NASA

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) 2023 Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Awards Pushing the Envelope Honoree X-57 Maxwell Team * Denotes Team Lead NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Bony J. Baca Jeffrey E. Baker Kaleiokalani J. Barela Ethan A. Baumann Paul S. Bean Matthew J. Berry Keerti K. Bhamidipati Andrew D. Blua John K. Bodylski Kirsten M. Boogaard Trong T. Bui Bradley S. Butler Sean C. Clarke Bruce R. Cogan John G. Coggins James R. Cowart Brian P. Curlett Adam F. Curry Angelo De La Rosa Jacob J. Ediger German Escobar Vicelis Karen L. Estes David E. Farmer Russell J. Franz Mei L. Franz Michael A. Frederick Timothy R. Gadbois Eric J. Garza Starr R. Ginn Donald T. Griffith Leo J. Gross Mary A. Grossman Joe G. Hernandez Joel J. Hiddema April M. Jungers Matthew R. Kamlet Ed T. Koshimoto Wesley W. Li Yohan Lin Lyndel L. Lohberger Johanna B. Lucht Heather A. Maliska* John L. Maliska Kassidy M. McLaughlin Shaun C. Mcwherter Daniel C. Melo Sarkis S. Mikaelian Andrea K. Muir Elizabeth L Nail Jason P. Nelson Eric W. Nisbet Deleena M. Noble Chan-gi Pak Kurt V. Papathakis Francisco Pena Richard H. Pokorski Thang T. Quach Almanda Randle Jeffrey R. Ray Patrick D. Ray Matthew E. Redifer James R. Reynolds Thomas K. Rigney Wayne M. Ringelberg Anthony P. Rodgers Michael P. Rodriguez John R. Rudy Rosalio Salazar Claudia Y. Sales Aamod G. Samuel Otto C. Schnarr Keith A. Schweikhard Mark S. Smith Natalie D. Spivey Gregory W. Strombo Daniel W. Sturgeon David J. Tempesta Jacob R. Terry April C. Torres Duc N. Tran Samson S. Truong Rashmi N. Vidyasagar Abbigail G. Waddell Randy L. Wagner Ryan D. Wallace Aric D. Warner Brennan R. Wehr Kyle J. Whitfield Timothy L. Williams Mae Yook Y. Wong Seung Y. Yoo Alex C. Zamora Christina M. Zinger NASA Glenn Research Center Aaron D. Anderson David Avanesian Julie A. Blystone Jeffrey C. Chin Peggy A. Cornell Ryan D. Edwards Bradley D. French Michael J. 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Andrade Richard W. Smith Analytical Mechanics Associates Inc. Donna A. Gilchrist Joy R. Bland Phillip A. Burkhardt Lynda D. Clinton William A. Cookson Tara E. Requist Nathan D. Rick Linda D. Soden Stephen R. Washington Arcata Associates, Inc. Joseph N. Innis Andrew S. Kelly Jesus Vazquez ASRC Federal System Solutions Kathleen J. Chavez Cody S. Lydon Axient Nicholas J. Bierschwal Franklin K. Harris Lynnell L. Parker Distinguished Research Associates Patrick C. 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Mendoza Daniel Son SRC Federal System Solutions Sonja T. Belcher Vertex Aerospace LLC Edwin J. Albornoz Andrew G. Olvera Mark Scherer 2023 AA Award Honorees 2023 AA Award Honorees PDF ARMD Associate Administrator Awards Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read 2023 Associate Administrator (AA) Awards Honorees Article 11 mins ago 2 min read 2023 Technology and Innovation Honoree (Group) Article 12 mins ago 1 min read 2023 Technology and Innovation (Honorable Mention Group) Article 13 mins ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Solar System Overview The solar system has one star, eight planets, five dwarf planets, at least 290 moons, more than… Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Mar 06, 2024 Related TermsGeneral View the full article

NASA Science Live: Juno Spacecraft Makes Historic Flybys of Jupiter’s Moons

NASA The most recent astronaut candidates wave to the crowd in this image from their March 5, 2024, graduation ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Nicknamed “The Flies,” this cohort is now eligible for spaceflight assignments to the International Space Station, future orbiting destinations, the Moon, and beyond. Selected for training in 2021, the astronaut graduates were chosen from a pool of more than 12,000 applicants and successfully completed more than two years of required basic training, including spacewalking, robotics, space station systems, and more. The graduating NASA astronauts are Nichole Ayers or Colorado Springs, Colorado; Marcos Berríos of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; Chris Birch of Gilbert, Arizona; Deniz Bunham of Wasilla, Alaska; Luke Delaney of Debary, Florida; Andre Douglas of Chesapeake, Virginia; Jack Hathaway of South Windsor, Connecticut; Anil Menon of Minneapolis; Chris Williams of Potomac, Maryland, and Jessica Wittner of Clovis, California. UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronauts Mohammad AlMulla and Nora AlMatrooshi trained alongside the NASA astronaut candidates for the past two years and took part in the graduation ceremony. Applications to become a NASA astronaut are now open. Image Credit: NASA View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Orion spacecraft from Artemis I – now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article – arrives at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, ahead of eight months of testing. Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin The Orion spacecraft that traveled around the Moon and back during 2022’s Artemis I mission completed a different round trip when it recently returned to Ohio for testing. Now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article, the spacecraft is undergoing ground testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. This testing is crucial to the safety and success of Artemis II – a 10-day flight test scheduled for 2025, during which four astronauts will demonstrate the spacecraft’s capabilities in the lunar vicinity. The flight will be the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign. Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, prepare the Orion Environmental Test Article for testing in advance of the Artemis II mission. Credit: NASA/Steven Logan and Jim Zunt Over the next eight months, engineers and technicians from NASA and Lockheed Martin will subject the test article to the extreme conditions Orion may experience during a launch abort scenario. The lengthy test campaign includes simulated lightning strikes and abort-level acoustics reaching levels of more than 160 decibels, louder than a jackhammer. It also includes deployments of the spacecraft’s docking and shielding covers and its crew module uprighting system, five airbags on top of the capsule that inflate upon splashdown. The test campaign serves to ensure Orion is ready to protect the crew if an emergency occurs during launch. This Orion spacecraft completed months of space environmental testing in 2019 and 2020 at Armstrong Test Facility before its 2022 flight test, showing that the path to the Moon goes through Ohio. The test facility is the only place in the world capable of testing full-scale spacecraft in the extreme conditions experienced during launch and flight. Explore More 2 min read Tech Today: Semiconductor Research Leads to Revolution in Dental Care Article 24 hours ago 4 min read NASA Collects First Surface Science in Decades via Commercial Moon Mission Article 5 days ago 4 min read Can Volcanic Super Eruptions Lead to Major Cooling? Study Suggests No New research suggests that sunlight-blocking particles from an extreme eruption would not cool surface temperatures… Article 5 days ago View the full article

4 min read What Are Hubble and Webb Observing Right Now? NASA Tool Has the Answer It’s not hard to find out what NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes have observed in the past. Barely a week goes by without news of a cosmic discovery made possible using images, spectra, and other data captured by NASA’s prolific astronomical observatories. But what are Hubble and Webb looking at right this minute? A shadowy pillar harboring nascent stars? A pair of colliding galaxies? The atmosphere of a distant planet? Galactic light, stretched and distorted on a 13-billion-year journey across space? NASA’s Space Telescope Live, a web application originally developed in 2016 to deliver real-time updates on Hubble targets, now affords easy access to up-to-date information on current, past, and upcoming observations from both Hubble and Webb. Designed and developed for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, this exploratory tool offers the public a straightforward and engaging way to learn more about how astronomical investigations are carried out. With its redesigned user interface and expanded functionality, users can find out not only what planet, star, nebula, galaxy, or region of deep space each telescope is observing at the moment, but also where exactly these targets are in the sky; what scientific instruments are being used to capture the images, spectra, and other data; precisely when and how long the observations are scheduled to occur; the status of the observation; who is leading the research; and most importantly, what the scientists are trying to find out. Information for observations from approved science programs is available via the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. NASA’s Space Telescope Live offers easy access to this information – not only the current day’s targets, but the entire catalog of past observations as well – with Webb records dating back to its first commissioning targets in January 2022, and Hubble records all the way back to the beginning of its operations in May 1990. The zoomable sky map centered on the target’s location was developed using the Aladin Sky Atlas, with imagery from ground-based telescopes to provide context for the observation. (Because the Hubble and Webb data must go through preliminary processing, and in many cases preliminary analysis, before being released to the public and astronomy community, real-time imagery is not available in this tool for either telescope.) Details such as target name and coordinates, scheduled start and end times, and the research topic, are pulled directly from the observation scheduling and proposal planning databases. Links within the tool direct users to the original research proposal, which serves as a gateway to more technical information. While this latest version of NASA’s Space Telescope Live constitutes a significant transformation from the previous release, the team is already gathering feedback from users and planning additional enhancements to provide opportunities for deeper exploration and understanding. NASA’s Space Telescope Live is designed to work on desktop and mobile devices, and is accessible via NASA’s official Hubble and Webb websites. Additional details about the content, including public-friendly explanations of the information displayed in the tool, can be found in the User Guide. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. Goddard also conducts mission operations with Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble and Webb science operations for NASA. Learn More: Selecting What Webb Observes Next Media Contacts: Claire Andreoli – claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD Margaret W. Carruthers, Christine Pulliam Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD Share Details Last Updated Mar 06, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Missions Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… International Observe the Moon Night 2024 Total Eclipse View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Kepler mission enabled the discovery of thousands of exoplanets, revealing a deep truth about our place in the cosmos: there are more planets than stars in the Milky Way galaxy. The road to this fundamental change in our understanding of the universe, however, required almost 20 years of persistence before the mission became a reality with its selection in 2001. The Kepler spacecraft at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado. The Kepler mission surveyed a region of the Milky Way galaxy, discovering the first Earth-size exoplanets and determining that there are more planets than stars in our galaxy.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ball Astronomers had assumed, but still had not confirmed, the existence of exoplanets when the mission concept that would become Kepler was first suggested in 1983. It wasn’t until the 1990s that the first confirmations of planets orbiting stars outside of our solar system were made, most of them gas giants orbiting close to their host star, not at all similar to what we know from our own solar system. When Kepler launched in 2009, fewer than 400 exoplanets had been discovered. Today, there are more than 5,500 confirmed exoplanets and over half of them were discovered from Kepler data. Many of these confirmed exoplanets reside in the so-called “habitable zone” of their star, making them prime candidates for future observations to uncover more of the universe’s mysteries, including the potential for life. The Kepler mission was designed to address the questions “How prevalent are other worlds?” and “How unique is our solar system?” Even if Kepler had found the opposite—that exoplanets were rare—Kepler still would have been an historic mission since the question it addressed was so scientifically profound. This image shows the Kepler telescope’s “first light”—a full field of view of an expansive star-rich patch of sky in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra stretching across 100 square degrees. The 42 individual rectangles are due to the charge-coupled devices (CCDs) with a total of 95 megapixels.NASA/J.Jenkins Earlier versions of the mission proposal had been rejected four times beginning in 1992. Back then, the mission was known as the FRequency of Earth-Sized Inner Planets (FRESIP). After its second rejection in 1994, team members David Koch, Jill Tarter, and Carl Sagan, suggested the name change from FRESIP to Kepler. One of the technical changes made to the 1994 proposal before the 1996 submission included changing the orbit from the Lagrange L2 point to a heliocentric orbit. This allowed Kepler to use reaction wheels for pointing the spacecraft, which reduced the thruster fuel consumption and saved on cost. This wasn’t enough to convince NASA. To address concerns about the mission as proposed, two major demonstrations, one each after the 1996 and 1998 rejections, followed. The demonstrations reduced the risk that gave some reviewers pause and provided the Kepler team the opportunity to refine their operations. Kepler team member Jeff Van Cleve in the Precision Photometry Lab at Ames Research Center in February 2007. The apparatus behind him is the Kepler Testbed Facility, a system mock-up that provided a key demonstration of Kepler’s capability.NASA/Ames The first demonstration showed that the continuous, automatic monitoring of thousands of stars was possible. For that demonstration, an instrument called the Vulcan photometer was installed at Lick Observatory in California, which radioed its data to NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley for automated analysis. The second demonstration (following the 1998 rejection) was the construction of the Kepler Testbed Facility. The testbed proved that existing charge-coupled device (CCD) technology no different from a consumer digital camera could achieve the precision necessary to detect Earth-size planets in the midst of the various kinds of noise expected in the whole system, from vibrations to image motion to cosmic ray strikes. The Kepler team at Ames built an intricate simulated sky and Ball Aerospace, the industry partner throughout the many years of proposals and the mission itself, built the numerical simulator for the demonstration. The testbed from the laboratory at Ames is now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The 42 CCDs of the Kepler focal plane are approximately one square foot in size. There are four fine guidance modules in the corners of the focal plane that are much smaller CCDs compared to the 42 CCDs used for science. Those smaller CCDs were used to track Kepler’s position and relay that information to its guidance system to keep the spacecraft accurately pointed. NASA/Kepler mission These demonstrations finally put the remaining concerns to rest. In 2001, Kepler was selected more than 17 years after its principal investigator, William Borucki, had written a paper that considered a space-based photometer for detecting Earth-size planets with his colleague Audrey Summers of the Theoretical and Planetary Studies Branch in the Space Science Division at Ames. In the eight years between selection and launch on March 6, 2009, the mission responded to a number of challenges and changes that were largely beyond the team’s control, such as NASA instituting a policy that required either NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to manage planetary missions, changes in accounting requirements, and increasing launch costs. Those pieces of Kepler’s story are told in detail in the latest book from the NASA History Office, NASA’s Discovery Program: The First Twenty Years of Competitive Planetary Exploration. Download the NASA's Discovery Program E-Book Share Details Last Updated Mar 05, 2024 Related TermsNASA HistoryExoplanetsKepler / K2 Explore More 4 min read 65 Years Ago: Pioneer 4 Reaches for the Moon Article 1 day ago 22 min read Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women Astronauts 2024 Article 4 days ago 4 min read NASA Center Boosted YF-12 Supersonic Engine Research Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA NASA History Exoplanets Overview Most of the exoplanets discovered so far are in a relatively small region of our galaxy, the Milky Way.… Universe Discover the universe: Learn about the history of the cosmos, what it’s made of, and so much more. Discovery Program View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This image shows SWOT satellite data for water surface height in part of Mendocino County, Northern California, on Jan. 15, before several atmospheric rivers arrived, and on Feb. 4, after the first storms. Light blue and green indicate the highest water levels relative to mean sea level. (Inland water heights include the underlying ground elevation.)NASA/JPL-Caltech Operated by NASA and the French space agency, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission provides a new view of water on land, at the coast, and in the ocean. A series of atmospheric rivers drenched California in February, with record amounts of rainfall and hurricane-force winds sweeping across parts of the state. At one point, weather agencies posted flood watches for nearly the entirety of California’s coast. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission captured data on some of the flooding near the community of Manchester, roughly 105 miles (169 kilometers) north of San Francisco. The satellite is a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales). The image above shows the area on Jan. 15, before the rain and snow from atmospheric rivers, and then again on Feb. 4, after the first in a series of storms soaked California. Water heights are shown in shades of green and blue, with lighter hues indicating the highest levels relative to mean sea level. (Data for inland areas includes the height of the floodwaters plus the ground elevation beneath it.) Some coastal areas were flooded by both ocean tides and heavy rain, while others were likely flooded only by precipitation. Each pixel in the image represents an area that is 330 feet by 330 feet (100 meters by 100 meters). Since December 2022, SWOT has been measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth’s surface, developing one of the most detailed, comprehensive views yet of the planet’s oceans and freshwater lakes and rivers. Not only can the satellite detect the extent of the water on Earth’s surface, as other satellites can, but SWOT can also provide water level data. Combined with other types of information, SWOT measurements can yield water depth data in features like lakes and rivers. “SWOT gives us information about flooding that we’ve never had before,” said Ben Hamlington, lead researcher for NASA’s sea level change team at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Satellites can provide pictures showing how much of an area is flooded, but unless instruments are already installed on a river or at the coast, it’s difficult to know how conditions evolve during and after a flood. “Data from the SWOT satellite, combined with other information, is filling in this picture,” said Hamlington. The SWOT science team made the measurements using the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument. With two antennas spread 33 feet (10 meters) apart on a boom, KaRIn produces a pair of data swaths as it circles the globe, bouncing radar pulses off water surfaces to collect surface-height measurements. More About the Mission Launched in December 2022, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California, SWOT is now in its operations phase, collecting data that will be used for research and other purposes. SWOT was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the KaRIn instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. CNES provided the Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations. CSA provided the KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly. NASA provided the launch vehicle and the agency’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, managed the associated launch services. To learn more about SWOT, visit: https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/ See SWOT Mission’s Unprecedented View of Global Sea Levels News Media Contacts Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874 jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-021 Share Details Last Updated Mar 05, 2024 Related TermsSWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography)EarthExtreme Weather EventsJet Propulsion LaboratoryOceansWater on Earth Explore More 4 min read Can Volcanic Super Eruptions Lead to Major Cooling? Study Suggests No New research suggests that sunlight-blocking particles from an extreme eruption would not cool surface temperatures… Article 4 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission: 10 years, 10 stories From peering into hurricanes to tracking El Niño-related floods and droughts to aiding in disaster… Article 4 days ago 4 min read NASA’s Planetary Radar Images Slowly Spinning Asteroid Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

La nueva promoción de astronautas de la NASA, seleccionada en 2021, se graduó en una ceremonia que tuvo lugar el 5 de marzo de 2024 en el Centro Espacial Johnson de la agencia en Houston.Créditos: NASA Read this release in English here. La NASA dio la bienvenida a su nueva cohorte de astronautas de la generación Artemis durante una ceremonia celebrada el martes en el Centro Espacial Johnson de la agencia en Houston. Los 10 astronautas graduados ya son elegibles para misiones de vuelo. La agencia también anunció la apertura de la próxima ronda de solicitudes para astronautas de la NASA. “¡Enhorabuena a la nueva promoción de astronautas de la NASA! Estamos muy contentos de tener un nuevo y diverso grupo de exploradores listos para expandir el alcance de la humanidad”, dijo el administrador de la NASA Bill Nelson. “Los astronautas son pioneros que nos ayudarán a embarcarnos en esta nueva era de exploración, y necesitamos más aventureros dispuestos a unirse al grupo para explorar el cosmos, incluyendo futuras misiones a la Luna, a Marte, y más allá”. Los astronautas graduados hoy fueron seleccionados para su entrenamiento en 2021, elegidos entre un grupo de más de 12.000 solicitantes, y completaron con éxito más de dos años de entrenamiento básico requerido, incluyendo caminatas espaciales, robótica, sistemas de la estación espacial y más. Los graduados podrán ser destinados a misiones a la Estación Espacial Internacional, futuras estaciones espaciales comerciales y misiones de la campaña Artemis a la Luna, como preparación para ir a Marte. “Enhorabuena a la NASA y a los astronautas graduados”, declaró Kiran Ahuja, directora de la Oficina de Gestión de Personal (OPM, por sus siglas en inglés) de Estados Unidos. “Al asociarse con la OPM, la NASA empleó un proceso de contratación automatizado y optimizado para seleccionar a los solicitantes de estos prestigiosos puestos. La OPM está encantada de seguir apoyando a los expertos de la NASA para diseñar e implementar sus métodos de contratación”. “Es un momento increíble para ser astronauta, con una gran variedad de naves espaciales que pilotar y más destinos que explorar”, declaró el astronauta jefe Joe Acabá. “Me siento honrado de dar la bienvenida a estos astronautas, felicitarles por su duro trabajo, y espero con interés ver crecer nuestras filas mientras ayudamos a expandir el alcance de la humanidad en el sistema solar”. Los astronautas de la NASA que se han graduado son Nichole Ayers, de Colorado Springs (Colorado); Marcos Berríos, de Guaynabo (Puerto Rico); Chris Birch, de Gilbert (Arizona); Deniz Bunham, de Wasilla (Alaska); Luke Delaney, de Debary (Florida); Andre Douglas, de Chesapeake (Virginia); Jack Hathaway, de South Windsor (Connecticut); Anil Menon, de Minneapolis; Chris Williams, de Potomac (Maryland), y Jessica Wittner, de Clovis (California). Continuando con una larga tradición de colaboración internacional, dos astronautas de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos (EAU), Nora AlMatrooshi y Mohammad AlMulla, del Centro Espacial Mohammad Bin Rashid, se entrenaron junto a sus homólogos de la NASA durante los dos últimos años. Esta es una parte de la asociación entre la NASA y los EAU, que incluye la cooperación en la Estación Espacial Internacional, en las misiones Artemis de la NASA a través de la estación espacial lunar Gateway, y en otras actividades en la Tierra y en el espacio que están dando apoyo a investigaciones pioneras. Para solicitar ser astronauta de la NASA, los aspirantes deben dirigirse a la siguiente página web en inglés: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/779261100 -fin- Josh Finch / María José Viñas Sede, Washington 202-358-1100 / 240-458-0248 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / maria-jose,.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov Chelsey Ballarte Centro Espacial Johnson, Houston 281-483-5111 chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Mar 05, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsAstronautsCandidate AstronautsHumans in SpaceJohnson Space CenterNASA Headquarters View the full article

NASA newest class of astronauts, selected in 2021, graduate during a ceremony on March 5, 2024, at the at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Credit: NASA Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. NASA welcomed its newest class of next generation Artemis astronauts in a Tuesday ceremony at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The 10 astronaut graduates now are eligible for flight assignments. The agency also announced the opening for the next round of NASA astronaut applications. “Congratulations to the newest class of NASA astronauts! We are excited to have a new and diverse set of explorers ready to expand humanity’s reach,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Astronauts are pioneers who will help us embark on this new era of exploration, and we need more adventurers ready to join the ranks to explore the cosmos, including future missions to the Moon, on to Mars, and beyond.” Selected for training in 2021, the astronaut graduates were chosen from a pool of more than 12,000 applicants and successfully completed more than two years of required basic training, including spacewalking, robotics, space station systems, and more. The graduates may be assigned to missions destined for the International Space Station, future commercial space stations, and Artemis campaign missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars. “Congratulations to NASA and the astronaut graduates,” said U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja. “By partnering with OPM, NASA employed an automated and streamlined hiring process to screen applicants for these prestigious roles. OPM is thrilled to continue supporting NASA experts to design and implement their hiring methods.” “It’s an incredible time to be an astronaut with a variety of spacecraft to fly and more destinations to explore,” said Chief Astronaut Joe Acaba. “I’m honored to welcome these astronauts, congratulate them on their hard work, and look forward to growing our ranks as we help expand humanity’s reach into the solar system.” The graduating NASA astronauts are Nichole Ayers of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Marcos Berríos of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; Chris Birch of Gilbert, Arizona; Deniz Bunham of Wasilla, Alaska; Luke Delaney of Debary, Florida; Andre Douglas of Chesapeake, Virginia; Jack Hathaway of South Windsor, Connecticut; Anil Menon of Minneapolis; Chris Williams of Potomac, Maryland, and Jessica Wittner of Clovis, California. Continuing the long tradition of international partnership, two UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronauts, Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre, trained alongside their NASA counterparts for the past two years, as well as participated in the graduation ceremony. This is one part of the partnership between NASA the UAE, including cooperation on the International Space Station, NASA’s Artemis missions through the Gateway lunar space station, and other activities on Earth and in space that are supporting groundbreaking science and research. To apply to become a NASA astronaut, applicants should go to: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/779261100 -end- Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.oshea@nasa.gov Chelsey Ballarte Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Mar 05, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA HeadquartersAstronautsBecoming an AstronautCandidate AstronautsHumans in SpaceJohnson Space Center View the full article

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program wants you to show the world the future of space technology. The NIAC Program is looking for posters that help people better understand these visionary aerospace concepts that might be used in future NASA missions. If you can create an engaging poster that depicts one or more of the innovative concepts in action, you might win a portion of the $3000 USD purse. These early-stage technologies are 10 to 20+ years away from final development. To help people understand what they might look like, NIAC is turning to artists and graphic designers to create posters that help people visualize the technologies. The posters will show what the technology will look like, and how and where they might be used in the future. NIAC will use these images to help illustrate the tech story to everyone including students, the press, science and technology museums, Congress, and the general public. These images will inspire vast audiences by creating effective visualizations of cutting-edge technologies. All selected images will be uploaded to the NIAC website, shared widely, and available for free digital download. Credit will be given to all artists’ work. Award: $3,000 in total prizes Open Date: March 5, 2024 Close Date: April 15, 2024 For more information, visit: https://www.freelancer.com/contest/The-NASA-Space-Technology-Art-Challenge-Imagine-Tomorrow-2373640/prize-details View the full article

At NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, Jennifer Krottinger pairs her artistic vision with a passion for public service. Name: Jennifer Krottinger Title: Business Manager Formal Job Classification: Business Management Specialist Organization: Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Science and Exploration Directorate (Code 611) Jennifer Krottinger is a business management specialist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.Courtesy of Jennifer Krottinger What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? I play a key role in decision making on institutional support, and provide authoritative, technical advice, and consultation on the laboratory’s grants, cooperative agreements, personnel management, and procurement actions. Because no two days are alike, and I have the honor of working alongside brilliant, awesome, and equally humble people, my role is very interesting. What is your educational background? In 2002, I received my undergraduate degree, a bachelor’s in business administration, from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2008, I received my graduate degree, a master’s in public administration, specializing in analysis and research, from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. In 2019, I received another undergraduate degree, an associate of applied science in fashion design, from Parsons School of Design, School of Fashion, in New York, New York. Please tell us about your service in Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). I worked for a small business during my undergrad and continued to after graduation. I was born into a family of entrepreneurs, maternally and paternally, and small business is in my DNA. I was ready for something different, yearning to “give back.” I applied to VISTA, the domestic version of the Peace Corps. I was ultimately offered a few different positions, opting for the West Coast, leaving Texas in 2003 to begin VISTA service. I worked on economic development initiatives, in California and Oregon at the county, city, and state levels of government. I served for three-and-a-half years and fell in love with public service. Thinking I would pursue an MBA post-service, I decided to study for a master’s in public administration instead, studying full-time while working part-time as a graduate research assistant for a department chair. After graduating with my MPA, I returned to the private sector for a few years, and decided to take another leap of faith, answering the call of international service with the Peace Corps. Please tell us about your experience in the Peace Corps. From 2011 to 2015, I served in the Peace Corps, and my post was Sarteneja, Belize, Central America. My primary project was Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD), a non-governmental organization working on communications ranging from basic skills, such as teaching Belizeans how to use Google, to more advanced, working with the SACD Board of Directors on the development and implementation of the communications plan. My secondary project was helping 10 women found a women-owned, -operated, and -led sewing and handicraft cooperative, Las Sartenejeñas Cooperative. They make and sell indigenous artisan work and school uniforms for the local schools. The project won the 2013 Charlotte Daniels Champions of Change award, selected from world-wide projects, from World Connect, and the cooperative is still flourishing. These women inspire me to this day. After completing Peace Corps service, I stayed in-country working on projects, with the cooperative, as the technical business development manager, working for almost a year, post-service. And, in the summer of 2022, while working at GISS, I participated voluntarily in the Peace Corps Virtual Service Pilot Program (VSPP), in Namibia, to capitate Ngato Vocational Training Centre staff in developing a financially, viable business plan for the center, enabling greater sustainability, an increase in student enrollment capacity, and expansion of scholarship program for youth who come from traditionally marginalized and disadvantaged communities. What inspired you to attend Parsons School of Design? The women at the cooperative were a great catalyst for me. Since I was five years old, I wanted to be a fashion designer, and it was time. The opportunity was presenting itself and working with the women fueled the motivation. It was the education I always wanted and deserved, and decided to go for it. I returned to Texas in June of 2015 from Belize, and moved to New York City in July 2015. In August 2015, I started my position with the Small Business Administration Region II, New Jersey District Office, later transferring to the New York Metro District Office, and Parsons. It was a tall order to work full time, while adapting back to the United States, let alone coming from a rural, remote village of about 3,500, to a city of about 8.7 million, and attend Parsons part time which was rigorous and grueling, with little to no fashion design experience. I loved my time at Parsons, learning a lot about myself, the grit and the gumption, including how strong I really was and how to successfully manage priorities, attaining almost straight A’s, graduating with top honors. What did you do for the Small Business Administration (SBA)? From 2015 to 2020, I worked at SBA, in Region II District Offices located in Newark, New Jersey, and New York City in government contracting and business development. The position as a business opportunity specialist allowed me to continue working cross-culturally with socioeconomic groups through managing portfolios of socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, participating in federal government contract certification programs such as 8(a), Women Owned Small Business (WOSB), HUBZone, Veteran Owned Small Business (VOSB) and other certifications offered, providing technical assistance on the development of comprehensive business plans including robust financial planning. I also served as a district office technical representative for the Women’s Business Centers funded by SBA. Why did you come to GISS? In May 2020, I landed at GISS. NASA has always been an aspiration for me. One of my heroes is Katherine Goble Johnson, a NASA mathematician and “Hidden Figure.” One of my favorite quotes of hers is, “I’m always interested in learning something new.” I hold this quote near and dear to my heart; growth and learning are two of my values. I included this quote and explained its importance on my NASA application. If you are always learning something new, you are continuously improving and growing. What do you do at GISS? Every day is different, and as mentioned earlier, no two days are alike. My major duties are program management and coordination of GISS strategic planning activities, oversight of GISS partnership agreements and procurement duties as the contracting officer representative (COR). This tends to involve problem-solving, working through and undoing complexities, establishing and refining policies and procedures, providing guidance and technical assistance, implementing innovative and creative approaches, and a lot of listening. I’m also one of the founding members of the newly established GISS DEIA Committee and serve as a vice co-chair for the Women’s Employee Resource Group and Network (WEN) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. What is the coolest part about working at GISS? Working at GISS is truly the coolest part, because again, NASA was an aspiration and achieving this, well sometimes I feel like pinching myself, ensuring its real. Also working directly and alongside Gavin Schmidt, the GISS director, and Ron Miller, the GISS deputy director, two incredibly brilliant and people-first leaders, who demonstrate everyday humility and humanity in leadership. For example, during the pandemic, when there was civil unrest across the country, Gavin told everyone at the weekly staff meeting that it was OK not to be OK, normalizing the taboo. What are you currently doing for the United Nations? The third goal of Peace Corps is to “help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans,” bringing back the country of service, to the United States. In March 2023, I became a representative for the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. Five Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, are voluntarily consulting on addressing worldwide poverty and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). My focus is SDG 5 Gender Equality, SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities. The consultancy involves attending UN meetings, summits, side events, briefings, and official ECOSOC written and oral statements. “The third goal of Peace Corps is to ‘help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans,’ bringing back the country of service, to the United States,” said Krottinger. “In March 2023, I became a representative for the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.”Courtesy of Jennifer Krottinger What do you do for fun? In January 2023, I launched my own fashion brand of prêt-à-couture garments and accessories with a focus on creative endeavors. It’s a refinement and a lifetime work-in-progress. I lose all track of time in fashion and the creative – from mood boards, to color theory, to fashion history, to textiles, to the business aspect. Right now, I love learning about colors and am currently reading “The Secret Life of Color,” which is explaining all the different histories of color. In October 2022, I went to École Lesage in Paris to finally study embroidery, the Lunéville hook technique, one of the techniques used in haute couture, and learn more about fashion and craftmanship through a lecture series. I was supposed to go in 2020, but the pandemic had other plans for us all. In October 2023, returned to Paris, to continue studies of one of the greats, Christian Dior, at the maison (house) on 30 Avenue Montaigne. Who are some of your favorite designers? I am old school. Some of my favorites are Claire McCardell, Hubert de Givenchy, Cristobal Balenciaga, Norman Norell, and Isabel Toledo. Present day favorites include Virgil Abloh (Off White), Pierpaolo Piccioli (Valentino), Lee Alexander McQueen (Alexander McQueen), Clare Waight Keller and Maria Grazia Chiuri (Christian Dior). Well-made garment construction is appealing, and I design timeless, classic garments to last forever, having a smaller footprint on Earth. I’m truly loving the slow fashion movement and Tissuni, based in France. A group of haute couture seamstresses from Valentino, Dior, Paris Opera, Saint Laurent, and others, banded together during the pandemic, making much needed facial masks from leftover fabric and are distributing them for free. The group has continued the movement creating zero waste couture designs. What is your motto? Living life with no regrets! What is your “six-word memoir?” A six-word memoir describes something in just six words. “The light you shed, will spread.” – RBG By Elizabeth M. Jarrell NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage. Share Details Last Updated Mar 05, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactElizabeth M. JarrellLocationGISS Related TermsPeople of GoddardGoddard Institute for Space StudiesGoddard Space Flight CenterPeople of NASA Explore More 5 min read 10 Ways Students Can Prepare to #BeAnAstronaut Article 5 hours ago 6 min read Multiple Spacecraft Tell the Story of One Giant Solar Storm April 17, 2021, was a day like any other day on the Sun, until a… Article 1 day ago 7 min read Webb Unlocks Secrets of One of the Most Distant Galaxies Ever Seen Looking deeply into space and time, two teams using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have… Article 1 day ago View the full article

The Universe is Calling: Apply to Be a NASA Astronaut (Official NASA Video feat. Morgan Freeman)

NASA's 2024 Astronaut Graduation

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Sangi’s Apagard line, launched in 1985, is billed as restorative whitening toothpaste.Credit: Sangi Co. Ltd. Toothpaste based on the mineral hydroxyapatite, popular across Asia and much of Europe today, is finding its first foothold in the U.S. But the idea behind this alternative to fluoride-based toothpaste was conceived here in a short-lived NASA field center more than 50 years ago. While working at NASA’s Electronics Research Center – active in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1964 to 1970 – Senior scientist Bernard Rubin discovered semiconductor crystals for electronics grew best in a silica gel. He quickly realized this gel diffusion system mimicked how hydroxyapatite crystals grow in bones and teeth, giving them their hardness. Building on this observation, he and a colleague patented a method for repairing a tooth by growing hydroxyapatite crystals on the tooth’s surface. Monocrystalline silicon ingots like these are grown in labs. A NASA researcher growing crystals for electronics in the 1960s noticed a similarity with the way crystals form in teeth and bones and patented a method for growing hydroxyapatite crystals to repair teeth.Credit: Getty Images A few years later, a young Japanese businessman named Shuji Sakuma, having just founded Sangi Co. Ltd. in Tokyo, obtained the patented research and set about turning it into a product with the help of dental professionals. Lessons learned from Rubin’s patented methodology inspired the company’s Apadent and Apagard toothpaste lines in the early to mid-1980s. Japan and many other governments now recognize hydroxyapatite as an anticavity agent, and studies have found it to have other benefits, like improving whiteness and reducing sensitivity. Read More Share Details Last Updated Mar 05, 2024 Related TermsGeneralSpace Technology Mission DirectorateSpinoffsTechnology TransferTechnology Transfer & Spinoffs Explore More 3 min read NASA to Demonstrate Miniature CubeSat Swarm Technology Article 19 hours ago 3 min read NASA Names Winners in Lunar Gateway Packing and Storing Challenge Article 1 day ago 4 min read Can Volcanic Super Eruptions Lead to Major Cooling? Study Suggests No New research suggests that sunlight-blocking particles from an extreme eruption would not cool surface temperatures… Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Technology Technology Transfer & Spinoffs Climate Change Solar System View the full article

10 Ways Students Can Prepare to #BeAnAstronaut Want to #BeAnAstronaut, but don’t know where to start? Here are some ways you can kick-start your journey! Even if you don’t qualify to #BeAnAstronaut — yet — within NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, or OSTEM, there are ways to get involved with NASA’s missions. Check out the top 10 ways to #BeAnAstronaut: 1. Apply for NASA internships. Becoming an intern is the perfect way to get your start with NASA. Several astronauts started out as interns! Astronaut Jessica Watkins was selected as a NASA intern while both an undergraduate and graduate student. “Those experiences were really what helped shape me as a scientist and an explorer,” Watkins said, crediting the hands-on experiences she had the opportunity to be a part of during her internships. Interested in applying? More information can be found at: intern.nasa.gov 2. Participate in Artemis Student Challenges. Did you know that Artemis Student Challenges contribute directly to NASA’s mission? Student Launch, the Human Exploration Rover Challenge, Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (S.U.I.T.S.), Lunabotics, Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-G NExT), First Nations Launch and the Big Idea Challenge vary in mission and education levels (middle school to college), and encompass many elements of the Artemis program. Artemis Student Challenges allow you to be creative, take what you have learned in the classroom and apply it to existing space exploration challenges. 3. Subscribe to NASA EXPRESS. Stay informed about what’s going on inside NASA! NASA EXPRESS is a weekly newsletter featuring updates and opportunities from NASA and the STEM Engagement community. NASA EXPRESS is a great resource for students to explore various STEM opportunities beyond the walls of the classroom. Sign up today! 4. Attend ASTRO CAMP® or Space Camp. Are you a young explorer? Sharpen your skills at NASA’s ASTRO CAMP® at Stennis Space Center. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins launched to the International Space Station in 2016, but before that she attended a space camp in the seventh grade after saving up her chore money to attend. Rubins dreamed of becoming an astronaut as a child, and left camp knowing she had to take as many math and science courses as she could to make her dream a reality 5. Learn What it Really Takes to Become an Astronaut! There are many myths and misconceptions about what it takes to #BeAnAstronaut. Educate yourself on the facts and requirements, and prepare for an out-of-this-world experience — literally. 6. A Variety of Career Paths Can Take You to Space: Find One You Love! Keep an open mind! You don’t have to be an engineer or take a specific path to # BeAnAstronaut. NASA astronauts come from all walks of life — teachers, doctors, biologists, geologists, service members and more! The most recent class of astronauts reflect this level of diversity. Above all else, make sure you love what you do. 7. Stay Active. Physical fitness is a big part of astronaut training and daily life in space. Aboard the International Space Station, astronauts exercise two hours per day to keep their bones strong in the microgravity environment. Keep up a healthy lifestyle and workout regiment, or try a new sport! Learn more about how astronauts stay in shape here. 8. Participate in Science and Engineering Fairs. Take time to showcase your hard work and ingenuity outside the classroom. Science and engineering fairs are a great way to not only show off your work, but get inspired by those around you. 9. Apply to Graduate and Professional Schools or a Pilot Training Program. Plan for your future. If you want to #BeAnAstronaut, obtaining a high-level degree is a must. Astronauts must complete a master’s degree in a STEM field, be working toward a doctorate, or hold a doctorate in medicine or osteopathic medicine. Apply for graduate school and take the next step in your education, preparing for life in space. Another way to qualify is through the completion of an accredited test pilot school program. 10. Enroll in STEM classes and clubs. Not quite at the collegiate or postgraduate level? It’s never too early to get involved in STEM and take those first steps towards an out-of-this-world career. Choose science, math and programming classes that align with your goals, and join STEM-related clubs and activities outside of the classroom. If your school or community does not offer a club for what you are interested in, start one! As NASA continues to move forward with the Artemis program and astronaut recruitment, you, the future STEM workforce could one day take us to distant worlds, are a major part of that. Through OSTEM’s variety of resources, you are welcome to join us on this journey as we move forward to the Moon … and beyond. For more NASA STEM updates, follow us @NASASTEM on X . Explore More 22 min read Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women Astronauts 2024 Article 4 days ago 4 min read NASA Signs Agreement with Nikon to Develop Lunar Artemis Camera Article 5 days ago 3 min read Former Student Launch Competitor Turns Experience into NASA Engineering Career Article 7 days ago View the full article

March 4, 2024 RELEASE: J24-006 Students from around the world will visit NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston this summer for a variety of activities associated with the 36th annual Space Studies Program of the International Space University. Through a continuing partnership with Houston’s Rice University, NASA Johnson will welcome students from many countries participating in tours, lectures and hands-on activities with aerospace experts from June 8 to Aug. 3, 2024. “Johnson Space Center is looking forward to partnering with Rice as it hosts the International Space University’s Space Studies Program in partnership with Rice University,” said Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche. “This is an amazing opportunity, not only for the students participating in the Space Studies Program, but for employees of Johnson to share their knowledge and experiences with an international network of leading space experts and professionals.” The Space Studies Program is an educational and training program in the space sector, covering both technical and non-technical aspects, in an international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary environment. During an intensive eight-week program, 200+ participants, lecturers, professors, staff members, experts, and executives from American and international space agencies and private companies from over 30 countries will converge in Houston. The program is aimed at aspiring space professionals and leaders with an educational experience, featuring a curriculum covering space exploration engineering, policy, business and management, and applications. Hands-on projects, workshops, and immersive learning experiences will provide students with networking opportunities with a global community of space enthusiasts. Learn more about how NASA explores the unknown and innovates for the benefit of humanity at: https://www.nasa.gov -end- Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov View the full article

NASA has selected 15 companies to provide flight and payload integration services to advance technologies and procedures for operating in space, including testing in high-altitude, reduced gravity, or other relevant environments. Examples of payloads include NASA science instruments or technology demonstrations. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity base contract awards are firm-fixed-price with a total combined value of $45 million and a performance period of five years. The flights and other services covered by these contracts are for use by NASA and other government agencies. The types of platforms that will be used for testing include suborbital rockets, high-altitude balloons, orbital spacecraft and satellites, and, in some instances, suborbital rockets that can accommodate carry people. The following companies have been awarded contracts to provide services through demonstrated commercial capabilities: Aerostar International, Inc., of Sioux Falls, South Dakota Angstrom Designs Inc., of Santa Barbara, California Astrobotic Technology Inc., of Pittsburgh Astro Digital US Inc., of Santa Clara, California Blue Origin Texas, LLC of Van Horn, Texas Galactic Enterprises, LLC of Las Cruces, New Mexico Loft Orbital Federal, LLC of Golden, Colorado Momentus Space LLC of San Jose, California Near Space Corp., of Tillamook, Oregon Rocket Lab USA Inc., of Long Beach, California Space Exploration Technologies Corp., of Hawthorne, California Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc., of Vienna, Virginia Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., of Irvine, California Varda Space Industries, Inc., of El Segundo, California World View Enterprises Inc., of Tucson, Arizona The contracts are in support of NASA’s Flight Opportunities and Small Spacecraft Technology programs, both part of the NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. These programs support technology development and missions to change the pace of space exploration, discovery, and space commerce. For information about the flight platforms available through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/4bRVhtz -end- Abbey Donaldson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov Megan Person Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. 661-276-2094 megan.person@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Mar 04, 2024 EditorTiernan P. DoyleLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsFlight Opportunities ProgramSmall Spacecraft Technology ProgramSpace Technology Mission Directorate View the full article

On March 3, 1959, the United States launched Pioneer 4 with the goal of photographing the Moon during a close flyby. As part of the International Geophysical Year that ran from July 1, 1957, to Dec. 31, 1958, the United States planned to send five probes to study the Moon. The first three planned to orbit the Moon, while the last two simpler probes planned to photograph it during flybys. After NASA opened for business in October 1958, the new space agency inherited the Pioneer program from the Advanced Research Projects Agency, a branch of the Department of Defense established earlier in 1958 as part of America’s initiative to respond to early Soviet space accomplishments. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, part of the U.S. Army until transferred to NASA in December 1958, built the two Pioneer lunar flyby spacecraft. While the first four missions did not succeed in reaching their target, Pioneer 4 became the first American spacecraft to flyby the Moon and enter solar orbit. Left: A replica of the Pioneer 1 spacecraft. Image credit: courtesy National Air and Space Museum. Right: Liftoff of Pioneer 1, the first satellite launched by NASA. The first Pioneer launch attempt on August 17, 1958, ended in failure 77 seconds after liftoff when the Thor-Able booster exploded. Engineers identified and corrected the problem with the rocket and on Oct. 11, Pioneer 1, weighing 84 pounds, thundered off from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 17A. The launch took place just 10 days after NASA officially opened for business. Liftoff seemed to go well, but tracking soon showed that the spacecraft was traveling more slowly than expected and was also off course. Relatively minor errors in the first stage’s performance were compounded by other issues with the second stage, making it clear that Pioneer 1 would not achieve its primary goal of entering orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft did reach a then-record altitude of 70,770 miles about 21 hours after launch before beginning its fall back to Earth. It burned up on reentry over the Pacific Ocean 43 hours after liftoff. The probe’s instruments confirmed the existence of the Van Allen radiation belts discovered by Explorer 1 earlier in the year. The third and final lunar orbiter attempt, Pioneer 2 on November 8, met with less success. The rocket’s first and second stages performed well, but the third stage failed to ignite. Pioneer 2 could not achieve orbital velocity and only reached a peak altitude of 960 miles before falling back to Earth after a brief 42-minute flight. Left: Juno rocket developer Wernher von Braun, left, Pioneer project engineer John R. Casani, and project scientist James A. Van Allen inspect the instruments in the Pioneer 4 spacecraft. Image credit: courtesy LIFE Magazine. Middle: Kurt H. Debus, left, and von Braun in the blockhouse for the Pioneer 4 launch. Right: Launch of Pioneer 4, the first American spacecraft to flyby the Moon and enter solar orbit. The two lunar flyby missions came next, each carrying a radiation counter and photographic equipment. The 13-pound Pioneer 3 took off on Dec. 6. The Juno-II rocket’s first stage engine cut off early, and the probe could not reach its destination, falling back to Earth 38 hours after launch. Despite this problem, Pioneer 3 returned significant radiation data and discovered a second outer Van Allen belt encircling the Earth. The second attempt on March 3, 1959, met with more success as Pioneer 4 became the first American spacecraft to reach Earth escape velocity. The Juno-II’s second stage burned for an extra few seconds, resulting in Pioneer 4 passing at 36,650 miles of the Moon’s surface 41 hours after launch. At that distance, instead of the planned 5,000 miles, the spacecraft could not achieve its objective of photographing the Moon. Pioneer 4 then went on to become the first American spacecraft to enter solar orbit, a feat the Soviet Luna 1 accomplished two months earlier. Pioneer 4 returned radiation data for 82 hours, out to 409,000 miles, nearly twice the Earth-Moon distance, until its batteries died. Left: Pioneer 4’s trajectory to the Moon and beyond. Right: The Deep Space Station-11, also known as Pioneer Station, in 1958. Although these early Pioneer lunar probes met with limited mission success, the program marked the first use of the 26-meter antenna and tracking station at Goldstone, California. This antenna, completed in 1958 and known as Deep Space Station 11 (DSS-11), was the first component of what eventually became the NASA Deep Space Network. Although called Pioneer Station, DSS-11 not only followed these early spacecraft, starting with Pioneer 3, but later monitored the Ranger, Surveyor, and Lunar Orbiter robotic precursor missions and tracked the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle to the Moon’s surface on July 20, 1969, and the other Apollo lunar missions as well. It also tracked Mariner, Viking, and Voyager missions to the planets before its decommissioning in 1978. Watch a video about Pioneer 4: https://youtu.be/mM4U78sFYpQ Explore More 22 min read Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women Astronauts 2024 Article 3 days ago 4 min read NASA Center Boosted YF-12 Supersonic Engine Research Article 2 weeks ago 11 min read 55 Years Ago: Five Months Until the Moon Landing Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

6 Min Read Lagniappe for March 2024 Explore the March 2024 issue with highlights of Stennis Day at the Capitol; Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Testing; and coverage on the first-ever in-space mission for NASA Stennis. Explore the March 2024 edition featuring: NASA Stennis Capitol Day NASA Enters Second Half of Key RS-25 Engine Certification Series NASA Stennis Celebrates Milestone for Historic Autonomous Systems Mission Gator Speaks Gator SpeaksNASA/Stennis Closing out February and coming into March has Gator fired up, and rightfully so! Recent weeks and upcoming events remind us all how we are in a golden era of space exploration as NASA inspires the world through discovery. For the first time in more than half a century, America returned to the Moon on Feb. 22 during the eighth day of a quarter-million-mile voyage under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative with an Intuitive Machines lander named Odysseus. This Odysseus landing on the lunar South Pole makes way for future commercial deliveries to the Moon, along with future Artemis missions that will see humans return to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Speaking of Artemis, NASA Stennis is expected to carry out multiple RS-25 engine hot fires this month in the key test series for future Artemis flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Another example of NASA and NASA Stennis working with a commercial partner comes in the form of the first ever in-space autonomous systems mission involving NASA Stennis as a payload rider. The payload, part of project ASTRA (Autonomous Satellite Technology for Resilient Applications), is expected to launch soon on the Sidus Space LizzieSat TM small satellite. In March, NASA will celebrate Women’s History Month. I invite you to read how one NASA Stennis employee’s interest in computer science brought her to the south Mississippi site, where she has become the first at NASA Stennis to reach a particular certification that showcases her dedication and level of skill to the job. Can you feel it? The spring weather is here, and that shine outside is not only the Sun, but also this golden era of space exploration we all get to take part in and enjoy. NASA Stennis Top News NASA Leaders Participate in Annual Stennis Day at the Capitol Leaders from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center visit Jackson, Mississippi, in late February to share site updates with state leaders during the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol. Read More About Stennis Day at the Capitol NASA Stennis Celebrates Milestone for Historic Autonomous Systems Mission NASA’s Stennis Space Center and Sidus Space, Inc., marked another milestone February 15 for the Center’s first-ever in-flight autonomous systems software mission as a payload rider on the Sidus Space LizzieSatTM small satellite. Read More About the Autonomous Systems' milestone NASA Enters Second Half of Key RS-25 Engine Certification Series NASA conducts a full-duration RS-25 hot fire Feb. 23 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, continuing a key test series for future Artemis flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. During the seventh test of the 12-test series, operators fired the certification engine for 550 seconds and up to a 113% power level. The hot fire followed installation of a second production engine nozzle that will provide additional performance data on the upgraded unit. The test series is the second, and final, series to certify restart production of the upgraded engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company. New engines will help power NASA’s SLS rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, beginning with Artemis V. NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne modified 16 former space shuttle engines for use on Artemis missions I through IV. NASA completed an initial 12-test certification series with the upgraded components in June 2023. Four RS-25 engines fire simultaneously to help launch each SLS rocket, producing up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust. RS-25 Hot FireNASA/Danny Nowlin RS-25 Hot FireNASA/Danny Nowlin RS-25 Hot FireNASA/Danny Nowlin RS-25 Hot Fire NASA/Danny Nowlin RS-25 Hot Fire NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Caps Off February with RS-25 Engine Certification Test NASA conducted a full-duration RS-25 hot fire Feb. 29 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, continuing a key test series for future Artemis flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The hot fire to certify new production RS-25 engines for SLS marked only the second ever Leap Day engine test. Fourty-four years ago on Feb. 29, 1980, before the first space shuttle launch, a test-fire occurred for RS-25 engine #0009. Both tests were conducted on the Fred Haise Test, previously known as the A-1 Test Stand at NASA Stennis. The Feb. 29, 2024, hot fire is the second test following installation of a second production engine nozzle that will provide additional performance data on the upgraded unit. It also marked the eighth in a 12-test series to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, to help power NASA’s SLS rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, beginning with Artemis V. The current series is the second and final series to certify restart production of the upgraded engines. NASA completed an initial 12-test certification series with the upgraded components in June 2023. Four RS-25 engines fire simultaneously to help launch each SLS rocket, producing up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust. RS-25 Hot Fire on Feb. 29NASA/Stennis RS-25 Hot Fire on Feb. 29NASA/Stennis Center Activities NASA Stennis Inspires Students at Hattiesburg Event Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson Students in today’s classrooms make up the Artemis Generation and everyone can find their place in space as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center participated in the Hattiesburg Area Development Partnership’s Jumpstart to Success interactive career expo on Feb. 1, reaching more than 1,700 eighth and ninth grade students from Forrest, Lamar, and Perry counties in Mississippi. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars.NASA/Samone Wilson NASA Participates in Jackson State University Events In conjunction with NASA Stennis Capitol Day and Black History Month, NASA Stennis representatives provided information on NASA internships and career opportunities at Jackson State University’s Spring Career Expo on Feb. 22 and participated in the National Society of Black Engineers networking reception on campus Feb. 21. At NASA, space is for everybody. NASA Stennis/NSSC In conjunction with NASA Stennis Capitol Day and Black History Month, NASA Stennis representatives provided information on NASA internships and career opportunities at Jackson State University’s Spring Career Expo on Feb. 22 and participated in the National Society of Black Engineers networking reception on campus Feb. 21. At NASA, space is for everybody. NASA Stennis/NSSC In conjunction with NASA Stennis Capitol Day and Black History Month, NASA Stennis representatives provided information on NASA internships and career opportunities at Jackson State University’s Spring Career Expo on Feb. 22 and participated in the National Society of Black Engineers networking reception on campus Feb. 21. At NASA, space is for everybody. NASA Stennis/NSSC In conjunction with NASA Stennis Capitol Day and Black History Month, NASA Stennis representatives provided information on NASA internships and career opportunities at Jackson State University’s Spring Career Expo on Feb. 22 and participated in the National Society of Black Engineers networking reception on campus Feb. 21. At NASA, space is for everybody. NASA Stennis/NSSC In conjunction with NASA Stennis Capitol Day and Black History Month, NASA Stennis representatives provided information on NASA internships and career opportunities at Jackson State University’s Spring Career Expo on Feb. 22 and participated in the National Society of Black Engineers networking reception on campus Feb. 21. At NASA, space is for everybody. NASA Stennis/NSSC NASA Engages the Artemis Generation in Capital City Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center participate in multiple related outreach events throughout Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol activities on Feb. 29. NASA personnel inspired the Artemis Generation with visits to Spann Elementary and Blackburn Middle schools. Activities included students learning about life as a NASA astronaut and a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity. Sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon on future Artemis missions will inspire the Artemis Generation to see themselves in space and understand the importance of STEM studies and careers. As NASA takes giant leaps to bridge disparities and break barriers in STEM, the agency’s efforts in the future workforce advances the nation’s space exploration. Jackson Public Schools Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center participate in multiple related outreach events throughout Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol activities on Feb. 29. NASA personnel inspired the Artemis Generation with visits to Spann Elementary and Blackburn Middle schools. Activities included students learning about life as a NASA astronaut and a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity. Sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon on future Artemis missions will inspire the Artemis Generation to see themselves in space and understand the importance of STEM studies and careers. As NASA takes giant leaps to bridge disparities and break barriers in STEM, the agency’s efforts in the future workforce advances the nation’s space exploration. Jackson Public Schools Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center participate in multiple related outreach events throughout Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol activities on Feb. 29. NASA personnel inspired the Artemis Generation with visits to Spann Elementary and Blackburn Middle schools. Activities included students learning about life as a NASA astronaut and a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity. Sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon on future Artemis missions will inspire the Artemis Generation to see themselves in space and understand the importance of STEM studies and careers. As NASA takes giant leaps to bridge disparities and break barriers in STEM, the agency’s efforts in the future workforce advances the nation’s space exploration. Jackson Public Schools Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center participate in multiple related outreach events throughout Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol activities on Feb. 29. NASA personnel inspired the Artemis Generation with visits to Spann Elementary and Blackburn Middle schools. Activities included students learning about life as a NASA astronaut and a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity. Sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon on future Artemis missions will inspire the Artemis Generation to see themselves in space and understand the importance of STEM studies and careers. As NASA takes giant leaps to bridge disparities and break barriers in STEM, the agency’s efforts in the future workforce advances the nation’s space exploration. Jackson Public Schools Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center participate in multiple related outreach events throughout Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol activities on Feb. 29. NASA personnel inspired the Artemis Generation with visits to Spann Elementary and Blackburn Middle schools. Activities included students learning about life as a NASA astronaut and a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity. Sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon on future Artemis missions will inspire the Artemis Generation to see themselves in space and understand the importance of STEM studies and careers. As NASA takes giant leaps to bridge disparities and break barriers in STEM, the agency’s efforts in the future workforce advances the nation’s space exploration. Jackson Public Schools Representatives from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center participate in multiple related outreach events throughout Jackson, Mississippi, as part of the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol activities on Feb. 29. NASA personnel inspired the Artemis Generation with visits to Spann Elementary and Blackburn Middle schools. Activities included students learning about life as a NASA astronaut and a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activity. Sending the first woman and first person of color to the Moon on future Artemis missions will inspire the Artemis Generation to see themselves in space and understand the importance of STEM studies and careers. As NASA takes giant leaps to bridge disparities and break barriers in STEM, the agency’s efforts in the future workforce advances the nation’s space exploration. Jackson Public Schools NASA in the News Artemis II Crew, Recovery Teams Train for Final Phase of Moon Mission – NASA NASA’s LRO Images Intuitive Machine’s Odysseus Lander – NASA How the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Is Different than the 2017 Eclipse – NASA Science The Iconic Photos from STS-41B: Documenting the First Untethered Spacewalk – NASA Groundbreaking Results from Space Station Science in 2023 – NASA Employee Profile Rae Anderson, subject matter expert for software assurance in the NASA Stennis Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, is the first employee at NASA’s Stennis Space Center – and one of five civil servants across NASA – to earn the highest distinction in the Safety and Mission Assurance Technical Excellence Program in the discipline of software assurance. The level four certification demonstrates Anderson’s dedication to growing her knowledge and skills to become an effective contributor to the agency’s mission.NASA/Danny Nowlin Rae Anderson never set out to have a career with NASA, but the pursuit of opportunities around her interest in computer science led the Union City, Tennessee native to the agency that explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Read More About Rae Anderson Additional Resources NASA’s Lunar Tool-Kit Plans Subscription Info Lagniappe is published monthly by the Office of Communications at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. The NASA Stennis office may be contacted by at 228-688-3333 (phone); ssc-office-of-communications@mail.nasa.gov (email); or NASA OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS, Attn: LAGNIAPPE, Mail code IA00, Building 1111 Room 173, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (mail). The Lagniappe staff includes: Managing Editor Lacy Thompson, Editor Bo Black, and photographer Danny Nowlin. To subscribe to the monthly publication, please email the following to ssc-office-of-communications@mail.nasa.gov – name, location (city/state), email address. View the full article

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei speaks the night before Stennis Day at the Capitol during a reception hosted by Partners for Stennis & Michoud on Feb. 28 in Jackson, Mississippi. Vande Hei returned from a record stay on the International Space Station in 2022 following 355 days in space. Partners for Stennis & Michoud are volunteers of Mississippi and Louisiana citizens who advocate for space, Earth, and ocean exploration. The group is composed of chambers of commerce members, economic development foundations, businesses, educational institutions, local governments, community groups, and individual citizens.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Acting Center Director John Bailey addresses members of the Mississippi Senate during Stennis Day at the Capitol on Feb. 29. Also shown are (l to r): NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Sen. Angela Hill, Sen. Joel R. Carter Jr., and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann in back left. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Acting Center Director John Bailey, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, and NASA Shared Service Center Acting Executive Director Ken Newton meet with Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (left) as part of Stennis Day at the Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi on Feb. 29.NASA/Danny Nowlin Shown left to right is NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, and NASA Stennis Acting Center Director John Bailey with a plaque presented to the governor for Mississippi’s support of NASA Stennis. The plaque shows a picture of activities from NASA Stennis and the Mississippi flag flown aboard Artemis I, the maiden flight of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) for human deep space exploration. Prior to the successful launch of Artemis I, NASA Stennis conducted a historic Green Run test series of the SLS core stage and four RS-25 engines. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei speaks with Mississippi House of Representatives during Stennis Day at the Capitol on Feb. 29. NASA Stennis Associate Director Rodney McKellip, NASA Shared Service Center Acting Executive Director Ken Newton, and Mississippi Speaker of the House Jason White are also pictured.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Safety and Mission Assurance Director Gary Benton speaks with students serving as legislative pages on Feb. 29 at the NASA booth in the rotunda of the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi, during Stennis Day at the Capitol activities. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is pictured with children visiting the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi, on Feb. 29 as NASA attended Stennis Day at the Capitol. Not since the Apollo era has there been a space mission to be embraced by the next generation – the Artemis Generation. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Acting Center Director John Bailey talks with Mississippi Speaker Pro Tempore Manly Barton during Stennis Day at the Capitol on Feb. 29 in Jackson, Mississippi.NASA/Danny Nowlin Leaders from NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center visit Jackson, Mississippi, in late February to share site updates with state leaders during the annual Stennis Day at the Capitol. NASA Stennis is on the front line of the next great era of human space exploration as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. The south Mississippi center tests propulsion systems and engines helping power Artemis missions on the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket to deep space. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars. Moving forward, NASA Stennis is working to accelerate the exploration and commercialization of space, innovate to benefit NASA and industry, and leverage assets to stimulate the economy and enhance national security. View the full article

On Nov. 8, 2023, Max Holliday, middle, installs one of the four PY4 spacecraft into the dispenser supplied by Maverick Space Systems ahead of vibration testing. David Pignatelli, Maverick Space Systems, right, holds the dispenser steady as Watson Attai, left, documents the installation with a smart phone camera.Credits: NASA/Don Richey Preparations are underway for a new, small spacecraft technology demonstration that will test cost-efficient swarm capabilities – the ability for multiple spacecraft to communicate and perform coordinated actions. The PY4 mission’s four CubeSats are slated to launch Monday March 4, 2:05 p.m. PST to low Earth orbit aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-10 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Led by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, PY4 seeks to demonstrate spacecraft-to-spacecraft ranging, in-orbit navigation, and coordinated simultaneous multi-point radiation measurements at low size, weight, power, and cost. It uses a unique avionics platform called PyCubed that integrates power, computing, communications, attitude determination, and orbit control functionalities into a single board system. The PyCubed system is also open-source, programmable entirely in the Python programming language and uses affordable commercial off-the-shelf components. Four-CubeSat swarm of PyCubed-based spacecraft in the Small Spacecraft Technology lab. The goal of PY4 is to demonstrate spacecraft-to-spacecraft ranging, in-orbit relative navigation, and coordinated simultaneous multi-point radiation measurements.Credits: NASA/Don Richey Once in orbit at over 325 miles above Earth, the spacecraft will periodically measure their relative distances. These range measurements provide information about the spacecrafts’ positions relative to each other, and when combined with other sensor data, can be used to determine the configuration of the swarm. Advancing these capabilities could decrease the workload for operators on the ground while enabling multi-spacecraft missions at an accessible price point. The PY4 platform was previously used in demonstrations of the V-R3x technology, both in orbit and in a suborbital flight test on a commercial high-altitude balloon with NASA’s Flight Opportunities program. Those initial tests helped researchers evaluate PY4’s functionality ahead of this larger demonstration mission. In addition to the PY4 demonstration, NASA is also testing critical swarming technologies via the agency’s ongoing Starling mission that launched in 2023. PY4 could dramatically reduce the cost of small spacecraft swarming capabilities and make demonstrating technologies like the autonomous navigation system tested via Starling more widely accessible by offering a flight-ready hardware and software platform. In the top image, engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley insert the mission’s four spacecraft into their dispenser supplied by Maverick Space Systems of San Luis Obispo, California in preparation for vibration testing. Each of the one-and-a-half-unit (1.5U) CubeSats measure about 4 inches x 4 inches x 6.5 inches. The spacecraft were later transported to SpaceX for integration on the Falcon 9 rocket in preparation for launch. On Nov. 8, 2023, Max Holliday, creator and maintainer of the PyCubed avionics platform, prepares one of the four PY4 spacecraft for installation into the dispenser supplied by Maverick Space Systems ahead of vibration testing.Credits: NASA/Don Richey PY4 is led by the Robotic Exploration Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University with funding from the Small Spacecraft Technology program at NASA’s Ames. The Small Spacecraft Technology program expands the ability to execute unique missions through rapid development and demonstration of capabilities for small spacecraft applicable to exploration, science and the commercial space sector. Engineers at NASA Ames supporting the Small Spacecraft Technology program aided the assembly, testing, and integration of the four PY4 spacecraft as well as their delivery to Maverick Space Systems – the PY4 mission’s launch integrator. Author: Chloe E. Tuck For news media: Members of the news media interested in covering this topic should reach out to the Ames newsroom. View the full article

NASA Portrait of JSC Center Director – Vanessa Wyche. Photographer: Robert Markowitz March 4, 2024 MEDIA ADVISORY: J24-005 The director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center will discuss the objectives behind the center’s new Exploration Park initiative at the next meeting of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership’s (BAHEP) aerospace advisory committee at 12 p.m. CST Wednesday, March 6, at 1150 Gemini in Houston. Johnson Director Vanessa Wyche will be joined by representatives from the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI), which recently signed the second agreement to lease acres of underutilized land in a 240-acre Exploration Park. NASA signed a separate lease with the Texas A&M University System earlier this month. Media are invited to attend the opening discussion of BAHEP’s committee meeting, then have a brief opportunity for interviews with Wyche, John Burer, founder of ACMI and other ACMI experts. NASA is leasing the land to create facilities for a collaborative development environment that increases commercial access and enhances the United States’ commercial competitiveness in the space and aerospace industries. Media wishing to participate in person are asked to RSVP by 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, by contacting the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. To learn more about NASA Johnson and Exploration Park, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/johnson-news/#news-releases -end- Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov View the full article

NASA/David C. Bowman In honor of Women’s History Month and those who paved the way for them, hundreds of female staff – from artists to administrative support, educators to engineers, and scientists to safety officers – gathered in front of the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on Feb. 6, 2024. “Their path to advancement might look less like a straight line and more like some of the pressure distributions and orbits they plotted, but they were determined to take a seat at the table.” Margot Lee Shetterly, Hidden Figures Shetterly wrote these words about Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Christine Darden, and Katherine Johnson, the first Black women who worked as mathematicians at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, now NASA’s Langley Research Center­. These women were essential to the success of early spaceflight. Text Credit: Sondra D. Woodward Image Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman View the full article

5 min read Multiple Spacecraft Tell the Story of One Giant Solar Storm April 17, 2021, was a day like any other day on the Sun, until a brilliant flash erupted and an enormous cloud of solar material billowed away from our star. Such outbursts from the Sun are not unusual, but this one was unusually widespread, hurling high-speed protons and electrons at velocities nearing the speed of light and striking several spacecraft across the inner solar system. In fact, it was the first time such high-speed protons and electrons – called solar energetic particles (SEPs) – were observed by spacecraft at five different, well-separated locations between the Sun and Earth as well as by spacecraft orbiting Mars. And now these diverse perspectives on the solar storm are revealing that different types of potentially dangerous SEPs can be blasted into space by different solar phenomena and in different directions, causing them to become widespread. On April 17, 2021, one of the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft captured this view of a coronal mass ejection billowing away from the Sun (which is covered by the black disk at center to better see features around it). Learn more. NASA/STEREO-A/COR2 “SEPs can harm our technology, such as satellites, and disrupt GPS,” said Nina Dresing of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku in Finland. “Also, humans in space or even on airplanes on polar routes can suffer harmful radiation during strong SEP events.” Scientists like Dresing are eager to find out where these particles come from exactly – and what propels them to such high speeds – to better learn how to protect people and technology in harm’s way. Dresing led a team of scientists that analyzed what kinds of particles struck each spacecraft and when. The team published its results in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Currently on its way to Mercury, the BepiColombo spacecraft, a joint mission of ESA (the European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), was closest to the blast’s direct firing line and was pounded with the most intense particles. At the same time, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and ESA’s Solar Orbiter were on opposite sides of the flare, but Parker Solar Probe was closer to the Sun, so it took a harder hit than Solar Orbiter did. Next in line was one of NASA’s two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, STEREO-A, followed by the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA’s Wind spacecraft, which were closer to Earth and well away from the blast. Orbiting Mars, NASA’s MAVEN and ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft were the last to sense particles from the event. This diagram shows the positions of individual spacecraft, as well as Earth and Mars, during the solar outburst on April 17, 2021. The Sun is at the center. The black arrow shows the direction of the initial solar flare. Several spacecraft detected solar energetic particles (SEPs) over 210 degrees around the Sun (blue shaded area). Solar-MACH Altogether, the particles were detected over 210 longitudinal degrees of space (almost two-thirds of the way around the Sun) – which is a much wider angle than typically covered by solar outbursts. Plus, each spacecraft recorded a different flood of electrons and protons at its location. The differences in the arrival and characteristics of the particles recorded by the various spacecraft helped the scientists piece together when and under what conditions the SEPs were ejected into space. These clues suggested to Dresing’s team that the SEPs were not blasted out by a single source all at once but propelled in different directions and at different times potentially by different types of solar eruptions. “Multiple sources are likely contributing to this event, explaining its wide distribution,” said team member Georgia de Nolfo, a heliophysics research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Also, it appears that, for this event, protons and electrons may come from different sources.” The team concluded that the electrons were likely driven into space quickly by the initial flash of light – a solar flare – while the protons were pushed along more slowly, likely by a shock wave from the cloud of solar material, or coronal mass ejection. “This is not the first time that people have conjectured that electrons and protons have had different sources for their acceleration,” de Nolfo said. “This measurement was unique in that the multiple perspectives enabled scientists to separate the different processes better, to confirm that electrons and protons may originate from different processes.” In addition to the flare and coronal mass ejection, spacecraft recorded four groups of radio bursts from the Sun during the event, which could have been accompanied by four different particle blasts in different directions. This observation could help explain how the particles became so widespread. “We had different distinct particle injection episodes – which went into significantly different directions – all contributing together to the widespread nature of the event,” Dressing said. “This event was able to show how important multiple perspectives are in untangling the complexity of the event,” de Nolfo said. These results show the promise of future NASA heliophysics missions that will use multiple spacecraft to study widespread phenomena, such as the Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC), SunRISE, PUNCH, and HelioSwarm. While single spacecraft can reveal conditions locally, multiple spacecraft orbiting in different locations provide deeper scientific insight and offer a more complete picture of what’s happening in space and around our home planet. It also previews the work that will be done by future missions such as MUSE, IMAP, and ESCAPADE, which will study explosive solar events and the acceleration of particles into the solar system. by Vanessa Thomas NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Mar 04, 2024 Related Terms BepiColombo Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Mars Express MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) Parker Solar Probe (PSP) SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) Solar Orbiter Space Weather STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) The Solar System The Sun Wind Mission Explore More 5 min read Webb Unlocks Secrets of One of the Most Distant Galaxies Ever Seen Article 3 hours ago 5 min read Night-Shining Cloud Mission Ends; Yields High Science Results for NASA Article 3 days ago 2 min read Hubble Uncovers a Celestial Fossil Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This view of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa was captured by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the mission’s close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022.Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing: Kevin M. Gill CC BY 3.0 The ice-covered Jovian moon generates 1,000 tons of oxygen every 24 hours – enough to keep a million humans breathing for a day. Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter have calculated the rate of oxygen being produced at the Jovian moon Europa to be substantially less than most previous studies. Published on March 4 in Nature Astronomy, the findings were derived by measuring hydrogen outgassing from the icy moon’s surface using data collected by the spacecraft’s Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument. The paper’s authors estimate the amount of oxygen produced to be around 26 pounds every second (12 kilograms per second). Previous estimates range from a few pounds to over 2,000 pounds per second (over 1,000 kilograms per second). Scientists believe that some of the oxygen produced in this manner could work its way into the moon’s subsurface ocean as a possible source of metabolic energy. With an equatorial diameter of 1,940 miles (3,100 kilometers), Europa is the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 95 known moons and the smallest of the four Galilean satellites. Scientists believe a vast internal ocean of salty water lurks beneath its icy crust, and they are curious about the potential for life-supporting conditions to exist below the surface. This illustration shows charged particles from Jupiter impacting Europa’s surface, splitting frozen water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen molecules. Scientists believe some of these newly created oxygen gases could migrate toward the moon’s subsurface ocean, as depicted in the inset image.NASA/JPL-Caltech/SWRI/PU It is not just the water that has astrobiologists’ attention: The Jovian moon’s location plays an important role in biological possibilities as well. Europa’s orbit places it right in the middle of the gas giant’s radiation belts. Charged, or ionized, particles from Jupiter bombard the icy surface, splitting water molecules in two to generate oxygen that might find its way into the moon’s ocean. Click here for an interactive 3D visualization of Europa “Europa is like an ice ball slowly losing its water in a flowing stream. Except, in this case, the stream is a fluid of ionized particles swept around Jupiter by its extraordinary magnetic field,” said JADE scientist Jamey Szalay from Princeton University in New Jersey. “When these ionized particles impact Europa, they break up the water-ice molecule by molecule on the surface to produce hydrogen and oxygen. In a way, the entire ice shell is being continuously eroded by waves of charged particles washing up upon it.” Capturing the Bombardment As Juno flew within 220 miles (354 kilometers) of Europa at 2:36 p.m. PDT Sept. 29, 2022, JADE identified and measured hydrogen and oxygen ions that had been created by the bombarding charged particles and then “picked up” by Jupiter’s magnetic field as it swept past the moon. “Back when NASA’S Galileo mission flew by Europa, it opened our eyes to the complex and dynamic interaction Europa has with its environment. Juno brought a new capability to directly measure the composition of charged particles shed from Europa’s atmosphere, and we couldn’t wait to further peek behind the curtain of this exciting water world,” said Szalay. “But what we didn’t realize is that Juno’s observations would give us such a tight constraint on the amount of oxygen produced in Europa’s icy surface.” Juno carries 11 state-of-the-art science instruments designed to study the Jovian system, including nine charged-particle and electromagnetic-wave sensors for studying Jupiter’s magnetosphere. “Our ability to fly close to the Galilean satellites during our extended mission allowed us to start tackling a breadth of science, including some unique opportunities to contribute to the investigation of Europa’s habitability,” said Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “And we’re not done yet. More moon flybys and the first exploration of Jupiter’s close ring and polar atmosphere are yet to come.” Oxygen production is one of many facets that NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will investigate when it arrives at Jupiter in 2030. The mission has a sophisticated payload of nine science instruments to determine if Europa has conditions that could be suitable for life. Now Bolton and the rest of the Juno mission team are setting their sights on another Jovian world, the volcano-festooned moon Io. On April 9, the spacecraft will come within about 10,250 miles (16,500 kilometers) of its surface. The data Juno gathers will add to findings from past Io flybys, including two extremely close approaches of about 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) on Dec. 30, 2023, and Feb. 3, 2024. More About the Mission NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) funded the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft. More information about Juno is available at: https://www.nasa.gov/juno News Media Contacts DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 agle@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Alana Johnson NASA Headquarters, Washington 301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov Deb Schmid Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio 210-522-2254 dschmid@swri.org 2024-020 Share Details Last Updated Mar 04, 2024 Related TermsJunoEuropaJupiterJupiter Moons Explore More 4 min read Spot the King of Planets: Observe Jupiter Jupiter is easy to observe, and well-documented by astronomers. 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