Friday, March 07, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground: On the Station, On the Moon: Week of March 7, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground: On the Station, On the Moon: Week of March 7, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 72 crew will change commanders on Friday, March 7, 2025, as four crewmates prepare for their return to Earth. NASA astronaut and station Commander Suni Williams will hand over leadership of the orbital outpost to Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Russia. Williams will return to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft with NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov ending the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. 

The homebound quartet will leave the space station a few days after the SpaceX Crew-10 mission launches next week. Ovchinin will stay aboard the station with Flight Engineers Don Pettit of NASA and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos until mid-April.

The SpaceX Crew-10 mission is targeted to launch aboard the Dragon crew spacecraft at 7:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will command and pilot the Crew-10 mission with Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos (Russia) serving as Mission Specialists. Crew-10 is targeted to dock to the Harmony module’s forward port at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 13.

Expedition 72 Updates:

Expedition 72 Crew
Station Commander: Suni Williams
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA Flight Engineers: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague

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.


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 3 minutes, 36 seconds
Release Date: March 7, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #SpaceXCrew10 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Thursday, March 06, 2025

SpaceX Starship: Super Heavy Booster Landing | Eighth Flight Test | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship: Super Heavy Booster Landing | Eighth Flight Test | Starbase Texas


Landing of a SpaceX Starship Super Heavy Booster on the launch pad at Starbase Texas on March 6, 2025 at 5:37 p.m. Central Time (CT). Watch Mechazilla catch the booster.

View a replay of the flight test with updates here: 

SpaceX: "Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. However, by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:
Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:
Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):


Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Duration: 49 seconds
Capture Date: March 6, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Spacecraft #Starship8 #TestFlight8 #SuperHeavyBooster #Mechazilla #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship Liftoff: Eighth Flight Test | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship Liftoff: Eighth Flight Test | Starbase Texas

Liftoff of a SpaceX Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy Booster on the launch pad at Starbase Texas on March 6, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. Central Time (CT).

Watch a replay of the flight test with updates here: 

SpaceX: "Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. However, by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle."

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:
Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:
Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):


Video Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Duration: 33 seconds
Release Date: March 6, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Spacecraft #Starship8 #TestFlight8 #SuperHeavyBooster #Mechazilla #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Athena Lunar Lander: South Pole Moon Landing | IM-2 Mission Update

Athena Lunar Lander: South Pole Moon Landing IM-2 Mission Update

View of Intuitive Machines' IM-2 Mission Athena lunar lander twenty kilometers above the Moon prior to its landing on March 6, 2025.

Intuitive Machines' IM-2 Mission Athena lunar lander intended trajectory

The landing zone is in the Moon’s Mons Mouton region for Intuitive Machines' IM-2 Mission Athena lunar lander

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander arrived at Mons Mouton, in the south pole region of the Moon, on March 6, 2025, at approximately 11:30 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST). The physical orientation of the Athena lander on the surface has yet to be confirmed, as well as its precise location. The lander is generating power from its solar panels and its telemetry antenna has been operating since landing, supporting continued communication with Intuitive Machines’ mission control center in Texas.
Stay tuned for IM-2 mission updates: 

The Athena lunar lander’s mission is designed to validate resource prospecting, mobility, and communications infrastructure in the Moon’s Mons Mouton region, one of nine potential Artemis III crew landing sites.

The Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission is carrying PRIME-1 and other NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations. Athena’s mission is designed to validate resource prospecting, mobility, and communications infrastructure in the Moon’s Mons Mouton region, one of nine potential Artemis III landing sites.

Commanded using Intuitive Machines’ commercial Lunar Data Network, IM-2 will be the Company’s second of four manifested lunar missions as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (“CLPS”) initiative. Through the CLPS initiative and Artemis campaign, NASA is leveraging American companies to send scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon, advancing our understanding of the Moon and planetary processes, while paving the way for future crewed missions. 


Image Credit: Intuitive Machines
Release Date: March 6, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #SouthPole #MonsMouton #ArtemisProgram #IntuitiveMachines #IM2 #IM2Mission #IM2Spacecraft #AthenaLunarLander #CommercialSpace #CLPS #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #MSFC #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

The Milky Way Galaxy Beyond Earth's Horizon | International Space Station

The Milky Way Galaxy Beyond Earth's Horizon | International Space Station


The Milky Way appears beyond Earth's horizon in these celestial photographs captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit using a camera with low light and long duration settings as the International Space Station orbited 259 miles above. Multiple lightning strikes are visible within the Earth's atmosphere in the first image.

Expedition 72 Updates:

Expedition 72 Crew
Station Commander: Suni Williams
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA Flight Engineers: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague

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.


Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/D.Pettit
Image Date: Feb. 3, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planet #Earth #Airglow #Atmosphere #Weather #Meteorology #Lightning #Stars #MilkyWayGalaxy #Astronauts #DonPettit #AstronautPhotography #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education

Planet Mars Images: March 2-6, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: March 2-6, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars 2020 - sol 1436
Mars 2020 - sol 1436
Mars 2020 - sol 1436
Mars 2020 - sol 1435
Mars 2020 - sol 1433
    Mars 2020 - sol 1437
MSL - sol 4471
MSL - sol 4471

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 12+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)
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

Celebrating 4+ Years on 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 return to Earth.
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 2-6, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Blue Ghost Mission 1: Lunar PlanetVac Surface Operations | Firefly Aerospace

Blue Ghost Mission 1: Lunar PlanetVac Surface Operations | Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace Update: "Just over four days on the Moon's surface and Blue Ghost is checking off several science milestones! Eight out of ten NASA payloads, including LPV, EDS, NGLR, RAC, RadPC, LuGRE, LISTER, and SCALPSS, have already met their mission objectives with more to come. Lunar PlanetVac for example successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil from the Moon using pressurized nitrogen gas. Congrats to the Honeybee Robotics and NASA team!"

Follow along for more BGM1 updates: https://fireflyspace.com/news/blue-ghost-mission-1-live-updates/

Learn more about the mission: 

This is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence. Blue Ghost Mission 1 will perform numerous science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, and X-ray imaging of Earth’s magnetic field to advance research for future human missions on the Moon and provide insights into how space weather impacts the planet. Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was formed by the flooding of basaltic lava that filled an ancient asteroid impact.

Learn more about NASA's CLPS Program:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services


Video Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Duration: 29 seconds
Release Date: March 6, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #ArtemisProgram #Moon #LunarLanders #FireflyAerospace #BlueGhostLunarLander #BlueGhostMission1 #BGM1 #LunarPlanetVac #LPV #HoneybeeRobotics #UnitedStates #Robotics #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

SpaceX Starship: Preparing for Eighth Flight Test | Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship: Preparing for Eighth Flight Test | Starbase Texas


A SpaceX Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy Booster on the launch pad at Starbase Texas on March 4 & 5, 2025, ahead of Starship's eighth flight test. Starship is now preparing to launch as soon as Thursday, March 6, 2025. The launch window will open at 5:30 p.m. Central Time (CT).

A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 40 minutes before liftoff. Watch here: 
As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned for updates.

After completing the investigation into the loss of Starship early on its seventh flight test, several hardware and operational changes have been made to increase reliability of the upper stage. You can read the full summary of the mishap investigation here.

The upcoming flight will fly the same suborbital trajectory as previous missions and will target objectives not reached on the previous test, including Starship’s first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments geared towards returning the upper stage to the launch site for catch. The flight also includes the launch, return, and catch of the Super Heavy booster.

Extensive upgrades to Starship’s upper stage debuted on the previous flight test, focused on adding reliability and performance across all phases of flight. Starship’s forward flaps have been upgraded to significantly reduce their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling. Redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25 percent increase in propellant volume over previous generations, add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer duration missions. And the vehicle’s avionics underwent a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to the launch site.

During the flight test, Starship will deploy four Starlink simulators, similar in size to next-generation Starlink satellites, as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon entry. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.

The flight test includes several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site. A significant number of tiles have been removed from Starship to stress-test vulnerable areas across the vehicle. Multiple metallic tile options, including one with active cooling, will test alternative materials for protecting Starship during reentry. On the sides of the vehicle, non-structural versions of Starship’s catch fittings are installed to test the fittings’ thermal performance, along with a section of the tile line receiving a smoothed and tapered edge to address hot spots observed during reentry on Starship’s sixth flight test. Starship’s reentry profile is designed to intentionally stress the structural limits of the upper stage’s rear flaps while at the point of maximum entry dynamic pressure. Finally, several radar sensors will once again be tested on the launch and catch tower’s chopsticks with the goal of increasing the accuracy when measuring distances between the chopsticks and a returning vehicle.

The Super Heavy booster for this flight features upgraded avionics, including a more powerful flight computer, improved power and network distribution, and integrated smart batteries.

Distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to the return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, requiring healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director. If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory for a soft splashdown in the Gulf of America. We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and booster return will only take place if conditions are right.

The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone. Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.

Developmental testing by definition is unpredictable. But by putting flight hardware in a flight environment as frequently as possible, we’re able to quickly learn and execute design changes as we seek to bring Starship online as a fully and rapidly reusable vehicle.

SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket—collectively referred to as Starship—represent a fully reusable transportation system designed to carry both crew and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. Starship is the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed, capable of carrying up to 150 metric tonnes fully reusable and 250 metric tonnes expendable.

Key Starship Parameters:
Height: 123m/403ft
Diameter: 9m/29.5ft
Payload to LEO: 100–150t (fully reusable)

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Learn more about Starship:
Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):


Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Release Dates: March 4 & 5, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #Spacecraft #Starship8 #TestFlight8 #SuperHeavyBooster #Mechazilla #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #Starbase #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Blue Ghost Mission 1 Lander on The Moon | NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Blue Ghost Mission 1 Lander on The Moon | NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured this image of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander on the Moon. The lander touched down on March 2, 2025, near a volcanic feature within Mare Crisium with ten NASA science and technology instruments onboard. 

In this oblique view of the Blue Ghost landing site (see arrow). It is located about 4,000 meters from the center of Mons Latreille, a large volcanic cone. The lander is seen as bright pixel casting a shadow in the middle of the box (18.562°N, 61.810°E, -3650 meters elevation). The edge of Mons Latreille is visible in the lower left. This image is approximately 2,600 meters wide in the center, north is to the right.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was 175 kilometers east (19.294°N, 67.956°E) of the landing site when its Narrow Angle Cameras (NACs) acquired this view of the landing site on March 2, 2025, at 17:49 UTC.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) celebrates its 16th anniversary orbiting the Moon (2009-2025) this year. The mission has given scientists the largest volume of data ever collected by a planetary science mission at NASA.

Learn more about NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/lro/


Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Article Credit: Mark Robinson
Release Date: March 4, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ArtemisProgram #Moon #Geology #MareCrisium #LunarNearSide #FireflyAerospace #BlueGhostLunarLander #BlueGhostMission1 #BGM1 #UnitedStates #Robotics #LRO #LunarOrbiter #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #Engineering #ASU #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Wednesday, March 05, 2025

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Training for International Space Station Mission

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Training for International Space Station Mission

NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 is targeted to launch at 7:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission will carry four people to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, as well as JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov trained for their mission across the world, including NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, SpaceX facilities in Hawthorne, California, and international training locations. Once aboard the space station, the crew will become Expedition 72/73 flight engineers, spending their time conducting science experiments, doing technology demonstrations in microgravity, maintaining the space station, and the having the ability to conduct spacewalks.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia, are spending their final two weeks before launch in isolation to prevent exposure to any illnesses before they meet with existing crew members aboard the space station.  

Crew-10 will arrive at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 7, 2025, where they will remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building as they complete final launch preparations.  

The flight is the 10th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). While aboard, the international crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions and benefit people on Earth.

Veteran Astronaut Anne McClain NASA Biography:
Astronaut Nichole Ayers NASA Biography:

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi Biography:

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission will be the first spaceflight for Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov of Russia. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he earned a degree in engineering from the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation School and was a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft for airlines Nordwind and Ikar. Assigned as a test-cosmonaut in 2020, he has additional experience in skydiving, zero-gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.

Learn more about NASA's SpaceX Crew-10:

NASA's Commercial Crew Program:

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.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 38 minutes
Release Date: March 4, 2025


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SpaceXCrew10 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #Falcon9Rocket #Astronauts #AnneMcClain #Crew10MissionCommander #NicholeAyers #TakuyaOnishi #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #KirillPeskov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition73 #JSC #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis III Moon Mission Crewed Landing Rocket: SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank

NASA Artemis III Moon Mission Crewed Landing Rocket: SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank

Artemis III Liquid Oxygen Tank Moves to Next Phase of Production

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank for its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from the vertical assembly building into a nearby cell on Dec. 23, 2024, in these newly release pictures. The tank, to be used on the core stage of the agency’s Artemis III mission, will be primed using an automated process in preparation for application of its thermal protection system.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. No other rocket is capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.

Over the course of about 30 days, the Artemis III astronauts will travel to lunar orbit, where two crew members will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for mid-2027.

Follow updates on the Artemis blog: 
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS)
https://www.nasa.gov/sls
Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf
NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF)
https://www.nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/


Video Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker & Evan Deroche
Duration: 4 minutes
Image Date: Dec. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisIII #SLS #SLSRocket #CoreStage #LiquidOxygenTank #LOXTank #Boeing #ULA #CrewedMissions #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #MSFC #MAF #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis III Moon Mission Crewed Landing Rocket: SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank

NASA Artemis III Moon Mission Crewed Landing Rocket: SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank








Artemis III Liquid Oxygen Tank Moves to Next Phase of Production

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move a liquid oxygen tank for its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from the vertical assembly building into a nearby cell on Dec. 23, 2024, in these newly release pictures. The tank, to be used on the core stage of the agency’s Artemis III mission, will be primed using an automated process in preparation for application of its thermal protection system.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. The core stage, along with its four RS-25 engines, produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit and to the lunar surface for Artemis.

The propellant tank is one of five major elements that make up the 212-foot-tall rocket stage. No other rocket is capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.

Over the course of about 30 days, the Artemis III astronauts will travel to lunar orbit, where two crew members will descend to the surface and spend approximately a week near the South Pole of the Moon conducting new science before returning to lunar orbit to join their crew for the journey back to Earth. Launch is currently scheduled for mid-2027.

Follow updates on the Artemis blog: 
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS)
https://www.nasa.gov/sls
Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf
NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF)
https://www.nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/


Image Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon
Image Date: Dec. 23, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisIII #SLS #SLSRocket #CoreStage #LiquidOxygenTank #LOXTank #Boeing #ULA #CrewedMissions #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #Science #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #MSFC #MAF #NewOrleans #Louisiana #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Ultra-hot Nova Erupting with Surprising Chemical Signatures | Gemini South Observatory

Ultra-hot Nova Erupting with Surprising Chemical Signatures Gemini South Observatory

Cosmoview Episode 97: Using the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by NSF NOIRLab, and the Carnegie Institution’s Magellan Baade Telescope, a team of astronomers have for the first time observed a recurrent nova outside of the Milky Way in the near-infrared wavelength range. This nova, named LMC 1968-12a, is located in the Large Magellanic Cloud—a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. It erupts about every four years. This is the third-shortest recurrence timescale of any nova. The team estimates that, during the nova’s early post-explosion phase, the temperature of the expelled gas reached 3 million degrees Celsius (5.4 million degrees Fahrenheit), making it one of the hottest nova ever recorded.

Nova explosions occur in binary star systems in which a white dwarf—the dense remnant of a dead star—continually siphons stellar material from a nearby companion star. As the outer atmosphere of the companion gathers onto the surface of the white dwarf it reaches temperatures hot enough to spark an eruption.

Almost all novae discovered to-date have been observed to erupt only once. However, a few have been observed to erupt more than once, and are classified as recurrent novae. The span between eruptions for these novae can vary from as little as one year to many decades.

Less than a dozen recurrent novae have been observed within our Milky Way Galaxy, while far more are extragalactic, meaning located outside of the Milky Way. Studying extragalactic novae helps build astronomers’ understanding of how different environments affect nova eruptions.


Credits:
Images and Videos: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick, M. Zamani,ESO/L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava), N. Bartmann (NSF NOIRLab)
Duration: 1 minute, 40 seconds
Release Date: March 5, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nova #LMC196812a #Constellation #LargeMagellanicCloud #LMC #Universe #GeminiSouthTelescope #InternationalGeminiObservatory #MagellanBaadeTelescope #LasCampanasObservatory #Chile #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 Mission: Dragon Spacecraft Arrives | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 Mission: Dragon Spacecraft Arrives | Kennedy Space Center



SpaceX: "Dragon arrives at the hangar at pad 39A ahead of next week’s launch of NASA’s Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station." 
The crew is targeted to launch at 7:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia, are spending their final two weeks before launch in isolation to prevent exposure to any illnesses before they meet with existing crew members aboard the space station.  

Crew-10 will arrive at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 7, 2025, where they will remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building as they complete final launch preparations.  

The flight is the 10th crew rotation with SpaceX to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). While aboard, the international crew will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations to help prepare humans for future missions and benefit people on Earth.

Veteran Astronaut Anne McClain NASA Biography:
Astronaut Nichole Ayers NASA Biography:

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi Biography:

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission will be the first spaceflight for Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov of Russia. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he earned a degree in engineering from the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation School and was a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft for airlines Nordwind and Ikar. Assigned as a test-cosmonaut in 2020, he has additional experience in skydiving, zero-gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.

Learn more about NASA's SpaceX Crew-10:

NASA's Commercial Crew Program:

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.

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Release Date: March 5, 2025


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What is a NASA Spinoff? We Asked a NASA Expert

What is a NASA Spinoff? We Asked a NASA Expert

"Did you know that NASA technology is all around you? From the camera in your phone to lifesaving medical devices—and so much more—innovations developed for space often come back to improve life on Earth."

"Through NASA spinoffs, space technology fuels advancements in healthcare, transportation, agriculture and more. Our expert explains how NASA is part of your everyday life!"

Learn more at https://spinoff.nasa.gov


Credit: NASA
Producers: Scott Bednar, Pedro Cota, Jessica Wilde
Editor: Pedro Cota
Duration: 1 minute, 50 seconds
Release Date: March 5, 2025

#NASA #Aerospace #Aviation #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #SLS #SLSRocket #DeepSpace #Astronauts #Mars #MoonToMars #EconomicSpinoffs #TechnologyTransfer #CommercialSpace #Science #Engineering #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

GPS & Galileo Nav Satellite Signals at The Moon | NASA & Italian Space Agency

GPS & Galileo Nav Satellite Signals at The Moon | NASA & Italian Space Agency

An artist’s concept of the LuGRE payload on Blue Ghost and its three main records in transit to the Moon, in lunar orbit and on the Moon’s surface.
The joint NASA, Italian Space Agency, Qascom, and PoliTO LuGRE team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
Artist’s concept rendering of LuGRE aboard the Blue Ghost lunar lander receiving signals from Earth’s GNSS constellations.
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission on The Moon after March 2, 2025 landing.

NASA and the Italian Space Agency made history on March 3, 2025 when the Lunar global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) became the first known technology demonstration to acquire and track Earth-based navigation signals on the Moon’s surface. These results suggest that Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo Earth satellite signals could be used by future exploration missions—like NASA's Artemis Program. Galileo is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) created by the European Union through the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by the European Union Agency for the Space Program (EUSPA). The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned by the United States government. China is also planning to build a lunar satellite constellation to use its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System at the Moon. BeiDou is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned and operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

LuGRE represents a steppingstone to advanced navigation systems and services for the Moon and Mars. The road to the historic milestone began on March 2, 2025, when the Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander touched down on the Moon and delivered LuGRE, one of ten NASA payloads intended to advance lunar science. Soon after landing, LuGRE payload operators at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, began conducting their first science operation on the lunar surface. 

“On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program. “Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions.”  

Now that Blue Ghost is on the Moon, the mission will operate for 14 days providing NASA and the Italian Space Agency the opportunity to collect data in a near-continuous mode, leading to additional GNSS milestones.

The LuGRE payload also broke GNSS records on its journey to the Moon. On Jan. 21, LuGRE surpassed the highest altitude GNSS signal acquisition ever recorded at 209,900 miles from Earth, a record formerly held by NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission. Its altitude record continued to climb as LuGRE reached lunar orbit on Feb. 20—243,000 miles from Earth. This means that missions in cislunar space, the area of space between Earth and the Moon, could also rely on GNSS signals for navigation fixes.  

Traditionally, NASA engineers track spacecraft by using a combination of measurements, including onboard sensors and signals from Earth-based tracking stations. The LuGRE payload demonstrates that using GNSS signals for navigation can reduce reliance on human operators because these signals can be picked up and used autonomously by the spacecraft, even as far away as the Moon. 

The LuGRE payload is a collaborative effort between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Italian Space Agency, their industry partner Qascom, and Politecnico di Torino. Funding and oversight for the LuGRE payload comes from NASA’s SCaN Program office. It was chosen by NASA as one of ten funded research and technology demonstrations for delivery to the lunar surface by Firefly Aerospace Inc., a flight under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

The data-gathering LuGRE payload combines NASA-led systems engineering and mission management with receiver software and hardware developed by the Italian Space Agency and their industry partner Qascom.

Any data LuGRE collects is intended to open the door for use of GNSS to all lunar missions, not just those by NASA or the Italian Space Agency. Approximately six months after LuGRE completes its operations, the agencies will release its mission data to broaden public and commercial access to lunar GNSS research.

Learn more about LuGRE: 
https://go.nasa.gov/41qwwQN


Image Credit: NASA/Dave Ryan
Article Credit: Katherine Schauer
Release Date: March 4, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #EarthSatellites #SatelliteNavigation #GNSS #FireflyAerospace #BGM1 #LuGRE #Galileo #GPS #ItalianSpaceAgency #ASI #Italy #Italia #Europe #GSFC #UnitedStates #BeiDou #北斗卫星导航系统 #China #中国 #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #Infographics #STEM #Education