NASA SLS Moon Rocket Booster Test Preview | Northrop Grumman

NASA SLS Moon Rocket Booster Test Preview | Northrop Grumman

NASA and Northrop Grumman will perform a full-scale static test of a Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster motor at Northrop Grumman’s Promontory, Utah, test facility July 21, 2022. [This video is an example test from 2015.] Engineers will fire the booster during the demonstration, called the Flight Support Booster 2 test, to evaluate materials and processes to improve boosters for future Artemis missions.

“The current SLS boosters for the first eight Artemis missions are using a robust mix of new avionics and substantial heritage hardware from the Space Shuttle Program,” said Bruce Tiller, SLS Booster Program manager. “This particular ground test will demonstrate some new materials, a completely new steering system, and a new way to ignite the motor. Data from this test will improve our booster design for future missions that take us farther into deep space than ever before.”

For the test, one booster is affixed in a horizontal test stand and fired for approximately two minutes, the same amount of time and at the same power level as it would be fired during launch. On launch day, a pair of solid rocket boosters in a vertical position attached to the core stage of the SLS rocket supply more than 75% of the total thrust for the first two minutes of flight. Northrop Grumman is the lead contractor for the SLS solid rocket boosters.

NASA and Northrop Grumman experts will discuss the Flight Support Booster 2 test during a Facebook Live on the Space Launch System rocket’s Facebook page, as well as on NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center YouTube channel, beginning at 2:55 p.m. EDT.  During the test, anyone can submit questions on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube using the hashtag #AskNASA. Julia Khodabandeh, motor team lead for SLS boosters at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Jessica Rose, chemical engineer for SLS boosters at Northrop Grumman, will answer questions.

NASA and Northrop Grumman will perform a full-scale static test of a Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster motor at Northrop Grumman’s Promontory, Utah, test facility July 21, 2022. Engineers will fire the booster during the demonstration, called the Flight Support Booster 2 test, to evaluate materials and processes to improve boosters for future Artemis missions.

The FSB-2 test builds off the Flight Support Booster-1 test conducted in September 2020 and will demonstrate a newly qualified motor initiation system and qualify a new ablative lining to protect the booster nozzle. This test will also provide information for the development of the next generation booster obsolescence and life extension booster that will support Artemis IX and beyond.

Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term, sustainable lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for future astronaut missions to Mars.

QM-1 Static Fire Test Preview Video Footage [replay]

On March 11, 2015 NASA and Orbital ATK conducted the first qualification ground test of the five-segment rocket motor that will be used for initial thrust for NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System, which will enable new missions of exploration across the solar system. This Northrop Grumman/Orbital ATK video gives a quick look at the events of the day. Release Date: April 24, 2015

Story Credit: Northrop Grumman/NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Release Date: July 14, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #Aerospace #SLS #Boosters #FSB2 #Testing #NorthropGrumman #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoontoMars #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #MSFC #Huntsville #Alabama #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA & Northrop Grumman Test Fire Future Artemis Moon Rocket Booster Motor

NASA & Northrop Grumman Test Fire Future Artemis Moon Rocket Booster Motor

Image Description: Teams installed the flight support booster for future versions of the SLS rocket’s solid rocket boosters into a test stand in Promontory, Utah. Image Credit: Northrop Grumman. Image Date: June 24, 2022

Teams installed the flight support booster for future versions of the SLS rocket’s solid rocket boosters into a test stand in Promontory, Utah. NASA and Northrop Grumman engineers are preparing to conduct a full-scale static test of the motor at the Northrop Grumman test facility July 21.

NASA and Northrop Grumman will perform a full-scale static test of a  Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster motor at Northrop Grumman’s Promontory, Utah, test facility July 21, 2022. Engineers will fire the booster during the demonstration, called the Flight Support Booster 2 test, to evaluate materials and processes to improve boosters for future Artemis missions.

“The current SLS boosters for the first eight Artemis missions are using a robust mix of new avionics and substantial heritage hardware from the Space Shuttle Program,” said Bruce Tiller, SLS Booster Program manager. “This particular ground test will demonstrate some new materials, a completely new steering system, and a new way to ignite the motor.  Data from this test will improve our booster design for future missions that take us farther into deep space than ever before.”

For the test, one booster is affixed in a horizontal test stand and fired for approximately two minutes, the same amount of time and at the same power level as it would be fired during launch. On launch day, a pair of solid rocket boosters in a vertical position attached to the core stage of the SLS rocket supply more than 75% of the total thrust for the first two minutes of flight. Northrop Grumman is the lead contractor for the SLS solid rocket boosters.

NASA and Northrop Grumman experts will discuss the Flight Support Booster 2 test during a Facebook Live on the Space Launch System rocket’s Facebook page, as well as on NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center YouTube channel, beginning at 2:55 p.m. EDT.  During the test, anyone can submit questions on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube using the hashtag #AskNASA. Julia Khodabandeh, motor team lead for SLS boosters at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Jessica Rose, chemical engineer for SLS boosters at Northrop Grumman, will answer questions.

The FSB-2 test builds off the Flight Support Booster-1 test conducted in September 2020 and will demonstrate a newly qualified motor initiation system and qualify a new ablative lining to protect the booster nozzle. This test will also provide information for the development of the next generation booster obsolescence and life extension booster that will support Artemis IX and beyond.

Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term, sustainable lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone for future astronaut missions to Mars.

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

Release Date: July 14, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #Aerospace #SLS #Boosters #FSB2 #Testing #NorthropGrumman #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoontoMars #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #MSFC #Huntsville #Alabama #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Webb Space Telescope’s First Images: Unfold the Universe with Webb Scientists

The Webb Space Telescope’s First Images: Unfold the Universe with Webb Scientists

A special one-hour discussion [replay]. Hear what excites astronomers about the new telescope’s capabilities and hear them answer questions from the public directly!

Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Duration: 1 hour, 6 minutes

Release Date: July 16, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #CarinaNebula #SouthernRingNebula #StephansQuintet #Galaxies #DeepField #Stars #Science #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #JWST #Telescope #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Rocket Science in 60 Seconds: What Are the SLS Moon Rocket Boosters? | NASA

Rocket Science in 60 Seconds: What Are the SLS Moon Rocket Boosters? | NASA

Rocket Science in 60 Seconds gives you an inside look at work being done at NASA to explore deep space. The solid rocket boosters for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are the largest, most powerful boosters ever built for flight. In this episode, SLS booster subsystem manager Julia Khodabandeh explains how the two, five-segment solid rocket boosters provide more than 75% of the thrust power during launch and flight for SLS. Please note: This video was originally produced and published in August 2020. 

For more information about SLS, visit:

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

Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: July 11, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #Aerospace #SLS #Boosters #NorthropGrumman #Rocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #MSFC #Huntsville #Alabama #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Comparing the Webb Space Telescope & Hubble: The Carina Nebula | NASA

Comparing the Webb Space Telescope & Hubble: The Carina Nebula | NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

Hubble Space Telescope

Note: These images were taken 14 years apart.

This Hubble image shows the edge of the giant gaseous cavity within the star-forming region called NGC 3324. The glowing nebula has been carved out by intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from several hot, young stars. A cluster of extremely massive stars, located well outside this image in the center of the nebula, is responsible for the ionization of the nebula and excavation of the cavity.

The image also reveals dramatic dark towers of cool gas and dust that rise above the glowing wall of gas. The dense gas at the top resists the blistering ultraviolet radiation from the central stars, and creates a tower that points in the direction of the energy flow. The high-energy radiation blazing out from the hot, young stars in NGC 3324 is sculpting the wall of the nebula by slowly eroding it away.

Located in the Southern Hemisphere, NGC 3324 is at the northwest corner of the Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), home of the Keyhole Nebula and the active, outbursting star Eta Carinae. The entire Carina Nebula complex is located at a distance of roughly 7,200 light-years, and lies in the constellation Carina.

This image is a composite of data taken with two of Hubble's science instruments. Data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in 2006 isolated light emitted by hydrogen. More recent data, taken in 2008 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), isolated light emitted by sulfur and oxygen gas. To create a color composite, the data from the sulfur filter are represented by red, from the oxygen filter by blue, and from the hydrogen filter by green.

Webb Credits: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI

Webb Release Date: July 12, 2022

Hubble Credits: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA);

Acknowledgment: N. Smith (University of California, Berkeley)

Hubble Release Date: Oct. 2, 2008

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Nebula #CarinaNebula #NGC3324 #Carina #Webb #Science #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #Hubble #HubbleTelescope #JWST #SpaceTelescope #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover: Views of A Large & Unique Boulder | JPL

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover: Views of A Large & Unique Boulder | JPL

MSL - sol 3532 - Mastcam

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - sol 3532 - Mastcam

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - sol 3533 - NavRight

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - sol 3534 - MAHLI

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - sol 3531 - Left NavCam 

NASA/JPL-Caltech

MSL - sol 3534 - Mastcam

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Curiosity Rover Update for July 13, 2022: Sols 3532-3533

A Rover-Sized Boulder

Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center

"Curiosity is back on the road, but some interesting boulders caught our attention and led to a short detour. The team was already planning to divert to the southwest to get some imaging of nearby cliffs, but the large boulders that have tumbled down provide a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to come. Boulders like the large one shown in the above Navcam image (now named “Ilha Novo Destino”) can help inform our understanding of the upcoming stratigraphy, so we thought it was worth a trip to this “new island destination” for the weekend."

"But first, there’s plenty of science to be done in our workspace before we get to the boulders. Today’s two-sol plan focused on DRT, MAHLI, and APXS on the bedrock right in front of the rover, including the interesting vein and fracture patterns shown in the foreground of the above Navcam image. Today we planned 3 MAHLI imaging targets and 2 APXS targets to assess the sedimentary textures and composition of bedrock and veins. We also planned ChemCam LIBS and Mastcam multispectral observations to further characterize this outcrop. Mastcam will also be used to document the field of boulders to help plan weekend activities, and ChemCam will acquire a long distance RMI mosaic to characterize the stratigraphy. The ENV theme group planned several environmental monitoring activities to search for dust devils and monitor dust and clouds in the atmosphere. On the second sol, Curiosity will drive to a parking spot right in front of these boulders to prepare for the weekend plan. Can’t wait to see this rover-sized boulder up close!"

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

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

Image Release Dates: July 8-17, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Boulder #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Curiosity #Rover #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Hubble: Not Yet Imagined

Hubble: Not Yet Imagined

Hubble's launch and deployment in April 1990 marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo's telescope. Thanks to five servicing missions and more than 30 years of operation, our view of the universe and our place within it has never been the same.

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble 

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Grace Weikert: Lead Producer 

Music & Sound

“The Hope That Remains” by Frederik Wiedmann [BMI] via Killer Tracks [BMI] and Universal Production Music.

Soundbite of Carl Sagan

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center’s

Space Telescope: An Observatory in Space

ESA Credit

2.5D Edwin Hubble 

Hubblecast 89 Edwin Hubble

2.5D Nancy Grace Roman 

Hubblecast 113 Nancy Roman — The mother of Hubble

Flythrough #1 FROM Hubblecast 104 Illustrating Hubble’s discoveries

Flythrough #2 FROM Hubblecast 128 30 Years of Science with the Hubble Space

Telescope

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Stars #Galaxies #Nebulae #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #CarlSagan #EdwinHubble #NancyRoman #STEM #Education #History #Visualization #HD #Video

Eta Carinae: The Great Eruption of a Massive Star

Eta Carinae: The Great Eruption of a Massive Star

Eta Carinae, or Eta Car, is famous for a brilliant and unusual outburst, called the "Great Eruption", observed in the 1840s. This visualization presents the story of that event and examines the resulting multiwavelength emissions and three-dimensional structures surrounding Eta Car today.

Massive stars are known to have major outbursts. Eta Car, one of the most massive stars known, expelled about 10% of its mass in the Great Eruption, creating a small nebula, called the Homunculus Nebula, around it. Images taken in different wavelengths of light reveal different structures, each providing more information about the outbursts of Eta Car.

For this visualization, astronomers and artists have used NASA observations to model both the close-up and wide views of this massive and eruptive star. The Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory have observed the nested layers of gas and dust around Eta Car using visible, ultraviolet, and x-ray light, as well as in the Hydrogen Alpha emission line. The Spitzer Space Telescope provides a larger view of the Carina Nebula, along with Eta Car’s dominant position within this star-forming region.

This visualization is presented by the AstroViz Project of NASA’s Universe of Learning. Viewers gain appreciation for how the observations from two centuries ago connect to the resulting structures seen today. Full 360-degree 3D views help to assemble a complete mental model that aids interpretation of the NASA observations. Eta Car serves as a notable example of the outbursts in the dying stages of massive stars.

Credits: J. Olmsted, D. Player, L. Hustak, A. Pagan, J. DePasquale, G. Bacon, F. Summers (STScI), R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC), NASA, ESA

Images: A. Fujii, J. Morse (BoldlyGo Inst), N. Smith (U Arizona), Hubble SM4 ERO Team, NASA, ESA, STScI, JPL-Caltech, CXC, ESO, NOAO, AURA, NSF

Music: “Interstellar Wanderer”, Joseph DePasquale, CC BY-NC 4.0

Video Credit: Hubble Space Telescope

Release Date: Jan 25, 2022

Duration: 4 minutes, 35 seconds

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Star #AGCarinae #Carina #Constellation #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualization #3D #HD #Video

AG Carinae: A Luminous Blue Variable Star | Hubble

AG Carinae: A Luminous Blue Variable Star | Hubble

This visualization starts with a wide-field view of the Carina constellation and zooms down to the Hubble Space Telescope view of the massive star, AG Carinae. One of the brightest stars in our galaxy, AG Carinae undergoes eruptions that have ejected a small nebula of gas and dust.

The sequence then transitions from the 2D Hubble image to a 3D model that shows the structure of the surrounding nebula. The 3D model is based on Hubble images and spectroscopic data of the nebula's motion. The emission from ionized gas glows red, while the dust reflects the light of the star and appears bluish-white.

Credits:

Video: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak, Frank Summers, Alyssa Pagan, Joseph DePasquale and Greg Bacon (STScI)

Music: "Luminous Beings" by Joseph DePasquale (STScI)  CC BY 4.0

Duration: 1 minute, 26 seconds

Release Date: Apr 23, 2021

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Star #EtaCar #Carina #Carina #Constellation #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualization #3D #HD #Video

AG Carinae | Hubble

AG Carinae | Hubble

The star AG Carinae is waging a tug-of-war between gravity and radiation to avoid self-destruction. The expanding shell of gas and dust that surrounds the star is about five light-years wide, which equals the distance from here to the nearest star beyond the Sun, Proxima Centauri.

The huge structure was created from one or more giant eruptions about 10,000 years ago. The star's outer layers were blown into space—like a boiling teapot popping off its lid. The expelled material amounts to roughly 10 times our Sun's mass.

These outbursts are the typical life of a rare breed of star called a luminous blue variable, a brief convulsive phase in the short life of an ultra-bright, glamorous star that lives fast and dies young. These stars are among the most massive and brightest stars known. They live for only a few million years, compared to the roughly 10-billion-year lifetime of our Sun. AG Carinae is a few million years old and resides 20,000 light-years away inside our Milky Way galaxy.

Luminous blue variables exhibit a dual personality: They appear to spend years in quiescent bliss and then they erupt in a petulant outburst. These behemoths are stars in the extreme, far different from normal stars like our Sun. In fact, AG Carinae is estimated to be up to 70 times more massive than our Sun and shines with the blinding brilliance of 1 million suns.

"I like studying these kinds of stars because I am fascinated by their instability. They are doing something weird," said Kerstin Weis, a luminous blue variable expert at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany.

Major outbursts such as the one that produced the nebula occur once or twice during a luminous blue variable's lifetime. A luminous blue variable star only casts off material when it is in danger of self-destruction as a supernova. Because of their massive forms and super-hot temperatures, luminous blue variable stars like AG Carinae are in a constant battle to maintain stability.

It's an arm wrestling contest between radiation pressure from within the star pushing outward and gravity pressing inward. This cosmic match results in the star expanding and contracting. The outward pressure occasionally wins the battle, and the star expands to such an immense size that it blows off its outer layers, like a volcano erupting. But this outburst only happens when the star is on the verge of coming apart. After the star ejects the material, it contracts to its normal size, settles back down, and becomes quiescent for a while.

Like many other luminous blue variables, AG Carinae remains unstable. It has experienced lesser outbursts that have not been as powerful as the one that created the present nebula.

Although AG Carinae is quiescent now, as a super-hot star it continues pouring out searing radiation and powerful stellar wind (streams of charged particles). This outflow continues shaping the ancient nebula, sculpting intricate structures as outflowing gas slams into the slower-moving outer nebula. The wind is traveling at up to 670,000 miles per hour (1 million km/hr), about 10 times faster than the expanding nebula. Over time, the hot wind catches up with the cooler expelled material, plows into it, and pushes it farther away from the star. This "snowplow" effect has cleared a cavity around the star.

The red material is glowing hydrogen gas laced with nitrogen gas. The diffuse red material at upper left pinpoints where the wind has broken through a tenuous region of material and swept it into space.

The most prominent features, highlighted in blue, are filamentary structures shaped like tadpoles and lopsided bubbles. These structures are dust clumps illuminated by the star's reflected light. The tadpole-shaped features, most prominent at left and bottom, are denser dust clumps that have been sculpted by the stellar wind. Hubble's sharp vision reveals these delicate-looking structures in great detail.

The image was taken in visible and ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light offers a slightly clearer view of the filamentary dust structures that extend all the way down toward the star. Hubble is ideally suited for ultraviolet-light observations because this wavelength range can only be viewed from space.

Massive stars, like AG Carinae, are important to astronomers because of their far-reaching effects on their environment. The largest program in Hubble's history—the Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards (ULLYSES)—is studying the ultraviolet light of young stars and the way they shape their surroundings.

Luminous blue variable stars are rare: less than 50 are known among the galaxies in our local group of neighboring galaxies. These stars spend tens of thousands of years in this phase, a blink of an eye in cosmic time. Many are expected to end their lives in titanic supernova blasts, which enrich the universe with heavier elements beyond iron.

Judy Schmidt: "I went with a kind of fiery scheme for the narrowband data, and leaned toward blue for the medium/wideband data. You gotta figure with the central star being a blue supergiant that reflection nebula should be a little blue due to reflected starlight."

Technical details:

Red/orange screen: WFC3/UVIS F657N

Red: WFC3/UVIS F845M

Green: WFC3/UVIS F547M

Blue: WFC3/UVIS F275W

North is up.

Image Credits: NASA, ESA, STScI

Processing: Judy Schmidt

Release Date: May 2, 2021

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Hubble #Star #AGCarinae #Carina #Constellation #WFC3 #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education

Galactic Center: Infrared & Radio View | NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Galactic Center: Infrared & Radio View | NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Judy Schmidt: "The MeerKAT mosaic was released recently, giving me a chance to finally combine the Spitzer Space Telescope/Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) infrared mosaic with MeerKAT's radio data. MeerKAT data are overlaid in white." 

The Spitzer Space Telescope was an infrared space telescope launched in 2003. Operations ended oin January 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, following IRAS (1983) and ISO (1995–1998). It was the first spacecraft to use an Earth-trailing orbit, later used by the Kepler planet-finder.

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is a NASA infrared astronomy space telescope in Explorer program. It was launched in December 2009, and placed in hibernation mode in February 2011, before being re-activated in 2013 and renamed the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE)

MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa.

Technical details: 

Annotations from arxiv.org/abs/2201.10541

White overlay: SARAO/MeerKAT (1.28 GHz)

Red: Spitzer/MIPS1 (24μm)

Green: WISE/W3 (12μm)

Blue: Spitzer/IRAC4 (8μm)

North is NOT up. It is around 60° counter-clockwise from up.

Image Credit: JPL-Caltech/South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) 

Image Processing: Judy Schmidt

Release Date: January 31, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #MilkyWay #Galaxy #GalacticCenter #Cosmos #Universe #Spitzer #WISE #SpaceTelescope #Telescope #Infrared #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #RadioTelescope #SouthAfrica #MeerKAT #SARAO #JudySchmidt #STEM #Education

SpaceX CRS-25 Dragon Spacecraft Docking | International Space Station

SpaceX CRS-25 Dragon Spacecraft Docking | International Space Station

While the International Space Station was traveling more than 267 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 11:21 a.m. EDT Saturday, July 16, 2022, with NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins monitoring operations from the station.

The Dragon launched on SpaceX’s 25th contracted commercial resupply mission for NASA at 8:44 p.m., Thursday, July 14, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After Dragon spends about one month attached to the space station, the spacecraft will return to Earth with cargo and research.

There are hundreds of investigations currently being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars through NASA’s Artemis program.

Credit: NASA TV

Duration: 8 minutes

Release Date: July 16, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #SpaceX #Dragon #Spacecraft #CommercialResupply #CRS25 #Astronauts #LaunchAmerica #Research #Laboratory #Science #Technology #HumanSpaceflight #Europe #Russia #Japan #Canada #UnitedStates #International #Expedition67 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Dragon Delivers Science Benefitting Humans | International Space Station

SpaceX Dragon Delivers Science Benefitting Humans | International Space Station

While the International Space Station was traveling more than 267 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean, the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 11:21 a.m. EDT Saturday, July 16, 2022, with NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins monitoring operations from the station.

The Dragon launched on SpaceX’s 25th contracted commercial resupply mission for NASA at 8:44 p.m., Thursday, July 14, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After Dragon spends about one month attached to the space station, the spacecraft will return to Earth with cargo and research.

Among the science experiments Dragon is delivering to the space station are:

Mapping Earth’s Dust

The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, employs NASA imaging spectroscopy technology to measure the mineral composition of dust in Earth’s arid regions. Mineral dust blown into the air can travel significant distances and affect Earth’s climate, weather, vegetation, and more. For example, dust containing dark minerals that absorb sunlight can warm an area, while light-colored mineral dust can cool it. Blowing dust also affects air quality, surface conditions such as rate of snow melt, and phytoplankton health in the ocean. The investigation collects images for one year to generate maps of the mineral composition in the regions on Earth that produce dust. Such mapping could advance our understanding of the effects of mineral dust on human populations now and in the future.

Speedier Immune System Aging

Aging is associated with changes in the immune response known as immunosenescence. Microgravity causes changes in human immune cells that resemble this condition, but happen faster than the actual process of aging on Earth. The Immunosenescence investigation, sponsored the by International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, uses tissue chips to study how microgravity affects immune function during flight and whether immune cells recover post-flight. Tissue chips are small devices that contain human cells in a 3D structure, allowing scientists to test how those cells respond to stresses, drugs, and genetic changes.

Soil in Space

On Earth, complex communities of microorganisms carry out key functions in soil, including cycling of carbon and other nutrients and supporting plant growth. Dynamics of Microbiomes in Space sponsored by NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, examines how microgravity affects metabolic interactions in communities of soil microbes. This research focuses on microbe communities that decompose chitin, a natural carbon polymer on Earth.

High School Student Weather Study

BeaverCube is an education mission that will teach high school students aerospace science by having them design a CubeSat. BeaverCube will host one visible and two infrared imagers to measure cloud properties, ocean surface temperatures, and ocean color to study Earth’s climate and weather systems. It also will demonstrate an application for the use of shape memory alloy technology via an in-orbit calibration technique.

Genes, No Cells

Cell-free technology is a platform for producing protein without specialized equipment of living cells that need to be cultured. Genes in Space-9, sponsored by the National Lab, demonstrates cell-free production of protein in microgravity and evaluates two cell-free biosensors that can detect specific target molecules. This technology could provide a simple, portable, and low-cost tool for medical diagnostics, on-demand production of medicine and vaccines, and environmental monitoring on future space missions.

Better Concrete

Biopolymer Research for In-Situ Capabilities looks at how microgravity affects the process of creating a concrete alternative made with an organic material and on-site materials, such as lunar or Martian dust, known as a biopolymer soil composite. Using resources available where construction takes place makes it possible to increase the amount of shielding.

These are just a few of the hundreds of investigations currently being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars through NASA’s Artemis program.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Release Date: July 16, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #SpaceX #Dragon #Spacecraft #CommercialResupply #CRS25 #Astronauts #LaunchAmerica #Research #Science #Technology #HumanSpaceflight #Europe #Russia #Japan #Canada #Expedition67 #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education

SpaceX CRS-25 Falcon 9 Liftoff Image Gallery | NASA's Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX CRS-25 Falcon 9 Liftoff Image Gallery | NASA's Kennedy Space Center

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft soars upward after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:44 p.m. EDT. Dragon will deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations. Dragon is slated to arrive on Saturday, July 16. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida. 

Image Credit: Kevin M. O'Connell

Image Date: July 14, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #Dragon #Spacecraft #CommercialResupply #CRS25 #Astronauts #LaunchAmerica #Research #Science #Technology #HumanSpaceflight #Europe #Russia #Japan #Canada #Expedition67 #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Astronaut Portrait: Thomas Marshburn in EMU | Johnson Space Center

NASA Astronaut Portrait: Thomas Marshburn in EMU | Johnson Space Center

Official NASA portrait of astronaut Tom Marshburn wearing the Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit in Building 8’s photo studio at the Johnson Space Center, July 19, 2021. 

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) is an independent anthropomorphic spacesuit that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for astronauts performing extravehicular activity (EVA) in Earth orbit. Introduced in 1981, it is a two-piece semi-rigid suit, and is currently one of two types of EVA spacesuits used by crew members on the International Space Station (ISS), the other being the Russian Orlan spacesuit. It was used by NASA's Space Shuttle astronauts prior to the end of the Shuttle program in 2011.

Tom took part in his third spaceflight, SpaceX Crew-3, as a member of Expedition 66/67, which launched to the International Space Station on November 10, 2021. Tom returned to Earth on May 6, 2022 after 177 days in space. 

Tom Marshburn's Previous Spaceflight Experience

STS-127

Marshburn's first flight was on STS-127, which lifted off on July 15, 2009 at 6:03 p.m. EDT and landed on July 31, 2009. The mission delivered the Japanese-built Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) and the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section (ELM-ES) to the International Space Station. Marshburn took part in three spacewalks during the mission.

Expedition 34/35

Marshburn served as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 34/35 to the International Space Station, launching aboard Soyuz TMA-07M on December 19, 2012, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, along with crew members Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko. The crew was welcomed aboard the ISS by Expedition 34 commander Kevin A. Ford and cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy. On May 11, 2013, Marshburn and Expedition 35 flight engineer Christopher Cassidy performed an unplanned spacewalk to replace a pump controller box suspected to be the source of an ammonia coolant leak. Marshburn and his crew returned to Earth on May 13, 2013.

Astronaut Thomas Marshburn's Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/thomas-h-marshburn

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/thomas-h-marshburn/biography

Image Credit: Josh Valcarcel

Image Date: July 19, 2021

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NASA Astronaut Portrait: Raja Chari in EMU | Johnson Space Center

NASA Astronaut Portrait: Raja Chari in EMU | Johnson Space Center

Award-nominated portrait of NASA astronaut Raja Chari in an extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) is an independent anthropomorphic spacesuit that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for astronauts performing extravehicular activity (EVA) in Earth orbit. Introduced in 1981, it is a two-piece semi-rigid suit, and is currently one of two types of EVA spacesuits used by crew members on the International Space Station (ISS), the other being the Russian Orlan spacesuit. It was used by NASA's Space Shuttle astronauts prior to the end of the Shuttle program in 2011.

Raja took part in his first spaceflight, SpaceX Crew-3, as a member of Expedition 66/67, which launched to the International Space Station on November 10, 2021. Raja returned to Earth on May 6, 2022 after 177 days in space.

NASA Astronaut Raja Chari's Official Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/astronaut-raja-chari/

At the time of his selection as an astronaut in June 2017, Chari was a Colonel select in the U.S. Air Force, serving as the Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force.  He has accumulated more than 2,500 hours of flight time in the F-35, F-15, F-16, and F-18 including F-15E combat missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and deployments in support of the Korean peninsula.

Image Credit: James Blair

Image Date: April 15, 2021 

#NASA #Space #ISS #Astronaut #RajaChari #USAF #Pilot #Engineer #Science #Spacewalk #EVA #EMU #Spacesuit #Training #UnitedStates #Expedition66 #Photography #STEM #Education