MEDIA ADVISORY
In Case You Missed It: A Weekly Summary of Top Content from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
Week of April 4 - April 8, 2016
NASA to Host Human Exploration Rover Challenge: April 8-9, 2016
NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge will roll to a start this weekend at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Come join the fun and watch live, competitive racing as nearly 80 student teams from the United States and around the world race human-powered rovers on a space-themed obstacle course.
Video (3:38) - Getting a Grip on the Space Station
The Gecko Gripper, an experiment inspired by the tiny hairs on the bottom of gecko lizards’ feet, is being conducted on the International Space Station. It could revolutionize many aspects of life on the space station and future space travel. Gecko Grippers – which can stick to a surface on command -- are being considered a way to enable new capabilities in space such as reusable sensor mounts and robotic crawlers that could walk along spacecraft surfaces inside and out. In this video, Aaron Parness, the gripper’s principal investigator, talks to NASA TV commentator Lori Meggs at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Marshall Instagram: #Earth from Space
JOIN US! as we observe the #earth from a fantastic point of view from the International Space Station during April! In celebration of Earth Month, we will post images of our planet beginning with Expedition 1 from 2000 all the way through the current Expedition 47. #EarthRightNow, #ISS
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I Will Launch America: Launch Vehicle Chief Engineer Dan Dorney
Marshall’s Dan Dorney has never been afraid to think big. Watching the Apollo 11 moon landing from his living room, the 7-year-old decided to build his own rocket. He wrote a letter to NASA asking how to do that. To his parents' surprise, he got a response -- NASA sent him plans to build a simple model rocket. Which he immediately rejected. He wanted to build his own life-size rocket and go to the moon. Today, Dorney, the launch vehicle chief engineer for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, is living his dream as part of the team certifying the first American commercial launch vehicles that will take astronauts to the International Space Station.
Video (:46) - Precision Meets Progress in Welding on SLS Liquid Oxygen Tank Hardware
A liquid oxygen tank confidence article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, has completed final welding at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. This is the first glimpse of what one of the two tanks that makes up the SLS core stage will look like. Towering more than 200 feet with a diameter of 27.6 feet, the core stage will store liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle’s RS-25 engines. SLS will be the world’s most powerful rocket ever built and, with NASA’s Orion spacecraft, will launch astronauts deeper into space than ever before, eventually to Mars.
Upcoming Event
April 15-16: NASA Student Launch
More than 30 high school, college and university teams will converge on the “Rocket City” April 15-16 to launch their student-built rockets during the 16th annual NASA Student Launch. Student Launch is a research-based, competitive, experiential exploration activity, partnering with the Centennial Challenges to provide relevant, cost-effective research and development of rocket propulsion systems. For a complete schedule and list of Huntsville events, click here.
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