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This Week at NASA | This Week at NASA: Getting a Feel for Orion; New Lava World; more

Uploaded 04/01/2016

This Week at NASA: Getting a Feel for Orion; New Lava World; more

Engineers at Johnson Space Center in Houston are using a mockup of NASA’s Orion spacecraft to evaluate how well astronauts are able to operate Orion’s rotational hand controller and cursor control device, while dressed in spacesuits. The controllers operate the displays and control system used to maneuver and interact with the spacecraft. The testing aims to provide data that can be used to make adjustments needed to ensure future Orion crews can interact appropriately with the spacecraft’s control system during deep space missions. Also, Milestone for Spaceport of the Future, Russian Supply Ship Launches to ISS, Team Selected to Build Planet-Hunting Instrument, First Heat Map of Super Earth and Milestone for Green Propellant Mission.

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

Suited Test in Orion

Engineers at Johnson Space Center in Houston are using a mockup of NASA’s Orion spacecraft to evaluate how well astronauts are able to operate Orion’s rotational hand controller and cursor control device, while dressed in spacesuits. The controllers operate the displays and control system used to maneuver and interact with the spacecraft. The testing aims to provide data that can be used to make adjustments needed to ensure future Orion crews can interact appropriately with the spacecraft’s control system during deep space missions.

Milestone for Spaceport of the Future

NASA recently completed a major milestone on its journey to Mars, and the work to transform Florida’s Kennedy Space Center into the spaceport of the future. A comprehensive critical design review and an independent assessment have determined the agency’s Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is on track, on schedule and on budget with plans to modernize facilities and ground support systems at Kennedy needed to process the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the Orion spacecraft for missions to Mars and other deep space destinations. Engineers are upgrading Kennedy’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, crawler transporters, Launch Pad 39B and other launch infrastructure to support the requirements of Orion and SLS.

Russian Supply Ship Launches to ISS

On March 31, a Russian cargo spacecraft, stocked with about three tons of food, fuel and supplies launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on a mission to resupply the International Space Station. The Progress is the second of three supply ships scheduled to deliver cargo to the station in as many weeks. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft arrived on March 26 with nearly 7,500 pounds of supplies and hardware, and SpaceX will launch its Dragon cargo craft to the ISS no earlier than April 8. Among the items that Dragon will deliver is the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) — a technology demonstration to study the radiation protection, thermal performance and general operations of expandable habitats in space.

Team Selected to Build Planet-Hunting Instrument

NASA has selected a team to build a new, cutting-edge instrument that will detect planets outside our solar system, often referred to as exoplanets. The instrument, part of an observational research partnership with the National Science Foundation, will measure the tiny back-and-forth wobble of a star, caused by the gravitational tug of a planet in orbit around it – an indication to researchers that a planet is orbiting a star. Measuring the size of the wobble can also reveal how massive the planet is. The new instrument, scheduled to be completed in 2019, will be installed on the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

First Heat Map of Super Earth

Observations from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have led to the first temperature map of a rocky planet nearly two times as big as Earth. The map shows new evidence that instead of a moisture-drenched atmosphere, the super-Earth-sized planet – named 55 Cancri e, is a world blanketed with hot lava that sits very close to its star. 55 Cancri e is about 40 light-years from Earth.

Milestone for Green Propellant Mission

NASA’s Green Propulsion Infusion Mission (GPIM) recently passed a major flight readiness milestone – marking the successful completion of functional and environmental testing of its systems and software. The milestone is a major step for the mission, which is scheduled for launch in early 2017, to demonstrate the practical capabilities of using a greener, less toxic propellant than the hydrazine fuel used as a propellant by many spacecraft.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.

 

 

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