NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Science Instruments Begin Final Super Cold Test at Goddard

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

At NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's final destination in space, one million miles away from Earth, it will operate at incredibly cold temperatures of -387 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Kelvin. This is 260 degrees Fahrenheit colder than any place on the Earth’s surface has ever been. So first, this final super cold test at Goddard will prepare the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM), or the “heart” of the telescope, for space. Read more: go.nasa.gov/1KFPwJG Contamination Control Engineer Alan Abeel conducts final inspections and places contamination foils before the start of the test. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Advance Inspection of NASA Next Mars Landing Site

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-03-29

This map shows footprints of images taken from Mars orbit by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera as part of advance analysis of the area where NASA's InSight mission will land in 2018. The final planned image of the set is targeted to fill in the yellow-outlined rectangle on March 30, 2017. HiRISE is one of six science instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars in 2006 and surpassed 50,000 orbits on March 27, 2017. The map covers an area about 100 miles (160 kilometers) across. HiRISE has been used since 2006 to inspect dozens of candidate landing sites on Mars, including the sites where the Phoenix and Curiosity missions landed in 2008 and 2012. The site selected for InSight's Nov. 26, 2018, landing is on a flat plain in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars, between 4 and 5 degrees north of the equator. HiRISE images are detailed enough to reveal individual boulders big enough to be a landing hazard. The March 30 observation that completes the planned advance imaging of this landing area brings the number of HiRISE images of the area to 73. Some are pairs covering the same ground. Overlapping observations provide stereoscopic, 3-D information for evaluating characteristics such as slopes. On this map, coverage by stereo pairs is coded in pale blue, compared to the gray-green of single HiRISE image footprints. The ellipses on the map are about 81 miles (130 kilometers) west-to-east by about 17 miles (27 kilometers) north-to-south. InSight has about 99 percent odds of landing within the ellipse for which it is targeted. The three ellipses indicate landing expectations for three of the possible InSight launch dates: white outline for launch at the start of the launch period, on May 5, 2018; blue for launch on May 26, 2018; orange for launch on June 8, 2018. InSight -- an acronym for "Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport" -- will study the deep interior of Mars to improve

Incorporating JULES into NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and Investigations of Land-Atmosphere Coupling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santanello, Joseph

2011-01-01

NASA's Land Information System (LIS; lis.gsfc.nasa.gov) is a flexible land surface modeling and data assimilation framework developed over the past decade with the goal of integrating satellite- and ground-based observational data products and advanced land surface modeling techniques to produce optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes. LIS features a high performance and flexible design, and operates on an ensemble of land surface models for extension over user-specified regional or global domains. The extensible interfaces of LIS allow the incorporation of new domains, land surface models (LSMs), land surface parameters, meteorological inputs, data assimilation and optimization algorithms. In addition, LIS has also been demonstrated for parameter estimation and uncertainty estimation, and has been coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model. A visiting fellowship is currently underway to implement JULES into LIS and to undertake some fundamental science on the feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere. An overview of the LIS system, features, and sample results will be presented in an effort to engage the community in the potential advantages of LIS-JULES for a range of applications. Ongoing efforts to develop a framework for diagnosing land-atmosphere coupling will also be presented using the suite of LSM and PBL schemes available in LIS and WRF along with observations from the U. S .. Southern Great Plains. This methodology provides a potential pathway to study factors controlling local land-atmosphere coupling (LoCo) using the LIS-WRF system, which will serve as a testbed for future experiments to evaluate coupling diagnostics within the community.

Pre-Launch Evaluation of the NPP VIIRS Land and Cryosphere EDRs to Meet NASA's Science Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roman, Miguel O.; Justice, Chris; Csiszar, Ivan; Key, Jeffrey R.; Devadiga, Sadashiva; Davidson, carol; Wolfe, Robert; Privette, Jeff

2011-01-01

This paper summarizes the NASA Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Land Science team's findings to date with respect to the utility of the VIIRS Land and Cryosphere EDRs to meet NASA's science requirements. Based on previous assessments and results from a recent 51-day global test performed by the Land Product Evaluation and Analysis Tool Element (Land PEATE), the NASA VIIRS Land Science team has determined that, if all the Land and Cryosphere EDRs are to serve the needs of the science community, a number of changes to several products and the Interface Data Processing Segment (IDPS) algorithm processing chain will be needed. In addition, other products will also need to be added to the VIIRS Land product suite to provide continuity for all of the MODIS land data record. As the NASA research program explores new global change research areas, the VIIRS instrument should also provide the polar-orbiting imager data from which new algorithms could be developed, produced, and validated.

Historic First Landing of NASA's P-3B in Antarctica

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-03

NASA's first ever historic P-3B landing in McMurdo Station, Antarctica on the sea ice runway, which occurred on Nov. 16, 2013. It took the craft 5 days to reach Antarctica from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. You can see the IceBridge Team waiting to greet the flight crew as they taxied for the very first time right up to the IceBridge team tents. Credit: NASA/Justin Miller/Indiana University NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA F-15B #836 landing with Quiet Spike attached

NASA Image and Video Library

2006-10-03

NASA F-15B #836 landing with Quiet Spike attached. The project seeks to verify the structural integrity of the multi-segmented, articulating spike attachment designed to reduce and control a sonic boom.

Global Hawk Aircraft Lands at NASA Wallops for Hurricane Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

The first of two NASA Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles supporting the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission landed at 7:39 a.m. today, Aug. 14, 2013, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. During August and September, NASA will fly the two Global Hawks over the Atlantic Ocean to study tropical storms and the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensification. The aircraft are equipped with instruments to survey the overall environment of the storms and peer into the inner core of hurricanes to study their structure and processes. For more information, visit: www.nasa.gov/HS3. Photo Credit: NASA Wallops Keith Koehler NASA Wallops Flight Facility NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASAs B377SGT Super Guppy Turbine Cargo Airplane lands at Moffett Field at NASA Ames.

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-01-08

NASA N941NA Superguppy lands at the Moffett Field. Cargo is loaded into the Super Guppy when the aircraft's "fold-away" nose rotates 110 degrees to the left, allowing unobstructed access to the 25 foot diameter fuselage.

Nasa's Land Remote Sensing Plans for the 1980's

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Higg, H. C.; Butera, K. M.; Settle, M.

1985-01-01

Research since the launch of LANDSAT-1 has been primarily directed to the development of analysis techniques and to the conduct of applications studies designed to address resource information needs in the United States and in many other countries. The current measurement capabilities represented by MSS, TM, and SIR-A and B, coupled with the present level of remote sensing understanding and the state of knowledge in the discipline earth sciences, form the foundation for NASA's Land Processes Program. Science issues to be systematically addressed include: energy balance, hydrologic cycle, biogeochemical cycles, biological productivity, rock cycle, landscape development, geological and botanical associations, and land surface inventory, monitoring, and modeling. A global perspective is required for using remote sensing technology for problem solving or applications context. A successful model for this kind of activity involves joint research with a user entity where the user provides a test site and ground truth and NASA provides the remote sensing techniques to be tested.

Facility Activation and Characterization for IPD Oxidizer Turbopump Cold-Flow Testing at NASA Stennis Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sass, J. P.; Raines, N. G.; Farner, B. R.; Ryan, H. M.

2004-01-01

The Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator (IPD) is a 250K lbf (1.1 MN) thrust cryogenic hydrogen/oxygen engine technology demonstrator that utilizes a full flow staged combustion engine cycle. The Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator (IPD) is part of NASA's Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) program, which seeks to provide safe, dependable, cost-cutting technologies for future space launch systems. The project also is part of the Department of Defense's Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology (IHPRPT) program, which seeks to increase the performance and capability of today s state-of-the-art rocket propulsion systems while decreasing costs associated with military and commercial access to space. The primary industry participants include Boeing-Rocketdyne and GenCorp Aerojet. The intended full flow engine cycle is a key component in achieving all of the aforementioned goals. The IPD Program achieved a major milestone with the successful completion of the IPD Oxidizer Turbopump (OTP) cold-flow test project at the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) E-1 test facility in November 2001. A total of 11 IPD OTP cold-flow tests were completed. Following an overview of the NASA SSC E-1 test facility, this paper addresses the facility aspects pertaining to the activation and the cold-flow testing of the IPD OTP. In addition, some of the facility challenges encountered during the test project are addressed.

National Climate Assessment - Land Data Assimilation System (NCA-LDAS) Data at NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rui, Hualan; Teng, Bill; Vollmer, Bruce; Jasinski, Michael; Mocko, David; Kempler, Steven

2016-01-01

As part of NASA's active participation in the Interagency National Climate Assessment (NCA) program, the Goddard Space Flight Center's Hydrological Sciences Laboratory (HSL) is supporting an Integrated Terrestrial Water Analysis, by using NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) capabilities. To maximize the benefit of the NCA-LDAS, on completion of planned model runs and uncertainty analysis, NASA will provide open access to all NCA-LDAS components, including input data, output fields, and indicator data, to other NCA-teams and the general public. The NCA-LDAS data will be archived at the NASA GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center) and can be accessed via direct ftp, THREDDS, Mirador search and download, and Giovanni visualization and analysis system.

Advances in Land Data Assimilation at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reichle, Rolf

2009-01-01

Research in land surface data assimilation has grown rapidly over the last decade. In this presentation we provide a brief overview of key research contributions by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The GSFC contributions to land assimilation primarily include the continued development and application of the Land Information System (US) and the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). In particular, we have developed a method to generate perturbation fields that are correlated in space, time, and across variables and that permit the flexible modeling of errors in land surface models and observations, along with an adaptive filtering approach that estimates observation and model error input parameters. A percentile-based scaling method that addresses soil moisture biases in model and observational estimates opened the path to the successful application of land data assimilation to satellite retrievals of surface soil moisture. Assimilation of AMSR-E surface soil moisture retrievals into the NASA Catchment model provided superior surface and root zone assimilation products (when validated against in situ measurements and compared to the model estimates or satellite observations alone). The multi-model capabilities of US were used to investigate the role of subsurface physics in the assimilation of surface soil moisture observations. Results indicate that the potential of surface soil moisture assimilation to improve root zone information is higher when the surface to root zone coupling is stronger. Building on this experience, GSFC leads the development of the Level 4 Surface and Root-Zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product for the planned NASA Soil-Moisture-Active-Passive (SMAP) mission. A key milestone was the design and execution of an Observing System Simulation Experiment that quantified the contribution of soil moisture retrievals to land data assimilation products as a function of retrieval and land model skill and yielded an estimate of the error budget for the

Expanding NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, D.; Michael, K.; Masuoka, E.; Ye, G.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Harrison, S.; Ziskin, D.; Durbin, P. B.; Protack, S.; Rinsland, P. L.; Slayback, D. A.; Policelli, F. S.; Olsina, O.; Fu, G.; Ederer, G. A.; Ding, F.; Braun, J.; Gumley, L.; Prins, E. M.; Davidson, C. C.; Wong, M. M.

2017-12-01

NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) is a virtual system that provides near real-time EOS data and imagery to meet the needs of scientists and application users interested in monitoring a wide variety of natural and man-made phenomena in near real-time. Over the last year: near real-time products and imagery from MOPITT, MISR, OMPS and VIIRS (Land and Atmosphere) have been added; the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) has been updated and LANCE has begun the process of integrating the Global NRT flood product. In addition, following the AMSU-A2 instrument anomaly in September 2016, AIRS-only products have replaced the NRT level 2 AIRS+AMSU products. This presentation provides a brief overview of LANCE, describes the new products that are recently available and contains a preview of what to expect in LANCE over the coming year. For more information visit: https://earthdata.nasa.gov/lance

Development of a NASA 2018 Mars Landed Mission Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, M. G.; Salvo, C. G.; Abilleira, F.; Sengstacken, A. J.; Allwood, A. G.; Backes, P. G.; Lindemann, R. A.; Jordan, J. F.

2010-01-01

Fundamental to NASA's Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is an ongoing development of an integrated and coordinated set of possible future candidate missions that meet fundamental science and programmatic objectives of NASA and the Mars scientific community. In the current planning horizon of the NASA MEP, a landed mobile surface exploration mission launching in the 2018 Mars launch opportunity exists as a candidate project to meet MEP in situ science and exploration objectives. This paper describes the proposed mission science objectives and the mission implementation concept developed for the 2018 opportunity. As currently envisioned, this mission concept seeks to explore a yet-to-be-selected site with high preservation potential for physical and chemical biosignatures, evaluate paleoenvironmental conditions, characterize the potential for preservation of biosignatures, and access multiple sequences of geological units in a search for evidence of past life and/or prebiotic chemistry at a site on Mars.

NASA's Webb "Pathfinder Telescope" Successfully Completes First Super-Cold Optical Test

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Testing is crucial part of NASA's success on Earth and in space. So, as the actual flight components of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope come together, engineers are testing the non-flight equipment to ensure that tests on the real Webb telescope later goes safely and according to plan. Recently, the "pathfinder telescope," or just “Pathfinder,” completed its first super-cold optical test that resulted in many first-of-a-kind demonstrations. "This test is the first dry-run of the equipment and procedures we will use to conduct an end-to-end optical test of the flight telescope and instruments," said Mark Clampin, Webb telescope Observatory Project Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It provides confidence that once the flight telescope is ready, we are fully prepared for a successful test of the flight hardware." The Pathfinder is a non-flight replica of the Webb telescope’s center section backplane, or “backbone,” that includes mirrors. The flight backplane comes in three segments, a center section and two wing-like parts, all of which will support large hexagonal mirrors on the Webb telescope. The pathfinder only consists of the center part of the backplane. However, during the test, it held two full size spare primary mirror segments and a full size spare secondary mirror to demonstrate the ability to optically test and align the telescope at the planned operating temperatures of -400 degrees Fahrenheit (-240 Celsius). Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/nasas-webb-pathfinder-telesc... Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Rapid prototyping of soil moisture estimates using the NASA Land Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anantharaj, V.; Mostovoy, G.; Li, B.; Peters-Lidard, C.; Houser, P.; Moorhead, R.; Kumar, S.

2007-12-01

The Land Information System (LIS), developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, is a functional Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) that incorporates a suite of land models in an interoperable computational framework. LIS has been integrated into a computational Rapid Prototyping Capabilities (RPC) infrastructure. LIS consists of a core, a number of community land models, data servers, and visualization systems - integrated in a high-performance computing environment. The land surface models (LSM) in LIS incorporate surface and atmospheric parameters of temperature, snow/water, vegetation, albedo, soil conditions, topography, and radiation. Many of these parameters are available from in-situ observations, numerical model analysis, and from NASA, NOAA, and other remote sensing satellite platforms at various spatial and temporal resolutions. The computational resources, available to LIS via the RPC infrastructure, support e- Science experiments involving the global modeling of land-atmosphere studies at 1km spatial resolutions as well as regional studies at finer resolutions. The Noah Land Surface Model, available with-in the LIS is being used to rapidly prototype soil moisture estimates in order to evaluate the viability of other science applications for decision making purposes. For example, LIS has been used to further extend the utility of the USDA Soil Climate Analysis Network of in-situ soil moisture observations. In addition, LIS also supports data assimilation capabilities that are used to assimilate remotely sensed soil moisture retrievals from the AMSR-E instrument onboard the Aqua satellite. The rapid prototyping of soil moisture estimates using LIS and their applications will be illustrated during the presentation.

Supersonic Retropropulsion Technology Development in NASA's Entry, Descent, and Landing Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edquist, Karl T.; Berry, Scott A.; Rhode, Matthew N.; Kelb, Bil; Korzun, Ashley; Dyakonov, Artem A.; Zarchi, Kerry A.; Schauerhamer, Daniel G.; Post, Ethan A.

2012-01-01

NASA's Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) space technology roadmap calls for new technologies to achieve human exploration of Mars in the coming decades [1]. One of those technologies, termed Supersonic Retropropulsion (SRP), involves initiation of propulsive deceleration at supersonic Mach numbers. The potential benefits afforded by SRP to improve payload mass and landing precision make the technology attractive for future EDL missions. NASA's EDL project spent two years advancing the technological maturity of SRP for Mars exploration [2-15]. This paper summarizes the technical accomplishments from the project and highlights challenges and recommendations for future SRP technology development programs. These challenges include: developing sufficiently large SRP engines for use on human-scale entry systems; testing and computationally modelling complex and unsteady SRP fluid dynamics; understanding the effects of SRP on entry vehicle stability and controllability; and demonstrating sub-scale SRP entry systems in Earth's atmosphere.

Mesocell study area snow distributions for the Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX)

Treesearch

Glen E. Liston; Christopher A. Hiemstra; Kelly Elder; Donald W. Cline

2008-01-01

The Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) had a goal of describing snow-related features over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. This required linking disparate snow tools and datasets into one coherent, integrated package. Simulating realistic high-resolution snow distributions and features requires a snow-evolution modeling system (SnowModel) that can...

STS-35 crew and NASA management inspect OV-102 after landing at EAFB, Calif

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

STS-35 NASA JSC Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD) Director Donald R. Puddy (center) joins the STS-35 crewmembers in a post landing walk-around inspection of Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102, at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), California. Crewmembers, wearing launch and entry suits (LESs), include (left to right) Commander Vance D. Brand, Mission Specialist (MS) John M. Lounge, Payload Specialist Ronald A. Parise, Pilot Guy S. Gardner, and MS Jeffrey A. Hoffman. NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight Dr. William B. Lenoir is at far left in the background. OV-102 landed on concrete runway 22 at EAFB at 9:54:09 pm (Pacific Standard Time (PST)). OV-102's nose cone and nose landing gear (NLG) door are visible at the left corner of the frame.

Climate, invasive species and land use drive population dynamics of a cold-water specialist

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kovach, Ryan P.; Al-Chokhachy, Robert K.; Whited, Diane C.; Schmetterling, David A.; Dux, Andrew M; Muhlfeld, Clint C.

2017-01-01

Climate change is an additional stressor in a complex suite of threats facing freshwater biodiversity, particularly for cold-water fishes. Research addressing the consequences of climate change on cold-water fish has generally focused on temperature limits defining spatial distributions, largely ignoring how climatic variation influences population dynamics in the context of other existing stressors.We used long-term data from 92 populations of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus – one of North America's most cold-adapted fishes – to quantify additive and interactive effects of climate, invasive species and land use on population dynamics (abundance, variability and growth rate).Populations were generally depressed, more variable and declining where spawning and rearing stream habitat was limited, invasive species and land use were prevalent and stream temperatures were highest. Increasing stream temperature acted additively and independently, whereas land use and invasive species had additive and interactive effects (i.e. the impact of one stressor depended on exposure to the other stressor).Most (58%–78%) of the explained variation in population dynamics was attributed to the presence of invasive species, differences in life history and management actions in foraging habitats in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Although invasive fishes had strong negative effects on populations in foraging habitats, proactive control programmes appeared to effectively temper their negative impact.Synthesis and applications. Long-term demographic data emphasize that climate warming will exacerbate imperilment of cold-water specialists like bull trout, yet other stressors – especially invasive fishes – are immediate threats that can be addressed by proactive management actions. Therefore, climate-adaptation strategies for freshwater biodiversity should consider existing abiotic and biotic stressors, some of which provide potential and realized opportunity for conservation

Local Scale Radiobrightness Modeling During the Intensive Observing Period-4 of the Cold Land Processes Experiment-1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, E.; Tedesco, M.; de Roo, R.; England, A. W.; Gu, H.; Pham, H.; Boprie, D.; Graf, T.; Koike, T.; Armstrong, R.; Brodzik, M.; Hardy, J.; Cline, D.

2004-12-01

The NASA Cold Land Processes Field Experiment (CLPX-1) was designed to provide microwave remote sensing observations and ground truth for studies of snow and frozen ground remote sensing, particularly issues related to scaling. CLPX-1 was conducted in 2002 and 2003 in Colorado, USA. One of the goals of the experiment was to test the capabilities of microwave emission models at different scales. Initial forward model validation work has concentrated on the Local-Scale Observation Site (LSOS), a 0.8~ha study site consisting of open meadows separated by trees where the most detailed measurements were made of snow depth and temperature, density, and grain size profiles. Results obtained in the case of the 3rd Intensive Observing Period (IOP3) period (February, 2003, dry snow) suggest that a model based on Dense Medium Radiative Transfer (DMRT) theory is able to model the recorded brightness temperatures using snow parameters derived from field measurements. This paper focuses on the ability of forward DMRT modelling, combined with snowpack measurements, to reproduce the radiobrightness signatures observed by the University of Michigan's Truck-Mounted Radiometer System (TMRS) at 19 and 37~GHz during the 4th IOP (IOP4) in March, 2003. Unlike in IOP3, conditions during IOP4 include both wet and dry periods, providing a valuable test of DMRT model performance. In addition, a comparison will be made for the one day of coincident observations by the University of Tokyo's Ground-Based Microwave Radiometer-7 (GBMR-7) and the TMRS. The plot-scale study in this paper establishes a baseline of DMRT performance for later studies at successively larger scales. And these scaling studies will help guide the choice of future snow retrieval algorithms and the design of future Cold Lands observing systems.

NASA's MODIS/VIIRS Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Products: Asssessment of Accuracy, Continuity and Science Uses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hulley, G. C.; Malakar, N.; Islam, T.

2017-12-01

Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) are an important Earth System Data Record (ESDR) and Environmental Climate Variable (ECV) defined by NASA and GCOS respectively. LST&E data are key variables used in land cover/land use change studies, in surface energy balance and atmospheric water vapor retrieval models and retrievals, and in climate research. LST&E products are currently produced on a routine basis using data from the MODIS instruments on the NASA EOS platforms and by the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi-NPP platform that serves as a bridge between NASA EOS and the next-generation JPSS platforms. Two new NASA LST&E products for MODIS (MxD21) and VIIRS (VNP21) are being produced during 2017 using a new approach that addresses discrepancies in accuracy and consistency between the current suite of split-window based LST products. The new approach uses a Temperature Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm, originally developed for the ASTER instrument, to physically retrieve both LST and spectral emissivity consistently for both sensors with high accuracy and well defined uncertainties. This study provides a rigorous assessment of accuracy of the MxD21/VNP21 products using temperature- and radiance-based validation strategies and demonstrates continuity between the products using collocated matchups over CONUS. We will further demonstrate potential science use of the new products with studies related to heat waves, monitoring snow melt dynamics, and land cover/land use change.

High Performance Hydrometeorological Modeling, Land Data Assimilation and Parameter Estimation with the Land Information System at NASA/GSFC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Kumar, S. V.; Santanello, J. A.; Tian, Y.; Rodell, M.; Mocko, D.; Reichle, R.

2008-12-01

The Land Information System (LIS; http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov; Kumar et al., 2006; Peters-Lidard et al., 2007) is a flexible land surface modeling framework that has been developed with the goal of integrating satellite- and ground-based observational data products and advanced land surface modeling techniques to produce optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes. The LIS software was the co-winner of NASA's 2005 Software of the Year award. LIS facilitates the integration of observations from Earth-observing systems and predictions and forecasts from Earth System and Earth science models into the decision-making processes of partnering agency and national organizations. Due to its flexible software design, LIS can serve both as a Problem Solving Environment (PSE) for hydrologic research to enable accurate global water and energy cycle predictions, and as a Decision Support System (DSS) to generate useful information for application areas including disaster management, water resources management, agricultural management, numerical weather prediction, air quality and military mobility assessment. LIS has evolved from two earlier efforts - North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS; Mitchell et al. 2004) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS; Rodell et al. 2004) that focused primarily on improving numerical weather prediction skills by improving the characterization of the land surface conditions. Both of these systems, now use specific configurations of the LIS software in their current implementations. LIS not only consolidates the capabilities of these two systems, but also enables a much larger variety of configurations with respect to horizontal spatial resolution, input datasets and choice of land surface model through 'plugins'. In addition to these capabilities, LIS has also been demonstrated for parameter estimation (Peters-Lidard et al., 2008; Santanello et al., 2007) and data assimilation (Kumar et al., 2008). Examples and case studies

Surface Landing Site Weather Analysis for NASA's Constellation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. L.

2008-01-01

Weather information is an important asset for NASA's Constellation Program in developing the next generation space transportation system to fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Weather conditions can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing of the Ares vehicles to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Meteorological analysis is art important contributor, not only to the development and verification of system design requirements but also to mission planning and active ground operations. Of particular interest are the surface weather conditions at both nominal and abort landing sites for the manned Orion capsule. Weather parameters such as wind, rain, and fog all play critical roles in the safe landing of the vehicle and subsequent crew and vehicle recovery. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch has been tasked by the Constellation Program with defining the natural environments at potential landing zones. This paper wiI1 describe the methodology used for data collection and quality control, detail the types of analyses performed, and provide a sample of the results that cab be obtained.

Resource Prospector Propulsion System Cold Flow Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Hunter; Holt, Kim; Addona, Brad; Trinh, Huu

2015-01-01

Resource Prospector (RP) is a NASA mission being led by NASA Ames Research Center with current plans to deliver a scientific payload package aboard a rover to the lunar surface. As part of an early risk reduction activity, Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and Johnson Space Flight Center (JSC) have jointly developed a government-version concept of a lunar lander for the mission. The spacecraft consists of two parts, the lander and the rover which carries the scientific instruments. The lander holds the rover during launch, cruise, and landing on the surface. Following terminal descent and landing the lander portion of the spacecraft become dormant after the rover embarks on the science mission. The lander will be equipped with a propulsion system for lunar descent and landing, as well as trajectory correction and attitude control maneuvers during transit to the moon. Hypergolic propellants monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide will be used to fuel sixteen 70-lbf descent thrusters and twelve 5-lbf attitude control thrusters. A total of four metal-diaphragm tanks, two per propellant, will be used along with a high-pressure composite-overwrapped pressure vessel for the helium pressurant gas. Many of the major propulsion system components are heritage missile hardware obtained by NASA from the Air Force. In parallel with the flight system design activities, a simulated propulsion system based on flight drawings was built for conducting a series of water flow tests to characterize the transient fluid flow of the propulsion system feed lines and to verify the critical operation modes such as system priming, waterhammer, and crucial mission duty cycles. The primary objective of the cold flow testing was to simulate the RP propulsion system fluid flow operation through water flow testing and to obtain data for anchoring analytical models. The models will be used to predict the transient and steady state flow behaviors in the actual flight operations. All design and

The Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX-1): Analysis and Modelling of LSOS Data (IOP3 Period)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tedesco, Marco; Kim, Edward J.; Cline, Don; Graf, Tobias; Koike, Toshio; Hardy, Janet; Armstrong, Richard; Brodzik, Mary

2004-01-01

Microwave brightness temperatures at 18.7,36.5, and 89 GHz collected at the Local-Scale Observation Site (LSOS) of the NASA Cold-Land Processes Field Experiment in February, 2003 (third Intensive Observation Period) were simulated using a Dense Media Radiative Transfer model (DMRT), based on the Quasi Crystalline Approximation with Coherent Potential (QCA-CP). Inputs to the model were averaged from LSOS snow pit measurements, although different averages were used for the lower frequencies vs. the highest one, due to the different penetration depths and to the stratigraphy of the snowpack. Mean snow particle radius was computed as a best-fit parameter. Results show that the model was able to reproduce satisfactorily brightness temperatures measured by the University of Tokyo s Ground Based Microwave Radiometer system (CBMR-7). The values of the best-fit snow particle radii were found to fall within the range of values obtained by averaging the field-measured mean particle sizes for the three classes of Small, Medium and Large grain sizes measured at the LSOS site.

NASA Earth Resources Survey Symposium. Volume 1-C: Land use, marine resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Articles are presented on the utilization of remote sensing data from NASA programs involving LANDSAT, the Skylab Earth resources experiment package, and aircraft, as well as from other data acquisition programs. Emphasis is placed on land use and marine resources.

Cloud-enabled large-scale land surface model simulations with the NASA Land Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duffy, D.; Vaughan, G.; Clark, M. P.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Nijssen, B.; Nearing, G. S.; Rheingrover, S.; Kumar, S.; Geiger, J. V.

2017-12-01

Developed by the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Land Information System (LIS) is a high-performance software framework for terrestrial hydrology modeling and data assimilation. LIS provides the ability to integrate satellite and ground-based observational products and advanced modeling algorithms to extract land surface states and fluxes. Through a partnership with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Washington, the LIS model is currently being extended to include the Structure for Unifying Multiple Modeling Alternatives (SUMMA). With the addition of SUMMA in LIS, meaningful simulations containing a large multi-model ensemble will be enabled and can provide advanced probabilistic continental-domain modeling capabilities at spatial scales relevant for water managers. The resulting LIS/SUMMA application framework is difficult for non-experts to install due to the large amount of dependencies on specific versions of operating systems, libraries, and compilers. This has created a significant barrier to entry for domain scientists that are interested in using the software on their own systems or in the cloud. In addition, the requirement to support multiple run time environments across the LIS community has created a significant burden on the NASA team. To overcome these challenges, LIS/SUMMA has been deployed using Linux containers, which allows for an entire software package along with all dependences to be installed within a working runtime environment, and Kubernetes, which orchestrates the deployment of a cluster of containers. Within a cloud environment, users can now easily create a cluster of virtual machines and run large-scale LIS/SUMMA simulations. Installations that have taken weeks and months can now be performed in minutes of time. This presentation will discuss the steps required to create a cloud-enabled large-scale simulation, present examples of its use, and

Understanding global changes on the land - A potential focus for NASA earth sciences and land remote sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erickson, J. D.; Tuyahov, A. J.; Hogg, H. C.

1983-01-01

Planned NASA contributions to the study of the interaction of living organisms with their physical and chemical environments are discussed. Five major land-related research objectives are stated and the role of remote sensing in achieving them is addressed. The importance of improved sensors and cooperation with domestic and international organizations is stressed.

Analysis of Summer Thunderstorms in Central Alabama Using the NASA Land Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

James, Robert; Case, Jonathan; Molthan, Andrew; Jedloved, Gary

2010-01-01

Forecasters have difficulty predicting "random" afternoon thunderstorms during the summer months. Differences in soil characteristics could be a contributing factor for storms. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) may assist forecasters in predicting summer convection by identifying boundaries in land characteristics. This project identified case dates during the summer of 2009 by analyzing synoptic weather maps, radar, and satellite data to look for weak atmospheric forcing and disorganized convective development. Boundaries in land characteristics that may have lead to convective initiation in central Alabama were then identified using LIS.

Predictive Modeling for NASA Entry, Descent and Landing Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, Michael

2016-01-01

Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) Modeling and Simulation (MS) is an enabling capability for complex NASA entry missions such as MSL and Orion. MS is used in every mission phase to define mission concepts, select appropriate architectures, design EDL systems, quantify margin and risk, ensure correct system operation, and analyze data returned from the entry. In an environment where it is impossible to fully test EDL concepts on the ground prior to use, accurate MS capability is required to extrapolate ground test results to expected flight performance.

In Brief: NASA's Phoenix spacecraft lands on Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy; Kumar, Mohi

2008-06-01

After a 9.5-month, 679-million-kilometer flight from Florida, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft made a soft landing in Vastitas Borealis in Mars's northern polar region on 25 May. The lander, whose camera already has returned some spectacular images, is on a 3-month mission to examine the area and dig into the soil of this site-chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water near the surface-and analyze samples. In addition to a robotic arm and robotic arm camera, the lander's instruments include a surface stereo imager; thermal and evolved-gas analyzer; microscopy, electrochemistry, and conductivity analyzer; and a meteorological station that is tracking daily weather and seasonal changes.

Entry, Descent, and Landing Aerothermodynamics: NASA Langley Experimental Capabilities and Contributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hollis, Brian R.; Berger, Karen T.; Berry, Scott A.; Bruckmann, Gregory J.; Buck, Gregory M.; DiFulvio, Michael; Horvath, Thomas J.; Liechty, Derek S.; Merski, N. Ronald; Murphy, Kelly J.;

Earth land landing alternatives: Lunar transportation system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meyerson, Robert

1992-01-01

The objectives of this study are as follows: (1) develop a landing option such that it is a viable trade option for future NASA missions; (2) provide NASA programs with solid technical support in the landing systems area; (3) develop the technical staff; and (4) advance the state of landing systems technology to apply to future NASA missions. All results are presented in viewgraph format.

AFFTC commander Brig. Gen. Curtis Bedke experienced a Shuttle approach and landing in NASA's Shuttle Training Aircraft from STS-114 commander Eileen Collins

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-03-29

Brig. Gen. Curtis Bedke, commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, received some first-hand insight on how to fly a Space Shuttle approach and landing, courtesy of NASA astronaut and STS-114 mission commander Eileen Collins. The series of proficiency flights in NASA's modified Grumman Gulfstream-II Shuttle Training Aircraft were in preparation for the STS-114 mission with the shuttle Discovery. Although NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is the primary landing site for Space Shuttle missions, flight crews also practice the shuttle's steep approach and landing at Edwards in case weather or other situations preclude a landing at the Florida site and force a diversion to Edwards AFB.

Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) dumps water after first in-flight cold flow test

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-03-04

The NASA SR-71A successfully completed its first cold flow flight as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California on March 4, 1998. During a cold flow flight, gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen are cycled through the linear aerospike engine to check the engine's plumbing system for leaks and to check the engine operating characterisitics. Cold-flow tests must be accomplished successfully before firing the rocket engine experiment in flight. The SR-71 took off at 10:16 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty-seven minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.58 before landing at Edwards at 12:13 p.m. PST. "I think all in all we had a good mission today," Dryden LASRE Project Manager Dave Lux said. Flight crew member Bob Meyer agreed, saying the crew "thought it was a really good flight." Dryden Research Pilot Ed Schneider piloted the SR-71 during the mission. Lockheed Martin LASRE Project Manager Carl Meade added, "We are extremely pleased with today's results. This will help pave the way for the first in-flight engine data-collection flight of the LASRE."

Study of USGS/NASA land use classification system. [compatibility of land use classification system with computer processing techniques employed for land use mapping from ERTS data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spann, G. W.; Faust, N. L.

1974-01-01

It is known from several previous investigations that many categories of land-use can be mapped via computer processing of Earth Resources Technology Satellite data. The results are presented of one such experiment using the USGS/NASA land-use classification system. Douglas County, Georgia, was chosen as the test site for this project. It was chosen primarily because of its recent rapid growth and future growth potential. Results of the investigation indicate an overall land-use mapping accuracy of 67% with higher accuracies in rural areas and lower accuracies in urban areas. It is estimated, however, that 95% of the State of Georgia could be mapped by these techniques with an accuracy of 80% to 90%.

Preliminary Results of a U.S. Deep South Modeling Experiment Using NASA SPoRT Initialization Datasets for Operational National Weather Service Local Model Runs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, Lance; Medlin, Jeffrey M.; Case, Jon

2012-01-01

A joint collaborative modeling effort among the NWS offices in Mobile, AL, and Houston, TX, and NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center began during the 2011-2012 cold season, and continued into the 2012 warm season. The focus was on two frequent U.S. Deep South forecast challenges: the initiation of deep convection during the warm season; and heavy precipitation during the cold season. We wanted to examine the impact of certain NASA produced products on the Weather Research and Forecasting Environmental Modeling System in improving the model representation of mesoscale boundaries such as the local sea-, bay- and land-breezes (which often leads to warm season convective initiation); and improving the model representation of slow moving, or quasi-stationary frontal boundaries (which focus cold season storm cell training and heavy precipitation). The NASA products were: the 4-km Land Information System, a 1-km sea surface temperature analysis, and a 4-km greenness vegetation fraction analysis. Similar domains were established over the southeast Texas and Alabama coastlines, each with an outer grid with a 9 km spacing and an inner nest with a 3 km grid spacing. The model was run at each NWS office once per day out to 24 hours from 0600 UTC, using the NCEP Global Forecast System for initial and boundary conditions. Control runs without the NASA products were made at the NASA SPoRT Center. The NCAR Model Evaluation Tools verification package was used to evaluate both the positive and negative impacts of the NASA products on the model forecasts. Select case studies will be presented to highlight the influence of the products.

Updates of Land Surface and Air Quality Products in NASA MAIRS and NEESPI Data Portals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Leptoukh, Gregory G.; Gerasimov, Irina

2010-01-01

Following successful support of the Northern Eurasia Earth Sciences Partner Initiative (NEESPI) project with NASA satellite remote sensing data, from Spring 2009 the NASA GES DISC (Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center) has been working on collecting more satellite and model data to support the Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS) project. The established data management and service infrastructure developed for NEESPI has been used and improved for MAIRS support.Data search, subsetting, and download functions are available through a single system. A customized Giovanni system has been created for MAIRS.The Web-based on line data analysis and visualization system, Giovanni (Goddard Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure) allows scientists to explore, quickly analyze, and download data easily without learning the original data structure and format. Giovanni MAIRS includes satellite observations from multiple sensors and model output from the NASA Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), and from the NASA atmospheric reanalysis project, MERRA. Currently, we are working on processing and integrating higher resolution land data in to Giovanni, such as vegetation index, land surface temperature, and active fire at 5km or 1km from the standard MODIS products. For data that are not archived at the GESDISC,a product metadata portal is under development to serve as a gateway for providing product level information and data access links, which include both satellite, model products and ground-based measurements information collected from MAIRS scientists.Due to the large overlap of geographic coverage and many similar scientific interests of NEESPI and MAIRS, these data and tools will serve both projects.

NASA's Robotic Lunar Lander Development Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ballard, Benjamin W.; Reed, Cheryl L. B.; Artis, David; Cole, Tim; Eng, Doug S.; Kubota, Sanae; Lafferty, Paul; McGee, Timothy; Morese, Brian J.; Chavers, Gregory;

STS-79 NASA administrator Goldin greets crew after landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin (center, with box) greets STS-79 Commander William F. Readdy following the successful conclusion of Mission STS-79 with an end of mission landing at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility. Also climbing down from the Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV) are (from left) STS-79 Mission Specialists Carl E. Walz and Jay Apt, and Pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt. To the right of Goldin are KSC Director Jay Honeycutt and Acting Associate Administrator for the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian. Goldin is holding a box of m&m candy to give to U.S. astronaut Shannon W. Lucid, who returns to Earth after a record setting six month stay aboard the Russian Space Station Mir. The candy is a gift from President Bill Clinton for Lucid. M&M Mars has been supplying m&m candy to the U.S. space program for more than a decade; the gift candies for Lucid are red, white and blue to commemorate her historic flight.

NASA MEaSUREs Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borbas, E. E.; Hulley, G. C.; Feltz, M.; Knuteson, R. O.; Hook, S. J.

2016-12-01

A land surface emissivity product of the NASA MEASUREs project called Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL) is being made available as part of the Unified and Coherent Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) Earth System Data Record (ESDR). The CAMEL database has been created by merging the UW MODIS-based baseline-fit emissivity database (UWIREMIS) developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the ASTER Global Emissivity Database (ASTER GED V4) produced at JPL. This poster will introduce the beta version of the database, which is available globally for the period 2003 through 2015 at 5km in mean monthly time-steps and for 13 bands from 3.6-14.3 micron. An algorithm to create a high spectral emissivity on 417 wavenumbers is also provided for high spectral IR applications. On the poster the CAMEL database has been evaluated with the IASI Emissivity Atlas (Zhou et al, 2010) and laboratory measurements, and also through simulation of IASI BTs in the RTTOV Forward model.

Overview of the NASA Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis Exploration Feed-Forward Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DwyerCianciolo, Alicia M.; Zang, Thomas A.; Sostaric, Ronald R.; McGuire, M. Kathy

2011-01-01

Technology required to land large payloads (20 to 50 mt) on Mars remains elusive. In an effort to identify the most viable investment path, NASA and others have been studying various concepts. One such study, the Entry, Descent and Landing Systems Analysis (EDLSA) Study [1] identified three potential options: the rigid aeroshell, the inflatable aeroshell and supersonic retropropulsion (SRP). In an effort to drive out additional levels of design detail, a smaller demonstrator, or exploration feed-forward (EFF), robotic mission was devised that utilized two of the three (inflatable aeroshell and SRP) high potential technologies in a configuration to demonstrate landing a two to four metric ton payload on Mars. This paper presents and overview of the maximum landed mass, inflatable aeroshell controllability and sensor suite capability assessments of the selected technologies and recommends specific technology areas for additional work.

The NASA-Goddard Multi-Scale Modeling Framework - Land Information System: Global Land/atmosphere Interaction with Resolved Convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mohr, Karen Irene; Tao, Wei-Kuo; Chern, Jiun-Dar; Kumar, Sujay V.; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.

2013-01-01

The present generation of general circulation models (GCM) use parameterized cumulus schemes and run at hydrostatic grid resolutions. To improve the representation of cloud-scale moist processes and landeatmosphere interactions, a global, Multi-scale Modeling Framework (MMF) coupled to the Land Information System (LIS) has been developed at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. The MMFeLIS has three components, a finite-volume (fv) GCM (Goddard Earth Observing System Ver. 4, GEOS-4), a 2D cloud-resolving model (Goddard Cumulus Ensemble, GCE), and the LIS, representing the large-scale atmospheric circulation, cloud processes, and land surface processes, respectively. The non-hydrostatic GCE model replaces the single-column cumulus parameterization of fvGCM. The model grid is composed of an array of fvGCM gridcells each with a series of embedded GCE models. A horizontal coupling strategy, GCE4fvGCM4Coupler4LIS, offered significant computational efficiency, with the scalability and I/O capabilities of LIS permitting landeatmosphere interactions at cloud-scale. Global simulations of 2007e2008 and comparisons to observations and reanalysis products were conducted. Using two different versions of the same land surface model but the same initial conditions, divergence in regional, synoptic-scale surface pressure patterns emerged within two weeks. The sensitivity of largescale circulations to land surface model physics revealed significant functional value to using a scalable, multi-model land surface modeling system in global weather and climate prediction.

X-38 sails to a landing at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center July 10, 2001

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

The seventh free flight of an X-38 prototype for an emergency space station crew return vehicle culminated in a graceful glide to landing under the world's largest parafoil. The mission began when the X-38 was released from NASA's B-52 mother ship over Edwards Air Force Base, California, where NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is located. The July 10, 2001 flight helped researchers evaluate software and deployment of the X-38's drogue parachute and subsequent parafoil. NASA intends to create a space-worthy Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) to be docked to the International Space Station as a 'lifeboat' to enable a full seven-person station crew to evacuate in an emergency.

X-38 sails to a landing at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center July 10, 2001

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-07-10

The seventh free flight of an X-38 prototype for an emergency space station crew return vehicle culminated in a graceful glide to landing under the world's largest parafoil. The mission began when the X-38 was released from NASA's B-52 mother ship over Edwards Air Force Base, California, where NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is located. The July 10, 2001 flight helped researchers evaluate software and deployment of the X-38's drogue parachute and subsequent parafoil. NASA intends to create a space-worthy Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) to be docked to the International Space Station as a "lifeboat" to enable a full seven-person station crew to evacuate in an emergency.

Cold Stowage Flight Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campana, Sharon E.; Melendez, David T.

2011-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) provides a test bed for researchers to perform science experiments in a variety of fields, including human research, life sciences, and space medicine. Many of the experiments being conducted today require science samples to be stored and transported in a temperature controlled environment. NASA provides several systems which aid researchers in preserving their science. On orbit systems provided by NASA include the Minus Eighty Laboratory freezer for ISS (MELFI), Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator (MERLIN), and Glacier. These freezers use different technologies to provide rapid cooling and cold stowage at different temperature levels on board ISS. Systems available to researchers during transportation to and from ISS are MERLIN, Glacier, and Coldbag. Coldbag is a passive cold stowage system that uses phase change materials to maintain temperature. Details of these current technologies are provided along with operational experience gained to date. This paper discusses the capability of the current cold stowage hardware and how it may continue to support NASA s mission on ISS and in future exploration missions.

Visions of our Planet's Atmosphere, Land and Oceans: NASA/NOAA E-Theater 2003

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, Fritz

2003-01-01

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations from space in a spectacular way. Fly in from outer space to the conference location as well as the site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games using data from NASA satellites and the IKONOS 'Spy Satellite". See HDTV movie Destination Earth 2002 incorporating the Olympic Zooms, NBC footage of the 2002 Olympics, the shuttle, & the best NASA/NOAA Earth science visualizations. See the latest US and international global satellite weather movies including hurricanes, typhoons & "tornadoes". See the latest visualizations from NASA/NOAA and International remote sensing missions like Terra, Aqua, GOES, GMS, SeaWiFS, & Landsat. Feel the pulse of OUT planet. See how land vegetation, ocean plankton, clouds and temperatures respond to the sun & seasons. See vortexes and currents in the global oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny algae and draw the fish, whales and fisherman. See the how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nina climate changes. See the city lights, fishing fleets, gas flares and bio-mass burning of the Earth at night observed by the "night-vision" DMSP satellite. The presentation will be made using the latest HDTV and video projection technology by: Dr. Fritz Hasler NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

Visions of our Planet's Atmosphere, Land and Oceans: NASA/NOAA E-Theater 2003

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, Fritz

2003-01-01

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations from space in a spectacular way. Fly in from outer space to the conference location as well as the site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games using data from NASA satellites and the IKONOS "Spy Satellite". See HDTV movie Destination Earth 2002 incorporating the Olympic Zooms, NBC footage of the 2002 Olympics, the shuttle, & the best NASA/NOAA Earth science visualizations. See the latest US and international global satellite weather movies including hurricanes, typhoons & "tornadoes". See the latest visualizations from NASA/NOAA and International remote sensing missions like Terra, Aqua, GOES, GMS, SeaWiFS, & Landsat. Feel the pulse of our planet. See how land vegetation, ocean plankton, clouds and temperatures respond to the sun & seasons. See vortexes and currents in the global oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny algae and draw the fish, whales and fisherman. See the how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nina climate changes. See the city lights, fishing fleets, gas flares and bio-mass burning of the Earth at night observed by the "night-vision" DMSP satellite. The presentation will be made using the latest HDTV and video projection technology by: Dr. Fritz Hasler NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Visions of our Planet's Atmosphere, Land and Oceans: NASA/NOAA E-Theater 2003

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hasler, Fritz

2003-01-01

The NASA/NOAA Electronic Theater presents Earth science observations from space in a spectacular way. Fly in from outer space to the conference location as well as the site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games using data from NASA satellites and the IKONOS "Spy Satellite". See HDTV movie Destination Earth 2002 incorporating the Olympic Zooms, NBC footage of the 2002 Olympics, the shuttle, & the best NASA/NOAA Earth science visualizations. See the latest US and international global satellite weather movies including hurricanes, typhoons & "tornadoes". See the latest visualizations from NASA/NOAA and International remote sensing missions like Terra, Aqua, GOES, GMS , SeaWiFS, & Landsat. Feel the pulse of our planet. See how land vegetation, ocean plankton, clouds and temperatures respond to the sun & seasons. See vortexes and currents in the global oceans that bring up the nutrients to feed tiny algae and draw the fish, whales and fisherman. See the how the ocean blooms in response to these currents and El Nino/La Nina climate changes. See the city lights, fishing fleets, gas flares and bio-mass burning of the Earth at night observed by the the "night-vision" DMSP satellite. The presentation will be made using the latest HDTV and video projection technology by: Dr. Fritz Hasler NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

1st Manned Lunar Landing and 1st Robotic Mars Landing Commemorative Release: Viking 1 Landing Site in Chryse Planitia - Infrared Image

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-07-22

This NASA Mars Odyssey image of NASA Viking 1 landing site was taken to commemorate the anniversaries of NASA Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and Viking 1 landing on Mars -- July 20, 1969 and July 20, 1976, respectively.

Characteristics of organic soil in black spruce forests: implications for the application of land surface and ecosystem models in cold regions

Treesearch

Shuhua Yi; Kristen Manies; Jennifer Harden; David McGuire

2009-01-01

Soil organic layers (OL) play an important role in land-atmosphere exchanges of water, energy and carbon in cold environments. The proper implementation of OL in land surface and ecosystem models is important for predicting dynamic responses to climate warming. Based on the analysis of OL samples of black spruce (Picea mariana), we recommend that...

Cold Weather Wind Turbines: A Joint NASA/NSF/DOE Effort in Technology Transfer and Commercialization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flynn, Michael; Bubenheim, David; Chiang, Erick; Goldman, Peter; Kohout, Lisa; Norton, Gary; Kliss, Mark (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

Renewable energy sources and their integration with other power sources to support remote communities is of interest for Mars applications as well as Earth communities. The National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and the Department of Energy (DOE) have been jointly supporting development of a 100 kW cold weather wind turbine through grants and SBIRs independently managed by each agency but coordinated by NASA. The NSF grant addressed issues associated with the South Pole application and a 3 kW direct drive unit is being tested there in anticipation of the 100 kW unit operation. The DOE-NREL contract focused on development of the 100 kW direct drive generator. The NASA SBIR focused on the development of the 100 kW direct drive wind turbine. The success of this effort has required coordination and team involvement of federal agencies and the industrial partners. Designs of the wind turbine and component performance testing results will be presented. Plans for field testing of wind turbines, based on this design, in village energy systems in Alaska and in energy production at the South Pole Station will be discussed. Also included will be a discussion of terrestrial and space use of hybrid energy systems, including renewable energy sources, such as the wind turbine, to support remote communities.

Characterizing convective cold pools: Characterizing Convective Cold Pools

DOE PAGES

Drager, Aryeh J.; van den Heever, Susan C.

2017-05-09

Cold pools produced by convective storms play an important role in Earth's climate system. However, a common framework does not exist for objectively identifying convective cold pools in observations and models. The present study investigates convective cold pools within a simulation of tropical continental convection that uses a cloud-resolving model with a coupled land-surface model. Multiple variables are assessed for their potential in identifying convective cold pool boundaries, and a novel technique is developed and tested for identifying and tracking cold pools in numerical model simulations. This algorithm is based on surface rainfall rates and radial gradients in the densitymore » potential temperature field. The algorithm successfully identifies near-surface cold pool boundaries and is able to distinguish between connected cold pools. Once cold pools have been identified and tracked, composites of cold pool evolution are then constructed, and average cold pool properties are investigated. Wet patches are found to develop within the centers of cold pools where the ground has been soaked with rainwater. These wet patches help to maintain cool surface temperatures and reduce cold pool dissipation, which has implications for the development of subsequent convection.« less

Characterizing convective cold pools: Characterizing Convective Cold Pools

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Drager, Aryeh J.; van den Heever, Susan C.

Cold pools produced by convective storms play an important role in Earth's climate system. However, a common framework does not exist for objectively identifying convective cold pools in observations and models. The present study investigates convective cold pools within a simulation of tropical continental convection that uses a cloud-resolving model with a coupled land-surface model. Multiple variables are assessed for their potential in identifying convective cold pool boundaries, and a novel technique is developed and tested for identifying and tracking cold pools in numerical model simulations. This algorithm is based on surface rainfall rates and radial gradients in the densitymore » potential temperature field. The algorithm successfully identifies near-surface cold pool boundaries and is able to distinguish between connected cold pools. Once cold pools have been identified and tracked, composites of cold pool evolution are then constructed, and average cold pool properties are investigated. Wet patches are found to develop within the centers of cold pools where the ground has been soaked with rainwater. These wet patches help to maintain cool surface temperatures and reduce cold pool dissipation, which has implications for the development of subsequent convection.« less

Assimilation of Freeze - Thaw Observations into the NASA Catchment Land Surface Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farhadi, Leila; Reichle, Rolf H.; DeLannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Kimball, John S.

2014-01-01

The land surface freeze-thaw (F-T) state plays a key role in the hydrological and carbon cycles and thus affects water and energy exchanges and vegetation productivity at the land surface. In this study, we developed an F-T assimilation algorithm for the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5) modeling and assimilation framework. The algorithm includes a newly developed observation operator that diagnoses the landscape F-T state in the GEOS-5 Catchment land surface model. The F-T analysis is a rule-based approach that adjusts Catchment model state variables in response to binary F-T observations, while also considering forecast and observation errors. A regional observing system simulation experiment was conducted using synthetically generated F-T observations. The assimilation of perfect (error-free) F-T observations reduced the root-mean-square errors (RMSE) of surface temperature and soil temperature by 0.206 C and 0.061 C, respectively, when compared to model estimates (equivalent to a relative RMSE reduction of 6.7 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively). For a maximum classification error (CEmax) of 10 percent in the synthetic F-T observations, the F-T assimilation reduced the RMSE of surface temperature and soil temperature by 0.178 C and 0.036 C, respectively. For CEmax=20 percent, the F-T assimilation still reduces the RMSE of model surface temperature estimates by 0.149 C but yields no improvement over the model soil temperature estimates. The F-T assimilation scheme is being developed to exploit planned operational F-T products from the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission.

Expanding NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near Real-Time Capability for EOS (LANCE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davies, Diane; Michael, Karen; Masuoka, Ed; Ye, Gang; Schmaltz, Jeffrey; Harrison, Sherry; Ziskin, Daniel; Durbin, Phil B; Protack, Steve; Rinsland, Pamela Livingstone;

High spatial resolution satellite observations for validation of MODIS land products: IKONOS observations acquired under the NASA scientific data purchase.

Treesearch

Jeffrey T. Morisette; Jaime E. Nickeson; Paul Davis; Yujie Wang; Yuhong Tian; Curtis E. Woodcock; Nikolay Shabanov; Matthew Hansen; Warren B. Cohen; Doug R. Oetter; Robert E. Kennedy

2003-01-01

Phase 1I of the Scientific Data Purchase (SDP) has provided NASA investigators access to data from four different satellite and airborne data sources. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) land discipline team (MODLAND) sought to utilize these data in support of land product validation activities with a lbcus on tile EOS Land Validation Core Sites. These...

NASA Looks at Land Surface Changes Following Chilean Quake

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-12

On Sept. 16, 2015, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck near the coast of central Chile along the boundary of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. Dubbed the Illapel earthquake, the shaking lasted at least three minutes and propelled a 15-foot (4.5-meter) tsunami that washed into Coquimbo and other coastal areas. Smaller tsunami waves raced across the Pacific and showed up on the shores of Hawaii and other islands. The earthquake and tsunami caused substantial damage in several Chilean coastal towns, and at least 13 deaths have been reported. Demanding building codes and extensive disaster preparedness helped to limit the loss of life and property. The maps above, known as interferograms, show how the quake moved the ground, as observed by the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite (operated by the European Space Agency) and reported by ground stations to the U.S. Geological Survey. Sentinel-1A carries a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument, which beams radio signals toward the ground and measures the reflections to determine the distance between the ground and the satellite. By comparing measurements made on Aug. 24 and Sept. 17, Cunren Liang, Eric Fielding, and other researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory were able to determine how the land surface shifted during and after the earthquake. Interferograms can be used to estimate where the fault moved deep in Earth and which areas have increased stress and higher likelihood of future earthquakes. The details can also provide important information to better understand the earthquake process. On both the close-up and the broad-view maps, the amount of land motion is represented in shades from yellow to purple. Areas where the ground shifted the most (vertically, horizontally, or both) are represented in yellow, while areas with little change are represented in purple. Circles show the location of earthquakes and aftershocks in the two days after the initial 8.3 earthquake, as reported by the USGS

Customer-oriented Data Formats and Services for Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Products at the NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fang, Hongliang; Beaudoing, Hiroko; Rodell, Matthew; Teng, BIll; Vollmer, Bruce

2008-01-01

The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) is generating a series of land surface state (e.g., soil moisture and surface temperature) and flux (e.g., evaporation and sensible heat flux) products simulated by four land surface Models (CLM, Mosaic, Noah and VIC). These products are now accessible at the Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), a component of NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GESDISC).

Cold Stowage Flight Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campana, Sharon

2010-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) provides a test bed for researchers to perform science experiments in a variety of fields, including human research, life sciences, and space medicine. Many of the experiments being conducted today require science samples to be stored and transported in a temperature controlled environment. NASA provides several systems which aide researchers in preserving their science. On orbit systems provided by NASA include the Minus Eighty Laboratory freezer for ISS (MELFI), Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator (MERLIN), and Glacier. These freezers use different technologies to provide rapid cooling and cold stowage at different temperature levels on board ISS. Systems available to researchers during transportation to and from ISS are MERLIN, Glacier, and Coldbag. Coldbag is a passive cold stowage system that uses phase change materials. Details of these current technologies will be provided along with operational experience gained to date. With shuttle retirement looming, NASA has protected the capability to provide a temperature controlled environment during transportation to and from the ISS with the use of Glacier and Coldbags, which are compatible with future commercial vehicles including SpaceX's Dragon Capsule, and Orbital s Cygnus vehicle. This paper will discuss the capability of the current cold stowage hardware and how it may continue to support NASA s mission on ISS and in future exploration missions.

Comparison of tropospheric ozone profiles measured by lidars simultaneously over land and water during the 2017 NASA OWLETS campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gronoff, G.; Sullivan, J.; Berkoff, T.; Carrion, W.; Farris, B.

2017-12-01

The NASA Langley Mobile Ozone Lidar (LMOL) and NASA Goddard's lidar (TROPOZ) have routinely measured tropospheric ozone profiles in support of various NASA campaigns and local field studies since 2013 (e.g. DISCOVER-AQ 2014). They are both charter members of the NASA Tropospheric Lidar Network (TOLNet) and were constructed within transportable containers, allowing for observations directly within a variety of complex environments. To gain a better understanding of ozone's interactions close to the surface, both of these instruments have recently designed and optimized near field optical elements for ozone detection. One of the major difficulties for the modeling and satellite communities are the sharp transition regions, both horizontal and vertical, such as the land-water gradients in O3 near coastal/urban regions that are driven by differences in surface deposition, boundary layer height, and cloud coverage.To better understand these gradients, both lidars were deployed in the Hampton Roads / Tidewater region, in Virginia, in July-August 2017, in the context of the OWLETS (Ozone Water Land Environment Transition Study) campaign. The TROPOZ lidar was deployed above land at NASA LaRC, while the LMOL lidar was deployed on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel third island, being de-facto an over-water lidar. The distance between the two lidars was approximately 30 km. Strong differences between the two lidars measurements were observed. Some influence of the ship traffic can be seen over water, but does not affect the observations above 300m. Overall, some important discrepancies between the modeling and the lidar observations over water were found. These results shows the importance of making more measurements over water to better constrain pollution models.

Applications of NASA GSFC's Land Information System (LIS) for water resources management in Korea and East-Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, D. H.; Hwang, E.; Jung, H. C.; Kim, E. J.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Kumar, S.; Chae, H.; Baeck, S. H.

2017-12-01

NASA has contributed to resolve global water issues by utilizing their long-term legacy of remote sensing technologies supported by a state of art software engineering. In this context, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a land surface model framework to monitor and predict water hazards such as flood and drought with the Land Information System (hereafter LIS) applied to North America and beyond it to include a global coverage. However, it is still challenging to apply the LIS to East-Asia where a rice-paddy agriculture is prevalent compared to other parts of the world, but retains a high population density in this region. Thus, this paper introduces recent efforts from the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) in S. Korea to establish the LIS in East-Asia including Korea, aiming at producing surface hydrology datasets in Asia. One of the ultimate goals of this project is to manage the water hazards in Korea and to provide the water resources dataset in East-Asia by adapting the LIS with their abundantly available hydrometeorological observations to support the LIS applications. Preliminary results from initiating efforts since the beginning of 2017 between NASA and K-water are addressed in the paper to review the possible outcomes after this ongoing project to benefit both entities. Acknowledgements This research was supported by a grant (17AWMP-B079625-04) from Water Management Research Program sponsored by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

STS_135_Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

JSC2011-E-067995 (21 July 2011) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, makes a public statement as, from left, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, along with NASA astronauts Rex Walheim, Sandy Magnus and Doug Hurley look on after the space shuttle Atlantis landed on July 21 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

Development of an IVE/EVA Compatible Prototype Cold-Gas Cubesat Propulsion System at NASA/JSC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Radke, Christopher; Studak, Joseph

2017-01-01

Cold-gas propulsion systems are well suited for some applications because they are simple to design and build, have low operating costs, and are non-toxic. The inherent tradeoff, however, is their relatively low impulse density. Nevertheless, a modest propulsion system, sized for Cubesats and designed for affordability, presents an attractive system solution for some missions, such as an on-orbit inspection free-flyer. NASA has a long-standing effort to develop propulsion systems appropriate for very high delta-V cubesat missions, such as geo transfer orbits, and there are commercially available Cubesat propulsion systems with considerably more impulse capability, but, these are both prohibitively expensive for some development customers and face compatibility constraints for crewed applications, such as operation within ISS. A relatively conventional cold-gas system has been developed at NASA/JSC taking advantage of existing miniature industrial components, additive manufacturing techniques and in-house qualification of the system. The result is a nearly modular system with a 1U form factor. Compressed nitrogen is stored in a small high-pressure tank, then regulated and distributed to 12 thrusters. Maneuvering thrust can be adjusted, with a typical value of 40 mN, and the delta-V delivered to a 3U Cubesat would be approximately 7 m/s. These values correspond to the performance parameters for an inspection mission previously established at JSC for inspection of the orbiter prior to reentry. Environmental testing was performed to meet ISS launch and workmanship standards, along with the expected thermal environment for an inspection mission. Functionality has been demonstrated, and performance in both vacuum and relevant blow down scenarios was completed. Several avenues for further improvement are also explored. Details of the system, components, integration, tests, and test data are presented in this paper.

Analyzing the Impacts of Natural Environments on Launch and Landing Availability for NASA's Eploration Systems Development Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. Lee; Barbre, Robert E.; Leahy, Frank B.

2014-01-01

NASA is developing new capabilities for human and scientific exploration beyond Earth orbit. Natural environments information is an important asset for NASA's development of the next generation space transportation system as part of the Exploration Systems Development Program, which includes the Space Launch System (SLS) and MultiPurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Programs. Natural terrestrial environment conditions - such as wind, lightning and sea states - can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from prelaunch ground processing to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Space vehicles are particularly sensitive to these environments during the launch/ascent and the entry/landing phases of mission operations. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch provides engineering design support for NASA space vehicle projects and programs by providing design engineers and mission planners with natural environments definitions as well as performing custom analyses to help characterize the impacts the natural environment may have on vehicle performance. One such analysis involves assessing the impact of natural environments to operational availability. Climatological time series of operational surface weather observations are used to calculate probabilities of meeting or exceeding various sets of hypothetical vehicle-specific parametric constraint thresholds.

Cold hardiness in molluscs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansart, Armelle; Vernon, Philippe

2003-05-01

Molluscs inhabit all types of environments: seawater, intertidal zone, freshwater and land, and of course may have to deal with subzero temperatures. Ectotherm animals survive cold conditions by avoiding it by extensive supercooling (freezing avoidant species) or by bearing the freezing of their extracellular body fluids (freezing tolerant species). Although some studies on cold hardiness are available for intertidal molluscs, they are scarce for freshwater and terrestrial ones. Molluscs often exhibit intermediary levels of cold hardiness, with a moderate or low ability to supercool and a limited survival to the freezing of their tissues. Several factors could be involved: their dependence on water, their ability to enter dormancy, the probability of inoculative freezing in their environment, etc. Size is an important parameter in the development of cold hardiness abilities: it influences supercooling ability in land snails, which are rather freezing avoidant and survival to ice formation in intertidal organisms, which generally tolerate freezing.

1st Manned Lunar Landing and 1st Robotic Mars Landing Commemorative Release: Viking 1 Landing Site in Chryse Planitia - Visible Image

NASA Image and Video Library

2002-07-22

NASA Viking 1 landing site is shown in this commemorative image from NASA Mars Odyssey spacecraft to celebrate the July 20, 1969 and 1976 anniversaries of NASA Apollo 11 and Viking 1 landings on the Moon and Mars, respectively.

Winter wheat response to irrigation, nitrogen fertilization, and cold hazards in the Community Land Model 5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Y.

2017-12-01

Winter wheat is a staple crop for global food security, and is the dominant vegetation cover for a significant fraction of earth's croplands. As such, it plays an important role in soil carbon balance, and land-atmosphere interactions in these key regions. Accurate simulation of winter wheat growth is not only crucial for future yield prediction under changing climate, but also for understanding the energy and water cycles for winter wheat dominated regions. A winter wheat growth model has been developed in the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5), but its responses to irrigation and nitrogen fertilization have not been validated. In this study, I will validate winter wheat growth response to irrigation and nitrogen fertilization at five winter wheat field sites (TXLU, KSMA, NESA, NDMA, and ABLE) in North America, which were originally designed to understand winter wheat response to nitrogen fertilization and water treatments (4 nitrogen levels and 3 irrigation regimes). I also plan to further update the linkages between winter wheat yield and cold hazards. The previous cold damage function only indirectly affects yield through reduction on leaf area index (LAI) and hence photosynthesis, such approach could sometimes produce an unwanted higher yield when the reduced LAI saved more nutrient in the grain fill stage.

NASA Land Information System (LIS) Water Availability to Support Reclamation ET Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Arsenault, Kristi; Pinheiro, Ana; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Houser, Paul; Kumar, Sujay; Engman, Ted; Nigro, Joe; Triggs, Jonathan

2005-01-01

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation identified the remote sensing of evapotranspiration (ET) as an important water flux for study and designated a test site in the Lower Colorado River basin. A consortium of groups will work together with the goal to develop more accurate and cost effective techniques using the enhanced spatial and temporal coverage afforded by remote sensing. ET is a critical water loss flux where improved estimation should lead to better management of Reclamation responsibilities. There are several areas where NASA satellite and modeling data may be useful to meet Reclamation's objectives for improved ET estimation. In this paper we outline one possible contribution to use NASA's data integration capability of the Land Information System (LIS) to provide a merger of observational (in situ and satellite) with physical process models to provide estimates of ET and other water availability outputs (e.g., runoff, soil moisture) retrospectively, in near real-time, and also providing short-term predictions.

Long, Strong Eastern U.S. Cold Front Brings Changes

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-12-23

A long, strong, cold front draped over the eastern U.S. is marking a stark change from record-warmth to very cold temperatures. This NOAA GOES-East satellite image from December 23 at 1515 UTC/10:15 a.m. EST shows a powerful cold front covering the U.S. East Coast and stretching into the central and southwestern Gulf of Mexico. According to the National Weather Service, that front is bringing rain and embedded thunderstorms over the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S. The same system is bringing lingering wintry precipitation to northern New England and upstate New York. Behind the cold front, much colder and dry Canadian air will filter in under high pressure and bring sunshine over the eastern U.S. in time for Christmas. The image was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Rob Gutro NASA Goddard Space Flight Center NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory lands at Edwards AFB after being flown from Waco, Texas to NASA Dryden for systems installation, integration and flight test

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-05-31

NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory lands at Edwards AFB after being flown from Waco, Texas to NASA Dryden for systems installation, integration and flight test. NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on May 31, 2007. The heavily modified Boeing 747SP was ferried to Dryden from Waco, Texas, where L-3 Communications Integrated Systems installed a German-built 2.5-meter infrared telescope and made other major modifications over the past several years. SOFIA is scheduled to undergo installation and integration of mission systems and a multi-phase flight test program at Dryden over the next three years that is expected to lead to a full operational capability to conduct astronomy missions in about 2010. During its expected 20-year lifetime, SOFIA will be capable of "Great Observatory" class astronomical science, providing astronomers with access to the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum with optimized performance in the mid-infrared to sub-millimeter range.

Seasonal-scale Observational Data Analysis and Atmospheric Phenomenology for the Cold Land Processes Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poulos, Gregory S.; Stamus, Peter A.; Snook, John S.

2005-01-01

The Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) experiment emphasized the development of a strong synergism between process-oriented understanding, land surface models and microwave remote sensing. Our work sought to investigate which topographically- generated atmospheric phenomena are most relevant to the CLPX MSA's for the purpose of evaluating their climatic importance to net local moisture fluxes and snow transport through the use of high-resolution data assimilation/atmospheric numerical modeling techniques. Our task was to create three long-term, scientific quality atmospheric datasets for quantitative analysis (for all CLPX researchers) and provide a summary of the meteorologically-relevant phenomena of the three MSAs (see Figure) over northern Colorado. Our efforts required the ingest of a variety of CLPX datasets and the execution an atmospheric and land surface data assimilation system based on the Navier-Stokes equations (the Local Analysis and Prediction System, LAPS, and an atmospheric numerical weather prediction model, as required) at topographically- relevant grid spacing (approx. 500 m). The resulting dataset will be analyzed by the CLPX community as a part of their larger research goals to determine the relative influence of various atmospheric phenomena on processes relevant to CLPX scientific goals.

Interactive Computing and Processing of NASA Land Surface Observations Using Google Earth Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Molthan, Andrew; Burks, Jason; Bell, Jordan

2016-01-01

Google's Earth Engine offers a "big data" approach to processing large volumes of NASA and other remote sensing products. h\\ps://earthengine.google.com/ Interfaces include a Javascript or Python-based API, useful for accessing and processing over large periods of record for Landsat and MODIS observations. Other data sets are frequently added, including weather and climate model data sets, etc. Demonstrations here focus on exploratory efforts to perform land surface change detection related to severe weather, and other disaster events.

View of cold water eddies in Falkland Current off southern Argentina

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-12-14

SL4-137-3608 (14 Dec. 1973) --- A view of cold water eddies in the Falkland Current off the South Atlantic coast of southern Argentina as seen from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. This picture was taken by one of the Skylab 4 crewmen using a hand-held 70mm Hasselblad camera. This land area (left corner) extends south along the coast from Puerto Deseado (center left border) for about 50 miles. Within the ocean, several light blue areas are visible and represent the occurrence of plankton with the Falkland Current. Over the ocean, the cold water eddies are identified by the circular cloud-free areas within the cloud street pattern and bordered by cumulus cloud buildup (white). The cloud streets indicate the wind is from the southwest and do not form over eddies because energy form the atmosphere is absorbed by the cold ocean water. On the downwind side of the eddies, cumulus clouds tend to form as the cold moist air flows over the warmer water. Similar cloud and eddy features have been observed by the Skylab 4 crewmen in the Yucatan Current off Yucatan Peninsula and in some parts of the South Pacific. Studies are underway by Dr. George Maul, NOAA, and Dr. Robert Stevenson, ONR, to determine the significance of the cold water eddies to ocean dynamics. Photo credit: NASA

STS-120 landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-11-07

(left to right) NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, NASA Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs David Mould and NASA Space Shuttle Manager Wayne Hale watch as the space shuttle Discovery comes in for landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., completing the 15-day STS-120 mission to the International Space Station. Discovery landed at 1:01pm EST Wednesday after a mission that included on-orbit construction of the station with the installation of the Harmony Node 2 module and the relocation of the P6 truss. Photo Credit: 'NASA/Bill Ingalls"

STS_135_Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

JSC2011-E-068007 (21 July 2011) --- Green paint marks the location where Atlantis' nose landing gear came to a stop on the runway after the space shuttle landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 21, 2011. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

Cold-water immersion alters muscle recruitment and balance of basketball players during vertical jump landing.

PubMed

Macedo, Christiane de Souza Guerino; Vicente, Rafael Chagas; Cesário, Mauricio Donini; Guirro, Rinaldo Roberto de Jesus

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of cold-water immersion on the electromyographic (EMG) response of the lower limb and balance during unipodal jump landing. The evaluation comprised 40 individuals (20 basketball players and 20 non-athletes). The EMG response in the lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, fibular longus, rectus femoris, hamstring and gluteus medius; amplitude and mean speed of the centre of pressure, flight time and ground reaction force (GRF) were analysed. All volunteers remained for 20 min with their ankle immersed in cold-water, and were re-evaluated immediately post and after 10, 20 and 30 min of reheating. The Shapiro-Wilk test, Friedman test and Dunn's post test (P < 0.05) were used. The EMG response values decreased for the lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, fibular longus and rectus femoris of both athletes and non-athletes (P < 0.05). The comparison between the groups showed that the EMG response was lower for the athletes. Lower jump flight time and GRF, greater amplitude and mean speed of centre of pressure were predominant in the athletes. Cold-water immersion decreased the EMG activity of the lower limb, flight time and GRF and increased the amplitude and mean speed of centre of pressure.

The Utility of the Real-Time NASA Land Information System Data for Drought Monitoring Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, Kristopher D.; Case, Jonathan L.

2013-01-01

Measurements of soil moisture are a crucial component for the proper monitoring of drought conditions. The large spatial variability of soil moisture complicates the problem. Unfortunately, in situ soil moisture observing networks typically consist of sparse point observations, and conventional numerical model analyses of soil moisture used to diagnose drought are of coarse spatial resolution. Decision support systems such as the U.S. Drought Monitor contain drought impact resolution on sub-county scales, which may not be supported by the existing soil moisture networks or analyses. The NASA Land Information System, which is run with 3 km grid spacing over the eastern United States, has demonstrated utility for monitoring soil moisture. Some of the more useful output fields from the Land Information System are volumetric soil moisture in the 0-10 cm and 40-100 cm layers, column-integrated relative soil moisture, and the real-time green vegetation fraction derived from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) swath data that are run within the Land Information System in place of the monthly climatological vegetation fraction. While these and other variables have primarily been used in local weather models and other operational forecasting applications at National Weather Service offices, the use of the Land Information System for drought monitoring has demonstrated utility for feedback to the Drought Monitor. Output from the Land Information System is currently being used at NWS Huntsville to assess soil moisture, and to provide input to the Drought Monitor. Since feedback to the Drought Monitor takes place on a weekly basis, weekly difference plots of column-integrated relative soil moisture are being produced by the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center and analyzed to facilitate the process. In addition to the Drought Monitor, these data are used to assess drought conditions for monthly feedback to the Alabama Drought Monitoring

National Climate Assessment - Land Data Assimilation System (NCA-LDAS) Data and Services at NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rui, Hualan; Vollmer, Bruce; Teng, Bill; Jasinski, Michael; Mocko, David; Loeser, Carlee; Kempler, Steven

2016-01-01

The National Climate Assessment-Land Data Assimilation System (NCA-LDAS) is an Integrated Terrestrial Water Analysis, and is one of NASAs contributions to the NCA of the United States. The NCA-LDAS has undergone extensive development, including multi-variate assimilation of remotely-sensed water states and anomalies as well as evaluation and verification studies, led by the Goddard Space Flight Centers Hydrological Sciences Laboratory (HSL). The resulting NCA-LDAS data have recently been released to the general public and include those from the Noah land-surface model (LSM) version 3.3 (Noah-3.3) and the Catchment LSM version Fortuna-2.5 (CLSM-F2.5). Standard LSM output variables including soil moistures temperatures, surface fluxes, snow cover depth, groundwater, and runoff are provided, as well as streamflow using a river routing system. The NCA-LDAS data are archived at and distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). The data can be accessed via HTTP, OPeNDAP, Mirador search and download, and NASA Earth data Search. To further facilitate access and use, the NCA-LDAS data are integrated into the NASA Giovanni, for quick visualization and analysis, and into the Data Rods system, for retrieval of time series of long time periods. The temporal and spatial resolutions of the NCA-LDAS data are, respectively, daily-averages and 0.125x0.125 degree, covering North America (25N 53N; 125W 67W) and the period January 1979 to December 2015. The data files are in self-describing, machine-independent, CF-compliant netCDF-4 format.

Remote sensing of smoke, land, and clouds from the NASA ER-2 during SAFARI 2000

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Michael D.; Platnick, Steven; Moeller, Christopher C.; Revercomb, Henry E.; Chu, D. Allen

2003-07-01

The NASA ER-2 aircraft was deployed to southern Africa between 13 August and 25 September 2000 as part of the Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI) 2000. This aircraft carried a sophisticated array of multispectral scanners, multiangle spectroradiometers, a monostatic lidar, a gas correlation radiometer, upward and downward spectral flux radiometers, and two metric mapping cameras. These observations were obtained over a 3200 × 2800 km region of savanna, woody savanna, open shrubland, and grassland ecosystems throughout southern Africa and were quite often coordinated with overflights by NASA's Terra and Landsat 7 satellites. The primary purpose of this high-altitude observing platform was to obtain independent observations of smoke, clouds, and land surfaces that could be used to check the validity of various remote sensing measurements derived by Earth-orbiting satellites. These include such things as the accuracy of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) cloud mask for distinguishing clouds and heavy aerosol from land and ocean surfaces and Terra analyses of cloud optical and microphysical properties, aerosol properties, leaf area index, vegetation index, fire occurrence, carbon monoxide, and surface radiation budget. In addition to coordination with Terra and Landsat 7 satellites, numerous flights were conducted over surface AERONET sites, flux towers in South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia, and in situ aircraft from the University of Washington, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. As a result of this experiment, the MODIS cloud mask was shown to distinguish clouds, cloud shadows, and fires over land ecosystems of southern Africa with a high degree of accuracy. In addition, data acquired from the ER-2 show the vertical distribution and stratification of aerosol layers over the subcontinent and make the first observations of a "blue spike" spectral emission signature associated with air heated by fire advecting over a cooler

Regional-Scale Modeling at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tao, W.-K.; Adler, R.; Baker, D.; Braun, S.; Chou, M.-D.; Jasinski, M. F.; Jia, Y.; Kakar, R.; Karyampudi, M.; Lang, S.

2003-01-01

Over the past decade, the Goddard Mesoscale Modeling and Dynamics Group has used a popular regional scale model, MM5, to study precipitation processes. Our group is making contributions to the MM5 by incorporating the following physical and numerical packages: improved Goddard cloud processes, a land processes model (Parameterization for Land-Atmosphere-Cloud Exchange - PLACE), efficient but sophisticated radiative processes, conservation of hydrometeor mass (water budget), four-dimensional data assimilation for rainfall, and better computational methods for trace gas transport. At NASA Goddard, the MM5 has been used to study: (1) the impact of initial conditions, assimilation of satellite-derived rainfall, and cumulus parameterizations on rapidly intensifying oceanic cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, (2) the dynamic and thermodynamic processes associated with the development of narrow cold frontal rainbands, (3) regional climate and water cycles, (4) the impact of vertical transport by clouds and lightning on trace gas distributiodproduction associated with South and North American mesoscale convective systems, (5) the development of a westerly wind burst (WWB) that occurred during the TOGA COARE and the diurnal variation of precipitation in the tropics, (6) a Florida sea breeze convective event and a Mid-US flood event using a sophisticated land surface model, (7) the influence of soil heterogeneity on land surface energy balance in the southwest GCIP region, (8) explicit simulations (with 1.33 to 4 km horizontal resolution) of hurricanes Bob (1991) and Bonnie (1998), (9) a heavy precipitation event over Taiwan, and (10) to make real time forecasts for a major NASA field program. In this paper, the modifications and simulated cases will be described and discussed.

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2004-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by which scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special but not exclusive look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS): Observing the Atmosphere, Land, Oceans, and Ice from Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.

2005-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a space-based observing system comprised of a series of satellite sensors by whch scientists can monitor the Earth, a Data and Information System (EOSDIS) enabling researchers worldwide to access the satellite data, and an interdisciplinary science research program to interpret the satellite data. During this year, the last of the first series of EOS missions, Aura, was launched. Aura is designed exclusively to conduct research on the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the Earth's upper and lower atmosphere, employing multiple instruments on a single spacecraft. Aura is the third in a series of major Earth observing satellites to study the environment and climate change and is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. The first and second missions, Terra and Aqua, are designed to study the land, oceans, atmospheric constituents (aerosols, clouds, temperature, and water vapor), and the Earth's radiation budget. The other seven EOS spacecraft include satellites to study (i) land cover & land use change, (ii) solar irradiance and solar spectral variation, (iii) ice volume, (iv) ocean processes (vector wind and sea surface topography), and (v) vertical variations of clouds, water vapor, and aerosols up to and including the stratosphere. Aura's chemistry measurements will also follow up on measurements that began with NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and continue the record of satellite ozone data collected from the TOMS missions. In this presentation I will describe how scientists are using EOS data to examine the health of the earth's atmosphere, including atmospheric chemistry, aerosol properties, and cloud properties, with a special look at the latest earth observing mission, Aura.

NASA Langley's Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Pamela A.

1993-01-01

The Aircraft Landing Dynamics Facility (ALDF) is a unique facility with the ability to test aircraft landing gear systems on actual runway surfaces at operational ground speeds and loading conditions. A brief historical overview of the original Landing Loads Track (LLT) is given, followed by a detailed description of the new ALDF systems and operational capabilities.

Analyzing the Impacts of Natural Environments on Launch and Landing Availability for NASA's Exploration Systems Development Programs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Altino, Karen M.; Burns, K. Lee; Barbre, Robert E., Jr.; Leahy, Frank B.

2014-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing new capabilities for human and scientific exploration beyond Earth orbit. Natural environments information is an important asset for NASA's development of the next generation space transportation system as part of the Exploration Systems Development (ESD) Programs, which includes the Space Launch System (SLS) and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Programs. Natural terrestrial environment conditions - such as wind, lightning and sea states - can affect vehicle safety and performance during multiple mission phases ranging from pre-launch ground processing to landing and recovery operations, including all potential abort scenarios. Space vehicles are particularly sensitive to these environments during the launch/ascent and the entry/landing phases of mission operations. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Natural Environments Branch provides engineering design support for NASA space vehicle projects and programs by providing design engineers and mission planners with natural environments definitions as well as performing custom analyses to help characterize the impacts the natural environment may have on vehicle performance. One such analysis involves assessing the impact of natural environments to operational availability. Climatological time series of operational surface weather observations are used to calculate probabilities of meeting/exceeding various sets of hypothetical vehicle-specific parametric constraint thresholds. Outputs are tabulated by month and hour of day to show both seasonal and diurnal variation. This paper will discuss how climate analyses are performed by the MSFC Natural Environments Branch to support the ESD Launch Availability (LA) Technical Performance Measure (TPM), the SLS Launch Availability due to Natural Environments TPM, and several MPCV (Orion) launch and landing availability analyses - including the 2014 Orion Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) mission.

NASA's Potential Contributions to Avalanche Forecasting Using Active and Passive Microwave Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blonski, Slawomir

2007-01-01

This Candidate Solution is based on using active and passive microwave measurements acquired from NASA satellites to improve USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Forest Service forecasting of avalanche danger. Regional Avalanche Centers prepare avalanche forecasts using ground measurements of snowpack and mountain weather conditions. In this Solution, range of the in situ observations is extended by adding remote sensing measurements of snow depth, snow water equivalent, and snowfall rate acquired by satellite missions that include Aqua, CloudSat, future GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement), and the proposed SCLP (Snow and Cold Land Processes). Measurements of snowpack conditions and time evolution are improved by combining the in situ and satellite observations with a snow model. Recurring snow observations from NASA satellites increase accuracy of avalanche forecasting, which helps the public and the managers of public facilities make better avalanche safety decisions.

STS-35 crew & NASA management inspect OV-102 after landing at EAFB, Calif

NASA Image and Video Library

1990-12-10

STS035-S-091 (10 Dec 1990) --- Donald R. Puddy (center), Director of Flight Crew Operations at the Johnson Space Center (JSC), joins the STS-35 crewmembers in a post-landing walk-around inspection of the Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base. Crewmembers pictured are, left to right, Vance D. Brand, John M. (Mike) Lounge, Ronald A. Parise, Guy S. Gardner and Jeffrey A. Hoffman. Obscured or out of frame are Samuel T. Durrance and Robert A. R. Parker. Dr. William B. Lenoir, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight, is at far left background.

Global land-atmosphere coupling associated with cold climate processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutra, Emanuel

This dissertation constitutes an assessment of the role of cold processes, associated with snow cover, in controlling the land-atmosphere coupling. The work was based on model simulations, including offline simulations with the land surface model HTESSEL, and coupled atmosphere simulations with the EC-EARTH climate model. A revised snow scheme was developed and tested in HTESSEL and EC-EARTH. The snow scheme is currently operational at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts integrated forecast system, and in the default configuration of EC-EARTH. The improved representation of the snowpack dynamics in HTESSEL resulted in improvements in the near surface temperature simulations of EC-EARTH. The new snow scheme development was complemented with the option of multi-layer version that showed its potential in modeling thick snowpacks. A key process was the snow thermal insulation that led to significant improvements of the surface water and energy balance components. Similar findings were observed when coupling the snow scheme to lake ice, where lake ice duration was significantly improved. An assessment on the snow cover sensitivity to horizontal resolution, parameterizations and atmospheric forcing within HTESSEL highlighted the role of the atmospheric forcing accuracy and snowpack parameterizations in detriment of horizontal resolution over flat regions. A set of experiments with and without free snow evolution was carried out with EC-EARTH to assess the impact of the interannual variability of snow cover on near surface and soil temperatures. It was found that snow cover interannual variability explained up to 60% of the total interannual variability of near surface temperature over snow covered regions. Although these findings are model dependent, the results showed consistency with previously published work. Furthermore, the detailed validation of the snow dynamics simulations in HTESSEL and EC-EARTH guarantees consistency of the results.

A Satellite View of a Back-door Cold Front

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-29

A "backdoor cold front" is bringing April temperatures to the U.S. northeast and Mid-Atlantic today, May 29. The backdoor cold front brings relief to the Mid-Atlantic after temperatures in Washington, D.C. hit 92F on Tuesday, May 27 and 88F on Wednesday, May 28 at Reagan National Airport, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). NWS forecasters expect the high temperature for May 29 to only reach 60F in the District of Columbia. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a view of the clouds associated with the backdoor cold front that stretch from southern Illinois to North Carolina. The National Weather Service forecast expects the backdoor cold front to bring showers to the Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic today, May 29. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a backdoor cold front is a cold front moving south or southwest along the Atlantic seaboard and Great Lakes; these are especially common during the spring months. This visible image was taken by NOAA's GOES-East satellite on May 29 at 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. EDT). The image was created at NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In addition to the backdoor cold front clouds, the GOES-East image shows clouds circling around a low pressure area located in eastern Texas. That low pressure area is expected to bring rain from Texas eastward over the southeastern U.S. According to NOAA's National Weather Service, the slow-moving low pressure area in the Deep South "will bring heavy showers and thunderstorms from Louisiana to Alabama through Thursday. This area is already saturated from previous rainfall, so flash flooding will be possible." Image: NASA/NOAA GOES Project Caption: NASA Goddard/Rob Gutro

STS_135_Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

JSC2011-E-067975 (21 July 2011) --- The sun rises over the space shuttle Atlantis after landing July 21 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

STS_135_Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

JSC2011-E-067976 (21 July 2011) --- The sun rises over the space shuttle Atlantis after landing July 21 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

Enhancements to NASA's Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michael, K.; Davies, D. K.; Schmaltz, J. E.; Boller, R. A.; Mauoka, E.; Ye, G.; Vermote, E.; Harrison, S.; Rinsland, P. L.; Protack, S.; Durbin, P. B.; Justice, C. O.

2016-12-01

NASA's Land, Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE) supports application users interested in monitoring a wide variety of natural and man-made phenomena. Near Real-Time (NRT) data and imagery from the AIRS, AMSR2, MISR, MLS, MODIS, OMI and VIIRS instruments are available much quicker than routine processing allows. Most data products are available within 3 hours from satellite observation. NRT imagery are generally available 3-5 hours after observation. This article describes LANCE and enhancements made to LANCE over the last year. These enhancements include: the addition of MISR L1 Georeferenced Radiance and L2 Cloud Motion Vector products, AMSR2 Unified L2B Half-Orbit 25 km EASE-Grid Surface Soil Moisture products and VIIRS VIIRS Day/Night Band, Land Surface Reflectance and Corrected Surface reflectance products. In addition, the selection of LANCE NRT imagery that can be interactively viewed through Worldview and the Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS) has been expanded. LANCE is also working to ingest and process data from OMPS.

Design and Impacts of Land-Biogenic-Atmosphere Coupling in the NASA-Unified WRF (NU-WRF) Modeling System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tan, Qian; Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Zhou, Shujia; Tao, Zhining; Peters-Lidard, Christa d.; Chn, Mian

2011-01-01

Land-Atmosphere coupling is typically designed and implemented independently for physical (e.g. water and energy) and chemical (e.g. biogenic emissions and surface depositions)-based models and applications. Differences in scale, data requirements, and physics thus limit the ability of Earth System models to be fully coupled in a consistent manner. In order for the physical-chemical-biological coupling to be complete, treatment of the land in terms of surface classification, condition, fluxes, and emissions must be considered simultaneously and coherently across all components. In this study, we investigate a coupling strategy for the NASA-Unified Weather Research and Forecasting (NU-WRF) model that incorporates the traditionally disparate fluxes of water and energy through NASA's LIS (Land Information System) and biogenic emissions through BEIS (Biogenic Emissions Inventory System) and MEGAN (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature) into the atmosphere. In doing so, inconsistencies across model inputs and parameter data are resolved such that the emissions from a particular plant species are consistent with the heat and moisture fluxes calculated for that land cover type. In turn, the response of the atmospheric turbulence and mixing in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) acts on the identical surface type, fluxes, and emissions for each. In addition, the coupling of dust emission within the NU-WRF system is performed in order to ensure consistency and to maximize the benefit of high-resolution land representation in LIS. The impacts of those self-consistent components on' the simulation of atmospheric aerosols are then evaluated through the WRF-Chem-GOCART (Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport) model. Overall, this ambitious project highlights the current difficulties and future potential of fully coupled. components. in Earth System models, and underscores the importance of the iLEAPS community in supporting improved knowledge of

STS_135_Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

JSC2011-E-067687 (21 July 2011) --- The drag chute is deployed as the space shuttle Atlantis lands on July 21 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing completed STS-135, the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool

Viirs Land Science Investigator-Led Processing System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devadiga, S.; Mauoka, E.; Roman, M. O.; Wolfe, R. E.; Kalb, V.; Davidson, C. C.; Ye, G.

2015-12-01

The objective of the NASA's Suomi National Polar Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) Land Science Investigator-led Processing System (Land SIPS), housed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), is to produce high quality land products from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to extend the Earth System Data Records (ESDRs) developed from NASA's heritage Earth Observing System (EOS) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the EOS Terra and Aqua satellites. In this paper we will present the functional description and capabilities of the S-NPP Land SIPS, including system development phases and production schedules, timeline for processing, and delivery of land science products based on coordination with the S-NPP Land science team members. The Land SIPS processing stream is expected to be operational by December 2016, generating land products either using the NASA science team delivered algorithms, or the "best-of" science algorithms currently in operation at NASA's Land Product Evaluation and Algorithm Testing Element (PEATE). In addition to generating the standard land science products through processing of the NASA's VIIRS Level 0 data record, the Land SIPS processing system is also used to produce a suite of near-real time products for NASA's application community. Land SIPS will also deliver the standard products, ancillary data sets, software and supporting documentation (ATBDs) to the assigned Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) for archival and distribution. Quality assessment and validation will be an integral part of the Land SIPS processing system; the former being performed at Land Data Operational Product Evaluation (LDOPE) facility, while the latter under the auspices of the CEOS Working Group on Calibration & Validation (WGCV) Land Product Validation (LPV) Subgroup; adopting the best-practices and tools used to assess the quality of heritage EOS-MODIS products generated at the MODIS Adaptive Processing

Using the NASA Giovanni DICCE Portal to Investigate Land-Ocean Linkages with Satellite and Model Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acker, James G.; Zalles, Daniel; Krumhansl, Ruth

2012-01-01

Data-enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education (DICCE), a NASA climate change education project, employs the NASA Giovanni data system to enable teachers to create climate-related classroom projects using selected satellite and assimilated model data. The easy-to-use DICCE Giovanni portal (DICCE-G) provides data parameters relevant to oceanic, terrestrial, and atmospheric processes. Participants will explore land-ocean linkages using the available data in the DICCE-G portal, in particular focusing on temperature, ocean biology, and precipitation variability related to El Ni?o and La Ni?a events. The demonstration includes the enhanced information for educators developed for the DICCE-G portal. The prototype DICCE Learning Environment (DICCE-LE) for classroom project development will also be demonstrated.

Diving into Cold Pools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Heever, S. C.; Grant, L. D.; Drager, A. J.

2017-12-01

Cold pools play a significant role in convective storm initiation, organization and longevity. Given their role in convective life cycles, recent efforts have been focused on improving the representation of cold pool processes within weather forecast models, as well as on developing cold pool parameterizations in order to better represent their impacts within global climate models. Understanding the physical processes governing cold pool formation, intensity and dissipation is therefore critical to these efforts. Cold pool characteristics are influenced by numerous factors, including those associated with precipitation formation and evaporation, variations in the environmental moisture and shear, and land surface interactions. The focus of this talk will be on the manner in which the surface characteristics and associated processes impact cold pool genesis and dissipation. In particular, the results from high-resolution modeling studies focusing on the role of sensible and latent heat fluxes, soil moisture and SST will be presented. The results from a recent field campaign examining cold pools over northern Colorado will also be discussed.

Project COLD.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kazanjian, Wendy C.

1982-01-01

Describes Project COLD (Climate, Ocean, Land, Discovery) a scientific study of the Polar Regions, a collection of 35 modules used within the framework of existing subjects: oceanography, biology, geology, meterology, geography, social science. Includes a partial list of topics and one activity (geodesic dome) from a module. (Author/SK)

Evaluating the Impacts of NASA/SPoRT Daily Greenness Vegetation Fraction on Land Surface Model and Numerical Weather Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, Jordan R.; Case, Jonathan L.; Molthan, Andrew L.

2011-01-01

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center develops new products and techniques that can be used in operational meteorology. The majority of these products are derived from NASA polar-orbiting satellite imagery from the Earth Observing System (EOS) platforms. One such product is a Greenness Vegetation Fraction (GVF) dataset, which is produced from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data aboard the NASA EOS Aqua and Terra satellites. NASA SPoRT began generating daily real-time GVF composites at 1-km resolution over the Continental United States (CONUS) on 1 June 2010. The purpose of this study is to compare the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climatology GVF product (currently used in operational weather models) to the SPoRT-MODIS GVF during June to October 2010. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) was employed to study the impacts of the new SPoRT-MODIS GVF dataset on land surface models apart from a full numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. For the 2010 warm season, the SPoRT GVF in the western portion of the CONUS was generally higher than the NCEP climatology. The eastern CONUS GVF had variations both above and below the climatology during the period of study. These variations in GVF led to direct impacts on the rates of heating and evaporation from the land surface. The second phase of the project is to examine the impacts of the SPoRT GVF dataset on NWP using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Two separate WRF model simulations were made for individual severe weather case days using the NCEP GVF (control) and SPoRT GVF (experimental), with all other model parameters remaining the same. Based on the sensitivity results in these case studies, regions with higher GVF in the SPoRT model runs had higher evapotranspiration and lower direct surface heating, which typically resulted in lower (higher) predicted 2-m temperatures (2-m dewpoint temperatures). The opposite was true

Benefit from NASA

NASA Image and Video Library

1999-01-01

The same rocket fuel that helps power the Space Shuttle as it thunders into orbit will now be taking on a new role, with the potential to benefit millions of people worldwide. Leftover rocket fuel from NASA is being used to make a flare that destroys land mines where they were buried, without using explosives. The flare is safe to handle and easy to use. People working to deactivate the mines simply place the flare next to the uncovered land mine and ignite it from a safe distance using a battery-triggered electric match. The flare burns a hole in the land mine's case and ignites its explosive contents. The explosive burns away, disabling the mine and rendering it harmless. Using leftover rocket fuel to help destroy land mines incurs no additional costs to taxpayers. To ensure enough propellant is available for each Shuttle mission, NASA allows for a small percentage of extra propellant in each batch. Once mixed, surplus fuel solidifies and carnot be saved for use in another launch. In its solid form, it is an ideal ingredient for the new flare. The flare was developed by Thiokol Propulsion in Brigham City, Utah, the NASA contractor that designs and builds rocket motors for the Solid Rocket Booster Space Shuttle. An estimated 80 million or more active land mines are scattered around the world in at least 70 countries, and kill or maim 26,000 people a year. Worldwide, there is one casualty every 22 minutes

Remote Sensing of Smoke, Land and Clouds from the NASA ER-2 during SAFARI 2000

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Michael D.; Platnick, Steven; Moeller, Christopher C.; Revercomb, Henry E.; Chu, D. Allen

2002-01-01

The NASA ER-2 aircraft was deployed to southern Africa between August 17 and September 25, 2000 as part of the Southern Africa Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI) 2000. This aircraft carried a sophisticated array of multispectral scanners, multiangle spectroradiometers, a monostatic lidar, a gas correlation radiometer, upward and downward spectral flux radiometers, and two metric mapping cameras. These observations were obtained over a 3200 x 2800 km region of savanna, woody savanna, open shrubland, and grassland ecosystems throughout southern Africa, and were quite often coordinated with overflights by NASA's Terra and Landsat 7 satellites. The primary purpose of this sophisticated high altitude observing platform was to obtain independent observations of smoke, clouds, and land surfaces that could be used to check the validity of various remote sensing measurements derived by Earth-orbiting satellites. These include such things as the accuracy of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) cloud mask for distinguishing clouds and heavy aerosol from land and ocean surfaces, and Terra analyses of cloud optical and micro-physical properties, aerosol properties, leaf area index, vegetation index, fire occurrence, carbon monoxide, and surface radiation budget. In addition to coordination with Terra and Landsat 7 satellites, numerous flights were conducted over surface AERONET sites, flux towers in South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia, and in situ aircraft from the University of Washington, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

LADEE Propulsion System Cold Flow Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Jonathan Hunter; Chapman, Jack M.; Trinh, Hau, P.; Bell, James H.

2013-01-01

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a NASA mission that will orbit the Moon. Its main objective is to characterize the atmosphere and lunar dust environment. The spacecraft development is being led by NASA Ames Research Center and scheduled for launch in 2013. The LADEE spacecraft will be operated with a bi-propellant hypergolic propulsion system using MMH and NTO as the fuel and oxidizer, respectively. The propulsion system utilizes flight-proven hardware on major components. The propulsion layout is composed of one 100-lbf main thruster and four 5-lbf RCS thrusters. The propellants are stored in four tanks (two parallel-connected tanks per propellant component). The propellants will be pressurized by regulated helium. A simulated propulsion system has been built for conducting cold flow test series to characterize the transient fluid flow of the propulsion system feed lines and to verify the critical operation modes, such as system priming, waterhammer, and crucial mission duty cycles. Propellant drainage differential between propellant tanks will also be assessed. Since the oxidizer feed line system has a higher flow demand than the fuel system does, the cold flow test focuses on the oxidizer system. The objective of the cold flow test is to simulate the LADEE propulsion fluid flow operation through water cold flow test and to obtain data for anchoring analytical models. The models will be used to predict the transient and steady state flow behaviors in the actual flight operations. The test activities, including the simulated propulsion test article, cold flow test, and analytical modeling, are being performed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. At the time of the abstract submission, the test article checkout is being performed. The test series will be completed by November, 2012

Landing and Rollout STS-135 Crew Training on the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA Ames (Reporter Pkg)

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-05

Every Space Shuttle flight crew has trained for the final phase of a Shuttle mission, landing and rollout, using the VMS at NASA Ames. This story follows at the crew of STS-135, the final Space Shuttle mission, as they train on the VMS. Includes an interview with Chris Ferguson, the STS-135 mission commander.

NASA Ares I Launch Vehicle First Stage Roll Control System Cold Flow Development Test Program Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butt, Adam; Popp, Christopher G.; Holt, Kimberly A.; Pitts, Hank M.

2010-01-01

The Ares I launch vehicle is the selected design, chosen to return humans to the moon, Mars, and beyond. It is configured in two inline stages: the First Stage is a Space Shuttle derived five-segment Solid Rocket Booster and the Upper Stage is powered by a Saturn V derived J-2X engine. During launch, roll control for the First Stage (FS) is handled by a dedicated Roll Control System (RoCS) located on the connecting Interstage. That system will provide the Ares I with the ability to counteract induced roll torque while any induced yaw or pitch moments are handled by vectoring of the booster nozzle. This paper provides an overview of NASA s Ares I FS RoCS cold flow development test program including detailed test objectives, types of tests run to meet those objectives, an overview of the results, and applicable lessons learned. The test article was built and tested at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. The FS RoCS System Development Test Article (SDTA) is a full scale, flight representative water flow test article whose primary objective was to obtain fluid system performance data to evaluate integrated system level performance characteristics and verify analytical models. Development testing and model correlation was deemed necessary as there is little historical precedent for similar large flow, pulsing systems such as the FS RoCS. The cold flow development test program consisted of flight-similar tanks, pressure regulators, and thruster valves, as well as plumbing simulating flight geometries, combined with other facility grade components and structure. Orifices downstream of the thruster valves were used to simulate the pressure drop through the thrusters. Additional primary objectives of this test program were to: evaluate system surge pressure (waterhammer) characteristics due to thruster valve operation over a range of mission duty cycles at various feed system pressures, evaluate temperature transients and heat transfer in the

NASA's Phoenix Lander on Mars, Nearly a Decade Later

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-20

This is one of two images taken nearly a decade apart of NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander and related hardware around the mission's May 25, 2008, landing site on far-northern Mars. By late 2017, dust had obscured much of what was visible two months after the landing. Both images were taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The one with three patches of darker ground -- where landing events removed dust -- was taken on July 20, 2008. It is Fig. 1, an excerpt of HiRISE observation PSP_009290_2485. The one with a more even coating of pale dust throughout the area was taken on Dec. 21, 2017. It is Fig. 2, an excerpt of HiRISE observation ESP_053451_2485. Both cover an area roughly 300 meters wide at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude, and the two are closely matched in viewing and illumination geometry, from about five Martian years apart in northern hemisphere summers. An animation comparing the two images shows a number of changes between mid-2008 and late 2017. The lander (top) appears darker, and is now covered by dust. The dark spot created by the heat shield impact (right) is brighter, again due to dust deposition. The back shell and parachute (bottom) shows a darker parachute and brighter area of impact disturbance, thanks again to deposits of dust. We also see that the parachute has shifted in the wind, moving to the east. In August 2008, Phoenix completed its three-month mission studying Martian ice, soil and atmosphere. The lander worked for two additional months before reduced sunlight caused energy to become insufficient to keep the lander functioning. The solar-powered robot was not designed to survive through the dark and cold conditions of a Martian arctic winter. An animation and both images are available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22223

Role of surface heat fluxes underneath cold pools

DOE PAGES

Gentine, Pierre; Garelli, Alix; Park, Seung -Bu; ...

2016-01-05

In this paper, the role of surface heat fluxes underneath cold pools is investigated using cloud–resolving simulations with either interactive or horizontally homogenous surface heat fluxes over an ocean and a simplified land surface. Over the ocean, there are limited changes in the distribution of the cold pool temperature, humidity, and gust front velocity, yet interactive heat fluxes induce more cold pools, which are smaller, and convection is then less organized. Correspondingly, the updraft mass flux and lateral entrainment are modified. Over the land surface, the heat fluxes underneath cold pools drastically impact the cold pool characteristics with more numerousmore » and smaller pools, which are warmer and more humid and accompanied by smaller gust front velocities. The interactive fluxes also modify the updraft mass flux and reduce convective organization. These results emphasize the importance of interactive surface fluxes instead of prescribed flux boundary conditions, as well as the formulation of surface heat fluxes, when studying convection.« less

Role of surface heat fluxes underneath cold pools

PubMed Central

Garelli, Alix; Park, Seung‐Bu; Nie, Ji; Torri, Giuseppe; Kuang, Zhiming

2016-01-01

Abstract The role of surface heat fluxes underneath cold pools is investigated using cloud‐resolving simulations with either interactive or horizontally homogenous surface heat fluxes over an ocean and a simplified land surface. Over the ocean, there are limited changes in the distribution of the cold pool temperature, humidity, and gust front velocity, yet interactive heat fluxes induce more cold pools, which are smaller, and convection is then less organized. Correspondingly, the updraft mass flux and lateral entrainment are modified. Over the land surface, the heat fluxes underneath cold pools drastically impact the cold pool characteristics with more numerous and smaller pools, which are warmer and more humid and accompanied by smaller gust front velocities. The interactive fluxes also modify the updraft mass flux and reduce convective organization. These results emphasize the importance of interactive surface fluxes instead of prescribed flux boundary conditions, as well as the formulation of surface heat fluxes, when studying convection. PMID:27134320

How NASA Sees the Earth and Its Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

BrowndeColstoun, Eric

2012-01-01

NASA Research Addresses Broad Questions: (1) How are global ecosystems changing? (2) What changes are occurring in global land cover and land use and what are their causes? (3) How is the Earth s surface being transformed and how can such information be used to predict future changes? (4) What are the consequences of land cover and land use change for the sustainability of ecosystems and economic productivity? NASA uses the view from above to monitor our changing home. Different satellites help us study the various systems of the Earth. No one system can do it all. NASA tools and science helps us to understand how the planet is changing and what the changes mean for us.

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Seattle

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

Landsat 7 image of Seattle, Washington acquired August 23, 2014. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Phoenix

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

Landsat 7 image of Phoenix, Arizona acquired November 28, 2014. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Study of USGS/NASA land use classification system. [computer analysis from LANDSAT data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spann, G. W.

1975-01-01

The results of a computer mapping project using LANDSAT data and the USGS/NASA land use classification system are summarized. During the computer mapping portion of the project, accuracies of 67 percent to 79 percent were achieved using Level II of the classification system and a 4,000 acre test site centered on Douglasville, Georgia. Analysis of response to a questionaire circulated to actual and potential LANDSAT data users reveals several important findings: (1) there is a substantial desire for additional information related to LANDSAT capabilities; (2) a majority of the respondents feel computer mapping from LANDSAT data could aid present or future projects; and (3) the costs of computer mapping are substantially less than those of other methods.

Characteristics of organic soil in black spruce forests: Implications for the application of land surface and ecosystem models in cold regions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yi, S.; Manies, K.; Harden, J.; McGuire, A.D.

2009-01-01

Soil organic layers (OL) play an important role in landatmosphere exchanges of water, energy and carbon in cold environments. The proper implementation of OL in land surface and ecosystem models is important for predicting dynamic responses to climate warming. Based on the analysis of OL samples of black spruce (Picea mariana), we recommend that implementation of OL for cold regions modeling: (1) use three general organic horizon types (live, fibrous, and amorphous) to represent vertical soil heterogeneity; (2) implement dynamics of OL over the course of disturbance, as there are significant differences of OL thickness between young and mature stands; and (3) use two broad drainage classes to characterize spatial heterogeneity, as there are significant differences in OL thickness between dry and wet sites. Implementation of these suggestions into models has the potential to substantially improve how OL dynamics influence variability in surface temperature and soil moisture in cold regions. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophys.ical Union.

NASA Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fenton, Mary (Editor); Wood, Jennifer (Editor)

2003-01-01

This newsletter contains several articles, primarily on International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers and their activities, as well as the activities of NASA administrators. Other subjects covered in the articles include the investigation of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, activities at NASA centers, Mars exploration, a collision avoidance test on a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The ISS articles cover landing in a Soyuz capsule, photography from the ISS, and the Expedition Seven crew.

Effects of prolonged acclimation to cold on the extra--and intracellular acid-base status in the land snail Helix lucorum (L.).

PubMed

Staikou, A; Stiakakis, M; Michaelidis, B

2001-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of prolonged acclimation to cold on the acid-base status of extra- and intracellular fluids in the land snail Helix lucorum. For this purpose, acid-base parameters in the hemolymph and tissues were determined. In addition, the buffer values of hemolymph and tissues were determined in order to examine whether they change in the snails during acclimation to cold. According to the results presented, there is an inverse pH-temperature relationship in the hemolymph within the first day of acclimation, which is consistent with alphastat regulation. The Pco2 decreased, and pH in the hemolymph (pH(e)) increased by 0.32 U within the first day of acclimation to cold, which corresponds to a change of 0.013 U degrees C(-1). After the first day of acclimation, Pco2 increased in the hemolymph, resulting in a significant drop in pH(e) by 90 d of acclimation to cold. Acclimation of snails to low temperatures did not change the buffer value of the hemolymph. Also, intracellular pH (pH(i)) and intracellular buffer values remained stable during acclimation to cold for prolonged periods. The latter results in conjunction with those obtained by the in vitro determination of the passive component of intracellular fluids indicate an active regulation of pH(i) in H. lucorum during acclimation to cold.

Seasonal scale water deficit forecasting in Africa and the Middle East using NASA's Land Information System (LIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, Shraddhanand; Arsenault, Kristi R.; Getirana, Augusto; Kumar, Sujay V.; Roningen, Jeanne; Zaitchik, Ben; McNally, Amy; Koster, Randal D.; Peters-Lidard, Christa

2017-04-01

Drought and water scarcity are among the important issues facing several regions within Africa and the Middle East. A seamless and effective monitoring and early warning system is needed by regional/national stakeholders. Such system should support a proactive drought management approach and mitigate the socio-economic losses up to the extent possible. In this presentation, we report on the ongoing development and validation of a seasonal scale water deficit forecasting system based on NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and seasonal climate forecasts. First, our presentation will focus on the implementation and validation of the LIS models used for drought and water availability monitoring in the region. The second part will focus on evaluating drought and water availability forecasts. Finally, details will be provided of our ongoing collaboration with end-user partners in the region (e.g., USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWS NET), on formulating meaningful early warning indicators, effective communication and seamless dissemination of the monitoring and forecasting products through NASA's web-services. The water deficit forecasting system thus far incorporates NOAA's Noah land surface model (LSM), version 3.3, the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, version 4.12, NASA GMAO's Catchment LSM, and the Noah Multi-Physics (MP) LSM (the latter two incorporate prognostic water table schemes). In addition, the LSMs' surface and subsurface runoff are routed through the Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP) to simulate surface water dynamics. The LSMs are driven by NASA/GMAO's Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and the USGS and UCSB Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) daily rainfall dataset. The LIS software framework integrates these forcing datasets and drives the four LSMs and HyMAP. The Land Verification Toolkit (LVT) is used for the evaluation of the

Expedition 9 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-24

Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke is assisted by NASA Flight Doctor Steve Heart as he walks to the helicopter near the Soyuz landing site for the flight back to Kustanay, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz capsule landed with Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Mike Fincke, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin approximately 85 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The NASA landing gear test airplane

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, John F.; Nagy, Christopher J.

1995-01-01

A tire and landing gear test facility has been developed and incorporated into a Convair 990 aircraft. The system can simulate tire vertical load profiles to 250,000 lb, sideslip angles to 15 degrees, and wheel braking on actual runways. Onboard computers control the preprogrammed test profiles through a feedback loop and also record three axis loads, tire slip angle, and tire condition. The aircraft to date has provided tire force and wear data for the Shuttle Orbiter tire on three different runways and at east and west coast landing sites. This report discusses the role of this facility in complementing existing ground tire and landing gear test facilities, and how this facility can simultaneously simulate the vertical load, tire slip, velocity, and surface for an entire aircraft landing. A description is given of the aircraft as well as the test system. An example of a typical test sequence is presented. Data collection and reduction from this facility are discussed, as well as accuracies of calculated parameters. Validation of the facility through ground and flight tests is presented. Tests to date have shown that this facility can operate at remote sites and gather complete data sets of load, slip, and velocity on actual runway surfaces. The ground and flight tests have led to a successful validation of this test facility.

STS_135_Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, examines the thermal tiles of the orbiter after the space shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida completing STS-135, the final mission of the NASA shuttle program, on Thursday, July 21, 2011. ( NASA Photo / Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool )

NASA Sees First Land-falling Tropical Cyclone in Yemen

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

On Nov. 3, 2015 at 07:20 UTC (2:20 a.m. EDT) the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of Tropical Cyclone Chapala over Yemen. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

LSRA landing with tire test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

A space shuttle landing gear system is visible between the two main landing gear components on this NASA CV-990, modified as a Landing Systems Research Aircraft (LSRA). The space shuttle landing gear test unit, operated by a high-pressure hydraulic system, allowed engineers to assess and document the performance of space shuttle main and nose landing gear systems, tires and wheel assemblies, plus braking and nose wheel steering performance. The series of 155 test missions for the space shuttle program, conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided extensive data about the life and endurance of the shuttle tire systems and helped raise the shuttle crosswind landing limits at Kennedy.

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Denver, CO

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-02-06

Landsat 7 image of Denver area acquired Nov 3, 2015. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD...Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Seattle [annotated

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

Landsat 7 image of Seattle, Washington acquired August 23, 2014. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Boston/Providence

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

Landsat 7 image of Boston/Providence area acquired August 25, 2014. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD...Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Phoenix [annotated

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

Landsat 7 image of Phoenix, Arizona acquired November 28, 2014. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA's Webb Sunshield Stacks Up to Test

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-07-24

The Sunshield on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is the largest part of the observatory—five layers of thin membrane that must unfurl reliably in space to precise tolerances. Last week, for the first time, engineers stacked and unfurled a full-sized test unit of the Sunshield and it worked perfectly. The Sunshield is about the length of a tennis court, and will be folded up like an umbrella around the Webb telescope’s mirrors and instruments during launch. Once it reaches its orbit, the Webb telescope will receive a command from Earth to unfold, and separate the Sunshield's five layers into their precisely stacked arrangement with its kite-like shape. The Sunshield test unit was stacked and expanded at a cleanroom in the Northrop Grumman facility in Redondo Beach, California. The Sunshield separates the observatory into a warm sun-facing side and a cold side where the sunshine is blocked from interfering with the sensitive infrared instruments. The infrared instruments need to be kept very cold (under 50 K or -370 degrees F) to operate. The Sunshield protects these sensitive instruments with an effective sun protection factor or SPF of 1,000,000 (suntan lotion generally has an SPF of 8-50). In addition to providing a cold environment, the Sunshield provides a thermally stable environment. This stability is essential to maintaining proper alignment of the primary mirror segments as the telescope changes its orientation to the sun. The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. For more information about the Webb telescope, visit: www.jwst.nasa.gov or www.nasa.gov/webb For more information on the Webb Sunshield, visit: jwst.nasa.gov/sunshield.html Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA�

Enhancements to NASA's Land Atmosphere Near Real-Time Capability for EOS (LANCE)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davies, Diane; Michael, Karen; Schmaltz, Jeffrey; Boller, Ryan A.; Masuoka, Ed; Ye, Gang; Roman, Miguel; Vermote, Eric; Harrison, Sherry; Rinsland, Pamela;

The Application of Satellite-Derived, High-Resolution Land Use/Land Cover Data to Improve Urban Air Quality Model Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, D. A.; Lapenta, W. M.; Crosson, W. L.; Estes, M. G., Jr.; Limaye, A.; Kahn, M.

2006-01-01

Local and state agencies are responsible for developing state implementation plans to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Numerical models used for this purpose simulate the transport and transformation of criteria pollutants and their precursors. The specification of land use/land cover (LULC) plays an important role in controlling modeled surface meteorology and emissions. NASA researchers have worked with partners and Atlanta stakeholders to incorporate an improved high-resolution LULC dataset for the Atlanta area within their modeling system and to assess meteorological and air quality impacts of Urban Heat Island (UHI) mitigation strategies. The new LULC dataset provides a more accurate representation of land use, has the potential to improve model accuracy, and facilitates prediction of LULC changes. Use of the new LULC dataset for two summertime episodes improved meteorological forecasts, with an existing daytime cold bias of approx. equal to 3 C reduced by 30%. Model performance for ozone prediction did not show improvement. In addition, LULC changes due to Atlanta area urbanization were predicted through 2030, for which model simulations predict higher urban air temperatures. The incorporation of UHI mitigation strategies partially offset this warming trend. The data and modeling methods used are generally applicable to other U.S. cities.

Connecting Satellite Observations with Water Cycle Variables Through Land Data Assimilation: Examples Using the NASA GEOS-5 LDAS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reichle, Rolf H.; De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Forman, Barton A.; Draper, Clara S.; Liu, Qing

2013-01-01

A land data assimilation system (LDAS) can merge satellite observations (or retrievals) of land surface hydrological conditions, including soil moisture, snow, and terrestrial water storage (TWS), into a numerical model of land surface processes. In theory, the output from such a system is superior to estimates based on the observations or the model alone, thereby enhancing our ability to understand, monitor, and predict key elements of the terrestrial water cycle. In practice, however, satellite observations do not correspond directly to the water cycle variables of interest. The present paper addresses various aspects of this seeming mismatch using examples drawn from recent research with the ensemble-based NASA GEOS-5 LDAS. These aspects include (1) the assimilation of coarse-scale observations into higher-resolution land surface models, (2) the partitioning of satellite observations (such as TWS retrievals) into their constituent water cycle components, (3) the forward modeling of microwave brightness temperatures over land for radiance-based soil moisture and snow assimilation, and (4) the selection of the most relevant types of observations for the analysis of a specific water cycle variable that is not observed (such as root zone soil moisture). The solution to these challenges involves the careful construction of an observation operator that maps from the land surface model variables of interest to the space of the assimilated observations.

Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Products from NASA Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fang, Hongliang; Hrubiak, Patricia; Kato, Hiroko; Rodell, Matthew; Teng, William L.; Vollmer, Bruce E.

2008-01-01

The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) is generating a series of land surface state (e.g., soil moisture and surface temperature) and flux (e.g., evaporation and sensible heat flux) products simulated by four land surface models (CLM, Mosaic, Noah and VIC). These products are now accessible at the Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), a component of the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). Current data holdings include a set of 1.0 degree resolution data products from the four models, covering 1979 to the present; and a 0.25 degree data product from the Noah model, covering 2000 to the present. The products are in Gridded Binary (GRIB) format and can be accessed through a number of interfaces. New data formats (e.g., netCDF), temporal averaging and spatial subsetting will be available in the future. The HDISC has the capability to support more hydrology data products and more advanced analysis tools. The goal is to develop HDISC as a data and services portal that supports weather and climate forecast, and water and energy cycle research.

NASA Low Visibility Landing and Surface Operations (LVLASO) Atlanta Demonstration: Surveillance Systems Performance Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cassell, Rick; Evers, Carl; Hicok, Dan; Lee, Derrick

1999-01-01

NASA conducted a series of flight experiments at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport as part of the Low Visibility Landing and Surface Operations (LVLASO) Program. LVLASO is one of the subelements of the NASA Terminal Area Productivity (TAP) Program, which is focused on providing technology and operating procedures for achieving clear-weather airport capacity in instrument-weather conditions, while also improving safety. LVLASO is investigating various technologies to be applied to airport surface operations, including advanced flight deck displays and surveillance systems. The purpose of this report is to document the performance of the surveillance systems tested as part of the LVLASO flight experiment. There were three surveillance sensors tested: primary radar using Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-3) and the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS), Multilateration using the Airport Surface Target Identification System (ATIDS), and Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) operating at 1090 MHz. The performance was compared to the draft requirements of the ICAO Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS). Performance parameters evaluated included coverage, position accuracy, and update rate. Each of the sensors was evaluated as a stand alone surveillance system.

Crash Test of Three Cessna 172 Aircraft at NASA Langley Research Center's Landing and Impact Research Facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Littell, Justin D.

2015-01-01

During the summer of 2015, three Cessna 172 aircraft were crash tested at the Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR) at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). The three tests simulated three different crash scenarios. The first simulated a flare-to-stall emergency or hard landing onto a rigid surface such as a road or runway, the second simulated a controlled flight into terrain with a nose down pitch on the aircraft, and the third simulated a controlled flight into terrain with an attempt to unsuccessfully recover the aircraft immediately prior to impact, resulting in a tail strike condition. An on-board data acquisition system captured 64 channels of airframe acceleration, along with acceleration and load in two onboard Hybrid II 50th percentile Anthropomorphic Test Devices, representing the pilot and co-pilot. Each test contained different airframe loading conditions and results show large differences in airframe performance. This paper presents test methods used to conduct the crash tests and will summarize the airframe results from the test series.

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Charlotte, NC

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-02-06

Landsat 7 image of the Charlotte, NC area acquired Oct 18, 2015. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD...Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

The Status of the NASA MEaSUREs Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity Over Land (CAMEL) Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borbas, E. E.; Feltz, M.; Hulley, G. C.; Knuteson, R. O.; Hook, S. J.

2017-12-01

As part of a NASA MEaSUREs Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity project, the University of Wisconsin, Space Science and Engineering Center and the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed a global monthly mean emissivity Earth System Data Record (ESDR). The CAMEL ESDR was produced by merging two current state-of-the-art emissivity datasets: the UW-Madison MODIS Infrared emissivity dataset (UWIREMIS), and the JPL ASTER Global Emissivity Dataset v4 (GEDv4). The dataset includes monthly global data records of emissivity, uncertainty at 13 hinge points between 3.6-14.3 µm, and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) coefficients at 5 kilometer resolution for years 2003 to 2015. A high spectral resolution algorithm is also provided for HSR applications. The dataset is currently being tested in sounder retrieval algorithm (e.g. CrIS, IASI) and has already been implemented in RTTOV-12 for immediate use in numerical weather modeling and data assimilation. This poster will present the current status of the dataset.

NASA and Canadian Snowbirds Aircrafts

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-09

Several types of aircraft are on the tarmac at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at NASA's Kennedy Space in Florida. From left, are two Canadian Forces Snowbird CF-18 jets, a NASA Huey helicopter, and two NASA T-38 trainer aircraft. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds performed aerial maneuvers over Kennedy and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a practice flight on May 9, 2018, between their scheduled air shows.

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Boston/Providence [annotated

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-01-30

Landsat 7 image of Boston/Providence area acquired August 25, 2014. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA High-Speed 2D Photogrammetric Measurement System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dismond, Harriett R.

2012-01-01

The object of this report is to provide users of the NASA high-speed 2D photogrammetric measurement system with procedures required to obtain drop-model trajectory and impact data for full-scale and sub-scale models. This guide focuses on use of the system for vertical drop testing at the NASA Langley Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) Facility.

Land surface Verification Toolkit (LVT)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kumar, Sujay V.

2017-01-01

LVT is a framework developed to provide an automated, consolidated environment for systematic land surface model evaluation Includes support for a range of in-situ, remote-sensing and other model and reanalysis products. Supports the analysis of outputs from various LIS subsystems, including LIS-DA, LIS-OPT, LIS-UE. Note: The Land Information System Verification Toolkit (LVT) is a NASA software tool designed to enable the evaluation, analysis and comparison of outputs generated by the Land Information System (LIS). The LVT software is released under the terms and conditions of the NASA Open Source Agreement (NOSA) Version 1.1 or later. Land Information System Verification Toolkit (LVT) NOSA.

Expedition 29 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-11-22

Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, right, tosses his hat into the air and comments to Peggy Whitson, NASA Chief of the Astronaut Office, about how strange the effects of gravity feel as they land in a helicopter in Kustanay, Kazakhstan just a few hours after he and Expedition 29 Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa landed in their Soyuz TMA-02M capsule in a remote area outside of the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. NASA Astronaut Fossum, Russian Cosmonaut Volkov and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Astronaut Furukawa are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 28 and 29 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Evaluating the Impacts of NASA/SPoRT Daily Greenness Vegetation Fraction on Land Surface Model and Numerical Weather Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, Jordan R.; Case, Jonathan L.; LaFontaine, Frank J.; Kumar, Sujay V.

2012-01-01

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has developed a Greenness Vegetation Fraction (GVF) dataset, which is updated daily using swaths of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data aboard the NASA EOS Aqua and Terra satellites. NASA SPoRT began generating daily real-time GVF composites at 1-km resolution over the Continental United States (CONUS) on 1 June 2010. The purpose of this study is to compare the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climatology GVF product (currently used in operational weather models) to the SPoRT-MODIS GVF during June to October 2010. The NASA Land Information System (LIS) was employed to study the impacts of the SPoRT-MODIS GVF dataset on a land surface model (LSM) apart from a full numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. For the 2010 warm season, the SPoRT GVF in the western portion of the CONUS was generally higher than the NCEP climatology. The eastern CONUS GVF had variations both above and below the climatology during the period of study. These variations in GVF led to direct impacts on the rates of heating and evaporation from the land surface. In the West, higher latent heat fluxes prevailed, which enhanced the rates of evapotranspiration and soil moisture depletion in the LSM. By late Summer and Autumn, both the average sensible and latent heat fluxes increased in the West as a result of the more rapid soil drying and higher coverage of GVF. The impacts of the SPoRT GVF dataset on NWP was also examined for a single severe weather case study using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Two separate coupled LIS/WRF model simulations were made for the 17 July 2010 severe weather event in the Upper Midwest using the NCEP and SPoRT GVFs, with all other model parameters remaining the same. Based on the sensitivity results, regions with higher GVF in the SPoRT model runs had higher evapotranspiration and

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Russian Search and Rescue Helicopters are seen as they await departure from the landing zone in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan following the the landing of the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. The Soyuz spacecraft delivered Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko after having spent five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Planetary Visualization Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogan, P.; Kim, R.

2004-12-01

NASA World Wind allows one to zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth, leveraging the combination of high resolution LandSat imagery and SRTM elevation data to experience Earth in visually rich 3D, just as if they were really there. NASA World Wind combines LandSat 7 imagery with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data, for a dramatic view of the Earth at eye level. Users can literally fly across the world's terrain from any location in any direction. Particular focus was put into the ease of usability so people of all ages can enjoy World Wind. All one needs to control World Wind is a two button mouse. Additional guides and features can be accessed though a simplified menu. Navigation is automated with single clicks of a mouse as well as the ability to type in any location and automatically zoom to it. NASA World Wind was designed to run on recent PC hardware with the same technology used by today's 3D video games. NASA World Wind delivers the NASA Blue Marble, spectacular true-color imagery of the entire Earth at 1-kilometer-per-pixel. Using NASA World Wind, you can continue to zoom past Blue Marble resolution to seamlessly experience the extremely detailed mosaic of LandSat 7 data at an impressive 15-meters-per-pixel resolution. NASA World Wind also delivers other color bands such as the infrared spectrum. The NASA Scientific Visualization Studio at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has produced a set of visually intense animations that demonstrate a variety of subjects such as hurricane dynamics and seasonal changes across the globe. NASA World Wind takes these animations and plays them directly on the world. The NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) produces a set of time relevant planetary imagery that's updated every day. MODIS catalogs fires, floods, dust, smoke, storms and volcanic activity. NASA World Wind produces an easily customized view of this information and marks them directly on the globe. When one

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Gets an Infrared look at Typhoon Soudelor

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-10

On August 6, 2015, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over powerful Typhoon Soudelor when it was headed toward Taiwan. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi satellite captured an infrared image of the typhoon. The infrared image that showed there were some thunderstorms within the typhoon with very cold cloud top temperatures, colder than -63F/-53C. Temperatures that cold stretch high into the troposphere and are capable of generating heavy rain. Credit: UWM/CIMSS/SSEC, William Straka III NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Precision Landing Technologies Completes Initial Flight Tests on Vertical Testbed Rocket

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-04-19

This 2-minute, 40-second video shows how over the past 5 weeks, NASA and Masten Space Systems teams have prepared for and conducted sub-orbital rocket flight tests of next-generation lander navigation technology through the CoOperative Blending of Autonomous Landing Technologies (COBALT) project. The COBALT payload was integrated onto Masten’s rocket, Xodiac. The Xodiac vehicle used the Global Positioning System (GPS) for navigation during this first campaign, which was intentional to verify and refine COBALT system performance. The joint teams conducted numerous ground verification tests, made modifications in the process, practiced and refined operations’ procedures, conducted three tether tests, and have now flown two successful free flights. This successful, collaborative campaign has provided the COBALT and Xodiac teams with the valuable performance data needed to refine the systems and prepare them for the second flight test campaign this summer when the COBALT system will navigate the Xodiac rocket to a precision landing. The technologies within COBALT provide a spacecraft with knowledge during entry, descent, and landing that enables it to precisely navigate and softly land close to surface locations that have been previously too risky to target with current capabilities. The technologies will enable future exploration destinations on Mars, the moon, Europa, and other planets and moons. The two primary navigation components within COBALT include the Langley Research Center’s Navigation Doppler Lidar, which provides ultra-precise velocity and line-of-sight range measurements, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lander Vision System (LVS), which provides navigation estimates relative to an existing surface map. The integrated system is being flight tested onboard a Masten suborbital rocket vehicle called Xodiac. The COBALT project is led by the Johnson Space Center, with funding provided through the Game Changing Development, Flight Opportunities program

Our NASA is strong on This Week @NASA – February 12, 2016

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-02-12

During his Feb. 9 State of NASA speech at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va, Administrator Charles Bolden characterized President Obama’s $19 billion Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal for NASA as a vote of confidence and an indication of the agency’s strength. Bolden noted that the investments in the FY2017 budget proposal will empower NASA to continue to work with partners both in and out of government to develop the technologies that drive exploration – to build an even stronger future in which NASA continues reaching for new heights for the benefit of all humankind. Also, Space station one-year crew update, Increased land water slows sea level rise, Gravitational waves detected, and more!

Expedition 9 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-24

An inflatable medical tent stands in the foreground of the Expedition 9 landing site, while an incoming Russian Search and Rescue helicopter lands. The Soyuz capsule, which carried Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke, Commander Gennady Padalka and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin landed approximately 85 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 16 Soyuz TMA-11 Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-04-18

Chief of NASA's Astronaut office, Steve Lindsey, receives information at the Arkalyk airport in Kazakhstan, Friday, April 19, 2008, on the landing of the Expedition 16 crew in the Soyuz TMA-11 capsule. The Soyuz made a ballistic landing, touching down more then 400 kilometers short of the intended target in central Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space Station Astronauts Make Safe Landing on This Week @NASA – September 11, 2015

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-09-11

Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 45 crew – including new Commander Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, said goodbye to Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency (Kazcosmos) as the trio climbed aboard their Soyuz spacecraft for the return trip to Earth. The Soyuz landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sept. 11 Eastern time, Sept. 12 in Kazakhstan -- closing out a 168-day mission for Padalka and an 8-day stay on the station for Mogensen and Aimbetov. Also, First Orion crew module segments welded, SLS Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, New Ceres imagery, New Horizons update, 9/11 tribute and National Preparedness Month!

Technicians Ray Smith and Raphael Rodriguez remove one of the Extravehicular Mobility Units from the Space Shuttle Discovery after its landing at NASA Dryden

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-08-12

Flight Crew Systems Technicians Ray Smith and Raphael Rodriguez remove one of the Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs, from the Space Shuttle Discovery after it's successful landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The Space Shuttles receive post-flight servicing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD) following landings at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 5:11:22 a.m. PDT, August 9, 2005, following the very successful 14-day STS-114 return to flight mission. During their two weeks in space, Commander Eileen Collins and her six crewmates tested out new safety procedures and delivered supplies and equipment the International Space Station. Discovery spent two weeks in space, where the crew demonstrated new methods to inspect and repair the Shuttle in orbit. The crew also delivered supplies, outfitted and performed maintenance on the International Space Station. A number of these tasks were conducted during three spacewalks. In an unprecedented event, spacewalkers were called upon to remove protruding gap fillers from the heat shield on Discovery's underbelly. In other spacewalk activities, astronauts installed an external platform onto the Station's Quest Airlock and replaced one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes. Inside the Station, the STS-114 crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 11 crew. They unloaded fresh supplies from the Shuttle and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Before Discovery undocked, the crews filled Raffeallo with unneeded items and returned to Shuttle payload bay. Discovery launched on July 26 and spent almost 14

Chamaeleon's Cold Cloud Cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hotzel, Stephan; Lemke, Dietrich; Krause, Oliver; Stickel, Manfred; Toth, L. Viktor

ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (ISOSS) observations of the nearby interstellar medium towards Chamaeleon have revealed a number of cold cloud cores. Far-infrared colours have been studied using ISOSS and IRAS data. 10 very cold cores with colour temperatures Tdust 13 K have been found in an 11° × 8° sized region. Comparing the FIR data with radio measurements, all of the very cold cores have high gas column densities, N(H2) > 1021 cm-2, and 7 out of 10 have low gas temperatures as indicated by Tex(C18O) ~~ 8 K.Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and with the participation of ISAS and NASA. Members of the Consortium on the ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (CISS) are MPIA Heidelberg, ESA ISO SOC Villafranca, AIP Potsdam, IPAC Pasadena, Imperial College London.

NASA Satellite Captures Super Bowl Cities - Santa Clara, CA

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

Landsat 7 image of the Santa Clara area acquired Nov 16, 2015. Landsat 7 is a U.S. satellite used to acquire remotely sensed images of the Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. It is maintained by the Landsat 7 Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD...Landsat satellites have been acquiring images of the Earth’s land surface since 1972. Currently there are more than 2 million Landsat images in the National Satellite Land Remote Sensing Data Archive. For more information visit: landsat.usgs.gov/..To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to:.landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat 7 NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Occupant Protection at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Somers, Jeffrey; Granderson, Brad; Scheuring, Rick

2010-01-01

This slide presentation reviews NASA's efforts to arrive at protection of occupants of the ORION space craft on landing. An Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) has been developed, it is an anatomically-based, consensus-derived, global severity scoring system that classifies each injury by body region according to its relative importance on a 6-point ordinal scale. It reviews an Operationmally Relevant Injury Scale (ORIS), a classification methodology, and shows charts that detail the results of applying this ORIS to the injury databases. One chart uses NASCAR injury classification. It discusses providing a context for the level of risk inherent in the Orion landings in terms that people understand and have a sense for. For example is the risk of injury during an Orion landing roughly the same, better or worse than: An aircraft carrier landing, a NASCAR crash, or a helicopter crash, etc? The data for NASCAR and Indy Racing league (IRL) racing crash and injury data was reviewed. The risk from the Air Force, Navy, and Army injury data was also reviewed. Past NASA and the Soyuz programs injury risks are also reviewed. The work is an attempt to formulate a recommendation to the Orion Project for an acceptable level of injury risk associated with Nominal and Off-Nominal landing cases. The presentation also discusses the data mining and use of the data to Validate NASA Operationally-Relevant Injury Scale (NORIS) / Military Operationally-Relevant Injury Scale (MORIS), developing injury risk criteria, the types of data that are required, NASCAR modeling techniques and crash data, and comparison with the Brinkley model. The development of injury risk curves for each biodynamic response parameter is discussed. One of the main outcomes of this work is to establish an accurate Automated Test Dummy (ATD) that can be used to measure human tolerances.

Land Mines Removal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

The same rocket fuel that helps power the Space Shuttle as it thunders into orbit will now be taking on a new role, with the potential to benefit millions of people worldwide. Leftover rocket fuel from NASA is being used to make a flare that destroys land mines where they were buried, without using explosives. The flare is safe to handle and easy to use. People working to deactivate the mines simply place the flare next to the uncovered land mine and ignite it from a safe distance using a battery-triggered electric match. The flare burns a hole in the land mine's case and ignites its explosive contents. The explosive burns away, disabling the mine and rendering it harmless. Using leftover rocket fuel to help destroy land mines incurs no additional costs to taxpayers. To ensure enough propellant is available for each Shuttle mission, NASA allows for a small percentage of extra propellant in each batch. Once mixed, surplus fuel solidifies and carnot be saved for use in another launch. In its solid form, it is an ideal ingredient for new the flare. The flare was developed by Thiokol Propulsion in Brigham City, Utah, the NASA contractor that designs and builds rocket motors for the Solid Rocket Booster Space Shuttle. An estimated 80 million or more active land mines are scattered around the world in at least 70 countries, and kill or maim 26,000 people a year. Worldwide, there is one casualty every 22 minutes.

Land Mines Removal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

The same rocket fuel that helps power the Space Shuttle as it thunders into orbit will now be taking on a new role, with the potential to benefit millions of people worldwide. Leftover rocket fuel from NASA is being used to make a flare that destroys land mines where they were buried, without using explosives. The flare is safe to handle and easy to use. People working to deactivate the mines simply place the flare next to the uncovered land mine and ignite it from a safe distance using a battery-triggered electric match. The flare burns a hole in the land mine's case and ignites its explosive contents. The explosive burns away, disabling the mine and rendering it harmless. Using leftover rocket fuel to help destroy land mines incurs no additional costs to taxpayers. To ensure enough propellant is available for each Shuttle mission, NASA allows for a small percentage of extra propellant in each batch. Once mixed, surplus fuel solidifies and carnot be saved for use in another launch. In its solid form, it is an ideal ingredient for the new flare. The flare was developed by Thiokol Propulsion in Brigham City, Utah, the NASA contractor that designs and builds rocket motors for the Solid Rocket Booster Space Shuttle. An estimated 80 million or more active land mines are scattered around the world in at least 70 countries, and kill or maim 26,000 people a year. Worldwide, there is one casualty every 22 minutes

Through the Eyes of NASA: NASA's 2017 Eclipse Education Progam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayo, L.

2017-12-01

Over the last three years, NASA has been developing plans to bring the August 21st total solar eclipse to the nation, "as only NASA can", leveraging its considerable space assets, technology, scientists, and its unmatched commitment to science education. The eclipse, long anticipated by many groups, represents the largest Big Event education program that NASA has ever undertaken. It is the latest in a long string of successful Big Event international celebrations going back two decades including both transits of Venus, three solar eclipses, solar maximum, and mission events such as the MSL/Curiosity landing on Mars, and the launch of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to name a few. This talk will detail NASA's program development methods, strategic partnerships, and strategies for using this celestial event to engage the nation and improve overall science literacy.

Land Data Assimilation of Satellite-Based Soil Moisture Products Using the Land Information System Over the NLDAS Domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mocko, David M.; Kumar, S. V.; Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Tian, Y.

2011-01-01

This presentation will include results from data assimilation simulations using the NASA-developed Land Information System (LIS). Using the ensemble Kalman filter in LIS, two satellite-based soil moisture products from the AMSR-E instrument were assimilated, one a NASA-based product and the other from the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM). The domain and land-surface forcing data from these simulations were from the North American Land Data Assimilation System Phase-2, over the period 2002-2008. The Noah land-surface model, version 3.2, was used during the simulations. Changes to estimates of land surface states, such as soil moisture, as well as changes to simulated runoff/streamflow will be presented. Comparisons over the NLDAS domain will also be made to two global reference evapotranspiration (ET) products, one an interpolated product based on FLUXNET tower data and the other a satellite- based algorithm from the MODIS instrument. Results of an improvement metric show that assimilating the LPRM product improved simulated ET estimates while the NASA-based soil moisture product did not.

Six Landing Sites on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

The landing site chosen for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, at about 68 degrees north latitude, is much farther north than the sites where previous spacecraft have landed on Mars.

Color coding on this map indicates relative elevations based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Red is higher elevation; blue is lower elevation. In longitude, the map extends from 70 degrees (north) to minus 70 degrees (south).

NASA MEaSUREs Combined ASTER and MODIS Emissivity over Land (CAMEL) Uncertainty Estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feltz, M.; Borbas, E. E.; Knuteson, R. O.; Hulley, G. C.; Hook, S. J.

2016-12-01

Under the NASA MEASUREs project a new global, land surface emissivity database is being made available as part of the Unified and Coherent Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity Earth System Data Record. This new CAMEL emissivity database is created by the merging of the MODIS baseline-fit emissivity database (UWIREMIS) developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the ASTER Global Emissivity Dataset v4 produced at the Jet Propulsion Labratory. The combined CAMEL product leverages the ability of ASTER's 5 bands to more accurately resolve the TIR (8-12 micron) region and the ability of UWIREMIS to provide information throughout the 3.6-12 micron IR region. It will be made available for 2000 through 2017 at monthly mean, 5 km resolution for 13 bands within the 3.6-14.3 micron region, and will also be extended to 417 infrared spectral channels using a principal component regression approach. Uncertainty estimates of the CAMEL will be provided that combine temporal, spatial, and algorithm variability as part of a total uncertainty estimate for the emissivity product. The spatial and temporal uncertainties are calculated as the standard deviation of the surrounding 5x5 pixels and 3 neighboring months respectively while the algorithm uncertainty is calculated using a measure of the difference between the two CAMEL emissivity inputs—the ASTER GED and MODIS baseline-fit products. This work describes these uncertainty estimation methods in detail and shows first results. Global, monthly results for different seasons are shown as well as case study examples at locations with different land surface types. Comparisons of the case studies to both lab values and an independent emissivity climatology derived from IASI measurements (Dan Zhou et al., IEEE Trans., 2011) are included.

Staking out Curiosity Landing Site

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-08-09

The geological context for the landing site of NASA Curiosity rover is visible in this image mosaic obtained by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment HiRISE camera on NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The Power for Flight: NASA's Contributions to Aircraft Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kinney, Jeremy R.

2017-01-01

The New York Times announced America's entry into the 'long awaited' Jet Age when a Pan American (Pan Am) World Airways Boeing 707 airliner left New York for Paris on October 26, 1958. Powered by four turbojet engines, the 707 offered speed, more nonstop flights, and a smoother and quieter travel experience compared to newly antiquated propeller airliners. With the Champs-Elysees only 6 hours away, humankind had entered into a new and exciting age in which the shrinking of the world for good was no longer a daydream. Fifty years later, the New York Times declared the second coming of a 'cleaner, leaner' Jet Age. Decades-old concerns over fuel efficiency, noise, and emissions shaped this new age as the aviation industry had the world poised for 'a revolution in jet engines'. Refined turbofans incorporating the latest innovations would ensure that aviation would continue to enable a worldwide transportation network. At the root of many of the advances over the preceding 50 years was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). On October 1, 1958, just a few weeks before the flight of that Pan Am 707, NASA came into existence. Tasked with establishing a national space program as part of a Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, NASA is often remembered in popular memory first for putting the first human beings on the Moon in July 1969, followed by running the successful 30-year Space Shuttle Program and by landing the Rover Curiosity on Mars in August 2012. What many people do not recognize is the crucial role the first 'A' in NASA played in the development of aircraft since the Agency's inception. Innovations shaping the aerodynamic design, efficient operation, and overall safety of aircraft made NASA a vital element of the American aviation industry even though they remained unknown to the public. This is the story of one facet of NASA's many contributions to commercial, military, and general aviation: the development of

Development of hydrogen resistant structural alloy NASA-23

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhat, B. N.; Mcpherson, W. B.; Kuruvilla, A. K.; Chen, P. S.; Panda, B.

1993-01-01

Hydrogen-resistant alloy NASA-23 was developed specifically as a structural alloy for application in liquid propulsion systems that use hydrogen fuel. NASA-23 was designed to be similar to Alloy 718 in strength, ductility, and corrosion resistance, but with superior resistance to hydrogen environment embrittlement. The alloy is readily processed; it can be both hot and cold worked and is castable and weldable. A material property data base is being generated for both cast and wrought NASA-23. This paper will present the status of alloy development and discuss potential applications in propulsion systems.

Flight evaluation of advanced controls and displays for transition and landing on the NASA V/STOL systems research aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Franklin, James A.; Stortz, Michael W.; Borchers, Paul F.; Moralez, Ernesto, III

1996-01-01

Flight experiments were conducted on Ames Research Center's V/STOL Systems Research Aircraft (VSRA) to assess the influence of advanced control modes and head-up displays (HUD's) on flying qualities for precision approach and landing operations. Evaluations were made for decelerating approaches to hover followed by a vertical landing and for slow landings for four control/display mode combinations: the basic YAV-8B stability augmentation system; attitude command for pitch, roll, and yaw; flightpath/acceleration command with translational rate command in the hover; and height-rate damping with translational-rate command. Head-up displays used in conjunction with these control modes provided flightpath tracking/pursuit guidance and deceleration commands for the decelerating approach and a mixed horizontal and vertical presentation for precision hover and landing. Flying qualities were established and control usage and bandwidth were documented for candidate control modes and displays for the approach and vertical landing. Minimally satisfactory bandwidths were determined for the translational-rate command system. Test pilot and engineer teams from the Naval Air Warfare Center, the Boeing Military Airplane Group, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Rolls-Royce, and the British Defense Research Agency participated in the program along with NASA research pilots from the Ames and Lewis Research Centers. The results, in conjunction with related ground-based simulation data, indicate that the flightpath/longitudinal acceleration command response type in conjunction with pursuit tracking and deceleration guidance on the HUD would be essential for operation to instrument minimums significantly lower than the minimums for the AV-8B. It would also be a superior mode for performing slow landings where precise control to an austere landing area such as a narrow road is demanded. The translational-rate command system would reduce pilot workload for

The Martian Story Ares 4 Landing Site

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-05

This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a location on Mars associated with the best-selling novel and Hollywood movie, "The Martian." It is the science-fiction tale's planned landing site for the Ares 4 mission. The novel placed the Ares 4 site on the floor of a very shallow crater in the southwestern corner of Schiaparelli Crater. This HiRISE image shows a flat region there entirely mantled by bright Martian dust. There are no color variations, just uniform reddish dust. A pervasive, pitted texture visible at full resolution is characteristic of many dust deposits on Mars. No boulders are visible, so the dust is probably at least a meter thick. Past Martian rover and lander missions from NASA have avoided such pervasively dust-covered regions for two reasons. First, the dust has a low thermal inertia, meaning that it gets extra warm in the daytime and extra cold at night, a thermal challenge to survival of the landers and rovers (and people). Second, the dust hides the bedrock, so little is known about the bedrock composition and whether it is of scientific interest. This view is one image product from HiRISE observation ESP_042014_1760, taken July 14, 2015, at 3.9 degrees south latitude, 15.2 degrees east longitude. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19914

NASA Occupant Protection Standards Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Somers, Jeffrey; Gernhardt, Michael; Lawrence, Charles

2012-01-01

Historically, spacecraft landing systems have been tested with human volunteers, because analytical methods for estimating injury risk were insufficient. These tests were conducted with flight-like suits and seats to verify the safety of the landing systems. Currently, NASA uses the Brinkley Dynamic Response Index to estimate injury risk, although applying it to the NASA environment has drawbacks: (1) Does not indicate severity or anatomical location of injury (2) Unclear if model applies to NASA applications. Because of these limitations, a new validated, analytical approach was desired. Leveraging off of the current state of the art in automotive safety and racing, a new approach was developed. The approach has several aspects: (1) Define the acceptable level of injury risk by injury severity (2) Determine the appropriate human surrogate for testing and modeling (3) Mine existing human injury data to determine appropriate Injury Assessment Reference Values (IARV). (4) Rigorously Validate the IARVs with sub-injurious human testing (5) Use validated IARVs to update standards and vehicle requirement

NASA Dryden Flight Research Center: We Fly What Others Only Imagine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ennix-Sandhu, Kimberly

2006-01-01

A powerpoint presentation of NASA Dryden's historical and future flight programs is shown. The contents include: 1) Getting To Know NASA; 2) Our Namesake; 3) To Fly What Others Only Imagine; 4) Dryden's Mission: Advancing Technology and Science Through Flight; 5) X-1 The First of the Rocket-Powered Research Aircraft; 6) X-1 Landing; 7) Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) Liftoff and Landing; 8) Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) Ground Test; 9) M2-F1 (The Flying Bathtub); 10) M2-F2 Drop Test; 11) Enterprise Space Shuttle Prototype; 12) Space Shuttle Columbia STS-1; 13) STS-114 Landing-August 2005; 14) Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV); 15) What You Can Do To Succeed!; and 16) NASA Dryden Flight Research Center: This is What We Do!

Expedition 31 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-07-01

Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit of NASA is helped out of a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter after it carried him from the Soyuz TMA-03M capsule landing site in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan to Karaganda on Sunday, July 1, 2012 in Kazakhstan. Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia and Flight Engineers Pettit and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency landed in their Soyuz TMA-03M capsule in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan after serving more than six months onboard the International Space Station as members of the Expedition 30 and 31 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Land-use and Land-cover Change from 1974 to 2008 around Mobile Bay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ellis, Jean; Spruce, Joseph; Smoot, James; Hilbert, Kent; Swann, Roberta

2008-01-01

This project is a Gulf of Mexico Application Pilot in which NASA Stennis Space Center (SSC) is working within a regional collaboration network of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. NASA researchers, with support from the NASA SSC Applied Science Program Steering Committee, employed multi-temporal Landsat data to assess land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes in the coastal counties of Mobile and Baldwin, AL, between 1974 and 2008. A multi-decadal time-series, coastal LULC product unique to NASA SSC was produced. The geographic extent and nature of change was quantified for the open water, barren, upland herbaceous, non-woody wetland, upland forest, woody wetland, and urban landscapes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Coastal Development Data Center (NCDDC) will assist with the transition of the final product to the operational end user, which primarily is the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP). We found substantial LULC change over the 34-year study period, much more than is evident when the change occurring in the last years. Between 1974 and 2008, the upland forest landscape lost almost 6% of the total acreage, while urban land cover increased by slightly more than 3%. With exception to open water, upland forest is the dominant landscape, accounting for about 25-30% of the total area.

The Goddard Snow Radiance Assimilation Project: An Integrated Snow Radiance and Snow Physics Modeling Framework for Snow/cold Land Surface Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, E.; Tedesco, M.; Reichle, R.; Choudhury, B.; Peters-Lidard C.; Foster, J.; Hall, D.; Riggs, G.

2006-01-01

Microwave-based retrievals of snow parameters from satellite observations have a long heritage and have so far been generated primarily by regression-based empirical "inversion" methods based on snapshots in time. Direct assimilation of microwave radiance into physical land surface models can be used to avoid errors associated with such retrieval/inversion methods, instead utilizing more straightforward forward models and temporal information. This approach has been used for years for atmospheric parameters by the operational weather forecasting community with great success. Recent developments in forward radiative transfer modeling, physical land surface modeling, and land data assimilation are converging to allow the assembly of an integrated framework for snow/cold lands modeling and radiance assimilation. The objective of the Goddard snow radiance assimilation project is to develop such a framework and explore its capabilities. The key elements of this framework include: a forward radiative transfer model (FRTM) for snow, a snowpack physical model, a land surface water/energy cycle model, and a data assimilation scheme. In fact, multiple models are available for each element enabling optimization to match the needs of a particular study. Together these form a modular and flexible framework for self-consistent, physically-based remote sensing and water/energy cycle studies. In this paper we will describe the elements and the integration plan. All modules will operate within the framework of the Land Information System (LIS), a land surface modeling framework with data assimilation capabilities running on a parallel-node computing cluster. Capabilities for assimilation of snow retrieval products are already under development for LIS. We will describe plans to add radiance-based assimilation capabilities. Plans for validation activities using field measurements will also be discussed.

Zooming in on Landing Site

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2008-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on the image for movie of Zooming in on Landing Site

This animation zooms in on the area on Mars where NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will touchdown on May 25, 2008. The image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The first shot shows the spacecraft's landing ellipse in green, the area where Phoenix has a high probability of landing. It then zooms in to show the region's arctic terrain. This polar landscape is relatively free of rocks, with only about 1 to 2 rocks 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) or larger in an area about as big as two football fields.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Expedition 42 Soyuz TMA-14M Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-12

Russian ground support personnel assemble a portable medical tent at the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft landing site shortly after the capsule landed with Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA, Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Elena Serova of Roscosmos near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, March 12, 2015. NASA Astronaut Wilmore, Russian Cosmonauts Samokutyaev and Serova are returning after almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 41 and 42 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

COLD-SAT feasibility study safety analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mchenry, Steven T.; Yost, James M.

1991-01-01

The Cryogenic On-orbit Liquid Depot-Storage, Acquisition, and Transfer (COLD-SAT) satellite presents some unique safety issues. The feasibility study conducted at NASA-Lewis desired a systems safety program that would be involved from the initial design in order to eliminate and/or control the inherent hazards. Because of this, a hazards analysis method was needed that: (1) identified issues that needed to be addressed for a feasibility assessment; and (2) identified all potential hazards that would need to be controlled and/or eliminated during the detailed design phases. The developed analysis method is presented as well as the results generated for the COLD-SAT system.

Flight Data Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) Repository

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martinez, Elmain M.; Winterhalter, Daniel

2012-01-01

Dr. Daniel Winterhalter, NASA Engineering and Safety Center Chief Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, requested the NASA Engineering and Safety Center sponsor a 3-year effort to collect entry, descent, and landing material and to establish a NASA-wide archive to serve the material. The principle focus of this task was to identify entry, descent, and landing repository material that was at risk of being permanently lost due to damage, decay, and undocumented storage. To provide NASA-wide access to this material, a web-based digital archive was created. This document contains the outcome of the effort.

NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 Applications - Advancing Dialogue for More Effective Decisions and Societal benefits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgado Arias, S.; Brown, M. E.; Escobar, V. M.; Jasinski, M. F.; Neumann, T.

2016-12-01

Since 2012, the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) Applications Program has worked to understand how future mission observations can be effectively used to inform operational sea ice forecasting for Arctic shipping, global flood risk monitoring, fire fuel mapping, and other applications. The ICESat-2 Applications Program has implemented various engagement and outreach activities, as well as an Early Adopter program, to facilitate dialogue between potential users, project scientists, science definition team members, NASA Headquarters and the mission's data distribution center. This dialogue clarifies how ICESat-2's science data can be integrated, improved or leveraged to advance science objectives aligned with or beyond those of the mission, and in support of a range of decisions and actions of benefit to communities across the globe. In this presentation, we will present an overview of the Program initiatives and highlight the research-to-applications chains that mission Early Adopters are helping build for ICESat-2. With a total of 19 Early Adopters and more than 400 people engaged as part of the applications community, ICESat-2 has positioned itself to ensure applications where its observations are used to meet the needs of decision makers, policy makers and managers at different scales. For more information visit: http://icesat-2.gsfc.nasa.gov/applications

STS Approach and Landing Test (ALT): Flight 5 - pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) on landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

During 1977 the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, hosted the Approach and Landing Tests for the space shuttle prototype Enterprise. Since the shuttles would land initially on Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to Dryden on Edwards Air Force Base, NASA had already modified a Boeing 747 to carry them back to their launch site at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Computer calculations and simulations had predicted the mated shuttle and 747 could fly together safely, but NASA wanted to verify that prediction in a controlled flight-test environment before the shuttles went into operation. The agency also wanted to glide test the orbiter to ensure it could land safely before sending it into space with human beings aboard. So NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, developed a three-phase test program. First, an unpiloted-captive phase tested the shuttle/747 combination without a crew on the Enterprise in case of a problem that required jettisoning the prototype. There were three taxi tests and five flight tests without a crew in the shuttle. That phase ended on March 2, 1977. The second or captive-active phase-completed on July 26, 1977, flew the orbiter mated to the 747 with a two-person crew inside. Finally there were five flights-completed on October 26, 1977, in which the orbiter separated from the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA, as the 747 was designated) and landed. Beginning on August 12, 1977, the first four landings took place uneventfully on lakebed runways, but the fifth occurred on the concrete, 15,000-foot runway at Edwards. For the first three flights, a tail cone was placed around the dummy main engines to reduce buffeting. The tail-cone fairing was removed for the last two flights. This movie clip begins with the Enterprise just prior to touchdown on the main runway at Edwards AFB after it's fifth and final unpowered free flight. Shuttle pilots Gordon Fullerton and Fred Haise were attempting a couple of firsts on this flight--a precision

Land Remote Sensing Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrnes, Ray

2007-01-01

A general overview of the USGS land remote sensing program is presented. The contents include: 1) Brief overview of USGS land remote sensing program; 2) Highlights of JACIE work at USGS; 3) Update on NASA/USGS Landsat Data Continuity Mission; and 4) Notes on alternative data sources.

Expedition 9 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-24

Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke shows his happiness with the successful landing in the Syouz spacecraft with fellow crew members, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin. The crew landed in their Soyuz capsule approximately 85 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Land Use and Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Irwin, Daniel E.

2004-01-01

The overall purpose of this training session is to familiarize Central American project cooperators with the remote sensing and image processing research that is being conducted by the NASA research team and to acquaint them with the data products being produced in the areas of Land Cover and Land Use Change and carbon modeling under the NASA SERVIR project. The training session, therefore, will be both informative and practical in nature. Specifically, the course will focus on the physics of remote sensing, various satellite and airborne sensors (Landsat, MODIS, IKONOS, Star-3i), processing techniques, and commercial off the shelf image processing software.

Using NASA Remote Sensing Data to Reduce Uncertainty of Land-use Transitions in Global Carbon-Climate Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chini, L. P.; Hurtt, G. C.; Frolking, S. E.; Sahajpal, R.; Potapov, P.; Hansen, M.; Fisk, J.

2016-12-01

For the 5th IPCC Assessment almost all Earth System Models (ESMs) incorporated new gridded products of land-use and land-use change that were harmonized to ensure a continuous transition from historical to future data in a consistent format for all models. However, these Land-Use Harmonization (LUH) data products are estimates, constrained with data where available, and with modeling assumptions, and the remaining challenge is to quantify, and reduce, the uncertainty in these products. At the same time, satellite remote sensing of the terrestrial biosphere has also evolved. Global-scale land cover extent and change monitoring is now possible given systematically acquired earth observation data sets, advanced characterization algorithms and data intensive computing capabilities. Here we consider: how can satellite remote sensing products be used to generate (and reduce uncertainty in) new gridded maps of land-use transitions for use in coupled carbon-climate simulations? As part of the international effort to develop the next generation of land-use datasets (LUH2), new NASA remote-sensing-based maps of global forest extent and change (Hansen et al. 2013) were used as both an added constraint and diagnostic in the LUH process. Harmonizing this remote sensing data with the LUH data was a major computational challenge involving 143 billion 30m Landsat pixels, and the simulation of over 20 billion LUH unknowns. Our approach involved first harmonizing the definitions of forest loss between the observed and simulated data for the years 2000-2012. Next, new spatial patterns of historical wood harvest were calculated to match the observed forest loss transitions while simultaneously meeting all other constraints of the model, and ensuring consistency throughout the historical time-period. After reconciling definitions and developing new wood harvest patterns the LUH2 global forest loss for the period 2000-2012 was reduced from over 8.3 million km2 to 1.78 million km2

MODIS Land Data Products: Generation, Quality Assurance and Validation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Masuoka, Edward; Wolfe, Robert; Morisette, Jeffery; Sinno, Scott; Teague, Michael; Saleous, Nazmi; Devadiga, Sadashiva; Justice, Christopher; Nickeson, Jaime

2008-01-01

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) on-board NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua Satellites are key instruments for providing data on global land, atmosphere, and ocean dynamics. Derived MODIS land, atmosphere and ocean products are central to NASA's mission to monitor and understand the Earth system. NASA has developed and generated on a systematic basis a suite of MODIS products starting with the first Terra MODIS data sensed February 22, 2000 and continuing with the first MODIS-Aqua data sensed July 2, 2002. The MODIS Land products are divided into three product suites: radiation budget products, ecosystem products, and land cover characterization products. The production and distribution of the MODIS Land products are described, from initial software delivery by the MODIS Land Science Team, to operational product generation and quality assurance, delivery to EOS archival and distribution centers, and product accuracy assessment and validation. Progress and lessons learned since the first MODIS data were in early 2000 are described.

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-245 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis as it lands on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-251 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis as it lands on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-247 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis as it lands on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-250 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis as it lands on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-248 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis as it lands on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-246 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis as it lands on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

Flight Testing the Landing Radar for Mars Science Laboratory

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-21

A NASA Dryden Flight Research Center F/A-18 852 aircraft performs a roll during June 2011 flight tests of a Mars landing radar. A test model of the landing radar for NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission is inside a pod under the aircraft left wing.

Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-125 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-24

STS125-S-064 (24 May 2009) --- Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending the STS-125 mission to repair and upgrade NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope. Onboard are astronauts Scott Altman, commander; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel, all mission specialists. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:05 a.m. (PDT) on May 24, 2009. Nose gear touchdown was at 8:39:15 a.m. Wheel-stop was at 8:40:15 a.m., bringing the mission?s elapsed time to 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds. Landing opportunities on May 22, May 23 and May 24 were waved off due to weather concerns at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle?s primary landing site. Through five spacewalks, the Hubble Space Telescope was refurbished and upgraded with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014.

Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-125 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-24

STS125-S-063 (24 May 2009) --- Space Shuttle Atlantis approaches landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending the STS-125 mission to repair and upgrade NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope. Onboard are astronauts Scott Altman, commander; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel, all mission specialists. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:05 a.m. (PDT) on May 24, 2009. Nose gear touchdown was at 8:39:15 a.m. Wheel-stop was at 8:40:15 a.m., bringing the mission?s elapsed time to 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds. Landing opportunities on May 22, May 23 and May 24 were waved off due to weather concerns at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle?s primary landing site. Through five spacewalks, the Hubble Space Telescope was refurbished and upgraded with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014.

STS-124 Space Shuttle Discovery Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-06-14

The aft end of the space shuttle Discovery is seen shortly after landing on runway 15 of the NASA Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility at 11:15 a.m., Saturday, June 14, 2008 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Onboard Discovery were NASA astronauts Mark Kelly, commander; Ken Ham, pilot; Mike Fossum, Ron Garan, Karen Nyberg, Garrett Reisman and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, all mission specialists. During the STS-124 mission, Discovery's crew installed the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's large Kibo laboratory and its remote manipulator system leaving a larger space station and one with increased science capabilities. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Cold Stowage: An ISS Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hartley, Garen

2018-01-01

NASA's vision for humans pursuing deep space flight involves the collection of science in low earth orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As a service to the science community, Johnson Space Center (JSC) has developed hardware and processes to preserve collected science on the ISS and transfer it safely back to the Principal Investigators. This hardware includes an array of freezers, refrigerators, and incubators. The Cold Stowage team is part of the International Space Station (ISS) program. JSC manages the operation, support and integration tasks provided by Jacobs Technology and the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB). Cold Stowage provides controlled environments to meet temperature requirements during ascent, on-orbit operations and return, in relation to International Space Station Payload Science.

Topographical Context of Phoenix Landing Region

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-08-02

This area was designated Region D in the process of evaluating potential landing sites for NASA Phoenix Mars Lander. The topographical information is from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA Mars Global Surveyor orbiter.

Space Shuttle Discovery landed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at 5:11 a.m., following the very successful 14-day STS-114 return to flight mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-08-09

Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Calif. at 5:11 a.m. this morning, following the very successful 14-day STS-114 return to flight mission.

Arctic-COLORS (Coastal Land Ocean Interactions in the Arctic) - a NASA field campaign scoping study to examine land-ocean interactions in the Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernes, P.; Tzortziou, M.; Salisbury, J.; Mannino, A.; Matrai, P.; Friedrichs, M. A.; Del Castillo, C. E.

2014-12-01

The Arctic region is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet, triggering rapid social and economic changes and impacting both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Yet our understanding of critical processes and interactions along the Arctic land-ocean interface is limited. Arctic-COLORS is a Field Campaign Scoping Study funded by NASA's Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program that aims to improve understanding and prediction of land-ocean interactions in a rapidly changing Arctic coastal zone, and assess vulnerability, response, feedbacks and resilience of coastal ecosystems, communities and natural resources to current and future pressures. Specific science objectives include: - Quantify lateral fluxes to the arctic inner shelf from (i) rivers and (ii) the outer shelf/basin that affect biology, biodiversity, biogeochemistry (i.e. organic matter, nutrients, suspended sediment), and the processing rates of these constituents in coastal waters. - Evaluate the impact of the thawing of Arctic permafrost within the river basins on coastal biology, biodiversity and biogeochemistry, including various rates of community production and the role these may play in the health of regional economies. - Assess the impact of changing Arctic landfast ice and coastal sea ice dynamics. - Establish a baseline for comparison to future change, and use state-of-the-art models to assess impacts of environmental change on coastal biology, biodiversity and biogeochemistry. A key component of Arctic-COLORS will be the integration of satellite and field observations with coupled physical-biogeochemical models for predicting impacts of future pressures on Arctic, coastal ocean, biological processes and biogeochemical cycles. Through interagency and international collaborations, and through the organization of dedicated workshops, town hall meetings and presentations at international conferences, the scoping study engages the broader scientific community and invites participation of

Expedition 37 Soyuz Landing Preparation

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-11-10

A member of Russian search and rescue exits a helicopter moments after landing at Zhezkazgan airport in Kazakhstan, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013, a day ahead of the scheduled landing of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft with Expedition 37 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA and Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano are returning to Earth after five and a half months on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Selection of Environmentally Friendly Solvents for the Extravehicular Mobility Unit Secondary Oxygen Pack Cold Trap Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steele, John; Chullen, Cinda; Morenz, Jesse; Stephenson, Curtis

2010-01-01

Freon-113(TradeMark) has been used as a chemistry lab sampling solvent at NASA/JSC for EMU (extravehicular Mobility Unit) SOP (Secondary Oxygen Pack) oxygen testing Cold Traps utilized at the USA (United Space Alliance) Houston facility. Similar testing has occurred at the HSWL (Hamilton Sundstrand Windsor Locks) facility. A NASA Executive Order bans the procurement of all ODS (ozone depleting substances), including Freon-113 by the end of 2009. In order to comply with NASA direction, HSWL began evaluating viable solvents to replace Freon-113 . The study and testing effort to find Freon-113 replacements used for Cold Trap sampling is the subject of this paper. Test results have shown HFE-7100 (a 3M fluorinated ether) to be an adequate replacement for Freon-113 as a solvent to remove and measure the non-volatile residue collected in a Cold Trap during oxygen testing. Furthermore, S-316 (a Horiba Instruments Inc. high molecular weight, non-ODS chlorofluorocarbon) was found to be an adequate replacement for Freon-113 as a solvent to reconstitute non-volatile residue removed from a Cold Trap during oxygen testing for subsequent HC (hydrocarbon) analysis via FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy).

Land Use Planning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1978-01-01

Computer technology, aerial photography and space imagery are being combined in a NASA community services program designed to help solve land use and natural resource planning problems. As urban areas grow, so grows the need for comprehensive, up-to-date information on which to base intelligent decisions regarding land use. State and local planners need information such as the nature of urban change, where the changes are occurring, how they affect public safety, transportation, the economy, tax assessment, sewer systems, water quality, flood hazard, noise impact and a great variety of other considerations. Most importantly they need continually updated maps. Preparing timely maps, gathering the essential data and maintaining it in orderly fashion are becoming matters of increasing difficulty. The NASA project, which has nationwide potential for improving efficiency in the planning process, is a pilot program focused on Tacoma, Washington and surrounding Pierce County. Its key element, developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is a computerized Land Use Management Information System (LUMIS).

Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Products, Services and Application from NASA Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fang, Hongliang; Beaudoing, Hiroko K.; Rodell, matthew; Teng, William L.; Vollmer, Bruce E.

2009-01-01

The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) is generating a series of land surface state (e.g., soil moisture and surface temperature) and flux (e.g., evaporation and sensible heat flux) products simulated by four land surface models (CLM, Mosaic, Noah and VIC). These products are now accessible at the Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), a component of the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). Current data holdings include a set of 1.0 degree resolution data products from the four models, covering 1979 to the present; and a 0.25 degree data product from the Noah model, covering 2000 to the present. The products are in Gridded Binary (GRIB) format and can be accessed through a number of interfaces. Users can search the products through keywords and perform on-the-fly spatial and parameter subsetting and format conversion of selected data. More advanced visualization, access and analysis capabilities will be available in the future. The long term GLDAS data are used to develop climatology of water cycle components and to explore the teleconnections of droughts and pluvial.

President Ronald Reagan speaks to a crowd of more than 45,000 people at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center following the landing of STS-4 on July 4, 1982

NASA Image and Video Library

1982-07-04

President Ronald Reagan speaks to a crowd of more than 45,000 people at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center following the landing of STS-4 on July 4, 1982. To the right of the President are Mrs. Reagan and NASA Administrator James M. Beggs. To the left are STS-4 Columbia astronauts Thomas K. Mattingly and Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. Prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise is in the background.

Topics in landing gear dynamics research at NASA Langley

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mccomb, H. G., Jr.; Tanner, J. A.

1986-01-01

Four topics in landing gear dynamics are discussed. Three of these topics are subjects of recent research: tilt steering phenomenon, water spray ingestion on flooded runways, and actively controlled landing gear. The fourth topic is a description of a major facility recently enhanced in capability.

Towards monitoring land-cover and land-use changes at a global scale: the global land survey 2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutman, G.; Byrnes, Raymond A.; Masek, J.; Covington, S.; Justice, C.; Franks, S.; Headley, Rachel

2008-01-01

Land cover is a critical component of the Earth system, infl uencing land-atmosphere interactions, greenhouse gas fl uxes, ecosystem health, and availability of food, fi ber, and energy for human populations. The recent Integrated Global Observations of Land (IGOL) report calls for the generation of maps documenting global land cover at resolutions between 10m and 30m at least every fi ve years (Townshend et al., in press). Moreover, despite 35 years of Landsat observations, there has not been a unifi ed global analysis of land-cover trends nor has there been a global assessment of land-cover change at Landsat-like resolution. Since the 1990s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have supported development of data sets based on global Landsat observations (Tucker et al., 2004). These land survey data sets, usually referred to as GeoCover ™, provide global, orthorectifi ed, typically cloud-free Landsat imagery centered on the years 1975, 1990, and 2000, with a preference for leaf-on conditions. Collectively, these data sets provided a consistent set of observations to assess land-cover changes at a decadal scale. These data are freely available via the Internet from the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) (see http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov or http://glovis.usgs.gov). This has resulted in unprecedented downloads of data, which are widely used in scientifi c studies of land-cover change (e.g., Boone et al., 2007; Harris et al., 2005; Hilbert, 2006; Huang et al. 2007; Jantz et al., 2005, Kim et al., 2007; Leimgruber, 2005; Masek et al., 2006). NASA and USGS are continuing to support land-cover change research through the development of GLS2005 - an additional global Landsat assessment circa 20051 . Going beyond the earlier initiatives, this data set will establish a baseline for monitoring changes on a 5-year interval and will pave the way toward continuous global land

NASA & USDA teams to plant seeds Today on This Week @NASA – October 9, 2015

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-10-09

On Monday, October 5th, NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden planted “Outredgeous” Red Romaine Lettuce seeds in USDA’s People’s Garden, sister seeds of those grown and harvested on the International Space Station. During the event in Washington, D.C., they also signed an a new interagency agreement expanding USDA and NASA's commitment to promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, agriculture and math to young people. Also, CubeSats launched to test new technology, New Orion crew egress test, NASA living of Land in Space? NASA lends a helping hand for Start Ups, Meet the New Inductees to the Glenn Hall of Fame, and it’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, so Stop, Think & Connect.

Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-125 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-24

STS125-S-066 (24 May 2009) --- The STS-125 crew pose for a photo near Space Shuttle Atlantis on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California following their landing which ended the STS-125 mission to repair and upgrade NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope. From the left are astronauts Mike Massimino, mission specialist; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Scott Altman, commander; Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Andrew Feustel and Michael Good, all mission specialists. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:05 a.m. (PDT) on May 24, 2009. Nose gear touchdown was at 8:39:15 a.m. Wheel-stop was at 8:40:15 a.m., bringing the mission?s elapsed time to 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds. Landing opportunities on May 22, May 23 and May 24 were waved off due to weather concerns at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle?s primary landing site. Through five spacewalks, Hubble was refurbished and upgraded with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014.

Test Setup For Model Landing Investigation of a Winged Space Vehicle

NASA Image and Video Library

1960-07-20

Test Setup For Model Landing Investigation of a Winged Space Vehicle Image used in NASA Document TN-D-1496 1960-L-04633.01 is Figure 9a for NASA Document L-2064 Photograph of model on launcher and landing on runway.

One of NASA's Two Modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier (SCA) Aircraft in Flight over NASA Dryden Flig

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

One of NASA's Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flies over the Dryden Flight Research Center main building at Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, California, in May 1999. NASA uses two modified Boeing 747 jetliners, originally manufactured for commercial use, as Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). One is a 747-100 model, while the other is designated a 747-100SR (short range). The two aircraft are identical in appearance and in their performance as Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The 747 series of aircraft are four-engine intercontinental-range swept-wing 'jumbo jets' that entered commercial service in 1969. The SCAs are used to ferry space shuttle orbiters from landing sites back to the launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center, and also to and from other locations too distant for the orbiters to be delivered by ground transportation. The orbiters are placed atop the SCAs by Mate-Demate Devices, large gantry-like structures which hoist the orbiters off the ground for post-flight servicing, and then mate them with the SCAs for ferry flights. Features which distinguish the two SCAs from standard 747 jetliners are: o Three struts, with associated interior structural strengthening, protruding from the top of the fuselage (two aft, one forward) on which the orbiter is attached o Two additional vertical stabilizers, one on each end of the standard horizontal stabilizer, to enhance directional stability o Removal of all interior furnishings and equipment aft of the forward No. 1 doors o Instrumentation used by SCA flight crews and engineers to monitor orbiter electrical loads during the ferry flights and also during pre- and post-ferry flight operations. The two SCAs are under the operational control of NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Tex. NASA 905 NASA 905 was the first SCA. It was obtained from American Airlines in 1974. Shortly after it was accepted by NASA it was flown in a series of wake vortex research flights at the Dryden Flight Research Center in a study to

NASA and Canadian Snowbirds Aircrafts

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-09

Workers watch as the Canadian Forces Snowbirds fly in formation over the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, during a practice flight on May 9, 2018, between their scheduled U.S. air shows.

Geological Diversity at Curiosity Landing Site

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-07-16

The area where NASA Curiosity rover will land on Aug. 5 PDT Aug. 6 EDT has a geological diversity that scientists are eager to investigate, as seen in this false-color map based on data from NASA Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Expedition 54 Landing Preparations

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-26

NASA, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive at the Karagada airport to deploy to Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan to pre-stage for the Soyuz MS-06 landing with Expedition 54 crew members Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 54 Landing Preparations

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-26

NASA, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive in Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan to prepare for the Soyuz MS-06 landing with Expedition 54 crew members Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Resource Prospector Propulsion Cold Flow Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Hunter; Pederson, Kevin; Dervan, Melanie; Holt, Kimberly; Jernigan, Frankie; Trinh, Huu; Flores, Sam

2014-01-01

For the past year, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Johnson Space Center have been working on a government version of a lunar lander design for the Resource Prospector Mission. A propulsion cold flow test system, representing an early flight design of the propulsion system, has been fabricated. The primary objective of the cold flow test is to simulate the Resource Prospector propulsion system operation through water flow testing and obtain data for anchoring analytical models. This effort will also provide an opportunity to develop a propulsion system mockup to examine hardware integration to a flight structure. This paper will report the work progress of the propulsion cold flow test system development and test preparation. At the time this paper is written, the initial waterhammer testing is underway. The initial assessment of the test data suggests that the results are as expected and have a similar trend with the pretest prediction. The test results will be reported in a future conference.

NASA's Evolving Views of Pluto

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-07-15

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew within 8,000 miles of dwarf planet Pluto on 14 July 2015. Our view of this cold, previously unexplored world, 4.67 billion miles from Earth, has evolved since its discovery by Clyde W. Tombaugh in 1930. This short clip shows images from Tombaugh, Hubble and New Horizons over the years, arranged to illustrate improvements in resolution. The close-up image at the end of this clip was taken about 1.5 hours before New Horizons closest approach to Pluto, when the craft was 47,800 miles (77,000 kilometers) from the surface of the planet. The image easily resolves structures smaller than a mile across. Credit: NASA/Goddard

NASA Shines a Spotlight on a Webb Telescope Test

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-12-11

Dressed in a clean room suit, NASA photographer Desiree Stover shines a light on the Space Environment Simulator's Integration Frame inside the thermal vacuum chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Shortly after, the chamber was closed up and engineers used this frame to enclose and help cryogenic (cold) test the heart of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Integrated Science Instrument Module. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Gunn NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Expedition 16 Soyuz TMA-11 Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-04-19

Steve Lindsey, Chief of NASA's Astronaut office, left, and Michael Sufferdini, International Station Program Manager, examine a map of central Kazakhstan as they received information at the Arkalyk airport April 19, 2008 on the landing of the Expedition 16 crew in the Soyuz TMA-11 capsule. The Soyuz made a ballistic landing, touching down more then 400 kilometers short of the intended target, but the crew reported by satellite phone to recovery forces that they were in good shape. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Scientific Balloon in Antarctica

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA image captured December 25, 2011 A NASA scientific balloon awaits launch in McMurdo, Antarctica. The balloon, carrying Indiana University's Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope (CREST), was launched on December 25. After a circum-navigational flight around the South Pole, the payload landed on January 5. The CREST payload is one of two scheduled as part of this seasons' annual NASA Antarctic balloon Campaign which is conducted in cooperation with the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs. The campaign's second payload is the University of Arizona's Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory (STO). You can follow the flights at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's web site at www.csbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice.htm Credit: NASA NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

The lab and the land: overcoming the Arctic in Cold War Alaska.

PubMed

Farish, Matthew

2013-03-01

The militarization of Alaska during and after World War II created an extraordinary set of new facilities. But it also reshaped the imaginative role of Alaska as a hostile environment, where an antagonistic form of nature could be defeated with the appropriate combination of technology and training. One of the crucial sites for this reformulation was the Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory, based at Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks. In the first two decades of the Cold War, its employees conducted numerous experiments on acclimatization and survival. The laboratory is now best known for an infamous set of tests involving the application of radioactive tracers to indigenous Alaskans--experiments publicized by post-Cold War panels established to evaluate the tragic history of atomic-era human subject research. But little else has been written about the laboratory's relationship with the populations and landscapes that it targeted for study. This essay presents the laboratory as critical to Alaska's history and the history of the Cold War sciences. A consideration of the laboratory's various projects also reveals a consistent fascination with race. Alaskan Natives were enrolled in experiments because their bodies were understood to hold clues to the mysteries of northern nature. A scientific solution would aid American military campaigns not only in Alaska, but in cold climates everywhere.

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP flares for landing at Edwards AFB after a ferry flight from Waco, Texas

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-05-31

NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP flares for landing at Edwards AFB after a ferry flight from Waco, Texas. NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on May 31, 2007. The heavily modified Boeing 747SP was ferried to Dryden from Waco, Texas, where L-3 Communications Integrated Systems installed a German-built 2.5-meter infrared telescope and made other major modifications over the past several years. SOFIA is scheduled to undergo installation and integration of mission systems and a multi-phase flight test program at Dryden over the next three years that is expected to lead to a full operational capability to conduct astronomy missions in about 2010. During its expected 20-year lifetime, SOFIA will be capable of "Great Observatory" class astronomical science, providing astronomers with access to the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum with optimized performance in the mid-infrared to sub-millimeter range.

NASA Water Resources Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David L.

2011-01-01

With increasing population pressure and water usage coupled with climate variability and change, water issues are being reported by numerous groups as the most critical environmental problems facing us in the 21st century. Competitive uses and the prevalence of river basins and aquifers that extend across boundaries engender political tensions between communities, stakeholders and countries. In addition to the numerous water availability issues, water quality related problems are seriously affecting human health and our environment. The potential crises and conflicts especially arise when water is competed among multiple uses. For example, urban areas, environmental and recreational uses, agriculture, and energy production compete for scarce resources, not only in the Western U.S. but throughout much of the U.S. and also in numerous parts of the world. Mitigating these conflicts and meeting water demands and needs requires using existing water resources more efficiently. The NASA Water Resources Program Element works to use NASA products and technology to address these critical water issues. The primary goal of the Water Resources is to facilitate application of NASA Earth science products as a routine use in integrated water resources management for the sustainable use of water. This also includes the extreme events of drought and floods and the adaptation to the impacts from climate change. NASA satellite and Earth system observations of water and related data provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years about the Earth's land surface conditions such as precipitation, snow, soil moisture, water levels, land cover type, vegetation type, and health. NASA Water Resources Program works closely to use NASA and Earth science data with other U.S. government agencies, universities, and non-profit and private sector organizations both domestically and internationally. The NASA Water Resources Program organizes its

Expedition 9 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-24

Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke exits the Russian search and rescue helicopter in Kustanay, Kazakhstan after the 2 hour flight from the landing site, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Viking landing sites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panagakos, N.

1973-01-01

A valley near the mouth of the 20,000-foot-deep Martian Grand Canyon has been chosen by NASA as the site of its first automated landing on the planet Mars. The landing site for the second mission of the 1975-76 Viking spacecraft will probably be an area about 1,000 miles northeast of the first site, where the likelihood of water increases the chances of finding evidence of life.

Hydrology Research with the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) Datasets at the NASA GES DISC Using Giovanni

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mocko, David M.; Rui, Hualan; Acker, James G.

2013-01-01

The North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) is a collaboration project between NASA/GSFC, NOAA, Princeton Univ., and the Univ. of Washington. NLDAS has created a surface meteorology dataset using the best-available observations and reanalyses the backbone of this dataset is a gridded precipitation analysis from rain gauges. This dataset is used to drive four separate land-surface models (LSMs) to produce datasets of soil moisture, snow, runoff, and surface fluxes. NLDAS datasets are available hourly and extend from Jan 1979 to near real-time with a typical 4-day lag. The datasets are available at 1/8th-degree over CONUS and portions of Canada and Mexico from 25-53 North. The datasets have been extensively evaluated against observations, and are also used as part of a drought monitor. NLDAS datasets are available from the NASA GES DISC and can be accessed via ftp, GDS, Mirador, and Giovanni. GES DISC news articles were published showing figures from the heat wave of 2011, Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, and the low-snow winter of 2011-2012. For this presentation, Giovanni-generated figures using NLDAS data from the derecho across the U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic will be presented. Also, similar figures will be presented from the landfall of Hurricane Isaac and the before-and-after drought conditions of the path of the tropical moisture into the central states of the U.S. Updates on future products and datasets from the NLDAS project will also be introduced.

High Resolution Land Surface Modeling with the next generation Land Data Assimilation Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, S. V.; Eylander, J.; Peters-Lidard, C.

2005-12-01

Knowledge of land surface processes is important to many real-world applications such as agricultural production, water resources management, and flood predication. The Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) has provided the USDA and other customers global soil moisture and temperature data for the past 30 years using the agrometeorological data assimilation model (now called AGRMET), merging atmospheric data. Further, accurate initialization of land surface conditions has been shown to greatly influence and improve weather forecast model and seasonal-to-interannual climate predictions. The AFWA AGRMET model exploits real time precipitation observations and analyses, global forecast model and satellite data to generate global estimates of soil moisture, soil temperature and other land surface states at 48km spatial resolution. However, to truly address the land surface initialization and climate prediction problem, and to mitigate the errors introduced by the differences in spatial scales of models, representations of land surface conditions need to be developed at the same fine scales such as that of cloud resolving models. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has developed an offline land data assimilation system known as the Land Information System (LIS) capable of modeling land atmosphere interactions at spatial resolutions as fine as 1km. LIS provides a software architecture that integrates the use of the state of the art land surface models, data assimilation techniques, and high performance computing and data management tools. LIS also employs many high resolution surface parameters such as the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS)-era products. In this study we describe the development of a next generation high resolution land surface modeling and data assimilation system, combining the capabilities of LIS and AGRMET. We investigate the influence of high resolution land surface data and observations on the land surface conditions by comparing with the operational AGRMET

NASA's Aqua Satellite Sees Extra-Tropical Storm Vongfong Pulling Away from Hokkaido, Japan

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Extra-Tropical Storm Vongfong on Oct. 4 as it was moving away from Hokkaido, Japan, the northernmost of the big islands. Vongfong transitioned into an extra-tropical storm early on Oct. 4 as its core changed from warm to cold. The MODIS or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Vongfong over Japan on Oct. 14 at 03:15 UTC as it was southeast of the island of Hokkaido, Japan. The image showed that south of the center of circulation was almost devoid of clouds and showers, which were all pushed to the north and east of the center as a result of southwesterly wind shear. At 0300 UTC on Oct. 14, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued its final advisory on Tropical storm Vongfong. At that time Vongfong's center was located near 29.1 north latitude and 142.9 east longitude, about 111 nautical miles (127.7 miles/205.6 km) southeast of Misawa, Japan. Vongfong was moving to the northeast at a speedy 36 knots (41.4 mph/66.67 kph). Vongfong's maximum sustained winds were near 35 knots (40.2 mph/64.8 kph). Vongfong had transitioned into an extra-tropical system and will continue to move away from northern Japan and over the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Soil Moisture Data Assimilation in the NASA Land Information System for Local Modeling Applications and Improved Situational Awareness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Case, Jonathan L.; Blakenship, Clay B.; Zavodsky, Bradley T.

2014-01-01

As part of the NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Early Adopter (EA) program, the NASA Shortterm Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center has implemented a data assimilation (DA) routine into the NASA Land Information System (LIS) for soil moisture retrievals from the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite. The SMAP EA program promotes application-driven research to provide a fundamental understanding of how SMAP data products will be used to improve decision-making at operational agencies. SPoRT has partnered with select NOAA/NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) that use output from a real-time regional configuration of LIS, without soil moisture DA, to initialize local numerical weather prediction (NWP) models and enhance situational awareness. Improvements to local NWP with the current LIS have been demonstrated; however, a better representation of the land surface through assimilation of SMOS (and eventually SMAP) retrievals is expected to lead to further model improvement, particularly during warm-season months. SPoRT will collaborate with select WFOs to assess the impact of soil moisture DA on operational forecast situations. Assimilation of the legacy SMOS instrument data provides an opportunity to develop expertise in preparation for using SMAP data products shortly after the scheduled launch on 5 November 2014. SMOS contains a passive L-band radiometer that is used to retrieve surface soil moisture at 35-km resolution with an accuracy of 0.04 cu cm cm (exp -3). SMAP will feature a comparable passive L-band instrument in conjunction with a 3-km resolution active radar component of slightly degraded accuracy. A combined radar-radiometer product will offer unprecedented global coverage of soil moisture at high spatial resolution (9 km) for hydrometeorological applications, balancing the resolution and accuracy of the active and passive instruments, respectively. The LIS software framework manages land surface model

Development of advanced entry, descent, and landing technologies for future Mars Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chu, Cheng-Chih (Chester)

2006-01-01

Future Mars missions may need the capability to land much closer to a desired target and/or advanced methods of detecting, avoiding, or tolerating landing hazards. Therefore, technologies that enable 'pinpoint landing' (within tens of meters to 1 km of a target site) will be crucial to meet future mission requirements. As part of NASA Research Announcement, NRA 03-OSS-01, NASA solicited proposals for technology development needs of missions to be launched to Mars during or after the 2009 launch opportunity. Six technology areas were identified as of high priority including advanced entry, descent, and landing (EDL) technologies. In May 2004, 11 proposals with PIs from universities, industries, and NASA centers, were awarded in the area of advanced EDL by NASA for further study and development. This paper presents an overview of these developing technologies.

Expedition 16 Soyuz TMA-11 Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-04-18

Chief of NASA's Astronaut office, Steve Lindsey, left, and International Space Station Program Manager, Michael Suffredini, examine a map of central Kazakhstan at the Arkalyk airport as they received information on the landing of the Expedition 16 crew in the Soyuz TMA-11 capsule, Saturday, April 19, 2008. The Soyuz made a ballistic landing, touching down more then 400 kilometers short of the intended target in central Kazakhstan. The crew reported by satellite phone to recovery forces that they were in good shape. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Assessment of NASA's Physiographic and Meteorological Datasets as Input to HSPF and SWAT Hydrological Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alacron, Vladimir J.; Nigro, Joseph D.; McAnally, William H.; OHara, Charles G.; Engman, Edwin Ted; Toll, David

2011-01-01

This paper documents the use of simulated Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer land use/land cover (MODIS-LULC), NASA-LIS generated precipitation and evapo-transpiration (ET), and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) datasets (in conjunction with standard land use, topographical and meteorological datasets) as input to hydrological models routinely used by the watershed hydrology modeling community. The study is focused in coastal watersheds in the Mississippi Gulf Coast although one of the test cases focuses in an inland watershed located in northeastern State of Mississippi, USA. The decision support tools (DSTs) into which the NASA datasets were assimilated were the Soil Water & Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF). These DSTs are endorsed by several US government agencies (EPA, FEMA, USGS) for water resources management strategies. These models use physiographic and meteorological data extensively. Precipitation gages and USGS gage stations in the region were used to calibrate several HSPF and SWAT model applications. Land use and topographical datasets were swapped to assess model output sensitivities. NASA-LIS meteorological data were introduced in the calibrated model applications for simulation of watershed hydrology for a time period in which no weather data were available (1997-2006). The performance of the NASA datasets in the context of hydrological modeling was assessed through comparison of measured and model-simulated hydrographs. Overall, NASA datasets were as useful as standard land use, topographical , and meteorological datasets. Moreover, NASA datasets were used for performing analyses that the standard datasets could not made possible, e.g., introduction of land use dynamics into hydrological simulations

The Pilot Land Data System: Report of the Program Planning Workshops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

An advisory report to be used by NASA in developing a program plan for a Pilot Land Data System (PLDS) was developed. The purpose of the PLDS is to improve the ability of NASA and NASA sponsored researchers to conduct land-related research. The goal of the planning workshops was to provide and coordinate planning and concept development between the land related science and computer science disciplines, to discuss the architecture of the PLDs, requirements for information science technology, and system evaluation. The findings and recommendations of the Working Group are presented. The pilot program establishes a limited scale distributed information system to explore scientific, technical, and management approaches to satisfying the needs of the land science community. The PLDS paves the way for a land data system to improve data access, processing, transfer, and analysis, which land sciences information synthesis occurs on a scale not previously permitted because of limits to data assembly and access.

Senate subcommittee examines NASA's identity crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leath, Audrey T.

With the Cold War fading into history, economic competitiveness becoming the watchwords of the decade, and the space race against the Russians turning into probable cooperation, NASA is struggling to redefine its role. On November 16, the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space invited NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, Martin Marietta CEO Norman Augustine, and Robert Frosch of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government to offer their thoughts on NASA's plans, priorities, and budgetary difficulties. Augustine, who chaired the Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program in 1990, posed two questions: What does America want its space program to be, and can the country afford to pay for the program it wants? He stated bluntly that if the answers were incompatible, “we are unlikely to have a satisfactory program.”

A remote sensing data assimilation system for cold land processes hydrologic estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andreadis, Konstantinos M.

2009-12-01

Accurate forecasting of snow properties is important for effective water resources management, especially in mountainous areas. Model-based approaches are limited by biases and uncertainties. Remote sensing offers an opportunity for observation of snow properties over larger areas. Traditional approaches to direct estimation of snow properties from passive microwave remote sensing have been plagued by limitations such as the tendency of estimates to saturate for moderately deep snowpacks and the effects of mixed land cover. To address these complications, a data assimilation system is developed and evaluated in a three-part research. The data assimilation system requires the embedding of a microwave emissions model which uses modeled snowpack properties. In the first part of this study, such a model is evaluated using multi-scale TB measurements from the Cold Land Processes Experiment. The model's ability to reproduce snowpack microphysical properties is evaluated through comparison with snowpit measurements, while TB predictions are evaluated through comparison with in-situ, aircraft and satellite measurements. Point comparisons showed limitations in the model, while the spatial averaging and the effects of forest cover suppressed errors in comparisons with aircraft measurements. The layered character of snowpacks increases the complexity of algorithms intended to retrieve snow properties from the snowpack microwave return signal. Implementation of a retrieval strategy requires knowledge of stratigraphy, which practically can only be produced by models. In the second part of this study, we describe a multi-layer model designed for such applications. The model coupled with a radiative transfer scheme improved the estimation of TB, while potential impacts when assimilating radiances are explored. A system that merges SWE model predictions and observations of SCE and TB, is evaluated in the third part of this study over one winter season in the Upper Snake River

High Definition Sounding System Test and Integration with NASA Atmospheric Science Program Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

of the High Definition Sounding System (HDSS) on NASA high altitude Airborne Science Program platforms, specifically the NASA P-3 and NASA WB-57. When...demonstrate the system reliability in a Global Hawk’s 62000’ altitude regime of thin air and very cold temperatures. APPROACH: Mission Profile One or more WB...57 test flights will prove airworthiness and verify the High Definition Sounding System (HDSS) is safe and functional at high altitudes , essentially

Cold Aero Performance of a Two-Dimensional Mixer Ejector Nozzle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balan, C.

2005-01-01

Since 1986, NASA and the U.S. aerospace industry have been assessing the economic viability and environmental acceptability of a second-generation supersonic civil transport, or High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). Environmental acceptability in terms of airport community noise and economic viability are critical elements in this endeavor. Development of a propulsion system that satisfies strict airport noise regulations (FAR36 Stage III levels), at acceptable performance and weight, is critical to the success of any HSCT program. Two-dimensional mixer-ejector (2DME) exhaust systems are one approach in achieving this goal. In support of HSCT development, GEAE (GE Aircraft Engines), under contract to the NASA Glenn Research Center, conducted this test program at the NASA Langley 16 ft transonic wind tunnel to evaluate the cold aerodynamic performance aspects of the 2DME exhaust system concept. The effects of SAR (SAR, suppressor area ratio, = mixed-flow area/primary nozzle throat area), MAR (MAR = overall exhaust system exit/mixing-plane area), flap length, CER (suppressor chute expansion ratio), chute alignment, and free stream Mach number were investigated on a 1/11th cold aerodynamic scale model of a 2DME exhaust system.

Galactic cold cores. IV. Cold submillimetre sources: catalogue and statistical analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montillaud, J.; Juvela, M.; Rivera-Ingraham, A.; Malinen, J.; Pelkonen, V.-M.; Ristorcelli, I.; Montier, L.; Marshall, D. J.; Marton, G.; Pagani, L.; Toth, L. V.; Zahorecz, S.; Ysard, N.; McGehee, P.; Paladini, R.; Falgarone, E.; Bernard, J.-P.; Motte, F.; Zavagno, A.; Doi, Y.

2015-12-01

Context. For the project Galactic cold cores, Herschel photometric observations were carried out as a follow-up of cold regions of interstellar clouds previously identified with the Planck satellite. The aim of the project is to derive the physical properties of the population of cold sources and to study its connection to ongoing and future star formation. Aims: We build a catalogue of cold sources within the clouds in 116 fields observed with the Herschel PACS and SPIRE instruments. We wish to determine the general physical characteristics of the cold sources and to examine the correlations with their host cloud properties. Methods: From Herschel data, we computed colour temperature and column density maps of the fields. We estimated the distance to the target clouds and provide both uncertainties and reliability flags for the distances. The getsources multiwavelength source extraction algorithm was employed to build a catalogue of several thousand cold sources. Mid-infrared data were used, along with colour and position criteria, to separate starless and protostellar sources. We also propose another classification method based on submillimetre temperature profiles. We analysed the statistical distributions of the physical properties of the source samples. Results: We provide a catalogue of ~4000 cold sources within or near star forming clouds, most of which are located either in nearby molecular complexes (≲1 kpc) or in star forming regions of the nearby galactic arms (~2 kpc). About 70% of the sources have a size compatible with an individual core, and 35% of those sources are likely to be gravitationally bound. Significant statistical differences in physical properties are found between starless and protostellar sources, in column density versus dust temperature, mass versus size, and mass versus dust temperature diagrams. The core mass functions are very similar to those previously reported for other regions. On statistical grounds we find that

Seasonal scale water deficit forecasting in Africa and the Middle East using NASA's Land Information System (LIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters-Lidard, C. D.; Arsenault, K. R.; Shukla, S.; Getirana, A.; McNally, A.; Koster, R. D.; Zaitchik, B. F.; Badr, H. S.; Roningen, J. M.; Kumar, S.; Funk, C. C.

2017-12-01

A seamless and effective water deficit monitoring and early warning system is critical for assessing food security in Africa and the Middle East. In this presentation, we report on the ongoing development and validation of a seasonal scale water deficit forecasting system based on NASA's Land Information System (LIS) and seasonal climate forecasts. First, our presentation will focus on the implementation and validation of drought and water availability monitoring products in the region. Next, it will focus on evaluating drought and water availability forecasts. Finally, details will be provided of our ongoing collaboration with end-user partners in the region (e.g., USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWS NET), on formulating meaningful early warning indicators, effective communication and seamless dissemination of the products through NASA's web-services. The water deficit forecasting system thus far incorporates NASA GMAO's Catchment and the Noah Multi-Physics (MP) LSMs. In addition, the LSMs' surface and subsurface runoff are routed through the Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP) to simulate surface water dynamics. To establish a climatology from 1981-2015, the two LSMs are driven by NASA/GMAO's Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2), and the USGS and UCSB Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) daily rainfall dataset. Comparison of the models' energy and hydrological budgets with independent observations suggests that major droughts are well-reflected in the climatology. The system uses seasonal climate forecasts from NASA's GEOS-5 (the Goddard Earth Observing System Model-5) and NCEP's Climate Forecast System-2, and it produces forecasts of soil moisture, ET and streamflow out to 6 months in the future. Forecasts of those variables are formulated in terms of indicators to provide forecasts of drought and water availability in the region. Current work suggests

NASA's Webb Sunshield Gives an "Open Wide" for Inspection

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

The sunshield on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is the largest part of the observatory—five layers of thin, silvery membrane that must unfurl reliably in space. The precision in which the tennis-court sized sunshield has to open must be no more than a few centimeters different from its planned position. In this photo, engineers and scientists examine the sunshield layers on this full-sized test unit. Because there's a layer of the shiny silver material on the base under the five layers of the sunshield, it appears as if the sunshield has a mouth that is "open wide" while engineers take a look. The photo was taken in a clean room at Northrop Grumman Corporation, Redondo Beach, California. The sunshield separates the observatory into a warm sun-facing side and a cold side where the sunshine is blocked from interfering with the sensitive infrared instruments. The infrared instruments need to be kept very cold (under 50 K or -370 degrees Fahrenheit) to operate. The sunshield protects these sensitive instruments with an effective sun protection factor, or SPF, of 1,000,000. Sunscreen generally has an SPF of 8 to 50. In addition to providing a cold environment, the sunshield provides a thermally stable environment. This stability is essential to maintaining proper alignment of the primary mirror segments as the telescope changes its orientation to the sun. Earlier this year, the first flight layer of the sunshield was delivered to Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman is designing the Webb Telescope’s sunshield for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland. Innovative sunshield membranes are being designed and manufactured by NeXolve Corporation of Huntsville, Alabama. The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. For more information

Expedition 33 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-11-19

Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams of NASA rests during a helicopter flight back to Kustanany, Kazakhstan while nurse Raxana Batsmanova and Chief of the NASA Astronaut Office Bob Behnken look on just a a few hours after Williams and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko of ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federal Space Agency), and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), landed their Soyuz spacecraft in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko returned from four months onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space Shuttle Discovery Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-17

Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) lands at Washington Dulles International Airport, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Sterling, Va. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Eric Long)

A Landing Site for ExoMars 2016

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-11-27

This image from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft is of a landing site that the flattest, safest place on Mars: part of Meridiani Planum, close to where the Opportunity rover landed. In March 2016, the European Space Agency in partnership with Roscosmos will launch the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. This orbiter will also carry an Entry, Descent, and Landing Demonstration Module (EDM): a lander designed primarily to demonstrate the capability to land on Mars. The EDM will survive for only a few days, running on battery power, but will make a few environmental measurements. The landing site is the flattest, safest place on Mars: part of Meridiani Planum, close to where the Opportunity rover landed. This image shows what this terrain is like: very flat and featureless. A full-resolution sample reveals the major surface features: small craters and wind ripples. HiRISE has been imaging the landing site region in advance of the landing, and will re-image the site after landing to identify the major pieces of hardware: heat shield, backshell with parachute, and the lander itself. The distribution of these pieces will provide information about the entry, descent and landing. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20159

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-188 (21 July 2011) --- Ribbons of steam and smoke trail space shuttle Atlantis as it touches down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-171 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-168 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-174 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-166 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights illuminate space shuttle Atlantis' unfurled drag chute as the vehicle rolls to a stop on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-173 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-164 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights illuminate space shuttle Atlantis' unfurled drag chute as the vehicle rolls to a stop on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-172 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-169 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-170 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-167 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights guide space shuttle Atlantis down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-165 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights illuminate space shuttle Atlantis' unfurled drag chute as the vehicle rolls to a stop on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

TRACT 2 Frame Drop Test AT NASA Langley Research Center's Landin

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-09

(Tract)2 Transport Rotorcraft Airframe Crash Testbed; Full Frame Drop Test: rotary wing crash worthiness, impact research at NASA Langley Research Center's Landing and Impact Research (LandIR) Facility Building 1297

Expedition 14 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-04-20

American spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi is taken in his chair to the medical tent near the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft where the recovery officials conduct post-landing medical checks, Friday, April 21, 2007 in Kazakhstan. Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin and American spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi landed in their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft southwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-125 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-24

STS125-S-062 (24 May 2009) --- Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending the STS-125 mission to repair and upgrade NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope. Onboard are astronauts Scott Altman, commander; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel, all mission specialists. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:05 a.m. (PDT) on May 24, 2009. Nose gear touchdown was at 8:39:15 a.m. Wheel-stop was at 8:40:15 a.m., bringing the mission?s elapsed time to 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds. Landing opportunities on May 22, May 23 and May 24 were waved off due to weather concerns at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle?s primary landing site. Through five spacewalks, the Hubble Space Telescope was refurbished and upgraded with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014.

Landsat: A global land-observing program

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2005-01-01

Landsat represents the world’s longest continuously acquired collection of space-based land remote sensing data. The Landsat Project is a joint initiative of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) designed to gather Earth resource data from space. NASA developed and launched the spacecrafts, while the USGS handles the operations, maintenance, and management of all ground data reception, processing, archiving, product generation, and distribution.Landsat satellites have been collecting images of the Earth’s surface for more than thirty years. Landsat’s Global Survey Mission is to repeatedly capture images of the Earth’s land mass, coastal boundaries, and coral reefs, and to ensure that sufficient data are acquired to support the observation of changes on the Earth’s land surface and surrounding environment. NASA launched the first Landsat satellite in 1972, and the most recent one, Landsat 7, in 1999. Landsats 5 and 7 continue to capture hundreds of additional images of the Earth’s surface each day. These images provide a valuable resource for people who work

STS-134 Flight Controllers on Console - Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-01

JSC2011-E-050134 (1 June 2011) --- An overall view of the space shuttle flight control room in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center photographed during STS-134/ULF-6 landing day activities. Photo credit: NASA

STS-134 Flight Controllers on Console - Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-01

JSC2011-E-050159 (1 June 2011) --- An overall view of the space shuttle flight control room in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center photographed during STS-134/ULF-6 landing day activities. Photo credit: NASA

NASA's Webb Telescope "chilling out" in Houston for the summer

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was placed in Johnson Space Center’s historic Chamber A on June 20, 2017, to prepare for its final three months of testing in a cryogenic vacuum that mimics temperatures in space. Engineers will perform the test to prove that the telescope can operate in space at these temperatures. Chamber A will simulate an environment where the telescope will experience extreme cold -- around 37 Kelvin (minus 236 degrees Celsius or minus 393 degrees Fahrenheit). In space, the telescope must be kept extremely cold, in order to be able to detect the infrared light from very faint, distant objects. To protect the telescope from external sources of light and heat (like the sun, Earth, and moon), as well as from heat emitted by the observatory, a five-layer, tennis court-sized sunshield acts like a parasol that provides shade. The sunshield separates the observatory into a warm, sun-facing side (reaching temperatures close to 400 degrees Fahrenheit) and a cold side (185 degrees below zero). The sunshield blocks sunlight from interfering with the sensitive telescope instruments. Read more: go.nasa.gov/2sZAilS NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Cold-end Subsystem Testing for the Fission Power System Technology Demonstration Unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Briggs, Maxwell; Gibson, Marc; Ellis, David; Sanzi, James

2013-01-01

The Fission Power System (FPS) Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) consists of a pumped sodium-potassium (NaK) loop that provides heat to a Stirling Power Conversion Unit (PCU), which converts some of that heat into electricity and rejects the waste heat to a pumped water loop. Each of the TDU subsystems is being tested independently prior to full system testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The pumped NaK loop is being tested at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; the Stirling PCU and electrical controller are being tested by Sunpower Inc.; and the pumped water loop is being tested at Glenn. This paper describes cold-end subsystem setup and testing at Glenn. The TDU cold end has been assembled in Vacuum Facility 6 (VF 6) at Glenn, the same chamber that will be used for TDU testing. Cold-end testing in VF 6 will demonstrate functionality; validated cold-end fill, drain, and emergency backup systems; and generated pump performance and system pressure drop data used to validate models. In addition, a low-cost proof-of concept radiator has been built and tested at Glenn, validating the design and demonstrating the feasibility of using low-cost metal radiators as an alternative to high-cost composite radiators in an end-to-end TDU test.

Astronaut Risk Levels During Crew Module (CM) Land Landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lawrence, Charles; Carney, Kelly S.; Littell, Justin

2007-01-01

The NASA Engineering Safety Center (NESC) is investigating the merits of water and land landings for the crew exploration vehicle (CEV). The merits of these two options are being studied in terms of cost and risk to the astronauts, vehicle, support personnel, and general public. The objective of the present work is to determine the astronaut dynamic response index (DRI), which measures injury risks. Risks are determined for a range of vertical and horizontal landing velocities. A structural model of the crew module (CM) is developed and computational simulations are performed using a transient dynamic simulation analysis code (LS-DYNA) to determine acceleration profiles. Landing acceleration profiles are input in a human factors model that determines astronaut risk levels. Details of the modeling approach, the resulting accelerations, and astronaut risk levels are provided.

NASA Data for Water Resources Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David; Houser, Paul; Arsenault, Kristi; Entin, Jared

2004-01-01

Water Management Applications is one of twelve elements in the Earth Science Enterprise National Applications Program. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is supporting the Applications Program through partnering with other organizations to use NASA project results, such as from satellite instruments and Earth system models to enhance the organizations critical needs. The focus thus far has been: 1) estimating water storage including snowpack and soil moisture, 2) modeling and predicting water fluxes such as evapotranspiration (ET), precipitation and river runoff, and 3) remote sensing of water quality, including both point source (e.g., turbidity and productivity) and non-point source (e.g., land cover conversion such as forest to agriculture yielding higher nutrient runoff). The objectives of the partnering cover three steps of: 1) Evaluation, 2) Verification and Validation, and 3) Benchmark Report. We are working with the U.S. federal agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA). We are using several of their Decision Support Systems (DSS) tools. This includes the DSS support tools BASINS used by EPA, Riverware and AWARDS ET ToolBox by USBR and SWAT by USDA and EPA. Regional application sites using NASA data across the US. are currently being eliminated for the DSS tools. The current NASA data emphasized thus far are from the Land Data Assimilation Systems WAS) and MODIS satellite products. We are currently in the first two steps of evaluation and verification validation. Water Management Applications is one of twelve elements in the Earth Science Enterprise s National Applications Program. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is supporting the Applications Program through partnering with other organizations to use NASA project results, such as from satellite instruments and Earth system models to enhance the organizations critical needs. The focus thus far has been: 1

Characterizing soil moisture and snow cover effects on boreal-arctic soil freeze/thaw dynamics and cold-season carbon emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Y.; Kimball, J. S.; Moghaddam, M.; Chen, R. H.; Reichle, R. H.; Oechel, W. C.; Zona, D.

2017-12-01

The contribution of cold season respiration to boreal-arctic carbon cycle and its potential feedbacks to climate change remain poorly quantified. Here, we developed an integrated modeling framework combining airborne low frequency (L+P-band) airborne radar retrievals and landscape level (≥1km) environmental observations from satellite optical and microwave sensors with a detailed permafrost carbon model to investigate underlying processes controlling soil freeze/thaw (FT) dynamics and cold season carbon emissions. The permafrost carbon model simulates the snow and soil thermal dynamics with soil water phase change included and accounts for soil carbon decomposition up to 3m below surface. Local-scale ( 50m) radar retrievals of active layer thickness (ALT), soil moisture and freeze/thaw (FT) status from NASA airborne UAVSAR and AirMOSS sensors are used to inform the model parameterizations of soil moisture effects on soil FT dynamics, and scaling properties of active layer processes. Both tower observed land-atmosphere fluxes and atmospheric CO2 measurements are used to evaluate the model processes controlling cold season carbon respiration, particularly the effects of snow cover and soil moisture on deep soil carbon emissions during the early cold season. Initial comparisons showed that the model can well capture the seasonality of cold season respiration in both tundra and boreal forest areas, with large emissions in late fall and early winter and gradually diminishing throughout the winter. Model sensitivity analyses are used to clarify how changes in soil thermodynamics at depth control the magnitude and seasonality of cold season respiration, and how a deeper unfrozen active layer with warming may contribute to changes in cold season respiration. Model outputs include ALT and regional carbon fluxes at 1-km resolution spanning recent satellite era (2001-present) across Alaska. These results will be used to quantify cold season respiration contributions to the

NASA-marks 5th anniversary of first lunar landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

The accomplishments of the Apollo 11 Flight are presented as a tribute to the fifth anniversary of the first landing on the moon. The document contains: (1) a general description of the Apollo 11 Flight, (2) Presidential statements, (3) Apollo historical summary, (4) Apollo mission facts, (5) information on astronauts who are no longer in the program, and (6) transcripts of the landing sequence and first extravehicular activities on the moon.

Expedition 39 Soyuz TMA-11M Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-14

Ground personnel race to the landing site as the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft lands with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

SMOS Soil Moisture Data Assimilation in the NASA Land Information System: Impact on LSM Initialization and NWP Forecasts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blankenship, Clay; Case, Jonathan L.; Zavodsky, Bradley

2015-01-01

Land surface models are important components of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, partitioning incoming energy into latent and sensitive heat fluxes that affect boundary layer growth and destabilization. During warm-season months, diurnal heating and convective initiation depend strongly on evapotranspiration and available boundary layer moisture, which are substantially affected by soil moisture content. Therefore, to properly simulate warm-season processes in NWP models, an accurate initialization of the land surface state is important for accurately depicting the exchange of heat and moisture between the surface and boundary layer. In this study, soil moisture retrievals from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite radiometer are assimilated into the Noah Land Surface Model via an Ensemble Kalman Filter embedded within the NASA Land Information System (LIS) software framework. The output from LIS-Noah is subsequently used to initialize runs of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) NWP model. The impact of assimilating SMOS retrievals is assessed by initializing the WRF model with LIS-Noah output obtained with and without SMOS data assimilation. The southeastern United States is used as the domain for a preliminary case study. During the summer months, there is extensive irrigation in the lower Mississippi Valley for rice and other crops. The irrigation is not represented in the meteorological forcing used to drive the LIS-Noah integration, but the irrigated areas show up clearly in the SMOS soil moisture retrievals, resulting in a case with a large difference in initial soil moisture conditions. The impact of SMOS data assimilation on both Noah soil moisture fields and on short-term (0-48 hour) WRF weather forecasts will be presented.

NASA STEM Event

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-01-19

School children watch a TV program showing how the Mars rover Curiosity landed on Mars during an Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education event held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Arlington, VA on Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013. Students were able to meet with Astronaut Melvin, conduct experiments, build their own space jab, and touch a mockup space suit. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Cold atom quantum sensors for space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Yeshpal

2016-07-01

Quantum sensors based on cold atoms offer the opportunity to perform highly accurate measurements of physical phenomena related to time, gravity and rotation. The deployment of such technologies in the microgravity environment of space may enable further enhancement of their performance, whilst permitting the detection of these physical phenomena over much larger scales than is possible with a ground-based instrument. In this talk, I will present an overview of the activities of the UK National Quantum Hub in Sensors and Metrology in developing cold atoms technology for space. Our activities are focused in two main areas: optical clocks and atom interferometers. I will also discuss our contributions to recent initiatives including STE-QUEST and AI-GOAT, the ESA/NASA initiative aiming at an atom interferometer gravitational wave detector in space.

Expedition 28 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-09-16

The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft is seen with the Moon in the background as it lands with Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko, and Flight Engineers Ron Garan, and Alexander Samokutyaev in a remote area outside of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011. NASA Astronaut Garan, Russian Cosmonauts Borisenko and Samokutyaev are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 27 and 28 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 14 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-04-20

Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin is taken in his chair to the medical tent near the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft where the recovery officials conduct post-landing medical checks, Friday, April 21, 2007 in Kazakhstan. Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin and American spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi landed in their Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft southwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan at approximately 6:30 p.m. local time. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Cold Front Cools the Eastern U.S.

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-07-16

Summertime heat and humidity in the U.S. East Coast is on hold for a couple of days thanks to a cold front and that brought clouds, showers, thunderstorms, and some severe weather on July 16 to the coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted that the dip in the jet stream will create below normal temperatures for most of the Central and Eastern U.S. for the next couple of days. NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured an image of the clouds associated with the cold front on July 16 at 1630 UTC (12:30 p.m. EDT).The clouds follow the front which stretches from the Florida panhandle, across Florida and up the U.S. East Coast into eastern Canada. Along the front lie two areas of low pressure, one over eastern New England, and the other offshore from South Carolina. Both of those low pressure areas are associated with additional cloudiness along the front. GOES satellites are managed by NOAA. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. For updated information about the storm system, visit NOAA's National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov For more information about GOES satellites, visit: www.goes.noaa.gov/ or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Image Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project, Text: Rob Gutro NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in

Discovery STS-131 Mission Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-04-20

STS131-S-091 (20 April 2010) --- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and NASA astronaut Alan Poindexter, STS-131 commander, walk around under the space shuttle Discovery shortly after Discovery and its seven-member crew landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 20, 2010. Poindexter and NASA astronaut James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; along with NASA astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists, returned from their 15-day journey of more than 6.2 million miles. The STS-131 mission to the International Space Station delivered science racks, new crew sleeping quarters, equipment and supplies. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA Blue Marble 2007 East

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-12

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 9, 2007 Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli A day’s clouds. The shape and texture of the land. The living ocean. City lights as a beacon of human presence across the globe. This amazingly beautiful view of Earth from space is a fusion of science and art, a showcase for the remote-sensing technology that makes such views possible, and a testament to the passion and creativity of the scientists who devote their careers to understanding how land, ocean, and atmosphere—even life itself—interact to generate Earth’s unique (as far as we know!) life-sustaining environment. Drawing on data from multiple satellite missions (not all collected at the same time), a team of NASA scientists and graphic artists created layers of global data for everything from the land surface, to polar sea ice, to the light reflected by the chlorophyll in the billions of microscopic plants that grow in the ocean. They wrapped these layers around a globe, set it against a black background, and simulated the hazy edge of the Earth’s atmosphere (the limb) that appears in astronaut photography of the Earth. The land surface layer is based on photo-like surface reflectance observations (reflected sunlight) measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite in July 2004. The sea ice layer near the poles comes from Terra MODIS observations of daytime sea ice observed between August 28 and September 6, 2001. The ocean layer is a composite. In shallow water areas, the layer shows surface reflectances observed by Terra MODIS in July 2004. In the open ocean, the photo-like layer is overlaid with observations of the average ocean chlorophyll content for 2004. NASA’s Aqua MODIS collected the chlorophyll data. The cloud layer shows a single-day snapshot of clouds observed by Terra MODIS across the planet on July 29, 2001. City lights on Earth’s night side are visualized from data collected by the Defense

NASA and X PRIZE Announce Winners of Lunar Lander Challenge

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-11-05

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden gives opening remarks at an awards ceremony for the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge at the Rayburn House Office Building on Nov. 5, 2009, in Washington, DC. NASA's Centennial Challenges program gave $1.65 million in prize money to a pair of aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Entry, Descent, and Landing: 2000-2004

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

This custom bibliography from the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program lists a sampling of records found in the NASA Aeronautics and Space Database. The scope of this topic includes technologies for precision targeting and landing on 'high-g" and "low-g" planetary bodies. This area of focus is one of the enabling technologies as defined by NASA's Report of the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, published in June 2004.

Expedition 41 Soyuz TMA-13M Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-11-10

A Russian search and rescue helicopter arrives at the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft landing site after the capsule landed with Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA) near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst returned to Earth after more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 40 and 41 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA International Environmental Partnerships

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Pattie; Valek, Susan

2010-01-01

For nearly five decades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been preeminent in space exploration. NASA has landed Americans on the moon, robotic rovers on Mars, and led cooperative scientific endeavors among nations aboard the International Space Station. But as Earth's population increases, the environment is subject to increasing challenges and requires more efficient use of resources. International partnerships give NASA the opportunity to share its scientific and engineering expertise. They also enable NASA to stay aware of continually changing international environmental regulations and global markets for materials that NASA uses to accomplish its mission. Through international partnerships, NASA and this nation have taken the opportunity to look globally for solutions to challenges we face here on Earth. Working with other nations provides NASA with collaborative opportunities with the global science/engineering community to explore ways in which to protect our natural resources, conserve energy, reduce the use of hazardous materials in space and earthly applications, and reduce greenhouse gases that potentially affect all of Earth's inhabitants. NASA is working with an ever-expanding list of international partners including the European Union, the European Space Agency and, especially, the nation of Portugal. Our common goal is to foster a sustainable future in which partners continue to explore the universe while protecting our home planet's resources for future generations. This brochure highlights past, current, and future initiatives in several important areas of international collaboration that can bring environmental, economic, and other benefits to NASA and the wider international space community.

NASA Facts, Space Shuttle.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC. Educational Programs Div.

This newsletter from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contains a description of the purposes and potentials of the Space Shuttle craft. The illustrated document explains some of the uses for which the shuttle is designed; how the shuttle will be launched from earth, carry out its mission, and land again on earth; and what a…

F-15 HiDEC landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

NASA's HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) F-15 aircraft nears the runway after a flight out of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The last project it was used for at Dryden was development of a computer-assisted engine control system that lets a plane land safely with only engine power if its normal control surfaces such as elevators, rudders or ailerons are disabled. The flight control system helps the pilot control the engines to turn the aircraft, climb, descend and eventually land safely by varying the speed of the engines one at a time or together. The HIDEC F-15A, built as the number eight prototype (Serial #71-0287), has now been retired.

Typhoon Soudelor's Eye Close-Up from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-08-10

On August 6, 2015, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over powerful Typhoon Soudelor when it was headed toward Taiwan. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi satellite captured this night-time infrared close-up image of Soudelor's eye. The infrared image that showed there were some thunderstorms within the typhoon with very cold cloud top temperatures, colder than -63F/-53C. Temperatures that cold stretch high into the troposphere and are capable of generating heavy rain. At 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) on August 6, 2015, Typhoon Soudelor had maximum sustained winds near 90 knots (103.6 mph/166.7 kph). It was centered near 21.3 North latitude and 127.5 East longitude, about 324 nautical miles (372.9 miles/600 km) south of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. It was moving to the west at 10 knots (11.5 mph/18.5 kph). Credit: UWM/CIMSS/SSEC, William Straka III NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From left, NASA Deputy Program Manager of the Space Shuttle Program Michael Wetmore, United Space Alliance (USA) Vice President and Space Shuttle Program Manager Howard DeCastro, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Station and Shuttle Programs Michael Kostelnik, and a USA technician examine cold plates in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2. NASA and USA Space Shuttle program management are participating in a leadership workday. The day is intended to provide management with an in-depth, hands-on look at Shuttle processing activities at KSC.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-12-19

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From left, NASA Deputy Program Manager of the Space Shuttle Program Michael Wetmore, United Space Alliance (USA) Vice President and Space Shuttle Program Manager Howard DeCastro, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Station and Shuttle Programs Michael Kostelnik, and a USA technician examine cold plates in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2. NASA and USA Space Shuttle program management are participating in a leadership workday. The day is intended to provide management with an in-depth, hands-on look at Shuttle processing activities at KSC.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From left, a United Space Alliance (USA) technician briefs NASA Deputy Program Manager of the Space Shuttle Program Michael Wetmore, USA Vice President and Space Shuttle Program Manager Howard DeCastro, and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Station and Shuttle Programs Michael Kostelnik on the use of cold plates in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2. NASA and USA Space Shuttle program management are participating in a leadership workday. The day is intended to provide management with an in-depth, hands-on look at Shuttle processing activities at KSC.

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-12-19

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- From left, a United Space Alliance (USA) technician briefs NASA Deputy Program Manager of the Space Shuttle Program Michael Wetmore, USA Vice President and Space Shuttle Program Manager Howard DeCastro, and NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Station and Shuttle Programs Michael Kostelnik on the use of cold plates in Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 2. NASA and USA Space Shuttle program management are participating in a leadership workday. The day is intended to provide management with an in-depth, hands-on look at Shuttle processing activities at KSC.

X-38 vehicle #131R arrives at NASA Dryden via NASA'S Super Guppy transport aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

NASA's Super Guppy transport aircraft landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. on July 11, 2000, to deliver the latest version of the X-38 drop vehicle to Dryden. The X-38s are intended as prototypes for a possible 'crew lifeboat' for the International Space Station. The X-38 vehicle 131R will demonstrate a huge 7,500 square-foot parafoil that will that will enable the potential crew return vehicle to land on the length of a football field after returning from space. The crew return vehicle is intended to serve as a possible emergency transport to carry a crew to safety in the event of problems with the International Space Station. The Super Guppy evolved from the 1960s-vintage Pregnant Guppy, used for transporting outsized sections of the Apollo moon rocket. The Super Guppy was modified from 1950s-vintage Boeing C-97. NASA acquired its Super Guppy from the European Space Agency in 1997.

DC-8 Airborne Laboratory arrival at NASA Dryden

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-12-29

NASA's DC-8 Airborne Science platform landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, to join the fleet of aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The white aircraft with a blue stripe running horizontally from the nose to the tail is shown with its main landing gear just above the runway. The former airliner is a "dash-72" model and has a range of 5,400 miles. The craft can stay airborne for 12 hours and has an operational speed range between 300 and 500 knots. The research flights are made at between 500 and 41,000 feet. The aircraft can carry up to 30,000 lbs of research/science payload equipment installed in 15 mission-definable spaces.

The Synergistic Use of NASA's A-Train Observations to Characterize the Planetary Boundary Layer and Enable Improved Understanding and Prediction of Land-Atmosphere Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zavodsky, B.; Santanello, J. A.; Friedl, M. A.; Susskind, J.; Palm, S. P.

2010-12-01

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) serves as a short-term memory of land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions through the diurnal integration of surface fluxes and subsequent evolution of PBL fluxes and states. Recent advances in satellite remote sensing offer the ability to monitor PBL and land surface properties at increasingly high spatial and temporal resolutions and, consequently, have the potential to provide valuable information on the terrestrial energy and water cycle across a range of scales. In this study, we evaluate the retrieval of PBL structure and temperature and moisture properties from measurements made by NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) , and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instruments aboard the 'A-Train' constellation. The global coverage of these sensors greatly improves upon the coarse network of synoptic radiosonde and intermittent satellite and ground remote sensing currently available, and combining the high vertical and spectral resolution of these sensors allows for PBL retrievals to be evaluated in the context of their relationship with the land surface. Results include an evaluation of CALIPSO, MODIS, and AIRS temperature and humidity retrievals using radiosonde data, focusing on how well PBL properties (e.g. PBL height, temperature, humidity, and stability) can be discerned from each sensor under a range of conditions. Overall, this research is timely in assessing the potential for merging complimentary information from independent sensors, and provides a unique opportunity to evaluate and apply NASA data to answer fundamental questions regarding observation, understanding, and prediction of L-A interactions and coupling.

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Expedition 34 Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, left, Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, center, and Commander Kevin Ford of NASA sit together at the Kustanay Airport a few hours after they landed near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and Tarelkin are returning from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space Shuttle Atlantis Landing / STS-129 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-11-27

PHOTO CREDIT: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With landing gear down, space shuttle Atlantis approaches landing on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after 11 days in space, completing the 4.5-million mile STS-129 mission on orbit 171. Main gear touchdown was at 9:44:23 a.m. EDT. Nose gear touchdown was at 9:44:36 a.m., and wheels stop was at 9:45:05 a.m. Aboard Atlantis are Commander Charles O. Hobaugh; Pilot Barry E. Wilmore; Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher Jr.; and Expedition 20 and 21 Flight Engineer Nicole Stott who spent 87 days aboard the International Space Station. STS-129 is the final space shuttle Expedition crew rotation flight on the manifest. On STS-129, the crew delivered 14 tons of cargo to the orbiting laboratory, including two ExPRESS Logistics Carriers containing spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired next year. For information on the STS-129 mission and crew, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Expedition 28 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-09-16

Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko waves hello to the TV cameras outside the Soyuz TMA-21 Capsule just minutes after he and Expedition 28 Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev, and Ron Garan landed in a remote area outside the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011. NASA Astronaut Garan, Russian Cosmonauts Borisenko and Samokutyaev are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 27 and 28 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-23

Expedition 27 Flight Engineer Cady Coleman waves hello and talks on a satellite phone to her family shortly after she and Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli landed in their Soyuz TMA-20 southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 28 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-09-15

Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko answers reporters questions in traditional Kazakh dress during a press conference at the Karaganda airport shortly after he and Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan landed in their Soyuz TMA-21 outside of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011. NASA Astronaut Garan, Russian Cosmonauts Borisenko and Samokutyaev are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 27 and 28 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-24

Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, left, is seen after arriving at the Chkalovsky airport outside Star City, Russia several hours after he and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman landed in their Soyuz TMA-20 southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Non-stationary Drainage Flows and Cold Pools in Gentle Terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahrt, L.

2015-12-01

Previous studies have concentrated on organized topography with well-defined slopes or valleys in an effort to understand the flow dynamics. However, most of the Earth's land surface consists of gentle terrain that is quasi three dimensional. Different scenarios are briefly classified. A network of measurements are analyzed to examine shallow cold pools and drainage flow down the valley which develop for weak ambient wind and relatively clear skies. However, transient modes constantly modulate or intermittently eliminate the cold pool, which makes extraction and analysis of the horizontal structure of the cold pool difficult with traditional analysis methods. Singular value decomposition successfully isolates the effects of large-scale flow from local down-valley cold air drainage within the cold pool in spite of the intermittent nature of this local flow. The traditional concept of a cold pool must be generalized to include cold pool intermittency, complex variation of temperature related to some three-dimensionality and a diffuse cold pool top. Different types of cold pools are classified in terms of the stratification and gradient of potential temperature along the slope. The strength of the cold pool is related to a forcing temperature scale proportional to the net radiative cooling divided by the wind speed above the valley. The scatter is large partly due to nonstationarity of the marginal cold pool in this shallow valley

Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis / STS-125 Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-24

STS125-S-065 (24 May 2009) --- Space Shuttle Atlantis? drag chute is deployed as the spacecraft rolls toward wheels stop on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, ending the STS-125 mission to repair and upgrade NASA?s Hubble Space Telescope. Onboard are astronauts Scott Altman, commander; Gregory C. Johnson, pilot; Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel, all mission specialists. The main landing gear touched down at 8:39:05 a.m. (PDT) on May 24, 2009. Nose gear touchdown was at 8:39:15 a.m. Wheel-stop was at 8:40:15 a.m., bringing the mission?s elapsed time to 12 days, 21 hours, 37 minutes, 9 seconds. Landing opportunities on May 22, May 23 and May 24 were waved off due to weather concerns at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the shuttle?s primary landing site. Through five spacewalks, the Hubble Space Telescope was refurbished and upgraded with state-of-the-art science instruments that will expand Hubble's capabilities and extend its operational lifespan through at least 2014.

Cold Helium Gas Pressurization For Spacecraft Cryogenic Propulsion Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morehead, Robert L.; Atwell. Matthew J.; Hurlbert, Eric A.; Melcher, J. C.

2017-01-01

To reduce the dry mass of a spacecraft pressurization system, helium pressurant may be stored at low temperature and high pressure to increase mass in a given tank volume. Warming this gas through an engine heat exchanger prior to tank pressurization both increases the system efficiency and simplifies the designs of intermediate hardware such as regulators, valves, etc. since the gas is no longer cryogenic. If this type of cold helium pressurization system is used in conjunction with a cryogenic propellant, though, a loss in overall system efficiency can be expected due to heat transfer from the warm ullage gas to the cryogenic propellant which results in a specific volume loss for the pressurant, interpreted as the Collapse Factor. Future spacecraft with cryogenic propellants will likely have a cold helium system, with increasing collapse factor effects as vehicle sizes decrease. To determine the collapse factor effects and overall implementation strategies for a representative design point, a cold helium system was hotfire tested on the Integrated Cryogenic Propulsion Test Article (ICPTA) in a thermal vacuum environment at the NASA Glenn Research Center Plum Brook Station. The ICPTA vehicle is a small lander-sized spacecraft prototype built at NASA Johnson Space Center utilizing cryogenic liquid oxygen/liquid methane propellants and cryogenic helium gas as a pressurant to operate one 2,800lbf 5:1 throttling main engine, two 28lbf Reaction Control Engines (RCE), and two 7lbf RCEs (Figure 1). This vehicle was hotfire tested at a variety of environmental conditions at NASA Plum Brook, ranging from ambient temperature/simulated high altitude, deep thermal/high altitude, and deep thermal/high vacuum conditions. A detailed summary of the vehicle design and testing campaign may be found in Integrated Cryogenic Propulsion Test Article Thermal Vacuum Hotfire Testing, AIAA JPC 2017.

The NASA/NSERC Student Airborne Research Program Land Focus Group - a Paid Training Program in Multi-Disciplinary STEM Research for Terrestrial Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kefauver, S. C.; Ustin, S.; Davey, S. W.; Furey, B. J.; Gartner, A.; Kurzweil, D.; Siebach, K. L.; Slawsky, L.; Snyder, E.; Trammell, J.; Young, J.; Schaller, E.; Shetter, R. E.

2011-12-01

The Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Suborbital Education and Research Center (NSERC) is a unique six week multidisciplinary paid training program which directly integrates students into the forefront of airborne remote sensing science. Students were briefly trained with one week of lectures and laboratory exercises and then immediately incorporated into ongoing research projects which benefit from access to the DC-8 airborne platform and the MODIS-ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) sensor. Students were split into three major topical categories of Land, Ocean, and Air for the data collection and project portions of the program. This poster details the techniques and structure used for the student integration into ongoing research, professional development, hypothesis building and results as developed by the professor and mentor of the Land focus group. Upon assignment to the Land group, students were issued official research field protocols and split into four field specialty groups with additional specialty reading assignments. In the field each group spent more time in their respective specialty, but also participated in all field techniques through pairings with UC Davis research team members using midday rotations. After the field campaign, each specialty group then gave summary presentations on the techniques, preliminary results, and significance to overall group objectives of their specialty. Then students were required to submit project proposals within the bounds of Land airborne remote sensing science and encouraging, but not requiring the use of the field campaign data. These proposals are then reviewed by the professor and mentor and students are met with one by one to discuss the skills of each student and objectives of the proposed research project. The students then work under the supervision of the mentor and benefit again from professor feedback in a formal

Retired NASA research pilot and former astronaut Gordon Fullerton was greeted by scores of NASA Dryden staff who bid him farewell after his final NASA flight.

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-12-21

Long-time NASA Dryden research pilot and former astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton capped an almost 50-year flying career, including more than 38 years with NASA, with a final flight in a NASA F/A-18 on Dec. 21, 2007. Fullerton and Dryden research pilot Jim Smolka flew a 90-minute pilot proficiency formation aerobatics flight with another Dryden F/A-18 and a Dryden T-38 before concluding with two low-level formation flyovers of Dryden before landing. Fullerton was honored with a water-cannon spray arch provided by two fire trucks from the Edwards Air Force Base fire department as he taxied the F/A-18 up to the Dryden ramp, and was then greeted by his wife Marie and several hundred Dryden staff after his final flight. Fullerton began his flying career with the U.S. Air Force in 1958 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Initially trained as a fighter pilot, he later transitioned to multi-engine bombers and became a bomber operations test pilot after attending the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. He then was assigned to the flight crew for the planned Air Force Manned Orbital Laboratory in 1966. Upon cancellation of that program, the Air Force assigned Fullerton to NASA's astronaut corps in 1969. He served on the support crews for the Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 lunar missions, and was later assigned to one of the two flight crews that piloted the space shuttle prototype Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Test program at Dryden. He then logged some 382 hours in space when he flew on two early space shuttle missions, STS-3 on Columbia in 1982 and STS-51F on Challenger in 1985. He joined the flight crew branch at NASA Dryden after leaving the astronaut corps in 1986. During his 21 years at Dryden, Fullerton was project pilot on a number of high-profile research efforts, including the Propulsion Controlled Aircraft, the high-speed landing tests of

ALHAT: Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robertson, Edward A.; Carson, John M., III

2015-01-01

The ALHAT project was chartered by NASA HQ in 2006 to develop and mature to TRL 6 an autonomous lunar landing GN&C and sensing system for crewed, cargo, and robotic planetary landing vehicles. The multi-center ALHAT team was tasked with providing a system capable of identifying and avoiding surface hazards in real time to enable safe precision landing to within tens of meters of a designated planetary landing site under any lighting conditions.

MD-11 PCA - First Landing at Edwards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

A transport aircraft lands for the first time under engine power only, as this McDonnell Douglas MD-11 touches down at 11:38 a.m., Aug. 29, 1995, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The milestone flight, flown by NASA research pilot and former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, was part of a NASA project to develop a computer-assisted engine control system that enables a pilot to land a plane safely when its normal control surfaces are disabled. The propulsion-Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system uses standard autopilot controls already present in the cockpit, together with the new programming in the aircraft's flight control computers. The PCA concept is simple--for pitch control, the program increases thrust to climb and reduces thrust to descend. To turn right, the autopilot increases the left engine thrust while decreasing the right engine thrust. The initial Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft studies by NASA were carried out at Dryden with a modified twin-engine F-15 research aircraft.

MD-11 PCA - First Landing at Edwards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

This McDonnell Douglas MD-11 transport aircraft approaches its first landing under engine power only on Aug. 29, 1995, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The milestone flight, flown by NASA research pilot and former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, was part of a NASA project to develop a computer-assisted engine control system that enables a pilot to land a plane safely when its normal control surfaces are disabled. The Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system uses standard autopilot controls already present in the cockpit, together with the new programming in the aircraft's flight control computers. The PCA concept is simple--for pitch control, the program increases thrust to climb and reduces thrust to descend. To turn right, the autopilot increases the left engine thrust while decreasing the right engine thrust. The initial Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft studies by NASA were carried out at Dryden with a modified twin-engine F-15 research aircraft.

MD-11 PCA - First Landing at Edwards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

This McDonnell Douglas MD-11 approaches the first landing ever of a transport aircraft under engine power only on Aug. 29, 1995, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The milestone flight, flown by NASA research pilot and former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, was part of a NASA project to develop a computer-assisted engine control system that enables a pilot to land a plane safely when it normal control surfaces are disabled. The Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system uses standard autopilot controls already present in the cockpit, together with the new programming in the aircraft's flight control computers. The PCA concept is simple--for pitch control, the program increases thrust to climb and reduces thrust to descend. To turn right, the autopilot increases the left engine thrust while decreasing the right engine thrust. The initial Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft studies by NASA were carried out at Dryden with a modified twin-engine F-15 research aircraft.

MD-11 PCA - First Landing at Edwards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

A transport aircraft lands for the first time under engine power only, as this McDonnell Douglas MD-11 touches down at 11:38 a.m., Aug. 29, 1995, at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The milestone flight, flown by NASA research pilot and former astronaut Gordon Fullerton, was part of a NASA project to develop a computer-assisted engine control system that enables a pilot to land a plane safely when its normal control surfaces are disabled. The Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft (PCA) system uses standard autopilot controls already present in the cockpit, together with the new programming in the aircraft's flight control computers. The PCA concept is simple--for pitch control, the program increases thrust to climb and reduces thrust to descend. To turn right, the autopilot increases the left engine thrust while decreasing the right engine thrust. The initial Propulsion-Controlled Aircraft studies by NASA were carried out at Dryden with a modified twin-engine F-15 research aircraft.

Advanced Curation Preparation for Mars Sample Return and Cold Curation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fries, M. D.; Harrington, A. D.; McCubbin, F. M.; Mitchell, J.; Regberg, A. B.; Snead, C.

2017-01-01

NASA Curation is tasked with the care and distribution of NASA's sample collections, such as the Apollo lunar samples and cometary material collected by the Stardust spacecraft. Curation is also mandated to perform Advanced Curation research and development, which includes improving the curation of existing collections as well as preparing for future sample return missions. Advanced Curation has identified a suite of technologies and techniques that will require attention ahead of Mars sample return (MSR) and missions with cold curation (CCur) requirements, perhaps including comet sample return missions.

Expedition 54 Soyuz MS-06 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei rests in a chair shortly after he, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin landed in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 (February 27 Eastern time.) Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 54 Soyuz MS-06 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is carried to a medical tent shortly after he, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin landed in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 (February 27 Eastern time.) Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Assessment of the NASA-USGS Global Land Survey (GLS) Datasets

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutman, Garik; Huang, Chengquan; Chander, Gyanesh; Noojipady, Praveen; Masek, Jeffery G.

2013-01-01

The Global Land Survey (GLS) datasets are a collection of orthorectified, cloud-minimized Landsat-type satellite images, providing near complete coverage of the global land area decadally since the early 1970s. The global mosaics are centered on 1975, 1990, 2000, 2005, and 2010, and consist of data acquired from four sensors: Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, Thematic Mapper, Multispectral Scanner, and Advanced Land Imager. The GLS datasets have been widely used in land-cover and land-use change studies at local, regional, and global scales. This study evaluates the GLS datasets with respect to their spatial coverage, temporal consistency, geodetic accuracy, radiometric calibration consistency, image completeness, extent of cloud contamination, and residual gaps. In general, the three latest GLS datasets are of a better quality than the GLS-1990 and GLS-1975 datasets, with most of the imagery (85%) having cloud cover of less than 10%, the acquisition years clustered much more tightly around their target years, better co-registration relative to GLS-2000, and better radiometric absolute calibration. Probably, the most significant impediment to scientific use of the datasets is the variability of image phenology (i.e., acquisition day of year). This paper provides end-users with an assessment of the quality of the GLS datasets for specific applications, and where possible, suggestions for mitigating their deficiencies.

Large extents of intensive land use limit community reorganization during climate warming.

PubMed

Oliver, Tom H; Gillings, Simon; Pearce-Higgins, James W; Brereton, Tom; Crick, Humphrey Q P; Duffield, Simon J; Morecroft, Michael D; Roy, David B

2017-06-01

Climate change is increasingly altering the composition of ecological communities, in combination with other environmental pressures such as high-intensity land use. Pressures are expected to interact in their effects, but the extent to which intensive human land use constrains community responses to climate change is currently unclear. A generic indicator of climate change impact, the community temperature index (CTI), has previously been used to suggest that both bird and butterflies are successfully 'tracking' climate change. Here, we assessed community changes at over 600 English bird or butterfly monitoring sites over three decades and tested how the surrounding land has influenced these changes. We partitioned community changes into warm- and cold-associated assemblages and found that English bird communities have not reorganized successfully in response to climate change. CTI increases for birds are primarily attributable to the loss of cold-associated species, whilst for butterflies, warm-associated species have tended to increase. Importantly, the area of intensively managed land use around monitoring sites appears to influence these community changes, with large extents of intensively managed land limiting 'adaptive' community reorganization in response to climate change. Specifically, high-intensity land use appears to exacerbate declines in cold-adapted bird and butterfly species, and prevent increases in warm-associated birds. This has broad implications for managing landscapes to promote climate change adaptation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Landsat: a global land imaging program

USGS Publications Warehouse

Byrnes, Raymond A.

2012-01-01

Landsat satellites have continuously acquired space-based images of the Earth's land surface, coastal shallows, and coral reefs across four decades. The Landsat Program, a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was established to routinely gather land imagery from space. In practice, NASA develops remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft, launches satellites, and validates their performance. The USGS then assumes ownership and operation of the satellites, in addition to managing all ground-data reception, archiving, product generation, and distribution. The result of this program is a visible, long-term record of natural and human-induced changes on the global landscape.

Hot and Cold

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-16

This view shows Mercury's north polar region, colored by the maximum biannual surface temperature, which ranges from >400 K (red) to 50 K (purple). As expected for the Solar System's innermost planet, areas of Mercury's surface that are sunlit reach high temperatures, and hence most of this image is colored red! In contrast, some craters near Mercury's poles have regions that remain permanently in shadow, and in these regions even the maximum temperatures can be extremely low. Evidence from MESSENGER and Earth-based observations indicate that water ice deposits are present in these cold craters. The craters nearest Mercury' poles have surface temperatures less than 100 K (-173°C, -280°F), and water ice is stable on the surface, such as in Prokofiev. However, many craters near but somewhat farther from Mercury's poles have cold, permanently shadowed interiors, but the maximum temperature is too high for water ice to persist at the surface. In these craters, water ice is present but is buried beneath a thin, low-reflectance volatile layer likely consisting of organic-rich material, such as in Berlioz crater. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19247

A convoy of specialized support vehicles follow the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it is towed up a taxiway at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California, after landing on May 1, 2001

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-05-01

A convoy of specialized support vehicles follow the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it is towed up a taxiway at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, California, after landing on May 1, 2001. The two largest vehicles trailing the shuttle provide electrical power and air conditioning to the shuttle's systems during post-flight recovery operations. The Endeavour had just completed mission STS-100, an almost 12-day mission to install the Canadarm 2 robotic arm and deliver some three tons of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station. The landing was the 48th shuttle landing at Edwards since shuttle flights began in 1981. After post-flight processing, the Endeavour was mounted atop one of NASA's modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft and ferried back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 8, 2001.

Conversion of prime agricultural land to urban land uses in Kansas City

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaklee, R. V.

1976-01-01

In an expanding urban environment, agriculture and urban land uses are the two primary competitors for regional land resources. As a result of an increasing awareness of the effects which urban expansion has upon the regional environment, the conversion of prime agricultural land to urban land uses has become a point of concern to urban planners. A study was undertaken for the Kansas City Metropolitan Region, to determine the rate at which prime agricultural land has been converted to urban land uses over a five year period from 1969 to 1974. Using NASA high altitude color infrared imagery acquired over the city in October, 1969 and in May, 1974 to monitor the extent and location of urban expansion in the interim period, it was revealed that 42% of that expansion had occurred upon land classified as having prime agricultural potential. This involved a total of 10,727 acres of prime agricultural land and indicated a 7% increase over the 1969 which showed that 35% of the urban area had been developed on prime agricultural land.

NASA Exhibits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deardorff, Glenn; Djomehri, M. Jahed; Freeman, Ken; Gambrel, Dave; Green, Bryan; Henze, Chris; Hinke, Thomas; Hood, Robert; Kiris, Cetin; Moran, Patrick;

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

Two Russian Search and Rescue helicopters land near the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft shortly after touch down with Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 26 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-03-16

A Russian Search and Rescue helicopter arrives as the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft lands with Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Kaleri near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. NASA Astronaut Kelly, Russian Cosmonauts Skripochka and Kaleri are returning from almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 25 and 26 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

A Russian Search and Rescue helicopter lands near the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft shortly after touch down with Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Expedition 34 Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, left with flowers, Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, center with flowers, and Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy are greeted at the Kustanay Airport a few hours after they landed near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and Tarelkin are returning from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 33 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-11-19

Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) waves hello in a chair outside the Soyuz Capsule after he and Commander Sunita Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko of ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federal Space Agency), landed their Soyuz spacecraft in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko returned from four months onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Women in ceremonial Kazakh dress prepare to welcome home Expedition 34 Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, and Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy at the Kustanay Airport a few hours after they landed near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Tarelkin, Ford, and Novitskiy, returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-23

Russian Search and rescue helicopters are seen as they prepare for the landing of the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft with Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman in a remote area southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 32 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-09-17

Expedition 32 NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba rests on the Russian Search and Rescue helicopter that is carrying him from the Soyuz TMA-04M landing site in a remote area outside Arkalyk, Kazakhstan to Kostanay, Kazakhstan shortly after he and Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin returned from the International Space Station on Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. Acaba, Padalka and Revin returned from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 31 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-07-01

A Russian Search and Rescue helicopter flies to the the Soyuz TMA-03M capsule shortly after it landed with Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia and Flight Engineers Don Pettit of NASA and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Sunday, July 1, 2012. Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers returned from more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 30 and 31 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 30 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-27

NASA and GCTC (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center) crew support personnel enter the inflatable medical tent in which Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank, and flight engineers Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin are being checked out shortly after their Soyuz TMA-22 capsule landed out side the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, Friday, April 27, 2012. Burbank, and Russian Cosmonauts Shkaplerov and Ivanishin are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 29 and 30 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-24

Chief, Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Sergei Krikalev shakes hands and welcomes home Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev at the Chkalovsky airport outside Star City, Russia several hours after Kondratyev and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman landed in their Soyuz TMA-20 southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-24

Kazakh performers at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan play music prior to a welcome home ceremony for Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, and, Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli, and Cady Coleman, after the three landed in their Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft in a remote area southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-23

Expedition 27 Flight Engineer Cady Coleman answers reporters questions in traditional Kazakh dress during a press conference at the Karaganda airport shortly after she and Commander Dmitry Kondratyev and Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli landed in their Soyuz TMA-20 southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is attended to by his nurse following his landing in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Hadfield and crew mates NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) returned to earth from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Expedition 35 NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn is attended to by his nurse following his landing in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Marshburn and crew mates Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) returned to earth from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 11 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-10-10

Astronaut John Phillips is attended to by a Russian nurse onboard the helicopter taking him from the Soyuz landing site near Arlalyk to Kustanay, Kazkahstan, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005. Members of the 11th expedition to the international space station, Phillips and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, landed near Arlalyk after a six-month mission in orbit. Along with American businessman Greg Olsen, who visited the station for more than a week, Phillips and Krikalev returned to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Using NASA Earth Observing Satellites and Statistical Model Analysis to Monitor Vegetation and Habitat Rehabilitation in Southwest Virginia's Reclaimed Mine Lands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tate, Z.; Dusenge, D.; Elliot, T. S.; Hafashimana, P.; Medley, S.; Porter, R. P.; Rajappan, R.; Rodriguez, P.; Spangler, J.; Swaminathan, R. S.; VanGundy, R. D.

2014-12-01

The majority of the population in southwest Virginia depends economically on coal mining. In 2011, coal mining generated $2,000,000 in tax revenue to Wise County alone. However, surface mining completely removes land cover and leaves the land exposed to erosion. The destruction of the forest cover directly impacts local species, as some are displaced and others perish in the mining process. Even though surface mining has a negative impact on the environment, land reclamation efforts are in place to either restore mined areas to their natural vegetated state or to transform these areas for economic purposes. This project aimed to monitor the progress of land reclamation and the effect on the return of local species. By incorporating NASA Earth observations, such as Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), re-vegetation process in reclamation sites was estimated through a Time series analysis using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). A continuous source of cloud free images was accomplished by utilizing the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STAR-FM). This model developed synthetic Landsat imagery by integrating the high-frequency temporal information from Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and high-resolution spatial information from Landsat sensors In addition, the Maximum Entropy Modeling (MaxENT), an eco-niche model was used to estimate the adaptation of animal species to the newly formed habitats. By combining factors such as land type, precipitation from Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and slope from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), the MaxENT model produced a statistical analysis on the probability of species habitat. Altogether, the project compiled the ecological information which can be used to identify suitable habitats for local species in reclaimed mined areas.

Expedition 53 Soyuz MS-05 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-14

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, center, gives an autograph while onboard a helicopter shortly after he, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy landed in their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. Looking on is NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, left, and NASA Flight Surgeon Rick Scheuring. Bresnik, Nespoli and Ryazanskiy are returning after 139 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 52 and 53 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Endeavour Lands at LAX

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-09-21

Space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) lands at Los Angeles International Airport, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012. The shadow of a NASA F-18 chase jet wing is shown in the foreground. Endeavour, built as a replacement for space shuttle Challenger, completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit, and orbited Earth 4,671 times while traveling 122,883,151 miles. Beginning Oct. 30, the shuttle will be on display in the California Science center's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion, embarking on its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and educate and inspire future generations of explorers.Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space Shuttle Discovery Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-17

Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) lands at Washington Dulles International Airport, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Sterling, Va. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is seen in the background. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Eric Long)

Expedition 6 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-05-03

One of three local Kazakh girls who were on hand at the International Airport Astana to welcome the Expedition 6 crew with roses after the crew landed on the Kazakh steppe in their Soyuz capsule, Tuesday, May 4, 2003 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 54 Soyuz MS-06 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is helped out of the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft just minutes after he, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 (February 27 Eastern time.) Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 54 Soyuz MS-06 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is helped out of the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft just minutes after he, NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 (February 27 Eastern time.) Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 54 Soyuz MS-06 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, left, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, center, and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei sit in chairs outside the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 (February 27 Eastern time.) Acaba, Vande Hei, and Misurkin are returning after 168 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 53 and 54 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Franz Josef Land, Russia

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-10-12

This image from NASA Terra spacecraft is of Franz Josef Land, an archipelago in the far north of Russia. It consists of 191 islands covering an area of about 200 by 325 km, and has no native inhabitants.

New and Improved GLDAS Data Sets and Data Services at NASA GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rui, Hualan; Beaudoing, Hiroko; Teng, William; Vollmer, Bruce; Rodell, Matthew; Lei, Guang-Dih

2012-01-01

The goal of a Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) is to ingest satellite- and ground-based observational data products, using advanced land surface modeling and data assimilation techniques, in order to generate optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes data and, thereby, facilitate hydrology and climate modeling, research, and forecast. With the motivation of creating more climatologically consistent data sets, NASA GSFC's Hydrological Sciences Laboratory has generated more than 60 years (Jan. 1948-- Dec. 2008) of Global LDAS Version 2 (GLDAS-2) data, by using the Princeton Forcing Data Set and upgraded versions of Land Surface Models (LSMs). GLDAS data and data services are provided at NASA GES DISC Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), in collaboration with HSL and LDAS.

NASA's Water Solutions Using Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toll, David

2012-01-01

NASA Water Resources works within Earth sciences to leverage investments of space-based observation, model results, and development and deployment of enabling technologies, systems, and capabilities into water resources management decision support tools for the sustainable use of water. Earth science satellite observations and modelling products provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years about the Earth's land surface conditions such as land cover type, vegetation type and health, precipitation, snow, soil moisture, and water levels and radiation. Observations of this type combined with models and analysis enable satellite-based assessment of the water cycle. With increasing population pressure and water usage coupled with climate variability and change, water issues are being reported by numerous groups as the most critical environmental problems facing us in the 21st century. Competitive uses and the prevalence of river basins and aquifers that extend across boundaries engender political tensions between communities, stakeholders and countries. The NASA Water Resources Program has the objective to provide NASA products to help deal with these issues with the goal for the sustainable use of water. The Water Resources program organizes its projects under five functional themes: 1) stream-flow and flood forecasting; 2) water consumptive use (includes evapotranspiration) and irrigation; 3) drought; 4) water quality; and 5) climate and water resources. NASA primarily works with national and international groups such as other US government agencies (NOAA, EPA, USGS, USAID) and various other groups to maximize the widest use of the water products. A summary of NASA's water activities linked to helping solve issues for developing countries will be highlighted.

Satellite Shows Powerful Cold Front Moving Off U.S. East Coast

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-16

NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured an image of a powerful cold front that triggered flash flood watches and warnings along the U.S. East Coast on May 16. NOAA's National Weather Service noted flash flooding was possible from New England into eastern North Carolina today, May 16. The clouds associated with the long cold front was captured using visible data from NOAA's GOES-East or GOES-13 satellite on at 1900 UTC (3:00 p.m. EDT) and was made into an image by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The clouds stretched from Maine south through the Mid-Atlantic down to southern Florida with a tail of clouds extending into the western Caribbean Sea. South of Lake Michigan the rounded swirl of clouds indicates another low pressure system. GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth's surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. For updated information about the storm system, visit NOAA's National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov For more information about GOES satellites, visit: www.goes.noaa.gov/ or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Rob Gutro NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA Blue Marble 2007 West

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-12

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 9, 2007 Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli A day’s clouds. The shape and texture of the land. The living ocean. City lights as a beacon of human presence across the globe. This amazingly beautiful view of Earth from space is a fusion of science and art, a showcase for the remote-sensing technology that makes such views possible, and a testament to the passion and creativity of the scientists who devote their careers to understanding how land, ocean, and atmosphere—even life itself—interact to generate Earth’s unique (as far as we know!) life-sustaining environment. Drawing on data from multiple satellite missions (not all collected at the same time), a team of NASA scientists and graphic artists created layers of global data for everything from the land surface, to polar sea ice, to the light reflected by the chlorophyll in the billions of microscopic plants that grow in the ocean. They wrapped these layers around a globe, set it against a black background, and simulated the hazy edge of the Earth’s atmosphere (the limb) that appears in astronaut photography of the Earth. The land surface layer is based on photo-like surface reflectance observations (reflected sunlight) measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite in July 2004. The sea ice layer near the poles comes from Terra MODIS observations of daytime sea ice observed between August 28 and September 6, 2001. The ocean layer is a composite. In shallow water areas, the layer shows surface reflectances observed by Terra MODIS in July 2004. In the open ocean, the photo-like layer is overlaid with observations of the average ocean chlorophyll content for 2004. NASA’s Aqua MODIS collected the chlorophyll data. The cloud layer shows a single-day snapshot of clouds observed by Terra MODIS across the planet on July 29, 2001. City lights on Earth’s night side are visualized from data collected by the Defense

Eclipse 2017: Through the Eyes of NASA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayo, Louis; NASA Heliophysics Education Consortium

2017-10-01

The August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse across America was, by all accounts, the biggest science education program ever carried out by NASA, significantly larger than the Curiosity Mars landing and the New Horizons Pluto flyby. Initial accounting estimates over two billion people reached and website hits exceeding five billion. The NASA Science Mission Directorate spent over two years planning and developing this enormous public education program, establishing over 30 official NASA sites along the path of totality, providing imagery from 11 NASA space assets, two high altitude aircraft, and over 50 high altitude balloons. In addition, a special four focal plane ground based solar telescope was developed in partnership with Lunt Solar Systems that observed and processed the eclipse in 6K resolution. NASA EDGE and NASA TV broadcasts during the entirity of totality across the country reached hundreds of millions, world wide.This talk will discuss NASA's strategy, results, and lessons learned; and preview some of the big events we plan to feature in the near future.

Rocket Science in 60 Seconds: Insulating NASA's New Deep-space Rocket

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-09

Rocket Science in 60 Seconds gives you an inside look at work being done at NASA to explore deep space like never before. In the first episode, we take a look at the thermal protection application on the launch vehicle stage adapter for the first flight of NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System. Engineer Amy Buck takes us behind the scenes at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for a peek at how she is helping build the rocket and protect it as extreme hot and cold collide during launch! For more information about SLS and the OSA, visit nasa.gov/sls.

NASA's Aqua Satellite Celebrates 10th Annivesary

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA's Aqua Satellite Celebrates 10th Anniversary The Aqua satellite mission has proved to be a major component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) for its ability to gather unprecedented amounts of information on Earth’s water cycle, including measurements on water vapor, clouds, precipitation, ice, and snow. Aqua data has helped improve weather prediction, detection of forest fires, volcanic ash, and sandstorms. In addition, Aqua data have been used to detect and monitor such greenhouse gases as carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane, and to examine the energy imbalance at the top of the Earth's atmosphere and the various components of it. With these uses of Aqua data, scientists have been able to better understand our Earth over the course of the past ten years. Aqua is a major international Earth Science satellite mission centered at NASA. Launched on May 4, 2002, the satellite has six different Earth-observing instruments on board and is named for the large amount of information being obtained about water in the Earth system from its stream of approximately 89 Gigabytes of data a day. The water variables being measured include almost all elements of the water cycle and involve water in its liquid, solid, and vapor forms. Additional variables being measured include radiative energy fluxes, aerosols, vegetation cover on the land, phytoplankton and dissolved organic matter in the oceans, and air, land, and water temperatures. For more information about NASA's Aqua satellite, visit: aqua.nasa.gov ------------ Caption: Artist rendition of the NASA's Aqua satellite, which carries the MODIS and AIRS instruments. Credit: NASA NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on

Expedition 24 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-09-24

Russian search and rescue teams arrive at the landing site seconds after the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft touched down with Expedition 24 Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010. Russian Cosmonauts Skvortsov and Kornienko and NASA Astronaut Caldwell Dyson, are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 23 and 24 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Expedition 34 Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of Russia is helped out a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter after flying from his Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft landing site outside the town of Arkalyk to Kustanay, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Tarelkin, along with Commander Kevin Ford of NASA and Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 24 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-09-24

Expedition 24 Commander Alexander Skvortsov laughs after being given fresh fruit and vegetables shortly after landing in the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft with fellow crew members Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010. Russian Cosmonauts Skvortsov and Kornienko and NASA Astronaut Caldwell Dyson, are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 23 and 24 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Cars carrying Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin pull up to the terminal at the Kustanay Airport a few hours after the crew landed their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and, Tarelkin returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

STS-134 Flight Controllers on Console - Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-06-01

JSC2011-E-050168 (1 June 2011) --- An overall view of the space shuttle flight control room in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center photographed during STS-134/ULF-6 landing day activities. Flight directors Richard Jones (left) and Tony Ceccacci are visible in the foreground. Photo credit: NASA

Lunar Landing Research Facility and Model at Night

NASA Image and Video Library

1969-06-20

Lunar Landing Module photographed at night at the Lunar Landing Research Facility. Gantry facility 1297. Upright cockpit design lander over moonscape pavement at LLRF. 69-4872 was published in Winds of Change, 75th Anniversary Publication of NASA, P.88, by James Schultz.

Landsat: A Global Land-Imaging Project

USGS Publications Warehouse

Headley, Rachel

2010-01-01

Across nearly four decades since 1972, Landsat satellites continuously have acquired space-based images of the Earth's land surface, coastal shallows, and coral reefs. The Landsat Program, a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was established to routinely gather land imagery from space; consequently, NASA develops remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft, then launches and validates the satellites. The USGS then assumes ownership and operation of the satellites, in addition to managing all ground-data reception, archiving, product generation, and distribution. The result of this program is a visible, long-term record of natural and human-induced changes on the global landscape.

Landsat: A global land-imaging mission

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2012-01-01

Across four decades since 1972, Landsat satellites have continuously acquired space-based images of the Earth's land surface, coastal shallows, and coral reefs. The Landsat Program, a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was established to routinely gather land imagery from space. NASA develops remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft, then launches and validates the performance of the instruments and satellites. The USGS then assumes ownership and operation of the satellites, in addition to managing all ground reception, data archiving, product generation, and distribution. The result of this program is a long-term record of natural and human induced changes on the global landscape.

NASA Kennedy Space Center: Contributions to Sea Turtle Science and Conservation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Provancha, Jane A.; Phillips, Lynne V.; Mako, Cheryle L.

2018-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a United States (US) federal agency that oversees US space exploration and aeronautical research. NASA's primary launch site, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is located along the east coast of Florida, on Cape Canaveral and the western Atlantic Ocean. The natural environment within KSC's large land boundaries, not only functions as an extensive safety buffer-area, it performs simultaneously as a wildlife refuge and a national seashore. In the early 1960s, NASA was developing KSC for rocket launches and the US was establishing an awareness of, and commitment to protecting the environment. The US began creating regulations that required the consideration of the environment when taking action on federal land or with federal funds. The timing of the US Endangered Species Act (1973), the US National Environmental Policy Act (1972), coincided with the planning and implementation of the US Space Shuttle Program. This resulted in the first efforts to evaluate the impacts of space launch operation operations on waterways, air quality, habitats, and wildlife. The first KSC fauna and flora baseline studies were predominantly performed by University of Central Florida (then Florida Technological University). Numerous species of relative importance were observed and sea turtles were receiving regulatory review and protection as surveys by Dr. L Ehrhart (UCF) from 1973-1978 described turtles nesting along the KSC beaches and foraging in the KSC lagoon systems. These data were used in the first NASA Environmental Impact Statement for the Space Transportation System (shuttle program) in 1980. In 1982, NASA began a long term ecological monitoring program with contracted scientists on site. This included efforts to track sea turtle status and trends at KSC and maintain protective measures for these species. Many studies and collaborations have occurred on KSC over these last 45 years with agencies (USFWS, NOAA, NAVY), students

EPCOT, NASA and plant pathogens in space.

PubMed

White, R

1996-01-01

Cooperative work between NASA and Walt Disney World's EPCOT Land Pavilion is described. Joint efforts include research about allelopathy in multi-species plant cropping in CELSS, LEDs as light sources in hydroponic systems, and the growth of plant pathogens in space.

Mars-Moons Exploration, Reconnaissance and Landed Investigation (MERLIN)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murchie, S. L.; Chabot, N. L.; Buczkowski, D.; Arvidson, R. E.; Castillo, J. C.; Peplowski, P. N.; Ernst, C. M.; Rivkin, A.; Eng, D.; Chmielewski, A. B.; Maki, J.; trebi-Ollenu, A.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Spence, H. E.; Horanyi, M.; Klingelhoefer, G.; Christian, J. A.

2015-12-01

The Mars-Moons Exploration, Reconnaissance and Landed Investigation (MERLIN) is a NASA Discovery mission proposal to explore the moons of Mars. Previous Mars-focused spacecraft have raised fundamental questions about Mars' moons: What are their origins and compositions? Why do the moons resemble primitive outer solar system D-type objects? How do geologic processes modify their surfaces? MERLIN answers these questions through a combination of orbital and landed measurements, beginning with reconnaissance of Deimos and investigation of the hypothesized Martian dust belts. Orbital reconnaissance of Phobos occurs, followed by low flyovers to characterize a landing site. MERLIN lands on Phobos, conducting a 90-day investigation. Radiation measurements are acquired throughout all mission phases. Phobos' size and mass provide a low-risk landing environment: controlled descent is so slow that the landing is rehearsed, but gravity is high enough that surface operations do not require anchoring. Existing imaging of Phobos reveals low regional slope regions suitable for landing, and provides knowledge for planning orbital and landed investigations. The payload leverages past NASA investments. Orbital imaging is accomplished by a dual multispectral/high-resolution imager rebuilt from MESSENGER/MDIS. Mars' dust environment is measured by the refurbished engineering model of LADEE/LDEX, and the radiation environment by the flight spare of LRO/CRaTER. The landed workspace is characterized by a color stereo imager updated from MER/HazCam. MERLIN's arm deploys landed instrumentation using proven designs from MER, Phoenix, and MSL. Elemental measurements are acquired by a modified version of Rosetta/APXS, and an uncooled gamma-ray spectrometer. Mineralogical measurements are acquired by a microscopic imaging spectrometer developed under MatISSE. MERLIN delivers seminal science traceable to NASA's Strategic Goals and Objectives, Science Plan, and the Decadal Survey. MERLIN's science

Constellation Program (CxP) Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) Project Integrated Landing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, John D.; Yuchnovicz, Daniel E.; Eisenman, David J.; Peer, Scott G.; Fasanella, Edward L.; Lawrence, Charles

2009-01-01

Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) Chief Engineer requested a risk comparison of the Integrated Landing System design developed by NASA and the design developed by Contractor- referred to as the LM 604 baseline. Based on the results of this risk comparison, the CEV Chief engineer requested that the NESC evaluate identified risks and develop strategies for their reduction or mitigation. The assessment progressed in two phases. A brief Phase I analysis was performed by the Water versus Land-Landing Team to compare the CEV Integrated Landing System proposed by the Contractor against the NASA TS-LRS001 baseline with respect to risk. A phase II effort examined the areas of critical importance to the overall landing risk, evaluating risk to the crew and to the CEV Crew Module (CM) during a nominal land-landing. The findings of the assessment are contained in this report.

Expedition 10 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-04-24

Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, bottom left, Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori, top left, arrive in Star City, Russia, Monday, April 25, 2005, after thet brought their Soyuz TMA-5 capsule to a pre-dawn landing northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 9 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-24

A Russian nurse sits next to Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke, while he sleeps inside a Russian search and rescue helicopter on his way to Kustanay, Kazakhstan after landing in a Soyuz capsule 85 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The structure and energetics of midlatitude disturbances accompanying cold-air outbreaks over East Asia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lau, N.-C.; Lau, K.-M.

1984-01-01

The evolution of extratropical transient waves as they propagate eastward from the Eurasian land mass toward the Pacific during selected cold surge events in the winter Monsoon Experiment (MONEX) is studied. The outstanding cold surge episodes during MONEX are first identified, and the salient synoptic features related to these events are described using composite streamline charts. The structure of rapidly varying disturbances accompanying the cold surges and the associated energetics are examined, and the behavior of those fluctuations over relatively longer time scales is addressed.

Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Monitor Land Management Practices and the Development of Marshlands to Rice Fields in Rwanda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dusabimana, M. R.; Blach, D.; Mwiza, F.; Muzungu, E.; Swaminathan, R.; Tate, Z.

2014-12-01

Rwanda, a small country with the highest population density in Sub-Saharan Africa, is one of the world's poorest countries. Although agriculture is the backbone of Rwandan economy, agricultural productivity is extremely low. Over 90 % of the population is engaged in subsistence farming and only 52 % of the total land surface area is arable. Of this land, approximately 165,000 hectares are marshlands, of which only 57 % has been cultivated. Rwandan government has invested in the advancement of agriculture with activities such as irrigation, marshland reclamation, and crop regionalization. In 2001, Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) released the Rural Sector Support Program (RSSP), which aimed at converting marshlands into rice fields at various development sites across the country. The focus of this project was to monitor rice fields in Rwanda utilizing NASA Earth observations such as Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager. Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) was used to depict the progress of marshland to rice field conversion as it highlights the presence of irrigated rice fields from the surrounding area. Additionally, Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) was used to estimate rice yield at RSSP sites. Various simulations were run to find perfect conditions for cultivating the highest yield for a given farm. Furthermore, soil erosion susceptibility masks were created by combining factors derived from ASTER, MERRA, and ground truth data using Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). The end results, maps, and tutorials were delivered to the partners and policy makers in Rwanda to help make informed decisions. It can be clearly seen that Earth observations can be successfully used to monitor agricultural and land management practices as a cost effective method that will enable farmers to improve crop yield production and food security.

Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) dumps water after first in-flight cold flow test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

The NASA SR-71A successfully completed its first cold flow flight as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California on March 4, 1998. During a cold flow flight, gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen are cycled through the linear aerospike engine to check the engine's plumbing system for leaks and to check the engine operating characterisitics. Cold-flow tests must be accomplished successfully before firing the rocket engine experiment in flight. The SR-71 took off at 10:16 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty-seven minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.58 before landing at Edwards at 12:13 p.m. PST. 'I think all in all we had a good mission today,' Dryden LASRE Project Manager Dave Lux said. Flight crew member Bob Meyer agreed, saying the crew 'thought it was a really good flight.' Dryden Research Pilot Ed Schneider piloted the SR-71 during the mission. Lockheed Martin LASRE Project Manager Carl Meade added, 'We are extremely pleased with today's results. This will help pave the way for the first in-flight engine data-collection flight of the LASRE.' The LASRE experiment was designed to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71 linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the project was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools it was using to determine the aerodynamic performance of a future reusable launch vehicle. The joint NASA, Rocketdyne (now part of Boeing), and Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) completed seven initial research flights at Dryden Flight Research Center. Two initial flights were used to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the LASRE apparatus (pod) on the back of the SR-71. Five later flights focused on the experiment itself. Two were used to cycle gaseous

Expedition 41 Soyuz TMA-13M Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-11-10

Expedition 41 Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA is helped out of a Russian search and rescue helicopter after being flown from his Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft landing site near Arkalyk to Kustanay, Kazakhstan, Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. Wiseman landed in the soyuz capsule with Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (ESA) a few hours earlier. Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst spent more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 40 and 41 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 52 Crew Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-09-02

Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer of NASA landed safely near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan Sept. 3 after bidding farewell to their colleagues on the complex and undocking their Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft from the Poisk Module on the International Space Station. The landing marked the first time since Nov. 26, 2010 that two NASA astronauts returned to Earth in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Whitson, who has logged more days in space than any other U.S. astronaut, completed a 10-month mission, her third long duration flight, while Yurchikhin and Fischer completed 136 days in space.

NASAs B377SGT Super Guppy Turbine Cargo Airplane lands at Moffett Field at NASA Ames.

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-01-25

NASA N941NA Superguppy at Moffett Field. Cargo is loaded into the Super Guppy when the aircraft's "fold-away" nose rotates 110 degrees to the left, allowing unobstructed access to the 25 foot diameter fuselage.

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is helped off a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter at Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan following his landing in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Hadfield, Expedition 35 NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) returned to earth from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Expedition 35 NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn is helped off a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter at Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan following his landing in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Marshburn, Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) returned to earth from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 27 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-24

Expedition 27 Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, left, shakes hands with Deputy Chair of the State Commission Mr. Skorobogotov after Kondratyev arrived at the Chkalovsky airport outside Star City, Russia and several hours after he and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli and Cady Coleman landed in their Soyuz TMA-20 southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. NASA Astronaut Coleman, Russian Cosmonaut Kondratyev and Italian Astronaut Nespoli are returning from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 26 and 27 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Expedition 35 NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn, center, is attended to by his nurse and crew support personnel following his landing in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Marshburn and crew mates Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) returned to earth from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Technology Investments in the NASA Entry Systems Modeling Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barnhardt, Michael; Wright, Michael; Hughes, Monica

2017-01-01

The Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) technology development project, initiated in 2012 under NASAs Game Changing Development (GCD) Program, is engaged in maturation of fundamental research developing aerosciences, materials, and integrated systems products for entry, descent, and landing(EDL)technologies [1]. To date, the ESM project has published over 200 papers in these areas, comprising the bulk of NASAs research program for EDL modeling. This presentation will provide an overview of the projects successes and challenges, and an assessment of future investments in EDL modeling and simulation relevant to NASAs mission

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

Expedition 25 Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin is helped from a Russian Search and Rescue all terrain vehicle to a helicopter shortly after Yurchikhin, Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineer Shannon Walker landed in the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 24 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-09-24

Russian search and rescue personnel and engineers prepare to extract the crew from the Soyuz TMA-18 moments after it landed with Expedition 24 Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010. Russian Cosmonauts Skvortsov and Kornienko and NASA Astronaut Caldwell Dyson, are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 23 and 24 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

Russian Search and Rescue teams and medical personnel help Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock out of the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft shortly after the capsule landed with him, Expedition 25 Flight Engineer Shannon Walker and Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Satellite Captures Night-time Look at Cyclone Felleng

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured this false-colored night-time image of Cyclone Felleng during the night on Jan. 28, 2013. Felleng is located in the Southern Indian Ocean, and is northwest of Madagascar. The image revealed some pretty cold overshooting tops, topping at ~170K. The image shows some interesting gravity waves propagating out from the storm in both the thermal and visible imagery. For full storm history on NASA's Hurricane Web Page, visit: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2013/h2013... Credit: William Straka, UWM/NASA/NOAA NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Satellite Captures Night-time Look at Cyclone Felleng

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-01-31

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured this false-colored night-time image of Cyclone Felleng during the night on Jan. 28, 2013. Felleng is located in the Southern Indian Ocean, and is northwest of Madagascar. The image revealed some pretty cold overshooting tops, topping at ~170K. The image shows some interesting gravity waves propagating out from the storm in both the thermal and visible imagery. For full storm history on NASA's Hurricane Web Page, visit: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2013/h2013... Credit: William Straka, UWM/NASA/NOAA NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Snow Radiance Data Assimilation over High Mountain Asia Using the NASA Land Information System and a Well-Trained Support Vector Machine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Y.; Forman, B. A.; Yoon, Y.; Kumar, S.

2017-12-01

High Mountain Asia (HMA) has been progressively losing ice and snow in recent decades, which could negatively impact regional water supply and native ecosystems. One goal of this study is to characterize the spatiotemporal variability of snow (and ice) across the HMA region. In addition, modeled snow water equivalent (SWE) estimates will be enhanced through the assimilation of passive microwave brightness temperatures (TB) collected by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) as part of a radiance assimilation system. The radiance assimilation framework includes the NASA Land Information System (LIS) in conjunction with a well-trained support vector machine (SVM) that acts as the observation operator. The Noah Land Surface Model with multi-parameterization options (Noah-MP) is used as the prior model for simulating snow dynamics. Noah-MP is forced by meteorological fields from the NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) atmospheric reanalysis for the periods 01 Sep. 2002 to 01 Sep. 2011. The radiance assimilation system requires two separate phases: 1) training and 2) assimilation. During the training phase, a nonlinear SVM is generated for three different AMSR-E frequencies - 10.65, 18.7, and 36.5 GHz - at both vertical and horizontal polarization. The trained SVM is then used to predict TB during the assimilation phase. An ensemble Kalman filter will be used to condition the model on AMSR-E brightness temperatures not used during SVM training. The performance of the Noah-MP (with and without radiance assimilation) will be assessed via comparison to in-situ measurements, remotely-sensing geophysical retrievals, and other reanalysis products.

Cold-End Subsystem Testing for the Fission Power System Technology Demonstration Unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Briggs, Mazwell; Gibson, Marc; Ellis, David; Sanzi, James

2013-01-01

The Fission Power System (FPS) Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) consists of a pumped sodiumpotassium (NaK) loop that provides heat to a Stirling Power Conversion Unit (PCU), which converts some of that heat into electricity and rejects the waste heat to a pumped water loop. Each of the TDU subsystems is being tested independently prior to full system testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The pumped NaK loop is being tested at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; the Stirling PCU and electrical controller are being tested by Sunpower Inc.; and the pumped water loop is being tested at Glenn. This paper describes cold-end subsystem setup and testing at Glenn. The TDU cold end has been assembled in Vacuum Facility 6 (VF 6) at Glenn, the same chamber that will be used for TDU testing. Cold-end testing in VF 6 will demonstrate functionality; validated coldend fill, drain, and emergency backup systems; and generated pump performance and system pressure drop data used to validate models. In addition, a low-cost proof-of concept radiator has been built and tested at Glenn, validating the design and demonstrating the feasibility of using low-cost metal radiators as an alternative to highcost composite radiators in an end-to-end TDU test.

Land and cryosphere products from Suomi NPP VIIRS: Overview and status.

PubMed

Justice, Christopher O; Román, Miguel O; Csiszar, Ivan; Vermote, Eric F; Wolfe, Robert E; Hook, Simon J; Friedl, Mark; Wang, Zhuosen; Schaaf, Crystal B; Miura, Tomoaki; Tschudi, Mark; Riggs, George; Hall, Dorothy K; Lyapustin, Alexei I; Devadiga, Sadashiva; Davidson, Carol; Masuoka, Edward J

2013-09-16

[1] The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument was launched in October 2011 as part of the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP). The VIIRS instrument was designed to improve upon the capabilities of the operational Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and provide observation continuity with NASA's Earth Observing System's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Since the VIIRS first-light images were received in November 2011, NASA- and NOAA-funded scientists have been working to evaluate the instrument performance and generate land and cryosphere products to meet the needs of the NOAA operational users and the NASA science community. NOAA's focus has been on refining a suite of operational products known as Environmental Data Records (EDRs), which were developed according to project specifications under the National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System. The NASA S-NPP Science Team has focused on evaluating the EDRs for science use, developing and testing additional products to meet science data needs, and providing MODIS data product continuity. This paper presents to-date findings of the NASA Science Team's evaluation of the VIIRS land and cryosphere EDRs, specifically Surface Reflectance, Land Surface Temperature, Surface Albedo, Vegetation Indices, Surface Type, Active Fires, Snow Cover, Ice Surface Temperature, and Sea Ice Characterization. The study concludes that, for MODIS data product continuity and earth system science, an enhanced suite of land and cryosphere products and associated data system capabilities are needed beyond the EDRs currently available from the VIIRS.

Expedition Six landing views

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-05-04

May 4, 2003, Astana, Kazakhstan. One of three local Kazakh girls who were on hand at the Astana airport to welcome the Expedition Six crew with Roses after the crew landed on the Kazakh Steppe in their Soyuz capsule. Photo Credit: "NASA/Bill Ingalls"

Flight tests of IFR landing approach systems for helicopters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bull, J. S.; Hegarty, D. M.; Peach, L. L.; Phillips, J. D.; Anderson, D. J.; Dugan, D. C.; Ross, V. L.

1981-01-01

Joint NASA/FAA helicopter flight tests were conducted to investigate airborne radar approaches (ARA) and microwave landing system (MLS) approaches. Flight-test results were utilized to prove NASA with a data base to be used as a performance measure for advanced guidance and navigation concepts, and to provide FAA with data for establishment of TERPS criteria. The first flight-test investigation consisted of helicopter IFR approaches to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, using weather/mapping radar, operational pilots, and a Bell 212 helicopter. The second flight-test investigation consisted of IFR MLS approaches at Crows Landing (near Ames Research Center), with a Bell UH-1H helicopter, using NASA, FAA, and operational industry pilots. Tests are described and results discussed.

NASAs B377SGT Super Guppy Turbine Cargo Airplane lands at Moffett Field at NASA Ames.

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-01-08

NASA N941NA parked in front of Hangar 1 at Moffett Field. Cargo is loaded into the Super Guppy when the aircraft's "fold-away" nose rotates 110 degrees to the left, allowing unobstructed access to the 25 foot diameter fuselage.

Discovery STS-133 Mission Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-03-09

The runway of the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) is marked to show where the wheels stopped for the space shuttle Discovery (STS-133) shortly after it landed, Wednesday, March 9, 2011, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., completing its 39th and final flight. Since 1984, Discovery flew 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Discovery STS-131 Mission Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-04-20

STS131-S-086 (20 April 2010) --- The space shuttle Discovery is seen as it lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 20, 2010. Discovery and the STS-131 mission crew, NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, commander; James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists, returned from their mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Discovery STS-131 Mission Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-04-20

STS131-S-088 (20 April 2010) --- The space shuttle Discovery is seen as it lands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 20, 2010. Discovery and the STS-131 mission crew, NASA astronauts Alan Poindexter, commander; James P. Dutton Jr., pilot; Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, all mission specialists, returned from their mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA Dryden research pilot Gordon Fullerton flies his final mission in NASA F/A-18B #852 in formation with NASA F/A-18A #850 on Dec. 21, 2007.

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-12-21

Long-time NASA Dryden research pilot and former astronaut C. Gordon Fullerton capped an almost 50-year flying career, including more than 38 years with NASA, with a final flight in a NASA F/A-18 on Dec. 21, 2007. Fullerton and Dryden research pilot Jim Smolka flew a 90-minute pilot proficiency formation aerobatics flight with another Dryden F/A-18 and a Dryden T-38 before concluding with two low-level formation flyovers of Dryden before landing. Fullerton was honored with a water-cannon spray arch provided by two fire trucks from the Edwards Air Force Base fire department as he taxied the F/A-18 up to the Dryden ramp, and was then greeted by his wife Marie and several hundred Dryden staff after his final flight. Fullerton began his flying career with the U.S. Air Force in 1958 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Initially trained as a fighter pilot, he later transitioned to multi-engine bombers and became a bomber operations test pilot after attending the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. He then was assigned to the flight crew for the planned Air Force Manned Orbital Laboratory in 1966. Upon cancellation of that program, the Air Force assigned Fullerton to NASA's astronaut corps in 1969. He served on the support crews for the Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 lunar missions, and was later assigned to one of the two flight crews that piloted the space shuttle prototype Enterprise during the Approach and Landing Test program at Dryden. He then logged some 382 hours in space when he flew on two early space shuttle missions, STS-3 on Columbia in 1982 and STS-51F on Challenger in 1985. He joined the flight crew branch at NASA Dryden after leaving the astronaut corps in 1986. During his 21 years at Dryden, Fullerton was project pilot on a number of high-profile research efforts, including the Propulsion Controlled Aircraft, the high-speed landing tests of sp

Customer-oriented Data Formats and Services for Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Products at the NASA GES DISC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, H.; Kato, H.; Rodell, M.; Teng, W. L.; Vollmer, B. E.

2008-12-01

The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) has been generating a series of land surface state (e.g., soil moisture and surface temperature) and flux (e.g., evaporation and sensible heat flux) products, simulated by four land surface models (CLM, Mosaic, Noah and VIC). These products are now accessible at the Hydrology Data and Information Services Center (HDISC), a component of the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). Current GLDAS data hosted at HDISC include a set of 1.0° data products, covering 1979 to the present, from the four models and a 0.25° data product, covering 2000 to the present, from the Noah model. In addition to the basic anonymous ftp data downloading, users can avail themselves of several advanced data search and downloading services, such as Mirador and OPeNDAP. Mirador is a Google-based search tool that provides keywords searching, on-the-fly spatial and parameter subsetting of selected data. OPeNDAP (Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol) enables remote OPeNDAP clients to access OPeNDAP served data regardless of local storage format. Additional data services to be available in the near future from HDISC include (1) on-the-fly converter of GLDAS to NetCDF and binary data formats; (2) temporal aggregation of GLDAS files; and (3) Giovanni, an online visualization and analysis tool that provides a simple way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of data without having to download the data.

Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) in flight

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1967-01-01

In this 1967 NASA Flight Reserch Center photograph the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) is viewed from the front. This photograph provideds a good view of the pilot's platform with the restrictive cockpit view like that of he real Lunar Module (LM) When Apollo planning was underway in 1960, NASA was looking for asimulator to profile the descent to the moon's surface. Three conceptssurfaced: an electronic simulator, a tethered device, and the ambitious Dryden contribution, a free-flying vehicle. All three became serious projects, but eventually the NASA Flight Research Center's (FRC) Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) became the most significant one. After conceptual planning and meetings with engineers from Bell Aerosystems Company, Buffalo, N.Y., NASA FRC issued a $3.6 million production contract awarded in 1963, for delivery of the first of two vehicles for flight studies. Built of tubular aluminum alloy like a giant four-legged bedstead, the vehicle wasto simulate a lunar landing profile from around 1500 feet to the moon's surface. The LLRV had a turbofan engine mounted vertically in a gimbal, with 4200 pounds of thrust. The engine, lifted the vehicle up to the test altitude and was then throttled back to support five-sixths of the vehicle's weight, thus simulating the reduced gravity of the moon. Two lift rockets with thrust that could be varied from 100 to 500 pounds handled the LLRV's rate of descent and horizontal translations. Sixteen smaller rockets, mounted in pairs, gave the pilot control in pitch, yaw, and roll.. The pilot's platform extended forward between two legs while an electronics platform, similarly located, extended rearward. The pilot had a zero-zero ejection seat that would then lift him away to safety. The two LLRVs were shipped from Bell to the FRC in April 1964, with program emphasis on vehicle No. 1. The first flight, Oct. 30, 1964, NASA research pilot Joe Walker flew it three times for a total of just under 60 seconds, to a peak

Resource analysis applications in Michigan. [NASA remote sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schar, S. W.; Enslin, W. R.; Sattinger, I. J.; Robinson, J. G.; Hosford, K. R.; Fellows, R. S.; Raad, J. H.

1974-01-01

During the past two years, available NASA imagery has been applied to a broad spectrum of problems of concern to Michigan-based agencies. These demonstrations include the testing of remote sensing for the purposes of (1) highway corridor planning and impact assessments, (2) game management-area information bases, (3) multi-agency river basin planning, (4) timber resource management information systems, (5) agricultural land reservation policies, and (6) shoreline flooding damage assessment. In addition, cost accounting procedures have been developed for evaluating the relative costs of utilizing remote sensing in land cover and land use analysis data collection procedures.

STS-64 landing view

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

The drag chute for the Space Shuttle Discovery is deployed as NASA's most-heavily flown spacecraft completes a 10-day, 22 hour and 50 minute mission. Discovery, with a crew of six NASA astronauts aboard, fired its de-orbit engine at 1:14 p.m. (PDT), September 21, 1994. Touchdown was at 2:12:59 p.m. and the nose wheel touched down at 2:13:03 p.m., with wheel stop at 2:13:52 p.m. Bad weather in Florida called for an 'eleventh hour' shift to the California landing site.

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock waves to the camera as Russian Search and Rescue teams and medical personnel carry him from the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft shortly after the capsule landed with him, Expedition 25 Flight Engineer Shannon Walker and Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

A Russian Search and Rescue helicopter and crew awaits the arrival of an all terrain vehicle carrying Expedition 25 Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin from the medical tent shortly after he and Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineer Shannon Walker landed in the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

A Russian Search and Rescue all terrain vehicle carrying Expedition 25 Flight Engineer Shannon Walker from the medical tent pulls up to a helicopter shortly after Walker, Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin landed in the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 34 Crew Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

A Russian helicopter commander waits inside his Search and Rescue helicopter that was grounded by low visibility at the Arkalyk Airport in Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. The Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft landed with Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and Tarelkin returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 24 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-09-24

Girls in traditional Kazakhstan dress await the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-18 crew at the Karaganda airport in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft, carrying Expedition 24 Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko, landed, near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010. Russian Cosmonauts Skvortsov and Kornienko and NASA Astronaut Caldwell Dyson, are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 23 and 24 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Soyuz TMA-17 Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-06-01

Girls in ceremonial Kazakhstan dress wait at the Karaganda airport in Kazakhstan to present flowers to Expedition 23 crew members; Commander Oleg Kotov, Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi a few hours after the crew landed their Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. NASA Astronaut Creamer, Russian Cosmonaut Kotov and Japanese Astronaut Noguchi are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 22 and 23 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

Seated from left, Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker talk during during a press conference after being greeting back to Earth by girls in traditional Kazakhstan at the Kostanay, Kazakhstan airport on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, landed in their Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan after nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 33 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-11-19

Girls in traditional Kazakh dress smile after welcoming home Expedition 33 crew members; Commander Sunita Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko of ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federal Space Agency), and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) at the Kustanay Airport in Kazakhstan a few hours after the Expedition 33 crew landed their Soyuz spacecraft in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko returned from four months onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 25 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-11-26

A Russian Search and Rescue all terrain vehicles wait to transport Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock, Flight Engineers Shannon Walker and Fyodor Yurchikhin from the medical tent to awaiting helicopters shortly after the three crew members landed in the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. Russian Cosmonaut Yurchikhin and NASA Astronauts Wheelock and Walker, are returning from nearly six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 24 and 25 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Space Shuttle Discovery Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-17

Space Shuttle Discovery mounted atop a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) approaches the runway for landing at Washington Dulles International Airport, Tuesday April 17, 2012, in Sterling, Va. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA poses for a photograph with women in ceremonial Kazakh dress at the Kustanay Airport in Kazakhstan a few hours after he, along with Expedition 34 Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, and Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, landed their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and, Tarelkin returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 33 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-11-19

Crowds of officials, family and media gather as Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko of ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federal Space Agency) is welcomed home at the Chkalovsky Airport in Star City, Russia several hours after he, Commander Sunita Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), landed their Soyuz spacecraft in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko returned from four months onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 26 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-03-16

Expedition 26 Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri, bottom, and Expedition 26 Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka are seen as they arrive at the Chkalovsky airport outside Star City, Russia several hours after they and Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly landed in their Soyuz TMA-01M capsule near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. NASA Astronaut Kelly, Russian Cosmonauts Skripochka and Kaleri are returning from almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 25 and 26 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA poses for a photograph after receiving welcome home gifts at the Kustanay Airport in Kazakhstan a few hours after he, along with Expedition 34 Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, and Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, landed their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and, Tarelkin returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 34 Crew Lands

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-03-16

Expedition 34 Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, left, and Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin pose for a photograph with women in ceremonial Kazakh dress at the Kustanay Airport in Kazakhstan a few hours after they, along with Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, landed their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Novitskiy, Tarelkin, and Ford returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 33 Soyuz Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-11-19

Pilots look out from the cockpit and watch as Expedition 33 Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko of ROSCOSMOS (Russian Federal Space Agency) is welcomed home at the Chkalovsky Airport in Star City, Russia by officials and his family after he, Commander Sunita Williams of NASA, and Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), landed their Soyuz spacecraft in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko returned from four months onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 10 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-04-24

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao rests in a Russian search and rescue helicopter after a pre-dawn landing in the Soyuz TMA-5 capsule with crew mates Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori northeast of the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, Monday, April 25, 2005. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

HL-10 first flight landing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1966-01-01

The HL-10 Lifting Body completes its first research flight with a landing on Rogers Dry Lake. Due to control problems, pilot Bruce Peterson had to land at a higher speed than originally planned in order to keep the vehicle under control. The actual touchdown speed was about 280 knots. This was 30 knots above the speed called for in the flight plan. The HL-10's first flight had lasted 3 minutes and 9 seconds. The HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting-body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC--later Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space. Northrop Corporation built the HL-10 and M2-F2, the first two of the fleet of 'heavy' lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center. The contract for construction of the HL-10 and the M2-F2 was $1.8 million. 'HL' stands for horizontal landing, and '10' refers to the tenth design studied by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. After delivery to NASA in January 1966, the HL-10 made its first flight on Dec. 22, 1966, with research pilot Bruce Peterson in the cockpit. Although an XLR-11 rocket engine was installed in the vehicle, the first 11 drop flights from the B-52 launch aircraft were powerless glide flights to assess handling qualities, stability, and control. In the end, the HL-10 was judged to be the best handling of the three original heavy-weight lifting bodies (M2-F2/F3, HL-10, X-24A). The HL-10 was flown 37 times during the lifting body research program and logged the highest altitude and fastest speed in the Lifting Body program. On Feb. 18, 1970, Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag piloted the HL-10 to Mach 1.86 (1,228 mph). Nine days later, NASA pilot Bill Dana flew the vehicle to 90,030 feet, which became the highest altitude reached in the program. Some new and different lessons were learned through the

Impact of Land Model Calibration on Coupled Land-Atmosphere Prediction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Kumar, Sujay V.; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Harrison, Ken; Zhou, Shujia

2012-01-01

Land-atmosphere (L-A) interactions play a critical role in determining the diurnal evolution of both planetary boundary layer (PBL) and land surface heat and moisture budgets, as well as controlling feedbacks with clouds and precipitation that lead to the persistence of dry and wet regimes. Recent efforts to quantify the strength of L-A coupling in prediction models have produced diagnostics that integrate across both the land and PBL components of the system. In this study, we examine the impact of improved specification of land surface states, anomalies, and fluxes on coupled WRF forecasts during the summers of extreme dry and wet land surface conditions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The improved land initialization and surface flux parameterizations are obtained through calibration of the Noah land surface model using the new optimization and uncertainty estimation subsystem in NASA's Land Information System (LIS-OPT/UE). The impact of the calibration on the a) spinup of the land surface used as initial conditions, and b) the simulated heat and moisture states and fluxes of the coupled WRF simulations is then assessed. Changes in ambient weather and land-atmosphere coupling are evaluated along with measures of uncertainty propagation into the forecasts. In addition, the sensitivity of this approach to the period of calibration (dry, wet, average) is investigated. Results indicate that the offline calibration leads to systematic improvements in land-PBL fluxes and near-surface temperature and humidity, and in the process provide guidance on the questions of what, how, and when to calibrate land surface models for coupled model prediction.

Landsat: A Global Land-Observing Program

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2003-01-01

Landsat represents the world's longest continuously acquired collection of space-based land remote sensing data. The Landsat Project is a joint initiative of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) designed to gather Earth resource data from space. NASA developed and launched the spacecrafts, while the USGS handles the operations, maintenance, and management of all ground data reception, processing, archiving, product generation, and distribution.

Diurnal and Seasonal Cold Lands Signatures in SSM/I-scale Microwave Radiometry of the North Slope of Alaska

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, Edward J.; England, Anthony W.; Hildebrand, Peter H. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

In this paper, we explore scaling and data assimilation-related issues associated with utilizing passive microwave satellite observations of Cold Lands-in this case, the climatologically and ecologically sensitive arctic tundra. Our approach expands on our earlier work using a one-year dataset from the Radiobrightness Energy Balance Experiment-3 (REBEX-3). REBEX-3 featured a tower-based SSM/I (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) simulator deployed on the North Slope of Alaska in 1994-95. Two findings are significant here. First, a comparison of tower and satellite signatures at 19 and 37 GHz strongly suggested that the North Slope is radiometrically homogeneous for spatial scales up to SSM/I footprints (approximately 25 km), an unusual and valuable characteristic for monitoring and retrieving land surface conditions. And second, at the plot scale, signatures of snow/no-snow and freeze/thaw transitions were identifiable for tussock tundra land cover, so that even snow-free frozen tundra could be unambiguously distinguished from tundra covered with dry snow, another unusual and valuable characteristic. We present results from analyzing satellite brightness signatures of selected North Slope pixels corresponding to instrumented sites along a transect from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean. A custom EASE (Equal Area Scalable Earth)-Grid processor was used to extract SSMJI data for every orbit with observations of this region during the 1994-95 year. The resulting high temporal-resolution (4-8 points/day), gridded data were then analyzed for evidence of the same diurnal and seasonal signatures seen at the plot scale (through micrometeorological and/or brightness data). Differences between satellite and tower brightness observations are quantified for various conditions at the REBEX-3 site. Such differences from the less-frequent and/or larger-scale satellite observations represent a form of input 'noise' in data assimilation applications. For the other sites, the

NASA Spacecraft Images One of Earth Iceberg Incubators

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-04-13

Acquired by NASA Terra spacecraft, this image shows the west coast of Greenland, one of Earth premiere incubators for icebergs -- large blocks of land ice that break off from glaciers or ice shelves and float in the ocean.

Multi-Scale Hydrometeorological Modeling, Land Data Assimilation and Parameter Estimation with the Land Information System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters-Lidard, Christa D.

2011-01-01

The Land Information System (LIS; http://lis.gsfc.nasa.gov) is a flexible land surface modeling framework that has been developed with the goal of integrating satellite-and ground-based observational data products and advanced land surface modeling techniques to produce optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes. As such, LIS represents a step towards the next generation land component of an integrated Earth system model. In recognition of LIS object-oriented software design, use and impact in the land surface and hydrometeorological modeling community, the LIS software was selected as a co-winner of NASA?s 2005 Software of the Year award.LIS facilitates the integration of observations from Earth-observing systems and predictions and forecasts from Earth System and Earth science models into the decision-making processes of partnering agency and national organizations. Due to its flexible software design, LIS can serve both as a Problem Solving Environment (PSE) for hydrologic research to enable accurate global water and energy cycle predictions, and as a Decision Support System (DSS) to generate useful information for application areas including disaster management, water resources management, agricultural management, numerical weather prediction, air quality and military mobility assessment. LIS has e volved from two earlier efforts -- North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) that focused primarily on improving numerical weather prediction skills by improving the characterization of the land surface conditions. Both of GLDAS and NLDAS now use specific configurations of the LIS software in their current implementations.In addition, LIS was recently transitioned into operations at the US Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) to ultimately replace their Agricultural Meteorology (AGRMET) system, and is also used routinely by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/Environmental Modeling

NASA IMAGESEER: NASA IMAGEs for Science, Education, Experimentation and Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Le Moigne, Jacqueline; Grubb, Thomas G.; Milner, Barbara C.

2012-01-01

A number of web-accessible databases, including medical, military or other image data, offer universities and other users the ability to teach or research new Image Processing techniques on relevant and well-documented data. However, NASA images have traditionally been difficult for researchers to find, are often only available in hard-to-use formats, and do not always provide sufficient context and background for a non-NASA Scientist user to understand their content. The new IMAGESEER (IMAGEs for Science, Education, Experimentation and Research) database seeks to address these issues. Through a graphically-rich web site for browsing and downloading all of the selected datasets, benchmarks, and tutorials, IMAGESEER provides a widely accessible database of NASA-centric, easy to read, image data for teaching or validating new Image Processing algorithms. As such, IMAGESEER fosters collaboration between NASA and research organizations while simultaneously encouraging development of new and enhanced Image Processing algorithms. The first prototype includes a representative sampling of NASA multispectral and hyperspectral images from several Earth Science instruments, along with a few small tutorials. Image processing techniques are currently represented with cloud detection, image registration, and map cover/classification. For each technique, corresponding data are selected from four different geographic regions, i.e., mountains, urban, water coastal, and agriculture areas. Satellite images have been collected from several instruments - Landsat-5 and -7 Thematic Mappers, Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) Advanced Land Imager (ALI) and Hyperion, and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). After geo-registration, these images are available in simple common formats such as GeoTIFF and raw formats, along with associated benchmark data.

Understanding our Changing Planet: NASA's Earth Science Enterprise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forehand, Lon; Griner, Charlotte (Editor); Greenstone, Renny (Editor)

1999-01-01

NASA has been studying the Earth and its changing environment by observing the atmosphere, oceans, land, ice, and snow and their influence on climate and weather since the agency's creation. This study has lead to a new approach to understanding the interaction of the Earth's systems, Earth System Science. The Earth Science Enterprise, NASA's comprehensive program for Earth System Science, uses satellites and other tools to intensively study the Earth. The Earth Science Enterprise has three main components: (1) a series of Earth-observing satellites, (2) an advanced data system and (3) teams of scientist who study the data. Key areas of study include: (1) clouds, (2) water and energy cycles, (3) oceans, (4) chemistry of the atmosphere, (5) land surface, water and ecosystems processes; (6) glaciers and polar ice sheets, and (7) the solid earth.

Mid-2017 Map of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-11

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in July 2017, and its planned path to additional geological layers of lower Mount Sharp. The blue star near top center marks "Bradbury Landing," the site where Curiosity arrived on Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time). Blue triangles mark waypoints investigated by Curiosity on the floor of Gale Crater and, starting with "Pahrump Hills," on Mount Sharp. The Sol 1750 label identifies the rover's location on July 9, 2017, the 1,750th Martian day, or sol, since the landing. In July 2017, the mission is examining "Vera Rubin Ridge" from the downhill side of the ridge. Spectrometry observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have detected hematite, an iron-oxide mineral, in the ridge. Curiosity's planned route continues to the top of the ridge and then to geological units where clay minerals and sulfate minerals have been detected from orbit. The base image for the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. North is up. "Bagnold Dunes" form a band of dark, wind-blown material at the foot of Mount Sharp. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21720

NASA Spacecraft Views Erupting Chilean Volcano

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-13

On March 3, 2015, Chile's Villarrica volcano erupted, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. The eruption deposited a layer of ash over the volcano's eastern slope, blanketing and darkening the normal winter snow cover. The eruption and its effects were captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft on March 9. Black flows on the other flanks are mud and ash flows. Vegetation is displayed in red colors. The thermal infrared image shows hot spots (white colored) at the summit crater, indicating continuing volcanic activity. The ash blanket is warmer (brighter) than the cold snow (black). The image covers an area of 13.5 by 16.5 kilometers, and is located at 39.4 degrees south, 71.9 degrees west. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19241

Exploring and Analyzing Climate Variations Online by Using NASA MERRA-2 Data at GES DISC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Ostrenga, Dana M.; Vollmer, Bruce E.; Kempler, Steven J.

2016-01-01

NASA Giovanni (Goddard Interactive Online Visualization ANd aNalysis Infrastructure) (http:giovanni.sci.gsfc.nasa.govgiovanni) is a web-based data visualization and analysis system developed by the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). Current data analysis functions include Lat-Lon map, time series, scatter plot, correlation map, difference, cross-section, vertical profile, and animation etc. The system enables basic statistical analysis and comparisons of multiple variables. This web-based tool facilitates data discovery, exploration and analysis of large amount of global and regional remote sensing and model data sets from a number of NASA data centers. Long term global assimilated atmospheric, land, and ocean data have been integrated into the system that enables quick exploration and analysis of climate data without downloading, preprocessing, and learning data. Example data include climate reanalysis data from NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) which provides data beginning in 1980 to present; land data from NASA Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), which assimilates data from 1948 to 2012; as well as ocean biological data from NASA Ocean Biogeochemical Model (NOBM), which provides data from 1998 to 2012. This presentation, using surface air temperature, precipitation, ozone, and aerosol, etc. from MERRA-2, demonstrates climate variation analysis with Giovanni at selected regions.

Using Numerical Modeling to Simulate Space Capsule Ground Landings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heymsfield, Ernie; Fasanella, Edwin L.

2009-01-01

Experimental work is being conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration s (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) to investigate ground landing capabilities of the Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV). The Orion capsule is NASA s replacement for the Space Shuttle. The Orion capsule will service the International Space Station and be used for future space missions to the Moon and to Mars. To evaluate the feasibility of Orion ground landings, a series of capsule impact tests are being performed at the NASA Langley Landing and Impact Research Facility (LandIR). The experimental results derived at LandIR provide means to validate and calibrate nonlinear dynamic finite element models, which are also being developed during this study. Because of the high cost and time involvement intrinsic to full-scale testing, numerical simulations are favored over experimental work. Subsequent to a numerical model validated by actual test responses, impact simulations will be conducted to study multiple impact scenarios not practical to test. Twenty-one swing tests using the LandIR gantry were conducted during the June 07 through October 07 time period to evaluate the Orion s impact response. Results for two capsule initial pitch angles, 0deg and -15deg , along with their computer simulations using LS-DYNA are presented in this article. A soil-vehicle friction coefficient of 0.45 was determined by comparing the test stopping distance with computer simulations. In addition, soil modeling accuracy is presented by comparing vertical penetrometer impact tests with computer simulations for the soil model used during the swing tests.

Expedition 42 Soyuz TMA-14M Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-11

A Russian MI-8 Helicopter is seen through the airport bus decal a day before the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft landing with Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA, Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Elena Serova of Roscosmos Wednesday, March 11, 2015 in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. NASA Astronaut Wilmore, Russian Cosmonauts Samokutyaev and Serova are returning after almost six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 41 and 42 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The sun sets on the Space Shuttle Discovery during post-flight processing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA DFRC in California

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-08-14

The sun sets on the Space Shuttle Discovery during post-flight processing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 5:11:22 a.m. PDT, August 9, 2005, following the very successful 14-day STS-114 return to flight mission. During their two weeks in space, Commander Eileen Collins and her six crewmates tested out new safety procedures and delivered supplies and equipment the International Space Station. Discovery spent two weeks in space, where the crew demonstrated new methods to inspect and repair the Shuttle in orbit. The crew also delivered supplies, outfitted and performed maintenance on the International Space Station. A number of these tasks were conducted during three spacewalks. In an unprecedented event, spacewalkers were called upon to remove protruding gap fillers from the heat shield on Discovery's underbelly. In other spacewalk activities, astronauts installed an external platform onto the Station's Quest Airlock and replaced one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes. Inside the Station, the STS-114 crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 11 crew. They unloaded fresh supplies from the Shuttle and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Before Discovery undocked, the crews filled Raffeallo with unneeded items and returned to Shuttle payload bay. Discovery launched on July 26 and spent almost 14 days on orbit.

Expedition 9 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-24

The crew return bus pulls away from the Gargarin Cosmonaut Training Center's airplane in Star City, Russia. The Soyuz capsule carrying Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Russian Space Forces cosmonaut Yuri Shargin landed approximately 85 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A Possible Landing Site for the 2020 Mission: Jezero Crater

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-03-04

This image shows a possible landing site for the 2020 Mission: Jezero Crater, as seen by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It's not only when trying to find a scientifically interesting place to land that the high-resolution images from HiRISE come in handy: it's also to identify potential hazards within a landing ellipse. This is one of the trickier aspects of selecting landing sites on Mars: a place to do good science but also where the risks of landing are low. Jezero Crater is an ancient crater where clay minerals have been detected, and with a delta deposit indicating that water was once flowing into a lake. Since clays form the in presence of water, this crater would be a very good candidate for a lander to explore and build on what we've learned from the Mars Science Laboratory. Could some form of ancient life have existed here and for how long? http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19303

Lightning strikes in the distance as the Space Shuttle Discovery receives post-flight processing in the Mate-Demate Device, following its landing at NASA DFRC

NASA Image and Video Library

2005-08-14

Lightning strikes in the distance as the Space Shuttle Discovery receives post-flight processing in the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), following its landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The gantry-like MDD structure is used for servicing the shuttle orbiters in preparation for their ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, including mounting the shuttle atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Space Shuttle Discovery landed safely at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 5:11:22 a.m. PDT, August 9, 2005, following the very successful 14-day STS-114 return to flight mission. During their two weeks in space, Commander Eileen Collins and her six crewmates tested out new safety procedures and delivered supplies and equipment the International Space Station. Discovery spent two weeks in space, where the crew demonstrated new methods to inspect and repair the Shuttle in orbit. The crew also delivered supplies, outfitted and performed maintenance on the International Space Station. A number of these tasks were conducted during three spacewalks. In an unprecedented event, spacewalkers were called upon to remove protruding gap fillers from the heat shield on Discovery's underbelly. In other spacewalk activities, astronauts installed an external platform onto the Station's Quest Airlock and replaced one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes. Inside the Station, the STS-114 crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition 11 crew. They unloaded fresh supplies from the Shuttle and the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Before Discovery undocked, the crews filled Raffeallo with unneeded items and returned to Shuttle payload bay. Discovery launched on July 26 and spent almost 14 days on orbit.

Expedition 35 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-05-14

Expedition 35 NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn, center, is seen on a Russian Search and Rescue helicopter just before arriving at Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan following his landing in the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Marshburn, Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) returned to earth from more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Expedition 20 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-10-10

NASA Flight Surgeon Ed Powers, left, laughs as Expedition 20 Flight Engineer Michael Barratt talks about how strange, weight and gravity feel when holding a bottle of water shortly after Barratt, Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka, and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberté landed their Soyuz TMA-14 capsule near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. Padalka and Barratt are returning from six months onboard the International Space Station, along with Laliberté who arrived at the station on Oct. 2 with Expedition 21 Flight Engineers Jeff Williams and Maxim Suraev aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Ending Year in Space: NASA Goddard Network Maintains Communications from Space to Ground

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-03-01

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will monitor the landing of NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko from their #YearInSpace Mission. Goddard's Networks Integration Center, pictured above, leads all coordination for space-to-ground communications support for the International Space Station and provides contingency support for the Soyuz TMA-18M 44S spacecraft, ensuring complete communications coverage through NASA's Space Network. The Soyuz 44S spacecraft will undock at 8:02 p.m. EST this evening from the International Space Station. It will land approximately three and a half hours later, at 11:25 p.m. EST in Kazakhstan. Both Kelly and Kornienko have spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station, preparing humanity for long duration missions and exploration into deep space. Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/ending-year-in-space-na... Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Ending Year in Space: NASA Goddard Network Maintains Communications from Space to Ground

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-08

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will monitor the landing of NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko from their #YearInSpace Mission. Goddard's Networks Integration Center, pictured above, leads all coordination for space-to-ground communications support for the International Space Station and provides contingency support for the Soyuz TMA-18M 44S spacecraft, ensuring complete communications coverage through NASA's Space Network. The Soyuz 44S spacecraft will undock at 8:02 p.m. EST this evening from the International Space Station. It will land approximately three and a half hours later, at 11:25 p.m. EST in Kazakhstan. Both Kelly and Kornienko have spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station, preparing humanity for long duration missions and exploration into deep space. Read more: www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/ending-year-in-space-na... Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

Large Parachute for NASA Mars Science Laboratory

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-04-22

The parachute for NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission opens to a diameter of nearly 16 meters 51 feet. This image shows a duplicate qualification-test parachute inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. The Mars Science Laboratory will be launched in 2011 for a landing on Mars in 2012. Its parachute is the largest ever built to fly on an extraterrestrial mission. The parachute uses a configuration called disk-gap-band, with 80 suspension lines. Most of the orange and white fabric is nylon, though a small disk of heavier polyester is used near the vent in the apex of the canopy due to higher stresses there. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11994

Expedition 53 Soyuz MS-05 Landing

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-12-14

NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik is carried to the medical tent by, Deputy Manager of the International Space Station Program Joel Montalbano, left, and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, right, shortly after he and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy landed in their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. Bresnik, Nespoli and Ryazanskiy are returning after 139 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 52 and 53 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA News Center Building at the Press Site

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-05-03

This is the NASA News Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where reporters from television, radio, print and online media outlets have monitored countless launches, landings and other space events in order to deliver the news to the world.

Combined neural network/Phillips-Tikhonov approach to aerosol retrievals over land from the NASA Research Scanning Polarimeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Noia, Antonio; Hasekamp, Otto P.; Wu, Lianghai; van Diedenhoven, Bastiaan; Cairns, Brian; Yorks, John E.

2017-11-01

In this paper, an algorithm for the retrieval of aerosol and land surface properties from airborne spectropolarimetric measurements - combining neural networks and an iterative scheme based on Phillips-Tikhonov regularization - is described. The algorithm - which is an extension of a scheme previously designed for ground-based retrievals - is applied to measurements from the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) on board the NASA ER-2 aircraft. A neural network, trained on a large data set of synthetic measurements, is applied to perform aerosol retrievals from real RSP data, and the neural network retrievals are subsequently used as a first guess for the Phillips-Tikhonov retrieval. The resulting algorithm appears capable of accurately retrieving aerosol optical thickness, fine-mode effective radius and aerosol layer height from RSP data. Among the advantages of using a neural network as initial guess for an iterative algorithm are a decrease in processing time and an increase in the number of converging retrievals.

Human Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Architecture Study Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cianciolo, Alicia D.; Polsgrove, Tara T.

2016-01-01

The Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) Architecture Study is a multi-NASA center activity to analyze candidate EDL systems as they apply to human Mars landing in the context of the Evolvable Mars Campaign. The study, led by the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), is performed in conjunction with the NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the Human Architecture Team, sponsored by NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The primary objective is to prioritize future STMD EDL technology investments by (1) generating Phase A-level designs for selected concepts to deliver 20 t human class payloads, (2) developing a parameterized mass model for each concept capable of examining payloads between 5 and 40 t, and (3) evaluating integrated system performance using trajectory simulations. This paper summarizes the initial study results.

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-186 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights cast a halo of light on space shuttle Atlantis as the spacecraft approaches Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-185 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights cast a halo of light on space shuttle Atlantis as the spacecraft approaches Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the final time. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

The Final Landing of STS-135 Atlantis

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-21

STS135-S-241 (21 July 2011) --- Xenon lights cast a halo of light on space shuttle Atlantis as the spacecraft nears touchdown for the last time on Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Securing the space shuttle fleet's place in history, Atlantis marked the 26th nighttime landing of NASA's Space Shuttle Program and the 78th landing at Kennedy. Main gear touchdown was at 5:57:00 a.m. (EDT) on July 21, 2011, followed by nose gear touchdown at 5:57:20 a.m., and wheelstop at 5:57:54 a.m. Onboard are NASA astronauts Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander; Doug Hurley, pilot; Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim, both mission specialists. On the 37th shuttle mission to the International Space Station, STS-135 delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, equipment and supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module that will sustain station operations for the next year. STS-135 was the 33rd and final flight for Atlantis, which has spent 307 days in space, orbited Earth 4,848 times and traveled 125,935,769 miles. Photo credit: NASA

Elements of cold hardiness in a littoral population of the land snail Helix aspersa (Gastropoda: Pulmonata).

PubMed

Ansart, A; Vernon, P; Daguzan, J

2002-10-01

The land snail Helix aspersa can be considered partially tolerant to freezing, in the sense it can survive some ice formation within its body for a limited time, and possesses a limited ability to supercool. This study aimed at understanding what factors are responsible for the variation of the temperature of crystallization ( Tc) in a littoral temperate population. The ability to supercool was maximal (ca. -5 degrees C) during dormancy periods (hibernation and aestivation) and minimal (ca. -3 degrees C) during spring and autumn, in relation with the decrease of water mass and the increase of osmolality. Tc decreased in October to remain stable through late autumn and winter; it increased quickly with the awakening of animals in April. Snails with an epiphragm had a significantly higher ability to supercool (ca. -4.8 degrees C) than snails which did not form an epiphragm (ca. -4.2 degrees C). The animals' size had a weak but significant influence on the realization of the Tc. It appeared that there was not a real cold-hardiness strategy in this population; rather a sum of parameters, varying in consequences of the external conditions and of the activity cycle, which are responsible for the enhancement of the supercooling ability during winter.

Arctic Research NASA's Cryospheric Sciences Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waleed, Abdalati; Zukor, Dorothy J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Much of NASA's Arctic Research is run through its Cryospheric Sciences Program. Arctic research efforts to date have focused primarily on investigations of the mass balance of the largest Arctic land-ice masses and the mechanisms that control it, interactions among sea ice, polar oceans, and the polar atmosphere, atmospheric processes in the polar regions, energy exchanges in the Arctic. All of these efforts have been focused on characterizing, understanding, and predicting, changes in the Arctic. NASA's unique vantage from space provides an important perspective for the study of these large scale processes, while detailed process information is obtained through targeted in situ field and airborne campaigns and models. An overview of NASA investigations in the Arctic will be presented demonstrating how the synthesis of space-based technology, and these complementary components have advanced our understanding of physical processes in the Arctic.

Lidar Sensors for Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amzajerdian, Farzin; Petway, Larry B.; Hines, Glenn D.; Roback, Vincent E.; Reisse, Robert A.; Pierrottet, Diego F.

2013-01-01

Lidar technology will play an important role in enabling highly ambitious missions being envisioned for exploration of solar system bodies. Currently, NASA is developing a set of advanced lidar sensors, under the Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance (ALHAT) project, aimed at safe landing of robotic and manned vehicles at designated sites with a high degree of precision. These lidar sensors are an Imaging Flash Lidar capable of generating high resolution three-dimensional elevation maps of the terrain, a Doppler Lidar for providing precision vehicle velocity and altitude, and a Laser Altimeter for measuring distance to the ground and ground contours from high altitudes. The capabilities of these lidar sensors have been demonstrated through four helicopter and one fixed-wing aircraft flight test campaigns conducted from 2008 through 2012 during different phases of their development. Recently, prototype versions of these landing lidars have been completed for integration into a rocket-powered terrestrial free-flyer vehicle (Morpheus) being built by NASA Johnson Space Center. Operating in closed-loop with other ALHAT avionics, the viability of the lidars for future landing missions will be demonstrated. This paper describes the ALHAT lidar sensors and assesses their capabilities and impacts on future landing missions.