An update on NASA’s Artemis I Moon mission…
A first for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope…
And a new target launch date for the next commercial crew mission…some of the stories to tell you: this week at NASA!
An update on NASA’s Artemis I moon mission
NASA’s Artemis I unmanned flight test is the first integrated test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System, or SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket, and ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Over the course of about 38 days, the mission will see Orion travel thousands of kilometers beyond the Moon, farther than any human-built spacecraft has ever flown. Artemis I is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will provide a foundation for human exploration of deep space and demonstrate NASA’s commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.
This image shows the exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope: purple shows the view from the NIRCam instrument at 3.00 micrometers, blue shows the view from the NIRCam instrument at 4.44 micrometers, yellow shows the MIRI instrument view at 11.4 micrometers, and red shows the MIRI instrument view at 15.5 micrometers. These images look different because of the way the different Webb instruments capture the light. A set of masks inside each instrument, called a coronagraph, blocks light from the host star so the planet can be seen. The small white star in each image marks the location of the host star HIP 65426, which has been subtracted using the coronagraphs and image processing. Bar shapes in NIRCam images are artifacts of the telescope optics, not objects in the scene. Credits: ASA/ESA/CSA, A Carter (UCSC), the ERS 1386 team, and A. Pagan (STScI).
First direct Webb Space Telescope image of an exoplanet
For the first time, astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of an exoplanet. The planet, named HIP65426 b, is a gas giant between five and ten times the mass of Jupiter. Direct imaging of exoplanets is challenging because stars are much brighter than planets. But Webb has an instrument called a coronagraph that blocks starlight and allows direct images of certain exoplanets. This capability could help Webb reveal more information about exoplanets than ever before.
Cassie Rodriquez, center, chief training officer for Crew-5 at Johnson Space Center, poses with the mission crew, left to right, Josh Cassada, Anna Kikina, Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata. Credit: Johnson Space Center
NASA, SpaceX Adjust Crew-5 Launch Date
NASA and SpaceX are aiming for the launch of the agency’s Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station by 12:45 pm EDT on October 3. The launch date adjustment was made to accommodate spacecraft traffic entering and leaving the space station. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina will launch aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center from NASA.
Artist’s impression of the future SWOT satellite making observations of the sea surface, even through the clouds. Credit: National Center for Space Studies (CNES)
New target launch date for water and ocean observation mission
NASA, the French space agency, CNES and SpaceX aim to launch the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite on December 5. SWOT is the first satellite mission to examine nearly all of Earth’s water, with an unprecedented level of detail. The mission will help inform water equity and water management decisions, provide new insights into the Earth’s water and energy cycle, and help prepare communities for the rising seas and changing coastlines as a result of climate change.
Voyager’s high-gain antenna, seen in the center of this NASA spacecraft illustration, is a component controlled by the Articulation and Attitude Control System (AACS). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Engineers resolve data errors on the Voyager 1 spacecraft
Engineers have fixed a problem affecting data from NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft. They discovered that Voyager 1’s Articulation and Attitude Control System, or AACS, a critical system aboard the probe, had been sending garbled telemetry data through an on-board computer that stopped working correctly years ago. Consequently, this computer corrupted the information. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 celebrate a birthday. The twin probes, which were launched weeks apart in late August and early September 1977, have been exploring our solar system for 45 years.
Here’s what’s happening this week @NASA