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 Featured NASA/JAXA’s XRISM Mission Captures Unmatched Data With Just 36 Pixels3 min readNASA/JAXA’s XRISM Mission Captures Unmatched Data With Just 36 Pixelsarticle3 days ago This coronal mass ejection, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, erupted on the Sun Aug. 31, 2012, traveling over 900 miles per second and sending radiation deep into space. Earth’s magnetic field shields it from radiation produced by solar events like this one, while Mars lacks that kind of shielding.6 min readNASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Marsarticle4 days ago A person stands next to a small jet engine inside a soundproofed room.3 min readNASA Uses Small Engine to Enhance Sustainable Jet Researcharticle4 days ago
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 Highlights Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays

	2 min read

		Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays

		article

			5 hours ago A HI-C launches with trees in the background.

	4 min read

		Hi-C Rocket Experiment Achieves Never-Before-Seen Look at Solar Flares

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			22 hours ago NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

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		NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

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 Highlights 4 min read

		NASA Mission Strengthens 40-Year Friendship

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		NASA Selects Commercial Service Studies to Enable Mars Robotic Science

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			2 days ago NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prepare for their mission in the company’s Starliner spacecraft simulator at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

	4 min read

		NASA’s Commercial Partners Deliver Cargo, Crew for Station Science

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			1 week ago
 Highlights NASA Is Helping Protect Tigers, Jaguars, and Elephants. Here’s How.

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		NASA Is Helping Protect Tigers, Jaguars, and Elephants. Here’s How.

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			23 hours ago Two Small NASA Satellites Will Measure Soil Moisture, Volcanic Gases

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		Two Small NASA Satellites Will Measure Soil Moisture, Volcanic Gases

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			2 days ago Colorado River

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 Highlights NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

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		NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

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			1 day ago Orbits and Kepler’s Laws

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		Orbits and Kepler’s Laws

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 Featured Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays

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		Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays

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			5 hours ago Multiwavelength image of the Cloverleaf ORC

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		X-ray Satellite XMM-Newton Sees ‘Space Clover’ in a New Light

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			1 day ago NASA/JAXA’s XRISM Mission Captures Unmatched Data With Just 36 Pixels

	3 min read

		NASA/JAXA’s XRISM Mission Captures Unmatched Data With Just 36 Pixels

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 Highlights Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays

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		Hubble Hunts Visible Light Sources of X-Rays

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			5 hours ago A scientist examines a sample through a microscope while backlit by a red and white image on the screen behind her.

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			4 days ago Inside of an aircraft cockpit is shown from the upside down perspective with two men in tan flight suits sitting inside. The side of one helmet, oxygen mask and visor is seen for one of the two men as well as controls inside the aircraft. The second helmet is seen from the back as the man sitting in the front is piloting the aircraft. You can see land below through the window of the aircraft.

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			3 days ago Members of Team Miles with the CubeSat developed during the NASA Cube Quest Challenge. From left to right: Alex Wingeier, Don Smith, Wes Faler. Image Credit: Team Miles

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Ames SC Division Space Biosciences DivisionWho We AreBioengineering Branch (SCB)Flight Systems Implementation Branch (SCF)Space Biosciences Research Branch (SCR)Division ManagementWhat We DoResearchResearchEducationInformation for ResearchersPublicationsContactsMoreAmes Science DirectorateAmes Research Center
 Microbial Tracking-1C (SpaceX-8) Microbial Tracking Payload Series Astronaut Scott Kelly performs sampling aboard the ISS for the Microbial Tracking-1 experiment.NASA
 Microbial Tracking-1 is a three-part investigation that seeks to characterize airborne and surface-associated populations of microorganisms aboard the International Space Station. Conducting three separate sampling missions will allow the investigators to assess how the microbial communities aboard the station change over time. The first part of the series, Microbial Tracking-1A, flew to the station on SpaceX-5 Dragon on Jan. 10, 2015. The second part of the series, Microbial Tracking-1B, flew to the station aboard SpaceX-6 on April 14, 2015. The third part of the investigation, Microbial Tracking-1C, launched to the station aboard SpaceX-8 on April 8, 2016. Currently, monitoring of the quantity and types of microorganisms aboard the space station is primarily performed by culture-based methods in which microbes are cultured—grown—in the laboratory before being analyzed. Culture-based methods are inherently limiting, since only an estimated 1-3% of microorganisms can be grown under laboratory conditions. This means only a small subset of microbial communities can be detected and studied using culture-based methods alone. Microbial Tracking-1 mission patch
 The Microbial Tracking-1 study will use culture-based and high-throughput methods of molecular analysis to analyze air and surface samples returned from the space station. The high-throughput methods complement traditional culture-based methods of microbial analysis and allow for identification of “unculturable” microbes. Findings from the Microbial Tracking-1 study will provide NASA with tools to estimate crew health and spacecraft performance risks stemming from microbial growth onboard a crewed space vehicle. NASA is also interested in developing ways to minimize the hazards from microbes during long-duration crewed missions. Data from this investigation will be made available to the scientific community through an open-access database developed by NASA called GeneLab. Microbial Tracking-1 is managed and supported by the Space Biology Project at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. Funding for Space Biology comes from the Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications Division within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. **Project manager:** Elizabeth Pane, NASA Ames Research Center**Project scientist:** Fathi Karouia, Ph.D., Fully Integrated Lifecycle Mission Support Services, NASA Ames Research Center**Principal investigator:** Kasthuri Venkateswaran, Ph.D., NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory**Co-investigator:**Duane L. Pierson, Ph.D., NASA’s Johnson Space Center**Co-investigator:**Douglas J. Botkin, Ph.D., NASA’s Johnson Space Center**Co-investigator:**George Fox, Ph.D., University of Houston **More Information:** What’s Growing on the Space Station’s Walls? Observing How Microbes Adapt in a Spaceflight Environment. For more information, see the Space Station Research Explorer for the Microbial Tracking-1 mission. NASA commentator Amiko Kauderer talks with Kasthuri Venkateswaran, principal investigator for the Microbial Tracking-1 (formerly known as Microbial Observatory) experiment aboard the International Space Station that focuses on the millions of other living things on the station other than the crew: the microbes which share the environment with the human crew. Discover More Topics From NASA
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							BPS administers NASA’s: BPS partners with the research community and a wide range of organizations to accomplish its mission. Grants... International Space Station Human Research Program Ames Research Center


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 Page Last Updated:
								Apr 02, 2024
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								Elizabeth E. Keller
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