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S-MODE, ASIA-AQ, and the Role of ESPO in Complex Airborne Campaigns
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Water piping is installed near the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in December 2014. The project to replace and upgrade the center’s high pressure industrial water system was a key milestone in preparations to test the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage ahead of the successful Artemis I launch.NASA/Danny Nowlin Employees install a 96-inch valve near the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2) at NASA’s Stennis Space Center as part of a high-pressure industrial water upgrade project in March 2015.NASA/Danny Nowlin In this March 2022 photo, crews use a shoring system to hold back soil as they install new 75-inch piping leading from the NASA Stennis High Pressure Industrial Water Facility to the valve vault pit serving the Fred Haise Test Stand.NASA/Danny Nowlin Crews use a specially designed tool to place a new pipeline liner inside the existing carrier pipe near the Fred Haise Test Stand in 2024 in the last phase of updating the original test complex industrial water system at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.NASA/Danny Nowlin Crews prepare new pipeline liner sections for installation near the Fred Haise Test Stand in 2024 in the last phase of updating the original test complex industrial water system at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.NASA/Danny Nowlin For almost 60 years, NASA’s Stennis Space Center has tested rocket systems and engines to help power the nation’s human space exploration dreams. Completion of a critical water system infrastructure project helps ensure the site can continue that frontline work moving forward.
“The infrastructure at NASA Stennis is absolutely critical for rocket engine testing for the agency and commercial companies,” said NASA project manager Casey Wheeler. “Without our high pressure industrial water system, testing does not happen. Installing new underground piping renews the lifespan and gives the center a system that can be operated for the foreseeable future, so NASA Stennis can add to its nearly six decades of contributions to space exploration efforts.”
The high pressure industrial water system delivers hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per minute through underground pipes to cool rocket engine exhaust and provide fire suppression capabilities during testing. Without the water flow, the engine exhaust, reaching as hot as 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit, could melt the test stand’s steel flame deflector.
Each test stand also features a FIREX system that holds water in reserve for use in the event of a mishap or fire. During SLS (Space Launch System) core stage testing, water also was used to create a “curtain” around the test hardware, dampening the high levels of noise generated during hot fire and lessening the video-acoustic impact that can cause damage to infrastructure and the test hardware.
Prior to the system upgrade, the water flow was delivered by the site’s original piping infrastructure built in the 1960s. However, that infrastructure had well exceeded its expected 30-year lifespan.
Scope of the Project
The subsequent water system upgrade was planned across multiple phases over a 10-year span. Crews worked around ever-changing test schedules to complete three major projects representing more than $50 million in infrastructure investment.
“Many people working the construction jobs for these projects are from the Gulf Coast area, so it has created jobs and work for the people doing the construction,” Wheeler said. “Some of the specialty work has had people coming in from all over the country, as well as vendors and suppliers that are supplying the materials, so that has an economic impact here too.”
Crews started by replacing large sections of piping, including a 96-inch line, from the 66-million-gallon onsite reservoir to the Thad Cochran (B-1/B-2) Test Stand. This phase also included the installation of a new 25,000-gallon electric pump at the High Pressure Industrial Water Facility to increase water flow capacity. The upgrades were critical for NASA Stennis to conduct Green Run testing of the SLS core stage in 2020-21 ahead of the successful Artemis I launch.
Work in the A Test Complex followed with crews replacing sections of 75-inch piping from the water plant and installing several new 66-inch gate valves.
In the final phase, crews used an innovative approach to install new steel liners within existing pipes leading to the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly A-1 Test Stand). The work followed NASA’s completion of a successful RS-25 engine test campaign last April for future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The stand now is being prepared to begin testing of new RS-25 flight engines.
Overall, the piping project represents a significant upgrade in design and materials. The new piping is made from carbon steel, with protective linings to prevent corrosion and gate valves designed to be more durable.
Importance of Water
It is hard to overstate the importance of the work to ensure ongoing water flow. For a typical 500-second RS-25 engine test on the Fred Haise Test Stand, around 5 million gallons of water is delivered from the NASA Stennis reservoir through a quarter-of-a-mile of pipe before entering the stand to supply the deflector and cool engine exhaust.
“Without water to cool the deflector and the critical parts of the test stand that will get hot from the hot fire itself, the test stand would need frequent corrective maintenance,” Wheeler said. “This system ensures the test stands remain in a condition where continuous testing can happen.”
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Last Updated Sep 26, 2024 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related Terms
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By USH
The Department of Defense has appointed a new director to lead the AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office), which is responsible for investigating UFOs and UAPs. The choice of Dr. Jon T. Kosloski, a former NSA scientist, is notable. According to USAF whistleblower Dan Sherman, the NSA has been involved in tracking UFO and non-human intelligence (NHI) activity for decades. Additionally, there are claims that the NSA manages interstellar trade operations from a base in Antarctica.
Kosloski replaces Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the inaugural director of AARO, who faced criticism during his tenure. Many believed Kirkpatrick did little to support whistleblowers, hindering efforts to reveal critical information about UFOs and related phenomena.
One of the intriguing aspects of this story is the alleged NSA connection to Antarctica.
Eric Hecker a Raytheon contractor who worked at the Ice Cube Neutrino observatory at Antarctica from 2010-2011 said that this observatory constructed at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica is a huge air traffic control power station that monitors all interstellar craft that be operated by humans as well as non-humans.
The observatory is not the only station that tracks interstellar craft, reports from whistleblowers over the years have hinted at the presence of a vast underground military complex in the area. Allegedly, the NSA operates an office there, which also is involved in monitoring interstellar activity, possibly utilizing the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory's facilities. In addition, this office is reportedly engaged in interstellar trade. According to Navy whistleblowers, the office is managed from the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland, specifically on the sixth floor.
It may sound fantastical, but the NSA has been tracking UFO activity since its inception in 1952. The agency is believed to have developed capabilities to detect UFOs anywhere on Earth but keep quiet about it.
Now, as we look to the future, institutions that shape national security believe the U.S. needs to prepare the public for disclosure, as humanity's future may lie in space. Advanced propulsion systems, including anti-gravity and torsion field technologies, are being developed to construct fleets of spacecraft that can keep pace with extraterrestrial civilizations.
Furthermore, there is a large spaceport in Alabama, near the caverns around Huntsville, where pilots from around 30 nations are reportedly being trained to fly interstellar craft under supervision of a group of extraterrestrials known as the Nordics. It is said that this underground facility already houses hundreds of these craft.
Despite the ongoing UFO cover-up, with Dr. Kosloski now leading AARO, there is hope that in particular the NSA’s involvement in these operations will become more transparent and that further revelations may follow.
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By Space Force
Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind assumed the role of U.S. Air Force Academy superintendent during an assumption of command ceremony Aug. 2.
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By Space Force
Since July 2023, Senior Master Sgt. Brandon Shook has served as Space Operations Command's Intelligence Threat Analysis Division senior enlisted leader and has been pivotal in ensuring that Space Force senior leaders and staff have critical information about adversary capabilities and intentions.
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By NASA
ASIA-AQ DC-8 aircraft flies over Bangkok, Thailand to monitor seasonal haze from fire smoke and urban pollution. Photo credit: Rafael Luis Méndez Peña. Tracking the spread of harmful air pollutants across large regions requires aircraft, satellites, and diverse team of scientists. NASA’s global interest in the threat of air pollution extends into Asia, where it works with partners on the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ). This international mission integrates satellite data and aircraft measurements with local air quality ground monitoring and modeling efforts across Asia.
Orchestrating a mission of this scale requires complicated agreements between countries, the coordination of aircraft and scientific instrumentation, and the mobilization of scientists from across the globe. To make this possible, ARC’s Earth Science Project Office (ESPO) facilitated each phase of the campaign, from site preparation and aircraft deployment to sensitive data management and public outreach.
“Successfully meeting the ASIA-AQ mission logistics requirements was an incredible effort in an uncertainty-filled environment and a very constrained schedule to execute and meet those requirements,” explains ASIA-AQ Project Manager Jhony Zavaleta. “Such effort drew on the years long experience on international shipping expertise, heavy equipment operations, networking and close coordination with international service providers and all of the U.S. embassies at each of our basing locations.”
Map of planned ASIA-AQ operational regions. Yellow circles indicate the original areas of interest for flight sampling. The overlaid colormap shows annual average nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations observed by the TROPOMI satellite with red colors indicating the most polluted locations. Understanding Air Quality Globally
ASIA-AQ benefits our understanding of air quality and the factors controlling its daily variability by investigating the ways that air quality can be observed and quantified. The airborne measurements collected during the campaign are directly integrated with existing satellite observations of air quality, local air quality monitoring networks, other available ground assets, and models to provide a level of detail otherwise unavailable to advance understanding of regional air quality and improve future integration of satellite and ground monitoring information.
ESPO’s Mission-Critical Contributions
Facilitating collaboration between governmental agencies and the academic community by executing project plans, navigating bureaucratic hurdles, and consensus building. Mission planning for two NASA aircraft. AFRC DC-8 completed 16 science flights, totaling 125 flight hours. The LaRC GIII completed 35 science flights, totaling 157.7 flight hours. Enabling international fieldwork and workforce mobilization by coordinating travel, securing authorizations and documentation, and maintaining relationships with local research partners. Managing outreach to local governments and schools. ASIA-AQ team members showcased tools used for air quality science to elementary/middle/high school students. Recent news feature here. View of ASIA-AQ aircraft in Bangkok, Thailand. ESPO staff from left to right: Dan Chirica, Marilyn Vasques, Sam Kim, Jhony Zavaleta, and Andrian Liem. Aircraft from left to right: Korean Meteorological Agency/National Institute of Meteorological Sciences, NASA LaRC GIII, NSASA DC-8, (2) Hanseo University, Sunny Air (private aircraft contracted by Korean Meteorological Agency). Photo: Rafael Mendez Peña. The flying laboratory of NASA’s DC-8
NASA flew its DC-8 aircraft, picture above, equipped with instrumentation to monitor the quality, source, and movement of harmful air pollutants. Scientists onboard used the space as a laboratory to analyze data in real-time and share it with a network of researchers who aim to tackle this global issue.
“Bringing the DC-8 flying laboratory and US researchers to Asian countries not only advances atmospheric research but also fosters international scientific collaboration and education,” said ESPO Project Specialist Vidal Salazar. “Running a campaign like ASIA AQ also opens doors for shared knowledge and exposes local communities to cutting-edge research.”
Fostering Partnerships Through Expertise and Goodwill
International collaboration fostered through this campaign contributes to an ongoing dialogue about air pollution between Asian countries.
“NASA’s continued scientific and educational activities around the world are fundamental to building relationships with partnering countries,” said ESPO Director Marilyn Vasques. “NASA’s willingness to share data and provide educational opportunities to locals creates goodwill worldwide.”
The role of ESPO in identifying, strategizing, and executing on project plans across the globe created a path for multi-sectoral community engagement on air quality. These global efforts to improve air quality science directly inform efforts to save lives from this hazard that affects all.
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