Federal Independent Agencies
Here's a look at documents from federal independent agencies
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Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: Study Reveals Cross-Border Movements and Habitat Use of Endangered Manatees in Central America
PANAMA CITY, Panama, Dec. 17 (TNSxrep) -- The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute issued the following news:
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Study reveals cross-border movements and habitat use of endangered manatees in Central America
This study represents a significant advance in understanding manatee ecology in Central America. It highlights the urgent need for coordinated policies and cross-border conservation efforts to safeguard this endangered species and the fragile ecosystems it inhabits
By Sonia Tejada
A groundbreaking study by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) scientists and colleague engineers
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PANAMA CITY, Panama, Dec. 17 (TNSxrep) -- The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute issued the following news:
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Study reveals cross-border movements and habitat use of endangered manatees in Central America
This study represents a significant advance in understanding manatee ecology in Central America. It highlights the urgent need for coordinated policies and cross-border conservation efforts to safeguard this endangered species and the fragile ecosystems it inhabits
By Sonia Tejada
A groundbreaking study by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) scientists and colleague engineersfrom the Universidad Tecnologica de Panama has uncovered new insights into the movements, habitat use, and conservation needs of the endangered Greater Caribbean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) along the Caribbean coasts of Panama and Costa Rica. With fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining and a projected 20% population decline over the next two generations, this subspecies faces mounting threats from habitat degradation, boat collisions, poaching, and entanglement in fishing gear.
These gentle herbivores, known as ecosystem engineers, rely on seagrass meadows, aquatic plants, freshwater springs, and wetland lagoons for nourishment and refuge. Despite their ecological importance, the ecology of manatees in southern Central America remains poorly understood.
Since 2015, researchers have used passive acoustic monitoring to identify individual manatees based on vocalizations. The study recorded 1,012 vocalizations in Panama and 343 in Costa Rica, identifying 61 presumed individuals in Panama and 49 in Costa Rica. Nine manatees were detected in both countries, traveling approximately 200 kilometers between sites. These movements coincided with seasonal environmental variables in the region.
Average residence times were 1,059 days in Panama and 292 days in Costa Rica, with some individuals remaining in wetland complexes for up to 3,026 and 1,160 days, respectively. These extended stays suggest strong site fidelity and underscore the importance of wetlands as critical habitats for breeding and feeding.
In Costa Rica, consistent detections--especially at stations specifically set up for research--indicate stable habitat use in areas with year-round rainfall and minimal human disturbance. In contrast, Panama showed sporadic detection patterns, with variable residency and no clear seasonal trends. All recorded manatees exited Panama via the Changuinola River, entering Costa Rica through either the northern Barra del Colorado sector or the southern Tortuguero-Pacuare region.
To monitor manatee presence and movement, researchers deployed passive acoustic monitoring equipment at multiple wetland and coastal sites in Panama and Costa Rica between 2015 and 2024. These underwater recorders or hydrophones captured manatee vocalizations--distinctive sounds such as squeaks and hi-squeaks--that allowed scientists to identify individual animals without needing visual sightings or physical tagging. "A single manatee can emit vocalizations with significant variations, and different individuals can share similar frequency ranges. This makes distinguishing them a scientific challenge. To overcome this, we utilize artificial intelligence techniques that identify patterns in large datasets. One of these is PaCMAP, which stands for Pairwise Controlled Manifold Approximation and Projection, and another is HDBSCAN, Hierarchical Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise," said engineer Fernando Merchan from the Universidad Tecnologica de Panama, co-author of the research.
Each vocalization was analyzed using specialized algorithms that detect unique acoustic features, such as frequency, duration, and call contour. These features were used to estimate the number of individuals, track their presence over time, and identify cross-border movements.
Researchers categorized the calls into specific types and applied validation criteria to match vocalizations recorded in both countries. This approach enabled the identification of nine manatees that traveled between Panama and Costa Rica, covering distances of up to 200 kilometers. "This was a surprise that we suspected, connectivity, but it had never been proven before. This encourages us to continue with movement ecology," said STRI staff scientist and ecologist Hector M. Guzman, lead author and research leader.
In addition to acoustic data, the team utilized remote sensing tools to correlate manatee movements with environmental factors, including rainfall, sea level, and water temperature. These data helped explain seasonal migration patterns and the habitat preferences of the species. The study also incorporated data from previous research and recent environmental data to assess population connectivity and support the proposed conservation corridor. "We found that manatee movements northward coincide with periods of higher precipitation, warmer air temperatures, and lower sea levels. These patterns suggest a strong interaction between seasonal atmospheric dynamics and habitat use. This would allow us to predict their movements and guide conservation strategies that ensure seasonal ecological connectivity," said STRI's oceanographer and co-author Rocio Estevez.
To support long-term conservation, researchers propose a 984-kilometer binational corridor spanning 2,631 km(2) of coastal marine and wetland ecosystems--220 km in Costa Rica and 764 km in Panama. The corridor includes 18 protected areas and four Ramsar sites: Humedal Caribe Noreste and Gandoca-Manzanillo in Costa Rica, and San San-Pond Sak and Damani-Guariviara in Panama. It encompasses over 57 rivers reaching the 20-meter isobath and aligns with observed residence and movement patterns. "It is common to hear decision-makers say that they need scientific information for natural resource management, and here it is. However, when we presented a Binational Agreement for the Protection of Manatees to the environment ministers of both countries, only Panama showed interest," Guzman commented.
Ongoing research includes e-DNA and satellite telemetry to study habitat use and large-scale movements at high spatial resolution, as well as acoustic capture-recapture modeling to estimate population size based on vocalization categories.
This study marks a major step forward in understanding manatee ecology in Central America and underscores the urgency of coordinated policies and transboundary conservation strategies to protect this endangered species and the ecosystems it depends on.
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Funding
This research was supported by the Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia Tecnologia e Innovacion (SENACYT-Panama) through grants FID18-76, FID21-90, and FID23-106; the MarViva Foundation in Costa Rica; the Blue Marine Foundation; and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Additional support for research activities was provided by the Sistema Nacional de Investigacion (SNI-SENACYT).
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Acknowledgments
We thank the governments of Panama and Costa Rica for providing the research permits. We thank Jossio Guillen, Carlos Guevara, Manuel Hernandez Robles, Eduardo Perez, Alfredo Caballero, and Alexis (Meme) Montenegro for their unconditional field assistance and continuous logistical support. The Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation provided initial logistical support. We thank the board of the COOBANA R.L. Banana Company in Panama, particularly Chito Quintero, Diomedes Rodriguez, and Dinora Beitia, for generously providing bananas at no cost for over two years. We also thank the board of AAMVECONA for granting access to the pier and electricity. The authors acknowledge the administrative support provided by CEMCIT-AIP, the Universidad Tecnologica de Panama (UTP), and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).
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Original text here: https://stri.si.edu/story/gentle-voyagers
One of NASA's Key Cameras Orbiting Mars Takes 100,000th Image
PASADENA, California, Dec. 17 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
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One of NASA's Key Cameras Orbiting Mars Takes 100,000th Image
Mesas and dunes stand out in the view snapped by HiRISE, one of the imagers aboard the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
After nearly 20 years at the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has snapped its 100,000th image of the surface with its HiRISE camera. Short for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE is the instrument the mission relies on for high-resolution images of features ranging from
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PASADENA, California, Dec. 17 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
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One of NASA's Key Cameras Orbiting Mars Takes 100,000th Image
Mesas and dunes stand out in the view snapped by HiRISE, one of the imagers aboard the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
After nearly 20 years at the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has snapped its 100,000th image of the surface with its HiRISE camera. Short for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE is the instrument the mission relies on for high-resolution images of features ranging fromimpact craters, sand dunes, and ice deposits to potential landing sites. Those images, in turn, help improve our understanding of Mars and prepare for NASA's future human missions there.
Captured Oct. 7, this milestone image from the spacecraft shows mesas and dunes within Syrtis Major, a region about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Jezero Crater, which NASA's Perseverance rover is exploring. Scientists are analyzing the image to better understand the source of windblown sand that gets trapped in the region's landscape, eventually forming dunes.
"HiRISE hasn't just discovered how different the Martian surface is from Earth, it's also shown us how that surface changes over time," said MRO's project scientist, Leslie Tamppari of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "We've seen dune fields marching along with the wind and avalanches careening down steep slopes."
The subject of the 100,000th image was recommended by a high school student through the HiWish site, where anyone can suggest parts of the planet to study. Team members at University of Arizona in Tucson, which operates the camera, also make 3D models of HiRISE imagery so that viewers can experience virtual flyover videos.
"Rapid data releases, as well as imaging targets suggested by the broader science community and public, have been a hallmark of HiRISE," said the camera's principal investigator, Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona in Tucson. "One hundred thousand images just like this one have made Mars more familiar and accessible for everyone."
More about MRO
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages MRO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built MRO and supports its operations.
The University of Arizona in Tucson operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado.
For more information, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
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Original text here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/one-of-nasas-key-cameras-orbiting-mars-takes-100000th-image/
National Museum of Asian Art Presents Paintings From India's Himalayan Kingdoms in New Exhibition
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Asian Art issued the following news release:
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National Museum of Asian Art Presents Paintings From India's Himalayan Kingdoms in New Exhibition
Exhibition Features Works, Some Never Publicly Displayed Before, From Renowned Benkaim Collection
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The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art has announced "Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India's Himalayan Kingdoms," on view from April 18, 2026, through July 26, 2026. Juxtaposing canonical masterpieces and never-before-seen works, the exhibition's 48 paintings and
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- The Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Asian Art issued the following news release:
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National Museum of Asian Art Presents Paintings From India's Himalayan Kingdoms in New Exhibition
Exhibition Features Works, Some Never Publicly Displayed Before, From Renowned Benkaim Collection
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The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art has announced "Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India's Himalayan Kingdoms," on view from April 18, 2026, through July 26, 2026. Juxtaposing canonical masterpieces and never-before-seen works, the exhibition's 48 paintings andcolored drawings reveal the ingenuity of artists who drew from both local and transregional traditions.
For centuries, scores of small Hindu kingdoms dotted the region where the tallest mountains on Earth rose from the plains of north India. Around 1630, their rulers began commissioning paintings that proved extraordinary--some with intricate details, delicate shading and naturalistic figures; others vivid, glittering and stylized.
"These paintings are swoon-worthy," said Debra Diamond, the Elizabeth Moynihan Curator for South and Southeast Asian Art. "Created with opaque watercolors made from ground pigments, beetle wings and gold, it's no surprise that they are among the most beloved of Indian paintings. Paradoxically, they also are among the least well understood."
Challenging the methodologies of traditional art histories, "Of the Hills" explores the impact of collaboration on creativity in three key periods from 1620 to 1830. The chronological framework invites visitors to appreciate the boldness of abstractions, the nuances of love and the many visual details that are, by turns, clever, humorous and awe-inspiring. An introductory gallery acquaints visitors with the region by exploring how painters helped establish the Himalayas as a sacred geography.
Some of these artworks have never been exhibited publicly before. Many come from the museum's 2017-2018 acquisitions from the collection of Ralph Benkaim and art historian Catherine Glynn Benkaim. "Of the Hills" brings these works into conversation with the museum's historic collections and paintings from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
"We are thrilled to share these extraordinary paintings from the Benkaim collection with the public, some for the very first time," said Chase F. Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art. "Together with other works from our museum's rich South Asian and Himalayan collections, they allow us to deepen our understanding of Indian culture and pursue new avenues of scholarship."
"Of the Hills" will run concurrently with "Epic of the Northwest Himalayas: Pahari Paintings from the 'Shangri' Ramayana" at the Cleveland Museum of Art (April 19, 2026-Aug. 9, 2026) and "Longing: Painting from the Pahari Kingdoms, 1680-1820" at the Cincinnati Museum of Art (Feb. 6, 2026-June 7, 2026). Curators from all three museums collaborated with Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Vijay Sharma and Sarang Sharma on Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, a catalogue that details the Pahari paintings from the Benkaim Collection.
About the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art is committed to preserving, exhibiting, researching and interpreting art in ways that deepen the public and scholarly understandings of Asia and the world. The museum opened in 1923 as America's first national art museum and the first Asian art museum in the United States. It now stewards one of the world's most important collections of Asian art, with works dating from antiquity to the present. The museum also stewards an important collection of 19th- and early 20th-century American art.
Today, the National Museum of Asian Art is emerging as a leading national and global resource for understanding the arts, cultures and societies of Asia, especially at their intersection with America. Guided by the belief that the future of art museums lies in collaboration, increased access and transparency, the museum is fostering new ways to engage with its audiences while enhancing its commitment to excellence.
Located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the museum is free and open 364 days a year (closed Dec. 25). The Smithsonian, which is the world's largest museum, education and research complex, welcomes 20-30 million visitors yearly. For more information about the National Museum of Asian Art, visit asia.si.edu.
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Original text here: https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/national-museum-asian-art-presents-paintings-indias-himalayan-kingdoms-new
NASA, Partners Share First Data From New US-European Sea Satellite
PASADENA, California, Dec. 17 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
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NASA, Partners Share First Data From New US-European Sea Satellite
Launched in November, Sentinel-6B will track ocean height with ultraprecision to advance marine forecasting, national security, and more.
Sentinel-6B, a joint mission by NASA and its U.S. and European partners to survey 90% of the world's oceans for the benefit of communities and commerce, has started sending back its first measurements since launching in November. A newly published map of the data shows sea levels across
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PASADENA, California, Dec. 17 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
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NASA, Partners Share First Data From New US-European Sea Satellite
Launched in November, Sentinel-6B will track ocean height with ultraprecision to advance marine forecasting, national security, and more.
Sentinel-6B, a joint mission by NASA and its U.S. and European partners to survey 90% of the world's oceans for the benefit of communities and commerce, has started sending back its first measurements since launching in November. A newly published map of the data shows sea levels acrossa vast stretch of the Eastern Seaboard and Atlantic Ocean.
About the size of a pickup truck, Sentinel-6B extends a decades-long effort led by the United States and Europe to track ocean height down to fractions of an inch using radar altimetry. Once its instruments and algorithms are fully calibrated next year, Sentinel-6B will return actionable data for ship crews, weather forecasters, national security, and the millions of people who live and work near coastlines.
"NASA does incredible science using the unique vantage point of space every day to deliver life-saving data directly into the hands of decision-makers for storms, navigation, flooding, and more," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The ocean measurements that Sentinel-6B collected during its first months in orbit benefit all, providing key insights to ensure the prosperity and security of coastal communities around the globe."
In addition to measuring sea level, instruments aboard the satellite will gather information on wind speeds, wave heights, atmospheric temperature, and humidity. In turn, that data can be used by U.S. agencies as well as to refine the Goddard Earth Observing System atmospheric forecast models, which the NASA Engineering and Safety Center relies on to plan safer re-entry of astronauts returning from Artemis missions.
Mission teams in recent weeks have verified that Sentinel-6B and all its instruments are in good health. That includes the Poseidon-4 Synthetic Aperture Radar altimeter, the Advanced Microwave Radiometer for Climate, the Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation, and the Precise Orbit Determination Package.
In the visualization above, featuring data captured by Sentinel-6B on Nov. 26, the crisscrossing bands trace the satellite's path as it orbits Earth. The image also shows data collected on the same day by the satellite's twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which launched in 2020. The data in those bands is layered over the combined observations of other sea-level satellites across the region shown. Red indicates higher water relative to the long-term average; blue areas indicate lower water. Because the spacecraft's instruments have not been fully calibrated, the data is considered preliminary but also quite promising.
Together, Sentinel-6B and Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich make up the Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission developed by NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"These first light images from Sentinel-6B underscore the value of Earth science observations in providing life-saving and economic-empowering data to communities along our world's coastlines, where a third of the globe's population lives," said Karen St. Germain, director, NASA Earth Science Division at the agency's headquarters. "This achievement also highlights the power of partnerships with ESA, EUMETSAT, and our sister science agency NOAA in advancing our collective understanding of Earth systems and putting that Earth science understanding to work for the benefit of humanity."
Sentinel-6/Jason-CS adds to a continuous sea level rise dataset that began in the early 1990s. Since then, the rate of sea level rise globally has doubled and currently averages about 0.17 inches (4.3 millimeters) per year. The rate differs between locations, with implications for coastal infrastructure, trade routes, and storm formation.
"The accuracy and precision of this mission's gold-standard dataset speaks to the foresight, more than 30 years ago, of investing in the technology and expertise that make it possible," said Dave Gallagher, director, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "We're proud to continue partnering to collect these critical measurements into another decade, and even prouder of the teams behind this most recent milestone."
Flying 830 miles (1,336 kilometers) above Earth, Sentinel-6B is about 30 seconds behind its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, currently the official reference satellite for sea level. Eventually, Sentinel-6B will take over that role, and Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will move into a different orbit.
More about Sentinel-6B
Copernicus Sentinel-6/Jason-CS was jointly developed by ESA, EUMETSAT, NASA, and NOAA, with funding support from the European Commission and technical support from CNES. The mission, starting with Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, marked the first international involvement in Copernicus, the European Union's Earth Observation Programme.
Managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL contributed three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation, and the laser retroreflector array. NASA also contributed launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the international ocean surface topography community.
For more about Sentinel-6B, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/sentinel-6B/
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Original text here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-partners-share-first-data-from-new-us-european-sea-satellite/
NASA JPL Shakes Things Up Testing Future Commercial Lunar Spacecraft
PASADENA, California, Dec. 17 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
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NASA JPL Shakes Things Up Testing Future Commercial Lunar Spacecraft
As Firefly Aerospace prepares to follow its successful soft landing on the Moon, an engineering model for its next lander is being put through its paces.
The same historic facilities that some 50 years ago prepared NASA's twin Voyager probes for their ongoing interstellar odyssey are helping to ready a towering commercial spacecraft for a journey to the Moon. Launches involve brutal shaking and astonishingly loud noises,
... Show Full Article
PASADENA, California, Dec. 17 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
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NASA JPL Shakes Things Up Testing Future Commercial Lunar Spacecraft
As Firefly Aerospace prepares to follow its successful soft landing on the Moon, an engineering model for its next lander is being put through its paces.
The same historic facilities that some 50 years ago prepared NASA's twin Voyager probes for their ongoing interstellar odyssey are helping to ready a towering commercial spacecraft for a journey to the Moon. Launches involve brutal shaking and astonishingly loud noises,and testing in these facilities mimics those conditions to help ensure mission hardware can survive the ordeal. The latest spacecraft to get this treatment are Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 2 vehicles, set to launch to the Moon's far side next year.
The Environmental Test Laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is where dozens of robotic spacecraft have been subjected to powerful jolts, extended rattling, high-decibel blasts of sound, and frigid and scorching temperatures, among other trials. Constructed in the 1960s and modernized over the years, the facilities have prepared every NASA spacecraft built or assembled at JPL for the rigors of space, from the Ranger spacecraft of the dawning Space Age to the Perseverance Mars rover to Europa Clipper, currently en route to the Jupiter system.
That legacy, and the decades of accumulated experience of the Environmental Test Laboratory team at JPL, is also supporting industry efforts to return to the Moon as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and its Artemis campaign, which will bring astronauts back to the lunar surface.
In recent months, a full-scale model of Firefly's uncrewed Blue Ghost Mission 2 spacecraft was put through its paces by the experts in the lab's vibration and acoustic testing facilities. Lessons learned with this model, called a structural qualification unit, will be applied to upcoming testing of the spacecraft that will fly to the Moon as early as 2026 through NASA's CLPS.
"There's a lot of knowledge gained over the years, passed from one generation of JPL engineers to another, that we bring to bear to support our own missions as well as commercial efforts," said Michel William, a JPL engineer in the Environmental Test Laboratory who led the testing. "The little details that go into getting these tests right -- nobody teaches you that in school, and it's such a critical piece of space launch."
Testing just right
The Environmental Test Laboratory team led environmental testing for Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander in 2024, and seeing the spacecraft achieve a soft Moon landing in March was a point of pride for them. Firefly's next CLPS delivery debuts a dual-spacecraft configuration and hosts multiple international payloads, with the company's Elytra Dark orbital vehicle stacked below the Blue Ghost lunar lander. Standing 22 feet (6.9 meters) high, the full structure is more than three times as tall as the Mission 1 lander.
This fall, a structural qualification model of the full stack was clamped to a "shaker table" inside a clean room at JPL and repeatedly rattled in three directions while hundreds of sensors monitored the rapid movement. Then, inside a separate acoustic testing chamber, giant horns blared at it from openings built into the room's 16-inch-thick (41-centimeter-thick) concrete walls. The horns use compressed nitrogen gas to pummel spacecraft with up to 153 decibels, noise loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in a human.
Each type of test involves several increasingly intense iterations. Between rounds, JPL's dynamics environment experts analyze the data to compare what the spacecraft experienced to computer model predictions. Sometimes a discrepancy leads to hardware modifications, sometimes a tweak to the computer model. Engineers and technicians are careful to push the hardware, but not too far.
"You can either under-test or over-test, and both are bad," William said. "If you over-test, you can break your hardware. If you under-test, it can break on the rocket. It's a fine line."
Since the model isn't itself launching to the Moon, Firefly's recent Environmental Test Laboratory visit didn't include several types of trials that are generally completed only for flight hardware. A launchpad-bound spacecraft would undergo electromagnetic testing to ensure that signals from its electronic parts don't interfere with one another. And, in what is probably the most well-known environmental test, flight-bound hardware is baked or chilled at extreme temperatures in a thermal vacuum chamber from which all the air is sucked out. The multiple thermal vacuum chamber facilities at JPL include two large historic "space simulators" built within NASA's first few years of existence: a chamber that's 10 feet in diameter and another that's 25 feet across.
Qualifying for launch
The completion of Environmental Test Laboratory testing on Firefly's structural qualification model helps prove the spacecraft will survive its ride out of Earth's atmosphere aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 2 team is now turning its focus to completing assembly and testing of the flight hardware for launch.
Once at the Moon, the Blue Ghost lander will touch down on the far side, delivering its payloads to the surface. Those include LuSEE-Night, a radio telescope that is a joint effort by NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory. A payload developed at JPL called User Terminal will test a compact, low-cost S-band radio communications system that could enable future far-side missions to talk to each other and to relay orbiters.
Meantime, Firefly's Elytra Dark orbital vehicle will have deployed into lunar orbit ESA's (European Space Agency's) Lunar Pathfinder communications satellite -- a payload on which NASA is collaborating. Both vehicles will remain in orbit and able to relay data from the far-side surface back to Earth.
"Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 2 will deliver both NASA and international commercial payloads to further prove out technologies for Artemis and help enable a long-term presence on the Moon," said Ray Allensworth, Firefly's spacecraft program director. "The extensive spacecraft environmental testing we did at JPL for Mission 1 was a critical step in Firefly's test campaign for our historic lunar mission. Now we're collaborating again to support a successful repeat on the Moon that will unlock even more insights for future robotic and human missions."
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Original text here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-jpl-shakes-things-up-testing-future-commercial-lunar-spacecraft/
Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities Portfolio Reached $2.86 Trillion in November
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Ginnie Mae issued the following news release:
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Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities Portfolio Reached $2.86 Trillion in November
Ginnie Mae's mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding reached $2.86 trillion as of November 2025. In addition, Ginnie Mae issued $54.8 billion in total MBS, resulting in net portfolio growth of $20.8 billion. Ginnie Mae facilitated the pooling and securitization of more than 660,000 loans for first-time homebuyers year to date.
Key highlights from the November issuance include:
* $52.4 billion in Ginnie Mae II MBS.
* $2.4
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 -- Ginnie Mae issued the following news release:
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Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities Portfolio Reached $2.86 Trillion in November
Ginnie Mae's mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding reached $2.86 trillion as of November 2025. In addition, Ginnie Mae issued $54.8 billion in total MBS, resulting in net portfolio growth of $20.8 billion. Ginnie Mae facilitated the pooling and securitization of more than 660,000 loans for first-time homebuyers year to date.
Key highlights from the November issuance include:
* $52.4 billion in Ginnie Mae II MBS.
* $2.4billion in Ginnie Mae I MBS, including $2.3 billion for multifamily housing loans.
* The pooling and securitization of loans for more than 154,000 American households, including over 56,000 first-time homebuyers.
For detailed information on monthly MBS issuance, unpaid principal balance, Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit (REMIC) issuance, and a broader analysis of global market trends, visit Ginnie Mae Disclosure (https://www.ginniemae.gov/data_and_reports/reporting/Pages/monthly_issuance_reports.aspx).
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About Ginnie Mae
Ginnie Mae is a wholly government-owned corporation that attracts global capital into the housing finance system to support homeownership for veterans and millions of homeowners throughout the country. Ginnie Mae MBS programs directly support housing finance programs administered by the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Public and Indian Housing, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service. Ginnie Mae is the only MBS to carry the explicit full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. Additional information about Ginnie Mae is available at www.ginniemae.gov and on X, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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Original text here: https://www.ginniemae.gov/newsroom/Pages/PressReleaseDispPage.aspx?ParamID=367
DOE Should Develop AI-Based Foundation Models Fused With Traditional Computational Methods to Bring Paradigm Shift to Scientific Discovery
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (TNSrep) -- The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued the following news release:
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DOE Should Develop AI-Based Foundation Models Fused with Traditional Computational Methods to Bring Paradigm Shift to Scientific Discovery
A new report (https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/29212) from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines how the U.S. Department of Energy could use foundation models for scientific research, and finds fusing these models with traditional computational methods could bring a paradigm shift
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (TNSrep) -- The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued the following news release:
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DOE Should Develop AI-Based Foundation Models Fused with Traditional Computational Methods to Bring Paradigm Shift to Scientific Discovery
A new report (https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/29212) from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines how the U.S. Department of Energy could use foundation models for scientific research, and finds fusing these models with traditional computational methods could bring a paradigm shiftto scientific discovery. The report makes recommendations for how the agency can pursue increased use of such models in research.
Foundation models are large-scale AI neural networks that are trained on vast amounts of data -- often trillions of individual data points -- and after fine-tuning, they are capable of learning new ways of modeling information and performing a range of tasks. Foundation models are a departure from many AI tools used in scientific research, which are often designed for specific purposes.
In scientific discovery, foundation models not only have the advantage of being able to handle huge volumes of heterogeneous data, but they also have characteristics like the ability to work across different kinds of tasks, self-supervise their own training, and have architectures that can serve multiple purposes. These characteristics potentially enable foundation models to generate findings and discern patterns within datasets at a volume that exceeds -- by orders of magnitude -- the computing and storage capacity of more traditional computational methods used by DOE, and even of previous machine learning models. However, much work is needed to strengthen assurance, verification, and validation in foundation models, and to quantify uncertainty in their output.
Traditional computational methods form the bedrock of trusted model simulations that enable predictive science across some of the most complex systems that DOE studies, such as materials physics and Earth's systems. These models are grounded in physical laws and are both verified and validated, characteristics that are indispensable for safety-critical research, such as research on nuclear systems.
Rather than seeing foundation models as a replacement for traditional models, the report urges a synergistic integration of the two -- which may bridge the gap between predictive modeling and interpretive reasoning, bringing researchers closer to having models that not only solve complex problems but also explain them.
"Foundation models hold great promise for scientific discovery, even as their nascent stage of development means they carry limitations and challenges," said Dona Crawford, retired associate director for computation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "Our report offers a path forward for how the Department of Energy could go about both developing and using this potentially transformative technology at the cutting edge of scientific discovery."
Foundation Models at DOE
The report says DOE should continue to invest in developing its foundation models, particularly in areas of strategic importance and where the agency already has an advantage. For example, DOE has robust physical scientific data on which to train and test foundation models; the agency can attract top talent; and it has the opportunity to leverage autonomous AI systems to help run scientific labs. DOE should prioritize hybridizing foundation models, but not abandon its expertise in computational methods -- continuing investment in software and infrastructure.
Among other recommendations, the report says DOE should establish and enforce standardized protocols and develop benchmarks for training, documenting, and reproducing foundation models for science, and pursue partnerships with industry and academia to address national mission goals.
The study -- undertaken by the Committee on Foundation Models for Scientific Discovery and Innovation -- was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.
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Original text here: https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/doe-should-develop-ai-based-foundation-models-fused-with-traditional-computational-methods-to-bring-paradigm-shift-to-scientific-discovery
