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By NASA
The Texas Art Education Association hosted its annual conference from Nov. 14–16 at Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center in Galveston, Texas, drawing nearly 3,000 educators, administrators, and artists.
This year’s theme, “Cosmic Connections: SPACE, the Last Frontier and the Element of Art,” celebrated the fusion of creativity and space exploration, with NASA’s Johnson Space Center participating for the first time to inspire the Artemis Generation art educators.
Johnson Space Center volunteers Raul Tijerina (left), building graphics lead for the International Space Station Program; Gary Johnson (middle), technical manager in NASA’s International Space Station Mission Integration and Operations Office; and Christian Getteau, Imagery Integration and Multimedia producer with the Human Space Flight Technical Integration Contract, participate in the NASA booth at the Texas Art Education Association annual conference held Nov. 14–16 at Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center in Galveston, Texas.NASA From astronauts crafting in orbit to collaborative art projects on Earth, NASA continues to showcase how creativity can capture the wonder of the cosmos. This event allowed educators to connect with NASA, explore teaching resources, and discover innovative ways to merge the arts with science and space exploration in their classrooms.
Johnson volunteers pose with an astronaut spacesuit at the Texas Art Education Association conference.NASA/Sumer Loggins “We have seen our astronauts bring the art of painting, music, photography, and more to orbit aboard the space shuttle and the International Space Station,” said Gary Johnson, NASA’s International Space Station Mission Integration and Operations Office technical manager. “Our mission is to inspire the next generation of artists and explorers to capture the beauty of space through any medium they choose.”
“Everyone has a place at NASA,” added Raul Tijerina, International Space Station Program building graphics lead. “This collaboration celebrates the diversity of talents needed to explore the universe, including those who bring ideas to life through art.”
NASA’s inflatable mascot, Cosmo, greets attendees and poses for photos during the art car show at the conference. NASA Guests immersed themselves in a variety of stellar experiences, including interacting with NASA’s inflatable mascot, Cosmo, taking selfies at the NASA booth, and viewing artwork that shares the past and celebrates the future of space exploration.
The nonprofit SciArt Exchange provided teachers with details about its space art competitions, aimed at sparking curiosity across all ages. These competitions include the Project Mars Competition, where adults compete to have their artwork featured at Johnson, and the Moon Youth Art Competition, which highlights lunar-themed creations from students around the world.
Attendees also explored infographics and had the chance to download NASA’s Spot the Station app to track the orbiting laboratory in real-time.
NASA astronaut Michael Foreman (middle left) and Gordon Andrews, a strategic communications specialist for the International Space Station Program, pose with attendees following a space-themed presentation.NASA Gordon Andrews, a strategic communications specialist for the International Space Station Program, and NASA astronaut Michael Foreman introduced the Spacesuit Art Project to conference attendees. They shared the documentary “Space for Art,” which chronicles the project’s mission to inspire hope, courage, and healing through art.
Andrews and Foreman discussed their experiences working on the project with retired NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, the first person to watercolor in space, and the Space for Art Foundation. Foreman shared stories from his time in space and posed for photos with guests. Andrews also presented to the Visual Art Administrators of Texas, a group of over 200 Texas education leaders.
The film played at NASA’s booth, showcasing how the initiative brings hope to children undergoing pediatric cancer treatment by inviting them to create colorful spacesuit artwork. Each suit—Hope, Courage, Unity, Victory, Dreamer, Exploration, Beyond, and Infinity—embodies the resilience and imagination of its creators. Four of these spacesuits have journeyed to and from the microgravity laboratory, inspiring children to dream big as they view their artwork in orbit.
By raising awareness about pediatric cancer and promoting art therapy worldwide, the project demonstrates the powerful connection between space exploration and the human spirit.
The NASA booth featured the Spacesuit Art Project, showcasing a Flat Stanley of NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, the first person to watercolor in space, alongside spacesuits painted by pediatric patients.NASA Texas’ first Space Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets—the only program of its kind in Texas and one of just 10 in the nation—participated in the event, as well. As a NASA rendition of the National Anthem played in the background, the cadets from Klein High School inspired the next generation of dreamers and doers to reach for the stars.
Texas’ first Space Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets from Klein High School participate in the ceremony as a NASA rendition of the National Anthem plays in the background. NASA The conference also featured three murals that will be added to the art collection in Johnson’s building 4 south.
The art installation project began in 2022 when Johnson and Tijerina collaborated with Texas high school art programs to create space-themed murals for display at the center. With the help of their teachers, students brainstormed ideas and painted the murals together before visiting Johnson to install them and experience a guided walk-through of NASA’s facilities.
Led by their shared passion for artistic expression and space exploration, the students bring color, wonder, and creativity to the walls at Johnson. The initiative is part of a long-term effort to engage with students locally and globally to ignite the imagination of all and enhance the visual work environment for Johnson employees.
“Absolute Equality: Breaking Boundaries” by Reginald C. Adams, symbolizes unity and humanity’s collective future in space exploration. The artwork titled “Absolute Equality: Breaking Boundaries,” by artist Reginald C. Adams, will be one of the latest installations in building 4 south. The piece envisions humanity’s shared future, symbolizing unity and the possibilities of interplanetary exploration.
Adams was a keynote speaker for the conference, and when he learned about the mural project, he wanted to contribute to the initiative.
The two figures are enclosed within a shared helmet, representing a collective vision for the future of space exploration. The patterns surrounding them signify technology’s role in connecting humanity across cultural and societal divides.
La Marque High School students, art teacher Joan Finn, and artist Cheryl Evans painted a mural highlighting the interconnected roles in space exploration. A collaborative piece by La Marque High School art students, art teacher Joan Finn, and artist Cheryl Evans depicted the interconnected roles of visionaries, engineers, artists, and astronauts in space exploration.
Just as the space station was assembled piece by piece over more than 40 missions, the mural was created using 10 separate stretched canvases bolted together. The International Space Station patch at the bottom highlights the collaboration of the 17 countries involved.
“The Moon Now,” created by La Marque High School students, depicts two astronauts on the lunar surface in Axiom spacesuits with mirrored visors. A student-created vision titled “The Moon Now” showcased two astronauts on the lunar surface wearing Axiom spacesuits, with helmet visors designed as mirrors, signifying the next generation to envision themselves contributing to the next giant leap in space exploration.
The students created individual pieces depicting the Milky Way and other astronomical objects, which were collaged onto the surface of the artwork.
Through partnerships like this, NASA continues to embrace STEAM—science, technology, engineering, art, and math—to empower the Artemis Generation to dare, unite, and explore.
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By Space Force
Astronauts aboard the ISS conducted an educational downlink, a communication signal from the spacecraft back to Earth, for Denver School of Science and Technology students.
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By NASA
Caption: Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander, seen here, will carry 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the Moon’s near side when it launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Credit: Firefly Aerospace Media accreditation is open for the next delivery to the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign for the benefit of humanity. A six-day launch window opens no earlier than mid-January 2025 for the first Firefly Aerospace launch to the lunar surface.
The Blue Ghost flight, carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at NASA Kennedy.
Attendance for this launch is open to U.S. citizens and international media. International media must apply by Monday, Dec. 9, and U.S. media must apply by Thursday, Jan. 2. Media interested in participating in launch activities must apply for credentials at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email upon approval. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation or to request special logistical support such as space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections, please send an email by Thursday, Jan. 2, to: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, please contact Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
The company named the mission Ghost Riders in the Sky. It will land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300-mile-wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the lunar near side. The mission will carry NASA investigations and first-of-their-kind technology demonstrations to further our understanding of the Moon’s environment and help prepare for future human missions to the lunar surface, as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach. This includes payloads testing lunar subsurface drilling, regolith sample collection, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. The data captured also benefits humanity by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth.
Under the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial delivery services to the Moon to enable industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration. As a primary customer for CLPS deliveries, NASA aims to be one of many customers on future flights.
As part of its Artemis campaign, NASA is working with multiple U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface. These companies are eligible to bid on task orders to deliver NASA payloads to the Moon. The task order includes payload integration and operations and launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028.
For more information about the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, see:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
-end-
Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
Wynn Scott / Natalia Riusech
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
wynn.b.scott@nasa.gov / nataila.s.riusech@nasa.gov
Antonia Jaramillo
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Nov 25, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Missions Artemis Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) View the full article
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By NASA
Imagine designing technology that can survive on the Moon for up to a decade, providing a continuous energy supply. NASA selected three companies to develop such systems, aimed at providing a power source at the Moon’s South Pole for Artemis missions.
Three companies were awarded contracts in 2022 with plans to test their self-sustaining solar arrays at the Johnson Space Center’s Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) in Houston, specifically in Chamber A in building 32. The prototypes tested to date have undergone rigorous evaluations to ensure the technology can withstand the harsh lunar environment and deploy the solar array effectively on the lunar surface.
The Honeybee Robotics prototype during lunar VSAT (Vertical Solar Array Technology) testing inside Chamber A at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.NASA/David DeHoyos The Astrobotic Technology prototype during lunar VSAT testing inside Chamber A at Johnson Space Center. NASA/James Blair In the summer of 2024, both Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company from Altadena, California and Astrobotic Technology from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania put their solar array concepts to the test in Chamber A.
Each company has engineered a unique solution to design the arrays to withstand the harsh lunar environment and extreme temperature swings. The data collected in the SESL will support refinement of requirements and the designs for future technological advancements with the goal to deploy at least one of the systems near the Moon’s South Pole.
The contracts for this initiative are part of NASA’s VSAT (Vertical Solar Array Technology) project, aiming to support the agency’s long-term lunar surface operations. VSAT is under the Space Technology Mission Directorate Game Changing Development program and led by the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, in collaboration with Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
“We foresee the Moon as a hub for manufacturing satellites and hardware, leveraging the energy required to launch from the lunar surface,” said Jim Burgess, VSAT lead systems engineer. “This vision could revolutionize space exploration and industry.”
Built in 1965, the SESL initially supported the Gemini and Apollo programs but was adapted to conduct testing for other missions like the Space Shuttle Program and Mars rovers, as well as validate the design of the James Webb Space Telescope. Today, it continues to evolve to support future Artemis exploration.
Johnson’s Front Door initiative aims to solve the challenges of space exploration by opening opportunities to the public and bringing together bold and innovative ideas to explore new destinations.
“The SESL is just one of the hundreds of unique capabilities that we have here at Johnson,” said Molly Bannon, Johnson’s Innovation and Strategy specialist. “The Front Door provides a clear understanding of all our capabilities and services, the ways in which our partners can access them, and how to contact us. We know that we can go further together with all our partners across the entire space ecosystem if we bring everyone together as the hub of human spaceflight.”
Chamber A remains as one of the largest thermal vacuum chambers of its kind, with the unique capability to provide extreme deep space temperature conditions down to as low as 20 Kelvin. This allows engineers to gather essential data on how technologies react to the Moon’s severe conditions, particularly during the frigid lunar night where the systems may need to survive for 96 hours in darkness.
“Testing these prototypes will help ensure more safe and reliable space mission technologies,” said Chuck Taylor, VSAT project manager. “The goal is to create a self-sustaining system that can support lunar exploration and beyond, making our presence on the Moon not just feasible but sustainable.”
The power generation systems must be self-aware to manage outages and ensure survival on the lunar surface. These systems will need to communicate with habitats and rovers and provide continuous power and recharging as needed. They must also deploy on a curved surface, extend 32 feet high to reach sunlight, and retract for possible relocation.
“Generating power on the Moon involves numerous lessons and constant learning,” said Taylor. “While this might seem like a technical challenge, it’s an exciting frontier that combines known technologies with innovative solutions to navigate lunar conditions and build a dynamic and robust energy network on the Moon.”
Watch the video below to explore the capabilities and scientific work enabled by the thermal testing conducted in Johnson’s Chamber A facility.
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By NASA
NASA NASA astronaut Alan Bean steps off the lunar module ladder in this photo from Nov. 19, 1969, joining astronaut Charles Conrad Jr. on the Moon in the area called the Ocean of Storms. The two would then complete two spacewalks on the lunar surface, deploying science instruments, collecting geology samples, and inspecting the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, which had landed in the same area. While Bean and Conrad worked on the Moon, astronaut Richard F. Gordon completed science from lunar orbit.
Learn more about Apollo 12’s pinpoint landing on the Moon.
Image credit: NASA
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