NASA Sets Coverage for Astronaut Loral O’Hara, Crewmates Return

NASA Sets Coverage for Astronaut Loral O’Hara, Crewmates Return

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara uses a portable glovebag to replace components on a biological printer, the BioFabrication Facility (BFF), that is testing the printing of organ-like tissues in microgravity.
NASA

Three crew members are scheduled to begin their return to Earth on Friday, April 5, from the International Space Station. NASA will provide live coverage of their departure from the orbital complex and landing.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus will depart from the station’s Rassvet module in the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 11:55 p.m. EDT April 5, and will head for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, at 3:18 a.m. Saturday, April 6 (12:18 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

Coverage will begin at 8 p.m. on April 5 with farewells and the Soyuz hatch closure on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.

O’Hara is completing a mission spanning 204 days in space that covered 3,264 orbits of the Earth and 86.5 million miles. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya launched with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson to the station aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft on March 23. Dyson will remain aboard the station for a six-month research mission.

After landing, the three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. O’Hara then will depart back to Houston.

Friday, April 5
8 p.m.: NASA coverage of farewells and hatch closure of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft begins

11:30 p.m.: NASA coverage for undocking continues

11:55 p.m.: Undocking

Saturday, April 6
2 a.m.: NASA coverage of deorbit burn and landing begins.

2:24 a.m.: Deorbit burn

3:18 a.m.: Landing

NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

Julian Coltre / Josh Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

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Apr 02, 2024

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Abbey A. Donaldson

NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2024

NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2024

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NASA Awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2024

The class of 2024 NHFP Fellows are shown in this photo montage (top to bottom, left to right): The Hubble Fellows (seen in the red hexagons) are: Michael Calzadilla, Sanskriti Das, Yue Hu, Wynn Jacobson-Galan, Madeleine McKenzie, Jed McKinney, Andrew Saydjari, Peter Senchyna, Raphael Skalidis and Adam Smercina. The Einstein Fellows (seen in the blue hexagons) are: Vishal Baibhav, Jordy Davelaar, Alexander Dittmann, Cristhian Garcia Quintero, Amelia (Lia) Hankla and Keefe Mitman. The Sagan Fellows (seen in green hexagons) are: Jaren Ashcraft, Kiersten Boley, Cheng Han Hsieh, Rafael Luque, Sarah Moran, Shangjia Zhang, Lily Zhao and Sebastian Zieba.
The class of 2024 NHFP Fellows are shown in this photo montage (top to bottom, left to right): The Hubble Fellows (seen in the red hexagons) are: Michael Calzadilla, Sanskriti Das, Yue Hu, Wynn Jacobson-Galan, Madeleine McKenzie, Jed McKinney, Andrew Saydjari, Peter Senchyna, Raphael Skalidis, and Adam Smercina. The Einstein Fellows (seen in the blue hexagons) are: Vishal Baibhav, Jordy Davelaar, Alexander Dittmann, Cristhian Garcia Quintero, Amelia (Lia) Hankla, and Keefe Mitman. The Sagan Fellows (seen in green hexagons) are: Jaren Ashcraft, Kiersten Boley, Cheng Han Hsieh, Rafael Luque, Sarah Moran, Shangjia Zhang, Lily Zhao, and Sebastian Zieba.
NASA, Catherine Cranmer (CXC)

The highly competitive NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) recently named 24 new fellows to its 2024 roster. The program fosters excellence and inclusive leadership in astrophysics by supporting a diverse group of exceptionally promising and innovative early-career astrophysicists.

The NHFP enables outstanding postdoctoral scientists to pursue independent research in any area of NASA Astrophysics, using theory, observations, simulations, experimentation, or instrument development. Over 520 applicants vied for the 2024 fellowships. Each fellowship provides the awardee up to three years of support at a U.S. institution.

Once selected, fellows are named to one of three sub-categories corresponding to three broad scientific questions that NASA seeks to answer about the universe:

  • How does the universe work? – Einstein Fellows
  • How did we get here? – Hubble Fellows
  • Are we alone? – Sagan Fellows

“The NASA Hubble Fellowship Program is a highly competitive program, and this year’s cadre of Fellows are to be congratulated on their selection,” said Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. “They will undoubtably be future leaders in the field of Astronomy and Astrophysics.”

The list below provides the names of the 2024 awardees, their fellowship host institutions, and their proposed research topics.

2024 NASA Hubble Fellowship Program:

How does the universe work? – Einstein Fellows:

  • Vishal Baibhav, Columbia University, Dancing with Black Holes: Harnessing gravitational waves to understand the formation of black holes
  • Jordy Davelaar, Princeton University, Unraveling the physics of accreting black hole binaries
  • Alexander Dittmann, Institute for Advanced Study, Bridging the Gap in Supermassive Black Hole Binary Accretion – From Simulation to Observation
  • Cristhian Garcia Quintero, Harvard University, Phenomenological modified gravity in the non-linear regime and improving BAO measurements with Stage-IV surveys
  • Amelia (Lia) Hankla, University of Maryland, College Park, Explaining Radio to X-ray Observations of Luminous Black Holes with a Multizone Outflowing Corona Model
  • Keefe Mitman, Cornell University, Decoding General Relativity with Next-Generation Numerical Relativity Waveforms

How did we get here? – Hubble Fellows:

  • Michael Calzadilla, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, A Multiwavelength View of the Evolving Baryon Cycle in Galaxy Clusters
  • Sanskriti Das, Stanford University, Where the energetic universe meets the hot universe
  • Yue Hu, Institute for Advanced Study, The Role of Magnetic Field in Galaxy Cluster’s Diffuse Structure Formation
  • Wynn Jacobson-Galan, California Institute of Technology, Final Moments: Uncovering the Rate of Enhanced Red Supergiant Mass-loss in the Local Volume
  • Madeleine McKenzie, Carnegie Observatories, Uncovering the unknown origins of globular clusters
  • Jed McKinney, University of Texas, Austin, The Role of Dust in Shaping the Evolution of Galaxies
  • Andrew Saydjari, Princeton University, Inferring Kinematic and Chemical Maps of Galactic Dust
  • Peter Senchyna, Carnegie Observatories, Bridging the Gap: Bringing the First Galaxies into Focus with Local Laboratories
  • Raphael Skalidis, California Institute of Technology, Magnetic fields in the multiphase interstellar medium
  • Adam Smercina, University of Washington, A Portrait of the Triangulum: Advancing a New Frontier of Galaxy Evolution with Resolved Stars

Are we alone? – Sagan Fellows:

  • Jaren Ashcraft, University of California, Santa Barbara, Optimizing the Vector Field for Next-generation Astrophysics
  • Kiersten Boley, Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory, Identifying the Key Materials for Planet Formation and Evolution
  • Cheng Han Hsieh, University of Texas, Austin, A Deep Dive into the Early Evolution of Protoplanetary Disk Substructures and the Onset of Planet and Star Formation
  • Rafael Luque, University of Chicago, Understanding the origin and nature of sub-Neptunes
  • Sarah Moran, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, From Stars to Storms: Planetary Cloud Seeding with Sulfur-based Hazes
  • Shangjia Zhang, Columbia University, Probing Young Planet Populations with 3D Self-Consistent Disk Thermodynamics
  • Lily Zhao, University of Chicago, Enabling Radial Velocity Detection of Earth-Twins Through Data-Driven Algorithms and Community Collaboration
  • Sebastian Zieba, Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory, Characterization of rocky exoplanet surfaces and atmospheres in the JWST era

An important part of the NHFP is the annual Symposium, which allows Fellows the opportunity to present results of their research, and to meet each other and the scientific and administrative staff who manage the program. The 2023 Symposium was held at the Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Science topics ranged through exoplanets, gravitational waves, fast radio bursts, cosmology and more. Non-science sessions included discussions about career paths, fellows’ plans for mentoring and to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the NHFP, as well as an open mic highlighting an array of talents outside of astrophysics.

The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland administers the NHFP on behalf of NASA, in collaboration with the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California.

Short bios and photos of the 2024 NHFP Fellows can be found at:
https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/fellowships/nasa-hubble-fellowship-program/2024-nhfp-fellows

Media Contacts:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

Cheryl Gundy
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD

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Apr 02, 2024
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NASA Engineer Chris Lupo Receives 2024 Federal Engineer Award

NASA Engineer Chris Lupo Receives 2024 Federal Engineer Award

Chris Lupo monitors activities on console for the Commercial Crew Program Mission Support Team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during docking of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 to the International Space Station on April 27, 2022.
NASA/Josh Valcarcel

The National Society of Professional Engineers named Chris Lupo, deputy chief engineer of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, as the agency’s 2024 Federal Engineer of the Year. Sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers in Government, the award recognizes engineers employed in the federal government.

Lupo was recognized during an award ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington on Feb. 23, alongside recipients from the National Park Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Air Force, and others.

“It was an incredibly nice surprise to be selected for this award,” said Lupo. “I feel like I’m representing the team in accepting this award, which I believe is an acknowledgment that our NASA team has been successful kickstarting the commercial space industry for human spaceflight.”

Working alongside NASA’s commercial partners, Boeing and SpaceX, Lupo contributed to the design and development of both companies’ human-rated spaceflight systems, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Leading a team of over 100 engineers comprising nearly 20 engineering disciplines, Lupo spent the past decade working to ensure the spacecraft are safe, reliable, and a cost-effective means of transportation for astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

“I am very proud of the program’s engineering team and in particular Lupo’s leadership as deputy chief engineer. The team thoroughly reviews the analysis, testing, and previous flights data for every single mission that our commercial partners are executing to fly safely,” said Steve Stich, who manages the program.

Lupo joined the program spacecraft chief engineer, contributing to the effort to return human spaceflight capability to the United States following a retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. Beginning with the launch of SpaceX Demo-2 in 2020 – the first crewed spaceflight from American soil since the space shuttle – the program has launched nine crewed missions to the orbiting laboratory, most recently NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission, which launched from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 4, 2024.

Lupo’s work with the Starliner spacecraft hits an important milestone this year with its first crewed flight test to the space station, after two previous uncrewed test flights.

“Returning the capability to launch astronauts from the U.S. again, that’s probably what I’m most proud of,” said Lupo. “I think all of us in the program are very proud of that. We’re doing a service for the nation, and I think it’s very important to get this industry established so that NASA can focus on human spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit.”

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Jason Costa

April Begins with Human Research and Crew Departure Preps

April Begins with Human Research and Crew Departure Preps

Astronauts Matthew Dominick and Loral O'Hara smile for a portrait shortly after the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft docked to the space station on April 23, 2024.
Astronauts Matthew Dominick and Loral O’Hara smile for a portrait shortly after the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft docked to the space station on April 23, 2024.

The Expedition 70 crew kicked off the first week of April with a host of human research to learn how to keep long-term space crews healthy. Three orbital residents are also nearing the end of their mission as they prepare to depart the International Space Station at the end of the week.

NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt worked together Monday morning and explored how microgravity affects an astronaut’s sense of balance and motion. Dyson, with assistance from doctors on the ground, monitored Barratt as he wore specialized goggles that tracked his eye movements while performing a series of movements. The vestibular exam, part of the CIPHER suite of 14 human research studies, seeks to understand how a crew member’s sense of motion and perception adapts to weightlessness.

Barratt then moved on and joined NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps and tested a specialized thigh cuff for its ability to prevent space-caused fluid shifts. Epps attached electrodes to herself, wore the cuff on both her legs, and performed scans with the Ultrasound 2 device aided by Barratt and researchers on Earth. Insights may help counteract the upward flows of fluids creating head pressure and eye issues in astronauts.

Epps and NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick later took turns conducting a vision test. The duo took a standard eye exam covering one eye and reading characters off a chart. Earlier, Dominick closed out the Cell Biology Experiment Facility following the completion of an experiment exploring creating artificial organs in space.

The orbiting outpost’s four cosmonauts participated in a variety of Roscosmos-sponsored space science and standard lab maintenance on Monday. Veteran Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko practiced futuristic spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques that may inform future cosmonaut training. Cosmonaut Nikolai Chub collected his saliva and blood samples for a space immunity study. Cosmonauts Alexander Grebenkin and Oleg Novitskiy joined each other and studied how spaceflight affects the circulatory system in a crewmember’s limbs.

Another crew is getting for its return to Earth bringing home NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara after six-and-a-half months on the space station. She, Novitskiy, and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya will undock in the Soyuz MS-24 crew ship at 11:55 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 5. Novitskiy checked Soyuz spacecraft systems then joined the duo and practiced Soyuz descent procedures on Monday. The trio will parachute to a landing inside the Soyuz in Kazakhstan at 3:18 a.m. on Saturday, April 6. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya arrived at the station on March 25 bringing Dyson with them aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft.

At the end of the day on Monday, all ten space station residents gathered and reviewed roles and responsibilities in the unlikely event of an emergency. The crew reviewed escape paths, safety gear, communication procedures, and more for scenarios including a depressurization event, a chemical leak, and a fire.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog@space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

Solar Eclipse Resources

Solar Eclipse Resources

2 Min Read

Solar Eclipse Resources

two people looking at the Sun with safe solar glasses
Visitors at Saturday “SUN” Day look through solar eclipse glasses.
Credits:
Kent Blackwell, Back Bay Amateur Astronomers

From the Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Get ready for the Moon to pass in front of the Sun, casting its shadow across all of North America. A spectacular total eclipse will sweep across North America on April 8, 2024! 

The Night Sky Network and Astronomical Society of the Pacific are creating and curating information for amateur astronomers and other informal educators. See some of our Night Sky Network and community eclipse resources here:

  • Most of the US will be graced with a partial eclipse. This is a great reason to get your community together. Plan your event with this simple Partial Eclipse Party Planner.
  • Preparing for an Eclipse Public Presentation from our partners at NISE about viewing the eclipses, including what to expect if you are not on the central paths – edit to make it your own! 
  • The 2024 NASA Eclipse Resources include a Safe Solar Viewing Guide, Posters, and more!
  • Andrew Fraknoi and a group of astronomy educators have created a collection of eclipse resources in preparation for the upcoming solar eclipses, including  32 educational activities.
  • Find lists of safe solar viewers and filters from our partners at the American Astronomical Society.
  • Enjoy this activity Eclipses Around the World to respectfully share ways of knowing eclipses from many cultures
  • This video invites everyone to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Hear about the eclipse in Spanish, Urdu, Mandarin, Arabic, and more at bit.ly/EclipseAmbassadorsYouTube

Clouded out? That’s okay – tune in to NASA’s official broadcast for the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse.

See the activities and resources below for more great eclipse ideas! 

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