On July 31, 2022, InSight was generating an average of 400 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at .91 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).
Now that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's first images and data are out, you might be wondering: What comes next? The observatory has a packed schedule of science programs looking at all kinds of cosmic phenomena, like planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, and more. Webb will revolutionize our understanding of the universe — but first, …
Payloads: Airborne Particulate Monitor (APM): Experiment data was transferred from the APM for subsequent downlink to the ground. Following this, the APM hardware was relocated from Node 3 to the US Lab. Air quality in crewed spacecraft is important for keeping astronauts healthy and comfortable. Although requirements exist for maximum allowable concentrations of particulate matter, …
The Perseids are back! Well… sort of. Usually bringing one of the most vivid annual meteor showers visible in Earth’s night sky, commonly delivering 50-100 “shooting stars” per hour at its height, the Perseids will peak Aug. 12 and 13. There’s just one problem: the full Moon. “Sadly, this year’s Perseids peak will see the …
The Expedition 67 crew members kickstarted their week aboard the International Space Station by configuring a plant habitat, transferring cargo, and completing vision tests. NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines made adjustments to the plant growth chamber. The system monitors vegetables grown in space that could help sustain astronauts on future missions. Meanwhile, NASA Flight …
Students retrieved and analyzed leaves form the tops of trees—the same part of the forest that is observed by instruments on the International Space Station.
With approximately one month until NASA’s first launch attempt for the Artemis I mission, teams move closer to finishing operations for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA is currently targeting launch for no earlier than Monday, Aug. 29, …
Payloads: Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air-2 (ANITA-2): Air samples were manually acquired from assigned ISS locations and the crew connected the samples to ANITA-2 for chemical analysis. The ANITA-2 is a compact gas analyzer which can analyze and quantify 33 trace contaminants in the atmosphere aboard the ISS automatically. ANITA-2 can also detect the presence …
The Expedition-67 crew members focused on maintenance checks, exercise, and space research as part of their activities aboard the International Space Station today. NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren concluded a busy work week by transferring cargo from the SpaceX CRS-25 Dragon spacecraft and completing a fitness test on the exercise cycle. He attached sensors to his chest and pedaled …
