Elastocaloric Refrigeration for Spaceflight Applications (ESRA)

Jun Cui

Iowa State University

ESI23 Cui Quadchart.pdf

Elastocaloric materials heat up when exposed to a mechanical force and cool down, removing the same amount of heat from their environment, when the force is removed.  Professor Cui will use the recently established DFT/machine learning guided metals development methodology to unravel the complex relationships between compositions, crystal structures, phase transformation, and fatigue behavior of the elastocaloric materials. He will develop novel, new elastocaloric materials and use them as the basis of a high-performance refrigeration system for NASA exploration applications.

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Loura Hall

Transparent Superconductors for Single-photon Detectors

Manuel Quevedo-Lopez

University Of Texas, Dallas

ESI23 Quevedo-Lopez Quadchart.pdf

Current SNSPD’s use a thin, superconducting film to detect photons. These films are highly reflective and must be made very thin, on the order of a few nanometers, in order to allow light to interact with their entire thickness. This leads to numerous drawbacks including lower sensitivity and higher signal noise. Professor Lopez will work to develop a new generation of transparent superconducting films for SNSPD applications to overcome these performance limitations.

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Loura Hall

Metamaterial Particles for Orbital Environment Remediation

Davide Guzzetti

Auburn University

ECF 2023 Quadchart Guzzetti.pdf

Professor Guzzetti will study and design small metamaterial particles which can be predictably moved by forces that exist on orbit like the Earth’s magnetic field or heat flux. These Programmable Metamaterial Particle Ensembles (PMPEs) could be deployed as dust clouds and used to deorbit small (<1cm), orbital debris.

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Loura Hall

NASA Conducts Full-Duration Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Test

NASA continued a key RS-25 engine test series for future Artemis flights of the agency’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket March 22 with a hot fire on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. It marked the 10^th hot fire in a 12-test series to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3 Harris Technologies company. The NASA Stennis test team fired the certification engine for 500 seconds, or the same amount of time engines must fire to help launch the SLS rocket to space with astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft. Operators powered the engine up to a level of 113%, which is beyond the 111% power level new RS-25 engines use to provide additional thrust. Testing up to the 113% power level provides a margin of operational safety. Newly produced engines will power NASA’s SLS rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond, beginning with Artemis V. For Artemis missions I-IV, NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne modified 16 former space shuttle engines for use on the SLS rocket. Four RS-25 engines fire simultaneously to help launch each SLS rocket, producing up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust. Through Artemis, NASA will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all. RS-25 tests at NASA Stennis are conducted by a diverse team of operators from NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Syncom Space Services, prime contractor for site facilities and operations.

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LaToya Dean

NASA Johnson Space Center to Host Visit by Texas Governor Greg Abbott

March 22, 2024

NASA Johnson Space Center to Host Visit by Texas Governor Greg Abbott

NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will host a Tuesday, March 26, visit by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who will make a major announcement on the future of the space industry in Texas.

Media are invited to document the governor’s tour of NASA’s Mission Control Center when he speaks with native Texan and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara aboard the International Space Station.

Abbott will be joined by NASA Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, Texas Representative Greg Bonnen and other state and space industry leaders.

U.S. media wishing to attend in person must respond to NASA’s Johnson Space Center by 5 p.m. CDT Monday, March 25, by calling the Johnson Newsroom at 281-483-5111 or e-mailing jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. Media must arrive at Johnson’s main gate no later than 9:30 a.m. March 26 to pick up credentials and receive instructions.

NASA will provide live coverage of the Mission Control tour and call to the space station beginning at 10:15 a.m. on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.

The space industry announcement is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. in NASA’s Space Vehicle Mockup Facility.

Discover more about NASA Johnson, the hub of human spaceflight, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/johnson/about-johnson/

-end-

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

kelly.humphries@nasa.gov

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Wendy K. Avedisian