Marshall Space Flight Center – Page 9

NASA Names Finalists to Help Deal with Dust in Human Lander Challenge

March 29, 2024 NeRD

NASA selected 12 finalist teams to compete in the next round of the Human Lander Challenge (HuLC) competition. In 2023, NASA invited undergraduate and graduate students from accredited colleges and universities in the United States to propose innovative solutions to manage the lunar dust a spacecraft stirs up when landing on the Moon. NASA’s Artemis campaign will establish a long-term human presence on and around the Moon for the benefit of all, and one of the challenges the agency and its partners must address is the particularly dusty aspect of…

I Am Artemis: Mat Bevill

March 28, 2024 NeRD

Mat Bevill, the associate chief engineer for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program, stands in front of a four-segment solid rocket booster that powered the space shuttle at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Brandon Hancock Significant events in history keep finding Mat Bevill. As the associate chief engineer for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program, Bevill assists the program chief engineer by interfacing with each of the element chief engineers and helping make critical decisions for the development and flight of the SLS mega rocket that will…

The Marshall Star for March 27, 2024

March 27, 2024 NeRD

31 Min Read The Marshall Star for March 27, 2024 Marshall Hosts 37th Small Business Alliance Meeting By Celine Smith NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center hosted its 37th Small Business Alliance meeting March 21 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Davidson Center for Space Exploration. The event brought together hundreds of attendees from 39 states and 21 countries to network and learn about opportunities to do business with NASA. “Today is about bringing the NASA marketplace directly to small businesses so they cannot only learn about how to get…

The Marshall Star for March 20, 2024

March 20, 2024 NeRD

22 Min Read The Marshall Star for March 20, 2024 Marshall Technologist Talks Solar Sail Technology in Rocket Center Exhibit By Jessica Barnett Space enthusiasts at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center were treated to a special exhibit featuring technologist Les Johnson of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and a look at the future of solar sail technology. NASA technologist Les Johnson, on stage, discusses how the solar sail can use solar propulsion to travel farther in space than anyone has traveled before during an exhibit held March 12 at…

NASA Artemis Mission Progresses with SpaceX Starship Test Flight

March 14, 2024 NeRD

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…

The Marshall Star for March 13, 2024

March 13, 2024 NeRD

25 Min Read The Marshall Star for March 13, 2024 Marshall Celebrates Alabama Space Day in Montgomery By Jessica Barnett Team members from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center joined Montgomery-area students, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, NASA’s aerospace partners, and elected officials in celebrating the aerospace industry’s impact in Alabama on March 5. This year’s event kicked off at the state Capitol in Montgomery with a proclamation from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey declaring March 5 as Alabama Space Day. Students from the Montgomery area were then invited to take…

NASA Expanding Lunar Exploration with Upgraded SLS Mega Rocket Design

March 12, 2024 NeRD

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…

NASA Continues Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Test Series

March 6, 2024 NeRD

Full-duration RS-25 Engine Hot Fire NASA/Danny Nowlin Full-duration RS-25 Engine Hot Fire NASA/Danny Nowlin Full-duration RS-25 Engine Hot Fire NASA/Danny Nowlin Full-duration RS-25 Engine Hot Fire NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA conducted a full-duration RS-25 engine hot fire March 6, continuing a final round of certification testing for production of new engines to help power the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. The full-duration test on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, marked the ninth…

The Marshall Star for March 6, 2024

March 6, 2024 NeRD

26 Min Read The Marshall Star for March 6, 2024 Marshall Supports NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Launch By Jessica Barnett Team members at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center celebrated another successful launch as astronauts on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission began the journey to the International Space Station in the late hours of March 3. Marshall’s support team is part of the agency’s CCP (Commercial Crew Program) team, which partners with private companies, such as SpaceX, to develop commercial crew space transportation capabilities to and from the space station. A SpaceX Falcon…

Former Student Launch Competitor Turns Experience into NASA Engineering Career

February 27, 2024 NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Meredith Patterson, front row, center right, poses with her teammates in the High-Powered Rocketry Club at North Carolina State University on the day they launched the rocket they built for NASA’s 2023 Student Launch. The experience and knowledge Patterson gained from her years participating in the annual competition helped pave the way for a career at NASA after graduation. High-Powered Rocketry Club at NC State By Jessica Barnett Sometimes, all it takes is a few years and the right…