The Cygnus space freighter is pictured attached to the space station as the Canadarm2 robotic arm prepares to grapple the cargo craft.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft installation on the International Space Station is now complete. Cygnus, carrying over 8,200 pounds of cargo and science experiments. At 4:59 a.m., NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli acting as backup, captured Cygnus using the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.
The mission launched at 12:07 p.m. EST Jan. 30 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Cygnus will remain at the space station until May when it will depart the orbiting laboratory at which point it will harmlessly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Canadarm2 robotic arm, guided by NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, captures Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft. Credit: NASA TV
NASA Television’s live coverage of installation of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is underway.
At 4:59 a.m. EST, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli acting as backup, captured Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft using the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm. Cygnus is carrying 8,200 pounds of supplies, hardware, and science experiments.
This is Northrop Grumman’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the space station for NASA. The spacecraft is named the S.S. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard Robertson in honor of the former NASA astronaut.
Cygnus will remain at the space station until May when it will depart the orbiting laboratory at which point it will harmlessly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Statement from NASA’s Jennifer Kunz at SpaceCom, 50th Space Congress
Jennifer Kunz, associate director, technical, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, participates in a virtual Town Hall meeting on Jan. 13, 2022, for Kennedy employees.
NASA/Kim Shiflett
Jennifer Kunz, associate director technical of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, released the following statement after speaking Thursday at the SpaceCom / 50th Space Congress in Orlando, Florida.
“NASA’s Moon to Mars strategy rests on three pillars: pursuing science to better understand the universe and our origins; inspiring the next generation to achieve the seemingly impossible; and building on American preeminence in science, technology and exploration while strengthening economic and diplomatic ties with other nations. Kennedy is proud to be at the forefront of helping achieve the agency’s ambitious Moon to Mars Objectives for the benefit of all.
“Most people know Kennedy for launching rockets, but our spaceport also is home to new technologies needed to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon and exploration throughout the solar system. Today, Kennedy teams are working on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis campaign, which will return humans to the lunar surface after more than 50 years. Kennedy is the only place on Earth where the SLS rocket is fully assembled prior to launch. Once built, the rocket, spacecraft, and ground systems will undergo rigorous testing and validation in preparation for launching astronauts further and deeper in space than ever before.
“Engineers also are developing technologies that our astronauts will need on the lunar surface. These include 3D printing capability to build structures on the Moon; rovers, and instruments to find water, minerals, and other resources to help sustain a long-term presence; and electrodynamic dust shield technologies that repel the abrasive Moon dust and protect vehicles and sensitive equipment.
“Kennedy’s plant researchers continue working hard to find new ways to grow food in space to supplement the diets of astronauts with key nutrients. And as we advance these technologies, we also administer a number of programs that enable university researchers to help solve other key Moon to Mars challenges.
“While we focus on Moon and Mars, NASA continues to enable the growth of the commercial space sector. Beyond supporting Artemis, our industry and international partners make it possible to launch crews and conduct critical research on the International Space Station. We also rely on commercial expertise to launch many of our robotic science missions that study the Earth, the solar system, and beyond.
“As we stand at the dawn of a new age of space exploration, I can’t wait to see the innovations and advancements to come. We often hear that “space is hard,” and we at Kennedy take great inspiration from our history, which is full of stories of NASA engineers solving seemingly impossible problems. As we make the next giant leap to the Moon and Mars, Kennedy Space Center is proud to do our part to advance science, inspire the Artemis Generation, and strengthen America’s standing in the world.”
Kunz’s biography is available online, and file images are available from NASA’s image library in vertical and horizontal formats.
For more information about Kennedy Space Center, visit:
Explore the February 2024 issue, highlighted by NASA reaching the halfway point for the Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Certification Series, NASA’s Day of Remembrance, and what fuels a NASA Stennis Test Operations Leader.
Explore the February 2024 edition featuring:
RS-25 Test on Jan. 27
Day of Remembrance
NASA Spinoff
Gator Speaks
Gator Speaks
NASA Stennis
There are two reasons why the last Thursday in January and the month of February are important at NASA moving ahead as the Artemis Generation.
Having been around for decades as the NASA Stennis mascot, it is easy to forget important things if you are not intentional about remembering. For newer folks, whether new employees at NASA Stennis or new fans of NASA in general, it is easy not to know something if you are never told about it.
NASA intentionally carves out time each January for a Day of Remembrance to honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.
This current moment in space history is a tribute to the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. One of the best ways NASA honors the sacrifice made by the previous crew members is by embracing safety as one of the core values at NASA.
This is the cornerstone for mission success as NASA prepares to send the first Artemis astronauts to the Moon. The four astronauts will venture around the Moon on Artemis II as part of NASA’s path to creating a long-term presence on the lunar surface for science and exploration.
The NASA safety culture benefits astronauts, employees, and even surrounding communities where employees participate in daily life. This is a reminder every day at NASA, and especially on the final Thursday in January.
Going forward, the annual Day of Remembrance leads into Black History Month (observed each February), which brings the opportunity to recognize Black Americans who have made contributions to America and NASA’s space program.
One such person is the late NASA astronaut Ronald McNair, who was honored during the Day of Remembrance. McNair, the second Black astronaut to fly to space, was a member of the Challenger crew. He is one of many African Americans whose contributions helped pave the way for NASA to take giant leaps in space exploration for the Artemis Generation.
May we never forget that it is through the sacrifice and contributions of all that NASA explores for the benefit of all. May we never fail to honor those who have come before us, and may we always remember there is space for everybody – in NASA and all of life.
NASA Stennis Top News
NASA Day of Remembrance Honors Fallen Heroes
NASA’s Stennis Space Center and NASA Shared Services Center leaders commemorate NASA Day of Remembrance on Jan. 25 with a ceremony at the south Mississippi site. Rodney McKellip, NASA Stennis associate director (right), and Ken Newton, NASA Shared Services Center acting executive director, observe a moment of silence as employees honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the crews of Apollo 1, and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.
NASA Marks Halfway Point for Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Certification Series
NASA completed the sixth of 12 scheduled RS-25 engine certification tests in a critical series for future flights of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket as engineers conducted a full-duration hot fire Jan. 27 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
NASA Continues Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Tests with 1st Hot Fire of 2024
NASA continued a critical test series for future flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in support of the Artemis campaign on Jan. 17 with a full-duration hot fire of the RS-25 engine on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
NASA Spinoffs Feature NASA Stennis Developed Technologies
As NASA innovates for the benefit of all, what the agency develops for exploration has the potential to evolve into other technologies with broader use here on Earth. Many of those examples are highlighted in NASA’s annual Spinoff book including dozens of NASA-enabled medical innovations, as well other advancements in 3D printing, robots, and brake designs.
The Pearl River County Leadership Class stands in front of the Thad Cochran Test Stand during a NASA Stennis site tour on Jan. 18. The group learned about the RS-25 engine certification test series underway for future flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and preparations for Green Run testing at the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2) for NASA’s Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) in support of the Artemis program. EUS is expected to fly on the Artemis IV mission. Prior to that time, it will undergo a series of integrated systems tests to demonstrate it is ready to fly. Through Artemis, NASA will send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon. The agency will use what is learned on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.
NASA Stennis
Employees View RS-25 Engine Test
Sitewide employees at NASA’s Stennis Space Center watch the RS-25 test conducted on Jan. 23 as NASA continued a critical test series for future Artemis flights of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The full-duration hot fire on the Fred Haise Test Stand is part of a 12-test series to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company. The new engines will help power SLS rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, beginning with Artemis V.
NASA/Danny Nowlin
NASA Joins Students for Space Day Event
NASA Visitor Relations Specialist Nick Middleton shares a presentation with Woodley Elementary students on Jan. 26 in Hattiesburg. As part of the Artemis Generation, the more than 100 students from five pre-K and kindergarten classes learned about the Moon and space exploration. Through Artemis, NASA will send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon. As NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all, the agency will use what is learned on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap of sending astronauts to Mars.
Maury Vander stands at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he has worked more than 30 years supporting NASA’s mission of space exploration.
NASA/Danny Nowlin
One thing has remained constant throughout Maury Vander’s career with NASA – the satisfaction of being part of a team working to innovate and benefit the agency and the aerospace industry at large.
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan unveiled plans for a National Aerospace Plane (NASP). In May 1992, NASA’s Stennis Space Center was selected to initially test new materials for the NASP that would be able to withstand the extreme change in temperature the plane would endure when it flew into Earth’s orbit and then landed in destinations across the globe. In January 1993, foundations for the various tanks needed for the new High Heat Flux Facility at NASA Stennis were poured. Even though the facility was designed to support the NASP project, NASA Stennis leaders and engineers are always thinking towards the future. To that end, they not only equipped the facility to handle testing of NASP components but designed it with the ability to evolve into a versatile test complex able to handle a range of test projects. Thus, even after the NASP program was cancelled, the leadership at NASA Stennis continued to evolve the test facility to meet the needs of the future. What began as the High Heat Flux Facility is now cell 1 on the E-2 Test Stand at the south Mississippi site.
Lagniappe is published monthly by the Office of Communications at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. The NASA Stennis office may be contacted by at 228-688-3333 (phone); ssc-office-of-communications@mail.nasa.gov (email); or NASA OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS, Attn: LAGNIAPPE, Mail code IA00, Building 1111 Room 173, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529 (mail).
The Lagniappe staff includes: Managing Editor Lacy Thompson, Editor Bo Black, and photographer Danny Nowlin.
NASA to Study Effects of Radio Noise on Lunar Science
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
In February 2024, Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission will launch to the Moon’s South Polar region, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative. This mission is part of CLPS’ ongoing effort to bring down the cost for science investigations and technology demonstrations going to the Moon and to make them more routine in the lead-up to the Artemis landings later this decade. Among the NASA-provided research flying aboard IM-1 will be an instrument designed to observe the Moon’s surface environment in radio frequencies, to determine how natural and human-generated activity near the surface interacts with and could interfere with science conducted there.
The instrument is called the Radio wave Observation at the Lunar Surface of the photo-Electron Sheath (ROLSES) and is designed to study the dynamic radio energy environment near the lunar surface. It will launch aboard Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander.
In February 2024, Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission will launch to the Moon’s South Pole as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Among the NASA provided payloads will be an instrument called the Radio wave Observation at the Lunar Surface of the photo-Electron Sheath (ROLSES) designed to observe the Moon’s surface environment in radio frequencies, to determine how natural and human-generated activity near the surface interacts with and could interfere with science conducted there. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio James Tralie (ADNET Systems, Inc.). Lead Producer Natchimuthuk Gopalswamy (NASA/GSFC). This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14516
The ROLSES instrument project is headed up by Dr. Natchimuthuk “Nat” Gopalswamy of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Gopalswamy describes the design of ROLSES as being a very simple system. “We have four antennas which observe whatever radio emissions are present on the Moon [radio emissions are a type of light, or electromagnetic radiation, which have the longest wavelength, or distance between peaks in their energy waves],” said Gopalswamy. “These antennas are very long, about 8 feet (2.5 meters). But for launching they are packed into a small canister, about 8 inches (21 centimeters) in size.”
The main purpose of ROLSES will be to account for the variety of radiation generated by cosmic phenomena, as well as by human activity on Earth. “There are varying sorts of radio emissions,” said Gopalswamy. “These include activity on Earth that produces radio interference at the lunar surface. And then we have natural radio emissions, coming from Jupiter, coming from the Sun, even coming from our Milky Way galaxy. There is even an emission from Earth that is associated with the Aurora.”
The trick, as Gopalswamy points out, is that each of these types of radio noise produces its own dynamic spectral pattern, somewhat similar to the way in which fingerprints are unique for each person. “The spectrum of each event looks different from the others,” he said. “Therefore, it’s easy for us to identify which is coming from Jupiter, or from the Sun, or from the galaxy, which is very low-frequency background radiation.”
Another source of radio interference will be the lunar lander itself. “Landers obviously have mechanisms, motors and things; they all will produce some kind of radio emission, and that will also be recorded in the spectrum,” said Gopalswamy. “And those will produce distinct features which show that there is interference going on at this particular location.” By identifying this type of interference, scientists can work to sift through the noise it creates when analyzing data returned by instruments like ROLSES. That way, they can hone in on real data, and not “noise” created by non-natural processes.
The four ROLSES antennas are also mounted at two different heights, meaning that once they begin taking measurements, they can provide information on variations in the cloud of negatively charged electrons blasted from the lunar surface by sunlight, and how it changes between different heights. “This way, we can measure the electrons’ density based upon distance from the surface,” said Gopalswamy. “Then we can see how the number of electrons decreases as you go farther from the surface.”
This information, he points out, will be essential when it comes time to design and build future lunar observatories, since the radio frequency interference from the electron cloud and from Earth-based radio transmitters will need to be accounted for.
These radio observations will help build what Gopalswamy calls a library of knowledge on the lunar environment. “That way we will know if we’re at this latitude, at this height, we’re going to have this type of radiation and emission background, and we’ll be able to design our hardware accordingly.” This will aid NASA in its mission to return humans to the Moon over the next decade and beyond, and to establish a sustainable, long-term presence.
ROLSES and IM-1 are part of the agency’s CLPS initiative, which was developed with the goal of creating a lunar economy through commercial deliveries of NASA-provided payloads. With CLPS, private companies of varying sizes and backgrounds are responsible for designing the landers and procuring the launch vehicles, allowing NASA to focus its efforts on designing the instrument payloads. When the agency’s Artemis program establishes a human presence on the Moon, the data gathered by instruments onboard CLPS flights will help astronauts conduct more lunar science.
