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NASA NTRS2017

Introduction: Photons and Ground-Based

A Conference on Measurement Techniques for Solar and Space Physics was held on 20-24 April 2015 in Boulder, Colorado, at the National Center for Atmospheric Research Center Green Campus. The present volume collects together the conference papers for photons and ground-based categories. This gathering of over 200 scientists and instrumentalists was born out of the desire to collect in one place the latest experiment and instrument technologies required for advancement of scientific knowledge in the disciplines of solar and space physics. The two goals for this conference and the subsequent publication of its content are (a) to describe measurement techniques and technology development needed to advance high priority science in the fields of solar and space physics; and (b) to provide a survey or reference of techniques for in situ measurement and remote sensing of space plasmas. Towards this end, our goal has always been inspired by the two 1998 Geophysical Monographs (Nos. 102 and 103) entitled, "Measurement Techniques in Space Plasmas" (particles and fields) [Pfaff et al., 1998a, 1998b], which have served as a reference and resource for advanced students, engineers, and scientists who wish to learn the fundamentals of measurement techniques and technology in this field. Those monographs were the product of an American Geophysical Union Chapman Conference that took place in Santa Fe, NM, in 1995: "Measurement Techniques in Space Plasmas-What Works, What Doesn't." Two decades later, we believe that it is appropriate to revisit this subject, in light of recent advances in technology, research platforms, and analysis techniques. Moreover, we now include direct measurements of neutral gases in the upper atmosphere, optical imaging techniques, and remote observations in space and on the ground. Accordingly, the workshop was organized among four areas of measurement techniques: particles, fields, photons, and ground-based. This two-set volume is largely composed of the content of that workshop. Special attention is given to those techniques and technologies that demonstrate promise of significant advancement in measurements that will enable the highest priority science as described in the 2012 National Research Council Decadal Survey [Baker and Zurbuchen et al., 2013]. Additionally, a broad tutorial survey of the current technologies is provided to serve as reference material and as a basis from which advanced and innovative ideas can be discussed and pursued. Included are instrumentation and techniques to observe the solar environment from its interior to its outer atmosphere, the heliosphere out to the interstellar regions, in geospace, and other planetary magnetospheres and atmospheres. To make significant progress in priority science as expressed in the National Research Council solar and space physics decadal survey and recent NASA Heliophysics roadmaps, identification of enabling new measurement techniques and technologies to be developed is required. Also, it is valuable to the community and future scientists and engineers to have a complete survey of the techniques and technologies used by the practitioners of solar and space physics. As with the 1995 conference and subsequent 1998 publication, it is incumbent on the community to identify those measurements that are particularly challenging and still require new techniques to be identified and tested to enable the necessary accuracy and resolution of certain parameters to be achieved. The following is a partial list of the measurement technique categories that are featured in these special publications: Particles; Thermal plasma to MeV energetic particles, neutral gas properties including winds, density, temperature, and composition, and enhanced neutral atom imaging; Fields; DC electric and magnetic fields, plasma waves, and electron drift instruments from which the plasma velocity information provides a measure of the DC electric field; Photons; Instruments sensitive from the near-infrared to X-rays; Contributions of techniques and technology for optical design, optical components, sensors, material selection for cameras, telescopes, and spectrographs; Ground based; Remote sensing methods for solar and geospace activity and space weather. The focus includes solar observatories, all-sky cameras, lidars, and ionosphere thermosphere mesosphere observatory systems such as radars, ionosondes, GPS receivers, magnetometers, conjugate observations, and airborne campaigns. The present volume collects together the papers for photons and ground-based categories. The companion volume collects together the papers for particles and fields categories. It is recognized that there are measurement techniques that overlap among the four categories. For example, use of microchannel plate detectors is used in photon and particle measurement techniques or the observation of visible photons and magnetic fields in space and on the ground share common technologies. Therefore, the reader should consider the entire collection of papers as they seek to understand particular applications. We hope that these volumes will be as valuable as a reference for our community as the earlier 1998 volumes have been.

Spann, James↗
NASA NTRS2017

Benefits of International Collaboration on the International Space Station

The International Space Station is a valuable platform for research in space, but the benefits are limited if research is only conducted by individual countries. Through the efforts of the ISS Program Science Forum, international science working groups, and interagency cooperation, international collaboration on the ISS has expanded as ISS utilization has matured. Members of science teams benefit from working with counterparts in other countries. Scientists and institutions bring years of experience and specialized expertise to collaborative investigations, leading to new perspectives and approaches to scientific challenges. Combining new ideas and historical results brings synergy and improved peer-reviewed scientific methods and results. World-class research facilities can be expensive and logistically complicated, jeopardizing their full utilization. Experiments that would be prohibitively expensive for a single country can be achieved through contributions of resources from two or more countries, such as crew time, up- and downmass, and experiment hardware. Cooperation also avoids duplication of experiments and hardware among agencies. Biomedical experiments can be completed earlier if astronauts or cosmonauts from multiple agencies participate. Countries responding to natural disasters benefit from ISS imagery assets, even if the country has no space agency of its own. Students around the world participate in ISS educational opportunities, and work with students in other countries, through open curriculum packages and through international competitions. Even experiments conducted by a single country can benefit scientists around the world, through specimen sharing programs and publicly accessible "open data" repositories. For ISS data, these repositories include GeneLab and the Physical Science Informatics System. Scientists can conduct new research using ISS data without having to launch and execute their own experiments. Multilateral collections of research results publications, maintained by the ISS international partnership and accessible via nasa.gov, make ISS results available worldwide, and encourage new users, ideas and research. The paper explores international collaboration history, its evolution and maturation, change of focus during its different phases, and growth of its effectiveness (in accordance with the especially established criteria) in the light of benefits for the entire ISS community. With the International Space Station extended through at least 2024, more crew time becoming available and new facilities arriving on board the ISS, these benefits of international scientific collaboration on the ISS can only increase.

Hasbrook, Pete↗
NASA NTRS2017

Benefits of International Collaboration on the International Space Station

The International Space Station is a valuable platform for research in space, but the benefits are limited if research is only conducted by individual countries. Through the e orts of the ISS Program Science Forum, international science working groups, and interagency cooperation, international collaboration on the ISS has expanded as ISS utilization has matured. Members of science teams benefit from working with counterparts in other countries. Scientists and institutions bring years of experience and specialized expertise to collaborative investigations, leading to new perspectives and approaches to scientific challenges. Combining new ideas and historical results brings synergy and improved peer-reviewed scientific methods and results. World-class research facilities can be expensive and logistically complicated, jeopardizing their full utilization. Experiments that would be prohibitively expensive for a single country can be achieved through contributions of resources from two or more countries, such as crew time, up- and downmass, and experiment hardware. Cooperation also avoids duplication of experiments and hardware among agencies. Biomedical experiments can be completed earlier if astronauts or cosmonauts from multiple agencies participate. Countries responding to natural disasters benefit from ISS imagery assets, even if the country has no space agency of its own. Students around the world participate in ISS educational opportunities, and work with students in other countries, through open curriculum packages and through international competitions. Even experiments conducted by a single country can benefit scientists around the world, through specimen sharing programs and publicly accessible \open data" repositories. For ISS data, these repositories include GeneLab, the Physical Science Informatics System, and different Earth science data systems. Scientists can conduct new research using ISS data without having to launch and execute their own experiments. Multilateral collections of research results publications, maintained by the ISS international partnership and accessible via nasa.gov, make ISS results available worldwide, and encourage new users, ideas and research. The paper explores effectiveness of international collaboration in the course of the ISS Program execution. The collaboration history, its evolution and maturation, change of focus during its different phases, and growth of its effectiveness (in accordance with the especially established criteria) are also considered in the paper in the light of benefits for the entire ISS community. With the International Space Station extended through at least 2024, more crew time becoming available and new facilities arriving on board the ISS, these benefits of international scientific collaboration on the ISS can only increase.

Robinson, Julie A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Antarctic Martian Meteorites at Johnson Space Center

This past year marked the 40th anniversary of the first Martian meteorite found in Antarctica by the ANSMET Antarctic Search for Meteorites) program, ALH 77005. Since then, an additional 14 Martian meteorites have been found by the ANSMET program making for a total of 15 Martian meteorites in the U. S. Antarctic meteorite collection at Johnson Space Center (JSC). Of the 15 meteorites, some have been paired so the 15 meteorites actually represent a total of approximately 9 separate samples. The first Martian meteorite found by ANSMET was ALH 77005 (482.500 g), a lherzolitic shergottite. When collected, this meteorite was split as a part of the joint expedition with the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) Japan. Originally classified as an "achondrite-unique", it was re-classified as a Martian lherzolitic shergottite in 1982. This meteorite has been allocated to 137 scientists for research and there are 180.934 g remaining at JSC. Two years later, one of the most significant Martian meteorites of the collection at JSC was found at Elephant Moraine, EET 79001 (7942.000 g), a shergottite. This meteorite is the largest in the Martian collection at JSC and was the largest stony meteorite sample collected during the 1979 season. In addition to its size, this meteorite is of particular interest because it contains a linear contact separating two different igneous lithologies, basaltic and olivine-phyric. EET 79001 has glass inclusions that contain noble gas and nitrogen compositions that are proportionally identical to the Martian atmosphere, as measured by the Viking spacecraft. This discovery helped scientists to identify where the "SNC" meteorite suite had originated, and that we actually possessed Martian samples. This meteorite has been allocated to 205 scientists for research and 5,298.435 g of sample is available.

Funk, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS2017

NASA Computational Case Study: Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting

The need for faster, more efficient algorithms is an important aspect of scientific computing. Generally, scientists are only exposed to computational issues that arise in their field. Thus, collaboration between a numerical analyst and a scientist is becoming necessary for scientific computing. The purpose of this case study is to expose computer scientists to processes that an astronomer would use to obtain useful results from raw data. For example, astronomers are interested in determining the properties of galaxies and measuring changes in those properties as a function of time throughout cosmic history. To do so, they use certain models that are designed and refined over time via observations at different wavelengths of the light spectrum. The process of matching these models with observed data from studying celestial bodies is referred to as Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) fitting. In this case study, we learn how to perform the SED fit. This process requires knowledge of both the astronomical and computational issues involved when fitting flux, the total energy from a source as seen from Earth, to a set of physical templates. Once a fit is complete, one can classify the source and estimate a number of physical parameters. The goal is to demonstrate how the computer science skill set can be used in the scientific community and to possibly improve one or more of the computational aspects of this problem. The following provides some background on the astronomy issues, including information on the spectral energy distribution and related physical parameters, and the computational issues, including the fitting procedure..

modeling↗
NASA NTRS2018

Early Earth and Rocky Extrasolar Planet Characterization

Scientists are currently designing instruments, telescopes, and spacecraft to search for evidence of life beyond Earth. This search for life beyond Earth comes with an expectation to detect life that is different than the life found on modern-day Earth. But scientists will also be expected to provide compelling proof behind any claims that we are not alone. These two expectations are seemingly at odds with each other, because it will be easiest to provide compelling evidence for life when we have a deep understanding of the life we are looking at.The study of Earth history provides a means to reconcile this tension. Different periods of Earth history present us with biospheres that are dramatically different from modern-day Earth, but for which we have abundant data. This informs our understanding of habitability, because of the variety of global chemical and climatic conditions in Earth history for which we know life has thrived. The study of Earth history also informs our understanding of how to detect life; as the global influences of life have completely changed, so have the detectable features of Earth's biosphere.The appreciation of our home planet as a tightly coupled system also provides us top-level lessons for how to search for an even broader set of biospheres with a wider variety of detectable features. The study of Earth history has taught us that life is a both a function of and critical forcing on the planetary environment. Numerical models of these interactions can by driven by our understanding of Earth history, and be validated against the geological and geochemical data. These models can then be applied to a wider variety of planetary conditions. This will help scientists determine what kinds of life are possible, and eventually help them recognize and confirm the presence of life on rocky planets around other stars.

Domagal-Goldman, Shawn D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

The Importance of Contamination Knowledge - Insights into Mars Sample Return

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), in Houston, TX (henceforth Curation Office) manages the curation of all past, present, and future extraterrestrial samples returned by NASA missions and shared collections from international partners, preserving their integrity for future scientific study while providing the samples to the international community in a fair and unbiased way. The Curation Office also curates all reference and witness materials for each mission (e.g., flight and non-flight hardware coupons; lubricants; non-flight, flight-like, and flown witness plates). These reference and witness materials provide the scientific community with the fundamental ability to reconstruct the contamination/alteration history of the sample collection through the course of the mission, with the overall goal of strengthening the scientific conclusions drawn from the study of returned materials. The information gained from characterizing the physical, biological, inorganic, and organic chemical properties of reference and witness materials is defined as the Contamination Knowledge (CK) of the sample collection. Unlike the data collected for Contamination Control (CC) and Planetary Protection (PP), CK is exclusively concerned with preserving reference and witness materials for study by future scientists upon sample return. Although CC and PP data collected for sample integrity and forward contamination purposes can be complementary to CK, they are two separate data sets with distinct objectives. A robust collection of samples for CK is necessary to allow the extraterrestrial material in a returned sample to be distinguished from terrestrial contamination. Traditionally CK is utilized by sample scientists in order to accomplish the mission’s scientific objectives, however this information can also be utilized by the Office of Planetary Protection to help evaluate the presence of any back contamination. Mars 2020, the first phase of a potential multipart Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign, is expected to contribute to NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Science Goals by filling in knowledge gaps concerning: 1) the existence of past or present life on Mars, 2) the past and present climate of Mars, 3) the geology of Mars, and 4) hazards associated with human exploration of Mars. Although there is debate concerning which samples will best answer these questions, the necessity for proper sample blanks is well-understood. The CC and PP requirements, driven by the restricted Class V mission designation, are the most stringent of any sample return mission in recent history. The extremely low levels of allowable terrestrial contamination on the spacecraft and rover can complicate these analyses given the detection limits of current analytical instrumentation, especially in the case of biological contamination. By collecting and curating unanalyzed samples specifically for CK, future sample scientists will not be relegated to: 1) relying on data collected using possibly obsolete tools and techniques for return sample blanks, or 2) using remnants of extracted and/or cultured samples from ATLO (Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations), which could be incompatible with the desired experimental endpoints or state-of-the-art techniques available at the time of sample return.The addition of biological experimental endpoints to a sample return campaign’s objectives broadens the requisite range in preservation environments (e.g. inert ultra-pure nitrogen gaseous environment at 18 degrees Centigrade versus less than or equal to minus 80 degrees Centigrade) and types of CK samples. As a result, the Curation Office will also curate the following CK samples at less than or equal to minus 80 degrees Centigrade for the Mars 2020 mission: 1) unanalyzed swabs and wipes in sterile containers, 2) all recirculation filters from the clean rooms used for sample and caching subsystem assembly and all filters from the laminar flow benches used to assemble sample intimate hardware, and 3) witness plates collecting airborne contamination within the assembly clean rooms. It has been Curation Office policy since the Apollo missions to preserve as many pristine samples as possible for future scientific research. Although CK is required to be collected for all stages of the MSR campaign, the CK for the Mars 2020 mission is the most critical for understanding contamination in the returned samples given the intimacy between the Martian samples and the Mars 2020 flight hardware. This presentation highlights the importance of CK for sample return missions as well as the traditional and novel types of CK samples required for a successful MSR campaign.

Harrington, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Climate Lecture 20: The Educational Global Climate Model (EdGCM)

Climate change will profoundly impact Earth's environmental health as well as the world's economic and geopolitical landscape over the coming decades. The impacts of climate change are, in fact, already beginning to be experienced and have the potential to affect every living plant and animal on Earth within decades. Given this reality, every citizen of this planet should have the right to knowledge about the Earth's climate system and have the option to adapt to, or help mitigate the profound changes that are coming. In addition, a portion of the workforce needs to be capable of interpreting and analyzing climate information because, since the impacts of climate change will be widespread, pervasive, and continue to change over time, more professions will be interacting with climate data. We are already at, or past, the point where educators and their students require access to the scientific and technological resources - computer models, data, and visualization tools - that scientists use daily in the study of climate change. Although scientists use many methods to study Earth's climate system, global climate models (GCMs) have become the primary tools for exploring the complex interactions between components of the entire system: atmosphere, oceans, and land. GCMs are used to make projections of future climate change, to simulate climates of the past, and even to help scientists look for life on other planets. Like any model, a GCM can help people evaluate actions before they are taken. Like Business Intelligence software, they are Climate Intelligence tools. Unfortunately, GCMs are black boxes to most people. A previous chapter in this book by Gary Russell, entitled Building a Climate Model, is one example of the growing body of literature aimed at the general public describing the inner workings of global climate models. This literature goes a long way toward explaining climate model fundamentals. However, it will not be enough to alleviate their black-box nature unless people are afforded hands-on, authentic learning experiences as well.

Chandler, Mark A.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Smart Handoffs: Preserving User Context Between Tools and Services Related to NASA's EOSDIS Data Archive

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) is tasked with archiving and distributing Earth Observation data across a range of disciplines, including atmospheric science, oceanography, land processes, natural hazards, solar radiance and even socioeconomic aspects relating to the environment. Given the breadth of disciplines and depth of data that EOSDIS provides, the efficient and intuitive discovery and usage of data by a scientist is of paramount importance. An effective data gathering workflow may involve switching from general use discovery tools to a more bespoke services designed specifically for the scientist's discipline. Providing concrete interoperability between such tools could vastly improve the efficiency of a scientist's workflow.

Analytics↗
NASA NTRS2019

Citizen Science Data Quality: The GLOBE Program

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program is an international program that provides a way for students and the public to contribute Earth system observations. Currently 122 countries, more than 40,000 schools, and 200,000 citizen scientists are participating in GLOBE. Since 1995, participants have contributed 195 million observations. Modes of data collection and data entry have evolved with technology over the lifetime of the program, including the launch of the GLOBE Observer mobile app in 2016 to broaden access and public participation in data collection. GLOBE must meet the data needs of a diverse range of stakeholders, from elementary school classrooms to scientists across the globe, including NASA scientists. Operational quality assurance measures include participant training, adherence to standardized data collection protocols, range and logic checks, and an approval process for photos submitted with an observation. In this presentation, we will discuss the current state of operational data QA/QC, as well as additional QA/QC processes recently explored and future directions.

Amos, Helen↗
NASA NTRS2019

Preface to the Special Collection: Recollections in Space Physics

Space Physics is a comparatively young scientific discipline, tightly linked to the era of satellite based investigations and the discoveries that came with it. As such, we as a community are fortunate to have met, been taught and mentored by, and even become friends with, many of those who were around to witness the birth of, and in many cases establish, our field. Each of these "Pioneers" have remarkable stories to tell. These accounts from the dawn of the space age provide a glimpse into that era of scientific discovery and are an important part of our collective history that deserve to be shared and commemorated. These are stories of perseverance, ingenuity, luck, and sometimes failure. We are fortunate to live in an era in which these distinguished scientists are still with us and able to share their experiences.To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), we have solicited a special collection of recollection papers to memorialize these experiences. This is not the first such effort to capture these stories. In 1994 (Vol. 99, No. A10, pp. 19,099-19,212) and again in 1996 (Vol. 101, No. A5, pp. 10,477-10,585) JGRSpace Physics published special sections entitled, "Pioneers of Space Physics," in celebration of AGU's 75th anniversary. Later, in 1997, Gilmore and Spreiter (1997) added a set of recollection papers on the discovery of the magnetosphere. Together, these papers containing personal accounts from the pioneers of the space age covered the period of roughly 1958-1967.It is our great honor to present retrospective papers from several of our distinguished colleagues who contributed significantly to the explosion in understanding of space physics and aeronomy that occurred from roughly 1967-1980. We chose to start at the end of the previous set of recollections and cover the decade of the 1970s, during which our field greatly expanded. It is also a time in which the second generation of space scientists entered the field and made foundational discoveries that continue to define our discipline.As with the previous papers, we asked the authors to "recount some of the events leading to the emergence of space physics and to put the events into a professional as well as personal perspective." (Gombosi et al.,1994). The authors of this special collection of recollections were selected following the same guidelines as the previous efforts. We started from a long list of senior colleagues and narrowed the list to roughly two dozen distinguished scientists based on discipline and geographic balance. Some of our colleagues, when asked, felt they would be unable to devote the time or energy to such a recollection and declined. Sadly,in the intervening 25 years since the original effort, some of our colleagues who were most active during the early years of the space age have passed. Therefore, this new special collection, 25 years after the first one, is timely with the AGU centennial celebrations, but late in fully capturing the stories of the pioneers of space physics. This is unfortunate and we encourage future editors of this journal to commission specialsections of legacy perspectives with a faster cadence than a quarter of a century.

Kepko, Emil L.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Laboratory For Atmospheres 1996 Annual Report

A broad and vigorous science program in NASA is vital for the advancement of knowledge through space research.Scientists at NASA in collaboration with outside scientists play a key role in conceiving new space missions, providing mission requirements, and carrying out research oriented towards explaining the behavior of Earth's and other planetary systems. NASA scientists also supply outside scientists with technical assistance and scientific data.The Laboratory for Atmospheres serves as the focal point of a broad theoretical and experimental research program. The goal of the program is to study all aspects of the atmospheres of the Earth and other planets, including their structural, dynamical, radiative, and chemical properties. The Laboratory is one of four science laboratories of the at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The Laboratory is located in Greenbelt, MD along with the and the. , located in New York, NY, is the fourth science Laboratory in the Directorate. The Directorate also includes the Global Change Data Center and the Space Data and Computing Division (SDCD). The GSFC is the lead center for science and management of the, which is one of the four NASA enterprises. Earth Sciences Directorate Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes The Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE)This report is a general statement of the purpose and philosophy of the Laboratory and of its role within NASA. It also includes a broad description of the research areas; information on human resources, scientific interactions, and outreach activities with the outside community; and a selection of the major accomplishments achieved in the Laboratory in calendar year 1996.

Steven E. Platnick↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Students Planting Research Of Use To Space (SPROUTS) Networking and Engagement of Interns at Kennedy Space Center

While Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has had summer interns in the life sciences for many years, beginning in 2016, the internship program was re-envisioned. Rather than having many interns in the summer with numerous innovative small projects created primarily for this purpose, the current model is to offer internship opportunities every semester (Spring, Summer, and Fall), so that research is continuous and sustained. Since 2016 we have had 64 internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of space crop production and microgravity simulation support. Some students have participated in more than one opportunity, so 52 separate individuals have participated in this program. While interns primarily worked with individual mentors on a main project, most also worked on group projects with other interns or developed smaller secondary projects on their own initiative. In addition, all interns participated in a weekly Lunch, Learn, and Discuss seminar series where they were encouraged to present their research, learn from scientists at KSC, and engage with members of the space life sciences community. When the face-to-face spring internship of 2020 ended prematurely, we resumed the weekly seminar series as a virtual event, and this led to the concept of engaging former interns. Current and former interns were invited to participate in the on-going virtual series, and 46 asked to be included on the mailing list. Our current seminar series involves remote seminars or hosted discussions from contacts within and outside of the agency, and engages a large network of current scientists and former interns with an weekly participation averaging 40-50 people. Speakers include experts from industry, academia, and other space agencies working on topics of interest to KSC space life science researchers. In addition, this series has served as a brain trust and brainstorming mechanism for KSC scientists to invite and discuss new ideas and concepts. The advent of remote work and virtual platforms has allowed us to engage with interns in a new way that will continue as future interns are integrated into this network of individuals interested in space research. This work is funded by NASA’s Space Biology Program.

Internships↗
NASA NTRS2020

Building a standardized Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) framework for Mars

We advocate that the Decadal Survey recommends the NASA Science Mission Directorate to develop a rigorous Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) framework for Mars, to optimize future atmospheric observations. Atmospheric conditions on Mars are a potential hazard source for landing missions. Errors in the estimates of atmospheric density profiles, inadequate knowledge of wind vertical structure and dust concentration as a function of height are likely causes of uncertainty at the landing site on the order of kilometers. An operational real-time weather forecasting capability for Mars would reduce such uncertainties, carrying enormous benefits to future robotic missions, and would be an invaluable prerequisite for human missions.A real-time forecasting capability relies upon three fundamental components: a critical mass of observing systems, a data assimilation system (DAS), and a global forecast model. The DAS allows the model to ingest the data effectively, optimizing the observational information content,and transforming them into a gridded representation of the atmosphere at a given time, called an ‘analysis’. The analysis is the best estimate of the atmospheric state for that time, and also represents a set of ‘initial conditions’ from which a global model can be initialized, to predict a future state of the atmosphere. The connection between analysis and forecast represents the foundation of modern weather forecasting. However, from the point of view of a forecast system,not all observations are equally impactful, partially because of the problem of “observational error correlation”, one important research topic in data assimilation development. For the Earth, partly due to the spontaneous and deregulated development of observations and forecast capabilities worldwide for more than half a century,the use of observations in contemporary operational forecast systems is suboptimal, with many potentially useful data being underutilized. On the contrary, Mars atmospheric scientists are in the unique situation of designing the next-generation observing systems by learning from the experience gathered on the Earth, so as to assure that the future instruments are specifically optimized to give the maximum benefit to a future weather forecast capability.An immensely powerful tool that has been firmly established by atmospheric scientists on the Earth is represented by a properly designed OSSE framework. A realistic OSSE framework cannot only quantify the benefit of future data types, be them surface based or space borne, but can also help design and optimize an entire observational network. Furthermore, OSSEs can provide deep insights into an atmosphere’s behavior, by addressing conceptual problems of its intrinsic predictability and delineating the regions or features of the atmosphere which are more sensitive to additional data and would benefit from a denser sampling. The difficulties posed by OSSEs are fundamentally different for Earth and Mars. For Earth, the enormous data volume imposes a tremendous constraint on any innovation in the observing systems: it is very hard for a single sensor to impact the skill. For Mars, the problem is the opposite: almost any additional instrument will exert some impact. However, OSSEs can help to evaluate the cost/benefit for every sensor and suggest optimal data configuration and density.The purpose of this white paper is to provide an introduction to a rigorously designed OSSE framework, explain the underlying problems and challenges, and engage the Mars community to collaborate with Earth Atmospheric scientists in order to develop a joint-OSSE framework for Mars with the largest consensual basis possible. An OSSE infrastructure would increase the understanding of the Martian atmosphere, would help NASA to optimize instrument specifications and orbit choice, providing the maximium benefit for a given expenditure of resources, and could even help establishing a roadmap for a future real-time weather forecasting capability.

Oreste Reale↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Students Planting Research Of Use To Space (SPROUTS) Networking and Engagement of Interns at Kennedy Space Center

Beginning in 2016, the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) internship program for life sciences was re-envisioned. Rather than hosting interns in the summer only with numerous innovative small projects, the current model is to offer internship opportunities every semester, so that research is continuous and sustained. Since 2016 we have had 64 internship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in space crop production and microgravity simulation. 52 separate individuals have participated in this program, with some participating in more than one term. While interns primarily worked with individual mentors on a main project, most also worked on group projects or developed smaller secondary projects on their own initiative. Additionally, interns participated in a weekly Lunch, Learn, and Discuss seminar series where they presented their research, learned from scientists at KSC, and engaged with members of the space life sciences community. When the face-to-face spring 2020 internship ended prematurely, the weekly seminar series continued as a virtual event, which led to the concept of engaging former interns. Current and former interns were invited to participate in the on-going virtual series, and 46 asked to be included on the mailing list. Our current seminar series involves remote seminars from contacts within and outside of the agency, and engages a large network of current scientists and former interns with weekly participation averaging ~40 people. Speakers include experts from industry, academia, and other space agencies working on topics of interest to KSC researchers. This series has also served as a brainstorming platform for KSC scientists to discuss new ideas and concepts and invite feedback. Remote work and virtual platforms have allowed engagement in a new way that will continue as future interns are integrated into this network of individuals interested in space research. This work is funded by NASA’s Space Biology Program.

Space Crop Production↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

GL4U: Training the next generation of bioinformaticians, one omics datatype at a time

Spaceflight modifies gene expression in every organism examined to date, including humans. Understanding how these gene expression changes affect physiology is crucial for the development of countermeasures to enable long-duration manned missions. NASA’s GeneLab project provides researchers open access to multi-omics data, including genetic and gene expression data, from spaceflight experiments that can be mined to understand the effects of spaceflight on biological systems. To ensure new knowledge generation through data re-use, it is important to maximize the number of scientists who utilize GeneLab data. Training students on the GeneLab platform is the best way to create long-term adopters of this NASA database and its tools. Turning students into future instructors and advocates will also accelerate the dissemination of these data and tools to the broader scientific community. Therefore, in collaboration with the GeneLab Educational Working Group (EWG), GeneLab has created GeneLab for Colleges and Universities (GL4U). GL4U provides space biology-relevant training in bioinformatics to the next generation of scientists through direct and indirect approaches. The GeneLab team plans to host two annual data processing bootcamps, one for college-level students (direct) and one for college educators (indirect – training of trainers), in which participants learn to analyze GeneLab’s space-relevant omics data. During the bootcamp, educators will receive materials and training to enable them to run the bootcamp at their home institutions or alternatively to adapt the content to implement within existing courses, thereby extending the reach of this initiative. The GL4U direct training pilot program was conducted in June 2021 in collaboration with USRA and San Jose State University (SJSU). During the pilot, SJSU students participated in a week-long bootcamp consisting of space biology-specific lectures and hands-on instruction using Jupyter Notebooks to analyze RNA sequence data. This pilot demonstrates the capacity of GL4U for training young scientists and encouraging data re-use.

Jonathan Matthew Galazka↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Working at NASA as a (Molecular) Biologist...

Trained as a biologist, I landed my first job at NASA as a mission scientist on the Rodent Research project. As a mission scientist, I led science activities associated with development, flight, and post-flight analysis of rodent research missions on the ISS in consultation with project engineers, operational specialists, mission PI(s), and mission Implementation Partner(s). I also assessed the feasibility of scientific experiments as a technical and scientific expert in rodent research on the ISS. Eager to learn more about the molecular changes that occur as a result of spaceflight exposure, I transitioned to the NASA GeneLab project where I eventually became the data processing lead. NASA’s GeneLab helps scientists understand how the fundamental building blocks of life – DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites – change from exposure to the space environment including microgravity and cosmic radiation exposure. GeneLab does so by providing fully coordinated epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data (collectively known as omics data) alongside essential metadata describing each spaceflight and space-relevant experiment. In order to maximize the intelligibility of these data, particularly for users with limited bioinformatics knowledge, GeneLab has started processing and analyzing these datasets to generate differential gene expression data and identify biological and physiological pathways that are dysregulated as a result of spaceflight. The user interface was designed to be accessible to a broad variety of users, including high school and college students who can use it to learn about omics data analysis and space biology. During the CA Space Grant NASA Panel event, I will provide an overview of my work at NASA on both the Rodent Research and GeneLab projects and will conclude by providing resources for opportunities to work with GeneLab and NASA at large.

Amanda M Saravia-Butler↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

My Journey to NASA and role as a (Molecular) Biologist…

My journey to NASA started in undergrad, where I performed microbiology research and became hooked in the STEM fields. From there I earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Mayo Graduate school where I performed Pancreatic Cancer research and then went on to perform postdoctoral research in Developmental Biology at the University of Miami. Trained as a biologist, I landed my first job at NASA as a mission scientist on the Rodent Research project. As a mission scientist, I led science activities associated with development, flight, and post-flight analysis of rodent research missions on the ISS in consultation with project engineers, operational specialists, mission PI(s), and mission Implementation Partner(s). I also assessed the feasibility of scientific experiments as a technical and scientific expert in rodent research on the ISS. Eager to learn more about the molecular changes that occur as a result of spaceflight exposure, I transitioned to the NASA GeneLab project where I eventually became the data processing lead. NASA’s GeneLab helps scientists understand how the fundamental building blocks of life – DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites – change from exposure to the space environment including microgravity and cosmic radiation exposure. GeneLab does so by providing fully coordinated epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data (collectively known as omics data) alongside essential metadata describing each spaceflight and space-relevant experiment. To maximize the intelligibility of these data, particularly for users with limited bioinformatics knowledge, GeneLab has started processing and analyzing these datasets to generate differential gene expression data and identify biological and physiological pathways that are dysregulated as a result of spaceflight. The user interface was designed to be accessible to a broad variety of users, including high school and college students who can use it to learn about omics data analysis and space biology. During the CA Space Grant Women in STEM Panel event, I will provide an overview of my journey to NASA including my work at NASA on both the Rodent Research and GeneLab projects. I will conclude by providing resources for opportunities to work with GeneLab and NASA at large followed by links to programs designed specifically to engage women in STEM fields.

Amanda M Saravia-Butler↗