NASA's Program Research Articles

An Approach for Exoplanet Detection using Machine Learning By IJISRT

Traditionally, astronomer and astrophysicist teams were the only ones capable of identifying planets. They used techniques and equipment that are only available to persons with years of formal education and training. NASA's program for exploring exoplanets has provided cutting-edge satellites that can gather a wide range of information on celestial objects to help with studies on these items. The capacity to write and understand machine-learning models has made planet detection more accessible to those using satellite data. This study used a number of classification methods and datasets to determine the likelihood that an observation is an exoplanet. The best machine learning model for classifying items of interest in the Cumulative Kepler Object of Information table was determined to be a Random Forest Classifier. The cross-validated accuracy of the Random Forest classifier yielded a score of 98%. The likelihood of 968 candidate observations being exoplanets is greater than 95%. Ultimately, an Azure Container Instance web service and an application programming interface (API) on the Microsoft Azure cloud enabled the Random Forest classifier to be publicly accessible.

Jack Dwayne Farmer April 18, 1947-February 22, 2023.

Jack Dwayne Farmer April 18, 1947-February 22, 2023.

Life in Space: NASA Life Sciences Research during the Late Twentieth Century by Maura Phillips Mackowski

Reviewed by: Life in Space: NASA Life Sciences Research during the Late Twentieth Century by Maura Phillips Mackowski Alwin J. Cubasch (bio) Life in Space: NASA Life Sciences Research during the Late Twentieth Century By Maura Phillips Mackowski. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2022. Pp. 392. Several recent publications have shown an interest in the science and technology that is necessary to live in space. Early astronaut training has become a focus of historical research, as well as the conflicting roles of astronauts as both scientific field workers and test subjects in space (Hersch, "Spacework"; Bimm and Kilian, "The Well-Tempered Astronaut"; Fendley, "First Contact"). Other publications have delved into the history of closed-loop ecologies for long-term space flight (Höhler, Spaceship Earth in the Environmental Age; Munns and Nickelsen, Far Beyond the Moon) and the psychology of living in space (Karafantis, "Sealab II and Skylab"; Grevsmühl, "Laboratory Metaphors in Antarctic History"). Questions of scientific cooperation across the Iron Curtain during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project have also received scholarly attention (A. Jenks, Collaboration in Space and the Search for Peace on Earth). Against this backdrop, Maura Phillips Mackowski's second book on the history of NASA's life science research is a welcome addition that addresses the life science funding "bubble" (p. 6) at NASA from 1980 to 2004. Mackowski employs a wide definition of what counts as life science, allowing her to cover a broad range of NASA's endeavors from research on lab animals and artificial gravity centrifuges to crew safety systems and escape vehicles. This wide range illustrates NASA's own indecisiveness on what topics should be covered by its life science research programs. It also supports Mackowski's main argument that even in the heyday of life science during the space shuttle and early International Space Station era (p. 74), outside scientists were reluctant to engage with NASA, an agency they considered an unreliable source of funding because of its ever-shifting agenda. Drawing from a wide range of sources and interviews, Mackowski's study especially shines when it locates NASA's life sciences in broader societal and [End Page 627] political trends, from the early enthusiasm of the space shuttle era to the end and aftermath of the Cold War, which restricted funding levels and forced NASA into sometimes uneasy international cooperations. She convincingly shows how cultural influences, political currents, and actors like animal welfare organizations shaped the possibilities the life science community had to conduct research in space. Looking the other direction, the book also discusses NASA's efforts to persuade outside actors and agencies to cooperate on life science projects like radiation research. Her book gives valuable insights into questions of collaboration and competition in late twentieth-century institutionalized science, especially when it deals with NASA's strategies for and difficulties in distributing its main resources to scientists, namely funding and space flight opportunities, fairly between its own centers and extramural researchers. Equally important, the book touches on questions of participation in research settings on Earth and in space and discusses the dynamics of long-distance teamwork between astronauts and scientists. But most of all this is a book about how (not) to manage research in large techno-scientific organizations. Mackowski argues that NASA's constantly shifting priorities discouraged researchers who spent years developing research proposals that underwent peer review and long ground preparation only to be denied flight because of altered mission schedules, new research priorities, or funding cuts. NASA's life science programs often were the first items that fell victim to the reallocation of resources and reorganizations after congressional hearings or the new space policies of incoming presidents. Unfortunately, the actual developments and achievements of NASA's life science sometimes take a backseat in Mackowski's study. While NASA's indecisiveness is mirrored in the interwoven threads of the book, its thematic organization makes following the narrative difficult, as actors and key decisions seem to vanish at points only to reappear a few subchapters later. The book's reliance on NASA's acronyms sometimes conveys the feeling that readers must be intimately familiar with organigrams of NASA headquarters and NASA centers to grasp every detail. Mackowski...

Theoretical Method for Evaluating the Heat of Combustion of Sewage Sludge in the Lack of Air

A procedure based on the modification of the Mendeleev formula and the calculation of chemical equilibrium in an initial mixture is proposed for estimating the heat of combustion of sewage sludge (SWS) under conditions of lack of air. The equilibrium composition of a mixture is proposed to be calculated on the basis of applied programs or chemical equilibrium equations. For the second method, the initial equations and methods for their solution are given. Thus, two cases are considered. The first case is the absence of carbon from the equilibrium mixture and the second is the presence of carbon in the equilibrium mixture. A procedure is proposed for calculating an air deficiency coefficient at which carbon begins to appear in an equilibrium mixture. Test calculations were carried out for dry and wet SWS at a combustion temperature of 700°C using the NASA program and based on chemical equilibrium equations. A comparison between the calculation results obtained by both methods showed satisfactory agreement. For illustration, the calorific value of SWS was calculated at 700°C and an air deficiency coefficient of 0.5–1. The procedure can be used for fuels in which the contribution of sulfur to the heat of combustion of the fuel can be neglected.

Student Space Missions—Facilitating Pathways to Success for Next Generation Professionals in Space

The Undergraduate Student Instrumentation Project (USIP) was a NASA program created to engage undergraduates in rigorous scientific research for the purpose of developing the next generation of professionals in space research. It is now run by the University of Houston using local resources. The development of next generation space professionals is addressed by using inquiry- based learning. Students are guided through the process of selecting a question of interest to them from disciplines such as heliophysics; atmospheric physics, chemistry, and biology; and geoscience. The students are then guided through the process of developing an experimental investigation to address their question. This student-led project is executed by the students from initial ideation of research objectives to the design, testing, and deployment of scientific payloads. The 5E Instructional model places the student at the center of knowledge building, while instructors facilitate interaction with content and guide the inquiry process. The project is designed to integrate engineering, technology, physics, material science, and earth and atmospheric sciences as an important opportunity for the students to gain access to cross-disciplinary experiential research. In addition to classroom engagement, the students build their own payloads and ground instruments. This project increases students’ command of essential skills such as teamwork, problem solving, communication, innovation, and leadership. For the students, this formative experience continues to encourage the development of a broader range of technical skills than is typically offered within an undergraduate degree. These skills include project management, systems engineering, balloon payload design, and balloon flight operations. More specifically, we teach sensor and instrument design, avionics, circuit, and power systems design, payload mechanical and thermal design, and telemetry and navigation. The students are also taught to prepare and present standard NASA project review materials, such as Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review and Mission Readiness Review presentations. Furthermore, the time and energy that students commit to this project promotes professional responsibility and emphasizes the necessity of coherent teamwork. Not only do students make connections with each other during this process, but also to the broader space science community. They often work with professionals from outside of the USIP structure, and regularly attend and present at conferences and student competitions throughout the project. Student projects included subjects ranging from atmospheric trace gas chemistry, ground penetrating radar and thermal infrared imaging coupled with multiwavelength LiDAR study of surface topography and chemistry, auroral electron precipitation, quantitative multi-wave- length airglow studies, search for stratospheric microplastics, monitoring auroral radio emissions, and stratospheric conductivity. This program is a for-credit course of two to three years duration.

Introduction to this special section: Planetary geophysics

While geophysical exploration of Earth is well established as a critical method for understanding planetary processes, many current and planned missions offer great opportunities for geophysicists to apply their skills and expertise to space exploration. Programs such as NASA's Artemis aiming to bring humans back to the moon and the James Webb Space Telescope for deep space imaging, the 10-year extension plan for the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program's Chang'e missions, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Martian Moons eXploration program, and the European Space Agency's European Large Logistics Lander targeting the moon are just a few examples. NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program proposes to send two commercial landers to the moon every year for the remainder of the decade. Several already-manifested payloads in the program involve geophysical instrumentation including heat flow probes, magnetotelluric sounding systems, and seismometers. Seismic data continue to arrive from NASA's InSight mission to Mars as the dusty solar panels still deliver a little energy, emphasizing that geophysics is and will remain an important tool for planetary exploration moving forward.

Scientist-stakeholder relationships drive carbon data product transfer effectiveness within NASA program

Carbon cycle science is at the heart of research on global climate change and its long-term impacts, as it examines the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, land, and the impact of fossil fuel emissions on this cycling. Given the urgency of the climate challenge, NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) requires all funded investigators to identify and work with stakeholder organizations at project inception to accelerate the transfer of the products developed by funded research into decision making systems. In this study, we contribute to the literature through the implementation of a quantitative analysis of 908 unique survey responses from funded investigators to explore the maturity of the scientist-stakeholder engagement. The paper employs multiple correspondence analysis to provide evidence to support policy options to increase stakeholder integration into research programs. Despite limitations of the dataset used, we demonstrated that multiple funding rounds, long-standing relationships between the stakeholder and scientist, and the scientific productivity of the Principal Investigator, including the ability to produce datasets and research papers on these datasets, all contribute to carbon products moving from research to operational use. The maturity of relationships between scientists and stakeholders was shown to result improved stakeholder engagement. The use of carbon products should be identified in every stage of the program, and that capacity building is needed to support both existing and newly identified stakeholders better understand and use CMS products. As federal, state, and local policy on climate adaptation and mitigation matures, the need for information on carbon will expand. Building of stakeholder-scientist relationships in CMS results in an effective generation and use of datasets to support this need and prototype ways that improved information needed for decision making can be created.

Spacecraft passivation – An overview of requirements, principles, and practices as applied to spacecraft pressure vessels

Explosions, collisions, and other catastrophic breakups of launch vehicle orbital stages and satellites continue to be major contributors to the generation of orbital debris. Both launch vehicles and payload satellites typically have several types of stored energy sources on board, any of which might result in energetic breakups and the creation of debris after their mission has ended. These energy sources include propulsion systems, pressure vessels, reaction wheels, control moment gyros, heat pipes, and power systems. NASA, ESA, JAXA and other space-faring organizations have requirements in place to limit the growth of the orbital debris population by passivating space vehicles that remain in orbit after their missions have ended. In this paper, we review current spacecraft passivation philosophies and principles, as well as how those principles have been applied in practice. In particular, we focus on how NASA programs have addressed spacecraft passivation. We begin by considering and reviewing general passivation requirements, with specific emphasis on pressure vessel passivation. We then discuss passivation approaches used in several recent NASA missions as well as some practical considerations in spacecraft passivation, and conclude by providing some summary guidelines regarding what may be considered acceptable (reduced) pressure level targets (depending on the tank commodity and the type of propulsion system) that could allow the pressure vessel to be considered in a passivated state.

Growing the NASA safety and mission assurance (SMA) workforce of tomorrow

The NASA Safety Center (NSC) was established in 2006 in response to Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) recommendations to strengthen NASA's safety program. The NSC supports all NASA centers and facilities. The NSC fosters world-class Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) support for NASA programs and projects through professional development activities and the advancement of the following SMA technical disciplines:•Aviation Safety•Operational Safety•Quality Engineering•Reliability and Maintainability•SMA Technical Leadership•Software Assurance•System Safety

Batteries for robotic spacecraft

Batteries for robotic spacecraft

Characterization of site‐specific vegetation activity in Alaskan wet and dry tundra as related to climate and soil state

AbstractWe present discrete (2‐h resolution) multi‐year (2008–2017) in situ measurements of seasonal vegetation growth and soil biophysical properties from two sites on Alaska's North Slope, USA, representing dry and wet sedge tundra. We examine measurements of vertical active soil layer temperature and soil moisture profiles (freeze/thaw status), woody shrub vegetation physiological activity, and meteorological site data to assess interrelationships within (and between) these two study sites. Vegetation phenophases (cold de‐hardening start, physiological function start, stem growth start, stem growth end, physiological function end, cold hardening completion) were found to have greater interannual day of year (DOY) occurrence variability at the dry site compared with the wet site. At the dry site, vegetation activity begins on average ~7 days earlier and ends ~11 days earlier. The mean active stem growth window lasts ~54 days for the dry site and ~51 days for the wet site. Vegetation, in both tundra environments, began cold de‐hardening functions (warm season prep) prior to atmospheric temperatures warming above 0°C. Similar results were found related to the critical soil freeze/thaw/transition dates; the dry site had a DOY phenophase occurrence range that was 8 days larger than that of the wet site. A longer continuous summer thaw period was captured at the wet site by ~26 days throughout the active layer. In addition, the dry site was measured to have longer spring and fall soil isothermal conditions than the wet site by ~9 and 5 days throughout the active layer. These results show that the dry site's willow shrub vegetation physiology and soil condition phenology is more variable than the wet site. Alongside the in situ data, a remote sensing product from NASA's MEaSUREs program was utilized; our research indicates that the AMSR‐derived satellite product is more precise over the wet tundra site with critical date alignment between remote sensing observations and in situ measurements ranging from ~4 to 11 days. Furthermore, the AMSR product was shown to preemptively estimate land surface condition change during the spring transition for both tundra types while lagging during the fall transition and freeze‐up periods.

EarthShine: Observing our world as an exoplanet from the surface of the Moon

NASA’s return to the Moon coincides with explosive growth in exoplanet discovery. Missions are being formulated to search for habitable planets orbiting other stars, making this the ideal time to deploy an instrument suite to the lunar surface to help us recognize a habitable exoplanet when we see it. We present EarthShine, a technically mature, three-instrument suite to observe the whole Earth from the Moon as an exoplanet proxy. EarthShine data will validate and improve models critical for designing missions to image and characterize exoplanets, thus informing observing strategies for flagship missions to directly image exoplanets. EarthShine will answer interconnected questions in Earth and lunar science, exoplanets, and astrobiology, related to the credo “follow the water.” EarthShine can take advantage of current NASA programs to conduct science from the Moon with low-cost, mature space hardware to reduce risk and assure success. Like the 1968 Apollo Earthrise image of our home planet, lonely in the black sky, the appeal of EarthShine to a multidisciplinary array of researchers in Earth Science, Planetary Science, and astrophysics will maximize both its scientific impact and its impact on the general public.

Avoiding costly delays in human space exploration: Historical perspectives on NASA programs

This paper examines the historical impact of major changes in the human space exploration program objectives at NASA and draws lessons from those experiences that may be of value to current and future administrations. We trace the program history of NASA's human exploration programs through various presidential administrations, starting with the George H. W. Bush administration and moving through to the present day. Along the way we identify and document the sources of program changes and make observations about what went well and what did not go well, exposing the true cost and other consequences of disruptive change. We also highlight the importance of making necessary changes when something is not right. Presidential administration changes and annual budget deliberations are times of great opportunity but also of great risk, and decisions need to be made with eyes wide open, not only to the potential benefits but also to the unintended negative consequences some changes may have. These factors need to be considered by a new administration and Congress when they are faced with decisions to change things or “stay the course.” The lessons may apply well beyond NASA.

Mapping the “Valley of Death”: Managing Selection and Technology Advancement in NASA's Small Business Innovation Research Program

In this paper, we determine the risk mitigation process inherent in managing a portfolio of technologies diverse in both their readiness for infusion and the nature of the performing organization, focusing on the so-called “valley of death” in which the technology's principles have been proven but prototypes have yet to be developed. Using the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) of projects funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Small Business Innovation Research program, a two-stage competitive process, we find that the result of selection of the first round is a tendency toward larger companies. In the second round of funding, technology maturity is a stronger determinant of selection and company headcount is no longer a statistically significant driver. This combination allows the program to manage risk and deliver real technical advancement from even the smallest companies. We find that technologies typically advance from TRL 2, concept formulation, at the program's outset to roughly TRL 5, component validation, at the program's conclusion; these outcomes precede economic benefits from the subsidy. These findings illuminate a mechanism to address risk as well as demonstrating the technical outcomes of a managed early-stage technology program.

The long period of 3He-rich solar energetic particles measured by Solar Orbiter 2020 November 17-23

The Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS) is a European facility instrument funded by ESA. The SIS instrument was constructed by the JHU/Applied Physics Lab. and CAU Kiel. We thank the many individuals at ESA and within the Energetic Particle Detector team for their support in its development. Post launch operation of SIS at APL is funded by NASA contract NNN06AA01C, and we thank NASA headquarters and the NASA/GSFC Solar Orbiter project office for their continuing support. The UAH team acknowledges the financial support by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades FEDER/MCIU/AEI Projects ESP2017-88436- R and PID2019-104863RB- I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The CAU Kiel team thanks the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the German Space Agency (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt, e.V., (DLR)) for their unwavering support under grant numbers 50OT0901, 50OT1202, 50OT1702, and 50OT2002; and ESA for supporting the build of SIS under contract number SOL.ASTR.CON.00004, and the University of Kiel and the Land Schleswig-Holstein for their support of SIS. R. Bucik is supported ˇ in part by NASA grant 80NSSC19K0079. F. Carcaboso acknowledges the financial support by the Spanish MINECO-FPI-2016 predoctoral grant with FSE. V. Krupaˇr acknowledges the support by NASA under grants 18-2HSWO2182- 0010 and 19-HSR-192-0143. L. Balmaceda acknowledges the support from the NASA program NNH17ZDA001N-LWS (Awards Nr. 80NSSC19K1261 and 80NSSC19K1235).

Improving data access democratizes and diversifies science

The foundation of the scientific method rests on access to data, and yet such access is often restricted or costly. We investigate how improved data access shifts the quantity, quality, and diversity of scientific research. We examine the impact of reductions in cost and sharing restrictions for satellite imagery data from NASA's Landsat program (the longest record of remote-sensing observations of the Earth) on academic science using a sample of about 24,000 Landsat publications by over 34,000 authors matched to almost 3,000 unique study locations. Analyses show that improved access had a substantial and positive effect on the quantity and quality of Landsat-enabled science. Improved data access also democratizes science by disproportionately helping scientists from the developing world and lower-ranked institutions to publish using Landsat data. This democratization in turn increases the geographic and topical diversity of Landsat-enabled research. Scientists who start using Landsat data after access is improved tend to focus on previously understudied regions close to their home location and introduce novel research topics. These findings suggest that policies that improve access to valuable scientific data may promote scientific progress, reduce inequality among scientists, and increase the diversity of scientific research.

The streamer blowout origin of a flux rope and energetic particle event observed by Parker Solar Probe at 0.5 AU

We acknowledge the NASA Parker Solar Probe mission team and the SWEAP team led by J. C. Kasper, the ISeIS team led by D. J. McComas, and the FIELDS team led by S. D. Bale, for the use of PSP data. The data used in this paper can be downloaded from spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov, www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/, and stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov. Parker Solar Probe was designed, built, and is now operated by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as part of NASA’s Living with a Star (LWS) program (contract NNN06AA01C). Support from the LWS management and technical team has played a critical role in the success of the Parker Solar Probe mission. Simulation results have been provided by the Community Coordinated Modeling Center at Goddard Space Flight Center through their public Runs on Request system (ccmc.gsfc.nasa. gov; run david_lario_012820_SH_1). The ENLIL-Cone Model was developed by D. Odstrcil of George Mason University. We thank the STEREO/SECCHI, STEREO/IMPACT, STEREO/ PLASTIC, SOHO/LASCO, and SDO/AIA teams and Predictive Science Inc. for providing the data used in this study. The STEREO SECCHI data are produced by a consortium of RAL (UK), NRL (USA), LMSAL (USA), GSFC (USA), MPS (Germany), CSL (Belgium), IOTA (France), and IAS (France). SOHO is a mission of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. The SDO/AIA data are provided by the Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) Science Data Processing (SDP). We acknowledge all of the science instrument teams for making their data used in this paper available. This work utilizes data produced collaboratively between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the National Solar Observatory (NSO). The ADAPT model development is supported by AFRL. We appreciate the reviewer’s comprehensive reading of the article. This work was partially supported under NASA contract NNN06AA01C. D.L. was also supported by NASA-HGI grant NNX16AF73G and NASA/LWS grant NNX15AD03G. L.J. acknowledges support from the NASA Program NNH16ZDA001N-HSR and NNH17ZDA001-HSR. D.L., L.B., and I.R. acknowledge the support from the NASA Program NNH17ZDA001N-LWS.

Guidelines for TESS Aperture Photometry via AstroImageJ

Observing exoplanets with small telescopes can be a challenging but rewarding undertaking. With the advent of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a student observer can become qualified to participate in this exciting MIT-led NASA program to make significant contributions to exoplanet science. This paper presents the experiences and recommendations for a student to the complete observation data required for the Ground-Based Subgroup 1 TESS Follow-up Observing Program (TFOP). A training plan is provided along with various websites and instructional documents. Explanations on how apply the AstroImageJ (AIJ) software and procedures are described in A Practical Guide to Exoplanet Observing (Conti, 2018). Data is collected from Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) and calibrated through the OSS Pipeline. This paper deals exclusively with LCO processes and also describes how to prepare the twelvefiles required for submission to the Exoplanet Follow-up Observing Program for TESS (ExoFOP – TESS). The AstroImageJ Guide for LCO - TESS Observations (Boyce et al., 2019) that incorporates the latest TFOP SG1 Observation Guidelines (Conti, 2019) is also referenced.

Sensor Configuration Trade Study for Navigation in Near Rectilinear Halo Orbits

Deep Space Gateway is a NASA program planned to support deep space human exploration and prove new technologies needed to achieve it. One Gateway requirement is the ability to operate in the absence of communications with the Deep Space Network (DSN) for a period of at least three weeks. In this paper, three types of onboard sensors (a camera for optical navigation, a GPS receiver, and X-ray navigation) are considered to enhance its autonomy and reduce the reliance on DSN. A trade study is conducted to explore alternatives on how to achieve autonomy and how to reduce DSN dependency while satisfying navigation performance requirements. Using linear covariance analysis, error budgets, and sensitivity analysis, the performance of navigation systems using combinations of DSN with the aforementioned onboard sensors is shown.

THE PROSPECTS OF THE RUSSIAN ROCKET AND SPACE INDUSTRY PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD MARKET

Space is not only a place of international cooperation, but also a place for competition. The failures that accompanied the key player in the market, the United States, have recently stimulated NASA's ambitious commercial space program which has enabled a successful partnership with two American companies. This new business model should not only reduce the cost of flights, but also create a basis for further space exploration. In order to create sustainable economic growth in Russia, it seems necessary to develop the whole range of priority areas. One of the most promising is the rocket and space industry. The reasons are the large turnover, experience and unique technological competencies. We believe that Russia will succeed in case it activates internal reserves of a country and wisely uses global market opportunities. Technical and technological development of the rocket and space and related industries will strengthen the state’s position in the world market and will enhance the international competitiveness of Russian enterprises. In this article, authors analyze the current state of the Russian and world space markets, evaluate the performance of RSC «Energia», formulate proposals for modernization of company's activities that will help Russia strengthen and expand its positions among the global players.