Atlanta Shines at Night
Jan 13, 2023
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthplace, Atlanta, Georgia, is seen on January 20, 2013, in this image from the International Space Station as it flew approximately 240 miles above the city.
NASA honors Dr. King’s life and legacy by expanding mission equity, engaging in public service, and sharing knowledge for the benefit of all humanity.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/atlanta-shines-at-night
NASA Says 2022 Fifth Warmest Year on Record, Warming Trend Continues
Jan 12, 2023
Earth's average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Continuing the planet's long-term warming trend, global temperatures in 2022 were 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.89 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA's baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.
“This warming trend is alarming,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Our warming climate is already making a mark: Forest fires are intensifying; hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts are wreaking havoc and sea levels are rising. NASA is deepening our commitment to do our part in addressing climate change. Our Earth System Observatory will provide state-of-the-art data to support our climate modeling, analysis and predictions to help humanity confront our planet’s changing climate.”
The past nine years have been the warmest years since modern recordkeeping began in 1880. This means Earth in 2022 was about 2 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.11 degrees Celsius) warmer than the late 19th century average.
“The reason for the warming trend is that human activities continue to pump enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and the long-term planetary impacts will also continue,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of GISS, NASA's leading center for climate modeling.
Human-driven greenhouse gas emissions have rebounded following a short-lived dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, NASA scientists, as well as international scientists, determined carbon dioxide emissions were the highest on record in 2022. NASA also identified some super-emitters of methane – another powerful greenhouse gas – using the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation instrument that launched to the International Space Station last year.
The Arctic region continues to experience the strongest warming trends – close to four times the global average – according to GISS research presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, as well as a separate study.
Communities around the world are experiencing impacts scientists see as connected to the warming atmosphere and ocean. Climate change has intensified rainfall and tropical storms, deepened the severity of droughts, and increased the impact of storm surges. Last year brought torrential monsoon rains that devastated Pakistan and a persistent megadrought in the U.S. Southwest. In September, Hurricane Ian became one of the strongest and costliest hurricanes to strike the continental U.S.
Tracking Our Changing Planet
NASA’s global temperature analysis is drawn from data collected by weather stations and Antarctic research stations, as well as instruments mounted on ships and ocean buoys. NASA scientists analyze these measurements to account for uncertainties in the data and to maintain consistent methods for calculating global average surface temperature differences for every year. These ground-based measurements of surface temperature are consistent with satellite data collected since 2002 by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on NASA's Aqua satellite and with other estimates.
NASA uses the period from 1951-1980 as a baseline to understand how global temperatures change over time. That baseline includes climate patterns such as La Niña and El Niño, as well as unusually hot or cold years due to other factors, ensuring it encompasses natural variations in Earth's temperature.
Many factors can affect the average temperature in any given year. For example, 2022 was one of the warmest on record despite a third consecutive year of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean. NASA scientists estimate that La Niña’s cooling influence may have lowered global temperatures slightly (about 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit or 0.06 degrees Celsius) from what the average would have been under more typical ocean conditions.
A separate, independent analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded that the global surface temperature for 2022 was the sixth highest since 1880. NOAA scientists use much of the same raw temperature data in their analysis and have a different baseline period (1901-2000) and methodology. Although rankings for specific years can differ slightly between the records, they are in broad agreement and both reflect ongoing long-term warming.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-says-2022-fifth-warmest-year-on-record-warming-trend-continues
https://youtu.be/GxXmIgcfFn4
Hubble Visits Galactic Neighbors
Jan 13, 2023
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the galaxy LEDA 48062 in the constellation Perseus. LEDA 48062 is the faint, sparse, amorphous galaxy on the right side of the image, and it is accompanied by a more sharply defined neighbor on the left – the large, disk-like lenticular galaxy UGC 8603. A smattering of more distant galaxies litter the background while a handful of foreground stars shine brightly throughout the image.
Hubble recently spent some time studying our galactic neighbors. LEDA 48062 is only around 30 million light-years from the Milky Way and was therefore included in the observing campaign Every Known Nearby Galaxy. The aim of this campaign was to observe every known galaxy within 10 megaparsecs (around 33 million light-years) of the Milky Way. By getting to know our galactic neighbors, astronomers can determine what types of stars reside in various galaxies and also map out the local structure of the universe.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2023/hubble-visits-galactic-neighbors
NASA Selects Shawn Quinn to Lead Exploration Ground Systems Program
Jan 13, 2023
NASA has selected Shawn Quinn as manager of the Exploration Ground Systems program based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, effective Sunday, Jan. 15.
In this role, Quinn will lead the team responsible for developing and operating the systems necessary to process and launch NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on Artemis Moon missions.
Quinn succeeds Mike Bolger, who retired from the agency in December 2022 after 35 years of service following the successful Artemis I mission.
“The work done on the ground at Kennedy to prepare for missions to the Moon is essential to the success of Artemis,” said Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro. “Across several roles at Kennedy, Shawn has demonstrated outstanding leadership, mentoring, and technical skills, and will be a tremendous asset in his new role supporting Artemis and humanity’s return to the Moon.”
Quinn brings more than 35 years of NASA experience to the role. Since 2018, he served as the director of engineering at Kennedy’s spaceport, where he led a large organization of engineers from multiple disciplines in the design, development, and operations of spaceflight hardware and ground systems in support of programs and projects assigned to Kennedy, including commercial crew, launch services, ground systems, and the International Space Station.
He has previous experience with the Exploration Ground Systems Program, serving as the associate program manager. In that position, he was responsible for ground systems development activities, including design, development, integration, fabrication, construction, activation, and verification and validation of facilities, systems, ground support equipment, and operations planning and execution activities leading to NASA's exploration missions.
Prior to that role, Quinn was the Vehicle Integration and Launch Integration Product team manager. He was responsible for the operations and development of systems at Kennedy's Launch Complex 39, including the launch pads, the mobile launcher, crawler transporter and the Vehicle Assembly Building. In the role, Quinn oversaw the overall planning and implementation of modifications of Launch Complex 39 systems to support the processing and launch of SLS and Orion. He first joined NASA in 1985 in the Engineering Cooperative Education Program at Kennedy supporting the Space Shuttle Program as a design engineer while studying for his bachelor’s degree.
Quinn earned a bachelor's degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1990, and a master's degree from the University of Central Florida in 1994. In 2008, Quinn completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology System Design and Management program and received a master’s degree in engineering and management.
Among Quinn’s awards are the Presidential Rank Award, Kennedy ‘s Strategic Leadership Award, and NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-shawn-quinn-to-lead-exploration-ground-systems-program
Sweden discovers largest known rare earth mineral deposit in Europe
01/13/23 1:00 PM ET
Swedish government-owned mine operator LKAB on Thursday announced the discovery of a major rare earth mineral deposit in the northern city of Kiruna, potentially significantly reducing reliance on China for electric vehicle components.
The deposit, the largest such discovery in Europe, is equivalent to more than 1 million metric tons of rare earth oxides, according to LKAB.
“This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition. We face a supply problem. Without mines, there can be no electric vehicles,” LKAB President and CEO Jan Moström said in a statement.
The discovery could be a game-changer for Europe, which currently has no rare earth mining operations and is entirely dependent on Chinese imports for the metals, which are used in the manufacture of wind turbines and electric cars. As of 2020, 99 percent of rare earth imports to the European Union came from China.
Demand for the minerals is expected to surge as the proliferation of electric vehicles increases, with the EU projecting a more than fivefold increase by the end of the decade. Europe is particularly wary about dependence on imports after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine highlighted European reliance on Russian oil imports.
The company emphasized it will take time before the deposit can produce any useable raw materials.
“If we look at how other permit processes have worked within our industry, it will be at least 10-15 years before we can actually begin mining and deliver raw materials to the market,” Moström said.
The U.S., meanwhile, has also sought to wrest some of the market share for rare earth minerals from China. In September, the Department of Energy announced $156 million in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to create a processing facility for the minerals. While the U.S. has a single rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., no such processing facility currently exists.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/3812388-sweden-discovers-largest-known-rare-earth-mineral-deposit-in-europe/
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