December 23, 2024

This Week @NASA: Webb’s Supreme Look at a “Star Factory” and Artemis Moonwalks

And an Earthly help for a NASA spacecraft … a few of the stories to inform you about– This Week at NASA!

A makeover at a “star factory” …
Practicing Moonwalks here on Earth …

Webbs New Star-Filled “Pillars of Creation” Image
A brand-new Webb Space Telescope picture of the renowned Pillars of Creation– a star factory of sorts– is aesthetically sensational and might assist us better understand how stars form within clouds of gas and interstellar dust.
Astronaut Scott Tingle takes a better take a look at rock developments at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona during a simulated spacewalk on day 5 of NASAs Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) in 2011. The approaching DRATS objective is a reboot of a program that performed analog missions from 1997-2012. Credit: NASA/Regan Geeseman
Practicing Artemis Moonwalks in the Arizona Desert
An analog mission this month to practice lunar operations near Flagstaff, Arizona will offer essential data for future Artemis Moon objectives. Find out more about analog objectives at nasa.gov/ analogs.
On October 16, 2022, Lucy zipped the Earth like a partner in a swing dance, enhancing its speed and elongating its orbit around the Sun. At 7:04 am, Eastern Time, Lucy made its closest approach at just 219 miles above the planet: lower than the International Space Station. This incredibly close shave will increase its speed by four-and-a-half miles per 2nd, setting Lucy on track to acquire a lot more speed when it goes back to Earth for its second gravity assist in December 2024. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
Lucy Spacecraft Gets Gravity Assist from Earth
NASAs Lucy spacecraft swung back by Earth on October 16, exactly one year after its launch. The close flyby also gave Lucy the very first of a number of gravity helps it needs from Earth to reach the never-before-visited Trojan asteroids that share an orbit with Jupiter.
With 14 electrical motors turning props and all of them incorporated into a uniquely-designed wing, NASA will test brand-new propulsion technology utilizing a speculative plane now designated the X-57 and nicknamed “Maxwell.” Credit: NASA Langley/Advanced Concepts Lab, AMA, Inc
. X-57 Maxwell Aircraft Gets Powered Up
Lithium-ion battery loads installed in NASAs all-electric X-57 Maxwell airplane effectively powered the aircrafts motors. This important milestone brings the speculative aircraft an action better to first flight.
Astronaut James A. McDivitt, revealed here in his main 1971 picture, passed away on October 13, 2022. McDivitt commanded Gemini IV, the 2nd crewed Gemini flight, and Apollo 9, which evaluated the first lunar module in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA
NASA Astronaut James McDivitt Dies at Age 93
Previous NASA astronaut Jim McDivitt, who commanded the Gemini IV and Apollo 9 objectives, died on October 13. Jim McDivitt was 93 years old.
Thats whats up this week @NASA

Astronaut Scott Tingle takes a better look at rock formations at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona throughout a simulated spacewalk on day 5 of NASAs Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) in 2011. On October 16, 2022, Lucy flew by the Earth like a partner in a swing dance, improving its speed and elongating its orbit around the Sun. Credit: NASAs Goddard Space Flight
Credit: NASA Langley/Advanced Concepts Lab, AMA, Inc
. Credit: NASA