NASA Science, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Concludes

The first flight of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery service carrying agency science and technology, as well as other customer payloads intended for the Moon, has come to an end. After 10 days and 13 hours in space, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One made a controlled re-entry on Earth over open water in the South Pacific at approximately 4:04 p.m. EST on Jan. 18.

Astrobotic was the first commercial vendor to launch a mission to the Moon as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, which aims to advance capabilities for science, exploration or commercial development of the Moon under the agency’s Artemis campaign. There are seven additional CLPS deliveries awarded to multiple American companies, with more awards expected this year and for years to come. The next CLPS commercial flight is targeted for no earlier than February.

Following a successful launch and separation from the rocket on Jan. 8, the spacecraft experienced a propulsion issue preventing Peregrine from softly landing on the Moon. After analysis and recommendations from NASA and the space community, Astrobotic determined the best option for minimizing risk and ensuring responsible disposal of the spacecraft would be to maintain Peregrine’s trajectory toward Earth, where it burned up upon re-entry.

“Space exploration is a daring task, and the science and spaceflight data collected from Astrobotic’s lunar lander is better preparing NASA for future CLPS deliveries and crewed missions under Artemis,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The future of exploration is strengthened by collaboration. Together with our commercial partners, NASA is supporting a growing commercial space economy that will help take humanity back to the Moon, and beyond.”

Four out five NASA payloads on Peregrine successfully powered on and collected data while in flight:

• Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS)
• Near-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS)
• Neutron Spectrometer System (NSS)
• Peregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS)

As NASA’s LRA (Laser Retroreflector Array) instrument is a passive experiment, and operations could only take place on the lunar surface.

NASA science teams are currently working to interpret the results. Preliminary data suggests the instruments have measured natural radiation and chemical compounds in the area around the lander.

“Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission provided an invaluable opportunity to test our science and instruments in space, optimizing our process for collecting data and providing a benchmark for future missions,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The data collected in flight sets the stage for understanding how some of our instruments may behave in the harsh environment of space when some of the duplicates fly on future CLPS flights.”

NASA is committed to supporting its U.S. commercial vendors as they navigate the challenges of sending science and technology to the surface of the Moon.

For more information about CLPS, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

-end-

Faith McKie / Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
faith.d.mckie@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov

Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston
281-383-5111
nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov

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Roxana Bardan

Deputy Discovery and Systems Health Technical Area Lead Dr. Rodney Martin

“[In] everyone’s life, they have a pivotal moment when they ask the question, ‘What am I really doing? What am I here for?’ … I’m reminded of a credo that I came up [with] through the evolution of my engagement of a whole bunch of recreational pursuits [including being a marathoner, ultrarunner, and Ironman triathlete] … as well as my professional pursuits. It’s threefold, and here’s what it is:

“[First,] I’m here because I want to be able to challenge myself, to see how much I can squeeze out of me – whatever that is, whatever ‘me’ is. [For example,] I applied to the astronaut candidate program twice, but I failed to make it to the second round. I figured I’d give a go at throwing my hat in the ring! Like with [an earlier career experience of failing out of] the Navy Nuclear Power Training Program, failure in one domain just means that you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and find a new direction – often pursuing stretch goals that are outside of your comfort zone.

“[Second,] I want to serve others. I want to find a way to be of use to others, whether it’s in a structured manner or unstructured manner, whether it’s volunteering or just being a civil servant. I really focus on this service aspect; I did become a supervisor about three years ago, and I really take that role seriously. I really have a service-based leadership philosophy. … That’s why I think [mentoring student interns] represented such a [career] highlight for me, because I felt like I was serving their needs. I was helping to really educate them and [provide] knowledge that I want to … transfer to them, to really inspire that next generation of folks.

“… And the third – which I think NASA fits beautifully – is, ‘How do I build the future? How do I help build the future?’

“So again, it’s challenge, service, and building the future. If I don’t do anything else in my entire life except for those three things, I’m at least getting something right. I might be getting everything else entirely wrong, but I can at least work toward those three things.”

— Dr. Rodney Martin, Deputy Discovery and Systems Health Technical Area Lead, NASA’s Ames Research Center

Image Credit: NASA / Brandon Torres
Interviewer: NASA / Michelle Zajac

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Michelle Zajac

NASA’S OSIRIS-REx Curation Team Reveals Remaining Asteroid Sample

The astromaterials curation team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has completed the disassembly of the OSIRIS-REx sampler head to reveal the remainder of the asteroid Bennu sample inside. On Jan. 10, they successfully removed two stubborn fasteners that had prevented the final steps of opening the Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head.

Erika Blumenfeld, creative lead for the Advanced Imaging and Visualization of Astromaterials (AIVA) and Joe Aebersold, AIVA project lead, captured this photograph of the open TAGSAM head including the asteroid material inside using manual high-resolution precision photography and a semi-automated focus stacking procedure. The result is an image that shows extreme detail of the sample.

Next, the curation team will remove the round metal collar and prepare the glovebox to transfer the remaining sample from the TAGSAM head into pie-wedge sample trays.

These trays will be photographed before the sample is weighed, packaged, and stored at Johnson, home to the most extensive collection of astromaterials in the world. The remaining sample material includes dust and rocks up to about 0.4 inch (one cm) in size. The final mass of the sample will be determined in the coming weeks. The curation team members had already collected 2.48 ounces (70.3 grams) of asteroid material from the sample hardware before the lid was removed, surpassing the agency’s goal of bringing at least 2.12 ounces (60 grams) to Earth.

The curation team will release a catalog of all the Bennu samples later this year, which will allow scientists and institutions around the world to submit requests for research or display.

Download high-resolution image here

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Wendy K. Avedisian

NASA Goddard Experts to Take Part in February STEM Conference 

Alongside experts from academia and industry, leaders from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will be on hand at the Feb. 25–29 PowerSource Global Summit conference in Orlando. Dr. Christyl Johnson, Goddard’s deputy center director for technology and research investments, will deliver the conference’s keynote address on Feb. 26, sharing insights on space exploration developments as they relate to the 2024 summit’s theme: “Women in STEAM Powering the Metaverse.” “STEAM” adds “arts” to the “STEM” science, technology, engineering, and math acronym.   

“As NASA embarks toward a sustained human presence on the Moon and onward to Mars, it’s critical that we underpin our efforts with a diverse and inclusive community,” Johnson said. “I look forward to sharing NASA’s latest efforts at the conference and to bringing back ideas and perspectives that will help ensure our exploration reflects humanity’s values and aspirations.” 

Johnson has been a deputy center director at Goddard since 2010. In her current position, she manages the center’s research and development portfolio and formulates the center’s future science mission and technology goals.

In addition to Johnson’s keynote, NASA Chief Information Officer Jeff Seaton will attend and present on a panel, “Cybersecurity in a Hackable World,” at 7:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 27. 

Other Goddard speakers at the conference include Chief Digital Engineer Aaron Comis; research scientist Dr. Bethany Theiling; Dr. Evana Gizzi, an AI research lead at the center; and systems engineer Matthew Vaerewyck. The four will present an interactive panel, “From Vision to Reality,” that showcases Goddard’s digital engineering design capabilities. The panel will be 10:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 26. 

Dr. Omar Hatamleh, Goddard’s chief adviser for AI and innovation, will participate in a panel discussion, “Medical Technology’s Transformative Impact,” at 11:45 a.m. EST on Feb. 27. 

The private sector-led PowerSource Global Summit developed out of a 2016 collaboration that Johnson spearheaded to boost female representation in STEM fields. 

“Continuing dialogue allows us to move the needle forward to ensure a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workforce where barriers in STEAM careers cease to exist, particularly for women,” Johnson said. “That’s why it’s important for Goddard to participate in summits like PowerSource that convene STEAM professionals to share best practices and learn from one another. We need to engage the next generation, the Artemis Generation, to build a diverse future workforce for exploration.” 

In the conference’s current form, it allows diverse experts across disciplines to exchange ideas about technology’s influences on society, according to its website. The February conference takes place at World Center Marriott in Orlando. 

Goddard is NASA’s premiere space flight complex. The center is home to the nation’s largest organization of scientists, engineers and technologists who build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study Earth, the Sun, our solar system and the universe.

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Rob Garner