Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
During the Apollo program, when NASA sent humans to the Moon, those missions took several days to reach the Moon. The fastest of these was Apollo 8, which took just under three days to go from Earth orbit to orbit around the Moon.
Now it’s possible to save some fuel by flying different kinds of trajectories to the Moon that are shaped in such a way to save fuel. And those trajectories can take more time, potentially weeks or months, to reach the Moon, depending on how you do it.
Mars is further away, about 50 percent further away from the Sun than Earth is. And reaching Mars generally takes somewhere between seven to ten months, flying a relatively direct route.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission took about seven and a half months to reach Mars. And NASA’s MAVEN mission took about ten months to reach Mars.
Jupiter is about five times further away from the Sun than the Earth is. And so in order to make those missions practical, we have to find ways to reduce the fuel requirements. And the way we do that is by having the spacecraft do some flybys of Earth and or Venus to help shape the spacecraft’s trajectory and change the spacecraft’s speed without using fuel. And using that sort of approach, it takes between about five to six years to reach Jupiter.
So NASA’s Galileo mission, the first mission to Jupiter, took just a little over six years. And then NASA’s second mission to Jupiter, which was called Juno, took just under five years.
So to get to the Moon takes several days. To get to Mars takes seven to ten months. And getting to Jupiter takes between five and six years.
[END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT]
Full Episode List
Full YouTube Playlist
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 19, 2025 Related Terms
Science Mission Directorate Planetary Science Planetary Science Division The Solar System Explore More
3 min read Eclipses to Auroras: Eclipse Ambassadors Experience Winter Field School in Alaska
In 2023 and 2024, two eclipses crossed the United States, and the NASA Science Activation…
Article 18 hours ago 2 min read NASA Science: Being Responsive to Executive Orders
February 18, 2025 To the NASA Science Community – As the nation’s leader in Earth…
Article 19 hours ago 5 min read Ultra-low-noise Infrared Detectors for Exoplanet Imaging
One of the ultimate goals in astrophysics is the discovery of Earth-like planets that are…
Article 22 hours ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions 2 min read
Sols 4454-4457: Getting Ready to Fill the Long Weekend with Science
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, which includes the pyramid-shaped rock at left in the photo, the science target dubbed “Pyramid Lake,” using its Left Navigation Camera. The rover acquired the image on sol 4452, or Martian day 4,452 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, on Feb. 13, 2025, at 14:22:06 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. 14, 2025
Curiosity is continuing to make progress along the strategic route, traversing laterally across the sulfate (salt) bearing unit toward the boxwork structures. The team celebrated the completion of another successful drive when we received the downlink this morning, and then we immediately got to work thinking about what’s next. There is a holiday in the United States on Monday, so instead of the typical three-sol weekend plan, we actually planned four sols, which will set us up to return to planning next Tuesday.
The first sol of the plan focuses on remote sensing, and we’ll be taking several small Mastcam mosaics of features around the rover. One of my favorite targets the team picked is a delightfully pointy rock visible toward the left of the Navcam image shown above. The color images we’ll take with Mastcam will give us more information about the textures of this rock and potentially provide insight into the geologic forces that transformed it into this comical shape. The team chose what I think is a very appropriate name for this Martian pyramid-shaped target — “Pyramid Lake.” The terrestrial inspiration behind this name is a human-made reservoir (lake) near Los Angeles with a big (also human-made) pyramidal hill in it.
On the second sol of the plan, we’ll use the instruments on Curiosity’s arm to collect data of rock targets at our feet, including “Strawberry Peak,” a bumpy piece of bedrock, “Lake Arrowhead,” a smooth piece of bedrock, and “Skyline Trail,” a dark float rock. ChemCam will also collect chemical data of Skyline Trail, “Big Tujunga” — which is similar to Strawberry Peak — and “Momyer.” We’ll also take the first part of a 360-degree color mosaic with Mastcam!
In the third sol of the plan, we’ll complete the 360-degree mosaic and continue driving to the southwest along our strategic route. The fourth sol is pretty quiet, with some atmospheric observations and a ChemCam AEGIS. Atmospheric observations are additionally sprinkled throughout other sols of the plan. This time of year we are particularly interested in studying the clouds above Gale crater!
I’m looking forward to the nice long weekend, and returning on Tuesday morning to see everything Curiosity accomplished.
Written by Abigail Fraeman, Planetary Geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Share
Details
Last Updated Feb 17, 2025 Related Terms
Blogs Explore More
2 min read Sols 4452-4453: Keeping Warm and Keeping Busy
Article
3 days ago
2 min read Sols 4450-4451: Making the Most of a Monday
Article
5 days ago
3 min read Sols 4447–4449: Looking Back at the Marker Band Valley
Article
6 days ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
All Mars Resources
Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
Rover Basics
Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
Mars Exploration: Science Goals
The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
View the full article
-
By NASA
Artist’s rendering of astronauts managing logistics on the lunar surface. Credit: NASA NASA awarded new study contracts Thursday to help support life and work on the lunar surface. As part of the agency’s blueprint for deep space exploration to support the Artemis campaign, nine American companies in seven states are receiving awards.
The Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Appendix R contracts will advance learning in managing everyday challenges in the lunar environment identified in the agency’s Moon to Mars architecture.
“These contract awards are the catalyst for developing critical capabilities for the Artemis missions and the everyday needs of astronauts for long-term exploration on the lunar surface,” said Nujoud Merancy, deputy associate administrator, Strategy and Architecture Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The strong response to our request for proposals is a testament to the interest in human exploration and the growing deep-space economy. This is an important step to a sustainable return to the Moon that, along with our commercial partners, will lead to innovation and expand our knowledge for future lunar missions, looking toward Mars.”
The selected proposals have a combined value of $24 million, spread across multiple companies, and propose innovative strategies and concepts for logistics and mobility solutions including advanced robotics and autonomous capabilities:
Blue Origin, Merritt Island, Florida – logistical carriers; logistics handling and offloading; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; surface cargo and mobility; and integrated strategies Intuitive Machines, Houston, Texas – logistics handling and offloading; and surface cargo and mobility Leidos, Reston, Virginia – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; and integrated strategies Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colorado – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; and surface cargo and mobility MDA Space, Houston – surface cargo and mobility Moonprint, Dover, Delaware – logistical carriers Pratt Miller Defense, New Hudson, Michigan – surface cargo and mobility Sierra Space, Louisville, Colorado – logistical carriers; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; and integrated strategies Special Aerospace Services, Huntsville, Alabama – logistical carriers; logistics handling and offloading; logistics transfer; staging, storage, and tracking; trash management; surface cargo and mobility; and integrated strategies NASA is working with industry, academia, and the international community to continuously evolve the blueprint for crewed exploration and taking a methodical approach to investigating solutions that set humanity on a path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
For more on NASA’s mission to return to the Moon, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis
-end-
Cindy Anderson / James Gannon
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
cindy.a.anderson@nasa.gov / james.h.gannon@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jan 23, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Artemis Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Humans in Space NASA Headquarters View the full article
-
By NASA
On Jan. 9, 1990, space shuttle Columbia took off on its ninth flight, STS-32, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Its five-person crew of Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot James Wetherbee, and Mission Specialists Bonnie Dunbar, Marsha Ivins, and David Low flew a then record-breaking 11-day mission to deploy the Syncom IV-F5 communications satellite for the U.S. Navy and retrieve the Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Astronauts aboard a shuttle mission in 1984 deployed the LDEF and scientists eagerly awaited the return of their 57 experiments to study the effects of nearly six years exposure to the low Earth orbit environment. The crew also conducted several middeck experiments in biotechnology and materials processing and used an echocardiograph to study changes in their hearts.
The STS-32 crew of Mission Specialist Bonnie Dunbar, left, Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot James Wetherbee, and Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins and David Low. The STS-32 crew patch. The Long Duration Exposure Facility during its deployment on the STS-41C mission in 1984. In November 1988, NASA announced Brandenstein, Wetherbee, Dunbar, Ivins, and Low as the STS-32 crew for the flight then planned for November 1989. Brandenstein, from the Class of 1978, had flown twice before, as pilot on STS-8 in August-September 1983 and commander of STS-51G in June 1985. Dunbar, selected in 1980, had flown once before on STS-61A in October-November 1985. For Wetherbee, Ivins, and Low, all selected in 1984, STS-32 marked their first spaceflight. During the second day of their planned 10-day mission, the astronauts would deploy the Syncom IV-F5, also known as Leasat-5, communications satellite for the U.S. Navy. The main focus of the flight involved the retrieval of LDEF, deployed by the STS-41C crew in April 1984. The original plan had LDEF, containing 57 science and technology experiments, retrieved by the STS-51D crew in February 1985. Delays in the shuttle program first pushed the retrieval to STS-61I in September 1986, and then the Challenger accident delayed it to STS-32. The facility ended up staying in orbit nearly six years instead of the originally intended 10 months. The crew rounded out the mission by conducting a series of middeck science and medical experiments.
Space shuttle Columbia rolls out to its launch pad on a foggy morning. NASA scientist John Charles, at rear, trains astronauts David Low, left, and Bonnie Dunbar, supine, in the operation of a cardiovascular experiment. The STS-32 crew exits crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A. Columbia returned to KSC on Aug. 21, 1989, following STS-28’s landing at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, and workers towed it to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) the next day. They made 26 modifications to the orbiter, including the installation of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robotic arm, and a fifth set of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks to extend the vehicle’s duration in space. Rollover to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building took place on Nov. 16, where Columbia joined its External Tank and twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) on refurbished Mobile Launch Platform 3, last used in 1975. Rollout took place on Nov. 28 to Launch Pad 39A, newly refurbished since its previous launch in 1986.
On Dec. 1, engineers and the astronaut crew completed the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, a dress rehearsal for the planned Dec. 18 launch. Based on that date and the mission’s planned 10-day duration, the STS-32 crew would have spent Christmas in space, only the third American crew and the first space shuttle crew to do so. However, unfinished work on Pad 39A delayed the launch into January 1990. Trajectory specialists had estimated that due to orbital decay, LDEF would reenter the Earth’s atmosphere by March 1990, so a timely launch remained crucial for mission success. The countdown began on Jan. 4 for an expected Jan. 8 launch, with the crew arriving at KSC on Jan. 5.
Liftoff of space shuttle Columbia on STS-32. The deployment of the Syncom IV-F5 satellite. Syncom following deployment. Cloudy skies scrubbed the first launch attempt on Jan. 8. Liftoff took place the next day at 7:35 a.m. EST from Launch Pad 39A, with LDEF 1,500 miles ahead of Columbia. The powered ride to space took 8.5 minutes, placing Columbia into a 215-by-38-mile orbit. A burn of the two Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines 40 minutes later changed the orbit to the desired 222-by-180-mile altitude. The crew opened the shuttle’s payload bay doors and deployed its radiators. The major activities for the first day in space involved the checkout of the RMS and the first rendezvous maneuver in preparation for the LDEF grapple three days later. The astronauts also activated four of the middeck experiments. On the mission’s second day, Low deployed the 15,000-pound Syncom satellite, releasing it in a frisbee motion out of the payload bay. The satellite extended its antenna, stabilized itself, and 40 minutes after deployment, fired its engine for the first burn to send it to its geostationary orbit.
The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) during the rendezvous. STS-32 astronaut Bonnie Dunbar has grappled LDEF with the Remote Manipulator System. Dunbar lowers LDEF into the payload bay. Following the Syncom deploy, the crew turned its attention to the rendezvous with LDEF while also continuing the middeck experiments. On Flight Day 3, they completed three rendezvous burns as they steadily continued their approach to LDEF. Soon after awakening on Flight Day 4, the astronauts spotted LDEF appearing as a bright star. After the first of four rendezvous burns, Columbia’s radar locked onto the satellite. As they continued the approach, with three more burns carried out successfully, Dunbar activated the RMS in preparation for the upcoming grapple. Brandenstein took over manual control of Columbia for the final approach and parked the shuttle close enough to LDEF for Dunbar to reach out with the 50-foot arm and grapple the satellite. Brandenstein reported, “We have LDEF.”
For the next four hours, with Wetherbee flying the orbiter and Dunbar operating the arm, Ivins performed a comprehensive photo survey of LDEF, documenting the effects of nearly six years of space exposure on the various experiments. The survey completed, Dunbar slowly and carefully lowered LDEF into the payload bay, and five latches secured it in place for the ride back to Earth. With the two major goals of their mission completed, the astronauts settled down for the remainder of their 10-day mission conducting science experiments.
With astronaut David Low acting as an operator, astronaut Bonnie Dunbar serves as a subject for a cardiovascular experiment. Astronaut Marsha Ivins with several cameras testing the effects of spaceflight on different types of film. During the mission, the STS-32 crew conducted several middeck experiments. The Protein Crystal Growth experiment used vapor diffusion to grow 120 crystals of 24 different proteins, for study by scientists following their return to Earth. The Characterization of Neurospora Circadian Rhythm experiment studied whether spaceflight affected the daily cycles of pink bread mold. The Fluid Experiment Apparatus performed materials processing research in the microgravity environment. The astronauts used the American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE) to study changes in their hearts as a result of weightlessness. The crew used the large format IMAX camera to film scenes inside the cabin as well as through the windows, such as the capture of LDEF.
Astronaut Daniel Brandenstein holds an inflatable plastic cake given to him by his crew mates in honor of his birthday. The STS-32 crew poses in Columbia’s middeck. On Jan. 17, Brandenstein celebrated his 47th birthday, the fifth American astronaut to do so in space. His crew presented him with an inflatable plastic cake including candles while controllers in Mission Control passed on their birthday wishes as did his wife and teenage daughter. On the same day, NASA announced the selection of its 13th group of astronauts. Among them, engineer Ronald Sega, Dunbar’s husband, as well as the first female shuttle pilot, Eileen Collins, and the first Hispanic woman astronaut, Ellen Ochoa.
Columbia touches down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. At the welcome home ceremony at Ellington Field in Houston, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Aaron Cohen addresses the crowd as the STS-32 astronauts and their families listen. On Jan. 19, the astronauts awakened for their planned final day in space. However, due to fog at their landing site, Edwards AFB in California, Mission Control first informed them that they would have to spend an extra orbit in space, and finally decided to delay the landing by an entire day. With their experiments already packed, the crew spent a quiet day, looking at the Earth and using up what film still remained. As they slept that night, they passed the record for the longest space shuttle mission, set by STS-9 in 1983.
In preparation for reentry, the astronauts donned their orange spacesuits and closed the payload bay doors. A last-minute computer problem delayed reentry by one orbit, then Brandenstein and Wetherbee oriented Columbia into the deorbit attitude, with the OMS engines facing in the direction of travel. Over the Indian Ocean, they fired the two engines for 2 minutes 48 seconds to bring the spacecraft out of orbit. They reoriented the orbiter to fly with its heat shield exposed to the direction of flight as it encountered Earth’s atmosphere at 419,000 feet. The buildup of ionized gases caused by the heat of reentry prevented communications for about 15 minutes but provided the astronauts a great light show. After completing the Heading Alignment Circle turn, Brandenstein aligned Columbia with the runway, and Wetherbee lowered the landing gear. Columbia touched down and rolled to a stop, making the third night landing of the shuttle program and ending a 10-day 21-hour 1-minute flight, the longest shuttle flight up to that time, having completed 172 orbits of the Earth.
Other records set by the astronauts on this mission included Brandenstein as the new record holder for most time spent in space by a shuttle crew member – 24 days – and Dunbar accumulating the most time in space by a woman – 18 days – up to that time. Following eight hours of postflight medical testing, the astronauts boarded a jet bound for Houston’s Ellington Field, where they reunited with their families and took part in a welcome home ceremony led by Aaron Cohen, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Columbia returns to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Workers lift the Long Duration Exposure Facility from Columbia’s payload bay. Following postlanding inspections, workers placed Columbia, with LDEF still cradled in its payload bay, atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing-747, and the combination left Edwards on Jan. 25. Following a refueling stop at Monthan Davis AFB in Tucson, an overnight stay at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, and another refueling stop at Eglin AFB in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Columbia and LDEF arrived back at KSC on Jan. 26. The next day, workers towed Columbia to the OPF and on Jan. 30 lifted LDEF out of its payload bay, in preparation for the detailed study of the effects of nearly six years in space on the 57 experiments it carried. Meanwhile, workers began to prepare Columbia for its next flight, STS-35 in December 1990.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video of the STS-32 mission. Read Brandenstein‘s and Dunbar‘s recollections of the STS-32 mission in their oral histories with the JSC History Office. For an overview of the LDEF project, enjoy this video. For detailed information on the results of the LDEF experiments, follow this link.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.