[NASA HQ News] Iowa Students to Connect with NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

Oct. 17, 2024

 

MEDIA ADVISORY: M24-141

 

Iowa Students to Connect with NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

 

NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Nick Hague in the space station cupola. (Credit: NASA)

 

Students from Iowa will have the opportunity to hear NASA astronaut Nick Hague answer their prerecorded questions while he’s serving an expedition aboard the International Space Station on Monday, Oct. 21.

 

Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 11:40 a.m. EDT on NASA+. Students from Iowa State University in Ames, First Robotics Clubs, World Food Prize Global Youth Institute, and Plant the Moon teams will focus on food production in space. Learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media.

 

Media interested in covering the event must contact Angie Hunt by 5 p.m., Friday, Oct.18 at amhunt@iastate.edu or 515-294-8986.

 

For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.

 

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.

 

See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

 

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Inbox Astronomy: NASA's Hubble Sees a Stellar Volcano

INBOX ASTRONOMY

NASA's Hubble Sees a Stellar Volcano

Release date: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 10:00:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Oddball Stellar Duo Creates Spectacular Fireworks

Located approximately 700 light-years away, R Aquarii is one of the closest stars known to undergo violent eruptions that spew out huge quantities of processed nuclear material into the surrounding space. R Aquarii belongs to the symbiotic class of 150 known variable stars. The symbiotic classification borrows its name from the biological word "symbiosis," whereby two different types of organisms co-exist. In astronomy a symbiotic system is composed of two very different types of stars: a cool red giant star and a small white dwarf companion (a hot burned-out star). They are embedded inside a glowing nebula produced by gas escaping the red giant.

In 1939, Edwin Hubble first detected the expansion of the nebula. In the 1970s astronomers found jets of matter streaming in opposite directions – like a lawn sprinkler. Astronomers now know R Aquarii has actually undergone a series of violent eruptions – the latest one probably occurring in the late 1970's. This happens when the dwarf star swings close to the red giant primary star, siphons off hydrogen, and then the dwarf star's surface undergoes a spontaneous thermonuclear explosion. The Hubble Space Telescope has been keeping an eye on R Aquarii since 1990. The latest images reveal colorful twisted filaments extending very far from the stellar odd couple, resembling the tracings on a child’s Spirograph toy.

  Read more  

Find additional articles, images, and videos at HubbleSite.org

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Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute's Office of Public Outreach

 

[NASA HQ News] NASA Administrator to Visit, Engage Officials in Romania, Bulgaria

NASA Administrator to Visit, Engage Officials in Romania, Bulgaria

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson talks to the agency's workforce during his first State of NASA event Wednesday, June 2, 2021, at NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington.

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Continuing his efforts to deepen international collaboration and promote the peaceful use of space, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will travel to Romania and Bulgaria, beginning Thursday, Oct. 17. Both countries have signed the Artemis Accords, a set of commonsense principles to commit to the peaceful exploration of space.

Nelson will meet with key government and space officials in each country, including Marcel Ciolacu, Romania's prime minister, and Rumen Radev, president of Bulgaria.

In Romania, Nelson will engage with Bogdan-Gruia Ivan, minister of research, innovation and digitization, and Daniel Crunțeanu, general director of the Romanian Space Agency (ROSA). He also will visit Romanian science and technology institutions to learn about the country's science facilities.

In Bulgaria, Nelson will meet with Dr. Rosen Karadimov, minister of innovation and growth, and visit the country's only satellite builder, which is producing satellites for organizations globally.

During his travels to both countries, Nelson will discuss the importance of international partnerships and collaboration in space, including the transatlantic relationships to NASA. Nelson also will meet with students to highlight the benefits science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and their roles as members of the Artemis Generation.

For more information about NASA's international partnerships, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/oiir

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[NASA HQ News] Liftoff! NASA’s Europa Clipper Sails Toward Ocean Moon of Jupiter

Liftoff! NASA's Europa Clipper Sails Toward Ocean Moon of Jupiter

Oct 14, 2024

RELEASE 24-129

 

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these "gravity assists," Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030.

Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA's Europa Clipper has embarked on its long voyage to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with an enormous subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. The spacecraft launched at 12:06 p.m. EDT Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The largest spacecraft NASA ever built for a mission headed to another planet, Europa Clipper also is the first NASA mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) on a trajectory that will leverage the power of gravity assists, first to Mars in four months and then back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby in 2026. After it begins orbiting Jupiter in April 2030, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times.

"Congratulations to our Europa Clipper team for beginning the first journey to an ocean world beyond Earth," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "NASA leads the world in exploration and discovery, and the Europa Clipper mission is no different. By exploring the unknown, Europa Clipper will help us better understand whether there is the potential for life not just within our solar system, but among the billions of moons and planets beyond our Sun."

Approximately five minutes after liftoff, the rocket's second stage fired up and the payload fairing, or the rocket's nose cone, opened to reveal Europa Clipper. About an hour after launch, the spacecraft separated from the rocket. Ground controllers received a signal soon after, and two-way communication was established at 1:13 p.m. with NASA's Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia. Mission teams celebrated as initial telemetry reports showed Europa Clipper is in good health and operating as expected.

"We could not be more excited for the incredible and unprecedented science NASA's Europa Clipper mission will deliver in the generations to come," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Everything in NASA science is interconnected, and Europa Clipper's scientific discoveries will build upon the legacy that our other missions exploring Jupiter — including Juno, Galileo, and Voyager — created in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet."

The main goal of the mission is to determine whether Europa has conditions that could support life. Europa is about the size of our own Moon, but its interior is different. Information from NASA's Galileo mission in the 1990s showed strong evidence that under Europa's ice lies an enormous, salty ocean with more water than all of Earth's oceans combined. Scientists also have found evidence that Europa may host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface.

If the mission determines Europa is habitable, it may mean there are more habitable worlds in our solar system and beyond than imagined.

"We're ecstatic to send Europa Clipper on its way to explore a potentially habitable ocean world, thanks to our colleagues and partners who've worked so hard to get us to this day," said Laurie Leshin, director, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "Europa Clipper will undoubtedly deliver mind-blowing science. While always bittersweet to send something we've labored over for years off on its long journey, we know this remarkable team and spacecraft will expand our knowledge of our solar system and inspire future exploration."

In 2031, the spacecraft will begin conducting its science-dedicated flybys of Europa. Coming as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the surface, Europa Clipper is equipped with nine science instruments and a gravity experiment, including an ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and a thermal instrument to look for areas of warmer ice and any recent eruptions of water. As the most sophisticated suite of science instruments NASA has ever sent to Jupiter, they will work in concert to learn more about the moon's icy shell, thin atmosphere, and deep interior.

To power those instruments in the faint sunlight that reaches Jupiter, Europa Clipper also carries the largest solar arrays NASA has ever used for an interplanetary mission. With arrays extended, the spacecraft spans 100 feet (30.5 meters) from end to end. With propellant loaded, it weighs about 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms).

In all, more than 4,000 people have contributed to Europa Clipper mission since it was formally approved in 2015.

"As Europa Clipper embarks on its journey, I'll be thinking about the countless hours of dedication, innovation, and teamwork that made this moment possible," said Jordan Evans, project manager, NASA JPL. "This launch isn't just the next chapter in our exploration of the solar system; it's a leap toward uncovering the mysteries of another ocean world, driven by our shared curiosity and continued search to answer the question, 'are we alone?'"

More About Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with NASA JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

NASA's Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, managed the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

Find more information about NASA's Europa Clipper mission here:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper

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[NASA HQ News] NASA Welcomes Estonia as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

NASA Welcomes Estonia as Newest Artemis Accords Signatory

 

 

Credit: NASA

 

While in Milan for international meetings, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was among the witnesses as Estonia signed the Artemis Accords and became the 45th nation to join the United States and other signatories agreeing to the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

 

The signing ceremony took place ahead of Italy hosting the 75th International Astronautical Congress beginning Monday, Oct. 14, where government and space officials from signatory countries will discuss advancing implementation of the Artemis Accords, among other topics.

 

“We welcome Estonia’s signing of the Artemis Accords, which will open the door for more international collaboration,” said Nelson. “This decision also strengthens our family of nations, united by a common cause, and builds on our commitment to explore space for the benefit of humanity under the sound principles of the accords.”

 

Erkki Keldo, Estonia’s minister of economy and industry, signed the Artemis Accords. Rahima Kandahari, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. State Department and Lisa Campbell, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) president, also participated in the event.

 

“Estonia is well known as the leading country in e-governance, and it is a great honor for us to enter a next level in space exploration, said Keldo. “We are more than interested to share our knowledge with the global space community to make future collaboration in space exploration a success for humankind. I am sure that joining the Artemis Accords will open attractive opportunities to Estonian enterprises too, to share their valuable knowledge and competences.”

 

In 2020, the United States and seven other nations were the first to sign the Artemis Accords, which identified an early set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for humanity. The accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data. 

 

The commitments of the Artemis Accords and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles support the safe and sustainable exploration of space. More countries are expected to sign in the coming weeks and months.

Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/ 

 

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[NASA HQ News] NASA Updates Coverage for Europa Clipper Following Hurricane Milton

NASA Updates Coverage for Europa Clipper Following Hurricane Milton

An artist's concept of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Editor's note: This advisory was updated Oct. 12, 2024, to reflect a new launch date and updated coverage for prelaunch and launch activities.

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for Europa Clipper, the agency's mission to explore Jupiter's icy moon Europa. NASA now is targeting launch no earlier than 12:06 p.m. EDT, Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Beyond Earth, Jupiter's moon Europa is considered one of the solar system's most promising potentially habitable environments. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa's surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth's oceans.

For an updated schedule of live events and the platforms they'll stream on, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/europaclipperlive

The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. NASA's media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.

NASA's mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

 

Sunday, Oct. 13
8:30 a.m. – NASA's Europa Clipper launch preview. Coverage will stream on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

9:30 a.m. – NASA's Europa Clipper science teleconference with the following participants:

• Gina DiBraccio, acting director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
• Robert Pappalardo, project scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
• Haje Korth, deputy project scientist, Europa Clipper, Applied Physics Laboratory
• Cynthia Phillips, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL

Coverage of the science teleconference will stream live on the agency's website.

Media may ask questions during both teleconferences via phone. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

 

4:15 p.m. – NASA's Europa Clipper prelaunch teleconference following completion of the Launch Readiness Review. Please follow the Europa Clipper blog for updates on time. Participants include:

• NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
• Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
• Jordan Evans, project manager, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
• Tim Dunn, senior launch director, NASA's Launch Services Program
• Julianna Scheiman, director, NASA Science Missions, SpaceX
• Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, U.S. Space Force

Coverage of the prelaunch teleconference will stream live on the agency's website.

Monday, Oct. 14

11 a.m. – NASA launch coverage in English begins on NASA+.

11 a.m. – NASA launch coverage in Spanish begins on NASA+, and NASA's Spanish YouTube channel.

12:06 p.m. – Launch

Audio Only Coverage

Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, or -7135. On launch day, "mission audio," countdown activities without NASA+ media launch commentary, is carried on 321-867-7135.

NASA Website Launch Coverage

Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the agency's website. Coverage will include links to live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 9:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 13, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff.

Follow countdown coverage on the Europa Clipper blog. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468.

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o Messod Bendayan: messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.

Attend Launch Virtually

Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA's virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.

Watch, Engage on Social Media

Let people know you're following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtags #EuropaClipper and #NASASocial. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:

X: @NASA, @EuropaClipper, @NASASolarSystem, @NASAJPL, @NASAKennedy, @NASA_LSP 

Facebook: NASA, NASA's Europa Clipper, NASA's JPL, NASA's Launch Services Program

Instagram: @NASA, @nasasolarsystem, @NASAKennedy, @NASAJPL

For more information about the mission, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper

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[NASA HQ News] NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Crew-8 Return, Splashdown

NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Crew-8 Return, Splashdown

Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission from right to left, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; participate in the Crew Equipment Interface Test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.

SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 7:05 a.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 13, for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to undock from the International Space Station. Pending weather conditions, the earliest splashdown time is targeted for 3:38 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, at one of the multiple zones available off the coast of Florida.

NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, are completing a seven-month science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return important and time-sensitive research to Earth.

Mission managers continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon’s undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA will select a specific splashdown time and location closer to the Crew-8 spacecraft undocking.

Watch Crew-8 return activities on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of additional platforms, including social media. For schedule information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

For the planned Oct. 13 undocking, NASA’s live return operations coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Sunday, Oct. 13

5 a.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins on NASA+

5:30 a.m. – Hatch closing

6:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+

7:05 a.m. – Undocking

Following the conclusion of undocking, NASA coverage will switch to audio only.

Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume Oct. 14, on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.

Monday, Oct. 14

2:30 p.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+

2:53 p.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)

3:38 p.m. – Splashdown (time is approximate)

5:15 p.m. – Return to Earth media teleconference with the following participants:

• Richard Jones, deputy manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
• Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
• William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX

To participate in the teleconference, media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 3 p.m. Oct. 14 at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111. To ask questions, media must dial in no later than 10 minutes before the start of the call. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online.

Find full mission coverage, NASA’s commercial crew blog, and more information about the Crew-8 mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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[NASA HQ News] NASA Awards Aerospace Research, Technology, and Simulations Contract

NASA Awards Aerospace Research, Technology, and Simulations Contract

Oct 10, 2024

CONTRACT RELEASE C24-037

 

Credit: NASA

NASA has selected Metis Technology Solutions Inc. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to provide engineering services as well as develop and maintain software and hardware used to conduct simulations for aerospace research and development across the agency.

The Aerospace Research, Technology, and Simulations (ARTS) contract is a hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price contract with an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity component and has a maximum potential value of $177 million. The performance period begins Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, with a one-year base period, and options to extend performance through November 2029.

Under this contract, the company will support the preparation, development, operation, and maintenance of future and existing simulators, integration laboratories, aircraft research systems, simulation work areas, and aircraft research systems. The scope of work also will include the development, testing, and validation of advanced air traffic management automation tools, including, but not limited to, advanced concepts for aviation ecosystems. Work will primarily be performed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, as well as other agency or government locations, as needed.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

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