main research topics of nasa

• GPM Core Observatory
• GPM Microwave Imager (GMI)
• Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)
• GPM Constellation
• Spacecraft and Instruments
• Extreme Weather News
• Data Directory
• Data Sources
• Data Policy
• Ground Validation Data
• Precipitation Climatology
• Seasonal Precipitation Variations
• IMERG Global Viewer
• NASA Worldview
• Precipitation & Applications Viewer
• Water & Agriculture
• Disease Initiative
• Who's Using GPM Data
• Applications Highlights

Storm Structure and Mesoscale Dynamics

The global water cycle, climate analysis, precipitation microphysics.

• Field Campaigns
• Ground and Airborne Instruments
• Precipitation Algorithms
• PMM Science Team
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Image Gallery
• Video Gallery
• GPM Refereed Publications
• TRMM Refereed Publications
• 3D Printed GPM Precipitation Data
• Media & Press Resources
• All Articles
• Water Cycle
• Weather & Climate
• Societal Applications

Research Topics

NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement mission ( GPM ) develops and deploys advanced space-borne sensors to gain physical insights into precipitation processes and to enable improved monitoring and forecasting of climate, weather and precipitation-related natural hazards. The GPM mission's Core Observatory satellite launched in February 2014 and is currently operational, while its predecessor the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ( TRMM ) satellite was operational from 1998 to 2015. GPM pursues a unique and innovative approach to measuring precipitation from space through collection of observations by both active and passive sensors, which are then converted into quantitative precipitation estimates. These datasets are used by scientists for analysis and research that leads to new scientific discoveries, and are used by operational agencies for real-time societal applications. The NASA Precipitation Measurement Missions Science Team conducts scientific research on a wide range of areas including precipitation and latent heating algorithm development, ground validation and integrated science applications.

Seeing Through the Clouds

Conventional weather satellites have the ability to measure visible and infrared light and so can detect and monitor clouds over vast regions, including over oceans and other regions where conventional weather data is sparse, both day and night.  They can also be used to quantify their size and coverage as well as estimate cloud heights.  However, they still lack the ability to see deep within clouds where the precipitation is; TRMM and GPM changed that.  With their active radars, TRMM and GPM gave scientists the ability to examine the detailed precipitation structures of clouds and cloud systems over much of the globe.  Foremost among these being tropical cyclones. TRMM and GPM have allowed us to examine the inner structure of a great many storms in relation to their intensity and environment and have strengthened our understanding of hurricane dynamics, in particular the relation between “hot towers” and storm intensification.  

At 1 PM EDT (1700 UTC) on September 5, 2017, the radar onboard the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) satellite captured this 3D view of the heat engine inside of category-5 Hurricane Irma. Under the central ring of clouds that circles the eye, water that had evaporated from the ocean surface condenses, releases heat, and powers the circling winds of the hurricane. The radar on the GPM satellite is able to estimate how much water is falling as precipitation inside of the hurricane, which serves as a guide to how much energy is being released inside the hurricane's central "heat engine." Learn more.  Credit: NASA / Owen Kelley

Another important class of storms are mesoscale convective systems, or MCS's. An MCS is a grouping of thunderstorms ranging in size from tens to several hundred kilometers in length that can last for a few hours or more and propagate over great distances. Typically they contain two distinct regions: a convective region containing heavier precipitation and active thunderstorms, and a sometimes broad stratiform region of lighter more uniform rain.  Not only can the rainfall from these systems lead to dangerous flooding over short periods with significant social and economic impacts, but it can also provide an important contribution to the annual rainfall for a given region.  Rainfall estimates derived from GPM and TRMM, coupled with the ability to characterize that rainfall have allowed us to quantify the climatological contribution of MCS precipitation to the annual water budget at different scales across the Earth. 

TRMM was revolutionary in its ability to observe storms within the tropics. Not only did it provide important information about the structure and intensity of rain storms in the tropics, it filled a critical gap in our observations, namely a comprehensive estimate of the amount and type of rain falling over the global tropics.  By linking this rainfall data with the corresponding latent heat released, it also furthered our understanding of how energy moving through the tropics and sub-tropics impacts atmospheric circulations throughout the globe.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission expands our observational capabilities beyond the tropics and subtropics to higher latitudes.  GPM gives us the ability to sample a wider variety of storms from not only tropical and subtropical regions but also extratropical and post tropical, including mid and high latitude snow events over both the land and ocean, including those outside the range of conventional radar networks. Just as TRMM gave us a unique perspective for studying tropical cyclones, GPM now brings that same ability to penetrate through the clouds and examine the detailed precipitation structures of higher latitude extratropical storms. GPM maintains the ability to study tropical cyclones and now includes those that transition to post tropical storms beyond the tropics.  As with TRMM, GPM allows us to obtain comprehensive precipitation estimates in addition to providing detailed looks at storm precipitation structures and characteristics. With the enhanced sensitivity of its Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar ( DPR ) allowing us to measure lighter precipitation, GPM allows us to improve these estimates and expand them well beyond the tropics to higher latitudes. This gives us a more complete and accurate description of the Earth’s precipitation budget.

Learn more:

• GPM Applications for Weather
• GPM Extreme Weather News

How Water Moves

The water cycle describes the movement of water over, above and below the Earth’s surface.  Water can easily change between any of its three states: vapor, liquid and ice. Its phase transitions among the gaseous, liquid and solid states dominate the behavior of the weather, climate and environmental systems. The way water moves between all three phases is a powerful vehicle for rearranging Earth’s energy budget. In addition, the bulk movement of water by precipitation, infiltration, transpiration, runoff and subsurface flow redistributes water around the globe.

Diagram of Earth's water cycle. Learn more on the Precipitation Education website.  Credit: NASA GPM

Key to the connection between water and energy cycles is how the solar radiation affects the atmosphere. The direct contribution from the sun explains only about 25% of the energy in global atmospheric dynamics. The other 75% is transferred to the atmosphere through the evaporation of water from the surface, primarily from the oceans. This water vapor then condenses into clouds and in doing so, releases its latent heat into the atmosphere. This latent heat drives atmospheric circulation, playing a major role not only in cloud formation and storm development, but in the large-scale movement of air around the world. TRMM created the first reliable global latent heating estimates ever made by measuring the profile of rain as it falls through the sky, as a function of altitude.

GPM provides for combined radar / radiometer estimates of both precipitation rates and the 3D characteristics and structure or precipitation. This allows us to estimate the three dimensional latent heating structures of precipitation systems and their microphysics as well as their surface water fluxes. The enhanced measurement and sampling capabilities of GPM help us understand how precipitation patterns change over time across local, regional and global scales. These patterns translate into changes in hydrologic fluxes and states (e.g, runoff, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and groundwater recharge) both directly and in combination with land process models.

By providing more accurate estimates of the rate of transfer of water from the atmosphere to the surface, GPM reduces a significant source of uncertainty in the global water/energy budget. Scientists combine GPM observations with land surface data to provide better estimates of soil moisture, leading to better predictions of vegetation cover, weather forecasts and integrated hydrologic models.

• GPM Applicatinos for Water &  Agriculture
• GPM Applications for Ecology
• GPM Applications for Health
• Precipitation Education: The Water Cycle
• Texas A&M Catalog of Precipitation Features

Trends & Patterns

The distribution of the world’s rainfall is shifting as our climate changes. Wet areas may become wetter, dry areas drier, storms more intense, leading to more chaotic weather around the world. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2011), an increase in the average global temperature is very likely to lead to changes in precipitation and atmospheric moisture, including shifts towards more extreme precipitation during storms.

As the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) becomes warmer, evaporation rates increase, which leads to an increase in the amount of moisture circulating. When the troposphere has more moisture, more intense precipitation occurs, thus potentially triggering more flooding over land.  Conversely in other areas, warmer temperatures may lead to increased drying accelerating the onset of drought.

Average annual rainfall (mm/year) for June 2000 - May 2019 computed using the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) "Late Run" data product.

To predict future changes in climate, scientists use very sophisticated computer models that rely on available global data to describe climate as it is today and project how it may behave in the future. The key information offered by both TRMM and GPM helps scientists more accurately estimate the rate of water transfer within the Earth's atmosphere and on the surface. It also reconciles the different parts of the overall water budget. By providing measurements of surface water fluxes, cloud/precipitation microphysics and latent heat release in the atmosphere, GPM advances Earth system modeling and analysis. More accurate global precipitation estimates improve the accuracy and effectiveness of climate models and advance understanding of climate sensitivity and future climatic change.

• GPM IMERG Precipitation Climatology Data & Visualizations
• Texas A&M TRMM Climatology

Raindrop Shapes

TRMM’s Precipitation Radar ( PR ) was the first space-borne radar to observe rain drop characteristics through the atmosphere. These measurements yielded invaluable information on the intensity and distribution of the rain, the type of rain, the height of the storm and the altitude at which falling snow melts into rain. Estimates of the heat released into the atmosphere at different heights based on these measurements are valuable for improving the models used to simulate  Earth’s atmospheric circulation.

Not all raindrops are created equal. The size of falling raindrops depends on several factors, including where the cloud producing the drops is located on the globe and where the drops originate in the cloud. For the first time, scientists have three-dimensional snapshots of raindrops and snowflakes around the world from space, thanks to the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. With the new global data on raindrop and snowflake sizes this mission provides, scientists can improve rainfall estimates from satellite data and in numerical weather forecast models, helping us better understand and prepare for extreme weather events.

Download this video in high resolution from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio

GPM’s Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar ( DPR ) adds a second frequency to its radar instrument which provides more accurate precipitation information and improves our ability to look at raindrop characteristics, including structure, intensity and related microphysical processes throughout the atmospheric column. Information on the distribution and size of precipitation particles, together with microwave radiometer information, improves the accuracy of rain and snowfall estimates. DPR measurements offer insight into the microphysical processes of precipitation, including evaporation, collision / coalescence and aggregation, among others, and helps to distinguish between regions of rain, snow and sleet. They also allow us to obtain bulk precipitation properties such as intensity, water fluxes and columnar water content. GPM’s advanced instruments significantly improve our ability to detect light rain and falling snow and are helping us investigate potential links between rainfall and human impacts on the environment such as pollution and urban environments.

• Remote Sensing Fundamentals and Precipitation Algorithms

GPM Supports the IMPACTS Airborne Campaign to Study Snowfall

Thunderstorms Rumble over the Great Plains

Watching Thunderstorms March Across Lake Victoria

IMERG Sees a Dry September

Observing the ITCZ with IMERG

Measuring Latent Heating in Storm Systems

Finding Strong Storms with TRMM & GPM

TMPA Shows El Niño Conditions in the Pacific

Top 5 GPM Research Highlights

GPM Gets Flake-y

Geosciences

Planetary science, geophysics, and geosciences studies at JPL focus on the solid bodies of the Solar System, with particular emphasis on terrestrial-like planets and major satellites.  Research in this area includes:

• volcanology
• impact processes (including cratering)
• geologic mapping
• surface geochemistry, mineralogy, and morphology

Current Challenges

Geoscience research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory centers on planetary bodies including Mars, Earth, Venus, Moon, Io, and Europa. These bodies are studied using several methods, including image interpretation (visible, infrared, radar), laboratory work, field work, infrared spectroscopy, geophysical data interpretation, modeling and laboratory work. 

Research efforts originate from a variety of NASA and JPL programs, including:

• Mars Data Analysis
• Solar Systems Working
• Emerging Worlds
• Habitable Worlds
• Cratering (and its impacts on gravity and atmospheric density)
• Planetary Data Archiving, Restoration, and Tools
• Lunar and Mars Data Analysis
• Flight instrument teams
• JPL Research and Technology Development

• Ask An Astrobiologist
• Resources Graphic Histories Coloring Pages Heroes Posters Life in the extremes Digital Backgrounds SciComm Guild

Astrobiology research at NASA focuses on three basic questions: How does life begin and evolve? Does life exist elsewhere in the Universe? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond? Over the past 50 years, astrobiologists have uncovered a myriad of clues to answering these Big Questions.

Contributions from many disciplines of science must be integrated to answer these questions. Thus, the Astrobiology program at NASA enlists researchers from astronomy, chemistry, planetary sciences, geology, earth science, biology and many more disciplines. Astrobiology is understanding how we go from “star stuff’ to life.

A new generation of telescopes, including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array ( ALMA ) and the European Space Agency’s far-infrared space telescope Herschel , has enabled astrobiologists to study the distribution of abiotic organic molecules in star-forming regions to a much greater extent, providing the potential to reveal more about the relationship of these molecules to prebiotic chemistry. We now know that water and organic molecules are common in space (water is the second most common molecule in the universe), suggesting that life could have arisen elsewhere in the universe.

Additionally, chemists, biologists, and geologists have provided evidence that life appears to have taken advantage or reactions that can occur without biology and then innovates making these processes more efficient, flexible and adaptable. Earth and planetary scientist working with biologists have learned what critical features make a planetary body habitable. Researchers have explored extreme environments of Earth, studied the environmental limits that can support life, and have identified extraterrestrial environments in our Solar System and beyond that could be habitable.

Astrobiology is already making major contributions to planetary science missions, such as the Mars Science Laboratory ( MSL ) – NASA’s first astrobiology mission to Mars – as they focus more and more on exploring potentially habitable environments in our Solar System. Given NASA’s focus on the search for planets and life, astrobiology will be the focus of a growing number of Solar System exploration missions, to Mars and to the ocean worlds of the outer Solar System.

In our own Solar System, the spectacular accomplishments of MSL and the Mars Exploration Rovers have greatly advanced our understanding of the geological and geochemical history of Mars and sites for future missions that have the greatest potential for past or present habitability. Astrobiologists are involved in planning for NASA’s next Mars lander mission, Mars 2020 , and the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission. Both missions will search for biosignatures of life by exploring surface and subsurface Martian environments. The Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturn system has provided astrobiologists the opportunity to explore the possibility of habitability in liquid bodies that include hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and a salty liquid subsurface ocean on Enceladus. Astrobiologists have significantly advanced our understanding of the potential habitability of subsurface liquid water oceans on icy worlds in the outer Solar System, including Saturn’s moons Titan, Enceladus, and Dione; Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede, and Neptune’s moon Triton.

Beyond our Solar System, thanks to observations by NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft, an astrophysics mission launched in 2009, astrobiologists now have an exploding tally of exoplanets to study and characterize, many within their star system’s habitable zone. Recent astrobiology research has focused on how star-planet interactions affect the limits of habitable zones and overall planetary climate conditions.

NASA’s 2015 Astrobiology Strategy, developed in collaboration with the astrobiology community, identifies topics and questions to guide astrobiology research in the lab, in the field, and in experiments flown on planetary science missions over the next decade.

Major topics of research in astrobiology today include identifying abiotic sources of organic compounds, the synthesis and function of macromolecules in the origin of life, early life and the development of increasing complexity, the co-evolution of life and environment, and identifying, exploring, and characterizing environments for habitability and biosignatures.

Astrobiology research at NASA is funded at $60 million for fiscal year 2016. Most of this funding is distributed primarily through three of the core planetary science research and analysis (R&A) programs: Exobiology, Habitable Worlds, and Emerging Worlds:

• Exobiology supports research into the origin and early evolution of life, the potential of life to adapt to different environments, and the implications for life elsewhere.
• Habitable Worlds supports research using knowledge of Earth’s history and the life upon it to determine the processes that create and maintain habitable environments, search for ancient and contemporary habitable environments, and explore the possibility of extant life beyond Earth.
• Emerging Worlds supports research that aims to understand the formation and early evolution of the Solar System.
• The Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations ( PICASSO ) Program.
• The Maturation of Instruments for Solar System Exploration (MatISSE) Program.
• The Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research ( PSTAR ) Program.
• The Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples ( LARS ) Program.

Astrobiology contributes to extra-solar-planet research through funded teams of researchers in the Nexus of Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS) , an SMD cross divisional research coordination network. NExSS aims to advance the field of exoplanet research – specifically, research in comparative planetology, biosignature and habitat detection, and planet characterization – by encouraging collaboration among projects already funded by NASA’s Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science Divisions.

Astrobiology also funds the NASA Astrobiology Institute ( NAI ) , a virtual institute dedicated to collaborative interdisciplinary research across a geographically dispersed community.

Astrobiology works in close collaboration with NASA’s Mars Exploration and Planetary Protection Programs.

NASA Space Tech Spinoffs Benefit Earth Medicine, Moon to Mars Tools

Squishy Robotics’ Tensegrity Sensor Robots help first responders determine their approach to a disaster scene. Firefighters used the robots during a subway attack exercise at the 2021 Unmanned Tactical Application Conference to detect gas leaks and other hazards.

JPL-developed technologies featured include several used by Curiosity and ECOSTRESS, plus new data visualization methods, imager miniaturization, and DNA-identification techniques.

As NASA innovates for the benefit of all, what the agency develops for exploration has the potential to evolve into other technologies with broader use here on Earth. Many of those examples are highlighted in NASA’s annual Spinoff book, including dozens of NASA-enabled medical innovations, as well other advancements.

This year’s publication, NASA’s 2024 Spinoff , features several commercialized technologies using the agency’s research and development expertise to impact everyday lives, including:

• Spherical “squishy” robots capable of dropping into dangerous situations before first responders enter
• “Digital winglets” aircraft-routing technology that’s enabling increased fuel efficiency and smoother flights
• Lighter, more durable disc brake designs that produce less dust than traditional disc brakes
• Computer software to help businesses and communities cope with and recover from natural disasters like wildfires
• New 3D printing methods to additively manufacture rocket engines and other large aluminum parts

“As we continue to push new frontiers and do the unimaginable, NASA’s scientists and engineers are constantly innovating and advancing technologies,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “A critical part of our mission is to quickly get those advances into the hands of companies and entrepreneurs who can use them to grow their businesses, open new markets, boost the economy, and raise the quality of life for everyone.”

The medical innovations include the first wireless arthroscope – a small tube carrying a camera inserted into the body during surgery – to receive clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which benefited from NASA’s experience with spacesuits and satellite batteries. Technologies for diagnosing illnesses like the coronavirus, hepatitis, and cancer have also stemmed from NASA’s space exploration and science endeavors. Even certain types of toothpaste originated from the agency’s efforts to grow crystals for electronics.

Get the Latest JPL News

Additional 2024 Spinoff highlights include developments under NASA’s Artemis campaign, like a small, rugged video camera used to improve aircraft safety, and a new method for detecting defects or damage in composite materials. Meanwhile, another spinoff story details the latest benefits of fuel cell technology created more than 50 years ago for Apollo, which is now poised to support terrestrial power grids based on renewable energy.

The book also features several technologies NASA has identified as promising future spinoffs and information on how to license agency tech. Since the 1970s, thousands of NASA technologies have found their way into many scientific and technical disciplines, impacting nearly every American industry.

“As NASA’s longest continuously running program, we continue to increase the number of technologies we license year-over-year while streamlining the development path from the government to the commercial sector,” said Daniel Lockney, Technology Transfer program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These commercialization success stories continually prove the benefits of transitioning agency technologies into private hands, where the real impacts are made.”

Spinoffs are part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and its Technology Transfer program . Tech Transfer is charged with finding broad, innovative applications for NASA-developed technology through partnerships and licensing agreements, ensuring agency investments benefit the nation and the world.

To read the latest issue of Spinoff, visit:

https://spinoff.nasa.gov

News Media Contact

Jimi Russell

NASA Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1600

[email protected]

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.

All About Mars

Small World

Mars is 53% smaller than Earth.

Fourth Rock

Mars is 1.52 AU from the Sun. Earth = 1.

A Martian day is a little longer than Earth's; a Mars year is almost two Earth years.

Rocky Planet

Mars' surface has been altered by volcanoes, impacts, winds, and crustal movement.

Bring a Spacesuit

Mars' atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, argon, and nitrogen.

Phobos and Deimos are small compared to the planet.

Mars has no rings.

Many Missions

The first success was NASA's Mariner 4 flyby in 1965,

The Search for Life

Missions are determining Mars' past and future potential for life.

The Red Planet

Iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.

Mars Overview

Mars is no place for the faint-hearted. It’s dry, rocky, and bitter cold. The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars, is one of Earth's two closest planetary neighbors (Venus is the other). Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky – it looks like a bright red point of light.

Despite being inhospitable to humans, robotic explorers – like NASA's Perseverance rover – are serving as pathfinders to eventually get humans to the surface of the Red Planet.

Why Do We Go?

Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to explore the alien landscape. NASA missions have found lots of evidence that Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of years ago.

Mars Relay Network

How we explore.

Mars 2020: Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 mission Perseverance rover is the first step of a proposed roundtrip journey to return Mars samples to Earth.

Mars Sample Return

NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) are planning ways to bring the first samples of Mars material back to Earth for detailed study. 

Mars Curiosity Rover (Mars Science Laboratory)

Curiosity is investigating Mars to determine whether the Red Planet was ever habitable to microbial life.

Mars Resources

View the one-stop shop for all Mars iconic images, videos, and more!

News & Features

NASA Selects Commercial Service Studies to Enable Mars Robotic Science

NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars

Major Martian Milestones

Why is Methane Seeping on Mars? NASA Scientists Have New Ideas

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Team Says Goodbye … for Now

Beyond the Moon

Humans to mars.

Like the Moon, Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and a driver of technologies that will enable humans to travel and explore far from Earth.

Mars remains our horizon goal for human exploration because it is one of the only other places we know in the solar system where life may have existed. What we learn about the Red Planet will tell us more about our Earth’s past and future, and may help answer whether life exists beyond our home planet.

Discover More Topics From NASA

Driving advances in air-breathing technology for aerospace vehicles, and performing research and developing technology for spacecraft propulsion systems and stages, and cryogenic fluid flight systems.

Aeropropulsion

Aeropropulsion is focused on advancing air-breathing propulsion technology for aerospace vehicles and addressing high-speed propulsion technology barriers.

We’re working on revolutionary concepts and new systems aimed at improving energy efficiency, and safety of operations, while minimizing environmental impact such as emissions and noise.

For more information about our research in aeropropulsion, contact Dr. D.R. Reddy .

Environmental Effects

NASA Glenn Research Center is performing research to address the environmental effects of acoustics, icing, emissions, and sustainable aviation fuel usage for aircraft of all types and sizes.

Aircraft Noise

We are performing experimental and analytical research and developing diagnostic tools to predict noise and analyze propulsion systems. We are looking for ways to reduce community noise caused by subsonic, supersonic, and advanced air mobility vehicles, which can be barriers to emerging aviation markets.

For more information about our research in reducing aircraft noise, contact John Lucero .

Aircraft Icing

Aircraft icing research is critical to aircraft safety. We develop validated computational and experimental simulation methods, and we use these methods as certification and design tools, to evaluate aircraft systems for operation in icing conditions, and icing effects on aircraft in flight. We conduct flight research to understand the atmospheric conditions leading to icing and enable development of on-board detection systems for avoiding certain icing conditions.

For more information about our research in aircraft icing, contact Peter Struk

Gaseous and particulate emissions can impact human health and climate change. We are working to understand and quantify the impacts of sustainable aviation fuels on combustor operability and emissions for subsonic and supersonic aircraft. We perform experimental and analytical research to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulates.

For more information about our research in emissions, contact Jeff Moder

In-Situ Resource Utilization

To achieve sustainable space exploration, we must take a lesson from our explorer ancestors by breaking the supply chain from Earth and learning to live off the land.

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU), or the ability to make useful products from the resources available at the exploration site, is a key component of this sustainability goal. One example of ISRU is generating propellants near the lunar south pole by extracting oxygen from the minerals in the granular lunar regolith or from water-ice in the permanently shadowed regions (PSR).

Having the capability to locally source the oxidizer to refuel a regularly scheduled landing vehicle helps to break the supply chain from Earth and move towards sustainability

For more information about our research on ISRU, contact Marc Abadie .

Propellant and Cryogenic Fluid Management Systems

Propellant Management systems are a sub-set of the chosen propulsion system (for example; chemical, electrical, nuclear thermal) and can be classified as either storable, cryogenic or gaseous propellant systems.

The propellant management system conditions and controls the propellant and delivers it to the propulsion system to meet flight requirements. We provide propellant systems research in the areas of engineering design, numerical modeling, testing, and technology development.

Glenn Research Center provides the insight and oversight to the prime contractors supporting NASA’s missions related to in-space transportation.

For more information about our research in propellant and cryogenic fluid management systems, contact Robert Buehrle.

Space Propulsion

We focus on research and technology for flight demonstration components and systems for spacecraft propulsion systems, propulsion stages, and cryogenic fluid flight systems. Our research and technology development enables new space exploration capabilities as well as increased reliability, safety, and affordability.

To learn more about our research in space propulsion, contact Dr. D.R. Reddy .

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What is an Exoplanet?

So far scientists have categorized exoplanets into the following types: Gas giant, Neptunian, super-Earth and terrestrial.

The planets beyond our solar system are called “exoplanets,” and they come in a wide variety of sizes, from gas giants larger than Jupiter to small, rocky planets about as big around as Earth or Mars. They can be hot enough to boil metal or locked in deep freeze. They can orbit their stars so tightly that a “year” lasts only a few days; they can orbit two suns at once. Some exoplanets are sunless rogues, wandering through the galaxy in permanent darkness.

A galaxy of stars – and planets

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is the thick stream of stars that cuts across the sky on the darkest, clearest nights. Its spiraling expanse contains at least 100 billion stars, our Sun among them. And if each of those stars has not just one planet, but, like ours, a whole system of them, then the number of planets in the galaxy is truly astronomical: We’re already heading into the trillions.

We humans have been speculating about such possibilities for thousands of years, but ours is the first generation to know, with certainty, that exoplanets are really out there. In fact, way out there. Our nearest neighboring star, Proxima Centauri, was found to possess at least one planet – probably a rocky one. It’s about 4 light-years away – more than 25 trillion miles (40 trillion kilometers). The bulk of exoplanets found so far are hundreds or thousands of light-years away.

The bad news: As yet we have no way to reach them, and won’t be leaving footprints on them anytime soon. The good news: We can look in on them, take their temperatures, taste their atmospheres and, perhaps one day soon, detect signs of life that might be hidden in pixels of light captured from these dim, distant worlds.

Exoplanet discovery – and mystery

The first exoplanets were discovered in the early 1990s, but the first exoplanet to burst upon the world stage was 51 Pegasi b, a “hot Jupiter” orbiting a Sun-like star 50 light-years away. The watershed year was 1995. Since then we’ve discovered thousands more.

Size and mass play a crucial role in determining planet types. There are also varieties within the size/mass classifications. Scientists also have noted what seems to be a strange gap in planet sizes. It’s been dubbed the “radius valley,” or the Fulton gap, after Benjamin Fulton, lead author on a paper describing it. Data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft showed that planets of a certain size-range are rare – those between 1.5 and 2 times the size (diameter) of Earth, which would place them among the super-Earths. It’s possible that this represents a critical size in planet formation: Planets that reach this size quickly attract thick atmospheres of hydrogen and helium gas, and balloon up into gaseous planets, while planets smaller than this limit are not large enough to hold such an atmosphere and remain primarily rocky, terrestrial bodies. On the other hand, the smaller planets that orbit close to their stars could be the cores of Neptune-like worlds that had their atmospheres stripped away.

Explaining the Fulton gap will require a far better understanding of how planetary systems form.

Types of exoplanets

Each planet type varies in interior and exterior appearance depending on composition.

Gas giants are planets the size of Saturn or Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, or much, much larger.

More variety is hidden within these broad categories. Hot Jupiters, for instance, were among the first planet types found – gas giants orbiting so closely to their stars that their temperatures soar into the thousands of degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius).

Neptunian planets are similar in size to Neptune or Uranus in our solar system. They likely have a mixture of interior compositions, but all will have hydrogen and helium-dominated outer atmospheres and rocky cores. We’re also discovering mini-Neptunes, planets smaller than Neptune and bigger than Earth. No planets of this size or type exist in our solar system.

Super-Earths are typically terrestrial planets that may or may not have atmospheres. They are more massive than Earth, but lighter than Neptune.

Terrestrial planets are Earth sized and smaller, composed of rock, silicate, water or carbon. Further investigation will determine whether some of them possess atmospheres, oceans or other signs of habitability.

Explore the planet types: Gas Giant , Neptune-like , Super-Earth and Terrestrial

Or move on to the building blocks of galaxies: stars!

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Search for Life

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Jet propulsion laboratory, building community, tools and skills, interplanetary connections, news media contacts.

At the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, interns from Cal State LA are learning key skills studying the origins of life.

What does wastewater management in Los Angeles have to do with the search for life on Mars? Eduardo Martinez certainly didn’t make the connection when he was pursuing a master’s in civil engineering. Not at first. Then his professor pointed him toward an internship opportunity at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for astrobiology, the study of life’s origins and the possibility of life beyond Earth.

That professor, Arezoo Khodayari of California State University, Los Angeles, helped Martinez understand the chemistry common to both fields. Soon, Martinez saw that just as phosphorous, nitrogen, and other chemicals in wastewater can fuel algal blooms in the ocean, they can potentially provide energy for microbial life on other planets.

“Once I got a taste of planetary science, I knew I needed more,” said Martinez, who did the internship while finishing his degree at Cal State LA, where more than 70% of students are Latino and few have historically participated in NASA research. “If not for JPL, I would have stopped with my master’s.” Now he’s pursuing a doctorate in geosciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The inspiration that connects both fields lies at the core of a new NASA grant. Khodayari and Laurie Barge, who runs JPL’s Origins and Habitability Laboratory , have received funding for up to six paid JPL internships over two years. The intent is to help develop the next generation of space-minded scientists from the students at Cal State LA.

The grant — one of 11 recently awarded to emerging research universities by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program — helps underrepresented students learn more about astrobiology and perform NASA-sponsored research.

“As a large employer in Southern California, we have a duty to invest in our local communities,” Barge said of JPL’s role in the effort. “It makes NASA and its science more accessible to everyone.”

Barge and Khodayari have been informally collaborating for 10 years, designing experiments to try to answer questions in their respective fields. Of the four Cal State LA interns Barge has hosted so far, two — including Martinez — have been lead authors on published research papers.

“It is a great accomplishment to publish in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal, especially as the first author,” Khodayari said. “It’s inspiring to see students from Cal State LA, which is primarily a teaching institution, provided research opportunities that result in these kinds of journal publications.”

She notes that many of her students work multiple jobs, so a paid internship means they can focus entirely on their studies without sacrificing essential income. And, Khodayari added, “they get exposure to a field far from their reality.”

In Barge’s lab, dark, fingerlike mineral structures grow in beakers of cloudy liquid meant to simulate oceans on early Earth — and possibly on other planets. By studying how these structures form in the lab, scientists like Barge hope to learn more about the potential life-creating chemical reactions that take place around similar structures, called chimneys, that develop on the ocean floor around hydrothermal vents .

“We learned so much in Laurie’s lab,” said Erika Flores, Barge’s first Cal State LA intern. “Not only are you working independently on your own projects, you’re collaborating with other interns and even other divisions at JPL.”

The middle of five children, Flores was the first in her family to graduate from high school. She initially attended University of California, Berkeley but felt isolated. After returning home, she earned her bachelor’s degree and began studying with Khodayari at Cal State LA.

Although she decided not to become a planetary scientist – “I considered it, but I didn’t want to spend another five years on a Ph.D.; I was ready to get a job” – Flores credits the JPL internship with helping her overcome a case of impostor syndrome. Equipped with a master’s that she completed during her internship, she now works for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, overseeing 13 pumping plants that route wastewater to treatment plants.

Like Flores, current Cal State LA intern Cathy Trejo wants to improve the world through clean water. She’s studying to be an environmental engineer, with a focus beyond wastewater.

But she was excited to see the parallels between Earth-bound science and planetary science during her internship. Learning to use mass spectrometers has even inspired her. NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has a mass spectrometer, the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, that measures the composition of different gases.

“Understanding the instruments we use on Mars has helped me better understand how we study chemistry here on Earth,” Trejo said.

She is fascinated that cumbersome lab instruments can be miniaturized to be taken to other planets, and that scientists are beginning to miniaturize similar instruments that could identify pollutants at Superfund sites.

Barge isn’t giving up hope that Trejo will stick with planetary science, but she’s just happy to help a budding scientist develop. “I hope these student research opportunities offer an appreciation for planetary exploration and how our work at NASA relates to important questions in other fields,” she said.

Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-2433 [email protected]

Karen Fox / Alise Fisher NASA Headquarters, Washington 301-286-6284 / 202 358-2546 [email protected] / [email protected]

2024-050      

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