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In Case You Missed It: A Weekly Summary of Top Content from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

The headshot image of Beth Ridgeway

Beth Ridgeway

Dec 16, 2022
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A Weekly Summary of Top Content from Marshall, December 12 – December 16, 2022.

Week of December 12 – December 16, 2022

NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission in the water with four orange round flotation devices on top of it. A boat is in the background.

Splashdown! NASA’s Orion Returns to Earth After Historic Moon Mission

NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, west of Baja California, at 11:40 a.m. CST Dec. 11 after a record-breaking mission, traveling more than 1.4 million miles on a path around the Moon and returning safely to Earth, completing the Artemis I flight test.

Break the Ice Challenge Logo shown with an illustration of two astronauts on the moon.

Top Teams Advance in NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge

NASA has named 15 teams moving on to compete in the semifinal level of its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. The $3.5 million multi-phase challenge invites problem-solvers from businesses, academia, maker communities, and more to play a role in building a lasting human presence and vibrant economy on the Moon by tapping into resources that are already there.

This illustration shows NASA’s Lunar Flashlight, with its four solar arrays deployed.

Follow NASA’s Lunar Flashlight Mission in Real Time

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight launched Dec. 11 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The small satellite, or SmallSat, embarked on a four-month journey to the Moon to seek out surface water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar South Pole.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A on Dec. 9, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

IXPE Celebrates 1 Year of Exploring the Cosmos

One year ago, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) lit up the early morning sky as it started its journey into space. IXPE is the first satellite dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from a variety of cosmic sources, such as black holes and neutron stars.

A diagram of The Cosmic Cliffs showing the birth of new stars.

NASA’s Webb Unveils Young Stars in Early Stages of Formation

Scientists taking a “deep dive” into one of Webb’s iconic first images have discovered dozens of energetic jets and outflows from young stars previously hidden by dust clouds. The discovery marks the beginning of a new era of investigating how stars like the Sun form, and how the radiation from nearby massive stars might affect the development of planets.

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.