NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Lunar Gateway Power, Propulsion
In one of the first steps of the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration plans, NASA announced on Thursday the selection of Maxar Technologies, formerly SSL, in Westminster, Colorado, to develop and demonstrate power, propulsion and communications capabilities for NASA’s lunar Gateway.
Rocket Science in 60 Seconds: What Is the Space Launch System?
Kathryn Crowe, a systems engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, explains what powers NASA’s deep space rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and why it’s the only rocket that can move astronauts forward to the Moon — to stay — in 2024.
NASA and Virgin Orbit 3D Print, Test Rocket Combustion Chamber
At the heart of future rocket engines lifting off to the Moon or Mars could be a 3D printed combustion chamber. Multiple NASA centers partnered with Virgin Orbit to develop and test a uniquely manufactured rocket part.
Winning Teams Design Systems to Convert Carbon Dioxide into Something Sweet
NASA awarded a total of $250,000 to five teams in the initial phase of the CO2 Conversion Challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to convert carbon dioxide into glucose in order to eventually create sugar-based fuel, food, medicines, adhesives and other products. While sugar-based biomaterials are created on Earth by plants, this is not practical for space missions because of limited resources such as energy, water and crew time. This capability would let future Martian explorers manufacture products using carbon dioxide in the Red Planet’s atmosphere.
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.