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A ‘FURST’ of its Kind: Sounding Rocket Mission to Study Sun as a Star
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By NASA
18 Min Read The Marshall Star for September 18, 2024
Marshall Welcomes NASA Chief Scientist for Climate, Science Town Hall
NASA Chief Scientist and Senior Climate Advisor Kate Calvin, center left, joins team members at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center for a Climate and Science Town Hall on Sept. 17 in Activities Building 4316. Calvin took part in a question-and-answer session during her visit that was live streamed agencywide. Joining her in the session were, from left, Rahul Ramachandran, research scientist and senior data science strategist for the Science Research and Project Division at Marshall; Marshall Earth Science Branch Chief Andrew Molthan; Marshall Chief Scientist Renee Weber; Marshall Center Director Joseph Pelfrey; and Marshall Science and Technology Office Manager Julie Bassler, who moderated the panel. (NASA/Krisdon Manecke)
Molthan answers a question during the Climate Town Hall. Topics discussed during the town hall included the response by NASA and Marshall to climate change, the effects of climate change on NASA and Marshall objectives, and how NASA and Marshall are helping organizations around the world respond to climate change. (NASA/Krisdon Manecke)
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Space Station Payload Operations Director at Marshall Carries on Family Legacy
By Celine Smith
Jacob Onken remembers his father, Jay Onken, waking him up one morning at 3 a.m. when he was 9 years old to watch the International Space Station fly overhead. At the time, his dad was a POD – a payload operations director – at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center leading flight controllers who support science experiments aboard the orbiting laboratory 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Jacob Onken is a second-generation payload operations director at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. His father, Jay Onken, also served in the role in 1999. The father and son are the first family members at Marshall to both hold that position. NASA/Danielle Burleson Now, the younger Onken has started a new chapter in his career as a POD at Marshall, following in his father’s footsteps. The father and son are the first family members to serve in this role at Marshall. Onken said that happened by chance, despite growing up NASA-adjacent.
Jacob Onken began his aerospace career with an internship at Teledyne Brown Engineering while earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Auburn University in Alabama. The internship took him to Marshall’s Payload Operations Integration Center – a place his father had worked and often taken him when he was younger. Colleagues warmly remembered the veteran POD and welcomed to the role.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2018, Onken worked as a contractor with Teledyne for NASA. As a data management coordinator (DMC) he sat console and learned to operate data and video systems aboard the space station.
“I really found myself out here, and I loved it,” he said. “Working in space flight operations is insanely cool and beneficial to humanity.”
A young Jacob Onken smiles for a family photo while visiting Marshall with his father, Jay Onken, and sister, Elizabeth Onken, in 1998. Photo courtesy of Jacob Onken After training for over a year, he earned his DMC certification and later was assigned as the lead DMC for space station Expeditions 62 and 63. He later served as the DMC training lead, preparing new flight controllers for certification. In this role, he trained 13 DMCs for certification, using a people-based leadership approach he learned from his father.
Well before the space station flew, Jay Onken was an aerospace engineer whose early career assignments included orbit analysis for the space shuttle and attitude selection for several Spacelab missions. He later was one of the first flight directors for NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and following its launch, joined the first group of space station PODs.
He went on to become the director of Marshall’s Mission Operations Laboratory in 2005, deputy chief engineer for the Space Launch System in 2014, and director of Marshall’s Space Systems Department in 2016. He retired in 2018 and died in 2021 after battling cancer.
Jacob Onken continues Jay Onken’s legacy. Colleagues say he embodies similar traits. He often reflects on his father’s advice.
From left, Jacob Onken during his payload operations director (POD) certification ceremony with former PODs Carrie Olsen, Sam Digesu, Pat Patterson, and Tina Melton in the Payload Operations Center at Marshall. NASA/Craig Cruzen “I was lucky to have my dad, who understood the environment that I was working in,” he said. “I knew his work meant a lot to him. We were always close, but we got even closer. Bonding over the same things was special.”
In 2022, Onken became the DMC flight operations lead, supporting real-time console and planning operations for that team. In 2023, he joined the Operations Directors Office. After another rigorous training curriculum, he completed his POD certification in January 2024.
“It’s rewarding and heartwarming to know that the future of space flight operations is in good hands with the new generation,” said Craig Cruzen, the POD training lead who oversaw Onken’s instruction and certification.
Onken leads a team that communicates with astronauts about the scientific experiments they’re performing on the space station and ensures their safety from the ground.
As a payload operations director at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Jacob Onken leads flight controllers in the International Space Station Payload Operations and Integration Team, following in his father’s footsteps. Onken and his father, Jay Onken, are the first family members to both serve in the role at Marshall. (NASA) “My role requires teamwork, trust, and communication,” he said. “I ask myself, ‘How can we work together effectively to get the job done?’”
While he holds the same position his father held, the space station has evolved, becoming a convergence of science, technology, and innovation. “Jay Onken was a POD when the International Space Station was just beginning,” said former POD Carrie Olsen, now manager of NASA’s Next Gen STEM K-12 education project and a family friend to the Onkens. “The challenge the space station faced back then was its newness,” Olsen explained. “We were still figuring out how to best work with Johnson Space Center, scientists around the world, international partners, and the space station program.”
Though Marshall had a rich operations history working programs like Apollo, Space Shuttle, Skylab, and Chandra, the space station was truly unlike anything that had come before.
“Jay’s leadership qualities and integrity helped to build trust across the organization and the agency. This allowed Marshall’s operations team to excel and be recognized as the premier space station science operations center across the globe,” said his former colleague Sam Digesu, currently technical manager of the Payload and Mission Operations Division. “Jacob is on the that same path.”
Jacob Onken says one of his career goals is to support payload operations on the lunar surface for the Artemis missions. “My dad was around when it started, and hopefully, I’m around to see it through.”
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NASA Hosts Observe the Moon Night at U.S. Space & Rocket Center
The Science Wizard, David Hagerman, right center, entertains the crowd with one of his shows Sept. 14 during Observe the Moon Night at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. The free public event was part of International Observe the Moon Night, a worldwide celebration encouraging observation, appreciation, and understanding of the Moon and its connection to NASA exploration and discovery. NASA’s Planetary Missions Program Office hosted the event at the rocket center. The Planetary Missions Program Office is located at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. (NASA/Lane Figueroa)
Audience members react during one of Hagerman’s demonstrations at Observe the Moon Night. (NASA/Lane Figueroa)
Attendees visit a NASA display during the Observe the Moon Night event. (NASA/Daniel Horton)
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‘Legacy of the Invisible’ Event to Celebrate Marshall’s Contributions to Astrophysics
The public is invited to join NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for a special celebration of art and astronomy in downtown Huntsville on Sept. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. The event will include a dedication of Huntsville’s newest art installation, “No Straight Lines,” by local artist Float.
The celebratory event, “Legacy of the Invisible,” will take place at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Washington Street, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Attendees will have a chance to meet and hear from NASA experts, as well as meet Float, the artist behind “No Straight Lines,” which aims to honor Huntsville’s rich scientific legacy in astrophysics and highlight the groundbreaking discoveries made possible by Huntsville scientists and engineers.
Enjoy live music, art vendors, food, and more.
Learn more about Chandra’s 25th Anniversary.
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SLS Program Manager John Honeycutt Delivers Keynote at National Space Club Breakfast
John Honeycutt, front center, manager of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center, delivers the keynote address at the National Space Club Breakfast on Sept. 17 in Huntsville. Honeycutt provided a detailed presentation to the audience with insight into the operations, accomplishments, and future goals for the SLS Program. The SLS rocket is a powerful, advanced launch vehicle for a new era of human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. “All elements of the SLS Block I for the first crewed lunar mission of the 21st century are either complete and ready for stacking or are nearing completion,” Honeycutt said. “For more than 60 years, this town – this community – has led the effort to explore space. We aren’t done. SLS and Artemis are the next chapter in that legacy. Led and enabled by folks in this room, at Marshall, and here in North Alabama, we will launch missions to the Moon that will re-write history books, lead to scientific discoveries, and pave the way to Mars.” (NASA/Serena Whitfield)
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NASA’s Lunar Challenge Participants to Showcase Innovations During Awards
NASA‘s Watts on the Moon Challenge, designed to advance the nation’s lunar exploration goals under the Artemis campaign by challenging United States innovators to develop breakthrough power transmission and energy storage technologies that could enable long-duration Moon missions, concludes Sept. 20 at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Sun rises above the Flight Research Building at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.Credit: NASA “For astronauts to maintain a sustained presence on the Moon during Artemis missions, they will need continuous, reliable power,” said Kim Krome-Sieja, acting program manager, Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. “NASA has done extensive work on power generation technologies. Now, we’re looking to advance these technologies for long-distance power transmission and energy storage solutions that can withstand the extreme cold of the lunar environment.”
The technologies developed through the Watts on the Moon Challenge were the first power transmission and energy storage prototypes to be tested by NASA in an environment that simulates the extreme cold and weak atmospheric pressure of the lunar surface, representing a first step to readying the technologies for future deployment on the Moon. Successful technologies from this challenge aim to inspire, for example, new approaches for helping batteries withstand cold temperatures and improving grid resiliency in remote locations on Earth that face harsh weather conditions.
During the final round of competition, finalist teams refined their hardware and delivered a full system prototype for testing in simulated lunar conditions at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The test simulated a challenging power system scenario where there are six hours of solar daylight, 18 hours of darkness, and the user is three kilometers from the power source.
“Watts on the Moon was a fantastic competition to judge because of its unique mission scenario,” said Amy Kaminski, program executive, Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing, Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “Each team’s hardware was put to the test against difficult criteria and had to perform well within a lunar environment in our state-of-the-art thermal vacuum chambers at NASA Glenn.”
Each finalist team was scored based on Total Effective System Mass (TESM), which determines how the system works in relation to its mass. At the awards ceremony, NASA will award $1 million to the top team who achieves the lowest TESM score, meaning that during testing, that team’s system produced the most efficient output-to-mass ratio. The team with the second lowest mass will receive $500,000. The awards ceremony stream live on NASA Glenn’s YouTube channel and NASA Prize’s Facebook page.
The Watts on the Moon Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge led by NASA Glenn. NASA Marshall manages Centennial Challenges, which are part of the agency’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA has contracted HeroX to support the administration of this challenge.
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Technicians Work to Prepare Europa Clipper for Propellant Loading
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission moves closer to launch as technicians worked Sept. 11 inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to prepare the spacecraft for upcoming propellant loading at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center.
Technicians work to complete operations before propellant load occurs ahead of launch for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 11.NASA/Kim Shiflett The spacecraft will explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which is considered one of the most promising habitable environments in the solar system. The mission will research whether Europa’s subsurface ocean could hold the conditions necessary for life. Europa could have all the “ingredients” for life as we know it: water, organics, and chemical energy.
Europa Clipper’s launch period opens Oct. 10. It will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. The spacecraft then will embark on a journey of nearly six years and 1.8 billion miles before reaching Jupiter’s orbit in 2030.
The spacecraft is designed to study Europa’s icy shell, underlying ocean, and potential plumes of water vapor using a gravity science experiment alongside a suite of nine instruments including cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and ice-penetrating radar. The data Europa Clipper collects could improve our understanding of the potential for life elsewhere in the solar system.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.
Learn more about the mission here.
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Marshall to Present 2024 Small Business Awards Sept. 19
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will host its annual Small Business Industry and Advocate Awards ceremony Sept. 19. The awards recognize small businesses and small business champions from government and industry for their outstanding achievements in fiscal year 2024.
The ceremony will take place during the 38th meeting of Marshall’s Small Business Alliance, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Davidson Center for Space Exploration in Huntsville. The event will also highlight new opportunities for small businesses to take part in NASA’s procurement processes. Afterward, attendees will have the open opportunity to network with NASA officials, prime contractors, and other members of Marshall’s small business community. Exhibitors will provide valuable information to support their business.
NASA speakers include:
Dwight Deneal, assistant administrator, Office of Small Business Programs, NASA Headquarters Joseph Pelfrey, center director, NASA Marshall John Cannaday, director, Office of Procurement, NASA Marshall Davey Jones, strategy lead, NASA Marshall David Brock, small business specialist, Office of Small Business Programs, NASA Marshall For 17 years, the Marshall Small Business Alliance has aided small businesses in pursuit of NASA procurement and subcontracting opportunities. Its primary focus is to inform, educate, and advocate on behalf of the small business community. At each half day meeting, businesses will gain valuable insight to guide them in their marketing endeavors.
Learn more about Marshall’s small business initiatives.
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Printed Engines Propel Next Industrial Revolution
In the fall of 2023, NASA hot fire tested an aluminum 3D printed rocket engine nozzle. Aluminum is not typically used for 3D printing because the process causes it to crack, and its low melting point makes it a challenging material for rocket engines. Yet the test was a success.
Printing aluminum engine parts could save significant time, money, and weight for future spacecraft. Elementum 3D Inc., a partner on the project, is now making those benefits available to the commercial space industry and beyond.
A rocket engine nozzle 3D printed from Elementum 3D’s A6061 RAM2 aluminum alloy undergoes hot fire testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.Credit: NASA The hot fire test was the culmination of a relationship between NASA and Elementum that began shortly after the company was founded in 2014 to make more materials available for 3D printing. Based in Erie, Colorado, the company infuses metal alloys with particles of other materials to alter their properties and make them amenable to additive manufacturing. This became the basis of Elementum’s Reactive Additive Manufacturing (RAM) process.
NASA adopted the technology, qualifying the RAM version of a common aluminum alloy for 3D printing. The agency then awarded funding to Elementum 3D and another company to print the experimental Broadsword rocket engine, demonstrating the concept’s viability.
Meanwhile, a team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was working to adapt an emerging technology to print larger engines. In 2021, Marshall awarded an Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity to Elementum 3D to modify an aluminum alloy for printing in what became the Reactive Additive Manufacturing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution project.
The project also made a commonly used aluminum alloy available for large-scale 3D printing. It is already used in large satellite components and could be implemented into microchip manufacturing equipment, Formula 1 race car parts, and more. The alloy modified for the Broadsword engine is already turning up in brake rotors and lighting fixtures. These various applications exemplify the possibilities that come from NASA’s collaboration and investment in industry.
Read more here.
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Hubble Finds More Black Holes than Expected in Early Universe
With the help of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of researchers led by scientists in the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University has found more black holes in the early universe than has previously been reported. The new result can help scientists understand how supermassive black holes were created.
This is a new image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. The first deep imaging of the field was done with Hubble in 2004. The same survey field was observed again by Hubble several years later, and was then reimaged in 2023. By comparing Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 near-infrared exposures taken in 2009, 2012, and 2023, astronomers found evidence for flickering supermassive black holes in the hearts of early galaxies. The survey found more black holes than predicted. NASA, ESA, Matthew Hayes (Stockholm University); Acknowledgment: Steven V.W. Beckwith (UC Berkeley), Garth Illingworth (UC Santa Cruz), Richard Ellis (UCL); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Currently, scientists do not have a complete picture of how the first black holes formed not long after the big bang. It is known that supermassive black holes, that can weigh more than a billion suns, exist at the center of several galaxies less than a billion years after the big bang.
“Many of these objects seem to be more massive than we originally thought they could be at such early times – either they formed very massive or they grew extremely quickly,” said Alice Young, a PhD student from Stockholm University and co-author of the study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Black holes play an important role in the lifecycle of all galaxies, but there are major uncertainties in our understanding of how galaxies evolve. In order to gain a complete picture of the link between galaxy and black hole evolution, the researchers used Hubble to survey how many black holes exist among a population of faint galaxies when the universe was just a few percent of its current age.
Initial observations of the survey region were re-photographed by Hubble after several years. This allowed the team to measure variations in the brightness of galaxies. These variations are a telltale sign of black holes. The team identified more black holes than previously found by other methods.
The new observational results suggest that some black holes likely formed by the collapse of massive, pristine stars during the first billion years of cosmic time. These types of stars can only exist at very early times in the universe, because later-generation stars are polluted by the remnants of stars that have already lived and died. Other alternatives for black hole formation include collapsing gas clouds, mergers of stars in massive clusters, and “primordial” black holes that formed (by physically speculative mechanisms) in the first few seconds after the big bang. With this new information about black hole formation, more accurate models of galaxy formation can be constructed.
“The formation mechanism of early black holes is an important part of the puzzle of galaxy evolution,” said Matthew Hayes from the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University and lead author of the study. “Together with models for how black holes grow, galaxy evolution calculations can now be placed on a more physically motivated footing, with an accurate scheme for how black holes came into existence from collapsing massive stars.”
Astronomers are also making observations with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to search for galactic black holes that formed soon after the big bang, to understand how massive they were and where they were located.
The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, Colorado, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center was the lead field center for the design, development, and construction of the space telescope.
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Hera asteroid mission launch kit
Everything you'd ever want to know about ESA's first planetary defence mission
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson smiles for a portrait in the vestibule between the Kibo laboratory module and the Harmony module aboard space station.NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is returning home after a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. While on orbit, Dyson conducted an array of experiments and technology demonstrations that contribute to advancements for humanity on Earth and the agency’s trajectory to the Moon and Mars.
Here is a look at some of the science Dyson conducted during her mission:
Heart-Shaped Bioprints
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson operates the BioFabrication Facility for the Redwire Cardiac Bioprinting Investigation, which 3D prints cardiovascular tissue samples. In microgravity, bio inks used for 3D printing are less likely to settle and retain their shape better than on Earth. Cardiovascular disease is currently the number one cause of death in the United States, and findings from this space station investigation could one day lead to 3D-printed organs such as hearts for patients awaiting transplants.
Wicking in Weightlessness
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson handles hardware for the Wicking in Gel-Coated Tubes (Gaucho Lung) experiment. This study uses a tube lined with various gel thicknesses to simulate the human respiratory system. A fluid mass known as a liquid plug is then observed as it either blocks or flows through the tube. Data regarding the movement and trailing of the liquid plug allows researchers to design better drug delivery methods to address respiratory ailments.
Programming for Future Missions
NASA NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson runs student-designed software on the free-flying Astrobee robot. This technology demonstration is part of Zero Robotics, a worldwide competition that engages middle school students in writing computer code to address unique specifications. Winning participants get to run their software on an actual Astrobee aboard the space station. This educational opportunity helps inspire the next generation of technology innovators.
Robo-Extensions
NASA As we venture to the Moon and Mars, astronauts may rely more on robots to ensure safety and preserve resources. Through the Surface Avatar study, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson controls a robot on Earth’s surface from a computer aboard station. This technology demonstration aims to toggle between manipulating multiple robots and “diving inside” a specific bot to control as an avatar. This two-way demonstration also evaluates how robot operators respond their robotic counterparts’ efficiency and general output. Applications for Earth use include exploration of inhospitable zones and search and rescue missions after disasters.
Capturing Earth’s Essence
NASA For Crew Earth Observations, astronauts take pictures of Earth from space for research purposes. NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) and Tracy C. Dyson (right) contribute by aiming handheld cameras from the space station’s cupola to photograph our planet. Images help inform climate and environmental trends worldwide and provide real-time natural disaster assessments. More than four million photographs have been taken of Earth by astronauts from space.
Multi-faceted Crystallization Processor
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson holds a cassette for Pharmaceutical In-Space Laboratory – 04 (ADSEP-PIL-04), an experiment to crystallize the model proteins lysozyme and insulin. Up to three cassettes with samples can be processed simultaneously in the Advanced Space Experiment Processor (ADSEP), each at an independent temperature. Because lysozyme and insulin have well-documented crystal structures, they can be used to evaluate the hardware’s performance in space. Successful crystallization with ADSEP could lead to production and manufacturing of versatile crystals with pharmaceutical applications.
Cryo Care
NASA NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick preserve research samples in freezers aboard the space station. Cryopreservation is essential for maintaining the integrity of samples for a variety of experiments, especially within the field of biology. The orbiting laboratory has multiple freezer options with varying subzero temperatures. Upon return, frozen samples are delivered back to their research teams for further analysis.
Welcoming New Science
NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is pictured between the Unity module and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft in preparation for depressurization and departure from the International Space Station. On long-duration missions, visiting vehicles provide necessities for crew daily living as well as new science experiments and supplies for ongoing research. This vehicle brought experiments to test water recovery technology, produce stem cells in microgravity, study the effects of spaceflight on microorganism DNA, and conduct science demonstrations for students.
Diana Garcia
International Space Station Research Communications Team
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter. The mission is targeting an Oct. 10, 2024, launch.NASA/JPL-Caltech The first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth, Europa Clipper aims to find out if the ice-encased moon Europa could be habitable.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, the largest the agency has ever built for a planetary mission, will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Europa, an intriguing icy moon of Jupiter. The spacecraft’s launch period opens Thursday, Oct. 10.
Learn more about how NASA’s Europa Clipper came together – and how it will explore an ocean moon of Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Data from previous NASA missions has provided scientists with strong evidence that an enormous salty ocean lies underneath the frozen surface of the moon. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and conduct 49 close flybys of the moon to gather data needed to determine whether there are places below its thick frozen crust that could support life.
Here are eight things to know about the mission:
1. Europa is one of the most promising places to look for currently habitable conditions beyond Earth.
There’s scientific evidence that the ingredients for life — water, the right chemistry, and energy — may exist at Europa right now. This mission will gather the information scientists need to find out for sure. The moon may hold an internal ocean with twice the water of Earth’s oceans combined, and it may also host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface. If the mission determines that Europa is habitable, it would mean there may be more habitable worlds in our solar system and beyond than we have imagined.
2. The spacecraft will fly through one of the most punishing radiation environments in our solar system — second only to the Sun’s.
Jupiter is surrounded by a gigantic magnetic field 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s. As the field spins, it captures and accelerates charged particles, creating radiation that can damage spacecraft. Mission engineers designed a spacecraft vault to shield sensitive electronics from radiation, and they plotted orbits that will limit the time Europa Clipper spends in most radiation-heavy areas around Jupiter.
3. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter, studying Europa while flying by the moon dozens of times.
The spacecraft will make looping orbits around Jupiter that bring it close to Europa for 49 science-dedicated flybys. On each orbit, the spacecraft will spend less than a day in Jupiter’s dangerous radiation zone near Europa before zipping back out. Two to three weeks later, it will repeat the process, making another flyby.
4. Europa Clipper features NASA’s most sophisticated suite of science instruments yet.
To determine if Europa is habitable, Europa Clipper must assess the moon’s interior, composition, and geology. The spacecraft carries nine science instruments and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. In order to obtain the best science during each flyby, all the science instruments will operate simultaneously on every pass. Scientists will then layer the data together to paint a full picture of the moon.
5. With antennas and solar arrays fully deployed, Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission.
The spacecraft extends 100 feet (30.5 meters) from one end to the other and about 58 feet (17.6 meters) across. That’s bigger than a basketball court, thanks in large part to the solar arrays, which need to be huge so they can collect enough sunlight while near Jupiter to power the instruments, electronics, and other subsystems.
6. It’s a long journey to Jupiter.
Jupiter is on average some 480 million miles (about 770 million kilometers) from Earth; both planets are in motion, and a spacecraft can carry only a limited amount of fuel. Mission planners are sending Europa Clipper past Mars and then Earth, using the planets’ gravity as a slingshot to add speed to the spacecraft’s trek. After journeying about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) over 5½ years, the spacecraft will fire its engines to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
7. Institutions across the U.S. and Europe have contributed to Europa Clipper.
Currently, about a thousand people work on the mission, including more than 220 scientists from both the U.S. and Europe. Since the mission was officially approved in 2015, more than 4,000 people have contributed to Europa Clipper, including teams who work for contractors and subcontractors.
8. More than 2.6 million of us are riding along with the spacecraft, bringing greetings from one water world to another.
As part of a mission campaign called “Message in a Bottle,” the spacecraft is carrying a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, cosigned by millions of people from nearly every country in the world. Their names have been stenciled onto a microchip attached to a tantalum metal plate that seals the spacecraft’s electronics vault. The plate also features waveforms of people saying the word “water” in over 100 spoken languages.
More About Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.
NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.
Find more information about Europa here:
https://europa.nasa.gov
Europa Clipper Teachable Moment See Europa’s Chaos Terrain in Crisp Detail Europa Clipper Gets Its Super-Size Solar Arrays News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-6215
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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By NASA
The X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft, built by North American Aviation (NAA), greatly expanded our knowledge of flight at speeds exceeding Mach 6 and altitudes above 250,000 feet. A joint project among NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy, the X-15’s first powered flight took place on Sept. 17, 1959, at the Flight Research Center, now the Armstrong Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California. NAA chief test pilot A. Scott Crossfield piloted this flight and other early test flights before NASA and the Air Force took ownership of the aircraft. Between 1959 and 1968, 12 pilots completed 199 missions and achieved ever higher speeds and altitudes, knowledge and experience that later influenced the development of future programs such as the space shuttle.
Left: During its October 1958 rollout ceremony at the North American Aviation (NAA) facility in Los Angeles, NAA pilot A. Scott Crossfield poses in front of the X-15-1. Right: Rollout of X-15-2 at the NAA facility in February 1959.
The origins of the X-15 date to 1952, when the Committee on Aerodynamics of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) adopted a resolution to expand their research portfolio to study flight at altitudes between 12 and 50 miles and Mach numbers between 4 and 10. The Air Force and Navy agreed and conducted joint feasibility studies at NACA’s field centers. In 1955, the Air Force selected North American Aviation (NAA), Los Angeles, to build three X-15 hypersonic aircraft.
On Oct. 1, 1958, the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) incorporated the NACA centers and inherited the X-15 project. Two weeks later, on Oct. 15, 1958, the rollout of the first of the three aircraft took place at NAA’s Los Angeles facility where several of the early X-15 pilots, including Crossfield, attended. After the ceremony, workers wrapped the aircraft, placed it on a flatbed truck, and drove it overnight to the High Speed Flight Station, renamed by NASA the Flight Research Center in September 1959, where all the X-15 flights took place. Before this first aircraft took to the skies, NAA rolled out X-15-2 on Feb. 27, 1959. The X-15-3 rounded out the small fleet in early 1960.
Aerial view of the Flight Research Center, now NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, with one of the B-52 carrier aircraft at left and an X-15 at right. Image credit: courtesy JD Barnes Collection.
Left: Diagram showing the two main profiles used by the X-15, either for altitude or speed. Right: The twin XLR-11 engines, left, and the more powerful XLR-99 engine used to power the X-15.
Like earlier X-planes, a carrier aircraft, in this case a modified B-52 Stratofortress, released the 34,000-pound X-15 at an altitude of 45,000 feet to conserve its fuel for the research mission. Flights took place within the High Range, a flight corridor extending from Wendover AFB in Utah to the Rogers Dry Lake landing zone adjacent to Edwards AFB, with emergency landing zones along the way. Typical research missions lasted eight to 12 minutes and followed either a high-altitude or a high-speed profile following launch from the B-52 and ignition of the X-15’s rocket engine. After burnout of the engine, the pilot guided the aircraft to an unpowered landing on the lakebed runway. To withstand the high temperatures during hypersonic flight and reentry, the X-15’s outer skin consisted of a then-new nickel-chrome alloy called Inconel-X. Because traditional aerodynamic surfaces used for flight control while in the atmosphere do not work in the near vacuum of space, the X-15 used its Ballistic Control System thrusters for attitude control while flying outside the atmosphere. NAA substituted eight smaller XLR-11 engines that produced only 16,000 pounds of thrust because of delays in the development of the 57,000-pound thrust XLR-99 rocket engine, built specifically for the X-15, For the first 17 months of test flights, the X-15 remained significantly underpowered. NAA chief pilot Crossfield had the primary responsibility for carrying out the initial test flights of the X-15 before handover of the aircraft to NASA and the Air Force.
Left: Flight profile of the first unpowered glide test flight of the X-15. Right: A. Scott Crossfield pilots the X-15 during its first unpowered glide test flight in June 1959.
With Crossfield at the controls of X-15-1, the first captive flight during which the X-15 remained attached to the B-52’s wing, took place on March 10, 1959. Crossfield completed the first unpowered glide flight of X-15-1 on June 8, the flight lasting just five minutes.
Left: The B-52 carrier aircraft taxis on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California, with the X-15 and pilot A. Scott Crossfield ready to perform the first powered flight of the hypersonic research aircraft. Right: The B-52 carries the X-15 and Crossfield to the drop altitude.
Left: Pilot A. Scott Crossfield is visible in the cockpit of the X-15 shortly before the release from the B-52 carrier aircraft. Image credit: courtesy North American Aviation. Right: The X-15 dumps excess fuel just prior to the drop.
Left: The X-15 drops from the B-52 carrier aircraft to begin its first powered flight. Middle: The view from the B-52 as the X-15 drops away. Right: Pilot A. Scott Crossfield has ignited all eight of the X-15’s engines to begin the powered flight.
Left: View taken from a chase plane of the X-15 during its glide to the lakebed following its first powered flight. Middle: Pilot A. Scott Crossfield brings the X-15 to a smooth touchdown on the lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Image credit: courtesy North American Aviation. Right: Crossfield hops out of the cockpit at the conclusion of the X-15’s first successful powered flight.
On Sept. 17, at the controls of X-15-2, Crossfield completed the first powered flight of an X-15. Firing all eight of the XLR-11 engines for 224 seconds, he reached a speed of Mach 2.11, or 1,393 miles per hour, and an altitude of 52,341 feet. Overcoming a few hardware problems, he brought the aircraft to a successful landing after a flight lasting just over nine minutes and traveling 88 miles. During 12 more flights, Crossfield expanded the aircraft’s flight envelope to Mach 2.97 and 88,116 feet while gathering important data on its flying characteristics. His last three flights used the higher thrust XLR-99 engine, the one designed for the aircraft. Crossfield’s 14th flight on Dec. 6, 1960, marked the end of the contracted testing program, and North American turned the X-15 over to the Air Force and NASA.
Standing between the first two aircraft, North American Aviation chief test pilot A. Scott Crossfield, left, symbolically hands over the keys to the X-15 to U.S. Air Force pilot Robert M. White and NASA pilot Neil A. Armstrong at the conclusion of the contracted flight test program. Image credit: courtesy North American Aviation.
Left: Chief NASA X-15 pilot Joseph “Joe” A. Walker following his altitude record-setting flight in August 1963. Middle left: Air Force pilot William J. “Pete” Knight following his speed record-setting flight in October 1967. Middle right: NASA pilot Neil A. Armstrong stands next to an X-15. Right: Air Force pilot Joe H. Engle following a flight aboard X-15A-2 in December 1965.
Over nine years, Crossfield and 11 other pilots – five NASA, five U.S. Air Force, and one U.S. Navy – completed a total of 199 flights of the X-15, gathering data on the aerodynamic and thermal performance of the aircraft flying to the edge of space and returning to Earth. The pilots also conducted a series of experiments, taking advantage of the plane’s unique characteristics and flight environment. NASA chief pilot Joseph “Joe” A. Walker flew the first of his 25 flights in March 1960. On his final flight on Aug. 22, 1963, he took X-15-3 to an altitude of 354,200 feet, or 67.1 miles, the highest achieved in the X-15 program, and a record for piloted aircraft that stood until surpassed during the final flight of SpaceShipOne on Oct. 4, 2004.
On Oct. 3, 1967, Air Force pilot William J. “Pete” Knight flew X-15A-2, with fully fueled external tanks, to an unofficial speed record for a piloted winged vehicle of Mach 6.70, or 4,520 miles per hour. The mark stood until surpassed during the reentry of space shuttle Columbia on April 14, 1981. NASA pilot Neil A. Armstrong and Air Force pilot Joe H. Engle flew the X-15 before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. Armstrong took to the skies seven times in the X-15 prior to becoming an astronaut, where he flew the Gemini VIII mission in 1966 and took humanity’s first steps on the Moon in July 1969. Engle has the unique distinction as the only person to have flown both the X-15 (16 times) and the space shuttle (twice in the atmosphere and twice in space). Of the first powered X-15 flight, Engle said, it “was a real milestone in a program that we still benefit from today.”
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