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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
From left to right: Astrolab’s FLEX, Intuitive Machines’ Moon RACER, and Lunar Outpost’s Eagle lunar terrain vehicle at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA/Bill Stafford Through NASA’s Artemis campaign, astronauts will land on the lunar surface and use a new generation of spacesuits and rovers as they live, work, and conduct science in the Moon’s South Pole region, exploring more of the lunar surface than ever before. Recently, the agency completed the first round of testing on three commercially owned and developed LTVs (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) from Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As part of an ongoing year-long feasibility study, each company delivered a static mockup of their vehicle to Johnson at the end of September, initiated rover testing in October and completed the first round of testing in December inside the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) test facility. Lunar surface gravity is one-sixth of what we experience here on Earth, so to mimic this, ARGOS offers an analog environment that can offload pressurized suited subjects for various reduced gravity simulations.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari (left) and Randy Bresnik (right) sit inside Lunar Outpost’s Eagle lunar terrain vehicle evaluating the seat configuration during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA/David DeHoyos NASA astronaut Jessica Meir grabs a lunar geology tool from a tool rack on Lunar Outpost’s Eagle lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/James Blair NASA astronaut Joe Acaba prepares to climb on top of Intuitive Machines’ Moon RACER lunar terrain vehicle to get to a science payload during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/Josh Valcarcel NASA astronaut Jessica Meir puts a science sample inside of a storage box on Intuitive Machines’ Moon RACER lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/James Blair NASA astronaut Frank Rubio (left) and NASA spacesuit engineer Zach Tejral (right) sit inside Astrolab’s FLEX lunar terrain vehicle evaluating the display interfaces during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/James Blair NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins stores science payloads on Astrolab’s FLEX lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/Robert Markowitz This is the first major test milestone within the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract and to have actual rovers delivered only four months after these companies were awarded is remarkable.
steve munday
NASA's Lunar Terrain Vehicle Project Manager
NASA’s engineering teams conducted tests where suited NASA astronauts and engineers performed tasks, maneuvers, and emergency drills on each rover. With astronauts acting as the test subjects, these human-in-the-loop tests are invaluable as crewmembers provide critical feedback on each rover’s design functionality, evaluate display interfaces and controls, and help identify potential safety concerns or design issues. This feedback is shared directly with each commercial provider, to incorporate changes based on lessons learned as they evolve their rover design.
“We are excited to have mockups from all three LTV commercial providers here at Johnson Space Center,” said Steve Munday, LTV project manager. “This is the first major test milestone within the Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract and to have actual rovers delivered only four months after these companies were awarded is remarkable.”
NASA engineer Dave Coan (left) and NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins (right) sit inside from Intuitive Machines’ Moon RACER lunar terrain vehicle evaluating the crew compartment during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/James Blair Testing consisted of NASA astronauts and engineers taking turns wearing both NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit planetary prototype spacesuit as well as Axiom Space’s Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit lunar spacesuit. The test teams performed evaluations to understand the interactions between the crew, the spacesuits, and the LTV mockups.
While wearing NASA’s prototype spacesuit, crew members were suspended from ARGOS allowing teams to mimic theone-sixth gravitational field of the lunar surface. This allowed the crew members to conduct tasks on the outside of each rover, such as gathering or storing lunar geology tools, deploying science payloads, and handling cargo equipment, as if they are walking on the Moon.
NASA astronaut Joe Acaba raises the solar array panel on Lunar Outpost’s Eagle lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/Robert Markowitz While wearing Axiom Space’s pressurized spacesuit, teams evaluated the level of ease or difficulty in mobility crewmembers experienced when entering and exiting the rovers, the crew compartment and design, and the functionality of interacting with display interfaces and hand controls while wearing thick spacesuit gloves.
As part of testing, teams also conducted emergency drills, where engineers simulated rescuing an incapacitated crew member. As part of NASA’s requirements, each rover must have a design in place that enables an astronaut to single-handedly rescue their crewmates in the event of an emergency.
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins picks up a lunar geology tool from a stowage drawer on Astrolab’s FLEX lunar terrain vehicle during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/Robert Markowitz Since NASA selected the companies, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab have been working to meet NASA’s requirements through the preliminary design review. In 2025, the agency plans to issue a request for task order proposals to any eligible providers for a demonstration mission to continue developing the LTV, deliver it to the surface of the Moon, and validate its performance and safety ahead of Artemis V, when NASA intends to begin using the LTV for crewed operations.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts – including the next Americans, and the first international partner astronaut – to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, technology evolution, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for future crewed missions to Mars.
Learn about the rovers, suits, and tools that will help Artemis astronauts to explore more of the Moon:
https://go.nasa.gov/3MnEfrB
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Last Updated Dec 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
7 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
2024 intro: As NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley enters its 85th year since its founding, join us as we take a look back at some of our highlights of science, engineering, research, and innovation from 2024.
Ames Arc Jets Play Key Role in Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Heat Shield Findings
A block of Avcoat undergoes testing inside an arc jet test chamber at NASA Ames. The test article, configured with both permeable (upper) and non-permeable (lower) Avcoat sections for comparison, helped to confirm understanding of the root cause of the loss of charred Avcoat material that engineers saw on the Orion spacecraft after the Artemis I test flight beyond the Moon. NASA Researchers at Ames were part of the team tasked to better understand and identify the root cause of the unexpected char loss across the Artemis I Orion spacecraft’s heat shield. Using Avcoat material response data from Artemis I, the investigation team was able to replicate the Artemis I entry trajectory environment — a key part of understanding the cause of the issue — inside the arc jet facilities at NASA Ames.
Starling Swarm Completes Primary Mission
The four CubeSat spacecraft that make up the Starling swarm have demonstrated success in autonomous operations, completing all key mission objectives. NASA After ten months in orbit, the Starling spacecraft swarm successfully demonstrated its primary mission’s key objectives, representing significant achievements in the capability of swarm configurations in low Earth orbit, including distributing and sharing important information and autonomous decision making.
Another Step Forward for BioNutrients
Research scientists Sandra Vu, left, Natalie Ball, center, and Hiromi Kagawa, right, process BioNutrients production packs.NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete NASA’s BioNutrients entered its fifth year in its mission to investigate how microorganisms can produce on-demand nutrients for astronauts during long-duration space missions. Keeping astronauts healthy is critical and as the project comes to a close, researchers have processed production packs on Earth on the same day astronauts processed production packs in space on the International Space Station to demonstrate that NASA can produce nutrients after at least five years in space, providing confidence it will be capable of supporting crewed missions to Mars.
Hyperwall Upgrade Helps Scientists Interpret Big Data
The newly upgraded hyperwall visualization system provides four times the resolution of the previous system. NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete Ames upgraded its powerful hyperwall system, a 300-square foot wall of LCD screens with over a billion pixels to display supercomputer-scale visualizations of the very large datasets produced by NASA supercomputers and instruments. The hyperwall is just one way researchers can utilize NASA’s high-end computing technology to better understand their data and advance the agency’s missions and research.
Ames Contributions to NASA Artificial Intelligence Efforts
NASA public affairs officer Melissa Howell moderates as chief scientist Kate Calvin speaks alongside chief technologist AC Charania, chief artificial intelligence officer David Salvagnini, and chief information officer Jeff Seaton at the agency’s first artificial intelligence town hall.NASA/Bill Ingalls Ames contributes to the agency’s artificial intelligence work through ongoing research and development, agencywide collaboration, and communications efforts. This year, NASA announced David Salvagnini as its inaugural chief artificial intelligence officer and held the first agencywide town hall on artificial intelligence sharing how the agency is safely using and developing artificial intelligence to advance missions and research.
Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Successfully Launches, Deploys Sail
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System seeks to advance future space exploration and expand our understanding of our Sun and Solar System. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System successfully launched from Māhia, New Zealand, in April, and successfully deployed its sail in August to begin mission operations. The small satellite represents a new future in solar sailing, using lightweight composite booms to support a reflective polymer sail that uses the pressure of sunlight as propulsion.
Understanding Our Planet
Samuel Suleiman, an instructor on NASA’s OCEANOS student training program, gathers loose corals to place around an endangered coral species to help attract fish and other wildlife, giving the endangered coral a better chance of survival.NASA/Milan Loiacono In 2024, Ames researchers studied Earth’s oceans and waterways from multiple angles – from supporting NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, or PACE, mission to bringing students in Puerto Rico experiences in oceanography and the preservation of coral reefs. Working with multiple partners, our scientists and engineers helped inform ecosystem management by joining satellite measurements of Earth with animal tracking data. In collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, a NASA team continued testing a specialized instrument package to stay in-the-know about changes in river flow rates.
Revealing the Mysteries of Asteroids in Our Solar System
NASA Ames researchers used a series of supercomputer simulations to reveal a potential new explanation for how the moons of Mars may have formed: The first step, the findings say, may have involved the destruction of an asteroid.
Using NASA’s powerful James Webb Space Telescope, another Ames scientist helped reveal the smallest asteroids ever found in the main asteroid belt.
Ames Helps Emerging Space Companies ‘Take the Heat’
A heat shield made by NASA is visible on the blunt, upward-facing side of a space capsule after its landing in the Utah desert.Varda Space Industries/John Kraus A heat shield material invented and made at Ames helped to safely return a spacecraft containing the first product processed on an autonomous, free-flying, in-space manufacturing platform. February’s re-entry of the spacecraft from Varda Space Industries of El Segundo, California, in partnership with Rocket Lab USA of Long Beach, California, marked the first time a NASA-manufactured thermal protection material, called C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), ever returned from space.
Team Continues to Move Forward with Mission to Learn More about Our Star
This illustration lays a depiction of the sun’s magnetic fields over an image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on March 12, 2016. NASA/SDO/AIA/LMSAL HelioSwarm’s swarm of nine spacecraft will provide deeper insights into our universe and offer critical information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals such as GPS. The mission team continues to work toward launching in 2029.
CAPSTONE Continues to Chart a New Path Around the Moon
CAPSTONE revealed in lunar Sunrise: CAPSTONE will fly in cislunar space – the orbital space near and around the Moon. The mission will demonstrate an innovative spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation solution at the Moon from a near rectilinear halo orbit slated for Artemis’ Gateway.Credits: Illustration by NASA/Daniel Rutter The microwave sized CubeSat, CAPSTONE, continues to fly in a cis-lunar near rectilinear halo orbit after launching in 2022. Flying in this unique orbit continues to pave the way for future spacecraft and Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, as the team continues to collect data.
NASA Moves Drone Package Delivery Industry Closer to Reality
A drone is shown flying during a test of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM) technical capability Level 2 (TCL2) at Reno-Stead Airport, Nevada in 2016. During the test, five drones simultaneously crossed paths, separated by different altitudes. Two drones flew beyond visual line of sight and three flew within line-of-sight of their operators. More UTM research followed, and it continues today. Dominic Hart NASA’s uncrewed aircraft system traffic management concepts paved the way for newly-approved package delivery drone flights in the Dallas area.
NASA Technologies Streamline Air Traffic Management Systems
This image shows an aviation version of a smartphone navigation app that makes suggestions for an aircraft to fly an alternate, more efficient route. The new trajectories are based on information available from NASA’s Digital Information Platform and processed by the Collaborative Departure Digital Rerouting tool.NASA Managing our busy airspace is a complex and important issue, ensuring reliable and efficient movement of commercial and public air traffic as well as autonomous vehicles. NASA, in partnership with AeroVironment and Aerostar, demonstrated a first-of-its-kind air traffic management concept that could pave the way for aircraft to safely operate at higher altitudes. The agency also saw continued fuel savings and reduction in commercial flight delays at Dallas Fort-Worth Airport, thanks to a NASA-developed tool that allows flight coordinators to identify more efficient, alternative takeoff routes.
Small Spacecraft Gathers Big Solar Storm Data from Deep Space
Illustration of NASA’s BioSentinel spacecraft as it enters a heliocentric orbit.NASA/Daniel Rutter BioSentinel – a small satellite about the size of a cereal box – is currently more than 30 million miles from Earth, orbiting our Sun. After launching aboard NASA’s Artemis I more than two years ago, BioSentinel continues to collect valuable information for scientists trying to understand how solar radiation storms move through space and where their effects – and potential impacts on life beyond Earth – are most intense. In May 2024, the satellite was exposed to a coronal mass ejection without the protection of our planet’s magnetic field and gathered measurements of hazardous solar particles in deep space during a solar storm.
NASA, FAA Partner to Develop New Wildland Fire Technologies
Artist’s rendering of remotely piloted aircraft providing fire suppression, monitoring and communications capabilities during a wildland fire. NASA NASA researchers continued to develop and test airspace management technologies to enable remotely-piloted aircraft to fight and monitor wildland fires 24 hours a day.
The Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations (ACERO) project seeks to use drones and advanced aviation technologies to improve wildland fire coordination and operations.
NASA and Forest Service Use Balloon to Help Firefighters Communicate
The Aerostar Thunderhead balloon carries the STRATO payload into the sky to reach the stratosphere for flight testing. The balloon appears deflated because it will expand as it rises to higher altitudes where pressures are lower.Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting/Austin Buttlar The Strategic Tactical Radio and Tactical Overwatch (STRATO) technology is a collaborative effort to use high-altitude balloons to improve real-time communications among firefighters battling wildland fires. Providing cellular communication from above can improve firefighter safety and firefighting efficiency.
A Fully Reimagined Visitor Center
The NASA Ames Visitor Center includes exhibits and activities, sharing the work of NASA in Silicon Valley with the public. NASA/Don Richey The NASA Ames Visitor Center at Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, California includes a fully reimagined 360-degree experience, featuring new exhibits, models, and more. An interactive exhibit puts visitors in the shoes of a NASA Ames scientist, designing and testing rovers, planes, and robots for space exploration.
Ames Collaborations in the Community
Former NASA astronauts Yvonne Cagle and Kenneth Cockrell pose with Eli Toribio and Rhydian Daniels at the University of California, San Francisco Bakar Cancer Hospital. Patients gathered to meet the astronauts and learn more about human spaceflight and NASA’s cancer research effortsNASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete NASA astronauts, scientists, and researchers, and leadership from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) met with cancer patients and gathered in a discussion about potential research opportunities and collaborations as part of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative on Oct. 4. During the visit with patients, NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle and former astronaut Kenneth Cockrell answered questions about spaceflight and life in space.
Ames and the University of California, Berkeley, expanded their partnership, organizing workshops to exchange on their areas of technical expertise, including in Advanced Air Mobility, and to develop ideas for the Berkeley Space Center, an innovation hub proposed for development at Ames’ NASA Research Park. Under a new agreement, NASA also will host supercomputing resources for UC Berkeley, supporting the development of novel computing algorithms and software for a wide variety of scientific and technology areas.
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Last Updated Dec 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Airspace Operations and Safety Program (AOSP) enables safe, sustainable, and efficient aviation transportation operations to benefit the flying public and ensure the global competitiveness of the U.S. aviation industry. We are transforming the future of aviation into a digital, federated, and service-oriented architecture that fosters the growth of safe airspace for all users.
By partnering with FAA, academia, safety experts, operators, manufacturers, municipalities, and other government agencies, we facilitate the integration of new aviation technologies, ensure airspace access for new entrants, and champion the success of increasingly autonomous operations. At AOSP, safety is at the heart of everything we do. We stand firm in our unwavering commitment to the safe integration of these vehicles.
AOSP Approach:
Efficient, Sustainable Aviation Operations Seamless Integration of Heterogeneous and Emergent Aviation Prognostic In-Time Aviation Safety Management System of Future Operations System Level Autonomy for Aviation Operations, Vehicle Command and Control Systems, and Safety Meet the diversity, density, and complexity challenges of future aviation AOSP Projects
Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations Project
Air Mobility Pathfinders
Air Traffic Management—Exploration (ATM-X)
System-Wide Safety (SWS)
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Last Updated Dec 17, 2024 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
Caption: Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub from Roscosmos is pictured during a spacewalk to inspect a backup radiator, deploy a nanosatellite, and install communications hardware on the International Space Station’s Nauka science module.Credit: NASA NASA will provide live coverage as two Roscosmos cosmonauts conduct a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Thursday, Dec. 19.
NASA’s live coverage begins at 9:45 a.m. EST, Thursday on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:10 a.m. and last about six and a half hours.
Expedition 72 crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner will venture outside the station’s Poisk module to install an experiment package designed to monitor celestial x-ray sources and new electrical connector patch panels and remove several experiments for disposal. The two cosmonauts also will relocate a control panel for the European robotic arm, which is attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexsandr Gorbunov will operate the arm during the spacewalk from inside the station.
Roscosmos spacewalk 63 will be the second for Ovchinin and the first for Vagner. Ovchinin will wear an Orlan spacesuit with red stripes, and Vagner will wear a spacesuit with blue stripes. It will be the 272nd spacewalk in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.
Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station on the station blog, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about the International Space Station at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
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Claire O’Shea / Josh Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Dec 17, 2024 LocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, is celebrating 85 years of cutting-edge research and development in space, life sciences, supercomputing, aeronautics, and more for the benefit of humanity. Ames was founded as an aeronautical laboratory in December 1939, and has since contributed to many of NASA’s flagship missions from Apollo to Artemis.
NASA Ames experts are available for interviews Thursday, Dec. 19, and Friday, Dec. 20. To request an interview about the center’s legacy in space, science, technology, and aeronautics, email the Ames newsroom at: arc-dl-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
NASA Ames experts include:
James Anderson, NASA Ames historian; Lynn Harper, lead of integrative studies in the NASA Space Portal, working to propel U.S. industry toward the development of a sustainable, scalable, and profitable non-NASA demand for services and products manufactured in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit; Shivanjli Sharma, aerospace research engineer, working to enable advanced aviation technologies for new methods of air cargo and passenger transportation in urban, suburban, rural, and regional communities; Dave Alfano, chief of the Ames Intelligent Systems Division, working to produce ground and flight software systems and data architectures for data mining, analysis, integration, and management; integrated health management, and more for missions across the agency. Ames has established itself as a leader in the aeronautics industry, developing foundational technologies for advanced air vehicles, including air taxis and remotely piloted aircraft. On the International Space Station, Ames researchers have tested a method to develop nutrients off-Earth and on-demand. Cube-shaped robots have been delivered to the station to assist astronauts with routine duties. Ames engineers have developed and are testing a heat shield for the Orion crew capsule that will safely return astronauts home to Earth as part of the agency’s Artemis missions to the Moon.
For more information on Ames’ history and contributions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/reference/ames-history
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Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, Calif.
650-604-4789
rachel.l.hoover@nasa.gov
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