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(CNN) -- Here's a look at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the United States government agency that conducts research into space.

There are ten major NASA installations, including the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Timeline: October 4, 1957 - The Soviets launch Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.

October 1, 1958 - The official start of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

October 7, 1958 - NASA announces Project Mercury. The Mercury project's objectives are to place a human spacecraft into orbital flight around Earth, observe human performance in such conditions, and recover the human and the spacecraft safely.

April 9, 1959 - The Mercury Seven are introduced as the first US astronauts: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter M. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.

May 5, 1961 - Freedom 7, the first piloted Mercury spacecraft carrying Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., is launched from Cape Canaveral. It is the first American space flight involving human beings.

February 20, 1962 - John Glenn becomes the first American to circle the Earth, making three orbits in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft.

March 23, 1965 - The first operational mission of Project Gemini takes place, under the command of Mercury astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom.

June 3-7, 1965 - The second piloted Gemini mission, GT-4, stays aloft for four days. Astronaut Edward H. White II performs the first extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk by an American.

January 27, 1967 - Apollo 1 catches fire during a dress rehearsal and the three astronauts aboard, Lt. Col. Virgil I. Grissom, Lt. Col. Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee, are killed.

July 16-24, 1969 - Apollo 11 goes to the moon. On July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin lands on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbits overhead in the Apollo command module. Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon.

April 11-17, 1970 - During the flight of Apollo 13, an oxygen tank ruptures and damages several of the electrical and life support systems. The astronauts and NASA engineers on the ground find that the Lunar Module, a self-contained spacecraft unaffected by the accident, can be used as a "lifeboat" to provide austere life support for the return trip. The crew returns safely on April 17, 1970.

July 15-24, 1975 - The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project is the first human space flight mission managed jointly by two nations. It is designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for United States and Soviet spacecraft in order to open the way for future joint human flights.

April 12, 1981 - Astronauts John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen fly Space Shuttle Columbia on the first flight of the Space Transportation System (STS-1). Columbia becomes the first airplane-like craft to land from orbit for reuse.

June 18, 1983 - Astronauts Robert L. Crippen and Frederick H. Hauck pilot Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-7) on a mission to launch two communications satellites and the reusable Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS 01). Sally K. Ride, one of three mission specialists on the flight, becomes the first American woman astronaut.

January 28, 1986 - The Challenger explodes 73 seconds after launch as a result of a leak in one of the solid rocket boosters. All seven crew on board die: Commander Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, pilot Michael J. Smith, three mission specialists, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, payload specialist Gregory B. Jarvis, and Sharon Christa McAuliffe, a teacher selected through the teacher in space program.

April 24-29, 1990 - During the flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31) the crew deploys the Hubble Space Telescope.

February 3-11, 1995 - Exactly one year after a major cooperative flight with the Russians in STS-60, NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery, this time STS-63, flies another historic mission featuring the flyby of the Russian Mir Space Station. It is also the first time that a woman pilot, Eileen M. Collins, commands the Space Shuttle.

July 4, 1997 - The Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars. Two days later, the Sojourner Rover rolls out of the Pathfinder and onto Mars's surface, where it soon begins transmitting pictures of Mars back to Earth.

November 2, 2000 - The first permanent crew, Expedition One, arrives at the International Space Station.

February 1, 2003 - The space shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107 disintegrates during reentry and all 7 crew on board are killed: Commander Rick Husband, pilot Willie McCool and mission specialists Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark, Mike Anderson, David Brown and Israeli payload specialist Ilan Ramon.

August 31, 2006 - NASA awards Lockheed Martin a contract to build a manned lunar spaceship called Orion.

December 4, 2006 - NASA announces plans for a permanent astronaut settlement on the moon's south pole by the mid 2020's.

September 2010 - Shuttle fleet, Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour are set to be retired from service.

October 11, 2010 - President Barack Obama signs the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 bill, which includes funds for commercial space programs, authorization for a heavy lift launch vehicle, and approval of an additional shuttle launch before the fleet retires.

December 2, 2010 - NASA scientists announce the discovery of an arsenic-eating bacteria found in California's Mono Lake, expanding the traditional notions of sustainable life.

August 5, 2011 - Mission Juno, an unmanned spacecraft launches. The arrival in Jupiter's atmosphere is scheduled for August 2016 and the mission's end is to be October 2017. Investigations into the formation and evolution of the planet, its cloud cover, magnetic and gravitational fields will be performed in an effort to further understandings of the formation of Earth.

July 2, 2012 - NASA unveils Orion, the agency's newest manned spaceship. Orion's first mission with crew aboard is scheduled for 2021.

August 6, 2012 - The $2.6 billion rover, Curiosity, successfully lands on target on Mars.

September 12, 2013 - Scientists confirm that Voyager 1, launched in 1977, has crossed into interstellar space.

July 23, 2015 - NASA's Kepler spacecraft locates "Earth's bigger, older cousin." The planet Kepler-452b is about 1,400 light-years from Earth in the Cyngnus constellation.

July 4, 2016 - After an almost five-year journey, the Juno space probe successfully enters Jupiter's orbit.

May 31, 2017 - NASA announces it will launch its first mission to the sun in the summer of 2018. The Parker Solar Probe will explore the sun's outermost atmosphere, the corona, by having to withstand heat and radiation never before experienced by any spacecraft. Researchers say the mission will help scientist understand the sun in greater detail, and help shed light on Earth and its place in the solar system.

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NASA Fast Facts - KRTV Great Falls News

You'd think NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has seen everything there is to see on the Martian surface in the 11 years it's orbited our nearest neighbour, but a snapshot taken over the planet's South Pole has revealed something we can't explain.

While the planet's entire surface is pocked with various depressions and craters, a vast pit spotted among the "Swiss cheese terrain" of melting frozen carbon dioxide appears to be a bit deeper than your average hole, leaving astronomers to try and figure out what made it.

A lot of things can make holes in Mars' rocky terrain: more than half a million meteorite impacts have left craters; collapsing lava tubes have created deep pits; ancient floods have gouged out giant chasms; and volcanic activity has melted ice to leave funnels.

Occasionally the MRO will come across an odd feature that poses a fun mystery to solve, such as this shallow, circular depression seen earlier this year.

But there's nothing so shallow about this newly discovered pit. Just take a look at it:

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Being summer for Mars' South Pole, the Sun is low enough in the sky to accentuate shadows over the landscape, making subtle features pop right out. Yet there a glint of light is still able to reveal ice at the bottom of the hole.

Surrounding the pit are patches frozen carbon dioxide. The circles in the ice is thought to where the dry ice has sublimated into gas in the summer sunshine, leaving what astronomers call "Swiss Cheese terrain".

The image was taken using the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE camera, which allows researchers to see objects on Mars that are larger than one metre (about 3 feet) in size from about 200 to 400 kilometres (about 125 to 250 miles) above.

That means the pit isn't tiny at 50 centimetres (19.7 inches) per pixel, we're looking at a feature hundreds of metres across. Take a look on NASA's website for a hi-res version of the image.

So the question is, did something punch its way through, or is it a collapse of some sort?

Without more information, it's hard to tell, but no doubt NASA will be discussing all of the possibilities.

The MRO has been in Martian orbit since March, 2006, sending back detailed images of the Red Planet's surface that reveal a dynamic environment where dust devils roam, sand dunes crawl, and occasional bits of Earthling tech are left to gather dust.

After completing all of its primary goals in the first two years, and two mission extensions, the orbiter is still going strong we'll almost certainly be seeing more odd holes like this in the future.

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NASA can't explain what made this strange, deep hole on Mars - ScienceAlert

A rocket launches at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in 2014.(Photo: Bill Ingalls, AP)

If youre up early enough Sunday morningand are near the mid-Atlantic coast, you can catch a colorful NASA-inspired cloud show.

Shortly before 5 a.m., a sounding rocket will launch from the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginias eastern shore. The 670-pound rocket is on a fact-finding mission to support studies of the ionosphere and aurora, but its purpose is overshadowed here on Earth by 10Pepsi-can-sized canisters.

The rocket will deploy the canisters roughly five minutes after launch, or about 96 to 124 miles above ground. It will cast them out between six and 12 miles into the morning air, where theyll leave blue-green and red vapor clouds. The vapor tracers are an interaction between barium, strontium and cupric-oxide.

The experimentallows NASA scientists to track particle motions in space. Scattering the clouds across the sky allows NASA to cover a wider area.

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NASA estimates people living along the coast from New York City to North Carolina should be able to spot the clouds, includingPhiladelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Peopleas far west as Charlottesville, Va., may also be able to get a view.

The launch will last about 8 minutes and the rocket will land in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles from the shore. NASA said the rocket will not be recovered and the clouds do not pose a hazard to residents.

If you dont live near the coast, NASA will stream the mission starting at 3:45 a.m. from its Wallops Ustream website.

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NASA is launching colorful fake clouds Sunday morning. Here's how to watch - USA TODAY

SpaceX may not be far away from a big milestone its first mission that involves both a reused rocket and a reused spacecraft.

The California-based company launched a pre-flown Dragon capsule for the first time ever Saturday (June 3), using a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket to blast the robotic craft toward the International Space Station (ISS) on a cargo run for NASA.

So the agency is obviously comfortable with used SpaceX spacecraft, at least on uncrewed flights. And it's now entertaining the possibility of going with used Falcon 9 boosters on future resupply missions as well, NASA officials said. [Launch Photos: SpaceX's 1st Reused Dragon Spacecraft]

"That question has been posed," Ven Feng, manager of the ISS Transportation Integration Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said during a post-launch press conference Saturday.

"We are looking at it," he added. "We're evaluating every aspect of it very carefully, and there is no schedule yet when we might go down that path."

SpaceX is working to develop fully and rapidly reusable spaceflight systems, an advance that founder and CEO Elon Musk has said could spur space exploration by slashing costs. Indeed, reusability is critical to Musk's goal of establishing a million-person city on Mars.

The company has already landed Falcon 9 first stages on 11 separate occasions including Saturday, when the booster came back to Earth for a pinpoint touchdown at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

SpaceX has re-flown one of these first stages to date. That milestone came on March 30, during the successful launch of the SES-10 communications satellite. A used Falcon 9 first stage will also help loft the BulgariaSat 1 communications satellite on June 15, company representatives have said.

SpaceX also aims to recover and refly other Falcon 9 pieces as well. In fact, the company was able to recover the payload fairing the nose cone that protects satellites and other spacecraft during launch after the SES-10 mission.

"Fairing is ~$5M, but that should be reusable this year. Am fairly confident we can reuse upper stage too by late next year to get to 100%," Musk tweeted on April 7.

The Dragon that blasted off today went to the ISS once before, in September 2014. The first stage that helped launch SES-10 first flew in April 2016, during a different Dragon launch. But there won't always be such lengthy periods between flights; SpaceX aims to streamline the checkout and refurbishment process for used gear, eventually re-launching Falcon 9 first stages within 24 hours of touchdown.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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NASA Considering Using Pre-flown SpaceX Rockets for Cargo Flights - Space.com

A combination of artificial clouds created by released vapor tracers.

The early morning hours on the US East Coast might be unusually colorful Friday, as NASA plans to produce artificial blue-green and red clouds that may be visible from New York to North Carolina.

It's not the launch of a new era of geoengineering or a bizarre upper-atmospheric art project. It's a test of a new system that helps scientists study the auroras and ionosphere.

A NASA sounding rocket (a small, sub-orbital rocket often used in research) will launch from Wallops Flight Facility off the coast of Virginia and release several soda-sized canisters of vapor tracers in the upper atmosphere that may appear as colorful clouds.

The tracers use vapors made up of lithium, barium and tri-methyl aluminum that react with other elements in the atmosphere to glow, letting researchers visually track the flows of ionized and neutral particles. It's a bit like being able to dye the wind or ocean currents to be able to get a visual picture.

The artificial clouds created by the tracers will be between 96 and 124 miles (154 and 200 kilometers) above the Earth, and NASA says they don't pose any hazards to humans. Similar research using sounding rockets and vapor tracers has been performed as far back as the 1950s.

The launch was originally set for May 31 and has been delayed twice due to weather conditions. It is now set for June 2 as early as 1:26 a.m. PT.

You can watch the launch live early Friday via NASA's UStream feed. To look for the colorful clouds from the East Coast, point yourself in the direction of the Virginia coast from wherever you are. The further away you are from Wallops, the lower in the sky they'll be.

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NASA's 12 most far-out futuristic space projects

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NASA rocket releasing trippy fake clouds Friday morning - CNET

Last month, NASA successfully launched the SubTec-7 mission using a Black Brant IX rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Nanocomp produced carbon nanotube fibers to fabricate a carbon nanotube composite overwrap pressure vessel for the rocket that was launched on May 16.

It was a big deal in the advancement of our products into space use, said Peter Antoinette, president of Nanocomp Technologies in Merrimack.

Although Nanocomps materials have been used on the spacecraft side, they have never been used on the rocket until now, Antoinette said.

This is the first time our Miralon has been used in the booster. It is now on the rocket itself, and that is just a preview of other upcoming launches, he said.

The Miralon sheet material serves as a protection system, and is essentially used as a shield over the vehicle. In this instance, the Miralon was used to make a very lightweight, high-performance propellant tank that holds under high pressure fuel use for thrusters to control the booster itself, Antoinette said.

SubTec-7 provided a flight test for more than 20 technologies to improve sounding rocket and spacecraft capabilities, according to a release from NASA, adding good data was received during the flight, and the payload was recovered.

It was a perfect performance, Antoinette said about Nanocomps material on the launched rocket. The carbon nanotubes not only reduce the weight of the vehicle, but also help improve its performance, he said.

After making a composite pressure tank for NASA, Nanocomp leaders are optimistic that in the future, composite tanks for other vehicles using Nanocomp technology will be possible.

Our material is conductive, so it is self-grounding, said Antoinette, who is hopeful the product can eventually be used for hydrogen tanks and on fuel tanks for boosters.

It has been an exciting initiative working with NASA on this effort, according to Antoinette, who said the possibilities are endless as larger rockets with more strength and less weight can now be imagined.

Last months flight enabled NASA to test and see how 24 new technologies and experiments performed in a real-world environment, according to a release.

Sounding rockets are not only used for conducting science missions, but also provide an excellent platform for technology development. While the flight is short in duration (17 minutes), enough flight time is provided to test the new technologies, said Cathy Hesh, technology manager for the sounding rocket program office at Wallops, in a recent statement.

Nanocomps carbon nanotubes are on board NASAs Juno mission to Jupiter, a solar-powered spacecraft that broke the record last year for traveling the farthest from the sun.

Nanocomp has about 75 employees and operates a 60,000-square-foot facility at 57 Daniel Webster Highway, with plans to add an additional 40,000 square feet in the next couple of years.

At full capacity, the Merrimack facility will have the capability to produce approximately 40 metric tons of Miralon products annually.

khoughton@newstote.com

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Nanocomp's partnership with NASA could lead to larger, but lighter, rockets - The Union Leader

Raw video: SpaceX nails the landing. Posted June 3, 2017 SpaceX video

Then-Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence gave a speech before a crowd of several hundred at the Space Coast Convention Center at the Holiday Inn Express in Cocoa on Oct. 31, 2016.(Photo: TIM SHORTT/FLORIDA TODAY)Buy Photo

Vice President Mike Pence at 2 p.m.Wednesday will join NASA officials introducing the space agencys newest class of astronauts, selected from a record total of more than 18,000 applicants.

NASA did not say how many candidates would be chosen from the group that submitted applications by February 2016.

The most recent class, selected in 2013 from 6,300 applicants, included four men and four women.

Uponcompletingtwo years of training, the rookie astronauts will be eligible to join International Space Station crews expected to fly through at least 2024, and could be assigned to NASAs first deep space exploration missions since the Apollo era.

The agency aims to launch crews into orbit around the moon, and eventually on missions to Mars, in Orion capsules lifted from Kennedy Space Center by the giant Space Launch System rocket. The rockets first unmanned test flight is targeted for 2019, with a first crewed flight possible around 2022.

More: SpaceX launches ISS cargo from KSC, lands Falcon at Cape Canaveral

Pence will represent a Trump administration that has not yet nominated a NASA administrator or signaled any major shifts in exploration policy from the Obama administration.

If the administration follows through on plans to revive a National Space Council, Pence would be its leader.

It was not known if Pence planned any space-related announcements in conjunction with the astronaut selection. NASA said Pence would tour the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center and receive briefings on current human spaceflight operations.

In June 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches a pair of commercial satellites from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.(Photo: SpaceX)

Space Florida last week approved contributing up to $5 million to upgrades of Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which SpaceX is repairing after a rocket explosion there last September.

Officials said the improvements, including to the flame trench and sound suppression systems, would support more efficient launch operations.

More: SpaceX bets the house to become satellite internet provider

These improvements will allow the user to reduce processing time between launches and increase the frequency of flight, said Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello.

The upgrades are said to be distinct from the repairs necessary after a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the pad last Sept. 1 while being fueled for an engine-firing test. The state says the investment would benefit any launcher in the unlikely event that SpaceX should vacate the complex.

DiBello said the states $5 million contribution would be matched by more than $35 million in private investment, and would help create 70 jobs with average wages of $80,000.

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket on a mission to the International Space Station and landed the first stage at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly after on Saturday, June 3, 2017.

Thats a good match, said board chairman Bill Dymond. And 70 jobs at $80,000 a year I think is worth $5 million as well.

SpaceX expects Complex 40 to be back in action in the late summer or early fall. Until then, it is launching rockets from nearby pad 39A to the north at Kennedy Space Center.

At the same meeting last Thursday, Space Florida approved up to $2.75 million more in FDOT funds for widening roads, relocating overhead lines and access roads in Exploration Park, described as benefitting Blue Origin and potentially other tenants there including OneWeb Satellites.

Stratolaunch Systems last week rolled its carrier aircraft out of its hangar for the first time in Mojave, California. The aircraft could perform its first air launch in 2019.(Photo: Stratolaunch Systems)

An aircraft with the worlds widest wingspan longer than an American football field left its Mojave Air and Space Port hangar for the first time last week in a first step toward planned launches ofsmall satellites.

Stratolaunch Systems Corp.s twin-fuselage plane equipped with six Boeing 747 jet engines and weighing 550,000 pounds rolled out on 28 wheels for fueling tests.

This was a crucial step in preparing the aircraft for ground testing, engine runs, taxi tests, and ultimately first flight, said CEO Jean Floyd.

Stratolaunch is targeting a 2019 first air launch of an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket. The plane eventually could carry several of the rockets.

The company founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen aims to provide unparalleled flexibility to launch small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds into low Earth orbit.

Stratolaunch is frequently identified as likely to set up operations at Kennedy Space Center's three-mile former shuttle runway, now operated by Space Florida.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.

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NASA, Pence to announce new astronaut class - Florida Today

Universe Today

NASA is Planning to Test Pulsars as Cosmic Navigation Beacons Universe Today When a large star undergoes gravitational collapse near the end of its lifespan, a neutron star is often the result. This is what remains after the outer layers of the star have been blown off in a massive explosion (i.e. a supernova) and the core has ...

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NASA is Planning to Test Pulsars as Cosmic Navigation Beacons - Universe Today

It's a mission that's been in the works for nearly 60 years. NASA says it will launch a spacecraft in 2018 to "touch the sun," sending it closer to the star's surface than ever before.

The spacecraft is small its instruments would fit into a refrigerator but it's built to withstand temperatures of more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, all the while maintaining room temperature inside the probe.

"Even though the sun is so close to us, there's actually a lot about it we don't understand," says heat shield lead engineer Betsy Congdon from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Scientists are hoping the data gathered might solve some of the big mysteries about the sun.

First, what allows the sun to fling winds out at supersonic speeds? Understanding this will be important for protecting astronauts during space travel, Congdon says, and solar events can damage satellites and knock out power on Earth.

"Unless we can explain what is going on up close to the sun, we will not be able to accurately predict space weather effects that can cause havoc at Earth," NASA says.

Second, why is the sun's atmosphere actually hotter 300 times hotter than its surface? "That defies the laws of nature. It's like water flowing uphill. It shouldn't happen," mission project scientist Nicola Fox of the Johns Hopkins lab said at a news conference.

The probe is expected to complete 24 orbits over the course of more than six years, looping closer to the sun and eventually hurtling toward it at a speed of 450,000 miles per hour. At that speed, you could travel from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in one second. Here's a map of the route:

The probe is set to gradually move its orbit closer to the sun over the course of six years. NASA hide caption

It's worth noting that the probe will not literally touch the sun's surface the closest it will get is about 3.9 million miles away.

But Congdon says that's actually very close. "If you think about a football field and the sun's sitting on one side and the Earth's sitting on the other, we're getting within the 5-yard line," she says. It's about seven times closer than any previous mission.

The circuitous route involves careening closer to the sun and then back out to Venus, which means wild oscillations in temperature. Congdon says protecting the probe's scientific instruments from getting fried is "quite an engineering feat."

It basically involves "putting up a big umbrella," she says. The shield is an 8-foot wide disc made of layers of carbon, which would get burnt to a charcoal crisp if it weren't for the fact that there's no oxygen in space.

Today, NASA announced that it is naming the spacecraft after Eugene Parker, a retired physicist who predicted the existence of solar winds almost 60 years ago. He is about to turn 90, and this is the first time NASA has named a spacecraft after a researcher during their lifetime.

Parker's ideas fundamentally changed the study of the sun.

But at this point, Fox compared the state of the field with learning about weather by looking out the window.

"You can see the sun is shining, you can see the birds are singing. But until you actually go out, you have no idea quite how hot it is out there or how windy it is or what the conditions are like," Fox said.

"I really think we've come as far as we can with looking at things and it's now time to go up and pay it a visit."

The European Space Agency also has plans to launch a probe toward the sun.

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NASA Plans To Launch A Probe Next Year To 'Touch The Sun' - NPR

Photo by Whit Pruitt, University Relations

Ellen Czaplinski with the Titan surface simulation chamber.

Ellen Czaplinski, a space and planetary sciences doctoral student, has won a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship. The fellowship provides Czaplinski with a $35,000 stipend and an additional $10,000 for research expenses. The first-year doctoral student was one of only 33 students in the nation selected for the award, which can be renewed for up to threeyears.

Czaplinski's research focuses on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Other than Earth, Titan is the only other body in the solar system with a substantial nitrogen atmosphere. It is also the only other object in the solar system with bodies of liquid on the surface. However, unlike Earth, Titan is exceedingly cold, with surface temperatures measuring at nearly 300 degrees below zero.

"It's so cold that methane and ethane, which are gases at room temperature, are in liquid phase," Czaplinski said.

These liquid hydrocarbons accumulate in basins on Titan's surface, creating lakes and seas of methane, ethane and other minor components. Czaplinski is able to simulate those lakes and seas in the University of Arkansas Titan surface simulation chamber, where she specifically examines what happens when the lakes evaporate.

"It's been proposed that, as the liquids evaporate, the minor components of the lakes could come together in a single phase and create a co-crystal, which is indicative of a new compound forming," Czaplinski said. "I am still analyzing the data to see if any new compounds are forming during the evaporation process."

Understanding the compositional structure of the lakes and seas is important, as future NASA missions to Titan could include sending a boat or submarine for further exploration.

Though just in the beginning stages of her research, Czaplinski's work is already being well-received by others in her field.

"I've been able to present my research at some big conferences, and the feedback has been pretty good," she said. "It's nice to hear my work is valuable in the planetary science field."

A native of Indiana, Czaplinski holds a bachelor's degree in planetary science from Purdue University. She is advised by Vincent Chevrier, an assistant research professor for the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences.

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Graduate Student Earns NASA Fellowship - University of Arkansas Newswire