Week of Sept. 26 – Sept. 30, 2016
Major Construction Complete on First of Two New SLS Test Stands
Progress on the journey to Mars continued this week as workers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center completed construction of a structural test stand for the Space Launch System. The test stand will subject SLS’s 196,000-gallon liquid oxygen tank, the largest component of the rocket’s massive core stage, to the tremendous forces it will endure during launch.
(Video 2:06) CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Discusses Space Station Research
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a surgeon and the medical correspondent for CNN, was one of the keynote speakers at the 2016 International Space Station R&D Conference where he led a discussion with Mark and Scott Kelly, veteran NASA astronauts and subjects of the Twins Study. We caught up with Gupta after the talk and discussed why he feels the station is such an important resource for science.
Construction of Orion Stage Adapter for First SLS Flight Begins
Precision machining of the Orion stage adapter for NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System, is underway at Marshall. The adapter will connect NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and also will carry 13 CubeSats to perform science and technology investigations that will help pave the way for future human exploration in deep space.
NASA’s Asteroid-Bound OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check
Hurtling through space en route to a rendezvous with an asteroid, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft powered up and operated its five science instruments and one of its navigational instruments last week. By passing its initial instrument check, OSIRIS-REx has passed another milestone on its way to asteroid Bennu.
NASA’s Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter’s Moon Europa
Images released this week from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope show what may be water vapor plumes erupting off the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. This finding bolsters other observations, increasing the possibility that Europa missions may be able to sample the moon’s ocean without drilling through miles of ice.
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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