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Science Engagement Through Hands-On Activities that Promote Scientific Thinking and Generate Excitement and Awareness of NASA Assets, Missions, and Science

The public with hands-on activities that infuse content related to NASA assets, missions, and science and reflect authentic scientific practices promotes understanding and generates excitement about NASA science, research, and exploration. These types of activities expose our next generation of explorers to science they may be inspired to pursue as a future STEM career and expose people of all ages to unique, exciting, and authentic aspects of NASA exploration. The activities discussed here (Blue Marble Matches, Lunar Geologist Practice, Let's Discover New Frontiers, Target Asteroid, and Meteorite Bingo) have been developed by Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Science Engagement Specialists in conjunction with ARES Scientists at the NASA Johnson Space Center. Activities are designed to be usable across a variety of educational environments (formal and informal) and reflect authentic scientific content and practices.

Graff, P. V.↗

Fostering Open Science in Earth Data Science Research: Insights From Earthdata Forum By ASDC

In the dynamic landscape of Earth Science research, the promotion of open science principles is paramount for advancing knowledge and collaboration. The Earthdata Forum is an actively maintained and operational user forum for all participating National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), and the Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). The Forum serves as a cross-DAAC platform from which user communities can obtain authoritative information relating to NASA Earth Science. This abstract explores the role of the Earthdata Forum forum.earthdata.nasa.gov as a pivotal platform in fostering open science within the Earth Science community. The platform serves as a hub for researchers to actively engage in discussions, share datasets, and collaboratively tackle challenges in the field. Key aspects discussed include the platform's contribution to data accessibility, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. Forum.earthdata.nasa.gov provides a space where researchers transparently ask questions, discuss methodologies, share insights, and seek advice from a vibrant community. The resulting collaborative environment not only facilitates the exchange of ideas but also bolsters the collective knowledge base.

Earthdata FORUM↗

AI-Science for Performance Optimization and Diagnosis of Science Instrument Federations

Next generation of science workflows are expected to be executed over complex federations composed of supercomputers, science instruments, storage systems and networks, with new additions of the edge and cloud systems and services. The sheer complexity of these multi-domain federations makes it hard to manage them and optimize their performance, as small impedance mismatches (that can dynamically develop between systems) could drastically degrade the entire federation performance. Recent proliferation of Software Defined Everything (SDX) technologies combined with containerization frameworks provide custom instruments that can monitor and collect critical measurements at various levels to support diagnoses and performance optimization; but their data too enormous for human operators and analysts to process and generate decisions. Machine Learning (ML) methods that extract critical parameters, relationships and trends from the data offer general solutions. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML methods must be custom-developed for these problems based on solid, rigorous foundations, since black-box approaches are often ineffective and unsound.We propose to develop comprehensive AI-Science for the performance of science federations to (i) monitor and control storage, networks, experiments, and computing systems across multiple domains via softwarization layers, at speeds and scales orders of magnitude superior to current practice, (ii) optimally realize and orchestrate complex workflows with high performance by using dynamic state and performance estimation methods, and (iii) aggregate measurements across sites and time to develop infrastructure-level profiles, optimizations and diagnoses using AI-Science based on foundational principles from ML, game theory, and information fusion areas.

Rao, Nageswara↗

Nuclear Science User Facilities High Performance Computing: Provide a Science Gateway for HPC Users

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), supported by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) through the Nuclear Science User Facilities (NSUF), provides direct access to the Barracuda Virtual Reactor and 18 Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) applications via a web-based science gateway developed using Open Ondemand on the INL high performance computing (HPC) systems. This gateway features the computational tools of the Nuclear Computational Resource Center (NCRC) and the computing resources of the INL high performance computing systems. These computational tools are a key foundation of collaboration and innovation in nuclear energy systems research. High performance computing resources and INL staff directly support the mission and objectives of DOE-NE. The Barracuda Virtual Reactor was the first science gateway deployed in Jan 2021 to support NSUF users. In July 2021, the science gateway was expanded to support access to NCRC codes for use across all supported INL HPC systems. The HPC science gateway currently supports 20 total applications. The gateway also includes access to training resources specific to NCRC tools.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Science of the Van Allen Probes Science Operations Centers

The Van Allen Probes mission operations materialized through a distributed model in which operational responsibility was divided between the Mission Operations Center (MOC) and separate instrument specific SOCs. The sole MOC handled all aspects of telemetering and receiving tasks as well as certain scientifically relevant ancillary tasks. Each instrument science team developed individual instrument specific SOCs proficient in unique capabilities in support of science data acquisition, data processing, instrument performance, and tools for the instrument team scientists. In parallel activities, project scientists took on the task of providing a significant modeling tool base usable by the instrument science teams and the larger scientific community. With a mission as complex as Van Allen Probes, scientific inquiry occurred due to constant and significant collaboration between the SOCs and in concert with the project science team. Planned cross-instrument coordinated observations resulted in critical discoveries during the seven-year mission. Instrument cross-calibration activities elucidated a more seamless set of data products. Specific topics include post-launch changes and enhancements to the SOCs, discussion of coordination activities between the SOCs, SOC specific analysis software, modeling software provided by the Van Allen Probes project, and a section on lessons learned. One of the most significant lessons learned was the importance of the original decision to implement individual team SOCs providing timely and well-documented instrument data for the NASA Van Allen Probes Mission scientists and the larger magnetospheric and radiation belt scientific community.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Tracking materials science data lineage to manage millions of materials experiments and analyses

Abstract In an era of rapid advancement of algorithms that extract knowledge from data, data and metadata management are increasingly critical to research success. In materials science, there are few examples of experimental databases that contain many different types of information, and compared with other disciplines, the database sizes are relatively small. Underlying these issues are the challenges in managing and linking data across disparate synthesis and characterization experiments, which we address with the development of a lightweight data management framework that is generally applicable for experimental science and beyond. Five years of managing experiments with this system has yielded the Materials Experiment and Analysis Database (MEAD) that contains raw data and metadata from millions of materials synthesis and characterization experiments, as well as the analysis and distillation of that data into property and performance metrics via software in an accompanying open source repository. The unprecedented quantity and diversity of experimental data are searchable by experiment and analysis attributes generated by both researchers and data processing software. The search web interface allows users to visualize their search results and download zipped packages of data with full annotations of their lineage. The enormity of the data provides substantial challenges and opportunities for incorporating data science in the physical sciences, and MEAD’s data and algorithm management framework will foster increased incorporation of automation and autonomous discovery in materials and chemistry research.

Soedarmadji, Edwin↗

The National Microbiome Data Collaborative: Enabling Microbiome Science

To harness the potential of microbiome science across the broad range of relevant disciplines, new approaches to data infrastructure and transdisciplinary collaboration are necessary. The National Microbiome Data Collaborative (NMDC) is a new initiative to support microbiome data exploration and discovery through a collaborative integrative data science ecosystem.

Wood-Charlson, Elisha M.↗

FY21 NNSA-IAEC Science Area V, Environmental ISR, Waste Management and Subsurface Science (Final Report)

The FY21 NNSA NA-22 Final Report represents the progress achieved over the past year (FY21) by the research team for Topic Area 3, Waste Management & Subsurface Science (WM3), and Topic Area 7, Radiation and Thermal Effects on Bituminous Rocks (WM7). WM3 and WM7 are part of Science Area V (Subsurface Science and Waste Management) in the NNSA-IAEC Science and Technology Working Group. The project was initiated four years ago (2017) with an MOU agreement between the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) to evaluate the feasibility of geological subsurface disposal of radioactive waste in Israel. The core WM3 and WM7 teams are comprised of scientists and engineers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Geologic Survey of Israel (GSI), and the Nuclear Research Center - Negev (NRCN), with a close collaboration to the teams from Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLNL)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Improving science literacy and education through space life sciences

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) encourages open involvement by scientists and the public at large in the Institute's activities. Through its Education and Public Outreach Program, the Institute is supporting national efforts to improve Kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) and undergraduate education and to communicate knowledge generated by space life science research to lay audiences. Three academic institution Baylor College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Texas A&M University are designing, producing, field-testing, and disseminating a comprehensive array of programs and products to achieve this goal. The objectives of the NSBRI Education and Public Outreach program are to: promote systemic change in elementary and secondary science education; attract undergraduate students--especially those from underrepresented groups--to careers in space life sciences, engineering and technology-based fields; increase scientific literacy; and to develop public and private sector partnerships that enhance and expand NSBRI efforts to reach students and families. c 2001. Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Discipline General Space Life Sciences↗

Science Off the Earth: an Integrated Approach to Science Operations in the Artemis Era and Beyond

Humanity is standing on the cusp of its next giant leap – an international, sustainable, and commercial return to the moon. Unlike the Apollo missions, the expectation that a permanent human presence will be established is well founded. Initially, crewed missions to the lunar surface are expected to last between 6 and 30 days and occur approximately once per year, however the robust suite of landers and orbiting assets proposed by both commercial and government entities provide an opportunity to conduct science research on the moon and in cis-lunar space, 24x7 for many years. In the 50 years since the conclusion of Apollo, NASA’s crewed space science missions have been evolving. This can be seen clearly from Skylab and the Space Shuttle’s Spacelab to the International Space Station (ISS). Presently aboard the ISS, international crews spend nearly half their time working on experiments while many payloads collect science non-stop with either very limited, or no crew interaction. Additionally, a fleet of orbiting experiments complement and validate those investigations performed on the ISS. As the number, variety, and complexity of these investigation increase, it becomes ever more necessary to integrate across the many entities involved to prevent duplication of effort, ensure complementary results, reduce cost, and create a sustainable environment to conduct groundbreaking scientific research in space. In this paper, we examine how the various elements of the Artemis program including NASA’s Lunar Gateway, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) endeavor, the Human Landing Systems (HLS), surface habitats, rovers and many more will be operated to ensure interoperability, maximize science return, and enable success for government, commercial and private partners.

Science Operations↗

Science Off the Earth: An Integrated Approach to Science Operations in the Artemis Era and Beyond

Humanity is standing on the cusp of its next giant leap – an international, sustainable, and commercial return to the moon. Unlike the Apollo missions, the expectation that a permanent human presence will be established is well founded. Initially, crewed missions to the lunar surface are expected to last between 6 and 30 days and occur approximately once per year, however the robust suite of landers and orbiting assets proposed by both commercial and government entities provide an opportunity to conduct science research on the moon and in cis-lunar space, 24x7 for many years. In the 50 years since the conclusion of Apollo, NASA’s crewed space science missions have been evolving. This can be seen clearly from Skylab and the Space Shuttle’s Spacelab to the International Space Station (ISS). Presently aboard the ISS, international crews spend nearly half their time working on experiments while many payloads collect science non-stop with either very limited, or no crew interaction. Additionally, a fleet of orbiting experiments complement and validate those investigations performed on the ISS. As the number, variety, and complexity of these investigation increase, it becomes ever more necessary to integrate across the many entities involved to prevent duplication of effort, ensure complementary results, reduce cost, and create a sustainable environment to conduct groundbreaking scientific research in space. In this paper, we examine how the various elements of the Artemis program including NASA’s Lunar Gateway, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) endeavor, the Human Landing Systems (HLS), surface habitats, rovers and many more will be operated to ensure interoperability, maximize science return, and enable success for government, commercial and private partners.

Science Operations↗

Space Biology Beyond LEO Instrumentation & Science Series Science Working Group 2022 Annual Report

Humans are poised to explore deep space: the realm of space beyond Earth's orbit. NASA will soon send humans back to the Moon with the Artemis program, and is developing programs to support crewed missions to Mars. Human exploration of such new environments demands fundamental research that can provide the knowledge necessary to ensure the safety of explorers and aid in the development of a sustainable presence in space. Accordingly, the Agency's Moon to Mars objectives1 include three goals in the area of Human Biological Sciences (HBS-1, -2, -3), with the aim to "Advance understanding of how biology responds to the environments of the Moon, Mars, and deep space to advance fundamental knowledge, support safe, productive human space missions and reduce risks for future exploration." Advancing this understanding is a task that is both complex-- comprising diverse organisms, processes, and methods-- and difficult-- because the very aspects of deep space that we strive to understand are the aspects that make it hard to conduct research in that environment. This report of the Beyond LEO Instrumentation & Science Series Science Working Group (BLISS-SWG) represents input from a group of scientists from diverse disciplines within the space biology research and engineering community on the nature of the science and technology that can be used to achieve those aims.

Space Biology↗

Earth and Space Science Informatics Perspectives on Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) Science

Abstract This article is composed of three independent commentaries about the state of Integrated, Coordinated, Open, Networked (ICON) principles (Goldman, et al., 2021b, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EO153180 ) in Earth and Space Science Informatics (ESSI) and includes discussion on the opportunities and challenges of adopting them. Each commentary focuses on a different topic: (Section 2) Global collaboration, cyberinfrastructure, and data sharing; (Section 3) Machine learning for multiscale modeling; (Section 4) Aerial and satellite remote sensing for advancing Earth system model development by integrating field and ancillary data. ESSI addresses data management practices, computation and analysis, and hardware and software infrastructure. Our role in ICON science therefore involves collaborative work to assess, design, implement, and promote practices and tools that enable effective data management, discovery, integration, and reuse for interdisciplinary work in Earth and space science disciplines. Networks of diverse people with expertise across Earth, space, and data science disciplines are essential for efficient and ethical exchanges of findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) research products and practices. Our challenge is then to coordinate the development of standards, curation practices, and tools that enable integrating and reusing multiple data types, software, multi‐scale models, and machine learning approaches across disciplines in a way that is as open and/or FAIR as ethically possible. This is a major endeavor that could greatly increase the pace and potential of interdisciplinary scientific discovery.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Nucleosynthesis for Science and Security: Preparing for a Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Program at FRIB

Nuclear reactions are vital to nuclear science and its many applications: they are the mechanism for forging elements in the cosmos, the source of energy for both stars and nuclear weapons, the principal probes used to study nuclear properties, and the primary diagnostic signatures for stockpile stewardship and nuclear forensics. Yet, most reaction experiments have been confined to the small fraction of all nuclei that are stable, and a theoretical foundation for reactions with a true predictive capability is lacking. The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), the flagship U.S. facility in low-energy nuclear science, will offer the opportunity to rectify the long-standing gap in understanding reactions on radioactive nuclei. The work performed in this LDRD project brought together the experimental nuclear physics, radiochemistry, nuclear theory, and high-performance computing expertise of the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division to develop new techniques that will be needed to exploit FRIB beams to better understand nuclear reactions. Novel isotope-harvesting techniques were developed to demonstrate that samples could be collected at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (the facility which FRIB builds upon) for direct measurements of long-lived radioisotopes. For isotopes too short lived for direct measurements, indirect approaches were developed that would ultimately be used with high-intensity FRIB radioactive beams. Finally, to better interpret experimental results and reliably extend predictions beyond the available data, a foundation was established for a fully microscopic and unified description of the structure, interactions, and dynamics of two reacting nuclei that moves beyond empirical models. This work has positioned the team for a leadership role at FRIB, enabling LLNL to maintain a world-class nuclear science program and to compete for future talent and funding, both of which are vital for continuing support of the laboratory’s stockpile stewardship mission.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Science requirements for passive microwave sensors on earth science geostationary platforms

It is suggested that the science requirements for passive geostationary microwave observations be met by near- and far-term sensors for each of two overlapping bands, with each band covering no more than a decade in frequency. The low-frequency band includes channels near 6, 10, 18, 22, 31 to 37, and possibly 50 to 60 GHz. The high-frequency band includes channels near 220 to 230, 183, 166, 118, 90 to 110, and possibly 50 to 60 and 31 to 37 GHz. The precise channel specifications will have to comply with international frequency allocations. The near-term goal is a high-frequency sensor based on a filled-aperture solid reflector antenna, which should rely on currently existing technology. The most critical issues for the near-term sensor are momentum compensation and the design of the feed assembly; these issues are coupled through the desired scan rate. The successful demonstration of the near-term (high-frequency) sensor will be essential for the continued development of far-term sensors satisfying the ideal science requirements. The far-term goal includes both a high-frequency sensor which meets the ideal science requirements, and a low-frequency sensor whose design will depend on advances in large antenna technology. The low-frequency (far-term) sensor might be based on one of several concepts: a deployable mesh reflector antenna of diameter at least 20 m, which shows promise for use at frequencies up to 30-GHz, a synthetic aperture interferometer of maximum baseline from 100 to 300 m, or a deployable phased-array bootlace lens, of diameter from 100 to 300 m. The first of these, a deployable mesh reflector antenna, will satisfy only the adequate spatial resolution requirements. The last two concepts meet the ideal spatial resolution science requirements, although they present significant structural and meteorological challenges.

Gasiewski, A. J.↗

SURE (Science User Resource Expert): A science planning and scheduling assistant for a resource based environment

SURE (Science User Resource Expert) is one of three components that compose the SURPASS (Science User Resource Planning and Scheduling System). This system is a planning and scheduling tool which supports distributed planning and scheduling, based on resource allocation and optimization. Currently SURE is being used within the SURPASS by the UARS (Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite) SOLSTICE instrument to build a daily science plan and activity schedule and in a prototyping effort with NASA GSFC to demonstrate distributed planning and scheduling for the SOLSTICE II instrument on the EOS platform. For the SOLSTICE application the SURE utilizes a rule-based system. Development of a rule-based program using Ada CLIPS as opposed to using conventional programming, allows for capture of the science planning and scheduling heuristics in rules and provides flexibility in inserting or removing rules as the scientific objectives and mission constraints change. The SURE system's role as a component in the SURPASS, the purpose of the SURE planning and scheduling tool, the SURE knowledge base, and the software architecture of the SURE component are described.

Thalman, Nancy E.↗

The Office of Space Science and Applications strategic plan, 1990: A strategy for leadership in space through excellence in space science and applications

A strategic plan for the U.S. space science and applications program during the next 5 to 10 years was developed and published in 1988. Based on the strategies developed by the advisory committees of both the National Academy of Science and NASA, the plan balances major, moderate, and small mission initiatives, the utilization of the Space Station Freedom, and the requirements for a vital research base. The Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) strategic plan is constructed around five actions: establish a set of programmatic themes; establish a set of decision rules; establish a set of priorities for missions and programs within each theme; demonstrate that the strategy will yield a viable program; and check the strategy for consistency within resource constraints. The OSSA plan is revised annually. This OSSA 1990 Strategic Plan refines the 1989 Plan and represents OSSA's initial plan for fulfilling its responsibilities in two major national initiatives. The Plan is now built on interrelated, complementary strategies for the core space science and applications program, for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and for the Space Exploration Initiative. The challenge is to make sure that the current level of activity is sustained through the end of this century and into the next. The 1990 Plan presents OSSA's strategy to do this.

Source record↗

Science in action: An interdisciplinary science education program

Science in Action is an education outreach program for pre-collegiate students. It is based on the concept that, in order to interest students in science, they must see science and scientists at work. The program encompasses the full range of scientific disciplines - the core sciences, engineering, and mathematics. A unique aspect of the program is the involvement and support of scientists and engineers representing local professional societies, industries, business, and academic institutions. An outline of the program is given.

Horton, Linda L.↗