On May 9, NASA’s Lucy team executed the first of two planned steps in its efforts to complete the deployment of the spacecraft’s unlatched solar array. This first step was time-limited and was intended to validate that the team’s ground testing adequately represented the flight system’s performance, rather than to latch the solar array. Analysis …
Strong Solar Flare Erupts from Sun
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, peaking at 9:55 a.m. EDT. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks …
NASA Balloon Launch Window Opens, First Attempt Scheduled
The window for NASA’s super pressure balloon (SPB) launch from Wanaka Airport, New Zealand, opened Monday, May 9 (Tuesday, May 10 in New Zealand) for a mission that will take the 2.5-ton, football-stadium-sized balloon on a long-duration test flight. At this time, NASA is planning a launch attempt for Tuesday, May 10 (Wednesday, May 11 in …
Expedition 67 Crew Takes a Day Off After Colleagues Arrive Home Safely
The seven Expedition 67 crew members are enjoying an off-duty day today following the change of command of the station and the departure of the SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts last week. After a weekend that included housekeeping tasks and station maintenance, Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren performed a filter check on the Photocatalyst experiment on …
MIRI’s Sharper View Hints at New Possibilities for Science
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory’s full field of view. Now, we take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb’s coldest instrument: the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI. The MIRI test image (at 7.7 microns) …
ISS Daily Summary Report – 5/06/2022
Payloads: eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS): The crew continued the inspections and water-management troubleshooting of the XROOTS experiment hardware with a goal of determining if the system is able to support its plant growth modules. The XROOTS investigation uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media. Video and …
Artemis I Rocket, Spacecraft Prepare for Return to Launch Pad to Finish Test
Since returning to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), ground systems teams have worked to prepare the Artemis I Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to roll back to Launch Pad 39B in late May to complete the wet dress rehearsal test in the early to mid-June timeframe. Inside the VAB at NASA’s Kennedy …
Station Crew Gets Back to Work After Crew-3 Mission Ends
The Expedition 67 crew was back to normal on Friday following the departure of four commercial crew astronauts early Thursday morning. The seven International Space Station astronauts and cosmonauts will live and work in space together until late summer. The SpaceX Crew-3 mission ended at 12:43 a.m. EDT on Friday when the Dragon Endurance crew …
Crew-3 Astronauts Splashdown Ending Six-Month Mission
NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer splashed down safely in the SpaceX Dragon Endurance in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 12:43 a.m. EDT after 177 days in space. Teams on the Shannon recovery ship, including two …
Crew-3 Astronauts Splashdown Ending Six-Month Mission
NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari, and Tom Marshburn, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer splashed down safely in the SpaceX Dragon Endurance in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 12:43 a.m. EDT after 177 days in space. Teams on the Shannon recovery ship, including two …