In Case You Missed It: A Weekly Summary of Top Content from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
Week of July 31 - August 4, 2023.
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NASA Rocket Hardware Prepped for Shipment to Space Coast
With Artemis teammates and media watching, United Launch Alliance (ULA) crews guide the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis III to the loading dock at ULA’s facility in Decatur, Alabama, July 31. ULA’s R/S RocketShip will transport the flight hardware to ULA’s sister facility in Florida near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where it will undergo final checkouts. The ICPS and its single RL10 engine provides in-space propulsion during Artemis III, firing to send astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a precise trajectory to the Moon. This ICPS for Artemis III is the last of its kind as SLS transitions to its next, more powerful Block 1B configuration with an upgraded upper stage beginning with Artemis IV.
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NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle Continues Progress Toward Mars Sample Return
NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) recently reached some major milestones in support of the Mars Sample Return program. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would be the first launch of a rocket from the surface of another planet. The team developing MAV conducted successful tests of the first and second stage solid rocket motors needed for the launch. Mars Sample Return will bring scientifically selected samples to Earth for study using the most sophisticated instrumentation around the world. This strategic partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) features the first mission to return samples from another planet. The samples currently being collected by NASA’s Perseverance Rover during its exploration of an ancient river delta have the potential to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life.
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Euclid Mission to Study Dark Universe Takes First Test Images
The telescope took a picture of a glittering field of stars, indicating that it is doing well after a million-mile journey from Earth.The two instruments aboard Euclid, an ESA (European Space Agency) spacecraft with NASA contributions, have captured their first test images. The results indicate that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals that it has been designed for – and possibly much more. The mission will delve into some of the biggest mysteries about our universe, including the nature of dark matter and why the universe’s expansion is accelerating. Scientists call the force behind this accelerated expansion “dark energy.”
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Hubble Peers at a Tranquil Galaxy
The tranquil spiral galaxy UGC 12295 basks leisurely in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies around 192 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces and is almost face-on when viewed from Earth, displaying a bright central bar and tightly wound spiral arms. Despite its tranquil appearance, UGC 12295 played host to a catastrophically violent explosion – a supernova – detected in 2015. Supernovae are the explosive deaths of massive stars and are responsible for forging many of the elements found here on Earth. Two different teams of astronomers used Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 to observe UGC 12295 and sift through the wreckage of this vast stellar explosion. The first team examined the supernova’s detritus to better understand the evolution of matter in our universe.
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NASA, DoD Teams Complete First Recovery Test for Artemis II Splashdow
NASA and the Department of Defense successfully completed the first recovery test for the crewed Artemis II mission Tuesday off the coast of San Diego. During the test, the team practiced how they will extract the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon from their spacecraft after they land in the Pacific Ocean, and recover the Orion crew module. Drawing on lessons learned from the successful recovery of the Orion spacecraft after the Artemis I flight test and the addition of crew for Artemis II, recovery teams are modifying their timelines and procedures to ensure the astronauts will be safely delivered to the recovery ship less than two hours after splashing down. During the test, NASA’s landing and recovery team used a new crew module test article and personnel from the team as stands-ins for the four astronauts who will fly on the mission to demonstrate their procedures.
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