In Case You Missed It: A Weekly Summary of Top Content from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
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NASA Launches New Mission to Explore Universe’s Most Dramatic Objects
NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission launched at midnight CST Dec. 9 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A joint effort with the Italian Space Agency, the IXPE observatory is NASA’s first mission dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from the most extreme and mysterious objects in the universe – supernova remnants, supermassive black holes, and dozens of other high-energy objects.
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NASA’s Laser Communications Tech Safely in Space
NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) lifted off Dec. 7 aboard the Space Test Program Satellite-6 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. LCRD will demonstrate NASA's first two-way laser relay communications system, sending and receiving data over invisible infrared lasers, which can enable data rates 10 to 100 times greater than radio frequency systems traditionally used by spacecraft.
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SLS Booster Fired up to Test Improved Design for Future Artemis Missions
A team of NASA and Northrop Grumman engineers fired a 2-foot-diameter, subscale solid rocket booster on Dec. 2 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This test, conducted in Marshall’s East Test Area, was the second of three tests supporting the Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension program, which will have an upgraded design to power the evolved configuration of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on flights after Artemis VIII.
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50 Years of X-ray Vision: Marshall Scientist Leads NASA’s Next Step in X-ray Astronomy
When NASA’s pioneering IXPE mission launched Dec. 9, it became another career landmark for principal investigator Martin Weisskopf of Marshall. More than three decades ago, Weisskopf led the development and launch of NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory as project scientist – a role he continues to fill today. IXPE soon will complement and build upon Chandra’s work, taking a bold and unique step forward by exploring the nature of stars, galaxies, and other celestial bodies in a new way.
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NASA Administrator, Deputy Administrator Visit Michoud
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy visited the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on Dec. 8 for tours and briefings on the facility’s vital role in NASA’s exploration missions. Michoud is NASA’s rocket factory, building components for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft that will return humans to the Moon.
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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