Amen. Lovely goddesses are lovely.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
March 8, 2025
Galaxies in Space
The plane of our Milky Way galaxy extends beyond the limb of planet Earth in this space age exposure captured by astronaut Don Pettit. His camera, with low light and long duration settings, was pointed out the window of a Dragon crew spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on January 29. The orbital outpost was at an altitude of about 400 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean at the time. Motion blurs the Earth below, while the gorgeous view from low Earth orbit includes the Milky Way's prominent satellite galaxies, known as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, near the upper left in the frame. Fans of southern skies can also spot the Southern Cross. The four brightest stars of the famous southern constellation Crux are near picture center, just beyond the edge of the bright horizon and shining through Earth's orange tinted atmospheric glow.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA Receives Some Data Before Intuitive Machines Ends Lunar Mission
Mar 07, 2025
Shortly after touching down inside a crater on the Moon, carrying NASA technology and science on its IM-2 mission, Intuitive Machines collected some data for the agency before calling an early end of mission at 12:15 a.m. CST Friday.
As part of the company’s second Moon delivery for NASA under the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, the IM-2 mission included a drill to bring lunar soil to the surface and a mass spectrometer to look for the presence of volatiles, or gases, that could one day help provide fuel or breathable oxygen to future Artemis explorers.
Planned to land at Mons Mouton, IM-2 touched down at approximately 11:30 a.m. March 6, more than 1,300 feet (400 meters) from its intended landing site.
Intuitive Machines said images collected later confirmed the lander was on its side, preventing it from fully operating the drill and other instruments before its batteries were depleted.
The IM-2 mission landed closer to the lunar South Pole than any previous lander.
“Our targeted landing site near the lunar South Pole is one of the most scientifically interesting, and geographically challenging locations, on the Moon,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“Each success and setback are opportunities to learn and grow, and we will use this lesson to propel our efforts to advance science, exploration, and commercial development as we get ready for human exploration of Mars.”
The Nova-C lander, named Athena, captured and transmitted images of the landing site before activating the technology and science instruments.
Among the data collected, NASA’s PRIME-1 (Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1) suite, which includes the lunar drill known as TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain), successfully demonstrated the hardware’s full range of motion in the harsh environment of space.
The Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSOLO) as part of the PRIME-1 suite of instruments, detected elements likely due to the gases emitted from the lander’s propulsion system.
“While this mission didn’t achieve all of its objectives for NASA, the work that went into the payload development is already informing other agency and commercial efforts,” said Clayton Turner, associate administrator for space technology, NASA Headquarters.
“As we continue developing new technologies to support exploration of the Moon and Mars, testing technologies in-situ is crucial to informing future missions. The CLPS initiative remains an instrumental method for achieving this.”
Despite the lander’s configuration, Intuitive Machines, which was responsible for launch, delivery, and surface operations under its CLPS contract, was able to complete some instrument checkouts and collect 250 megabytes of data for NASA.
“Empowering American companies to deliver science and tech to the Moon on behalf of NASA both produces scientific results and continues development of a lunar economy,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for Exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
“While we’re disappointed in the outcome of the IM-2 mission, we remain committed to supporting our commercial vendors as they navigate the very difficult task of landing and operating on the Moon.”
NASA’s Laser Retroreflector Array, a passive instrument meant to provide a reference point on the lunar surface and does not power on, will remain affixed to the top deck of the lander.
Although Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Hopper and Nokia’s 4G/LTE Tipping Point technologies, funded in part by NASA, were only able to complete some objectives, they provided insight into maturing technologies ready for infusion into a commercial space application including some checkouts in flight and on the surface.
Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission launched at 6:16 p.m., Feb. 26, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Intuitive Machines has two more deliveries on the books for NASA in the future, with its IM-3 mission slated for 2026, and IM-4 mission in 2027.
To date, five vendors have been awarded a total of 11 lunar deliveries under CLPS and are sending more than 50 instruments to various locations on the Moon, including the Moon’s far side and South Pole region.
CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-receives-some-data-before-intuitive-machines-ends-lunar-mission/
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Proceeds Toward Launch, Hosts News Conference
March 7, 2025
NASA, SpaceX, and international partner teams polled “go” to continue launch preparations following the conclusion of the Flight Readiness Review today at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 remains targeted to launch at 7:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 12, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy.
The Flight Readiness Review allows teams to move forward with spacecraft and launch vehicle processing, review closeout of readiness review action items, assembly, check out anomalies of spacecraft, tracking support, range support, open work, and launch constraints.
The mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, to the International Space Station for a long-duration mission.
During their mission, the Crew-10 crew is scheduled to conduct material flammability tests to contribute to future spacecraft and facility designs.
They will engage with students worldwide via ham radio and use its existing hardware to test a backup lunar navigation solution.
Astronauts themselves will also serve as test subjects, with one crew member conducting an integrated study to better understand physiological and psychological changes to the human body to provide valuable insights for future deep space missions.
Following the agency’s Flight Readiness Review, NASA leaders will hold a mission overview teleconference at 6:30 p.m. EST (or no earlier than one hour after the conclusion of the Flight Readiness Review) to discuss the mission.
Participants include:
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy
Dana Weigel, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX
Junichi Sakai, manager, International Space Station Program, JAXA
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew/2025/03/07/nasas-spacex-crew-10-proceeds-toward-launch-hosts-news-conference/
https://www.youtube.com/live/Xq5CH-d4IuU
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/crew-10/
NASA Earns Best Place to Work in Government for 13th Consecutive Year
Mar 07, 2025
For the 13th straight year, NASA has earned the title of Best Place to Work in the Federal Government – large agency – from the Partnership for Public Service.
The ranking reflects employee satisfaction and workplace elements across the agency while executing NASA’s mission to explore the unknown and discover new knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
“NASA’s greatest asset has always been its people – those who rise to the challenge of leading in air and space,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro.
“This recognition reflects a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence that fuels our mission every day and defines NASA as the best place to work in the federal government.
I’m honored to lead this remarkable team as we continue benefiting humanity and inspiring the world in the process.”
Throughout 2024, NASA’s workforce supported the agency’s groundbreaking accomplishments, including landing new science and technology on the Moon with an American company for the first time and launching a new mission to study Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
NASA teams also collaborated to maintain more than 24 years of continuous human exploration and scientific research aboard the International Space Station and unveiled its supersonic quiet aircraft.
The agency also shared the wonder of a total eclipse with millions of Americans, conducted the final flight of its Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, and announced the newest class of Artemis Generation astronauts.
With the release of its latest Economic Impact Report, NASA demonstrated how its work impacts the U.S. economy, creates value to society, and returns investment to taxpayers.
The Partnership for Public Service began to compile the Best Places to Work rankings in 2003 to analyze federal employee’s viewpoints of leadership, work-life balance, and other factors of their job.
A formula is used to evaluate employee responses to a federal survey, dividing submissions into four groups: large, midsize, and small agencies, in addition to their subcomponents.
https://www.nasa.gov/people-of-nasa/nasa-earns-best-place-to-work-in-government-for-13th-consecutive-year/
What's underneath and where does it connect to?
NASA, SpaceX Update Launch Date for SPHEREx and PUNCH Missions
March 8, 2025 9:15 pm
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Saturday, March 8, for the launch of the agency’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions.
The additional time will allow SpaceX to complete rocket preparations ahead of liftoff.
The launch window opens at 10:09 p.m. EST (7:09 p.m. PST) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California
The prelaunch news briefing now is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7, with coverage streaming live on NASA+. Media may ask questions via phone.
For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
The SPHEREx and PUNCH live launch broadcast will begin at 9:15 p.m., Saturday, March 8, and stream live on NASA+.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spherex/2025/03/06/nasa-spacex-update-launch-date-for-spherex-and-punch-missions/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkTcmQJdGKg