{"id":10955,"date":"2024-05-15T18:03:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T22:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/the-marshall-star-for-may-15-2024\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T18:03:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T22:03:54","slug":"the-marshall-star-for-may-15-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/the-marshall-star-for-may-15-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024<\/h2>\n

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15 Min Read<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Marshall Star for May 15, 2024\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Visits Marshall<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Navy Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his wife Christine Grady, and son Luke Grady talk with Nick Benjamin, right, a payload operations director for the International Space Station, at the Payload Operations Integration Center during the vice chairman\u2019s tour of NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center on May 6. (NASA\/Charles Beason)<\/p>\n

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Marshall Team Members Honored with Space Flight Awareness Awards<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\"Astronaut<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Astronaut Victor Glover, far right, and Bill Hill, second from right, director of safety and mission assurance at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center join Marshall honorees for a photo op at the Space Flight Awareness Honoree Ceremony on May 4 in Orlando, Florida. Honoree awards recognize civil servants and industry partners for outstanding work and dedication to astronaut safety. From left, Cody Goodman, David Starrett, John Ivester, Lisa Hughes, Greg Snell, Megan Vansant, Megan Hines, Karl Nelson, Les Johnson, Shawn Reagan, Hill, and Glover. Marshall honorees also include Maggie Freeman, who was unable to attend the awards event. (NASA)<\/p>\n

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NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test Eyes Next Launch Opportunity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) teams continue working remaining open tasks in preparation for the agency\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. The teams now are targeting a launch date of no earlier than\u00a03:43 p.m. CDT\u00a0May 21, to complete additional testing.<\/p>\n

On May 11, the ULA team successfully replaced a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket\u2019s Centaur upper stage. The team also performed re-pressurization and system purges, and tested the new valve, which performed normally.<\/p>\n

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard is seen as it is rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test on May 4 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Atlas V and Starliner remain in the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.<\/p>\n

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, still in preflight quarantine, returned to Houston on\u00a0May 10\u00a0to spend extra time with their families as prelaunch operations progress. The duo will fly back to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner to the space station as part of the agency\u2019s Commercial Crew Program<\/a>. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth and making a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.<\/p>\n

After successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station.<\/p>\n

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I Am Artemis: Lauren Fisher<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not many music majors get to be hands-on with building a Moon rocket, but Lauren Fisher has always enjoyed the unusual.<\/p>\n

Now a structural materials engineer at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, Fisher works on a key adapter for NASA\u2019s\u00a0SLS (Space Launch System) rocket<\/a>\u00a0for the first crewed missions of NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n

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\"Lauren<\/a><\/figure>
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Lauren Fisher stands in front of the launch vehicle stage adapter for NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The hardware will be used for the agency\u2019s Artemis III mission that will land astronauts on the lunar surface. Fisher works with a number of teams across the agency and believes her background in music education has been an asset to her work as an engineer: \u201cTeaching skills help you look at things from a different perspective and helps with understanding how others might approach a situation \u2013 all very helpful when I\u2019m working with teams.\u201d<\/div>\n
NASA\/Sam Lott<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Manufactured at Marshall by NASA, lead contractor Teledyne Brown Engineering, and the Jacobs Space Exploration Group\u2019s ESSCA contract, the cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter partially encloses the rocket\u2019s interim cryogenic propulsion stage and connects it to the core stage below and the Orion stage adapter above. The launch vehicle stage adapter also protects avionics and electrical devices from extreme vibration and acoustic conditions during launch and ascent.<\/p>\n

Fisher and the\u00a0thermal protection system<\/a>\u00a0team develop and apply the spray-on foam that acts as insulation and protects the adapter and all its systems from the extreme pressures and temperatures it\u2019ll face during flight. The thermal protection system for the component, unlike other parts of the rocket, is applied by hand using a spray gun. When first applied, the insulation is yellow, but after time and exposure to the Sun, it turns orange.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking the same stuff someone might use to insulate their attic, except making it for cryogenic atmospheres, and spraying it all over a giant piece of hardware that will help launch us to the Moon,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cWith my work for NASA\u2019s Space Launch System rocket, I get to play with foam and glue. I like to call it arts and crafts engineering!\u201d<\/p>\n

Although engineering runs in her family, Fisher initially graduated from University of Southern Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts in music performance and an interest in music education. She developed an interest in carbon-based polymers, and decided to go back to school, completing a chemical engineering degree with a polymeric materials track from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Her new degree led to an opportunity to work for the thermal protection system team at Marshall.<\/p>\n

When Fisher isn\u2019t in the office, she likes travelling to unusual places and checking items off her self-described \u201cBizarre Bucket List.\u201d Recently, she went to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to watch the famous groundhog predict an early spring.<\/p>\n

Being part of the Artemis Generation is incredibly inspiring for Fisher, who takes pride in her work supporting the first three Artemis missions, including\u00a0Artemis II<\/a>, the first crewed mission under Artemis, in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m literally building the hardware that will send the first woman to deep space,\u201d Fisher says. \u201cWatching our rocket take shape, I\u2019m like \u2018you see that thing? I did that; that\u2019s mine. See that one? My team did that one. We did that, and see this?\u2019\u201d She beams with pride. \u201cYou can do that, too. Just being a part of the generation that\u2019s changing the workforce and changing the space program\u00a0\u2014<\/sub>\u00a0it gives me goosebumps.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA\u2019s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft and Gateway in orbit around the Moon and commercial human landing systems, next-generational spacesuits, and rovers on the lunar surface. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.<\/p>\n

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NASA Licenses 3D-Printable Superalloy to Benefit US Economy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

NASA\u2019s investment in a breakthrough superalloy developed for the extreme temperatures and harsh conditions of air and spaceflight is on the threshold of paying commercial dividends.<\/p>\n

The agency is licensing its invention, dubbed \u201cGRX-810<\/a>,\u201d to four American companies, a practice that benefits the United States economy as a return on investment of taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n

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The NASA insignia is 3D printed using the GRX-810 superalloy.<\/div>\n
NASA\/Jordan Salkin<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

GRX-810 is a 3D-printable high-temperature material that will lead to stronger, more durable airplane and spacecraft parts that can withstand more punishment before reaching their breaking point.<\/p>\n

The co-exclusive license agreements will allow the companies to produce and market GRX-810 to airplane and rocket equipment manufacturers as well as the entire supply chain.<\/p>\n

The four co-exclusive licensees are:<\/p>\n