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15 Min Read The Marshall Star for July 10, 2024 NASA Moon Rocket Stage for Artemis II Moved, Prepped for Shipment NASA is preparing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage that will help power the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign for shipment. On July 6, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, moved the Artemis II rocket stage to another part of the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility. The move comes as teams prepare to roll the massive rocket stage to the agency’s Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in mid-July. On July 6, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, move the Artemis II rocket stage at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility. The move comes as teams prepare to roll the massive rocket stage to the agency’s Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in mid-July.NASA/Michael DeMocker Prior to the move, technicians began removing external access stands, or scaffolding, surrounding the rocket stage in early June. NASA and Boeing teams used the scaffolding surrounding the core stage to assess the interior elements, including its complex avionics and propulsion systems. The 212-foot core stage has two huge propellant tanks, avionics and flight computer systems, and four RS-25 engines, which together enable the stage to operate during launch and flight. The stage is fully manufactured and assembled at Michoud. Building, assembling, and transporting is a joint process for NASA, Boeing, and lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company. Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility are preparing the core stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) for shipment to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. The 212-foot-tall core stage and its four RS-25 engines will help power Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign. In this video, watch as crew remove the external access stands, or scaffolding, before moving the rocket hardware to another area of the facility. (NASA) NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the SLS Program and Michoud. › Back to Top Marshall Researchers Battle Biofilm in Space By Rick Smith A small group of scientists on the biofilm mitigation team at NASA’s Marshall Space Center study solutions to combat fast-growing colonies of bacteria or fungi, known as biofilm, for future space missions. Biofilm occurs when a cluster of bacteria or fungi generates a slimy matrix of “extracellular polymeric substances” to protect itself from adverse environmental factors. Biofilm can be found nearly anywhere, from the gray-green scum floating on stagnant pond water to the pinkish ring of residue in a dirty bathtub. The biofilm mitigation research team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center assembled its own test stand to undertake a multi-month assessment of a variety of natural and chemical compounds and strategies for eradicating biofilm accretion caused by bacteria and fungi in the wastewater tank assembly on the International Space Station. Testing will help NASA extend the lifecycle of water reclamation and recycling hardware and ensure astronauts can sustain clean, healthy water supplies on long-duration missions in space and on other worlds.NASA/Eric Beitle For medical, food production, and wastewater processing industries, biofilm is often a costly issue. But offworld, biofilm proves to be even more resilient. “Bacteria shrug off many of the challenges humans deal with in space, including microgravity, pressure changes, ultraviolet light, nutrient levels, even radiation,” said Yo-Ann Velez-Justiniano, a Marshall microbiologist and environmental control systems engineer. “Biofilm is icky, sticky – and hard to kill,” said Liezel Koellner, a chemical engineer and NASA Pathways intern from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Koellner used sophisticated epifluorescence microscopy, 3D visualizations of 2D images captured at different focal planes, to fine-tune the team’s studies. Keenly aware of the potential hurdles biofilm could pose in future Artemis-era spacecraft and lunar habitats, NASA tasked engineers and chemists at Marshall to study mitigation techniques. Marshall built and maintains the International Space Station’s ECLSS (Environment Control and Life Support System) and is developing next-generation air and water reclamation and recycling technologies, including the system’s wastewater tank assembly. “The wastewater tank is ‘upstream’ from most of our built-in water purification methods. Because it’s a wastewater feed tank, bacteria and fungus grow well there, generating enough biofilm to clog flow paths and pipes along the route,” said Eric Beitle, ECLSS test engineer at Marshall. To date, the solution has been to pull and replace old hardware once parts become choked with biofilm. But engineers want to avoid the need for such tactics. “Even with the ability to 3D-print spare parts on the Moon or Mars, it makes sense to find strategies that prevent biofilm buildup in the first place,” said Velez-Justiniano. The team took the first step in June 2023 by publishing the complete genome sequence of several strains of bacteria isolated from the space station’s water reclamation system, all of which cultivate biofilm formation. Yo-Ann Velez-Justiniano, left, and Connor Murphy, right, both Environmental Control and Life Support Systems engineers at Marshall, prepare slides for study of cultured bacterial biofilm in the center’s test facility.NASA/Eric Beitle They next designed a test stand simulating conditions in the wastewater tank about 250 miles overhead, which permits simultaneous study of multiple mitigation options. The rig housed eight Centers for Disease Control and Prevention biofilm reactors – cylindrical devices roughly the size of a runner’s water bottle – each 1/60th the size of the actual tank. Each bioreactor holds up to 21 unique test samples on slides, bathed continuously in a flow of real or ersatz wastewater, timed and measured by the automated system, and closely monitored by the team. Because of the compact bioreactor size, the test stand required 2.1 gallons of ersatz flow per week, continuously trickling 0.1 milliliters per minute into each of the eight bioreactors. “Essentially, we built a collection of tiny systems that all had to permit minute changes to temperature and pressure, maintain a sterile environment, provide autoclave functionality, and run in harmony for weeks at a time with minimal human intervention,” Beitle said. “One phase of the test series ran nonstop for 65 days, and another lasted 77 days. It was a unique challenge from an engineering perspective.” Different surface mitigation strategies, upstream counteragents, antimicrobial coatings, and temperature levels were introduced in each bioreactor. One promising test involved duckweed, a plant already recognized as a natural water purification system and for its ability to capture toxins and control wastewater odor. By devouring nutrients upstream of the bioreactor, the duckweed denied the bacteria what it needs to thrive, reducing biofilm growth by up to 99.9%. Over the course of the three-month testing period, teams removed samples from each bioreactor at regular intervals and prepared for study under a microscope to make a detailed count of the biofilm colony-forming units on each plate. “Bacteria and fungi are smart,” Velez-Justiniano said. “They adapt. We recognize that it’s going to take a mix of effective biofilm mitigation methods to overcome this challenge.” Biofilm poses as an obstacle to long-duration spaceflight and extended missions on other worlds where replacement parts may be costly or difficult to obtain. The biofilm mitigation team continues to assess and publish findings, alongside academic and industry partners, and will further their research with a full-scale tank experiment at Marshall. They hope to progress to flight tests, experimenting with various mitigation methods in real microgravity conditions in orbit to find solutions to keep surfaces clean, water potable, and future explorers healthy. Smith, an Aeyon/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications. › Back to Top Pathways Intern Liezel Koellner Aids NASA Biofilm Mitigation By Rick Smith Liezel Koellner is a NASA Pathways intern pursuing her master’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Like most ambitious young engineers, she sought a variety of different internships to augment her classwork. But once she got word she’d been chosen to spend the spring 2024 term conducting biochemistry experiments at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, her choice was made. NASA Pathways intern Liezel Koellner, right, and her mentor Yo-Ann Velez-Justiniano, a microbiologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, prepare compact bioreactors to be installed in the Marshall biofilm mitigation test stand, which is helping researchers study ways to curtail bacterial and fungal biofilm growth in water reclamation systems such as the one on the International Space Station. NASA/Eric Beitle “As a kid, I never imagined I could work at NASA,” she said. “It was a mind-blowing idea!” That’s how she wound up spending the semester up to her safety gloves in bacterial goo – helping NASA’s biofilm mitigation team study strategies for vanquishing a pervasive, slimy invader playing havoc with space-based hardware. And Koellner couldn’t be happier. Biofilm is the sticky goo generated by bacteria or fungi to armor itself against radiation, airlessness, and other conditions in space. Astronauts keep their environment fairly ship-shape – but inside closed water reclamation systems, like the one on the International Space Station, biofilm can thrive, wreaking havoc on critical life support systems. Joining a team of Marshall microbiologists, chemists, and hardware engineers, Koellner spent weeks cultivating sample bacteria – either simulated stuff chemically created onsite or samples shipped frozen from NASA and Boeing archives. She closely monitored ongoing tests, regularly pulling samples to count biofilm colonies. Most importantly, she oversaw the use of precision epifluorescence microscopy, which employs 3D visualizations to identify layered growth in 2D sample images. That contribution most impressed Marshall microbiologist Yo-Ann Velez-Justiniano, Koellner’s supervisor and project mentor, who said it dramatically improved data accuracy. “Liezel was able to more accurately analyze patterns of sample growth and deliver precise quantitative data identifying biofilm progression,” Velez-Justiniano said. A formula for success Koellner said she’s always been driven to soak up as much practical experience as possible. She was born in Guam to Filipino parents who later emigrated to San Diego, California, to raise their family. From a young age, she took school very seriously. Velez-Justiniano, left, who heads the biofilm mitigation science team at Marshall, looks on as Koellner, right, shows off her latest sample findings.NASA/Eric Beitle “I always enjoyed chemistry, observing scientific processes and documenting the effects,” Koellner said, but she was daunted by the challenges of calculus-based physics, used to model systems where change occurs and an integral part of scientific fields serving space exploration, engineering, pharmacology, and more. That changed when she got to the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. “Suddenly, everything clicked,” she said. “With physics, it was amazing to see how math could be applied to real-life applications.” That practical blend of disciplines led her to consider a career in chemical engineering – using chemical processes to develop products and resources for commercial uses. After completing her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of North Carolina in 2022 and spending a year as a chemist for a private lab in Wilmington, she enrolled at North Carolina State, where she expects to graduate in 2026 with a master’s in chemical engineering. From water reclamation to air recycling With the biofilm mitigation tests completed – but her internship continuing until August – Koellner has shifted tracks, moving from the challenges of water reclamation to oxygen recovery solutions for future space habitats and on other worlds. She’s part of a different team of Marshall ECLSS (Environment Control and Life Support System) specialists, studying ways to recover oxygen from methane gas. That capability could support a variety of oxygen recovery and recycling systems, saving and storing breathable air instead of just jettisoning it into space along with waste gas products. Koellner will write documentation and help monitor and operate the active test stand, once again working alongside Marshall specialists from various disciplines. She said their commitment has left a lasting impression. “Everyone is so willing to lend their expertise to pursue work that could impact NASA missions years or even decades in the future,” she said. “The diligence and enthusiasm here are tangible things. That’s the kind of engineer – the kind of person – I want to be.” Smith, an Aeyon/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications. › Back to Top Lisa Bates Named Director of Marshall’s Engineering Directorate Lisa Bates has been named director of the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, effective July 14. In her new role, Bates will be responsible for the center’s largest organization, comprised of more than 2,500 civil service and contractor personnel, who design, test, evaluate, and operate flight hardware and software associated with Marshall-developed space transportation and spacecraft systems, science instruments, and payloads. Lisa Bates has been named director of the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.NASA Since November 2023, Bates has served as deputy director of the Engineering Directorate. She was also previously director of Marshall’s Test Laboratory. Appointed to the position in 2021, Bates provided executive leadership for all aspects of the Laboratory, including workforce, budget, infrastructure, and operations for testing. She joined Marshall in 2008 as the Ares I Upper Stage Thrust Vector Control lead in the Propulsion Department. Since then, she has served in positions of increasing responsibility and authority. From 2009 to 2017, she served as the first chief of the new TVC Branch, which was responsible for defining operational requirements, performing analysis, and evaluating Launch Vehicle TVC systems and TVC components. As the Space Launch System (SLS) Program Executive from 2017 to 2018, Bates supported the NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development as the liaison and advocate of the SLS. Upon returning to MSFC in 2018, she was selected as deputy manager of the SLS Booster Element Office. Bates also served as deputy manager of the SLS Stages Office from 2018 to 2021 where she shared the responsibilities, accountability, and authorities for all activities associated with the requirements definition, design, development, manufacturing, assembly, green run test, and delivery of the SLS Program’s Stages Element. Prior to her NASA career, Bates worked 18 years in private industry for numerous aerospace and defense contractors, including Jacobs Engineering, Marotta Scientific Controls, United Technologies (USBI), United Defense, and Sverdrup Technologies. Bates holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She was awarded a NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2013 and 2022 and has received numerous group and individual achievement awards. › Back to Top Orion on the Rise Technicians lift NASA’s Orion spacecraft out of the Final Assembly and System Testing cell at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on June 28. The integrated spacecraft, which will be used for the Artemis II mission to orbit the Moon, has been undergoing final rounds of testing and assembly, including end-to-end performance verification of its subsystems and checking for leaks in its propulsion systems. A 30-ton crane returned Orion into the recently renovated altitude chamber where it underwent electromagnetic testing. The spacecraft now will undergo a series of tests that will subject it to a near-vacuum environment by removing air, thus creating a space where the pressure is extremely low. This results in no atmosphere, similar to the one the spacecraft will experience during future lunar missions. The data recorded during these tests will be used to qualify the spacecraft to safely fly the Artemis II astronauts through the harsh environment of space. (NASA/Radislav Sinyak) › Back to Top NASA to Cover Northrop Grumman’s 20th Cargo Space Station Departure Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on July 12, five and a half months after delivering more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbiting laboratory for NASA and its international partners. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft and the International Space Station above western Mongolia.NASA This mission was the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the space station for NASA. Live coverage of the spacecraft’s departure will begin at 5:30 a.m. CDT on the 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. Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port, then maneuver the spacecraft into position for its release at 6 a.m. NASA astronaut Mike Barratt will monitor Cygnus’ systems upon its departure from the space station. Following unberthing, the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment-2 (KREPE-2), stowed inside Cygnus, will take measurements to demonstrate a thermal protection system for the spacecraft and its contents during re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere. Cygnus – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will be commanded to deorbit July 13, setting up a destructive re-entry in which the spacecraft will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The Northrop Grumman spacecraft arrived at the space station Feb. 1, following a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The HOSC (Huntsville Operations Support Center) at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center provides engineering and mission operations support for the space station, the Commercial Crew Program, and Artemis missions, as well as science and technology demonstration missions. The Payload Operations Integration Center within the HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station on the station blog. › Back to Top Happy Birthday, Meatball! NASA’s Iconic Logo Turns 65 On July 15, NASA’s logo is turning 65. The iconic symbol, known affectionately as “the meatball,” was developed at NASA’s Lewis Research Center (now called NASA Glenn). Employee James Modarelli, who started his career at the center as an artist and technical illustrator, was its chief designer. A painter applies a fresh coat of paint to the NASA “meatball” logo on the north façade of Glenn Research Center’s Flight Research Building, or hangar, in 2006.NASA/Marvin Smith The red, white, and blue design, which includes elements representing NASA’s space and aeronautics missions, became the official logo of the United States’ new space agency in 1959. A simplified version of NASA’s formal seal, the symbol has launched on rockets, flown to the Moon and beyond, and even adorns the International Space Station. Workers install the NASA “meatball” logo on the front of the Flight Research Building, or hangar, at Lewis Research Center (now NASA Glenn) in 1962.NASA Along with its importance as a timeless symbol of exploration and discovery, the logo is also one of the world’s most recognized brand symbols. It gained its nickname in 1975 to differentiate it from NASA’s “worm” logotype. The “meatball” and these other NASA designs have made waves in pop culture. “NASA’s brand elements are wildly popular,” said Aimee Crane, merchandising and branding clearance manager for the agency. “Every year, the agency receives requests to merchandise more than 10,000 NASA-inspired items.” › Back to Top View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) An aerial view of Palmyra Atoll, where animal tracking data now being studied by NASA’s Internet of Animals project was collected using wildlife tags by partners at The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and several universities.The Nature Conservancy/Kydd Pollock Anchoring the boat in a sandbar, research scientist Morgan Gilmour steps into the shallows and is immediately surrounded by sharks. The warm waters around the tropical island act as a reef shark nursery, and these baby biters are curious about the newcomer. They zoom close and veer away at the last minute, as Gilmour slowly makes her way toward the kaleidoscope of green sprouting from the island ahead. Gilmour, a scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, conducts marine ecology and conservation studies using data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from animals equipped with wildlife tags. Palmyra Atoll, a United States marine protected area, provides the perfect venue for this work. A juvenile blacktip reef shark swims toward researchers in the shallow waters around Palmyra Atoll.The Nature Conservancy/Kydd Pollock A collection of roughly 50 small islands in the tropical heart of the Pacific Ocean, the atoll is bursting with life of all kinds, from the reef sharks and manta rays circling the shoreline to the coconut crabs climbing palm branches and the thousands of seabirds swooping overhead. By analyzing the movements of dolphins, tuna, and other creatures, Gilmour and her collaborators can help assess whether the boundaries of the marine protected area surrounding the atoll actually protect the species they intend to, or if its limits need to shift. Launched in 2020 by The Nature Conservancy and its partners – USGS, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and several universities – the project team deployed wildlife tags at Palmyra in 2022, when Gilmour was a scientist with USGS. Now with NASA, she is leveraging the data for a study under the agency’s Internet of Animals project. By combining information transmitted from wildlife tags with information about the planet collected by satellites – such as NASA’s Aqua, NOAA’s GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) satellites, and the U.S.-European Jason-3 – scientists can work with partners to draw conclusions that inform ecological management. The Palmyra Atoll is a haven for biodiversity, boasting thriving coral reef systems, shallow waters that act as a shark nursery, and rich vegetation for various land animals and seabirds. In the Landsat image above, a small white square marks the research station, where scientists from all over the world come to study the many species that call the atoll home.NASA/Earth Observatory Team “Internet of Animals is more than just an individual collection of movements or individual studies; it’s a way to understand the Earth at large,” said Ryan Pavlick, then Internet of Animals project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, during the project’s kickoff event. The Internet of Animals at Palmyra “Our work at Palmyra was remarkably comprehensive,” said Gilmour. “We tracked the movements of eight species at once, plus their environmental conditions, and we integrated climate projections to understand how their habitat may change. Where studies may typically track two or three types of birds, we added fish and marine mammals, plus air and water column data, for a 3D picture of the marine protected area.” Tagged Yellowfin Tuna, Grey Reef Sharks, and Great Frigatebirds move in and out of a marine protected area (blue square), which surrounds the Palmyra Atoll (blue circle) in the tropical heart of the Pacific. These species are three of many that rely on the atoll and its surrounding reefs for food and for nesting.NASA/Lauren Dauphin Now, the NASA team has put that data into a species distribution model, which combines the wildlife tracking information with environmental data from satellites, including sea surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and ocean current speed. The model can help researchers understand how animal populations use their habitats and how that might shift as the climate changes. Preliminary results from Internet of Animals team show that the animals tracked are moving beyond the confines of the Palmyra marine protected area. The model identified suitable habitats both in and around the protected zone – now and under predicted climate change scenarios – other researchers and decisionmakers can utilize that knowledge to inform marine policy and conservation. Research scientist Morgan Gilmour checks on a young great frigatebird in its nest. The marine protected area around Palmyra Atoll protects these birds’ breeding grounds.UC Santa Barbara/Devyn Orr Following a 2023 presidential memorandum, NOAA began studying and gathering input on whether to expand the protected areas around Palmyra and other parts of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. Analysis from NASA’s Internet of Animals could inform that and similar decisions, such as whether to create protected “corridors” in the ocean to allow for seasonal migrations of wildlife. The findings and models from the team’s habitat analysis at Palmyra also could help inform conservation at similar latitudes across the planet. Beyond the Sea: Other Internet of Animals Studies Research at Palmyra Atoll is just one example of work by Internet of Animals scientists. Claire Teitelbaum, a researcher with the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute based at NASA Ames, studies avian flu in wild waterfowl, investigating how their movement may contribute to transmission of the virus to poultry and other domestic livestock. Teams at Ames and JPL are also working with USGS to create next-generation wildlife tags and sensors. Low-power radar tags in development at JPL would be lightweight enough to track small birds. Ames researchers plan to develop long-range radio tags capable of maximizing coverage and transmission of data from high-flying birds. This could help researchers take measurements in hard-to-reach layers of the atmosphere. With the technology brought together by the Internet of Animals, even wildlife can take an active role in the study of Earth’s interacting systems, helping human experts learn more about our planet and how best to confront the challenges facing the natural world. To learn more about the Internet of Animals visit: https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-earth-exchange-nex/new-missions-support/internet-of-animals/ The Internet of Animals project is funded by NASA and managed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The team at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley is part of the NASA Earth Exchange, a Big Data initiative providing unique insights into Earth’s systems using the agency’s supercomputers at the center. Partners on the project include the U.S. Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change, Stanford University, University of Hawaii, University of California Santa Barbara, San Jose State University, University of Washington, and the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior. For Researchers The research collaboration’s dataset from Palmyra is available in open access: Palmyra Bluewater Research Marine Animal Telemetry Dataset, 2022-2023 Related research from Morgan Gilmour’s team was published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation in June 2022: “Evaluation of MPA designs that protect highly mobile megafauna now and under climate change scenarios.” Media Contacts Members of the news media interested in covering this topic should reach out to the NASA Ames newsroom. About the AuthorMilan LoiaconoScience Communication SpecialistMilan Loiacono is a science communication specialist for the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. Share Details Last Updated Jul 10, 2024 Related TermsGeneralAmes Research CenterAmes Research Center's Science DirectorateOceans Explore More 1 min read NASA Technology Soars at Selfridge Air Show Article 1 day ago 1 min read NASA Glenn Welcomes Summer Student Interns Article 1 day ago 7 min read Spectral Energies developed a NASA SBIR/STTR-Funded Tech that Could Change the Way We Fly Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Several transient luminous events illuminate pockets of Earth’s upper atmosphere. A line of thunderstorms off the coast of South Africa powers the rare phenomena. NASA/Matthew Dominick NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick photographed red sprites in Earth’s upper atmosphere from the International Space Station on June 3, 2024. The bright red flashes (more easily seen by clicking on the photo to see a larger version) are a less understood phenomena associated with powerful lightning events and appear high above the clouds in the mesosphere. Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), including red sprites, are colorful bursts of energy that appear above storms as a result of lightning activity occurring in and below storms on Earth. Crew members typically capture TLEs with wide focal lengths during Earth timelapses. Instruments mounted outside station, like Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM), can capture a range of data for researchers on Earth using cameras, photometers, X-ray and gamma-ray detectors. Learn more about seeing storms from space. While space station crew hunt for TLEs from space, you can help right here on Earth: send your photographs of sprites and other TLEs to NASA’s citizen science project, Spritacular, to contribute to a crowdsourced database that professional scientists can use for research. Image Credit: NASA/Matthew Dominick View the full article

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy gives keynote remarks during the 37th Space Symposium, April 5, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy will visit Japan and the Republic of Korea beginning Thursday, July 11, to underscore the critical role of international cooperation in advancing space exploration and technology development. During her week-long visit to the region, Melroy will engage with ministers and other senior government officials in both countries, including leaders from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and KASA (Korea AeroSpace Administration) to strengthen partnerships and highlight civil space cooperation. In Tokyo, Melroy will participate in the Secure World Foundation’s 6th Summit for Space Sustainability, highlighting NASA’s leadership in responsible and sustainable operations amid rapid technological advancements, many of them championed by the agency. NASA and JAXA are working to advance sustainable human exploration of the Moon. NASA announced in April that Japan will design, develop, and operate a pressurized rover for exploration of the lunar surface. The activity is part of a shared goal for a Japanese national to be the first non-American to land on the Moon as part of a future Artemis mission, assuming important benchmarks are achieved. In addition, NASA and JAXA are advancing goals in climate research and space science missions to benefit humanity. Melroy also will speak alongside other space agency leaders at the 45th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research in Busan, Korea, emphasizing opportunities for international and commercial collaboration in space research. The visit to Korea coincides with the recent establishment of KASA and builds upon decades of collaboration with NASA in exploration, Earth and space science, and aeronautics. For more information about NASA’s international partnerships, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir -end- Amber Jacobson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jul 10, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsEarth's MoonOffice of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Mars Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions All Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets 2 min read Sols 4239-4240: ‘Vuggin’ Out’ NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of a target named “Glacier Notch” on July 6, 2024, Sol 4236 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, at 16:55:06 UTC. Curiosity used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, capturing the image from 32 centimeters (about 13 inches) away. Earth planning date: Monday, July 8, 2024 And just like we planned, Curiosity successfully drove about 11 meters (about 36 feet) after a 27-sol drill campaign at Mammoth Lakes! Not so fast, though, these rocks are just too interesting to leave behind so quickly. Instead of high-tailing it uphill like we usually do after a drill campaign, we’re staying put for another plan to get as much contact science on these diversely-toned rocks with mysterious origins and vugs (geologic term for the cavities in the rock) galore. It’s been a high priority to get as much color documentation of the clasts in the area, so a plan like this has kept my team busy commanding the Mastcams! The first sol of this plan includes a long, 90-minute remote science block including about 50 minutes of ChemCam LIBS and RMI, about 32 minutes of Mastcam images, and a six-minute dust devil movie taken by Navcam. ChemCam is using its one-LIBS-per-sol on a conglomeratic block target named “Mount Baxter,” and an RMI of Echo Ridge to the south. Mastcam is taking a 12-image mosaic of Mount Baxter after the LIBS work is done, and a huge 54-image mosaic to the east of Echo Ridge called “Stubblefield Canyon.” After the mast instruments are done, our rover will take about a four-hour long nap and wake up to unstow our arm. Arm activities this plan include two vug-tastic targets named “Lake Dorothy” and “Palisade Glacier,” both imaged by MAHLI and investigated by APXS. Curiosity is back to sleep by about 22:50, which sounds like my perfect sleep schedule. The second sol of this plan includes a 60-minute remote science block containing about 45 minutes of ChemCam LIBS and RMI, only about six minutes of Mastcam images, and a whopping two hours of dust devil and environmental monitoring by Navcam. With 27 sols at our last location, we noticed significant wind motion between repeated images, and Navcam monitoring helps us keep track of how windy it is. Our rover will take another midday nap and wake up in the evening for a bonus APXS integration on Lake Dorothy, helping raise the signal-to-noise ratio and uncover more secrets (and questions) these Martian rocks have been keeping for millions of years. Written by Natalie Moore, Mission Operations Specialist at Malin Space Science Systems Share Details Last Updated Jul 10, 2024 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 2 min read Sols 4236-4238: One More Time… for Contact Science at Mammoth Lakes Article 4 days ago 2 min read Sols 4234-4235: And That’s (Nearly) a Wrap on Mammoth Lakes! Article 7 days ago 5 min read Sols 4232-4233: Going For a Ride, Anyone? Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

4 Min Read NASA’s Hubble Finds Strong Evidence for Intermediate-Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the globular star cluster, Omega Centauri. Credits: ESA/Hubble, NASA, Maximilian Häberle (MPIA) Most known black holes are either extremely massive, like the supermassive black holes that lie at the cores of large galaxies, or relatively lightweight, with a mass of under 100 times that of the Sun. Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are scarce, however, and are considered rare “missing links” in black hole evolution. Now, an international team of astronomers has used more than 500 images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope — spanning two decades of observations — to search for evidence of an intermediate-mass black hole by following the motion of seven fast-moving stars in the innermost region of the globular star cluster Omega Centauri. Omega Centauri is about 10 times as massive as other big globular clusters – almost as massive as a small galaxy – and consists of roughly 10 million stars that are gravitationally bound. ESA/Hubble, NASA, Maximilian Häberle (MPIA) Download this image These stars provide new compelling evidence for the presence of the gravitational pull from an intermediate-mass black hole tugging on them. Only a few other IMBH candidates have been found to date. Omega Centauri consists of roughly 10 million stars that are gravitationally bound. The cluster is about 10 times as massive as other big globular clusters — almost as massive as a small galaxy. Among the many questions scientists want to answer: Are there any IMBHs, and if so, how common are they? Does a supermassive black hole grow from an IMBH? How do IMBHs themselves form? Are dense star clusters their favored home? The astronomers have now created an enormous catalog for the motions of these stars, measuring the velocities for 1.4 million stars gleaned from the Hubble images of the cluster. Most of these observations were intended to calibrate Hubble’s instruments rather than for scientific use, but they turned out to be an ideal database for the team’s research efforts. This image shows the central region of the Omega Centauri globular cluster, where NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope found strong evidence for an intermediate-mass black hole candidate. ESA/Hubble, NASA, Maximilian Häberle (MPIA) Download this image “We discovered seven stars that should not be there,” explained Maximilian Häberle of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, who led this investigation. “They are moving so fast that they would escape the cluster and never come back. The most likely explanation is that a very massive object is gravitationally pulling on these stars and keeping them close to the center. The only object that can be so massive is a black hole, with a mass at least 8,200 times that of our Sun.” Several studies have suggested the presence of an IMBH in Omega Centauri. However, other studies proposed the mass could be contributed by a central cluster of stellar-mass black holes, and had suggested the lack of fast-moving stars above the necessary escape velocity made an IMBH less likely in comparison. An international team of astronomers used more than 500 images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope – spanning two decades of observations – to detect seven fast-moving stars in the innermost region of Omega Centauri, the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky. These stars provide compelling new evidence for the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) tugging on them. Only a few other IMBH candidates have been found to date. This image shows the location of the IMBH in Omega Centauri. If confirmed, at its distance of 17,700 light-years the candidate black hole resides closer to Earth than the 4.3-million-solar-mass black hole in the center of the Milky Way, which is 26,000 light-years away. Besides the Galactic center, it would also be the only known case of a number of stars closely bound to a massive black hole. This image includes three panels. The first image at left shows the globular cluster Omega Centauri, a collection of myriad stars colored red, white, and blue on the black background of space. The second image shows the details of the central region of this cluster, with a closer view of the individual stars. The third image shows the location of the IMBH candidate in the cluster. ESA/Hubble, NASA, Maximilian Häberle (MPIA) Download this image “This discovery is the most direct evidence so far of an IMBH in Omega Centauri,” added team lead Nadine Neumayer of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany, who initiated the study, together with Anil Seth from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. “This is exciting because there are only very few other black holes known with a similar mass. The black hole in Omega Centauri may be the best example of an IMBH in our cosmic neighborhood.” If confirmed, at a distance of 17,700 light-years the candidate black hole resides closer to Earth than the 4.3-million-solar-mass black hole in the center of the Milky Way, located 26,000 light-years away. Omega Centauri is visible from Earth with the naked eye and is one of the favorite celestial objects for stargazers living in the southern hemisphere. Located just above the plane of the Milky Way, the cluster appears almost as large as the full Moon when seen from a dark rural area. It was first listed in Ptolemy’s catalog nearly 2,000 years ago as a single star. Edmond Halley reported it as a nebula in 1677. In the 1830s the English astronomer John Herschel was the first to recognize it as a globular cluster. The discovery paper led by Häberle et al. is published online today in the journal Nature. Scientists think a massive object is gravitationally pulling on the stars within Omega Centauri, keeping them close to its center. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Lead Producer: Paul Morris Download this video The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, Colorado, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA. Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contacts: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD Bethany Downer ESA/Hubble.org Science Contact: Maximilian Häberle Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany Share Details Last Updated Jul 10, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Black Holes Goddard Space Flight Center Hubble Space Telescope Missions Stars The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Monster Black Holes Are Everywhere Hubble’s Star Clusters Time Travel: Observing Cosmic History View the full article

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks during an event with Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to highlight how the agencies are making progress toward the Biden Cancer Moonshot on March 21 in the Earth Information Center at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. NASA is working with agencies and researchers across the federal government to help cut the nation’s cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years, a goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.Credits: NASA/Keegan Barber As part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot, NASA will virtually host an event at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, July 11, to highlight how the agency is working to end cancer for the benefit of humanity by conducting research aboard the International Space Station. The event will stream on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media. Additional participants include: Dr. Michael Roberts, chief scientific officer, International Space Station National Laboratory Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director, Sanford Stem Cell Institute at the University of California San Diego As a member of the Cancer Cabinet, NASA is working with agencies and researchers across the federal government to reduce the nation’s cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years, one of the ambitious but achievable goals of the Cancer Moonshot. Learn more about the Biden Cancer Moonshot at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/cancermoonshot/ -end- Faith McKie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 faith.d.mckie@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jul 10, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsInternational Space Station (ISS)Humans in SpaceISS Research View the full article

The inaugural CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) crew is “back on Earth” after walking out of their simulated Martian habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 6. The first of three simulated missions, CHAPEA Mission 1 was designed to help scientists, engineers, and mission planners better understand how living on another world could affect human health and performance. Kelly Haston, commander, Ross Brockwell, flight engineer, Nathan Jones, medical officer, and Anca Selariu, science officer, lived and worked in an isolated 1,700-square-foot, 3D-printed habitat to support human health and performance research to prepare for future missions to Mars. “Congratulations to the crew of CHAPEA Mission 1 on their completion of a year in a Mars-simulated environment,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Through the Artemis missions, we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars. The CHAPEA missions are critical to developing the knowledge and tools needed for humans to one day live and work on the Red Planet.” The crew stepped out of the habitat and back into the arms of family and friends after a 378-day simulated Mars surface mission that began June 25, 2023. This high-fidelity simulation involved the crew carrying out different types of mission objectives, including simulated “marswalks,” robotic operations, habitat maintenance, exercise, and crop growth. The crew also faced intentional environmental stressors in their habitat such as resource limitations, isolation, and confinement. For the next two weeks, the volunteers will complete post-mission data collection activities before returning home. “We planned the last 378 days with many of the challenges crews could face on Mars and this crew dedicated their lives over that time to achieve these unprecedented operational objectives,” said CHAPEA Principal Investigator Grace Douglas. “I am looking forward to diving into the data we have gathered, preparing for CHAPEA Mission 2 and eventually, a human presence on Mars.” As NASA works to establish a long-term presence for scientific discovery and exploration on the Moon through the Artemis campaign, analog missions like CHAPEA provide scientific data to validate systems and develop technological solutions for future missions to Mars. Two additional one-year CHAPEA missions are planned, with the next targeted to begin in 2025. The subsequent missions will be nearly identical, allowing researchers to collect data from more participants to expand the dataset and provide a broader perspective on the impacts of Mars-realistic resource limitations, isolation and confinement on human health and performance. NASA has several other avenues for gathering isolation research, including the Human Exploration Research Analog, Antarctica, and other analogs, as well as human spaceflight missions to the International Space Station to ensure key research goals can be completed to inform future human missions to the Moon and Mars. The CHAPEA simulated missions are unique because they test the impacts of extended isolation and confinement with the addition of Mars-realistic time delays of communicating to Earth – up to 44-minutes roundtrip – along with resource limitations relevant to Mars, including a more limited food system that can be supported on the space station and in other analogs. To view the ceremony of crew exiting their habitat, visit here. Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all. Learn more about CHAPEA at: www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/chapea/ View the full article

On July 8, 1994, space shuttle Columbia took to the skies on its 17th trip into space, on the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) mission. Six space agencies sponsored 82 life and microgravity science experiments. The seven-person crew consisted of Commander Robert D. Cabana, Pilot James D. Halsell, Payload Commander Richard J. Hieb, Mission Specialists Carl E. Walz, Leroy Chiao, and Donald A. Thomas, and Payload Specialist Chiaki Mukai representing the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Jean-Jacques H. Favier of the French space agency CNES served as a backup payload specialist. During their then-record setting 15-day shuttle flight, the international team of astronauts successfully completed the science program. They returned to earth on July 23. Left: The STS-65 crew patch. Middle: Official photo of the STS-65 crew of Richard J. Hieb, seated left, Robert D. Cabana, and Donald A. Thomas; Leroy Chiao, standing left, James D. Halsell, Chiaki Mukai of Japan, and Carl E. Walz. Right: The payload patch for the International Microgravity Laboratory-2. In August 1973, NASA and the European Space Research Organization, reorganized as the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1975, agreed to build a reusable laboratory called Spacelab to fly in the space shuttle’s cargo bay. As part of the agreement, ESA built two pressurized modules in addition to other supporting hardware. First flying on STS-9 in 1983, the 18-foot-long pressurized Spacelab module made its 10th flight on STS-65. In September 1992 NASA named Hieb as the IML-2 payload commander and Mukai and Favier as prime and backup payload specialists, respectively, adding Chiao and Thomas as mission specialists in October 1992, finally designating Cabana, Halsell, and Walz as the orbiter crew in August 1993. For Cabana and Hieb, both selected as astronauts in 1985, STS-65 marked their third spaceflight. NASA selected Halsell, Walz, Chiao, and Thomas in 1990, in the class nicknamed The Hairballs. Walz would make his second flight, with the other three making their first. NASDA selected Mukai in 1985 and she holds the distinction as the first Japanese woman in space. Chiao and Mukai as part of the STS-65 crew marked the first time that two Asians flew on the shuttle at the same time, and with Kazakh cosmonaut Talgat A. Musbayev aboard Mir, the first time that three people of Asian origins flew in space at the same time. Left: The STS-65 crew during preflight training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Right: Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare the Spacelab module for the STS-65 mission. Columbia returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida following its previous flight, STS-62, in March 1994. Technicians in KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) serviced the orbiter, removed the previous payload, and installed the Spacelab module in the payload bay. Following a successful leak check of the Spacelab module, rollover of Columbia from the OPF to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) took place on June 8, where workers mated it with an external tank (ET) and two solid rocket boosters (SRBs). Following integrated testing, the stack rolled out to Launch Pad 39A seven days later. The crew participated in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test on June 22. Liftoff of space shuttle Columbia on STS-65 carrying the second International Microgravity Laboratory. On July 8, 1994, precisely on time, Columbia thundered off KSC’s Launch Pad 39A to begin the STS-65 mission. For the first time in shuttle history, a video camera recorded the liftoff from the orbiter’s flight deck, showing the vibrations during the first two minutes while the SRBs fired, smoothing out once the shuttle main engines took over. Mounted inside Columbia’s payload bay, the Spacelab 18-foot-long module provided a shirt-sleeve environment for the astronauts to conduct the scientific experiments. As during many Spacelab missions, the STS-65 crew carried out science operations 24-hours a day, divided into two teams – the red shift comprised Cabana, Halsell, Hieb, and Mukai, while Chiao, Thomas, and Walz made up the blue shift. Left: Still image from video recorded on the shuttle’s flight deck during powered ascent. Middle: James D. Halsell, left, and Carl E. Walz moments after Columbia reached orbit. Right: View of the Spacelab module in the shuttle’s payload bay. Left: Richard J. Hieb opens the hatch from the airlock to the tunnel leading to the Spacelab module. Middle: Hieb and Chiaki Mukai begin activating Spacelab and its experiments. Right: The view from the tunnel showing astronauts at work in the Spacelab module. After reaching orbit, the crew opened the payload bay doors and deployed the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. Shortly after, Hieb opened the hatch to the transfer tunnel and translated through it to enter the Spacelab module for the first time. He and Mukai activated the module and turned on the first experiments. For the next 14 days, the astronauts worked round the clock, with Cabana, Halsell, and Walz managing the shuttle’s systems while Hieb, Chiao, Thomas, and Mukai conducted the bulk of the research. The astronauts commemorated the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch on July 16 and the Moon landing four days later, recalling that their spacecraft and the Command Module shared the name Columbia. Left: Chiaki Mukai of the National Space Development Agency of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, talks to students in Japan using the shuttle’s amateur radio. Middle: Richard J. Hieb, left, and Robert D. Cabana take an air sample from an experiment. Right: Hieb in the Lower Body Negative Pressure device. Left: Donald A. Thomas, left, Leroy Chiao, Richard J. Hieb, and Chiaki Mukai at work in the Spacelab module. Middle: Chiao, left, and Thomas work on the Biorack instruments. Right: Goldfish swim in the Aquatic Animal Experiment Unit. Left: Robert D. Cabana uses the shuttle’s amateur radio. Middle: Leroy Chiao looks out at the Earth. Right: Carl E. Walz working on the shuttle’s flight deck. Left: Carl E. Walz flies through the Spacelab module. Middle: Donald A. Thomas gives two thumbs up for the crew’s performance during the mission. Right: Thomas, left, Walz, and Leroy Chiao pay tribute to Apollo 11 on the 25th anniversary of the Moon landing mission. Left: The first time two Asians fly on the shuttle at the same time – Chiaki Mukai, left, of the National Space Development Agency of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, left, and NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Middle: Donald A. Thomas, left, James D. Halsell, Carl E. Walz, and Chiao, all selected in 1990 as part of astronaut class 13, nicknamed The Hairballs. Right: Inflight photograph of the STS-65 crew. A selection of the STS-65 crew Earth observation photographs. Left: Rio de Janeiro. Middle: Barrier islands in Papua New Guinea. Right: Hurricane Emilia in the central Pacific Ocean. Left: James D. Halsell uses the laptop-based PILOT to train for the entry and landing. Middle: The astronauts close Columbia’s payload bay doors prior to entry. Right: Flash of plasma seen through Columbia’s overhead window during reentry. At the end of 13 days, the astronauts finished the last of the experiments and deactivated the Spacelab module. Managers waved off the planned landing on July 22 due to cloudy weather at KSC. On July 23, the astronauts closed the hatch to the Spacelab module for the final time, closed Columbia’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats for entry and landing. Cabana piloted Columbia to a smooth landing on KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility, completing 236 orbits around the Earth in 14 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes, at the time the longest shuttle flight. Mukai set a then-record for the longest single flight by a woman. In October 1994, Columbia returned to its manufacturer, Rockwell International in Palmdale, California, for scheduled modification and refurbishment before its next mission, STS-73, in October 1995. Left: Robert D. Cabana pilots Columbia during the final approach to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, with the Vehicle Assembly Building visible through the window. Middle: Columbia touches down on KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility to end the STS-65 mission. Right: Donald A. Thomas, left, and Cabana give a thumbs up after the successful mission. The two Spacelab modules flew a total of 16 times, the last one during the STS-90 Neurolab mission in April 1998. Visitors can view the module that flew on STS-65 and eight other missions on display at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. The other module resides at the Airbus Defence and Space plant in Bremen, Germany, and not accessible to the public. The Spacelab long module that flew on STS-65 and eight other missions on display at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia. Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-65 mission. Read Cabana’s and Chiao’s recollections of the STS-65 mission in their oral histories with the JSC History Office. Explore More 11 min read Fourth of July Holidays in Space Article 1 week ago 9 min read 40 Years Ago: STS-41D – First Space Shuttle Launch Pad Abort Article 2 weeks ago 5 min read The 1998 Florida Firestorm and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The biofilm mitigation research team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center assembled its own test stand to undertake a multi-month assessment of a variety of natural and chemical compounds and strategies for eradicating biofilm accretion caused by bacteria and fungi in the wastewater tank assembly on the International Space Station. Testing will help NASA extend the lifecycle of water reclamation and recycling hardware and ensure astronauts can sustain clean, healthy water supplies on long-duration missions in space and on other worlds.NASA/Eric Beitle A small group of scientists on the biofilm mitigation team at NASA’s Marshall Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama, study solutions to combat the fast-growing colony of bacteria or fungi, known as biofilm, for future space missions. Biofilm occurs when a cluster of bacteria or fungi generates a slimy matrix of “extracellular polymeric substances” to protect itself from adverse environmental factors. Biofilm can be found nearly anywhere, from the gray-green scum floating on stagnant pond water to the pinkish ring of residue in a dirty bathtub. For medical, food production, and wastewater processing industries, biofilm is often a costly issue. But offworld, biofilm proves to be even more resilient. “Bacteria shrug off many of the challenges humans deal with in space, including microgravity, pressure changes, ultraviolet light, nutrient levels, even radiation,” said Yo-Ann Velez-Justiniano, a microbiologist and environmental control systems engineer at Marshall. Biofilm is icky, sticky – and hard to kill. Liezel Koellner Chemical Engineer and NASA Pathways Intern “Biofilm is icky, sticky – and hard to kill,” said Liezel Koellner, a chemical engineer and NASA Pathways intern from North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Koellner used sophisticated epifluorescence microscopy, 3D visualizations of 2D images captured at different focal planes, to fine-tune the team’s studies. Keenly aware of the potential hurdles biofilm could pose in future Artemis-era spacecraft and lunar habitats, NASA tasked engineers and chemists at Marshall to study mitigation techniques. Marshall built and maintains the International Space Station’s ECLSS (Environment Control and Life Support System) and is developing next-generation air and water reclamation and recycling technologies, including the system’s wastewater tank assembly. “The wastewater tank is ‘upstream’ from most of our built-in water purification methods. Because it’s a wastewater feed tank, bacteria and fungus grow well there, generating enough biofilm to clog flow paths and pipes along the route,” said Eric Beitle, ECLSS test engineer at Marshall. To date, the solution has been to pull and replace old hardware once parts become choked with biofilm. But engineers want to avoid the need for such tactics. “Even with the ability to 3D-print spare parts on the Moon or Mars, it makes sense to find strategies that prevent biofilm buildup in the first place,” said Velez-Justiniano. The team took the first step in June 2023 by publishing the complete genome sequence of several strains of bacteria isolated from the space station’s water reclamation system, all of which cultivate biofilm formation. They next designed a test stand simulating conditions in the wastewater tank about 250 miles overhead, which permits simultaneous study of multiple mitigation options. The rig housed eight Centers for Disease Control and Prevention biofilm reactors – cylindrical devices roughly the size of a runner’s water bottle – each 1/60th the size of the actual tank. Yo-Ann Velez-Justiniano, left, and Connor Murphy, right, both Environmental Control and Life Support Systems engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, prepare slides for study of cultured bacterial biofilm in the center’s test facility NASA/Eric Beitle Each bioreactor holds up to 21 unique test samples on slides, bathed continuously in a flow of real or ersatz wastewater, timed and measured by the automated system, and closely monitored by the team. Because of the compact bioreactor size, the test stand required 2.1 gallons of ersatz flow per week, continuously trickling 0.1 milliliters per minute into each of the eight bioreactors. “Essentially, we built a collection of tiny systems that all had to permit minute changes to temperature and pressure, maintain a sterile environment, provide autoclave functionality, and run in harmony for weeks at a time with minimal human intervention,” said Beitle. “One phase of the test series ran nonstop for 65 days, and another lasted 77 days. It was a unique challenge from an engineering perspective.” Different surface mitigation strategies, upstream counteragents, antimicrobial coatings, and temperature levels were introduced in each bioreactor. One promising test involved duckweed, a plant already recognized as a natural water purification system and for its ability to capture toxins and control wastewater odor. By devouring nutrients upstream of the bioreactor, the duckweed denied the bacteria what it needs to thrive, reducing biofilm growth by up to 99.9%. Over the course of the three-month testing period, teams removed samples from each bioreactor at regular intervals and prepared for study under a microscope to make a detailed count of the biofilm colony-forming units on each plate. “Bacteria and fungi are smart,” said Velez-Justiniano. “They adapt. We recognize that it is going to take a mix of effective biofilm mitigation methods to overcome this challenge.” Biofilm poses as an obstacle to long-duration spaceflight and extended missions on other worlds where replacement parts may be costly or difficult to obtain. The biofilm mitigation team continues to assess and publish findings, alongside academic and industry partners, and will further their research with a full-scale tank experiment at Marshall. They hope to progress to flight tests, experimenting with various mitigation methods in real microgravity conditions in orbit to find solutions to keep surfaces clean, water potable, and future explorers healthy. Joel Wallace Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256-786-0117 joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jul 09, 2024 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsMarshall Space Flight Center Explore More 30 min read The Marshall Star for July 3, 2024 Article 7 days ago 4 min read NASA Announces Winners of Inaugural Human Lander Challenge Article 2 weeks ago 22 min read The Marshall Star for June 26, 2024 Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

View of Gateway’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) at a Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy.Thales Alenia Space An interplay of light and shadows cast the docking ports for Gateway, humanity’s first space station around the Moon, into sharp relief. Built by NASA commercial partner Northrup Grumman, HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), is one of four modules where international teams of astronauts will live, conduct science, and prepare for missions to the lunar South Pole region. The module’s main structure is currently undergoing testing in Turin, Italy. One docking port seen inside HALO, image right, is where a cargo spacecraft and Gateway’s Lunar View module, provided by ESA (European Space Agency), will dock. The docking port shown outside of HALO, image left, is where the SpaceX Starship and the Blue Origin Blue Moon Human Landing Systems will dock during the Artemis IV and V missions, respectively. Gateway will launch to lunar orbit with the Power and Propulsion Element, provided by Maxar Space Systems, and later expand with ESA’s Lunar I-Hab and Lunar View modules, the Crew and Science Airlock provided by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, advanced external robotics provided by CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and critical hardware from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). NASA and its international partners will explore the scientific mysteries of deep space with Gateway. The space station is central to the Artemis architecture that will return humans to lunar surface for scientific discovery and chart a path for the first humans to Mars. An artist’s concept image of a docking port on Gateway’s HALO module.NASA/Alberto Bertolin, Bradley Reynolds An artist’s concept image of the Gateway space station showing ESA’s Lunar View module and a government-reference Human Landing System docked to HALO.NASA Learn More About Gateway Facebook logo @NASAGateway @NASA_Gateway Instagram logo @nasaartemis Share Details Last Updated Jul 10, 2024 EditorBriana R. ZamoraContactBriana R. Zamorabriana.r.zamora@nasa.gov Related TermsArtemisEarth's MoonGateway ProgramGateway Space StationHumans in SpaceJohnson Space Center Explore More 5 min read From Polar Peaks to Celestial Heights: Christy Hansen’s Unique Path to Leading NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program Article 22 hours ago 2 min read NextSTEP Q: CIS Capability Studies III – Lunar User Terminals & Network Orchestration and Management System Article 2 days ago 2 min read NASA Shares Use Requirements with Commercial Destination Partners Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Gateway Built with international and commercial partners, Gateway will be humanity’s first space station around the Moon as a vital component… Artemis Orion Spacecraft Moon to Mars Architecture View the full article

Girls United co-founder Rechelle Dennis, left, continues a conversation about how to become a shining star in the face of adversity with NASA Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars Program Office Lakiesha Hawkins, center, and NASA Director of Engagement Aya Collins at the Take Up Space (Literally) panel conversation during the 30th annual ESSENCE Fest in New Orleans on July 5. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA joined the self-designated “party with a purpose” to let participants in the 30th ESSENCE Festival of Culture in New Orleans know there is space for everybody at the space agency. NASA representatives from the agency’s Headquarters in Washington participated in a panel conversation about Black women in the aerospace industry and diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). NASA Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars Program Office Lakiesha Hawkins and NASA Director of Engagement Aya Collins spoke to fest participants during the Take Up Space (Literally) presentation on July 5. On both July 5-6, representatives from NASA Headquarters and NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, also hosted an informational/interactive booth at the Audubon Aquarium near the festival meeting site. The representatives shared about NASA’s Artemis campaign, and NASA Stennis’ role as America’s largest rocket propulsion test site. With the Artemis campaign, 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. NASA representatives at the Audubon Aquarium provided attendees with memorabilia and an immersive experience to the International Space Station, which serves as the world’s leading space laboratory. Astronauts aboard the space station are conducting cutting-edge research and technology development to support human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including the Moon and Mars. The annual ESSENCE Fest attracts hundreds of thousands of people to New Orleans during the Fourth of July weekend to celebrate the Black community. The NASA outreach and engagement effort continues the agency’s commitment to advance equity and reach deeper into underrepresented and underserved segments of society as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. Explore the Essence Fest Gallery Share Details Last Updated Jul 09, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related TermsStennis Space Center Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Stennis About NASA Stennis Stennis People NASA Stennis Front Door Visit NASA Stennis View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Michael Williams of United Space Alliance paints the NASA logo — known as the “meatball” — on the left wing of space shuttle Endeavour in 2012.Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis NASA’s logo turns 65 on Monday, July 15, and media are invited to its birthday celebration in Cleveland, the city where the iconic symbol was designed. To mark the logo’s birthday, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will host a series of activities celebrating the city’s connection to one of the most recognized logos in the world from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on July 15 at Great Lakes Science Center, home of Glenn’s visitor center. Admission to the Science Center will be free, and the event is open to the public. A birthday celebration and cake-cutting ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. and feature remarks from center leadership, a visit from the logo designer’s family, and special presentations from the city and state. Other activities include: History and Symbolism of NASA Insignia Presentation, noon and 2 p.m. NASA Creatives Presentation featuring Glenn’s award-winning photographers and videographers, 1 p.m. Coloring contest, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Coloring contest winners announced, 2 p.m. Eva the Astronaut mascot appearance and photo ops, 1 to 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. NASA Creatives Presentation featuring retired NASA Glenn photographer Marv Smith, 3 p.m. The round blue, white, and red logo affectionately nicknamed the “meatball” became official in 1959 and was designed by the late James Modarelli, a Cleveland Institute of Art graduate and employee of Lewis Research Center (now NASA Glenn). Media interested in covering the event should contact Jacqueline Minerd at jacqueline.minerd@nasa.gov. For more information on NASA Glenn events, visit: https:www.nasa.gov/glenn-communityengagement/ -end- Jacqueline Minerd Glenn Research Center, Cleveland 216-433-6036 jacqueline.minerd@nasa.gov View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Tim Campbell, a NASA solar system ambassador, shares highlights of a moon rock with visitors inside the Journey to Tomorrow traveling exhibit. Credit: NASA/Christopher Hartenstine NASA’s Glenn Research Center staff traveled to Michigan for the Selfridge Air National Guard Base air show, open house, and STEAM Expo, June 8 and 9. NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow, a 53-foot traveling exhibit, was a popular feature that showcased exploration in air and space. Additionally, experts from NASA’s Fission Surface Power project shared information on the agency’s current and future work in this area. Lindsay Kaldon, project manager for the Fission Surface Power project, left, joined the air show’s broadcast to discuss NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions portfolio and pathways to STEAM careers at NASA.  Credit: NASA/Christopher Hartenstine Members of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) outreach team supported hands-on engagement in the STEAM Expo hangar. Trudy Kortes, director of Technology Demonstrations for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and Lindsay Kaldon, project manager for the Fission Surface Power project, joined the air show’s broadcast to discuss NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions portfolio and pathways to STEAM careers at NASA.  Return to Newsletter Explore More 1 min read NASA Glenn Welcomes Summer Student Interns Article 15 mins ago 7 min read Spectral Energies is a NASA SBIR/STTR-Funded Tech that Could Change the Way We Fly Article 1 hour ago 3 min read Happy Birthday, Meatball! NASA’s Iconic Logo Turns 65 Article 1 day ago View the full article

The International and Space Law Practice Group (ISLPG) is responsible for providing legal advice and counsel regarding international matters at Headquarters and all NASA Centers. Some of the legal issues for which ISLPG is responsible include: international law, including space law; domestic law which may impact NASA’s international cooperation; issues involving the United Nations or other multilateral organizations; international trade; telecommunications and use of the radiofrequency spectrum; international aspects of commercialization; export control; and national security. ISLPG advises on negotiating, drafting, executing, and interpreting agreements, understandings, treaties and exchanges with all types of foreign entities (both commercial and governmental), including international organizations. Contacts Associate General Counsel: Rebecca Bresnik Attorney Staff: David Balajthy Bryan Diederich David Lopez Steven Mirmina Brian Wessel Organization and Leadership Headquarters OGC Organization OGC Leadership Directory— Contact Information for the Headquarters Leadership and Center Chief Counsels Resources International Law Resources OGC Disclaimer: The materials within this website do not constitute legal advice. For details read our disclaimer. View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Members of NASA Glenn Research Center’s Rainbow Alliance Advisory Group hosted a booth to share information on NASA during the “Pride in the CLE” event. Credit: NASA/Steven Logan For the second year in a row, NASA Glenn Research Center’s Rainbow Alliance Advisory Group (RAAG), with support from additional Glenn employees, marched in Cleveland’s “Pride in the CLE” festival on June 1. This year, they widened their presence by staffing an exhibit booth, which showcased NASA and inclusion in the workplace. Throughout the day, RAAG members engaged with more than 1,500 members of the public, distributing NASA stickers and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion pins. They also shared information on employment and internship opportunities and details of NASA Glenn’s work in aeronautics and aerospace. NASA’s Glenn Research Center employees march in the “Pride in the CLE” parade in downtown Cleveland. Credit: NASA/Steven Logan The event was supported by NASA Glenn’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility committee. Return to Newsletter Explore More 1 min read NASA Glenn Welcomes Summer Student Interns Article 15 mins ago 2 min read NASA Prepares for Air Taxi Passenger Comfort Studies Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read NASA Parachute Sensor Testing Could Make EPIC Mars Landings Article 2 weeks ago View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon talks with a student intern prior to an orientation session. Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin NASA Glenn Research Center’s Office of STEM Engagement provided a multi-faceted orientation—including a welcome from Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon—for 151 student interns (on-site and virtually) last month. This summer, student interns from across the United States and U.S. territories will gain practical experience while working with scientists, engineers, and individuals from many other professions. NASA Glenn Research Center’s students interning on-site this summer pose for a group photo at the back of the hangar at Lewis Field in Cleveland. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna Events included information about NASA Glenn’s various departments, resources, and services, offering interns a comprehensive overview of the center. A special event featured 17 organizations showcasing the various resources and opportunities available to students during their internships. A livestream of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test Launch was part of the activities. Return to Newsletter Explore More 1 min read NASA Technology Soars at Selfridge Air Show Article 14 mins ago 1 min read Rainbow Alliance Advisory Group Showcases NASA at Pride Event in Downtown Cleveland Article 15 mins ago 7 min read Spectral Energies is a NASA SBIR/STTR-Funded Tech that Could Change the Way We Fly Article 1 hour ago View the full article

2 min read Celebrate the Heliophysics Big Year with Free Heliophysics and Math Webinars from NASA HEAT The Heliophysics Big Year (HBY) is a global celebration of the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system. It began with the Annular Solar Eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, continued through the Total Solar Eclipse on Apr. 8, 2024, and will conclude with Parker Solar Probe’s closest approach to the Sun in December 2024. Challenged by the NASA Heliophysics Division to participate in as many Sun-related activities as possible, the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT) has been hosting a monthly webinar for formal and informal educators, science communicators, and other heliophysics enthusiasts to promote the understanding of heliophysics in alignment with monthly HBY themes. Each webinar’s content is designed with the Framework of Heliophysics Education in mind and maps directly to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Using the three main questions that heliophysicists investigate as a foundation, NASA HEAT cross-referenced heliophysics topics with the NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas to create NGSS-aligned “heliophysics big ideas.” In each webinar, three math problems related to the theme are presented for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level learners. On average, there have been 30 attendees per webinar. Register for upcoming webinars: 7/16/24 Physical and Mental Health 8/20/24 Back to School 9/17/24 Environment and Sustainability 10/15/24 Solar Cycle and Solar Max 11/19/24 Bonus Science 12/17/24 Parker’s Perihelion NASA HEAT is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn A coronal mass ejection on Feb. 27, 2000 taken by SOHO LASCO C2. SOHO/ESA/NASA Share Details Last Updated Jul 09, 2024 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms 2023 Solar Eclipse 2024 Solar Eclipse Heliophysics Heliophysics Division Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Science Activation The Sun Explore More 2 min read NASA’s Neurodiversity Network Interns Speak at National Space Development Conference Article 23 hours ago 3 min read NASA Mission to Study Mysteries in the Origin of Solar Radio Waves Article 1 day ago 1 min read NASA Science Activation Teams Present at National Rural STEM Summit Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… Perseverance Rover This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial… Parker Solar Probe On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona… Juno NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to… View the full article

7 Min Read Spectral Energies is a NASA SBIR/STTR-Funded Tech that Could Change the Way We Fly City scape of New York City at sunrise with multiple airplanes and other flying vehicles. Credits: NASA SBIR/STTR Editor Note: Article written by Nicholas Mercurio With $20 million in commercial sales and $15 million in sales to government agencies, minority-owned small business Spectral Energies, based in Beavercreek, Ohio, has found a customer base for its pulse-burst laser systems. NASA has played a significant role in developing the technology through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. With wide-ranging applications including metrology to support commercial aircraft certification, as well as material processing, this technology could pave the way for new forms of passenger aircraft. The High Cost of Aircraft Certification Did you know that the Boeing 737 first entered service in 1968? Yet there’s a good chance that, if you’ve flown recently, it was on a Boeing 737. That’s due in large part to the cost of certifying new airplanes, which can range in the hundreds of millions of dollars. One place to look for cost savings is the testing process. When testing a new design for a space vehicle or commercial aircraft, researchers use wind tunnels to simulate flight conditions. The new aircraft or aircraft component—such as a new wing design—is built, put inside the wind tunnel, and evaluated. NASA has long sought to develop robust modeling and prediction software to significantly reduce the need for wind tunnel testing and expensive flight testing. Such software would allow initial analysis to be done on a computer model to identify performance improvement opportunities and iterate on designs, saving the actual manufacturing and its associated costs for a design much closer to being final. Innovations in laser measurement systems could finally bring this goal within reach. The Limitations of Traditional Lasers and Early Pulse-Burst Laser Systems Entering into use in the 1980s and still widely used today, traditional commercial laser systems operate at 10 Hz, meaning they can fire 10 times per second into the air moving around an aircraft in a wind tunnel. This essentially provides a “photograph” of the air flow at that moment. But a tenth of a second is a long time, especially when NASA wind tunnels can test vehicles at up to ten times the speed of sound. In a tenth of a second, the pocket of air from the previous image has long since moved on, meaning the second image is capturing something completely different than the first and crucial data is lost. Why is this data crucial? Because when an aircraft has stalled, it’s the air flow—how the air moves over, under, and around the aircraft—that matters. This air flow changes rapidly in time, leading to effects like stall and buffet; measurement techniques need to be able to capture these rapid changes. Without a complete, data-backed understanding of air flow moment to moment, efforts to develop accurate modeling software have stalled. In the late 1990s, pulse-burst laser systems came onto the scene and delivered a dramatic increase in measurement speed. These systems—developed in part with support from the NASA SBIR program—went from producing a set of photograph-like images to delivering a movie-like sequence of data. However, these early systems were difficult to transport and operate, significantly limiting their use. NASA SBIR/STTR phasesCredits: NASA SBIR/STTR Enhancing Usability with Air Force SBIR Funding By providing funding to develop early-stage technologies, the NASA SBIR/STTR program helps de-risk and develop ideas, maturing them to the point where others can continue innovating. More than a decade after helping to fund some of the earliest pulse-burst laser systems, NASA awarded Phase I SBIR funding to Spectral Energies in 2009 for further advancement of the technology. The firm went on to receive Phase II and Phase III SBIR funding from the U.S. Air Force, leveraging these awards to create a commercial pulse-burst laser system that was smaller, easier to transport, more resilient and reliable, and simpler to operate due to significant software advancements. Air Force funding also enabled Spectral Energies to demonstrate several new applications of the system in combustion environments. With this foundational work in place, the technology was ready for further innovation to help NASA pursue its long-held goal of more effective air flow measurement and modeling. Spectral Energies work with the NASA SBIR/STTR program Spectral Energies resumed its work with the NASA SBIR/STTR program in 2014 with multiple Phase I awards. Through continuing program awards, including three Phase II Extended (II-E) and three Phase III contracts, the firm added new capabilities to its pulse-burst laser system, such as high-speed two-color thermometry, demonstrated in 2020. Previously, two-color thermometry was typically done at 10 Hz speeds with two lasers and two cameras. Spectral Energies worked with NASA to develop this capability at high-speed using their single-laser, single-camera system, thereby enabling three- and four-dimensional (i.e., three spatial coordinates and time) temperature measurement of chemical flows, a critical capability when designing new chemical propulsion systems. Further collaboration with NASA yielded additional capabilities in high-speed picosecond velocimetry and two-dimensional ultraviolet spectroscopy and imaging. Adding these measurement techniques to its technology allowed Spectral Energies to make commercial inroads into hypersonic wind tunnel testing, material processing, and defense applications. Rather than modifying the pulse-burst laser system to deliver these capabilities, each enhancement took the form of an add-on that could be attached to the system, similar to how you can add apps to your smart phone or attach a new lens to your camera. These NASA SBIR-funded add-ons have increased the return on investment (ROI) for each of Spectral Energies’ customers across federal agencies, research universities, and commercial companies. Growing a Small Business For small businesses, the hunger to do more is often quelled by the reality of limited resources. As a result, necessity is often the biggest driver of decision-making: What do we need to do today to keep our doors open tomorrow? Funding from the NASA SBIR/STTR program allowed Spectral Energies to move into a different mindset and tap into their creative drive. “Through the NASA program, we started diversifying in hypersonic test facilities from subsonic combustion facilities,” said Dr. Sukesh Roy, CEO of Spectral Energies, “and that opened many doors for the application of this laser, from detonation to directed energies. Without the funding from NASA, it would have been impossible for us to push for versatile technological enhancements that significantly broadened the application field.” Moving into the research and development of new applications allowed the company to widen its focus and ultimately find a larger customer base. Spectral Energies’ continued work with the NASA SBIR/STTR program has helped the company further grow and succeed. By providing entry into new industries and new capabilities for existing customers, the add-on technologies developed with NASA SBIR-funding have generated significant commercial revenue for the small business. Additionally, these developments have opened the door for new funding opportunities with the Air Force, Navy, Army, and Missile Defense Agency. Without the funding from NASA, it would have been impossible for us to push for versatile technological enhancements that significantly broadened the application field. Dr. Sukesh Roy CEO of Spectral Energies Providing Benefit to NASA and Beyond Dr. Paul Danehy, Senior Technologist for Advanced Measurement Systems at NASA’s Langley Research Center, has worked with Spectral Energies on a number of projects through the program. According to Dr. Danehy, not only did NASA SBIR funding aid the company’s technology growth, program funding also made it possible for NASA researchers to make use of this technology. As Dr. Danehy explains, SBIR/STTR Post Phase II funding vehicles like Phase II-E and Phase III allow other programs within NASA to pool money together, then receive matching funds from the SBIR/STTR program. This matching funding increases the purchasing power of other NASA programs and has allowed the agency to acquire two of Spectral Energies’ pulse-burst laser systems, complete with add-ons. Agency researchers are using these pulse-burst laser systems to obtain unique quantitative flow field measurements that will allow them to refine software codes to accurately design and evaluate new aerospace vehicles. In time, these software codes could cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the certification of commercial aircraft, allowing new planes to be developed and made available to passengers faster and cheaper. View the full article

Christy Hansen’s journey with NASA spans more than two decades and is marked by roles that have shaped her into a leader in space exploration. Now serving on a six-month rotation as the deputy manager for NASA’s CLDP (Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program) at Johnson Space Center in Houston, she brings 25 years of human spaceflight experience and a global perspective on Earth sciences to her role. Prior to her rotation, she served as the Artemis deputy mission manager in the Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington, where she supported Artemis missions and facilitated the integration of science and utilization activities into the mission architecture and planning. Hansen now leverages her vast expertise to advance NASA’s commercial space initiatives and support the agency’s long-term goals. Christy Hansen serves a six-month rotation as deputy manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Bill Hrybyk She is no stranger to Johnson. From 1999 to 2010, Hansen worked as an operations engineer in Johnson’s Flight Operations Directorate, focusing on astronaut training and flight control. She developed procedures, planned spacewalks, and trained astronauts to work in space suits with specialty tools on Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and Hubble Space Telescope missions. She was instrumental in supporting real-time operations as a flight controller for space station assembly missions and the final mission to service Hubble in 2009. In 2010, Hansen became the operations manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland for the Robotic Refueling Mission, a technology demonstration payload that flew to the orbiting laboratory on STS-135. By 2012 she transitioned to airborne science project management at Goddard, leading multiple missions including Operation IceBridge’s first deployment to Antarctica. Her work focused on studying changes in Earth’s ice sheets and sea ice in Greenland and Antarctica, where she collaborated with scientists, engineers, and managers to design aircraft-based Earth science missions. Christy Hansen at Antarctica’s geographic south pole in 2012. Faced with her husband’s diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2014, Hansen drew on her vast experience and passion for engineering to solve a deeply personal issue on the ground. Combining her technical expertise and pioneering spirit, she led an effort to bring eye-gaze technology to Goddard, enabling individuals with neurodegenerative disabilities to continue working without the use of their hands or voice. Her husband, Dave Parker, an engineer at Goddard who worked on all hubble servicing missions and tech demo payloads on the space station, was determined to keep working even when he could not use his arms, legs, hands, or voice. Together, they researched and pushed for this capability, ensuring that the technology could help many others in similar situations. After collaborating with Goddard information technology and the commercial-off-the-shelf Tobi eye gaze company, they managed to implement the system within a year. Parker worked for a year and a half using this technology and supported the real-time installation of space station hardware he helped design from his hospital bed before passing away in March 2021. Hansen continues to work with NASA’s Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity to make this a standard accommodation option. In her new role, she aims to support the development of an innovative acquisition strategy that fosters a robust commercial low Earth orbit environment. “I look forward to working with the CLDP team and our stakeholders to develop a creative and smart approach that enables a commercially led and operated low Earth orbit destination,” she said. “This includes fostering an open dialogue across disciplines, including critical tech authorities, programs, our industry and international partners, and Johnson and headquarters leadership. We can only go great places together.” Her background in human spaceflight and science missions has given her a unique perspective. “I truly enjoy building partnerships and working across broad teams to achieve amazing goals,” she said. “This diversity of experience gave me an understanding of the critical goals, priorities, and culture of our key NASA stakeholders – and how we must integrate and work together to achieve the NASA mission.” Through her career, she has learned to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things. “Be curious and proactively create space for all voices to be heard; there is more than one way to do things, and you must be open and receptive to different communication styles and experiences,” she said. “I lean on my broad experiences wherever I go.” Christy Hansen at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland during her time as the project manager for NASA’s Operation IceBridge. NASA/Bill Hrybyk For young girls interested in a career in space, her advice is clear: “Go, go, go! You will face challenges and hurdles, but human spaceflight and NASA need your ideas, experiences, and energy. You uniquely bring momentum in a way others cannot – so don’t compare yourself to others. Study and do what you love – as that will get you through the hard times.” Looking ahead, she is eager to help make space accessible and affordable to all, enabling a broader and diverse field of future flyers. “These destinations will enable critical science, human research, and tech development – important steppingstones to help us achieve our goals of landing on the Moon again and ultimately going to Mars,” she said. “No matter how dynamic and challenging our work is, my passion for human spaceflight and the NASA mission is inherently part of me.” The agency’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit will provide the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost and enable the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions. Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/ View the full article

NASA/Michael DeMocker NASA is preparing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage that will help power the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign for shipment. On July 6, NASA and Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, moved the Artemis II rocket stage to another part of the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The move comes as teams prepare to roll the massive rocket stage to the agency’s Pegasus barge for delivery to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in mid-July. Prior to the move, technicians began removing external access stands, or scaffolding, surrounding the rocket stage in early June. NASA and Boeing teams used the scaffolding surrounding the core stage to assess the interior elements, including its complex avionics and propulsion systems. The 212-foot core stage has two huge propellant tanks, avionics and flight computer systems, and four RS-25 engines, which together enable the stage to operate during launch and flight. The stage is fully manufactured and assembled at Michoud. Building, assembling, and transporting is a joint process for NASA, Boeing, and lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company. NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch. News Media Contact Corinne Beckinger Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256.544.0034 corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov View the full article

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard, approaches the International Space Station for an autonomous docking as it orbited 257 miles above the South Pacific Ocean. Leadership from NASA and Boeing will participate in a media briefing at 12:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 10, to discuss the agency’s Crew Flight Test at the International Space Station. Audio of the media teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website: https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv Participants include: Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing Media interested in participating must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than one hour prior to the start of the call at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate Starliner’s propulsion system performance and five small helium leaks in the spacecraft’s service module, gathering as much data as possible while docked to the International Space Station. Once all the necessary ground testing and associated data analysis is complete, leaders from NASA and Boeing will conduct an agency-level review before returning from the orbiting complex. As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off on June 5, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on an end-to-end test of the Starliner system. The crew docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module on June 6. Since their arrival on June 6, Wilmore and Williams have completed half of all hands-on research time conducted aboard the space station, allowing their crewmates to prepare for the departure of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft. NASA also will hold an Earth to space news conference at 11 a.m., Wednesday, July 10, with the Crew Flight Test astronauts to discuss the mission. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is delivering on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, science, and commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon under Artemis, and ultimately, to Mars. For NASA’s blog and more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew -end- Josh Finch / Jimi Russell Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov Steve Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie Plucinsky Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-867-2468 steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov Leah Cheshier / Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov View the full article

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft and the International Space Station above western Mongolia (Credits: NASA). Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft is scheduled to depart the International Space Station on Friday, July 12, five and a half months after delivering more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, scientific investigations, commercial products, hardware, and other cargo to the orbiting laboratory for NASA and its international partners. This mission was the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the space station for NASA. Live coverage of the spacecraft’s departure will begin at 6:30 a.m. EDT on the 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. Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach Cygnus from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port, then maneuver the spacecraft into position for its release at 7 a.m. NASA astronaut Mike Barratt will monitor Cygnus’ systems upon its departure from the space station. Following unberthing, theKentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment-2 (KREPE-2), stowed inside Cygnus, will take measurements to demonstrate a thermal protection system for the spacecraft and its contents during re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere. Cygnus – filled with trash packed by the station crew – will be commanded to deorbit on Saturday, July 13, setting up a destructive re-entry in which the spacecraft will safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. The Northrop Grumman spacecraft arrived at the space station Feb. 1, following a launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station on the station blog, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Learn more about Cygnus’ mission and the International Space Station at: https://www.nasa.gov/station -end- Joshua Finch / Julian Coltre Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov Sandra Jones / Dominique Crespo Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / dominique.v.crespo@nasa.gov View the full article

NASA The space shuttle Columbia launches from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 8, 1994. This was the second flight of International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2), carrying more than twice the number of experiments and facilities as IML-1. The crew split into two teams to perform around-the-clock research. More than 80 experiments, representing more than 200 scientists from six space agencies, were in the Spacelab module. Fifty of these experiments delved into life sciences, including bioprocessing, space biology, human physiology, and radiation biology. STS-65’s crew included NASA astronauts Robert D. Cabana, James D. Halsell Jr., Richard J. Hieb, Carl E. Walz, Leroy Chiao, and Donald A. Thomas, as well as National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan astronaut Chiaki Naito-Mukai. On this flight, Naito-Mukai became the first Japanese woman in space. Image Credit: NASA View the full article

2 min read NASA’s Neurodiversity Network Interns Speak at National Space Development Conference Two high school interns funded by NASA’s Neurodiversity Network (N3) presented their work from Summer 2023 at the recent National Space Society (NSS) International Space Development Conference (ISDC-2024), held in Los Angeles, CA (May 23-26, 2024). Both interns were mentored by Dr. Pascal Lee, Planetary Scientist at the SETI Institute and Chair of the Mars Institute, who accompanied them to the conference. Intern Finn Braun, who is now a high school junior, co-authored the paper “An ATV for the Moon” with Dr. Lee. He worked with a CAD program to develop the concept, which might be of interest to NASA’s Artemis Program in the future. Intern Krista Heinemann, who has now graduated high school, co-authored the paper “New location for the ‘Noctis Landing’ candidate human landing site on Mars” in which she used NASA data about the Noctis Landing site provided by Dr. Lee to refine a possible landing location for future human missions to the surface of Mars. In addition to the oral presentations they gave, Braun and Heinemann lead-authored technical publications reporting their research. Braun and Heinemann were part of the 2023 N3 intern cohort, which included 19 other high school students, each paired with a NASA Subject Matter Expert as a mentor. The N3 internship program is now beginning its fourth summer with a new cohort of 21 additional interns. Dr. Lee noted, “Finn and Krista were outstanding interns, who now each have lead-authored scientific/technical publications while in high school. I am sure they will each do great things in the future.” The references for the two papers are: Braun, F. and P. Lee 2024. An ATV for the Moon. National Space Society International Space Development Conference, ISDC-2024, 23-26 May 2024, Los Angeles, CA, Moon Track, #2003. Heinemann, K. and P. Lee 2024. New location for the ‘Noctis Landing’ candidate human landing site on Mars. National Space Society International Space Development Conference, ISDC-2024, 23-26 May 2024, Los Angeles, CA, Mars Track, #3002. NASA’s Neurodiversity Network is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0004 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn Finn Braun speaks about his design for a lunar ATV at the 2024 International Space Development Conference while his mentor Dr. Pascal Lee looks on. NSS/Madhu Thangavelu Share Details Last Updated Jul 08, 2024 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms Internships Planetary Science Science Activation Explore More 1 min read NASA Science Activation Teams Present at National Rural STEM Summit Article 3 days ago 9 min read Behind the Scenes of a NASA ‘Moonwalk’ in the Arizona Desert Article 1 week ago 2 min read NASA@ My Library and Partners Engage Millions in Eclipse Training and Preparation Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… Perseverance Rover This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial… Parker Solar Probe On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona… Juno NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to… View the full article