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Year - Blog Posts
2016 Sets Global Temperature Record
We just experienced the hottest year on record…again.
2016 was hotter than 2015, the previous record. And 2015 hotter than 2014, the previous record year.
These record temperatures are all part of a warming trend that dates back to the late-19th century, largely caused by human emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere.
A lot of this warming trend has been in the last 35 years. In fact, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have been since 2001.
To help us gather this data, planes and boats travel out from Antarctic research stations to gather information from the Arctic region, in addition to space-based observatories.
Scientists at our Goddard Institute for Space Studies analyze data from 6,300 weather stations, observations of sea surface temperature and Antarctic research stations, all to determine how the average surface temperature is changing.
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration separately analyze the same data to track global temperature.
The two agencies reached the same conclusion about 2016’s record-setting heat.
Variations in local weather mean parts of the globe did not experience a record-setting year. Some places still had snow, cold weather and below-record temperatures, but the overall global average was higher than any previous year.
For instance, according to NOAA the average temperature in the 48 contiguous United States was not quite as high as in 2015, which still holds the record.
A combination of space- and land-based measurements gives us a unique perspective on Earth, the only planet we know of that supports life.
To learn more about the global temperature record or see how average surface temperature for individual months, visit: http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
2016: This Year at NASA!
As 2016 comes to a close and prospects of the new year loom before us, we take a moment to look back at what we’ve accomplished and how it will set us ahead in the year to come.
2016 marked record-breaking progress in our exploration activities. We advanced the capabilities needed to travel farther into the solar system while increasing observations of our home and the universe, learning more about how to continuously live and work in space and, or course, inspiring the next generation of leaders to take up our journey to Mars and make their own discoveries.
Here are a few of the top NASA stories of 2016...
International Space Station
One Year Mission…completed!
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth after spending a year in space. Testing the limits of human research, findings from their One Year Mission will help send humans farther into space than ever before.
Commercial Resupply
Commercial partners Orbital ATK and SpaceX delivered tons (yes literally tons) of cargo to the International Space Station. This cargo supported hundreds of science experiments and technology demonstrations crucial to our journey to Mars.
Mars
Expandable Habitats
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was one of the technology demonstrations delivered to the space station in April. Expandable habitats greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions.
Booster Test Firing
In June, a booster for our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket successfully fired up. It will be used on the first un-crewed test flight of SLS with the Orion spacecraft in 2018. Eventually, this rocket and capsule will carry humans into deep space and one day…Mars!
InSight
This year we updated the milestones for our InSight mission with a new target launch window beginning in May 2018. This mission will place a fixed science outpost on Mars to study its deep interior. Findings and research from this project will address one of the most fundamental questions we have about the planetary and solar system science…how in the world did these rocky planets form?
Solar System and Beyond
Juno
On July 4, our Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter. This mission is working to improve our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.
OSIRIS-REx
In September, we launched our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft…which is America’s first-ever asteroid sample return mission. This spacecraft will travel to a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu, where it will collect a sample to bring back to Earth for study.
James Webb Space Telescope
In February, the final primary mirror segment of our James Webb Space Telescope was installed. This will be the world’s most powerful space telescope ever, and is scheduled to launch in 2018. Webb will look back in time, studying the very first galaxies ever formed.
Kepler
In May, our Kepler mission verified the discovery of 1,284 new planets. Kepler is the first NASA mission to find potentially habitably Earth-sized planets.
Earth Right Now
Earth Expeditions
Our efforts to improve life on Earth included an announcement in March of a collection of Earth Science field campaigns to study how our planet is changing. These Earth Expeditions sent scientists to places like the edge of the Greenland ice sheet to the coral reefs of the South Pacific to delve into challenging questions about how our planet is changing…and what impacts humans are having on it.
Small Satellites
In November, we announced plans to launch six next-generation Earth-observing small satellite missions. One uses GPS signals to measure wind in hurricanes and tropical systems in greater detail than ever before.
Aeronautics Research
Our efforts in 2016 to make air travel cleaner, safer and quieter included new technology to improve safety and efficiency of aircraft arrivals, departures and service operations.
X-Plane
In June, we highlighted our first designation of an experimental airplane, or X-plane, in a decade. It will test new electric propulsion technology.
Drone Technolgy
In October, we evaluated a system being developed for the Federal Aviation Administration to safely manage drone air traffic.
Technology
Electric Propulsion
We selected Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop and advanced electric propulsion system to enable deep space travel to an asteroid and Mars.
Spinoffs
Our technology transfer program continued to share the agency’s technology with industry, academia and other government agencies at an unprecedented rate.
Centennial Challenges
Our Centennial Challenges program conducted four competition events in 2016 to spark innovation and enable solutions in important technology focus areas.
Watch the full video recap of ‘This Year @NASA’ here:
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Leap Day…Why Does It Exist?
Once every four years, an extra calendar day is added: a leap day. But why?
The reason for adding leap days to the calendar is to align the calendar year with the actual year – which is defined by the time it takes Earth to circle the sun. It is equal to 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds, or 365.24219 days.
If all calendar years contained exactly 365 days, they would drift from the actual year by about 1 day every 4 years. Eventually, July would occur during the northern hemisphere winter! Wouldn’t that be weird?
To correct (approximately), we add 1 day every 4 years...resulting in a leap year.
By making most years 365 days but every fourth year 366 days, the calendar year and the actual year remain more nearly in step.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
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Astronauts Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko return to Earth after a year in space! Read the highlights of the year here: http://ourtech.tumblr.com/post/140172910796/best-moments-from-a-year-in-space-creepily-enough Watch live now: http://www.ustream.tv/NASAHDTV
Best Moments from a Year in Space
Creepily enough I have not meet Astronaut Scott Kelly in person, yet through my experience as a NASA Johnson Space intern I have followed his whole journey. While sitting in Mission Control I would see Kelly float through the International Space Station (ISS) to his next experiment, struggle with space food and occasionally pull a space prank. After a record breaking year in space Kelly will return to Earth March 1st and you can watch here 9:15pmCT. He has had many great moments and below are my personal favorites...
Extra Terrestrial Lettuce
Scott Kelly taking a selfie with space lettuce - NASA
Astronauts consumed a space grown harvest for the first time! Kelly, Kjell Lindgren, and Kimiya Yui tried crisp red romaine lettuce, first plain and then with vinaigrette. NASA was testing the effectiveness of a plant growth facility, Veggie, using rooting "pillows," which contain the seeds. Providing fresh food for astronauts, NASA plans to grow food on spacecrafts and on other planets in the future.
Space flowers, zinnia, were also grown in the Veggie during Kelly's mission blooming with oddly curled petals. NASA ground support treated Kelly like an autonomous gardener with only a one page flower care guide. These zinnia were not the first flowers to bloom on the ISS, in 2012 Astronaut Don Pettit grew a sunflower, broccoli and zucchini plant for a personal experiment. The zucchini bloomed a yellow flower but did not produce a full zucchini with the time allotted. Pettit wrote a "Diary of a Space Zucchini" from the perspective of the orbiting zucchini plant. The first flower to bloom in space was a Arabidopsis flown on board the then Soviet Union’s Salyut-7 space station in 1982.
Space Selfies
Scott Kelly taking a selfie during his first space walk Oct 28th, 2015 - NASA
Selfie during Kelly's space walk December 21st, 2015 - NASA
While there is a lot of science to get excited about in space sometimes its acceptable to take a moment to appreciate a good space selfie. Kelly was pretty selfie happy religiously posting to Twitter and sneaking in a few selfies during down time on space walks. In addition to selfies Kelly has taken thousands of stunning photos of Earth from his extraterrestrial perspective. During his over 5,000 orbits around the Earth Scott Kelly has taken thousands upon thousands of photos documenting Earth's beauty and fluid environment. He has captured Northern Lights, illuminated cities, painted deserts, reaching rivers and looming storms. All of these photos that make Earth look like an unknown planet can be found on his Instagram and Twitter. For the record Buzz Aldrin the took first space selfie in 1966.
Green Goo
Scott Kelly observing a tablet fizzing in water - NASA
Unfortunately this is not a slime ball alien. Scott Kelly dissolved a fizzing tablet and food coloring in a floating ball of water. This bubbling phenomenon was captured using a camera ultra high-definition cameras. NASA explains that higher resolution images and higher frame rate videos can reveal more information when used on science investigations. The floating sphere's form was disturbed by its internal popping and bubbling. Personally I thought this experiment was the most hypnotic.
Watch this odd ball I deem to be better than a lava lamp.
Halfway There
Scott Kelly admiring fresh fruit delivered halfway into his yearlong mission - NASA
Woah, livin' on a prayer!
Seriously though, a year in space takes some serious endurance. A sane completion of half a year in space is well worth a celebration. On board the crew received a delivery of fresh fruit in late August on the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV4) Kounotori, a Japanese cargo ship. On ground, Mission Control celebrated with cupcakes and Skyped with Kelly. Kounotori was one of nine cargo ships Kelly welcomed to ISS. The successful docking of a cargo ship is critical as they carry needed food, experiments, tools and replacement equipment.
15 Years of the International Space Station
Expedition 45 Crew celebrates ISS' 15th birthday - NASA
Scott Kelly celebrated the International Space Station's 15th birthday on November 2nd, 2015 celebrating the first crew's docking back in 2000. Over 1,760 research investigations have been conducted on board including Kelly's Twin Study.
Read about all that has been accomplished on ISS.
Jitters In Orbit
Scott Kelly's set up for Space Cup test - NASA
Liquid in Earth Gravity (right) and low gravity (Left) - NASA
Poor Scott Kelly had to sip coffee for hours to observe patterns of liquid tension in the new Space Cup. It was amusing to hear Kelly claim he took the longest sip of coffee in history. Although bags of coffee are already used on ISS, drinking a cup off coffee is more natural like back on Earth boosting astronaut moral. These Space Cups are engineered to accommodate to liquid's behavior in low gravity. Liquid is very "sticky" in space desiring to adhere to surfaces and pooling. This phenomenon became a hazard when coolant leaked in astronaut Luca Parmitano's space suit during an EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity/ Space Walk) in 2013. By studying the tendencies of liquid in space we can better understand chemical and biological processes in space.
Extra Vehicular Activity
Scott Kelly’s second space walk - NASA
Myself logging during Kelly's second EVA - NASA
During Scott Kelly's second ever space walk I got to follow along with their procedure and log when they successfully completed tasks. Honestly the procedure book is full of engineering jargon that the astronauts may not complete int he desired order, I never had a dull moment trying to keep up! I can't imagine the focus space walkers must have following the procedure, fixing parts on the ISS, staying safe all for many hours without a bathroom and a granola bar. Kelly and Kjell Lindgren spent 7 hours and 48 minutes working outside the International Space Station. They fixed ISS' ammonia cooling system. Scott Kelly performed three EVAs during his year in space.
Scott Kelly taking a selfie with the Earth - NASA
Fragile Exploration
The whole point of Scott Kelly's year long mission is to observe the long term effects of space on a human's body and mind. Humans are the most fragile thing we send up to space. Unfortunately we are not a robot society because by now we would have personally explored each planet in our solar system. To explore, humans have to leave Earth, exist in low gravity and land on other planets SAFELY. Scott Kelly's year in space is a huge step in the right direction to identify our boundaries and expand them. With Scott Kelly on board and his twin brother Mark Kelly as the control on Earth we have a unique look at the effects of zero gravity. Once Scott Kelly lands the science has just begun! Scientists will evaluate the effects on the body in low gravity, observe how Scott Kelly adjusts to Earth's gravity, and observe other changes Scott Kelly has experienced. It is so neat we get to watch this scientific exploration unfold!
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Time Inc. produced a net video series called "A Year In Space" about Scott Kelly's mission.
PBS and Time Inc. will team up to produce a two part series about the mission too.
Launch your career in aerospace.
Watch Scott Kelly's Year In Space wrap up coverage on NASA TV here is the schedule:
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