NASA Announces Winners of 2024 Student Launch Competition

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) High school and collegiate student teams gathered just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to participate in the agency’s annual Student Launch competition April 13. Credits: NASA/Charles Beason Over 1,000 students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico launched high-powered, amateur rockets on April 13, just north of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the agency’s annual Student Launch competition. Teams of middle school, high school, college, and university students…

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NASA Invites Media to Rollout Event for Artemis II Moon Rocket Stage

The core stage is the backbone of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help power NASA’s Artemis II mission to send a crew of four astronauts around the Moon in 2025. Here, the core stage is currently behind scaffolding to allow work to continue at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The stage’s two massive propellant tanks hold a collective 733,000 gallons of liquid propellant to power the four RS-25 engines at its base. Following hardware acceptance reviews and final checkouts, the stage will be readied for…

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‘Super’ Star Cluster Shines in New Look From NASA’s Chandra

Star Cluster Westerlund 1. X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF/M. Guarcello et al.; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare Westerlund 1 is the biggest and closest “super” star cluster to Earth. New data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, in combination with other NASA telescopes, is helping astronomers delve deeper into this galactic factory where stars are vigorously being produced. This is the first data to be publicly released from a project called the Extended Westerlund 1 and 2 Open Clusters Survey, or EWOCS, led by astronomers from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics in Palermo. As part of EWOCS,…

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NASA Invites Media to Watch Agency’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge Final Phase

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge will conclude with a final competition, open to the public and media, this June in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA NASA will announce the winners of the final phase of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge on Wednesday, June 12 at Alabama A&M University’s (AAMU) Agribition Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The challenge aims to develop new technologies that could support a sustained human presence on the Moon by the end of the decade. Media and…

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The Marshall Star for May 29, 2024

25 Min Read The Marshall Star for May 29, 2024 More to Marshall: Center Leadership Provides Updates During Spring All-Hands Meeting By Wayne Smith NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will celebrate its 65th birthday next summer, and while there are plans to honor the center’s rich history, there is also More to Marshall ahead. Team members at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center listen to Center Director Joseph Pelfrey, background center, share updates on culture and strategy during the spring all-hands meeting May 20 in Activities Building 4316. NASA/Danielle Burleson That…

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NASA Marshall Team Supports Safe Travels for Space Station Science

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s payload technician Chris Honea, left, and quality assurance specialist Keith Brandon, right, on Feb. 29 carefully inspect the temperature sensors that help gather data and monitor progress during a crystals experiment. The zinc selenide-based crystals were grown on the International Space Station as part of an experiment to see how gravity affects their structure or growth, then de-integrated and inspected in Marshall’s Space Systems Integration & Test Facility (SSITF). By Jessica Barnett  During the…

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Rae Ann Meyer Named Deputy Director of NASA Marshall

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Portrait: Rae Ann Meyer NASA Rae Ann Meyer has been selected as deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, effective June 2. In this role, Meyer will assist in leading Marshall’s nearly 7,000 on-site and near-site civil service and contractor employees and an annual budget of approximately $5 billion. She will also help guide the center as it continues to deliver vital propulsion systems and hardware, flagship launch vehicles, world-class space systems, state-of-the-art engineering technologies…

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The Marshall Star for May 22, 2024

14 Min Read The Marshall Star for May 22, 2024 NASA astronaut Josh Cassada and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Joseph Pelfrey lead students from area schools across the Louisiana State Capitol grounds to attend a series of panel discussions as part of Louisiana Space Day 2024. Making Connections: Marshall Hosts Annual Jamboree, Poster Expo By Celine Smith Engineers, researchers, and scientists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center had the opportunity to showcase their vast range of projects and learn about others at Marshall’s annual Science, Technology, and Engineering…

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The Marshall Star for May 15, 2024

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 Expedition 70 Crew Visit at Marshall

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)  Four Expedition 70 crew members pose for a fun portrait inside their crew quarters aboard the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Clockwise from bottom are, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa; and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara. NASA NASA will host four astronauts at 10 a.m. CDT Tuesday, May 14, for a media opportunity at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA astronauts Jasmin…

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