Suggested Searches

4 min read

In Case You Missed It: A Weekly Summary of Top Content from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

The headshot image of Beth Ridgeway

Beth Ridgeway

Aug 12, 2022
Article

Contents

Week of August 8-12

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft arrives at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 10. The specialized aircraft can carry bulky or heavy cargo that cannot fit on traditional aircraft.
NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft arrives at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Aug. 10. The specialized aircraft can carry bulky or heavy cargo that cannot fit on traditional aircraft. Credits: NASA/Charles Beason

NASA’s Super Guppy Delivers Rocket Test Article to Marshall

Teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, unloaded the Orion stage adapter structural test article from NASA’s Super Guppy cargo airplane Aug. 10. The Super Guppy is capable of hauling loads of more than 48,000 pounds and boasts a cargo compartment 25 feet tall, 25 feet wide, and 111 feet long.

An illustration of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn, where it documented the ringed planet in 2017.
An illustration of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn, where it documented the ringed planet in 2017. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Saturn to Reach Opposition Aug. 14

Saturn will have one of its best viewing opportunities of the year in the period surrounding Sunday, Aug. 14. Or it would, if the nearly full Moon doesn’t spoil the fun. On that date, Saturn will reach opposition – the point where it lies directly opposite the Sun in the night sky – around midnight local time for most stargazers, with the constellation Capricornus behind it.

The High-Gain Antenna (HGA) for the Europa Clipper recently underwent testing at the Experimental Test Range (ETR) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
The High-Gain Antenna (HGA) for the Europa Clipper recently underwent testing at the Experimental Test Range (ETR) at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. There, researchers assessed its ability to precisely beam data from the spacecraft back to Earth. The HGA is pictured here arriving in March. It spent time at the ETR in March and April, and again in June and July. Credits: Credits: NASA/David C. Bowman

Europa Clipper High-Gain Antenna Undergoes Precision Testing

The High-Gain antenna for NASA’s Europa Clipper recently finished its second round of testing this year at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Europa Clipper, which will conduct nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, was at Langley’s Experimental Test Range in March and April and then again in June and July so researchers could assess its ability to precisely beam data from the spacecraft back to Earth. 

David Beaman, manager of the Space Launch System (SLS) Engineering & Integration Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, views the SLS rocket on the launch pad.
In March 2022, David Beaman, manager of the Space Launch System (SLS) Engineering & Integration Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, views the rocket on the launch pad when it rolled out the first time for the wet dress rehearsal test. Beaman and his team work closely with the ground systems team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to ensure the rocket is ready for launch on the Artemis I mission to the Moon. Credits: NASA/Sam Lott

NASA’s David Beaman Helps Prepare Super Heavy-Lift Rocket for Flight

NASA engineer David Beaman thinks like a chess grandmaster, always three or four moves ahead. As manager of the Space Launch System (SLS) Engineering & Integration Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, he oversees 1,000 or so team members – all of them working to fly America’s next deep space rocket and return human explorers to the Moon on the Artemis missions. 

NASA’s Andy Schorr leads a team that is building, testing, and operating major parts of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
NASA’s Andy Schorr leads a team that is building, testing, and operating major parts of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The launch vehicle stage adapter, shown here, was manufactured at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The stage adapter connects the core stage with the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or ICPS, which Schorr’s team also manages. The ICPS provides the power to send Orion to the Moon. Credits: NASA/Brandon Hancock

Early Days of Space Exploration Inspire Illinois Native to NASA Career

Andy Schorr’s childhood encounters with the idea of space travel were awe-inspiring, if not intimidating: A “Sounds of the Space Age” record tucked inside the pages of his father’s December 1969 National Geographic magazine. Spying the Moon rock on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center during a family vacation in the 1970s. That fascination with space, plus a knack for math and science, helped Schorr launch a career that led him to where he is today, as manager of the Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution Office for the Space Launch System Program.

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.