Tag: General

NASA Artemis Mission Progresses with SpaceX Starship Test Flight

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SpaceX launched the third integrated flight test of its Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage from the company’s Starbase orbital launch pad at 8:25 a.m. CT on March 14. This flight test is an important milestone toward providing NASA with a Starship HLS for its Artemis missions. SpaceX As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon for the benefit of all, the agency is working with SpaceX to develop the company’s Starship human landing system (HLS), which will land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole…

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NASA Expanding Lunar Exploration with Upgraded SLS Mega Rocket Design

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A final round of certification testing for production of new RS-25 engines to power the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, beginning with Artemis V, is underway at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.  Block 1B will also be built to house new-production RS-25 core stage engines that will operate routinely at 111% of their rated power versus the Block 1 RS-25 engines that operate at 109%, providing almost 2,000 more pounds of payload to the Moon. NASA By: Martin Burkey As NASA prepares for its first crewed…

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Communications Services Project

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Overview NASA’s Communications Services Project, known as CSP, is pioneering a new era of space communications by partnering with industry to provide commercial space relay communications services for NASA missions near Earth. CSP’s goal is to validate and deliver these commercial communication services to the Near Space Network by 2030. To meet this goal, CSP provided $278.5 million in funding to six domestic partners to develop and demonstrate space relay communication capabilities. CSP aims to deliver innovative capabilities to meet NASA mission needs, while simultaneously supporting the growing commercial space…

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NASA Moon to Mars Architecture Workshops Promote Collaboration 

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NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy welcomes 2024 Moon to Mars Architecture Workshop attendees from the stage of the Fred Kavli at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. NASA/Keegan Barber NASA held two workshops in mid-February to share the latest progress on the agency’s Moon to Mars architecture and solicit feedback from industry, academia, and the international community. Representatives from 18 countries, 85 aerospace companies, and 25 academic institutions shared their perspectives on NASA’s roadmap for long-term lunar exploration and humanity’s journey to the Red Planet.  50 attendees representing 18 countries attended…

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Can Volcanic Super Eruptions Lead to Major Cooling? Study Suggests No

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Some 74,000 years ago, the Toba volcano in Indonesia exploded with a force 1,000 times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The mystery is what happened after that – namely, to what degree that extreme explosion might have cooled global temperatures. Crew aboard the International Space Station photographed the eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily in October 2002. Ashfall was reported more than 350 miles away. When it comes to explosive power, however, no eruption in modern times can compare with a super eruption – which…

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Student Teams to Help Fill the Inflatable Void with Latest Student Challenge  

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3 Min Read Student Teams to Help Fill the Inflatable Void with Latest Student Challenge   This year will be a “BIG” year for several college and university teams as they research, design, and demonstrate novel inflatable systems configured for future lunar operations through a NASA-sponsored engineering competition. NASA’s Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge asked student innovators to propose novel inflatable component and system concepts that could benefit future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The Inflatable Systems for Lunar Operations theme allowed teams to submit various…

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White Papers

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2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) White Paper, “Space Data Ethics: The Next Frontier in Responsible Leadership” White Paper, “Space Data Ethics: The Next Frontier in Responsible Leadership,” prepared by the Climate and Societal Benefits Subcommittee. This is a position paper in support of a recommendation to develop the principles of space data ethics.  Completed December 1, 2023.  View paper White Paper, “Enhancing Agricultural Resilience, Enabling Scalable Sustainability, and Ensuring Food Security through Space-based Earth Observations,” White Paper, “Enhancing Agricultural Resilience, Enabling Scalable Sustainability, and…

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Spring 2024 Pathways Vacancies

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31 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Our next application cycle will open on February 26, 2024 for Fall 2024 opportunities.  All Pathways internship vacancy announcements are posted on USAJOBS. Below are the available pathways at each NASA center. To apply for a suitable opportunity, first identify the category of work you’re interested in, and ensure you have a qualifying major (check whether it is required or preferred). Note that each center hiring in the same category of work will use the same job post. If you’re interested…

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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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Into the Belly of the Rover: VIPER’s Final Science Instrument Installed 

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A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. NASA/Bill Stafford A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover).  TRIDENT, designed and developed by engineers at Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, is the fourth and…

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