NASA’s InSight Records Monster Quake on Mars
NASA’s InSight Mars lander has detected the largest quake ever observed on another planet: an estimated magnitude 5 temblor that occurred on May 4, the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This adds to the catalog of more than 1,313 quakes InSight has detected since landing on Mars in November 2018. The largest previously recorded quake was an estimated magnitude 4.2 detected Aug. 25, 2021.
NASA Telescopes Support Event Horizon Telescope in Studying Milky Way’s Black Hole
As the Event Horizon Telescope collected data for its remarkable new image of the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole, a legion of other telescopes, including three NASA X-ray observatories in space, was also watching. Astronomers are using these observations to learn more about how the black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy – known as Sagittarius A * – interacts with, and feeds off, its environment, which is some 27,000 light-years from Earth.
Webb Telescope’s MIRI Hints at New Possibilities for Science
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory’s full field of view. Now, take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb’s coldest instrument: The Mid-Infrared Instrument.
Astronauts Train for Starliner Mission, Crew Keeps Up Human Research
The Expedition 67 crew is ramping up for the arrival of Boeing’s new Starliner crew ship due to launch next week to the International Space Station. Meanwhile, the orbital residents continued their ongoing human research, cleaned spacesuits, and maintained lab hardware.
Marshall Employee Named AIAA Engineer of the Year
Paul Gradl, a principal engineer at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, received a 2022 Premier Award for Engineer of the Year from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics during its awards gala April 27. Gradl was recognized for his exceptional engineering and innovation, developing metal additive manufacturing techniques to meet NASA missions and industry needs.
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.