NASA NEWS

A booster for the most powerful rocket in the world, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), successfully fired up Tuesday for its second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK's test facilities in Promontory, Utah. This was the last full-scale test for the booster before SLS’s first uncrewed test flight with NASA’s Orion spacecraft in late 2018,

This concept animation opens with a rendering of the mission's spacecraft trajectory, rendezvous, and approach to asteroid 2008 EV5. Although the mission's target asteroid won't officially be selected until a year before the robotic spacecraft is launched, 2008 EV5 is used as a reference for mission planning details. The animation concludes with the notional crew operations that will take place after the asteroid boulder is placed in lunar orbit.

Mini models of the Space Launch System (SLS) core stage engines are ignited in a big way for a short-duration hot-fire test. As the main objectives of the Pathfinder Test Program, models of the SLS core stage RS-25 engines and solid rocket boosters -- scaled down to just 2 percent of the actual size of the flight hardware -- have been designed, built and hot-fire tested at sea-level conditions by Marshall Space Flight Center engineers, in close collaboration with Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center Inc. in Buffalo, N.Y. The replicas will provide data on the convective heating environments that the base of the vehicle will experience upon ascent. The models were developed for base heating testing scheduled for this summer. When completed, SLS, NASA's new rocket, will be one of the biggest, most powerful rockets ever built.

The Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft will not only take people on the most distant journeys to date but also open new frontiers for science and technology missions to deep space destinations. This animation shows how the SLS will transport CubeSats as secondary payloads on the Orion stage adapter during its first mission

NASA’s deep space exploration system development programs continue to make progress on the agency’s journey to Mars. In the final months of 2015, engineers continued welding together the underlying structure of the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-1, tested how well astronauts can get in and out of Orion’s seats and saw the delivery of a structural representation of Orion’s service module to Ohio for testing. The ground systems team at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Orion will launch atop the Space Launch System rocket, continued building the mobile launcher, including testing some of the umbilicals that will fuel the rocket while it’s on the launch pad, and installed both a communications tracker and a work platform in the Vehicle Assembly Building.The Space Launch System Program performed welding operations on a test article for the launch vehicle stage adapter as well as confidence welding of the core stage, installed a RS-25 rocket engine for Exploration Mission-2 into a test stand and continued construction on a liquid hydrogen structural test stand

Engineers around the country are making progress developing NASA’s Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Florida needed to send astronauts on missions to deep space destinations. Between July and September, progress continued as pieces of Orion’s crew module and the SLS core stage tanks were welded together at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, modifications were made to the mobile launcher at Kennedy, astronauts tested techniques for exiting Orion after a mission, and an RS-25 engine was tested at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

NASA is taking steps to make spacewalking on an asteroid a reality. In the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers are testing a modified version of the pumpkin-orange Advanced Crew Escape System (ACES) worn by space shuttle astronauts during launch and reentry for use by future crew in the Orion spacecraft.

This video shows many hardware milestones reached in 2015 to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft to deep space on Exploration Mission-1, a flight that will take the uncrewed spacecraft thousands of miles beyond the moon in the first integrated mission with NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

NASA began our exploration of Mars more than four decades ago when our robotic explorers were the first to study the Red Planet. Today, our orbiters and rovers have changed the way we look at Mars and continue to make important scientific discoveries that will one day pave the way for our astronauts. Aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket, astronauts will explore an asteroid in the next decade and return to Earth with samples. This experience will help us test new systems and capabilities needed to get to Mars. And right now, NASA is using the International Space Station to conduct cutting-edge research and technology development to help prepare our astronauts to take the next giant leap in exploration.

It took a lot longer than 60 seconds to weld the massive 130-foot rocket fuel tank. This time-lapse video shows the construction and rotation of the liquid hydrogen tank for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket -- the new heavy-lift rocket being built in the Vehicle Assembly Center at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. There are two views, looking down as the tank is assembled and then looking up. The hydrogen tank comprises nearly two-thirds of the length of the 212-foot-long core stage and will help quench the thirst of the four RS-25 engines that, along with the twin solid rocket boosters, will launch the Orion spacecraft and carry crew to deep space destination and eventually Mars. This qualification tank will be moved to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural testing. Testing ensures the flight articles will be able to sustain the extreme forces experienced during launch. Tanks and other parts of the core stage that will be flown on the maiden flight of SLS and Orion are also under construction at Michoud.

The second installment of this video series discusses how NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) builds on the foundation of the Saturn V and the Space Shuttle, and uses that foundation to create a rocket that will send humans to the Red Planet. Host Stephen Granade continues to explore how this rocket will be the most capable ever built for deep space destinations.

NASA continues to forge ahead in humanity’s quest for knowledge as we explore the Moon and Mars. Through Artemis, we will expand our robotic and human exploration of the Moon and land the first woman and the first person of color on the lunar surface. As we get ready to venture beyond, the technology we develop and discoveries we make on the Moon will prepare us for Mars and our next giant leap: sending humans to the Red Planet

NASA Astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson talks about the evolution from the space shuttle to the most powerful rocket ever built, NASA’s Space Launch System, for missions to deep space, like an asteroid and ultimately Mars.

NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System, will meet the challenges of exploring deep space. And when it comes to NASA’s journey of Mars and beyond, there are no small steps. Stephen Granade talks how SLS will be the most capable rocket ever built for that trip to the Red Planet and other destinations in the solar system. This is the first video in a set of three.

This video shows the movement of shadows near the Moon's South Pole over the course of two lunar days, which is approximately two months on Earth. The visualization was created from data gathered by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Video credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Visualizations by: Ernie Wright (USRA)

Marshall Space Flight Center Aerospace Engineers Kathryn Crowe and Hugh Brady discuss working together on NASA’s Space Launch System. For more information on the multigenerational expertise and collaboration that’s helping build America’s next-generation heavy-lift launch vehicle,

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have coordinated to open Phase 2 of the Deep Space Food Challenge, targeted at developing novel food production system technologies for long-duration deep space missions. The challenge incentivizes the public to develop novel food system solutions for long duration space missions. Step into the kitchen with celebrity chef Alton Brown

Highlights from a Nov, 5, 2015, NASA briefing on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission's findings on the Martian atmosphere. MAVEN has identified the process that appears to have played a key role in the transition of the Martian climate from an early, warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life to the cold, arid planet Mars is today.

This concept animation shows just one of many potential concepts for how the first human landing site on Mars might evolve throughout the course of multiple human expeditions to the Red Planet over a decade or more.

"🚀 Kennedy Launches NASA's Journey to Mars 🌌 Join us on an incredible space adventure as we witness NASA's historic journey to Mars! In this video, we explore the exciting launch from Kennedy Space Center, the starting point of humanity's mission to reach the Red Planet. 🌠 Experience the thrill of rocket launches and the latest in space technology as we embark on this epic voyage to explore the mysteries of Mars. 🛰️ Stay updated with all things space, from rocket launches to cutting-edge space exploration, right here at Kennedy Space Center. 🔔 Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on NASA's missions and the incredible journey to Mars! #NASA #JourneyToMars #KennedySpaceCenter #SpaceExploration #MarsMission #RocketLaunch #RedPlanet #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #SpaceDevelopment #SpaceMilestones #SpaceProgress #MarsJourney #SpaceEngineering #Astronomy #FutureInSpace #NASAInnovation #SpaceNews #SpaceResearch #SpaceHistory #NASAUpdates #MissionToMars #SpaceMission #MarsLanding #ExploringMars #SpacePioneers #AstronomyFacts #BuildingForMars"

Preparing to explore the surface of the Moon goes well beyond designing and building safe spacecraft and spacesuits. NASA also has to ensure the surface vehicles and suits have the mobility required to do science, and that astronauts have the tools they need to identify and scoop up rock and soil samples. Additionally, NASA astronauts are trained in geology, spending countless hours practicing doing science at locations on Earth that resemble regions they might see on the Moon. All this is done in an effort to establish a long-term presence on the Moon and to help answer some outstanding science questions about the history of Earth and of the solar system.

NASA engineers at Stennis Space Center tested RS-25 engine No. 2059 on the A-1 Test Stand this week. This was the first flight engine for NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), to be tested at Stennis. RS-25 engine No. 2059 arrived at the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on Nov. 4, 2015.

We are going forward to the Moon by 2024, but did you know that back in 2005, Dr. Jim Garvin and his team of scientists pointed the Hubble Space Telescope at our nearest celestial neighbor for a very important reason? The Hubble team used the telescope’s powerful instruments to work as a prospector for the Moon’s surface, searching for resources that would help future human-led missions mine and utilize those materials to “live off the land” of the Moon. Hubble’s lunar research led the way for future missions, such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, helping men and women to go forward to the Moon by 2024! For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble.