NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Feb 27, 2024

Supernova Remnant Simeis 147

It's easy to get lost following the intricate, looping, and twisting filaments of supernova remnant Simeis 147. Also cataloged as Sharpless 2-240, the filamentary nebula goes by the popular nickname the Spaghetti Nebula. Seen toward the boundary of the constellations of the Bull (Taurus) and the Charioteer (Auriga), the impressive gas structure covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky, equivalent to 6 full moons. That's about 150 light-years at the stellar debris cloud's estimated distance of 3,000 light-years. This composite image includes data taken through narrow-band filters isolating emission from hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) glowing gas. The supernova remnant has an estimated age of about 40,000 years, meaning light from this massive stellar explosion first reached the Earth when woolly mammoths roamed free. Besides the expanding remnant, this cosmic catastrophe left behind a pulsar: a spinning neutron star that is the remnant of the original star's core.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?

Launch of NOAA Weather Satellite Delayed

February 27, 2024

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than May 2024 for the launch of the fourth and final satellite in NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) – R Series, GOES-U. The new date allows for additional testing and preparation of a new Falcon Heavy center core booster after a liquid oxygen leak was discovered during routine new booster testing.

NOAA oversees the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, managing the ground system, operating the satellites, and distributing their data to users worldwide. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments and also built the Magnetometer instrument for GOES-T and GOES-U. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center manages the launch services for the GOES missions. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/goes/2024/02/27/launch-of-noaa-weather-satellite-delayed/

NASA Names New Station Manager, Space Operations Deputy

FEB 26, 2024

NASA has selected Dana Weigel as the International Space Station Program manager, based at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Weigel succeeds Joel Montalbano, who has accepted a position as deputy associate administrator for the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Both positions will be effective April 7.

“Dana is an excellent choice to lead the space station program during this remarkably busy time in human spaceflight, especially aboard humanity’s home in orbit,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations. “With Dana continuing her contributions to space station, Joel will bring his experience to the Space Operations directorate. NASA will continue to benefit from their human spaceflight knowledge as we maintain our unique capabilities in orbit and prepare for the future of the agency’s operations in space.”

Weigel will bring 20 years of NASA experience to her new role. She’s currently serving as the agency’s deputy program manager for the International Space Station since 2021. As program manager, Weigel will be responsible for the overall management, development, integration, and operation of the orbital complex. She also has served in a number of key positions at NASA, including as the manager of the Space Station Vehicle Office from 2014 to 2021, where she was responsible for sustaining, sparing and developing systems and payload facility hardware, managing the risks, and integrating commercial and international partner elements into the International Space Station. She served as deputy chief of the Flight Director Office from 2012 through 2014 and was a flight director from 2004 to 2014. Weigel began her career with Barrios Technology in 1994 and became a NASA civil servant in 2004.

A native of Baltimore, Weigel holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University. Throughout her career, Weigel has been recognized for achievements including the Astronauts’ Silver Snoopy Award in 2002; NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal in 2006, 2010 and 2011; Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2008; Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2010; Silver Achievement Medal in 2014; and Distinguished Service Medal in 2022. She was also recognized as a Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar award recipient in 2000 and 2007.

“Dana’s depth of expertise and International Space Station Program experience will be instrumental as we continue to explore low Earth orbit for the benefit of all humanity,” said Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche. “On behalf of NASA Johnson, we are proud of Joel’s contributions and dedication to mission excellence and look forward to his accomplishments as Space Operations Mission Directorate’s deputy associate administrator.”

Montalbano will lend his vast experience to meet the nation’s goals of establishing a low Earth orbit economy and to maintain America’s leadership space. He has served as International Space Station Program manager since 2020. Prior to that, he was the deputy program manager since 2012. Montalbano began his career at Rockwell in June 1988 and became a NASA civil servant in August 1998, serving in a number of roles, including as a NASA flight director from 2000 to 2008.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Throughout his career, Montalbano has earned multiple NASA awards, including the Distinguished Service Medal in 2018. He received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal in 2003 and 2007, Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2004, and the Superior Accomplishment Award in 2007. He also was awarded the Astronauts’ Silver Snoopy Award and the American Astronomical Society’s Advancement of International Cooperation Award. In 2012, he was awarded Rank of Meritorious Executive, conferred by the President of the United States. Montalbano also has earned the Boy Scouts of America rank of Eagle Scout.

The International Space Station is a hub for scientific research and technology demonstration. NASA and its partners continue to maximize use of the space station for research, where astronauts have lived and worked continuously for more than 23 years.

The Space Operations Mission Directorate, which oversees the International Space Station Program, helps maintain a continuous human presence in space for the benefit of people on Earth. The programs within the directorate are the heart of NASA’s exploration efforts, enabling Artemis, commercial space, science, and other agency missions through communication, launch services, research capabilities, and crew support.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-names-new-station-manager-space-operations-deputy/

Private U.S. lunar lander to cease operations Tuesday after landing sideways

Feb 26, 2024 11:09 AM EST

A private lunar lander is expected to cease operations Tuesday, its mission cut short after landing sideways near the south pole of the moon.

Intuitive Machines, the Houston company that built and flew the spacecraft, said Monday it will continue to collect data until sunlight no longer shines on the solar panels. Based on the position of Earth and the moon, officials expect that to happen Tuesday morning. That’s two to three days short of what NASA and other customers had been counting on.

The lander, named Odysseus, is the first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon in more than 50 years, carrying experiments for NASA, the main sponsor. But it came in too fast last Thursday and the foot of one of its six legs caught on the surface, causing it to tumble over, according to company officials.

Based on photos from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter flying overhead, Odysseus landed within a mile or so (1.5 kilometers) of its intended target near the Malapert A crater, just 185 miles or so (300 kilometers) from the moon’s south pole.

According to NASA, the lander ended up in a small, degraded crater with a 12-degree slope. That’s the closest a spacecraft has ever come to the south pole, an area of interest because of suspected frozen water in the permanently shadowed craters there.

NASA, which plans to land astronauts in this region in the next few years, paid Intuitive Machines $118 million to deliver six experiments to the surface. Other customers also had items on board.

Instead of landing upright, the 14-foot (4.3-meter) Odysseus ended up on its side, hampering communication with Earth. Japan’s lander ended up on the wrong side, too, just last month.

Only five countries have landed successfully on the moon. Intuitive Machines became the first private business to join the elite group. Another U.S. company gave it a try last month, but didn’t make it to the moon because of a fuel leak. Both U.S. business hold NASA contracts for more moon landings.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/private-u-s-lunar-lander-to-cease-operations-tuesday-after-landing-sideways

GUSTO Breaks NASA Scientific Balloon Record for Days in Flight

FEB 26, 2024

Fifty-five days, one hour, and 34 minutes was the NASA record to beat, and the GUSTO (Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory) scientific balloon mission did just that Saturday, Feb. 24, while flying high above the icy surface of Antarctica. GUSTO is now the new record-holder for longest flight of any NASA heavy-lift, long-duration scientific balloon mission.

“The success of this balloon mission is a fantastic tribute to all the people that support the program,” said Andrew Hamilton, acting chief of NASA’s Balloon Program Office at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. “From the operations team at Peraton, to our balloon manufacturer at Aerostar, to the National Science Foundation and their support staff in Antarctica, and to the Mission Management team with NASA, every one of them has been vital to the success of this mission which absolutely demonstrates the capability and value of Long Duration Ballooning to the scientific community.”

GUSTO was launched at 1:30 a.m. EST Dec. 31 from the Long Duration Balloon Camp near the U.S. National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The balloon mission not only broke the flight record but continues its path circumnavigating the South Pole. The stadium-sized zero-pressure scientific balloon and observatory are currently reaching altitudes above 125,000 feet. “The health of the balloon and the stratospheric winds are both contributing to the success of the mission so far,” said Hamilton. “The balloon and balloon systems have been performing beautifully, and we’re seeing no degradation in the performance of the balloon. The winds in the stratosphere have been very favorable and have provided stable conditions for extended flight.”

GUSTO’s record-breaking flight claimed the NASA title from the Super-TIGER (Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) balloon mission, which launched from Antarctica in December 2012.

GUSTO, an Astrophysics mission managed by NASA’s Explorers Program Office at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is led by principal investigator Christopher Walker from the University of Arizona with support from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

“NASA’s Long Duration Balloon program provides researchers the ability to fly state-of-the art payloads at the very edge of space, affording them the opportunity to make groundbreaking observations of the cosmos more frequently and at a significantly lower cost than conventional orbital missions,” said Walker.

GUSTO is mapping a large part of the Milky Way galaxy, including the galactic center, and the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud. The telescope is equipped with sensitive detectors for carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen emission lines. Measuring these emission lines gives the GUSTO team insight into the full lifecycle of the interstellar medium, the cosmic material found between stars. GUSTO’s science observations are performed from Antarctica to allow for enough observation time aloft, access to astronomical objects, and solar power provided by the austral summer in the polar region.

The GUSTO science mission is scheduled to run just over 60 days, and even after the science mission is complete, the balloon will continue to fly and perform technology demonstration work. “After that, we plan to push the limits of the balloon and fly as long as the balloon is capable to really demonstrate the capabilities of Long Duration Ballooning,” said Hamilton.

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/scientific-balloons/gusto-breaks-nasa-scientific-balloon-record-for-days-in-flight/

FAA closes investigation into explosive 2nd flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket

Feb 26, 2024

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed the investigation into the second flight of SpaceX's huge Starship vehicle, the agency announced this afternoon (Feb. 26).

That test mission, which launched from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas on Nov. 18, ended with a bang. Two bangs, actually: Both of Starship's stages exploded high above Earth, around 3.5 minutes and eight minutes after liftoff, respectively.

Ever since, SpaceX has been prepping for Starship flight number 3, in keeping with the company's fast-paced "build, fly and iterate" philosophy. But today's news does not constitute clearance to launch, the FAA stressed.

"Prior to the next launch, SpaceX must implement all corrective actions and receive a license modification from the FAA that addresses all safety, environmental and other applicable regulatory requirements," agency officials wrote in an emailed statement today.

"The FAA is evaluating SpaceX’s license modification request and expects SpaceX to submit additional required information before a final determination can be made," they added.

The mishap investigation, which SpaceX led, identified 17 corrective actions, which the FAA accepted. Seven of them concerned Starship's huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, "including vehicle hardware redesigns, updated control system modeling, reevaluation of engine analyses based on OTF-2 [Orbital Flight Test-2] flight data and updated engine control algorithms," the FAA's emailed statement reads.

The other 10 corrective actions deal with the vehicle's 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper stage, which is called Starship. Among these modifications are "vehicle hardware redesigns, operational changes, flammability analysis updates, installation of additional fire protection and guidance and modeling updates," FAA officials wrote.

The stainless-steel Starship is the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. When stacked, it stands about 400 feet (122 meters) tall — and future versions will likely be even taller, according to SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk.

The company is developing the fully reusable vehicle to help humanity settle the moon and Mars and perform a variety of other ambitious exploration feats. NASA is invested in the vehicle's success; the agency picked Starship to be the first crewed lunar lander for its Artemis moon program.

Starship first flew in April 2023. The vehicle suffered a number of issues on that mission, including the failure of its two stages to separate as planned, and SpaceX detonated the tumbling craft about four minutes after liftoff.

Things went much better on flight two this past November. The two stages separated on time, for example, and the upper stage likely would have reached orbit if it had been carrying a payload, Musk said last month. (The upper stage's detonation was caused by a venting of liquid oxygen, and there wouldn't have been any liquid oxygen left to vent if Starship had been carrying a satellite, he said.)

The FAA closed the investigation of Starship's first flight on Sept. 8 of last year, and the vehicle got off the ground again on Nov. 18. But you shouldn't expect such a lengthy wait this time around, considering how much progress SpaceX made on flight number two. That first-flight investigation, for example, identified 63 corrective actions for SpaceX to make, compared to 17 after the November launch.

https://www.space.com/faa-closes-investigation-second-spacex-starship-flight