Month: May 2024

Expedition 70 Astronauts to Share Mission in NASA Welcome Home Event

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May 15, 2024 MEDIA ADVISORY: J24-010 NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara along with JAXA astronuat Satoshi Furukawa and ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen NASA Expedition 70 Astronauts to Share Mission in NASA Welcome Home Event Four astronauts will participate in a welcome home ceremony at Space Center Houston after recently returning from a mission aboard the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, will share highlights from their…

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The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024

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15 Min Read The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024 Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Visits Marshall Navy Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his wife Christine Grady, and son Luke Grady talk with Nick Benjamin, right, a payload operations director for the International Space Station, at the Payload Operations Integration Center during the vice chairman’s tour of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on May 6. (NASA/Charles Beason) › Back to Top Marshall Team Members Honored with Space Flight Awareness Awards Astronaut Victor Glover, far right,…

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NASA Invites Media to View NOAA’s Newest Environmental Satellite

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Technicians monitor movement and guide NOAA’s Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) as a crane hoists it on to a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky NASA will host a media availability to view NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) spacecraft Thursday June 6, at the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. NASA is targeting a two-hour launch window opening at 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday,…

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Artemis 2 astronauts simulated a day in the life on their moon mission. Here’s what they learned (exclusive)

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Ever have one of those nightmares where you forget your pencil, or some key item, before a big test? Astronauts flying to the moon face that situation in spades: Once everything is on the spacecraft and they’re on the way, there’s no way to add to or change anything on the Orion spacecraft. So the Artemis 2 crew practiced a “day in the life” of their moon mission, expected to fly there in 2025, to see if there were any little items they may have forgotten. The astronaut quartet literally…

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Satellite images of Rafah illustrate Palestinians fleeing the city

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Satellite images taken earlier this month offer a spaceborne perspective of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. They include scenes such as a before-and-after sequence that illustrates Palestinian civilians fleeing Rafah, a view of damaged buildings in the region and conglomerates of Israeli hardware.  For the past several months, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have destroyed major portions of areas in which Palestinian civilians live as a response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, an attack orchestrated by the radical militant group Hamas. As Reuters reported on May 14, Israel says…

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Big decision! Curiosity rover keeps following possible Mars river remnant

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For the past month, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been shadowing Gediz Vallis, a channel that scientists think may be the fossil of an ancient Martian river.  Last week, Curiosity reached the north side of Pinnacle Ridge, part of a rock wall that looms over Gediz Vallis. In fact, after Curiosity navigated bumpy ground to do that, it found that the ridge’s south side is navigable. That left Curiosity’s overseers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California with a choice: Should they keep on their planned course, continuing to…

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Eleasa Kim: Pioneering CLDP Payload Operations and Cultural Integration

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Eleasa Kim, stationed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, leads the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program (CLDP) payload operations at Johnson Space Center, with 18 years of mission support under her belt. Her roles have included biomedical engineer flight controller, payload safety engineer for Artemis I, planning and analysis branch operations discipline lead, and glovebox integration engineer, with each enriching her understanding of engineering, safety, and leadership.  Kim is currently working to ensure a smooth transition to commercial space operations for the science being conducted in microgravity for the…

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Mission Manager Update: VIPER Rover Approved to Move into Environmental Testing!

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Engineers test the VIPER rover’s wheel movement and rotation in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas While NASA’s VIPER team has been focused on building the flight rover that will go to the South Pole of the Moon, the team has also been making preparations for environmental testing of the rover.  In April, the VIPER team passed a System Test Readiness Review, exploring the readiness of the facilities, procedures, and staff to move into stress-testing the VIPER rover. These environmental tests are important…

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Sols 4184-4185: Look Near! Look Far!

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3 min read Sols 4184-4185: Look Near! Look Far! This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4183 (2024-05-13 02:30:29 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Monday, May 13, 2024 Today I’ve chosen to show off a spectacular image of ‘Texoli butte,’ but I’m rather biased in my assessment of its beauty because I am currently part of the team studying it. What continues to marvel me is Curiosity’s incredible suite of instruments that can not only help us to assess the rocks around us,…

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