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By NASA
4 Min Read NASA’s Artemis II Crew Uses Iceland Terrain for Lunar Training
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NASA/Trevor Graff/Robert Markowitz Black and gray sediment stretches as far as the eye can see. Boulders sit on top of ground devoid of vegetation. Humans appear almost miniature in scale against a swath of shadowy mountains. At first glance, it seems a perfect scene from an excursion on the Moon’s surface … except the people are in hiking gear, not spacesuits.
Iceland has served as a lunar stand-in for training NASA astronauts since the days of the Apollo missions, and this summer the Artemis II crew took its place in that long history. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, along with their backups, NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons, joined geology experts for field training on the Nordic island.
NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch stands in the desolate landscape of Iceland during a geology field training course. NASA/Robert Markowitz NASA/Robert Markowitz “Apollo astronauts said Iceland was one of the most lunar-like training locations that they went to in their training,” said Cindy Evans, Artemis geology training lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “It has lunar-like planetary processes – in this case, volcanism. It has the landscape; it looks like the Moon. And it has the scale of features astronauts will both be observing and exploring on the Moon.”
Iceland’s geology, like the Moon’s, includes rocks called basalts and breccias. Basalts are dark, fine-grained, iron-rich rocks that form when volcanic magma cools and crystalizes quickly. In Iceland, basalt lavas form from volcanoes and deep fissures. On the Moon, basalts can form from both volcanoes and lava pooling in impact basins. Breccias are angular fragments of rock that are fused together to create new rocks. In Iceland, volcanic breccias are formed from explosive volcanic eruptions and on the Moon, impact breccias are formed from meteoroids impacting the lunar surface.
Apollo astronauts said Iceland was one of the most lunar-like training locations that they went to in their training.
Cindy Evans
Artemis Geology Training Lead
Along with exploring the geology of Iceland, the astronauts practiced navigation and expeditionary skills to prepare them for living and working together, and gave feedback to instructors, who used this as an opportunity to hone their instruction and identify sites for future Artemis crew training. They also put tools to the test, learning to use hammers, scoops, and chisels to collect rock samples.
Caption: The Artemis II crew, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and backup crew members NASA astronaut Andre Douglas and CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons trek across the Icelandic landscape during their field geology training. NASA/Robert Markowitz “The tools we used during the Apollo missions haven’t changed that much for what we’re planning for the Artemis missions,” said Trevor Graff, exploration geologist and the hardware and testing lead on the Artemis science team at NASA Johnson. “Traditionally, a geologist goes out with just standard tool sets of things like rock hammers and scoops or shovels to sample the world around them, both on the surface and subsurface.”
The Artemis tools have a bit of a twist from traditional terrestrial geology tools, though. Engineers must take into consideration limited mass availability during launch, how easy it is to use a tool while wearing pressurized gloves, and how to ensure the pristine nature of the lunar samples is preserved for study back on Earth.
There’s really transformational science that we can learn by getting boots back on the Moon, getting samples back, and being able to do field geology with trained astronauts on the surface.
Angela Garcia
Exploration Geologist and Artemis II Science Officer
Caption: Angela Garcia, Artemis II science officer and exploration geologist, demonstrates how to use a rock hammer and chisel to dislodge a rock sample from a large boulder during the Artemis II field geology training in Iceland. NASA/Robert Markowitz “There’s really transformational science that we can learn by getting boots back on the Moon, getting samples back, and being able to do field geology with trained astronauts on the surface,” said Angela Garcia, exploration geologist and an Artemis II science officer at NASA Johnson.
The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under Artemis and will pave the way to land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon on future missions. The crew will travel approximately 4,600 miles beyond the far side of the Moon. While the Artemis II astronauts will not land on the surface of the Moon, the geology fundamentals they develop during field training will be critical to meeting the science objectives of their mission.
These objectives include visually studying a list of surface features, such as craters, from orbit. Astronauts will snap photos of the features, and describe their color, reflectivity, and texture — details that can reveal their geologic history.
The Artemis II crew astronauts, their backups, and the geology training field team pose in a valley in Iceland’s Vatnajökull national park. From front left: Angela Garcia, Jacob Richardson, Cindy Evans, Jenni Gibbons, Jacki Mahaffey, back row from left: Jeremy Hansen, John Ramsey, Reid Wiseman, Ron Spencer, Scott Wray, Kelsey Young, Patrick Whelley, Christina Koch, Andre Douglas, Jacki Kagey, Victor Glover, Rick Rochelle (NOLS), Trevor Graff. “Having humans hold the camera during a lunar pass and describe what they’re seeing in language that scientists can understand is a boon for science,” said Kelsey Young, lunar science lead for Artemis II and Artemis II science officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “In large part, that’s what we’re training astronauts to do when we take them to these Moon-like environments on Earth.”
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Last Updated Sep 13, 2024 Related Terms
Analog Field Testing Andre Douglas Apollo Artemis Astronauts Christina H. Koch Earth’s Moon G. Reid Wiseman Humans in Space Missions The Solar System Victor J. Glover Explore More
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By NASA
On the left, the Canopee transport carrier containing the European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis III mission arrives at Port Canaveral in Florida, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, before completing the last leg of its journey to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout via truck. On the right, NASA’s Pegasus barge, carrying several pieces of hardware for Artemis II, III, and IV arrives at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Credit: NASA From across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico, two ships converged, delivering key spacecraft and rocket components of NASA’s Artemis campaign to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On Sept. 3, ESA (European Space Agency) marked a milestone in the Artemis III mission as its European-built service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft completed a transatlantic journey from Bremen, Germany, to Port Canaveral, Florida, where technicians moved it to nearby NASA Kennedy. Transported aboard the Canopée cargo ship, the European Service Module—assembled by Airbus with components from 10 European countries and the U.S.—provides propulsion, thermal control, electrical power, and water and oxygen for its crews.
“Seeing multi-mission hardware arrive at the same time demonstrates the progress we are making on our Artemis missions,” said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are going to the Moon together with our industry and international partners and we are manufacturing, assembling, building, and integrating elements for Artemis flights.”
NASA’s Pegasus barge, the agency’s waterway workhorse for transporting large hardware by sea, ferried multi-mission hardware for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Artemis II launch vehicle stage adapter, the “boat-tail” of the core stage for Artemis III, the core stage engine section for Artemis IV, along with ground support equipment needed to move and assemble the large components. The barge pulled into NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B Turn Basin Thursday.
The spacecraft factory inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building is set to buzz with additional activity in the coming months. With the Artemis II Orion crew and service modules stacked together and undergoing testing, and engineers outfitting the Artemis III and IV crew modules, engineers soon will connect the newly arrived European Service Module to the crew module adapter, which houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control, and includes an umbilical connector that bridges the electrical, data, and fluid systems between the crew and service modules.
The SLS rocket’s cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter connects the core stage to the upper stage and protects the rocket’s flight computers, avionics, and electrical devices in the upper stage system during launch and ascent. The adapter will be taken to Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for Artemis II rocket stacking operations.
The boat-tail, which will be used during the assembly of the SLS core stage for Artemis III, is a fairing-like structure that protects the bottom end of the core stage and RS-25 engines. This hardware, picked up at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, will join the Artemis III core stage engine section housed in the spaceport’s Space Systems Processing Facility.
The Artemis IV SLS core stage engine section arrived from NASA Michoud and also will transfer to the center’s processing facility ahead of final assembly.
Under the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, establishing long-term exploration for scientific discovery and preparing for human missions to Mars. The agency’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, and supporting ground systems, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits and rovers, and Gateway, serve as NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
For more information on NASA’s Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
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Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov
Allison Tankersley, Antonia Jaramillo Botero
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
Allison.p.tankersley@nasa.gov/ antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A prototype of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser, currently in development at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, is displayed alongside various food pouches during a demonstration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA/David DeHoyos NASA engineers are working hard to ensure no astronaut goes hungry on the Artemis IV mission.
When international teams of astronauts live on Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon, they’ll need innovative gadgets like the Mini Potable Water Dispenser. Vaguely resembling a toy water soaker, it manually dispenses water for hygiene bags, to rehydrate food, or simply to drink. It is designed to be compact, lightweight, portable and manual, making it ideal for Gateway’s relatively small size and remote location compared to the International Space Station closer to Earth.
The team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama leading the development of the dispenser understands that when it comes to deep space cuisine, the food astronauts eat is so much more than just fuel to keep them alive.
“Food doesn’t just provide body nourishment but also soul nourishment,” said Shaun Glasgow, project manager at Marshall. “So ultimately this device will help provide that little piece of soul nourishment. After a long day, the crew can float back and enjoy some pasta or scrambled eggs, a small sense of normalcy in a place far from home.”
As NASA continues to innovate and push the boundaries of deep space exploration, devices like the compact, lightweight dispenser demonstrate a blend of practicality and ingenuity that will help humanity chart its path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
An engineer demonstrates the use of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser by rehydrating a food pouch during a testing session at Johnson Space Center on June 6, 2024. This compact, lightweight dispenser is designed to help astronauts prepare meals in deep space.NASA/David DeHoyos A close-up view of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser prototype during a testing demonstration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on June 6, 2024.NASA/David DeHoyos NASA food scientists rehydrate a food pouch during a test of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser at Johnson Space Center on June 6, 2024. NASA/David DeHoyos A NASA food scientist captures video of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser during testing at Johnson Space Center.NASA/David DeHoyos Matt Rowell, an engineer from the Marshall Space Flight Center demonstrates the Mini Potable Water Dispenser to NASA food scientists during a testing session.NASA/David DeHoyos Project manager Shaun Glasgow (right) demonstrates the Mini Potable Water Dispenser. NASA/David DeHoyos Brett Montoya, a lead space architect in the Center for Design and Space Architecture at Johnson Space Center, rehydrates a package of food using the Mini Potable Water Dispenser.NASA/David DeHoyos Learn More about Gateway Facebook logo @NASAGateway @NASA_Gateway Instagram logo @nasaartemis Share
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Last Updated Sep 04, 2024 EditorBriana R. ZamoraContactBriana R. Zamorabriana.r.zamora@nasa.govLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
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By NASA
Técnicos ponen a prueba un conjunto de enormes paneles solares que miden aproximadamente 14,2 metros de largo y 4,1 metros de alto para la nave espacial Europa Clipper de la NASA, dentro de la Instalación de servicio de carga peligrosa de la agencia en el Centro Espacial Kennedy en Florida el 7 de agosto.Crédito: NASA/Kim Shiflett Read this release in English here.
La NASA y SpaceX tienen planificado que la ventana para el lanzamiento de la misión Europa Clipper se abra el jueves 10 de octubre. Esta misión ayudará a los científicos a determinar si una de las lunas heladas de Júpiter podría albergar vida. Esta misión de la NASA despegará a bordo de un cohete Falcon Heavy de SpaceX, desde el Complejo de Lanzamientos 39A en el Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida.
Europa Clipper llevará a bordo nueve instrumentos y un experimento científico sobre gravedad para recopilar mediciones detalladas mientras se encuentra en órbita alrededor de Júpiter y realiza varios sobrevuelos cercanos de su luna Europa. Las investigaciones sugieren que, debajo de la corteza de hielo de Europa, existe un océano que tiene dos veces el volumen de todos los océanos de la Tierra.
Los medios de comunicación interesados en cubrir el lanzamiento de Europa Clipper deben solicitar una acreditación de prensa. Los plazos para la acreditación de los medios son los siguientes:
Los ciudadanos estadounidenses que representen a medios de comunicación nacionales o internacionales deben solicitar su acreditación antes de las 11:59 p.m. hora del este del viernes 27 de septiembre. Los representantes de medios internacionales con ciudadanía de otros países deben presentar su solicitud antes de las 11:59 p.m. hora del este del viernes 20 de septiembre. Los medios de comunicación que requieran arreglos logísticos especiales, tales como espacio para camiones de transmisión satelital, tiendas de campaña o conexiones eléctricas, deben escribir por correo electrónico a ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov antes del 1 de octubre.
Una copia del reglamento de la NASA para la acreditación de medios está disponible en línea (en inglés). Si tienes preguntas sobre tu acreditación, por favor envía un correo electrónico a ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. Para otras preguntas sobre la misión, por favor comunícate con la sala de prensa del Centro Espacial Kennedy al teléfono 321-867-2468.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si deseas solicitar entrevistas en español, comunícate con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371.
Los medios de comunicación acreditados tendrán la oportunidad de participar en una serie de sesiones informativas previas al lanzamiento y entrevistas con el personal clave de la misión, incluyendo una sesión informativa la semana del 9 de septiembre. La NASA comunicará detalles adicionales sobre el programa de eventos para los medios a medida que se acerque la fecha de lanzamiento.
La NASA también publicará actualizaciones sobre los preparativos para el lanzamiento de la nave espacial en el blog (en inglés) de Europa Clipper de la NASA.
El principal objetivo científico de Europa Clipper es determinar si existen lugares debajo de la superficie de Europa que pudieran sustentar la vida. Los tres objetivos científicos principales de la misión son comprender la naturaleza de la capa de hielo y el océano que está debajo de ella, junto con la composición y la geología de esta luna. La detallada exploración de Europa que lleve a cabo esta misión ayudará a los científicos a comprender mejor el potencial astrobiológico de los mundos habitables más allá de nuestro planeta.
Administrado por Caltech en Pasadena, California, el Laboratorio de Propulsión a Chorro (JPL, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NASA en el sur de California lidera el desarrollo de la misión Europa Clipper, en asociación con el Laboratorio de Física Aplicada Johns Hopkins (APL, por sus siglas en inglés) en Laurel, Maryland, para la Dirección de Misiones Científicas de la NASA en Washington. APL diseñó el cuerpo principal de la nave espacial en colaboración con JPL y el Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA en Greenbelt, Maryland. La Oficina del Programa de Misiones Planetarias en el Centro de Vuelo Espacial Marshall de la NASA en Huntsville, Alabama, gestiona la ejecución del programa de la misión Europa Clipper.
El Programa de Servicios de Lanzamiento de la NASA, con sede en el centro Kennedy, gestiona el servicio de lanzamiento de la nave espacial Europa Clipper.
Para obtener más detalles sobre la misión y actualizaciones sobre los preparativos del lanzamiento, visita el sitio web (en inglés):
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper
Leejay Lockhart
Centro Espacial Kennedy, Florida
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
Sede de la NASA, Washington
202-358-1600 / 202-358-1501
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
María José Viñas
Sede de la NASA, Washington
240-458-0248
maria-jose.vinasgarcia@nasa.gov
Julian Coltre
Sede de la NASA, Washington
202-358-1100
Julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov
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By NASA
NASA’s T-38 jets fly in formation above the Space Launch System rocket on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Aircraft designations and passengers:
901: Chris Condon / Astronaut Zena Cardman.
902: Astronaut Candidate Nicole Ayers / Astronaut Christina Koch.
903: Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen / Astronaut Drew Morgan.
904: Chief Astronaut Reid Wiseman / Astronaut Joe Acaba.
905 (Photo Chase): Astronaut Candidate Jack Hathaway / Josh Valcarcel
Image Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
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