March 29, 2024

This Week @NASA: Next Artemis I Launch Attempt, Webb Captures Cosmic Tarantula

Groups Review Options for Next Artemis I Launch Attempt
After standing down on the Artemis I launch effort on September 3 due to a hydrogen leakage, teams have actually chosen to make the necessary repair work while the Space Launch System rocket, or SLS, stays at Launch Pad 39B.
The mission will be the very first integrated test of NASAs Orion spacecraft, the SLS rocket, and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will lead the way for human expedition of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Follow along as Artemis I mission managers assess alternatives for the next launch attempt by checking out the Artemis blog site at blogs.nasa.gov/ artemis.
Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted the significance of environment, human spaceflight, and STEM education throughout the Biden-Harris Administrations second National Space Council meeting Friday, held at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. Credit: NASA
National Space Council Meets in Houston
On September 9, Vice President Kamala Harris chaired a National Space Council conference at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, and talked to NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Kjell Lindgren aboard the International Space Station.
The council discussed a range of topics consisting of human area expedition, guidelines for emerging space activities, and STEM education.
NASA likewise confirmed an extension for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS, to continue managing the spaceport station, and went over brand-new area grant awards for STEM trainees.
In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webbs Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, consisting of tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
Webb Captures New Image of Cosmic Tarantula
NASAs James Webb Space Telescope recorded countless never-before-seen young stars in a new image of stellar nursery 30 Doradus, likewise referred to as the “Tarantula Nebula.”
Located about 161,000 light-years far from us in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the nebula is the biggest and brightest star-forming area near our own galaxy, and is house to the most popular, most huge stars understood.
One of the factors the Tarantula Nebula is interesting to astronomers is the furious rate at which it produces new stars.
This picture of the light from asteroid Didymos and its orbiting moonlet Dimorphos is a composite of 243 images taken by the Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) on July 27, 2022. Credit: NASA JPL DART Navigation Team
DART Sets Sights on Asteroid Target
NASAs Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft just recently got its first appearance at Didymos, the double-asteroid system that includes its target, Dimorphos.
The first appearance is a composite of 243 images taken by an electronic camera onboard the spacecraft.
On September 26, DART will deliberately crash into Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos.
While the asteroid positions no danger to Earth, this will be the worlds first test of the kinetic impact method, using a spacecraft to deflect an asteroid for planetary defense.
The U.S. Postal Service will issue a stamp highlighting NASAs James Webb Space Telescope on Sept. 8, 2022. U.S. Postal Service Art Director Derry Noyes designed the stamp using existing art by James Vaughan and an image supplied by NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute. Credit: U.S. Postal Service
U.S. Postal Service Celebrates Webb With New Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service has a brand-new star– the James Webb Space Telescope.
On September 8, the stamp including an artists digital illustration of Webb against a background of stars was devoted in an event at the Smithsonians National Postal Museum in Washington.
The selvage, or the paper around the stamps, showcases an image of a star that Webb caught during the alignment process previously this year.
Thats whats up this week @ NASA …

Teams evaluate options for the next Artemis I introduce attempt …
The National Space Council satisfies in Houston …

And Webb records a new image of a cosmic tarantula …
A few of the stories to inform you about– This Week at NASA!

In this mosaic image extending 340 light-years across, Webbs Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) shows the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a brand-new light, including 10s of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. Spread among them are still-embedded stars, appearing red, yet to emerge from the dusty cocoon of the nebula. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
The U.S. Postal Service will issue a stamp highlighting NASAs James Webb Space Telescope on Sept. 8, 2022. U.S. Postal Service Art Director Derry Noyes created the stamp using existing art by James Vaughan and an image supplied by NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute.