NASA Partner Zooniverse Receives White House Open Science Award

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NASA Partner Zooniverse Receives White House Open Science Award

Congrats to NASA partner Zooniverse for being named winners in the White House’s Year of Open Science Recognition Challenge!

The White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) designated 2023 as the year of Open Science, and invited innovators to submit stories of how they’ve advanced equitable open science. OSTP and its federal partners selected five challenge project submissions as “Champions of Open Science” including Zooniverse.

Since 2007, Zooniverse has become the largest online open data platform for people-powered research, engaging more than 2.7 million people. NASA Citizen Science projects hosted on the Zooniverse platform include Cloudspotting on Mars, Dark Energy Explorers, Floating Forests, Are We Alone In the Universe?, Disk Detective, Solar Active Region Spotter, Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors, Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, Active Asteroids, Daily Minor Planet, Solar Jet Hunter, Jovian Vortex Hunter, Redshift Wrangler, Burst Chaser and Planet Hunters TESS.

“With Zooniverse we have classified more galaxies than we ever thought possible!” said Lindsay House, scientist on the Dark Energy Explorers project.  “Zooniverse participants have been vital in helping us map the universe.” 

Find out more, and join the fun at Zooniverse.org!

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NASA Technology Grants to Advance Moon to Mars Space Exploration

NASA has awarded nearly $1.5 million to academic, non-profit, and business organizations to advance state-of-the-art technology that will play a key role in the agency’s return to the Moon under Artemis, as well as future missions to Mars.

Twenty-four projects from 21 organizations have been awarded under NASA’s Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notices, or CANs. The awardees also will receive assistance from propulsion, space transportation, and science experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

“The Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notice enables NASA to collaboratively work with U.S. industry and academia to develop needed technologies,” said Daniel O’Neil, manager, NASA Marshall’s Technology Development Dual-Use CAN Program. “Products from these cooperative agreements support the closure of identified technology gaps and enable the development of components and systems for NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture.”

These innovative projects include ways to use lunar regolith for construction on the Moon’s surface, using smartphone video guidance sensors to fly robots on the International Space Station, identifying new battery materials, and improving a neutrino particle detector.

The following is a complete list of awardees:

• Auburn University in Alabama
• Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida
• Florida International University in Miami
• Fronius USA in Portage, Indiana
• Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories in Tullahoma, Tennessee
• Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge
• Morgan State University in Baltimore
• Nanoracks (Voyager Space) in Houston
• Northwestern University in Chicago
• Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana
• Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio
• Tethon 3D in Omaha, Nebraska
• University of Alabama in Huntsville
• University of California in Irvine
• University of Florida in Gainesville
• University of Illinois in Chicago
• University of North Texas in Denton
• University of Tennessee in Knoxville
• University of Tennessee Space Institute
• Victory Solutions in Huntsville, Alabama
• Wichita State University in Kansas

The Florida Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and the University of Alabama were awarded funding for two projects each.

Funding was available for organizations focused on supporting entrepreneurial research and innovation ideas that could advance the commercial space sector and benefit future NASA missions.

Applications are now open for the 2024 solicitation cycle.

To learn more about NASA’s missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/

-end-

Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
James.j.russell@nasa.gov

Ramon Osorio 
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 
256-544-0034  
ramon.j.osorio@nasa.gov

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Lauren E. Low

NASA Doubles Down, Advances Six Innovative Tech Concepts to New Phase

NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) has selected six visionary concept studies for additional funding and development. Each study has already completed the initial NIAC phase, showing their futuristic ideas – like a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes – may provide fresh perspectives and approaches as NASA explores the unknown in space.

The NIAC Phase II conceptual studies will receive up to $600,000 to continue working over the next two years to address key remaining technical and budget hurdles and pave their development path forward. When Phase II is complete, these studies could advance to the final NIAC phase, earning additional funding and development consideration toward becoming a future aerospace mission.

“These diverse, science fiction-like concepts represent a fantastic class of Phase II studies,” said John Nelson, NIAC program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Our NIAC fellows never cease to amaze and inspire, and this class definitely gives NASA a lot to think about in terms of what’s possible in the future.”  The six concepts chosen for 2024 NIAC Phase II awards are:

Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE): Enabling the Next Generation of Large Space Observatories would create a large optical observatory in space using fluidic shaping of ionic liquids. These in-space observatories could potentially help investigate NASA’s highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first-generation stars, and young galaxies. The FLUTE study is led by Edward Balaban from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.

Pulsed Plasma Rocket: Shielded, Fast Transits for Humans to Mars is an innovative propulsion system that relies on using fission-generated packets of plasma for thrust. This innovative system could significantly reduce travel times between Earth and any destination in the solar system.  This study is led by Brianna Clements with Howe Industries in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths (GO-LoW) could change the way NASA conducts astronomy. This mega constellation low-frequency radio telescope uses thousands of autonomous SmallSats capable of measuring the magnetic fields emitted from exoplanets and the cosmic dark ages. GO-LoW is led by Mary Knapp with MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Radioisotope Thermoradiative Cell Power Generator is investigating new in-space power sources, potentially operating at higher efficiencies than NASA legacy power generators. This technology could enable small exploration and science spacecraft in the future that are unable to carry bulky solar or nuclear power systems. This power generation concept study is from Stephen Polly at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

FLOAT: Flexible Levitation on a Track would be a lunar railway system, providing reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon. This rail system could support daily operations of a sustainable lunar base as soon as the 2030s. Ethan Schaler leads FLOAT at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

ScienceCraft for Outer Planet Exploration distributes Quantum Dot-based sensors throughout the surface of a solar sail, enabling it to become an innovative imager. Quantum physics would allow NASA to take scientific measurements through studying how the dots absorb light. By leveraging the solar sail’s area, it allows lighter, more cost-effective spacecraft to carry imagers across the solar system. ScienceCraft is led by NASA’s Mahmooda Sultana at the agency’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate funds the NIAC program, as it is responsible for developing the agency’s new cross-cutting technologies and capabilities to achieve its current and future missions.

To learn more about NIAC and the 2024 Phase II studies, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/stmd-the-nasa-innovative-advanced-concepts-niac/

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Loura Hall

NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

NASA has selected 40 undergraduate students for the first year of its Europa ICONS (Inspiring Clipper: Opportunities for Next-generation Scientists) internship program, supporting the agency’s Europa Clipper mission. Europa ICONS matches students with mentors from the mission’s science team for a 10-week program to conduct original scientific research on topics related to the mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. 

The program is planned to run every year until Europa Clipper completes its prime mission in 2034 and is open to applications from all U.S. undergraduate STEM majors, with preference given to students from non-high research activity universities and underserved institutions.

ICONS internships may be in-person at the mentor’s institution, virtual, or hybrid, depending on the research project and needs of the mentor and intern. As part of the program, students and mentors will convene for a two-day meeting at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. The first Europa ICONS internship will run Monday, June 3 through Friday, Aug. 9.

The students selected for the Europa ICONS program in 2024 are:

Sarah Ruetschle, John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio

Cole Anderson, University of California, Santa Cruz

Hamza Ouriour, Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston

Ethan Piacenti, Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois

Jared Bouck, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona

Kayla Blair, Northern Arizona University

Carly Davis, McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana

Matthew Perkins, Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Colorado

Angela Zhang, Cornell University in Ithaca, New York

Arianna Rodriguez Ortiz, University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez

Beverly Malugin Ayala, University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez

Jeansel Johnson-Ayala, University of Puerto Rico–Rio Piedras 

Akemi Takeuchi, University of Maryland, College Park

Sofia Merchant-Dest, University of Maryland–University College in Adelphi

Gradon Robbins, University of Florida in Gainesville

Jason Sioeng, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Tyler Yuen, San Jose State University in San Jose, California

Dallin Nelson, Southern Utah University in Cedar City

Eric Stinemetz, University of Houston–Downtown

Lucas Nerbonne, Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont

Hope Jerris, Middlebury College

Jacob Dietrich, Indiana University, Southeast in New Albany

Jocelyn Mateo, Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio

Samuel Brown, San Diego Mesa College in San Diego

Madison Stanford, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles

Bryce McGimsey, Solano Community College in Fairfield, California

Noah Alayon, CUNY LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York

Trevor Erwin, University of Texas at Austin

Ava Frost, Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts

Brianna Casey, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York

Fatima Mendoza, Texas Tech University in Lubbock

Daniel Voyles, Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California

Swaroop Sathyanarayanan, Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta

Jay Patel, Louisiana State University College of Engineering in Baton Rouge

Juliane Keiper, Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts

Emory Long, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee

Scott Chang, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Hayden Ferrell, Arizona State University in Tempe

Isabella Musto, Denison University in Granville, Ohio

Elizabeth Kirby, College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina

The Europa Clipper mission’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its surface interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

The Europa ICONS program is managed by the Planetary Science Division within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington and is part of a larger effort known as Clipper Next Gen, a decade-long strategy using the Europa Clipper mission to train and diversify the next generation of planetary scientists.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

For more information on the Europa ICONS program, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/europa-clipper-icons-internships/

Karen Fox / Charles Blue
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1257 / 202-802-5345
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / charles.e.blue@nasa.gov

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NASA Mission Strengthens 40-Year Friendship 

As NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore launches aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station Monday, May 6 on its first crewed flight, one of his best friends will have played a key role in getting him there. 

Billy Stover, chief safety officer for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and Wilmore have been friends for more than 40 years. The pair’s friendship began in the 1980s at Tennessee Tech University on the football field. 

“We would do weight training and we would get paired up,” said Stover. “If he did 50 sit-ups, I had to do 55. Or we would see how many sit-ups we could get done in 30 seconds or vice versa – we were not kind to each other.” 

As a representative in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance’s technical authority, Stover oversees coordination and integration within NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, enacting quality processes and conducting risk analysis to ensure the safety of crews to and from low Earth orbit. 

Wilmore and NASA astronaut Suni Williams will fly Starliner, lifting off aboard United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, for about a one week stay aboard the space station, in support of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. 

Stover says he gets goosebumps thinking about the years of work and excitement that have gone into the upcoming crew flight test launch. 

“I will tell you that I’m a little bit calmer than I have been for probably the past two years,” Stover said. “The team has been amazing in working through each challenge and test anomalies to get us to the right place to execute the launch. What we do every single day makes history.” 

Both men briefly lost touch after college when their careers took them in different directions, as Wilmore became a Navy pilot and Stover pursued engineering. In 2002, Stover ran into Wilmore walking out of the Launch Control Center during a space shuttle launch campaign at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and reconnected. 

Since then, Stover and Wilmore find the opportunity to speak weekly or as often as they can – even if one of them happens to be off planet. In 2014, Wilmore made time to call Stover at Christmas while aboard the space station for Expedition 41. 

“On my answering machine was a message from Barry calling me from the space station to wish me and my family a ‘Merry Christmas.’” Stover said. “I saved that message for three years. How many people get a call from space?” 

When Wilmore received the 2018 Theodore Roosevelt award at the NCAA Awards Presentation, the association’s highest honor exemplifying the ideals of college sports, Stover attended. Former astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn, astronaut Sally Ride, and flight director Christopher C. Kraft Jr. also received the award. 

“He interjected me in his acceptance speech, which was really special,” Stover said. “We’re like brothers.” 

Their 40-year friendship expanded beyond football and space. Now with a son in the Navy, Stover says that Wilmore is more than a friend; he’s also a mentor. 

“We both have a wife and kids, similar backgrounds, and values on how we manage ourselves,” Stover said. “Barry’s turned into a great mentor for my oldest son, who’s an officer in the Navy.” Wilmore is a retired U.S. Navy captain. 

Both men have a love for theme parks and frequently plan trips to them. In fact, Stover’s own travel plans will take him away from Florida and he won’t see NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test launch. Instead, he’ll be on a transatlantic cruise that was booked more than a year ago. 

“It’s a weird feeling that I’m not going to be here physically,” Stover said. “Godspeed to him and Suni. I’m always here for them.” 

Stover and Wilmore no longer use that competitive spirit against each other but still work out from time to time. 

“In his position, he’s a lot more disciplined and in better condition than me, but now he’s nice about it,” Stover said.  

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station. This innovative approach is helping the agency maintain a human presence in low Earth orbit and enable exploration to the Moon in preparation for Mars for the benefit of humanity. 

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Elyna N. Niles-Carnes