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Space Technology Mission Directorate Game Changing Development Program FY2015 Annual Program Review: Advanced Manufacturing Technology

The Advance Manufacturing Technology (AMT) Project supports multiple activities within the Administration's National Manufacturing Initiative. A key component of the Initiative is the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO), which includes participation from all federal agencies involved in U.S. manufacturing. In support of the AMNPO the AMT Project supports building and Growing the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation through a public-private partnership designed to help the industrial community accelerate manufacturing innovation. Integration with other projects/programs and partnerships: STMD (Space Technology Mission Directorate), HEOMD, other Centers; Industry, Academia; OGA's (e.g., DOD, DOE, DOC, USDA, NASA, NSF); Office of Science and Technology Policy, NIST Advanced Manufacturing Program Office; Generate insight within NASA and cross-agency for technology development priorities and investments. Technology Infusion Plan: PC; Potential customer infusion (TDM, HEOMD, SMD, OGA, Industry); Leverage; Collaborate with other Agencies, Industry and Academia; NASA roadmap. Initiatives include: Advanced Near Net Shape Technology Integrally Stiffened Cylinder Process Development (launch vehicles, sounding rockets); Materials Genome; Low Cost Upper Stage-Class Propulsion; Additive Construction with Mobile Emplacement (ACME); National Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

Vickers, John↗

Microbeam Investigations of Presolar and Early Solar System Materials

This grant provided three years of funding to initiate an independent research program in Cosmochemistry at Arizona State University. Because the new equipment that was installed at ASU took longer than expected to get running, the project was extended for a fourth year with no additional funding. By the time the funds were expended, we had set up an entirely new ion microprobe laboratory at ASU, and we have been fully operational for over two years. This laboratory was funded in almost equal parts by NASA, NSF, and ASU. Papers describing the first results from this new laboratory are being published now, and the results have been making an impact on the Cosmochemistry community. While this laboratory was being built, I continued my research program in collaboration with G. J. Wasserburg at Caltech. As equipment became available, I gradually shifted my research to ASU. Over the lifetime of this grant, my research program resulted in 12 papers and 13 abstracts on topics ranging from presolar grains (2 papers, 3 abstracts), short-lived radionuclides (6 papers, 6 abstracts), chemical compositions of chondritic materials (3 papers, 3 abstracts), silicon isotopic fractionation (1 abstract), and the oxygen composition of the Sun (1 paper). The most important results of this period were the discovery of presolar hibonite in a meteorite residue, the measurement of 26A1 in CAIs from enstatite chondrites, and the measurements of 10Be in type A CAIs from CV chondrites. All of these results have had a significant impact on research in Cosmochemstry.

Huss, Gary R.↗

Accelerating TEMPO Air Quality Science Through STAQS

Soon after the launch of Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission, NASA is supporting the Synergistic TEMPO Air Quality Science field study (STAQS) in summer 2023. This study’s main objective is to accelerate science with geostationary air quality observations from TEMPO to better understand its use in air pollution research and applications. Science objectives include, but are not limited to, TEMPO L2 product evaluation, the interpretation of the spatiotemporal evolution of TEMPO data during air quality events, assessment of anthropogenic emissions, contributions to chemical transport modeling, and environmental justice applications. These objectives can be accomplished through the integration of satellite data with systematically repeated high-resolution aircraft- and ground-based measurements in multiple urban environments. The primary urban cities considered include Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago in June-August 2023. Measurements consist of airborne remote sensing observations of air quality constituents of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde (HCHO), ozone, and aerosols using the GeoCape Airborne Simulator and High-Spectral Resolution Lidar 2/Differential Absorption Lidar (HSRL2/DIAL) on the NASA JSC G-V aircraft, greenhouse gas observations from Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) and High Altitude Lidar Observatory (HALO) on the NASA LaRC G-III aircraft, and ground-based remote sensing and in situ observations of ozone, NO2, and HCHO from the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet), Pandora spectrometers, and ground-based monitoring networks. Key partnership studies providing in situ airborne observations include the NOAA Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA) field study on the NASA DC-8 in the same primary target areas as STAQS and Greater New York Oxidant, Tropospheric Halogens, and Aerosol Measurements and Modeling (GOTHAMM) field study on the NSF C-130 near New York City. This presentation will include a current status update of the STAQS mission and an overview of its measurement strategies and science objectives with the goal of promoting continued discussions for building and strengthening collaborations prior to the mission.

Laura Judd↗

Infrared Measurements of Atmospheric Constituents

This research program studies atmospheric trace gas concentrations and altitude distributions, particularly for those gases that are important in stratospheric chemistry and radiative balance. Measurements are made with infrared remote sensing instruments, either ground based or balloon-borne. Most of the ground based instruments are part of the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC), including a very high spectral resolution solar absorption spectrometer at Mauna Loa Observatory and similar system at McMurdo Station, Antarctica (operated in collaboration with the New Zealand NIWA). Additionally, we are deriving stratospheric constituent data from the spectra obtained at the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) program's site in north-central Oklahoma. We have an atmospheric emission spectrometer system at the South Pole (with additional support from NSF), and an identical NSF support instrument at Eureka, NWT, Canada. Our balloon-borne instruments include a very high resolution solar absorption spectrometer system, a smaller, slightly lower resolution solar spectrometer system, a high resolution atmospheric emission spectrometer, and several medium resolution emission spectrometers (CAESRs) that are usually flown piggyback. During the past year, we participated in the MANTRA balloon flight from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with the high resolution solar spectrometer system. Several of our instruments were extensively compared to (UARS) Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite observations, and so provide a data set with known connections to UARS. In the longer term, the data can be used to relate UARS data to (EOS) Earth Observing System and (ADEOS) Advanced Airborne Earth Observing System.

Frank J Murcray↗

Science on the Moon: The Wailing Wall of Space Exploration

Science on and from the Moon has important implications for expanding human knowledge and understanding, a prospect for the 21st Century that has been under discussion for at least the past 25 years. That having been said, however, there remain many issues of international versus national priorities, strategy, economy, and politics that come into play. The result is a very complex form of human behavior where science and exploration take center stage, but many other important human options are sacrificed. To renew this dialogue about the Moon, it seems we are already rushing pell-mell into it as has been done in the past. The U.S., Japan, China, India, and Russia either have sent or plan to send satellites and robotic landers there at this time. What does a return to the Moon mean, why are we doing this now, who should pay for it, and how? The only semblance of such a human enterprise seems to be the LHC currently coming online at CERN. Can it be used as a model of international collaboration rather than a sports or military event focused on national competition? Who decides and what is the human sacrifice? There are compelling arguments for establishing science on the Moon as one of the primary goals for returning to the Moon and venturing beyond. A number of science endeavors will be summarized, beyond lunar and planetary science per se. These include fundamental physics experiments that are background-limited by the Earth's magnetic dipole moment and noise produced by its atmosphere and seismic interior. The Moon is an excellent platform for some forms of astronomy. Other candidate Moon-based experiments vary from neutrino and gravitational wave astronomy, particle astrophysics, and cosmic-ray calorimeters, to space physics and fundamental physics such as proton decay. The list goes on and includes placing humans in a hostile environment to study the long-term effects of space weather. The list is long, and even newer ideas will come from this COSPAR conference. However, whatever the list the issue of cooperation and binding collaboration remains. As observers of Moon and other space enterprises, we all know that a room full of 60 scientists will not agree on much of anything and there will probably be 60! please for more funding. People have special interests and little common sense (e.g., conflict between NSF- and NASA-funding roadmaps). Scientists are no exception. Nevertheless, CERN has done it on Earth! Can we do the same on the Moon? Some of the present generation of proposals for science from and on the Moon, plus new ones, will witness a place in space exploration's future. It is clear, however, that the world has not thought this through adequately, except for talk about an international space federation whatever that is. An outpost on the Moon with humans permanently living there much like Antarctica on Earth may be in our future. However, such planning is our collective international responsibility and not that of special-interest investigators from individual nations unless they intend to pay for it.

Wilson, Thomas↗

Use of antarctic analogs to support the space exploration initiative

This report has discussed the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) and the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) in the context of assessing the potential rationale and strategy for conducting a cooperative NASA/NSF (National Science Foundation) effort. Specifically, such an effort would address shared research and data on living and conducting scientific research in isolated, confined, hostile, and remote environments. A review of the respective goals and requirements of NASA and the NSF indicates that numerous opportunities exist to mutually benefit from sharing relevant technologies, data, and systems. Two major conclusions can be drawn: (1) The technologies, experience, and capabilities existing and developing in the aerospace community would enhance scientific research capabilities and the efficiency and effectiveness of operations in Antarctica. The transfer and application of critical technologies (e.g., power, waste management, life support) and collaboration on crew research needs (e.g., human behavior and medical support needs) would streamline the USAP operations and provide the scientific community with advancements in facilities and tools for Antarctic research. (2) Antarctica is the most appropriate earth analog for the environments of the the Moon and Mars. Using Antarctica in this way would contribute substantially to near- and long-term needs and plans for the SEI. Antarctica is one of the few ground-based analogs that would permit comprehensive and integrated studies of three areas deemed critical to productive and safe operations on the Moon and Mars: human health and productivity; innovative scientific research techniques; and reliable, efficient technologies and facilities.

Wharton, Robert↗

Science of Opportunity: Heliophysics on the FASTSAT Mission and STP-S26

The FASTSAT spacecraft, which was launched on November 19, 2010 on the DoD STP-S26 mission, carries three instruments developed in joint collaboration by NASA GSFC and the US Naval Academy: PISA, TTl, and MINI_ME.I,1 As part of a rapid-development, low-cost instrument design and fabrication program, these instruments were a perfect match for FASTSAT, which was designed and built in less than one year. These instruments, while independently developed, provide a collaborative view of important processes in the upper atmosphere relating to solar and energetic particle input, atmospheric response, and ion outflow. PISA measures in-situ irregularities in electron number density, TIl provides limb measurements of the atomic oxygen temperature profile with altitude, and MINI-ME provides a unique look at ion populations by a remote sen sing technique involving neutral atom imaging. Together with other instruments and payloads on STP-S26 such as the NSF RAX mission, FalconSat-5, and NanoSail-D (launched as a tertiary payload from FASTSAT), these instruments provide a valuable "constellation of opportunity" for following the now of energy and charged and neutral particles through the upper atmosphere. Together, and for a small fraction of the price of a major mission, these spacecraft will measure the energetic electrons impacting the upper atmosphere, the ions leaving it, and the large-scale plasma and neutral response to these energy inputs. The result will be a new model for maximizing scientific return from multiple small, distributed payloads as secondary payloads on a larger launch vehicle.

Rowland, Douglas E.↗

AIRES and RAPEAS on the Move

We report on this presentation an update on two closely related projects with relevance to LISN: AIRES (Argentina Ionospheric Radar Experiment Station) and RAPEAS (Spanish acronym for Argentina Network for Upper Atmosphere Research). AIRES' main goal is the deployment and long term operation of a face of the Afvance Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR) close to La Plata city, in Argentina, where it is possible to perform ionospheric measurements of the geomagnetic conjugate point of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The initial construction of 16 AMISR panels and the infrastructure for the their deployment in Argentina have been initiated in March 2011, in the framework of a memorandum of understanding agreed between the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Argentina National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). In addition, in August 2011, CONICET created RAPEAS, which main objective is to maximize the benefits of AIRES as well as other networks and instruments in Argentina dedicated to Upper Atmosphere research. Over forty scientist and engineers from fifteen scientific and academic institutions are currently part of RAPE AS. Both, RAPEAS and AIRES will create a great synergy within the Argentina Upper Atmosphere community and will open new opportunities for international collaborations among which, the LISN project should play a relevant role.

Janches, Diego↗

Louisiana NASA EPSCoR Project

In 1994, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a Cooperative Agreement (CA) to the State of Louisiana, through the Louisiana Board of Regents (BOB), for the performance of scientific research under the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Project. Originally constructed as a three-year program with an optional two-year follow on, this federal-state partnership culminated on 31 October 2001, including two CA extensions. The total value of the project reached $3.3M in NASA funding, matched by $2.75M in BOB funds, and supplemented by several million dollars in institutional contributions. Three Research Clusters comprised the state-wide research effort coupled with scientific/technical management and a teacher involvement component. The three research clusters addressed the Enterprises of Space Science, Earth Science and Aerospace Technology with research in High Energy Astrophysics, the Global Carbon Cycle, and Propulsion. Ten universities, over two dozen faculty, over 150 students and numerous support personnel were involved. All of the scientific and technical objectives were met or exceeded. In aggregate, the clusters generated about $18M in outside support, better than a 2:1 return on investment (better than 5:1 considering only the NASA investment). Moreover, two of the clusters have advanced to the level of applying for major NSF research center designation. This project was a trial of the model of building research infrastructure through mentoring. While not completely successful, the results at the smaller institutions were, none the less, positive. Faculty were engaged in major research and involved their students. Administrations improved their capabilities to handle grants and contracts. Faculty release time was granted, research space was provided and, in some cases, equipment was made available for the research. Some of the faculty at these schools have remained involved in research and/or formed collaborations for new endeavors, demonstrating that the mentoring model can be successful.

Wefel, John P.↗

A Performance Assessment of NASA's Heliophysics Program

Recognizing the importance of distributed observations of all elements of the Sun-to-Earth system and the synergies between observation and theory and between basic and targeted research, the National Research Council's 2003 solar and space physics decadal survey laid out an integrated research strategy that sought to extend and augment what has now become the Heliophysics Great Observatory as well as to enhance NASA, NOAA, NSF, and DOD's other solar and space physics research activities. The Integrated Research Strategy provided a prioritized list of flight missions and theory and modeling programs that would advance the relevant physical theories, incorporate those theories in models that describe a system of interactions between the Sun and the space environment, obtain data on the system, and analyze and test the adequacy of the theories and models. As directed by Congress in the NASA Authorization Act of 2005, the purpose of this report is to assess the progress of NASA's Heliophysics Division at the 5-year mark against the NASA goals and priorities laid out in the decadal survey. In addition to the Integrated Research Strategy, the decadal survey also considered non-mission-specific initiatives to foster a robust solar and space physics program. The decadal survey set forth driving science challenges as well as recommendations devoted to the need for technology development, collaborations and cooperation with other disciplines, understanding the effects of the space environment on technology and society, education and public outreach, and steps that could strengthen and enhance the research enterprise. Unfortunately, very little of the recommended NASA program priorities from the decadal survey s Integrated Research Strategy will be realized during the period (2004-2013) covered by the survey. Mission cost growth, reordering of survey mission priorities, and unrealized budget assumptions have delayed or deferred nearly all of the NASA spacecraft missions recommended in the survey. As a result, the status of the Integrated Research Strategy going forward is in jeopardy, and the loss of synergistic capabilities in space will constitute a serious impediment to future progress. Some of these factors were largely outside NASA's control, but as the assessments in Chapter 2 of this report detail, many factors were driven by subsequent NASA decisions about mission science content, mission size, and mission sequence. Overcoming these challenges, as well as other key issues like launch vehicle availability, will be critical if NASA is to realize more of the decadal survey's priorities over the next 5 years as well as priorities in solar and space physics research in the long term. Chapter 3 of this report provides recommendations about how NASA can better fulfill the 2003 decadal survey and improve future decadal surveys in solar and space physics.

Source record↗

Beyond Fair: Engagement, Data Usability, and Open Community Productivity through the NASA Open Science Data Repository

The FAIR principle (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) governs the storage and sharing of NASA space biology and health data[1]. These guiding principles maximize reuse of data and the reproducibility of scientific findings. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR; an expansion of NASA GeneLab) was built on the FAIR principles and houses over 500 studies and close to 1000 datasets from decades of space life sciences experiments. OSDR embodies the FAIR principles through data governance that includes mediated, embargoed, and fully open access data. The FAIR data governance principles were recently proposed to be expanded to encompass a FAIREST framework for assessing research data repositories (FAIR + Engagement, Social connections, and Trust)[2]. FAIREST emphasizes the importance of data repositories engaging with the scientific community and gaining the trust of researchers regarding data quality. Trust also refers to the TRUST principles developed for assessment of digital repositories: Transparency, Responsibility, User Focus, Sustainability, Technology[3]. We present the “Open Science for Life in Space” Analysis Working Groups (AWGs) as evidence regarding the power of engagement, social connections, and trust which has enhanced OSDR’s capabilities and productivity. AWG members engage in two main activities. One, members provide feedback on OSDR scientific standards for data ingestion, curation, and reuse (study, subject and assay metadata; processing pipelines; dataset formats and uniformed structures for machine-readability). Two, AWG members collaborate to mine-reuse OSDR data to conduct scientific analysis. With nearly 800 active members, the AWGs have resulted in 32 publications re-using OSDR data and contributed many papers in two major special issues in Cell (2020) and Nature (2024). AWGs also serve as networking groups, facilitate social connections between researchers at all levels of experience, and also have a social online ‘Forum’ used to keep members informed on projects and opportunities. This community-centric, productive, and trustworthy data culture has resulted in a broader effect with international space agencies, academics, and the commercial space sector wanting to submit their data to OSDR. Ten studies of Inspiration 4 data were recently publicly released by OSDR, as were some JAXA human data. Coming up soon in OSDR are data submissions from the European Space Agency, Virgin Galactic PIs, and SpaceX Polaris Dawn. A major benefit of OSDR is the array of standardized and uniformly formatted data (which was developed through AWG member consensus), from which visualization tools, analysis tools, and machine learning models can be built or trained. This talk will cover the Multi-Study Visualization Tool, the Environmental Data Application, RadLab, and a UCSF-NSF funded knowledge graph biomedical health discovery tool ‘SPOKE’ currently being integrated with OSDR. OSDR also provides training programs in bioinformatics and machine learning to improve the scientific community’s awareness of data availability and to boost their ability to perform data analysis. The increasing engagement of the scientific community and the public with technologies powered by artificial intelligence (AI) heightens the need for data analysis to be transparent. The AI for Life in Space initiative leverages the data products provided in OSDR to train AI models, with an emphasis on explainable and trustworthy AI, which would not be possible without FAIR data and metadata. Overall, here we will demonstrate the importance for NASA life sciences data repositories to adhere to the FAIREST framework, by providing examples and success stories from different aspects of OSDR.

data↗