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by Tiffany Blake<\/em><\/p>\n As NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley enters its 85th<\/sup>\u00a0year since its founding, join us as we take a look back at some of our highlights of science, engineering, research, and innovation from 2024.<\/p>\n Researchers at Ames were part of the team tasked to\u00a0better understand and identify the root cause\u00a0of the unexpected char loss across the Artemis I Orion spacecraft\u2019s heat shield. Using Avcoat material response data from Artemis I, the investigation team was able to replicate the Artemis I entry trajectory environment \u2014 a key part of understanding the cause of the issue \u2014 inside the arc jet facilities at NASA Ames.\u00a0<\/p>\n After ten months in orbit, the\u00a0Starling spacecraft swarm\u00a0successfully demonstrated its primary mission\u2019s key objectives, representing significant achievements in the capability of swarm configurations in low Earth orbit, including distributing and sharing important information and autonomous decision making.\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s\u00a0BioNutrients\u00a0entered its fifth year in its mission to investigate how microorganisms can produce on-demand nutrients for astronauts during long-duration space missions. Keeping astronauts healthy is critical and as the project comes to a\u00a0close, researchers have processed production packs on Earth on the same day astronauts processed production packs in space on the International Space Station to demonstrate that NASA can produce nutrients after at least five years in space, providing confidence it will be capable of supporting crewed missions to Mars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Ames\u00a0upgraded its powerful hyperwall system, a 300-square foot wall of LCD screens with over a billion pixels to display supercomputer-scale visualizations of the very large datasets produced by NASA supercomputers and instruments. The hyperwall is just one way researchers can utilize NASA\u2019s high-end computing technology to\u00a0better understand their data\u00a0and advance the agency\u2019s missions and research.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ames contributes to the\u00a0agency\u2019s artificial intelligence work\u00a0through ongoing research and development, agencywide collaboration, and communications efforts. This year, NASA announced David Salvagnini as its inaugural chief artificial intelligence officer and held the first\u00a0agencywide town hall on artificial intelligence\u00a0sharing how the agency is safely using and developing artificial intelligence to advance missions and research.\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s\u00a0Advanced Composite Solar Sail System\u00a0successfully launched from M\u0101hia, New Zealand, in April, and successfully deployed its sail in August to begin mission operations. The small satellite represents a new future in solar sailing, using lightweight composite booms to support a reflective polymer sail that uses the pressure of sunlight as propulsion.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, Ames researchers studied Earth\u2019s oceans and waterways from multiple angles \u2013 from supporting NASA\u2019s\u00a0Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, or PACE, mission\u00a0to bringing students in Puerto Rico\u00a0experiences in oceanography and the preservation of coral reefs. Working with multiple partners, our scientists and engineers helped inform ecosystem management by\u00a0joining satellite measurements of Earth with animal tracking data. In collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, a NASA team continued testing\u00a0a specialized instrument package to stay in-the-know about changes in river flow rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ames researchers used a series of supercomputer simulations to reveal a potential new explanation for\u00a0how the moons of Mars may have formed: The first step, the findings say, may have involved the destruction of an asteroid.\u00a0<\/p>\n Using NASA\u2019s powerful James Webb Space Telescope, another Ames scientist helped reveal the smallest asteroids ever found in the main asteroid belt.\u00a0<\/p>\n A heat shield material invented and made at\u00a0Ames helped to safely return a spacecraft\u00a0containing the first product processed on an autonomous, free-flying, in-space manufacturing platform. February\u2019s re-entry of the spacecraft from Varda Space Industries of El Segundo, California, in partnership with Rocket Lab USA of Long Beach, California, marked the first time a NASA-manufactured thermal protection material, called C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), ever returned from space.\u00a0<\/p>\n HelioSwarm\u2019s swarm of nine spacecraft will provide deeper insights into our universe and offer critical information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals such as GPS. The mission team continues to work toward launching in 2029.\u00a0<\/p>\n The microwave sized CubeSat,\u00a0CAPSTONE, continues to fly in a cis-lunar near rectilinear halo orbit after launching in 2022. Flying in this unique orbit continues to pave the way for future spacecraft and\u202fGateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA\u2019s\u202fArtemis\u202fcampaign, as the team continues to collect data.\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s uncrewed aircraft system traffic management concepts\u00a0paved the way\u00a0for newly-approved package delivery drone flights in the Dallas area.\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s uncrewed aircraft system traffic management concepts\u00a0paved the way\u00a0for newly-approved package delivery drone flights in the Dallas area.\u00a0<\/p>\n Managing our busy airspace is a complex and important issue, ensuring reliable and efficient movement of commercial and public air traffic as well as autonomous vehicles. NASA, in partnership with AeroVironment and Aerostar,\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0a first-of-its-kind air traffic management concept that could pave the way for aircraft to safely operate at higher altitudes. The agency also saw continued fuel savings and reduction in commercial flight delays at Dallas Fort-Worth Airport, thanks to\u00a0a NASA-developed tool\u00a0that allows flight coordinators to identify more efficient, alternative takeoff routes.<\/p>\n BioSentinel\u00a0\u2013 a small satellite about the size of a cereal box \u2013 is currently more than 30 million miles from Earth, orbiting our Sun. After launching aboard NASA\u2019s\u00a0Artemis I\u00a0more than two years ago, BioSentinel continues to collect valuable information for scientists trying to understand how solar radiation storms move through space and where their effects \u2013 and potential impacts on life beyond Earth \u2013 are most intense. In May 2024, the satellite was exposed to a coronal mass ejection without the protection of our planet\u2019s magnetic field and\u00a0gathered measurements of hazardous solar particles\u00a0in deep space during a solar storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA researchers continued to develop and test airspace management technologies to enable remotely-piloted aircraft to\u00a0fight and monitor wildland fires\u00a024 hours a day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project seeks to use drones and advanced aviation technologies to improve wildland fire coordination and operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0Strategic Tactical Radio and Tactical Overwatch (STRATO)\u00a0technology is a collaborative effort to use high-altitude balloons to improve real-time communications among firefighters battling wildland fires. Providing cellular communication from above can improve firefighter safety and firefighting efficiency.<\/p>\n The\u00a0NASA Ames Visitor Center\u00a0at Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California includes a fully reimagined 360-degree experience, featuring new exhibits, models, and more. An interactive exhibit puts visitors in the shoes of a NASA Ames scientist, designing and testing rovers, planes, and robots for space exploration.\u00a0<\/p>\n NASA astronauts, scientists, and researchers, and leadership from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)\u00a0met with cancer patients and gathered in a discussion about potential research opportunities\u00a0and collaborations as part of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden\u2019s Cancer Moonshot initiative on Oct. 4. During the visit with patients, NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle and former astronaut Kenneth Cockrell answered questions about spaceflight and life in space.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ames and the University of California, Berkeley, expanded their partnership, organizing workshops to exchange on their areas of technical expertise, including in Advanced Air Mobility, and to develop ideas for the Berkeley Space Center, an innovation hub proposed for development at Ames\u2019 NASA Research Park. Under a new agreement, NASA also will\u00a0host supercomputing resources\u00a0for UC Berkeley, supporting the development of novel computing algorithms and software for a wide variety of scientific and technology areas.<\/p>\n by Rachel Hoover<\/em><\/p>\n Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley pre-dates a lot of things. The center existed before NASA \u2013 the very space and aeronautics agency it\u2019s a critical part of today. And of all the marvelous advancements in science and technology that have fundamentally changed our lives over the last\u00a085 years since its founding, one aspect has remained steadfast; an enduring commitment to what\u2019s known by some on-center simply as, \u201can atmosphere of freedom.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Years before breaking ground at the site that would one day become home to the world\u2019s preeminent\u00a0wind tunnels,\u00a0supercomputers,\u00a0simulators, and brightest minds solving some of the world\u2019s toughest challenges,\u00a0Joseph Sweetman Ames, the center\u2019s namesake, described a sentiment that would guide decades of innovation and research:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is that you have learned or are learning a love of freedom of thought and are convinced that life is worthwhile only in such an atmosphere,\u201d he said in an address to the graduates of Johns Hopkins University in June 1935.<\/p>\n That spirit and the people it attracted and retained are a crucial part of how Ames, along with other\u00a0N.A.C.A. research centers, ultimately made\u00a0technological breakthroughs\u00a0that enabled humanity\u2019s first steps on the Moon, the\u00a0safe return of spacecraft\u00a0through Earth\u2019s atmosphere, and many other discoveries that benefit our day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the context of my work, an atmosphere of freedom means the freedom to pursue high-risk, high-reward, innovative ideas that may take time to fully develop and \u2014 most importantly \u2014 the opportunity to put them into practice for the benefit of all,\u201d said Edward Balaban, a researcher at Ames specializing in artificial intelligence, robotics, and advanced mission concepts.<\/p>\n Balaban\u2019s career at Ames has involved a variety of projects at different stages of development \u2013 from early concept to flight-ready \u2013 including experimenting with different ways to create\u00a0super-sized space telescopes\u00a0in space and using\u00a0artificial intelligence to help guide the path a rover\u00a0might take to maximize off-world science results. Like many Ames researchers over the years, Balaban shared that his experience has involved deep collaborations across science and engineering disciplines with colleagues all over the center, as well as commercial and academic partners in Silicon Valley where Ames is nestled and beyond. This is a tradition that runs deep at Ames and has helped lead to\u00a0entirely new fields of study\u00a0and seeded many companies and spinoffs.<\/p>\n \nAmes Arc Jets Play Key Role in Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Heat Shield Findings\u00a0<\/h4>\n