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Zoomed-in image of Uranus

Webb’s infrared image highlights the planet’s dramatic rings and dynamic atmosphere. Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system’s other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as bright features in the planet’s atmosphere.

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    • By NASA
      With two months to go before flight, the Apollo 13 prime crew of James Lovell, Thomas Mattingly, Fred Haise, and backups John Young, John Swigert, and Charles Duke continued to train for the 10-day mission planned to land in the Fra Mauro highlands region of the Moon. Engineers continued to prepare the Saturn V rocket and spacecraft at the launch pad for the April 11, 1970, liftoff and completed the Flight Readiness Test of the vehicle. All six astronauts spent many hours in flight simulators training while the Moon walkers practiced landing the Lunar Module and rehearsed their planned Moon walks. The crew for the next Moon landing mission, Apollo 14, participated in a geology field trip as part of their training for the flight then planned for October 1970. Meanwhile, NASA released Apollo 12 lunar samples to scientists and the Apollo 12 crew set off on a Presidential world goodwill tour.  
      At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers completed the Flight Readiness Test of the Apollo 13 Saturn V on Feb. 26. The test ensured that all systems are flight ready and compatible with ground support equipment, and the astronauts simulated portions of the countdown and powered flight. Successful completion of the readiness test cleared the way for a countdown dress rehearsal at the end of March. 
      John Young prepares for a flight aboard the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle.NASA John Young after a training flight aboard the landing trainer. NASA Fred Haise prepares for a flight at the Lunar Landing Research Facility. NASA One of the greatest challenges astronauts faced during a lunar mission entailed completing a safe landing on the lunar surface. In addition to time spent in simulators, Apollo mission commanders and their backups trained for the final few hundred feet of the descent using the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle at Ellington Air Force Base near the Manned Spacecraft Center, now NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston. Bell Aerosystems of Buffalo, New York, built the trainer for NASA to simulate the flying characteristics of the Lunar Module. Lovell and Young completed several flights in February 1970. Due to scheduling constraints with the trainer, lunar module pilots trained for their role in the landing using the Lunar Landing Research Facility at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Haise and Duke completed training sessions at the Langley facility in February. 

      Charles Duke practices Lunar Module egress during a KC-135 parabolic flight. NASA Charles Duke rehearses unstowing equipment from the Lunar Module during a KC-135 parabolic flight. NASA The astronauts trained for moonwalks with parabolic flights aboard NASA’s KC-135 aircraft that simulated the low lunar gravity, practicing their ladder descent to the surface. On the ground, they rehearsed the moonwalks, setting up the American flag and the large S-band communications antenna, and collecting lunar samples. Engineers improved their spacesuits to make the expected longer spacewalks more comfortable for the crew members by installing eight-ounce bags of water inside the helmets for hydration. 

      James Lovell, left, and Fred Haise practice setting up science equipment, the American flag, and the S-band antenna.NASA Lovell, left, and Haise practice collecting rock samples. NASA John Young, left, and Charles Duke train to collect rock samples. NASA Fred Haise, left, and James Lovell practice lowering the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package from the Lunar Module.NASA Lovell, left, and Haise practice setting up the experiments. NASA Lovell, left, and Haise practice drilling for the Heat Flow Experiment. NASA During their 35 hours on the Moon’s surface, Lovell and Haise planned to conduct two four-hour spacewalks to set up the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP), a suite of four investigations designed to collect data about the lunar environment after the astronauts’ departure, and to conduct geologic explorations of the landing site. The four experiments included the: 
      Charged Particle Lunar Environment Experiment designed to measure the flexes of charged particles  Cold Cathode Gauge Experiment designed to measure the pressure of the lunar atmosphere  Heat Flow Experiment designed to make thermal measurements of the lunar subsurface  Passive Seismic Experiment designed to measure any moonquakes, either naturally occurring or caused by artificial means   As an additional investigation, the astronauts planned to deploy and retrieve the Solar Wind Composition experiment, a sheet of aluminum foil to collect particles from the solar wind for analysis by scientists back on Earth after about 20 hours of exposure on the lunar surface. 

      Apollo 14 astronauts Eugene Cernan, left, Joe Engle, Edgar Mitchell, and Alan Shepard with geologist Richard Jahns in the Pinacates Mountains of northern Mexico. NASA Shepard, left, Engle, Mitchell, and Cernan training with the Modular Equipment Transporter, accompanied by geologist Jahns. NASA With one lunar mission just two months away, NASA continued preparations for the following flight, Apollo 14, then scheduled for October 1970 with a landing targeted for the Littrow region of the Moon, an area scientists believed to be of volcanic origin. Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell and their backups Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Joe Engle  learned spacecraft systems in the simulators. Accompanied by a team of geologists led by Richard Jahns, Shepard, Mitchell, Cernan, and Engle participated in a geology expedition to the Pinacate Mountain Range in northern Mexico Feb. 14-18, 1970. The astronauts practiced using the Modular Equipment Transporter, a two-wheeled conveyance to transport tools and samples on the lunar surface. 

      Mail out of the Apollo 12 lunar samples. Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad, left, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean ride in a motorcade in Lima, Peru.NASA On Feb. 13, 1970, NASA began releasing Apollo 12 lunar samples to 139 U.S. and 54 international scientists in 16 countries, a total of 28.6 pounds of material. On Feb. 16, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean, accompanied by their wives and NASA and State Department officials, departed Houston’s Ellington Air Force Base for their 38-day Bullseye Presidential Goodwill World Tour. They first traveled to Latin America, making stops in Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and Panama before continuing on to Europe, Africa, and Asia. 
      The groundbreaking science and discoveries made during Apollo missions has pushed NASA to explore the Moon more than ever before through the Artemis program. Apollo astronauts set up mirror arrays, or “retroreflectors,” on the Moon to accurately reflect laser light beamed at them from Earth with minimal scattering or diffusion. Retroreflectors are mirrors that reflect the incoming light back in the same incoming direction. Calculating the time required for the beams to bounce back allowed scientists to precisely measure the Moon’s shape and distance from Earth, both of which are directly affected by Earth’s gravitational pull. More than 50 years later, on the cusp of NASA’s crewed Artemis missions to the Moon, lunar research still leverages data from those Apollo-era retroreflectors. 

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    • By NASA
      2 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      NASA marked a key milestone Feb. 18 with installation of RS-25 engine No. E20001, the first new production engine to help power the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on future Artemis missions to the Moon.
      The engine, built by lead SLS engines contractor L3Harris (formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne), was installed on the Fred Haise Test Stand in preparation for acceptance testing next month. It represents the first of 24 new flight engines being built for missions, beginning with Artemis V.
      Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin Teams at NASA’s Stennis Space Center deliver, lift, and install the first new production RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand on Feb. 18.NASA/Danny Nowlin The NASA Stennis test team will conduct a full-duration, 500-second hot fire, providing critical performance data to certify the engine for use on a future mission. During missions to the Moon, RS-25 engines fire for about 500 seconds and up to the 111% power level to help launch SLS, with the Orion spacecraft, into orbit.
      The engine arrived at the test stand from the L3Harris Engine Assembly Facility on the engine transport trailer before being lifted onto the vertical engine installer (VEI) on the west side deck. After rolling the engine into the stand, the team used the VEI to raise and secure it in place.
      The upcoming acceptance test follows two certification test series that helped verify the new engine production process and components meet all performance requirements. Four RS-25 engines help launch SLS, producing up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust.
      All RS-25 engines for Artemis missions are tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis prior to use. RS-25 tests are conducted by a team of operators from NASA, L3Harris, and Syncom Space Services, prime contractor for site facilities and operations.
      Explore More NASA Stennis Images View the full article
    • By NASA
      3 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      NASA / Getty Images NASA has selected two new university student teams to participate in real-world aviation research challenges meant to transform the skies above our communities.
      The research awards were made through NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC), which provides students with opportunities to contribute to NASA’s flight research goals.
      This round is notable for including USRC’s first-ever award to a community college: Cerritos Community College.
      We’re trying to tap into the community college talent pool to bring new students to the table for aeronautics.
      steven holz
      NASA Project Manager
      “We’re trying to tap into the community college talent pool to bring new students to the table for aeronautics,” said Steven Holz, who manages the USRC award process. “Innovation comes from everywhere, and people with different viewpoints, educational backgrounds, and experiences like those in our community colleges are also interested in aeronautics and looking to make a difference.”
      Real World Research Awards
      Through USRC, students interact with real-world aspects of the research ecosystem both in and out of the laboratory. They will manage their own research projects, utilize state-of-the-art technology, and work alongside accomplished aeronautical researchers. Students are expected to make unique contributions to NASA’s research priorities.
      USRC provides more than just experience in technical research.
      Each team of students selected receives a USRC grant from NASA – and is tasked with the additional challenge of raising funds from the public through student-led crowdfunding. The process helps students develop skills in entrepreneurship and public communication.
      The new university teams and research topics are:
      Cerritos Community College
      “Project F.I.R.E. (Fire Intervention Retardant Expeller)” will explore how to mitigate wildfires by using environmentally friendly fire-retardant pellets dropped from drones. Cerritos Community College’s team includes lead Angel Ortega Barrera as well as Larisa Mayoral, Paola Mayoral Jimenez, Jenny Rodriguez, Logan Stahl, and Juan Villa, with faculty mentor Janet McLarty-Schroeder. This team also successfully participated with the same research topic in in NASA’s Gateway to Blue Skies competition, which aims to expand engagement between the NASA’s University Innovation project and universities, industry, and government partners.
      Colorado School of Mines
      The project “Design and Prototyping of a 9-phase Dual-Rotor Motor for Supersonic Electric Turbofan” will work on a scaled-down prototype for an electric turbofan for supersonic aircraft. The Colorado School of Mines team includes lead Mahzad Gholamian as well as Garret Reader, Mykola Mazur, and Mirali Seyedrezaei, with faculty mentor Omid Beik.
      Complete details on USRC awardees and solicitations, such as what to include in a proposal and how to submit it, are available on the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate solicitation page.
      About the Author
      John Gould
      Aeronautics Research Mission DirectorateJohn Gould is a member of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications team at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. He is dedicated to public service and NASA’s leading role in scientific exploration. Prior to working for NASA Aeronautics, he was a spaceflight historian and writer, having a lifelong passion for space and aviation.
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      Last Updated Feb 18, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactSteven Holzsteven.m.holz@nasa.gov Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      5 Min Read Webb Maps Full Picture of How Phoenix Galaxy Cluster Forms Stars
      Spectroscopic data collected from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is overlayed on an image of the Phoenix cluster that combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. Credits:
      NASA, CXC, NRAO, ESA, M. McDonald (MIT), M. Reefe (MIT), J. Olmsted (STScI) Discovery proves decades-old theory of galaxy feeding cycle.
      Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have finally solved the mystery of how a massive galaxy cluster is forming stars at such a high rate. The confirmation from Webb builds on more than a decade of studies using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, as well as several ground-based observatories.
      The Phoenix cluster, a grouping of galaxies bound together by gravity 5.8 billion light-years from Earth, has been a target of interest for astronomers due to a few unique properties. In particular, ones that are surprising: a suspected extreme cooling of gas and a furious star formation rate despite a roughly 10 billion solar mass supermassive black hole at its core. In other observed galaxy clusters, the central supermassive black hole powers energetic particles and radiation that prevents gas from cooling enough to form stars. Researchers have been studying gas flows within this cluster to try to understand how it is driving such extreme star formation.
      Image A: Phoenix Cluster (Hubble, Chandra, VLA Annotated)
      Spectroscopic data collected from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is overlayed on an image of the Phoenix cluster that combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. Webb’s powerful sensitivity in the mid-infrared detected the cooling gas that leads to a furious rate of star formation in this massive galaxy cluster. Credit: NASA, CXC, NRAO, ESA, M. McDonald (MIT), M. Reefe (MIT), J. Olmsted (STScI) “We can compare our previous studies of the Phoenix cluster, which found differing cooling rates at different temperatures, to a ski slope,” said Michael McDonald of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, principal investigator of the program. “The Phoenix cluster has the largest reservoir of hot, cooling gas of any galaxy cluster — analogous to having the busiest chair lift, bringing the most skiers to the top of the mountain. However, not all of those skiers were making it down the mountain, meaning not all the gas was cooling to low temperatures. If you had a ski slope where there were significantly more people getting off the ski lift at the top than were arriving at the bottom, that would be a problem!”
      To date, in the Phoenix cluster, the numbers weren’t adding up, and researchers were missing a piece of the process. Webb has now found those proverbial skiers at the middle of the mountain, in that it has tracked and mapped the missing cooling gas that will ultimately feed star formation. Most importantly, this intermediary warm gas was found within cavities tracing the very hot gas, a searing 18 million degrees Fahrenheit, and the already cooled gas around 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
      The team studied the cluster’s core in more detail than ever before with the Medium-Resolution Spectrometer on Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). This tool allows researchers to take two-dimenstional spectroscopic data from a region of the sky, during one set of observations.
      “Previous studies only measured gas at the extreme cold and hot ends of the temperature distribution throughout the center of the cluster,” added McDonald. “We were limited — it was not possible to detect the ‘warm’ gas that we were looking for. With Webb, we could do this for the first time.”
      Image B: Phoenix Cluster (Hubble, Chandra, VLA)
      This image of the Phoenix cluster combines data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Very Large Array radio telescope. X-rays from Chandra depict extremely hot gas in purple. Optical light data from Hubble show galaxies in yellow, and filaments of cooler gas where stars are forming in light blue. Outburst generated jets, represented in red, are seen in radio waves by the VLA radio telescope. NASA, CXC, NRAO, ESA, M. McDonald (MIT). A Quirk of Nature
      Webb’s capability to detect this specific temperature of cooling gas, around 540,000 degrees Fahrenheit, is in part due to its instrumental capabilities. However, the researchers are getting a little help from nature, as well.
      This oddity involves two very different ionized atoms, neon and oxygen, created in similar environments. At these temperatures, the emission from oxygen is 100 times brighter but is only visible in ultraviolet. Even though the neon is much fainter, it glows in the infrared, which allowed the researchers to take advantage of Webb’s advanced instruments.
      “In the mid-infrared wavelengths detected by Webb, the neon VI signature was absolutely booming,” explained Michael Reefe, also of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lead author on the paper published in Nature. “Even though this emission is usually more difficult to detect, Webb’s sensitivity in the mid-infrared cuts through all of the noise.”
      The team now hopes to employ this technique to study more typical galaxy clusters. While the Phoenix cluster is unique in many ways, this proof of concept is an important step towards learning about how other galaxy clusters form stars.The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
      Downloads
      Right click any image to save it or open a larger version in a new tab/window via the browser’s popup menu.
      View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute.
      Read the research paper published in Nature.
      Media Contacts
      Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
      Hannah Braun hbraun@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
      Christine Pulliam – cpulliam@stsci.edu
      Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
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    • By NASA
      Ambiguity. 
      That’s the word that comes to mind when documentary photographers start each day at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
      PACE mission photographer Denny Henry and lead documentary photographer Desiree Stover pose for selfies in the clean room.Credits: NASA “You walk in and think one thing is happening,” said OCI’s lead documentary photographer Desiree Stover. “But in an instant things change – maybe goes wrong –- and you need to be ready to capture it.”
      From build to testing to launch, one figure is always present in the background capturing the story of each Goddard mission – the documentary photographer. 
      In honor of #WorldPhotoDay, follow along as two of our documentarians share what it’s like to capture the story of Goddard’s latest mission build PACE. 
      PACE or Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, is set to launch in early 2024. Its goal is to see ocean and atmosphere features in unparalleled detail. By measuring the intensity of the color that reflects from Earth’s ocean surface, PACE will capture fine details about tiny plant-like organisms and algae that live in the ocean, called phytoplankton, that are the basis of the marine food web and generate half of Earth’s oxygen. 
      Crafting the Story
      For Stover and her partner Denny Henry, PACE’s lead mission photographer, the story starts with the smallest details. 
      “I think one of the first things I photographed was the outside of a circuit port box. It was literally an empty metal box,” said Henry, who started photographing PACE in 2020, right before the pandemic. “It might be small, but it’s part of a system that’s going to do big things.”
      Mark Walter, David Kim, Melyane Ortiz-acosta, and Ariel Obaldo discuss plans for testing the PACE flight Solar Array Panels.Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Denny Henry A typical day for these photographers usually starts with a morning meeting, assignments and getting ready. By the end of the day, the original plan has likely been changed, multiple times.
      “Some days we might shoot eight photos, other days it might be hundreds or more,” Stover said.
      PACE, or Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem, is set to launch in early 2024. Its goal is to see ocean and atmosphere features in unparalleled detail.Credits: NASA Images captured during shoots are used for a variety of things, especially technical components of the mission. This includes documenting builds, spotting mistakes and testing. 
      Stover got her start at Goddard by photographing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope before switching to capturing imagery of Goddard’s small instruments, including PACE’s Ocean Color Instrument, or OCI. This advanced sensor will enable continuous measurement of light throughout the ultraviolet to shortwave infrared spectrum to better understand Earth’s ocean and atmosphere.
      She says she’s still in awe that her teammates trust her “eye.”
      “One of the most fascinating things about working here is that we have a specific job,” she said. “And even though engineers can pick up a camera and take photos, they don’t. They know we’re the experts at it. They trust our eyes to tell and capture the story.”
      Henry said one of the most memorable days he’s documented so far was watching the PACE team integrate the SPEXone instrument into the spacecraft. 
      “All the partners were there as I photographed. It was a big deal,” he said. “I captured every bolt all the way to the mounting. It’s important to get these details. Six months from now someone who wasn’t there might want to see what was done in what order.”
      Henry said that capturing images is only part of the job. For every hour of shooting, there’s also an hour spent processing and working with partners to ensure things were documented correctly.
      Playing Detective
      While telling the story is important, Stover says that part of the job is speaking up, especially when you notice something wrong.
      During one assignment documenting vibration testing, Stover noticed that OCI’s Earth shade looked different.
      “We took the bagging off and could see tape peeling off the radiator panels, possibly loose wires in certain places,” she said. “When I saw this, I thought back to what it was like when we shot this the first time.”
      Physical Science Technician Kristen Washington performs a contamination inspection of the OCI Flight Fold Flat Mirror optic.Credits: Desiree Stover, NASA Goddard It’s common for the photographers to shoot things twice to examine how things might change when in testing. When Stover saw the tape, she got to work ensuring her hunch was right. 
      She sent a series of images to the thermal team lead letting him know what she found. Plans were already underway to change the design.
      The unexpected
      Stover and Henry agree that documenting missions has come with some interesting experiences.
      Both had to undergo fall protection harness training in the event they had to climb around one of Goddard’s cleanrooms, something that happened to Stover during one assignment.
      “Once I was up in Building 29’s high bay. Like up at the very top in the crane rafters shooting. I never thought I was afraid of heights until that moment,” she said. “But I focused on the image and what task I was accomplishing and completed the assignment without issue.”
      Henry said adjusting to Covid-19 required a lot of flexibility, especially with sudden changes.
      “This is not a job you can do from home,” he said. “After a few months, we adapted.”
      Radio Frequency testing of the PACE Earth Coverage Antenna in the Electromagnetic Anechoic Chamber at Goddard Space Flight Center.Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Denny Henry Henry said that many times mission teams will find that engineering drawings won’t match up with what was actually built. With the pandemic restrictions, PACE heavily relied on his images to note how things changed and why issues occurred. 
      As PACE heads toward big milestones in the next year, both Stover and Henry are excited to see their work come together, including the day of launch.
      They both agreed that photographing the teams involved in each aspect of PACE’s build is especially rewarding as they help create mementos that go along with their mission’s story. 
      By: Sara Blumberg
      NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 
      View the full article
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