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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Satellite-Assisted Particulate Matter (SAPM) for the Models, In situ, and Remote Sensing of Aerosols (MIRA) Working Group

Models, In situ, and Remote sensing of Aerosols (MIRA) is an international working group that provides a forum for collaborations amongst these three atmospheric aerosol communities. MIRA consists of a collection of interdisciplinary and independently funded Topic/Project groups with clear goals and generally characterized by requests for additional scientific data. The Satellite-Assisted Particulate Matter (SAPM) Topic group focuses on the study of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), as it is a major contributor to air pollution and negatively impacts human health. Our group aims to provide intercomparisons of various methods and techniques for estimating surface PM2.5 assisted by satellite remote sensors (passive and active), global aerosol models, and in situ aerosol measurements. The overall motivation of our work is to enhance PM2.5 coverage beyond in situ ground stations, which can be limited. In this presentation, we provide an overview of various PM2.5 estimation approaches by current SAPM team members, as each approach has its own strengths and limitations. One approach uses near-surface aerosol extinction retrievals from the spaceborne Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and an assumed value of mass extinction efficiency to derive PM2.5 concentrations (Toth et al 2019). A study using this method found a promising agreement (R=0.60; slope=0.89) with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in situ PM2.5 measurements over the contiguous United States (CONUS) for a 12-year (2007-2018) period (Toth et al 2022). In a different approach combining spaceborne lidar and a model, the Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) lidar and Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model are blended in an ensemble variational assimilation scheme to retrieve aerosol extinction and convert speciated mass concentrations to total PM2.5. A recent study (Matus et al in prep.) found agreement within 2 μg/m3 over the CONUS on the 2016 annual mean when compared to EPA ground-based measurements. Another study explored trends in city aerosol optical depth (AOD) from a spaceborne passive remote sensor, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and found that these trends agree well with trends in city surface PM2.5, which provides confidence in the use of city AOD for city PM2.5 trend studies (Vohra et al 2021). In a follow-on study, steep and significant trends (~2.5 to 7.8% a-1) in AOD are found for several South Asian cities (e.g., Bangalore and Hyderabad), suggesting rapid growth in PM2.5 (Vohra et al 2022). Also in this presentation, we report results on our current collective SAPM study of India, a country that exhibits high levels of PM2.5 pollution. We show the temporal (i.e., seasonal) and spatial variability of PM2.5 over India using the CALIOP and CATS+model approaches, comparisons between the estimated PM2.5 from the retrieval schemes, and validation with in situ PM2.5 ground-based observations from the Central Pollution Control Board in India. This region provides us with an excellent case study to test our PM2.5 retrievals in heavily polluted scenes and over a complex and varying topography. The SAPM Topic group actively seeks international participants/collaborators in our group, including those working with in situ aerosol measurements (e.g., ACTRIS). We are interested in aerosol datasets in order to either improve our PM2.5 estimates from various approaches (e.g., using in situ mass scattering/absorption coefficient and aerosol hygroscopic properties for various aerosol species) and/or validate the PM2.5 estimates (e.g., using in situ ground-based PM2.5 concentrations).

Travis D Toth↗
NASA NTRS2024

Launch Complex 39A, SWMU 008 2023 Long-Term Monitoring Report Kennedy Space Center, Florida

The 2023 Long-Term Monitoring (LTM) Report (LTMR) presents the annual and semi-annual groundwater monitoring results for Launch Complex 39A (LC39A), Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) 008, at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The reporting period covered under this LTMR is from January to December 2023, and represents the first year of site-wide monitoring following Air Sparge (AS) system shutdown at the end of 2022. AS system operation at LC39A began operation in 2015. The AS system consisted of a total of 173 AS wells ranging in depth from 11 to 37 feet below land surface. The overall remedial objective for the AS Interim Measure was to actively decrease concentrations of COCs to less than their respective Florida Department of Environmental Protection Natural Attenuation Default Concentrations, so that LC39A can transition into an LTM program. This objective was achieved in 2022, with 2023 marking Year 1 of the LTM program to monitor the residual groundwater plume. VOC results indicate that COC concentrations have continued to decrease or stabilize, with no rebound observed since AS system shutdown. Vinyl chloride was the only COC detected above its GCTL, with the highest concentration detected at 8.0 μg/L. PFAS results detected 15 different PFAS compounds (out of 32 analyzed) between the six monitoring wells sampled. Two PFAS compounds, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), currently have FDEP Provisional GCTLs of 70 nanograms per liter (ng/L). PFOS was detected in one of the six samples above the FDEP Provisional GCTL at a concentration of 200 ng/L. PFOA was not detected above the FDEP Provisional GCTL in any of the six samples. PFOS and PFOA also currently have United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) of 4 ng/L. PFOS was detected in all six samples above the USEPA MCL. PFOA was detected in three of the six samples above the USEPA MCL. Three other PFAS compounds, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluoro-n-nonanoic acid (PFNA), and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX), currently have USEPA MCLs of 10 ng/L. PFHxS, PFNA, and GenX were not detected at concentrations greater than their respective USEPA MCLs in any of the six wells. Additional PFAS sampling will occur as part of a PFAS Site Assessment to be conducted in the future. Based on Year 1 LC39A LTM results, recommendations for 2024 are to continue with the second year of LTM in 2024 with the same monitoring well network as Year 1 (18 wells). The three wells that were on a semi-annual schedule will transition to an annual schedule to align with the remaining wells. The next annual event is scheduled for May 2024. The three wells that were found to be inadvertently destroyed will be properly abandoned and a replacement well in the vicinity of former monitoring well 21ST-MW0030I will be installed. This new well will be added to the LTM sampling plan upon installation.

Deborah M. Wilson↗
NASA NTRS2025

Private Astronaut Post-Mission Debrief Interviews Study

BACKGROUND The commercialization of space will increasingly include individuals that are not rigorously-selected, highly-trained professional astronauts. Private astronaut missions (PAMs), such as Axiom-1 in 2022, will continue to travel to the International Space Station in the coming years, but the risk of integrating private astronauts with NASA astronauts has not been clearly quantified nor mitigated. An earlier internal NASA operations assessment, which consisted of a comprehensive literature review and interviews of current NASA experts, found that PAMs are likely to increase the risk to NASA astronauts during integrated missions (Landon, Whiting, Russell, Schorn, Passmore, & Roma, 2022). There are ongoing efforts at NASA to mitigate concerns from a medical, psychological, and technical perspective. NASA experts are working closely with PAM providers to offer recommendations and best practices beyond the limits of requirements to ensure crew health and safety. However, efforts are siloed between groups to some extent, and with the rate of PAMs likely to increase, a more comprehensive and integrated process is needed to reduce the burden on NASA resources. AIMS The purpose of this project is to understand private astronauts’ motivations for journeying to space, their pre-mission preparation period, and their experiences in space. Data will be collected via private astronaut post-mission debrief interviews. This data will inform training needs and in-mission support needed for missions that include private astronauts; the preparation NASA astronauts and mission support personnel will need to work with these integrated crews; and gaps in knowledge to guide research and countermeasure development. Our study aims to (1) Characterize risks posed by commercialization and private astronaut crew integration in spaceflight operations, as it relates to Team, Human Systems Integration Architecture (HSIA), and Behavioral Medicine (BMed) Risks, (2) Recommend potential countermeasures and identify gaps in current research. Countermeasures may be related to crew selection and composition, training, crew support systems (e.g., medical/psychological support, support from Mission Control, on-board resources), and habitability and human factors design. METHOD The BHP Lab will conduct 30-minute interviews with up to eight (8) private astronaut mission (PAM) astronauts (e.g., Axiom) and spaceflight participants (e.g., SFPs or “free flyers” on Polaris Dawn) per year from 2024-2030 to discuss knowledge gaps and needs related to selection and assessment, crew composition, training, crew support systems (e.g., medical/psychological support, support from Mission Control, onboard resources), and habitability and human factors design, which may influence the risk to NASA astronauts. Interviews will then be coded using thematic analysis and interpreted with the assistance of lexical analysis software (e.g., LIWC). As of the end of 2024, we have collected data from one PAM crew. At the conclusion of data collection in 2030, a final report will be prepared integrating all data collected by 2031. SUMMARY Post-return interviews of private astronauts are being conducted to understand their experiences and inform training and countermeasures to ensure the safety of all who journey to the ISS.

Private Astronaut Missions↗
NASA NTRS2025

Navigating Team Dynamics: Automated Detection of Micro-Behaviors Between Team Members Through Longitudinal Interaction Data

The success in future long term space exploration missions will depend on the cooperation, coordination, and mutual understanding among the crew members. Micro-behaviors are momentary, subtle linguistic and paralinguistic indicators of thinking and feeling toward another member of the team (Cortina et al., 2001; Smith & Griffiths, 2022) that can significantly impact team dynamics and influence the overall team performance (Paromita & Chaspari, 2024). Due to their interactive nature, micro-behaviors have a sender (i.e., the team member expressing the micro-behavior) and a target (the team member impacted by the micro-behavior). Detection of these behaviors can assist in avoiding possible conflict among crew members and promoting the overall team success. Our prior research focused on an initial proof of concept of machine learning (ML) models and natural language processing (NLP) techniques that were used for automatically detect micro-behaviors among crew members of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) Campaigns 4 and 5 missions (Paromita et al., 2023). Results underscored the importance of incorporating contextual information in the ML models in the form of sentiment analysis, type of task, and dyadic interaction among team members. Here, we expand the scope of our prior work in two ways. First, we assess ML/NLP methods on new behavioral annotations coded using an adapted version of Smith & Griffins (2022) theoretical framework in terms of Violation (i.e., presence of valenced behavior, uplifting/positive or discouraging/negative), Intensity (i.e., force of behavior in terms of how uplifting or discouraging is the behavior), and Intent (i.e., motive of the behavior in terms of whether it was deliberate or unintentional). Second, we expand the design of the ML model to preserve information about the role of each team member within the occurrence of the micro-behavior (in contrast to the previous model that only considered the sender and the target without determining the team member role). This allows to consider all team members' contributions in the conversation and model long-term dependencies in the dialogue. Our experiments for this study are conducted on data from 5 teams of the NASA HERA C4 (NASA grant NNX16AQ48G (PI: Bell)). Conversations were extracted from the 1.5 hour Team Interaction Battery (TIB) task that occurred 5 times in-mission per crew. This resulted in a total of 13,058 conversational turns (i.e., 17.8% uplifting, 3.3% discouraging, 75.76% neutral, 3.14% nulls). Our findings with the revised behavioral coding and ML/NLP models indicate a 43.66% macro F1-score (i.e., 38.29% precision (P), 50.8% recall (R)) for a dialog state-tracking model that includes information from the sender only, and a 40.9% F1-score (i.e., 38.7% P, 43.36% R) for the same model that includes information from both the sender and the target of the micro-behavior. These are significantly higher compared to simple random forest models that classify behaviors strictly based on speech content and do not consider iterative team dynamics, achieving a 36.07% F1-score (i.e., 39.04% R, 33.53% P). Our findings demonstrate potential ways to leverage large conversational datasets to better capture complex team dynamics. We will discuss future directions including proposed models that can incorporate additional mission days and tasks beyond the TIB for objectively quantifying team behavior at high temporal resolution in space exploration missions.

Projna Paromita↗
NASA NTRS2024

Solar FTIR Measurements of NOx Vertical Distributions – Part 2: Experiment-Based Scaling Factors Describing the Daytime Variation in Stratospheric NOx

Long-term experimental stratospheric NO2 and NO partial columns measured by means of solar Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry at Zugspitze (47.42° N, 10.98° E; 2964 m a.s.l.), Germany, were used to create a set of experiment-based monthly scaling factors (SFexp). The underlying data set is published in a companion paper (Nürnberg et al., 2024) and comprises over 25 years of measurements depicting the daytime variability of stratospheric NO2 and NO partial columns with respect to local solar time (LST). In accordance with simulation-based scaling factors recently published by Strode et al. (2022), we created SFexp normalized to SZA =72° for NO2 and NO for every month of the year as a function of solar zenith angle (SZA). Apart from a boundary value problem at minimum SZA values originating from averaging over different times of the month, the obtained scaling factors SFexp(NO2) and SFexp(NO) as a function of SZA represent the daytime behavior already shown in model simulations and experiments in the literature very well. This shows a well-pronounced increase in the NO2 and NO stratospheric partial column with the time of the day and a flattening of this increase after noon. In addition to the discussion of SFexp, we validate the simulation-based scaling factors SFsim(NO2) (Strode et al., 2022) and present simulation-based scaling factors for NO SFsim(NO). The simulation-based scaling factors show excellent agreement with the experiment-based ones; i.e., for NO2 and NO the mean value of the modulus between the experiment and simulation over all SZAs and months is only 0.02 %. We show that recently used model simulations can describe the real behavior of nitrogen oxide (NOx) variability in the stratosphere very well. Furthermore, we conclude that ground-based FTIR measurements can be used for validation of the output of photochemistry models and for creating experiment-based data sets describing the daytime stratospheric NOx variability as a function of SZA. This is a contribution to improved satellite validation and a better understanding of stratospheric photochemistry.

FTIR, nitrogen oxides, diurnal variability↗
NASA NTRS2024

Interim Groundwater Monitoring Report, Revision 0, Fluid Servicing Road Area, Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU)s 037 and 102, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

This Interim Groundwater Monitoring (IGWM) Report presents the findings from the IGWM events, completed between December 2022 and June 2023, at the Fluid Servicing Road Area (FSRA), Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. KSC is located on the northern portion of Merritt Island, between the Indian and Banana Rivers in Brevard County, Florida. The IGWM program is implemented at sites where active remediation is not occurring. The IGWM events at the Propellants Support Building Area (PSBA; Solid Waste Management Unit [SWMU] 102) included the collection of eight groundwater monitoring well samples and 107 direct-push technology (DPT) samples. The DPT samples were collected for the Five-Year supplemental plume monitoring event. Additionally, 27 wells were sampled as part of the December 2022 IGWM event at the Former Drum Storage Area (FDSA), SWMU 037. This IGWM Report was prepared by HydroGeoLogic, Inc. (HGL) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Task Order 4 of Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract 80KSC019D0012/80KSC019F0090.

FDSA↗
NASA NTRS2024

Shallow Soil Polychlorinated Biphenyl Site Assessment Report: General Services Administration Reclamation Yard Solid Waste Management Unit 010

This report presents a summary of the shallow soil polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) site assessment activities that occurred from December 2020 through July 2022 at General Services Administration Reclamation Yard, Solid Waste Management Unit (SWMU) 010, located at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The site is monitored under KSC’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Corrective Action Program, which also meets the requirements of Chapter 62-780, Florida Administrative Code. For the purposes of this report, three separate shallow soil plumes, known as the Northeast Shallow Soil PCB Plume, Southeast Shallow Soil PCB Plume, and West Shallow Soil PCB Plume, were identified for this site. The activities presented in this report include seven field events conducted between December 2020 and July 2022, which include shallow soil sample collection in the Northeast, Southeast, and West Shallow Soil PCB Plumes. AECOM Technical Services, Inc., personnel collected 330 soil samples from 118 boring locations. The samples were collected at 0.5-foot depth intervals to various depths based on analytical results and depth to groundwater. The soil samples were submitted to a fixed-based laboratory for analysis by United States Environmental Protection Agency Method 8082A for total PCBs. Several soil samples had PCB concentrations above the State of Florida Direct Exposure Residential and Industrial Soil Cleanup Target Levels (SCTLs), and two soil samples had PCB concentrations above the State of Florida Leachability for Groundwater. No soil borings were located beneath impervious surfaces, such as concrete or asphalt. The current Land Use Control Implementation Plan (LUCIP) covers PCBs in soils above the residential SCTL, which includes the paved areas.

soil assessment↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Results for the Subjective Habitability Acceptability Questionnaire From HERA C5 and C6

BACKGROUND The impact of habitability on psychological and performance outcomes is recognized as an important factor in habitat and vehicle design—especially as missions increase in length. Formal evaluation of habitability’s impact is possible using the Spaceflight Habitability Acceptability Questionnaire (SHAQ), which was psychometrically validated by Roma et al. in 2022 [1]. The SHAQ survey systematically quantifies the relationships between habitat areas (e.g., bedroom, kitchen, hygiene area, office, etc.) and behavioral health and performance (BHP) outcomes (i.e., individual and team performance, mood, stress, sleep, social interaction), and considers the moderating effects of key habitability aspects (i.e., privacy, control, convenience, efficiency, comfort, social density) on that relationship. METHOD Respondents were HERA participants from Campaign 5 and 6 (n = 32). Data from three environments were used in our SHAQ analyses: SHAQ in HERA (in-mission), SHAQ at Home (pre-mission), and SHAQ in Hotel (pre- and post-mission for C6, just pre-mission for C5). For each habitat area, respondents are asked how that area layout impacts six BHP outcomes on a 201-point visual analog scale with the anchors: impairs, has no effect, and facilitates. They also had the option to respond “Not Applicable”. Follow up questions asked why six key habitability aspects (e.g., privacy) influenced the way the habitat area affected a given outcome. Participants indicated whether a habitat area’s habitability aspects were inadequate (low score) to adequate (midpoint) to ideal (high score), using a 201-point visual analog scale as well but were binned to a 7-point scale for analyses. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION When comparing across environments, ratings of BHP outcomes were worse in HERA compared to home and pre-mission hotel, but rebounded for the post-mission hotel such that post-mission hotel rating were often higher than all previous ratings. Within HERA, ratings of how a habitat area impacted an outcome skewed towards facilitation with communal areas (i.e., galley and office) rated most facilitating. The follow up questions about why six key aspects related to habitability moderated outcomes indicated that most habitat areas were rated as having “adequate” habitability characteristics. Privacy was the only moderator with average scores below adequate for all habitat areas. The office had the most moderators scoring above adequate for all habitat areas. Ratings indicated small to moderate effects of layouts on BHP outcomes: with facilitating layouts averaging between 4 and 5, and impairing layouts averaging between 2 and 4. The sleeping module layout facilitated sleep, with ratings indicating adequate comfort but inadequate privacy. The galley layout facilitated social interaction and mood, with ratings indicating adequate efficiency and convenience. The office layout facilitated social interaction, team and individual performance, with ratings similarly indicating adequate efficiency and convenience. The hygiene module worsened individual performance, mood and stress, with ratings indicating less than adequate privacy and social density. Our findings suggest there is value in having dedicated team and individual spaces. REFERENCES [1] Roma, P. G., Landon, L.B., Spencer, C. A., Whitmire, A. M., & Williams, T. J. (2022). SHAQ: Development and Validation. Human Factors: Special Issue on Spaceflight, 65(6), 1074-1104. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was funded by the NASA Human Research Program directed task Human Factors and Behavioral Performance in HERA (PI = S. Bell) to the BHP Lab. KBR Inc. and JES Tech authors were supported by KBR’s Human Health and Performance Contract NNJ15HK11B with NASA.

behavioral health↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Terra Orbit Drift and its Impacts on MODIS Geometric Performance

NASA Terra satellite has provided earth observations from its 5 onboard instruments for 25 years since its launch in December 1999. All these instruments are still mostly healthy, and observations are expected to extend 2 more years of life into late 2026. The onboard fuel is preserved by ceasing inclination adjust maneuvers (IAMs, stopped 2020) and drag make-up maneuvers (DMUs, stopped 2022). Without IAMs, the orbital plane is drifting, changing the sunlight conditions by late 2026 from nominal 10:30 AM to 8:30 AM local time at descending node (LTDN). The ceasing of DMUs combined with a constellation exit maneuver in October 2022 result in orbit altitude drifting down. Altitude will drift from a nominal mean of 715 km to 702 km by late 2026. A companion earth observing satellite, Aqua, is going through a similar orbit drift process. This presentation shows the details of the drifts, that have potentials to impact data products, especially those products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on Terra and Aqua satellites.

Guoqing (Gary) Lin↗
NASA NTRS2025

Components Refurbishment and Chemical Analysis Facility, SWMU #041 - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Site Assessment Report Kennedy Space Center, Florida

This PFAS Site Assessment (SA) Report presents the activities and results associated with PFAS investigations at the Components Refurbishment and Chemical Analysis (CRCA) facility located at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. In 2022, CRCA was identified as an Area of Potential Concern because the facility stores several potential PFAS-containing chemicals. A groundwater sample collected from an onsite monitoring well detected PFOA and PFOS at concentrations greater than State of Florida provisional Groundwater Cleanup Target Levels (pGCTLs). PFAS SA activities were conducted between March 2022 and February 2024. During this timeframe, a total of 16 direct-push technology (DPT) locations and 82 discrete samples were collected from these locations, along with 90 monitoring well samples. The analytical data screening process focused on State of Florida pGCTLs and United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Regional Screening Level (RSLs) from November 2023 to evaluate the data. Analytical results identified PFOS, PFOA, and PFBA at concentrations exceeding their respective RSLs at each depth interval (shallow, intermediate, and deep). PFOS and PFOA had the largest footprint of RSL exceedances in each depth interval, but pGCTL exceedances were only observed at limited locations in the shallow and intermediate intervals. PFBA had the highest detections of any PFAS compound, with concentrations exceeding 180,000 nanograms per liter (ng/L), which is 100-times the RSL of 1,800 ng/L in the shallow and intermediate intervals and 10-times the RSL in the deep interval. The maximum PFBA detection was 841,000 ng/L at shallow monitoring well, MW0006. The PFAS SA also included samples collected from the onsite hydraulic containment system (HCS) which was installed to control and treat the onsite chlorinated volatile organic compound (CVOC) plume. Influent and effluent aqueous samples were collected monthly from the system. PFAS concentrations were relatively the same for both influent and effluent samples, indicating that while the HCS has been effective for CVOC treatment, it does not provide any additional treatment for PFAS compounds. Since the HCS has achieved its objectives, the system was shut down in December 2024. PFAS data gaps still exist, to include surface water and soil, which were not sampled during this SA. Soil sampling near the Chemical Process Area is recommended. Surface water and soil sampling at select stormwater outfalls is also recommended. Additionally, further groundwater sampling is recommended (DPT and monitoring well) in all depth intervals to delineate the extent of PFAS impacts at CRCA.

K Alex Murphy↗
NASA NTRS2026

SERFE Ground Unit EVA Series After Three Year Spacesuit Stowage Period

NASA’s spacesuit government reference design for returning to the Moon is called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU). The xEMU subassembly that provides life support, such as oxygen and thermal control, is the Portable Life Support System (PLSS). Inside the PLSS is a new technology that NASA wanted to test to provide cooling to the crew during EVAs (ExtraVehicular Activity). This technology is called the Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME). In order to test SWME in an improved thermal control loop (TCL) both on Earth and in Space, the Spacesuit Evaporation Rejection Flight Experiment (SERFE) was created. The Ground unit, or testbed at Johnson Space Center (JSC), tested the cooling technology in Earth’s gravity, while the Flight unit, or payload on the International Space Station (ISS), tested the cooling technology in micro-gravity. Since fluids flow differently in micro-gravity, testing in both environments would provide important data for improving cooling performance during EVAs. Both units completed 25 simulated EVAs with the same settings so SWME performance on the ground could be compared to the ISS. The Flight unit was completed first and performed EVAs on the ISS between 2020 and 2022. The Ground unit performed EVAs between 2021 and 2022. When the Flight unit came back from the ISS, it was taken apart for analysis. This analysis looked at how well SWME was able to maintain its heat rejection capability after various dwell times, such as a 90 day Airlock Coolant Loop Recovery (ALCLR) cycle, when the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) currently on the ISS would normally need maintenance. After a three year simulated spacesuit dwell, the Ground unit performed another EVA series in 2025 to test SWME’s shelf life. The results from this test series will inform mission planning as NASA plans to go back to the Moon and beyond.

Michael Lewandowski↗
NASA NTRS2026

SERFE Ground Unit EVA Series After Three Year Spacesuit Stowage Period

NASA’s spacesuit government reference design for returning to the Moon is called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU). The xEMU subassembly that provides life support, such as oxygen and thermal control, is the Portable Life Support System (PLSS). Inside the PLSS is a new technology that NASA wanted to test to provide cooling to the crew during EVAs (ExtraVehicular Activity). This technology is called the Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME). In order to test SWME in an improved thermal control loop (TCL) both on Earth and in Space, the Spacesuit Evaporation Rejection Flight Experiment (SERFE) was created. The Ground unit, or testbed at Johnson Space Center (JSC), tested the cooling technology in Earth’s gravity, while the Flight unit, or payload on the International Space Station (ISS), tested the cooling technology in micro-gravity. Since fluids flow differently in micro-gravity, testing in both environments would provide important data for improving cooling performance during EVAs. Both units completed 25 simulated EVAs with the same settings so SWME performance on the ground could be compared to the ISS. The Flight unit was completed first and performed EVAs on the ISS between 2020 and 2022. The Ground unit performed EVAs between 2021 and 2022. When the Flight unit came back from the ISS, it was taken apart for analysis. This analysis looked at how well SWME was able to maintain its heat rejection capability after various dwell times, such as a 90 day Airlock Coolant Loop Recovery (ALCLR) cycle, when the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) currently on the ISS would normally need maintenance. After a three year simulated spacesuit dwell, the Ground unit performed another EVA series in 2025 to test SWME’s shelf life. The results from this test series will inform mission planning as NASA plans to go back to the Moon and beyond.

SWME↗
NASA NTRS2026

Timing the Flames: Geostationary Satellite Detection of Diurnally Shifting Stubble Burning in Northwestern India

Post-monsoon open-field stubble burning in northwestern (NW) India—a key agricultural region known as the “breadbasket”—is a longstanding practice used to clear fields. Satellite observations spanning over two decades have revealed significant upward trends in crop production, vegetative greenness, and the frequency of post-harvest fires, with this last contributing to hazardous air quality during the peak burning season (mid-October to mid-November). Since 2022, thermal anomaly data from Aqua-MODIS and SNPP-VIIRS sensors have shown a sharp decline in reported fire events—an observation that contrasts starkly with the concurrent rise in regional aerosol loading detected from space. This apparent discrepancy became particularly pronounced in 2024–2025, prompting a closer examination using high-temporal-resolution imagery from the Advanced Meteorological Imager (AMI) on the geostationary satellite GEO-KOMPSAT-2A. These observations revealed a clear spike in fire-related signals occurring around and after 4:00 p.m. local time, i.e., outside the typical noon to 2:00 p.m. detection window of the MODIS and VIIRS. A fire detection algorithm exploiting the fire-sensitive shortwave-infrared 3.8 μm signal and its contrast to 11.2 μm infrared observations is designed to adopt AMI observations and applied to its multi-year observations (2019–2025). The resulting fire dataset unambiguously shows a gradual shift in stubble burning activity toward the late afternoon hours beginning in 2022 which is underreported by polar-orbiting satellites. The orbital drift of NASA’s MODIS sensor on the Aqua platform allows detection of some of the gradually shifting fires during afternoon hours, but the MODIS still misses a large number of fires occurring around and after 4 p.m. The AMI’s relatively coarse spatial resolution (~4 km), a consequence of its slant viewing geometry over NW India, imposes inherent limitations on quantifying the full extent of fire occurrences. The operational air quality forecasting models currently assimilate satellite fire detections predominantly captured during early afternoon overpasses of the MODIS and VIIRS. The temporal shift in fire activity complicates such forecast, leading to a substantial underestimation of emissions. Intense stubble burning and the resulting air pollution highlight the need for effective crop residue management practices for mitigating the frequency of open biomass burning and thereby reducing episodic degradation of air quality and its associated public health and economic impacts.

post-monsoon stubble burning; northwestern India;↗
NASA NTRS1981

Elemental abundances in high-excitation planetary nebulae

The IUE satellite was used to obtain low dispersion spectra of the high excitation planetary nebulae IC 351, IC 2003, NGC 2022, IC 2165, NGC 2440, Hu 1-2, and IC 5217. Numerical modeling was undertaken to determine the chemical composition of these objects with particular emphasis on obtaining elemental carbon and nitrogen abundances. Large variations in the C/N ratio from object to object are suggested.

Marionni, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

STS-38 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-38 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem activities on this thirty-seventh flight of the Space Shuttle and the seventh flight of the Orbiter vehicle Atlantis (OV-104). In addition to the Atlantis vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of an External Tank (ET) (designated as ET-40/LWT-33), three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2019, 2022, 2027), and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's), designated as BI-039. The STS-38 mission was a classified Department of Defense mission, and as much, the classified portions of the mission are not presented in this report. The sequence of events for this mission is shown. The significant problems that occurred in the Space Shuttle Orbiter subsystem during the mission are summarized and the official problem tracking list is presented. In addition, each Space Shuttle Orbiter problem is cited in the subsystem discussion.

Camp, David W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

STS-40 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-40 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report contains a summary of the vehicle subsystem operations during the forty-first flight of the Space Shuttle and the eleventh flight of the Orbiter Vehicle Columbia (OV-102). In addition to the Columbia vehicle, the flight vehicle consisted of an External Tank (ET) designated as ET-41 (LWT-34), three Space Shuttle main engines (SSME's) (serial numbers 2015, 2022, and 2027 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively), and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) designated as BI-044. The primary objective of the STS-40 flight was to successfully perform the planned operations of the Spacelab Life Sciences-1 (SLS-1) payload. The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations required by the Getaway Special (GAS) payloads and the Middeck O-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE) payload.

Fricke, Robert W.↗