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6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In an ejection that would have caused its rotation to slow, a magnetar is depicted losing material into space in this artist’s concept. The magnetar’s strong, twisted magnetic field lines (shown in green) can influence the flow of electrically charged material from the object, which is a type of neutron star. NASA/JPL-Caltech Using two of the agency’s X-ray telescopes, researchers were able to zoom in on a dead star’s erratic behavior as it released a bright, brief burst of radio waves. What’s causing mysterious bursts of radio waves from deep space? Astronomers may be a step closer to providing one answer to that question. Two NASA X-ray telescopes recently observed one of such event – known as a fast radio burst – mere minutes before and after it occurred. This unprecedented view sets scientists on a path to better understand these extreme radio events. While they only last for a fraction of a second, fast radio bursts can release about as much energy as the Sun does in a year. Their light also forms a laserlike beam, setting them apart from more chaotic cosmic explosions. Because the bursts are so brief, it’s often hard to pinpoint where they come from. Prior to 2020, those that were traced to their source originated outside our own galaxy – too far away for astronomers to see what created them. Then a fast radio burst erupted in Earth’s home galaxy, originating from an extremely dense object called a magnetar – the collapsed remains of an exploded star. In October 2022, the same magnetar – called SGR 1935+2154 – produced another fast radio burst, this one studied in detail by NASA’s NICER (Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer) on the International Space Station and NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) in low Earth orbit. The telescopes observed the magnetar for hours, catching a glimpse of what happened on the surface of the source object and in its immediate surroundings, before and after the fast radio burst. The results, described in a new study published Feb. 14 in the journal Nature, are an example of how NASA telescopes can work together to observe and follow up on short-lived events in the cosmos. The burst occurred between two “glitches,” when the magnetar suddenly started spinning faster. SGR 1935+2154 is estimated to be about 12 miles (20 kilometers) across and spinning about 3.2 times per second, meaning its surface was moving at about 7,000 mph (11,000 kph). Slowing it down or speeding it up would require a significant amount of energy. That’s why study authors were surprised to see that in between glitches, the magnetar slowed down to less than its pre-glitch speed in just nine hours, or about 100 times more rapidly than has ever been observed in a magnetar. “Typically, when glitches happen, it takes the magnetar weeks or months to get back to its normal speed,” said Chin-Ping Hu, an astrophysicist at National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan and the lead author of the new study. “So clearly things are happening with these objects on much shorter time scales than we previously thought, and that might be related to how fast radio bursts are generated.” Spin Cycle When trying to piece together exactly how magnetars produce fast radio bursts, scientists have a lot of variables to consider. For example, magnetars (which are a type of neutron star) are so dense that a teaspoon of their material would weigh about a billion tons on Earth. Such a high density also means a strong gravitational pull: A marshmallow falling onto a typical neutron star would impact with the force of an early atomic bomb. The strong gravity means the surface of a magnetar is a volatile place, regularly releasing bursts of X-rays and higher-energy light. Before the fast radio burst that occurred in 2022, the magnetar started releasing eruptions of X-rays and gamma rays (even more energetic wavelengths of light) that were observed in the peripheral vision of high-energy space telescopes. This increase in activity prompted mission operators to point NICER and NuSTAR directly at the magnetar. “All those X-ray bursts that happened before this glitch would have had, in principle, enough energy to create a fast radio burst, but they didn’t,” said study co-author Zorawar Wadiasingh, a research scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “So it seems like something changed during the slowdown period, creating the right set of conditions.” What else might have happened with SGR 1935+2154 to produce a fast radio burst? One factor might be that the exterior of a magnetar is solid, and the high density crushes the interior into a state called a superfluid. Occasionally, the two can get out of sync, like water sloshing around inside a spinning fishbowl. When this happens, the fluid can deliver energy to the crust. The paper authors think this is likely what caused both glitches that bookended the fast radio burst. If the initial glitch caused a crack in the magnetar’s surface, it might have released material from the star’s interior into space like a volcanic eruption. Losing mass causes spinning objects to slow down, so the researchers think this could explain the magnetar’s rapid deceleration. But having observed only one of these events in real time, the team still can’t say for sure which of these factors (or others, such as the magnetar’s powerful magnetic field) might lead to the production of a fast radio burst. Some might not be connected to the burst at all. “We’ve unquestionably observed something important for our understanding of fast radio bursts,” said George Younes, a researcher at Goddard and a member of the NICER science team specializing in magnetars. “But I think we still need a lot more data to complete the mystery.” More About the Mission A Small Explorer mission led by Caltech and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, NuSTAR was developed in partnership with the Danish Technical University and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The spacecraft was built by Orbital Sciences Corp. in Dulles, Virginia. NuSTAR’s mission operations center is at the University of California, Berkeley, and the official data archive is at NASA’s High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. ASI provides the mission’s ground station and a mirror data archive. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about the NuSTAR mission, visit: https://www.nustar.caltech.edu/ NICER, an Astrophysics Explorer Mission of Opportunity, is an external payload on the International Space Station. NICER is managed by and operated at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; its data is archived at NASA’s HEASARC. NASA’s Explorers program provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space utilizing innovative, streamlined, and efficient management approaches within the heliophysics and astrophysics science areas. For more information about the NICER mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/nicer News Media Contact Calla Cofield Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-808-2469 calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-016 Share Details Last Updated Feb 14, 2024 Related TermsNuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array)AstrophysicsGalaxies, Stars, & Black HolesGoddard Space Flight CenterJet Propulsion LaboratoryMagnetarsNeutron StarsThe Milky Way Explore More 2 min read Stars Sparkle in New Hubble Image This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope view shows the globular cluster NGC 2298, a sparkling… Article 4 hours ago 3 min read Team Assessing SHERLOC Instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Rover Article 24 hours ago 7 min read Sujung Go: Helping Humanity and the Environment Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

La portada del Plan de acción para la equidad 2023.Credits: NASA Read this release in English here. La NASA publicó su Plan de acción para la equidad 2023 el miércoles, en el cual describe los logros clave en el aumento de la diversidad, la equidad, la inclusión y la accesibilidad en toda la agencia, y sus nuevos compromisos para continuar eliminando los obstáculos y retos injustos a los que se enfrentan las comunidades desatendidas. “En la NASA, estamos comprometidos con el avance de la equidad para garantizar que nuestro trabajo beneficie a toda la humanidad”, dijo el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson. “El Plan de acción para la equidad profundiza nuestro compromiso a largo plazo para identificar y eliminar las barreras sistémicas que limitan las oportunidades para las comunidades desatendidas y subrepresentadas”. Este año, la NASA ha identificado la educación STEM como un área en la cual incentivar la participación e inspirar el talento diverso de nuestros futuros líderes. Estamos invitando a la próxima generación, la generación Artemis, a asumir las audaces misiones del futuro en el cosmos, y aquí en la Tierra”. El Plan de acción para la equidad es parte del enfoque integral del gobierno de la administración Biden-Harris para el fomento de la equidad. Este plan respalda la Orden Ejecutiva 14091 del presidente de “Mayor fomento de la equidad racial y apoyo a las comunidades desatendidas por medio del gobierno federal”. A medida que continúa el trabajo de la NASA para el fomento de la equidad para el beneficio de la humanidad, el Plan de acción para la equidad 2023 ofrece las siguientes estrategias para garantizar que más gente pueda trabajar y aprender con esta agencia: Aumentar la utilización e integración de contratistas y empresas de comunidades desatendidas para ampliar la equidad en el proceso de contrataciones públicas de la NASA. Mejorar las subvenciones y los acuerdos de cooperación para fomentar las oportunidades, el acceso y la representación de las comunidades desatendidas. Aumentar la accesibilidad y el uso de los datos de las ciencias de la Tierra. Mejorar las políticas de acceso lingüístico para ampliar el acceso de las poblaciones con dominio limitado del inglés a los programas y actividades de la NASA. Fomentar la participación de los estudiantes para desarrollar una futura fuerza laboral diversa en el área de la ciencia, tecnología, ingeniería y matemáticas (CTIM). El Plan de acción para la equidad 2023 también se basa en el éxito del plan de 2022. Estos son algunos de los logros de la NASA desde esa publicación: La Oficina de Programas para Pequeñas Empresas aumentó sus eventos de divulgación en un 80% con respecto al año fiscal 2021, superando la meta del 50% para 2029. Además, desde el año fiscal 2021 hasta el año fiscal 2022, la NASA comprometió 1.900 millones de dólares en contratos de la línea de bienes y servicios reservados para las categorías de pequeñas empresas y programas AbilityOne, los cuales son la mayor fuente de empleo para personas con discapacidades. Desarrolló recursos para crear conciencia sobre los programas de subvenciones e incluyó el Aviso de Oportunidades de Financiamiento en el boletín de Intercambio con Instituciones al Servicio a las Minorías de la agencia. La agencia también aumentó en un 39,9% el monto de las subvenciones otorgadas a las escuelas profesionales y universidades de población históricamente negra entre el año fiscal 2021 y 2022. Otorgó financiamiento a 39 propuestas sobre temas como la calidad del aire, los peligros climáticos, y el calor extremo. Inauguró su primer Centro de Información de la Tierra en la sede de la agencia en Washington, proporcionando recursos accesibles, información fácil de utilizar y datos tanto en línea como en el sitio para uso del público y de los responsables de la toma de decisiones. Desarrolló y actualizó sus Planes de acceso lingüístico en todos sus 10 centros con el fin de establecer una estrategia de comunicaciones más equitativa para llegar a las poblaciones con dominio limitado del inglés. Para más información sobre el Plan de acción para la Equidad 2023 y para seguir nuestros avances a medida que la NASA continúa con su viaje hacia la Misión Equidad, visita el sitio web: https://nasa.gov/mission-equity -fin- Gerelle Dodson Sede, Washington 202-358-4637 gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov María José Viñas Sede, Washington 240-458-0248 maria-jose.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 14, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA Headquarters View the full article

The cover of the 2023 NASA Equity Action Plan.Credits: NASA Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. NASA published its 2023 Equity Action Plan Wednesday, which outlines key accomplishments in increasing equity across the agency, and new commitments to continue removing inequitable barriers and challenges facing underserved communities. “At NASA, we are committed to advancing equity to ensure our work benefits all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The Equity Action plan deepens our long-term commitment to recognize and overcome systemic barriers that limit opportunity in underserved and underrepresented communities. This year, NASA has identified STEM education as an area to engage and inspire the diverse talent of our future leaders. We are inviting the next generation, the Artemis Generation, to take on the daring missions of the future in the cosmos, and here on Earth.” The equity plan is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to advancing equity. It supports the President’s Executive Order 14091 on “Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.” NASA’s 2023 Equity Action Plan provides strategies for ensuring more individuals can work with and learn from the agency by: Increasing utilization and integration of contractors and businesses from underserved communities to expand equity in NASA’s procurement process. Enhancing grants and cooperative agreements to advance opportunities, access, and representation for underserved communities. Increasing the accessibility and use of Earth science data. Improving language access policies to expand access to NASA programs and activities for limited-English proficient populations. Engaging more students to build a diverse future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. The 2023 Equity Action Plan builds on the success of the 2022 plan. Some of NASA’s achievements since that publication include: The Office of Small Business Programs increased its outreach events by 80% from fiscal year 2021, surpassing its goal of 50% by 2029. Additionally, from fiscal year 2021 through 2022, NASA obligated $1.9 billion in contracts under the product service line set aside for small business categories and AbilityOne programs, the largest source of employment for individuals with disabilities. Developed resources to bring awareness to grant programs and included Notice of Funding Opportunities in the agency’s Minority Serving Institutions’ Exchange newsletter. The agency also increased the grant award amount to historically Black colleges and universities between fiscal year 2021 and 2022 by 39.9%. Awarded 39 proposals totaling $6.9 million for up to three years on topics such as air quality, climate hazards, and extreme heat. Opened its first Earth Information Center at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, providing accessible resources, user-friendly information, and data, both online and on-site for use by members of the public and decision-makers. Developed and updated its Language Access Plans at all 10 centers to establish a more equitable communication strategy for reaching limited-English proficient populations. For more information about the 2023 Equity Action Plan, and to follow along as NASA continues its journey toward Mission Equity, visit: https://nasa.gov/mission-equity -end- Gerelle Dodson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-4637 gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 14, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA HeadquartersNASA STEM Projects View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Robert Paulin Aerospace Test Branch, retired Jan. 3, 2024, with 40 years of NASA service. Robert Paulin, Aerospace Test Branch, retired Jan. 3, 2024, with 40 years of NASA service.Credit: NASA James Douglas Kiser (Not Pictured) Ceramic and Polymer Composites Branch, retired Jan. 12, 2024, with 41 years of NASA service. View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Educators test construction box pinhole projectors for solar eclipse viewing.Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna On Monday, April 8, Northeast Ohioans will get a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a total solar eclipse. During this rare natural phenomenon, the Moon will pass between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun and darkening the sky for nearly four minutes. Teachers, librarians, and community leaders from across Northeast Ohio came to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Jan. 29 to learn how to conduct eclipse events safely and effectively. NASA education program specialists taught educators about the science behind solar eclipses, connections to NASA’s study of the Sun, and eclipse-related student engagement activities. An educator tests a model of a total solar eclipse viewing device she constructed.Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna NASA subject matter experts taught the educators how to make pinhole projectors and models of the eclipse, and how ultraviolet (UV) beads react with UV light. They talked about eye and face protection including the importance of viewing the eclipse safely through glasses that comply with ISO 12312-2:2015. “During totality, unusual things can happen,” said Cathy Graves, STEM integration manager, Office of STEM Engagement. “Because it’s going to feel like its twilight outside, the animals in nature will feel confused. Birds that chirp during the day may get quiet, and animals that are active at night may become active during the day. There are many things children can look for and observe during the eclipse.” Educators from Northeast Ohio learn how to construct box pinhole projectors that their students can build and use to safely view the total solar eclipse.Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna Educators also had the opportunity to tour NASA Glenn’s Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory and Graphics and Visualization Lab. Many teachers say they left feeling inspired. “Today was awesome. This experience brought home why I do this, and I felt like the student,” said Monica Reese, science teacher, Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “Space is fascinating, and my students love it. I teach physical science, so it’s one of the units we teach. I usually teach it in the spring, but they want to know about it now! View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Representatives from NASA Headquarters and NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland participated in the unveiling of the “Ohioans in Space” painting at a large gala at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Jan. 24. The portrait, which depicts Ohio-born national heroes Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Jim Lovell, Judy Resnik, and Gene Kranz, is the first painting hung in the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda in nearly 70 years – since a portrait of the Wright Brothers, who grew up in Ohio, was hung.  Central Ohio middle school students participated in a large interactive Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) event at the Statehouse. The Center of Science and Industry (COSI), NASA Glenn and its Office of STEM Engagement, Great Lakes Science Center, and other museums from across Ohio led the activities. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, First Lady Fran DeWine, and three former NASA astronauts from Ohio participated.  A public panel discussion on aviation and aerospace was also held. Speakers included NASA’s Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails; former astronauts Carl Walz, Michael Good, and Dr. Don Thomas; The Ohio State University’s Dr. John Horack; State Rep. Adam Holmes; and COSI CEO Dr. Frederic Bertley.   The portrait unveiled at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus depicts Ohio-born national heroes Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Jim Lovell, Judy Resnik, and Gene Kranz. Credit: Artist Bill Hinsch Left to right: Vice President, Center of Science and Industry (COSI) Stephen White; former astronaut Dr. Don Thomas; Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine; First Lady Fran DeWine; former astronaut Carl Walz, former astronaut Michael Good; NASA Glenn Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon; and COSI President and CEO Dr. Frederic Bertley stand in front of the mural. Credit: NASA/Scott Broemsen View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Every year on NASA’s Day of Remembrance, the agency pauses to honor the sacrifice of the NASA family members who gave their lives to advance the cause of exploration. Employees remember friends and colleagues, including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. A key element in observances across the agency centers on lessons learned from each tragedy and the importance of embracing NASA’s core value of safety. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, and Associate Administrator Jim Free led a virtual agencywide Day of Remembrance Safety Town Hall on Jan. 23. In a dialogue with employees, the leaders highlighted how NASA safety is the cornerstone to achieving mission success. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, right, lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetary in Arlington, Virginia, as part of NASA’s Day of Remembrance. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon and Deputy Director Dawn Schaible led NASA Glenn Research Center’s Day of Remembrance observance in Cleveland. While at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Schaible worked on payload recovery efforts for Columbia and helped get the space shuttle back in flight. She shared how these experiences affected her and shaped her NASA career. NASA Glenn Research Center Deputy Director Dawn Schaible addresses employees during NASA Glenn’s Day of Remembrance Observance. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna Schaible stressed the importance of communication and the threat of compliancy. She explained that all jobs have potential hazards to employees and others. Schaible called on employees to take the time to pause, listen, and ask questions during their daily activities. View the full article

1 min read Stars Sparkle in New Hubble Image The globular cluster, NGC 2298, sparkles in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. NASA, ESA, G. Piotto (Universita degli Studi di Padova), and A. Sarajedini (Florida Atlantic University); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope view shows the globular cluster NGC 2298, a sparkling collection of thousands of stars held together by their mutual gravitational attraction. Globular clusters are typically home to older populations of stars, and they mostly reside in the dusty outskirts of galaxies. Scientists utilized Hubble’s unique ability to observe the cosmos across multiple wavelengths of light to study NGC 2298 in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. This valuable information helps astronomers better understand how globular clusters behave, including their internal movements, orbits, and the evolution of their stars. Download this image Media Contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 14, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions Star Clusters Stars The Universe 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. Galaxies Stories Stars Stories NASA Astrophysics View the full article

Feb. 13, 2024 MEDIA ADVISORY: J24-002 JSC Town Hall with Center Director Vanessa Wyche. Photographer: Robert MarkowitzNASA NASA Johnson Director to Discuss Exploration Park at ASCENDxTexas Media are invited to attend an event with NASA taking place as part of ASCENDxTexas on Thursday, Feb. 15. Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, will be in attendance, as will Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp and Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh. They will provide updates on Exploration Park and are available briefly for interviews after the announcement. NASA sought proposals for use of the undeveloped and underutilized land near Saturn Lane, known as Exploration Park, on June 9, 2023. The parcel is outside of Johnson’s controlled access area and adjacent to its main campus. ASCENDxTexas, hosted by AIAA, begins on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at South Shore Harbour Resort and Conference Center, League City, Texas. Media check-in will begin at 9:20 a.m. CST, with the event beginning promptly at 9:45 a.m. For ASCENDxTexas media credentialing, visit: https://www.aiaa.org/events-learning/events/ascend/ascend-press-pass For more than 60 years, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has led the nation and the world on a continuing adventure of human exploration, discovery, and achievement. Today, Johnson is the hub of human spaceflight, the home of mission control and astronaut training, and leads the International Space Station, Orion, and Gateway programs, while also playing important roles in numerous other advanced human exploration and research projects. -end- Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov View the full article

This image shows the heart of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097, as seen by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Sand, K. Sheth As NASA explores the unknown in air and space, a new mission to survey ultraviolet light across the entire sky will provide the agency with more insight into how galaxies and stars evolve. The space telescope, called UVEX (UltraViolet EXplorer), is targeted to launch in 2030 as NASA’s next Astrophysics Medium-Class Explorer mission. In addition to conducting a highly sensitive all-sky survey, UVEX will be able to quickly point toward sources of ultraviolet light in the universe. This will enable it to capture the explosions that follow bursts of gravitational waves caused by merging neutron stars. The telescope also will carry an ultraviolet spectrograph to study stellar explosions and massive stars. “NASA’s UVEX will help us better understand the nature of both nearby and distant galaxies, as well as follow up on dynamic events in our changing universe,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This mission will bring key capabilities in near-and far-ultraviolet light to our fleet of space telescopes, delivering a wealth of survey data that will open new avenues in exploring the secrets of the cosmos.” The telescope’s ultraviolet survey will complement data from other missions conducting wide surveys in this decade, including the Euclid mission led by ESA (European Space Agency) with NASA contributions, and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch by May 2027. Together, these missions will help create a modern, multi-wavelength map of our universe. “With the innovative new UVEX mission joining our portfolio, we will gain an important legacy archive of data that will be of lasting value to the science community,” said Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “This new telescope will contribute to our understanding of the universe across multiple wavelengths and address one of the major priorities in Astrophysics today: studying fleeting changes in the cosmos.” NASA selected the UVEX Medium-Class Explorer concept to continue into development after detailed review of two Medium-Class Explorer and two Mission of Opportunity concept proposals by a panel of scientists and engineers, and after evaluation based on NASA’s current astrophysics portfolio coupled with available resources. The UVEX mission was selected for a two-year mission and will cost approximately $300 million, not including launch costs. The mission’s principal investigator is Fiona Harrison at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Other institutions involved in the mission include University of California at Berkeley, Northrop Grumman, and Space Dynamics Laboratory. The Explorers Program is the oldest continuous NASA program. The program is designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal investigator-led space science investigations relevant to the agency’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. Since the launch of Explorer 1 in 1958, which discovered the Earth’s radiation belts, the Explorers Program has launched more than 90 missions, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer missions that led to Nobel prizes for their investigators. The program is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for the Science Mission Directorate, which conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system, and the universe. For more information about the Explorers Program, visit: https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov -end- Alise Fisher Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 13, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA Headquarters View the full article

The Nova-C lunar lander is seen in the high bay of Intuitive Machines Headquarters in Houston, before it shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.Credit: Intuitive Machines NASA is gearing up for a commercial robotic flight to the Moon under the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Intuitive Machines will launch its Nova-C lander on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 14, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission will carry six NASA payloads targeted for the South Polar region. The group of NASA instruments aboard IM-1 will conduct scientific research and demonstrate technologies to help us better understand the Moon’s environment and improve landing precision and safety in the challenging conditions of the lunar south polar region, paving the way for future Artemis astronaut missions. The payloads will collect data on how the plume of engine gasses interacts with the Moon’s surface and kicks up lunar dust, investigate radio astronomy and space weather interactions with the lunar surface, test precision landing technologies, and measure the quantity of liquid propellant in Nova-C propellant tanks in the zero gravity of space. The Nova-C lander will also carry a retroreflector array that will contribute to a network of location markers on the Moon that will be used as a position marker for decades to come The Nova-C lander is targeted to land Thursday, Feb. 22, in a relatively flat and safe area near the Malapert A crater, in the south polar region of the Moon. The six NASA payloads aboard Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission include: LN-1 (Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator) A small, CubeSat-sized flight hardware experiment that integrates navigation and communication functionality for autonomous navigation to support future surface and orbital operations. Principal investigator: Dr. Evan Anzalone, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array) A collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between an orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. LRA is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come. Principal investigator: Dr. Xiaoli Sun, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center NDL (Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing) A Lidar-based (Light Detection and Ranging) descent and landing sensor. This instrument operates on the same principles of radar but uses pulses from a laser emitted through three optical telescopes. NDL will measure vehicle velocity (speed and direction) and altitude (distance to surface) with high precision during descent to touchdown. Principal investigator: Dr. Farzin Amzajerdian, NASA’s Langley Research Center RFMG (Radio Frequency Mass Gauge) A rocket propellant gauge used to measure the amount of spacecraft propellant in a low-gravity space environment. Using sensor technology, RFMG will measure the amount, or mass, of cryogenic propellants in Nova-C’s tanks, providing data that can help predict propellant usage on future missions. Principal investigator: Dr. Greg Zimmerli, NASA’s Glenn Research Center ROLSES (Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the Photoelectron Sheath) Four antennas and a low-frequency radio receiver system designed to study the dynamic radio energy environment near the lunar surface and determine how natural and human-generated activity near the surface interacts with science investigations. It will also detect radio emissions from the Sun, Jupiter, and Earth, as well as dust impacting the surface of the Moon. Principal investigator: Dr. Nat Gopalswamy, NASA Goddard SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies) A suite of four cameras to capture stereo and still images of the dust plume created by the lander’s engine as it begins its descent to the lunar surface until after the engine shuts off. Principal investigator: Michelle Munk, NASA Langley Intuitive Machines is one of 14 vendors eligible to carry NASA payloads to the Moon through the agency’s CLPS initiative, which began in 2018. CLPS is an innovative approach connecting NASA with commercial solutions from American companies to deliver scientific, exploration, and technology payloads to the Moon’s surface and into lunar orbit. Through CLPS, NASA aims to gain new insights into the lunar environment and expand the lunar economy to support future crewed missions under the Artemis campaign. Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at: https://www.nasa.gov/clps/ Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Artemis Commercial Space Humans In Space View the full article

It’s oh-so-easy to be mesmerized by this spiral galaxy. Follow its clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to its center, where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black holes. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope delivered highly detailed scenes of this and other nearby spiral galaxies in a combination of near- and mid-infrared light.NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team NGC 4254, a spiral galaxy, is resplendent in orange and blue in this Jan. 29, 2024, image from the James Webb Space Telescope. This is one of 19 nearby spiral galaxies recently imaged by the telescope as part of the long-standing Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) program supported by more than 150 astronomers worldwide. Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera captured millions of stars in these images, which sparkle in blue tones, while the telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument data highlights glowing dust, showing us where it exists around and between stars. Explore the intricacies of spiral galaxies in this deep dive. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team View the full article

A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. NASA/Bill Stafford A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover). TRIDENT, designed and developed by engineers at Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, is the fourth and final science instrument to be installed into VIPER. NASA engineers have already successfully integrated VIPER’s three other science instruments into the rover. These include: the MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations), NIRVSS (Near-Infrared Volatiles Spectrometer System), and NSS (Neutron Spectrometer System). Shortly after TRIDENT was integrated in the clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the team also successfully tested its ability to power on, release the locks that hold the drill in place during launch, extend to its full depth of more than three feet (one meter), perform percussive drilling, and return to its stowed position inside the rover. TRIDENT will dig up soil from below the lunar surface using a rotary percussive drill – meaning it both spins to cut into the ground and hammers to fragment hard material for more energy-efficient drilling. In addition to being able to measure the strength and compactedness of the lunar soil, the drill also carries a temperature sensor to take readings below the surface. VIPER will launch to the Moon aboard Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. It will reach its destination at Mons Mouton near the Moon’s South Pole. Scientists will work with these four instruments to better understand the origin of water and other resources on the Moon, which could support human exploration as part of NASA’s Artemis campaign. View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Perseverance puts its robotic arm to work around a rocky outcrop called “Skinner Ridge” in a set of images captured in June and July 2022 by the rover’s Mastcam-Z camera system. SHERLOC is mounted on the end of the arm.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Engineers are working to stabilize a dust cover on one of the science instrument’s cameras. Data and imagery from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover indicate one of two covers that keep dust from accumulating on the optics of the SHERLOC instrument remains partially open. In this position, the cover interferes with science data collection operations. Mounted on the rover’s robotic arm, SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) uses cameras, a spectrometer, and a laser to search for organic compounds and minerals that have been altered in watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life. The mission determined on Jan. 6 that the cover was oriented in such a position that some of its operation modes could not successfully operate. An engineering team has been investigating to determine the root cause and possible solutions. Recently, the cover partially opened. To better understand the behavior of the cover’s motor, the team has been sending commands to the instrument that alter the amount of power being fed to it. With the cover in its current position, the instrument cannot use its laser on rock targets, and cannot collect spectroscopy data. However, imaging microscopy can still be acquired with WATSON, a color camera on SHERLOC used for taking close-up images of rock grains and surface textures. WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) operates through a different aperture. SHERLOC is part of a seven-instrument suite on Perseverance. During development of the mission, the team designed the instrument suite such that the rover could still achieve its science objectives should any single instrument fail, as there is some overlap among the capabilities of the instruments. Along with SHERLOC, PIXL (Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry) and SuperCam also perform spectroscopy. Currently making its way to explore an area nicknamed “Beehive Geyser,” the rover marked its 1,000th Martian day, or sol, on the Red Planet on Dec. 12, 2023 – more than 300 sols beyond its initial prime mission. Since the rover’s landing Feb. 18, 2021, SHERLOC has scanned and provided rich data on 34 rock targets, creating a total of 261 hyperspectral maps of those targets. Featuring a radioisotope power system, Perseverance’s design is based on the agency’s Curiosity Mars rover, which is still going strong after more than 11 years (4,000 sols) on the Red Planet. More About the Mission A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ News Media Contacts Karen Fox / Alana Johnson NASA Headquarters, Washington 301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 agle@jpl.nasa.gov 2024-015 Share Details Last Updated Feb 13, 2024 Related TermsPerseverance (Rover)Jet Propulsion LaboratoryMars 2020 Explore More 7 min read JPL Workforce Update Article 7 days ago 2 min read University High School Wins Regional Science Bowl at NASA’s JPL Article 1 week ago 6 min read NASA Puts Next-Gen Exoplanet-Imaging Technology to the Test Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

In early 1969, the goal set by President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the Moon seemed within reach. A new president, Richard M. Nixon, now sat in the White House and needed to chart America’s course in space in the post-Apollo era. President Nixon directed his science advisor to evaluate proposals for America’s next steps in space. He established a Space Task Group (STG), chaired by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, to report back to him with their recommendations. The STG delivered its report to President Nixon on Sept. 15, 1969, who declined to select any of the options proposed. Instead, more than two years later, he directed NASA to build the space shuttle, just one element of the ambitious plans the STG had proposed. Left: President John F. Kennedy announces his goal of a Moon landing during a Joint Session of Congress in May 1961. Right: President Kennedy reaffirms the goal during his address at Rice University in Houston in September 1962. On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy, before a Joint Session of Congress, committed the United States to the goal, before the decade was out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. President Kennedy reaffirmed the commitment during an address at Rice University in Houston in September 1962. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who played a key role in establishing NASA in 1958, and under Kennedy served as the Chair of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, worked with members of Congress to ensure adequate funding for the next several years to provide NASA with the proper resources to meet that goal. Following Kennedy’s assassination in November 1963, now President Johnson continued his strong support of the space program to ensure that his predecessor’s goal of a Moon landing could be achieved within the stipulated time frame. But with increasing competition for scarce federal resources from the conflict in southeast Asia and from domestic programs, Johnson showed less interest in any space endeavors that might follow the Moon landing. The space agency’s annual budget peaked in 1966 and began a steady decline three years before Kennedy’s goal was met. From a budgetary standpoint, the prospects of a vibrant post-Apollo space program did not look too rosy, the Apollo triumphs of 1968 and 1969 notwithstanding. Left: President Richard M. Nixon, right, meets with his science advisor Lee DuBridge in the Oval Office – note the Apollo 8 Earthrise photo on the wall. Right: President Nixon, left, and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, right, introduce Thomas O. Paine as the nominee to be NASA administrator on March 5, 1969. On Feb. 4, just two weeks after taking office, President Nixon directed his Science Advisor Lee A. DuBridge to appoint an interagency committee to advise him on a post-Apollo space program. Nine days later, the President announced the formation of the STG to develop a strategy for America’s space program for the next decade. Vice President Agnew, as the Chair of the National Aeronautics and Space Council, led the group. Other members of the STG included NASA Acting Administrator Thomas O. Paine (the Senate confirmed him as administrator on March 20), the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology. Left: Proposed lunar landing sites through Apollo 20, per NASA planning in August 1969. Right: Illustration of the Apollo Applications Program experimental space station. At the time, the only approved human space flight programs included lunar missions through Apollo 20 and the Apollo Applications Program (AAP), later renamed Skylab, that involved three flights to an experimental space station based on Apollo technology. Beyond a general vague consensus that the United States human space flight program should continue, no approved projects existed to follow these missions when they ended by about 1975. Left: Concept of a fully reusable space shuttle system from early 1969. Middle: Illustration from early 1969 of low Earth orbit infrastructure, including a large space station supported by space shuttles. Right: Cover page of NASA’s report to the interagency Space Task Group. Within NASA, given the intense focus on achieving the Moon landing within President Kennedy’s time frame, officials paid less attention to what would follow the Apollo Program and AAP. During a Jan. 27, 1969 meeting at NASA chaired by Paine, a general consensus evolved that the next step after the Moon landing should involve the development of a 12-person earth-orbiting space station by 1975, followed by an even larger outpost capable of housing up to 100 people “with a multiplicity of capabilities.” In June, with the goal of the Moon landing about to be realized, NASA’s internal planning added the development of a space shuttle by 1977 to support the space station, and truly optimistically, the development of a lunar base by 1976, among other highly ambitious endeavors that included the idea that the U.S. should begin preparing for a human mission to Mars as early as the 1980s. These proposals were presented to the STG for consideration in early July in a report titled “America’s Next Decade in Space.” Left: The Space Task Group’s (STG) Report to President Nixon. Right: Meeting in the White House to present the STG Report to President Nixon. Image credit: courtesy Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Still bathing in the afterglow of the successful Moon landing, the STG presented its 29-page report “The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future” to President Nixon on Sep. 15, 1969, during a meeting in the White House Cabinet Room. In its Conclusions and Recommendations section, the report noted that the United States should pursue a balanced robotic and human space program but emphasized the importance of the latter, with a long-term goal of a human mission to Mars before the end of the 20th century. The report proposed that NASA develop new systems and technologies that emphasized commonality, reusability, and economy in its future programs. To accomplish these overall objectives, the report presented three options: Option I – this option required more than a doubling of NASA’s budget by 1980 to enable a human Mars mission in the 1980s, establishment of a lunar orbiting space station, a 50-person Earth orbiting space station, and a lunar base. A decision would be required by 1971 on development of an Earth-to-orbit transportation system to support the space station. A strong robotic scientific and exploration program would be maintained. Option II – this option maintained NASA’s budget at then current levels for a few years then anticipated a gradual increase to support the parallel development of both an earth orbiting space station and an Earth-to-orbit transportation system, but deferred a Mars mission to about 1986. A strong robotic scientific and exploration program would be maintained, but smaller than in Option I. Option III – essentially the same as Option II but deferred indefinitely the human Mars mission. In separate letters, both Agnew and Paine recommended to President Nixon to choose Option II. Left: Illustration of a possible space shuttle orbiter from 1969. Right: Illustration of a possible 12-person space station from 1969. The White House released the report to the public at a press conference on Sep. 17 with Vice President Agnew and Administrator Paine in attendance. Although he publicly supported a strong human spaceflight program and enjoyed the positive press he received when photographed with Apollo astronauts, and initially sounding positive about the STG options, President Nixon ultimately chose not to act on the report’s recommendations. Faced with the still ongoing conflict in southeast Asia and domestic programs competing for scarce federal dollars, the fiscally conservative Nixon decided these plans were just too grandiose and far too expensive. He also believed that NASA should be considered as one America’s domestic programs without the special status it enjoyed during the 1960s, one of the lasting legacies of the Nixon space doctrine. Even some of the already planned remaining Moon landing missions fell victim to the budgetary axe. On Jan. 4, 1970, NASA canceled Apollo 20 since it needed its Saturn V rocket to launch the Skylab experimental space station – NASA Administrator James E. Webb had turned off the Saturn V assembly line in 1968 and none remained beyond the original 15 built under contract. In September 1970, reductions in NASA’s budget forced the cancellation of two more Apollo missions, and for a time in 1971 President Nixon considered cancelling two more but he relented, and they flew as the final two Apollo Moon landing missions in 1972. Left: NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, left, and President Richard M. Nixon announce the approval to proceed with space shuttle development in 1972. Right: First launch of the space shuttle in 1981. More than two years after the STG submitted its report, in January 1972 President Nixon directed NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher to develop the Space Transportation System, the formal name for the space shuttle, the only element of the recommendations to survive the budgetary challenges. At that time, the first flight of the program was expected in 1979; in actuality, the first flight occurred two years later. It would be 12 years after Nixon’s shuttle decision before President Ronald W. Reagan approved the development of a space station, the second major component of the STG recommendation, and another 14 years after that before the first element of that program reached orbit. In those intervening years, the original American space station had been redesigned and evolved into the multinational partnership called the International Space Station. The International Space Station as it appeared in 2021. Explore More 13 min read 50 Years Ago: Skylab 4 Astronauts Return From Record-Breaking Spaceflight Article 6 days ago 14 min read 40 Years Ago: STS-41B, the First Flight of the Manned Maneuvering Unit Article 7 days ago 4 min read The Iconic Photos from STS-41B: Documenting the First Untethered Spacewalk Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the company’s Dragon spacecraft atop, is raised to a vertical position at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on March 13, 2023, in preparation for the 27th commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station. SpaceX Media accreditation is open at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-30) mission to the International Space Station for the agency. Liftoff of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket is targeted no earlier than mid-March from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at NASA Kennedy. Attendance for this launch is open to U.S. citizens. The application deadline for U.S. media is 11:59 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 27. All accreditation requests should be submitted online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email upon approval. NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. For questions about accreditation, or to request special logistical needs, please email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, please contact Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468. Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitor entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov. SpaceX’s Dragon will deliver new science investigations, food, supplies, and equipment to the international crew. NASA and partner research flying aboard the CRS-30 mission includes a look at plant metabolism in space, a set of new sensors for free-flying Astrobee robots to provide 3D mapping capabilities, and a fluid physics study that could benefit solar cell technology. Other studies launching include JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) FLARE, which continues flame behavior studies in space, and a university project from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) that will monitor sea ice and ocean conditions. Commercial resupply by U.S. companies significantly increases NASA’s ability to conduct more investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory. These investigations lead to new technologies, medical treatments, and products that improve life on Earth. Other U.S. government agencies, private industry, and academic and research institutions can also conduct microgravity research through the agency’s partnership with the International Space Station National Laboratory. Humans have occupied the space station continuously since November 2000. In that time, 276 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbital outpost. It remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in exploration, including future missions to the Moon under Artemis, and ultimately, human exploration of Mars. For more information about commercial resupply missions, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialresupply-end- -end- Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov Stephanie Plucinsky / Steven Siceloff Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-876-2468 stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov / steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 13, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsInternational Space Station (ISS)Commercial ResupplySpaceX Commercial Resupply View the full article

Research scientist Sujung Go analyzes atmospheric data to help humanity and the environment. Name: Sujung Go Title: Research scientist Organization: Climate and Radiation Laboratory, Earth Sciences Division, Science Directorate (Code 613) Sujung Go is a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Courtesy of Sujung Go What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? I work in the team of Dr. Alexei Lyapustin and support data analysis and processing algorithms for different missions including DSCOVR EPIC, TROPOMI and PACE. I focus on aerosol retrievals and further analysis of absorbing aerosol composition in mineral dust. I also work on hyperspectral atmospheric correction of TROPOMI and PACE OCI data. These subjects are quite novel for the remote sensing community at large – that’s what makes it so interesting. What is your educational background? I got a bachelor’s, master’s, and, in 2020, a Ph.D. in atmospheric science from Yonsei University in South Korea. Sujung Go recieved her Ph.D. in atmospheric science from Yonsei University in South Korea in 2020.Courtesy of Sujung Go What brought you to Goddard? When I was getting my Ph.D., I was working on the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) satellite for the Ministry of Environment of South Korea. During my final year, my professor, who was the principal investigator of the GEMS project, invited my current supervisor at Goddard, Alexei Lyapustin, to visit our laboratory to foster collaborations on satellite aerosol retrievals. Several months later, Alexei offered me a research scientist position in his group. I came to Goddard in March 2020. Did you continue working on GEMS after you arrived at Goddard? GEMS is a South Korean instrument which is identical to NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission. GEMS was launched in February 2020. Since I had worked on GEMS while getting my Ph.D., the GEMS project asked me to help with the initial in-orbit test period for about a month. TEMPO was launched in 2023, and I hope to also be involved with their data analysis both on aerosol and surface reflectance retrievals. What was most fascinating about your first project at Goddard, determining the mineral composition of atmospheric dust? Hematite (Fe2O3) and goethite (FeOOH) are the two major absorbers of visible solar radiation in atmospheric dust. Variations in their concentration control dust radiative (climate) effect defining how much of sunlight dust scatters back to space versus how much it absorbs. Most climate models assume the same distribution of iron oxides in airborne dust globally, and thus knowledge of the real distributions, which we can get from satellites, would be very valuable. Alexei developed the algorithm to retrieve aerosol loading, spectral absorption and even average height of aerosols from the DSCOVR EPIC instrument, which observes the entire illuminated part of the Earth multiple times a day from its orbit at Lagrange point 1, a spot between Earth and the Sun about 900,000 miles away from our planet. He suggested that I look into how we can use this information to derive hematite and goethite concentrations based on ideas from the earlier works of Dr. Greg Schuster from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. Greg pioneered such aerosol composition analysis based on AERONET data. It was a pleasure to work with Greg who helped me to fully understand the problem. It took a while, and I was so happy when in the end it worked. It was fascinating! So exciting! What is special about your work on hyperspectral atmospheric correction for the PACE mission? Technically, it’s a very challenging problem and it was never done before in operational settings. We are dealing with very large volume of data, and need to have an accurate radiative transfer across the full UV-visible-shortwave IR spectral range and a very efficient algorithm. From well-calibrated PACE OCI (Ocean Color Imager), we expect to produce high quality land surface reflectance spectra while the PACE ocean team will deliver spectra of the ocean water-leaving reflectance. These data will provide a wealth of information for the ocean biology community, like composition and life cycles of ocean microorganisms, and for the land vegetation community to help better characterize the state and function of vegetation and improve the knowledge of the global carbon cycle as a result. Sujung Go (second from left) is driven by her passion for her work. “I want to be a scientist who can provide or suggest what we really need to help human beings and the environment,” she says.Courtesy of Sujung Go What makes your research interdisciplinary? What we measure from space is a contribution from both atmosphere and the surface. We need to know surface properties to get information about aerosols, and we need aerosol information to retrieve spectral surface reflectance. The problems are inter-related and rooted in how we separate atmospheric and surface signals in satellite measurements. To do both aerosol and surface retrievals accurately, and especially working with applications like composition of absorbers in aerosols, or assessing vegetation greenness and other properties, I need to be truly interdisciplinary. What has your mentor, Alexei Lyapustin, taught you? I am always motivated by his scientific insights. I am really happy that I can learn such high-level science from him and help contribute to scientific findings that help humanity. I started working at Goddard only two weeks before the lockdown, so I hardly knew any of my colleagues. During that time, Alexei kept our team together, helped us form connections with each other, and made sure that everyone was safe. All of my family is in South Korea, and Alexei made me feel like part of his lab’s family. I sincerely thank Alexei for all he has done for me and for our lab. Who inspires you? I have had several different mentors in my life. First of all, my mother was always dedicated to my education. Second, when I was in middle school, one of my teachers, who taught me science for three years, made it possible for me to attend a science high school in South Korea, which changed my perspective toward life totally. She felt that I had a talent for science, and I was very interested in science. Lastly, my Ph.D. advisor inspired me to have job responsibility as a scientist as well as getting my Ph.D. I am grateful for everyone’s help. What do you do for fun? I enjoy hiking. I am also trying to improve my cooking skills by watching online cooking channels. I am working on American and Korean recipes. I make something new every weekend. Some of my friends who are good cooks are coaching me. We get together over holidays to enjoy delicious food together. What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words. Optimistic. Life-long learner. Thoughtful. Visionary. Prudent. Persistent. Do you have a favorite saying? Life is about doing whatever you want to do. Alexei often says learn something! Our team is always optimistic and enthusiastic. What is your goal as a scientist? I want to be a scientist who can provide or suggest what we really need to help human beings and the environment. Working at Goddard is a great opportunity to become a scientist who can provide essential research to help humanity. Goddard has an unparalleled expertise in satellite data processing, in particular in atmospheric and biospheric sciences, and this helps and motivates me. 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 Feb 13, 2024 EditorMadison OlsonContactRob Garnerrob.garner@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsGoddard Space Flight CenterPeople of GoddardPeople of NASA View the full article

NASA astronauts must prepare their bodies for the physical stresses of living and working in microgravity before they launch on a spaceflight. Fortunately, they get customized training programs and plenty of help from astronaut fitness trainer Corey Twine, who shares decades of strength and conditioning expertise with astronauts every day at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Twine’s official title is “astronaut strength, conditioning, and rehabilitation specialist.” He works with a team dedicated to ensuring NASA’s space explorers are in top shape before launch day and know how to stay physically healthy throughout their mission, whether they’re flying to the International Space Station or journeying around the Moon. We sat down with Twine to find out how he launched his career – and what it’s like to get a phone call from an astronaut in space. An Aspiring Athlete “When I was a kid, I never pictured myself working at NASA,” Twine said. “I pictured myself working in the NFL or professional baseball or all of those other dreams that many kids have.” Twine was an athlete in high school and planned to play at the collegiate level. But things changed after he began classes at Norfolk State University in Virginia. “One of my professors was the first strength and conditioning specialist I ever knew,” Twine said. “I learned there are people who just train other people to improve their performance. And from that moment on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.” Energized by his passion for strength and conditioning, Twine earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science at Norfolk State and a master’s of kinesiology from Michigan State. He worked with several collegiate and professional teams while taking his career to new heights. From Weight Benches to Weightlessness Twine was a graduate assistant coach for the Michigan State football team when he first learned NASA was looking for a strength and conditioning coach. Until that moment, he’d been entirely focused on sports, but he was excited by the new opportunity, and applied. He went to work with NASA in 2002 and trained space shuttle astronauts for their missions. Then, his path shifted again. He spent the next 15 years as a conditioning coach in college football, first with West Virginia University and then the University of Michigan. From there, he went to work with the U.S. Army. “It was an amazing opportunity to work with the soldiers who were doing so much to protect and serve,” Twine said. Twine returned to Johnson Space Center in 2018. Today, he prepares astronauts for flights to the space station and for the Artemis missions to come, which will carry crews – including the first woman and first person of color – to the Moon. Astronauts know Twine is always willing to provide guidance. He took that assistance to a new level one day when he received a mysterious call from “U.S. Government” on his cell phone. To his surprise, it turned out to be an astronaut about 250 miles above Earth aboard the space station. “They had a question about their training,” said Twine, who chatted with the astronaut. Together, they worked out a solution in real time. “It was a great asset because we were able to adjust and do some things to help their training instead of just going through email.” Advice to Students: Success Takes Effort – But You Can Do It Twine recalls struggling academically during middle and high school and feeling intimidated about college. Fortunately, a friend who was a few years ahead of him shared some simple but meaningful advice: “No test is hard if you study for it.” If you put in the effort until you know the material, you’ll succeed. “I remember to this day, the first test in my freshman year in college, I studied for a test for the first time,” Twine said. “I read every single thing in the chapter. I read everything in the back of the book. I read all of the information the professor gave.” His hard work paid off with that test and he vowed to keep up that level of effort. “I continued that behavior all through undergrad and also through grad school, and it worked every single time,” he said. Twine cautions against believing you’re not smart enough and says you just need to put in the hard work. “Study, find resources, find help, continue, and don’t give up.” Learn more about Corey Twine and how he helps NASA astronauts stay in spaceflight-ready shape in this episode of Surprisingly STEM. Explore More 2 min read University High School Wins Regional Science Bowl at NASA’s JPL Article 1 week ago 4 min read NASA Taps Alabama A&M University to Host Break the Ice Lunar Challenge Article 2 weeks ago 2 min read NASA Releases STEM Toolkit for Advanced Air Mobility Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

NASA is using a simple but effective technology called Laser Retroreflective Arrays (LRAs) to determine the locations of lunar landers more accurately. They will be attached to most of the landers from United States companies as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) initiative. LRAs are inexpensive, small, and lightweight, allowing future lunar orbiters or landers to locate them on the Moon. NASA is using a simple but effective technology called Laser Retroreflective Arrays (LRAs) to determine the locations of lunar landers more accurately. They will be attached to landers sent to the Moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) initiative. LRAs are inexpensive, small, and lightweight. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio James Tralie (ADNET Systems, Inc.). Lead Producer Xiaoli Sun (NASA/GSFC): Scientist This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14517. These devices consist of a small aluminum hemisphere, 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter and 0.7 ounces (20 grams) in weight, inset with eight 0.5-inch-diameter (1.27-centimeter) corner cube retroreflectors made of fused silica glass. LRAs are targeted for inclusion on most of the upcoming CLPS deliveries headed to the lunar surface. This photograph shows a mockup laser retroreflector array (LRA) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, demonstrating the basic design: a metallic semi-hemispheric disc, with eight silica glass cubes embedded in its surface.NASA/Goddard LRAs are designed to reflect laser light shone on them from a large range of angles. Dr. Daniel Cremons of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, deputy principal investigator for the LRA project, describes this as being similar to the reflective strips featured on road signs to aid in nighttime driving here on Earth. “Unlike a mirror where it has to be pointed exactly back at you, you can come in at a wide variety of angles and the light will head directly back to the source,” he said. By shining a laser beam from one spacecraft toward the retroreflectors on another and measuring how long it takes for the light to get back to its source, scientists can determine the distance between them. “We have been putting these on satellites and ranging to them from ground-based lasers for years,” said Dr. Xiaoli Sun, also of NASA Goddard and principal investigator for the LRA project. “Then, twenty years ago, someone got the idea to put them on the landers. Then you can range to those landers from orbit and know where they are on the surface.” This photograph shows the Laser Ranging Facility at the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, shining ranging lasers at NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.NASA It is important to know the location of landers on the surface of another planetary body and these LRAs act as markers that work with orbiting satellites to establish a navigation aid like the global positioning system (GPS) we take for granted here on Earth. Laser ranging is also used for docking spacecraft, like the cargo spacecraft that are used for the International Space Station, pointed out Cremons. The LRAs light up when you shine light on them which helps to guide precision docking. They can also be detected by lidars on spacecraft from far away to determine their range and approach speed down to very tight accuracy ratings, and free from the need for illumination from the Sun, which allows docking to happen at nighttime. He adds that the reflectors could allow spacecraft to accurately range-find their way to a landing pad, even without the aid of external light to guide the approach. This means that LRAs can eventually be used to help spacecraft land in otherwise pitch-dark places close to permanently shadowed regions near the lunar South Pole, which are prime target areas for crewed missions because of the resources that might exist there, such as water ice. Since LRAs are small and made of simple materials, they can fly on scientific missions as a beneficial but low-risk add-on. “By itself, it’s completely passive,” said Cremons. “LRAs will survive the harsh lunar environment and continue to be usable on the surface for decades. Additionally, besides navigating and finding out where your landers are, you can also use laser ranging to tell where your orbiter is around the Moon.” This means that, as more landers, rovers, and orbiters are sent to the Moon bearing one or more LRAs, our ability to accurately gauge the location of each will only improve. As such, as we deploy more LRAs to the lunar surface, this growing network will allow scientists to gauge the location of key landers and other points of interest more and more accurately, allowing for bigger, better science to be accomplished. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is currently the only NASA spacecraft orbiting the Moon with laser-ranging capability. LRO has already succeeded in ranging to the LRA on the Indian Space Research Organization’s Vikram lander on the lunar surface and will continue range to LRAs on future landers. Under Artemis, CLPS deliveries will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human missions. With Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. The agency will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon. Then, NASA will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars. By Nick Oakes NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Share Details Last Updated Feb 13, 2024 EditorWilliam SteigerwaldContactNancy N. Jonesnancy.n.jones@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsArtemisCommunicating and Navigating with MissionsMissionsTechnology Explore More 3 min read NASA Collaborates in an International Air Quality Study Article 18 hours ago 4 min read NASA Solar Sail Technology Passes Crucial Deployment Test Article 19 hours ago 5 min read Meet NASA’s Twin Spacecraft Headed to the Ends of the Earth Article 22 hours ago View the full article

Intuitive Machines-1 Launch to the Moon (Official NASA Broadcast)

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s DC-8 aircraft takes off from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, to conduct test flights as part of the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality, or ASIA-AQ mission, that will collect detailed air quality data over several locations in Asia.NASA/Carla Thomas NASA and international researchers are studying the air quality in Asia as part of a global effort to better understand the air we breathe. In collaboration with Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality, or ASIA-AQ mission, will collect detailed atmospheric data over several locations in Asia. Utilizing aircraft, satellites, and ground-based instruments, the ASIA-AQ team will gather and share data with air quality and government agencies to be used for air quality research and understanding worldwide. “Our purpose is to improve the understanding of the factors that control air quality,” said Jim Crawford, principal investigator for the ASIA-AQ mission at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “Multi-perspective observations are needed because satellites, ground-sites, and aircraft each see different aspects of air quality that need to be connected.” While satellite views and ground measurements provide significant data, alone they cannot completely illustrate air quality problems and the sources that cause them. By adding airborne measurements to models along with satellite and ground-based observations, scientists can achieve a multi-dimensional, detailed perspective that evaluates our air quality models from all angles. A pair of NASA science aircraft will help provide those additional dimensions to air quality observations. The DC-8 from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is outfitted with 26 instruments and will fly at low-altitudes to collect data from the atmosphere closest to the ground where people and habitats are impacted. Meanwhile, the G-III from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will fly at 28,000 feet altitude to create a high-resolution map of the pollution distribution in each study area, and how it changes throughout the day. Together with Korean aircraft from NIER, the NASA planes and instruments will supplement and cross-reference the observations made from the ground and satellite instruments. “Science missions for air quality [like ASIA-AQ] take a holistic approach of multiple perspectives to better understand our pollution issues,” said Laura Judd, platform scientist for NASA’s G-III aircraft. “If we can better understand how models simulate our air pollution, then we can forecast when these events unfold, and be able to disseminate that information to the public to make informed decisions.” Pollution changes as populations shift, economies ebb and flow, and industries move or evolve. The ASIA-AQ project will improve our ability to measure those changes and how they connect to the global scale. Bringing scientists, aircraft, and instruments together from across Asia and around the world, ASIA-AQ demonstrates how scientific advancement is a collaborative effort. “Scientists and agencies in each of the participating countries will ensure that ASIA-AQ targets the most important open air quality questions in their specific region,” said Barry Lefer, NASA program scientist for air quality research at NASA Headquarters. “And they’ll be the ones to implement improvements in their forecast models and advocate for policy changes.” ASIA-AQ is a joint effort between NASA and Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) and several international organizations including the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Philippines (DENR), the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency Thailand (GISTDA) and the Ministry of Environment Taiwan (MOENV). Share Details Last Updated Feb 12, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactElena Aguirreelena.aguirre@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAirborne ScienceDC-8Earth ScienceGeneralLangley Research CenterScience in the Air Explore More 5 min read Meet NASA’s Twin Spacecraft Headed to the Ends of the Earth Article 4 hours ago 2 min read Do NASA Science LIVE on February 21! What’s it mean to be cool? Snow and ice are everywhere this time of year—mountain tops, Alaska, and even outer space.… Article 5 hours ago 3 min read Third NASA Enabled Private Flight to Space Station Completes Safely Article 3 days ago Facebook logo @NASA@NASAArmstrong @NASA@NASAArmstrong Instagram logo @NASA@NASAArmstrong Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Langley Research Center Armstrong Science Projects Science in the Air View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center technologists Les Johnson and Leslie McNutt at Redwire Space on Jan. 30, 2024, following a successful solar sail deployment test. NASA cleared a key technology milestone at Redwire’s new facility in Longmont, Colorado, with the successful deployment of one of four identical solar sail quadrants. Redwire Space By Wayne Smith In his youth, NASA technologist Les Johnson was riveted by the 1974 novel “The Mote in God’s Eye,” by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, in which an alien spacecraft propelled by solar sails visits humanity. Today, Johnson and a NASA team are preparing to test a similar technology. NASA continues to unfurl plans for solar sail technology as a promising method of deep space transportation. The agency cleared a key technology milestone in January with the successful deployment of one of four identical solar sail quadrants. The deployment was showcased Jan. 30 at Redwire Corp.’s new facility in Longmont, Colorado. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, leads the solar sail team, comprised of prime contractor Redwire, which developed the deployment mechanisms and the nearly 100-foot-long booms, and subcontractor NeXolve, of Huntsville, which provided the sail membrane. In addition to leading the project, Marshall developed the algorithms needed to control and navigate with the sail when it flies in space. NASA and industry partners used two 100-foot lightweight composite booms to stretch out a 4,445-square-footsquare-foot (400-square-meter) prototype solar sail quadrant for the first time Jan. 30, 2024. While just one quarter of the sail was unfurled in the deployment at Redwire, the complete sail will measure 17,780 square feet when fully deployed, with the thickness less than a human hair at 2 and a half microns. The sail is made of a polymer material coated with aluminum. (Redwire Space) The sail is a propulsion system powered by sunlight reflecting from the sail, much like a sailboat reflects the wind. While just one quarter of the sail was unfurled in the deployment at Redwire, the complete sail will measure 17,780 square feet when fully deployed, with the thickness less than a human hair at 2 and a half microns. The sail is made of a polymer material coated with aluminum. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate recently funded the solar sail technology to reach a new technology readiness level, or TRL 6, which means it’s ready for proposals to be flown on science missions. “This was a major last step on the ground before it’s ready to be proposed for space missions,” Johnson, who has been involved with sail technology at Marshall for about 25 years, said. “What’s next is for scientists to propose the use of solar sails in their missions. We’ve met our goal and demonstrated that we’re ready to be flown.” A solar sail traveling through deep space provides many potential benefits to missions using the technology because it doesn’t require any fuel, allowing very high propulsive performance with very little mass. This in-space propulsion system is well suited for low-mass missions in novel orbits. “Once you get away from Earth’s gravity and into space, what is important is efficiency and enough thrust to travel from one position to another,” Johnson said. A solar sail achieves that by reflecting sunlight – the greater the size of the sail, the greater thrust it can provide. Les Johnson NASA technologist Some of the missions of interest using solar sail technology include studying space weather and its effects on the Earth, or for advanced studies of the north and south poles of the Sun. The latter has been limited because the propulsion required to get a spacecraft into a polar orbit around the sun is very high and simply not feasible using most of the propulsion systems available today. Solar sail propulsion is also possible for enhancing future missions to Venus or Mercury, given their closeness to the Sun and the enhanced thrust a solar sail would achieve in the more intense sunlight there. Moreover, it’s the ultimate green propulsion system, Johnson said – as long as the Sun is shining, the sail will have propulsion. Where the sunlight is less, he envisions a future where lasers could be used to accelerate the solar sails to high speeds, pushing them outside the solar system and beyond, perhaps even to another star. “In the future, we might place big lasers in space that shine their beams on the sails as they depart the solar system, accelerating them to higher and higher speeds, until eventually they are going fast enough to reach another star in a reasonable amount of time.” To learn more about solar sails and other NASA advanced space technology, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate Jonathan Deal Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256-544-0034 jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 12, 2024 Related TermsMarshall Space Flight CenterSpace Technology Mission DirectorateTechnology Demonstration Explore More 5 min read NASA’s New Experimental Antenna Tracks Deep Space Laser Article 4 days ago 17 min read The Marshall Star for February 7, 2024 Article 5 days ago 5 min read NASA to Demonstrate Autonomous Navigation System on Moon Article 5 days ago View the full article

STS-60 commander Charles F. Bolden is seen at the commander’s station on the forward flight deck of the space shuttle Discovery. He is wearing the orange launch and entry suit. Bolden and his crewmates performed proximity operations with the Russian Mir space station.NASA Astronaut Charles F. Bolden, STS-60 commander, sits at the commander’s station on the forward flight deck of the space shuttle Discovery in this image from February 1994. While aboard Discovery, the crew attempted to deploy the Wake Shield Facility-1, a deployable/retrievable experiment platform designed to leave a vacuum wake in low earth orbit that is 10,000 times greater than achievable on Earth. The crew also conducted in-flight medical and radiological investigations and spoke with world leaders from space. Bolden was a member of NASA’s Astronaut Office for 14 years. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions and piloting two others. He then became the 12th NASA Administrator. During his tenure, the agency’s support of commercial space transportation systems for reaching low Earth orbit enabled successful commercial cargo resupply of the space station and significant progress toward returning the capability for American companies to launch astronauts from American soil by 2017. Bolden also supported NASA’s contributions toward development of developing cleaner, faster, and quieter airplanes. The agency’s dynamic science activities under Bolden include an unprecedented landing on Mars with the Curiosity rover, launch of a spacecraft to Jupiter, enhancing the nation’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites, and continued progress toward the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Watch the first episode of “The Color of Space: The Series” and delve deep into the extraordinary life of Charlie Bolden. Credit: NASA View the full article

A key NASA design milestone was recently completed by Collins Aerospace as the company works to develop a next-generation spacesuit for use on the International Space Station. The milestone – a pressure garment system fit and functionality test in a microgravity-like environment – marked an important step toward developing a suit for NASA that can be used for continuing operations and advancing scientific discovery in low Earth orbit. The agency selected Collins to develop a new spacesuit that can replace the current space station spacesuit, known technically as an extravehicular mobility unit, which has been worn by astronauts to assemble and maintain the space station for over two decades. The Collins test was conducted aboard a commercial microgravity aircraft to provide brief periods of weightlessness. During a parabolic flight, a pilot creates weightless conditions for around 20 seconds at a time by conducting a series of roller-coaster-like maneuvers. This allows engineers, scientists, and students to test hardware and conduct scientific experiments in a space-like gravity environment without ever going into space. Collins Aerospace completed a key NASA design milestone on the company’s next-generation spacesuit for use on the International Space Station. The test was conducted aboard a commercial zero-gravity aircraft where Collins performed a pressure garment system fit and functionality test in a microgravity environment.Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace’s chief test astronaut John “Danny” Olivas demonstrates a series of tasks during testing of Collins’ next-generation spacesuit while aboard a zero-gravity aircraft. Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace’s chief test astronaut John “Danny” Olivas demonstrates a series of tasks during testing of Collins’ next-generation spacesuit while aboard a zero-gravity aircraft. Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace’s chief test astronaut John “Danny” Olivas demonstrates a series of tasks during testing of Collins’ next-generation spacesuit while aboard a zero-gravity aircraft. Collins Aerospace The test was a key step in NASA’s preliminary design review process, one of a series of checkpoints in the project’s design lifecycle, that ensures the design meets all system requirements before manufacturing of flight-ready units can begin. Collins will continue testing its spacesuit in a vacuum chamber, where air will be removed to create a vacuum to see how the spacesuit performs in a space-like atmosphere, as well as at the agency’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a 40-foot deep pool at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, that simulates a microgravity environment for astronaut spacewalk training. This next-generation spacesuit is designed to advance NASA’s spacewalking capabilities in low Earth orbit. It is being developed to support station maintenance and operations as NASA and its international partners continue carrying out scientific research that benefits humanity and demonstrates new technologies for future human and robotic missions. View the full article

The Progress 84 cargo craft is pictured shortly after undocking from the International Space Station’s Poisk Module at 2:55 a.m. EST.NASA NASA will provide live coverage of the launch and docking of a Roscosmos cargo spacecraft carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the crew aboard the International Space Station. The unpiloted Progress 87 resupply spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time Thursday, Feb. 15), on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Live coverage will begin at 10 p.m. on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media. The Progress spacecraft will be placed into an orbit for a two-day journey to the space station, culminating in an automatic docking to the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17. NASA coverage of rendezvous and docking will begin at 12:30 a.m. The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 23 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for the development of a low Earth orbit economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and ultimately, human exploration of Mars. Learn more about the space station, its research, and crew, at: https://www.nasa.gov/station -end- Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 12, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsMissionsInternational Space Station (ISS) View the full article