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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A fisheye lens attached to an electronic still camera was used to capture this image of NASA astronaut Don Pettit.NASA Science ideas are everywhere. Some of the greatest discoveries have come from tinkering and toying with new concepts and ideas. NASA astronaut Don Pettit is no stranger to inventing and discovering. During his previous missions, Pettit has contributed to advancements for human space exploration aboard the International Space Station resulting in several published scientific papers and breakthroughs.
Pettit, accompanied by cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, will launch to the orbiting laboratory in September 2024. In preparation for his fourth spaceflight, read about previous “science of opportunity” experiments Pettit performed during his free time with materials readily available to the crew or included in his personal kit.
Freezing Ice in Space
Thin ice under polarized light frozen aboard the International Space Station.NASA Have you ever noticed a white bubble inside the ice in your ice tray at home? This is trapped air that accumulates in one area due to gravity. Pettit took this knowledge, access to a -90° Celsius freezer aboard the space station, and an open weekend to figure out how water freezes in microgravity compared to on Earth. This photo uses polarized light to show thin frozen water and the visible differences from the ice we typically freeze here on Earth, providing more insight into physics concepts in microgravity.
Space Cup
NASA astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates how surface tension, wetting, and container shape hold coffee in the space cup.NASA Microgravity affects even the most mundane tasks, like sipping your morning tea. Typically, crews drink beverages from a specially sealed bag with a straw. Using an overhead transparency film, Pettit invented the prototype of the Capillary Beverage, or Space Cup. The cup uses surface tension, wetting, and container shape to mimic the role of gravity in drinking on Earth, making drinking beverages in space easier to consume and showing how discoveries aboard station can be used to design new systems.
Planetary Formation
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Astronaut Don Pettit demonstrates a mixture of coffee grounds and sugar sticking together in microgravity to understand planetary formation. NASA Using materials that break into very small particles, such as table salt, sugar, and coffee, Pettit experimented to understand planetary formation. A crucial early step in planet formation is the aggregation or clumping of tiny particles, but scientists do not fully understand this process. Pettit placed different particulate mixtures in plastic bags, filled them with air, thoroughly shook the bags, and observed that the particles clumped within seconds due to what appears to be an electrostatic process. Studying the behavior of tiny particles in microgravity may provide valuable insight into how material composition, density, and turbulence play a role in planetary formation.
Orbital Motion
Charged water particles orbit a knitting needle, showing electrostatic processes in space. NASA Knitting needles made of different materials arrived aboard station as personal crew items. Pettit electrically charged the needles by rubbing each one with paper. Then, he released charged water from a Teflon syringe and observed the water droplets orbit the knitting needle, demonstrating electrostatic orbits in microgravity. The study was later repeated in a simulation that included atmospheric drag, and the 3D motion accurately matched the orbits seen in the space station demonstration. These observations could be analogous to the behavior of charged particles in Earth’s magnetic field and prove useful in designing future spacecraft systems.
Astrophotography
Top: NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographed in the International Space Station cupola surrounded by cameras. Bottom: Star trails photographed by NASA astronaut Don Pettit in March of 2012.NASA An innovative photographer, Pettit has used time exposure, multiple cameras, infrared, and other techniques to contribute breathtaking images of Earth and star trails from the space station’s unique viewpoint. These photos contribute to a database researchers use to understand Earth’s changing landscapes, and this imagery can inspire the public’s interest in human spaceflight.
Christine Giraldo
International Space Station Research Communications Team
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
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By NASA
Official portrait of NASA astronaut Jonny Kim in an EMU suit.Credit: NASA During his first mission to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will serve as a flight engineer and member of the upcoming Expedition 72/73 crew.
Kim will launch on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft in March 2025, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky. The trio will spend approximately eight months at the space station.
While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Kim will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare the crew for future space missions and provide benefits to people on Earth.
NASA selected Kim as an astronaut in 2017. After completing the initial astronaut candidate training, Kim supported mission and crew operations in various roles including the Expedition 65 lead operations officer, T-38 operations liaison, and space station capcom chief engineer.
A native of Los Angeles, Kim is a United States Navy lieutenant commander and dual designated naval aviator and flight surgeon. Kim also served as an enlisted Navy SEAL. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of San Diego and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and completed his internship with the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
For more than two decades, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is able to more fully focus its resources on deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.
Get breaking news, images and features from the space station on the station blog, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
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joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 28, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
9 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Research pilot Greg Slover “spreads his wings” at NASA’s Langley Research Center. On August 19, tag your posts with #SpreadYourWings or #NationalAviationDay.NASA / David C. Bowman It was in 1939 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the first presidential proclamation designating Aug. 19 – Orville Wright’s birthday – as a day in which citizens are encouraged to participate in activities that promote interest in aviation. So how will you be a good citizen and observe the day as indicated by the President? Here are ten suggestions — plus one bonus idea at the end that is a “must do!” — for you and your family and friends to consider:
1. “Spread Your Wings.”
Have someone take a picture of you and your friends or loved ones stretching out your arms like the wings of an airplane. (For extra brownie points use your hands to make winglets – one of NASA’s many contributions to aviation.) Tell us how you’re celebrating flight on August 19. Post your photo to X, Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media. Be sure and tag it with #NationalAviationDay so we see it!
2. Remember that NASA is with you when you fly.
Are you traveling by air today or anytime soon? After you settle into your assigned seat buckle up, make sure your seatback and folding tray are in their full upright positions, and then take a moment and think about NASA. Why? Well it might not be immediately visible to you, but every U.S. aircraft and air traffic control tower in operation today uses some kind of NASA-developed technology.
Before you take off and the pilots shut the door, glance into the cockpit. See all the electronic displays? They make up what’s called the “glass cockpit.” NASA did early testing on using the displays to replace heavier and outdated dials and gauges.
Now, look out your window. See the vertical extension on the tip of your airplane’s wing? That’s a “winglet.” It was originally tested and developed by NASA as a way to reduce drag. In use for many, many years now, winglets have saved billions of gallons of fuel, according to industry. And they even reduce aircraft noise a bit.
Then there are the things you won’t see. It may be a piece of technology buried deep within your jet engine to help it run more efficiently, or it could be computer software installed in air traffic control centers to help controllers manage your flight, gate-to-gate, more efficiently with reduced delays, all in a way that’s more sustainable and friendly to our planet Earth.
3. Visit your local science museum or NASA visitor center.
Exhibits about aviation and on how an airplane flies are popular staples of local science museums. Check out your local science center to see if they’re open and if they have any exhibits on aviation. And even if they don’t, it never hurts to spend some time learning about science.
And if you live within a short drive from Norfolk, VA; Cleveland, OH; or San Francisco, CA, you might consider checking out the visitors centers associated with NASA’s Langley Research Center, Glenn Research Center, or Ames Research Center, respectively. These major NASA field centers play host to the majority of NASA’s aeronautics research. (NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, the fourth of NASA’s aeronautics centers, is located within the restricted area of Edwards Air Force Base, CA, so they do not have a public visitor’s center.)
4. Watch an aviation-themed movie.
There’s no shortage of classic aviation-themed movies available to watch in whatever format (DVD, streaming online, in the theater, etc.), from whatever source (Red Box, Netflix, your own library, etc.), and with whatever snacks (popcorn, nachos, Sno-Caps, etc.) are your favorite.
We dare not attempt a comprehensive list because we wouldn’t be able to satisfy everyone’s tastes, but a few NASA aeronautics staff favorites include Jimmy Stewart’s “The Spirit of St. Louis” and “Strategic Air Command,” John Wayne’s “Jet Pilot” (featuring the last time Chuck Yeager flew the X-1 rocket plane), National Geographic’s “Living in the Age of Airplanes,” and Disney’s animated “Planes.” Movies that combine aviation and space can be fun, such as “The Right Stuff” or the documentary “One More Orbit,” which tells how former NASA astronaut Terry Virts attempts to break the speed record for circling Earth over the poles in a business jet.
5. Take an introductory flight lesson.
Pilots will tell you there is a wonderful sense of freedom in flying, not to mention the incredible views and the personal sense of accomplishment that comes from mastering the skills required to fly. At the same time being a pilot is not for everyone – but you won’t know unless you try!
Most general aviation airports in the nation have a flight school that offers an introductory flight lesson at a discounted price. Many airports have flying clubs that will introduce you to flight. You also might check to see if there is a Civil Air Patrol in your area.
And if you want a taste of flight from the cockpit without leaving the ground, commercial computer desktop flight simulators such as X-Plane or Microsoft’s Flight Simulator are popular choices and can get you into the virtual sky in short order.
6. Build an airplane
Why not? It doesn’t have to be big enough to actually fly in – although homebuilt airplane kits are available if you have the money, time and perseverance to complete the job.
Putting together a smaller plastic model kit of one of the world’s most historic aircraft can be just as rewarding and just as educational, especially for younger kids who might be thinking about a career as an engineer or aerospace technician.
In fact, many astronauts will tell you their love of aviation and space began with putting models together as a child. Another idea: Grab some LEGO bricks and build the airplane of your dreams, or perhaps one based on real NASA work like these folks did.
Or make it easy on yourself: fold a paper airplane like this one of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft and shoot it across the room. Sometimes simple works best.
7. Tell us about your first flight
Ten years ago, for National Aviation Day in 2014, we asked some fellow NASA workers for stories about their first flights. We received some great ones, and we’d love to hear from you about the first time you ever flew in a plane. Post your story online and be sure to use #NationalAviationDay so we find you. Tell us about the first time you took to the air. Where were you traveling? Why? Do you remember what kind of airplane it was? Were you thrilled, or a little scared? Let us know!
8. Follow what we’re doing to transform aviation.
NASA’s aeronautical innovators are working to transform air transportation to meet the future needs of the global aviation community. Sounds like a big job, right? It is and there are many ways in which NASA is doing this. Improving an airplane’s aerodynamics, reducing the amount of fuel used by airplanes, making airplanes of all sizes quieter, decreasing the amount of harmful emissions released into the atmosphere, working with the Federal Aviation Administration to improve the efficiency of air traffic control – the list could go on for many thousands of more words. Bookmark our NASA Aeronautics home page and follow us on Twitter @NASAaero.
There’s also some great education resources that not only help you learn about NASA’s aeronautics research, but about aviation in general. Visit our Aeronautics STEM page to download activities, fact sheets, coloring pages for kids, and much more. Even more fun things to do at home can be found here.
9. Visit your local library or download a NASA e-book
Aviation-themed books, whether fact or fiction, are all over the shelves of your local library – literally. That’s because there’s no single Dewey Decimal number for aviation. A book about aviation history will be in a different section of the library than a book about how to design an airplane. And fictional books such as the Arthur Hailey classic “Airport,” or autobiographies such as Chuck Yeager’s “Yeager,” are off on yet another shelf. Don’t hesitate to ask your reference librarian for help. And when you get back from the library, or while still there, jump online and check out the NASA e-books you can download and own for free.
10. Have a plane spotting picnic near an airport.
At Washington DC’s Ronald Reagan airport it’s Gravelly Point. In Minneapolis it’s a new viewing location right in the middle of the airport. If you live near a major international airport, chances are you know the best place where the locals can go to watch aircraft take off and land. Be sure to take heed of any security restrictions about where you can and can’t go.
But once you have your spot picked out then load up your picnic basket with lots of goodies and camp out next to the airport for an afternoon of plane spotting. See how many different types of airplanes you can count or identify. For a truly up-close and personal experience, bring a scanner radio and listen in on air traffic control. Helpful plane spotting tips, as well as livestreams of airport activity, are easily found online with the help of your favorite search engine.
BONUS IDEA: Get to Know our Faces of Flight
NASA / Maria Werries In honor of National Aviation Day, we’ve put together a collection of pictures, videos, and stories that showcase some of NASA Aeronautics’ aeronautical innovators who are working to safely transform aviation for the 21st century. See, watch, and read their stories with this up close and personal look,
Enjoy this special feature here!
About the Author
Jim Banke
Managing Editor/Senior WriterJim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 35 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on the NASA website.
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
On Aug. 14, 1969, NASA announced the selection of seven new astronauts. The Group 7 astronauts consisted of pilots transferred from the Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) Program canceled two months earlier. The MOL, a joint project of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the National Reconnaissance Office, sought to obtain high-resolution photographic imagery of America’s Cold War adversaries. The Air Force selected 17 pilots in three groups for the MOL program – eight pilots in 1965, five in 1966, and four in 1967. After the cancellation, NASA invited the younger (under 35) of the 14 remaining MOL pilots to join its astronaut corps at the Manned Spacecraft Center, now the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The selected pilots included Major Karol J. “Bo” Bobko, USAF, Commander Robert L. Crippen, US Navy, Major C. Gordon Fullerton, USAF, Major Henry W. “Hank” Hartsfield, USAF, Major Robert F. Overmyer, US Marine Corps, Major Donald H. Peterson, USAF, and Commander Richard H. Truly, US Navy. In addition to the seven selected as astronauts, NASA assigned an eighth MOL pilot, Lt. Colonel Albert H. Crews, USAF, to MSC’s Flight Crew Operations Directorate. Prior to his MOL training, Crews served as a pilot for the X-20 Dyna-Soar Program, an early USAF experimental lifting body vehicle canceled in 1963.
Left: Official NASA photograph of Group 7 astronauts Karol J. “Bo” Bobko, left, C. Gordon Fullerton, Henry “Hank” W. Hartsfield, Robert L. Crippen, Donald H. Peterson, Richard H. Truly, and Robert F. Overmyer who transferred from the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. Right: Official Air Force portrait of Albert H. Crews. Image credit: courtesy U.S. Air Force.
The MOL Program had envisioned a series of 60-foot-long space stations in low polar Earth orbit, occupied by 2-man crews for 30 days at a time, launching and returning to Earth aboard modified Gemini-B capsules. Externally similar to NASA’s Gemini spacecraft, the MOL version’s major modification involved a hatch cut into the heat shield that allowed the pilots to access the laboratory located behind the spacecraft without the need for a spacewalk. While MOL pilots would carry out a variety of experiments, a telescope with imaging systems for military reconnaissance constituted the primary payload intended to fly in the laboratory. The imaging system carried the Keyhole KH-10 designation with the code name Dorian. Its 72-inch primary mirror could provide high resolution images of targets of military interest. To reach their polar orbits, MOLs would launch from Vandenberg Air Force, now Space Force, Base in California atop Titan-IIIM rockets. Construction of Space Launch Complex-6 (SLC-6) had begun in 1966 to accommodate that launch vehicle but stopped with the program’s cancellation. When NASA and the Air Force decided to fly payloads into polar orbit using the space shuttle, in 1979 they began to reconfigure the SLC-6 facilities to accommodate the new vehicle. After the January 1986 Challenger accident, the agencies abandoned plans for shuttle missions from Vandenberg and mothballed SLC-6.
Group 7 astronauts. Left: Karol J. “Bo” Bobko. Middle left: Robert L. Crippen. Middle right: L. Gordon Fullerton. Right: Henry “Hank” W. Hartsfield.
Bobko, selected in the second group of MOL pilots, served as the pilot for the 56-day Skylab Medical Experiment Altitude Test (SMEAT) in 1972, a ground-based simulation of a Skylab mission. He then served as a support crew member for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) that flew in July 1975. For his first spaceflight, he served as pilot on STS-6 in April 1983. NASA next assigned him as commander of STS-41F, a mission to launch two communications satellites in August 1984. However, following the STS-41D launch abort in June 1984, NASA canceled the mission, combined its payloads with the delayed STS-41D, and reassigned Bobko and his crew to a later mission. That flight, STS-51E, a four-day mission aboard Challenger planned for February 1985 to deploy the second Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), in turn was canceled when the TDRS developed serious problems. NASA reassigned Bobko and his crew to STS-51D, flown aboard Discovery in April 1985. Bobko flew his third and final spaceflight as commander of STS-51J, a Department of Defense mission and the first flight of Atlantis, in October 1985. The 167 days between his last two missions marked the shortest turnaround between spaceflights up to that time. Bobko retired from NASA in 1989.
Crippen, a member of the second group of MOL pilots, served as commander of SMEAT in 1972, a ground-based simulation of a Skylab mission. He then served as a member of the ASTP support crew. NASA assigned him as pilot of STS-1, the first space shuttle mission in April 1981. He later served as commander of STS-7 in June 1983, STS-41C in April 1984, and STS-41G in October 1984. NASA assigned him as commander of STS-62A, planned for October 1986 as the first shuttle flight from Vandenberg in California, prior to cancellation of all shuttle flights from that launch site after the Challenger accident. Crippen went on to serve as director of the Space Shuttle Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., from 1990 to 1992, and then as director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida from 1992 until his retirement from the agency in 1995.
Fullerton, selected into the second group of MOL pilots, served as the pilot of the first, third, and fifth Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) with space shuttle Enterprise in 1977. NASA assigned him as pilot on STS-3, the only shuttle to land at White Sands in March 1982. He flew his second mission in July-August 1985 as the commander of the STS-51F Spacelab 2 mission. Fullerton retired from NASA in 1986.
Hartsfield, part of the second group of MOL pilots, served as the pilot on STS-4, the first Department of Defense shuttle mission in June-July 1982. NASA next assigned him as commander of STS-12, a mission to launch the second TDRS that was canceled due to continuing problems with its Inertial Upper Stage. NASA reassigned Hartsfield and his crew to STS-41D, space shuttle Discovery’s first flight that in June 1984, experienced the first launch pad abort of the program. That mission flew two months later, having absorbed payloads from the canceled STS-41F mission. Hartsfield commanded his third and final flight in October-November 1985, the STS-61A German Spacelab D1 mission that included the first eight-person crew. He retired from NASA in 1988.
Group 7 astronauts. Left: Robert F. Overmyer. Middle: Donald H. Peterson. Right: Richard H. Truly.
Overmyer, selected as part of the second group of MOL pilots, served as a support crew member for ASTP. For his first space mission, Overmyer served as pilot of STS-5 in November 1982. For his second and final spaceflight, he served as commander of the STS-51B Spacelab 3 mission in April-May 1985. Overmyer retired from NASA in 1986.
Peterson, selected in the third group of MOL pilots, made his only spaceflight as a mission specialist during STS-6 in April 1983. During that mission, he participated in the first spacewalk of the shuttle program. Peterson retired from NASA in 1984.
Truly, selected with the first group of MOL pilots, served as an ASTP support crew member and then as the pilot of the ALT-2 and 4 flights with space shuttle Enterprise in 1977. During his first spaceflight, he served as pilot of STS-2 in November 1981, the first reflight of a reusable spacecraft. On his second and final mission, he commanded STS-8 that included the first night launch and night landing of the shuttle program. Truly retired from NASA in 1984 but returned in 1986 as Associate Administrator for Space Flight at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1989, he assumed the position of NASA’s eighth administrator, serving until 1992.
Summary of spaceflights by Group 7 astronauts. Missions in italics represent canceled flights.
Although it took nearly 12 years for the first of the MOL transfers to make it to orbit (Crippen on STS-1 in 1981), many served in supporting roles during Skylab and ASTP, and all of them went on to fly on the space shuttle in the 1980s. After their flying careers, Truly and Crippen went on serve in senior NASA leadership positions. Crews stayed with the agency as a pilot until 1994.
Read Bobko’s, Crews’, Crippen’s, Fullerton’s, Hartsfield’s, Peterson’s, and Truly’s recollections of the MOL program and their subsequent NASA careers in their oral history interviews with the JSC History Office.
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
“Mustard,” NASA Glenn Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, Eva the Astronaut mascot, and “Onion” stop for a photo after the hot dog derby at the Guardians’ game. Credit: NASA/Kristen Parker NASA Glenn Research Center’s Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon threw out the first pitch that started the game between the Cleveland Guardians and San Francisco Giants on July 7. He was joined by Glenn’s Eva the Astronaut mascot, who had a ball hanging out with the Guardians’ Slider mascot during NASA Day at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Employees, their families, and other Guardians fans enjoyed the first pitch and having Eva represent the center.
NASA Glenn’s Eva the Astronaut mascot and the Guardians’ Slider at NASA Day at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Credit: NASA/Kristen Parker
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