The next rehearsal before the start of our mission Artemis I Moon …
News about some NASA astronomical missions …
And a critical cornerstone for an Earth observation satellite …
Some of the stories to tell you – This week at NASA!
The next rehearsal test before the start of Artemis I’s mission to the moon
NASA is set for June 18 to begin the next wet rehearsal test with our Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The rehearsal is the last test needed before the start of the Artemis I mission without a crew around the moon.
The test includes an approximately two-day countdown, during which the launch teams will practice the operations, deadlines and procedures that will follow for the actual launch.
This illustration shows a white dwarf star sucking debris from broken objects into a planetary system. The Hubble Space Telescope discovers the spectral nature of evaporated debris, which reveals a combination of rock-metal and ice material, components of the planets. The findings help describe the violent nature of evolved planetary systems and the composition of their decaying bodies. Credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
NASA news at the American Astronomical Society meeting
News of NASA missions at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society included astronomers using data from our Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA observatories to see for the first time a dead star called a white dwarf consuming both rock and metal and and ice material, the ingredients of the planets.
This case of cosmic cannibalism may help astronomers learn more about the composition of newly formed systems.
The potential of NASA’s Roman Nancy Grace Space Telescope was also discussed. The telescope’s unprecedented field of view will make it possible to study stellar streams in a large number of galaxies for the first time.
Astronomers can use these observations to better understand how galaxies grow and the nature of dark matter.
Artistic depiction of the JPSS-2 satellite, which will be renamed NOAA-21 once in orbit. Credit: NOAA
NASA is completing critical tests for an Earth observation satellite
The Joint Polar Satellite System-2, or JPSS-2, which NASA is building for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has recently completed its thermal vacuum testing.
The critical test aims to show that the spacecraft and its instruments can work successfully in the harsh space environment.
JPSS-2 is scheduled to be launched on November 1 from the Vandenberg Space Force base in California.
The satellite will provide data to help improve our understanding of extreme weather and climate change.
A full-scale model of an inflated airplane for NASA’s Inflatable Retarder Flight Test (LOFTID) was shown at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Credit: NASA / David C. Bowman
NASA demonstrates an inflatable heat shield before demonstrating space flight
NASA’s low-Earth orbiting test of an inflatable retarder or LOFTID will be launched into space when the JPSS-2 is launched as a secondary payload.
LOFTID is a demonstration of a hypersonic inflatable air shell that could one day help people land on Mars.
Our Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, recently hosted a media event to learn more about the technology.
After launching into low Earth orbit, LOFTID will inflate and descend back to Earth to demonstrate how it can slow down a spacecraft and help it survive its journey down the planet’s atmosphere.
The Hall of Fame of US astronauts outside the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex. Credit: NASA
Awards ceremony in the Astronauts Hall of Fame in 2022
Congratulations to former NASA astronauts Dave Listma, Sandy Magnus and Chris Ferguson. They are the newest members of the US Astronaut Hall of Fame.
They were introduced as a class at the Hall of Fame 2022 during a ceremony on June 11 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Here’s what’s happening this week NASA …
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