Note: Please note that this is an “archived project” and is no longer updated. This article is meant for historical purposes only.
The Adaptive Deployable Entry system Project (ADEPT) objective is to develop a semi-rigid low-ballistic coefficient aeroshell entry system concept to perform and entry descent landing (EDL) functions for planetary missions. This concept would be used to safely deploy scientific payloads or enable long-term exploration to other planets with their associated cargo needs. The deployable idea allows mission planners to develop an aeroshell design that fits within existing launch vehicle systems, and yet prior to the EDL mission segment, transform into a low ballistic coefficient configuration. Thus, atmospheric entry environments (heating, acceleration, and pressure) are significantly lowered, allowing the use of lower heat capacity TPS and lower design loads for other spacecraft components.
The blunt body concept remains an integral part of cutting-edge re-entry technology, seen here in this testing of the Adaptive Deployable Entry and Placement Technology, or ADEPT, in an Ames high-temperature plasma facility known as an arc jet.
NASA / Cesar Acosta
For the ADEPT deployable concept, woven carbon fabric (which covers 90% of the deployed surface and is supported by semi-rigid ribs) is the primary drag-producing surface. Its flexibility also allows it to be stowable. The pure carbon fabric, with its high thermal conductivity, allows re-radiation from both the windward and leeward side of the fabric. This activity will include the detailed design and fabrication of a sub-scale prototype test article (approximately 2-m diameter) that will include as many flight-like and mission-traceable aspects as possible. The ADEPT proto-flight configuration will undergo integrated ground testing including numerous deployments, random vibration and acoustic testing and thermal-vac. Planning for the execution of follow-on flight-testing is on-going.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm shortly after being captured at the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting 11:28 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 3, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This launch is the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency.
NASA’s live launch coverage will begin at 11:10 a.m. on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’swebsite. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Filled with nearly 8,200 pounds of supplies, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft, carried on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA coverage of arrival will begin at 2:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 5 on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’swebsite. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will capture Cygnus using the station’s robotic arm, and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will act as backup to Dominick. After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port.
Highlights of space station research facilitated by delivery aboard this Cygnus are:
Test articles to evaluate liquid and gas flow through porous media found in space station life support systems.
Microorganisms known as Rotifers to examine the effects of spaceflight on DNA repair mechanisms.
A bioreactor to demonstrate the production of many high-quality blood and immune stem cells.
Vascularized liver tissue to analyze the development of blood vessels in engineered tissue flown to the space station.
NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative also is sending two CubeSats to deploy from the orbiting laboratory, CySat-1 from Iowa State University and DORA (Deployable Optical Receiver Aperture) from Arizona State University, making up ELaNa 52 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites).
Media interested in speaking to a science subject matter expert, should contact Sandra Jones at sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov.
The Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until January when it will depart the orbiting laboratory at which point it will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. This spacecraft is named the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee after the former NASA astronaut.
NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Friday, Aug. 2
3 p.m. – Prelaunch media teleconference (no earlier than one hour after completion of the Launch Readiness Review) with the following participants:
Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
Meghan Everett, deputy chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
Ryan Tintner, vice president, civil space systems, Northrop Grumman
Jared Metter, director, flight reliability, SpaceX
Melody Lovin, launch weather officer, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron
Media who wish to participate by phone must request dial-in information by 1 p.m. Aug. 2, by emailing Kennedy’s newsroom at ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website at:
NASA Television launch coverage
Live coverage of the launch on NASA Television will begin at 11:10 a.m., Aug. 3. For downlink information, schedules, and links to streaming video, visit: https://nasa.gov/nasatv.
Audio of the news teleconference and launch coverage will not be carried on the NASA “V” circuits. Launch coverage without NASA TV commentary via a tech feed will not be available for this launch.
NASA website launch coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 11:10 a.m., Aug. 3, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our International Space Station blog for updates.
Attend Launch Virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.
Engage on Social Media
Let people know you’re watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:
Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en Espanol? Check out NASA en Espanol on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for additional mission coverage.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
Learn more about the commercial resupply mission at:
NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to deliver research and supplies to the International Space Station.
NASA
NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA
NASA, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 11:28 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 3, for the next launch to deliver scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. Filled with more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, carried on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This launch is the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for the agency.
Live launch coverage will begin at 11:10 a.m. and stream on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms.
NASA selected Richard Scobee as an astronaut in 1978. Scobee flew as a pilot of STS 41-C and was the commander of STS 51-L. The STS 51-L crew, including Scobee, died on January 28, 1986, when space shuttle Challenger exploded after launch.
NASA
Arrival & Departure
The Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the orbiting laboratory on Monday, Aug. 5, filled with supplies, hardware, and critical materials to directly support dozens of scientific and research investigations during Expeditions 71 and 72. NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will capture Cygnus using the station’s robotic arm, and NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will act as backup.
After capture, the spacecraft will be installed on the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and will spend almost six months connected to the orbiting laboratory before departing in January 2025. Cygnus also provides the operational capability to reboost the station’s orbit.
Live coverage of Cygnus’ arrival will begin at 2:30 a.m. Aug. 5 on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps will be on duty during the Cygnus spacecraft’s approach and rendezvous. Dominick will be at the controls of the Canadarm2 robotic arm ready to capture Cygnus as Epps monitors the vehicle’s arrival.
NASA
Research Highlights
Scientific investigations traveling in the Cygnus spacecraft include tests of water recovery technology and a process to produce blood and immune stem cells in microgravity, studies of the effects of spaceflight on engineered liver tissue and microorganism DNA, and live science demonstrations for students.
Gravitational Effects on Filtration Systems
The Packed Bed Reactor Experiment: Water Recovery Series evaluates gravity’s effects on eight additional test articles.
NASA
The Packed Bed Reactor Experiment: Water Recovery Series investigates how gravity affects two-phase flow or simultaneous movement of gas and liquid through porous media. Teams will evaluate eight different test articles representing components found in the space station’s water processor or urine processor to understand two-phase flows for both liquid and gas in microgravity.
Packed bed reactors are structures that use “packing” of objects, usually pellet-like catalysts, of various shapes and materials to increase contact between different phases of fluids. These systems are used for a variety of applications such as water recovery, thermal management, and fuel cells, and the experiment develops a set of guidelines and tools to optimize their design and operation for water filtration and other systems in microgravity and on the Moon and Mars. Insights from the investigation also could lead to improvements in this technology for applications on Earth such as water purification and heating and cooling systems.
Balloon Sounds in Space
The Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Gen STEM Project, STEMonstrations, that will demonstration the effects centripetal force has on sounds during spaceflight.
NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement
STEMonstrations, as part of NASA’s Next Gen STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Project, are performed and recorded by astronauts on the space station. Each NASA STEMonstration illustrates a different scientific concept, such as centripetal force, and includes resources to help teachers further explore the topics with their students.
Astronauts will demonstrate centripetal force on the space station using a penny, a hexnut, and two clear balloons. The penny and the hexnut are whirled inside of the inflated balloon to compare the sounds made in a microgravity environment.
Cell Production on Station
The production of blood and immune stem cells on the space station with the BioServe In-Space Cell Expansion Platform (BICEP).
NASA
In-Space Expansion of Hematopoietic Stem Cells for Clinical Application (InSPA-StemCellEX-H1) tests hardware to produce human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in space. HSCs give rise to blood and immune cells and are used in therapies for patients with certain blood diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancers.
Researchers use BioServe In-Space Cell Expansion Platform, a stem cell expansion bioreactor designed to expand the stem cells three hundredfold without the need to change or add new growth media.
Someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer about every three minutes. Treating patients with transplanted stem cells requires a donor-recipient match and long-term repopulation of transplanted stem cells. This investigation demonstrates whether expanding stem cells in microgravity could generate far more continuously renewing stem cells.
Spaceflight Effects on DNA
The Rotifer-B2 investigation on the Internation Space Station explores the effects of spaceflight on DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) repair mechanisms.
ESA (European Space Agency)
Rotifer-B2, an ESA (European Space Agency) investigation, explores how spaceflight affects DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) repair mechanisms in a microscopic organisms called bdelloid rotifer, or Adineta vaga. These tiny but complex organisms are known for their ability to withstand harsh conditions, including radiation doses 100 times higher than human cells can survive.
Researchers culture rotifers, microorganisms that inhabit mainly freshwater aquatic environments, in an incubator facility on the space station. After exposure to microgravity conditions, the samples provide insights into how spaceflight affects the rotifer’s ability to repair sections of damaged DNA in a microgravity environment and could improve the general understanding of DNA damage and repair mechanisms for applications on Earth.
Bioprinting Tissue
The Maturation of Vascularized Liver Tissue Construct in Zero Gravity (MVP Cell-07) investigation used to conduct bioprinting of tissue on the space station.
NASA
Maturation of Vascularized Liver Tissue Construct in Zero Gravity (MVP Cell-07) examines engineered liver tissue constructs that contain blood vessels. Researchers aim to learn more about the progression of tissue and development of blood vessels in engineered tissues on the space station.
The experiment observes how bioprinted liver tissue behaves in space and whether microgravity causes changes in cell shape, size, and volume. The formation of tissue structures and vascular linings also are studied to ensure proper structure generation in orbit. Bioprinting in microgravity may enable the manufacturing of high-quality tissues and organs that are difficult to maintain on the ground, which could help advance space-based production of tissues and functional organs to treat patients on Earth.
Cargo Highlights
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station.
NASA’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission will carry more than 8,500 pounds (3,856 kilograms) of cargo to the International Space Station.
NASA
Hardware
International Space Station Roll Out Solar Array Modification Kit 8 – This upgrade kit consists of power cables and large structural components such as a backbone, mounting brackets, and two sets of struts. This kit will support the installation of the eighth set of roll out solar arrays located on the S6 truss segment of orbiting laboratory in 2025. The new arrays are designed to augment the station’s original solar arrays which have degraded over time. The replacement solar arrays are installed on top of existing arrays to provide a net increase in power with each array generating more than 20 kilowatts of power.
Plant Habitat Environmental Control System – The environmental control system is a component of the Advanced Plant Habitat and controls the temperature, humidity, and air flow in the growth chamber. The habitat is an enclosed, fully automated plant growth facility that will conduct plant bioscience research in orbit for up to 135 days and complete at least one year of continuous operation without maintenance.
Rate Gyro Enclosure Assembly – The Rate Gyro Assembly determines the rate of angular motion of the space station. The assembly is integrated into the enclosure housing on ground to protect the hardware for launch and in-orbit storage. This unit will serve as an in-orbit spare.
European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device & Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System (E4D VIS) Assembly Kit – This assembly kit consists of fasteners, clips, and labels to be used during the in-orbit assembly projected to be completed in mid-2025. ESA and the Danish Aerospace Company developed the E4D to address the challenge of preventing muscle and bone deterioration during long space missions. Some key features of E4D are resistive exercise, cycling ergonomic exercise, rowing, and rope pulling.
X-Y Rotation Axis Launch Configuration – This assembly consists of the X-Y-Rotational and Translational subassemblies in the flight configuration and adds the launch stabilization hardware to protect the various axes of motions for the transport to the space station. Once in orbit, the stabilizing hardware will be discarded, and the remaining assembly will then be installed into the Columbus module location with other subassemblies to provide a base for the E4D exercise device.
Pressure Control and Pump Assembly – This assembly evacuates the Distillation Assembly at startup, periodically purges non-condensable gases and water vapor, and pumps them into the Separator Plumbing Assembly as part of the Urine Processing Assembly. This unit will serve as an in-orbit spare to ensure successful urine processing operation capability without interruption.
Resupply Water Tanks – The resupply water tanks are cylindrical composite fibrewound pressure tanks that provide stored potable water for the space station.
NORS (Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System) Maintenance Tank/Recharge Tank Assembly, Nitrogen – The NORS Maintenance Kit is comprised of two separate assemblies: the NORS Recharge Tank Assembly and the NORS Vehicle Interface Assembly. The recharge tank assembly will be pressurized for launch with Nitrogen gas. The vehicle interface assembly will protect the recharge tank assembly for launch and stowage aboard the space station.
Tungsten Plates – A total of 14 tungsten plates will serve as the counter mass of the Vibration Isolation & Stabilization System designed to integrate with the European Enhanced Exercise Device.
Watch and Engage
Live coverage of the launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station will stream on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Coverage will begin at 11:10 a.m. on Aug. 3.
Live coverage of Cygnus’ arrival at the space station will begin at 2:30 a.m. Aug. 5 on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
Repair Kit for NASA’s NICER Mission Heading to Space Station
NASA will deliver a patch kit for NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, on the agency’s Northrop Grumman 21st commercial resupply mission. Astronauts will conduct a spacewalk to complete the repair.
Located near the space station’s starboard solar array, NICER was damaged in May 2023. The mission team delivered the patch kit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in May 2024 so it could be prepped and packed for the upcoming resupply mission.
“It’s incredible that in just one year, we were able to diagnose the problem and then design, build, test, and deliver a solution,” said Steve Kenyon, NICER’s mechanical lead at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We’re so excited to see the patches installed during a future spacewalk, return to a more regular operating schedule, and keep doing groundbreaking science.”
This image, obtained June 8, 2018, shows NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) on the International Space Station, where it studies neutron stars and other X-ray sources. NICER is about the size of a washing machine. The sunshades of its X-ray concentrators are visible as an array of circular features.
NASA
UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi captured this view of NICER from a window in the Poisk Mini-Research Module 2 on the space station in July 2023. Photos like this one helped the mission team map the damage to the thermal shields over NICER’s X-ray concentrators.
NASA/Sultan Alneyadi
Some of NICER’s damaged thermal shields (circled) are visible in this photograph.
NASA/Sultan Alneyadi
From its perch on the station, the washing machine-sized NICER studies the X-ray sky. It has precisely measured superdense stellar remnants called neutron stars, which contain the densest matter scientists can directly observe. It has also investigated mysterious fast radio bursts, observed comets in our solar system, and collected data about Earth’s upper atmosphere.
But in May 2023, NICER developed a “light leak,” where unwanted sunlight began entering the telescope.
Photos taken aboard the station revealed several areas of damage to NICER’s thermal shields. The shields are 500 times thinner than a human hair and filter out infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light while allowing X-rays to pass through. They cover each of NICER’s 56 X-ray concentrators, sets of 24 nested circular mirrors designed to skip X-rays into corresponding detectors. A sunshade tops each concentrator and shield assembly, with a slight gap in between. The sunshades are segmented by six internal struts, resembling a sliced pie.
The largest damage to the shields is around the size of a typical U.S. postage stamp. The other areas are closer in size to pinheads. During the station’s daytime, the damage allows sunlight to reach the detectors, saturating sensors and interfering with NICER’s measurements. The mission team altered their daytime observing strategy to mitigate the effect. The damage does not impact nighttime observations.
“NICER wasn’t designed to be serviced or repaired,” said Keith Gendreau, the mission’s principal investigator at Goddard. “It was installed robotically, and we operate it remotely. When we decided to investigate the possibility of patching the largest damaged areas on the thermal shields, we had to come up with a method that would use the existing parts of the telescope and station toolkits. We couldn’t have done it without all the support and collaboration from our colleagues at Johnson and throughout the space station program.”
NICER’s patches are made from aluminum and anodized, or coated, black. Each is about 2 inches tall. “LCK” indicates the lock position for a tab at the bottom that will hold the patch in place. NASA is sending 12 of these patches to the International Space Station. During a spacewalk, astronauts will insert five into sunshades on the telescope to cover the most significant areas of damage.
NASA/Sophia Roberts
NICER’s patches will be inserted into its sunshades, as shown here. The small tab that locks the patch into place is visible beneath it. The carbon composite sunshades cover each of NICER’s 56 X-ray concentrators. Each sunshade is supported by three gold-colored fiberglass mounting feet.
NASA/Sophia Roberts
NICER’s thermal shields — the silver film shown here — cover each of the mission’s 56 X-ray concentrators. They block ultraviolet, infrared, and visible light while allowing X-rays to pass through to the mirrors underneath. Each shield is only about 160 nanometers thick, or 500 times thinner than a human hair. The fragile shield is supported by a stainless-steel frame which consists of a pattern of 1/8 inch (3 millimeter) squares in each of the wedges.
NASA/Sophia Roberts
NICER has 56 individual X-ray focusing elements, called concentrators, that each contain 24 nested mirrors. Every concentrator delivers X-rays to its own detector. The concentrator shown here is tilted on its side, so the camera is looking into the nested mirrors. X-rays are high-energy light, so they can pass through the atoms of telescope mirrors like those for NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. Instead, X-ray observatories use grazing incidence mirrors, where the surfaces are turned on their sides. X-rays skip across their surfaces and into detectors.
NASA/Sophia Roberts
The solution, in the end, was simple. The team designed patches, each shaped like a piece of pie, that will slide into the sunshades. A tab at the bottom of each patch will turn into the space between the bottom of the sunshade and the top of the thermal shield, keeping it in place.
Astronauts will install five patches during the spacewalk. They’ll cover the most significant areas of damage and block the sunlight affecting NICER’s X-ray measurements.
The repair kit contains 12 patches in total, allowing for spares if needed. Astronauts will carry the patches in a caddy, a rectangular frame containing two spare sunshades with the patches held inside.
“NICER will be the first X-ray telescope in orbit to be serviced by astronauts and only the fourth science observatory to be repaired overall — joining the ranks of missions like NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope,” said Charles Baker, the NICER project systems engineer at Goddard. “It’s been amazing to watch the patch kit come together over the last year. NICER has taught us so many wonderful things about the cosmos, and we’re really looking forward to this next step of its journey.”
The NICER caddy is an aluminum box containing two of the mission’s spare sunshades, which are attached to the bottom. Inside the sunshades, 12 patches are locked into place. Astronauts will take the complete caddy assembly with them during a future spacewalk to address damage to NICER’s thermal shields. They’ll insert five of the patches over the largest areas of damage, which will allow the mission to return to a normal operating status during the station’s daytime.
The NICER telescope is an Astrophysics Mission of Opportunity within NASA’s Explorers Program, which provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space utilizing innovative, streamlined, and efficient management approaches within the heliophysics and astrophysics science areas. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate supported the SEXTANT component of the mission, demonstrating pulsar-based spacecraft navigation.
PBDR instruction uses place, data, and science together to create contextually rich, rigorous, and meaningful learning experiences. This first-ever public share of the PLACES framework for PBDR instruction dives into instructional design, pedagogy, assessment, and other topics related to K-12 science education. In practice, PBDR can unfold in a variety of ways. The blog post outlines PBDR instruction from a pedagogical standpoint, shares some examples of what PBDR looks like in practice, shares perspectives of PBDR instruction from pilot study teachers, and details the next steps for the PLACES project. It also offers examples of ways the NASA Science Activation network can implement the framework in their own contexts. The PLACES team hopes that others within the Science Activation community will take up the PBDR framework and provide feedback about how using the framework unfolds.
Next steps for the PLACES project will include (1) leading the 3rd professional learning summer institute at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in August, and (2) integrating materials from the pilot study and year 2 summer institute teachers, feedback from teachers and partners, and learning outcomes as they improve their professional learning experiences. The PLACES team would like to thank the NextGenScience team for their support in publishing the blog post. Please visit the PLACES team website for more information about the PBDR framework.
PLACES is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC22M0005 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
PLACES project team members collecting data on soil moisture using Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment Program protocols.
In this image from May 4, 2017, a rabbit is nearly obscured by grass at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kennedy shares a border with the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, which is home to over 31 mammal species and hundreds of bird, fish, amphibian, and reptile species. Kennedy is responsible for more protected species than any other federal property in the continental United States, and there are diverse and varied efforts to protect and preserve ecological systems at the center while simultaneously supporting the NASA mission.
Daily global average temperature values from MERRA-2 for the years 1980-2022 are shown in white, values for the year 2023 are shown in pink, and values from 2024 through June are shown in red. Daily global temperature values from July 1-July 23, 2024, from GEOS-FP are shown in purple.
NASA/Global Modeling and Assimilation Office/Peter Jacobs
July 22, 2024, was the hottest day on record, according to a NASA analysis of global daily temperature data. July 21 and 23 of this year also exceeded the previous daily record, set in July 2023. These record-breaking temperatures are part of a long-term warming trend driven by human activities, primarily the emission of greenhouse gases. As part of its mission to expand our understanding of Earth, NASA collects critical long-term observations of our changing planet.
“In a year that has been the hottest on record to date, these past two weeks have been particularly brutal,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Through our over two dozen Earth-observing satellites and over 60 years of data, NASA is providing critical analyses of how our planet is changing and how local communities can prepare, adapt, and stay safe. We are proud to be part of the Biden-Harris Administration efforts to protect communities from extreme heat.”
This preliminary finding comes from data analyses from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) and Goddard Earth Observing System Forward Processing (GEOS-FP) systems, which combine millions of global observations from instruments on land, sea, air, and satellites using atmospheric models. GEOS-FP provides rapid, near-real time weather data, while the MERRA-2 climate reanalysis takes longer but ensures the use of best quality observations. These models are run by the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Daily global average temperature values from MERRA-2 for the years 1980-2022 are shown in white, values for the year 2023 are shown in pink, and values from 2024 through June are shown in red. Daily global temperature values from July 1 to 23, 2024, from GEOS-FP are shown in purple. The results agree with an independent analysis from the European Union’s Copernicus Earth Observation Programme. While the analyses have small differences, they show broad agreement in the change in temperature over time and hottest days.
The latest daily temperature records follow 13 months of consecutive monthly temperature records, according to scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Their analysis was based on the GISTEMP record, which uses surface instrumental data alone and provides a longer-term view of changes in global temperatures at monthly and annual resolutions going back to the late 19th century.
