NASA Ames Research Center

NASA researchers and engineers tested a portable airspace management system and a communications relay network to enable uncrewed aircraft to suppress and monitor wildland fires twenty four hours a day. Next year, researchers will perform the first of a series of comprehensive flight and field evaluations to mature this technology for infusion into wildland fire operations. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gdwntyhR

Ames researchers joined Reliable Robotics, Collins Aerospace, and staff from the California congressional delegation this week to observe a remotely-piloted flight demonstration. Over the next year, NASA will conduct studies and flight tests to assess technologies needed to enable routine remotely-piloted operations.

How did Mars get its moons? A NASA study using supercomputer simulations reveals a new way Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos, may have formed from asteroid fragments. This work helps researchers better understand how moons and planets can develop across the universe. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gpdAu5jR

This week, Ames Center Director Dr. Eugene Tu presented Representative Anna G. Eshoo with the Pioneer plaque to recognize her for 32 years of distinguished public service and her enduring support for the agency. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ggfYsJZ4

Our Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission is on TIME’s list of the Best Inventions of 2024! The spacecraft is testing next generation solar sail composite boom technologies that will help enable future exploration missions at the Moon, Mars and beyond. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g7dZTFWd #TIMEBestInventions

NASA’s unique mission provides benefits in big and small ways. Dollars spent for space exploration, advancements in flight, and climate research create jobs, jumpstart businesses, and grow the economy.   In fiscal year 2023, the agency’s contribution to our home state of California exceeded $18 billion in economic output and supported more than 66,000 jobs.    Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eqEsJtuF 

MISSION UPDATE: Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission operators continue to analyze data from the spacecraft and characterize the performance of its composite booms following successful deployment. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gSd8c2tb

Last week, astronauts, scientists, researchers, and leadership from NASA and the University of California, San Francisco met cancer patients and discussed new research opportunities as part of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. NASA is working with researchers and agencies to help cut the nation’s cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gXjvdctt

NASA awards Starfish Space a contract to complete the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission. The company's Otter spacecraft will inspect inoperable satellites in low Earth Orbit. This mission supports the agency’s efforts to extend the life of satellites while reducing space debris. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gRdHsNXf

Last week, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs visited our FutureFlight Central to learn more about the center's technical capabilities and area of research on aeronautics. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gq5WRVGC