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NASA NTRS2022

Draft LunaNet Interoperability Specification

This document, along with its companion documents, provides the basis for a comprehensive set of requirements for operation of a lunar communications and navigation network capable of interoperating with other networks compliant with the Lunar Network (LunaNet). LunaNet will include Earth ground stations and orbiting spacecraft and will provide services to human exploration, lunar science, and space technology missions. LunaNet will start with a simple architecture of a few nodes to meet the needs of the early missions and evolve to meet the growing needs of a sustained lunar presence. All relay network services are not expected to be met by a single spacecraft, or node. The expectation is that the needs of users will be met through a combination of interoperable systems provided by NASA, international partners, and commercial providers. Interoperability across this network-of-networks can be achieved through negotiation of mutually-agreed-upon standards that will be reflected in this document and in the specifications defined by other participants in the cooperative lunar network. This document was written and reviewed by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

LunaNet↗
NASA NTRS2022

Clean Air Shower Curtain for Protection of Contamination Sensitive Telescopes on the Ariane 5 Launcher

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was successfully performed by Ariane 5 from French Guiana on December 25th 2021. The unique nature of the JWST mission led to various adaptations of the Ariane 5 launch system to fulfill stringent cleanliness and hygrometry requirements all along the launch preparation. JWST integration and test activities in the Final Assembly Building (BAF) had to be performed in ISO Class 7 equivalent conditions under Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) protection and monitoring. For this purpose, a dedicated air supply system equipped with Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) filters was installed in the umbilical mast. The fairing itself was specially sealed to protect the inner environment, and to, guarantee ISO Class 7, the BAF Composite Hall (BAF-HC) facilities were upgraded with a removable “Air Shower Curtain” (AShC) containment enclosure between the mobile platforms around JWST. The preparation of these Ariane 5 launch system adaptations started several years before the launch campaign with close cooperation and coordination between Arianespace, ArianeGroup, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This paper describes their specificities and addresses the challenges experienced to achieve the successful mission preparation.

Contamination Control, James Webb Space Telescope,↗
NASA NTRS2022

Clean Air Shower Curtain for Protection of Contamination Sensitive Telescopes on the Ariane 5 Launcher

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was successfully performed by Ariane 5 from French Guiana on December 25th 2021. The unique nature of the JWST mission led to various adaptations of the Ariane 5 launch system to fulfill stringent cleanliness and hygrometry requirements all along the launch preparation. JWST integration and test activities in the Final Assembly Building (BAF) had to be performed in ISO Class 7 equivalent conditions under Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) protection and monitoring. For this purpose, a dedicated air supply system equipped with Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) filters was installed in the umbilical mast. The fairing itself was specially sealed to protect the inner environment, and to, guarantee ISO Class 7, the BAF Composite Hall (BAF-HC) facilities were upgraded with a removable “Air Shower Curtain” (AShC) containment enclosure between the mobile platforms around JWST. The preparation of these Ariane 5 launch system adaptations started several years before the launch campaign with close cooperation and coordination between Arianespace, ArianeGroup, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This paper describes their specificities and addresses the challenges experienced to achieve the successful mission preparation.

Contamination Control, James Webb Space Telescope,↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Independent Reliability Assessment of the NASA GSFC Laser Transmitter for the LISA Program

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a partnership between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA to build a Gravitational Wave (GW) observatory. The observatory, which consists of a three-spacecraft constellation with a nominal separation of 2.5 million km between each spacecraft, provides a tool for scientists to directly detect gravitational waves generated from various astronomical phenomena in a waveband that is not accessible from Earth. NASA is developing laser transmitters as one of the potential US contributions to LISA. The NASA laser design leverages lessons learned from previous flight missions and included the latest technologies in photonics packaging and reliability engineering to ensure a laser lifetime of >16 years covering integration and test through a possible extended mission phase. As part of the laser development process, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) requested support from the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) to independently assess the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the LISA Laser System (LS). The independent assessment included the following tasks: (a) assess the design for weaknesses and suggest improvements to mitigate risks, (b) assess the laser reliability plan for weaknesses and suggest improvements to mitigate risks and improve effectiveness, and (c) assess the current redundancy plan on laser subsystems for weaknesses and suggest improvements to mitigate risks and improve effectiveness. The NESC team comprised of a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) and performed a 12-month review of every aspect of the laser design. We present the assessment findings and the current development progress of the LISA laser to meet the mission requirements with a delivery of a form, fit, and functional TRL6 laser to the LSIA mission by late 2023.

LISA↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Case Study of Meteoroid Fluence on a Mars Sample Return Mission

The Mars Sample Return Campaign must satisfy a Back Planetary Protection requirement that limits the risk of biological contamination of the Earth by Martian microbes. The Earth Re-turn Orbiter (ERO), being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will carry a Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS), which is being developed by NASA to retrieve orbiting samples (OS) from Mars orbit, surround them with two containment layers to create a Contained OS (COS), and transfer the COS to the Earth Entry System (EES), which will be re-leased by ERO to carry the samples through entry, descent and landing at the Utah Test and Training Range. Micrometeoroid impact damage to the Thermal Protection System (TPS) of the EES, which may occur at any time in the ERO mission, is recognized as a potential risk driver for loss of sample containment that needs to be rigorously assessed. A Micrometeoroid Protection System (MMPS) will be implemented to limit that risk. The MMPS consists of a shield covering the TPS called the Micrometeoroid Garage (MMG) and a system of cameras to inspect the TPS. An extensive study was performed by the CCRS Project in collaboration with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC)to assess the probability of damage to the MMG and TPS by meteoroids over the entire ERO mission. This included the computation of the meteoroid fluence on the MMG and directly on the TPS after EES separation, and assessment of damage to the MMG and TPS via hypervelocity impact tests, hydrocode simulations, and empirical damage prediction and ballistic limit equations (BLEs). The focus of this paper is the meteoroid fluence on the MMG.

micrometeoroid↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Making Better Use of Satellite Data: The Satellite Needs Working Group

The U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) initiated in 2016 the Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) to identify and communicate the Earth observation needs of U.S. federal agencies. The SNWG identifies such needs through a biennial survey followed by interviews and follow-up discussions by the satellite Earth data providers of the U.S. Government: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Solutions and services are identified that leverage current or upcoming satellite missions to meet the identified needs; implementation of services that are estimated to significantly increase the level of satisfaction of multiple U.S. agencies are funded by NASA. The SNWG process has resulted in the implementation of numerous services that have impacted operations of not only U.S. agencies but of academic and international institutions as well. Notable examples include the Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 project that leverages European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA satellite assets to generate a global, analysis-ready, surface reflectance product with a temporal resolution of two days; the Airborne Data Management Group that curates and provides access to relevant resources, information and data from existing and past NASA field campaigns; and the Dynamic Surface Water Extent product which consists of harmonized but independent water extents derived from both from optical and radar data. These and other products are hosted at the NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) for free and open access. The SNWG Management Office at NASA’s Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) manages the implementation of selected solutions and, importantly, NASA’s response to the needs of federal agencies through a Stakeholder Engagement Program. The impact of implemented services and solutions is hampered without efforts to build capacity around the use of the services. The Stakeholder Engagement Program ensures relevant training and outreach to SNWG agencies in collaboration with each solution implementation team.

remote sensing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Preparation for an Earth Independent Medical Operations Demonstration using the Tempus ALS™ Medical Device

NASA’s exploration-class missions have severe resource constraints, long return trip durations, significant communication delays and limited resupply opportunities. Validation on the International Space Station (ISS) of medical devices that fit within Earth-Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) systems is a necessary preparation step. Key features of an EIMO medical system include: 1) technologies that support the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of spaceflight medical events; 2) components that meet mass, volume, power and crew time/training constraints; 3) consideration of the medical skill level of the astronaut caregiver; 4) collection, storage and analysis of medical data within a central data architecture; and 5) incorporation of appropriate guidance and support tools that allow crew autonomy. The Human Research Program’s (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element and the Exploration Medical Integrated Product Team (XM-IPT) are planning an ISS technology demonstration to determine the feasibility of including a multifunctional medical device into an EIMO medical system. Demonstration Preparations: The Tempus ALS (Remote Diagnostic Technologies, Ltd., Philips Corp., Farnborough, UK) is a commercial-off-the-shelf medical device, with United States Food and Drug Administration clearance and is Conformité Européene marked in Europe. Several thousand units have been sold and are successfully operating in pre-hospital and in remote settings, such as by European Space Agency (ESA) flight surgeons and some of NASA’s commercial partners during post-flight medical operations. The Tempus ALS provides vital sign measurements such as blood pressure, electrocardiograms, heart rate, end tidal CO2, respiration rate, pulse oximetry and temperature. The device has ultrasound imaging and video laryngoscopy capabilities and has automatic or manual defibrillation modes for treating cardiac arrhythmias. It includes procedural guidance capabilities to assist in the collection of the vital sign measurements and it has various data transmission and report generation features. NASA’s HRP ExMC and XM-IPT are partnering with the ESA to demonstrate the Tempus ALS on ISS, with ESA manifesting the Tempus ALS and its accessories. ESA will compare performance of periodic health status exams and medical contingency drills performed nominally and with the Tempus ALS. NASA’s EIMO demonstration will include the use of Tempus ALS to diagnose a complaint of abdominal pain under increasingly independent circumstances. The caregiver must assess the present illness, collect vital sign measurements, and perform an abdominal ultrasound, under one of three communication situations, including real-time, with a several second delay and with a delay on the order of minutes. Expected Outcomes: Information will be gained about the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of using a multifunctional, all-in-one, medical device for medical diagnosis instead of separate devices with singular functionalities. Information will also be collected about performance differences as communication delays increase and available ground support decreases. Gaining this understanding will allow for further development of exploration medical system capabilities which takes the EIMO construct into consideration.

Beth Lewandowski↗
NASA NTRS2023

Assimilation of Blended Satellite Soil Moisture Data Products to Further Improve Noah-MP Model Skills

Microwave satellite remote sensing has enabled observations of soil moisture (SM) at the global scale, and multiple SM data products have been developed in the past decades. However, single-sensor-based measurements are insufficient for continuous spatiotemporal coverage. In the context of its climate program, the Climate Change Initiative, the European Space Agency (ESA) has developed robust, long term, global scale, multi instrument satellite derived time series of climate data record for key component of the climate system, including soil moisture (CCI), while the Soil Moisture Operational Product System (SMOPS) was specifically developed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to offer the real time blended SM datasets through merging all available individual products. Before combining, all individual SM data ingested into both SMOPS and CCI blended products are scaled to Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) 0-10 cm SM climatology. Benefiting from land surface model evolution and the availability of high-quality forcing data, GLDAS has become more comprehensive to track SM changes and dynamic trends. The development of GLDAS and the scaling procedure in CCI and SMOPS leave an open scientific and operational question: do the blended satellite SM data products have added value comparing to the GLDAS product? This study clearly reveals that both CCI and SMOPS can provide the reliable SM observations with independent information, although their climatology matches well with GLDAS. Relative to assimilation of GLDAS 0-10 cm SM data, Noah-MP model can be further improved by assimilating the blended satellite SM observations with respect to the quality-controlled in situ measurements. The strong consistency of results presented in this paper proves that the blended satellite SM data products are more useful than the GLDAS product in terms of improving Noah-MP model performance.

Jifu Yin↗
NASA NTRS2023

New York Ecological Conservation: Evaluating Agricultural Conservation Easement Impact Using Earth Observations to Examine Avoided Soil Carbon Loss to Development

Farmland provides ecosystems and communities with services ranging from habitat conservation to food security. As total U.S. farmland continues to decline, agricultural lands near urban areas are especially vulnerable. Our project partners—Finger Lakes Land Trust, Genesee Land Trust, and Saratoga Preserving Land and Nature (PLAN)—can use study results to better profile farmland vulnerability, issuing conservation easements to protect maximum acreage in Saratoga County and the Finger Lakes Region of New York. Multiple existing studies effectively use remote sensing imagery to analyze historical land cover and forecast future change. This study examined soil carbon stocks and land cover change to estimate avoided soil carbon loss. We also predicted farmland vulnerability. We completed these analyses using European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA Earth observations that include Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Landsat 9 OLI-2, Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI), and Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) for nighttime lights data that aided in the land change model analysis. We determined that the conversion of agriculture to development from 1990 to 2022 occurred at rates of 0.91% (Finger Lakes) and 7% (Saratoga). Urban development is predicted to increase surrounding urban centers through 2030 and 2050. We also estimate that between 26.5 and 348,101 kilotons (Finger Lakes) and 3.7 and 58,006 kilotons (Saratoga) of soil carbon losses have been avoided through agricultural easements. Findings from this study will support our partners in determining agricultural conservation easement benefits and prioritizing the acquisition of future easement sites.

Agriculture↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Development of Ballistic Limit Equations in Support of the Mars Sample Return Mission

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are currently planning the Mars Sample Return campaign, comprising missions whose combined objective is to bring the first samples of Mars material back to Earth for detailed study. At present, the NASA-ESA plan is to return samples to Earth using three missions to be launched over the next 5-10 years. The final component, the Earth Entry System (EES), is intended to bring the Mars samples back to the Earth, where it will land following safe entry through the Earth's atmosphere. There is a concern regarding the risk of biological contamination of the Earth’s biosphere from returned Martian samples if, for example, the structural integrity of the EES were compromised during its return mission due to a perforation of a critical surface resulting from a high-speed meteoroid impact. To assess the risks associated with such an event, NASA is developing equations that predict the damage that various EES elements will sustain as a result of such an impact, as well as equations that predict whether or not a particular system will sustain a critical failure following such an impact. In this paper, we review recent progress in the development of such equations for the EES forebody and the EES aftbody, the two elements of the EES that are most exposed to the meteoroid environment. Limitations of the BLEs are also discussed, which can also be used to further inform the next steps in the BLE development.

William P. Schonberg↗
NASA NTRS2023

LunaNet Position, Navigation, and Timing Services and Signal, Enabling the Future of Lunar Exploration

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group established in 2018 the 3rd edition of the Global Exploration Roadmap (ISECG, 2018) that aims to achieve Mars human surface activities and identifies the exploration of the Moon as a critical intermediate step. A supplement covering updates on surface exploration scenarios was released in 2020 (ISECG, 2020). The Artemis Accords (NASA Artemis, 2020), first signed in October 2020, now includes over two dozen nations, in an agreement on the principles for best practices, including interoperability. September 2022 introduced the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Moon to Mars Objectives highlighting recurring tenets of collaboration with international and industry partners and interoperability, along with infrastructure objectives for Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). The successful Artemis 1 mission paved the way to the ambitious plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Just a few months after Artemis 1 launch (NASA, 2022), iSpace HAKUTO-R Mission1 (iSpace, 2022) launched, being the first-ever commercial mission, launched by a commercial launch service provider, aiming to land on the lunar surface. The NASA Artemis programme plans initial crewed landings and traverses in 2025, supported by the Lunar Gateway, followed by regular launches to build the lunar systems (NASA Artemis Plan, 2020), (NASA, 2022). NASA’s contracts with Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS, (NASA, n.d.)) to deliver science and technology to the Moon, with launches starting in November 2023. The European Space Agency (ESA) Argonaut (ESA Argonaut, 2022) programme plans to have recurrent missions to bring payloads to the lunar surface, supporting lunar exploration. These are just a few examples of planned missions that will target the Earth’s natural satellite in the next decade, with forecasts of tens of missions per year (NSR, 2022), (Euroconsult, 2020). The large number of missions and the complexity of landing and operating are expected to demand a change of paradigm from the current Earth-based communication and navigation services. In recent years, several agencies have proposed to deploy cislunar communication and navigation services to support lunar missions (NASA LCRNS, 2022), (ESA Moonlight, 2022), (JAXA, 2022)). All these proposals seek to deploy service-providing satellites in lunar orbit to ease the user missions’ operations. The PNT services objective is to support all types of lunar users (e.g.: orbiters, landers, ascent vehicles, and surface crew and rovers). At the same time, NASA and ESA initiated an effort to define a common framework to ensure interoperability among different service providers: the LunaNet framework. The LunaNet Interoperability Specification (NASA and ESA, 2023) covers communication, PNT, and auxiliary services, by establishing a common set of requirements to ensure interoperability. This conference contribution will present the LunaNet PNT services, focusing on the Lunar Augmented Navigation Service (LANS) that resembles the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) concept on Earth: constellations of satellites broadcasting a radio navigation signal synchronized to a common reference clock, with augmentations to accommodate users’ needs in an environment away from Earth. This includes a description of the high-level LANS concept and the basic principles defined to ensure interoperability. In addition, it will describe the common S-band PNT Augmented Forward Signal (AFS) and common messages to be adopted for compliance with the LunaNet framework, and the justification of the selected approach.

LunaNet↗
NASA NTRS2023

Lunanet Position, Navigation, and Timing Services and Signals, Enabling the Future of Lunar Exploration

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group established in 2018 the 3rd edition of the Global Exploration Roadmap (ISECG, 2018) that aims to achieve Mars human surface activities and identifies the exploration of the Moon as a critical intermediate step. A supplement covering updates on surface exploration scenarios was released in 2020 (ISECG, 2020). The Artemis Accords (NASA Artemis, 2020), first signed in October 2020, now includes over two dozen nations, in an agreement on the principles for best practices, including interoperability. In September 2022 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) introduced the Moon to Mars Objectives highlighting recurring tenets of collaboration with international and industry partners and interoperability, along with infrastructure objectives for Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). The successful Artemis 1 mission paved the way to the ambitious plans to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Just a few months after Artemis 1 launch (NASA, 2022), iSpace HAKUTO-R Mission1 (iSpace, 2022) launched, being the first-ever mission launched by a commercial launch service provider aiming to land on the lunar surface. The NASA Artemis program plans initial crewed landings and surface traverses in 2025, supported by the Lunar Gateway. Regular launches will follow to build the lunar systems for a sustained presence as presented in the Artemis Plan (NASA Artemis Plan, 2020), (NASA, 2022). NASA’s contracts with commercial providers through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS, (NASA, n.d.)) will deliver science and technology demonstration missions to the Moon starting in November 2023. The European Space Agency (ESA) Argonaut (ESA Argonaut, 2022) program plans to have recurrent missions to bring payloads to the lunar surface, supporting lunar exploration. These are just a few examples of planned missions that will target Earth’s natural satellite in the next decade, with forecasts of tens of missions per year (NSR, 2022), (Euroconsult, 2020). The large number of missions and the complexity of landing and operating are expected to demand a change of paradigm from the current Earth-based communication and navigation services, that may be combined with onboard sensors. In recent years, several agencies have proposed to deploy cislunar communication and navigation services to support lunar missions (NASA LCRNS, 2022), (ESA Moonlight, 2022), (JAXA, 2022)). All these proposals seek to deploy service-providing satellites in lunar orbit to ease the user missions’ operations. The PNT services objective is to support all types of lunar users (e.g.: orbiters, landers, ascent vehicles, surface crew, rovers, and deployed science payloads). At the same time, NASA and ESA initiated an effort to define a common framework to ensure interoperability among different service providers: the LunaNet framework. The LunaNet Interoperability Specification (NASA and ESA, 2023) covers communication, PNT, and auxiliary services, by establishing a common set of requirements to ensure interoperability. This conference contribution will present the LunaNet PNT services, focusing on the Lunar Augmented Navigation Service (LANS) that would be provided by a system that resembles the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) concept on Earth: constellations of satellites broadcasting a radio navigation signal synchronized to a common reference clock, with augmentations to accommodate users’ needs in an environment away from Earth. This paper includes a description of the high-level LANS concept, and the basic principles defined to ensure interoperability. In addition, it will describe the common S-band PNT Augmented Forward Signal (AFS) and common messages to be adopted for compliance with the LunaNet framework, and the justification of the selected approach.

LunaNet↗
NASA NTRS2023

The Planetary Protection Strategy of Mars Sample Return’s Earth Return Orbiter Mission

The Mars Sample Return campaign aims to use three flight missions and one ground element to safely bring rock cores, regolith and atmospheric samples from the surface of Mars to Earth to answer key questions about the geologic and climate history of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. Since its landing in Jezero Crater in 2021, the first mission, NASA’s Mars 2020, has collected a number of samples on the crater floor and on the delta using the Perseverance rover. Subsequent missions would recover the sealed sample tubes, launch them into Mars orbit, and transport them back to Earth. The ground element would be a high-containment facility that would isolate and protect the samples during initial sample characterization, which would include sample safety assessments and time-sensitive scientific investigations. These elements are currently in the planning and design stages of development, and represent an international effort of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and many industry partners. The work presented here provides an overview of the planetary protection strategy of the third flight mission, the ESA-led Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), which hosts the NASA-provided Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS). ERO-CCRS would capture the container with up to 30 sealed tubes previously put in Martian orbit, contain them in redundant containers to ensure that no potentially hazardous Mars particles are released, and return them to Earth through an entry vehicle. Both NASA and ESA policies comply with the United Nations’ Outer Space Treaty by planning to protect Earth’s biosphere from any potential adverse effects from material returned from solar system bodies beyond the Earth-Moon system. In the conduct of Mars Sample Return, the two agencies have agreed to apply approaches consistent with their own planetary protection standards to the campaign elements each provides.

Mars Sample Return↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Planetary Protection Strategy of Mars Sample Return Earth Return Orbiter Mission

The Mars Sample Return campaign aims to use three flight missions and one ground element to safely bring rock cores, regolith and atmospheric samples from the surface of Mars to Earth to answer key questions about the geologic and climate history of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. Since its landing in Jezero Crater in 2021, the first mission, NASA’s Mars 2020, has collected a number of samples on the crater floor and on the delta using the Perseverance rover. Subsequent missions would recover the sealed sample tubes, launch them into Mars orbit, and transport them back to Earth. The ground element would be a high-containment facility that would isolate and protect the samples during initial sample characterization, which would include sample safety assessments and time-sensitive scientific investigations. These elements are currently in the planning and design stages of development, and represent an international effort of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and many industry partners. The work presented here provides an overview of the Planetary Protection strategy of the third flight mission, the ESA-led Earth Return Orbiter (ERO), which hosts the NASA-provided Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS). ERO-CCRS would detect and capture the container with up to 30 sealed tubes previously put in Martian orbit, contain them in redundant containers to ensure that no potentially hazardous Mars particles are released, and return them to Earth through an entry vehicle. Both NASA and ESA policies comply with the United Nations’ Outer Space Treaty by planning to protect Earth’s biosphere from any potential adverse effects from material returned from solar system bodies beyond the Earth-Moon system. In the conduct of Mars Sample Return, the two agencies have mutually agreed to apply approaches consistent with their own planetary protection standards to the campaign elements they each provides.

mars sample return↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The NASA Open Science Data Repository: Biomedical Fair Data, Analysis Tools, User Communities, Publications, and Discoveries for Deep Space Missions

Increased biomedical risks and challenges associated with deep space missions require new knowledge discovery, new health countermeasures, and development of novel ecosystems, life support, crop production, and biomedical support capabilities. To meet NASA’s Moon to Mars strategic program goals for Human and Biological Sciences, findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable (FAIR), and maximally open-access data is going to be required to enable humanity to thrive in deep space. Indeed, this cornerstone perspective on FAIR and maximally open access data was also recommended in the recent 2023-2032 Decadal Survey from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) is a maximally open access and FAIR database, and meets various scientific, technical, and operational spaceflight needs. It offers public users and submitters the ability to upload, download, search, share, analyze, and visualize data across ‘omics, physiological, phenotypic, behavioral, bioimaging, video, and environmental monitoring telemetry datasets. OSDR includes NASA GeneLab, NASA Ames Life Sciences Data Archive, and the NASA Biological Institutional Scientific Collection. OSDR has >455 studies with datasets from model organisms and non-NASA human astronauts. There are ~12 datasets from the Inspiration 4 (I4) mission, spanning metagenomics, comprehensive metabolic panels, clonal hematopoiesis, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and cytokine panels. In the interest of data privacy, two I4 datasets have raw FASTQ and FASTA files relating to the epitranscriptome, and a new request feature is live in OSDR (with a backend review process established) which was developed based on industry norms. OSDR also recently began a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) to scientifically curate and make available >200 terabytes of human and model organism space-relevant data. The OSDR submission portal is designed to ingest and curate ~25 ‘omics assay data types, and ~50 physiological-phenotypic-imaging assay data types, spanning ultrasonography, micro-computed tomography, histology, morphometric photography, rebound tonometry, gait analysis, optical coherence tomography, novel object recognition, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry. A suite of analysis tools are available for OSDR users including: 1) an Environmental Data Application to compare radiation, CO2, relative humidity, temperature, and other telemetry across missions and subjects, 2) the RadLab database, a collaboration between NASA, ESA, the German and Italian Space Agencies, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which compiles radiation measurements relevant to human spaceflight and provides tools for accessing and manipulating the data, and 3) a Multi-study visualization tool which enables users to look across and combine GeneLab’s omics datasets across different experiments and missions. There are ~600 volunteer OSDR Analysis Working Group (AWG) members who: 1) provide feedback on scientific standards for reuse (subject and assay metadata; processing pipelines; dataset formats and uniformed structures for machine-readability), and 2) collaborate to mine-reuse OSDR data conducting scientific analysis. OSDR has enabled 60 publications as of September 2023, many directly from AWG collaborations most notably the Cell Press package in 2020. Lastly, there are at least 15 articles which mine OSDR data part of a package of ~50 articles across Nature Portfolio with research stemming from I4, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA Space Biology, and the NASA Human Research Program.

space biology↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gateway Integrated Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Overview and Status

The Gateway comprised of modules provided by commercial and international partners will be a lunar orbiting platform that is a critical element in the Moon to Mars architecture. Of the 4 modules that comprise the Gateway, the core Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is provided by the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module provided by NASA, and the International Habitat (I-Hab) provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the ECLSS provided by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA). These modules work together to provide pressure control, air revitalization, and air conditioning capabilities for the Gateway integrated habitable volumes and attached visiting vehicles during open hatch crewed operations. Individually, they maintain the internal atmosphere during the long periods of dormancy between crewed operations to support payload operations and ensure a safe environment when the crew returns. Additionally, NASA bolsters crew survivability by providing government furnished equipment (GFE) to support crew survival in the face of catastrophic hazards (such as fire or a cabin air leak) until the Gateway stack reaches a point in the orbit where crew can safely abort on Orion. This paper explains the key driving requirements, architecture, and development status of the Gateway ECLSS.

Gateway↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The NASA Open Science Data Repository: Biomedical Data, Analysis Tools, and Informatic Collaborations

Increased biomedical risks and challenges associated with deep space missions require knowledge discovery, health countermeasures, and biomedical support capabilities. Maximally open-access and reusable data is needed by developers, scientists, and engineers to develop these systems. The NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR) is a maximally open access and FAIR database (ie., findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable), and meets various scientific, technical, and operational needs. It offers users and submitters the ability to upload, download, search, share, analyze, cite, and visualize data across ‘omics, physiological, phenotypic, payload, hardware, behavioral, bioimaging, video, and environmental monitoring telemetry datasets. OSDR is an expanded database, based upon the successes of NASA GeneLab. OSDR has >460 studies with datasets covering model organisms to non-NASA human astronauts. There are ~12 datasets from the Inspiration 4 (I4) mission, spanning metagenomics, comprehensive metabolic panels, clonal hematopoiesis, spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and cytokine panels. In the interest of data privacy, two I4 datasets with raw files relating to the epitranscriptome, and a new request feature is live in OSDR (with a backend review process established) developed from industry norms. OSDR is collecting and curating biomedical human data from a new sub-orbital research flight and is open to more space life science/biomedical submissions from the international and commercial sectors. OSDR also recently began a collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) to collect and curate >200 terabytes of human and model organism data. The OSDR submission portal is designed to ingest and curate ~25 ‘omics and ~50 physiological-phenotypic-imaging assay data types. Tools available for OSDR users include: 1) an Environmental Data Application to compare radiation, CO2, relative humidity, temperature, and other telemetry across missions and subjects, 2) the RadLab database, a collaboration between NASA, ESA, the German and Italian Space Agencies, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and 3) a Multi-study visualization tool which enables users to look across and combine ‘omics datasets. There are ~600 volunteer OSDR Analysis Working Group (AWG) members providing feedback on scientific data/metadata standards and collaborating to mine-reuse OSDR in research. OSDR/GeneLab has enabled ~60 publications reusing data as of October 2023.

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NASA NTRS2023

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission was humanity’s first attempt to move a celestial body, demonstrating the capability to perform a kinetic impact on a planetary defense–relevant sized asteroid. DART was part of the international collaboration known as the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA), involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), and scientists around the world. DART was a key step to demonstrating preparedness to respond to planetary defense scenarios, and it provides a crucial data point for likely outcomes. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) greater than 140 m in size are of particular interest to planetary defense because they have the potential to cause significant damage if they were to impact Earth, and also because they are difficult to detect, with less than 50% of the predicted population discovered as of 2022 (National Academies Press, 2022). With an appropriately sized spacecraft and enough warning (typically many years to decades), a kinetic impact can slightly alter the orbit of an asteroid in a way that, over time, prevents the asteroid from colliding with Earth in the future. DART’s target was Dimorphos, the smaller (~150-m-diameter) member of the binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos, which is a near-Earth, potentially hazardous, and well-characterized asteroid system. By simply observing changes to the system after impact and comparing them with a pre-impact reference, it was possible to use ground-based telescopes to observe the deflection in the orbit of Dimorphos after impact. Developed and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the mission entered formulation in 2015 after multiple years of concept development. The project was administered according to NPR 7120.5, with technical oversight and funding through the Planetary Missions Program Office (PMPO) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and overall support as a directed mission from NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). The DART spacecraft hosted a singular payload, the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO), and a deployable CubeSat contributed by ASI named the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube). On 11 September 2022, DART deployed LICIACube, which subsequently followed the DART spacecraft at a safe distance and observed the immediate aftermath of the DART impact. DART was designed to autonomously detect, navigate to, and impact Dimorphos. This autonomous design was chosen to maximize the probability of impact, since commanding from the ground could result in course corrections arriving too late. On the day of impact, 26 September 2022, the spacecraft’s autonomous systems successfully detected and locked on to Dimorphos, impacting its surface within 2 m of the center of the illuminated figure (Jensenius et al., 2023). No human intervention was required for a successful impact, demonstrating that humanity possesses the technology to perform a kinetic impact. Within 2 weeks of impact, it was clear that the orbit of Dimorphos had been significantly altered. On 11 October 2022, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the new orbital period of Dimorphos was shortened by approximately 32 ± 2 min, from 11 h and 55 min before impact to 11 h and 23 min after impact. With additional observations over the following months, the accuracy of this measurement improved to a –33.24 min ± 1.4 s orbital period change (Naidu et al., 2023; Scheirich et al., 2023), and Beta (β), the momentum transfer enhancement parameter, was reported to be 3.6 (Cheng et al., 2023). Subsequent studies examined the details of DART’s impact site, modeled the impact event, investigated the ejecta produced, and analyzed the dynamics of the Didymos system. These combined results clearly demonstrate that the project met all Level 1 mission requirements.

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