Tag: Technology

NASA Ames to Host Supercomputing Resources for UC Berkeley Researchers

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The Cabeus supercomputer at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley NASA/Michelle Moyer Under a new agreement, NASA will host supercomputing resources for the University of California, Berkeley, at the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The agreement is part of an expanding partnership between Ames and UC Berkeley and will support the development of novel computing algorithms and software for a wide variety of scientific and technology areas. Per the three-year Reimbursable Space Act Agreement, the UC Berkeley supercomputer and…

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NASA’s Roman Mission Gets Cosmic ‘Sneak Peek’ From Supercomputers

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Researchers are diving into a synthetic universe to help us better understand the real one. Using supercomputers at the U.S. DOE’s (Department of Energy’s) Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, scientists have created nearly 4 million simulated images depicting the cosmos as NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly funded by NSF (the National Science Foundation) and DOE, in Chile will see it. Michael Troxel, an associate professor of physics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, led the simulation campaign as part of a…

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NASA’s Laser Relay System Sends Pet Imagery to, from Space Station

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Using NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system, pictures and videos of cherished pets flew through space over laser communications links at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second — faster than most home internet speeds. NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Christina Koch, and Kjell Lindgren, along with other agency employees, submitted photos and videos of their pets to take a trip to and from the International Space Station. The transmissions allowed NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program to showcase the power of laser communications while simultaneously testing out a…

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NASA Selects Technology Transfer Services Contractor

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Credits: NASA NASA has awarded the Consolidated Agency Technology Transfer Services contract to Summit Technologies & Solutions, Inc. in Alexandria, Virginia, to provide support for the agency’s Technology Transfer Program. The performance-based firm-fixed price contract has a potential mission services value of $26 million and a maximum potential indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity value of $55 million. The contract begins on Saturday, June 1, with a one-year base period followed by four one-year option periods that may be exercised at NASA’s discretion. Summit Technologies & Solutions will provide NASA tech transfer support at multiple…

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NASA’s Compact Infrared Cameras Enable New Science

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A new, higher-resolution infrared camera outfitted with a variety of lightweight filters could probe sunlight reflected off Earth’s upper atmosphere and surface, improve forest fire warnings, and reveal the molecular composition of other planets. The cameras use sensitive, high-resolution strained-layer superlattice sensors, initially developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, using IRAD, Internal Research and Development funding. Their compact construction, low mass, and adaptability enable engineers like Tilak Hewagama to adapt them to the needs of a variety of sciences. Goddard engineer Murzy Jhabvala holds the heart…

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NASA’s ORCA, AirHARP Projects Paved Way for PACE to Reach Space

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It took the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission just 13 minutes to reach low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in February 2024. It took a network of scientists at NASA and research institutions around the world more than 20 years to carefully craft and test the novel instruments that allow PACE to study the ocean and atmosphere with unprecedented clarity. In the early 2000s, a team of scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, prototyped the Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA) instrument,…

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NASA Selects First Lunar Instruments for Artemis Astronaut Deployment

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Artist’s concept of an Artemis astronaut deploying an instrument on the lunar surface. Credits: NASA NASA has chosen the first science instruments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during Artemis III. Once installed near the lunar South Pole, the three instruments will collect valuable scientific data about the lunar environment, the lunar interior, and how to sustain a long-duration human presence on the Moon, which will help prepare NASA to send astronauts to Mars. “Artemis marks a bold new era of exploration, where human presence…

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NASA, Industry Improve Lidars for Exploration, Science

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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA engineers will test a suite of new laser technologies from an aircraft this summer for Earth science remote sensing. Called lidar, the instruments could also be used to improve models of the Moon’s shape and aid the search for Artemis landing sites. Similar to sonar, but using light instead of sound, lidars calculate distances by timing how long a laser beam takes to reflect off a surface and return to an instrument. Multiple pings from the laser can…

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NASA Announces Semifinalists of Power to Explore Challenge

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NASA selected 45 student essays as semifinalists of its 2024 Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. Contestants were challenged to explore how NASA has powered some of its most famous science missions and to dream up how their personal “superpower” would energize their success on their own radioisotope-powered science mission. The competition asked students to learn about Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), “nuclear batteries” that NASA uses to explore the harshest, darkest, and dustiest parts of our solar system. RPS have…

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