NASA Moon Rocket RS-25 Engines Unboxed for Crewed Artemis II Mission

NASA Moon Rocket RS-25 Engines Unboxed for Crewed Artemis II Mission

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, have unboxed all four RS-25 engines that will be used to help power NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission that will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby around the Moon. 

Now that the engines are unboxed, NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the engines prime contractor, will prepare the engines and, later, install each engine into the engine section at the bottom of the 212-foot-tall core stage. To help power NASA’s next-generation lunar missions, the RS-25 engines have been upgraded for SLS. Together, the four RS-25 engines produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust and operate for a full eight minutes during liftoff and ascent.

Learn more about SLS: nasa.gov/sls

Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 40 seconds

Release Date: March 22, 2023

#NASA #Space #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #Moon #Rocket #SpaceLaunchSystem #NASASLS #RS25Engines #AerojetRocketdyne #MoonToMars #DeepSpace #Propulsion #Engineering #Technology #MSFC #NASAMichoud #MAF #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #Exploration #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Exoplanet Detected with Silicate Cloud Features | James Webb Space Telescope

Exoplanet Detected with Silicate Cloud Features | James Webb Space Telescope

Researchers observing with the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope have pinpointed silicate cloud features in a distant planet’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is constantly rising, mixing, and moving during its 22-hour day, bringing hotter material up and pushing colder material down. The resulting brightness changes are so dramatic that it is the most variable planetary-mass object known to date. The science team also made extraordinarily clear detections of water, methane and carbon monoxide with Webb’s data, and found evidence of carbon dioxide. This is the largest number of molecules ever identified all at once on a planet outside our Solar System.

Cataloged as VHS 1256 b, the planet is about 40 light-years away and orbits not one, but two stars over a 10,000-year period. “VHS 1256 b is about four times farther from its stars than Pluto is from our Sun, which makes it a great target for Webb,” said science team lead Brittany Miles of the University of Arizona. “That means the planet’s light is not mixed with light from its stars.” Higher up in its atmosphere, where the silicate clouds are churning, temperatures reach a scorching 830 degrees Celsius.

Within those clouds, Webb detected both larger and smaller silicate dust grains, which are shown on a spectrum. “The finer silicate grains in its atmosphere may be more like tiny particles in smoke,” noted co-author Beth Biller of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. “The larger grains might be more like very hot, very small sand particles.”

VHS 1256 b has low gravity compared to more massive brown dwarfs [1], which means that its silicate clouds can appear and remain higher in its atmosphere where Webb can detect them. Another reason its skies are so turbulent is the planet’s age. In astronomical terms, it’s quite young. Only 150 million years have passed since it formed—and it will continue to change and cool over billions of years.

In many ways, the team considers these findings to be the first ‘coins’ pulled out of a spectrum that researchers view as a treasure chest of data. In many ways, they’ve only begun identifying its contents. “We’ve identified silicates, but a better understanding of which grain sizes and shapes match specific types of clouds is going to take a lot of additional work,” Miles said. “This is not the final word on this planet—it is the beginning of a large-scale modelling effort to fit Webb’s complex data.”

Although all of the features the team observed have been spotted on other planets elsewhere in the Milky Way by other telescopes, other research teams typically identified only one at a time. “No other telescope has identified so many features at once for a single target,” said co-author Andrew Skemer of the University of California, Santa Cruz. “We’re seeing a lot of molecules in a single spectrum from Webb that detail the planet’s dynamic cloud and weather systems.”

The team came to these conclusions by analyzing data known as spectra gathered by two instruments aboard Webb, the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). Since the planet orbits at such a great distance from its stars, the researchers were able to observe it directly, rather than using the transit technique [2] or a coronagraph [3] to take this data.

There will be plenty more to learn about VHS 1256 b in the months and years to come as this team— and others—continue to sift through Webb’s high-resolution infrared data. “There’s a huge return on a very modest amount of telescope time,” Biller added. “With only a few hours of observations, we have what feels like unending potential for additional discoveries.”

What might become of this planet billions of years from now? Since it’s so far from its stars, it will become colder over time, and its skies may transition from cloudy to clear.

The researchers observed VHS 1256 b as part of Webb’s Early Release Science program, which is designed to help transform the astronomical community’s ability to characterise planets and the discs from which they form.

The team's paper, entitled “The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems II: A 1 to 20 Micron Spectrum of the Planetary-Mass Companion VHS 1256-1257 b,” will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on March 22, 2023.

Notes

[1] A brown dwarf is an object that is too small to be an ordinary star because it cannot produce enough energy by fusion in its core to compensate for the radiative energy it loses from its surface. A brown dwarf has a mass less than 0.08 times that of the Sun.

[2] The transit technique is used for detecting and studying exoplanets. When a planet passes directly between a star and its observer, it dims the star’s light by a measurable amount. Transits can help determine a variety of exoplanet characteristics, including its orbit or period, the size of the planet, and details about its atmosphere.

[3] A coronagraph is an instrument designed to block out the direct light from a star so that surrounding objects which would otherwise be hidden in the star's glare can be observed.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

Release Date: March 22, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Exoplanet #VHS1256b #Atmosphere #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Art #Illustration #STEM #Education

Hubble Women Making History: Daria Outlaw | NASA Goddard

Hubble Women Making History: Daria Outlaw | NASA Goddard

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has an impressive group of women who have worked and continue to work on the historic mission.

From Astronauts and engineers to IT and ground testers, Hubble continues its important mission thanks to some truly amazing women.

One of these inspiring women is Hubble Information Systems Team member Daria Outlaw. Daria works hard every day to ensure that the Hubble team has their IT working smoothly, allowing them to keep Hubble at the peak of its capabilities.

In this video Daria quickly goes over what her job entails, lessons she learned along the way, and some of the things she’s passionate about.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Kascie Herron: Lead Producer

Paul Morris: Support

Daria Outlaw: Interviewee

Opening Montage Credit:

Photo Row Template by By Tyler via Motion Array

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: March 22, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #DariaOutlaw #SystemsAdministrator #IT #Women #Leaders #AfricanAmerican #Professionals #Careers #Students #Stars #Nebulas #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage Connection: Behind the Scenes

NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage Connection: Behind the Scenes

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, have fully integrated all five major structures of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon and return them home.

Technicians joined the engine section to the rest of the rocket stage March 17. Next, teams will integrate the four RS-25 engines to the engine section to complete the stage.

Located at the bottom of the 212-foot-tall core stage, the engine section is the most complex and intricate part of the rocket stage, helping to power Artemis missions to the Moon. In addition to its miles of cabling and hundreds of sensors, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters that produce a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. It houses the engines and includes vital systems for mounting, controlling, and delivering fuel from the propellant tanks to the engines.

The core stage for Artemis II is built, outfitted, and assembled at Michoud. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars. 

Learn more at https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

NASA's Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Image Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Image Date: March 11, 2023

Release Date: March 20, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisII #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Engineering #Robotics #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #Michoud #MAF #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA Artemis V Moon Rocket Engine Test: Preparing for Crewed Missions

NASA Artemis V Moon Rocket Engine Test: Preparing for Crewed Missions

NASA conducted a long duration hot fire of an RS-25 certification engine March 21, 2023, continuing a key series of testing to support future Space Launch System (SLS) missions to deep space as part of Artemis missions as the agency continues to inspire the world through discovery.

Operators fired the certification engine for 10 minutes (600 seconds), longer than the 500 seconds engines must fire during an actual mission, on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Operators also fired the engine up to 113% power level, exceeding the 111% level needed during SLS launch. Hot fires of longer duration and higher power level allow operators to test the limits of engine performance and provide a margin of safety for flight operations. The March 21 hot fire was the fourth test in a series that began in early February to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne. The company is using advanced manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing, to reduce the cost and time needed to build new engines for use on missions beginning with Artemis V. Four RS-25 engines help power SLS at launch, including on its Artemis missions to the Moon.

Through Artemis, NASA is returning humans, including the first woman and the first person of color, to the Moon to explore the lunar surface and prepare for flights to Mars. SLS is the only rocket capable of sending the agency’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

For information about the Space Launch System, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

Credits: NASA/Stennis

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 11 minutes

Capture Date: March 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Artemis #ArtemisV #Moon #Rocket #SpaceLaunchSystem #SLS #Engine #RS25 #AerojetRocketdyne #MoonToMars #DeepSpace #Propulsion #Engineering #Technology #NASAStennis #Mississippi #MSFC #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #Exploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Globular Star Cluster Messier 19 | Hubble

Globular Star Cluster Messier 19 | Hubble

This image of Messier 19 (M19) includes Hubble observations taken in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths of light. A small gap in Hubble data (horizontal line at center right) is instead filled in with observations from the ground-based Victor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope. The Hubble proposal associated with this image sought to investigate M19’s formation and the ratios of different populations of stars within the cluster.

M19 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. The cluster is located 28,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus and is most easily observed during July. It has an apparent magnitude of 7.7 and can be spotted through a pair of binoculars, though it will only appear as a faint patch of light. Large telescopes will resolve M19’s individual stars.

Image Description: "The field is filled with orange, red, yellow, blue, and white stars. They appear as a spherical, dense mass that tapers out toward the edges of the image on a black background."

The stars in globular clusters orbit about a common center of gravity, so these clusters are usually spherical. Some globular clusters, like M19, have a slightly elongated shape. This cluster is only 6,500 light-years away from the center of our Milky Way galaxy, so the gravity and tidal forces from the massive galactic center could be causing M19 to stretch out.

Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), and I. King (University of California–Berkeley)

Release Date: March 21, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #GlobularCluster #Messier19 #M19 #NGC6273 #Ophiuchus #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #Infrared #Ultraviolet #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

New Mars Images: March 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

New Mars Images: March 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - Sol 3773

MSL - Sol 3774

MSL - Sol 3773

Mars2020 - Sol 739

Mars2020 - Sol 739

Mars2020 - Sol 736

MSL - Sol 3771

MSL - Sol 3774

Celebrating 10 Years+ on Mars! (2012-2023)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity)

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: March 20-21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #MoonToMars #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Expedition 68 Astronaut Sultan Alneyadi (United Arab Emirates) Answers Questions

Expedition 68 Astronaut Sultan Alneyadi (United Arab Emirates) Answers Questions

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 68 flight engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates discussed living and working in space during an in-flight interview March 21, 2023, with Emirati media. Alneyadi launched on March 2, 2023, on the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” as part of Crew-6 which is a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. 

Sultan Alneyadi is making history as the first astronaut from the Arab world to spend six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 23 minutes

Release Date: March 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #Astronaut #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #MBRSC #HumanSpaceflight #Europe #Canada #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #Research #Laboratory #UNOOSA #InternationalCooperation #Expedition68 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA DART Spacecraft Asteroid Collision: Light Polarization Changes | ESO

NASA DART Spacecraft Asteroid Collision: Light Polarization Changes | ESO

This animation shows how the polarization of sunlight reflected by the Dimorphos asteroid changed after the impact of NASA’s DART spacecraft. At the beginning of the video, unpolarized sunlight—represented by wiggly blue lines oscillating in random directions—is reflected off the surface of the asteroid. In so doing it becomes polarized, the reflected waves now oscillating along a preferred direction. The indicator on the lower right shows the degree of polarization of the reflected sunlight.

The DART impact ejected a cloud of debris, and after the collision the amount of polarization dropped, as seen with the FORS2 instrument on European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. This drop in polarization could be due to the exposure of more pristine material from the interior of Dimorphos, or the ejection of small particles produced during the impact.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/M. Kornmesser

Duration: 24 seconds

Release Date: March 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ESO #Science #DARTMission #DARTSpacecraft #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #PlanetaryDefenseTest #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #VLT #Telescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

NASA DART Spacecraft Impact: Cloud of Debris at Asteroid Dimorphos

NASA DART Spacecraft Impact: Cloud of Debris at Asteroid Dimorphos

This image shows a total of 16 small images in a four by four grid, each taken on a different date. At the center of each image is a light blue fuzzy dot over a black background. In the first image the dot is surrounded by a diffuse halo, which morphs into different structures before eventually becoming a long tail pointing towards the right in the last image.

This series of images, taken with the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows the evolution of the cloud of debris that was ejected when NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos.

The first image was taken on September 26, 2022, just before the impact, and the last one was taken almost one month later on October 25, 2022. Over this period several structures developed: clumps, spirals, and a long tail of dust pushed away by the Sun’s radiation. The white arrow in each panel marks the direction of the Sun.

Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos. The white horizontal bar corresponds to 500 kilometers, but the asteroids are only 1 kilometer apart, so they cannot be discerned in these images.

The background streaks seen here are due to the apparent movement of the background stars during the observations while the telescope was tracking the asteroid pair.

Credit: ESO/Opitom et al.

Release Date: March 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ESO #Science #DARTMission #DARTSpacecraft #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #PlanetaryDefenseTest #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #VLT #Telescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA Connects All Major Structures of Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage

NASA Connects All Major Structures of Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage

Teams at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have fully integrated all five major structures of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon and return them home. Technicians joined the engine section to the rest of the rocket stage March 17. Next, teams will integrate the four RS-25 engines to the engine section to complete the stage.

Located at the bottom of the 212-foot-tall core stage, the engine section is the most complex and intricate part of the rocket stage, helping to power Artemis missions to the Moon. In addition to its miles of cabling and hundreds of sensors, the engine section is a crucial attachment point for the RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters that produce a combined 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. It houses the engines and includes vital systems for mounting, controlling, and delivering fuel from the propellant tanks to the engines.

The core stage for Artemis II is built, outfitted, and assembled at Michoud. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for astronauts on the way to Mars. 

Learn more at https://www.nasa.gov/moontomars

NASA's Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Image Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Release Date: March 20, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisII #Orion #Spacecraft #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Engineering #Robotics #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #Michoud #MAF #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA DART Spacecraft Impact: Cloud of Debris at Asteroid Dimorphos

NASA DART Spacecraft Impact: Cloud of Debris at Asteroid Dimorphos

This video shows the evolution of the cloud of debris that was ejected after NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with the asteroid Dimorphos. The animation is based on a series of images taken with the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) for one month after the impact.

The first image was taken on September 26, 2022, just before the impact, and the last one was taken almost one month later on October 25, 2022. Over this period several structures developed: clumps, spirals, and a long tail of dust pushed away by the Sun’s radiation.

Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos, but they cannot be discerned in these images.

The background streaks seen here are due to the apparent movement of the background stars during the observations while the telescope was tracking the asteroid pair.

For more on DART, visit https://nasa.gov/dart

https://dart.jhuapl.edu/

Credit: ESO/Opitom et al.

Duration: 33 seconds

Release Date: March 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ESO #Science #DARTMission #DARTSpacecraft #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #PlanetaryDefenseTest #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #VLT #Telescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

L.A. Youth Robotics Competition Leaves Student Teams Energized | NASA/JPL

L.A. Youth Robotics Competition Leaves Student Teams Energized | NASA/JPL

In a blur of motion, wheeled robots race across the “playing field” at the FIRST Robotics Competition Los Angeles Regional at the Da Vinci Schools campus in El Segundo.

Students from Da Vinci Schools Team 4201 (“Vitruvian Bots”) react in the stands during the 2023 FIRST Robotics Competition Los Angeles Regional.

Part of the winning alliance, JPL-sponsored Team 702 (“Bagel Bytes”) from Culver City High School gathers beside their banner and a mascot in a bagel costume at the 2023 FIRST Robotics Competition Los Angeles Regional.

Supported by volunteers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the aerospace industry, the annual regional FIRST Robotics event makes an impact on young competitors and adult mentors alike.

After two days of fast-paced competition complete with team uniforms, cheerleaders, pounding music, and blaring horns, multiple teams of high schoolers came out victorious at the 23rd annual FIRST Robotics Competition Los Angeles Regional over the weekend. Next, they’ll be headed to an international championship tournament where their 125-pound inventions will compete for robotics glory.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory sponsored several of the 44 competing teams and supported the event, held at the Da Vinci Schools campus in El Segundo, by coordinating about 100 volunteers. “It’s always gratifying to see these kids compete with such determination and passion, but it’s also wonderful to witness the joy they bring to the adults who come together for this event,” said Kim Lievense, who manages JPL’s Public Services Office and coordinated volunteers at the competition.

Energy and Community

The event is one of many taking place across the country under the umbrella of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The nonprofit organization pairs students with STEM professionals for hands-on engineering experience and practice with problem-solving, team building, fundraising, and promotion, among other skills. Teams in the FIRST Robotics Competition receive technical specifications and game rules in January and have just weeks to design, build, and test their wheeled robots.

This year’s game, dubbed “Charged Up,” is themed around the future of sustainable energy. Two alliances of three teams compete on a “playing field” that’s about 26 by 54 feet. In each 2 ½-minute round, the teams’ robots must retrieve rubber cones and inflatable cubes that represent electrical power from “substations” and place them into a “grid.” Robots also race to roll up onto a wobbling “charge station” for extra points.

Students put in long hours preparing their robots. It all paid off in the case of Brianna Adewinmbi, a junior at the California Academy of Mathematics and Science in Carson. Her Team 687 (aka the “Nerd Herd”) came out on top, and she was one of two students selected as a finalist for the nationwide FIRST Dean’s List Award (inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST) recognizing student leadership and dedication. Wearing a colorful propeller hat and fielding high-fives from fellow students, she said the team had been working after school till 10 p.m. for many days.

“It’s insane. I just keep thinking, It was all worth it, all the time that we spent,” Adewinmbi said.

Adewinmbi’s team will be joined at the FIRST Championship in Houston next month by the two other California teams from the winning alliance: Team 5199 (“Robot Dolphins From Outer Space”) from Dana Point and and Team 702 (“Bagel Bytes”) from Culver City. Team 6833 (“Phoenix Robotics”) from Arizona, which had subbed in for the Culver City team to play in the winning alliance, is on the priority waitlist to attend. Two award-winners, Team 5089 (“Robo-Nerds”) from Benjamin Franklin Senior High School in Los Angeles and Team 4201 (“Vitruvian Bots”) from Da Vinci Schools, will also head to Houston.

Volunteering Brings Rewards

For about two decades, NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project has supported youth robotics teams through agency centers across the country and at JPL, aiming to inspire students to pursue careers in aerospace while helping them build the skills they’ll need to succeed.

“We all do it for the same reason: It’s really to help get kids inspired in science, engineering, and technology,” said JPL’s Dave Brinza, assistant mission assurance manager for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. Brinza started mentoring Team 980 (“ThunderBots”), now at Burbank High School, in 2003. “We often say the real trophies aren’t the blue banners and the things you put on a shelf, it’s the kids who go on and have successful careers.”

For Julie Townsend, a robotics systems engineer who is JPL’s point of contact for the NASA Robotics Alliance Project, it’s been a way to draw young women into a field in which they’re underrepresented. For nearly 20 years, she has coached Southern California Girl Scout teams in FIRST Tech Challenge, which is like a smaller-scale version of FIRST Robotics Competition. At the Los Angeles Regional event, she volunteered as a judge.

“I have had parents coming up to me in tears, thanking me for what I had done for their daughters, who had changed the course of their lives,” Townsend said. “It’s so unusual to have such a safe environment to learn these technical skills and develop your own power with no judgment and no social strings attached.”

For more information about the FIRST Los Angeles regional, visit:

https://cafirst.org/frc/losangeles/

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Release Date: March 20, 2023

#NASA #JPL #Caltech #Robotics #FirstRobotics #StudentCompetitions #Students #Diversity #GenderEquity #ElSegundo #LosAngeles #California #UnitedStates #Volunteers #Sponsors #Science #Technology #Engineering #ComputerScience #Aerospace #STEM #Education

Recientemente: Solicitud de presupuesto federal estadounidense para la NASA

Recientemente: Solicitud de presupuesto federal estadounidense para la NASA

Recientemente en la NASA, la versión en español de las cápsulas This Week at NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la NASA. 

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 2 minutes, 10 seconds

Release Date: March 20, 2023

 

#NASA #NASAenespañol #español #Space #ISS #SpaceXCrew5 #Earth #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Astronauts #Spacesuits #EVA #AxEMU #AxiomSpace #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #HumanSpaceflight #NASABudget #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season: 8 Major Storms | NOAA GOES East Satellite

2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season: 8 Major Storms | NOAA GOES East Satellite

The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season officially concluded on Nov. 30, 2022. 

It was a fairly average hurricane season with 14 named storms, eight of which strengthened into hurricanes. Two of these became major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). Despite this, it became one of the costliest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, mostly due to Hurricane Ian. 

Additionally, it was the first season since 1997 in which no tropical cyclones formed in August, and the first season on record to do so during a La Niña year. 

The GOES East (GOES-16) satellite recorded this imagery of the entire Atlantic basin from its operational location of 75.2 degrees west longitude. This allows us to show storms as they form off the coast of Africa and then enter the Atlantic.

Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Duration: 3 minutes, 10 seconds

Release Date: March 20, 2023

#NASA #NOAA #Space #Science #Satellite  #GOESEast #GOES16 #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthAmerica #Mexico #AtlanticOcean #Hurricanes #Storms #HurricaneIan #Weather #Meteorology #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #LockheedMartin #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Saturn & Titan Moon: Solar System Giants | NASA Cassini Mission

Planet Saturn & Titan Moon: Solar System Giants | NASA Cassini Mission

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, looks quite small in comparison to the giant planet behind it in this natural color view from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. This image from Aug. 29, 2012, also shows seasonal changes occurring on Saturn; as spring comes to the northern Saturnian hemisphere, the azure blue seen fades, while winter in the south adds a bluish hue. This phenomenon is likely due to shifts in the intensity of ultraviolet light and the haze it produces.

The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. Cassini's end involved a series of close Saturn passes, approaching within the rings, then an entry into Saturn's atmosphere to destroy the spacecraft. This method was chosen because it is necessary to ensure protection and prevent biological contamination to any of the moons of Saturn thought to offer potential habitability.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit: https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and www.nasa.gov/cassini

The Cassini-Huygens mission was a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, managed the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. 

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Release Date: March 20, 2023

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