Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) will transport the next astronauts that land on the Moon, including the first woman and first person of color, beginning with Artemis III. For safety and mission success, the landers and other equipment in development for NASA’s Artemis campaign must work reliably in the harshest of environments.
The Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (HI-TTeMP) lab at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, provides engineers with thermal analysis of materials that may be a prototype or in an early developmental stage using a vacuum chamber, back left, and a conduction chamber, right. NASA/Ken Hall Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are currently testing how well prototype insulation for SpaceX’s Starship HLS will insulate interior environments, including propellant storage tanks and the crew cabin. Starship HLS will land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III and Artemis IV.
Marshall’s Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (HI-TTeMP) laboratory provides the resources and tools for an early, quick-check evaluation of insulation materials destined for Artemis deep space missions.
“Marshall’s HI-TTeMP lab gives us a key testing capability to help determine how well the current materials being designed for vehicles like SpaceX’s orbital propellant storage depot and Starship HLS, will insulate the liquid oxygen and methane propellants,” said HLS chief engineer Rene Ortega. “By using this lab and the expertise provided by the thermal engineers at Marshall, we are gaining valuable feedback earlier in the design and development process that will provide additional information before qualifying hardware for deep space missions.”
A peek inside the conductive test chamber at NASA Marshall’s HI-TTeMP lab where thermal engineers design, set up, execute, and analyze materials destined for deep space to better understand how they will perform in the cold near-vacuum of space. NASA/Ken Hall On the Moon, spaceflight hardware like Starship HLS will face extreme temperatures. On the Moon’s south pole during lunar night, temperatures can plummet to -370 degrees Fahrenheit (-223 degrees Celsius). Elsewhere in deep space temperatures can range from roughly 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) in direct sunlight to just above absolute zero in the shadows.
There are two primary means of managing thermal conditions: active and passive. Passive thermal controls include materials such as insulation, white paint, thermal blankets, and reflective metals. Engineers can also design operational controls, such as pointing thermally sensitive areas of a spacecraft away from direct sunlight, to help manage extreme thermal conditions. Active thermal control measures that could be used include radiators or cryogenic coolers.
Engineers use two vacuum test chambers in the lab to simulate the heat transfer effects of the deep space environment and to evaluate the thermal properties of the materials. One chamber is used to understand radiant heat, which directly warms an object in its path, such as when heat from the Sun shines on it. The other test chamber evaluates conduction by isolating and measuring its heat transfer paths.
NASA engineers working in the HI-TTeMP lab not only design, set up, and run tests, they also provide insight and expertise in thermal engineering to assist NASA’s industry partners, such as SpaceX and other organizations, in validating concepts and models, or suggesting changes to designs. The lab is able to rapidly test and evaluate design updates or iterations.
NASA’s HLS Program, managed by NASA Marshall, is charged with safely landing astronauts on the Moon as part of Artemis. NASA has awarded contracts to SpaceX for landing services for Artemis III and IV and to Blue Origin for Artemis V. Both landing services providers plan to transfer super-cold propellant in space to send landers to the Moon with full tanks.
With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of Mars. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the HLS, next-generation spacesuits, Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
For more on HLS, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/human-landing-system
News Media Contact
Corinne Beckinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
Explore More
8 min read Preguntas frecuentes: La verdadera historia del cuidado de la salud de los astronautas en el espacio
Article 1 day ago 6 min read FAQ: The Real Story About Astronaut Health Care in Space
Article 1 day ago 3 min read Ready, Set, Action! Our Sun is the Star in Dazzling Simulation
Article 1 day ago
r
View the full article
-
By NASA
2 Min Read Why NASA Is a Great Place to Launch Your Career
Students at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory pose for photos around the laboratory wearing their eclipse glasses. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech Recently recognized as the most prestigious internship program by Vault.com, NASA has empowered countless students and early-career professionals to launch careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. NASA interns make real contributions to space and science missions, making it one of the best places to start your career.
“NASA internships give students the chance to work on groundbreaking projects alongside experts, providing impactful opportunities for professional growth,” said Mike Kincaid, associate administrator for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement. “Since starting my career as an intern at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, I’ve experienced firsthand how NASA creates lasting connections and open doors—not just for me, but for former interns who are now colleagues across the agency. These internships build STEM skills, confidence, and networks, preparing the next generation of innovators and leaders.”
NASA interns achieve impressive feats, from discovering new exoplanets to becoming astronauts and even winning Webby Awards for their science communication efforts. These valuable contributors play a crucial role in NASA’s mission to explore the unknown for the benefit of all. Many NASA employees start their careers as interns, a testament to the program’s lasting impact.
Students congratulate the 23rd astronaut class at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 5, 2024.NASA/Josh Valcarcel Additionally, NASA is recognized as one of America’s Best Employers for Women and one of America’s Best Employers for New Graduates by Forbes, reflecting the agency’s commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment. NASA encourages people from underrepresented groups to apply, creating a diverse cohort of interns who bring a wide range of perspectives and ideas to the agency.
“My internship experience has been incredible. I have felt welcomed by everyone I’ve worked with, which has been so helpful as a Navajo woman as I’ve often felt like an outsider in male-dominated STEM spaces,” said Tara Roanhorse, an intern for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement.
If you’re passionate about space, technology, and making a difference in the world, NASA’s internship program is the perfect place to begin your journey toward a fulfilling and impactful career.
To learn more about NASA’s internship programs, visit: https://www.intern.nasa.gov/
Keep Exploring Discover More STEM Topics From NASA
For Colleges and Universities
For Students Grades 9-12
Join Artemis
Learning Resources
View the full article
-
Preguntas frecuentes: La verdadera historia del cuidado de la salud de los astronautas en el espacioBy NASA
NASA Read this story in English here.
La Estación Espacial Internacional es el hogar de la humanidad en el espacio y una estación de investigación que gira en órbita sobre la Tierra a unos 400 kilómetros (250 millas) de altura. La NASA y sus socios internacionales han mantenido una presencia humana continua a bordo de la estación espacial durante más de 24 años, haciendo investigaciones que no es posible realizar en la Tierra.
La gente que vive y trabaja a bordo de este laboratorio en microgravedad también forma parte de las investigaciones que se llevan a cabo, y ellos ayudan a abordar complejos problemas de la salud humana en la Tierra y preparan a la humanidad para viajar más lejos que nunca, incluyendo la Luna y Marte.
Estas son algunas de las preguntas frecuentes sobre cómo la NASA y su equipo de médicos, psicólogos, nutricionistas, científicos del ejercicio y otros profesionales especializados garantizan la salud y la condición física de los astronautas a bordo del laboratorio orbital.
¿Cuánto dura una estadía típica a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional?
Una misión típica a la Estación Espacial Internacional dura unos seis meses, pero puede variar en función del calendario de visitas de naves espaciales, las prioridades de la misión y otros factores. Los astronautas de la NASA también han permanecido a bordo de la estación espacial durante períodos de tiempo más largos. Estas se conocen como misiones de larga duración, y misiones anteriores de este tipo han proporcionado a la NASA cuantiosos datos sobre los vuelos espaciales a largo plazo y sus efectos en el cuerpo humano, los cuales la agencia aplica a cualquier misión tripulada.
Durante las misiones de larga duración, el equipo de profesionales médicos de la NASA se centra en optimizar la salud física y conductual de los astronautas y su desempeño, para ayudar a garantizar el éxito de la misión. Estos esfuerzos también ayudan a la NASA a prepararse para futuras misiones humanas a la Luna, Marte y más allá.
¿Cómo mantiene la NASA saludables a los astronautas mientras están en el espacio?
La NASA tiene un equipo de médicos, psicólogos y otros especialistas en tierra que se dedican a dar apoyo a la salud y el bienestar de los astronautas antes, durante y después de cada misión espacial. La NASA asigna a cada tripulación médicos con formación especializada en medicina espacial, denominados médicos de la tripulación de vuelo, una vez que la tripulación ha sido seleccionada para una misión. Los médicos de la tripulación de vuelo supervisan la atención de salud y la capacitación médica mientras los miembros de la tripulación se preparan para su misión, y monitorean la salud de la tripulación antes, durante y después de su misión a la estación espacial.
¿Cómo apoya la NASA el bienestar mental y emocional de sus astronautas mientras están en el espacio?
El equipo de salud conductual de la NASA proporciona servicios de apoyo psicológico determinados de manera individual para los miembros de la tripulación y sus familias durante cada misión. Garantizar que los astronautas puedan mantener su vitalidad en entornos extremos comienza tan pronto se inicia el proceso de selección de astronautas, en el que los candidatos son evaluados en capacidades como su adaptabilidad y resiliencia. Los astronautas reciben una formación exhaustiva que les ayuda a utilizar herramientas y tratamientos de autoevaluación para gestionar su salud conductual. La NASA también ofrece capacitación en destrezas expedicionarias a fin de preparar a cada astronauta para las misiones en capacidades importantes, como los cuidados personales y el cuidado del equipo, las comunicaciones y las destrezas de liderazgo y colaboración.
Para ayudar a mantener la motivación y la moral a bordo de la estación espacial, los astronautas pueden enviar correos electrónicos, hacer llamadas y videoconferencias con sus familiares y amigos, recibir paquetes personales enviados a bordo de las misiones de reabastecimiento de carga de la NASA y sostener teleconferencias con un psicólogo, si es necesario.
¿Cómo afecta la microgravedad a la salud física de los astronautas?
En microgravedad, sin la carga continua de la gravedad de la Tierra, se producen muchos cambios en el cuerpo humano. La NASA entiende muchas de las respuestas del sistema humano al entorno espacial, entre las que se cuentan las adaptaciones a la densidad ósea, la salud muscular, sensitivomotora y cardiovascular, pero todavía queda mucho por aprender. Estos efectos de los vuelos espaciales varían de uno a otro astronauta, por lo que los médicos de la tripulación de vuelo de la NASA monitorean regularmente la salud de cada miembro de la tripulación durante una misión e individualizan las rutinas de dieta y acondicionamiento físico para dar prioridad a la salud y el estado físico durante su permanencia en el espacio.
¿Por qué los astronautas hacen ejercicio en el espacio?
Todos los astronautas a bordo del laboratorio en órbita participan en planes de ejercicio específicamente diseñados y similares a los de la Tierra. Para mantener su fuerza y resistencia, los miembros de la tripulación tienen programadas dos horas y media de ejercicio diario para sustentar su salud muscular, ósea, aeróbica y sensitivomotora. El equipo actual a bordo de la estación espacial incluye el Dispositivo Avanzado de Ejercicio Resistivo (ARED, por sus siglas en inglés), que imita el levantamiento de pesas; una cinta de correr, llamada T2; y el Cicloergómetro con Sistema de Aislamiento y Estabilización de Vibraciones (CEVIS, por sus siglas en inglés) para el ejercicio cardiovascular.
¿Qué función cumplen la alimentación y la nutrición en el apoyo a la salud de los astronautas?
La nutrición desempeña un papel fundamental en el mantenimiento de la salud y el rendimiento óptimo de un astronauta antes, durante y después de su misión. La alimentación también cumple un rol psicosocial durante la prolongada estancia de un astronauta a bordo de la estación espacial. Los expertos que trabajan en el Laboratorio de Sistemas de Alimentación Espacial de la NASA en el Centro Johnson en Houston desarrollan alimentos nutritivos y apetitosos. Los miembros de la tripulación tienen pueden complementar las opciones del menú estándar con sus platos favoritos personales, que pueden brindar un sabor hogareño.
NASA ¿Cómo sabe la NASA si los astronautas están recibiendo los nutrientes adecuados?
Los nutricionistas y científicos de bioquímica nutricional de la NASA determinan los nutrientes (vitaminas, minerales, calorías) que los astronautas necesitan mientras están en el espacio. Este equipo lleva el registro de lo que come cada miembro de la tripulación mediante un programa de seguimiento basado en computadoras de tableta, que cada astronauta completa a diario. Los datos de la aplicación se envían semanalmente a los nutricionistas para controlar la ingesta dietética. El análisis de las muestras de sangre y orina de los astronautas que son tomadas antes, durante y después de las misiones espaciales es una parte crucial del estudio de cómo responden sus cuerpos a las condiciones únicas de los vuelos espaciales. Estas muestras proporcionan información valiosa sobre cómo cada astronauta se adapta a la microgravedad, la radiación y otros factores que afectan la fisiología humana en el espacio.
¿Cómo se entrenan los astronautas para trabajar juntos mientras están en el espacio?
Además de su capacitación técnica, los astronautas participan en la formación de destrezas de trabajo en equipo. Aprenden destrezas eficaces para la vida en grupo y cómo cuidarse y apoyarse unos a otros. Debido a su naturaleza remota y aislada, los vuelos espaciales de larga duración pueden dificultar el trabajo en equipo. Los astronautas deben mantener la conciencia situacional e implementar el programa de vuelo en un entorno en constante cambio. Por lo tanto, la comunicación efectiva es fundamental cuando se trabaja en equipo a bordo de la estación y con diferentes equipos de soporte en tierra. Los astronautas también deben ser capaces de comunicar información compleja a personas con diferente formación profesional. En última instancia, los astronautas son personas que viven y trabajan juntas a bordo de la estación y deben ser capaces de llevar a cabo un trabajo altamente técnico y resolver cualquier problema interpersonal que pueda surgir.
¿Qué sucede si hay una emergencia médica a bordo de la estación espacial?
Todos los astronautas reciben capacitación médica y tienen contacto regular con un equipo de médicos que vigilan de cerca su salud desde tierra. La NASA también mantiene una farmacia bien surtida y un conjunto de equipamientos médicos a bordo de la estación espacial para atender diversas afecciones y lesiones. Si una emergencia médica requiere volver a la Tierra, la tripulación regresará en la nave espacial que fue llevada a bordo para recibir atención médica urgente en tierra.
NASA/Bill Ingalls Puedes obtener más información sobre la Dirección de Salud y Desempeño Humano de la NASA (en inglés) en:
www.nasa.gov/hhp
View the full article
-
By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The mystery of why life uses molecules with specific orientations has deepened with a NASA-funded discovery that RNA — a key molecule thought to have potentially held the instructions for life before DNA emerged — can favor making the building blocks of proteins in either the left-hand or the right-hand orientation. Resolving this mystery could provide clues to the origin of life. The findings appear in research recently published in Nature Communications.
Proteins are the workhorse molecules of life, used in everything from structures like hair to enzymes (catalysts that speed up or regulate chemical reactions). Just as the 26 letters of the alphabet are arranged in limitless combinations to make words, life uses 20 different amino acid building blocks in a huge variety of arrangements to make millions of different proteins. Some amino acid molecules can be built in two ways, such that mirror-image versions exist, like your hands, and life uses the left-handed variety of these amino acids. Although life based on right-handed amino acids would presumably work fine, the two mirror images are rarely mixed in biology, a characteristic of life called homochirality. It is a mystery to scientists why life chose the left-handed variety over the right-handed one.
A diagram of left-handed and right-handed versions of the amino acid isovaline, found in the Murchison meteorite.NASA DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the molecule that holds the instructions for building and running a living organism. However, DNA is complex and specialized; it “subcontracts” the work of reading the instructions to RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules and building proteins to ribosome molecules. DNA’s specialization and complexity lead scientists to think that something simpler should have preceded it billions of years ago during the early evolution of life. A leading candidate for this is RNA, which can both store genetic information and build proteins. The hypothesis that RNA may have preceded DNA is called the “RNA world” hypothesis.
If the RNA world proposition is correct, then perhaps something about RNA caused it to favor building left-handed proteins over right-handed ones. However, the new work did not support this idea, deepening the mystery of why life went with left-handed proteins.
The experiment tested RNA molecules that act like enzymes to build proteins, called ribozymes. “The experiment demonstrated that ribozymes can favor either left- or right-handed amino acids, indicating that RNA worlds, in general, would not necessarily have a strong bias for the form of amino acids we observe in biology now,” said Irene Chen, of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Samueli School of Engineering, corresponding author of the Nature Communications paper.
In the experiment, the researchers simulated what could have been early-Earth conditions of the RNA world. They incubated a solution containing ribozymes and amino acid precursors to see the relative percentages of the right-handed and left-handed amino acid, phenylalanine, that it would help produce. They tested 15 different ribozyme combinations and found that ribozymes can favor either left-handed or right-handed amino acids. This suggested that RNA did not initially have a predisposed chemical bias for one form of amino acids. This lack of preference challenges the notion that early life was predisposed to select left-handed-amino acids, which dominate in modern proteins.
“The findings suggest that life’s eventual homochirality might not be a result of chemical determinism but could have emerged through later evolutionary pressures,” said co-author Alberto Vázquez-Salazar, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar and member of Chen’s research group.
Earth’s prebiotic history lies beyond the oldest part of the fossil record, which has been erased by plate tectonics, the slow churning of Earth’s crust. During that time, the planet was likely bombarded by asteroids, which may have delivered some of life’s building blocks, such as amino acids. In parallel to chemical experiments, other origin-of-life researchers have been looking at molecular evidence from meteorites and asteroids.
“Understanding the chemical properties of life helps us know what to look for in our search for life across the solar system,” said co-author Jason Dworkin, senior scientist for astrobiology at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and director of Goddard’s Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory.
Dworkin is the project scientist on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission, which extracted samples from the asteroid Bennu and delivered them to Earth last year for further study.
“We are analyzing OSIRIS-REx samples for the chirality (handedness) of individual amino acids, and in the future, samples from Mars will also be tested in laboratories for evidence of life including ribozymes and proteins,” said Dworkin.
The research was supported by grants from NASA, the Simons Foundation Collaboration on the Origin of Life, and the National Science Foundation. Vázquez-Salazar acknowledges support through the NASA Postdoctoral Program, which is administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA.
Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 21, 2024 EditorWilliam SteigerwaldContactNancy N. Jonesnancy.n.jones@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Astrobiology Explore More
2 min read NASA-Funded Study Examines Tidal Effects on Planet and Moon Interiors
NASA-supported scientists have developed a method to compute how tides affect the interiors of planets…
Article 2 weeks ago 2 min read NASA’s New Edition of Graphic Novel Features Europa Clipper
NASA has released a new edition of Issue 4 of the Astrobiology Graphic History series.…
Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read NASA’s Perseverance Captures ‘Googly Eye’ During Solar Eclipse
Article 3 weeks ago View the full article
-
By NASA
5 min read
NASA’s Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode
After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. The spacecraft has made great scientific strides in the years since scientists dreamed up a new way to explore gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe.
“The idea for Swift was born during a meeting in a hotel basement in Estes Park, Colorado, in the middle of a conference,” said John Nousek, the Swift mission director at Pennsylvania State University in State College. “A bunch of astrophysicists got together to brainstorm a mission that could help us solve the problem of gamma-ray bursts, which were a very big mystery at the time.”
Watch to learn how NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory got its name.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Gamma-ray bursts occur all over the sky without warning, with about one a day detected on average. Astronomers generally divide these bursts into two categories. Long bursts produce an initial pulse of gamma rays for two seconds or more and occur when the cores of massive stars collapse to form black holes. Short bursts last less than two seconds and are caused by the mergers of dense objects like neutron stars.
But in 1997, at the time of that basement meeting, the science community disagreed over the origin models for these events. Astronomers needed a satellite that could move quickly to locate them and move to point additional instruments at their positions.
What developed was Swift, which launched Nov. 20, 2004, from Complex 17A at what is now Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Originally called the Swift Observatory for its ability to quickly point at cosmic events, the mission team renamed the spacecraft in 2018 after its first principal investigator Neil Gehrels.
Swift uses several methods for orienting and stabilizing itself in space to study gamma-ray bursts.
Sensors that detect the Sun’s location and the direction of Earth’s magnetic field provide the spacecraft with a general sense of its location. Then, a device called a star tracker looks at stars and tells the spacecraft how to maneuver to keep the observatory precisely pointed at the same position during long observations.
Swift uses three spinning gyroscopes, or gyros, to carry out those moves along three axes. The gyros were designed to align at right angles to each other, but once in orbit the mission team discovered they were slightly misaligned. The flight operations team developed a strategy where one of the gyros worked to correct the misalignment while the other two pointed Swift to achieve its science goals.
The team wanted to be ready in case one of the gyros failed, however, so in 2009 they developed a plan to operate Swift using just two.
Swift orbits above Earth in this artist’s concept. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab Any change to the way a telescope operates once in space carries risk, however. Since Swift was working well, the team sat on their plan for 15 years.
Then, in July 2023, one of Swift’s gyros began working improperly. Because the telescope couldn’t hold its pointing position accurately, observations got progressively blurrier until the gyro failed entirely in March 2024.
“Because we already had the shift to two gyros planned out, we were able to quickly and thoroughly test the procedure here on the ground before implementing it on the spacecraft,” said Mark Hilliard, Swift’s flight operations team lead at Omitron, Inc. and Penn State. “Actually, scientists have commented that the accuracy of Swift’s pointing is now better than it was since launch, which is really encouraging.”
For the last 20 years, Swift has contributed to groundbreaking results — not only for gamma-ray bursts but also for black holes, stars, comets, and other cosmic objects.
“After all this time, Swift remains a crucial part of NASA’s fleet,” said S. Bradley Cenko, Swift’s principal investigator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The satellite’s abilities have helped pioneer a new era of astrophysics called multimessenger astronomy, which is giving us a more well-rounded view of how the universe works. We’re looking forward to all Swift has left to teach us.”
Swift is a key part of NASA’s strategy to look for fleeting and unpredictable changes in the sky with a variety of telescopes that use different methods of studying the cosmos.
Goddard manages the Swift mission in collaboration with Penn State, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia. Other partners include the University of Leicester and Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the United Kingdom, Brera Observatory in Italy, and the Italian Space Agency.
Download high-resolution images on NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
By Jeanette Kazmierczak
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Facebook logo @NASAUniverse @NASAUniverse Instagram logo @NASAUniverse Share
Details
Last Updated Nov 20, 2024 Editor Jeanette Kazmierczak Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
Astrophysics Gamma-Ray Bursts Goddard Space Flight Center Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory The Universe View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.