This Week @NASA: Artemis I Moon Mission, Cosmic Cannibalism, Hypersonic Inflatable Aeroshell

The next prelaunch rehearsal before launch of our Artemis I Moon mission …

News about some NASA astronomy missions …

And a critical milestone for an Earth-observing satellite …

A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

The Next Prelaunch Rehearsal Test for Artemis I Moon Mission

NASA is targeting June 18th for the start of the next wet dress rehearsal test with our Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The rehearsal is the final test needed before the launch of the uncrewed Artemis I mission around the Moon.

The test includes an approximately two-day countdown, during which the launch teams will practice the operations, timelines, and procedures that they will follow for the actual launch.

This illustration shows a white dwarf star siphoning off debris from shattered objects in a planetary system. The Hubble Space Telescope detects the spectral signature of the vaporized debris that revealed a combination of rocky-metallic and icy material, the ingredients of planets. The findings help describe the violent nature of evolved planetary systems and the composition of their disintegrating bodies. Credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

NASA News at American Astronomical Society Meeting

News about NASA missions at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society included astronomers using data from our Hubble Space Telescope and other NASA observatories to see, for the first time, a dead star called a white dwarf consuming both rocky-metallic and icy material, the ingredients of planets.

This instance of cosmic cannibalism can help astronomers learn more about the makeup of newly forming systems.

Also discussed, the potential of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The telescope’s unprecedented field of view will make it possible to study stellar streams in a large number of galaxies for the first time.

Astronomers can use these observations to better understand how galaxies grow and the nature of dark matter.

An artist’s rendering of the JPSS-2 satellite, which will be renamed NOAA-21 once in orbit. Credit: NOAA

NASA Completes Critical Testing for Earth Observing Satellite

The Joint Polar Satellite System-2 satellite, or JPSS-2 that NASA is building for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently completed its thermal vacuum testing.

The critical test is meant to show that the spacecraft and its instruments can perform successfully in the harsh environment of space.

JPSS-2 is targeted for launch on November 1st from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The satellite will provide data to help improve our understanding of extreme weather and climate change.

A full-scale model of the inflated aeroshell for NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is displayed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman

NASA Showcases Inflatable Heat Shield Before Spaceflight Demo

NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID will ride to space on the JPSS-2 launch as a secondary payload.

LOFTID is a demonstration of a hypersonic inflatable aeroshell that could one day help land humans on Mars.

Our Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, recently hosted an event for the media to learn more about the technology.

Following its launch to low-Earth orbit, LOFTID will inflate and descend back to Earth to demonstrate how it can slow down a spacecraft and help it survive the trip down through a planet’s atmosphere.

U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame outside Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Credit: NASA

2022 Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Congratulations to former NASA astronauts Dave Leestma, Sandy Magnus, and Chris Ferguson. They are the newest inductees to the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

They were inducted as the Hall of Fame’s class of 2022 during a June 11th ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA …