The inflatable antenna technology concept was originally called the Large Balloon Reflector (LBR) concept when it was picked up by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program in 2013. It may have sounded like a wild idea to some at first, but because NASA gave it a chance this technology could revolutionize high-speed communications. NASA 360 takes a look at a NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) that launched a business, became a space mission, and could change the way we communicate on Earth.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) satellite spacecraft lifts off from Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 at 4:38 p.m. EST, March 1, 2022, on a joint effort with NASA to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events.
Hurricanes are some of the most powerful and destructive weather events on Earth. To help study these powerful storms, NASA is launching TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats), a collection of six small satellites designed to measure storm strength by detecting the thermal radiation naturally emitted by the oxygen and water vapor in the air.
In June 2021, NASA launched a test version of the satellite, called a pathfinder, ahead of the constellation of six weather satellites planned for launch in 2022. When launched, the TROPICS satellites will work together to provide near-hourly microwave observations of a storm’s precipitation, temperature, and humidity. The mission is expected to help scientists understand the factors driving tropical cyclone intensification and to improve forecasting models.
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Katie Jepson (KBRwyle): Producer/Ellen T. Gray (ADNET): Writer/William Blackwell (MIT): Scientist/Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator/Katie Jepson (KBRwyle): Animator/Taylor Johnson: Narration
Hundreds of meltwater lakes hide deep beneath the expanse of Antarctica’s ice sheet. With a powerful laser altimeter system in space, NASA’s Ice Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is helping scientists “see†under the ice.
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Jefferson Beck (KBRwyle): Lead Producer/Roberto Molar Candanosa (KBR): Lead Writer/Helen-Nicole Kostis (USRA): Lead Visualizer/Helen Amanda Fricker (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego): Lead Scientist/Matthew R. Siegfried (Colorado School of Mines): Lead Scientist
Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record, effectively tying 2016, the previous record. Overall, Earth’s average temperature has risen more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1880s. Temperatures are increasing due to human activities, specifically emissions of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane.
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Lead Producer/Katie Jepson (USRA): Lead Producer/Jessica Merzdorf (Telophase): Lead Writer/Sofie L. Bates (Intern): Lead Writer/Peter H. Jacobs (NASA/GSFC): Public Affairs Officer/Gavin A. Schmidt (NASA/GSFC GISS): Lead Scientist/Lesley Ott (NASA/GSFC): Scientist/Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC): Lead Visualizer/Trent L. Schindler (USRA): Visualizer/Jefferson Beck (USRA): Producer/Kathleen Gaeta (GSFC Interns): Producer/Jacob Richmond (NASA/GSFC): Public Affairs Officer
Plants play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis, the less carbon dioxide remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – 86% of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing the increasing levels of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio/Kathryn Mersmann (USRA): Lead Producer/Esprit Smith (KBR): Lead Writer/Benjamin Poulter (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
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