The Cygnus cargo craft is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm as the International Space Station orbited 262 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. The residents aboard the International Space Station continued unpacking several tons of science and supplies packed inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo craft on Wednesday. The seven-member Expedition 71 crew [...]
5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This artist’s concept shows how NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover was lowered to the planet’s surface using the sky crane maneuver.NASA / JPL-Caltech The rocket-powered descent stage that lowered NASA’s Curiosity onto the Martian surface is guided over the rover by technicians at the agency’s [...]
23 Min Read The Marshall Star for August 7, 2024 NASA Additive Manufacturing Project Shapes Future for Agency, Industry Rocket Makers The widespread commercial adoption of additive manufacturing technologies, commonly known as 3D printing, is no surprise to design engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center whose research created stronger, lighter weight materials and [...]
5 Min Read NASA Optical Navigation Tech Could Streamline Planetary Exploration Optical navigation technology could help astronauts and robots find their ways using data from cameras and other sensors. Credits: NASA As astronauts and rovers explore uncharted worlds, finding new ways of navigating these bodies is essential in the absence of traditional navigation systems [...]
Erosion, tectonic uplift, and a human-built dam have all helped shape the Upper Lake Powell area in Utah. This astronaut photograph was acquired on July 28, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 1,150 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science [...]
Photo of the Day To some, they look like battlements, here protecting us against the center of the Milky Way. The Three Merlons, also called the Three Peaks of Lavaredo, stand tall today because they are made of dense dolomite rock which has better resisted erosion than surrounding softer rock. They formed about 250 [...]
Julia Khodabandeh once adorned her walls with rockets, fighter jets, and Air Force pilots. Now, she is the solid rocket motor lead for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System).NASA/Sam Lott Unlike most of her friends in the 80s who covered their walls with posters of bands, Julia Khodabandeh plastered hers with posters of rockets and fighter [...]
Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when – it may be next year, it may be one million years from now. Eta Carinae’s mass – about 100 times greater than our Sun – makes it an excellent candidate for a full blown supernova. Historical records do show that about [...]
The International Space Station was pictured flying 263 miles above the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA NASA will host a media teleconference at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Aug. 7, to discuss ongoing International Space Station operations, including the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Audio of the [...]
NASA, SpaceX Crew-9 mission patch NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory. Starliner [...]
