Date Set for Second SLS Booster Qualification Ground Test
A full-scale, test version of the booster for NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System, will fire up for the second of two qualification ground tests June 28 at prime contractor Orbital ATK’s test facility in Promontory, Utah. Two five-segment boosters and four RS-25 main engines will power SLS off the launch pad and into space.
Earth’s New Lightning Capital Revealed
Observations from technology developed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center — the Lightning Imaging System, onboard the agency’s Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission — has identified Earth’s new lightning capital. With an average rate of 233 lightning flashes per square kilometer per year, Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela earned the top spot.
Marshall Simulates Solar and Space Environment to Further Exploration
Inside an inconspicuous building at Marshall, Todd Schneider can switch on the sun. The High Intensity Solar Environment Test system is the only place on Earth where spacecraft systems and materials can, at the same time, be subjected to the vacuum, temperatures, solar photons and to the electrons and protons of solar winds like they will encounter in space.
(Video: 1:02) From the Archives: A Marshall-Built Satellite Set the Bar for NASA Earth Studies
Fresh from the history archives, this 1975 video explains the mission of the Laser Geodynamics Satellite. Launched 40 years ago this week, LAGEOS, developed and built at Marshall, transformed studies of Earth’s shape, rotation and gravity field. NASA Earth science continues today, developing a deeper understanding of Earth’s system and its response to natural or human-induced changes, improved predictions of climate, weather and natural hazards.
Scan Marshall’s Events of the Week on Facebook
From events with students and lawmakers during NASA Day in Baton Rouge, to meeting President Obama at the White House, to telling stories under the stars on top of a mountain in Huntsville, Marshall team members were out and about this week sharing the value of space exploration and science. Check out photos from the busy week — and much more — on Marshall’s Facebook account.
For more information or to learn about other happenings at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, visit NASA Marshall
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