Meet America’s #NewAstronauts

NASA’s Artemis I Rocket is on the Launch Pad — and in Your Living Room

Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft: the rocket and spacecraft that will send future astronauts to the Moon!

Before we embark on the uncrewed Artemis I mission to the Moon and back, the rocket and spacecraft will need to undergo a test at the launch pad called a “wet dress rehearsal.” This test will take the team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida through every step of the launch countdown, including filling the rocket’s tanks with propellant.

But in the meantime, you can take a closer look at SLS and the Orion spacecraft by downloading the 3D model for free on the NASA app! You can view the SLS model in augmented reality by placing it virtually in your own environment – on your desk, for example. Or standing beside your family pet!

SLS and Orion join more than 40 other 3D models in the app, including BioSentinel, one of 10 CubeSats flying aboard Artemis I.

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What would happen if a Black hole would be near the earth? What would be the consequences to humans?

Boo! Did we get you? 🎃

This solar jack-o-lantern, captured by our Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in October 2014, gets its ghoulish grin from active regions on the Sun, which emit more light and energy than the surrounding dark areas. Active regions are markers of an intense and complex set of magnetic fields hovering in the sun’s atmosphere.

The SDO has kept an unblinking eye on the Sun since 2010, recording phenomena like solar flares and coronal loops. It measures the Sun’s interior, atmosphere, magnetic field, and energy output, helping us understand our nearest star.

Grab the high-resolution version here.

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Getting to Mars: A New Rocket for the Journey

Do you know what the structural backbone is of our new rocket, the Space Launch System? If you answered the core stage, give yourself a double thumbs up! Or better yet, have astronaut Scott Kelly do it!

We’re on a journey to Mars. For bolder missions to deep space, we need a big, powerful rocket like SLS to take astronauts in the Orion spacecraft to places we've never gone before. The core stage is a major part of that story, as it will house the fuel and avionics systems that will power and guide the rocket to those new destinations beyond Earth’s orbit. Here's how:

It's Big, and It's Fast.

The core stage will be the largest rocket stage ever built and is under construction right now at our Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. It will stand at 212 feet tall and weigh more than 2.3 million pounds with propellant. That propellant is cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines. In just 8.5 minutes, the core stage will reach Mach 23, which is faster than 17,000 mph!

It's Smart.

Similar to a car, the rocket needs all the equipment necessary for the "drive" to deep space. The core stage will house the vehicle’s avionics, including flight computers, instrumentation, batteries, power handling, sensors and other electronics. That's a lot of brain power behind those orange-clad aluminum walls. *Fun fact: Orange is the color of the rocket's insulation.

It's a Five-Parter.

The core stage is made up of five parts. Starting from the bottom is the engine section, which will deliver the propellants to the four RS-25 engines. It also will house avionics to steer the engines, and be an attachment point for the two, five-segment solid rocket boosters. The engine section for the first SLS flight has completed welding and is in the final phases of manufacturing at Michoud.

Next up is the liquid hydrogen tank. It will hold 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to -423 degrees Fahrenheit. Right now, engineers are building the tank for the first SLS mission. It will look very similar to the qualification test article that just finished welding at Michoud. That's an impressive piece of rocket hardware!

The next part of the core stage is the intertank, which will join the propellant tanks. It has to be super strong because it is the attachment point for the boosters and absorbs most of the force when they fire 3.6 million pounds of thrust each. It's also a "think tank" of sorts, as it holds the SLS avionics and electronics. The intertank is even getting its own test structure at our Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

And then there's the liquid oxygen tank. It will store 196,000 gallons of liquid oxygen cooled to -297 degrees. If you haven't done the math, that's 733,000 gallons of propellant for both tanks, which is enough to fill 63 large tanker trucks. Toot, toot. Beep, beep! A confidence version of the tank has finished welding at Michoud, and it's impressive. Just ask this guy.

The topper of the core stage is the forward skirt. Funny name, but serious hardware. It's home to the flight computers, cameras and avionics. The avionics system is being tested right now in a half-ring structure at the Marshall Center.

You can click here for more SLS core stage facts. We'll continue building, and see you at the launch pad for the first flight of SLS with Orion in 2018!

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Countdown to Launch of Landsat 9

We’re launching Landsat 9 — the ninth in a series of satellite missions from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that have been collecting images of our planet for almost 50 years. Follow along as we count down to launch!

A normal launch countdown starts at 10, but for Landsat 9, we’re jumping in with L-9!

There are 9 million images in the USGS/NASA Landsat archive! They’re all available for free, for use by scientists, data managers, and anyone else who’s interested. You can even download them!

Landsat 9 won’t be orbiting alone. Working together, Landsat 9 and Landsat 8 will completely image Earth every 8 days! This helps us track changes on the planet’s surface as they happen in near-real-time.

Landsat sees all 7 continents! From Antarctic ice to growing cities to changing forests, Landsat measures land — and coastal regions — all around the globe.

Working in space is really hard. Landsat 6 never made it to orbit, an important reminder that failures can be opportunities to learn and grow. Shortly after the unsuccessful launch, engineers got to work on Landsat 7, which is still collecting data today — 22 years later.

We have 5 decades of Landsat observations, the longest continuous record of Earth’s land surfaces in existence! While building the original Landsat in the 1970s, it would have been hard to imagine that this mission would still be providing crucial data about our planet today.

For each color band collected, Landsat 9 will see 4 times the shades of light as the previous Landsat mission! With more than 16,000 different intensities detected, Landsat 9 will be able to see crucial details on our planet’s surface.

Our eyes detect 3 colors of light: red, green, and blue — and Landsat does too! But Landsat 9 also detects wavelengths that can be combined to measure things our eyes can’t, like crop stress, coral reef health, fires, and more.

There are 2 instruments on Landsat 9! The Operational Land Imager 2 collects light, and works kind of like our eyes — or cameras — to make data-rich images. The Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 measures temperature, helping monitor plant health, fires, and more.

The Landsat program is the result of 1 amazing partnership! For more than 50 years, we’ve worked with the U.S. Geological Survey to design, build, launch, and manage Landsat satellites.

Two agencies working together makes for the longest continuous record of Earth’s surfaces. Now, let’s launch this satellite!

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On June 19, engineers on the ground remotely operated the International Space Station’s robotic arm to remove the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) from the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo vehicle. Here, you see the experimental solar array unfurl as the station orbits Earth.

Solar panels are an efficient way to power satellites, but they are delicate and large, and must be unfolded when a satellite arrives in orbit. The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) is a new type of solar panel that rolls open in space like a party favor and is more compact than current rigid panel designs.

ROSA is 20% lighter and 4x smaller in volume than rigid panel arrays!

This experiment remained attached to the robotic arm over seven days to test the effectiveness of the advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape measure. During that time, they also measured power produced by the array and monitored how the technology handled retraction.

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That’s a wrap! Thank you for all the fantastic questions!

Recent University of Idaho graduate Hannah Johnson and NASA’s STEM on Station activity Manager Becky Kamas answered your questions about our Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS).

Checkout their full Answer Time.

SPOCS helps fund student experiments and launches them to the International Space Station to conduct research. Learn more about SPOCS and this year’s student teams building experiments for space HERE.

If today’s Answer Time got you fired up, HERE are other ways you can get involved with NASA as a student. We have contests, challenges, internships, games, and more!

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Did you ever have insecurities while chasing your goal of becoming an astronaut? Were there pressures placed on you, by yourself or others, that you had to overcome? And if so, how did you overcome them? -Emma

Emma, I think everyone has insecurities about going into the unknown. The trick is not letting them get in the way. I think if you’re passionate about what you want, no amount of insecurities will keep you from it. 

Did you have mentors that helped you?

What’s Up for May?

This month, Jupiter is well placed for evening viewing, Saturn rises before midnight and the moon dances with Venus, Mercury and Mars.  

Jupiter climbs higher in the southeast sky earlier in the evening this month, instead of having to wait until midnight for the planet to make an appearance. You can even see with just a pair of binoculars--even the four Galilean moon! 

You can even see with just a pair of binoculars--even Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto--the four Galilean moons--as they change position each night! 

Our moon appears near Jupiter in the nighttime sky from May 5-8.

The moon joins Venus and Mercury in the eastern sky just before sunrise on May 22 and May 23.

Later in the month, our moon pairs up with Mars in the west-northwest sky on May 26.

Saturn will be visible before midnight in early May, rising about 11:30 p.m. and by 9:30 p.m. later in the month. The best time to see Saturn Saturn is when it’s higher in the sky after midnight near the end of the month.

Using a telescope, you may be able to see Saturn’s cloud bands, or even a glimpse of Saturn’s north polar region--views that were beautifully captured by our Cassini spacecraft.

Watch the full video:

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