Uroyoan Walker, President University of Puerto Rico visits Goddard Space Flight Center
Uroyoan Walker, President University of Puerto Rico visits Goddard Space Flight Center
Uroyoan Walker, President University of Puerto Rico visits Goddard Space Flight Center
Ingrid Padilla, Professor in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM) speaks on a panel at a White House Hispanic Heritage month event titled “Soaring Together: Inspiring the Next Generation of Space Leaders” at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
jsc2021e037903 (8/24/2021) --- Dr. Amilcar Rincon-Charris and Edwardivan Labarca-Torres working with the integration of the PRCuNaR2 payload. The Puerto Rico CubeSat NanoRocks 2 (PR-CuNaR2) is an educational and scientific microsatellite that seeks to increase understanding of the outcomes of relevant collisions among millimeter-sized particles, or “pebbles”, in a protoplanetary disk. Image courtesy of Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
jsc2021e037904 (8/24/2021) --- Group photo of the PRCuNaR2 development team. From top left to right, Hector Gonzalez, Carlos Gibson, Lucas Soto, Amilcar Rincon, Xavier Alvarez, Ian Ortiz and Jesus Marrero. From bottom left to right, Edwardivan Labarca, Natalie Cruz and Carlos Vergara. The Puerto Rico CubeSat NanoRocks 2 (PR-CuNaR2) is an educational and scientific microsatellite that seeks to increase understanding of the outcomes of relevant collisions among millimeter-sized particles, or “pebbles”, in a protoplanetary disk. Image courtesy of Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
The Swarmathon team from the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo received the Best Poster Award during the awards ceremony for NASA’s Swarmathon University Challenge IV, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida on June 12, 2019. Students and mentors from some of the Swarmathon teams were at Kennedy to participate in a student/mentor panel, hear from speakers, get a behind-the-scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center, dine with an astronaut and receive awards. For the challenge, university students developed algorithms for robotic swarms that are robust and adaptable like the foraging strategies of ant colonies. The fourth and final Swarmathon challenge was a combined virtual and physical competition. Fourth from right is Melanie Moses, a professor of computer science at the University of New Mexico, the host location for Swarmathon. Second from right is Theresa Martinez, engagement manager of the Minority University Research and Education Program, managed at Kennedy.
Students from across the United States and as far away as Puerto Rico and South America came to Huntsville, Alabama for the 9th annual Great Moonbuggy Race at the U.S. Space Rocket Center. Seventy-seven teams, representing high schools and colleges from 21 states, Puerto Rico, and Columbia, raced human powered vehicles over a lunar-like terrain. A team from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, took the first place honor in the college division. In this photograph, the Cornell #1 team, the collegiate first place winner, maneuvers their vehicle through the course. Vehicles powered by two team members, one male and one female, raced one at a time over a half-mile obstacle course of simulated moonscape terrain. The competition is inspired by development, some 30 years ago, of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a program managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The LRV team had to design a compact, lightweight, all-terrain vehicle that could be transported to the Moon in the small Apollo spacecraft. The Great Moonbuggy Race challenges students to design and build a humanpowered vehicle so they will learn how to deal with real-world engineering problems similar to those faced by the actual NASA LRV team.
Students from across the United States and as far away as Puerto Rico and South America came to Huntsville, Alabama for the 9th annual Great Moonbuggy Race at the U.S. Space Rocket Center. Seventy-seven teams, representing high schools and colleges from 21 states, Puerto Rico, and Columbia, raced human powered vehicles over a lunar-like terrain. A team from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, took the first place honor in the college division. This photograph shows the Cornell #2 team driving their vehicle through the course. The team finished the race in second place in the college division. Vehicles powered by two team members, one male and one female, raced one at a time over a half-mile obstacle course of simulated moonscape terrain. The competition is inspired by development, some 30 years ago, of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a program managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The LRV team had to design a compact, lightweight, all-terrain vehicle, that could be transported to the Moon in the small Apollo spacecraft. The Great Moonbuggy Race challenges students to design and build a human powered vehicle so they will learn how to deal with real-world engineering problems, similar to those faced by the actual NASA LRV team.
Students from across the United States and as far away as Puerto Rico came to Huntsville, Alabama for the 10th annual Great Moonbuggy Race at the U.S. Space Rocket Center. Sixty-eight teams, representing high schools and colleges from all over the United States, and Puerto Rico, raced human powered vehicles over a lunar-like terrain. Vehicles powered by two team members, one male and one female, raced one at a time over a half-mile obstacle course of simulated moonscape terrain. The competition is inspired by development, some 30 years ago, of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a program managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The LRV team had to design a compact, lightweight, all-terrain vehicle that could be transported to the Moon in the small Apollo spacecraft. The Great Moonbuggy Race challenges students to design and build a human powered vehicle so they will learn how to deal with real-world engineering problems similar to those faced by the actual NASA LRV team. In this photograph, Team No. 1 from North Dakota State University in Fargo conquers one of several obstacles on their way to victory. The team captured first place honors in the college level competition.
From left to right, moderator Trina Espinoza, Science Communicator, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Ingrid Padilla, Professor in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM), Frank Avila, Deputy Director, Source Operations, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and Diana Trujillo, NASA Human Spaceflight Director, speak on a panel at a White House Hispanic Heritage month event titled “Soaring Together: Inspiring the Next Generation of Space Leaders” at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Diana Trujillo, NASA Human Spaceflight Director, right, speaks on a panel with, from left to right, moderator Trina Espinoza, Science Communicator, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Ingrid Padilla, Professor in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM), and Frank Avila, Deputy Director, Source Operations, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), at a White House Hispanic Heritage month event titled “Soaring Together: Inspiring the Next Generation of Space Leaders” at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Diana Trujillo, NASA Human Spaceflight Director, right, speaks on a panel with, from left to right, moderator Trina Espinoza, Science Communicator, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Ingrid Padilla, Professor in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM), and Frank Avila, Deputy Director, Source Operations, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), at a White House Hispanic Heritage month event titled “Soaring Together: Inspiring the Next Generation of Space Leaders” at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
Diana Trujillo, NASA Human Spaceflight Director, speaks on a panel with, from left to right, moderator Trina Espinoza, Science Communicator, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Ingrid Padilla, Professor in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez (UPRM), and Frank Avila, Deputy Director, Source Operations, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), at a White House Hispanic Heritage month event titled “Soaring Together: Inspiring the Next Generation of Space Leaders” at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA launched a Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket carrying the RockSat-X payload with university and community college student experiments at 6:04 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Aug. 12, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facilityin Virginia. More than 60 students and instructors from across the continental United States, Hawaii and Puerto Rico were on hand to witness the launch of their experiments. The payload flew to an altitude of about 97 miles and descended via parachute into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Wallops. Payload recovery operations began after lift-off. Developed by students from seven higher education programs, the experiments flew through the RockSat-X program in conjunction with the Colorado Space Grant Consortium. Participating institutions in this flight are the University of Colorado, Boulder; Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho; the University of Puerto Rico; the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg; Capitol Technology University, Laurel, Maryland; and University of Hawai'i Community Colleges at the Honolulu, Kapi'olani, Kaua'i, and Windward campuses. The next launch scheduled from Wallops is a NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket carrying several technology development instruments. The launch is scheduled between 7 and 7:41 p.m. Sept. 29. The backup launch days are Sept. 30 through Oct. 12. <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Students from the University of Florida, University of Central Florida and the University of Puerto Rico brainstorm ideas during the 2013 International Space Apps Challenge, or ISAC, at The Astronaut Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education in Florida. During the worldwide two-day challenge, more than 9,000 people and 484 organizations came together in 83 cities across 44 countries, as well as online, to develop new ways of solving challenges that NASA faces. At Kennedy, four teams brainstormed ideas with subject matter experts and others and worked nearly 32 hours straight to present their concepts to a panel of three technical and non-technical judges. Challenges tackled at Kennedy were: Deployable Greenhouse, Kennedy Space Center 2040, Seven Minutes of Science, and Moonville – Lunar Industry Game. Photo credit: NASA_Charisse Nahser
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) on April 11 and April 12, 2025, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Participating teams represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. NASA expanded the 2025 challenge to include a remote-control division - named Remote-Operated Vehicular Research - and invited middle school students to participate. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
NMTSat is a student-built satellite built by undergraduate and graduates students primarily from New Mexico Tech. NMTSat is designed to operate five sensors in four experiments in space for 3 months of data collection. The experiments will provide data on earth’s magnetic field, high altitude plasma density, atmospheric weather measurements, and an optical beacon experiment. Approximately 50 students have contributed to NMTSat and its design not including the students and groups who have developed the science instruments. NMTSat CubeSat is providing the opportunity for these science experiments to be conducted on orbit and demonstrates the collaborative nature of the Educational Launch of Nano Satellite (ELaNa) Program at NASA. The instruments have been contributed by New Mexico Tech, Turabo University in Puerto Rico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Atmospheric and Space Technology Research Associates (ASTRA) in Boulder, CO. Dr. Anders M. Jorgensen, Associate Professor at New Mexico Tech is the PI and Dr. Hien Vo from Vietnamese-German University in Ho Chi Minh University in Vietnam is a Co-Investigator. NMTSat is funded by the New Mexico NASA EPSCoR program as well as New Mexico Tech.
NMTSat is a student-built satellite built by undergraduate and graduates students primarily from New Mexico Tech. NMTSat is designed to operate five sensors in four experiments in space for 3 months of data collection. The experiments will provide data on earth’s magnetic field, high altitude plasma density, atmospheric weather measurements, and an optical beacon experiment. Approximately 50 students have contributed to NMTSat and its design not including the students and groups who have developed the science instruments. NMTSat CubeSat is providing the opportunity for these science experiments to be conducted on orbit and demonstrates the collaborative nature of the Educational Launch of Nano Satellite (ELaNa) Program at NASA. The instruments have been contributed by New Mexico Tech, Turabo University in Puerto Rico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Atmospheric and Space Technology Research Associates (ASTRA) in Boulder, CO. Dr. Anders M. Jorgensen, Associate Professor at New Mexico Tech is the PI and Dr. Hien Vo from Vietnamese-German University in Ho Chi Minh University in Vietnam is a Co-Investigator. NMTSat is funded by the New Mexico NASA EPSCoR program as well as New Mexico Tech.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Students from the University of Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Puerto Rico and private citizens brainstorm ideas during the 2013 International Space Apps Challenge, or ISAC, at The Astronaut Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education in Florida. Seated near the Launch Services Program poster is NASA subject matter expert Dr. Phil Metzger from Kennedy Space Center’s Swampworks Laboratory. During the worldwide two-day challenge, more than 9,000 people and 484 organizations came together in 83 cities across 44 countries, as well as online, to develop new ways of solving challenges that NASA faces. At Kennedy, four teams brainstormed ideas with subject matter experts and others and worked nearly 32 hours straight to present their concepts to a panel of three technical and non-technical judges. Challenges tackled at Kennedy were: Deployable Greenhouse, Kennedy Space Center 2040, Seven Minutes of Science, and Moonville – Lunar Industry Game. Photo credit: NASA_Charisse Nahser
NMTSat is a student-built satellite built by undergraduate and graduates students primarily from New Mexico Tech. NMTSat is designed to operate five sensors in four experiments in space for 3 months of data collection. The experiments will provide data on earth’s magnetic field, high altitude plasma density, atmospheric weather measurements, and an optical beacon experiment. Approximately 50 students have contributed to NMTSat and its design not including the students and groups who have developed the science instruments. NMTSat CubeSat is providing the opportunity for these science experiments to be conducted on orbit and demonstrates the collaborative nature of the Educational Launch of Nano Satellite (ELaNa) Program at NASA. The instruments have been contributed by New Mexico Tech, Turabo University in Puerto Rico, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Atmospheric and Space Technology Research Associates (ASTRA) in Boulder, CO. Dr. Anders M. Jorgensen, Associate Professor at New Mexico Tech is the PI and Dr. Hien Vo from Vietnamese-German University in Ho Chi Minh University in Vietnam is a Co-Investigator. NMTSat is funded by the New Mexico NASA EPSCoR program as well as New Mexico Tech.
NASA image acquired acquired October 28, 2012 <b>For the latest info from NASA on Hurricane Sandy go to: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/Ti5SgS" rel="nofollow">1.usa.gov/Ti5SgS</a></b> At noon Eastern Daylight Time (16:00 Universal Time) on October 28, 2012, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of Hurricane Sandy off the southeastern United States. At 11 a.m. local time (one hour before the image was captured), the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported that the storm was located at 32.5° North and 72.6° West, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and 575 miles (930 kilometers) south of New York City. Maximum sustained winds were 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, and the central pressure was 951 millibars (28.08 inches). Forecasters predicted that the storm would continue heading north-northeast until the morning of October and then take a hard turn to the northwest into the coastaline of Delaware, New Jersey, or New York. The wind field from the storm was said to stretch 500 to 700 miles and was likely to affect an area from South Carolina to Maine, and as far inland as the Great Lakes. The storm has already caused significant damage in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti; at least 65 lives have been lost to the storm. NASA image courtesy LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michael Carlowicz. Instrument: Terra - MODIS Credit: <b><a href="http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> NASA Earth Observatory</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>
New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide compelling support for the long-held hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed polar craters. Three independent lines of evidence support this conclusion: the first measurements of excess hydrogen at Mercury's north pole with MESSENGER's Neutron Spectrometer, the first measurements of the reflectance of Mercury's polar deposits at near-infrared wavelengths with the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA), and the first detailed models of the surface and near-surface temperatures of Mercury's north polar regions that utilize the actual topography of Mercury's surface measured by the MLA. These findings are presented in three papers published online today in Science Express. Given its proximity to the Sun, Mercury would seem to be an unlikely place to find ice. But the tilt of Mercury's rotational axis is almost zero — less than one degree — so there are pockets at the planet's poles that never see sunlight. Scientists suggested decades ago that there might be water ice and other frozen volatiles trapped at Mercury's poles. The idea received a boost in 1991, when the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico detected unusually radar-bright patches at Mercury's poles, spots that reflected radio waves in the way one would expect if there were water ice. Many of these patches corresponded to the location of large impact craters mapped by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in the 1970s. But because Mariner saw less than 50 percent of the planet, planetary scientists lacked a complete diagram of the poles to compare with the images. MESSENGER's arrival at Mercury last year changed that. Images from the spacecraft's Mercury Dual Imaging System taken in 2011 and earlier this year confirmed that radar-bright features at Mercury's north and south poles are within shadowed regions on Mercury's surface, findings that are consistent with the water-ice hypothesis. To read more go to: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/TtNwM2" rel="nofollow">1.usa.gov/TtNwM2</a> Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>