\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Marshall Star for June 5, 2024\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tvc-pelfrey.jpg?w=1536\")
<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nLIFTOFF! NASA Astronauts Pilot First Starliner Crewed Test to Station<\/strong><\/h2>\nNASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
As part of NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test, the astronauts lifted off at 9:52 a.m. CDT June 5 on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on an end-to-end test of the Starliner system.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cft-liftoff.jpg?w=1665\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nA United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test is the first launch with astronauts of the Boeing spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency\u2019s Commercial Crew Program.<\/div>\nNASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cTwo bold NASA astronauts are well on their way on this historic first test flight of a brand-new spacecraft,\u201d said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cBoeing\u2019s Starliner marks a new chapter of American exploration. Human spaceflight is a daring task \u2013 but that\u2019s why it\u2019s worth doing. It\u2019s an exciting time for NASA, our commercial partners, and the future of exploration. Go Starliner, Go Butch and Suni!\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of\u00a0NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program<\/a>, the flight test will help validate the transportation system, launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, in-orbit operations capabilities, and return to Earth with astronauts aboard as the agency prepares to certify Starliner for rotational missions to the space station. Starliner previously flew two uncrewed orbital flights, including a test to and from the space station, along with a pad abort demonstration.<\/p>\n\u201cWith Starliner\u2019s launch, separation from the rocket, and arrival on orbit, Boeing\u2019s Crew Flight Test is right on track,\u201d said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing\u2019s Commercial Crew Program. \u201cEveryone is focused on giving Suni and Butch a safe, comfortable, ride and performing a successful test mission from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Starliner\u2019s flight, Boeing will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Houston. NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency\u2019s Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlying crew on Starliner represents over a decade of work by the Commercial Crew Program and our partners at Boeing and ULA,\u201d said Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center. \u201cFor many of us, this is a career-defining moment bringing on a new crew transportation capability for our agency and our nation. We are going to take it one step at a time, putting Starliner through its paces, and remaining vigilant until Butch and Suni safely touch down back on Earth at the conclusion of this test flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starliner will autonomously dock to the forward-facing port of the station\u2019s Harmony module at approximately 11:15 a.m. June 6, and remain at the orbital laboratory for about a week.<\/p>\n
Wilmore and Williams will help verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system, and by maneuvering the thrusters, among other tests during flight.<\/p>\n
After a safe arrival at the space station, Wilmore and Williams will join the Expedition 71 crew of NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.<\/p>\n
Mission coverage will continue on NASA Television channels throughout Starliner\u2019s flight and resume on NASA+ prior to docking.<\/p>\n
Follow mission updates here<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Huntsville Operations Support Center<\/a> (HOSC) at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center provides engineering and mission operations support for the space station, the Commercial Crew Program, and Artemis missions, as well as science and technology demonstration missions. The\u00a0Payload Operations Integration Center<\/a>\u00a0within HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The Commercial Crew Program support team at Marshall provides crucial programmatic, engineering, and safety and mission assurance expertise for launch vehicles, spacecraft propulsion, and integrated vehicle performance.<\/p>\nA flag-raising ceremony<\/a> was held May 2 outside the HOSC for Marshall\u2019s support of the mission. The ceremony was a joint effort between the Payload and Mission Operations Division and Commercial Crew Program team.<\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nCenter Director Joseph Pelfrey Outlines Marshall\u2019s Future at 29th Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit<\/strong><\/h2>\nBy Rick Smith<\/em><\/p>\nJoseph Pelfrey, director of NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, was a key presenter at the 29th annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville on May 29 and 30.<\/p>\n
The event drew some 300 attendees, including government representatives, members of the public, and industry and academic stakeholders from across the corridor\u2019s five-state region, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tvc-pelfrey.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nNASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Joseph Pelfrey, left, addresses an audience of academic and industry stakeholders at the 29th annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Nashville on May 30.<\/div>\nNASA\/Chris Blair<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPelfrey addressed summit attendees May 30 as part of a session on \u201cExploring and Discovering Through Science, Research, and Space.\u201d He noted that Marshall will embrace a transformative shift, including a transition toward small- and medium-sized programs enabled by strategic partnerships, helping NASA prepare for a future in which astronauts live and work on the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to Mars.<\/p>\n
That paradigm shift will rely heavily on \u201cthe talent, innovation, and infrastructure available in the Tennessee Valley, (enabling) us to accelerate progress in space exploration, scientific research, and technology development,\u201d Pelfrey added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also emphasized that there is much more to come for Marshall, with the center continuing to serve as a trusted technical solutions provider for NASA and its partners. Pelfrey highlighted how harnessing the center\u2019s deep technical expertise for future missions will help drive innovation, reduce costs, and accelerate shared goals for advanced space exploration.<\/p>\n
Pelfrey offered a detailed look at NASA\u2019s successful Artemis I<\/a> launch in 2022 and the upcoming Artemis II<\/a> mission, which will send the first woman and first person of color to deep space to conduct a lunar fly-by \u2013 the final checkout before Artemis III<\/a> lands Americans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. Pelfrey also discussed Marshall\u2019s role in managing NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System<\/a>) rocket, the backbone of the agency\u2019s Artemis-era\u00a0endeavors, and identified new and upcoming programs and efforts geared to expand the center\u2019s role in deep-space science and exploration.<\/p>\nHe noted that much of that work has had a direct effect on the state of Tennessee and on industry and academia across the corridor.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/tvc-sls-4.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nTrey Cate, right, SLS strategic communications manager at Marshall, talks with TVC National Summit attendees about the Space Launch System and NASA\u2019s Artemis Program during a break between panel sessions at the May 29-30 event, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville. <\/div>\nNASA\/Chris Blair<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn fiscal year 2021 alone, NASA\u2019s economic impact supported more than 1,600 jobs and generated more than $340 million in Tennessee alone, including $119 million in labor income. More broadly, since 2015, NASA has enacted 97 Cooperative Agreements with partners across the five-state corridor. Eighty-two of those were with universities, including six minority-serving institutions. Of the 15 industry agreements, 11 created partnerships with small businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is truly an exciting time to live and work in the Tennessee Valley,\u201d Pelfrey said, \u201cand to be part of the space community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other summit speakers included Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee\u2019s 3rd district, and Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee\u2019s 7th district; Corey Hinderstein, deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; Dr. Steven Streiffer, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Dr. Robert Lindquist, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
Panels and seminars included discussion of American security, global economic leadership, new energy solutions, workforce development, and the emergence of AI technology. More than 20 businesses and academic institutions \u2013 including representatives from SLS, the Human Landing Systems Program Office<\/a>, the Space Nuclear Propulsion Project Office<\/a>, and other Marshall organizations \u2013 engaged with summit participants and promoted current and future NASA endeavors at a trade-show expo in the Vanderbilt Student Life Center.<\/p>\nThe Tennessee Valley Corridor was founded in 1995 to foster collaboration between government, academia, and industry, to champion regional economic leadership, and to promote partnerships in\u00a0national security,\u00a0science, space, transportation, environment, energy, education, and workforce development. Its 2023 national summit was held in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
Smith, an Aeyon\/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.<\/em><\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nDavey Jones Named Marshall\u2019s Center Strategy Lead<\/strong><\/h2>\nDavey Jones has been named center strategy lead at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, following the reassignment of Jeramie Broadway, effective June 2.<\/p>\n
As center strategy lead for the Office of the Center Director, Jones will lead and implement the director\u2019s strategic vision, leveraging and integrating Marshall\u2019s strategic business units, in coordination and collaboration with all center organizations, and to ensure alignment with the agency\u2019s strategic priorities.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"Davey](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/dnb-0835.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nDavey Jones has been named center strategy lead at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center.<\/div>\nNASA\/Danielle Burleson<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHe moves into his new role after being the manager of the Program Planning & Control Office within the HLS (Human Landing Systems) Program at Marshall since 2020. In that capacity, Jones\u2019 primary role was managing the program\u2019s budget, schedule, risk, and other programmatic functions. He has worked in multiple roles throughout his career, focused on the formulation of key programs and projects for Marshall, including development of technology upgrades for life support systems on the International Space Station, formulation of the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B vehicle and exploration upper stage, and leading various human exploration architecture studies for the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n
From 2017 to 2020, he was the Environmental Control and Life Support System Integration and Development manager for the International Space Station Projects Office in the Human Exploration Development and Operations Office. Jones was senior technical assistant to Marshall\u2019s associate director, technical, from 2016-2017. Prior to that, he was SLS stages alternate lead systems engineer from 2014-2016. A U.S. Navy veteran, he began his NASA career in 2008 in the Advanced Concepts Office.<\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 honors include a NASA Early Career Achievement Medal, Marshall Engineering Director\u2019s Award, and a Human Exploration Framework Team Group Achievement Award.<\/p>\n
A native of Lakeland, Florida, he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nLucy Images Reveal Asteroid Dinkinesh to be Surprisingly Complex<\/strong><\/h2>\nImages from the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh by\u00a0NASA\u2019s Lucy spacecraft<\/a>\u00a0show a trough on Dinkinesh where a large piece \u2013 about a quarter of the asteroid \u2013 suddenly shifted, a ridge, and a separate contact binary satellite (now known as Selam). Scientists say this complicated structure shows that Dinkinesh and Selam have significant internal strength and a complex, dynamic history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Images](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/dinkyselammulti-fullres.png?w=963\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nPanels a, b, and c each show stereographic image pairs of the asteroid Dinkinesh taken by the NASA Lucy Spacecraft\u2019s L\u2019LORRI Instrument in the minutes around closest approach on Nov. 1, 2023. The yellow and rose dots indicate the trough and ridge features, respectively. These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. Panel d shows a side view of Dinkinesh and its satellite Selam taken a few minutes after closest approach.<\/div>\nNASA\/GSFC\/SwRI\/Johns Hopkins APL\/NOIRLab<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWe want to understand the strengths of small bodies in our solar system because that\u2019s critical for understanding how planets like Earth got here,\u201d said Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator at the Boulder, Colorado, branch of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. \u201cBasically, the planets formed when zillions of smaller objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids, ran into each other. How objects behave when they hit each other, whether they break apart or stick together, has a lot to do with their strength and internal structure.\u201d Levison is lead author of a\u00a0paper on these observations<\/a>\u00a0published May 29 in Nature.<\/p>\nResearchers think that Dinkinesh is revealing its internal structure by how it has responded to stress. Over millions of years rotating in the sunlight, the tiny forces coming from the thermal radiation emitted from the asteroid\u2019s warm surface\u00a0generated a small torque<\/a>\u00a0that caused Dinkinesh to gradually rotate faster, building up centrifugal stresses until part of the asteroid shifted into a more elongated shape. This event likely caused debris to enter into a close orbit, which became the raw material that produced the ridge and satellite.<\/p>\nIf Dinkinesh were much weaker, more like a fluid pile of sand, its particles would have gradually moved toward the equator and flown off into orbit as it spun faster. However, the images suggest that it was able to hold together longer, more like a rock, with more strength than a fluid, eventually giving way under stress and fragmenting into large pieces. (Although the amount of strength needed to fragment a small asteroid like Dinkinesh is miniscule compared to most rocks on Earth.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trough suggests an abrupt failure, more an earthquake with a gradual buildup of stress and then a sudden release, instead of a slow process like a sand dune forming,\u201d said Keith Noll of NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, project scientist for Lucy and a co-author of the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>On Nov. 1, 2023, NASA\u2019s Lucy spacecraft flew by the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh. Now, the mission has released pictures from Lucy\u2019s Long Range Reconnaissance Imager taken over a roughly three-hour period, providing the best views of the asteroid to date. During the flyby, Lucy discovered that Dinkinesh has a small moon, which the mission named \u201cSelam,\u201d a greeting in the Amharic language meaning \u201cpeace.\u201d Lucy is the first mission designed to visit the Jupiter Trojans, two swarms of asteroids trapped in Jupiter\u2019s orbit that may be \u201cfossils\u201d from the era of planet formation. (NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThese features tell us that Dinkinesh has some strength, and they let us do a little historical reconstruction to see how this asteroid evolved,\u201d Levison said. \u201cIt broke, things moved apart and formed a disk of material during that failure, some of which rained back onto the surface to make the ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers think some of the material in the disk formed the moon Selam, which is\u00a0actually two objects touching each other<\/a>, a configuration called a contact binary. Details of how this unusual moon formed remain mysterious.<\/p>\nDinkinesh and its satellite are the first two of 11 asteroids that Lucy\u2019s team plans to explore over its 12-year journey. After skimming the inner edge of the main asteroid belt, Lucy is now heading back toward Earth for a gravity assist in December 2024. That close flyby will propel the spacecraft back through the main asteroid belt, where it will observe asteroid Donaldjohanson in 2025, and then on to the first of the encounters with the Trojan asteroids that lead and trail Jupiter in its orbit of the Sun beginning in 2027.<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s principal investigator is based out of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built and operates the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA\u2019s Discovery Program. NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Discovery Program for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nNASA\u2019s Europa Clipper Unpacks in Florida<\/strong><\/h2>\nCrews rotated to vertical then lifted NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper spacecraft from its protective shipping container after it arrived at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center on May 28.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/ksc-20240528-ph-kls02-0025orig.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nTechnicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center prepare to rotate the agency\u2019s largest planetary mission spacecraft, Europa Clipper, to a vertical position May 28 as part of prelaunch processing.<\/div>\nNASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe spacecraft, which will collect data to help scientists determine if Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa could support life, arrived in a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane at Kennedy\u2019s\u00a0Launch and Landing Facility<\/a>\u00a0on May 23. The hardware traveled more than 2,500 miles from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California where it was assembled. The team transported\u00a0Europa Clipper<\/a>\u00a0to the facility and will perform a number of activities to prepare it for launch, including attaching the high gain antenna, affixing solar arrays to power the spacecraft, and loading propellants that will help guide the spacecraft to its destination.<\/p>\nOn board are nine science instruments to gather detailed measurements while Europa Clipper performs approximately 50 close flybys of the Jovian moon. Research suggests an ocean twice the volume of all the Earth\u2019s oceans exists under Europa\u2019s icy crust.<\/p>\n
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy\u2019s Launch Complex 39A. The launch period opens Oct. 10.<\/p>\n
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.<\/p>\n
\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nTravel Through Data from Space in New 3D Instagram Experiences<\/strong><\/h2>\nA new project provides special 3D \u201cexperiences\u201d on Instagram using data from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes through augmented reality (AR), allowing users to travel virtually through objects in space. These new experiences of astronomical objects \u2013 including the debris fields of exploded stars \u2013 are being released to help celebrate the 25th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of operations from Chandra, NASA\u2019s flagship X-ray telescope.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"These](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/ar.jpg?w=864\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThese four images showcase the 2D captured views of the cosmic objects included in the new augmented reality 3D release. Presenting multiwavelength images of the Vela Pulsar, Tycho\u2019s Supernova Remnant, Helix Nebula, and Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula that include Chandra X-ray data as well as optical data in each, and for the Helix, additional infrared and ultraviolet data.<\/div>\nVela Pulsar: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; Optical: NASA\/ESA\/STScI; Image processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/J. Schmidt, K. Arcand; Tycho\u2019s Supernova Remnant: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; Optical: DSS; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk; Helix Nebula: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; UV: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SSC; Optical: NASA\/ STScI\/M. Meixner, ESA\/NRAO\/T.A. Rector; Infrared:NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/K. Su; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk and K. Arcand; Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; Optical: NASA\/ESA\/STScI; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/J. Major, L. Frattare, K. Arcand)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn recent years, Instagram experiences (previously referred to as filters) of NASA mission control, the International Space Station, and the Perseverance Rover on Mars have allowed participants to virtually explore what NASA does. This new set of Chandra Instagram filters joins this space-themed collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to bring data from the universe down to earth in this way,\u201d said Kimberly Arcand, visualization and emerging technology scientist at the Chandra X-ray Center. \u201cBy enabling people to access cosmic data on their phones and through AR, it brings Chandra\u2019s amazing discoveries literally right to your fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new Instagram experiences are created from 3D models based on data collected by Chandra and other telescopes along with mathematical models. Traditionally, it has been very difficult to gather 3D data of objects in our galaxy due to their two-dimensional projection on the sky. New instruments and techniques, however, have helped allowed astronomers in recent years to construct more data-driven models of what these distant objects look like in three dimensions.<\/p>\n
These advancements in astronomy have paralleled the explosion of opportunities in virtual, extended, and augmented reality. Such technologies provide virtual digital experiences, which now extend beyond Earth and into the cosmos. This new set of Chandra Instagram experiences was made possible by a collaboration including NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, and students and researchers at Brown University.<\/p>\n
These\u00a0Instagram experiences<\/a>\u00a0also include data sonifications of the celestial objects. Sonification is the process of translating data into sounds and notes so users can hear representations of the data, an accessibility project the Chandra team has led for the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\u201cThese Chandra Instagram experiences are another way to share these cosmic data with the public,\u201d Arcand said. \u201cWe are hoping this helps reach new audiences, especially those who like to get their information through social media.\u201d<\/p>\n
The objects in the new Chandra Instagram experience collection include the Tycho supernova remnant, the Vela Pulsar, the Helix Nebula, the Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula, and the Chandra spacecraft. The 3D models of the first three objects were done in conjunction with Sal Orlando, an astrophysicist at Italy\u2019s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Palmero. The Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula was created with data from Ryan Clairmont, physics researcher and undergraduate at Stanford University. Arcand worked with Brown\u2019s Tom Sgouros and his team, research assistant Alexander Dupuis and undergraduate Healey Koch, on the Chandra Instagram filters.<\/p>\n
The experiences include text that explains what users are looking at.\u00a0The effects are free and\u00a0available on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0on mobile devices for at least six months, and some will remain viewable in perpetuity on the Smithsonian\u2019s Voyager 3D website.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is a lot of rich and beautiful data associated with these models that Healey and I looked to bring in, which we did by creating the textures on the models as well as programming visual effects for displaying them in AR,\u201d Dupuis said.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory\u2019s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. The Chandra X-ray Center is headquartered at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.<\/p>\n
Read more from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory.<\/a><\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nAgency to Measure Moonquakes with Help from InSight Mars Mission<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe most sensitive instrument ever built to measure quakes and meteor strikes on other worlds is getting closer to its journey to the mysterious far side of the Moon. It\u2019s one of two seismometers adapted for the lunar surface from instruments originally designed for NASA\u2019s InSight Mars lander, which recorded more than 1,300 marsquakes before the mission\u2019s\u00a0conclusion<\/a>\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"JPL](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/1-pia26298-fss-move-pre-tilt.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nJPL engineers and technicians prepare NASA\u2019s Farside Seismic Suite for testing in simulated lunar gravity, which is about one-sixth of Earth\u2019s. The payload will gather the agency\u2019s first seismic data from the Moon in nearly 50 years and take the first-ever seismic measurements from the far side.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPart of a payload called\u00a0Farside Seismic Suite<\/a>\u00a0(FSS) that was recently assembled at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the two seismometers are expected to arrive in 2026 at Schr\u00f6dinger basin, a wide impact crater about 300 miles from the Moon\u2019s South Pole. The self-sufficient, solar-powered suite has its own computer and communications equipment, plus the ability to protect itself from the\u00a0extreme heat<\/a>\u00a0of lunar daytime and the frigid conditions of night.<\/p>\nAfter being delivered to the surface by a lunar lander under NASA\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, the suite will return the agency\u2019s first seismic data from the Moon since the last\u00a0Apollo program<\/a>\u00a0seismometers were in operation nearly 50 years ago. Not only that, but it will also provide the first-ever seismic measurements from the Moon\u2019s far side.<\/p>\nUp to 30 times more sensitive than its Apollo predecessors, the suite will record the Moon\u2019s seismic \u201cbackground\u201d vibration, which is driven by micrometeorites the size of small pebbles that pelt the surface. This will help NASA better understand the current impact environment as the agency prepares to send\u00a0Artemis<\/a>\u00a0astronauts to explore the lunar surface.<\/p>\nPlanetary scientists are eager to see what FSS tells them about the Moon\u2019s internal activity and structure. What they learn will offer insights into how the Moon \u2013 as well as rocky planets like Mars and Earth \u2013 formed and evolved.<\/p>\n
It will also answer a lingering question about moonquakes: Why did the Apollo instruments on the lunar near side detect little far-side seismic activity? One possible explanation is that something in the Moon\u2019s deep structure essentially absorbs far-side quakes, making them harder for Apollo\u2019s seismometers to have sensed. Another is that there are fewer quakes on the far side, which on the surface looks very different from the side that faces Earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cFSS will offer answers to questions we\u2019ve been asking about the Moon for decades,\u201d said Mark Panning, the FSS principal investigator at JPL and project scientist for InSight. \u201cWe cannot wait to start getting this data back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farside Seismic Suite\u2019s two complementary instruments were adapted from\u00a0InSight<\/a>\u00a0designs to perform in lunar gravity \u2013 less than half that of Mars, which, in turn, is about a third of Earth\u2019s. They\u2019re packaged together with a battery, the computer, and electronics inside a cube structure that\u2019s surrounded by insulation and an outer protective cube. Perched atop the lander, the suite will gather data continuously for at least 4\u00bd months, operating through the long, cold lunar nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/e1-pia22871-insight-seis-cropped.jpg?w=1013\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThe Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure instrument (SEIS) aboard NASA\u2019s Mars InSight is within the copper-colored hexagonal enclosure in this photo taken by a camera on the lander\u2019s robotic arm on Dec. 4, 2018. The SEIS technology is being used on Farside Seismic Suite, bound for the Moon.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Very Broadband seismometer, or VBB, is the most sensitive seismometer ever built for use in space exploration: It can detect ground motions smaller than the size of a single hydrogen atom. A fat cylinder about 5 inches in diameter, it measures up-and-down movement using a pendulum held in place by a spring. It was originally constructed as an emergency replacement instrument (a \u201cflight spare\u201d) for InSight by the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales).<\/p>\n
Philippe Lognonn\u00e9 of Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, the principal investigator for\u00a0InSight\u2019s seismometer<\/a>, is an FSS co-investigator and VBB instrument lead. \u201cWe\u00a0learned so much about Mars<\/a>\u00a0from this instrument, and now we are thrilled with the opportunity to turn that experience toward the mysteries of the Moon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nThe suite\u2019s smaller seismometer, called the Short Period sensor, or SP, was built by Kinemetrics in Pasadena, California, in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Imperial College, London. The puck-shaped device measures motion in three directions using sensors etched into a trio of square silicon chips each about 1 inch wide.<\/p>\n
The FSS payload came together at JPL over the last year. In recent weeks, it survived rigorous environmental testing in vacuum and extreme temperatures that simulate space, along with severe shaking that mimics the rocket\u2019s motion during launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe JPL team has been excited from the beginning that we\u2019re going to the Moon with our French colleagues,\u201d said JPL\u2019s Ed Miller, FSS project manager and, like Panning and Lognonn\u00e9, a veteran of the InSight mission. \u201cWe went to Mars together, and now we\u2019ll be able to look up at the Moon and know we built something up there. It\u2019ll make us so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages, designed, assembled, and tested Farside Seismic Suite. The French space agency, CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales), and IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) provided the suite\u2019s Very Broadband seismometer with support from Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 and the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Imperial College, London and the University of Oxford collaborated to provide the Short Period sensor, managed by Kinemetrics in Pasadena. The University of Michigan provided the flight computer, power electronics, and associated software.<\/p>\n
A selection of NASA\u2019s PRISM (Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon), FSS is funded by the\u00a0Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office<\/a>\u00a0within the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center provides program management. FSS will land on the Moon as part of an\u00a0upcoming lunar delivery<\/a>\u00a0under NASA\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services<\/a>) initiative.<\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nNASA Astronauts Practice Next Giant Leap for Artemis<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe physics remain the same, but the rockets, spacecraft, landers, and spacesuits are new as NASA and its industry partners prepare for Artemis astronauts to walk on the Moon for the first time since 1972.<\/p>\n
NASA astronaut Doug \u201cWheels\u201d Wheelock and Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson put on\u00a0spacesuits, developed by Axiom Space<\/a>, to interact with and evaluate full-scale developmental hardware of\u00a0SpaceX\u2019s Starship HLS (Human Landing System)<\/a>\u00a0that will be used for landing humans on the Moon under Artemis. The test, conducted April 30, marked the first time astronauts in pressurized spacesuits interacted with a test version of Starship HLS hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/hls-crew-elevator-demo-20240503-dsc00109.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nNASA astronaut Doug \u201cWheels\u201d Wheelock and Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson prepare for a test of full-scale mockups of spacesuits developed by Axiom Space and SpaceX\u2019s Starship human landing system developed for NASA\u2019s Artemis missions to the Moon.<\/div>\nSpaceX<\/em><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWith Artemis, NASA is going to the Moon in a whole new way, with international partners and industry partners like Axiom Space and SpaceX. These partners are contributing their expertise and providing integral parts of the deep space architecture that they develop with NASA\u2019s insight and oversight,\u201d said Amit Kshatriya, NASA\u2019s Moon to Mars program manager. \u201cIntegrated tests like this one, with key programs and partners working together, are crucial to ensure systems operate smoothly and are safe and effective for astronauts before they take the next steps on the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day-long test, conducted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, provided NASA and its partners with valuable feedback on the layout, physical design, mechanical assemblies, and clearances inside the Starship HLS, as well as the flexibility and agility of the suits, known as the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit).<\/p>\n
To begin the test, Wheelock and Whitson put on the spacesuits in the full-scale airlock that sits on Starship\u2019s airlock deck. Suits were then pressurized using a system immediately outside the HLS airlock that provided air, electrical power, cooling, and communications to the astronauts. Each AxEMU also included a full-scale model of the Portable Life Support System, or \u201cbackpack,\u201d on the back of the suits. For Artemis moonwalks, each crew member will put on a spacesuit with minimal assistance, so the team was eager to evaluate how easily the suits can be put on, taken off, and stowed in the airlock.<\/p>\n
During the test, NASA and SpaceX engineers were also able to evaluate placement of mobility aids, such as handrails, for traversing the hatch. Another set of mobility aids, straps hanging from the ceiling in the airlock, assisted the astronauts when entering and removing the AxEMU suits. The astronauts also practiced interacting with a control panel in the airlock, ensuring controls could be reached and activated while the astronauts were wearing gloves.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"Astronauts](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/hls-crew-elevator-demo-20240503-dsc00030.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nAstronauts were fully suited while conducting mission-like maneuvers in the full-scale build of the Starship human landing system\u2019s airlock which will be located inside Starship under the crew cabin.<\/div>\nSpaceX<\/em><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cOverall, I was pleased with the astronauts\u2019 operation of the control panel and with their ability to perform the difficult tasks they will have to do before stepping onto the Moon,\u201d said Logan Kennedy, lead for surface activities in NASA\u2019s HLS Program. \u201cThe test also confirmed that the amount of space available in the airlock, on the deck, and in the elevator, are sufficient for the work our astronauts plan to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suited astronauts also walked the from Starship\u2019s airlock deck to the elevator built for testing. During Artemis missions,\u00a0the elevator<\/a>\u00a0will take NASA astronauts and their equipment from the deck to the lunar surface for a moonwalk and then back again. Whitson and Wheelock practiced opening a gate to enter the elevator while evaluating the dexterity of the AxEMU suit gloves, and practiced lowering the ramp that astronauts will use to take the next steps on the Moon.<\/p>\nThe steps the astronauts took in the spacesuits through full-scale builds of the Starship hatch, airlock, airlock deck, and elevator may have been small, but they marked an important step toward preparing for a new generation of moonwalks as part of Artemis.<\/p>\n
For the Artemis III mission, SpaceX will provide the Starship HLS that will dock with Orion in lunar orbit and take two astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon. Axiom Space is providing a new generation of spacesuits for moonwalks that are designed to fit a wider range of astronauts.<\/p>\n
With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits, Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA\u2019s foundation for deep space exploration.<\/p>\n
Learn more<\/a> about Artemis.<\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nPowered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\nGet The Details…<\/a>
\nLee Mohon <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIFTOFF! NASA Astronauts Pilot First Starliner Crewed Test to Station NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. As part of NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test, the astronauts lifted off at 9:52 a.m. CDT June 5 [\u2026] Continue reading
<\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nLIFTOFF! NASA Astronauts Pilot First Starliner Crewed Test to Station<\/strong><\/h2>\nNASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
As part of NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test, the astronauts lifted off at 9:52 a.m. CDT June 5 on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on an end-to-end test of the Starliner system.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nA United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test is the first launch with astronauts of the Boeing spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency\u2019s Commercial Crew Program.<\/div>\nNASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cTwo bold NASA astronauts are well on their way on this historic first test flight of a brand-new spacecraft,\u201d said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cBoeing\u2019s Starliner marks a new chapter of American exploration. Human spaceflight is a daring task \u2013 but that\u2019s why it\u2019s worth doing. It\u2019s an exciting time for NASA, our commercial partners, and the future of exploration. Go Starliner, Go Butch and Suni!\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of\u00a0NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program<\/a>, the flight test will help validate the transportation system, launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, in-orbit operations capabilities, and return to Earth with astronauts aboard as the agency prepares to certify Starliner for rotational missions to the space station. Starliner previously flew two uncrewed orbital flights, including a test to and from the space station, along with a pad abort demonstration.<\/p>\n\u201cWith Starliner\u2019s launch, separation from the rocket, and arrival on orbit, Boeing\u2019s Crew Flight Test is right on track,\u201d said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing\u2019s Commercial Crew Program. \u201cEveryone is focused on giving Suni and Butch a safe, comfortable, ride and performing a successful test mission from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Starliner\u2019s flight, Boeing will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Houston. NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency\u2019s Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlying crew on Starliner represents over a decade of work by the Commercial Crew Program and our partners at Boeing and ULA,\u201d said Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center. \u201cFor many of us, this is a career-defining moment bringing on a new crew transportation capability for our agency and our nation. We are going to take it one step at a time, putting Starliner through its paces, and remaining vigilant until Butch and Suni safely touch down back on Earth at the conclusion of this test flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starliner will autonomously dock to the forward-facing port of the station\u2019s Harmony module at approximately 11:15 a.m. June 6, and remain at the orbital laboratory for about a week.<\/p>\n
Wilmore and Williams will help verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system, and by maneuvering the thrusters, among other tests during flight.<\/p>\n
After a safe arrival at the space station, Wilmore and Williams will join the Expedition 71 crew of NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.<\/p>\n
Mission coverage will continue on NASA Television channels throughout Starliner\u2019s flight and resume on NASA+ prior to docking.<\/p>\n
Follow mission updates here<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Huntsville Operations Support Center<\/a> (HOSC) at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center provides engineering and mission operations support for the space station, the Commercial Crew Program, and Artemis missions, as well as science and technology demonstration missions. The\u00a0Payload Operations Integration Center<\/a>\u00a0within HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The Commercial Crew Program support team at Marshall provides crucial programmatic, engineering, and safety and mission assurance expertise for launch vehicles, spacecraft propulsion, and integrated vehicle performance.<\/p>\nA flag-raising ceremony<\/a> was held May 2 outside the HOSC for Marshall\u2019s support of the mission. The ceremony was a joint effort between the Payload and Mission Operations Division and Commercial Crew Program team.<\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nCenter Director Joseph Pelfrey Outlines Marshall\u2019s Future at 29th Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit<\/strong><\/h2>\nBy Rick Smith<\/em><\/p>\nJoseph Pelfrey, director of NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, was a key presenter at the 29th annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville on May 29 and 30.<\/p>\n
The event drew some 300 attendees, including government representatives, members of the public, and industry and academic stakeholders from across the corridor\u2019s five-state region, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nNASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Joseph Pelfrey, left, addresses an audience of academic and industry stakeholders at the 29th annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Nashville on May 30.<\/div>\nNASA\/Chris Blair<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPelfrey addressed summit attendees May 30 as part of a session on \u201cExploring and Discovering Through Science, Research, and Space.\u201d He noted that Marshall will embrace a transformative shift, including a transition toward small- and medium-sized programs enabled by strategic partnerships, helping NASA prepare for a future in which astronauts live and work on the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to Mars.<\/p>\n
That paradigm shift will rely heavily on \u201cthe talent, innovation, and infrastructure available in the Tennessee Valley, (enabling) us to accelerate progress in space exploration, scientific research, and technology development,\u201d Pelfrey added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also emphasized that there is much more to come for Marshall, with the center continuing to serve as a trusted technical solutions provider for NASA and its partners. Pelfrey highlighted how harnessing the center\u2019s deep technical expertise for future missions will help drive innovation, reduce costs, and accelerate shared goals for advanced space exploration.<\/p>\n
Pelfrey offered a detailed look at NASA\u2019s successful Artemis I<\/a> launch in 2022 and the upcoming Artemis II<\/a> mission, which will send the first woman and first person of color to deep space to conduct a lunar fly-by \u2013 the final checkout before Artemis III<\/a> lands Americans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. Pelfrey also discussed Marshall\u2019s role in managing NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System<\/a>) rocket, the backbone of the agency\u2019s Artemis-era\u00a0endeavors, and identified new and upcoming programs and efforts geared to expand the center\u2019s role in deep-space science and exploration.<\/p>\nHe noted that much of that work has had a direct effect on the state of Tennessee and on industry and academia across the corridor.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nTrey Cate, right, SLS strategic communications manager at Marshall, talks with TVC National Summit attendees about the Space Launch System and NASA\u2019s Artemis Program during a break between panel sessions at the May 29-30 event, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville. <\/div>\nNASA\/Chris Blair<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn fiscal year 2021 alone, NASA\u2019s economic impact supported more than 1,600 jobs and generated more than $340 million in Tennessee alone, including $119 million in labor income. More broadly, since 2015, NASA has enacted 97 Cooperative Agreements with partners across the five-state corridor. Eighty-two of those were with universities, including six minority-serving institutions. Of the 15 industry agreements, 11 created partnerships with small businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is truly an exciting time to live and work in the Tennessee Valley,\u201d Pelfrey said, \u201cand to be part of the space community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other summit speakers included Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee\u2019s 3rd district, and Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee\u2019s 7th district; Corey Hinderstein, deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; Dr. Steven Streiffer, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Dr. Robert Lindquist, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
Panels and seminars included discussion of American security, global economic leadership, new energy solutions, workforce development, and the emergence of AI technology. More than 20 businesses and academic institutions \u2013 including representatives from SLS, the Human Landing Systems Program Office<\/a>, the Space Nuclear Propulsion Project Office<\/a>, and other Marshall organizations \u2013 engaged with summit participants and promoted current and future NASA endeavors at a trade-show expo in the Vanderbilt Student Life Center.<\/p>\nThe Tennessee Valley Corridor was founded in 1995 to foster collaboration between government, academia, and industry, to champion regional economic leadership, and to promote partnerships in\u00a0national security,\u00a0science, space, transportation, environment, energy, education, and workforce development. Its 2023 national summit was held in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
Smith, an Aeyon\/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.<\/em><\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nDavey Jones Named Marshall\u2019s Center Strategy Lead<\/strong><\/h2>\nDavey Jones has been named center strategy lead at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, following the reassignment of Jeramie Broadway, effective June 2.<\/p>\n
As center strategy lead for the Office of the Center Director, Jones will lead and implement the director\u2019s strategic vision, leveraging and integrating Marshall\u2019s strategic business units, in coordination and collaboration with all center organizations, and to ensure alignment with the agency\u2019s strategic priorities.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nDavey Jones has been named center strategy lead at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center.<\/div>\nNASA\/Danielle Burleson<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHe moves into his new role after being the manager of the Program Planning & Control Office within the HLS (Human Landing Systems) Program at Marshall since 2020. In that capacity, Jones\u2019 primary role was managing the program\u2019s budget, schedule, risk, and other programmatic functions. He has worked in multiple roles throughout his career, focused on the formulation of key programs and projects for Marshall, including development of technology upgrades for life support systems on the International Space Station, formulation of the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B vehicle and exploration upper stage, and leading various human exploration architecture studies for the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n
From 2017 to 2020, he was the Environmental Control and Life Support System Integration and Development manager for the International Space Station Projects Office in the Human Exploration Development and Operations Office. Jones was senior technical assistant to Marshall\u2019s associate director, technical, from 2016-2017. Prior to that, he was SLS stages alternate lead systems engineer from 2014-2016. A U.S. Navy veteran, he began his NASA career in 2008 in the Advanced Concepts Office.<\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 honors include a NASA Early Career Achievement Medal, Marshall Engineering Director\u2019s Award, and a Human Exploration Framework Team Group Achievement Award.<\/p>\n
A native of Lakeland, Florida, he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.<\/p>\n
\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nLucy Images Reveal Asteroid Dinkinesh to be Surprisingly Complex<\/strong><\/h2>\nImages from the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh by\u00a0NASA\u2019s Lucy spacecraft<\/a>\u00a0show a trough on Dinkinesh where a large piece \u2013 about a quarter of the asteroid \u2013 suddenly shifted, a ridge, and a separate contact binary satellite (now known as Selam). Scientists say this complicated structure shows that Dinkinesh and Selam have significant internal strength and a complex, dynamic history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nPanels a, b, and c each show stereographic image pairs of the asteroid Dinkinesh taken by the NASA Lucy Spacecraft\u2019s L\u2019LORRI Instrument in the minutes around closest approach on Nov. 1, 2023. The yellow and rose dots indicate the trough and ridge features, respectively. These images have been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. Panel d shows a side view of Dinkinesh and its satellite Selam taken a few minutes after closest approach.<\/div>\nNASA\/GSFC\/SwRI\/Johns Hopkins APL\/NOIRLab<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWe want to understand the strengths of small bodies in our solar system because that\u2019s critical for understanding how planets like Earth got here,\u201d said Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator at the Boulder, Colorado, branch of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. \u201cBasically, the planets formed when zillions of smaller objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids, ran into each other. How objects behave when they hit each other, whether they break apart or stick together, has a lot to do with their strength and internal structure.\u201d Levison is lead author of a\u00a0paper on these observations<\/a>\u00a0published May 29 in Nature.<\/p>\nResearchers think that Dinkinesh is revealing its internal structure by how it has responded to stress. Over millions of years rotating in the sunlight, the tiny forces coming from the thermal radiation emitted from the asteroid\u2019s warm surface\u00a0generated a small torque<\/a>\u00a0that caused Dinkinesh to gradually rotate faster, building up centrifugal stresses until part of the asteroid shifted into a more elongated shape. This event likely caused debris to enter into a close orbit, which became the raw material that produced the ridge and satellite.<\/p>\nIf Dinkinesh were much weaker, more like a fluid pile of sand, its particles would have gradually moved toward the equator and flown off into orbit as it spun faster. However, the images suggest that it was able to hold together longer, more like a rock, with more strength than a fluid, eventually giving way under stress and fragmenting into large pieces. (Although the amount of strength needed to fragment a small asteroid like Dinkinesh is miniscule compared to most rocks on Earth.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trough suggests an abrupt failure, more an earthquake with a gradual buildup of stress and then a sudden release, instead of a slow process like a sand dune forming,\u201d said Keith Noll of NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, project scientist for Lucy and a co-author of the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>On Nov. 1, 2023, NASA\u2019s Lucy spacecraft flew by the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh. Now, the mission has released pictures from Lucy\u2019s Long Range Reconnaissance Imager taken over a roughly three-hour period, providing the best views of the asteroid to date. During the flyby, Lucy discovered that Dinkinesh has a small moon, which the mission named \u201cSelam,\u201d a greeting in the Amharic language meaning \u201cpeace.\u201d Lucy is the first mission designed to visit the Jupiter Trojans, two swarms of asteroids trapped in Jupiter\u2019s orbit that may be \u201cfossils\u201d from the era of planet formation. (NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cThese features tell us that Dinkinesh has some strength, and they let us do a little historical reconstruction to see how this asteroid evolved,\u201d Levison said. \u201cIt broke, things moved apart and formed a disk of material during that failure, some of which rained back onto the surface to make the ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers think some of the material in the disk formed the moon Selam, which is\u00a0actually two objects touching each other<\/a>, a configuration called a contact binary. Details of how this unusual moon formed remain mysterious.<\/p>\nDinkinesh and its satellite are the first two of 11 asteroids that Lucy\u2019s team plans to explore over its 12-year journey. After skimming the inner edge of the main asteroid belt, Lucy is now heading back toward Earth for a gravity assist in December 2024. That close flyby will propel the spacecraft back through the main asteroid belt, where it will observe asteroid Donaldjohanson in 2025, and then on to the first of the encounters with the Trojan asteroids that lead and trail Jupiter in its orbit of the Sun beginning in 2027.<\/p>\n
Lucy\u2019s principal investigator is based out of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built and operates the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA\u2019s Discovery Program. NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Discovery Program for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nNASA\u2019s Europa Clipper Unpacks in Florida<\/strong><\/h2>\nCrews rotated to vertical then lifted NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper spacecraft from its protective shipping container after it arrived at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center on May 28.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nTechnicians inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center prepare to rotate the agency\u2019s largest planetary mission spacecraft, Europa Clipper, to a vertical position May 28 as part of prelaunch processing.<\/div>\nNASA\/Kim Shiflett<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe spacecraft, which will collect data to help scientists determine if Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa could support life, arrived in a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane at Kennedy\u2019s\u00a0Launch and Landing Facility<\/a>\u00a0on May 23. The hardware traveled more than 2,500 miles from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California where it was assembled. The team transported\u00a0Europa Clipper<\/a>\u00a0to the facility and will perform a number of activities to prepare it for launch, including attaching the high gain antenna, affixing solar arrays to power the spacecraft, and loading propellants that will help guide the spacecraft to its destination.<\/p>\nOn board are nine science instruments to gather detailed measurements while Europa Clipper performs approximately 50 close flybys of the Jovian moon. Research suggests an ocean twice the volume of all the Earth\u2019s oceans exists under Europa\u2019s icy crust.<\/p>\n
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy\u2019s Launch Complex 39A. The launch period opens Oct. 10.<\/p>\n
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.<\/p>\n
\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nTravel Through Data from Space in New 3D Instagram Experiences<\/strong><\/h2>\nA new project provides special 3D \u201cexperiences\u201d on Instagram using data from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes through augmented reality (AR), allowing users to travel virtually through objects in space. These new experiences of astronomical objects \u2013 including the debris fields of exploded stars \u2013 are being released to help celebrate the 25th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of operations from Chandra, NASA\u2019s flagship X-ray telescope.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nThese four images showcase the 2D captured views of the cosmic objects included in the new augmented reality 3D release. Presenting multiwavelength images of the Vela Pulsar, Tycho\u2019s Supernova Remnant, Helix Nebula, and Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula that include Chandra X-ray data as well as optical data in each, and for the Helix, additional infrared and ultraviolet data.<\/div>\nVela Pulsar: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; Optical: NASA\/ESA\/STScI; Image processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/J. Schmidt, K. Arcand; Tycho\u2019s Supernova Remnant: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; Optical: DSS; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk; Helix Nebula: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; UV: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SSC; Optical: NASA\/ STScI\/M. Meixner, ESA\/NRAO\/T.A. Rector; Infrared:NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/K. Su; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/N. Wolk and K. Arcand; Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula: X-ray: NASA\/CXC\/SAO; Optical: NASA\/ESA\/STScI; Image Processing: NASA\/CXC\/SAO\/J. Major, L. Frattare, K. Arcand)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn recent years, Instagram experiences (previously referred to as filters) of NASA mission control, the International Space Station, and the Perseverance Rover on Mars have allowed participants to virtually explore what NASA does. This new set of Chandra Instagram filters joins this space-themed collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to bring data from the universe down to earth in this way,\u201d said Kimberly Arcand, visualization and emerging technology scientist at the Chandra X-ray Center. \u201cBy enabling people to access cosmic data on their phones and through AR, it brings Chandra\u2019s amazing discoveries literally right to your fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new Instagram experiences are created from 3D models based on data collected by Chandra and other telescopes along with mathematical models. Traditionally, it has been very difficult to gather 3D data of objects in our galaxy due to their two-dimensional projection on the sky. New instruments and techniques, however, have helped allowed astronomers in recent years to construct more data-driven models of what these distant objects look like in three dimensions.<\/p>\n
These advancements in astronomy have paralleled the explosion of opportunities in virtual, extended, and augmented reality. Such technologies provide virtual digital experiences, which now extend beyond Earth and into the cosmos. This new set of Chandra Instagram experiences was made possible by a collaboration including NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, and students and researchers at Brown University.<\/p>\n
These\u00a0Instagram experiences<\/a>\u00a0also include data sonifications of the celestial objects. Sonification is the process of translating data into sounds and notes so users can hear representations of the data, an accessibility project the Chandra team has led for the past four years.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\u201cThese Chandra Instagram experiences are another way to share these cosmic data with the public,\u201d Arcand said. \u201cWe are hoping this helps reach new audiences, especially those who like to get their information through social media.\u201d<\/p>\n
The objects in the new Chandra Instagram experience collection include the Tycho supernova remnant, the Vela Pulsar, the Helix Nebula, the Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula, and the Chandra spacecraft. The 3D models of the first three objects were done in conjunction with Sal Orlando, an astrophysicist at Italy\u2019s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Palmero. The Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula was created with data from Ryan Clairmont, physics researcher and undergraduate at Stanford University. Arcand worked with Brown\u2019s Tom Sgouros and his team, research assistant Alexander Dupuis and undergraduate Healey Koch, on the Chandra Instagram filters.<\/p>\n
The experiences include text that explains what users are looking at.\u00a0The effects are free and\u00a0available on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0on mobile devices for at least six months, and some will remain viewable in perpetuity on the Smithsonian\u2019s Voyager 3D website.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is a lot of rich and beautiful data associated with these models that Healey and I looked to bring in, which we did by creating the textures on the models as well as programming visual effects for displaying them in AR,\u201d Dupuis said.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory\u2019s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. The Chandra X-ray Center is headquartered at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.<\/p>\n
Read more from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory.<\/a><\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nAgency to Measure Moonquakes with Help from InSight Mars Mission<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe most sensitive instrument ever built to measure quakes and meteor strikes on other worlds is getting closer to its journey to the mysterious far side of the Moon. It\u2019s one of two seismometers adapted for the lunar surface from instruments originally designed for NASA\u2019s InSight Mars lander, which recorded more than 1,300 marsquakes before the mission\u2019s\u00a0conclusion<\/a>\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nJPL engineers and technicians prepare NASA\u2019s Farside Seismic Suite for testing in simulated lunar gravity, which is about one-sixth of Earth\u2019s. The payload will gather the agency\u2019s first seismic data from the Moon in nearly 50 years and take the first-ever seismic measurements from the far side.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPart of a payload called\u00a0Farside Seismic Suite<\/a>\u00a0(FSS) that was recently assembled at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the two seismometers are expected to arrive in 2026 at Schr\u00f6dinger basin, a wide impact crater about 300 miles from the Moon\u2019s South Pole. The self-sufficient, solar-powered suite has its own computer and communications equipment, plus the ability to protect itself from the\u00a0extreme heat<\/a>\u00a0of lunar daytime and the frigid conditions of night.<\/p>\nAfter being delivered to the surface by a lunar lander under NASA\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, the suite will return the agency\u2019s first seismic data from the Moon since the last\u00a0Apollo program<\/a>\u00a0seismometers were in operation nearly 50 years ago. Not only that, but it will also provide the first-ever seismic measurements from the Moon\u2019s far side.<\/p>\nUp to 30 times more sensitive than its Apollo predecessors, the suite will record the Moon\u2019s seismic \u201cbackground\u201d vibration, which is driven by micrometeorites the size of small pebbles that pelt the surface. This will help NASA better understand the current impact environment as the agency prepares to send\u00a0Artemis<\/a>\u00a0astronauts to explore the lunar surface.<\/p>\nPlanetary scientists are eager to see what FSS tells them about the Moon\u2019s internal activity and structure. What they learn will offer insights into how the Moon \u2013 as well as rocky planets like Mars and Earth \u2013 formed and evolved.<\/p>\n
It will also answer a lingering question about moonquakes: Why did the Apollo instruments on the lunar near side detect little far-side seismic activity? One possible explanation is that something in the Moon\u2019s deep structure essentially absorbs far-side quakes, making them harder for Apollo\u2019s seismometers to have sensed. Another is that there are fewer quakes on the far side, which on the surface looks very different from the side that faces Earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cFSS will offer answers to questions we\u2019ve been asking about the Moon for decades,\u201d said Mark Panning, the FSS principal investigator at JPL and project scientist for InSight. \u201cWe cannot wait to start getting this data back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farside Seismic Suite\u2019s two complementary instruments were adapted from\u00a0InSight<\/a>\u00a0designs to perform in lunar gravity \u2013 less than half that of Mars, which, in turn, is about a third of Earth\u2019s. They\u2019re packaged together with a battery, the computer, and electronics inside a cube structure that\u2019s surrounded by insulation and an outer protective cube. Perched atop the lander, the suite will gather data continuously for at least 4\u00bd months, operating through the long, cold lunar nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nThe Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure instrument (SEIS) aboard NASA\u2019s Mars InSight is within the copper-colored hexagonal enclosure in this photo taken by a camera on the lander\u2019s robotic arm on Dec. 4, 2018. The SEIS technology is being used on Farside Seismic Suite, bound for the Moon.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Very Broadband seismometer, or VBB, is the most sensitive seismometer ever built for use in space exploration: It can detect ground motions smaller than the size of a single hydrogen atom. A fat cylinder about 5 inches in diameter, it measures up-and-down movement using a pendulum held in place by a spring. It was originally constructed as an emergency replacement instrument (a \u201cflight spare\u201d) for InSight by the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales).<\/p>\n
Philippe Lognonn\u00e9 of Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, the principal investigator for\u00a0InSight\u2019s seismometer<\/a>, is an FSS co-investigator and VBB instrument lead. \u201cWe\u00a0learned so much about Mars<\/a>\u00a0from this instrument, and now we are thrilled with the opportunity to turn that experience toward the mysteries of the Moon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nThe suite\u2019s smaller seismometer, called the Short Period sensor, or SP, was built by Kinemetrics in Pasadena, California, in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Imperial College, London. The puck-shaped device measures motion in three directions using sensors etched into a trio of square silicon chips each about 1 inch wide.<\/p>\n
The FSS payload came together at JPL over the last year. In recent weeks, it survived rigorous environmental testing in vacuum and extreme temperatures that simulate space, along with severe shaking that mimics the rocket\u2019s motion during launch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe JPL team has been excited from the beginning that we\u2019re going to the Moon with our French colleagues,\u201d said JPL\u2019s Ed Miller, FSS project manager and, like Panning and Lognonn\u00e9, a veteran of the InSight mission. \u201cWe went to Mars together, and now we\u2019ll be able to look up at the Moon and know we built something up there. It\u2019ll make us so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages, designed, assembled, and tested Farside Seismic Suite. The French space agency, CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales), and IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) provided the suite\u2019s Very Broadband seismometer with support from Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 and the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Imperial College, London and the University of Oxford collaborated to provide the Short Period sensor, managed by Kinemetrics in Pasadena. The University of Michigan provided the flight computer, power electronics, and associated software.<\/p>\n
A selection of NASA\u2019s PRISM (Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon), FSS is funded by the\u00a0Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office<\/a>\u00a0within the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center provides program management. FSS will land on the Moon as part of an\u00a0upcoming lunar delivery<\/a>\u00a0under NASA\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services<\/a>) initiative.<\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nNASA Astronauts Practice Next Giant Leap for Artemis<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe physics remain the same, but the rockets, spacecraft, landers, and spacesuits are new as NASA and its industry partners prepare for Artemis astronauts to walk on the Moon for the first time since 1972.<\/p>\n
NASA astronaut Doug \u201cWheels\u201d Wheelock and Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson put on\u00a0spacesuits, developed by Axiom Space<\/a>, to interact with and evaluate full-scale developmental hardware of\u00a0SpaceX\u2019s Starship HLS (Human Landing System)<\/a>\u00a0that will be used for landing humans on the Moon under Artemis. The test, conducted April 30, marked the first time astronauts in pressurized spacesuits interacted with a test version of Starship HLS hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nNASA astronaut Doug \u201cWheels\u201d Wheelock and Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson prepare for a test of full-scale mockups of spacesuits developed by Axiom Space and SpaceX\u2019s Starship human landing system developed for NASA\u2019s Artemis missions to the Moon.<\/div>\nSpaceX<\/em><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cWith Artemis, NASA is going to the Moon in a whole new way, with international partners and industry partners like Axiom Space and SpaceX. These partners are contributing their expertise and providing integral parts of the deep space architecture that they develop with NASA\u2019s insight and oversight,\u201d said Amit Kshatriya, NASA\u2019s Moon to Mars program manager. \u201cIntegrated tests like this one, with key programs and partners working together, are crucial to ensure systems operate smoothly and are safe and effective for astronauts before they take the next steps on the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The day-long test, conducted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, provided NASA and its partners with valuable feedback on the layout, physical design, mechanical assemblies, and clearances inside the Starship HLS, as well as the flexibility and agility of the suits, known as the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit).<\/p>\n
To begin the test, Wheelock and Whitson put on the spacesuits in the full-scale airlock that sits on Starship\u2019s airlock deck. Suits were then pressurized using a system immediately outside the HLS airlock that provided air, electrical power, cooling, and communications to the astronauts. Each AxEMU also included a full-scale model of the Portable Life Support System, or \u201cbackpack,\u201d on the back of the suits. For Artemis moonwalks, each crew member will put on a spacesuit with minimal assistance, so the team was eager to evaluate how easily the suits can be put on, taken off, and stowed in the airlock.<\/p>\n
During the test, NASA and SpaceX engineers were also able to evaluate placement of mobility aids, such as handrails, for traversing the hatch. Another set of mobility aids, straps hanging from the ceiling in the airlock, assisted the astronauts when entering and removing the AxEMU suits. The astronauts also practiced interacting with a control panel in the airlock, ensuring controls could be reached and activated while the astronauts were wearing gloves.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nAstronauts were fully suited while conducting mission-like maneuvers in the full-scale build of the Starship human landing system\u2019s airlock which will be located inside Starship under the crew cabin.<\/div>\nSpaceX<\/em><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cOverall, I was pleased with the astronauts\u2019 operation of the control panel and with their ability to perform the difficult tasks they will have to do before stepping onto the Moon,\u201d said Logan Kennedy, lead for surface activities in NASA\u2019s HLS Program. \u201cThe test also confirmed that the amount of space available in the airlock, on the deck, and in the elevator, are sufficient for the work our astronauts plan to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suited astronauts also walked the from Starship\u2019s airlock deck to the elevator built for testing. During Artemis missions,\u00a0the elevator<\/a>\u00a0will take NASA astronauts and their equipment from the deck to the lunar surface for a moonwalk and then back again. Whitson and Wheelock practiced opening a gate to enter the elevator while evaluating the dexterity of the AxEMU suit gloves, and practiced lowering the ramp that astronauts will use to take the next steps on the Moon.<\/p>\nThe steps the astronauts took in the spacesuits through full-scale builds of the Starship hatch, airlock, airlock deck, and elevator may have been small, but they marked an important step toward preparing for a new generation of moonwalks as part of Artemis.<\/p>\n
For the Artemis III mission, SpaceX will provide the Starship HLS that will dock with Orion in lunar orbit and take two astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon. Axiom Space is providing a new generation of spacesuits for moonwalks that are designed to fit a wider range of astronauts.<\/p>\n
With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits, Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA\u2019s foundation for deep space exploration.<\/p>\n
Learn more<\/a> about Artemis.<\/p>\n\u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\nPowered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\nGet The Details…<\/a>
\nLee Mohon <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIFTOFF! NASA Astronauts Pilot First Starliner Crewed Test to Station NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. As part of NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test, the astronauts lifted off at 9:52 a.m. CDT June 5 [\u2026] Continue reading
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cft-liftoff.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\u201cTwo bold NASA astronauts are well on their way on this historic first test flight of a brand-new spacecraft,\u201d said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cBoeing\u2019s Starliner marks a new chapter of American exploration. Human spaceflight is a daring task \u2013 but that\u2019s why it\u2019s worth doing. It\u2019s an exciting time for NASA, our commercial partners, and the future of exploration. Go Starliner, Go Butch and Suni!\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of\u00a0NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program<\/a>, the flight test will help validate the transportation system, launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, in-orbit operations capabilities, and return to Earth with astronauts aboard as the agency prepares to certify Starliner for rotational missions to the space station. Starliner previously flew two uncrewed orbital flights, including a test to and from the space station, along with a pad abort demonstration.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Starliner\u2019s launch, separation from the rocket, and arrival on orbit, Boeing\u2019s Crew Flight Test is right on track,\u201d said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing\u2019s Commercial Crew Program. \u201cEveryone is focused on giving Suni and Butch a safe, comfortable, ride and performing a successful test mission from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n During Starliner\u2019s flight, Boeing will monitor a series of automatic spacecraft maneuvers from its mission control center in Houston. NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from the Mission Control Center at the agency\u2019s Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n \u201cFlying crew on Starliner represents over a decade of work by the Commercial Crew Program and our partners at Boeing and ULA,\u201d said Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center. \u201cFor many of us, this is a career-defining moment bringing on a new crew transportation capability for our agency and our nation. We are going to take it one step at a time, putting Starliner through its paces, and remaining vigilant until Butch and Suni safely touch down back on Earth at the conclusion of this test flight.\u201d<\/p>\n Starliner will autonomously dock to the forward-facing port of the station\u2019s Harmony module at approximately 11:15 a.m. June 6, and remain at the orbital laboratory for about a week.<\/p>\n Wilmore and Williams will help verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system, and by maneuvering the thrusters, among other tests during flight.<\/p>\n After a safe arrival at the space station, Wilmore and Williams will join the Expedition 71 crew of NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko.<\/p>\n Mission coverage will continue on NASA Television channels throughout Starliner\u2019s flight and resume on NASA+ prior to docking.<\/p>\n Follow mission updates here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Huntsville Operations Support Center<\/a> (HOSC) at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center provides engineering and mission operations support for the space station, the Commercial Crew Program, and Artemis missions, as well as science and technology demonstration missions. The\u00a0Payload Operations Integration Center<\/a>\u00a0within HOSC operates, plans, and coordinates the science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The Commercial Crew Program support team at Marshall provides crucial programmatic, engineering, and safety and mission assurance expertise for launch vehicles, spacecraft propulsion, and integrated vehicle performance.<\/p>\n A flag-raising ceremony<\/a> was held May 2 outside the HOSC for Marshall\u2019s support of the mission. The ceremony was a joint effort between the Payload and Mission Operations Division and Commercial Crew Program team.<\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n By Rick Smith<\/em><\/p>\n Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, was a key presenter at the 29th annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Nashville on May 29 and 30.<\/p>\n The event drew some 300 attendees, including government representatives, members of the public, and industry and academic stakeholders from across the corridor\u2019s five-state region, which includes Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.<\/p>\n Pelfrey addressed summit attendees May 30 as part of a session on \u201cExploring and Discovering Through Science, Research, and Space.\u201d He noted that Marshall will embrace a transformative shift, including a transition toward small- and medium-sized programs enabled by strategic partnerships, helping NASA prepare for a future in which astronauts live and work on the Moon and prepare for crewed missions to Mars.<\/p>\n That paradigm shift will rely heavily on \u201cthe talent, innovation, and infrastructure available in the Tennessee Valley, (enabling) us to accelerate progress in space exploration, scientific research, and technology development,\u201d Pelfrey added.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also emphasized that there is much more to come for Marshall, with the center continuing to serve as a trusted technical solutions provider for NASA and its partners. Pelfrey highlighted how harnessing the center\u2019s deep technical expertise for future missions will help drive innovation, reduce costs, and accelerate shared goals for advanced space exploration.<\/p>\n Pelfrey offered a detailed look at NASA\u2019s successful Artemis I<\/a> launch in 2022 and the upcoming Artemis II<\/a> mission, which will send the first woman and first person of color to deep space to conduct a lunar fly-by \u2013 the final checkout before Artemis III<\/a> lands Americans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. Pelfrey also discussed Marshall\u2019s role in managing NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System<\/a>) rocket, the backbone of the agency\u2019s Artemis-era\u00a0endeavors, and identified new and upcoming programs and efforts geared to expand the center\u2019s role in deep-space science and exploration.<\/p>\n He noted that much of that work has had a direct effect on the state of Tennessee and on industry and academia across the corridor.<\/p>\n In fiscal year 2021 alone, NASA\u2019s economic impact supported more than 1,600 jobs and generated more than $340 million in Tennessee alone, including $119 million in labor income. More broadly, since 2015, NASA has enacted 97 Cooperative Agreements with partners across the five-state corridor. Eighty-two of those were with universities, including six minority-serving institutions. Of the 15 industry agreements, 11 created partnerships with small businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is truly an exciting time to live and work in the Tennessee Valley,\u201d Pelfrey said, \u201cand to be part of the space community.\u201d<\/p>\n Other summit speakers included Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee\u2019s 3rd district, and Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee\u2019s 7th district; Corey Hinderstein, deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; Dr. Steven Streiffer, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Dr. Robert Lindquist, vice president for research and economic development at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.<\/p>\n Panels and seminars included discussion of American security, global economic leadership, new energy solutions, workforce development, and the emergence of AI technology. More than 20 businesses and academic institutions \u2013 including representatives from SLS, the Human Landing Systems Program Office<\/a>, the Space Nuclear Propulsion Project Office<\/a>, and other Marshall organizations \u2013 engaged with summit participants and promoted current and future NASA endeavors at a trade-show expo in the Vanderbilt Student Life Center.<\/p>\n The Tennessee Valley Corridor was founded in 1995 to foster collaboration between government, academia, and industry, to champion regional economic leadership, and to promote partnerships in\u00a0national security,\u00a0science, space, transportation, environment, energy, education, and workforce development. Its 2023 national summit was held in Huntsville.<\/p>\n Smith, an Aeyon\/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.<\/em><\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Davey Jones has been named center strategy lead at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center, following the reassignment of Jeramie Broadway, effective June 2.<\/p>\n As center strategy lead for the Office of the Center Director, Jones will lead and implement the director\u2019s strategic vision, leveraging and integrating Marshall\u2019s strategic business units, in coordination and collaboration with all center organizations, and to ensure alignment with the agency\u2019s strategic priorities.<\/p>\n He moves into his new role after being the manager of the Program Planning & Control Office within the HLS (Human Landing Systems) Program at Marshall since 2020. In that capacity, Jones\u2019 primary role was managing the program\u2019s budget, schedule, risk, and other programmatic functions. He has worked in multiple roles throughout his career, focused on the formulation of key programs and projects for Marshall, including development of technology upgrades for life support systems on the International Space Station, formulation of the SLS (Space Launch System) Block 1B vehicle and exploration upper stage, and leading various human exploration architecture studies for the Moon and Mars.<\/p>\n From 2017 to 2020, he was the Environmental Control and Life Support System Integration and Development manager for the International Space Station Projects Office in the Human Exploration Development and Operations Office. Jones was senior technical assistant to Marshall\u2019s associate director, technical, from 2016-2017. Prior to that, he was SLS stages alternate lead systems engineer from 2014-2016. A U.S. Navy veteran, he began his NASA career in 2008 in the Advanced Concepts Office.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 honors include a NASA Early Career Achievement Medal, Marshall Engineering Director\u2019s Award, and a Human Exploration Framework Team Group Achievement Award.<\/p>\n A native of Lakeland, Florida, he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.<\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Images from the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh by\u00a0NASA\u2019s Lucy spacecraft<\/a>\u00a0show a trough on Dinkinesh where a large piece \u2013 about a quarter of the asteroid \u2013 suddenly shifted, a ridge, and a separate contact binary satellite (now known as Selam). Scientists say this complicated structure shows that Dinkinesh and Selam have significant internal strength and a complex, dynamic history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to understand the strengths of small bodies in our solar system because that\u2019s critical for understanding how planets like Earth got here,\u201d said Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator at the Boulder, Colorado, branch of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. \u201cBasically, the planets formed when zillions of smaller objects orbiting the Sun, like asteroids, ran into each other. How objects behave when they hit each other, whether they break apart or stick together, has a lot to do with their strength and internal structure.\u201d Levison is lead author of a\u00a0paper on these observations<\/a>\u00a0published May 29 in Nature.<\/p>\n Researchers think that Dinkinesh is revealing its internal structure by how it has responded to stress. Over millions of years rotating in the sunlight, the tiny forces coming from the thermal radiation emitted from the asteroid\u2019s warm surface\u00a0generated a small torque<\/a>\u00a0that caused Dinkinesh to gradually rotate faster, building up centrifugal stresses until part of the asteroid shifted into a more elongated shape. This event likely caused debris to enter into a close orbit, which became the raw material that produced the ridge and satellite.<\/p>\n If Dinkinesh were much weaker, more like a fluid pile of sand, its particles would have gradually moved toward the equator and flown off into orbit as it spun faster. However, the images suggest that it was able to hold together longer, more like a rock, with more strength than a fluid, eventually giving way under stress and fragmenting into large pieces. (Although the amount of strength needed to fragment a small asteroid like Dinkinesh is miniscule compared to most rocks on Earth.)<\/p>\n \u201cThe trough suggests an abrupt failure, more an earthquake with a gradual buildup of stress and then a sudden release, instead of a slow process like a sand dune forming,\u201d said Keith Noll of NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, project scientist for Lucy and a co-author of the paper.<\/p>\n \u201cThese features tell us that Dinkinesh has some strength, and they let us do a little historical reconstruction to see how this asteroid evolved,\u201d Levison said. \u201cIt broke, things moved apart and formed a disk of material during that failure, some of which rained back onto the surface to make the ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n The researchers think some of the material in the disk formed the moon Selam, which is\u00a0actually two objects touching each other<\/a>, a configuration called a contact binary. Details of how this unusual moon formed remain mysterious.<\/p>\n Dinkinesh and its satellite are the first two of 11 asteroids that Lucy\u2019s team plans to explore over its 12-year journey. After skimming the inner edge of the main asteroid belt, Lucy is now heading back toward Earth for a gravity assist in December 2024. That close flyby will propel the spacecraft back through the main asteroid belt, where it will observe asteroid Donaldjohanson in 2025, and then on to the first of the encounters with the Trojan asteroids that lead and trail Jupiter in its orbit of the Sun beginning in 2027.<\/p>\n Lucy\u2019s principal investigator is based out of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built and operates the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA\u2019s Discovery Program. NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Discovery Program for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.<\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Crews rotated to vertical then lifted NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper spacecraft from its protective shipping container after it arrived at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center on May 28.<\/p>\n The spacecraft, which will collect data to help scientists determine if Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa could support life, arrived in a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane at Kennedy\u2019s\u00a0Launch and Landing Facility<\/a>\u00a0on May 23. The hardware traveled more than 2,500 miles from NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California where it was assembled. The team transported\u00a0Europa Clipper<\/a>\u00a0to the facility and will perform a number of activities to prepare it for launch, including attaching the high gain antenna, affixing solar arrays to power the spacecraft, and loading propellants that will help guide the spacecraft to its destination.<\/p>\n On board are nine science instruments to gather detailed measurements while Europa Clipper performs approximately 50 close flybys of the Jovian moon. Research suggests an ocean twice the volume of all the Earth\u2019s oceans exists under Europa\u2019s icy crust.<\/p>\n The Europa Clipper spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy\u2019s Launch Complex 39A. The launch period opens Oct. 10.<\/p>\n Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.<\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n A new project provides special 3D \u201cexperiences\u201d on Instagram using data from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes through augmented reality (AR), allowing users to travel virtually through objects in space. These new experiences of astronomical objects \u2013 including the debris fields of exploded stars \u2013 are being released to help celebrate the 25th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of operations from Chandra, NASA\u2019s flagship X-ray telescope.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In recent years, Instagram experiences (previously referred to as filters) of NASA mission control, the International Space Station, and the Perseverance Rover on Mars have allowed participants to virtually explore what NASA does. This new set of Chandra Instagram filters joins this space-themed collection.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited to bring data from the universe down to earth in this way,\u201d said Kimberly Arcand, visualization and emerging technology scientist at the Chandra X-ray Center. \u201cBy enabling people to access cosmic data on their phones and through AR, it brings Chandra\u2019s amazing discoveries literally right to your fingertips.\u201d<\/p>\n The new Instagram experiences are created from 3D models based on data collected by Chandra and other telescopes along with mathematical models. Traditionally, it has been very difficult to gather 3D data of objects in our galaxy due to their two-dimensional projection on the sky. New instruments and techniques, however, have helped allowed astronomers in recent years to construct more data-driven models of what these distant objects look like in three dimensions.<\/p>\n These advancements in astronomy have paralleled the explosion of opportunities in virtual, extended, and augmented reality. Such technologies provide virtual digital experiences, which now extend beyond Earth and into the cosmos. This new set of Chandra Instagram experiences was made possible by a collaboration including NASA, the Smithsonian Institution, and students and researchers at Brown University.<\/p>\n These\u00a0Instagram experiences<\/a>\u00a0also include data sonifications of the celestial objects. Sonification is the process of translating data into sounds and notes so users can hear representations of the data, an accessibility project the Chandra team has led for the past four years.<\/p>\n \u201cThese Chandra Instagram experiences are another way to share these cosmic data with the public,\u201d Arcand said. \u201cWe are hoping this helps reach new audiences, especially those who like to get their information through social media.\u201d<\/p>\n The objects in the new Chandra Instagram experience collection include the Tycho supernova remnant, the Vela Pulsar, the Helix Nebula, the Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula, and the Chandra spacecraft. The 3D models of the first three objects were done in conjunction with Sal Orlando, an astrophysicist at Italy\u2019s National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Palmero. The Cat\u2019s Eye Nebula was created with data from Ryan Clairmont, physics researcher and undergraduate at Stanford University. Arcand worked with Brown\u2019s Tom Sgouros and his team, research assistant Alexander Dupuis and undergraduate Healey Koch, on the Chandra Instagram filters.<\/p>\n The experiences include text that explains what users are looking at.\u00a0The effects are free and\u00a0available on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0on mobile devices for at least six months, and some will remain viewable in perpetuity on the Smithsonian\u2019s Voyager 3D website.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot of rich and beautiful data associated with these models that Healey and I looked to bring in, which we did by creating the textures on the models as well as programming visual effects for displaying them in AR,\u201d Dupuis said.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory\u2019s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. The Chandra X-ray Center is headquartered at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which is part of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.<\/p>\n Read more from NASA\u2019s Chandra X-ray Observatory.<\/a><\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n The most sensitive instrument ever built to measure quakes and meteor strikes on other worlds is getting closer to its journey to the mysterious far side of the Moon. It\u2019s one of two seismometers adapted for the lunar surface from instruments originally designed for NASA\u2019s InSight Mars lander, which recorded more than 1,300 marsquakes before the mission\u2019s\u00a0conclusion<\/a>\u00a0in 2022.<\/p>\n Part of a payload called\u00a0Farside Seismic Suite<\/a>\u00a0(FSS) that was recently assembled at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the two seismometers are expected to arrive in 2026 at Schr\u00f6dinger basin, a wide impact crater about 300 miles from the Moon\u2019s South Pole. The self-sufficient, solar-powered suite has its own computer and communications equipment, plus the ability to protect itself from the\u00a0extreme heat<\/a>\u00a0of lunar daytime and the frigid conditions of night.<\/p>\n After being delivered to the surface by a lunar lander under NASA\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, the suite will return the agency\u2019s first seismic data from the Moon since the last\u00a0Apollo program<\/a>\u00a0seismometers were in operation nearly 50 years ago. Not only that, but it will also provide the first-ever seismic measurements from the Moon\u2019s far side.<\/p>\n Up to 30 times more sensitive than its Apollo predecessors, the suite will record the Moon\u2019s seismic \u201cbackground\u201d vibration, which is driven by micrometeorites the size of small pebbles that pelt the surface. This will help NASA better understand the current impact environment as the agency prepares to send\u00a0Artemis<\/a>\u00a0astronauts to explore the lunar surface.<\/p>\n Planetary scientists are eager to see what FSS tells them about the Moon\u2019s internal activity and structure. What they learn will offer insights into how the Moon \u2013 as well as rocky planets like Mars and Earth \u2013 formed and evolved.<\/p>\n It will also answer a lingering question about moonquakes: Why did the Apollo instruments on the lunar near side detect little far-side seismic activity? One possible explanation is that something in the Moon\u2019s deep structure essentially absorbs far-side quakes, making them harder for Apollo\u2019s seismometers to have sensed. Another is that there are fewer quakes on the far side, which on the surface looks very different from the side that faces Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cFSS will offer answers to questions we\u2019ve been asking about the Moon for decades,\u201d said Mark Panning, the FSS principal investigator at JPL and project scientist for InSight. \u201cWe cannot wait to start getting this data back.\u201d<\/p>\n Farside Seismic Suite\u2019s two complementary instruments were adapted from\u00a0InSight<\/a>\u00a0designs to perform in lunar gravity \u2013 less than half that of Mars, which, in turn, is about a third of Earth\u2019s. They\u2019re packaged together with a battery, the computer, and electronics inside a cube structure that\u2019s surrounded by insulation and an outer protective cube. Perched atop the lander, the suite will gather data continuously for at least 4\u00bd months, operating through the long, cold lunar nights.<\/p>\n The Very Broadband seismometer, or VBB, is the most sensitive seismometer ever built for use in space exploration: It can detect ground motions smaller than the size of a single hydrogen atom. A fat cylinder about 5 inches in diameter, it measures up-and-down movement using a pendulum held in place by a spring. It was originally constructed as an emergency replacement instrument (a \u201cflight spare\u201d) for InSight by the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales).<\/p>\n Philippe Lognonn\u00e9 of Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, the principal investigator for\u00a0InSight\u2019s seismometer<\/a>, is an FSS co-investigator and VBB instrument lead. \u201cWe\u00a0learned so much about Mars<\/a>\u00a0from this instrument, and now we are thrilled with the opportunity to turn that experience toward the mysteries of the Moon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The suite\u2019s smaller seismometer, called the Short Period sensor, or SP, was built by Kinemetrics in Pasadena, California, in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Imperial College, London. The puck-shaped device measures motion in three directions using sensors etched into a trio of square silicon chips each about 1 inch wide.<\/p>\n The FSS payload came together at JPL over the last year. In recent weeks, it survived rigorous environmental testing in vacuum and extreme temperatures that simulate space, along with severe shaking that mimics the rocket\u2019s motion during launch.<\/p>\n \u201cThe JPL team has been excited from the beginning that we\u2019re going to the Moon with our French colleagues,\u201d said JPL\u2019s Ed Miller, FSS project manager and, like Panning and Lognonn\u00e9, a veteran of the InSight mission. \u201cWe went to Mars together, and now we\u2019ll be able to look up at the Moon and know we built something up there. It\u2019ll make us so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages, designed, assembled, and tested Farside Seismic Suite. The French space agency, CNES (Centre National d\u2019\u00c9tudes Spatiales), and IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris) provided the suite\u2019s Very Broadband seismometer with support from Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 and the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). Imperial College, London and the University of Oxford collaborated to provide the Short Period sensor, managed by Kinemetrics in Pasadena. The University of Michigan provided the flight computer, power electronics, and associated software.<\/p>\n A selection of NASA\u2019s PRISM (Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon), FSS is funded by the\u00a0Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office<\/a>\u00a0within the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center provides program management. FSS will land on the Moon as part of an\u00a0upcoming lunar delivery<\/a>\u00a0under NASA\u2019s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services<\/a>) initiative.<\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n The physics remain the same, but the rockets, spacecraft, landers, and spacesuits are new as NASA and its industry partners prepare for Artemis astronauts to walk on the Moon for the first time since 1972.<\/p>\n NASA astronaut Doug \u201cWheels\u201d Wheelock and Axiom Space astronaut Peggy Whitson put on\u00a0spacesuits, developed by Axiom Space<\/a>, to interact with and evaluate full-scale developmental hardware of\u00a0SpaceX\u2019s Starship HLS (Human Landing System)<\/a>\u00a0that will be used for landing humans on the Moon under Artemis. The test, conducted April 30, marked the first time astronauts in pressurized spacesuits interacted with a test version of Starship HLS hardware.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Artemis, NASA is going to the Moon in a whole new way, with international partners and industry partners like Axiom Space and SpaceX. These partners are contributing their expertise and providing integral parts of the deep space architecture that they develop with NASA\u2019s insight and oversight,\u201d said Amit Kshatriya, NASA\u2019s Moon to Mars program manager. \u201cIntegrated tests like this one, with key programs and partners working together, are crucial to ensure systems operate smoothly and are safe and effective for astronauts before they take the next steps on the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n The day-long test, conducted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, provided NASA and its partners with valuable feedback on the layout, physical design, mechanical assemblies, and clearances inside the Starship HLS, as well as the flexibility and agility of the suits, known as the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit).<\/p>\n To begin the test, Wheelock and Whitson put on the spacesuits in the full-scale airlock that sits on Starship\u2019s airlock deck. Suits were then pressurized using a system immediately outside the HLS airlock that provided air, electrical power, cooling, and communications to the astronauts. Each AxEMU also included a full-scale model of the Portable Life Support System, or \u201cbackpack,\u201d on the back of the suits. For Artemis moonwalks, each crew member will put on a spacesuit with minimal assistance, so the team was eager to evaluate how easily the suits can be put on, taken off, and stowed in the airlock.<\/p>\n During the test, NASA and SpaceX engineers were also able to evaluate placement of mobility aids, such as handrails, for traversing the hatch. Another set of mobility aids, straps hanging from the ceiling in the airlock, assisted the astronauts when entering and removing the AxEMU suits. The astronauts also practiced interacting with a control panel in the airlock, ensuring controls could be reached and activated while the astronauts were wearing gloves.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, I was pleased with the astronauts\u2019 operation of the control panel and with their ability to perform the difficult tasks they will have to do before stepping onto the Moon,\u201d said Logan Kennedy, lead for surface activities in NASA\u2019s HLS Program. \u201cThe test also confirmed that the amount of space available in the airlock, on the deck, and in the elevator, are sufficient for the work our astronauts plan to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The suited astronauts also walked the from Starship\u2019s airlock deck to the elevator built for testing. During Artemis missions,\u00a0the elevator<\/a>\u00a0will take NASA astronauts and their equipment from the deck to the lunar surface for a moonwalk and then back again. Whitson and Wheelock practiced opening a gate to enter the elevator while evaluating the dexterity of the AxEMU suit gloves, and practiced lowering the ramp that astronauts will use to take the next steps on the Moon.<\/p>\n The steps the astronauts took in the spacesuits through full-scale builds of the Starship hatch, airlock, airlock deck, and elevator may have been small, but they marked an important step toward preparing for a new generation of moonwalks as part of Artemis.<\/p>\n For the Artemis III mission, SpaceX will provide the Starship HLS that will dock with Orion in lunar orbit and take two astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon. Axiom Space is providing a new generation of spacesuits for moonwalks that are designed to fit a wider range of astronauts.<\/p>\n With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits, Gateway lunar space station, and future rovers are NASA\u2019s foundation for deep space exploration.<\/p>\n Learn more<\/a> about Artemis.<\/p>\n \u203a Back to Top<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> LIFTOFF! NASA Astronauts Pilot First Starliner Crewed Test to Station NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely in orbit on the first crewed flight test aboard Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. As part of NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test, the astronauts lifted off at 9:52 a.m. CDT June 5 [\u2026] Continue reading Center Director Joseph Pelfrey Outlines Marshall\u2019s Future at 29th Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure>Davey Jones Named Marshall\u2019s Center Strategy Lead<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure>Lucy Images Reveal Asteroid Dinkinesh to be Surprisingly Complex<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure>NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper Unpacks in Florida<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure>Travel Through Data from Space in New 3D Instagram Experiences<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure>Agency to Measure Moonquakes with Help from InSight Mars Mission<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure>NASA Astronauts Practice Next Giant Leap for Artemis<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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\nLee Mohon <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"