Topic: Astronauts

NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover uses MOXIE Instrument to Extract Oxygen from Red Planet

April 22, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – The growing list of “firsts” for Perseverance, NASA’s newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, includes converting some of the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen.

A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard the NASA Mars Perseverance rover called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) accomplished the task. The test took place April 20th, the 60th Martian day, or sol, since the mission landed February 18th.

Technicians at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory lower the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument into the belly of the Perseverance rover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA selects SpaceX to Land Astronauts on the Moon

April 19, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue the development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface.

At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon.

Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.

Illustration of SpaceX Starship human lander design that will carry the first NASA astronauts to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program. (SpaceX)

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NASA’s successfully tests RS-25 Rocket Engines

March 20, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – The largest rocket element NASA has ever built, the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, fired its four RS-25 engines for 8 minutes and 19 seconds Thursday at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

The successful test, known as a hot fire, is a critical milestone ahead of the agency’s Artemis I mission, which will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon and back to Earth, paving the way for future Artemis missions with astronauts.

The core stage for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is seen in the B-2 Test Stand during a second hot fire test, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The four RS-25 engines fired for the full-duration of 8 minutes during the test and generated 1.6 million pounds of thrust. (NASA/Robert Markowitz)

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NASA set to launch SpaceX Crew-2 Mission to International Space Station

March 2, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA and SpaceX are continuing a regular cadence of missions with astronauts launching on an American rocket from American soil to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 is the second crew rotation mission with four astronauts flying on a commercial spacecraft, and the first with two international partner astronauts.

NASA, SpaceX to send astronauts (L to R) Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet, Akihiko Hoshide and Shane Kimbrough to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon Spacecraft. (NASA)

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NASA creates maps of Mars showing where near surface ice might be

February 9, 2021 |

Pasadena, CA – So you want to build a Mars base. Where to start? Like any human settlement, it would be best located near accessible water. Not only will water be crucial for life-support supplies, it will be used for everything from agriculture to producing the rocket propellant astronauts will need to return to Earth.

Schlepping all that water to Mars would be costly and risky. That’s why NASA has engaged scientists and engineers since 2015 to identify deposits of Martian water ice that could be within reach of astronauts on the planet’s surface.

In this illustration, NASA astronauts drill into the Mars’ subsurface. The agency is creating new maps that show where ice is most likely to be easily accessible to future astronauts. (NASA)

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NASA, SpaceX set to send Second Commercial Crew Rotation Mission to International Space Station

January 31, 2021 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, April 20th, 2021 for the launch of the second crew rotation mission with astronauts on an American rocket and spacecraft from the United States to the International Space Station.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission will launch four astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the space station. It will be the first mission to fly two international partner crew members as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Members of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station participated in training in Hawthorne, California, on Jan. 11, 2021. Pictured from left are ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. (SpaceX)

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NASA Celebrates the Holidays in Space

December 25, 2020 |

Houston, TX – The Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s holidays are typically joyful events spent with family and friends. Astronauts and cosmonauts who happen to be in space during the holidays have found their own unique ways to celebrate the occasions.

In the early years of the space program, holidays spent in space were relatively rare events, such as the flight of Apollo 8 around the Moon during Christmas 1968, making them perhaps more memorable.

As missions became longer and more frequent, holidays in space became less rare occasions. For the past 20 years, holidays spent aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have become annual, if not entirely routine, events.

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NASA, ESA announce Astronauts for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to International Space Station

December 15, 2020 |

Washington, D.C. – NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) have selected three astronauts to serve as crew members for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station, which is expected to launch in the fall of 2021.

The trio will consist of NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, who will serve as commander and pilot, respectively, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, who will serve as a mission specialist. A fourth crew member will be added at a later date, following a review by NASA and its international partners.

The members of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station. Pictured from left are NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer. (NASA/ESA)

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 Astronauts on their way to International Space Station

November 17, 2020 |

Washington, D.C. – An international crew of astronauts is en route to the International Space Station following a successful launch on the first NASA-certified commercial human spacecraft system in history. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission lifted off pm Sunday, November 15th, 2020 at 6:27pm CT Sunday from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), into orbit to begin a six-month science mission aboard the space station.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi onboard, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

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NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover sensors to provide Mars Weather Reports

November 15, 2020 |

Pasadena, CA – Mars is about to get a new stream of weather reports, once NASA’s Perseverance rover touches down on February 18th, 2021. As it scours Jezero Crater for signs of ancient microbial life, Perseverance will collect the first planetary samples for return to Earth by a future mission.

But the rover will also provide key atmospheric data that will help enable future astronauts to the Red Planet to survive in a world with no breathable oxygen, freezing temperatures, planet wide dust storms, and intense radiation from the Sun.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has two wind sensors just below its mast, or “head.” They’re part of MEDA, a weather science package that will provide vital data on the Martian surface, especially dust in the atmosphere. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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