As of Nov. 21, 2022, InSight is generating an average between 300 and 310 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.33 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).
NASA’s S-MODE Mission: “Sea-ing” through Rainbow-Colored Glasses
By Sarah Lang, Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island. // Aboard the Bold Horizon // If you asked a random person about the color of the ocean, they would probably tell you that it’s some shade of blue or green. But perhaps that shade of blue looks slightly different …
Orion Successfully Completes Lunar Flyby, Re-acquires Signal With Earth
Orion re-acquired signal with NASA’s Deep Space Network, at 7:59 a.m. EST after successfully performing the outbound powered flyby burn at 7:44 a.m. EST with a firing of the orbital maneuvering system engine for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to accelerate the spacecraft at a rate of more than 580 mph. At the time of …
Artemis I – Flight Day Five: Orion Enters Lunar Sphere of Influence Ahead of Lunar Flyby
Five days into the 25.5-day Artemis I mission, Orion continues on its trajectory toward the Moon. Flight controllers in the White Flight Control Room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston captured additional imagery of the Moon using the optical navigation camera. Gathering imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances …
Artemis I – Flight Day Four: Testing WiFi Signals, Radiator System, GO for Outbound Powered Flyby
On Saturday, Nov. 19, the Mission Management Team polled “go” for Orion’s outbound powered flyby past the Moon. NASA will cover the flyby live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the NASA app starting at 7:15 a.m. EST Monday, Nov. 21. The burn is planned for 7:44 a.m. Orion will lose communication with Earth …
Artemis I – Flight Day Three: Orion Conducts First Spacecraft Inspection, “Exceeding Expectations”
On the third day of its Artemis I journey, NASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft is now more than half way to the Moon. “Today, we met to review the Orion spacecraft performance, and it is exceeding performance expectations.” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. Friday, flight controllers used Orion’s cameras to inspect the crew module …
NASA, SpaceX Target New Launch Date for Next Commercial Cargo Mission
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 3:54 p.m. EST Tuesday, Nov. 22, for the launch of the agency’s CRS-26 mission to the International Space Station with a backup opportunity on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2:20 p.m. EST. The cargo ship will automatically dock to the forward port on the station’s Harmony module at 5:57 a.m. …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/18/2022
Payloads: Nanoracks Module-9: Several photos were taken of the Nanoracks Module-9 hardware while in the Cupola area. NanoRacks Module-9 consists of multiple student experiments in individual Mixture Tubes all housed within a NanoRacks Module container. Some experiments require crew interaction to remove clamps in order to mix materials to activate and/or deactivate the experiments. The …
Station Awaits One Dragon, Five Spacewalks Before End of Year
The International Space Station is due to welcome a U.S. cargo craft after it launches from Florida next week. In the meantime, the Expedition 68 crew is staying focused on completing five more spacewalks for assembly and installation work before the end of the year. The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is due to lift off …
Janus Mission Removed from 2023 Psyche Launch Manifest
NASA has removed its Janus mission from the Psyche mission’s 2023 launch manifest after an assessment determined that Janus would not be on the required trajectory to meet its science requirements as a result of Psyche’s new launch period. The Janus mission, which was designed to send twin small satellite spacecraft to study two separate …