[NASA HQ News] NASA Earns Best Place to Work in Government for 12 Straight Years

NASA Earns Best Place to Work in Government for 12 Straight Years

MAY 16, 2024

RELEASE 24-071

 

2023 image capturing the Sun’s glint in between a cloudy stretch of the south Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina.

Credits: NASA

NASA was named Thursday as the 2023 Best Place to Work in the Federal Government – large agency – for the 12th year in a row by the Partnership for Public Service. The title serves as a reflection of employee satisfaction with the workplace and functioning of the overall agency as NASA explores the unknown and discovers new knowledge for the benefit of humanity.

“Once again, NASA has shown that with the world’s finest workforce, we can reach the stars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Through space exploration, advances in aviation, groundbreaking science, new technologies, and more, the team of wizards at NASA do what is hard to achieve what is great. That’s the pioneer spirit that makes NASA the best place to work in the federal government. With this ingenuity and passion, we will continue to innovate for the benefit of all and inspire the world.”

The agency’s workforce explored new frontiers in 2023, including shattering an American record for longest astronaut spaceflight, announcing the Artemis II crew, launching the Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, partnering on a sustainable flight demonstration later designated as X-66, and celebrating a year of science gathered from the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope. Feats beyond our atmosphere persisted with NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission – the first U.S. mission to collect an asteroid sample. Insights from the asteroid data will further NASA’s studies on celestial objects, while the agency also continues its pursuit to return astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis campaign.

Along with being the 65th anniversary of the agency, 2023 brought new climate data with the launching of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center and Earth Information Center, new perspectives on Earth’s surface water through NASA’s SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission, and accrued air quality data from NASA’s TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution) mission.

The Partnership for Public Service began to compile the Best Places to Work rankings in 2003 to analyze federal employee’s viewpoints of leadership, work-life balance, and other factors of their job. A formula is used to evaluate employee responses to a federal survey, dividing submissions into four groups: large, midsize, and small agencies, in addition to their subcomponents.

Read about the Best Places to Work for 2023 online.

To learn more about NASA’s missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/

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[NASA HQ News] NASA, European Space Agency Unite to Land Europe’s Rover on Mars

NASA, European Space Agency Unite to Land Europe's Rover on Mars

MAY 16, 2024

RELEASE 24-070

 

NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Nicky Fox and ESA's Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander sign an agreement on the Rosalind Franklin mission at ESA's headquarters in Paris, France on May 16, 2024.

Credits: ESA/Damien Dos Santos

NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) announced Thursday they signed an agreement to expand NASA's work on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, an ESA-led mission launching in 2028 that will search for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.

With this memorandum of understanding, the NASA Launch Services Program will procure a U.S. commercial launch provider for the Rosalind Franklin rover. The agency will also provide heater units and elements of the propulsion system needed to land on Mars. A new instrument on the rover will be the first drill to a depth of up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) deep below the surface to collect ice samples that have been protected from surface radiation and extreme temperatures.

"The Rosalind Franklin rover's unique drilling capabilities and onboard samples laboratory have outstanding scientific value for humanity's search for evidence of past life on Mars," said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "NASA supports the Rosalind Franklin mission to continue the strong partnership between the United States and Europe to explore the unknown in our solar system and beyond."

Through an existing, separate partnership with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales), NASA is contributing key components to the Rosalind Franklin rover's primary science instrument, the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, that will search for the building blocks of life in the soil samples.

NASA has a longstanding partnership with the Department of Energy to use radioisotope power sources on the agency's space missions and will be partnering again with the Energy Department for the use of lightweight radioisotope heater units for the rover.  

The Rosalind Franklin rover mission complements the Mars Sample Return multi-mission campaign led by both agencies.

For more information on NASA's research on Mars, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mars

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[NASA HQ News] Students Across US to Hear from NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

Students Across US to Hear from NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

MAY 16, 2024

MEDIA ADVISORY M24-068

 

An image of NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps using the glovebox BioFabrication Facility in the Columbus European Laboratory during Expedition 71 on April 10, 2024.

Credits: NASA/Michael Barratt

Students of a volunteer service organization will have the opportunity next week to hear from NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps aboard the International Space Station.

The Earth-to-space call will stream live at 11:40 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 21, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Media interested in covering the event must RSVP no later than 5 p.m., Monday, May 20, by contacting Kimberly Sweet at knoelsweet@gmail.com or 601-260-1208.

Junior chapters of The Links, Incorporated, and the National Society of Black Engineers across the United States will ask pre-recorded questions and host a live viewing event. The Links is an international, not-for-profit, volunteer service organization focused on the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other people of African ancestry.

For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the International Space station benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars. Inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

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[NASA HQ News] Artemis Accords Reach 40 Signatories as NASA Welcomes Lithuania

Artemis Accords Reach 40 Signatories as NASA Welcomes Lithuania

 

May 15, 2024

RELEASE: 24-069

 

Aušrinė Armonaitė, Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation, signs the Artemis Accords in the presence of United States Ambassador Kara C. McDonald at a ceremony in conjunction with Vilnius Space Days.
Credit: Lithuanian Innovation Agency

 

A milestone was reached on Wednesday as Lithuania became the 40th nation to join NASA and the international coalition in pursuit of safer space exploration by signing the Artemis Accords. The ceremony took place at the Radisson Blu Lietuva hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania, and signifies a continued push toward transparency and peace as more nations traverse farther into space.

 

"Welcome to the Artemis Accords family, Lithuania," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Our nations are strong partners – and now we expand this partnership to the cosmos. In just four years, a remarkable 40 countries have signed the Artemis Accords. Together, as a global coalition, we will explore the stars openly, responsibly, and in peace."

 

United States Ambassador Kara C. McDonald attended the ceremony to speak on behalf of the U.S., and Aušrinė Armonaitė, Lithuanian Minister of Economy and Innovation, signed the Accords.

 

"The Lithuanian space sector has been growing steadily, with our innovative companies working in this field making significant strides," Armonaitė said. "The Artemis Accords mark a new chapter and chart a course for future space exploration, underscoring our commitment to a responsible, sustainable, and cooperative presence in space."

 

Remarks from NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy also played before the signing.

 

"Today is a pivotal day for Lithuania," Melroy said. "We are living in the golden age of space. The days of one nation exploring the cosmos alone are gone. Today, we go together, and we go with international partners."

 

The Artemis Accords align with NASA's Artemis campaign, that will send astronauts including the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for crewed missions to Mars.

 

NASA, along with the Department of State and seven other nations, established the Artemis Accords in 2020 to lay out a set of principles grounded in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and three related space treaties. With the commitment of now 40 nations, the accords community will facilitate a long-term and peaceful presence of deep space exploration for the benefit of humanity.

 

To learn more about the Artemis Accords, visit:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/

 

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 NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail to hqnews-join@newsletters.nasa.gov (no subject or text in the body is required). To unsubscribe from the list, send an e-mail message to hqnews-leave@newsletters.nasa.gov.

 

 

Inbox Astronomy: Dr. John F. Wu Receives 2024 Maryland Outstanding Young Scientist Award

INBOX ASTRONOMY

Dr. John F. Wu Receives 2024 Maryland Outstanding Young Scientist Award

Release date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 9:30:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

The OYS award was established in 1959 to honor distinguished scientists 35 years old or younger working in academia.

The Maryland Academy of Sciences has selected John F. Wu of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, as the recipient of the 2024 Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS) award.

Using machine-learning methods that he developed, Dr. Wu has pioneered the discovery of low-mass galaxy candidates and contributed to theoretical models of galaxies, dark matter halos, and their cosmic surroundings. The algorithms are used to process astronomical imaging data at the pixel scale in order to understand how galaxy appearances are governed by their growth and evolution.

Dr. Wu is an assistant astronomer at STScI and an associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Wu began his tenure-track assistant astronomer position at STScI in 2022. He first joined STcI as a postdoctoral researcher in 2020, prior to which he was a postdoctoral researcher at JHU in 2019. He previously earned his PhD in physics and astronomy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in 2019, and his BSc in physics and astronomy at Carnegie Mellon University in 2013.

  Read more  

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[NASA HQ News] NASA to Discuss New Polar Climate Mission During Media Teleconference

NASA to Discuss New Polar Climate Mission During Media Teleconference

MAY 13, 2024

MEDIA ADVISORY M24-066

 

The PREFIRE mission will launch the first of two CubeSats – depicted in this artist’s concept orbiting Earth – into space on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions. These measurements will inform climate and ice models.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA is hosting a media call at 3 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, May 15, to discuss the agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission, which aims to improve life on Earth by studying heat loss from Earth’s polar regions and provide information on our changing climate.

The first of two shoebox-sized satellites is targeted to launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket no earlier than Wednesday, May 22. The launch date for the second satellite will be announced shortly after the launch of the first satellite.

Earth absorbs a lot of energy from the Sun at the tropics. Weather and ocean currents move that heat energy toward the poles, where the heat radiates upward into space. Much of that heat is in far-infrared wavelengths and has never been systematically measured. The data from PREFIRE will address this knowledge gap for the benefit of all by improving predictions of climate change and sea level rise.

The audio-only teleconference streamed live on the agency’s website.

Participants include:

• Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Mary White, project manager, PREFIRE, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southern California
• Tristan L’Ecuyer, principal investigator, PREFIRE, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Peter Beck, CEO and founder, Rocket Lab

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the start of the call, to Elizabeth Vlock at: elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov.

For more information about NASA’s PREFIRE mission, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/prefire

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[NASA HQ News] NASA Names First Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

NASA Names First Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

 

May 13, 2024

RELEASE: 24-063

 

Credit: NASA

 

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Monday named David Salvagnini as the agency’s new chief artificial intelligence (AI) officer, effective immediately. The role is an expansion of Salvagnini’s current role as chief data officer.

 

A wide variety of AI tools are used by NASA to benefit humanity from supporting missions and research projects across the agency, analyzing data to reveal trends and patterns, and developing systems capable of supporting spacecraft and aircraft autonomously. 

 

“Artificial intelligence has been safely used at NASA for decades, and as this technology expands, it can accelerate the pace of discovery,” said Nelson. “It’s important that we remain at the forefront of advancement and responsible use. In this new role, David will lead NASA’s efforts to guide our agency’s responsible use of AI in the cosmos and on Earth to benefit all humanity.”  

 

This appointment is in accordance with President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. Salvagnini now is responsible for aligning the strategic vision and planning for AI usage across NASA. He serves as a champion for AI innovation, supporting the development and risk management of tools, platforms, and training. 

 

In his expanded capacity, Salvagnini will continue NASA’s collaboration with other government agencies, academic institutions, industry partners, and other experts to ensure the agency is on the cutting edge of AI technology.

 

Salvagnini joined NASA in June 2023 after more than 20 years working in technology leadership in the intelligence community. Prior to his role at NASA, he served the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as director of the architecture and integration group and chief architect. 

 

Salvagnini also worked in a variety of roles leading enterprise level IT research and development, engineering, and operations advancing data, IT, and artificial intelligence programs. David served in the Air Force for 21 years, retiring in May 2005 as a communications and computer systems officer.

 

NASA continues developing recommendations on leveraging emerging AI technology to best serve our goals and missions, from sifting through Earth science imagery to identifying areas of interest, to searching for data on planets outside our solar system from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduling communications from the Perseverance Mars rover through the Deep Space Network, and more.

 

Prior to Salvagnini’s appointment, the agency’s Chief Scientist Kate Calvin served as NASA’s acting responsible AI official.

 

Learn more about artificial intelligence at NASA at:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/artificial-intelligence

 

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[NASA HQ News] NASA Awards Expand Research Capabilities at Institutions Nationwide

NASA Awards Expand Research Capabilities at Institutions Nationwide

MAY 10, 2024

RELEASE 24-068

 

A photo of a team of researchers from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras while working to discover a more efficient water recycling system for use on space missions. The team is comprised of doctoral students Liz Santiago-Martoral, on the left, and Alondra Rodriguez-Rolon, and their mentor Professor Eduardo Nicolau. One of their experiments can be seen on the countertop to the left of the group.

Credits: NASA

NASA is awarding approximately $45 million to 21 higher-education institutions to help build capacity for research. The awards were made possible through the Minority University Research and Education Project Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) and Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) grants, which are funded by the agency’s Office of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Engagement.

“NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project Institutional Research Opportunity and Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research awards help institutions raise their technological bar,” said Torry Johnson, deputy associate administrator of STEM Engagement Programs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “When institutions enhance their capabilities and infrastructure, they become more competitive in their research, which opens doors to valuable experience and opportunities.”

Minority University Research and Education Project Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) Awards

Seven minority-serving institutions will receive approximately $5 million each over a five-year period of performance for projects that span a variety of research topics. The institutions and their proposed projects are:

• Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage – Alaska Pacific University Microplastics Research and Education Center
• California State University in Fullerton – SpaceIgnite Center for Advanced Research-Education in Combustion
• City University of New York, Hunter College in New York – NASA-Hunter College Center for Advanced Energy Storage for Space
• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee – Integrative Space Additive Manufacturing: Opportunities for Workforce-Development in NASA Related Materials Research and Education
• New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark – AI Powered Solar Eruption Center of Excellence in Research and Education
• University of Houston in Houston – NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environment and Adaptive Space Systems Center
• University of Illinois in Chicago – Center for In-Space Manufacturing: Recycling and Regolith Processing

NASA’s MIRO award was established to strengthen and develop research capacity and infrastructure of minority serving institutions in areas of strategic importance and value to NASA missions and national priorities.

Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Award

NASA establishes partnerships with government, higher education, and industry to create lasting improvements in research infrastructure and capacity for specific states or regions, while enhancing its national research and development competitiveness. The program is directed at those jurisdictions that have traditionally not participated in competitive aerospace and aerospace-related research activities.

NASA will award 14 institutions up to $750,000 each over the course of a three-year period of performance. The awarded institutions and their projects are:

• University of Mississippi in University – Development of a Lagrangian Stability Analysis Framework for High-Speed Boundary Layers
• University of Alabama in Huntsville – Testing the functionality and performance of a large area detector for STROBE-X
• Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge – Colloidal Assembly: Understanding the Electric Field Driven Assembly of Colloids and its Applications (Science Mission Directorate)
• West Virginia University in Morgantown – Science Mission Directorate: Bringing Gravitational-Wave Astronomy into the Space Age: Next-Generation Waveform Modeling of Black-Hole Binary Coalescences for Laser Intererometer Space Antenna Data Analysis
• University of Puerto Rico in San Juan – NASA EPSCoR: Space Technology Mission Directorate/Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Advancing High-Energy, Cycle-Stable Sulfur-Based Batteries for NASA Space Missions: An Integrated Framework of Density Functional Theory, Machine Learning, and Materials Innovation
• Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada – NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California: Prospecting and Pre-Colonization of the Moon and Mars using Autonomous Robots with Human-In-The-Loop
• Oklahoma State University in Stillwater – A.7.4.2 Biosignature Detection of Solar System Ocean Worlds using Science-Guided Machine Learning
• Iowa State University in Ames – Johnson Space Center, Ames Research Center: Non-GPS Navigation System Using Dual Star/Planetary Cameras for Lunar and Deep-Space CubeSat Missions
• University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks – NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland: The Alaska – Venus analog: synthesizing seismic ground motion and wind noise in extreme environments
• University of the Virgin Islands in Charlotte Amalie – University of the Virgin Islands Etelman Observatory in the Era of Time Domain and MultiMessenger Astronomy: Preparing for a New Era of Science Productivity
• University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu – Cubesats for Climate Change Detection of Transient Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• University of Idaho in Moscow – Science Mission Directorate and Goddard Space Flight Center: Improving Global Dryland Streamflow Modeling by Better Characterizing Vegetation Use of Deep-Water Resources Using NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment/Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On, SWOT, and Land Information System
• University of Arkansas in Little Rock – AR- III-Nitride Ultraviolet Laser Diodes for Harsh Environments, Space Based Communications, and Remote Sensing (Space Technology Mission Directorate)
• South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City – Science Mission Directorate: High Spatial-Temporal Resolution Soil Moisture Retrieval using Deep Learning Fusion of Multimodal Satellite Datastreams

Both awards were made through NASA’s Office of STEM engagement solicitations. They promote STEM literacy to enhance and sustain the capability of institutions to perform NASA-related research and education, which directly supports the agency’s mission directorates.

For more information about NASA STEM, visit:

https://stem.nasa.gov

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[NASA HQ News] NASA Invites Media to NOAA’s Advanced Weather Satellite Launch

May 9, 2024

 

MEDIA ADVISORY: M24-062

 

NASA Invites Media to NOAA's Advanced Weather Satellite Launch

 

GOES-U spacecraft rendering. Credit: NOAA/Lockheed Martin

 

NASA is preparing to launch NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U), a mission to help improve weather observing and environmental monitoring capabilities on Earth, as well as advance space weather observations.

 

NASA and SpaceX are targeting a two-hour launch window opening at 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25. The mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

 

The satellite will carry a suite of instruments for advanced imagery, atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting approaching space weather hazards, including a new compact coronagraph that will image the outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections.

 

Media interested in covering the GOES-U launch must apply for media accreditation. Deadlines for accreditation are as follows:

 

• U.S. media and U.S. citizens representing international media must apply for accreditation by 11:59 p.m., Friday, June 7.
• International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 11:59 p.m., Tuesday, May 28.

 

Media requiring special logistical arrangements, such as space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections, should email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov by May 28.

 

A copy of NASA's media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other mission questions, please contact NASA Kennedy's newsroom at: 321-867-2468.

 

Accredited media will have the opportunity to participate in a series of prelaunch briefings and interviews with key mission personnel. Details regarding the media event schedule will be communicated to accredited members as the launch date approaches.

 

NASA will post updates on launch preparations to prepare the spacecraft on the GOES blog.

 

As the fourth and final satellite in the GOES-R Series, GOES-U will enhance the nation's ability to monitor and forecast weather, ocean, and environmental dynamics in real-time. The satellite has seven instruments that will provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth's Western Hemisphere, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and advanced monitoring of solar activity and space weather. Following a successful launch and on-orbit checkout, NOAA will redesignate GOES-U as GOES-19. Working in tandem with GOES-18, the satellites will continuously observe Earth from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand, providing data for weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and environmental monitoring. The GOES constellation helps protect the one billion people who live and work in the Americas.

 

NASA and NOAA collaborate on various missions to enhance our understanding of Earth, its climate, and its environment, enhancing the safety and well-being of all humanity. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the GOES-U mission. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception.

 

For further details about the GOES-U mission and updates on launch preparations, visit:

 

https://go.nasa.gov/48httvm

 

-end-

 

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[NASA HQ News] Arizona, New York Students to Hear from NASA Astronauts Aboard Station

Arizona, New York Students to Hear from NASA Astronauts Aboard Station

MAY 09, 2024

MEDIA ADVISORY M24-065

 

(March 26, 2024) — Five NASA astronauts wear eye-protecting specs in anticipation of viewing the April 8 solar eclipse from the International Space Station’s cupola.

Credits: NASA

Students from Arizona and New York will have separate opportunities next week to hear from astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

At 12:10 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 14, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy C. Dyson will answer prerecorded student questions from Sunnyside Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona, in partnership with the TRiO Upward Bound Program, PIMA Community College, Desert Vista Campus. Participating students are first-generation college bound students from underserved communities, and this opportunity is intended to help spread awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers and inspire students to pursue related degrees.

The space-to-Earth call will stream live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Media interested in covering the Arizona event should RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, May 10, by contacting Danny Pacheco at dapacheco@pima.edu or 520-286-7771.

At 11:40 a.m. on Thursday, May 16, NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will answer prerecorded student questions from P.S. 28 The Thomas Emanuel Early Childhood Center in Corona, New York, in partnership with the New York Hall of Science. Following the live event, the center will host 200 first and second grade students for a one-hour interactive “Living in Space” learning opportunity.

Media interested in covering the New York event should RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, by contacting Nicole Casamento at ncasamento@nysco.org or 917-302-9242.

The space-to-Earth call will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts living aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the International Space station benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars. Inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

-end-