By Celine Smith
More than 100,000 individuals from throughout the world collected April 8 in Russellville, Arkansas, to witness a huge syzygy– the positioning of the Sun, Moon, and Earth– developing a solar eclipse with totality enduring 4 minutes and 12 seconds.
Staff member from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and others took a trip to Arkansas to supply instructional chances associated with the eclipse. Professionals from NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and NASA Headquarters, in addition to agents of the Arkansas Air National Guard and the Paris Observatory in Muedon, France, signed up with the Marshall group.
“I’ve carried out outreach previously, however absolutely nothing on this scale,” stated Patrick Koehn, heliophysics research study and analysis lead at NASA Headquarters. “The logistics were on another level, it was excellent to see it come together, and I’m delighted we engaged many individuals.”
In the days leading up to the eclipse, NASA hosted displays and outreach activities for the general public and offered discussions for trainees at Arkansas Tech University and the Russellville School District. Visitors were likewise provided a chance to fulfill retired NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, who signed autographs and welcomed the crowds.
Marshall Center Director Joseph Pelfrey likewise attended this celestial experience, offering remarks at the Russellville watch celebration about the eclipse and the work of Marshall’s Heliophysics and Planetary Science Branch.
“Thanks to our partnership with the city of Russellville, we assisted host among the firm’s most effective eclipse occasions,” Pelfrey stated. “People originated from throughout the country and the world to share the experience with us. It was unbelievable to witness my very first overall solar eclipse along with the Marshall group in Arkansas.”
Russellville was among the cities included in NASA’s live eclipse broadcast, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASAThe three-hour broadcast covered the course of the eclipse throughout 15 states, from Texas to Maine, amassing more than one million live audiences. Presently, the broadcast has more than 13 million views. Russellville was kept in mind for its clear skies, offering viewers with among the most noticeable sightings of the eclipse.
The 2024 solar eclipse was specifically magnificent due to the prominences noticeable throughout totality. Solar secured electronic cameras recorded the intense red arcs around the edge of the Moon and Sun.
“This was my very first overall solar eclipse, and it was an amazing experience,” stated Bob Loper, research study astrophysicist at Marshall. “It was amazing to see phenomena I’ve invested my profession studying– really seeing solar prominences of the Sun was an experience I’ll always remember.”
View more images of the April 8 eclipse from NASA.
Smith, a Media Fusion worker, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
Chad Summers has actually been called as the director of the Test Laboratory for the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, efficient April 21.
An essential part of the Engineering Directorate, the Test Laboratory includes a large range of specialized abilities NASA utilizes to carry out screening for area flight hardware research study, advancement, credentials, approval, and anomaly resolution. As director, Summers will offer executive management for all elements of the Laboratory, consisting of labor force, spending plan, facilities, and operations for screening.
Summers has actually been the chief of the Structural Design and Analysis Division at Marshall given that 2019. Because function, he monitored a department of civil service and specialist engineers to guarantee the effective style, advancement, and combination of big, intricate launch lorries and spacecraft systems to fulfill NASA’s Human Exploration and Science Mission goals. From 2018 to 2019, Summers was the department’s deputy chief.
From 2015 to 2018, he was chief of the Systems Requirements and Verification branch. Summertimes led the Systems Design and Definition branch from 2011 to 2015. From 2007 to 2011, he was chief of the Systems Requirements, Interfaces, and Verification branch. Summer seasons was deputy chief of the Engine Systems and Main Propulsion Systems branch from 2004 to 2007.
Summers has practically 30 years of experience at NASA and operated at both Kennedy Space Center and Stennis Space Center prior to pertaining to Marshall in 2001 as a test operations supervisor in the Next Generation Launch Technology Project Office.
He has actually gotten numerous of the company’s greatest awards, consisting of NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal, Exceptional Service Medal, Marshall Director’s Commendation, and several Group Achievement and Special Service awards.
A local of Titusville, Florida, Summers got his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Central Florida. He resides in Huntsville with his partner, Jennifer.
NASA will commemorate the 30th anniversary of theHuman Exploration Rover Challengewhen the competitors go back to the U.S. Space & & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge Course in Huntsville April 19-20. The occasion is totally free and open up to the general public with rover expeditions taking place every day from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. or till the last rover finishes the barrier course.
NASA chose 72 trainee groups in October to start an engineering style difficulty to construct human-powered rovers that will complete at the course near the firm’s Marshall Space Flight.
The general public is welcomed to see more than 600 trainees from worldwide effort to browse an intricate barrier course by piloting a human-powered automobile of their own style and production.
Getting involvedgroupsrepresent 42 colleges and universities and 30 high schools from 24 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 13 other countries from worldwide. NASA’shandbookhas total proposition standards and job obstacles.
To conclude the 2024 season, NASA will host an in-person awards event April 20 at 5 p.m. inside the Space Camp Operations Center at the rocket. NASA and market agents will provide several awards highlighting group successes throughout the previous eight-month-long engineering style job, consisting of awards for finest rover style, finest pit team award, finest social networks existence, and numerous other achievements.
The Human Exploration Rover Challenge jobs high school, college, and college student around the globe to style, construct, and evaluate their light-weight, human-powered rovers on a course imitating lunar and Martian surface, all while finishing mission-focused science jobs. Qualified groups complete to be amongst the leading 3 finishers in their departments, and to win awards for finest lorry style, finest novice group, and more.
The difficulty each year draws numerous trainees from all over the world and shows the objectives of NASA’sArtemis projectwhich will land the very first lady and very first individual of color on the Moon.
The occasion was introduced in 1994 as the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race– a college competitors to celebrate the 25th anniversary of theApollo 11 lunar landing.It broadened in 1996 to consist of high school groups, progressing once again in 2014 into the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. Because its creation, more than 15,000 trainees have actually gotten involved. Numerous previous rivals now operate in the aerospace market, consisting of with NASA.
The Human Exploration Rover Challenge is handled by NASA’s Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall and is among 8Artemis Student ChallengesNASA’sWorkplace of STEM Engagementusages obstacles and competitors to enhance the firm’s objective of motivating trainees to pursue degrees and professions in science, innovation, engineering, and mathematics.
Groups at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center finished a brand-new payload adapter test short article and prepared it for structural screening, set to start later on this spring. This marks an important turning point on the journey to the hardware’s launching on the updated Block 1B setup of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with Artemis IV.
The composite payload adapter is an advancement from the Orion phase adapter utilized in the Block 1 setup of the very first 3 Artemis objectives.
Learn more about SLS
Before the Orion spacecraft is stacked atop NASA’s effective SLS (Space Launch System) rocket ahead of theArtemis IIobjective, engineers will put it through a series of extensive tests to guarantee it is all set for lunar flight. In preparation for screening, groups at the company’s Kennedy Space Center have actually made substantial upgrades to the elevation chamber where screening will happen.
Numerous of the tests occur inside one of 2 elevation chambers in the high bay of theNeil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) Buildingat Kennedy. These tests, which started on April 10, consist of having a look at electro-magnetic disturbance and electro-magnetic compatibility, which show the ability of the spacecraft when subjected to internally and externally produced electro-magnetic energy and confirm that all systems carry out as they would throughout the objective.
To get ready for the tests, the west elevation chamber was updated to check the spacecraft in a vacuum environment that replicates an elevation of as much as 250,000 feet. These upgrades re-activated elevation chamber screening abilities for the Orion spacecraft at Kennedy. Previous vacuum screening on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis I took location at NASA’s Glenn Research. Groups likewise set up a30-ton cranein the O&C to raise and decrease the Orion team and service module stack into the chamber, lift and lower the chamber’s cover, and move the spacecraft throughout the high bay.
On April 4, groups packed the Artemis II spacecraft into the elevation chamber. This occasion marks the very first time, considering that the Apollo screening, that a spacecraft developed for human expedition of area has actually gone into the chamber for screening. After screening is total, the spacecraft will go back to the Final Assembly and Systems Testing, or FAST, cell in the O&C for more work. Later on this summertime, groups will raise Orion back into the elevation chamber to carry out a test that mimics as close as possible the conditions in the vacuum of deep area.
Initially utilized to check ecological and life support group on the lunar and command modules throughout the Apollo Program, the interior of each elevation chamber procedures 33 feet in size and 44 feet high and was developed to replicate the vacuum equivalent of approximately 200,000 feet in a deep area environment. Both chambers were ranked for astronaut teams to run flight systems throughout tests.
After Apollo, the chambers were utilized for leakage tests on pressurized modules provided by the Space Shuttle Program for the International Space Station.
Extra upgrades to the west chamber consist of a brand-new oxygen shortage tracking system that supplies real-time tracking of the oxygen levels and a brand-new air flow system. New LED lights changed the previous lighting system, and devices from the Apollo days was gotten rid of. A pressure control system was contributed to the chamber that offers exact control of pressure levels. 2 brand-new pumps get rid of the air from the chamber to develop a vacuum. New guardrails and service platforms changed the older platforms inside the chamber.
A brand-new control space ignores the updated chamber. It consists of a number of workstations and interaction devices. The chamber control and tracking system was updated to manage operation of all the from another location managed hardware and subsystems that comprise the vacuum screening ability.
“It was a remarkable chance to lead a varied and extraordinary group to re-activate an ability for checking the NASA’s next generation spacecraft that will bring people back to the Moon,” stated Marie Reed, West Altitude Chamber Reactivation Project Manager. “The group of more than 70 aerospace specialists, consisted of people from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Artic Slope Research Corps, Jacobs Engineering, and every discipline location you can possibly imagine. This task needed long hours of devotion and extraordinary coordination to allow the effective turn-around and activation in time for this Artemis II spacecraft screening.”
NASA’sArtemis IIobjective will bring 4 astronauts aboard the firm’s Orion spacecraft on a roughly 10-day test flight around the Moon and back to Earth, the very first crewed flight under Artemis that will check Orion’s life support group ahead of future objectives. Under theArtemisproject, NASA will return humankind to the lunar surface area, this time sending out people to check out the lunar South Pole area.
For time lapse video of the Artemis II raise into the vacuum chamber see:Artemis II Orion Vac Chamber Lift and Load Operations
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are running last tests and preparing the company’sEuropa ClipperSpacecraft for the next leg of its journey: releasing from NASA’s Kennedy Space. Europa Clipper, which will orbit Jupiter and concentrate on the world’s ice-encased moon Europa, is anticipated to leave JPL later on this spring. Its launch duration opens Oct. 10.
Members of the media place on “bunny fits”– attire to safeguard the enormous spacecraft from contamination– to see Europa Clipper up close in JPL’s historicalSpacecraft Assembly Facilityon April 11. Task Manager Jordan Evans, Launch-to-Mars Mission Manager Tracy Drain, Project Staff Scientist Samuel Howell, and Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations Cable Harness Engineer Luis Aguila were on the tidy space flooring, while Deputy Project Manager Tim Larson, and Mission Designer Ricardo Restrepo remained in the gallery above to describe the objective and its objectives.
Preparation of the objective started in2013and Europa Clipper was formallyvalidated by NASAas an objective in 2019. The journey to Jupiter is anticipated to take about 6 years, with flybys of Mars and Earth. Reaching the gas giant in 2030, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter while zipping Europa lots of times, dipping as close as 16 miles from the moon’s surface area to collect information with its effective suite ofscience instrumentsThe details will assist researchers discover the ocean underneath the moon’s icy shell, map Europa’s surface area structure and geology, and hunt for any possible plumes of water vapor that might be venting from the crust.
“After over a years of effort and analytical, we’re so happy to reveal the almost total Europa Clipper spacecraft to the world,” Evans stated. “As crucial elements was available in from organizations around the world, it’s been amazing to see parts end up being a higher whole. We can’t wait to get this spacecraft to the Jupiter system.”
At the occasion, a cutaway design revealing the moon’s layers and a world of the moon assisted reporters find out why Europa is such a fascinating item of research study. On hand with the information were Project Staff Scientist and Assistant Science Systems Engineer Kate Craft from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, and, from JPL, Project Scientist Robert Pappalardo, Deputy Project Scientist Bonnie Buratti, and Science Communications Lead Cynthia Phillips.
Beyond Earth, Europa is thought about among the most appealing possibly habitable environments in our planetary system. While Europa Clipper is not a life-detection objective, its main science objective is to identify whether there are locations listed below the moon’s icy surface area that might support life.
When the primary part of the spacecraft reaches Kennedy Space Center in a couple of months, engineers will end up preparing Europa Clipper for launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, connecting its huge solar ranges and thoroughly tucking the spacecraft inside the pill that trips on top of the rocket. Europa Clipper will be prepared to start its area odyssey.
Europa Clipper’s 3 primary science goals are to identify the density of the moon’s icy shell and its surface area interactions with the ocean listed below, to examine its structure, and to define its geology. The objective’s comprehensive expedition of Europa will assist researchers much better comprehend the astrobiological capacity for habitable worlds beyond our world.
Handled by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the advancement of the Europa Clipper objective in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. APL developed the primary spacecraft body in partnership with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center carries out program management of the Europa Clipper objective.
The topic of an image taken with the NASA/ESAHubble Space Telescopeis the spiral nebula IC 4633, situated 100 million light-years far from us in the constellation Apus. IC 4633 is a galaxy abundant in star-forming activity and hosts an active galactic nucleus at its core. From our perspective, the galaxy is slanted primarily towards us, offering astronomers a pretty good view of its billions of stars.
We can’t totally value the functions of this galaxy– at least in noticeable light– since it’s partly hidden by a stretch of dark dust (lower-right 3rd of the image). This dark nebula belongs to the Chamaeleon star-forming area, itself situated just around 500 light-years from us, in a close-by part of our Milky Way galaxy. The dark clouds in the Chamaeleon area inhabit a big location of the southern sky, covering their name constellation however likewise trespassing on neighboring constellations, like Apus. The cloud is well-studied for its treasury of young stars, especially the cloud Cha I, which bothHubbleand the NASA/ESA/CSAJames Webb Space Telescopehave actually imaged.
The cloud overlapping IC 4633 lies east of the popular Cha I, II, and III, and is likewise called MW9 and the South Celestial Serpent. Categorized as an incorporated flux nebula (IFN)– a cloud of gas and dust in the Milky Way galaxy that’s not close to any single star and is just faintly lit by the overall light of all the galaxy’s stars– this huge, narrow path of faint gas that snakes over the southern celestial pole is far more controlled looking than its next-door neighbors. Hubble has no issue constructing out the South Celestial Serpent, though this image records just a small part of it.
NASA has actually validated itsDragonflyrotorcraft objective to Saturn’s organic-rich moon Titan. The choice permits the objective to advance to conclusion of last style, followed by the building and construction and screening of the whole spacecraft and science instruments.
“Dragonfly is a magnificent science objective with broad neighborhood interest, and we are thrilled to take the next actions on this objective,” stated Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “Exploring Titan will press the borders of what we can do with rotorcraft beyond Earth.”
In early 2023, the objective effectivelypassed all the success requirementsof its Preliminary Design Review. At that time, nevertheless, the objective was asked to establish an upgraded spending plan and schedule to suit the present financing environment. This upgraded strategy existed andconditionally authorizedin November 2023, pending the result of the 2025 budget plan procedure. In the meantime, the objective was licensed to continue with deal with last objective style and fabrication to guarantee that the objective remained on schedule.
With the release of the president’s 2025 budget plan demand, Dragonfly is verified with an overall lifecycle expense of $3.35 billion and a launch date of July 2028. This shows a boost of about 2 times the proposed expense and a hold-up of more than 2 years from when the objective was initially chosen in 2019. Following that choice, NASA needed to direct the job to replan several times due to moneying restrictions in 2020 through 2022. The job sustained extra expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain boosts, and the outcomes of an extensive style model. To make up for the postponed arrival at Titan, NASA likewise offered extra financing for a heavy-lift launch car to reduce the objective’s cruise stage.
The rotorcraft, targeted to come to Titan in 2034, will fly to lots of appealing places on the moon, trying to find prebiotic chemical procedures typical on both Titan and the early Earth before life established. Dragonfly marks the very first time NASA will fly a lorry for science on another planetary body. The rotorcraft has 8 rotors and flies like a big drone.
Dragonfly is being developed and constructed under the instructions of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, which handles the objective for NASA. Elizabeth Turtle of APL is the primary private investigator. The group consists of essential partners at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center; Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado; NASA’s Ames Research Center; NASA’s Langley Research Center; Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania; Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California; Honeybee Robotics in Pasadena, California; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) in Paris; the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, Germany; and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in Tokyo.
Dragonfly is the 4th objective in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, handled by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for the firm’s Science Mission Directorate.