Materials scientists finished applying the thermal protection system to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle stage adapter and moved it to another manufacturing area to finish outfitting the flight hardware for the Artemis II mission. On Dec. 8, 2021, a NASA transporter moved the adapter which was built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center …
On Saturday, Dec. 11, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was secured on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch it to space from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. After its arrival in the final assembly building, Webb was slowly hoisted nearly 130 feet and then perfectly aligned on top of the Ariane 5, …
Near the Sun We’re nearing the end of our solar tour, which means we’re getting closer to the star of the show! We sent Parker Solar Probe to the Sun to investigate some of our star’s biggest mysteries. The closer we get, the more discoveries we make. The Sun’s hottest mystery One of the big …
Payloads: Behavioral Core Measures (BCM): The crew prepared for a BCM session but was unable to successfully bring up the BCM application on the computer. The BCM session will be rescheduled later. The Standardized Behavioral Measures for Detecting Behavioral Health Risks during Exploration Missions (Behavioral Core Measures) experiment initially examined a suite of measurements to …
It was a busy Monday for the 10 individuals living aboard the International Space Station as they worked on human research and space physics. The Expedition 66 crew is also gearing up for next week’s departure of three lab visitors as well as a cargo delivery before Christmas. NASA Flight Engineer Thomas Marshburn juggled a …
The Solar Cycle Everything we’ve seen so far on the solar tour has been shaped by the Sun’s activity, which ebbs and flows over an 11-year cycle. To understand the Sun’s effects on space, we need to get to the bottom of the solar cycle. How one scientist predicts the solar cycle Solar scientist Lisa …
The Solar Wind Ah, the solar wind – that steady stream of particles our Sun sheds to space. The solar wind fills every nook and cranny of interstellar space, pelting planetary atmospheres and shaping their long-term fate. Space weather Hey Parker, how’s the weather out there? There’s weather in space – but we’re not talking …
A Swing by Venus Greetings from the solar tour! We have arrived at Venus. Venus and Earth are twins, both rocky and similar size and structure. Studying Venus helps scientists understand what makes Venus inhospitable and Earth habitable. But Venus is closer to the Sun, and spacecraft that have flown there in the past have …
Payloads: Bio-Analyzer: A blood sample was analyzed using the Bio-Analyzer and processed using the Cellular Labeling instrument. The sample was then remixed to introduce bubbles in order to test the bubble mitigation procedures. Bio-Analyzer is a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) onboard instrument that serves as a platform for scientific experiments on the ISS. The instrument …
Space biology led the research schedule for the seven-member Expedition 66 crew aboard the International Space Station on Friday. The orbiting lab’s three guests also spent their day on a variety of Russian space experiments. NASA Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Kayla Barron partnered up throughout the day replacing components inside the Advanced Plant …
