The Artemis II wet dress rehearsal countdown continues as teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida began configuring the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft with gaseous nitrogen, an important step to mitigate fire hazards, protect spacecraft systems, and ensure mission safety. Technicians are currently replacing the ambient air in the SLS and Orion crew module with gaseous nitrogen, which is an inert […]
The Sun emitted three strong solar flares on Feb. 1, peaking at 7:33 a.m. ET, 6:37 p.m. ET, and 7:36 p.m. ET. The Sun emitted a fourth strong solar flare on Feb. 2, peaking at 3:14 a.m. ET. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured images of the events. Solar flares are […]
NASA continues to press ahead through the countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal – a fueling test of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Teams monitored all systems throughout the overnight hours during cold temperatures and high winds at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Early this morning, at approximately L-39 hours and 30 minutes, teams powered up the rocket’s core stage, which soon will be loaded […]
The countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal is underway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The countdown clock began at 8:13 p.m. EST, or L-48 hours, 40 minutes before the opening of a simulated launch window at 9 pm. Mon, Feb. 2. The test is expected to go until approximately 1 a.m. […]
NASA’s Libera instrument, which is designed to maintain the global data record of Earth’s radiation budget, has successfully completed comprehensive environmental testing. This critical milestone included thermal vacuum tests that simulate the expected space temperature and environments that Libera will experience during its mission. The Libera instrument will fly on Joint Polar Satellite System-4 (JPSS-4), […]
The Expedition 74 trio wrapped up the week packing cargo for return to Earth and exploring artificial intelligence to benefit crew operations. Earth observations and lab gear maintenance rounded out the shift aboard the International Space Station on Friday.
NASA is targeting Monday, Feb. 2, as the tanking day for the upcoming Artemis II wet dress rehearsal at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as a result of weather. With this change, the first potential opportunity to launch is no earlier than Sunday, Feb. 8. Over the past several days, engineers have been […]
Expedition 74 focused on installing CubeSats and observing Earth aboard the International Space Station on Thursday. The trio from NASA and Roscosmos kept up ongoing research operations along with standard orbital lab maintenance throughout the day.
Scouring archived observations from NASA missions, scientists may have solved a mystery about what powers a type of aurora called auroral arcs. The answer, they say, is space waves. From the ground, auroral arcs look like green, glowing curtains of light sweeping across the night sky. From space, they appear as thin, green lines — or arcs — slicing across the […]
New analysis of decades-old data has turned up a significant result: the first discovery of ammonia-bearing compounds on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Ammonia is a nitrogen-bearing molecule, and nitrogen — like carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen — is key to life as we know it. As the first such detection at Europa, the finding […]
