Paul McConnaughey Named Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Director
Paul McConnaughey has been appointed deputy director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, by Marshall Center Director Jody Singer. McConnaughey will share responsibility for leading one of NASA’s largest field installations, with almost 6,000 civil service and contractor personnel, an annual budget of approximately $2.8 billion, and a broad spectrum of human spaceflight, science and technology development.
Intertank for NASA’s New Rocket Readied for Final Assembly
Technicians lifted the intertank for NASA’s deep space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), into a vertical stacking area at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Engineers will join it with two other large structures to form the top half of the 212-foot-tall core stage that will be flown on Exploration Mission-1, the first flight of SLS and the Orion spacecraft.
Experience High-Res Science in First 8K Footage from Space
Fans of science in space now can experience fast-moving footage in even higher definition as NASA and the European Space Agency deliver the first 8K ultra high definition (UHD) video of astronauts living, working and conducting research from the International Space Station.
Parker Solar Probe Reports Good Status After Close Solar Approach
Parker Solar Probe is alive and well after skimming by the Sun at just 15 million miles from our star’s surface. This is far closer than any spacecraft has ever gone — the previous record was set by Helios B in 1976 and broken by Parker on Oct. 29 — and this maneuver has exposed the spacecraft to intense heat and solar radiation in a complex solar wind environment.
Cosmic Detective Work: Why We Care About Space Rocks
NASA’s missions to study asteroids, comets, and other small space objects help us understand how planets including Earth formed, locate hazards to human spaceflight and think about the future of exploration.
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.