Month: August 2024

SpaceX’s private Polaris Dawn mission will set altitude record for female astronauts

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Two women astronauts will set a spaceflight record next week, if all goes according to plan.  The Polaris Dawn mission is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Aug. 27. It aims to perform the first-ever private spacewalk and to fly at a higher altitude above Earth than any crewed spacecraft since the Apollo era, at about 870 miles (1,400 kilometers). The mission is funded and commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who also funded and commanded the private Inspiration4 orbital mission in 2021. Polaris Dawn’s…

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Supermassive black holes have masses of more than a million suns – but their growth has slowed as the universe aged

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Fan Zou is a graduate student at Penn State University while W. Neil Brandt is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State. Black holes are remarkable astronomical objects with gravity so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape them. The most gigantic ones, known as “supermassive” black holes, can weigh millions to billions times the mass of the Sun. These giants usually live in the centers of galaxies. Our own galaxy, the Milky…

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Japanese company to deorbit big hunk of space junk by 2029

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Japanese space-sustainability company Astroscale just inked a $90 million deal to take a bus-sized rocket stage out of orbit by the end of the decade. The pioneering project, funded by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is a continuation of Astroscale’s ADRAS-J mission, which recently completed an up-close orbital inspection of a 12-year-old upper stage of a Japanese H-2A rocket. The new mission, called ADRAS-J2, will grab the 3-ton, 36-foot-long (11 meters) rocket stage using a robotic arm and pull it into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up, demonstrating a critical…

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StarFOX autonomous satellite swarm could level up space exploration

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Scientists are trying to build a new sort of satellite, and have recently tested their idea with the Starling Formation-Flying Optical Experiment, or “StarFOX.” You may be getting flashbacks to the retro Star Fox video game series — and you’d be right to imagine this experiment as a science fiction fantasy brought into reality. There are no space-faring animals here, though. Basically, StarFOX is a quartet of small satellites that work in tandem — a satellite “swarm,” as it’s sometimes called. This concept isn’t entirely new, but there’s something that…

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August 2024 Transformer of the Month: Selina Salgado

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As a Human Resource Business Partner at NASA Headquarters, Selina Salgado describes her job as helping with “all things people” for the enterprise. By facilitating technological solutions to human resources (HR) challenges and needs, she excels at an often-underestimated aspect of Digital Transformation (DT): the interpersonal side. As a champion of community building, knowledge sharing, and digital upskilling, Selina was an easy selection for this month’s Digital Transformer award.    Selina started at NASA in 2019 as a Pathways intern and previously worked as a mentoring coordinator for Marshall Space Flight Center…

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NASA Ames Stars of the Month: August 2024

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The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Sangsavang Stevie Phothisane, Taryn Kavanagh, Andro Rios, and Hami Ray. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the talent, camaraderie, and vision needed to explore this world and beyond. Earth Science Star: Sangsavang Stevie Phothisane Sangsavang Stevie Phothisane, a Deputy Project Manager in the Earth Science Project Office (ESPO), demonstrated outstanding leadership as the site manager for both of the field campaigns of the Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) based at Pituffik Space Base, Greenland.  He…

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First Look at Hybrid Electric Research Aircraft 

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The Dash 7 that will be modified into a hybrid electric research vehicle under NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project on display with its new livery for the first time. In front of the plane is an electric powertrain that magniX will integrate into the current aircraft to build a hybrid electric propulsion system. NASA/David C. Bowman In a special unveiling ceremony on Aug. 22, 2024, the public received a first look at magniX’s Dash 7 aircraft that will serve as a testbed for sustainable aviation research with NASA’s…

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NASA Funds Studies to Support Crew Performance on Long-Duration Missions

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The crew of the Human Exploration Research Analog’s Campaign 7 Mission 1 clasp hands above their simulated space habitat’s elevator shaft. Credit: NASA NASA is funding 11 new studies to better understand how to best support the health and performance of crew members during long-duration spaceflight missions. The awardees will complete the studies on Earth without the need for samples and data from astronauts. Together, the studies will help measure physiological and psychological responses to physical and mental challenges that astronauts may encounter during spaceflight. The projects will address numerous spaceflight risks related…

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NASA Shares Asteroid Bennu Sample in Exchange with JAXA

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As part of an asteroid sample exchange, NASA has transferred to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) a portion of the asteroid Bennu sample collected by the agency’s OSIRIS-REx mission. The sample was officially handed over by NASA officials during a ceremony on Aug. 22 at JAXA’s Sagamihara, Japan, campus. The signature exchange for the Bennu sample transfer took place on Aug. 22, 2024, at JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara Campus. JAXA This asteroid sample transfer follows the November 2021 exchange where JAXA transferred…

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NASA Astronauts Wilmore, Williams’ Space Station Science Highlights

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts (from top) Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and the Starliner spacecraft. NASA NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station. NASA NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore prepare orbital plumbing hardware for installation inside the International Space Station’s bathroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment, located in the Tranquility…

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