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By NASA
On the left, the Canopee transport carrier containing the European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis III mission arrives at Port Canaveral in Florida, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, before completing the last leg of its journey to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout via truck. On the right, NASA’s Pegasus barge, carrying several pieces of hardware for Artemis II, III, and IV arrives at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Credit: NASA From across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico, two ships converged, delivering key spacecraft and rocket components of NASA’s Artemis campaign to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On Sept. 3, ESA (European Space Agency) marked a milestone in the Artemis III mission as its European-built service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft completed a transatlantic journey from Bremen, Germany, to Port Canaveral, Florida, where technicians moved it to nearby NASA Kennedy. Transported aboard the Canopée cargo ship, the European Service Module—assembled by Airbus with components from 10 European countries and the U.S.—provides propulsion, thermal control, electrical power, and water and oxygen for its crews.
“Seeing multi-mission hardware arrive at the same time demonstrates the progress we are making on our Artemis missions,” said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are going to the Moon together with our industry and international partners and we are manufacturing, assembling, building, and integrating elements for Artemis flights.”
NASA’s Pegasus barge, the agency’s waterway workhorse for transporting large hardware by sea, ferried multi-mission hardware for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Artemis II launch vehicle stage adapter, the “boat-tail” of the core stage for Artemis III, the core stage engine section for Artemis IV, along with ground support equipment needed to move and assemble the large components. The barge pulled into NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B Turn Basin Thursday.
The spacecraft factory inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building is set to buzz with additional activity in the coming months. With the Artemis II Orion crew and service modules stacked together and undergoing testing, and engineers outfitting the Artemis III and IV crew modules, engineers soon will connect the newly arrived European Service Module to the crew module adapter, which houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control, and includes an umbilical connector that bridges the electrical, data, and fluid systems between the crew and service modules.
The SLS rocket’s cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter connects the core stage to the upper stage and protects the rocket’s flight computers, avionics, and electrical devices in the upper stage system during launch and ascent. The adapter will be taken to Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for Artemis II rocket stacking operations.
The boat-tail, which will be used during the assembly of the SLS core stage for Artemis III, is a fairing-like structure that protects the bottom end of the core stage and RS-25 engines. This hardware, picked up at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, will join the Artemis III core stage engine section housed in the spaceport’s Space Systems Processing Facility.
The Artemis IV SLS core stage engine section arrived from NASA Michoud and also will transfer to the center’s processing facility ahead of final assembly.
Under the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, establishing long-term exploration for scientific discovery and preparing for human missions to Mars. The agency’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, and supporting ground systems, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits and rovers, and Gateway, serve as NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
For more information on NASA’s Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
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Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov
Allison Tankersley, Antonia Jaramillo Botero
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
Allison.p.tankersley@nasa.gov/ antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Early research at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley — then known as NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory – included ground tests of “hot wing” anti-icing systems on a Lockheed 12A aircraft. NASA works every day to improve air travel – and has been doing so since its creation decades ago. On National Aviation Day, NASA and all fans of aviation get the chance to celebrate the innovative research and development the agency has produced to improve capability and safety in flight.
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has a historic legacy in aeronautics research. When the center was founded in 1939 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), its early research included working to reduce icing on aircraft wings.
When ice coats the wings of an airplane, it reduces lift and increases drag, which can cause the aircraft to lose altitude and control. Ames researchers developed different approaches to solve the icing challenge, including a “hot wing” thermal anti-icing system. The system worked by running hot engine exhaust along the leading edges of aircraft wings, warming them and preventing ice buildup. Ames researchers modified aircraft and tested them before traveling to Minnesota, where they were flown in icy conditions.
Today, many turbine-powered aircraft, like passenger jets, use “bleed air” anti-icing systems, which warm the leading edges of aircraft wings using compressed air from their engines. These systems are built upon the early research and testing done at Ames.
The legacy of aviation innovation continues at Ames, through aeroscience research like wind tunnel testing, air traffic management, and advanced aircraft systems.
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2024 LocationAeronautics at Ames Related Terms
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4 min read At Work and Beyond, NASA Employees Find Joy in Aviation
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By NASA
2 Min Read Orville Wright and National Aviation Day
This mural by famed aviation and space artist Bob McCall was created to celebrate the achievements of Wilbur and Orville Wright and to commemorate a century of powered flight. Central to the composition is the 1903 Wright Flyer. Credits: <br> Orville Wright wasn’t sure exactly how long his first flight lasted.
He and his brother, Wilbur, think it was about 12 seconds, but according to what Orville wrote in his diary of that December day in 1903 at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., the time is “not known exactly as watch was not promptly stopped.”
It’s perhaps a minor detail given the historic significance of what had just transpired on those wind-swept, sandy dunes along the Outer Banks – namely the first ever controlled flight of a heavier-than-air machine rising by its own power.
But there is much we do know about the first flight of an airplane. With Orville at the controls, the Wright Flyer took off at 10:35 a.m. EST and flew a distance of 120 feet, about 10 feet off the ground, at a top speed of about 6.8 mph.
Three more flights followed that day, with Wilbur and Orville taking turns at the controls, the last flight by Wilbur lasting 59 seconds and covering a distance of 852 feet. The fourth flight ended hard, damaging the airplane enough to halt any more attempts.
But it was Orville who made the first flight. In honor of that fact, President Franklin Roosevelt declared in 1939 that August 19, Orville’s birthday, would be National Aviation Day – an annual occasion to celebrate the importance of aviation.
Orville was still alive when FDR issued the directive, which called on all federal buildings and installations to display the U.S. flag. The proclamation also invited citizens to observe the day with activities that promote interest in aviation.
The proclamation was codified (36 U.S. Code § 118), allowing future sitting U.S. presidents to proclaim Aug. 19 as National Aviation Day.
Although not every president since FDR has issued the proclamation every year, the broad aviation community nevertheless recognizes the day as a means to honor the legacy of Orville Wright — and his brother — and celebrate the many ways aviation touches all of our lives.
Wilbur and Orville Wright
Wilbur, left, and Orville Wright Celebrate National Aviation Day by Getting 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.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2024 EditorJim BankeContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov 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.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More
2 min read Orville Wright and National Aviation Day
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Details
Last Updated Aug 18, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate View the full article
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