Summary of the 54th U.S.–Japan ASTER Science Team Meeting

Introduction The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Science Team (ST) organized a three-day workshop that took place June 9–11, 2025, at the Japan Space System’s (JSS) offices in Tokyo, Japan. About 25 people from Japan and the United States participated during the in-person meeting – see Photo 1. U.S. participants included representatives…

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A Decade of Global Water Cycle Monitoring: NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission

Introduction The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, launched in 2015, has over 10 years of global L-band radiometry observations. The low frequency [1.4 GHz frequency or 21 cm (8 in) wavelength] measurements provide information on the state of land surfaces in all weather conditions – regardless of solar illumination. A principal objective of…

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Station Nation: Meet Tess Caswell, Extravehicular Activity Flight Controller and Lead Capsule Communicator 

Tess Caswell supports the International Space Station from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a capsule communicator, or capcom, and helps plan and train for future spacewalks with the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) team in the Flight Operations Directorate. She is currently on rotation as the Artemis lead capcom, helping to develop training and processes…

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