NASA’s X-59 Completes First Flight, Prepares for More Flight Testing

After years of design, development, and testing, NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft took to the skies for the first time Oct. 28, marking a historic moment for the field of aeronautics research and the agency’s Quesst mission. The X-59, designed to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce the sound of loud sonic booms to […]

SARP 2025 Closeout

In August 2025, 47 students from NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) culminated a summer of science by presenting their research to an audience of mentors, professors, family, friends, and NASA personnel. SARP is a summer internship for undergraduate students, hosted in two cohorts: this year SARP West operated out of Guardian Jet Center and University of California, […]

SARP East 2025 Atmospheric Chemistry Group

Faculty Advisor: Stacey Hughes, University of New Hampshire Graduate Mentor: Katherine Paredero, Georgia Institute of Technology Atmospheric Chemistry Group Introduction Faculty Advisor Stacey Hughes and Graduate Mentor Katherine Paredero Kaylena Pham Spooky Swamps: How Methane Emission Rates and Their Spatial Variability Differ Between the Great Dismal Swamp and the Alligator River  Kaylena Pham, University of […]

SARP East 2025 Terrestrial Fluxes Group

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Haber, Virginia Commonwealth University Brandon Alveshere, Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate Mentor: Kayla Preisler, University of Arizona Terrestrial Fluxes Group Introduction Rice Rivers Center Director Chris Gough and Graduate Mentor Kayla Preisler Quinn Koch Monitoring Postfire Ecosystem Recovery With Spectral Indices and Eddy-Covariance Flux Towers  Quinn Koch, University of California, Los Angeles  Fire […]

SARP East 2025 Oceans Group

Faculty Advisors: Tom Bell, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Graduate Mentor: Sarah Lang, University of Rhode Island Oceans Group Introduction Faculty Advisor Tom Bell and Graduate Mentor Sarah Lang Isabella Showman  Detecting Coastal Sea Ice Extent and Freshet Event Timing in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Using Sentinel-1 C-SAR  Isabella Showman, University of Washington  The detachment of coastal […]