6 Ways NASA Is Involved In Climate Science
6 Ways NASA is Involved in Climate Science
When it comes to climate change, we play a unique role in observing and understanding changes to the planet. Thanks to NASA’s Earth observations and related research, we know our planet and its climate are changing profoundly. We also know human activities, like releasing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, are driving this change.
Not only do we make these observations, we help people and groups use this knowledge to benefit society. The work we do at NASA is critical to helping us understand the ways our planet is responding to increased temperatures.
Here are 6 ways that we are involved in climate science and informing decisions:
1. Monitoring Earth’s vital signs
Just like a doctor checks your vitals when you go in for a visit, here at NASA we are constantly monitoring Earth’s vital signs - carbon dioxide levels, global temperature, Arctic sea ice minimum, the ice sheets and sea level, and more.
We use satellites in space, observations from airplanes and ships, and data collected on the ground to understand our planet and its changing climate. Scientists also use computers to model and understand what's happening now and what might happen in the future.
People who study Earth see that the planet’s climate is getting warmer. Earth's temperature has gone up more than 1 degree Celsius (~2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the last 100 years. This may not seem like much, but small changes in Earth's temperature can have big effects. The current warming trend is of particular significance, because it is predominantly the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and is proceeding at an unprecedented rate.
People drive cars. People heat and cool their houses. People cook food. All those things take energy. Human-produced greenhouse gas emissions are largely responsible for warming our planet. Burning fossil fuels -- which includes coal, oil, and natural gas -- releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, where they act like an insulating blanket and trap heat near Earth’s surface.
At NASA, we use satellites and instruments on board the International Space Station to confirm measurements of atmospheric carbon levels. They’ve been increasing much faster than any other time in history.
2. Tracking global land use and its impacts
We also monitor and track global land use. Currently, half the world's population lives in urban areas, and by 2025, the United Nations projects that number will rise to 60%.
With so many people living and moving to metropolitan areas, the scientific world recognizes the need to study and understand the impacts of urban growth both locally and globally.
The International Space Station helps with this effort to monitor Earth. Its position in low-Earth orbit provides variable views and lighting over more than 90% of the inhabited surface of Earth, a useful complement to sensor systems on satellites in higher-altitude polar orbits. This high-resolution imaging of land and sea allows tracking of urban and forest growth, monitoring of hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, documenting of melting glaciers and deforestation, understanding how agriculture may be impacted by water stress, and measuring carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.
3. Research into the causes of climate change
Being able to monitor Earth’s climate from space also allows us to understand what’s driving these changes.
With the CERES instruments, which fly on multiple Earth satellites, our scientists measure the Earth’s planetary energy balance – the amount of energy Earth receives from the Sun and how much it radiates back to space. Over time, less energy being radiated back to space is evidence of an increase in Earth’s greenhouse effect. Human emissions of greenhouse gases are trapping more and more heat.
NASA scientists also use computer models to simulate changes in Earth’s climate as a result of human and natural drivers of temperature change.
These simulations show that human activities such as greenhouse gas emissions, along with natural factors, are necessary to simulate the changes in Earth’s climate that we have observed; natural forces alone can’t do so.
4. Research into the effects of climate change
Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers and ice sheets have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted, and trees are flowering sooner.
The effects of global climate change that scientists predicted are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.
Climate modelers have predicted that, as the planet warms, Earth will experience more severe heat waves and droughts, larger and more extreme wildfires, and longer and more intense hurricane seasons on average. The events of 2020 are consistent with what models have predicted: extreme climate events are more likely because of greenhouse gas emissions.
Plants are also struggling to keep up with rising carbon dioxide levels. Plants play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis, the less carbon dioxide remains trapped in the atmosphere where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – 86% of land ecosystems globally are becoming progressively less efficient at absorbing the increasing levels of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Helping organizations to use all the data and knowledge NASA generates is another part of our job. We’ve helped South Dakota fight West Nile Virus, helped managers across the Western U.S. handle water, helped The Nature Conservancy protect land for shorebirds, and others. We also support developing countries as they work to address climate and other challenges through a 15-year partnership with the United States Agency for International Development.
5. Action on sustainability
Sustainability involves taking action now to enable a future where the environment and living conditions are protected and enhanced. We work with many government, nonprofit, and business partners to use our data and modeling to inform their decisions and actions. We are also working to advance technologies for more efficient flight, including hybrid-electric propulsion, advanced materials, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
These advances in research and technology will not only bring about positive changes to the climate and the world in which we live, but they will also drive the economic engine of America and our partners in industry, to remain the world-wide leader in flight development.
We partner with the private sector to facilitate the transfer of our research and NASA-developed technologies. Many innovations originally developed for use in the skies above help make life more sustainable on Earth. For example:
Our Earth-observing satellites help farmers produce more with less water.
Expertise in rocket engineering led to a technique that lessens the environmental impact of burning coal.
A fuel cell that runs equipment at oil wells reduces the need to vent greenhouse gases.
6. Applying climate research to preserve NASA centers in coastal areas
Sea level rise in the two-thirds of Earth covered by water may jeopardize up to two-thirds of NASA's infrastructure built within mere feet of sea level.
Some NASA centers and facilities are located in coastal real estate because the shoreline is a safer, less inhabited surrounding for launching rockets. But now these launch pads, laboratories, airfields, and testing facilities are potentially at risk because of sea level rise. We’ve worked internally at NASA to identify climate risks and support planning at our centers.
NASA Climate Science
Climate change is one of the most complex issues facing us today. It involves many dimensions – science, economics, society, politics, and moral and ethical questions – and is a global problem, felt on local scales, that will be around for decades and centuries to come. With our Eyes on the Earth and wealth of knowledge on the Earth’s climate system and its components, we are one of the world’s experts in climate science.
Visit our Climate site to explore and learn more.
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What Science is Launching to Space?
The tenth SpaceX cargo resupply mission launched to the International Space Station on Feb. 18, and is carrying science ranging from protein crystal growth studies to Earth science payloads. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights heading to the orbiting laboratory.
The CASIS PCG 5 investigation will crystallize a human monoclonal antibody, developed by Merck Research Labs, that is currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of immunological disease. Results from this investigation have the potential to improve the way monoclonal antibody treatments are administered on Earth.
Without proteins, the human body would be unable to repair, regulate or protect itself. Crystallizing proteins provides better views of their structure, which helps scientists to better understand how they function. Often times, proteins crystallized in microgravity are of higher quality than those crystallized on Earth. LMM Biophysics 1 explores that phenomena by examining the movement of single protein molecules in microgravity. Once scientists understand how these proteins function, they can be used to design new drugs that interact with the protein in specific ways and fight disease.
Much like LMM Biophysics 1, LMM Biophysics 3 aims to use crystallography to examine molecules that are too small to be seen under a microscope, in order to best predict what types of drugs will interact best with certain kinds of proteins. LMM Biophysics 3 will look specifically into which types of crystals thrive and benefit from growth in microgravity, where Earth’s gravity won’t interfere with their formation. Currently, the success rate is poor for crystals grown even in the best of laboratories. High quality, space-grown crystals could improve research for a wide range of diseases, as well as microgravity-related problems such as radiation damage, bone loss and muscle atrophy.
Nanobiosym Predictive Pathogen Mutation Study (Nanobiosym Genes) will analyze two strains of bacterial mutations aboard the station, providing data that may be helpful in refining models of drug resistance and support the development of better medicines to counteract the resistant strains.
During the Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells investigation, crew members will observe cell growth and morphological characteristics in microgravity and analyze gene expression profiles of cells grown on the station. This information will provide insight into how human cancers start and spread, which aids in the development of prevention and treatment plans. Results from this investigation could lead to the treatment of disease and injury in space, as well as provide a way to improve stem cell production for human therapy on Earth.
The Lightning Imaging Sensor will measure the amount, rate and energy of lightning as it strikes around the world. Understanding the processes that cause lightning and the connections between lightning and subsequent severe weather events is a key to improving weather predictions and saving life and property.
From the vantage of the station, the LIS instrument will sample lightning over a wider geographical area than any previous sensor.
Future robotic spacecraft will need advanced autopilot systems to help them safely navigate and rendezvous with other objects, as they will be operating thousands of miles from Earth.
The Raven (STP-H5 Raven) studies a real-time spacecraft navigation system that provides the eyes and intelligence to see a target and steer toward it safely. Research from Raven can be applied toward unmanned vehicles both on Earth and in space, including potential use for systems in NASA’s future human deep space exploration.
SAGE III will measure stratospheric ozone, aerosols, and other trace gases by locking onto the sun or moon and scanning a thin profile of Earth’s atmosphere.
These measurements will allow national and international leaders to make informed policy decisions regarding the protection and preservation of Earth’s ozone layer. Ozone in the atmosphere protects Earth’s inhabitants, including humans, plants and animals, from harmful radiation from the sun, which can cause long-term problems such as cataracts, cancer and reduced crop yield.
Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect (Rodent Research-4) a U.S. National Laboratory investigation sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, studies what prevents other vertebrates such as rodents and humans from re-growing lost bone and tissue, and how microgravity conditions impact the process.
Results will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind a human’s inability to grow a lost limb at the wound site, and could lead to new treatment options for the more than 30% of the patient.
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"A classic that I never get tired of: the orange solar panel in front of the blue–white background and the curvature of Earth" wrote astronaut Thomas Pesquet (@thom_astro) of the European Space Agency from aboard the International Space Station.
The space station serves as the world's leading laboratory for conducting cutting-edge microgravity research, and is the primary platform for technology development and testing in space to enable human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including Mars.
Credit: NASA/ESA
I've been very curious about the basis on which the landing site is decided! I read that it will land in the Jerezo crater, so is there a particular reason behind choosing that place for the landing?
Labor Day reflections: the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s primary mirror reflects an American flag hanging overhead. The mirror, which will collect and focus light from cosmic objects near and far, has been completed. Renamed after our first chief astronomer and "Mother of Hubble," the Roman Space Telescope will capture stunning space vistas with a field of view 100 times greater than Hubble Space Telescope images. The spacecraft will study the universe using infrared light, which human eyes can’t detect without assistance. This Labor Day, we thank all the people who work to advance the future for humanity. Credit: L3Harris Technologies Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Dark Energy?
Here’s the deal — the universe is expanding. Not only that, but it’s expanding faster and faster due to the presence of a mysterious substance scientists have named “dark energy.”
But before we get to dark energy, let’s first talk a bit about the expanding cosmos. It started with the big bang — when the universe started expanding from a hot, dense state about 13.8 billion years ago. Our universe has been getting bigger and bigger ever since. Nearly every galaxy we look at is zipping away from us, caught up in that expansion!
The expansion, though, is even weirder than you might imagine. Things aren’t actually moving away from each other. Instead, the space between them is getting larger.
Imagine that you and a friend were standing next to each other. Just standing there, but the floor between you was growing. You two aren’t technically moving, but you see each other moving away. That’s what’s happening with the galaxies (and everything else) in our cosmos ... in ALL directions!
Astronomers expected the expansion to slow down over time. Why? In a word: gravity. Anything that has mass or energy has gravity, and gravity tries to pull stuff together. Plus, it works over the longest distances. Even you, reading this, exert a gravitational tug on the farthest galaxy in the universe! It’s a tiny tug, but a tug nonetheless.
As the space between galaxies grows, gravity is trying to tug the galaxies back together — which should slow down the expansion. So, if we measure the distance of faraway galaxies over time, we should be able to detect if the universe's growth rate slows down.
But in 1998, a group of astronomers measured the distance and velocity of a number of galaxies using bright, exploding stars as their “yardstick.” They found out that the expansion was getting faster.
Not slowing down.
Speeding up.
⬆️ This graphic illustrates the history of our expanding universe. We do see some slowing down of the expansion (the uphill part of the graph, where the roller coaster is slowing down). However, at some point, dark energy overtakes gravity and the expansion speeds up (the downhill on the graph). It’s like our universe is on a giant roller coaster ride, but we’re not sure how steep the hill is!
Other researchers also started looking for signs of accelerated expansion. And they found it — everywhere. They saw it when they looked at individual stars. They saw it in large scale structures of the universe, like galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters. They even saw it when they looked at the cosmic microwave background (that’s what’s in this image), a "baby picture" of the universe from just a few hundred thousand years after the big bang.
If you thought the roller coaster was wild, hold on because things are about to get really weird.
Clearly, we were missing something. Gravity wasn’t the biggest influence on matter and energy across the largest scales of the universe. Something else was. The name we’ve given to that “something else” is dark energy.
We don’t know exactly what dark energy is, and we’ve never detected it directly. But we do know there is a lot of it. A lot. If you summed up all the “stuff” in the universe — normal matter (the stuff we can touch or observe directly), dark matter, and dark energy — dark energy would make up more than two-thirds of what is out there.
That’s a lot of our universe to have escaped detection!
Researchers have come up with a few dark energy possibilities. Einstein discarded an idea from his theory of general relativity about an intrinsic property of space itself. It could be that this bit of theory got dark energy right after all. Perhaps instead there is some strange kind of energy-fluid that fills space. It could even be that we need to tweak Einstein’s theory of gravity to work at the largest scales.
We’ll have to stay tuned as researchers work this out.
Our Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) — planned to launch in the mid-2020s — will be helping with the task of unraveling the mystery of dark energy. WFIRST will map the structure and distribution of matter throughout the cosmos and across cosmic time. It will also map the universe’s expansion and study galaxies from when the universe was a wee 2-billion-year-old up to today. Using these new data, researchers will learn more than we’ve ever known about dark energy. Perhaps even cracking open the case!
You can find out more about the history of dark energy and how a number of different pieces of observational evidence led to its discovery in our Cosmic Times series. And keep an eye on WFIRST to see how this mystery unfolds.
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Not all galaxies are lonely. Some have galaxy squads.
NGC 1706, captured in this image by our Hubble Space Telescope, belongs to something known as a galaxy group, which is just as the name suggests — a group of up to 50 galaxies which are gravitationally bound and relatively close to each other.
Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, has its own squad — known as the Local Group, which also contains the Andromeda galaxy, the Large and Small Magellanic clouds and the Triangulum galaxy.
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Throwback Thursday: Apollo 11 FAQ Edition
With the help of the NASA History Office, we’ve identified some of the most frequently asked questions surrounding the first time humans walked on the surface of another world. Read on and click here to check out our previous Apollo FAQs.
How many moon rocks did the Apollo crews bring back? What did we learn?
The six crews that landed on the Moon brought back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of rocks, sand and dust from the lunar surface. Each time, they were transferred to Johnson Space Center’s Lunar Receiving Laboratory, a building that also housed the astronauts during their three weeks of quarantine. Today the building now houses other science divisions, but the lunar samples are preserved in the Lunar Sample Receiving Laboratory.
Built in 1979, the laboratory is the chief repository of the Apollo samples.
From these pieces of the Moon we learned that its chemical makeup is similar to that of Earth’s, with some differences. Studying the samples has yielded clues to the origins of the solar system. In March of 2019, we announced that three cases of pristine Moon samples will be unsealed for the first time in 50 years so that we can take advantage of the improved technology that exists today!
Did you know you might not have to travel far to see a piece of the Moon up close? Visit our Find a Moon Rock page to find out where you can visit a piece of the Moon.
What did Apollo astronauts eat on their way to the Moon?
Astronaut food has come a long way since the days of Project Mercury, our first human spaceflight program that ran from 1958-1963. Back then, astronauts “enjoyed” food in cube form or squeezed out of tubes. Early astronaut food menus were designed less for flavor and more for nutritional value, but that eventually shifted as technology evolved. Astronauts today can enjoy whole foods like apples, pizza and even tacos.
Apollo crews were the first to have hot water, making it easier to rehydrate their foods and improve its taste. They were also the first to use a “spoon bowl,” a plastic container that was somewhat like eating out of a Ziploc bag with a spoon. Here’s an example of a day’s menu for a voyage to the Moon:
Breakfast: bacon squares, strawberry cubes and an orange drink.
Lunch: beef and potatoes, applesauce and a brownie.
Dinner: salmon salad, chicken and rice, sugar cookie cubes and a pineapple grapefruit drink.
What did Michael Collins do while he orbited the Moon, alone in the Command Module?
As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin worked on the lunar surface, Command Module pilot Michael Collins orbited the Moon, alone, for the next 21.5 hours. On board he ran systems checks, made surface observations and communicated with Mission Control when there wasn’t a communications blackout. Blackouts happened every time Collins went behind the Moon. In 2009, Collins wrote this in response to a flurry of media questions about the 40th anniversary of the mission:
Q. Circling the lonely Moon by yourself, the loneliest person in the universe, weren't you lonely? A. No. Far from feeling lonely or abandoned, I feel very much a part of what is taking place on the lunar surface. I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats, but I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have. This venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two.”
What will Artemis astronauts bring back when they land on the Moon?
Artemis missions to the Moon will mark humanity’s first permanent presence on another world. The first woman and the next man to explore the lunar surface will land where nobody has ever attempted to land before -- on the Moon’s south pole where there are billions of tons of water ice that can be used for oxygen and fuel. We don’t know yet what astronauts will bring back from this unexplored territory, but we do know that they will return with hope and inspiration for the next generation of explorers: the Artemis generation. Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Diving into New Magnetic Territory with the MMS Mission
Our Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, or MMS, is on a journey to study a new region of space.
On May 4, 2017, after three months of precisely coordinated maneuvers, MMS reached its new orbit to begin studying the magnetic environment on the ever-rotating nighttime side of Earth.
The space around Earth is not as empty as it looks. It’s packed with high energy electrons and ions that zoom along magnetic field lines and surf along waves created by electric and magnetic fields.
MMS studies how these particles move in order to understand a process known as magnetic reconnection, which occurs when magnetic fields explosively collide and re-align.
After launch, MMS started exploring the magnetic environment on the side of Earth closest to the sun. Now, MMS has been boosted into a new orbit that tops out twice as high as before, at over 98,000 miles above Earth’s surface.
The new orbit will allow the spacecraft to study magnetic reconnection on the night side of Earth, where the process is thought to cause the northern and southern lights and energize particles that fill the radiation belts, a doughnut-shaped region of trapped particles surrounding Earth.
MMS uses four separate but identical spacecraft, which fly in a tight pyramid formation known as a tetrahedron. This allows MMS to map the magnetic environment in three dimensions.
MMS made many discoveries during its first two years in space, and its new orbit will open the door to even more. The information scientists get from MMS will help us better understand our space environment, which helps in planning future missions to explore even further beyond our planet. Learn more about MMS at nasa.gov/mms.
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Solar System: Things to Know This Week
What's next for NASA? A quick look at some of the big things coming up:
1. We will add to our existing robotic fleet at the Red Planet with the InSight Mars lander set to study the planet's interior.
This terrestrial planet explorer will address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system science - understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion years ago.
2. The Mars 2020 rover will look for signs of past microbial life, gather samples for potential future return to Earth.
The Mars 2020 mission takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on the Red Planet in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself. The Mars 2020 rover introduces a drill that can collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a "cache" on the surface of Mars.
3. The James Webb Space Telescope will be the premier observatory of the next decade, studying the history of our Universe in infrared.
Webb will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own solar system.
4. The Parker Solar Probe will "touch the Sun," traveling closer to the surface than any spacecraft before.
This spacecraft, about the size of a small car, will travel directly into the sun's atmosphere about 4 million miles from our star's surface. Parker Solar Probe and its four suites of instruments – studying magnetic and electric fields, energetic particles, and the solar wind – will be protected from the Sun’s enormous heat by a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite heat shield.
5. Our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrives at the near-Earth asteroid Bennu in August 2018, and will return a sample for study in 2023.
This mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.
6. Launching in 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will search for planets around 200,000 bright, nearby stars.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is the next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system (exoplanets), including those that could support life. The mission will find exoplanets that periodically block part of the light from their host stars, events called transits.
7. A mission to Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa is being planned for launch in the 2020s.
The mission will place a spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter in order to perform a detailed investigation of Europa -- a world that shows strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust and which could host conditions favorable for life.
8. We will launch our first integrated test flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, known as Exploration Mission-1.
The Space Launch System rocket will launch with Orion atop it. During Exploration Mission-1, Orion will venture thousands of miles beyond the moon during an approximately three week mission.
9. We are looking at what a flexible deep space gateway near the Moon could be.
We’ve issued a draft announcement seeking U.S. industry-led studies for an advanced solar electric propulsion (SEP) vehicle capability. The studies will help define required capabilities and reduce risk for the 50 kilowatt-class SEP needed for the agency’s near-term exploration goals.
10. Want to know more? Read the full story.
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7 Facts That Will Make You Feel Very Small
Earth, our home planet, is the fifth largest planet in our solar system and the only planet we know of where life exists. Even though Earth seems extremely large to us, it is actually a tiny spec in the vast expanse of the universe. Here are 7 space facts that will make you feel very small.
1. Our sun is one of at least 100 BILLION stars, just in the Milky Way. Scientists calculate that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, each one brimming with stars. There are more stars than grains of sand on all of Earth’s beaches combined.
In 1995, the first planet beyond our solar system was discovered. Now, thousands of planets orbiting sun-like stars have been discovered, also known as exoplanets.
2. The Milky Way is a huge city of stars, so big that even at the speed of light (which is fast!), it would take 100,000 years to travel across it.
3. Roughly 70% of the universe is made of dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 25%. The rest — everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our instruments, all normal matter adds up to less than 5% of the universe.
4. If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a nickel.
5. The sun accounts for almost all of the mass in our solar system. Leaving .2% for all the planets and everything else.
6. Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe is expanding and that at one point in time (14 billion years ago) the universe was all collected in just one point of space.
7. Four American spacecraft are headed out of our solar system to what scientists call interstellar space. Voyager 1 is the farthest out — more than 11 billion miles from our sun. It was the first manmade object to leave our solar system. Voyager 2, is speeding along at more than 39,000 mph, but will still take more than 296,000 years to pass Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky.
Feeling small yet? Here’s a tool that will show you just how tiny we are compared to everything else out there: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/features/cosmic/earth.html
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