saswati spied Otto Lamminpää across the aisle in the wood-paneled auditorium. She thought back to the forests she loved on the East Coast, and the forests in Finland where Otto had grown up. OCO-2 was telling a story about the role that forests play in absorbing carbon and how this has changed over time.
2025 and Beyond
The Tapestry Continues to Expand…
In many ways, OCO-2 has had a long and unexpected journey. So has Hannah Murphy, another DEVELOP intern who will be starting a Master’s degree at Hunter College in New York in Fall 2025. She’s studied art and worked as a set designer in Los Angeles. She never pictured herself working with satellite data, but then she saw how visual it could be. The glowing, evocative images of Earth from space spoke to her artistic heart.
Now, Hannah works on SIF data as a 2025 NASA DEVELOP intern with the OCO-2 team, developing tools for wildfire risks. This project in particular hits close to home for Hannah, because she lived through the wildfires that tore through Los Angeles in January 2025. Although she remained safe, she knew several people who lost their homes, and the air was unsafe to breathe for weeks.
Just a few short months later, Hannah began studying the data from OCO-2. She is now part of the new generation of researchers that will take the mission’s remote sensing data and pave the way for implementing the findings to benefit society. Hannah understands, on a personal level, how closely our lives are linked to Earth systems that satellites, such as OCO-2 and OCO-3, study from space.
OCO-2 (and OCO-3) are built to study CO2 and plant health, but its impact goes deeper to the connections that tie our atmosphere, ecosystems, and lives together. That work continues to the new generation of scientists – one breath at a time.
Mejs Hasan
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
mejs.hasan@jpl.nasa.gov
Alan Ward
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Global Science & Technology Inc.
alan.b.ward@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 Related Terms
Earth Science View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.