OrbitalHub

NASA dicit:

Aboard the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft are Drew Morgan of NASA, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos.

Video Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

NASA dicit:

In order to know how the universe will end, we must know what has happened to it so far. This is just one mystery NASA’s forthcoming Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission will tackle as it explores the distant cosmos. The spacecraft’s giant camera, the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), will be fundamental to this exploration.

The WFI has just passed its preliminary design review, an important milestone for the mission. It means the WFI successfully met the design, schedule and budget requirements to advance to the next phase of development, where the team will begin detailed design and fabrication of the flight hardware.

WFIRST is a next-generation space telescope that will survey the infrared universe from beyond the orbit of the Moon. Its two instruments are a technology demonstration called a coronagraph, and the WFI. The WFI features the same angular resolution as Hubble but with 100 times the field of view. Data it gathers will enable scientists to discover new and uniquely detailed information about planetary systems around other stars. The WFI will also map how matter is structured and distributed throughout the cosmos, which should ultimately allow scientists to discover the fate of the universe.

The WFI is designed to detect faint infrared light from across the universe. Infrared light is observed at wavelengths longer than the human eye can detect. The expansion of the universe stretches light emitted by distant galaxies, causing visible or ultraviolet light to appear as infrared by the time it reaches us. Such distant galaxies are difficult to observe from the ground because Earth’s atmosphere blocks some infrared wavelengths, and the upper atmosphere glows brightly enough to overwhelm light from these distant galaxies. By going into space and using a Hubble-size telescope, the WFI will be sensitive enough to detect infrared light from farther than any previous telescope. This will help scientists capture a new view of the universe that could help solve some of its biggest mysteries, one of which is how the universe became the way it is now.

The WFI will allow scientists to peer very far back in time. Seeing the universe in its early stages will help scientists unravel how it expanded throughout its history. This will illuminate how the cosmos developed to its present condition, enabling scientists to predict how it will continue to evolve.

With its large field of view, the WFI will provide a wealth of information in each image it takes. This will dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to gather data, allowing scientists to conduct research that would otherwise be impractical.

With the successful completion of the WFI’s preliminary design review, the WFIRST mission is on target for its planned launch in the mid-2020s. Scientists will soon be able to explore some of the biggest mysteries in the cosmos thanks to the WFI’s wide field of view and precision optics.

Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger (USRA)/Claire Saravia/Krystofer Kim (USRA)/Ashley Balzer

NASA dicit:

During the successful test of Orion’s launch abort system, known as Ascent Abort-2, a camera mounted on a ring connecting the crew module and launch abort system to its booster captured a view of Orion escaping the booster. After the booster separated, its motor continued to burn for several seconds and maintained stability, which allowed for a clear, mid-air view of the Orion elements continuing to execute the abort test. About 27 seconds after the abort is initiated and the Orion elements separate from the booster, the launch abort system’s jettison motor is seen firing, releasing the capsule.

The July 2 test demonstrated the Orion’s launch abort system works during high-stress aerodynamic conditions and can pull the capsule to safety if an emergency ever arises during launch. The test was a critical milestone needed to help pave the way for Artemis missions with astronauts.

Video Credit: NASA Johnson

NASA dicit:

A team of engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, install the legs and wheels — otherwise known as the mobility suspension — on the Mars 2020 rover. The imagery for this accelerated time-lapse was taken on June 13, 2019, from a camera above the Spacecraft Assembly Facility’s High Bay 1 clean room.

Video Credit: NASA JPL

NASA dicit:

A successful water flow test with the mobile launcher at Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39B on July 2, 2019, put NASA one step closer to returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, with the goal of sending humans to Mars. It was the first of nine tests to verify the sound suppression system is ready for launch of NASA’s Space Launch System for the first Artemis mission.

Approximately 450,000 gallons of water was released from an elevated water tank and distributed through large diameter piping and valves to water nozzles located in the Pad B flame deflector, the mobile launcher flame hole and on the launcher’s blast deck in just 45 seconds. That’s enough water to fill 45 residential swimming pools! The system reached a peak flow rate of 1.1 million gallons per minute.

Video Credit: NASA Kennedy

NASA dicit:

NASA is going to the Moon and on to Mars, in a measured, sustainable way. Working with U.S. companies and international partners, NASA will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon. NASA is working to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon within the next decade to uncover new scientific discoveries and lay the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy.

The lunar surface will serve as a crucial training ground and technology demonstration test site where we will prepare for future human missions to Mars and other destinations. Through an innovative combination of missions involving commercial and international partners, robotic lunar surface missions will begin as early as 2020, focus on scientific exploration of lunar resources, and prepare the lunar surface for a sustained human presence.

Video Credit: NASA