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First ESA Faint Object Camera Science Images - Supernova 1987A
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Stephanie Dudley, Gateway’s mission integration and utilization manager, sits inside a high-fidelity HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) mockup at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.NASA/Josh Valcarcel Stephanie Dudley sits at the intersection of human spaceflight and science for Gateway, humanity’s first lunar space station that will host astronauts and unique scientific investigations.
Gateway’s mission integration and utilization manager, Dudley recently posed for this photo in a high-fidelity mockup of the space station’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), where astronauts will live, conduct science, and prepare for missions to investigate the lunar South Pole region. Dudley works with NASA’s partner space agencies and academia to identify science opportunities on Gateway.
HALO will host various science experiments, including the Heliophysics Environmental and Radiation Measurement Experiment Suite, led by NASA, and the Internal Dosimeter Array, led by ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The heliophysics experiment will fly on HALO’s exterior, and the dosimeter will be housed inside Gateway in a series of racks, mockups of which are shown to the right of Dudley in the image above. Both experiments will study solar and cosmic radiation to help the science community better understand how to protect astronauts and hardware during deep space travels to places like Mars.
“We are building [Gateway] for a 15-year lifespan, but definitely hope that we go longer than that,” Dudley recently said on Houston We Have a Podcast. “And so that many years of scientific study in a place where humans have never worked and lived long-term, Gateway is going to allow us to do that.”
Dudley pulls double duty as a deputy director for the Exploration Operations Office within NASA’s Moon to Mars Program, a role that connects her to Artemis science beyond Gateway, including science investigations on the Orion and Human Landing System spacecraft and lunar terrain vehicle.
“My work…is helping to make sure that across all of the six [Artemis] programs, including Gateway, we’re all focusing on utilization in the same way,” Dudley said.
Dudley’s team coordinates science payloads for Artemis II, the first mission to send humans to the Moon since 1972, and Artemis III, the first landing in the lunar South Pole region that is of keen interest to the global science community.
Gateway’s HALO will launch with the space station’s Power and Propulsion Element ahead of the Artemis IV mission in 2028, the first lunar mission to include an orbiting space station.
“Gateway sounds so science fiction, but it’s real,” Dudley recently said. “And we’re building it. And in a few years, it’s going to be around the Moon and that’s when the real work, the fun work in my opinion, is going to begin and science will never be the same.”
Gateway is humanity’s first lunar space station as a central component of the Artemis campaign that will return humans to the Moon for scientific discovery and chart a path for the first human missions to Mars.
Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), one of four Gateway modules where astronauts will live, conduct science and prepare for lunar surface missions.Thales Alenia Space An artist’s rendering of the Heliophysics Environmental and Radiation Measurement Experiment Suite, or HERMES, one of the three Gateway science experiments that will study solar and cosmic radiation.NASA An artist’s rendering of HALO in lunar orbit. The HERMES science experiment is shown on the top right corner of the space station element.NASA/Alberto Bertolin, Bradley Reynolds Learn More About Gateway Share
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Last Updated Oct 29, 2024 EditorBriana R. ZamoraContactDylan Connelldylan.b.connell@nasa.govLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
Gateway Space Station Artemis Earth's Moon Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Gateway Program Humans in Space Johnson Space Center Science & Research Explore More
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By European Space Agency
Image: The construction phase of ESA’s Ariel mission has started at Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse (France) with the assembly of the spacecraft’s structural model. This marks a significant step forward for this mission designed to meticulously inspect the atmospheres of a thousand exoplanets and uncover their nature.
In the image we see Ariel’s structural model coming together at the Airbus facilities. This model replicates the mechanical framework of the spacecraft and the mass of its various units for a first round of tough testing.
The Ariel’s structural model consists of two main components: a flight-like replica of the service module (bottom right) and a simplified mechanical mock-up of the payload module (top right). This assembly mimics the structure of the flight spacecraft, where the science instruments make up the payload while the service module houses the essential components for the functioning of the spacecraft, such as the propulsion, and the power and communication systems.
The goal for the end of the year is to complete the mechanical test campaign of the spacecraft’s structural model. This will ensure that Ariel’s design is up-to-spec and can withstand the mechanical strains expected during launch.
The testing phase will include vibration and acoustic test campaigns. During vibration tests the model will be progressively shaken at different strengths on a vibrating table, or 'the shaker'. During acoustic tests, it will be placed in a reverberating chamber and ‘bombarded’ with very intense noise, like it will encounter during launch.
This model will also be used to assess how the loads are distributed and to perform a first ‘separation and shock’ test using the same mounting system as will be used to mount the spacecraft on the Ariane 6.
When ready, Ariel will be launched by an Ariane 6.2 rocket and journey to the second Lagrangian Point from where it will carry out its uniquely detailed studies of remote worlds.
Image description: A collage of three photographs that show the assembly of the model of a spacecraft in a large white hall. The first image on the left shows the entire model, with a person next to it who is nearly equal in height. The second image on the upper right zooms in on the top part of the mock science instrument: a circular fan-like structure with a big rectangular silver box on top. The third image on the lower right focuses on the bottom of the model, which looks like a large round silver box.
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By NASA
3 min read
Sols 4345-4347: Contact Science is Back on the Table
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Right Navigation Camera on sol 4343 — Martian day 4,343 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — on Oct. 24, 2024 at 15:26:28 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Friday, Oct. 25, 2024
The changes to the plan Wednesday, moving the drive a sol earlier, meant that we started off planning this morning about 18 meters (about 59 feet) farther along the western edge of Gediz Vallis and with all the data we needed for planning. This included the knowledge that once again one of Curiosity’s wheels was perched on a rock. Luckily, unlike on Wednesday, it was determined that it was safe to still go ahead with full contact science for this weekend. This consisted of two targets “Mount Brewer” and “Reef Lake,” two targets on the top and side of the same block.
Aside from the contact science, Curiosity has three sols to fill with remote imaging. The first two sols include “targeted science,” which means all the imaging of specific targets in our current workspace. Then, after we drive away on the second sol, we fill the final sol of the plan with “untargeted science,” where we care less about knowing exactly where the rover is ahead of time. A lot of the environmental team’s (or ENV) activities fall under this umbrella, which is why our dedicated “ENV Science Block” (about 30 minutes of environmental activities one morning every weekend) tends to fall at the end of a weekend plan.
But that’s getting ahead of myself. The weekend plan starts off with two ENV activities — a dust devil movie and a suprahorizon cloud movie. While cloud movies are almost always pointed in the same direction, our dust devil movie has to be specifically targeted. Recently we’ve been looking southeast toward a more sandy area (which you can see above), to see if we can catch dust lifting there. After those movies we hand the reins back over to the geology team (or GEO) for ChemCam observations of Reef Lake and “Poison Meadow.” Mastcam will follow this up with its own observations of Reef Lake and the AEGIS target from Wednesday’s plan. The rover gets some well-deserved rest before waking up for the contact science I talked about above, followed by a late evening Mastcam mosaic of “Fascination Turret,” a part of Gediz Vallis ridge that we’ve seen before.
We’re driving away on the second sol, but before that we have about another hour of science. ChemCam and Mastcam both have observations of “Heaven Lake” and the upper Gediz Vallis ridge, and ENV has a line-of-sight observation, to see how much dust is in the crater, and a pre-drive deck monitoring image to see if any dust moves around on the rover deck due to either driving or wind. Curiosity gets a short nap before a further drive of about 25 meters (about 82 feet).
The last sol of the weekend is a ChemCam special. AEGIS will autonomously choose a target for imaging, and then ChemCam has a passive sky observation to examine changing amounts of atmospheric gases. The weekend doesn’t end at midnight, though — we wake up in the morning for the promised morning ENV block, which we’ve filled with two cloud movies, another line-of-sight, and a tau observation to see how dusty the atmosphere is.
Written by Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University
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Last Updated Oct 28, 2024 Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
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