May 14, 2024

This Week @NASA: First Lucy Asteroid Flyby, Stepping Out for a Spacewalk, and More

NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli (top) and Loral OHara (bottom) collaborate throughout their very first spacewalk for upkeep on the outside of the spaceport station. Credit: NASA TELEVISION
Marching for a spacewalk at the space station …
The very first asteroid flyby for NASAs Lucy spacecraft …
Signing up for safe and serene space exploration …

A few of the stories to tell you about– This Week at NASA!

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Harm van de Wetering, director of the Netherlands Space Office, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States Birgitta Tazelaar, and Chiragh Parikh, executive secretary of the National Space Council, pose for a picture after the finalizing of the Artemis Accords, Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at the Dutch Ambassadors Residence in Washington. Netherlands is the 31st nation to sign the Artemis Accords, which develop a useful set of principles to guide space expedition cooperation among nations participating in NASAs Artemis program. This image reveals the “moonrise” of the satellite as it emerges from behind asteroid Dinkinesh as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LLORRI), one of the most detailed images returned by NASAs Lucy spacecraft throughout its flyby of the asteroid binary. This image was taken at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 UTC) on November 1, 2023, within a minute of closest approach, from a variety of roughly 270 miles (430 km). From this point of view, the satellite is behind the main asteroid.

Stepping out for a spacewalk at the space station.
NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral OHara performed a November 1 spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
During the outing they worked on some hardware that allows the stations solar arrays to turn appropriately as they track the Sun.
This was the very first spacewalk for both Moghbeli and OHara.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Harm van de Wetering, director of the Netherlands Space Office, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States Birgitta Tazelaar, and Chiragh Parikh, executive secretary of the National Space Council, present for an image after the signing of the Artemis Accords, Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at the Dutch Ambassadors Residence in Washington. Netherlands is the 31st country to sign the Artemis Accords, which develop a useful set of principles to assist space expedition cooperation among nations taking part in NASAs Artemis program. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
And signing up for serene and safe space expedition.
During a November 1 event at the Dutch Ambassadors Residence in Washington, the Kingdom of the Netherlands became the 31st country to sign the Artemis Accords.
The Artemis Accords establish a practical set of concepts to guide area expedition cooperation among countries, consisting of those getting involved in NASAs Artemis program.
This image shows the “moonrise” of the satellite as it emerges from behind asteroid Dinkinesh as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LLORRI), one of the most comprehensive images returned by NASAs Lucy spacecraft throughout its flyby of the asteroid binary. This image was taken at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 UTC) on November 1, 2023, within a minute of closest technique, from a variety of around 270 miles (430 km). From this point of view, the satellite is behind the main asteroid. Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/ Johns Hopkins APL/NOAO
The very first asteroid flyby for NASAs Lucy spacecraft.
When it flew by asteroid Dinkinesh on November 1– the very first of multiple asteroids Lucy will visit on its 12-year voyage, NASAs Lucy spacecraft got a surprise. Images caught by Lucy exposed that Dinkinesh is not simply a single asteroid, as we thought, however a binary set.
The main aim of the Lucy mission is to survey the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, a never-before-explored population of little bodies that orbit the Sun in two “swarms” that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit.
This animation reveals global water level information collected by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite from July 26 to August 16. Red and orange suggest higher-than-average ocean heights, while blue represents lower-than-average heights. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Information gathered by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography or SWOT satellite during its first full 21-day science orbit was utilized to compile this animation of worldwide sea surface area heights.
SWOT is measuring the height of nearly all water on Earths surface area, supplying among the most detailed, thorough views yet of the worlds oceans, freshwater lakes, and rivers.
Thats whats up today @NASA!