The Next Leader of NASA Has Been Confirmed by the U.S. Senate...

Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call via AP Images

Statements on Bill Nelson’s Senate Confirmation as NASA Administrator (Press Release - April 29)

The following are statements from Sen. Bill Nelson and acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk on Thursday’s U.S. Senate confirmation of Nelson as the 14th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration:

“I am honored by the President’s nomination and the Senate vote,” Nelson said. “I will try to merit that trust. Onward and upward!”

“I’m happy to welcome Bill to the NASA family,” said Jurczyk. “It’s been an amazing year for NASA and our commercial and international partners, and I look forward to working with Bill and the Biden-Harris Administration to build on the incredible momentum we’ve built so far. It has been an honor to serve as acting administrator, but it’s the NASA workforce that makes the agency one-of-a-kind. Thank you for all you do to advance NASA’s critical missions.”
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Confirmed by unanimous consent: Executive Calendar #113 Bill Nelson to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. @NASA

— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) April 29, 2021

Photos of the Day: The SLS Core Stage Booster Is Ready to Begin Launch Preps at KSC!

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Artemis I Core Stage Transported to Its New Home (News Release)

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) core stage for the Artemis I mission arrived on April 27, 2021, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The core stage arrived aboard the Pegasus barge from NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf.

The core stage is shown being transported into the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building on a self-propelled module transporter on April 29, 2021. Teams from the center’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will perform checkouts ahead of integrating the massive rocket stage with the twin solid rocket boosters, Orion spacecraft, and additional flight hardware ahead of the Artemis I launch.

Artemis I will be the first integrated test of SLS and Orion and will pave the way for landing the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. It will be a proving ground for deep space exploration, leading the agency’s efforts under the Artemis program for a sustainable presence on the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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The White House Remembers an Apollo 11 Hero...

AP Photo / File

Statement of President Joe Biden on the Passing of Michael Collins (Press Release)

Michael Collins lived a life of service to our country. From his time in the Air Force, to his career with NASA, to his service at the State Department, to his leadership of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; Michael Collins both wrote and helped tell the story of our nation’s remarkable accomplishments in space.

Many remember him as the astronaut who was by himself, orbiting the Moon as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walked on the lunar surface. He may not have received equal glory, but he was an equal partner, reminding our nation about the importance of collaboration in service of great goals. From his vantage point high above the Earth, he reminded us of the fragility of our own planet, and called on us to care for it like the treasure it is.

Although, in his life of accomplishment, he earned many titles and achieved the rank of general, he demanded that everyone call him, simply, Mike.

Our prayers are with General Collins’ family. Godspeed, Mike.

Source: WhiteHouse.gov

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NASA - Michael Collins

Photo of the Day: The SLS Core Stage Booster Has Arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida!

NASA

Several hours ago, NASA's Pegasus barge carrying the Space Launch System's (SLS) core stage booster for Artemis 1 arrived at Kennedy Space Center's turn basin wharf...following a 900-mile sea voyage from Stennis Space Center in Mississippi that began last week. With Pegasus now parked hundreds of meters from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)—where SLS will be stacked over the coming months for its maiden flight (currently scheduled for as early as November 4)—crews will wait till this Thursday, April 29, to unload the booster from the barge and transport it to the VAB. The first big milestone after that should take place around May 11; when the core stage is mated to its twin solid rocket boosters (which have been assembled for flight since early March) atop the mobile launcher. Stay tuned.

Artemis 1 Update: The SLS Core Stage Booster is on Its Way to Florida!

NASA

NASA’s Space Launch System Core Stage Heads to Kennedy Space Center (News Release - April 23)

The first core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket departs Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, following completion of the Green Run series of tests of its design and systems. The stage is now en route to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, its final stop prior to NASA’s launch of the Artemis I mission around the Moon. At Kennedy, the core stage will be integrated with the rest of the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft in preparation for launch. Through the Artemis program, NASA will return humans, including the first woman and first person of color, to the Moon and prepare for eventual journeys to Mars.

NASA is building SLS as the world’s most powerful rocket to serve as the backbone of the Artemis program and the nation’s future deep space exploration missions. The SLS core stage, measuring 212 feet tall and 27.6 feet in diameter, is the tallest flight component ever built by NASA. It is equipped with four RS-25 engines to help power the SLS rocket at launch. Built by prime contractor Boeing at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the stage was delivered to Stennis aboard the agency’s Pegasus barge in January 2020. Once installed on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, the series of eight Green Run tests began. After pausing for about two months at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work continued with new safety and health protocols in place. The team also endured a record-setting hurricane season that featured multiple storms. Nevertheless, each stage system – including avionics, hydraulics, and propulsion – were turned on and checked out during the eight-test campaign that concluded with a hot fire of the stage’s RS-25 engines, just as during an actual launch.

After an initial hot fire test of the engines experienced an automatic shutdown early this year, teams conducted a second test on March 18, characterized by agency spokespersons as “flawless.” During the test, the engines fired for more than eight minutes, generating a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust and representing the most powerful test conducted at Stennis in more than 40 years. The test team then worked to refurbish the stage for launch and to remove it from the B-2 Test Stand, a precise operation that requires optimal weather and wind conditions.

Teams succeeded in removing the booster April 19-20, lifting it from its vertical installed position and using a pair of cranes to break it over and lower it to a horizontal position on the B-2 Test Stand tarmac. Following operations to prepare the stage, teams used specially designed transporters to load and hold the massive stage on the Pegasus barge. The work at Stennis was conducted by a multifaceted team of employees from NASA; Boeing, lead contractor for the SLS core stage; Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for the RS-25 engines; and Syncom Space Services, lead contractor for facility maintenance and operations at Stennis and Michoud.

Source: NASA.Gov

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SpaceX Update: Endeavour Has Docked with the ISS...

NASA - Mike Hopkins

Earlier today, Crew Dragon Endeavour ended her almost 24-hour chase of the International Space Station (ISS) when she finally docked to the orbital outpost at 5:08 AM, Eastern Daylight Time (2:08 AM, Pacific Daylight Time). For the next four days, the ISS will be populated by 11 crew members (four astronauts from the newly-arrived Crew-2, four astronauts from Crew-1 and one astronaut, plus two cosmonauts, who launched aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-18 vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 9). The Crew-1 astronauts will then board their Crew Dragon Resilience vehicle on April 28 and return to Earth for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean...off the coast of Florida later that day.

Crew-3 is set to launch to the ISS no earlier than late October—while Resilience will be refurbished and reused for the 3-day Inspiration4 mission, which will have an all-civilian crew, that's scheduled to fly in mid-September.


NASA TV

ISS Update: Crew Dragon Endeavour Officially Begins Her Second Trip to the Orbital Outpost...

SpaceX

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 Astronauts Headed to International Space Station (Press Release)

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts are in orbit following their early morning launch bound for the International Space Station for the second commercial crew rotation mission aboard the microgravity laboratory. The international crew of astronauts lifted off at 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, into orbit to begin a six-month science mission on the space station.

During Crew Dragon’s flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May,” said NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA and JAXA, and for the future of scientific research onboard the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program.”

The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, will dock autonomously to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module about 5:10 a.m. Saturday, April 24. NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website are providing ongoing live coverage through docking, hatch opening, and the ceremony to welcome the crew aboard the orbital outpost.

“I’m really proud of the SpaceX team and honored to be partnered with NASA and helping JAXA and ESA as well,” said Elon Musk, Chief Engineer at SpaceX. “We’re thrilled to be a part of advancing human spaceflight and looking forward to going beyond Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars and helping make humanity a space-faring civilization and a multi-planet species one day.”

The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. This mission has several firsts, including:

- First commercial crew mission to fly two international partners;
- First commercial crew handover between astronauts on the space station as Crew-1 and Crew-2 astronauts will spend about five days together on station before Crew-1 returns to Earth;
- First reuse of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket on a crew mission – Crew Dragon Endeavour flew the historic Demo-2 mission and the Falcon 9 flew astronauts on the Crew-1 mission; and,
- First time two commercial crew spacecraft will be docked to station at the same time.

“When I see a launch I immediately think of what it took to reach this milestone and the dedication of all the people who made it happen,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “There’s obviously a long way to go, but now we can celebrate the Crew-2 launch and look forward to seeing them join their other Expedition 65 colleagues as we prepare to bring Crew-1 home next week.”

Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet will join the Expedition 65 crew of Shannon Walker, Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Mark Vande Hei of NASA, as well as Soichi Noguchi of JAXA and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov. For a short time, the number of crew on the space station will increase to 11 people until Crew-1 astronauts Walker, Hopkins, Glover, and Noguchi return a few days later.

This the second commercial crew mission to fly a JAXA astronaut. When Hoshide joins astronaut Noguchi during the commercial crew handover period, it will mark the first time two JAXA astronauts are on station at the same time.

“I am extremely honored to witness the successful launch today. It is my utmost pleasure and also for Japan that Japanese astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Aki Hoshide boarded the operational spacecraft of Crew Dragon twice in a row,” said Hiroshi Sasaki, Vice President for Human Spaceflight and Space Exploration. “I believe this is brought by the many years of close cooperation cultivated amongst the international partners, especially between U.S. and Japan through the ISS program. I hope Aki will play an integral role as the second Japanese ISS commander along with his colleague astronauts, creating fruitful outcomes and expanding the human frontier to the Lunar Gateway, the surface of the Moon and even beyond.”

Crew-2 also is the first commercial crew mission to fly an ESA astronaut. Pesquet is the first of three ESA crew members assigned to fly to station on commercial crew spacecraft, kicking off a continuous stay of ESA astronauts on the space station for about a year and a half – in total – for the first time in more than 20 years.

"This is a thrilling time for human spaceflight and this new success of the Commercial Crew Program embodies it – congratulations once again to NASA and SpaceX,” said David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA. “Starting with astronaut Thomas Pesquet, ESA is delighted to join this new space station chapter, paving the way to the future of exploration side by side with diverse partners. Six months of excellent science and state-of-the-art technology demonstrations now await him, and we know he cannot wait to start working."

Crew-2 Astronauts

Shane Kimbrough is commander of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Crew-2 mission. Kimbrough is responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. He also will serve as an Expedition 65 flight engineer aboard the station. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004, Kimbrough first launched aboard space shuttle Endeavour for a visit to the station on the STS-126 mission in 2008, and then aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for his first long-duration mission for Expedition 49/50 in 2016. He has spent a total of 189 days in space and performed six spacewalks. Kimbrough also is a retired U.S. Army colonel and earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a master’s degree in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Megan McArthur is the pilot of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and second-in-command for the mission. McArthur is responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. She also will be a long-duration space station crew member, making her first trip to the space station. Selected as an astronaut in 2000, McArthur launched on space shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist on STS-125, the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, in 2009. McArthur operated the shuttle’s robotic arm over the course of the 12 days, 21 hours she spent in space, capturing the telescope and moving crew members during the five spacewalks needed to repair and upgrade it. She holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and a doctorate in oceanography from the University of California, San Diego.

Akihiko Hoshide is a mission specialist for Crew-2. As a mission specialist, he will work closely with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Once aboard the station, Hoshide will become a flight engineer for Expedition 65. Hoshide joined the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, currently JAXA) in 1992 and was selected as an astronaut candidate in February 1999. Hoshide is a veteran of two spaceflights. In June 2008, he flew to the International Space Station on the STS-124 mission to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo to the station. From July to November 2012, he stayed on the space station for 124 days as a flight engineer for the Expedition 32/33 mission. The Crew Dragon will be the third spacecraft that Noguchi has flown to the orbiting laboratory.

Thomas Pesquet also will be a mission specialist for Crew-2, working with the commander and pilot to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. Pesquet also will become a long-duration crew member aboard the space station. He was selected as an astronaut candidate by ESA in May 2009 and worked as a Eurocom, communicating with astronauts during spaceflights from the mission control center. He previously flew as part of Expeditions 50 and 51, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in October 2016 and spending 196 days in space, returning to Earth in June 2017. His mission also included two spacewalks to maintain the station: one to replace batteries on an electrical channel, and one to detect a cooling leak and service the robotic arm.

Mission Objectives

The Crew-2 members will conduct science and maintenance during a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return no earlier than Oct. 31. The Crew Dragon spacecraft can stay in orbit for at least 210 days, which is a NASA requirement.

Adding more crew members aboard the microgravity laboratory increases the time available for scientific activities. The November 2020 arrival of the Crew-1 astronauts more than doubled crew hours spent on scientific research and support activities, and Crew-2 will continue the important investigations and technology demonstrations that are preparing for future Artemis missions to the Moon, helping us improve our understanding of Earth’s climate, and improving life on our home planet. An important scientific focus on this expedition is continuing a series of Tissue Chips in Space studies. Tissue chips are small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body. Another important element of Crew-2’s mission is augmenting the station’s solar power system by installing the first pair of six new ISS Roll-out Solar Arrays.

Crew Dragon also is delivering almost 250 pounds of cargo, new science hardware, and experiments, including a university student-led investigation to study possible causes for suppressed immune response in microgravity.

During their stay on the orbiting laboratory, Crew-2 astronauts expect to see a range of U.S. commercial spacecraft, including the Northrop Grumman Cygnus; SpaceX cargo Dragon; Boeing CST-100 Starliner, on its uncrewed flight to station; and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon; which is targeted for launch no earlier than Oct. 23. During Crew-2, astronauts also will conduct a variety of spacewalks outside the space station, including the solar array installation.

At the conclusion of the mission, the Crew-2 astronauts will board Crew Dragon, which will then autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Crew Dragon also will return to Earth important and time-sensitive research. NASA and SpaceX are capable of supporting seven splashdown sites located off Florida's east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Upon splashdown, the SpaceX recovery ship will pick up the crew and return to shore.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is delivering on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities.

The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. For more than 20 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 243 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas.

Source: NASA.Gov

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The Inspiration4 crew watches as Falcon 9 and Dragon lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida with Crew-2!

The next crewed launch of Dragon will launch these four commercial astronauts in September. pic.twitter.com/KPU5xWSBWd

— Inspiration4 (@inspiration4x) April 23, 2021

Photo of the Day: The Crew-2 Astronauts Are Ready to Soar to the International Space Station...

Just thought I'd share this image, which was posted on Twitter four days ago, of the Crew-2 astronauts posing in front of their Falcon 9 vehicle atop Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crew-2—which consists of NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide—is set to blast off aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour (which last flew on the Demo-2 flight almost a year ago) to the International Space Station tomorrow morning. Launch is currently set for 5:49 AM, Eastern Daylight Time (2:49 AM, Pacific Daylight Time) on April 23. Godspeed!


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The SLS Core Stage Booster Moves One Step Closer to Its Next Destination: Kennedy Space Center in Florida...

NASA

NASA Removes Rocket Core Stage for Artemis Moon Mission from Stennis Test Stand (News Release)

Crews at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, worked April 19-20 to remove the first flight core stage of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket from the B-2 Test Stand in preparation for its transport to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Operations required crews to lift the core stage from its vertical placement in the stand and lower it to a horizontal position on the B-2 Test Stand tarmac. The stage will now be loaded on NASA’s Pegasus barge for transport to Kennedy, where it will be prepared for launch of the Artemis I mission.

Removal of the largest rocket stage ever built by NASA followed completion of a series of eight Green Run tests over the past year. During the Green Run series, teams performed a comprehensive test of the stand’s sophisticated and integrated systems. The series culminated in a hot fire of the stage’s four RS-25 engines on the B-2 stand March 18. During the hot fire, the four engines generated a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust, just as during an actual launch. The test was the most powerful performed at Stennis in more than 40 years.

NASA is building SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket, to return humans to deep space missions. As part of the backbone of NASA’s Artemis program, SLS will return humans, including the first woman and person of color, to the surface of the Moon to establish a sustainable presence and prepare for eventual missions to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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SpaceX Update: NASA Selects Starship to Land the First Artemis Astronauts on the Moon...

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As Artemis Moves Forward, NASA Picks SpaceX Human Lunar Lander (Press Release)

NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.

The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit. There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX Human Landing System (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip back to orbit where they will return to Orion and their colleagues before heading back to Earth.

The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.

"With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate. “This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.”

SpaceX has been working closely with NASA experts during the HLS base period of performance to inform its lander design and ensure it meets NASA’s performance requirements and human spaceflight standards. A key tenet for safe systems, these agreed-upon standards range from areas of engineering, safety, health, and medical technical areas.

“This is an exciting time for NASA and especially the Artemis team,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for HLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “During the Apollo program, we proved that it is possible to do the seemingly impossible: land humans on the Moon. By taking a collaborative approach in working with industry while leveraging NASA’s proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return American astronauts to the Moon’s surface once again, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time.”

SpaceX’s HLS Starship, designed to land on the Moon, leans on the company’s tested Raptor engines and flight heritage of the Falcon and Dragon vehicles. Starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for astronaut moonwalks. The Starship architecture is intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations.

The HLS award is made under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).

In parallel with executing the Appendix H award, NASA intends to implement a competitive procurement for sustainable crewed lunar surface transportation services that will provide human access to the lunar surface using the Gateway on a regularly recurring basis beyond the initial crewed demonstration mission.

With NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, HLS, and the Gateway lunar outpost, NASA and its commercial and international partners are returning to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation. Working with its partners throughout the Artemis program, the agency will fine-tune precision landing technologies and develop new mobility capabilities to enable exploration of new regions of the Moon. On the surface, the agency has proposed building a new habitat and rovers, testing new power systems and more. These and other innovations and advancements made under the Artemis program will ensure that NASA and its partners are ready for human exploration’s next big step—the exploration of Mars.

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SLS Update: NASA Prepares to Celebrate the Arrival of the Core Stage Booster at KSC Later This Month...

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Media Invited to Capture Arrival of Rocket Core Stage at Kennedy for Artemis I (Press Release - April 14)

NASA is inviting a limited number of media to capture imagery of NASA’s Pegasus barge and the offload and transport of the Space Launch System’s (SLS) rocket core stage as it arrives at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in late-April in preparation for the Artemis I launch. After successfully completing the comprehensive Green Run test series to ensure it is ready for Artemis missions, the world’s largest rocket stage is preparing to voyage to the Florida spaceport’s wharf from Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

Upon arrival, teams from Kennedy’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and primary contractor, Jacobs, will offload the 212-foot piece of Artemis I flight hardware and transport it to the Vehicle Assembly Building. There, it will join the solid rocket boosters on the mobile launcher. Once stacked, additional flight components will be integrated with the core stage and boosters along with the Orion spacecraft.

Experts from the SLS Program, EGS Program, Jacobs, and Boeing will be available to answer questions.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a limited number of media will be permitted to participate in this event. The agency is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the agency’s chief health and medical officer, and will immediately communicate any updates that may impact media access for these activities.

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable exploration in preparation for missions to Mars.

Accreditation for this activity is open to U.S. media only. To receive credentials for this event, media must apply online by April 21.

All media accreditation requests must be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

For questions about media accreditation, email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.

Source: NASA.Gov

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On This Day in 1981: Columbia Completes Her First Space Shuttle Mission...

Photo courtesy of the Edwards AFB History Office

40 years ago today, the orbiter Columbia safely touched down on Runway 23 at Edwards Air Force Base in California to complete her maiden flight, STS-1. The next mission wouldn't be till 7 months later...when Columbia, designated Orbiter Vehicle-102 (the prototype Enterprise, now on display in New York City, is OV-101. Columbia's immediate successor, Challenger, was OV-099), would embark on STS-2. This was also a 2-day test flight, piloted by astronauts Joe H. Engle and Richard H. Truly, that ended with another successful landing at Edwards.

Artemis 1 Update: SLS Gets Ready for Its Upcoming Move to Kennedy Space Center in Florida...

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According to this recent NASA blog update, the Space Launch System's (SLS) core stage booster for Artemis 1 is only days away from officially being ready for transport to the launch site at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The software that the core stage booster used to run the successful Green Run hot fire test last month has now been replaced by the flight software that the rocket will utilize during its maiden launch on Artemis 1 (which is scheduled for early November, but will most likely occur around February of 2022...as NASA is expecting that 10 months will be needed to fully prepare SLS for liftoff once it is in Florida), while technicians at the Stennis Space Center continue to disconnect the core stage from the B-2 Test Stand at the Mississippi-based NASA site. If the weather cooperates and everything goes according to plan next week, the Artemis 1 booster will finally be loaded onto NASA's Pegasus barge that will take the Moon rocket on a week-long sea voyage to Cape Canaveral—where it will hopefully arrive as early as April 26. Stay tuned.

Photo of the Day: Marking Four Decades Since the Launch of STS-1...

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Hail, Columbia! Just thought I'd share this iconic image of NASA's first space-worthy orbiter lifting off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A on April 12, 1981. And two days later, this test flight—known as STS-1—would come to a successful end when astronauts Robert Crippen and John Young piloted Columbia to a landing in the middle of a dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. And so began the 30-year space shuttle program that included such highlights as the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the deployment of the Magellan robotic probe to Venus, the send-off of the Galileo orbiter to Jupiter, and eventually, the commencement of construction on the International Space Station. But sadly, this program would also include two tragedies that claimed the lives of 14 brave astronauts (in 1986 and 2003), and the in-flight loss of Columbia herself.

Even though Columbia didn't ultimately make her way into a museum like Enterprise, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour did, her legacy will live on. The storied space shuttle program gave rise to Artemis...which utilizes shuttle hardware on the Space Launch System and Orion as they are less than a year away from their much-anticipated journey on Artemis 1. Columbia may have spent all of her career in low-Earth orbit, but the amount of knowledge gleamed from flying her and her sister ships (excluding Enterprise, the orbiter prototype) for over three decades will no doubt play a role in guiding astronauts back to the Moon before the end of this decade. Columbia may be gone, but the spirit of human spaceflight (which began 60 years ago today with the launch of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1) remains stronger than ever. Ad astra.

Kennedy Space Center Is Officially Ready to Launch SLS on Its First Flight Next Year...

NASA

NASA Certifies New Launch Control System for Artemis I (News Release - April 8)

When NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft lift off from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the Artemis I mission, the amount of data generated by the rocket, spacecraft, and ground support equipment will be about 100 megabytes per second. The volume and speed of this information demands an equally complex and robust computer system to process and deliver that data to the launch team and corresponding mission systems in real time.

That computer software and hardware – called the spacecraft command and control system (SCCS) – is now certified for use on Artemis I. Shawn Quinn, director of NASA Engineering at Kennedy, and the KSC Engineering Design Certification Review Board signed off on the system at the conclusion of a recent design certification review for SCCS.

The system is the electronic hub where information traveling to and from the SLS core stage, the rocket's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), Orion, ground systems, and the operators inside the firing room intersect. During loading and launch, the software will process up to 575,000 changes per second.

"We're flying three vehicles in parallel – Orion spacecraft, ICPS, and SLS core stage – and SCCS needs to be able to communicate with all three simultaneously," said Mike Van Houten, the Launch Control System project manager in the Command, Control and Communications organization within EGS. “While we're ‘talking’ with the spacecraft and vehicles, we're also receiving data from Kennedy’s ground systems – programmable logic controllers, subsystems in the field, and equipment on the mobile launcher.”

Making sense of that much data is as complex as efficiently managing the real-time movements of hundreds of thousands of people within a large metropolitan area, Van Houten said.

“Each bit of telemetry data coming from a different interface is like a person arriving into the city via a plane, train, automobile, bus, or ferry,” he explained. “Just like each person, each bit of data needs to arrive at a unique destination, whether that’s a display, application, or recording. And all the movements have to be synchronized so data arrives exactly where it should be in the quickest timeframe possible.”

All this information is integrated into the displays shown on consoles throughout Firing Room 1 and Firing Room 2 inside Kennedy's Launch Control Center, enabling Operators to make informed decisions on how to continue the activity in progress.

Comprising a mix of custom-built software and off-the-shelf products, the SCCS was developed specifically to manage processing and launch operations for Artemis missions. As Artemis began to take shape, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) team and its lead contractor, Jacobs, advanced the effort to develop a robust, updated system.

The certification marks the end of the system’s development and signals the start of the “sustaining” phase of the project for Artemis I. Moving forward, countdown and launch simulations performed by the EGS-Jacobs team will help train the launch team and fine-tune the SCCS.

During these simulations, Operators step through prelaunch checklists to practice the procedures for liftoff and ascent. Some simulations focus on specific operations while others walk the team through critical portions of the countdown. Each rehearsal allows the team to gather useful data to refine the system.

“The SCCS system engineering and performance teams evaluate the data after each simulation to ensure the system is performing per specifications and no unexpected errors were triggered,” Van Houten said. “It gives the SCCS team an indication of where we need to tackle problems before the next sim or operational event.”

Lessons learned from launching the uncrewed Artemis I will help SCCS developers identify process, performance, and technical changes needed for future missions. The developers will focus on capturing new requirements and the expectations of stakeholders such as the Artemis I launch director, firing room operators, the ground support equipment team, the ground to flight application software team, the model and simulation team, and the launch training team. This information will help the SCCS developers make system upgrades to support the crewed Artemis II flight test and future missions.

Under the Artemis program, NASA is leading the way in human exploration of deep space with increasingly complex missions to explore the Moon and prepare for future missions to send astronauts to Mars.

Source: NASA.Gov

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NASA / Kim Shiflett

Artemis Update: The White House's Proposed Budget for 2022 Has Promising News for NASA's Burgeoning Moon Program...

NASA

Acting NASA Administrator Statement on Agency FY 2022 Discretionary Request (Press Release)

The Biden-Harris Administration submitted to Congress Friday the president’s priorities for fiscal year 2022 discretionary spending. The following is a statement from acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk on the funding request:

“This $24.7 billion funding request demonstrates the Biden Administration’s commitment to NASA and its partners who have worked so hard this past year under difficult circumstances and achieved unprecedented success.

“The president’s discretionary request increases NASA’s ability to better understand Earth and further monitor and predict the impacts of climate change. It also gives us the necessary resources to continue advancing America’s bipartisan Moon to Mars space exploration plan, including landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under the Artemis program.

“We know this funding increase comes at a time of constrained resources, and we owe it to the president and the American people to be good and responsible stewards of every tax dollar invested in NASA. The NASA workforce and the American people should be encouraged by what they see in this funding request. It is an investment in our future, and it shows confidence in what this agency has to offer.”
The president’s FY 2022 discretionary funding request:

- Keeps NASA on the path to landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon under the Artemis program. This goal aligns with President Biden’s commitment to pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all. With NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, as well as U.S. commercial partnerships with the Human Landing System and Gateway lunar outpost, we will send astronauts to the Moon and provide learning opportunities for future missions.

- Strengthens NASA’s ability to better understand Earth and how it works as an integrated system, from our oceans to our atmosphere, how it all impacts our daily lives, and how it all is impacted by climate change.

- Furthers robotic exploration of the solar system and the universe.

- Invests in aviation to make our skies safer, our fuels cleaner, and to get you to your destination faster than ever before.

- Includes new funding for NASA’s STEM engagement efforts to inspire underserved and underrepresented students to become the next generation of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and explorers.

These discretionary investments reflect only one element of the president’s broader agenda. In the coming months, the administration will release the president’s budget, which will present a unified, comprehensive plan to address the overlapping crises we face in a fiscally and economically responsible way.

For more information on NASA’s fiscal year 2022 discretionary request, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/budget

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NASA / SSC - Danny Nowlin


NASA


Blue Origin

Orion Update: The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Will Utilize a New Method of Re-entering Earth's Atmosphere Next Year...

NASA

Orion Spacecraft to Test New Entry Technique on Artemis I Mission (News Release)

When NASA’s Orion spacecraft is nearing its return to Earth after its Artemis I mission to the Moon, it will attempt the first skip entry for a human spacecraft – a maneuver designed to pinpoint its landing spot in the Pacific Ocean.

During this skip entry, Orion will dip into the upper part of Earth’s atmosphere and use that atmosphere, along with the lift of the capsule, to skip back out of the atmosphere, then re-enter for final descent under parachutes and splashdown. It’s a little like skipping a rock across the water in a river or lake.

“The skip entry will help Orion land closer to the coast of the United States, where recovery crews will be waiting to bring the spacecraft back to land,” said Chris Madsen, Orion guidance, navigation and control subsystem manager. “When we fly crew in Orion beginning with Artemis II, landing accuracy will really help make sure we can retrieve the crew quickly and reduces the number of resources we will need to have stationed in the Pacific Ocean to assist in recovery.”

During Apollo, the spacecraft entered the Earth’s atmosphere directly and could then travel up to 1,725 miles (1,500 nautical miles) beyond that location before splashing down. This limited range required U.S. Navy ships to be stationed in multiple, remote ocean locations. By using a skip entry, Orion can fly up to 5,524 miles (4,800 nautical miles) beyond the point of entry, allowing the spacecraft to touch down with more precision. The skip entry ultimately enables the spacecraft to accurately and consistently land at the same landing site regardless of when and where it comes back from the Moon.

“We extend the range by skipping back up out of the atmosphere where there is little to no drag on the capsule. With little or no drag, we extend the range we fly,” said Madsen. “We use our capsule lift to target how high we skip, and thus how far we skip.”

Although the concept of the skip entry has been around since the Apollo era, it wasn’t used because Apollo lacked the necessary navigational technology, computing power, and accuracy.

“We took a lot of that Apollo knowledge and put it into the Orion design with the goal of making a more reliable and safer vehicle at lower cost,” said Madsen. “These are some of the things we’re doing that are different and provide more capability than Apollo.”

The skip entry also will allow astronauts to experience lower g-forces during Earth entry from Moon missions. Instead of a single event of high acceleration, there will be two events of a lower acceleration of about four g’s each. The skip entry will reduce the acceleration load for the astronauts so they have a safer, smoother ride.

Splitting up the acceleration events also splits up the heating, no small matter for a spacecraft that will endure approximately 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit upon re-entry, half as hot as the surface of the Sun. The heat the spacecraft will experience upon re-entry will be split over two events causing a lower heat rate at both occurrences and ultimately making it a safer ride for the astronauts.

During Artemis missions, Orion will splashdown approximately 50 miles (43 nautical miles) off the coast of San Diego, California, where rescue teams are close and can quickly recover the spacecraft. This quick recovery will make it safer for the astronauts and be more cost efficient than Apollo by eliminating the need for the Navy to deploy ships widely across the target ocean.

As an essential part of NASA’s Artemis program, the Orion spacecraft will fly on NASA’s first integrated test of its deep space exploration systems during Artemis I. The Space Launch System rocket will launch an uncrewed Orion on a mission to travel 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and then return to Earth.

Source: NASA.Gov

ISS Update: The First Set of New Solar Panels for the Orbital Outpost Arrives at NASA KSC in Florida...

NASA / Frank Michaux

Team Readies Solar Arrays for Flight to Station (News Release)

NASA and Boeing workers lift solar arrays into flight support equipment on April 2, 2021, in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 63- by- 20-foot solar arrays will launch to the International Space Station later this year.

They are the first two of six new solar arrays that in total will produce more than 120 kilowatts of electricity from the Sun’s energy, enough to power more than 40 average U.S. homes. Combined with the eight original, larger arrays, this advanced hardware will provide 215 kilowatts of energy, a 20 to 30 percent increase in power, helping maximize the space station’s capabilities for years to come. The arrays will produce electricity to sustain the station’s systems and equipment, plus augment the electricity available to continue a wide variety of public and private experiments and research in the microgravity environment of low-Earth orbit.

Most of the station systems, including its batteries, scientific equipment racks, and communications equipment have been upgraded since humans began a continuous presence on the orbiting laboratory in November 2000. For more than two decades, astronauts have lived and worked on this unique orbiting lab, supporting scientific research that has led to numerous discoveries that benefit people on Earth and prepare for future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Boeing

SLS Update: Testing Continues on Future Engines for the Moon Rocket's Core Stage Booster...

NASA / SSC

NASA Conducts 2nd RS-25 Test in Latest Series for Artemis Moon Missions (News Release)

NASA conducted a second RS-25 single engine hot fire test April 6 as part of a new series to support the development and production of engines for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future missions to the Moon. The full-duration hot fire of more than eight minutes (500 seconds) was conducted on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis. It is part of a scheduled seven-test series designed to provide valuable data for Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for the SLS engines, as it begins production of new RS-25 engines for use after the first four SLS flights.

Four RS-25 engines help power SLS at launch, firing simultaneously to generate a combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust at launch and 2 million pounds of thrust during ascent. The RS-25 engines for the first four SLS flights are upgraded space shuttle main engines and have completed certification testing. During the new test series, operators will focus on evaluating new engine components and reducing risk in engine operation. They will fire the engine through a range of operating conditions to demonstrate and verify its capabilities and to provide data to enhance production of new engines being manufactured with cutting-edge and cost-saving technologies.

The initial test of the new series was conducted Jan. 28 for 500 seconds as well, the same amount of time the engines must fire during a launch to power the SLS rocket to orbit. During the subsequent full-duration hot fire April 6, operators also gimbaled the RS-25 engine, using a new NASA-designed vector control system for the first time since it was installed. “Gimbaling” refers to how the engine must move on a tight circular axis in order to ensure proper flight trajectory.

NASA is building SLS as the world’s most powerful rocket. SLS will fly to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program, including the Artemis I uncrewed test flight this year that will pave the way for future flights with astronauts to explore the lunar surface and prepare for missions to Mars. RS-25 tests at Stennis are conducted by a combined team of NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Syncom Space Services operators. Syncom Space Services is the prime contractor for Stennis facilities and operations.

Source: NASA.Gov

Back in the Day: Atlantis Deploys a Great Observatory...

NASA

Just thought I'd share this image of NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) being deployed from the orbiter Atlantis...which embarked on shuttle flight STS-37 that launched this Great Observatory 30 years ago today. The Gamma Ray Observatory remained operational till 2000...when a failed gyropscope prompted NASA to intentionally deorbit the spacecraft since the loss of another gyroscope would have made it more difficult and dangerous to dispose of the satellite. The CGRO entered Earth's atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean on June 4, 2000—while two of the four other Great Observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory (formerly called the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility), are still observing the universe today. The last Great Observatory, Spitzer (a space telescope previously known as the Space Infrared Telescope Facility), was decommissioned by NASA on January 30 of last year.

On a personal note, I was in 5th grade when the Gamma Ray Observatory was launched!