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By Space Force
Conceding that his future as secretary is connected to the outcome of November’s election, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall used a high-profile keynote address Sept. 16 to highlight achievements modernizing and reshaping the Air Force and Space Force while also emphasizing unfinished work and the urgency driving it.
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By Space Force
Scheduled for next year, Schriever Wargame 2025 is a multi-national exercise designed to explore critical space issues and advance space support within terrestrial military operations, with a focus on deterring and defending against adversaries in an increasingly congested space environment.
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Student Launch, a STEM competition, officially kicks off its 25th anniversary with the 2025 handbook. By Wayne Smith
NASA’s Student Launch competition kicks off its 25th year with the release of the 2025 handbook, detailing how teams can submit proposals by Wednesday, Sept. 11, for the event scheduled next spring near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Student Launch is an annual competition challenging middle school, high school, and college students to design, build, test, and launch a high-powered amateur rocket with a scientific or engineering payload. After a team is selected, they must meet documentation milestones and undergo detailed reviews throughout the school year.
Each year, NASA updates the university payload challenge to reflect current scientific and exploration missions. For the 2025 season, the payload challenge will again take inspiration from the Artemis missions, which seek to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon.
As Student Launch celebrates its 25th anniversary, the payload challenge will include “reports” from STEMnauts, non-living objects representing astronauts. The 2024 challenge tasked teams with safely deploying a lander mid-air for a group of four STEMnauts using metrics to support a survivable landing. The lander had to be deployed without a parachute and had a minimum weight limit of five pounds.
“This year, we’re shifting the focus to communications for the payload challenge,” said John Eckhart, technical coordinator for Student Launch at Marshall. “The STEMnaut ‘crew’ must relay real-time data to the student team’s mission control. This helps connect Student Launch with the Artemis missions when NASA lands astronauts on the Moon.”
Thousands of students participated in the 2024 Student Launch competition – making up 70 teams representing 24 states and Puerto Rico. Teams launched their rockets to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, while attempting to make a successful landing and executing the payload mission. The University of Notre Dame was the overall winner of the 2024 event, which culminated with a launch day open to the public.
Student Launch began in 2000 when former Marshall Director Art Stephenson started a student rocket competition at the center. It started with just two universities in Huntsville competing – Alabama A&M University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville – but has continued to soar. Since its inception, thousands of students have participated in the agency’s STEM competition, with many going on to a career with NASA.
“This remarkable journey, spanning a quarter of a century, has been a testament to the dedication, ingenuity, and passion of countless students, educators, and mentors who have contributed to the program’s success,” Eckhart said. “NASA Student Launch has been at the forefront of experiential education, providing students from middle school through university with unparalleled opportunities to engage in real-world engineering and scientific research. The program’s core mission – to inspire and cultivate the next generation of aerospace professionals and space explorers – has not only been met but exceeded in ways we could have only dreamed of.”
To encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), Marshall’s Office of STEM Engagement hosts Student Launch, providing them with real-world experiences. Student Launch is one of NASA’s nine Artemis Student Challenges – a variety of activities that expose students to the knowledge and technology required to achieve the goals of Artemis.
In addition to the NASA Office of STEM Engagement’s Next Generation STEM project, NASA Space Operations Mission Directorate, Northrup Grumman, National Space Club Huntsville, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Association of Rocketry, Relativity Space and Bastion Technologies provide funding and leadership for the competition.
“These bright students rise to a nine-month challenge for Student Launch that tests their skills in engineering, design, and teamwork,” said Kevin McGhaw, director of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Southeast Region. “They are the Artemis Generation, the future scientists, engineers, and innovators who will lead us into the future of space exploration.”
For more information about Student Launch, please visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/studentlaunch
Taylor Goodwin
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
taylor.goodwin@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 29, 2024 LocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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27 min read The Marshall Star for August 28, 2024
Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Expands Human Exploration Rover Challenge to Middle Schools
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By NASA
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) identical dual spacecraft are inspected and processed on dollies in a high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 22. As the first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to Mars, ESCAPADE’s twin orbiters will take simultaneous observations from different locations around the planet and reveal the real-time response to space weather and how the Martian magnetosphere changes over time.Credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA and Blue Origin are preparing for the agency’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which begins on the inaugural launch of the company’s New Glenn rocket. The mission will study the solar wind’s interaction with the magnetosphere on Mars.
Blue Origin is targeting no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13, for the launch of New Glenn-1 from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Media interested in covering ESCAPADE launch activities for both NASA and Blue Origin must apply for media credentials. Deadlines for accreditation are as follows:
U.S. media and U.S. citizens representing international media must apply by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 30. International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other mission questions, please contact NASA Kennedy’s newsroom: 321-867-2468.
The ESCAPADE mission will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with the hybrid magnetosphere on Mars and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. The mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. The ESCAPADE mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, and the spacecraft is designed by Rocket Lab. The agency’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, secured the launch service under the VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract.
NASA will post updates on launch preparations for the twin Martian orbiters on the ESCAPADE blog.
For more information about ESCAPADE, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/escapade
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo at: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov, 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan, 256-930-1371.
-end-
Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.fox@nasa.gov
Laura Aguiar / Leejay Lockhart
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
laura.aguiar@nasa.gov / leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
Sarah Frazier
Goddard Space Flight Center
202-853-7191
sarah.frazier@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 26, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) Commercial Space Goddard Space Flight Center Kennedy Space Center Science Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
In-space propulsion systems utilizing cryogenic liquids as propellants are necessary to achieve NASA’s exploration missions to the Moon, and later to Mars. In current state of the art (SOA) human scale, in-space propulsion vehicles, cryogenic liquids can be stored for several hours. For the planned HLS mission architecture to close, cryogenic liquids must be stored on-orbit on the order of several months. NASA’s 2025 HuLC Competition asks student teams to develop innovative, systems-level solutions to understand, mitigate potential problems, and mature advanced cryogenic fluid technologies that can be implemented within 3-5 years. Based on a review of proposal package submissions, up to 12 Finalist Teams will be selected to receive a monetary award to continue developing their concepts and facilitate full participation in the HuLC Forum, held in Huntsville, AL in June 2025.
Sponsoring/Partner Organizations: The Human Lander Challenge is sponsored by NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate’s (ESDMD’s) Human Landing System (HLS) Program Office and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA). Action Required: Student teams will submit a 5-7-page Proposal and 2-minute Video summarizing the team’s proposal concept. Deadline: Proposal and Video Submissions are due March 3, 2025. View the 2025 HuLC Competition Guidelines here. Forum & Award: Up to 12 finalist teams will be selected to receive a $9,250 Development Stipend to facilitate full participation in the HuLC Competition Forum, held in Huntsville, AL in June 2025. The Top 3 Placing Teams will share a prize purse of $18,000. Frequency: Annual; Themes vary by year. Contact: HuLC@nianet.org Read More Explore More
2 min read 2025 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition
Article 23 hours ago 2 min read 2025 RASC-AL Competition
The 2025 RASC-AL Competition is seeking undergraduate and graduate teams to develop new concepts that…
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