In Case You Missed It: A Weekly Summary of Top Content from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
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NASA’s Lucy Stretches Its Wings in Successful Solar Panel Deployment Test
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing of both solar panels, the final step in checking out these critical spacecraft components in preparation for launch this fall. Once the Lucy spacecraft’s solar panels are attached and fully extended, they could cover a five-story building. Read more about Lucy’s mission to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.
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NASA’s InSight Detects Two Sizable Quakes on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander has detected two strong, clear quakes originating in a location of Mars called Cerberus Fossae – the same place where two strong quakes were seen earlier in the mission. The new quakes have magnitudes of 3.3 and 3.1; the previous quakes were magnitude 3.6 and 3.5. InSight has recorded over 500 quakes to date, but because of their clear signals, these are four of the best quake records for probing the interior of the planet.
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RS-25 Rocket Engines Return to Launch NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions
The rocket engine with one of the most storied histories in spaceflight, the RS-25, is returning to space for a second act – this time to send humans on the Artemis missions to explore the Moon. When NASA began scouting engines to power America’s next super heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, the RS-25 offered an opportunity to forgo costs of developing a new engine, and the ability to leverage the assets, capabilities, and experience of the Space Shuttle Program.
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NASA’s Europa Clipper Builds Hardware, Moves Toward Assembly
Europa Clipper, NASA’s upcoming flagship mission to the outer solar system, has passed a significant milestone, completing its Critical Design Review. During the review, experts examined the detailed design of the spacecraft to ensure that it is ready to complete construction. The mission is now able to complete hardware fabrication and testing, and move toward the assembly and testing of the spacecraft and its payload of sophisticated science instruments.
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Completes Final Tour of Asteroid Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx completed its last flyover of asteroid Bennu on April 7 and is now slowly drifting away; however, the mission team will have to wait a few more days to find out how the spacecraft changed the surface of Bennu when it grabbed a sample of the asteroid in October 2020. Learn more about the flyby and OSIRIS-REx’s planned departure in May.
For more information or to learn about other happenings at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, visit NASA Marshall. For past issues of the ICYMI newsletter, click here.
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