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In order to slow down spacecraft quickly and safely as they land, we get some help from an unexpected source: the planet’s atmosphere! To use the air around a planet to our advantage, we use heat shields, which have an air-resistant design. Learn more about heat shields, like LOFTID, and how they may help us land on Mars! For more information about the LOFTID technology demonstration, click here: https://go.nasa.gov/3aRdADV

NASA’s Lucy mission is heading to the Jupiter Trojans – two swarms of primitive asteroids trapped in Jupiter’s orbit that may hold clues to the formation of the planets. Lucy launched on October 16, 2021. After a year in orbit around the Sun, it is returning home on its launch anniversary for the first of three Earth gravity assists. On October 16, 2022, Lucy will fly by the Earth like a partner in a swing dance, boosting its speed and elongating its orbit around the Sun. At 7:04 am, Eastern Time, Lucy will make its closest approach at just 219 miles above the planet: lower than the International Space Station. This exceptionally close shave will increase its velocity by four-and-a-half miles per second, setting Lucy on track to gain even more speed when it returns to Earth for its second gravity assist in December 2024. Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/lucy-ega Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle): Producer Kel Elkins (USRA): Lead Visualizer Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Jenny McElligott (AIMM): Animator Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle): Animator Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Katherine Kretke (SwRI): Support Ernie Wright (USRA): Support Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Universal Production Music: “Determined Arrival 5” by Joel Goodman; “Finding Solace” by Eric Chevalier; “Subtle Confidence 3” by Joel Goodman This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14225. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14225. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

When Artemis astronauts land on the Moon, they’ll travel to sites never before visited by humans. Namely, they'll explore the South Pole region, home to the Moon’s largest crater, areas of near-constant light and deep shadows, and some of the coldest temperatures in the solar system. Exploring the South Pole will teach us more about the Moon’s history, as well as the history of our solar system. It's home to frozen water, which is crucial for living sustainably on the lunar surface and exploring deeper into the solar system. Artemis astronauts will explore the Moon on behalf of all of us and bring back lunar rocks and soil for analyses by generations of scientists who will help us gain unimaginable insights into our cosmic history. Series Executive Producers: Katy Mersmann/Lauren Ward Season Producers: Lonnie Shekhtman/Stephanie Sipila/James Tralie/Molly Wasser Explorers: Jose Aponte/Natalie Curran/Julie Mitchell/Adam Naids/Noah Petro/Kelsey Young/Jessica Watkins Music: a. “Daylight Falls” by Jay Price b. “Good Omens” by Count Zero and Rohan Stevenson c. “Lightspeed” by Gresby Race Nash d. “Wonders of Life” by Enrico Cacace and Lorzeno Castellarin e. “Hold Still” by Enrico Cacace f. “We Shall Overcome” by Laurent Couson Credit: NASA #NASAExplorers #Artemis #NASA-

Set far away from residents and surrounded by dunes, the Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, has supported every human spaceflight program from the Space Shuttle to Artemis. A team designing shields to protect NASA's Mars Earth Entry System from micrometeorites and space debris traveled to this facility to safely recreate dangerous impacts, and to test the team’s shields and computer models. Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center James Tralie (ADNET): Lead Producer Lead Editor Videographer Sam Molleur (NASA/JPL): Producer Videographer Dave Hendon (NASA/White Sands): White Sands Videographer Support Marcus Sandy (NASA/White Sands): Manager, White Sands Hypervelocity Testing Dennis Garcia (NASA/White Sands): .50-Caliber Test Conductor Russ Stein (NASA/Goddard): Micrometeoroid Protection System Product Design Lead Bruno Sarli (NASA/Goddard): System Engineer for CCRS Art Pardo (NASA/White Sands): White Sands Lead Electrical Technician Animations from NASA/CILabs, NASA/JPL, and ESA Music is "Tumbleweed" by Paul Osborne, "Old as the Hills" by Matthieu Ouaki, and "Texas Moon" by Anders Johan Greger Lewen of Universal Production Music. This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14219. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14219. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

Watch live as the Dragon Freedom spacecraft undocks with the four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission aboard: NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) is targeted for Friday, Oct. 14. Splashdown is targeted several hours later at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 UTC) Friday off the coast of Florida. During their stay of nearly six months on the ISS, Crew-4 members contributed to ongoing and new scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, work that is helping to prepare humans for future space exploration missions and generating innovations and benefits for humanity on Earth: https://youtu.be/J61Y5AJ-Kog

The astronauts of Crew-4 have undocked from the International Space Station and are on their way home to Earth. Watch live with NASA as the Dragon spacecraft Freedom reenters the atmosphere and splashes down off the coast of Florida. Splashdown is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 UTC), Friday, Oct. 14. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti spent five and a half months living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory. During their stay, they contributed to a number of experiments to expand our understanding of space while benefitting life on Earth: https://go.nasa.gov/3yCDeW0 Credit: NASA

The people who get to see the Earth from space marvel at its beauty, the colors, the fragility they feel about the planet 250 miles below them. Now it’s your turn: this ultra-high definition video, captured during the International Space Station’s Expedition 65, allows you an extended, appreciative gawk at the home planet in all its glory. Hit play, and go into orbit mode. This footage was shot from the International Space Station between April 17, 2021 – Oct. 17, 2021. HD download: https://archive.org/details/jsc2022m000172_Earth_in_4K_Expedition_65_Edition _______________________________________ FOLLOW THE SPACE STATION! Twitter: https://twitter.com/Space_Station Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ISS Instagram: https://instagram.com/iss

How do spacecraft slow down? Rigid heat shields and retropropulsion have been the favorites of engineers for years. Now NASA is testing a new inflatable heat shield technology that could allow us to carry even larger payloads to worlds with atmospheres: https://www.nasa.gov/loftid Launching on Nov. 1 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket along with NOAA’s JPSS-2 mission, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, will demonstrate the heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive atmospheric entry: https://go.nasa.gov/3N7yzBG Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde Editor: Daniel Salazar Credit: NASA #NASA #Technology #Spacecraft

We’re testing a new way of landing on Mars… by crashing into its surface. The Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device (SHIELD) is a lander concept being tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It could one day provide a new way for low-cost missions to land on Mars. Rather than rely on parachutes or retrorockets, SHIELD would include a collapsible, accordion-like base to absorb the energy of a landing. A full-size prototype of the base was tested on Aug. 12, 2022. The prototype was hurled at the ground from the top of a nearly 90-foot-tall (27-meter-tall) drop tower at JPL. A steel plate ensured the impact was even harder than what would be experienced on Mars. The design worked: After crushing against the steel plate at 110 mph (177 kph), several electronic components inside the SHIELD prototype, including a smartphone, survived the impact. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/California Academy of Sciences

In this video, measurements collected by the Waves instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa on Sept. 29, 2022 have been converted to an audible frequency. As the white line moves across the spectrogram, which is a visual way of representing signal strength over time, the variation of frequency of the plasma waves observed near Europa can be heard as the plasma density varies. The video shows data collected over approximately 1.5 hours during the Europa flyby. For more information about NASA’s Juno mission, visit: http://nasa.gov/juno and https://missionjuno.com Details about the Europa flyby can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-juno-will-perform-close-flyby-of-jupiter-s-icy-moon-europa Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/Univ of Iowa

Are hurricanes getting stronger? Although we’ll never see a Category 6 hurricane, data does show that more hurricanes are becoming more severe. Hurricane and climate expert Mara Cordero-Fuentes of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center tells us more about the connection between climate change and tropical cyclones. Learn more: https://go.nasa.gov/3yQ168I Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde Editor: Daniel Salazar Credit: NASA

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is filling sample tubes with rocky material on the Red Planet as the agency works on the next steps to get them safely back to Earth. The Mars Sample Return campaign would bring samples collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth for detailed study. The campaign involves an international interplanetary relay team, including the European Space Agency (ESA). These samples could answer a key question: did life ever exist on Mars? Aaron Yazzie, who works on the Mars Sample Return campaign, explains the work being done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to ensure the safe return of the sample tubes. For more information on Mars Sample Return, visit mars.nasa.gov/msr Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Paul Smith is a night-sky fanatic and photographer. His obsession is sprites: immense jolts of light that flicker high above thunderstorms. Last October, he guided NASA scientist Dr. Burcu Kosar through the backroads of Oklahoma to catch one herself. Although she’d studied sprites for more than 15 years, she hadn’t yet chased one. Read more about chasing sprites with Paul and Burcu: https://blogs.nasa.gov/sunspot/2022/10/27/the-great-sprites-chase Learn about NASA’s citizen science project Spritacular: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/sun/spritacular-nasa-s-new-citizen-science-project-to-capture-elusive-upper-atmospheric Learn about the Heliophysics Big Year: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/helio-big-year Image credits: Paul Smith, Frankie Lucena, Panagiotis Tsouras, Thomas Ashcraft. All imagery of sprites is copyrighted and used with permission. Music credits: “The Beauty Beyond” by Jeremy Noel William Abbott [PRS], Vasco [PRS]; “Outer Orbit” by Alexander Ryder Mcnair [ASCAP], Harry Gregson Williams [BMI], Ho Ling Tang [BMI]; “Wonderful Orbit” by Tom Furse Fairfax Cowan [PRS]; “Starlights” by Marc Teitler [PRS], Vasco [PRS]; “A Tranquil End” by Luke Gordon [PRS]; “Virtual Tidings” by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS]; “Winter Aurora” by Samuel Karl Bohn [PRS]; “Lava Flow” and “Water Dance” by Ben Niblett [PRS], Jon Cotton [PRS]. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Producer: Joy Ng (KBRwyle) Scientist: Burcu Kosar (Catholic University of America) Photographer: Paul Smith Photographer: Frankie Lucena Photographer: Panagiotis Tsouras Photographer: Thomas Ashcraft Videographer: Joy Ng, Thomas Smith Writer: Lina Tran This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14206. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14206. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

A new Earth science mission, led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), will help communities plan for a better future by surveying the planet’s salt and freshwater bodies. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will measure the height of water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the oceans. As climate change accelerates the water cycle, more communities around the world will be inundated with water while others won’t have enough. SWOT data will be used to improve flood forecasts and monitor drought conditions, providing essential information to water management agencies, civil engineers, universities, the U.S. Department of Defense, disaster preparedness agencies, and others who need to track water in their local areas. In this video, examples of how SWOT data will be used in these communities are shared by a National Weather Service representative in Oregon, an Alaska Department of Transportation engineer, researchers from the University of Oregon and University of North Carolina, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist working with the Department of Defense, and a JPL scientist working with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Agency. :30 - Flood Watches & Warnings - Portland, Oregon 1:08 - Water Management - Fern Ridge Lake, Oregon 2:05 - Protecting Infrastructure - Alaska 2:54 - National Security - Department of Defense 3:24 - Coastal Protection - Mississippi River Delta SWOT is expected to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California in December 2022. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and UK Space Agency. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. To learn more about the mission, visit: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES/Thales Alenia Space

chronicles solar activity from Aug. 12 to Dec. 22, 2022, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From its orbit in space around Earth, SDO has steadily imaged the Sun in 4K x 4K resolution for nearly 13 years. This information has enabled countless new discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how it influences the solar system. With a triad of instruments, SDO captures an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument alone captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. This 133-day time lapse showcases photos taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which is an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength that shows the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer: the corona. Compiling images taken 108 seconds apart, the movie condenses 133 days, or about four months, of solar observations into 59 minutes. The video shows bright active regions passing across the face of the Sun as it rotates. The Sun rotates approximately once every 27 days. The loops extending above the bright regions are magnetic fields that have trapped hot, glowing plasma. These bright regions are also the source of solar flares, which appear as bright flashes as magnetic fields snap together in a process called magnetic reconnection. While SDO has kept an unblinking eye pointed toward the Sun, there have been a few moments it missed. Some of the dark frames in the video are caused by Earth or the Moon eclipsing SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. Other blackouts are caused by instrumentation being down or data errors. SDO transmits 1.4 terabytes of data to the ground every day. The images where the Sun is off-center were observed when SDO was calibrating its instruments. SDO and other NASA missions will continue to watch our Sun in the years to come, providing further insights about our place in space and information to keep our astronauts and assets safe. The music is a continuous mix from Lars Leonhard’s “Geometric Shapes” album, courtesy of the artist. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Lead Producer Tom Bridgman (SVS): Lead Visualizer Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Editor This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14263. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14263. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines. Video Description: On the left side of the frame is the full circle of the Sun. It appears in a golden yellow color, but splotchy and with thin yellow wisps extending from the surface. Some areas are very bright and others almost black. The whole Sun rotates steadily, with one full rotation taking 12 minutes in this time lapse. There are usually only a few bright regions visible at a time and they shift and flash like small fires. From these regions there are wispy loops reaching up above the surface that rapidly change shape and size. On the right side of the frame are two white-outlined squares with enlargements of interesting regions of the Sun. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Twitter http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc

A powerful satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is set to provide astronomers with a revolutionary look at the X-ray sky. XRISM, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency), is scheduled to launch on an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 27 (9:26 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 28, in Japan). JAXA will stream the launch live on YouTube, with a broadcast in both English and Japanese starting at 7:55 p.m. EDT. “Some of the things we hope to study with XRISM include the aftermath of stellar explosions and near-light-speed particle jets launched by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies,” said Richard Kelley, NASA’s XRISM principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But of course, we’re most excited about all the unexpected phenomena XRISM will discover as it observes our cosmos.” A powerful satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is set to provide astronomers with a revolutionary look at the X-ray sky. XRISM, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency), is scheduled to launch on an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 27 (9:26 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 28, in Japan). JAXA will stream the launch live on YouTube, with a broadcast in both English and Japanese starting at 7:55 p.m. EDT. “Some of the things we hope to study with XRISM include the aftermath of stellar explosions and near-light-speed particle jets launched by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies,” said Richard Kelley, NASA’s XRISM principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But of course, we’re most excited about all the unexpected phenomena XRISM will discover as it observes our cosmos.” A powerful satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is set to provide astronomers with a revolutionary look at the X-ray sky. XRISM, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency), is scheduled to launch on an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 27 (9:26 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 28, in Japan). JAXA will stream the launch live on YouTube, with a broadcast in both English and Japanese starting at 7:55 p.m. EDT. “Some of the things we hope to study with XRISM include the aftermath of stellar explosions and near-light-speed particle jets launched by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies,” said Richard Kelley, NASA’s XRISM principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But of course, we’re most excited about all the unexpected phenomena XRISM will discover as it observes our cosmos.” A powerful satellite called XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) is set to provide astronomers with a revolutionary look at the X-ray sky. XRISM, led by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from ESA (European Space Agency), is scheduled to launch on an H-IIA rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 27 (9:26 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 28, in Japan). JAXA will stream the launch live on YouTube, with a broadcast in both English and Japanese starting at 7:55 p.m. EDT. “Some of the things we hope to study with XRISM include the aftermath of stellar explosions and near-light-speed particle jets launched by supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies,” said Richard Kelley, NASA’s XRISM principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But of course, we’re most excited about all the unexpected phenomena XRISM will discover as it observes our cosmos.” Also on this launch is JAXA’s SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), designed to demonstrate accurate, “pinpoint” lunar landing techniques by a small explorer. NASA provided a laser retroreflector array for SLIM, as both agencies cooperate in the international effort to further explore the Moon and, ultimately, human exploration of Mars. XRISM detects X-rays with energies ranging from 400 to 12,000 electron volts. (For comparison, the energy of visible light is 2 to 3 electron volts.) This range will provide astrophysicists with new information about some of the universe’s hottest regions, largest structures, and objects with the strongest gravity. The mission has two instruments, Resolve and Xtend. Resolve is a microcalorimeter spectrometer developed in collaboration between JAXA and NASA. When an X-ray hits Resolve’s 6-by-6-pixel detector, its energy causes a tiny increase in temperature. By measuring each individual X-ray’s energy, the instrument provides information about the source, such as its composition, motion, and physical state. To detect these tiny temperature changes, Resolve must operate at just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. It reaches this state in orbit after a multistage mechanical cooling process inside a refrigerator-sized container of liquid helium. “Resolve leverages technologies developed for previous X-ray missions like Suzaku and Hitomi,” said Lillian Reichenthal, NASA’s XRISM project manager at Goddard. “It represents the culmination of years of collaborative work between JAXA, NASA, and other partners from around the globe.” XRISM’s second instrument, Xtend, was developed by JAXA. It will give XRISM one of the largest fields of view of any X-ray imaging satellite flown to date, observing an area about 60% larger than the average apparent size of the full moon. The images it collects will complement the data collected by Resolve. Each instrument is at the focus of an XMA (X-ray Mirror Assembly) designed and developed at Goddard. View of XRISM X-ray Mirror Assembly The four quadrants of one XRISM X-ray Mirror Assembly. Credits: NASA/Taylor Mickal Download high-resolution images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio X-ray wavelengths are so short, they can pass straight between the atoms of the dish-shaped mirrors used to capture visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light. Instead, X-ray astronomers use nested curved mirrors turned on their sides. The X-rays skip off the surfaces like stones across a pond and into the detectors. Each of XRISM’s XMAs houses hundreds of concentric, precisely shaped aluminum shells built in quadrants and assembled into a circle. In all, there are over 3,200 individual mirror segments in the two mirror assemblies. After launch, XRISM will begin a months-long calibration phase, during which Resolve will reach its operating temperature. "Once XRISM begins collecting data, scientists will have the opportunity to propose sources for the mission to study," said Mihoko Yukita, an astrophysicist at Goddard and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who works for NASA's Guest Observer Facility for XRISM. "Researchers from around the world will have access to the cutting-edge work XRISM will be doing." XRISM is a collaborative mission between JAXA and NASA, with participation by ESA. NASA’s contribution includes science participation from the Canadian Space Agency. Banner image: The XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft investigates the X-ray universe in this artist’s concept. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

In June 2023, NASA's Mars Exploration Program leaders joined their counterparts from the Australian Space Agency, ESA (European Space Agency), and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) on a field expedition to visit some of the oldest convincing evidence of life on Earth. "This science expedition was a great opportunity for NASA to work with our international partners to study the ancient Earth as it relates to Mars, which may have had a similar past," said Eric Ianson, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The more we learn about our planet's evolution, the more we can apply that knowledge to our characterization of the Red Planet.” The Pilbara in the Western Australian Outback is one of the few places in the world to hold an ancient geological record of our ancient planet. As the international community continues working together to study Mars and prepare for samples to bring to Earth, these teams explored what our own backyard can teach us about the search for life elsewhere. "What we're looking at here in Western Australia are known as stromatolites," said Mitch Schulte, program scientist for the Mars Perseverance Rover at NASA Headquarters. "They're fossils caused by mats of microorganisms living around 3.5 billion years ago that had their presence captured and preserved in the rock record for all this time." Due to the geological processes that continually reshape and recycle the Earth’s surface, it is extremely difficult for stromatolites or other fossils to be preserved on Earth for long periods of time, so only a fraction of past life remains in the geological record. In the Pilbara region, the rock record was able to stay intact over billions of years, resulting in outcrops of geology that match the same age as we see on much of the surface of Mars. This makes the location a critical testing ground for scientists and engineers to hone their skills for identifying signs of life in ancient environments. The international delegation spent the week-long expedition to the Pilbara considering the difficulties of locating fossil evidence and how our missions are using techniques, including making detailed contextual measurements, to overcome such challenges. Discussions centered on how challenging it is to find and confirm signs of past life in ancient rocks, even on a planet like Earth, where life is known to have gained a foothold. "To be able to prove that a feature is biogenic, not only do you need to be able to prove that life can create it, but you also need to be able to prove that the particular version of the feature was not created by something else," says Lindsay Hays, deputy lead scientist for Mars Sample Return and Program Scientist for Astrobiology at NASA Headquarters. "You have to understand what else is going on in the historical record of the rock section to be able to understand what you're looking at." A central theme of the field workshop was the importance of geological context when choosing sampling sites and eventually confirming the integrity of a sample's biological origin. The Pilbara is the perfect classroom for teams to study stromatolites that have withstood the test of time and scientific rigor and understand what they might be looking for on Mars. The group investigated how the environment in which these signs of ancient life were found could have been conducive or unfavorable to biology taking shape. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been traversing Jezero Crater, which contains an ancient river delta, since Feb. 18, 2021, caching samples of rock and regolith that may contain signs of ancient microbial life from this same period of 3 to 3.5 billion years old. The exercises on this expedition mimicked what Perseverance is doing remotely, millions of miles away: identifying samples in the field and studying the area around them. As we look to the next phase of the rover's sampling campaign, the international community can use the information we've learned about the importance of environmental context on Earth to make sure that the most scientifically viable samples are being collected in tandem with the appropriate context to make the measurements that will address our biggest scientific questions about Mars upon their arrival on Earth. This astrobiology expedition sets the stage for continued investigation and collaboration as NASA's Perseverance rover, ESA's ExoMars program, and the two agencies’ joint Mars Sample Return missions will work together to try to answer humanity's age-old question: are we alone? Learn more about NASA’s Astrobiology Program: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/