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visualization of weather patterns on Mars

Mars dust storm may lead to new weather discoveries

6/25/18

Mars is experiencing an estimated 15.8-million–square-mile dust storm, roughly the size of North and South America. This storm may not be good news for the NASA solar-powered Opportunity rover, but one Penn State professor — Steven Greybush of the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science and Institute for CyberScience — sees this as a chance to learn more about Martian weather.

A college professor stands at a chalkboard.

Behrend professor completes 10-week NASA fellowship

6/20/18

Charlotte Marr de Vries, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State Behrend, completed a 10-week faculty fellowship at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. She worked with a team that studied water and air systems for a proposed space flight to Mars.

Joseph Masiero

NASA scientist to present Friedman Lecture in Astronomy on April 10

4/2/18

Joseph Masiero, a staff scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will give a free presentation titled "You Can't Make a Solar System without Breaking a Few Asteroids" at 7:30 p.m. April 10 in 100 Thomas Building at University Park. The event is part of the 2017-18 Friedman Lecture Series in Astronomy.

Randall McEntaffer works on WRX instrument

NASA set to launch Penn State-led experiment

3/26/18

NASA will launch a suborbital sounding rocket carrying a Penn State-led experiment to test a newly developed X-ray spectrograph and study the X-rays from a supernova remnant in the Milky Way galaxy.

U.S. mapping of water moisture over time.

Deep learning technology helps researchers map soil water content over time

2/28/18

Historically mapping the amount of water content in soil is essential to determine whether crops will flourish, wildfires will ignite or floods will destroy the land. Employing deep learning technology to existing soil moisture data can help accurately predict these moisture changes over time, according to a team of Penn State researchers.

The Dragonfly dual-quadcopter, shown here in an artist’s rendering, would land on Saturn’s moon Titan and then make multiple flights to explore diverse locations as it characterizes the habitability of the ocean world’s environment.

Aerospace engineers developing drone for NASA concept mission to Titan

1/9/18

Researchers from the Penn State Department of Aerospace Engineering are part of a team led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory whose proposal for a revolutionary rotorcraft to investigate Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has been selected by NASA as one of two finalists for the agency’s next New Frontiers mission.

Neutron star merger

Seeing the light of neutron star collisions

10/16/17

When two neutron stars collided on Aug. 17, a widespread search for electromagnetic radiation from the event led to observations of light from the afterglow of the explosion, finally connecting a gravitational-wave-producing event with conventional astronomy using light, according to an international team of astronomers.

eclipse data from Penn State Brandywine

Eclipse research: Brandywine professor-student duo lends NASA a hand

9/22/17

The total eclipse on Aug. 21 sent faculty, staff and students from around the state outside to watch the action. While most of the Penn State community had their eyes on the skies, two people at Penn State Brandywine were thinking about the ground and air around them.

IST grad students earn NASA Space Grant Consortium Award

9/7/17

Priya Anand and Dan Hellmann, two doctoral candidates in the College of Information Sciences and Technology have been awarded the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium IST Graduate Student Award, a grant that allows Pennsylvania graduate students to participate in NASA’s programs by supporting and enhancing scientific programs and research.

Penn State Den@Mars Team

Penn State team places second in NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

9/5/17

An interdisciplinary Penn State team led by Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture faculty members Shadi Nazarian and José Duarte earned second place and a $150,000 prize in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, a Centennial Challenge competition established to develop the technology necessary to create shelters to support the human exploration of Mars.

Penn State Brandywine Professor of Earth Sciences Laura Guertin

NASA invites Brandywine professor to spread the word about new satellite

6/30/17

When new scientific technology is released, it takes a team of scientists, teachers, writers and even social media users to get the word out to the public. This summer, Penn State Brandywine Professor of Earth Sciences Laura Guertin is helping NASA publicize the launch of JPSS-1, a new polar satellite.

Zena Cardman NASA astronaut announcement

Penn State graduate student selected for NASA astronaut program

6/7/17

Zena Cardman, a doctoral student in Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, was named a member of NASA’s 2017 class of astronauts on June 7. Vice President Mike Pence joined NASA officials in introducing the 12 men and women during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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