La NASA recibe al ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Uruguay para la firma de los Acuerdos de Artemis

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De izquierda a derecha, el embajador de Uruguay en Estados Unidos, Andrés Augusto Durán Hareau, el subsecretario adjunto del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos, Kevin Sullivan, el administrador de la NASA, Bill Nelson, y el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores uruguayo, Omar Paganini, posan para una foto durante la ceremonia de firma de los Acuerdos de Artemis, el jueves 15 de febrero de 2024, en el edificio Mary W. Jackson de la sede de la NASA en Washington. Uruguay es el 36.º país en firmar los Acuerdos de Artemis, que…

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Martians Wanted: NASA Opens Call for Simulated Yearlong Mars Mission

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The CHAPEA mission 1 crew (from left: Nathan Jones, Ross Brockwell, Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu) exit a prototype of a pressurized rover and make their way to the CHAPEA facility ahead of their entry into the habitat on June 25, 2023. Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel NASA is seeking applicants to participate in its next simulated one-year Mars surface mission to help inform the agency’s plans for human exploration of the Red Planet. The second of three planned ground-based missions called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) is scheduled to kick…

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NASA Goddard’s Beginnings in Project Vanguard

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In the dawn of the Space Age, a group of scientists and engineers from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) had their eye on a new frontier: the uncharted expanse of space. Project Vanguard, initiated in 1955, aimed to launch the first American satellite into Earth orbit as part of the International Geophysical Year (July 1957 to December 1958). Led by NRL, it envisioned a three-stage rocket design and emphasized scientific instrumentation over military application while showcasing American ingenuity. Despite…

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Atmospheric Science Branch Chief Dr. Charles Gatebe

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“I was born and raised in Kenya and come from a very humble background. I’m one of nine kids and the third born, meaning that I started responsibilities very early because we had to help our mother. Almost every two to three years, she had a baby, so you can imagine she was a very, very strong woman and powerful, too. When I think about that past, she is the person, and my father as well, who taught us that we can overcome any obstacle. It doesn’t matter what it…

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Northern Maine Educators Prepare for Totality!

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2 min read Northern Maine Educators Prepare for Totality! More than 70 teachers, librarians, and informal educators from Aroostook County, Maine gathered to exchange ideas and make plans in preparation for celebrating the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Sponsored by the NASA Science Activation project Learning Ecosystems Northeast (LENE) and organized/hosted by Francis Malcolm Science Center (FMSC) in Easton, ME, these Trek to Totality events held on January 30 and February 13, 2024 included activity demonstrations by LENE partners, Gulf of Maine Research Institute and University of…

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China eyes May 2024 launch for 1st-ever lunar sample-return mission to moon’s far side

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Engineers working on China’s Chang’e-6 mission have foregone family reunions over the Lunar New Year to help get the spacecraft ready for launch. The components of the complex Chang’e-6 moon sample return mission arrived at Wenchang spaceport on Hainan island in early January. There, a team of engineers and researchers, many with extensive experience from the 2020 Chang’e-5 mission, is intensively testing and adjusting the equipment, according to a China Central Television (CCTV) report.  The mission will make the first ever attempt at collecting material from the far side of…

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Intuitive Machines Launches to the Moon

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:05 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Intuitive Machines’ first lunar mission will carry NASA science and commercial payloads to the Moon to study plume-surface interactions, space weather/lunar surface interactions, radio astronomy, precision landing technologies, and a communication and navigation node for future autonomous navigation technologies.

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ROSES-24 is live and OTPS has funding opportunities in sustainability!

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A computer generated image of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked.  Credits: NASA ODPO NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy & Strategy is soliciting research and analysis related to the social, economic and policy aspects of space sustainability. This topic area is further refined into two separate elements: orbital space sustainability and lunar surface sustainability. OTPS will provide up to $300K (orbital) and $200K (lunar surface) for between 1-3 proposals in each element. Key questions are featured…

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Everything we know about ‘Spaceman’

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Prepare yourself for an out-there experience with Netflix’s “Spaceman.” Fans of science fiction have a lot to look forward to in the movie and TV space in 2024, and one of Netflix’s upcoming releases might be one of the best space movies we’ve received in a while if it lives up to its promise. Here’s everything we know about “Spaceman” starring Adam Sandler. “Spaceman,” an adaptation of Jaroslav Kalfař’s 2017 novel “Spaceman of Bohemia,” packs some very impressive creative talent, but it’s only one of the many sci-fi movies and…

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Private ‘Odysseus’ lander heads for the moon after SpaceX launch

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A pioneering private moon mission is going well so far. The robotic Odysseus moon lander, which was built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early this morning (Feb. 15) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  The liftoff went smoothly, and Odysseus got up and running on its own as planned. The lander has been “successfully commissioned in space by establishing a stable attitude, solar charging and radio communications contact with the company’s mission operations center in Houston,” Intuitive Machines wrote in a brief…

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