NASA

5 min read NASA Awards Grants for Lunar Instrumentation NASA has awarded five scientists and engineers Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) grants to support the development of instruments for potential use in future lunar missions, including the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services and Artemis campaign. The awardees were recognized during NASA’s Technology Development Plan plenary session at the 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) March 13, in The Woodlands, Texas. “Supporting innovation and research in science and technology is a central part of NASA’s overall mission,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “These tools must demonstrate new technologies that significantly improve instrument measurement capabilities for addressing high-priority lunar science questions.” The goal of DALI is to develop and demonstrate instruments that show promise for use in future NASA flight opportunities. In addition, the instruments are intended to be ready for flight hardware build after the three-year project duration. Each of the selected scientists is granted approximately $1 million per year to develop their instrument. The grantees are based at institutions across the country: DALI grantees: Stuart George, Jason Kriesel, David Stillman, Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, Hao Cao DALI grantees: Stuart George, Jason Kriesel, David Stillman, Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, Hao Cao Stuart George, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston In this project, Dr. George will develop the Compact Electron Proton Spectrometer (CEPS), a miniaturized space weather and radiation measurement instrument. CEPS will provide long-term, science-quality space environment monitoring specifically targeted at real time forecasting of solar energetic particle events on the lunar surface, as well as radiation monitoring data for crew health and protection. A particular focus of the CEPS instrument is saturation-free measurement of the largest and most extreme solar particle events and high quality discrimination of proton and electron signals. Jason Kriesel, Opto- Knowledge Systems, Inc (OKSI) in Torrance, California Jason Kriesel, of OKSI, is teaming with Honeybee Robotics and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to produce a prototype instrument to measure lunar water and other volatiles on the Moon. The instrument will be designed to help answer important specific questions related to the origin, history, and future of water on the Moon, as well as help better understand planetary processes in general. The project will push forward a novel measurement approach using a hollow fiber optic gas cell, called a capillary absorption spectrometer (CAS). The CAS will be paired with a sample handling system optimized for analysis on the Moon. The resulting Lunar CAS (LuCAS) prototype will prove the technology on Earth, paving the way for its use on the Moon. David Stillman, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado The focus of Dr. Stillman’s project is the Synthetic Pulse Artemis Radar for Crustal Imaging (SPARCI; pronounced “sparky”), a novel ground penetrating radar (GPR). SPARCI uses two stationary transmitting antennas and a mobile receiver. This geometry was pioneered by the Apollo 17 Surface Electrical Properties (SEP) experiment. As a robotic or crewed rover traverses away from the transmitter, images of subsurface interfaces or discontinuities are built up. SPARCI uses a much wider bandwidth than the SEP, enabling both deeper and higher-resolution imaging, and its coded signals provide higher signal-to-noise. SPARCI will determine the thickness and density of the regolith (~10 meters), the structure of the upper megaregolith (100s m to kms), and the depth to the lower megaregolith (several km). SPARCI is therefore designed to advance our understanding of impact processes and crustal stratigraphy at the Artemis landing site(s), and eventually elsewhere on the Moon or other planets. Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri Dr. Gillis-Davis will lead the effort to develop an instrument to measure the chemistry of lunar materials using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). Compositional information acquired by LIBS will help identify major lunar rock types as well as determine major element ice compositions, which relate to volatile sources. Knowledge about the chemical composition of these materials is of fundamental importance in lunar science. For instance, determining the proportions of different lunar rock types at exploration sites satisfies key goals of NASA and the lunar community. Further, measurements by this instrument are essential for figuring out how much water or other resources are present in a particular location on the Moon and could provide a necessary step toward better understanding water delivery to the Earth-Moon system. This LIBS system would incorporate cutting-edge technologies while reducing size, weight, and power relative to other LIBS systems. Hao Cao, University of California, Los Angeles In this project, Dr. Cao and team will be developing a miniaturized, low-power, ultra-stable fluxgate magnetometer system for prolonged, uninterrupted operation on the lunar surface. The system incorporates a low-power, magnetically-clean thermal solution to achieve a temperature stability of 0.2 degrees Celsius at two distinct set-point temperatures, one for the lunar day and the other for the lunar night, to minimize fluxgate sensor offset drifts. This instrument will facilitate high-precision monitoring of the lunar magnetic fields across different timescales, enabling survey of the lunar surface magnetic environment and low-frequency electromagnetic sounding of the lunar deep interior. These measurements will provide invaluable insights into the bulk water content of the lunar mantle, characteristics of the partial melt layer above the lunar core, and the physical properties of the iron core of the Moon; thus, placing critical constraints on the formation and evolution of the Earth-Moon system. The deadline for NASA’s DALI24 Step-1 submissions is April 12, 2024. DALI is part of NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program (LDEP), which is managed by Science Mission Directorate’s Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office (ESSIO). ESSIO ensures science is infused into all aspects of lunar exploration and leads lunar science integration within the Science Mission Directorate, with other NASA mission directorates, other government agencies, international partners, and commercial communities. For more information about NASA’s Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office (ESSIO), visit: https://science.nasa.gov/lunar-science/ Facebook logo @NASA @NASA Instagram logo @NASA Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 3 min read NASA-Supported Team Discovers Aurora-Like Radio Bursts Above Sunspot Article 3 hours ago 5 min read Total Solar Eclipse 2024: The Moon’s Moment in the Sun To know exactly where and when the solar eclipse will cast its shadow, we study… Article 2 days ago 6 min read NASA’s Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe’s Expansion Rate, Puzzle Persists NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope have tag-teamed to produce definitive measurements of the… Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Asteroids Planetary Science Our Solar System Asteroids, Comets & Meteors View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) John Bodylski holds a balsa wood model of his proposed aircraft that could be an atmospheric probe. Directly in front of him is a fully assembled version of the aircraft and a large section of a second prototype at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.NASA/Steve Freeman NASA researchers are looking at the possibility of using a wingless, unpowered aircraft design from the 1960s to gather atmospheric data on other planets – doing the same work as small satellites but potentially better and more economically. John Bodylski, a principal investigator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, hypothesized a lifting body aircraft design NASA tested decades ago could meet the requirements for an atmospheric probe that can collect measurements of giant planets, like Uranus. The design relies on the aircraft’s shape for lift, rather than wings. The lifting body aircraft on Rogers Dry Lake, near what is now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, include, from left, the X-24A, the M2-F3, and the HL-10.NASA Bodylski submitted his idea and earned a NASA Armstrong Center Innovation Fund award to write a technical paper explaining the concept and design. The award also supports construction of models to help people conceptualize his atmospheric probe. Enter the NASA Armstrong Dale Reed Subscale Flight Research Laboratory. Robert “Red” Jensen and Justin Hall, two of the lab’s designers, technicians, and pilots, brought Bodylski’s designs to life. Jensen and Hall created a mold, then layered in carbon-fiber and foam that cured for eight hours under vacuum. The parts were removed from the molds, refined, and later joined together. Justin Hall, left, and Robert “Red” Jensen, at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, add layers of carbon fiber and foam in a mold. Another few layers will be added and then it will be cured about eight hours under vacuum. The parts were later removed from molds, refined, and joined for an aircraft that is designed to be an atmospheric probe.NASA/Steve Freeman Justin Hall, left, and Robert “Red” Jensen work to eliminate the air around an aircraft mold where it will cure for eight hours. The subscale aircraft development at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, may result in an atmospheric probe.NASA/Steve Freeman The first of the two lifting body aircraft, both of which are 27 1/2 inches long, and 24 inches wide, is complete and offers a first look at the concept. The second aircraft is almost ready and includes hinged flight control surfaces. Flight controls systems connected to those surfaces will be mounted inside the structure before the model’s final assembly. Together, the two models can test Bodylski’s ideas and provide flight data for creating better computer models. In the future, those computer models could help researchers built atmospheric probes based on those designs. Bodylski’s concept called for sending the aircraft on missions attached to satellites. Once in the orbit of a planet, the probe aircraft – about the same size as the models – would separate from the satellite through pyrotechnic bolts, deploying in the atmosphere to collect data for study. Robert “Red” Jensen removes a major component from an aircraft mold for assembly of a prototype of an atmospheric probe as Justin Hall watches at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.NASA/Steve Freeman Current atmospheric probes, small satellites known as CubeSats, gather and transmit data for about 40 minutes and can take in approximately 10 data points before their parent satellite is out of range. Bodylski’s design could descend more rapidly and at a steeper angle, collecting the same information in 10 minutes, plus additional data for another 30 minutes from much deeper in a thick atmosphere. Following a series of technical briefings and flight readiness reviews, the aircraft is expected to fly in March 2024. It will fly as a glider air-launched from a cradle attached to rotorcraft often used by the lab. Future tests could include powered flight depending on what data researchers determine they need. “We are looking to take an idea to flight and show that a lifting body aircraft can fly as a probe at this scale – that it can be stable, that components can be integrated into the probe, and that the aircraft can achieve some amount of lift,” Bodylski said. Share Details Last Updated Mar 13, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactJay Levinejay.levine-1@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAeronauticsAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateCenter Innovation FundFlight InnovationSpace Technology Mission Directorate Explore More 2 min read Tech Today: Suspended Solar Panels See the Light Article 1 day ago 5 min read NASA Helps Emerging Space Companies ‘Take the Heat’ Article 6 days ago 5 min read NASA’s Network of Small Moon-Bound Rovers Is Ready to Roll Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Armstrong Technologies Center Innovation Fund Space Technology Mission Directorate View the full article

NASA/Sam Lott A test version of the universal stage adapter for NASA’s more powerful version of its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket arrived to Building 4619 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Feb. 22 from Leidos in Decatur, Alabama. The universal stage adapter will connect the rocket’s upgraded in-space propulsion stage, called the exploration upper stage, to NASA’s Orion spacecraft as part of the evolved Block 1B configuration of the SLS rocket. It will also serve as a compartment capable of accommodating large payloads, such as modules or other exploration spacecraft. The SLS Block 1B variant will debut on Artemis IV and will increase SLS’s payload capability to send more than 84,000 pounds to the Moon in a single launch. In Building 4619’s Load Test Annex High Bay at Marshall, the development test article will first undergo modal testing that will shake the hardware to validate dynamic models. Later, during ultimate load testing, force will be applied vertically and to the sides of the hardware. Unlike the flight hardware, the development test article has flaws intentionally included in its design, which will help engineers verify that the adapter can withstand the extreme forces it will face during launch and flight. The test article joins an already-rich history of rocket hardware that has undergone high-and-low pressure, acoustic, and extreme temperature testing in the multipurpose, high-bay test facility; it will be tested in the same location that once bent, compressed, and torqued the core stage intertank test article for SLS rocket’s Block 1 configuration. Leidos, the prime contractor for the universal stage adapter, manufactured the full-scale prototype at its Aerospace Structures Complex in Decatur. 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 and Gateway in orbit around the Moon and commercial human landing systems, next-generational spacesuits, and rovers on the lunar surface. 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

3 min read 8 Must-Have NASA Resources for Science Teachers in 2024 No one can bring the excitement of Earth and space science to the classroom like NASA! Launch your lessons to the next level with these eight essential resources for K-12 teachers: Experience the Total Solar Eclipse Whether you’re on or off the path of totality (find out here!), we’ve put together this guide to help you explore live and virtual opportunities from NASA’s Science Activation Program for safely enjoying the eclipse and even contributing as a volunteer to do NASA Eclipse science. An Out-of-this-world Biology Project Growing Beyond Earth® (GBE) is a classroom-based citizen science project for middle and high school students about growing plants in space. Curricular materials and resources help you introduce your students to space plant biology and prepare them to participate in the program, through which students have the opportunity to present their findings to NASA Researchers. Materials in English and Spanish. Interact with Real Cosmic Data and Imagery Data Stories are interactives for high school students that showcase new science imagery and data for a variety of out of this world topics. Ideas for exploration and scientific highlights are included with every story through accompanying video and text. Adaptive Learning and Creative Tools from Infiniscope Empowering educators to develop next-generation, digital, adaptive learning experiences, Infiniscope provides free content and creative tools to educators who want to personalize learning for their middle and high school students. Join their network and get started here. STEM Literacy through the Lens of NASA NASA eClips provides educators with standards-based videos, educator guides, engineering design packets, and student opportunities for students in grades 3 to 12. Offerings cover a wide variety of topics that include energy, the Moon, clouds, sound, and more! All Learners can be Scientists and Engineers NASA missions are a perfect way to bring together science and engineering. In PLANETS units, learners in grades 3-8 engineer technologies like optical filters and use them to answer scientific questions like “Where was water on Mars?” Activities emphasize NASA planetary science and engineering and are designed to empower all learners and show that they can be scientists and engineers. Standards-Aligned Digital Resources for Grades K-12 Engage K–12 students with phenomena and science practices with this collection of supplementary digital media resources from GBH aligned with key NGSS Earth, space, and physical science disciplinary core ideas. To ensure that science content is accessible for all students, supports are included for students with disabilities or who are English learners. Kids Explore Earth and Space with NASA! NASA’s Space Place helps upper-elementary-aged kids learn space and Earth science through fun games, hands-on activities, art challenges, informative articles, and engaging short videos. With material in both English and Spanish and resources for teachers and parents, NASA Space Place has something for everyone. Didn’t find what you were looking for? Want to explore even more resources? NASA’s Science Activation (SciAct) program offers Learning and Educational Activities and Resources from NASA Science that invite learners of all ages to participate! View the full article

3 min read NASA-Supported Team Discovers Aurora-Like Radio Bursts Above Sunspot A NASA-funded team of scientists has discovered long-lasting radio signals emanating from the Sun that are similar to those associated with auroras – northern and southern lights – on Earth. Detected about 25,000 miles (40,000 km) above a sunspot – a relatively cool, dark, and magnetically active region on the Sun – such radio bursts had previously been observed only on planets and other stars. “This sunspot radio emission represents the first detection of its kind,” said Sijie Yu of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, who is the lead author of a paper reporting the discovery in the January 2024 issue of Nature Astronomy. The research was first published online in November 2023. Scientists have discovered radio bursts above a sunspot that resemble radio emissions from auroras on Earth. The pink-purple streaks in this illustration represent the radio emissions, with higher-frequency radio signals in pink, closer to the sunspot, and lower frequencies in purple. The thin lines represent magnetic field lines above the sunspot. The sunspot is the dark region on the Sun at the bottom. Sijie Yu, New Jersey Institute of Technology The discovery could help us better understand our own star as well as the behavior of distant stars that produce similar radio emissions. The Sun often emits short radio bursts that last for minutes or hours. But the radio bursts Yu’s team detected, using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico, persisted for over a week. These sunspot radio bursts also have other characteristics – such as their spectra (or intensity at different wavelengths) and their polarization (the angle or direction of the radio waves) – that are much more like radio emissions produced in the polar regions of Earth and other planets with auroras. On Earth (and other planets such as Jupiter and Saturn), auroras shimmer in the night sky when solar particles are caught up in the planet’s magnetic field and get pulled toward the poles, where magnetic field lines converge. As they accelerate poleward, the particles generate intense radio emissions at frequencies around a few hundred kilohertz and then smash into atoms in the atmosphere, causing them to emit light as auroras. The analysis by Yu’s team suggests the radio bursts above the sunspot are likely produced in a comparable way – when energetic electrons get trapped and accelerated by converging magnetic fields above a sunspot. Unlike Earth’s auroras, though, the radio bursts from sunspots occur at much higher frequencies – hundreds of thousands of kilohertz to roughly 1 million kilohertz. “That’s a direct result of the sunspot’s magnetic field being thousands of times stronger than Earth’s,” Yu said. Scientists detected aurora-like radio bursts above the large, dark sunspot seen in the upper left in this image of the Sun taken on April 11, 2016, by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory Similar radio emissions have previously been observed from some types of low-mass stars as well. This discovery introduces the possibility that aurora-like radio emissions may originate from large spots on those stars (called “starspots”) in addition to the previously proposed auroras in their polar regions. “The discovery excites us as it challenges existing notions of solar radio phenomena and opens new avenues for exploring magnetic activities both in our Sun and in distant stellar systems,” Yu said. “NASA’s growing heliophysics fleet is well suited to continue to investigate the source regions of these radio bursts,” said Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy, a heliophysicist and solar radio researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “For example, the Solar Dynamics Observatory continually monitors the Sun’s active regions, which likely give rise to this phenomenon.” In the meantime, Yu’s team plans to reexamine other solar radio bursts to see whether any appear to be similar to the aurora-like radio bursts they found. “We aim to determine if some of the previously recorded solar bursts could be instances of this newly identified emission,” Yu said. The research by Yu’s team has been supported in part by a NASA Early Career Investigator Program (ECIP) grant awarded to the New Jersey Institute of Technology. By Vanessa Thomas NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Mar 13, 2024 Related Terms Auroras Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Sunspots The Sun The Sun & Solar Physics Uncategorized Explore More 4 min read Cheers! NASA’s Webb Finds Ethanol, Other Icy Ingredients for Worlds Article 4 hours ago 5 min read Total Solar Eclipse 2024: The Moon’s Moment in the Sun To know exactly where and when the solar eclipse will cast its shadow, we study… Article 2 days ago 6 min read NASA’s Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe’s Expansion Rate, Puzzle Persists NASA’s Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope have tag-teamed to produce definitive measurements of the… Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

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4 Min Read Cheers! NASA’s Webb Finds Ethanol, Other Icy Ingredients for Worlds Webb MIRI image of a region near the protostar known as IRAS 23385. IRAS 23385 and IRAS 2a. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, W. Rocha (Leiden University) What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in common? They contain chemical ingredients that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has identified surrounding two young protostars known as IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385. Although planets are not yet forming around those stars, these and other molecules detected there by Webb represent key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds. An international team of astronomers used Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to identify a variety of icy compounds made up of complex organic molecules like ethanol (alcohol) and likely acetic acid (an ingredient in vinegar). This work builds on previous Webb detections of diverse ices in a cold, dark molecular cloud. Image A: Parallel Field to Protostar IRAS 23385 (MIRI Image) This image at a wavelength of 15 microns was taken by MIRI (the Mid-Infrared Instrument) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, of a region near the protostar known as IRAS 23385. IRAS 23385 and IRAS 2A (not visible in this image) were targets for a recent research effort by an international team of astronomers that used Webb to discover that the key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds are present in early-stage protostars, where planets have not yet formed. NASA, ESA, CSA, W. Rocha (Leiden University) What is the origin of complex organic molecules (COMs) ? “This finding contributes to one of the long-standing questions in astrochemistry,” said team leader Will Rocha of Leiden University in the Netherlands. “What is the origin of complex organic molecules, or COMs, in space? Are they made in the gas phase or in ices? The detection of COMs in ices suggests that solid-phase chemical reactions on the surfaces of cold dust grains can build complex kinds of molecules.” As several COMs, including those detected in the solid phase in this research, were previously detected in the warm gas phase, it is now believed that they originate from the sublimation of ices. Sublimation is to change directly from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid. Therefore, detecting COMs in ices makes astronomers hopeful about improved understanding of the origins of other, even larger molecules in space. Scientists are also keen to explore to what extent these COMs are transported to planets at much later stages of protostellar evolution. COMs in cold ices are thought to be easier to transport from molecular clouds to planet-forming disks than warm, gaseous molecules. These icy COMs can therefore be incorporated into comets and asteroids, which in turn may collide with forming planets, delivering the ingredients for life to possibly flourish. The science team also detected simpler molecules, including formic acid (which causes the burning sensation of an ant sting), methane, formaldehyde, and sulfur dioxide. Research suggests that sulfur-containing compounds like sulfur dioxide played an important role in driving metabolic reactions on the primitive Earth. Image B: Complex Organic Molecules in IRAS 2A NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) has identified a variety of complex organic molecules that are present in interstellar ices surrounding two protostars. These molecules, which are key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds, include ethanol, formic acid, methane, and likely acetic acid, in the solid phase. The finding came from the study of two protostars, IRAS 2A and IRAS 23385, both of which are so young that they are not yet forming planets. Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, L. Hustak (STScI). Science: W. Rocha (Leiden University). Similar to the early stages of our own solar system? Of particular interest is that one of the sources investigated, IRAS 2A, is characterized as a low-mass protostar. IRAS 2A may therefore be similar to the early stages of our own solar system. As such, the chemicals identified around this protostar were likely present in the first stages of development of our solar system and later delivered to the primitive Earth. “All of these molecules can become part of comets and asteroids and eventually new planetary systems when the icy material is transported inward to the planet-forming disk as the protostellar system evolves,” said Ewine van Dishoeck of Leiden University, one of the coordinators of the science program. “We look forward to following this astrochemical trail step-by-step with more Webb data in the coming years.” These observations were made for the JOYS+ (James Webb Observations of Young ProtoStars) program. The team dedicated these results to team member Harold Linnartz, who unexpectedly passed away in December 2023, shortly after the acceptance of this paper. This research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. Downloads Right click the images in this article to open a larger version in a new tab/window. Download full resolution images for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute. This research has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Media Contacts Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov, Rob Gutro – rob.gutro@nasa.gov NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Related Information Molecular Clouds Protostars Star Lifecycle More Webb News – https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/latestnews/ More Webb Images – https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/multimedia/images/ Webb Mission Page – https://science.nasa.gov/mission/webb/ Related For Kids What is the Webb Telescope? SpacePlace for Kids En Español Ciencia de la NASA NASA en español Space Place para niños Keep Exploring Related Topics James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… Stars Exoplanets Universe Share Details Last Updated Mar 13, 2024 Editor Stephen Sabia Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms Astrophysics Goddard Space Flight Center James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Protostars Science & Research Stars The Universe View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Glenn Research Center’s Public Affairs Specialist Nikki Welch discusses use and safety factors of NASA-branded safety glasses for viewing solar eclipses with media representatives. Credit: NASA/John Oldham NASA Glenn Research Center’s Office of Communications invited media to an Eclipse Preview at Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC), home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, on Feb. 13. During the event, news outlets previewed the Science Center’s Total Eclipse Fest 2024, which is scheduled to take place April 6-8, and learned everything they need to know to cover the event and the total solar eclipse . NASA Glenn Research Center’s News Chief Jan Wittry talks with media about the upcoming total solar eclipse during the media day at Great Lakes Science Center. Credit: NASA/John Oldham Representatives from NASA Glenn in Cleveland, GLSC, and The Cleveland Orchestra shared information on what to expect during the three-day festival. NASA Glenn experts explained the science behind the solar eclipse, eclipse viewing safely, and how NASA studies eclipses to make new discoveries about the Sun, Earth, and our space environment. Explore More 1 min read Tri-C Students Shadow NASA Professionals Article 29 mins ago 1 min read Engaging Students at Gallery Opening Article 29 mins ago 1 min read NASA Rolls Out Lunar Tires at Monster Jams Article 30 mins ago View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Glenn aerospace engineer Jonah Sachs-Wetstone, right, explains to Cuyahoga Community College student Rayan Jami how 3D printers in the Innovation Lab produce rapid prototyping. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Students from Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) visited NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Feb. 15 to shadow NASA professionals in a variety of career areas – from offices to laboratories. During the event, students and their advisor acquired knowledge about the NASA Internship Program, Pathways Internship Program, and NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars program. NASA Safety Center’s Kevin Rainbolt, right, reviews Safety & Mission Assurance agency enterprise solutions with Cuyahoga Community College student Evan Sims. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis In addition to the presentations, students moved through various exhibit stations, which included the Graphics and Visualization Lab, Space Communications and Navigation, and Can You Drive My Rover (Arduino) demonstration.              Members of NASA Glenn’s Office of Communications talk with a Cuyahoga Community College student about career areas in communications. Left to right: Jacqueline Minerd, Rosemilley Agosto Ruiz (student), Brian Newbacher, and Jan Wittry.Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Explore More 1 min read NASA Glenn Prepares Media for Solar Eclipse Event Article 28 mins ago 1 min read Engaging Students at Gallery Opening Article 29 mins ago 1 min read NASA Rolls Out Lunar Tires at Monster Jams Article 30 mins ago View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Event Coordinator Wyatt Clark, left, and NASA Glenn NextGen Ambassador Emily Armbrust, right, talk with students about internships and the upcoming total solar eclipse. Credit: NASA/Kelly DiFrancesco On Feb. 23, NASA’s Glenn Research Center representatives were on hand to help celebrate the ribbon cutting and opening of Great Lakes Science Center’s Cleveland Creates Gallery. The gallery highlights the extraordinary breakthroughs being made by the city of Cleveland’s diverse industries. During the opening, several hundred middle and high school students and museum visitors stopped by a NASA Glenn information table to learn more about NASA’s internship programs and the agency’s upcoming presence at the Total Eclipse Fest 2024, April 6–8. NASA’s Glenn Research Center engineer Erin Rezich was featured in Great Lakes Science Center’s Cleveland Creates Gallery and Emerging Tech Expo for her work with NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER. Credit: Ken Blaze/Great Lakes Science Center Glenn aerospace engineer Erin Rezich, who is featured in the gallery, participated in an afternoon panel discussion with other contributors. She shared insights on her career at NASA, mentors who inspired her, and words of advice for the several hundred middle and high school students in attendance. Explore More 1 min read NASA Glenn Prepares Media for Solar Eclipse Event Article 28 mins ago 1 min read Tri-C Students Shadow NASA Professionals Article 29 mins ago 1 min read NASA Rolls Out Lunar Tires at Monster Jams Article 30 mins ago View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A Monster Jam fan shows off a pair of NASA-branded solar eclipse glasses during an event in Milwaukee. Credit: NASA/Heather Brown Few things rev the engines of Monster Jam fans more than tires—including lunar tires. NASA’s Glenn Research Center recently gained traction with amplified audiences at Monster Jams in Milwaukee, Jan. 20-21, and in Cleveland, Feb. 16-17. During pit parties, NASA’s outreach team rolled out its replica lunar rover tire to show visitors the work NASA is doing on space tires. A young Monster Jam enthusiast gets some traction out of a NASA lunar tire. Credit: NASA/Heather Brown The exhibit also included an inflatable Mars rover, First Woman comic backdrop, and distribution of solar eclipse glasses and eclipse path maps. NASA Glenn Research Center’s Matthew Baeslack discusses NASA Glenn’s research on lunar tires with visitors at a Monster Jam in Milwaukee. Credit: NASA/Heather Brown Additionally, Grave Digger driver Krysten Anderson and El Toro Loco driver Armando Castro visited NASA Glenn in Cleveland to see how future tires for the Moon and Mars are designed and tested. El Toro Loco driver Armando Castro, left, and Grave Digger driver Krysten Anderson visit NASA Glenn in Cleveland to see how future tires for the Moon and Mars are designed and tested.Credit: NASA/Steven Logan Explore More 1 min read NASA Glenn Prepares Media for Solar Eclipse Event Article 28 mins ago 1 min read Tri-C Students Shadow NASA Professionals Article 29 mins ago 1 min read Engaging Students at Gallery Opening Article 29 mins ago View the full article

SXSW 2024: NASA Astronauts & Your Work in Orbit

A final round of certification testing for production of new RS-25 engines to power the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, beginning with Artemis V, is underway at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Block 1B will also be built to house new-production RS-25 core stage engines that will operate routinely at 111% of their rated power versus the Block 1 RS-25 engines that operate at 109%, providing almost 2,000 more pounds of payload to the Moon.NASA By: Martin Burkey As NASA prepares for its first crewed Artemis missions, the agency is making preparations to build, test, and assemble the next evolution of its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The larger and power powerful version of SLS, known as Block 1B, can send a crew and large pieces of hardware to the Moon in a single launch and is set to debut for the Artemis IV mission. “From the beginning, NASA’s Space Launch System was designed to evolve into more powerful crew and cargo configurations to provide a flexible platform as we seek to explore more of our solar system,” said John Honeycutt, SLS Program manager. “Each of the evolutionary changes made to the SLS engines, boosters, and upper stage of the SLS rocket are built on the successes of the Block 1 design that flew first with Artemis I in November 2022 and will, again, for the first crewed missions for Artemis II and III.” Early manufacturing is already underway at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, while preparations for the green run test series for its upgraded upper stage are in progress at nearby Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. New Upgrades for Bolder Missions While using the same basic core stage and solid rocket booster design, and related components as the Block 1, Block 1B features two big evolutionary changes that will make NASA’s workhorse rocket even more capable for future missions to the Moon and beyond. A more powerful second stage and an adapter for large cargos will expand the possibilities for future Artemis missions. “The Space Launch System Block 1B rocket will be the primary transportation for astronauts to the Moon for years to come,” said James Burnum, deputy manager of the NASA Block 1B Development Office. “We are building on the SLS Block 1 design, testing, and flight experience to develop safe, reliable transportation that will send bigger and heavier hardware to the Moon in a single launch than existing rockets.” The in-space stage used to send the first three Artemis missions to the Moon, called the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS), uses a single engine and will be replaced by a larger, more powerful four-engine stage called the exploration upper stage (EUS). A different battery is among the many changes that will allow EUS to support the first eight hours of the mission following launch compared to the current ICPS two hours. All new hardware and software will be designed and tested to meet the different performance and environmental requirements. The other configuration change is a universal stage adapter that connects the rocket to the Orion spacecraft. It also offers more than 10,000 cubic feet (286 cubic meters) of space to carry large components, such as modules for NASA’s future Gateway outpost that will be in lunar orbit to support crew between surface missions and unique opportunities for science at the Moon. : Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Feb. 22 prepare elements that will form part of the midbody for the exploration upper stage. The midbody struts, or V-struts, will create the cage-like outer structure of the midbody that will connect the upper stage’s large liquid hydrogen tank to the smaller liquid oxygen tank. Manufacturing flight and test hardware for the future upper stage is a collaborative effort between NASA and Boeing, the lead contractor for EUS and the SLS core stage. Together, those upgrades will increase the payload capability for SLS from 59,000 pounds (27 metric tons) to approximately 84,000 pounds (38 metric tons). The four RL10 engines that will be used during the exploration upper stage green run test series at Stennis are complete, and work on the Artemis IV core stage is in progress at nearby Michoud. More Opportunities The evolved design also gives astronaut explorers more launch opportunities on a path to intercept the Moon. With four times the engines and almost four times the propellant and thrust of ICPS, the EUS also enables two daily launch opportunities compared to Block 1’s more limited lunar launch availability. Among other capabilities, both astronauts and ground teams will be able to communicate with the in-space stage and safely control it while using Orion’s docking system to extract compenents destined for Gateway from the stage adapter. 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 Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon and commercial human landing systems, next-generation spacesuits, and rovers on the lunar surface. 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

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is an example of a concentrated solar power plant, which works by having hundreds of reflective panels heating up a central tower. The problem of keeping sunlight directed at the receiver throughout the day brought Jim Clair to request NASA’s help in validating the suspended design now used in Skysun solar power systems.Credit: Cliff Ho/U.S. Department of Energy In the 80 years since the shocking collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington, engineers have designed suspended structures to minimize their universal weakness: resonance. If not designed to deal with oscillations caused by forces like wind, the frequency of these forces would cause tensions to build and inevitably break the structure. When Jim Clair examined how to focus mirrors at a concentrated solar energy power plant, he thought about suspending the mirrors on cables but remembered the images of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge shaking itself apart. To determine how well these suspended solar panels would hold up to potentially destructive oscillations, Clair, and his company Skysun LLC in Cleveland, Ohio, sought the help of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in 2016 to verify his design was safe from dangerous resonance. The Skysun Solar Pollinator is designed to be suspended above plants that thrive in partial shade, and it can generate up to two kilowatts of power. The suspended design was validated by Glenn Research Center dynamicists under the Adopt-A-City program. Credit: Skysun LLC Trevor Jones, a dynamicist at Glenn, went to nearby Lorain County Community College to work with a prototype of the system. Jones induced vibrations in the cables with hammers and took measurements of the resulting oscillations. Based on this data, Jones designed a program that could accurately model the design’s tensile strength against wind-induced oscillations at any scale. With the dimensions plugged in, the program did the math and proved that Clair’s idea would work without shaking apart. Today, Skysun builds various suspended solar energy generation systems, ranging from the hammock-like Skysun Solar Pollinator to full-sized solar pergolas that provide both electricity and shade. Read More Share Details Last Updated Mar 12, 2024 Related TermsSpinoffsGlenn Research CenterTechnologyTechnology TransferTechnology Transfer & Spinoffs Explore More 5 min read NASA’s Network of Small Moon-Bound Rovers Is Ready to Roll Article 5 days ago 2 min read Back on Earth: NASA’s Orion Capsule Put to the Test Before Crewed Mission Article 6 days ago 2 min read Tech Today: Semiconductor Research Leads to Revolution in Dental Care Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Technology Transfer and Spinoffs News View the full article

Overview NASA’s Communications Services Project, known as CSP, is pioneering a new era of space communications by partnering with industry to provide commercial space relay communications services for NASA missions near Earth. CSP’s goal is to validate and deliver these commercial communication services to the Near Space Network by 2030. To meet this goal, CSP provided $278.5 million in funding to six domestic partners to develop and demonstrate space relay communication capabilities. CSP aims to deliver innovative capabilities to meet NASA mission needs, while simultaneously supporting the growing commercial space communications market in the United States. CSP intends for future commercial space relay communication services to also support other government agencies and commercial space flight companies, further bolstering the domestic space industry. Capability Development and Demos CSP’s Capability Development and Demonstration (CDD) sub-project is responsible for ensuring commercial space relay capabilities will be available to support NASA missions and ready for validation in 2028. The CDD sub-project also conducts insight into industry activities, primarily through partnership agreements such as the Funded Space Act Agreements (FSAAs) CSP established with six industry partners. To contact the CSP Capability Development and Demonstrations team, email the Capability Development and Demonstration Sub-Project Manager, Dave Chelmins, dchelmins@nasa.gov. Mission Support CSP’s Mission Support (MS) sub-project supports NASA missions as they prepare to make the transition to commercial space relay communication services. The MS sub-project leads CSP’s Commercial Services User Group and conducts simulations to help mission better understand the benefits and impacts of transitioning to commercial communication services. In addition, the MS sub-project facilitates demonstrations between early-adopter NASA missions and commercial service providers. To contact the CSP Mission Support team, email Mission Support Sub-Project Manager, Ryan Richards, ryan.m.richards@nasa.gov. Service Infusion CSP is developing a set of service requirements that commercial providers must meet before they can provide operational services to NASA missions. The CSP Service Infusion (SI) sub-project is responsible for developing, and coordinating, these service requirements with key stakeholders including the mission community, the Near Space Network, and NASA’s mission directorate leadership. The CSP SI sub-project is also responsible for validating commercial services and transitioning these services to the NSN for operational use. To contact the CSP Service Infusion team, contact Service Infusion Sub-Project Manager, Jennifer Rock, jennifer.l.rock@nasa.gov. Near Earth Operations Testbed CSP’s Near Earth Operations Testbed (NEO-T) sub-project develops advanced hardware-in-the-loop emulation capabilities that allow NASA missions interact with commercial space relay communication services from the comfort of the laboratory. NEO-T will allow direct connections between mission hardware and actual commercial provider systems, and supports missions from planning through system integration phases, and beyond. To contact the CSP Near Earth Operations Testbed team, email the NEO-Testbed Sub-Project Manager, Nang Pham, nang.t.pham@nasa.gov. FSAA Partners NASA’s Communications Services Project has six Funded Space Act Agreements (FSAA) with industry partners to develop and demonstrate commercial space relay communication services. Inmarsat Government Inc. Inmarsat Government will demonstrate a variety of space-based applications enabled by their established ELERA worldwide L-band network and ELERA satellites. Kuiper Government Solutions LLC Kuiper will deploy over 3,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit that link to small customer terminals on one end and a global network of hundreds of ground gateways on the other. SES Government Solutions SES will develop a real-time, high-availability connectivity solution enabled by their established geostationary and medium-Earth orbit satellite constellations. Space Exploration Technologies SpaceX plans to connect their established Starlink constellation and extensive ground system to user spacecraft through optical intersatellite links for customers in low-Earth orbit. Telesat U.S. Services LLC Telesat plans to leverage their Telesat Lightspeed network with optical intersatellite link technology to provide seamless end-to-end connectivity for low-Earth orbit missions. Viasat Incorporated Viasat’s Real-Time Space Relay service, enabled by the anticipated ViaSat-3 network, is designed to offer a persistent on-demand capability for low-Earth orbit operators. Contact Us CSP is managed by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, under the direction of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. SCaN serves as the program office for all of NASA’s space communications activities, presently enabling the success of more than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions. To contact NASA’s Communications Services Project, email the CSP Manager, Dr. Peter Schemmel, peter.j.schemmel@nasa.gov. To contact the Space Communications and Navigation program, email scan@nasa.gov. View the full article

NASA/Loral O’Hara In this image from Jan. 12, 2024, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli (left) and Loral O’Hara pose with a copy of “First Woman”, NASA’s first graphic novel, inside the International Space Station’s cupola. The interactive graphic novel chronicles the adventures of fictional astronaut Callie Rodriguez, the first woman to explore the Moon. Through Callie’s journey, “First Woman” features real-life technologies developed by NASA to enable future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Moghbeli and O’Hara were interviewed by the graphic novel’s writers, and their experiences helped develop Callie’s character. O’Hara, a former Girl Scout, launched to the space station on Sept. 15, 2023, for a six-month stay. She and her fellow Expedition 70 crew members study an array of microgravity phenomena to benefit humans living on and off the Earth. Moghbeli launched to the International Space Station as Commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission on Aug. 26, 2023. She returned to Earth with the rest of Crew-7 on March 12, 2024. Download, read, and interact with issues 1 and 2 of “First Woman.” Image Credit: NASA/Loral O’Hara View the full article

Technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida unfolded and fully extended the first of two five-panel solar arrays built for NASA’s Europa Clipper in preparation for inspection and cleaning as part of assembly, test, and launch operations. On March 6, technicians working inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida unfolded and fully extended the first of two five-panel solar arrays for the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. Each solar array measures 46.5 feet in length. For the operation, the team suspended the solar array on a gravity offload support system that helps support the weight of the solar array while it’s here on Earth. Up next, technicians will begin inspecting and cleaning as part of assembly, test, and launch operations. Planned to arrive at Jupiter in April 2030, the mission will study Jupiter’s moon Europa, which shows strong evidence beneath its icy crust of a global ocean over twice the volume of all Earth’s oceans. The spacecraft will ship to Florida later this year from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California in preparation for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky View the full article

10 Min Read Zero-Boil-Off Tank Experiments to Enable Long-Duration Space Exploration Figure 1. The Gateway space station—humanity’s first space station around the Moon—will be capable of being refueled in space. Credits: NASA Do we have enough fuel to get to our destination? This is probably one of the first questions that comes to mind whenever your family gets ready to embark on a road trip. If the trip is long, you will need to visit gas stations along your route to refuel during your travel. NASA is grappling with similar issues as it gets ready to embark on a sustainable mission back to the Moon and plans future missions to Mars. But while your car’s fuel is gasoline, which can be safely and indefinitely stored as a liquid in the car’s gas tank, spacecraft fuels are volatile cryogenic liquid propellants that must be maintained at extremely low temperatures and guarded from environmental heat leaks into the spacecraft’s propellant tank. And while there is already an established network of commercial gas stations in place to make refueling your car a cinch, there are no cryogenic refueling stations or depots at the Moon or on the way to Mars. Furthermore, storing volatile propellant for a long time and transferring it from an in-space depot tank to a spacecraft’s fuel tank under microgravity conditions will not be easy since the underlying microgravity fluid physics affecting such operations is not well understood. Even with today’s technology, preserving cryogenic fuels in space beyond several days is not possible and tank-to-tank fuel transfer has never been previously performed or tested in space. Heat conducted through support structures or from the radiative space environment can penetrate even the formidable Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) systems of in-space propellant tanks, leading to boil-off or vaporization of the propellant and causing tank self-pressurization. The current practice is to guard against over-pressurizing the tank and endangering its structural integrity by venting the boil-off vapor into space. Onboard propellants are also used to cool down the hot transfer lines and the walls of an empty spacecraft tank before a fuel transfer and filling operation can take place. Thus, precious fuel is continuously wasted during both storage and transfer operations, rendering long-duration expeditions—especially a human Mars mission—infeasible using current passive propellant tank pressure control methods. Zero-Boil-Off (ZBO) or Reduced Boil-Off (RBO) technologies provide an innovative and effective means to replace the current passive tank pressure control design. This method relies on a complex combination of active, gravity-dependent mixing and energy removal processes that allow maintenance of safe tank pressure with zero or significantly reduced fuel loss. Zero Boil-off Storage and Transfer: A Transformative Space Technology At the heart of the ZBO pressure control system are two proposed active mixing and cooling mechanisms to counter tank self-pressurization. The first is based on intermittent, forced, subcooled jet mixing of the propellantand involves complex, dynamic, gravity-dependent interaction between the jet and the ullage (vapor volume) to control the condensation and evaporation phase change at the liquid-vapor interface. The second mechanism uses subcooled droplet injection via a spraybar in the ullage to control tank pressure and temperature. While the latter option is promising and gaining prominence, it is more complex and has never been tested in microgravity where the phase change and transport behavior of droplet populations can be very different and nonintuitive compared to those on Earth. Although the dynamic ZBO approach is technologically complex, it promises an impressive advantage over the currently used passive methods. An assessment of one nuclear propulsion concept for Mars transport estimated that the passive boil-off losses for a large liquid hydrogen tank carrying 38 tons of fuel for a three-year mission to Mars would be approximately 16 tons/year. The proposed ZBO system would provide a 42% saving of propellant mass per year. These numbers also imply that with a passive system, all the fuel carried for a three-year Mars mission would be lost to boil-off, rendering such a mission infeasible without resorting to the transformative ZBO technology. The ZBO approach provides a promising method, but before such a complex technological and operational transformation can be fully developed, implemented, and demonstrated in space, important and decisive scientific questions that impact its engineering implementation and microgravity performance must be clarified and resolved. The Zero-Boil-Off Tank (ZBOT) Microgravity Science Experiments The Zero Boil-off Tank (ZBOT) Experiments are being undertaken to form a scientific foundation for the development of the transformative ZBO propellant preservation method. Following the recommendation of a ZBOT science review panel comprised of members from aerospace industries, academia, and NASA, it was decided to perform the proposed investigation as a series of three small-scale science experiments to be conducted onboard the International Space Station. The three experiments outlined below build upon each other to address key science questions related to ZBO cryogenic fluid management of propellants in space. Figure 3. Astronaut Joseph M. Acaba installing ZBOT Hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA The ZBOT-1 Experiment: Self-Pressurization & Jet Mixing The first experiment in the series was carried out on the station in the 2017-2018 timeframe. Figure 3 shows the ZBOT-1 hardware in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) unit of the station. The main focus of this experiment was to investigate the self-pressurization and boiling that occurs in a sealed tank due to local and global heating, and the feasibility of tank pressure control via subcooled axial jet mixing. In this experiment, the complicated interaction of the jet flow with the ullage (vapor volume) in microgravity was carefully studied. Microgravity jet mixing data was also collected across a wide range of scaled flow and heat transfer parameters to characterize the time constants for tank pressure reduction, and the thresholds for geyser (liquid fountain) formation, including its stability, and penetration depth through the ullage volume. Along with very accurate pressure and local temperature sensor measurements, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was performed to obtain whole-field flow velocity measurements to validate a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. Figure 4. Validation of ZBOT CFD Model Predictions for fluid flow and deformation of a spherical ullage in microgravity by a subcooled liquid jet mixing against ZBOT experimental results: (a) Model prediction of ullage position and deformation and flow vortex structures during subcooled jet mixing; (b) PIV image capture of flow vortex structures during jet mixing; (c) Ullage deformation captured by white light imaging; and (d) CFD model depiction of temperature contours during subcooled jet mixing. (ZBOT-1 Experiment, 2018) Credit: Dr. Mohammad Kassemi, Case Western Reserve University Some of the interesting findings of the ZBOT-1experiment are as follows: Provided the first tank self-pressurization rate data in microgravity under controlled conditions that can be used for estimating the tank insulation requirements. Results also showed that classical self-pressurization is quite fragile in microgravity and nucleate boiling can occur at hotspots on the tank wall even at moderate heat fluxes that do not induce boiling on Earth. Proved that ZBO pressure control is feasible and effective in microgravity using subcooled jet mixing, but also demonstrated that microgravity ullage-jet interaction does not follow the expected classical regime patterns (see Figure 4). Enabled observation of unexpected cavitation during subcooled jet mixing, leading to massive phase change at both sides of the screened Liquid Acquisition Device (LAD) (see Figure 5). If this type of phase change occurs in a propellant tank, it can lead to vapor ingestion through the LAD and disruption of liquid flow in the transfer line, potentially leading to engine failure. Developed a state-of-the-art two-phase CFD model validated by over 30 microgravity case studies (an example of which is shown in Figure 4). ZBOT CFD models are currently used as an effective tool for propellant tank scaleup design by several aerospace companies participating in the NASA tipping point opportunity and the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) program. Figure 5. White light image captures of the intact single hemispherical ullage in ZBOT tank before depressurization by the subcooled jet (left) and after subcooled jet mixing pressure collapse that led to massive phase change bubble generation due to cavitation at the LAD (right). (ZBOT-1 Experiment, 2018). Credit: Dr. Mohammad Kassemi, Case Western Reserve University The ZBOT-NC Experiment: Non-Condensable Gas Effects Non-condensable gases (NCGs) are used as pressurants to extract liquid for engine operations and tank-to-tank transfer. The second experiment, ZBOT-NC will investigate the effect of NCGs on the sealed tank self-pressurization and on pressure control by axial jet mixing. Two inert gases with quite different molecular sizes, Xenon, and Neon, will be used as the non-condensable pressurants. To achieve pressure control or reduction, vapor molecules must reach the liquid-vapor interface that is being cooled by the mixing jet and then cross the interface to the liquid side to condense. This study will focus on how in microgravity the non-condensable gases can slow down or resist the transport of vapor molecules to the liquid-vapor interface (transport resistance) and will clarify to what extent they may form a barrier at the interface and impede the passage of the vapor molecules across the interface to the liquid side (kinetic resistance). By affecting the interface conditions, the NCGs can also change the flow and thermal structures in the liquid. ZBOT-NC will use both local temperature sensor data and uniquely developed Quantum Dot Thermometry (QDT) diagnostics to collect nonintrusive whole-field temperature measurements to assess the effect of the non-condensable gases during both self-pressurization heating and jet mixing/cooling of the tank under weightlessness conditions. This experiment is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in early 2025, and more than 300 different microgravity tests are planned. Results from these tests will also enable the ZBOT CFD model to be further developed and validated to include the non-condensable gas effects with physical and numerical fidelity. The ZBOT-DP Experiment: Droplet Phase Change Effects ZBO active pressure control can also be accomplished via injection of subcooled liquid droplets through an axial spray-bar directly into the ullage or vapor volume. This mechanism is very promising, but its performance has not yet been tested in microgravity. Evaporation of droplets consumes heat that is supplied by the hot vapor surrounding the droplets and produces vapor that is at a much lower saturation temperature. As a result, both the temperature and the pressure of the ullage vapor volume are reduced. Droplet injection can also be used to cool down the hot walls of an empty propellant tank before a tank-to-tank transfer or filling operation. Furthermore, droplets can be created during the propellant sloshing caused by acceleration of the spacecraft, and these droplets then undergo phase change and heat transfer. This heat transfer can cause a pressure collapse that may lead to cavitation or a massive liquid-to-vapor phase change. The behavior of droplet populations in microgravity will be drastically different compared to that on Earth. The ZBOT-DP experiment will investigate the disintegration, coalescence (droplets merging together), phase change, and transport and trajectory characteristics of droplet populations and their effects on the tank pressure in microgravity. Particular attention will also be devoted to the interaction of the droplets with a heated tank wall, which can lead to flash evaporation subject to complications caused by the Liedenfrost effect (when liquid droplets propel away from a heated surface and thus cannot cool the tank wall). These complicated phenomena have not been scientifically examined in microgravity and must be resolved to assess the feasibility and performance of droplet injection as a pressure and temperature control mechanism in microgravity. Back to Planet Earth This NASA-sponsored fundamental research is now helping commercial providers of future landing systems for human explorers. Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin, participants in NASA’s Human Landing Systems program, are using data from the ZBOT experiments to inform future spacecraft designs. Cryogenic fluid management and use of hydrogen as a fuel are not limited to space applications. Clean green energy provided by hydrogen may one day fuel airplanes, ships, and trucks on Earth, yielding enormous climate and economic benefits. By forming the scientific foundation of ZBO cryogenic fluid management for space exploration, the ZBOT science experiments and CFD model development will also help to reap the benefits of hydrogen as a fuel here on Earth. PROJECT LEAD Dr. Mohammad Kassemi (Dept Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University) SPONSORING ORGANIZATION Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Division, NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Share Details Last Updated Mar 12, 2024 Related Terms Biological & Physical Sciences Science-enabling Technology Technology Highlights Explore More 5 min read The CUTE Mission: Innovative Design Enables Observations of Extreme Exoplanets from a Small Package Article 2 weeks ago 2 min read Do NASA Science LIVE on February 21! What’s it mean to be cool? Article 4 weeks ago 3 min read International Space Station Welcomes Trio of Experiments Focused on Enhancing Life Beyond Earth Article 1 month ago View the full article

The plane of our Milky Way galaxy, as seen by ESA’s Gaia space mission. It contains more than a billion stars, along with darker, dusty regions Gaia couldn’t see through. With its greater sensitivity and longer wavelength coverage, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s galactic plane survey will peer through more of the dust and reveal far more stars.Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has announced plans for an unprecedented survey of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. It will peer deeper into this region than any other survey, mapping more of our galaxy’s stars than all previous observations combined. “There’s a really broad range of science we can explore with this type of survey, from star formation and evolution to dust in between stars and the dynamics of the heart of the galaxy,” said Catherine Zucker, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who co-authored a white paper describing some of the benefits of such an observing program. Scientists have studied our solar system’s neighborhood pretty well, but much of the galaxy remains shrouded from view. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will peer through thick bands of dust to reveal parts of our galaxy we’ve never been able to explore before, thanks to a newly selected galactic plane survey. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center A galactic plane survey was the top-ranked submission following a 2021 call for Roman survey ideas. Now, the scientific community will work together to design the observational program ahead of Roman’s launch by May 2027. “There will be lots of trade-offs since scientists will have to choose between, for example, how much area to cover and how completely to map it in all the different possible filters,” said paper co-author Robert Benjamin, an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. While the details of the survey remain to be determined, scientists say if it covered about 1,000 square degrees – a region of sky as large as 5,000 full moons – it could reveal well over 100 billion cosmic objects (mainly stars). “That would be pretty close to a complete census of all the stars in our galaxy, and it would only take around a month,” said Roberta Paladini, a senior research scientist at Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California, and the white paper’s lead author. “It would take decades to observe such a large patch of the sky with the Hubble or James Webb space telescopes. Roman will be a survey machine!” Milky Way Anatomy Observatories with smaller views of space have provided exquisite images of other galaxies, revealing complex structures. But studying our own galaxy’s anatomy is surprisingly difficult. The plane of the Milky Way covers such a large area on the sky that studying it in detail can take a very long time. Astronomers also must peer through thick dust that obscures distant starlight. While we’ve studied our solar system’s neighborhood well, Zucker says, “we have basically no idea what the other half of that Milky Way looks like beyond the galactic center.” Observatories like NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope have conducted shallower surveys of the galactic plane and revealed some star-forming regions on the far side of the galaxy. But it couldn’t resolve fine details like Roman will do. “Spitzer set up the questions that Roman will be able to solve,” Benjamin said. Roman’s combination of a large field of view, crisp resolution, and the ability to peer through dust make it the ideal instrument to study the Milky Way. And seeing stars in different wavelengths of light – optical and infrared – will help astronomers learn things such as the stars’ temperatures. That one piece of information unlocks much more data, from the star’s evolutionary stage and composition to its luminosity and size. “We can do very detailed studies of things like star formation and the structure of our own galaxy in a way that we can’t do for any other galaxy,” Paladini said. This image shows two views of the same spiral galaxy, called IC 5332, as seen by two NASA observatories – the James Webb Space Telescope’s observations appear at the top left and the Hubble Space Telescope’s at the bottom right. The views are mainly so different due to the wavelengths of light they each showcase. Hubble’s visible and ultraviolet observation features dark regions where dust absorbs those types of light. Webb sees longer wavelengths and detects that dust glowing in infrared. But neither could conduct an efficient survey of our Milky Way galaxy because it covers so much sky area; since IC 5332 is around 30 million light-years away, it appears as a small spot. It would take Hubble or Webb decades to survey the Milky Way, but NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could do it in less than a month. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), Rupali Chandar (UToledo), PHANGS Team Roman will offer new insights about the structure of the central region known as the bulge, the “bar” that stretches across it, and the spiral arms that extend from it. “We’ll basically rewrite the 3D picture of the far side of the galaxy,” Zucker said. Roman’s sharp vision will help astronomers see individual stars even in stellar nurseries on the far side of the galaxy. That will help Roman generate a huge new catalog of stars since it will be able to map 10 times farther than previous precision mapping by ESA’s (the European Space Agency’s) Gaia space mission. Gaia mapped over 1 billion stars in 3D largely within about 10,000 light-years. Roman could map up to 100 billion stars 100,000 light-years away or more (stretching out to the most distant edge of our galaxy and beyond). The Galactic Plane Survey is Roman’s first announced general astrophysics survey – one of several observation programs Roman will do in addition to its three core community surveys and Coronagraph technology demonstration. At least 25% of Roman’s five-year primary mission will be allocated to general astrophysics surveys in order to pursue science that can’t be done with only the mission’s core community survey data. Astronomers from all over the world will have the opportunity to use Roman and propose cutting-edge research, enabling the astronomical community to utilize the full potential of Roman’s capabilities to conduct extraordinary science. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech/IPAC in Southern California, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and a science team comprising scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado; L3Harris Technologies in Melbourne, Florida; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California. Download high-resolution video and images from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio By Ashley Balzer NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Media contact: Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. claire.andreoli@nasa.gov 301-286-1940 Explore More 6 min read How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Chronicle the Active Cosmos Article 4 months ago 6 min read Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights Article 5 months ago 8 min read NASA’s Roman Mission Will Test Competing Cosmic Acceleration Theories Article 2 years ago Share Details Last Updated Mar 12, 2024 Related TermsNancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeGalaxiesGalaxies, Stars, & Black HolesGoddard Space Flight CenterHubble Space TelescopeJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST)MissionsSpitzer Space TelescopeStarsThe Milky WayThe Universe View the full article

The software discipline has broad involvement across each of the NASA Mission Directorates. Some recent discipline focus and development areas are highlighted below, along with a look at the Software Technical Discipline Team’s (TDT) approach to evolving discipline best practices toward the future. Understanding Automation Risk Software creates automation. Reliance on that automation is increasing the amount of software in NASA programs. This year, the software team examined historical software incidents in aerospace to characterize how, why, and where software or automation is mostly likely to fail. The goal is to better engineer software to minimize the risk of errors, improve software processes, and better architect software for resilience to errors (or improve fault-tolerance should errors occur). Some key findings shown in the above charts, indicate that software more often does the wrong thing rather than just crash. Rebooting was found to be ineffective when software behaves erroneously. Unexpected behavior was mostly attributed to the code or logic itself, and about half of those instances were the result of missing software—software not present due to unanticipated situations or missing requirements. This may indicate that even fully tested software is exposed to this significant class of error. Data misconfiguration was a sizeable factor that continues to grow with the advent of more modern data-driven systems. A final subjective category assessed was “unknown unknowns”—things that could not have been reasonably anticipated. These accounted for 19% of software incidents studied. The software team is using and sharing these findings to improve best practices. More emphasis is being placed on the importance of complete requirements, off-nominal test campaigns, and “test as you fly” using real hardware in the loop. When designing systems for fault tolerance, more consideration should be given to detecting and correcting for erroneous behavior versus just checking for a crash. Less confidence should be placed on rebooting as an effective recovery strategy. Backup strategies for automations should be employed for critical applications—considering the historic prevalence of absent software and unknown unknowns. More information can be found in NASA/TP-20230012154, Software Error Incident Categorizations in Aerospace. Employing AI and Machine Learning Techniques The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques has allowed NASA to examine data in new ways that were not previously possible. While NASA has been employing autonomy since its inception, AI/ML techniques provide teams the ability to expand the use of autonomy outside of previous bounds. The Agency has been working on AI ethics frameworks and examining standards, procedures, and practices, taking security implications into account. While AI/ML generally uses nondeterministic statistical algorithms that currently limit its use in safety-critical flight applications, it is used by NASA in more than 400 AI/ML projects aiding research and science. The Agency also uses AI/ML Communities of Practice for sharing knowledge across the centers. The TDT surveyed AI/ML work across the Agency and summarized it for trends and lessons. Common usages of AI/ML include image recognition and identification. NASA Earth science missions use AI/ML to identify marine debris, measure cloud thickness, and identify wildfire smoke (examples are shown in the satellite images below). This reduces the workload on personnel. There are many applications of AI/ML being used to predict atmospheric physics. One example is hurricane track and intensity prediction. Another example is predicting planetary boundary layer thickness and comparing it against measurements, and those predictions are being fused with live data to improve the performance over previous boundary layer models. Examples of how NASA uses AI/ML. Satellite images of clouds with estimation of cloud thickness (left) and wildfire detection (right). NASA-HDBK-2203, NASA Software Engineering and Assurance Handbook (https://swehb.nasa.gov) The Code Analysis Pipeline: Static Analysis Tool for IV&V and Software Quality Improvement The Code Analysis Pipeline (CAP) is an open-source tool architecture that supports software development and assurance activities, improving overall software quality. The Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Program is using CAP to support software assurance on the Human Landing System, Gateway, Exploration Ground Systems, Orion, and Roman. CAP supports the configuration and automated execution of multiple static code analysis tools to identify potential code defects, generate code metrics that indicate potential areas of quality concern (e.g., cyclomatic complexity), and execute any other tool that analyzes or processes source code. The TDT is focused on integrating Modified Condition/Decision Coverage analysis support for coverage testing. Results from tools are consolidated into a central database and presented in context through a user interface that supports review, query, reporting, and analysis of results as the code matures. The tool architecture is based on an industry standard DevOps approach for continuous building of source code and running of tools. CAP integrates with GitHub for source code control, uses Jenkins to support automation of analysis builds, and leverages Docker to create standard and custom build environments that support unique mission needs and use cases. Improving Software Process & Sharing Best Practices The TDT has captured the best practice knowledge from across the centers in NPR 7150.2, NASA Software Engineering Requirements, and NASA-HDBK-2203, NASA Software Engineering and Assurance Handbook (https://swehb.nasa.gov.) Two APPEL training classes have been developed and shared with several organizations to give them the foundations in the NPR and software engineering management. The TDT established several subteams to help programs/projects as they tackle software architecture, project management, requirements, cybersecurity, testing and verification, and programmable logic controllers. Many of these teams have developed guidance and best practices, which are documented in NASA-HDBK-2203 and on the NASA Engineering Network. NPR 7150.2 and the handbook outline best practices over the full lifecycle for all NASA software. This includes requirements development, architecture, design, implementation, and verification. Also covered, and equally important, are the supporting activities/functions that improve quality, including software assurance, safety configuration management, reuse, and software acquisition. Rationale and guidance for the requirements are addressed in the handbook that is internally and externally accessible and regularly updated as new information, tools, and techniques are found and used. The Software TDT deputies train software engineers, systems engineers, chief engineers, and project managers on the NPR requirements and their role in ensuring these requirements are implemented across NASA centers. Additionally, the TDT deputies train software technical leads on many of the advanced management aspects of a software engineering effort, including planning, cost estimating, negotiating, and handling change management. View the full article

Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, left, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Moghbeli, Mogensen, Furukawa, and Borisov are returning after nearly six-months in space as part of Expedition 70 aboard the International Space Station. NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 completed the agency’s seventh commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday after splashing down safely in a Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The international crew of four spent 199 days in orbit. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, returned to Earth splashing down at 5:47 a.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “After more than six months aboard the International Space Station, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 has safely returned home,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “This international crew showed that space unites us all. It’s clear that we can do more – we can learn more – when we work together. The science experiments conducted during their time in space will help prepare for NASA’s bold missions at the Moon, Mars, and beyond, all while benefitting humanity here on Earth.” The Crew-7 mission lifted off at 3:27 a.m. Aug. 26, 2023, on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 30 hours later, Dragon docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing port. Crew-7 undocked at 11:20 a.m. Monday, March 11, to begin the trip home. Moghbeli, Mogensen, Furukawa, and Borisov traveled 84,434,094 miles during their mission, spent 197 days aboard the space station, and completed 3,184 orbits around Earth. The Crew-7 mission was the first spaceflight for Moghbeli and Borisov. Mogensen has logged 209 days in space over his two flights, and Furukawa has logged 366 days in space over his two flights. Throughout their mission, the Crew-7 members contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Moghbeli conducted one spacewalk, joined by NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, replacing one of the 12 trundle bearing assemblies on the port solar alpha rotary joint, which allows the arrays to track the Sun and generate electricity to power the station. The crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including the first study of human response to different spaceflight durations, and an experiment growing food on the space station. This was the third flight of the Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance. It also previously supported the Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where teams will inspect the Dragon, analyze data on its performance, and process it for its next flight. The Crew-7 flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and its return to Earth follows on the heels of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 launch, which docked to the station March 5, beginning another science expedition. The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit. This already is providing additional research time and has increased the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s microgravity testbed for exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew program at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew -end- Joshua Finch Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov Steve Siceloff Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-867-2468 steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov Leah Cheshier Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov View the full article

By Andrew Chaikin, Independent Space Historian and member of the NESC Human Factors Technical Discipline Team I recently watched NESC Deputy Director Mike Kirsch stand before a roomful of engineers at the Langley Research Center and tell them that with every passing day, NASA breaks a record: the longest stretch without a major accident in the nation’s human spaceflight program since the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry on February 1, 2003. NASA’s challenge, he told them, was to make sure the record keeps being broken. Mike’s sobering message set the perfect tone for my presentation of “Principles of Success in Spaceflight,” the class I created with Victoria Kohl on the human behavior elements of success and failure in spaceflight projects. With the NESC’s support, I have given it at every NASA center, and it’s always a rewarding experience. You can’t spend the day with a group of NASA engineers and not experience their keen intelligence, passion, and commitment to excellence. As I lead them through case studies of the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, the Challenger accident in 1986, and Columbia, I tell them that no matter how good we are at the “rocket science,” we invite failure if we don’t pay attention to the attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions we bring to the work—in short, our mindset. Before the Apollo fire, there was a widespread belief that because Mercury and Gemini had used pure oxygen with no fires, there wouldn’t be any in Apollo. And the Apollo spacecraft program manager missed opportunities to prevent the accident due to his belief that the fire hazard created by combining pure oxygen with exposed wiring and flammable materials was not a “real” problem, one that warranted slowing the train barreling down the tracks to meet John F. Kennedy’s end-of-the-decade deadline for a lunar landing. When I talk about the Challenger accident, I caution that it’s essential to pay attention to the stories we tell ourselves. NASA had promised itself and Congress that the Shuttle would make spaceflight routine and affordable, a goal that required unrealistically high flight rates. Mounting schedule pressure in the lead-up to Challenger skewed decision makers’ perceptions of the SRB field joint anomalies that had occurred intermittently on previous launches and were not well understood. In the Columbia discussion, I recount the shocking swiftness with which NASA lost the lessons of Challenger and paved the way for another accident with renewed schedule pressure and a belief that external tank foam shedding was “not a safety of flight issue.” Accidents jolt us into new awareness, but Columbia is a painful reminder that awareness has a shelf life. What will it take to keep breaking the record that Mike spoke about? I believe we must talk to each other regularly about the behaviors that either invite success or lead us down the slippery slope to failure. Are we in the grip of what I call the “reality distortion field,” created by cost, schedule, and/or political pressure, that clouds our perceptions of risk? Are we unconsciously indulging in hard-wired “us vs. them” tribal behaviors that cut us off from the diverse “spotlights of awareness” we must have to navigate the unforgiving demands of human spaceflight? Are we telling ourselves a story that, under clear-eyed scrutiny, doesn’t hold up? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves again and again. The answers are critical. A section of the fuselage recovered from Space Shuttle Challenger, left, and the flight deck windows recovered from Space Shuttle Columbia at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. View the full article

Operational modal analysis (OMA) techniques have been used to identify the modal characteristics of the Artemis I launch vehicle during the Dynamic Rollout Test (DRT) and Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) configuration prior to launch. Forces induced during rollout and on the launch pad are not directly measurable, thus necessitating a unique approach. NASA is developing the SLS to support lunar and deep space exploration. SLS is integrated inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on the mobile launcher (ML), which supports the integrated SLS launch vehicle during transport to the pad through lift-off. The ML also provides the fuel, power, and data umbilicals running to the SLS and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), as well as crew access to the MPCV crew module. The ML weighs ~10.6 million pounds and is over 380 feet tall. In the spring of 2022, the SLS was transported on the ML from the VAB to Launch Pad 39B (Figure 1) using the NASA crawler transporter (CT) to make this 4.2 mile trek, which takes ~8 hours. The CT alone weighs ~6.3 million pounds. Figure 1. Artemis I Rollout to Launch Pad 39B. Although the rollout environment produces relatively small launch vehicle structural loads in comparison to launch and ascent loads for most structures, the induced loads are fully representative of all loading across the entire vehicle, which is not feasible to replicate using localized shakers as was done in the Integrated Modal Test. As mentioned, forces induced during rollout and on the launch pad are not directly measurable, and OMA techniques were used to identify the modal characteristics of Artemis I in the DRT and WDR configurations. WDR, which typically includes vehicle fueling and other operations to demonstrate launch readiness, included several days of on-pad operations. Data collected for the WDR configuration, with partially filled core fuel tanks and without the CT under the ML, provided engineers another model configuration to check (Figure 2). Figure 2. Artemis I at Launch Pad 39B. Acquisition and processing the data from over 300 accelerometers located on Artemis I, ML, and CT was accomplished by a cross-program team of engineers and technicians from across the Agency, including from SLS, Exploration Ground Systems, and the NESC. Using analytical techniques developed from previous rollout tests combined with new data-processing methodologies, the team processed data from preselected CT speed increments during rollout and on-pad during WDR. By making the necessary modifications to the integrated models to match both the DRT and WDR configurations, the team was able to use those results to help make sense of what was being seen in the test data. This proved to be required for OMA testing on this structure, given the type of complex excitation that was being observed. For information, contact Dexter Johnson dexter.johnson@nasa.gov and Teresa Kinney teresa.l.kinney@nasa.gov. View the full article

Interview with NESC Director, Tim Wilson NESC Director, Tim Wilson Upon reaching its 20th year of operations at NASA in 2023, the NESC is busier than it has ever been. With a portfolio of more than 160 in-progress requests from Agency programs, NESC Director Tim Wilson spends much of his day prioritizing, allocating funds from the organization’s fixed budget to NASA’s most pressing issues. Of late, the NESC has focused on priority-one requests—projects in the flight phase—such as the Artemis missions and those of NASA’s commercial partners, while lower priority requests like discipline-advancing activities have been placed on hold until the next fiscal year. For Mr. Wilson, each day is a new shuffle of requests, funding, and resources. When he joined the newly formed NESC in 2003, Mr. Wilson could not have predicted the impact the organization would have on Agency operations. “To be honest, I didn’t really think we’d still be here,” he said. “The NESC was an experiment.” Initiated by the results of the Columbia accident investigation, the idea behind it was that NASA programs would benefit from expert, unbiased perspectives on its tough engineering problems. The vision for the organization was straightforward, but the execution was far more challenging than Mr. Wilson expected. “When we started those first assessments with the CALIPSO satellite and Shuttle, we had to elbow our way to the table to be accepted. We were new, and no one knew who we were or what we were doing. Back then, programs were worried that we might slow them down or cause problems.” Though Agency leadership had given them the green light, it was up to Mr. Wilson and the NESC’s early members to prove they deserved a seat at those tables. “You have to produce some results before folks respect you,” he said. It was hard won, but with each assessment, the NESC gained that respect by bringing ideas and solutions programs could use. Two decades in, Mr. Wilson is happy to say the NESC is now invited to the table. “That’s part of why demand has grown as much as it has. Our team is respected, and we’re asked to participate. We’ve gone from being an unknown to an organization they reach out to as a trusted partner: someone who can help them be successful, bring expertise or resources they don’t have, or sometimes just bring another perspective to break a logjam and help them get things done. That’s the shift I have seen over the years. It’s been really encouraging to see it.” The NESC portfolio of work also has shifted from the early, hectic pace of Shuttle assessments where quick, real-time solutions were needed. In the years following the Shuttle’s retirement, the NESC had the luxury of time to invest in longer-term projects like the design and construction of a composite crew module that would be leveraged in the development of Orion and commercial spacecraft. Today, the pace has ramped up again as Artemis, Dragon, and Starliner head to the Moon and ISS. “These are real-time activities where you have to engage immediately and be able to add value out of the chute. You don’t have time to come up to speed on the system,” Mr. Wilson said. “We learned with Shuttle that it was important to move quickly and be pre-positioned to help.” Over the years the NESC has cultivated good relationships with programs—keeping people plugged in to their day-to-day activities so that when problems arose, they could engage right away. “The lesson we learned is you need people doing routine work for those programs all along so that they understand the subsystems and hardware and they’re ready to engage when there’s a real-time problem.” It’s been a balancing act to keep close ties yet remain independent, but Mr. Wilson said the NESC has found an equilibrium. Independent yet parallel modeling and simulation (M&S) is a good example of finding that balance, he said. “We build our own M&S tools in parallel with the programs’ tools to give them a second set of eyes to a problem.” Since 2012, for example, NESC-built M&S trajectory tools have help mitigate risks for Artemis missions’ ascent to orbit, and entry, descent, and landing simulations for CCP provider vehicles. With capped budgets, the NESC must adjust its scope continually to keep up with the increasing tempo of space exploration. For now, that means focusing on what is most critical and has the highest payback. “We’ll continue to focus on the heavy hitters, the programs that are flying and have a critical immediate need. There are a lot of those, and the pace is ramping up.” As for the future, Mr. Wilson said, “I have not seen very many Agency initiatives persist the way the NESC has, so I’m thrilled that we have met the needs that we were placed here to meet and that we continue to deliver value, because I think that’s what has kept us rolling and growing over all of this time.” View the full article