
STS078-306-035 (20 June - 7 July 1996) --- Astronaut Susan J. Helms, payload commander, and payload specialist Jean-Jacques Favier, representing the French Space Agency (CNES), insert a test container into the Bubble Drop Particle Unit (BDPU) in the Life and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS-1) Science Module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. The fluid in the chamber is heated and the fluid processes are observed by use of three internal cameras mounted inside the BDPU. Investigations in this facility will help characterize interfacial processes involving either bubbles, drops, liquid columns or liquid layers.

These photos and timelapse show NASA’s IMAP mission being loaded into the thermal vacuum chamber of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF) in Huntsville, Alabama. IMAP arrived at Marshall March 18 and was loaded into the chamber March 19. IMAP will undergo testing such as dramatic temperature changes to simulate the harsh environment of space. The XRCF’s vacuum chamber is is 20 feet in diameter and 60 feet long making it one of the largest across NASA. The IMAP mission is a modern-day celestial cartographer that will map the solar system by studying the heliosphere, a giant bubble created by the Sun’s solar wind that surrounds our solar system and protects it from harmful interstellar radiation. Photos and video courtesy of Ed Whitman from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos and timelapse show NASA’s IMAP mission being loaded into the thermal vacuum chamber of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF) in Huntsville, Alabama. IMAP arrived at Marshall March 18 and was loaded into the chamber March 19. IMAP will undergo testing such as dramatic temperature changes to simulate the harsh environment of space. The XRCF’s vacuum chamber is is 20 feet in diameter and 60 feet long making it one of the largest across NASA. The IMAP mission is a modern-day celestial cartographer that will map the solar system by studying the heliosphere, a giant bubble created by the Sun’s solar wind that surrounds our solar system and protects it from harmful interstellar radiation. Photos and video courtesy of Ed Whitman from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos and timelapse show NASA’s IMAP mission being loaded into the thermal vacuum chamber of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s X-Ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF) in Huntsville, Alabama. IMAP arrived at Marshall March 18 and was loaded into the chamber March 19. IMAP will undergo testing such as dramatic temperature changes to simulate the harsh environment of space. The XRCF’s vacuum chamber is is 20 feet in diameter and 60 feet long making it one of the largest across NASA. The IMAP mission is a modern-day celestial cartographer that will map the solar system by studying the heliosphere, a giant bubble created by the Sun’s solar wind that surrounds our solar system and protects it from harmful interstellar radiation. Photos and video courtesy of Ed Whitman from Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

STS078-301-021 (20 June - 7 July 1996) --- Payload specialist Jean-Jacques Favier, representing the French Space Agency (CNES), holds up a test container to a Spacelab camera. The test involves the Bubble Drop Particle Unit (BDPU), which Favier is showing to ground controllers at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in order to check the condition of the unit prior to heating in the BDPU facility. The test container holds experimental fluid and allows experiment observation through optical windows. BDPU contains three internal cameras that are used to continuously downlink BDPU activity so that behavior of the bubbles can be monitored. Astronaut Richard M. Linnehan, mission specialist, conducts biomedical testing in the background.

NASA Deputy Administrator James Morhard, right, shakes hands with President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, left, after signing an agreement for cooperation on the Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), an upcoming NASA-AEB heliophysics CubeSat partnership, Monday, March 18, 2019, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The SPORT CubeSat will investigate two ionospheric phenomena, equatorial plasma bubbles and scintillation, that disrupt radio communication systems, satellite technologies, and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. SPORT is currently projected to launch in the 2020 timeframe. Photo Credit: (NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator James Morhard, right, and President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, left, sign an agreement for cooperation on the Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), an upcoming NASA-AEB heliophysics CubeSat partnership, Monday, March 18, 2019, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The SPORT CubeSat will investigate two ionospheric phenomena, equatorial plasma bubbles and scintillation, that disrupt radio communication systems, satellite technologies, and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. SPORT is currently projected to launch in the 2020 timeframe. Photo Credit: (NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator James Morhard, left, speaks with H.E. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, just before signing an agreement with President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, for cooperation on the Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), an upcoming NASA-AEB heliophysics CubeSat partnership, Monday, March 18, 2019, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The SPORT CubeSat will investigate two ionospheric phenomena, equatorial plasma bubbles and scintillation, that disrupt radio communication systems, satellite technologies, and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. SPORT is currently projected to launch in the 2020 timeframe. Photo Credit: (NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator James Morhard, right, shakes hands with President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, left, after signing an agreement for cooperation on the Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), an upcoming NASA-AEB heliophysics CubeSat partnership, Monday, March 18, 2019, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The SPORT CubeSat will investigate two ionospheric phenomena, equatorial plasma bubbles and scintillation, that disrupt radio communication systems, satellite technologies, and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. SPORT is currently projected to launch in the 2020 timeframe. Photo Credit: (NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator James Morhard, right, shakes hands with President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, left, after signing an agreement for cooperation on the Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), an upcoming NASA-AEB heliophysics CubeSat partnership, Monday, March 18, 2019, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The SPORT CubeSat will investigate two ionospheric phenomena, equatorial plasma bubbles and scintillation, that disrupt radio communication systems, satellite technologies, and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. SPORT is currently projected to launch in the 2020 timeframe. Photo Credit: (NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Deputy Administrator James Morhard, center right, and President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, center left, prepare to sign an agreement for cooperation on the Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT), an upcoming NASA-AEB heliophysics CubeSat partnership, Monday, March 18, 2019, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington. The SPORT CubeSat will investigate two ionospheric phenomena, equatorial plasma bubbles and scintillation, that disrupt radio communication systems, satellite technologies, and Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. SPORT is currently projected to launch in the 2020 timeframe. Photo Credit: (NASA/ Aubrey Gemignani)