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NASA Seeks Student Solutions for Managing Moon Landing Dust Cloud


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As NASA and industry partners develop new human landing systems to transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon’s surface and back as part of Artemis, the agency is asking university students to investigate solutions to one particularly dusty aspect of landing spacecraft on the lunar surface.

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      NASA’s coverage of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse has earned two nominations for the 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
      The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the nominations on May 1, recognizing NASA’s outstanding work in sharing this rare celestial event with audiences around the world. The winners are set to be unveiled at a ceremony in late June.
      “Total solar eclipses demonstrate the special connection between our Earth, Moon, and Sun by impacting our senses during the breathtaking moments of total alignment that only occur at this time on Earth,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s Eclipse coverage team perfectly encapsulated the awe-inspiring experience from start to finish for viewers around the world in this once-in-a-lifetime moment in American history. Congratulations to the entire NASA Eclipse coverage team for their two much-deserved Emmy award nominations!”
      The two nominations include:
      Outstanding Live News Special for the agency’s live broadcast coverage of the 2024 total solar eclipse. NASA’s live broadcast coverage of the 2024 total solar eclipse was the most ambitious live project ever attempted by the agency. The broadcast spanned three hours as the eclipse traveled 3,000 miles across seven states and two countries. From cities, parks, and stadiums, 11 hosts and correspondents provided on air commentary, interviews, and live coverage. Viewers tuned in from all over the world, including at watch parties in 9 locations, from the Austin Public Library to New York’s Times Square. An interactive “Eclipse Board” provided real time data analysis as the Moon’s shadow crossed North America. Live feeds from astronauts aboard the International Space Station and NASA’s WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft were brought in to provide rare and unique perspectives of the solar event.
      In total, NASA received almost 40 million views across its own distribution. Externally, the main broadcast was picked up in 2,208 hits on 568 channels in 25 countries.
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      The first sonification features WR124, an extremely bright, massive star. Here, the star is shown in a short-lived phase preceding the possible creation of a black hole. NASA released three new pieces of cosmic sound Thursday that are associated with the densest and darkest members of our universe: black holes. These scientific productions are sonifications — or translations into sound — of data collected by NASA telescopes in space including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
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      WR 124 
      Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: (Herschel) ESA/NASA/Caltech, (Spitzer) NASA/JPL/Caltech, (WISE) NASA/JPL/Caltech; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) The first movement is a prelude to the potential birth of a black hole. WR124 is an extremely bright, short-lived massive star known as a Wolf-Rayet at a distance of about 28,000 light-years from Earth. These stars fling their outer layers out into space, creating spectacular arrangements seen in an image in infrared light from the Webb telescope. In the sonification of WR124, this nebula is heard as flutes and the background stars as bells. At the center of WR124, where the scan begins before moving outward, is a hot core of the star that may explode as a supernova and potentially collapse and leave behind a black hole in its wake. As the scan moves from the center outward, X-ray sources detected by Chandra are translated into harp sounds. Data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is heard as metallic bell-like sounds, while the light of the central star is mapped to produce the descending scream-like sound at the beginning. The piece is rounded out by strings playing additional data from the infrared telescopic trio of ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Herschel Space Telescope, NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, and NASA’s retired Wide Image Survey Explorer (WISE) as chords.
      SS 433
      Credit: X-ray: (IXPE): NASA/MSFC/IXPE; (Chandra): NASA/CXC/SAO; (XMM): ESA/XMM-Newton; IR: NASA/JPL/Caltech/WISE; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/VLA/B. Saxton. (IR/Radio image created with data from M. Goss, et al.); Image Processing/compositing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk & K. Arcand; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) In the second movement of this black hole composition, listeners can explore a duet. SS 433 is a binary, or double, system about 18,000 light-years away that sings out in X-rays. The two members of SS 433 include a star like our Sun in orbit around a much heavier partner, either a neutron star or a black hole. This orbital dance causes undulations in X-rays that Chandra, IXPE, and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescopes are tuned into. These X-ray notes have been combined with radio and infrared data to provide a backdrop for this celestial waltz. The nebula in radio waves resembles a drifting manatee, and the scan sweeps across from right to left. Light towards the top of the image is mapped to higher-pitch sound, with radio, infrared, and X-ray light mapped to low, medium, and high pitch ranges. Bright background stars are played as water-drop sounds, and the location of the binary system is heard as a plucked sound, pulsing to match the fluctuations due to the orbital dance.
      Centarus A
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      For more NASA sonifications and information about the project, visit https://chandra.si.edu/sound/
      These sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), with support from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA’s Universe of Learning program, which is part of the NASA Science Activation program. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Matt Russo, and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project), along with consultant Christine Malec.
      NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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      Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
      https://www.nasa.gov/chandra
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      Visual Description
      This release features three sonifications related to black holes, presented as soundtracks to short videos. Each sonification video features a composite image representing a different aspect of the life of a black hole. These images are visualizations of data collected by NASA telescopes. During each video, a line sweeps through the image. When the line encounters a visual element, it is translated into sound according to parameters established by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand, astrophysicist Matt Russo, musician Andrew Santaguida, and consultant Christine Malec.
      The first sonification features WR124, an extremely bright, massive star. Here, the star is shown in a short-lived phase preceding the possible creation of a black hole. At the center of the composite image is the large gleaming star in white and pale blue. The star sits at the heart of a mottled pink and gold cloud, its long diffraction spikes extending to the outer edges. Also residing in the cloud are other large gleaming stars, glowing hot-pink dots, and tiny specks of blue and white light. In this sonification, the sound activation line is an ever-expanding circle which starts in the center of the massive star and continues to grow until it exits the frame.
      The second sonification features SS 433, a binary star system at the center of a supernova remnant known as the Manatee Nebula. Visually, the translucent, blobby teal nebula does, indeed, resemble a bulbous walrus or manatee, floating in a red haze packed with distant specs of light. Inside the nebula is a violet streak, a blue streak, and a large bright dot. The dot, represented by a plucking sound in the sonification, is the binary system at the heart of the nebula. In this sonification, the vertical activation line begins at our right edge of the frame, and sweeps across the image before exiting at our left.
      The third and final sonification features Centaurus A, a distant galaxy with an enormous black hole emitting a long jet of high-energy particles. The black hole sits at the center of the composite image, represented by a brilliant white light. A dark, grainy, oblong cloud cuts diagonally across the black hole from our lower left toward our upper right. A large, faint, translucent blue cloud stretches from our upper left to our lower right. And the long, thin jet, also in translucent blue, extends from the black hole at the center toward the upper lefthand corner. In this sonification, the activation line rotates around the image like the hand of a clock. It begins at the twelve o’clock position, and sweeps clockwise around the image.
      News Media Contact
      Megan Watzke
      Chandra X-ray Center
      Cambridge, Mass.
      617-496-7998
      mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
      Lane Figueroa
      Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
      256-544-0034
      lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
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      Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      Editor’s Note: The following is one of three related articles about the NASA Data Acquisition System and related efforts. Please visit Stennis News – NASA to access accompanying articles.
      The NASA Data Acquisition System, developed at NASA Stennis, is used in multiple test areas at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, including Test Facility 116. The facility consists of an open-steel test stand structure, primarily used for subscale testing, and three adjacent test bays designed for large-scale/full-scale testing. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center Teams at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia conduct a test in the 8-Foot High-Temperature Tunnel. The NASA Data Acquisition System, developed at NASA Stennis, represents a potential solution for engineers seeking to standardize data systems at NASA Langley. NASA/Langley Research Center Teams at Test Stand 403, located at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, plan to use the NASA Data Acquisition System to support testing and development projects related to NASA’s Orion spacecraft.NASA/White Sands Test Facility A data-focused software tool created at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, continues to expand its capabilities and use across the agency.
      Much like the software on a cell phone, the NASA Data Acquisition System (NDAS) software evolves with updates to meet user needs.
      “It is not just because we are seeking new opportunities that we evolve,” said Kris Mobbs, NASA project manager for NDAS. “It is because the community of people using this software tell us about all the new, cool things happening and how they want to use the tool.”
      Created as a standard method for collecting rocket propulsion test data, NDAS is proving to be a building block to acquire, display, and process various datasets. The flexibility of the software has supplied solutions for NASA’s work in New Mexico and Alabama and is being evaluated for data acquisition needs in Virginia.
      When NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, needed a new data acquisition system with a flexible design, the facility reached out to NASA Stennis since the center had demonstrated success with a similar challenge.
      “A major benefit for the agency is having a software platform that is agency owned and developed,” said Josh Simmons, White Sands technical upgrades lead. “Stennis is leading the way and the way the system is written and documented, other programmers can jump in, and the way they have it designed, it can continue on and that is key.”
      The NASA Stennis team updated its NDAS platform based on input from White Sands personnel to make it more adaptable and to increase data acquisition rates.
      “They look to understand the requirements and to develop an application that is flexible to meet everybody’s requirements,” Simmons said. “They are always willing to improve it, to make it more applicable to a wider audience.”
      NDAS will be the primary data acquisition and control systems to support testing and development projects related to NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
      “I would like to standardize around it here at White Sands,” said Simmons. “I want to show the worth and versatility of NDAS, so people who need it make a choice to use it.”
      Meanwhile at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, NDAS is used in multiple areas for small-scale, subscale, and full-scale testing.
      Devin Rios Ogle is a contractor software engineer at NASA Marshall, responsible for integrating and upgrading the data acquisition system in the testing areas. The system is used to record data on test sequences to verify they happen as intended.
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      Rios Ogle is familiar with the database behind the system and understands what the program is trying to do. He particularly noted the modular approach built into the system, which allows users to adapt the software as needed and is a feature others would find beneficial.
      Marcus Jackson, a contractor instrumentation and control engineer at NASA Marshall, echoed Ogle’s assessment of NDAS, noting that it has allowed the center to condense multiple systems into a single package that meets the team’s unique needs.
      “Ultimately, NDAS provides us with an excellent software package that is built specifically for the kind of work performed here and at other test stands across the United States,” said Jackson. “It is easy to install, manage, and scale up. It doesn’t break, but if you do find a bug or issue, the NDAS team is very quick to respond and help you find a solution.”
      NDAS also represents a potential solution for engineers seeking to standardize data systems at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, a use that could positively impact a mission’s ability to make data-informed decisions.
      “We are investigating alternatives for standardization at all Langley facilities,” said Scott Simmons, NASA Langley data systems engineer. “Standardization has the potential for significant maintenance cost savings and efficiencies because of the sharing of the software. Having an instance of NDAS available for the dynamic data system at the 8-Foot High Temperature tunnel enables us to evaluate it as a potential solution for standardization at Langley.”
      As the nation’s largest hypersonic blow-down test facility, the tunnel duplicates, as near as possible, flight conditions that would be encountered by hypersonic vehicles at up to Mach 6.5, or more than six times the speed of sound.
      Even as its use grows, the NASA Stennis-led software project continues to gain momentum as it expands its capabilities and collaboration with users.
      “The goal is to provide a software portfolio that supports a wide range of exciting NASA projects, involving lots of talented people that collaborate and innovate new software solutions far into the future,” Mobbs said. “This is a community of innovative, ambitious, and supportive engineers and scientists across all engineering disciplines that are dedicated to advancing NASA’s bold missions.”
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      Last Updated May 08, 2025 Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      Explore This Section Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Deployment Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 5 Min Read New Visualization From NASA’s Webb Telescope Explores Cosmic Cliffs
      The landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” known as the Cosmic Cliffs is actually a portion of the nebula Gum 31, which contains a young star cluster called NGC 3324. Both Gum 31 and NGC 3324 are part of a vast star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula Complex. Credits:
      NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made its public debut with a series of breathtaking images. Among them was an ethereal landscape nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs. This glittering realm of star birth is the subject of a new 3D visualization derived from the Webb data. The visualization, created by NASA’s Universe of Learning and titled “Exploring the Cosmic Cliffs in 3D,” breathes new life into an iconic Webb image.
      It is being presented today at a special event hosted by the International Planetarium Society to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first public planetarium in Munich, Germany.
      The landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” known as the Cosmic Cliffs is actually a portion of the nebula Gum 31, which contains a young star cluster called NGC 3324. Both Gum 31 and NGC 3324 are part of a vast star-forming region known as the Carina Nebula Complex.
      Ultraviolet light and stellar winds from the stars of NGC 3324 have carved a cavernous area within Gum 31. A portion of this giant bubble is seen above the Cosmic Cliffs. (The star cluster itself is outside this field of view.)
      The Cliffs display a misty appearance, with “steam” that seems to rise from the celestial mountains. In actuality, the wisps are hot, ionized gas and dust streaming away from the nebula under an onslaught of relentless ultraviolet radiation.
      Eagle-eyed viewers may also spot particularly bright, yellow streaks and arcs that represent outflows from young, still-forming stars embedded within the Cosmic Cliffs. The latter part of the visualization sequence swoops past a prominent protostellar jet in the upper right of the image.
      Video: Exploring the Cosmic Cliffs in 3D
      In July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope made history, revealing a breathtaking view of a region now nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs. This glittering landscape, captured in incredible detail, is part of the nebula Gum 31 — a small piece of the vast Carina Nebula Complex — where stars are born amid clouds of gas and dust.
      This visualization brings Webb’s iconic image to life — helping us imagine the true, three-dimensional structure of the universe… and our place within it.
      Produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) with partners at Caltech/IPAC, and developed by the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning, this visualization is part of a longer, narrated video that provides broad audiences, including youth, families, and lifelong learners, with a direct connection to the science and scientists of NASA’s Astrophysics missions. That video enables viewers to explore fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done, and discover the universe for themselves.
      “Bringing this amazing Webb image to life helps the public to comprehend the three-dimensional structure inherent in the 2D image, and to develop a better mental model of the universe,” said STScI’s Frank Summers, principal visualization scientist and leader of the AstroViz Project.
      More visualizations and connections between the science of nebulas and learners can be explored through other products produced by NASA’s Universe of Learning including a Carina Nebula Complex resource page and ViewSpace, a video exhibit that is currently running at almost 200 museums and planetariums across the United States. Visitors can go beyond video to explore the images produced by space telescopes with interactive tools now available for museums and planetariums.
      NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
      The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
      NASA’s Universe of Learning is part of the NASA Science Activation program, from the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. The Science Activation program connects NASA science experts, real content and experiences, and community leaders in a way that activates minds and promotes deeper understanding of our world and beyond. Using its direct connection to the science and the experts behind the science, NASA’s Universe of Learning provides resources and experiences that enable youth, families, and lifelong learners to explore fundamental questions in science, experience how science is done, and discover the universe for themselves.
      To learn more about Webb, visit:
      https://science.nasa.gov/webb
      Downloads
      View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
      Media Contacts
      Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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      Last Updated May 07, 2025 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      Explore This Section RPS Home About About RPS About the Program About Plutonium-238 Safety and Reliability For Mission Planners Contact Power & Heat Overview Power Systems Thermal Systems Dynamic Radioisotope Power Missions Overview Timeline News Resources STEM FAQ 3 min read
      NASA Selects Winners of the 2024-2025 Power to Explore Challenge
      Ten-year-old, Terry Xu of Arcadia, California; 14-year-old, Maggie Hou of Snohomish, Washington; and 17-year-old, Kairat Otorov of Trumbull, Connecticut, winners of the 2024-2025 Power to Explore Student Writing Challenge. NASA/David Lam, Binbin Zheng, The Herald/Olivia Vanni, Meerim Otorova NASA has chosen three winners out of nine finalists in the fourth annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the enabling power of radioisotopes for space exploration.
      “Congratulations to the amazing champions and all of the participants!
      Carl Sandifer II
      Program Manager, NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program
      The essay competition asked students to learn about NASA’s radioisotope power systems (RPS), likened to “nuclear batteries,” which the agency has used discover “moonquakes” on Earth’s Moon and study some of the most extreme of the more than 891 moons in the solar system. In 275 words or less, students dreamed up a unique exploration mission of one of these moons and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.
      “I’m so impressed by the creativity and knowledge of our Power to Explore winners,” said Carl Sandifer II, program manager of the Radioisotope Power Systems Program at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
      Entries were split into three groups based on grade level, and a winner was chosen from each. The three winners, each accompanied by a guardian, are invited to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for a VIP tour of its world-class research facilities this summer.
      The winners are:
      Terry Xu, Arcadia, California, kindergarten through fourth grade Maggie Hou, Snohomish, Washington, fifth through eighth grade Kairat Otorov, Trumbull, Connecticut, ninth through 12th grade “Congratulations to the amazing champions and all of the participants! Your “super powers” inspire me and make me even more optimistic about the future of America’s leadership in space,” Sandifer said.
      The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn about space power, celebrate their own strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received nearly 2,051 submitted entries from all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity overseas.
      Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event held on March 21. There, NASA announced the 45 national semifinalists, and students learned about what powers the NASA workforce.
      Additionally, the national semifinalists received a NASA RPS prize pack.
      NASA announced three finalists in each age group (nine total) on April 23. Finalists were invited to discuss their mission concepts with a NASA scientist or engineer during an exclusive virtual event.
      The challenge is funded by the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and administered by Future Engineers under a Small Business Innovation Research phase III contract. This task is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
      For more information on radioisotope power systems visit: https://nasa.gov/rps
      Karen Fox / Erin Morton
      Headquarters, Washington
      301-286-6284 / 202-805-9393
      karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / erin.morton@nasa.gov
      Kristin Jansen
      Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
      216-296-2203
      kristin.m.jansen@nasa.gov
      View the full article
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