Astronomers Spot a Distant and Lonely Neutron Star
Astronomers have discovered a special kind of neutron star for the first time outside of the Milky Way galaxy, using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, managed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
Expedition 54-55 Prepares for Homecoming
International Space Station commander Anton Shkaplerov and fellow Expedition 54-55 crewmates Scott Tingle and Norishige Kanai prepare for their return to Earth after 168 days in space. Watch live on https://www.nasa.gov/live as the homebound crew undocks from the station and lands in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The departure is scheduled for June 6 at 4:16 a.m. CDT.
NASA Works Toward Upgrading Launch Facilities for Launch of SLS
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems has completed major construction on the main flame deflector in the upgraded flame trench at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad B. The Exploration Ground Systems Program at Kennedy is refurbishing the pad to support the launch of the NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft on Exploration Mission-1, and helping to transform the space center into a multi-user spaceport.
NASA’s Hi-C Launches to Study Sun’s Corona
On May 29, NASA and its partners launched a rocket-borne camera, the High Resolution Coronal Imager, to the edge of space on its third mission — led by Marshall — to study the Sun. The unprecedented clarity of images returned by this precision instrument will provide scientists around the world with clues to one of the biggest questions in heliophysics – why the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona, is so much hotter than its surface.
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.