Women In Exploration: From Human Computers To All-Woman Spacewalks

The Big Build: Artemis I Stacks Up

Our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is coming together at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this summer. Our mighty SLS rocket is set to power the Artemis I mission to send our Orion spacecraft around the Moon. But, before it heads to the Moon, NASA puts it together right here on Earth.

Read on for more on how our Moon rocket for Artemis I will come together this summer:

Get the Base

How do crews assemble a rocket and spacecraft as tall as a skyscraper? The process all starts inside the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy with the mobile launcher. Recognized as a Florida Space Coast landmark, the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, houses special cranes, lifts, and equipment to move and connect the spaceflight hardware together. Orion and all five of the major parts of the Artemis I rocket are already at Kennedy in preparation for launch. Inside the VAB, teams carefully stack and connect the elements to the mobile launcher, which serves as a platform for assembly and, later, for fueling and launching the rocket.

Start with the boosters

Because they carry the entire weight of the rocket and spacecraft, the twin solid rocket boosters for our SLS rocket are the first elements to be stacked on the mobile launcher inside the VAB. Crews with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs team completed stacking the boosters in March. Each taller than the Statue of Liberty and adorned with the iconic NASA “worm” logo, the five-segment boosters flank either side of the rocket’s core stage and upper stage. At launch, each booster produces more than 3.6 million pounds of thrust in just two minutes to quickly lift the rocket and spacecraft off the pad and to space.

Bring in the core stage

In between the twin solid rocket boosters is the core stage. The stage has two huge liquid propellant tanks, computers that control the rocket’s flight, and four RS-25 engines. Weighing more than 188,000 pounds without fuel and standing 212 feet, the core stage is the largest element of the SLS rocket. To place the core stage in between the two boosters, teams will use a heavy-lift crane to raise and lower the stage into place on the mobile launcher.

On launch day, the core stage’s RS-25 engines produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust and ignite just before the boosters. Together, the boosters and engines produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send the SLS and Orion into orbit.

Add the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter

Once the boosters and core stage are secured, teams add the launch vehicle stage adapter, or LVSA, to the stack. The LVSA is a cone-shaped element that connects the rocket’s core stage and Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), or upper stage. The roughly 30-foot LVSA houses and protects the RL10 engine that powers the ICPS. Once teams bolt the LVSA into place on top of the rocket, the diameter of SLS will officially change from a wide base to a more narrow point — much like a change in the shape of a pencil from eraser to point.

Lower the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage into place

Next in the stacking line-up is the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage or ICPS. Like the LVSA, crews will lift and bolt the ICPS into place. To help power our deep space missions and goals, our SLS rocket delivers propulsion in phases. At liftoff, the core stage and solid rocket boosters will propel Artemis I off the launch pad. Once in orbit, the ICPS and its single RL10 engine will provide nearly 25,000 pounds of thrust to send our Orion spacecraft on a precise trajectory to the Moon.

Nearly there with the Orion stage adapter

When the Orion stage adapter crowns the top of the ICPS, you’ll know we’re nearly complete with stacking SLS rocket for Artemis I. The Orion Stage Adapter is more than just a connection point. At five feet in height, the Orion stage adapter may be small, but it holds and carries several small satellites called CubeSats. After Orion separates from the SLS rocket and heads to the Moon, these shoebox-sized payloads are released into space for their own missions to conduct science and technology research vital to deep space exploration. Compared to the rest of the rocket and spacecraft, the Orion stage adapter is the smallest SLS component that’s stacked for Artemis I.

Top it off

Finally, our Orion spacecraft will be placed on top of our Moon rocket inside the VAB. The final piece will be easy to spot as teams recently added the bright red NASA “worm” logotype to the outside of the spacecraft. The Orion spacecraft is much more than just a capsule built to carry crew. It has a launch abort system, which will carry the crew to safety in case of an emergency, and a service module developed by the European Space Agency that will power and propel the spacecraft during its three-week mission. On the uncrewed Artemis I mission, Orion will check out the spacecraft’s critical systems, including navigation, communications systems, and the heat shield needed to support astronauts who will fly on Artemis II and beyond.

Ready for launch!

The path to the pad requires many steps and check lists. Before Artemis I rolls to the launch pad, teams will finalize outfitting and other important assembly work inside the VAB. Once assembled, the integrated SLS rocket and Orion will undergo several final tests and checkouts in the VAB and on the launch pad before it’s readied for launch.

The Artemis I mission is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will pave the way for landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. The Space Launch System is the only rocket that can send NASA astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

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Every next level of your life will demand a different you.

Leonardo DiCaprio (via quotemadness)

Spread your cosmic wings 🦋

The Butterfly Nebula, created by a dying star, was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in this spectacular image. Observations were taken over a more complete spectrum of light, helping researchers better understand the “wings'' of gas bursting out from its center. The nebula’s dying central star has become exceptionally hot, shining ultraviolet light brightly over the butterfly’s wings and causing the gas to glow.

Learn more about Hubble’s celebration of Nebula November and see new nebula images, here.

You can also keep up with Hubble on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr!

Image credits: NASA, ESA, and J. Kastner (RIT)

NASA’s View of COVID-19

#COVID19 led to changes in human activities around the globe. We can see some of these changes from space. Some bodies of water have run clearer, emissions of pollutants have temporarily declined, and transportation and shipment of goods have decreased.

Along with our partner agencies – ESA and JAXA – we’re making satellite data available on the COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard, where you can explore some of the changes we can see from space.

But it’s not just what we can see. When the pandemic began, NASA engineers sprang into action to build ventilators, oxygen hoods and more to help save lives.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

-   ensuring we do not overwhelm our NHS

What We Learned from Flying a Helicopter on Mars

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history – not only as the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled flight on another world – but also for exceeding expectations, pushing the limits, and setting the stage for future NASA aerial exploration of other worlds.

Built as a technology demonstration designed to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, Ingenuity performed flight operations from the Martian surface for almost three years. The helicopter ended its mission on Jan. 25, 2024, after sustaining damage to its rotor blades during its 72nd flight.

So, what did we learn from this small but mighty helicopter?

We can fly rotorcraft in the thin atmosphere of other planets.

Ingenuity proved that powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds when it took to the Martian skies for the first time on April 19, 2021.

Flying on planets like Mars is no easy feat: The Red Planet has a significantly lower gravity – one-third that of Earth’s – and an extremely thin atmosphere, with only 1% the pressure at the surface compared to our planet. This means there are relatively few air molecules with which Ingenuity’s two 4-foot-wide (1.2-meter-wide) rotor blades can interact to achieve flight.

Ingenuity performed several flights dedicated to understanding key aerodynamic effects and how they interact with the structure and control system of the helicopter, providing us with a treasure-trove of data on how aircraft fly in the Martian atmosphere.

Now, we can use this knowledge to directly improve performance and reduce risk on future planetary aerial vehicles.

Creative solutions and “ingenuity” kept the helicopter flying longer than expected.

Over an extended mission that lasted for almost 1,000 Martian days (more than 33 times longer than originally planned), Ingenuity was upgraded with the ability to autonomously choose landing sites in treacherous terrain, dealt with a dead sensor, dusted itself off after dust storms, operated from 48 different airfields, performed three emergency landings, and survived a frigid Martian winter.

Fun fact: To keep costs low, the helicopter contained many off-the-shelf-commercial parts from the smartphone industry - parts that had never been tested in deep space. Those parts also surpassed expectations, proving durable throughout Ingenuity’s extended mission, and can inform future budget-conscious hardware solutions.

There is value in adding an aerial dimension to interplanetary surface missions.

Ingenuity traveled to Mars on the belly of the Perseverance rover, which served as the communications relay for Ingenuity and, therefore, was its constant companion. The helicopter also proved itself a helpful scout to the rover.

After its initial five flights in 2021, Ingenuity transitioned to an “operations demonstration,” serving as Perseverance’s eyes in the sky as it scouted science targets, potential rover routes, and inaccessible features, while also capturing stereo images for digital elevation maps.

Airborne assets like Ingenuity unlock a new dimension of exploration on Mars that we did not yet have – providing more pixels per meter of resolution for imaging than an orbiter and exploring locations a rover cannot reach.

Tech demos can pay off big time.

Ingenuity was flown as a technology demonstration payload on the Mars 2020 mission, and was a high risk, high reward, low-cost endeavor that paid off big. The data collected by the helicopter will be analyzed for years to come and will benefit future Mars and other planetary missions.

Just as the Sojourner rover led to the MER-class (Spirit and Opportunity) rovers, and the MSL-class (Curiosity and Perseverance) rovers, the team believes Ingenuity’s success will lead to future fleets of aircraft at Mars.

In general, NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions test and advance new technologies, and then transition those capabilities to NASA missions, industry, and other government agencies. Chosen technologies are thoroughly ground- and flight-tested in relevant operating environments — reducing risks to future flight missions, gaining operational heritage and continuing NASA’s long history as a technological leader.

You can fall in love with robots on another planet.

Following in the tracks of beloved Martian rovers, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter built up a worldwide fanbase. The Ingenuity team and public awaited every single flight with anticipation, awe, humor, and hope.

Check out #ThanksIngenuity on social media to see what’s been said about the helicopter’s accomplishments.

Learn more about Ingenuity’s accomplishments here. And make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!