Phys.org May 25, 2023 When the dust that wafts off the Sahel and Sahara regions of Africa mixes with tropical clouds, it creates rainy “disturbance” in the eastern Atlantic which are hurricanes in their youngest form. To study these infant storms, a group of NASA scientists spent a month flying off the northwestern coast of Africa aboard NASA’s research plane logging roughly 100 hours. The campaign encountered and measured one of the largest dust events the Airborne Laboratory capturing data with its instruments. Onboard remote sensing instruments captured detailed profiles of Saharan dust, wind speed and direction, temperature, moisture, and […]
Tag Archives: NASA
Pathfinder satellite paves way for constellation of tropical-storm observers
Phys.org July 1, 2021 To bring more data to forecasters and have a more consistent watch over Earth’s tropical belt where these storms form, NASA has launched a test satellite (pathfinder) ahead of a constellation of six weather satellites called TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) planned for launch in 2022. The TROPICS satellites will work together to provide near-hourly microwave observations of a storm’s precipitation, temperature, and humidity—a revisit time for these measurements not currently possible with other satellites. The new constellation will provide high frequency temperature and humidity soundings as […]
X-rays might be a better way to communicate in space
Phys.org February 25, 2019 Since its inception in 1958, NASA has relied solely on radio communications to stay in contact with all of its missions beyond Earth. NASA is looking at X-ray communications (XCOM) through which more information could be sent with the same amount of transmission power, and less energy needed over long distances. X-rays can penetrate the hot plasma that builds up as spacecraft re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. NASA (Goddard Space Center) has created Modulated X-ray Source (MXS), which will be tested in the coming years. MXS will be controlled using the NavCube to send encoded […]
All Scientific Research Funded by NASA Is Available For Free
Science Alert May 26, 2018 It was a particularly special moment when NASA announced open access to PubSpace in 2016. The public can access NASA-funded research articles in it by searching for whatever they’re interested in, or by just browsing all the NASA-funded papers. Patents and material governed by personal privacy, proprietary, or security laws are exempt from having to be included in PubSpace… read more.