NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

October 5, 2024

M27: Not a Comet

While hunting for comets in the skies above 18th century France, astronomer Charles Messier diligently kept a list of the things encountered during his telescopic expeditions that were definitely not comets. This is number 27 on his now famous not-a-comet list. In fact, 21st century astronomers would identify it as a planetary nebula, but it's not a planet either, even though it may appear round and planet-like in a small telescope. Messier 27 (M27) is an excellent example of a gaseous emission nebula created as a sun-like star runs out of nuclear fuel in its core. The nebula forms as the star's outer layers are expelled into space, with a visible glow generated by atoms excited by the dying star's intense but invisible ultraviolet light. Known by the popular name of the Dumbbell Nebula, the beautifully symmetric interstellar gas cloud is over 2.5 light-years across and about 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula. This impressive color image highlights details within the well-studied central region and fainter, seldom imaged features in the nebula's outer halo.

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

Dragon Operations Continue During Stem Cell Research on Station

October 4, 2024

The Expedition 72 crew continued working inside the two SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on Friday.

The orbital residents also kept up stem cell research, serviced a pair of spacesuits, and maintained life support systems at the end of the week.

Three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut representing NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 are nearing the end of a seven-month mission and are waiting for NASA and SpaceX to announce their return to Earth time and date, pending weather.

Dragon Endeavour Commander Matthew Dominick is poised to lead Pilot Mike Barratt with Mission Specialists Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin back to Earth inside Dragon with a splashdown off the coast of Florida.

The quartet has been packing cargo and personal items inside the spacecraft for several days and spent the end of the day Friday reviewing emergency equipment.

The space station’s two newest crew members, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, joined Expedition 72 Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore inside Dragon Freedom and trained the duo on Dragon operations.

Hague also worked with Barratt and NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit inside Freedom configuring its seats for docked operations.

Stem cell research has been underway aboard the orbital outpost this week using the microgravity environment to learn how to produce advanced cell-based therapies and treat certain blood diseases and cancers.

Williams and Epps partnered together processing stem cell samples and peering at them with through a microscope.

Researchers are exploring how weightlessness enables stem cells to produce blood and immune cells with superior attributes than those created on Earth.

Wilmore spent his day in the Quest airlock servicing a pair of U.S. spacesuits. The veteran NASA astronaut swapped out components and cleaned cooling loops inside the suits as part of regularly scheduled maintenance.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, who have been aboard the orbital lab with Pettit since Sept. 11, split their day with computer maintenance and life support operations.

They also joined Gorbunov and recorded a video for educators and students on Earth. Grebenkin inventoried medical gear and tested power supply systems in the Nauka science module.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2024/10/04/dragon-operations-continue-during-stem-cell-research-on-station/

Blue Origin Debuts Second Human-Rated New Shepard Rocket To Meet Demand

Oct 4, 2024

Blue Origin’s next New Shepard flight, NS-27, will debut our second human-rated vehicle, enabling expanded flight capacity to better meet growing customer demand. The launch window for the uncrewed verification flight opens on Monday, October 7, at 8:00 AM CDT / 1300 UTC. The webcast will begin 15 minutes before liftoff on BlueOrigin.com.

The new crew capsule is named RSS Kármán Line. The vehicle features technology upgrades to improve the vehicle’s performance and reusability, an updated livery, and accommodations for payloads on the booster. New Shepard remains one of the most sustainable rockets ever to fly to space. Nearly 99% of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear, and parachutes.

NS-27 will fly 12 payloads—five on the booster and seven inside the crew capsule. Payloads include new navigation systems developed for New Shepard and New Glenn; two different LIDAR sensors for the Lunar Permanence program; ultra-wideband proximity operations sensors flying as part of a NASA TechFlights grant with Blue Origin’s Space Systems Development group; and a commercial payload that is a reproduction of black monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The monoliths are flying on behalf of Spacemanic for a special edition printed by Croatian publisher Amaranthine Books.

The mission will also carry tens of thousands of student-designed postcards on behalf of Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s STEAM-focused nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and mobilize future generations to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. The organization has engaged more than 43 million students globally since its founding in 2019. Students can submit digital postcards here.

https://www.blueorigin.com/news/blue-origin-debuts-second-human-rated-new-shepard-rocket

Impulse Space wins $34.5 million contract for U.S. Space Force missions

October 4, 2024

Impulse Space, a startup specializing in in-space transportation services, has secured a $34.5 million contract to support two U.S. military space missions set for 2026, the Defense Department announced Oct. 3.

The deal, awarded under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 3 agreement, is funded by the U.S. Space Force and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU).

Under the contract, Impulse Space will deploy two orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that will carry space surveillance payloads for missions intended to enhance U.S. military capabilities in space domain awareness.

One mission will be launched to low Earth orbit (LEO) while the other will go to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO).

These efforts are part of the U.S. Space Force’s Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) program, which is designed to leverage commercial technologies for the rapid deployment of satellites and other assets in response to national security needs.

The announcement comes shortly after Impulse Space announced it raised $150 million in Series B funding.

The company, founded in 2021 by former SpaceX rocket propulsion engineer Tom Mueller, counts RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of Raytheon Technologies, among its investors.

Impulse Space’s core business revolves around the development of orbital transfer vehicles, which are used to move satellites and other payloads to specific orbits after they have been launched.

The company developed Mira, a small OTV designed for last-mile satellite deliveries from LEO to their final orbital destinations, and is also working on Helios, a larger, high-energy kick stage designed to move payloads from LEO to GEO in under 24 hours.

‘Victus Surgo’ and ‘Victus Salo’

As part of the TacRS program, Impulse Space will support two missions: Victus Surgo and Victus Salo.

For Victus Surgo, the Mira vehicle will carry a commercial optical payload that will operate in geosynchronous transfer orbit after being launched from LEO by the Helios kick stage.

DIU, a co-sponsor, will have a rideshare slot on the Helios.

For the second mission, Victus Salo, a Mira vehicle will carry a government-provided payload designed by MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory that will operate in low Earth orbit.

Victus Surgo’s Mira vehicle would fly on Impulse’s inaugural launch of the Helios vehicle. Impulse’s recently announced Series B funding is intended to support the first Helios demo launch.

Victus Salo will launch on a future SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission.

Once deployed, the Mira vehicles will be capable of maneuvering in space, allowing for rapid relocation and adjustment based on mission needs.

“These missions will give us the ability to dynamically respond to changing conditions in space, providing enhanced space surveillance and defense capabilities,” said Col. Bryon McClain, program executive officer for space domain awareness at the Space Systems Command.

“The commercial space industry is delivering products we need to provide highly capable options for future TacRS operations,” noted Lt. Col. Kahoa Miller, materiel leader for the Space Systems Command’s Space Safari office overseeing the TacRS program.

The TacRS contract follows a recent $60 million Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) agreement awarded to Impulse Space aimed at advancing Helios’ development.

This public-private deal includes approximately $30 million in government funding matched by private investment.

https://spacenews.com/impulse-space-wins-34-5-million-contract-for-u-s-space-force-missions/