Blocky craters: Implications about the lunar megaregolith

Radar, infrared, and photogeologic properties of lunar craters have been studied to determine whether there is a systematic difference in blocky craters between the maria and terrae and whether this difference may be due to a deep megaregolith of pulverized material forming the terra surface, as opposed to a layer of semi-coherent basalt flows forming the mare surface. Some 1310 craters from about 4 to 100 km diameter have been catalogued as radar and/or infrared anomalies. In addition, a study of Apollo Orbital Photography confirmed that the radar and infrared anomalies are correlated with blocky rubble around the crater.Analysis of the radar and infrared data indicated systematic terra—mare differences. Fresh terra craters smaller than 12 km were less likely to be infrared and radar anomalies than comparable mare craters: but terra and mare craters larger than 12 km had similar infrared and radar signatures. Also, there are many terra craters which are radar bright but not infrared anomalies.Our interpretation of these data is that while the maria are rock layers (basaltic flow units) where craters eject boulder fields, the terrae are covered by relatively pulverized megaregolith at least 2 km deep, where craters eject less rocky rubble. Blocky rubble, either in the form of actual rocks or partly consolidated blocks, contributes to the radar and infrared signatures of the crater. However, aging by impacts rapidly destroys these effects, possibly through burial by secondary debris or by disintegration of the blocks themselves, especially in terra regions.PSI Contribution No. 110.     

A review of earth-based radar mapping of the moon

Lunar radar mappings carried out in the late 1960's and 1970's have provided several valuable insights into lunar surface processes. These radar mappings used the delay-Doppler technique developed by Gordon Pettengill and his colleagues. These radar mappings also needed the narrow antenna beams, now available with large radio telescopes such as those at the Arecibo and Haystack Observatories. Two-element radar interferometers have provided resolution of the delay-Doppler ambiguity at meter wavelengths and provided topographic information at centimeter wavelengths. These techniques have provided high-resolution lunar radar-maps at 3.8-cm, 70-cm, and 7.5-m wavelengths, a set of wavelengths which span the window available for Earth-based radar mapping of the Moon.These radar maps have been used along with other Earth-based and Apollo orbital measurements to define surface units. The radar maps and these other data can describe physical properties such as small-scale (centimeter sized) blockiness and surface chemistry (titanium and iron) content. These estimates of lunar surface properties rely heavily upon extrapolation of surface sampling results.Presented at the IAU-COSPAR Julian Schmidt Symposium on 100 Years of Lunar Mapping held at Lagonissi, Greece, 25–27 May, 1978.     

Geology of the Venus equatorial region from Pioneer Venus radar imaging

Pioneer Venus radar data has provided images (resolution 20- to 40-km) of approximately 50% of the total surface of Venus in a band between 45 ° N to 15 ° S. These data are used to map the broad radar characteristics of the equatorial region on the basis of radar brightness and texture. Seven radar units are defined and are used to assess the geologic character of the equatorial region. These units fall into two distinct classes, those that are radar-bright (35% of the equatorial region) which correspond to highlands and zones of intense tectonic deformation, and radar-dark units, corresponding primarily to plains (65% of the equatorial region). The correspondence between features in the 15 ° region of overlap between the Pioneer Venus and Venera 15/16 images is examined and used to extend units mapped in the northern high latitudes into the equatorial region. On the basis of the distribution of the radar units, properties of RMS slope, reflectivity, the scattering behavior of the surface, and topographic signature, seven physiographic units are mapped in the equatorial region and are identified by increasing complexity as plains (undivided), dark halo plains, upland rises, upland plateaus, interhighland tectonic zones, tectonically segmented linear highlands, and tectonic junctions. The physiographic units are distributed in a nearly continuous interconnecting zone of volcanic rises and tectonic features that extends for nearly 360 ° around the equator of the planet. The distribution of large circular structures interpreted as coronae is also examined and it is concluded that the abundances of the largest structures, diameters greater than 500 km, is less than in the northern high latitudes with a notable absence of smaller coronae. The absence of small coronae may be due to the resolution limit of the Pioneer Venus data since analyses of higher resolution Arecibo and Goldstone imagery suggests that a number of corona-like features not identified in the PV data are present.'Geology and Tectonics of Venus', special issue edited by Alexander T. Basilevsky (USSR Acad. of Sci. Moscow), James W. Head (Brown University, Providence), Gordon H. Pettengill (MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts) and R. S. Saunders (J.P.L., Pasadena).     

Modern Numerical Ephemerides of Planets and the Importance of Ranging Observations for Their Creation

The JPL planetary and lunar ephemerides – DE200/LE200, DE403/LE403, DE405/LE405 and the planetary and lunar ephemerides, EPM87, EPM98, and EPM2000, constructed in the Institute of Applied Astronomy of RAS are described. Common properties and differences of the various ephemerides are given. Graphical comparisons of the DE ephemerides with each other and with the EPM ephemerides are presented. A fairly good agreement of planetary orbits is between DE403, DE405 and EPM98, EPM2000, respectively, over the interval of 120 years (1886–2006) covered by EPM98 and EPM2000. Some differences are explained by a slight disagreement in representing the orbits of Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta as they affect the planets. The accurate radar observations of planets and spacecraft make it possible not only to improve the orbital elements of planets but to determine a broad set of astronomical constants as well: km/AU, parameters of Mars rotation including its precessional rate, the masses of Jupiter, Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta, relativistic parameters of the PPN formalism, the variability of the gravitational constant G. These have been obtained in the fitting process of the DE405 and EPM2000 ephemerides to observational data, including nearly 80000 American and Russian radar observations of planets (1961–1997), ranging and doppler to the Viking and Pathfinder landers, and other miscellaneous measurements from various sources and spacecraft.     

Density and stress distribution in the moon

A model is presented for the lateral variations of density within the Moon. The model gives rise to a gravitational potential which is equal to the observed potential at the lunar surface, moreover, it minimizes the total shear-strain energy of the Moon. The model exhibits lateral variations of about ±0.25 g cc^–1 within 50 km depth. The variations, however, reduce to ±0.06 and ±0.008 g cc^–1 within layers at 50–135 and 135–235 km respectively, and they become negligible below this region. The associated stress differences are found to be about 50 bar within 600 km depth, having their maximum values of about 90 bars at a depth of about 250 km. On the basis of these stress differences a strength of about 100 bar is concluded for the upper 400 km of the lunar interior for the last 3.3 b.y.Paper dedicated to Professor Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April, 1973.The Lunar Science Institute is operated by the Universities Space Research Association under Contract No. NSR 09-051-001 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This paper is Lunar Science Institute Contribution No. 117.     

Unidentified infrared spectral features

The infrared spectra between 2 and 13 m of a variety of objects have become available in the past few years. These spectra have shown many objects to have up to six emission features that are still unidentified. Other objects show absorptions due to ice, carbon monoxide, silicates, and two unidentified features. The observational characteristics of the unidentified features are discussed here, together with several possible identifications.Invited contribution to the Proceedings of a Workshop onThermodynamics and Kinetics of Dust Formation in the Space Medium held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, 6–8 September, 1978.     

Geology of the southern Ishtar Terra/Guinevere and Sedna Planitae region on Venus

Recent high resolution, high incidence angle Arecibo radar images of southern Ishtar Terra and flanking plains of Guinevere and Sedna on Venus reveal details of topographic features resolved by Pioneer Venus. The high incidence angles of Arecibo images favor the detection of surface roughness-related features, and complement recently obtained low incidence angle Venera 15/16 images in which changes in surface topographic slope are well portrayed. Four provinces have been defined on the basis of radar characteristics in Arecibo images and topography. Volcanism and tectonism are the dominant processes in the mapped area, which has an average age of about 0.5–1.0 billion years (Ivanov et al., 1986). These processes vary in relative significance in the mapped provinces and it is likely that geologic activity has occurred simultaneously in all four provinces. On the basis of stratigraphic evidence, however, a general sequence is proposed which represents the major activity in each area. The low predominantly volcanic plains of Guinevere and Sedna Planitiae are the relatively oldest terrain. A major region of complex tectonic deformation, the Southern Ishtar Transition Zone, postdates much of the low plains and delineates the steep-sloped flanks of Ishtar Terra. Lakshmi Planum is characterized by a distinctive volcanic style (large low edifices, calderas, flanking plains) and at least in part postdates the Southern Ishtar Transition Zone. Relatively recent plains-style volcanism occurs locally in Sedna Planitia and embays the Southern Ishtar Transition Zone. Compressional deformation appears to dominate the mountains of the Ishtar plateau, but the nature of the tectonic deformation in the Southern Ishtar Transition Zone is very complex and likely represents a combination of extension, compression and strikeslip deformation. Arecibo data reveal additional coronae in the lowlands, suggesting that corona formation is an even more widespread process than indicated by the Venera data.     

Imaging the surface of Mercury using ground-based telescopes

We describe and compare two methods of short-exposure, high-definition ground-based imaging of the planet Mercury. Two teams have recorded images of Mercury on different dates, from different locations, and with different observational and data reduction techniques. Both groups have achieved spatial resolutions of <250 km, and the same albedo features and contrast levels appear where the two datasets overlap (longitudes 270–360°). Dark albedo regions appear as mare and correlate well with smooth terrain radar signatures. Bright albedo features agree optically, but less well with radar data. Such confirmations of state-of-the-art optical techniques introduce a new era of ground-based exploration of Mercury's surface and its atmosphere. They offer opportunities for synergistic, cooperative observations before and during the upcoming Messenger and BepiColombo missions to Mercury.     

Shear strength of lunar soil from oceanus procellarum

Soil from the scoop of Surveyor 3, returned to Earth by Apollo 12 astronauts, has been tested in a miniature shear box at five bulk densities, from 0.99 to 1.87 g cm^–3. Cohesion increased with bulk density from 3 × 10^–2 to 3 × 10^–1 N cm^–2; internal friction angle increased from 13° to 56°. Shear stress vs normal stress data fit a logarithmic relationship better than a linear one, at normal stresses of 3 × 10^–3 to 3 x 10⁰ N cm^–2. Results of these tests, in air, show no systematic differences from those for tests made elsewhere in vacuum and nitrogen. Results agree with those obtained in remotely controlled lunar surface operations with Surveyor 3 and other spacecraft provided that the bulk density was slightly underestimated for the on-surface measurements.Paper dedicated to Prof. Harold C. Urey on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 29 April 1973.This work represents one phase of research conducted at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, under Contract NAS 7-100.     

Correlations between Cassini VIMS spectra and RADAR SAR images: Implications for Titan's surface composition and the character of the Huygens Probe Landing Site

Titan's vast equatorial fields of RADAR-dark longitudinal dunes seen in Cassini RADAR synthetic aperture images correlate with one of two dark surface units discriminated as “brown” and “blue” in Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) color composites of short-wavelength infrared spectral cubes (RGB as 2.0, 1.6, 1.3 μm). In such composites bluer materials exhibit higher reflectance at 1.3 μm and lower at 1.6 and 2.0 μm. The dark brown unit is highly correlated with the RADAR-dark dunes. The dark brown unit shows less evidence of water ice suggesting that the saltating grains of the dunes are largely composed of hydrocarbons and/or nitriles. In general, the bright units also show less evidence of absorption due to water ice and are inferred to consist of deposits of bright fine precipitating tholin aerosol dust. Some set of chemical/mechanical processes may be converting the bright fine-grained aerosol deposits into the dark saltating hydrocarbon and/or nitrile grains. Alternatively the dark dune materials may be derived from a different type of air aerosol photochemical product than are the bright materials. In our model, both the bright aerosol and dark hydrocarbon dune deposits mantle the VIMS dark blue water ice-rich substrate. We postulate that the bright mantles are effectively invisible (transparent) in RADAR synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images leading to lack of correlation in the RADAR images with optically bright mantling units. RADAR images mostly show only dark dunes and the water ice substrate that varies in roughness, fracturing, and porosity. If the rate of deposition of bright aerosol is 0.001–0.01 μm/yr, the surface would be coated (to optical instruments) in hundreds-to-thousands of years unless cleansing processes are active. The dark dunes must be mobile on this very short timescale to prevent the accumulation of bright coatings. Huygens landed in a region of the VIMS bright and dark blue materials and about 30 km south of the nearest occurrence of dunes visible in the RADAR SAR images. Fluvial/pluvial processes, every few centuries or millennia, must be cleansing the dark floors of the incised channels and scouring the dark plains at the Huygens landing site both imaged by Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR).     

The North Taymyr ice-marginal zone, Arctic Siberia—a preliminary overview and dating

The North Taymyr ice-marginal zone (NTZ) is a complex of glacial, glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits, laid down on the northwestern Taymyr Peninsula in northernmost Siberia, along the front of ice sheets primarily originating on the Kara Sea shelf. It was originally recognised from satellite radar images by Russian scientists; however, before the present study, it had not been investigated in any detail. The ice sheets have mainly inundated Taymyr from the northwest, and the NTZ can be followed for 700–750 km between 75°N and 77°N, mostly 80–100 km inland from the present Kara Sea coast.The ice-marginal zone is best developed in its central parts, ca. 100 km on each side of the Lower Taymyr River, and has there been studied by us in four areas. In two of these, the ice sheet ended on land, whereas in the two others, it mainly terminated into ice-dammed lakes. The base of the NTZ is a series of up to 100-m-high and 2-km-wide ridges, usually consisting of redeposited marine silts. These ridges are still to a large extent ice-cored; however, the present active layer rarely penetrates to the ice surface. Upon these main ridges, smaller ridges of till and glaciofluvial material are superimposed. Related to these are deltas corresponding to two generations of ice-dammed lakes, with shore levels at 120–140 m and ca. 80 m a.s.l. These glacial lakes drained southwards, opposite to the present-day pattern, via the Taymyr River valley into the Taymyr Lake basin and, from there, most probably westwards to the southern Kara Sea shelf.The basal parts of the NTZ have not been dated; however, OSL dates of glaciolacustrine deltas indicate an Early–Middle Weichselian age for at least the superimposed ridges. The youngest parts of the NTZ are derived from a thin ice sheet (less than 300 m thick near the present coast) inundating the lowlands adjacent to the lower reaches of the Taymyr River. The glacial ice from this youngest advance is buried under only ca. 0.5 m of melt-out till and is exposed by hundreds of shallow slides. This final glaciation is predated by glacially redeposited marine shells aged ca. 20,000 BP (¹⁴C) and postdated by terrestrial plant material from ca. 11,775 and 9500 BP (¹⁴C)–giving it a last global glacial maximum (LGM; Late Weichselian) age.     

Astronomy in Tadjikistan

The astronomical investigations in the present Tadjikistan (USSR) are carried out by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Academy of Sciences of Tadjik SSR. The main scientific fields of investigation are meteors, comets, and variable stars. The Institute has two observational stations: the Gissar observatory with photographic and radar meteor patrols, a 70 cm telescope, a 40 cm Zeiss astrograph, etc., and the Sanglok observatory with the Ritchey-Chrétien 1 m telescope.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

The observed infrared properties of grains in space

The infrared properties of dust in space, as inferred from infrared observations at low to moderate spectral resolution at wavelengths 30 m are summarized. Condensates at high temperature: featureless material and silicon carbide; moderate temperature: silicates; and low temperature — ices are briefly discussed. Strong band emission from as yet unknown species has been detected in a variety of objects. Episodes of rapid dust formation have been recorded in the infrared spectra of certain eruptive variable stars, including classical novae. Observations of this class of objects promises to provide information on grain nucleation and growth.Invited contribution to the Proceedings of a Workshop onThermodynamics and Kinetics of Dust Formation in the Space Medium held at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, 6–8 September, 1978.     

Comparison of the analytical results from the surveyor,Apollo, and Luna missions

The principal chemical element composition and inferred mineralogy of the powdered lunar surface material at seven mare and one terra sites on the Moon are compared. The mare compositions are all similar to one another and comparable to those of terrestrial ocean ridge basalts except in having higher titanium and much lower sodium contents than the latter. These analyses suggest that most, if not all, lunar maria have this chemical composition and are derived from rocks with an average density of 3.19 g cm^–3. Mare Tranquillitatis differs from the other maria in having twice the titanium content of the others.The chemical composition of the single highland site studied (Surveyor 7) is distinctly different from that of any of the maria in having much lower amounts of titanium and iron and larger amounts of aluminium and calcium. Confirmation of these general characteristics of lunar highland material has come from recent observations by the Apollo 15 Orbiter. The inferred mineralogy is 45 mole percent high anorthite plagioclase and the parent rocks have an estimated density of 2.94 g cm^–3. The Surveyor 7 chemical composition is the principal contributor to present estimates of the overall chemical composition of the lunar surface.Presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Lunar Studies, Patras, Greece, September 14–25, 1971. This paper is an expanded and updated version of a paper presented at the Apollo 12 Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, January 11–14, 1971, and published in the Proceedings of this Conference (Turkevich, 1971).     

Joint Spectrophotometric Catalogue of the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute and Fessenkov Astrophysical Institute: The analysis of common stars

TheSpectrophotometric Catalogue of the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute contains 875 stars; 8 of them are standards.TheCatalogue of the Fessenkov Astrophysical Institute consists of 1123 stars. The data on the spectral energy distribution for about a half of these stars are published.A comparison of energy distribution data for 473 common stars in the range 3200–7600 Å was made. Calibration of Alpha Lyr from Hayes (1985) was used for all the stars of both catalogues.In difference of the previous publications the comparison includes much more stars and energy distribution data were corrected where necessary. The agreement between the corrected data is better than in the case of the earlier comparison. Reductional factors due to the instrumental effects were taken into account for 275 stars from theSternberg Institute Catalogue. These factors are in the limits 1.01–1.04 and their mean value is 1.03.The reductional factors for the stars from theFessenkov Institute Catalague are much larger: 1.06–1.12 with the mean 1.06–1.07. In this case the reduction factors were taken into account for all the stars of the catalogue except the brightest ones withV<2.0.The values of the differences between spectral energy distribution data for common stars in dependence of magnitude, spectral type, and wavelength are presented.     

Shallow radar (SHARAD) sounding observations of the Medusae Fossae Formation, Mars

The SHARAD (shallow radar) sounding radar on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detects subsurface reflections in the eastern and western parts of the Medusae Fossae Formation (MFF). The radar waves penetrate up to 580 m of the MFF and detect clear subsurface interfaces in two locations: west MFF between 150 and 155° E and east MFF between 209 and 213° E. Analysis of SHARAD radargrams suggests that the real part of the permittivity is ∼3.0, which falls within the range of permittivity values inferred from MARSIS data for thicker parts of the MFF. The SHARAD data cannot uniquely determine the composition of the MFF material, but the low permittivity implies that the upper few hundred meters of the MFF material has a high porosity. One possibility is that the MFF is comprised of low-density welded or interlocked pyroclastic deposits that are capable of sustaining the steep-sided yardangs and ridges seen in imagery. The SHARAD surface echo power across the MFF is low relative to typical martian plains, and completely disappears in parts of the east MFF that correspond to the radar-dark Stealth region. These areas are extremely rough at centimeter to meter scales, and the lack of echo power is most likely due to a combination of surface roughness and a low near-surface permittivity that reduces the echo strength from any locally flat regions. There is also no radar evidence for internal layering in any of the SHARAD data for the MFF, despite the fact that tens-of-meters scale layering is apparent in infrared and visible wavelength images of nearby areas. These interfaces may not be detected in SHARAD data if their permittivity contrasts are low, or if the layers are discontinuous. The lack of closely spaced internal radar reflectors suggests that the MFF is not an equatorial analog to the current martian polar deposits, which show clear evidence of multiple internal layers in SHARAD data.     

Morphology and geological structure of the western part of the Olympus Mons volcano on Mars from the analysis of the Mars Express HRSC imagery

The images of the western part of Olympus Mons and adjacent plains acquired by the HRSC camera onboard the Mars Express spacecraft were studied. The morphology, topography, and color of the surface were investigated. The surface age was determined by the frequencies of impact craters. The examination of the HRSC images combined with an analysis of the MOC imagery and MOLA altitude profiles have shown that the Olympus Mons edifice, at least in its western part, is composed of not only lavas but also of sedimentary and volcanic-sedimentary rocks consisting of dust, volcanic ash, and, probably, H₂O ice that precipitated from the atmosphere. These data also indicate that glaciations, traces of which are known on the western foot of Olympus Mons (Lucchitta, 1981; Milkovich and Head, 2003), probably also covered the gentle upper slopes of the mountain. It is probable that the ice is still there, protected from sublimation by a dust blanket. Confirming (or rejecting) its presence is a challenge for the scheduled radar sounding with the MARSIS instrument mounted on the Mars Express spacecraft as well.__________Translated from Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2005, pp. 99–116.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Basilevsky, Neukum, Ivanov, Werner, S. van Gesselt, Head, Denk, Jaumann, Hoffmann, Hauber, McCord, the HRSC Co-Investigator Team.     

High resolution imaging of the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields

42 hours of A-array VLA data and 18 days MERLIN data at 1.4 GHz have been combined to image a 10 arcminute field centred on the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). This area encloses both the Hubble Deep and Flanking Fields. A complete sample of 87 sources have been detected with flux densities above 40 μJy. All these have been imaged with the MERLIN+VLA combination to produce images with 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 arcsecond resolution. These are the most sensitive 1.4 GHz images yet made with rms noise levels of 3.3 μJy/beam in the 0.2 arcsecond images. About 70% of the microJy sources are found to be starburst type systems associated with major disk galaxies in the redshift range 0.4–1. Some 20% are found to be low-luminosity AGN systems identified with field ellipticals at redshifts close to 1. The remaining 10% are associated with optically faint systems close to or beyond the HDF limit; many of these may be dust-shrouded starbursts at high redshift. We propose to extend this study to include VLBI data of comparable sensitivity to investigate the compact radio structures found in the microJy source population.     

Abundance enhancements of silicon to iron in solar energetic particles and their implications

Differential energy spectra of low abundant elements between silicon and iron of energetic solar particles (SEP) in the August 4, 1972 event were measured in the energy region of 10 to 40 MeV amu^–1 using rocket-borne Lexan detectors. The relative abundances of elements were determined and abundance enhancements, i.e., SEP/photospheric ratios, and their energy dependence were derived in 10–40 MeV amu^–1 interval. It is found that there are four types of abundance enhancements as a function of energy as follows: (a) silicon, iron, and calcium show fairly strong energy dependence which decreases with increasing energy and at 20–40 MeV amu^–1 reaches photospheric values; (b) in case of sulphur enhancement factors are independent of energy and the values are close to unity; (c) argon shows energy independent enhancements of about 3 to 4 in 10–40 MeV amu^–1; (d) titanium and chromium show weakly energy-dependent, but very high abundance enhancement factor of about 10 to 40. These features are to be understood in terms of the atomic properties of these elements and on the physical conditions in the accelerating region. These are important not only for solar phenomena but also to gain insight into the abundance enhancements of cosmic-ray heavy nuclei.on leave from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India.     

Simultaneous solution for the masses of the principal planets from analysis of optical,radar, and radio tracking data

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a set of computer programs known as the Solar System Data Processing System (SSDPS) which is employed in improving the ephemerides of the major planets and for improving the values of several associated astronomical constants. A group of solutions for the masses of the major planets, together with the AU and radii of Mercury, Venus, and Mars, is presented. These solutions based upon optical, radar, and spacecraft radio tracking data are preliminary. The relative power of radar and radio tracking data vis-à-vis purely optical data in a solution is shown. The problems which could arise by adopting solutions based upon a single data type are demonstrated.Presented at IAU Colloquium No. 9, the IAU System of Astronomical Constants' Heidelberg, Germany, August 12–14, 1970.This paper presents the results of one phase of research carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under Contract No. NAS 7-100, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.