Week of March 19 – March 23, 2018
NASA Marshall Advances 3-D Printed Rocket Engine Nozzle Technology
Rocket engine nozzles operate in extreme temperatures and pressures from the combustion process and are complex and expensive to manufacture. That is why a team of engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center developed and proved out a new additive manufacturing technique for nozzle fabrication that can greatly reduce costs and development time.
New Crew Blasts Off to Join the International Space Station
Three new crew members, including NASA astronauts Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold, launched to the International Space Station, March 21. The trio will orbit Earth for approximately two days before docking with the station at 3:41 p.m., March 23. Coverage of docking will begin at 2 p.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
NASA Seeks Ideas to Advance toward Human-Class Lunar Landers
Leading a renewed effort to explore areas near and on the Moon, NASA is seeking U.S. industry feedback on possible approaches to advance lunar payload transportation capabilities. The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway will open opportunities for science, exploration and commercial industry from lunar orbit.
Public Invited to Come Aboard NASA’s First Mission to Touch the Sun
NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names online to be placed on a microchip aboard NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission launching in summer 2018. The mission will travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions — and your name will go along for the ride.
Hubble Releases 12 More Messier Images
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has released 12 new images of nebulas, galaxies and star clusters. The celestial objects are part of the Messier catalog, a collection of 110 deep-sky objects noted by the French astronomer Charles Messier as he hunted for comets. Messier objects are extremely popular targets for amateur astronomers possessing all levels of experience and equipment.
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.