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By NASA
NASA and Boeing welcomed Starliner back to Earth following the uncrewed spacecraft’s successful landing at 10:01 p.m. MDT Sept. 6, 2024, at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Credit: NASA NASA and Boeing safely returned the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft following its landing at 10:01 p.m. MDT Sept. 6 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, concluding a three-month flight test to the International Space Station.
“I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible. NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station.”
The flight on June 5 was the first time astronauts launched aboard the Starliner. It was the third orbital flight of the spacecraft, and its second return from the orbiting laboratory. Starliner now will ship to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for inspection and processing.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program requires a spacecraft to fly a crewed test flight to prove the system is ready for regular flights to and from the orbiting laboratory. Following Starliner’s return, the agency will review all mission-related data.
“We are excited to have Starliner home safely. This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “There was a lot of valuable learning that will enable our long-term success. I want to commend the entire team for their hard work and dedication over the past three months.”
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched on June 5 aboard Starliner for the agency’s Boeing Crewed Flight Test from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. On June 6, as Starliner approached the space station, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters. Following weeks of in-space and ground testing, technical interchange meetings, and agency reviews, NASA made the decision to prioritize safety and return Starliner without its crew. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work aboard station as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew, returning in February 2025 with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
The crew flight test is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. 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, 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
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Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Leah Cheshier
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov
Steve Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / danielle.c.sempsrott@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 07, 2024 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Commercial Crew International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research View the full article
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By NASA
The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station with (pictured left to right) NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.Credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center NASA astronaut Don Pettit will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft, accompanied by cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, to the International Space Station where they will join the Expedition 71 crew in advancing scientific research.
Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner will lift off at 12:23 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 11 (9:23 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Coverage will stream on NASA+, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms including social media.
After a two-orbit, three-hour trajectory to the station, the spacecraft will automatically dock at 3:33 p.m. at the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module. Shortly after, hatches will open between the spacecraft and the station.
Once aboard, the trio will join NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.
NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
11:15 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
12:23 p.m. – Launch
2:30 p.m. – Rendezvous and docking coverage begins on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
3:33 p.m. – Docking
5:30 p.m. – Hatch opening and welcome remarks coverage begins on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.
5:50 p.m. – Hatch opening
The trio will spend approximately six months aboard the orbital laboratory as Expedition 71 and 72 crew members before returning to Earth in the spring of 2025. This will be the fourth spaceflight for Pettit and Ovchinin, and the second for Vagner.
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs that are 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 focusing more resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for future human missions to Mars.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Sep 06, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
International Space Station (ISS) Astronauts Donald R. Pettit Humans in Space ISS Research Johnson Space Center View the full article
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By NASA
Learn Home NASA Summer Camp Inspires… Earth Science Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Stories Science Activation Highlights Citizen Science 2 min read
NASA Summer Camp Inspires Future Climate Leaders
From July 15-19, 2024, the Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub at the Georgia Institute of Technology collaborated with the University of Georgia (UGA) Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant to host a week-long NASA Sea Level Changemakers Summer Camp. The camp introduced 14 rising 7th-8th graders to how coastal areas are changing due to sea level rise. Set at the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island, the camp offered students hands-on activities and outdoor educational experiences, where they analyzed real data collected by NASA scientists and learned about community adaptations to flooding. Students interacted with experts from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UGA, and Georgia Tech, gaining insights into satellite observations, green infrastructure, environmental sensors, and careers related to sea level rise. The camp also included a visit to the Pin Point Heritage Museum, where students engaged with leaders from the historic Gullah Geechee community of Pin Point. The camp concluded with a boat trip to Wassaw Island, where students observed the effects of sea level rise on an undeveloped barrier island and compared these observations with earlier findings from urban environments. Funding from the NASA’s Science Activation Program and its Sea Level Education, Awareness, and Literacy (SEAL) team ensured that the camp was accessible to all students, eliminating financial barriers for groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM education.
“This investment from NASA has provided an amazing opportunity for youth in coastal Georgia to utilize NASA data and resources on a critical issue affecting their communities,” said Jill Gambill, executive director of the Coastal Equity and Resilience (CEAR) Hub at Georgia Tech. “They have more confidence now in their knowledge of sea level rise and potential solutions.”
The Sea Level Education, Awareness, and Literacy (SEAL) team is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNH21ZDA001N-SCIACT and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn
Participants of the 2024 NASA Sea Level Changemakers Summer Camp in Savannah, GA Share
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Last Updated Sep 06, 2024 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Location Jet Propulsion Laboratory Related Terms
Earth Science NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Opportunities For Students to Get Involved Science Activation Sea Level Rise Explore More
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4 Min Read Eclipses Create Atmospheric Gravity Waves, NASA Student Teams Confirm
In this photo taken from the International Space Station, the Moon passes in front of the Sun casting its shadow, or umbra, and darkening a portion of the Earth's surface above Texas during the annular solar eclipse Oct. 14, 2023. Credits: NASA Student teams from three U.S. universities became the first to measure what scientists have long predicted: eclipses can generate ripples in Earth’s atmosphere called atmospheric gravity waves. The waves’ telltale signature emerged in data captured during the North American annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023, as part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) sponsored by NASA.
Through NEBP, high school and university student teams were stationed along the eclipse path through multiple U.S. states, where they released weather balloons carrying instrument packages designed to conduct engineering studies or atmospheric science. A cluster of science teams located in New Mexico collected the data definitively linking the eclipse to the formation of atmospheric gravity waves, a finding that could lead to improved weather forecasting.
“Climate models are complicated, and they make some assumptions about what atmospheric factors to take into account.”
Angela Des Jardins
Director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium, which led NEBP.
“Understanding how the atmosphere reacts in the special case of eclipses helps us better understand the atmosphere, which in turn helps us make more accurate weather predictions and, ultimately, better understand climate change.”
Catching Waves in New Mexico
Previous ballooning teams also had hunted atmospheric gravity waves during earlier eclipses, research that was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation. In 2019, an NEBP team stationed in Chile collected promising data, but hourly balloon releases didn’t provide quite enough detail. Attempts to repeat the experiment in 2020 were foiled by COVID-19 travel restrictions in Argentina and a heavy rainstorm that impeded data collection in Chile.
Project leaders factored in these lessons learned when planning for 2023, scheduling balloon releases every 15 minutes and carefully weighing locations with the best potential for success.
“New Mexico looked especially promising,” said Jie Gong, a researcher in the NASA Climate and Radiation Lab at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and co-investigator of the research on atmospheric gravity waves. “The majority of atmospheric gravity sources are convection, weather systems, and mountains. We wanted to eliminate all those possible sources.”
The project created a New Mexico “supersite” in the town of Moriarty where four atmospheric science teams were clustered: two from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, and one each from the State University of New York (SUNY) Albany and SUNY Oswego.
Students began launching balloons at 10 a.m. the day before the eclipse.
“They worked in shifts through the day and night, and then everyone was on site for the eclipse,” said Eric Kelsey, research associate professor at Plymouth State and the NEBP northeast regional lead.
“Our hard work really paid off. The students had a real sense of accomplishment.”
Eric Kelsey
Research Associate Professor at Plymouth State and the NEBP Northeast Regional Lead.
Each balloon released by the science teams carried a radiosonde, an instrument package that measured temperature, location, humidity, wind direction, and wind speed during every second of its climb through the atmosphere. Radiosondes transmitted this stream of raw data to the team on the ground. Students uploaded the data to a shared server, where Gong and two graduate students spent months processing and analyzing it.
Confirmation that the eclipse had generated atmospheric gravity waves in the skies above New Mexico came in spring 2024.
“We put all the data together according to time, and when we plotted that time series, I could already see the stripes in the signal,” Gong said. “I bombarded everybody’s email. We were quite excited.”
Plymouth State University students Sarah Brigandi, left, and Sammantha Boulay release a weather balloon from Moriarty, New Mexico, to collect atmospheric data on Oct. 14, 2023.NASA For Students, Learning Curves Bring Opportunity
The program offered many students their first experience in collecting data. But the benefits go beyond technical and scientific skill.
“The students learned a ton through practicing launching weather balloons,” Kelsey said. “It was a huge learning curve. They had to work together to figure out all the logistics and troubleshoot. It’s good practice of teamwork skills.”
“All of this is technically complicated,” Des Jardins said. “While the focus now is on the science result, the most important part is that it was students who made this happen.”
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program funds NEBP, along with contributions from the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Project and support from NASA’s Balloon Program Office.
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Montana State-led ballooning project confirms hypothesis about eclipse effects on atmosphere
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics researcher notes the conditions on the P-39L after its first test run in the Icing Research Tunnel on Sept. 13, 1944. The aircraft was too large to fit in the test section, so it was installed downstream in a larger area of the tunnel. The initial tests analyzed ice buildup on the nose, propeller blades, and antennae. In the summer of 1945, the P-39L was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of a thermal pneumatic boot ice-prevention system and heated propeller blades.Credit: NASA On Sept. 13, 1944, researchers subjected a Bell P-39L Airacobra to frigid temperatures and a freezing water spray in the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s new Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) to study inflight ice buildup. Since that first run at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory (now NASA’s Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland, the facility has operated on a regular basis for 80 years and remains the oldest and one of the largest icing tunnels in the world.
Water droplets in clouds can freeze on aircraft surfaces in certain atmospheric conditions. Ice buildup on the forward edges of wings and tails causes significant decreases in lift and rapid increases in drag. Ice can also block engine intakes and add weight. NASA has a long tradition of working to understand the conditions that cause icing and developing systems that prevent and remove ice buildup.
The NACA decided to build its new icing tunnel adjacent to the lab’s Altitude Wind Tunnel to take advantage of its powerful cooling equipment and unprecedented refrigeration system. The system, which can reduce air temperature to around –30 degrees Fahrenheit, produces realistic and repeatable icing conditions using a spray nozzle system that creates small, very cold droplets and a drive fan that generates airspeeds up to 374 miles per hour.
View upstream of the Icing Research Tunnel’s 25-foot-diameter drive fan in 1944. The original 12-bladed wooden fan and its 4,100-horsepower motor could produce air speeds up to 300 miles per hour. The motor and fan were replaced in 1987 and 1993, respectively.Credit: NASA Two rudimentary icing tunnels had briefly operated at the NACA’s Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia, but icing research primarily relied on flight testing. The sophisticated new tunnel in Cleveland offered a safer way to study icing physics, test de-icing systems, and develop icing instrumentation.
During World War II, inlet icing was a key contributor to the heavy losses suffered by C-46s flying supply missions to allied troops in China. In February 1945, a large air scoop from the C-46 Commando was installed in the tunnel, where researchers determined the cause of the issue and redesigned the scoop to prevent freezing water droplets entering. The modifications were later incorporated into the C–46 and Convair C–40.
A National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics engineer experiments with an Icing Research Tunnel water spray system design in September 1949. Researchers used data taken from research flights to determine the proper droplet sizes. The atomizing spray system was perfected in 1950.Credit: NASA Despite these early successes, NACA engineers struggled to improve the facility’s droplet spray system because of a lack of small nozzles able to produce sufficiently small droplets. After years of dogged trial and error, the breakthrough came in 1950 with an 80-nozzle system that produced the uniform microscopic droplets needed to properly simulate a natural icing cloud.
Usage of the IRT increased in the 1950s, and the controlled conditions produced by the facility helped researchers define specific atmospheric conditions that produce icing. The Civil Aeronautics Authority (the precursor to the Federal Aviation Administration) used this data to establish regulations for all-weather aircraft. The facility also contributed to new icing protections for antennae and jet engines and the development of cyclical heating de-icing systems.
The success of the NACA’s icing program, along with the increased use of jet engines – which permitted cruising above the weather – reduced the need for additional icing research. In early 1957, just before the NACA transitioned to NASA, the center’s icing program was terminated. Nonetheless, the IRT remained active throughout the 1960s and 1970s supporting industry testing.
The Icing Research Tunnel is highlighted in this 1973 aerial photograph. The larger Altitude Wind Tunnel (AWT) is located behind it, and the Refrigeration Building that supported both tunnels is immediately to the left of the AWT.Credit: NASA By the mid-1970s, new icing issues were arising due to the increased use of helicopters, regional airliners, and general aviation aircraft. The center held an icing workshop in July 1978 where over 100 icing experts from across the world converged and lobbied for a reinstatement of NASA’s icing research program.
The agency agreed to provide funding to support a small team of researchers and increase operation of the icing facility. In 1982, a deadly icing-related airline crash spurred NASA to bring back a full-fledged icing research program.
Nearly all the tunnel’s major components were subsequently upgraded. Use of the IRT skyrocketed, and there was at least a one-year wait for new tests during this period. In 1988, the facility operated more hours than any year since 1950.
This model was installed in the Icing Research Tunnel in 2023 as part of the Advanced Air Mobility Rotor Icing Evaluation Study, which sought to refine testing of rotating models in the tunnel, validate 3D computational models, and study propeller icing issues.Credit: NASA The facility was used in a complementary way with the Twin Otter aircraft and computer simulation to improve de-icing systems, predictive tools, and instrumentation. IRT testing also accelerated the all-weather certification of the OH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. In the 1990s, the icing program turned its attention to combatting super-cooled large droplets, which can cause ice buildup in areas not protected by leading edge de-icing systems, and tailplane icing, which can cause commuter aircraft to pitch forward.
The IRT was one of the busiest facilities at the center in the 2000s and continues to maintain a steady test schedule today, investigating icing on turbofan engines and propellers, refining testing of rotating models, validating 3D models, and much more. The IRT been used to develop nearly every modern ice protection system, provided key icing environment data to regulatory agencies, and validated leading ice prediction software. After 80 years, it remains a critical tool for sustaining NASA’s leadership in the icing field.
More Resources:
“We Freeze to Please”: A History of NASA’s Icing Research Tunnel and the Quest for Flight Safety Icing Research Tunnel Website International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark NASA Glenn’s Aeronautics Research NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Explore More
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