From Alabama to the Moon
The path to the Moon has run through Alabama since the earliest days of our nation’s space program. Today, work in “Rocket City” Huntsville and across the state is advancing the largest rocket we’ve ever built and our Artemis Program to land humans on the Moon by 2024. At a recent visit with the the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine demonstrated Alabama’s deep technical and economic contributions to our nation’s space program.
Chandra Finds Stellar Duos Banished from Galaxies
Scientists have found evidence that pairs of stars have been kicked out of their host galaxies. This discovery, made using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, is one of the clearest examples of stellar pairs being expelled from their galactic base.
SLS Begins Insulation Process for Booster Segments for Second Flight
NASA and Northrop Grumman technicians in Promontory, Utah, have applied insulation to the final booster motor segment for the second flight of NASA’s deep space rocket, the Space Launch System, and NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
NASA Invites Public to Submit Names to Fly Aboard Next Mars Rover
Although it will be years before the first humans set foot on Mars, NASA is giving the public an opportunity to send their names — stenciled on chips — to the Red Planet with NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, which represents the initial leg of humanity’s first round trip to another planet. The rover is scheduled to launch as early as July 2020, with the spacecraft expected to touch down on Mars in February 2021.
Orion Ascent Abort-2 Test Article Moves to Pad
The vehicle for Orion’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test exited the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22. The flight test article then made a 21.5 mile trek to Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in preparation for its launch this summer.
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.