A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE REAR ON A MOONBUGGY AT THE HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY

A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE REAR ON A MOONBUGGY AT THE HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS AND MOONBUGGY CREW EZRA LOGREIRA AND KARINE WITTENBORG POSE WITH THEIR MOONBUGGY

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS AND MOONBUGGY CREW EZRA LOGREIRA AND KARINE WITTENBORG POSE WITH THEIR MOONBUGGY

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS AND MOONBUGGY CREW EZRA LOGREIRA AND KARINE WITTENBORG POSE WITH THEIR MOONBUGGY

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY’S EZRA LOGREIRA AND HEATHER BUNDY POSE WITH THE MOONBUGGY THEY WILL DRIVE IN THE 2011 GREAT MOONBUGGY RACE AT THE US SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER.

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY’S ROXY BAHANI AND HUNTER FLECKNER POSE WITH THE MOONBUGGY THEY WILL DRIVE IN THE 2011 GREAT MOONBUGGY RACE AT THE US SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY’S EZRA LOGREIRA AND HEATHER BUNDY POSE WITH THE MOONBUGGY THEY WILL DRIVE IN THE 2011 GREAT MOONBUGGY RACE AT THE US SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER.

HUNTSVILLE CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY’S FRANCHESCA QUIJANO AND HUNTER FLECKNER POSE WITH THE MOONBUGGY THEY WILL DRIVE IN THE 2011 GREAT MOONBUGGY RACE AT THE US SPACE AND ROCKET CENTER

A supermoon rises over Huntsville, Alabama, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Aug. 19. Visible through Wednesday, Aug. 21, the full Moon is both a supermoon and a Blue Moon. Supermoons are the biggest and brightest full Moons of the year because the Moon is within 90% of its closest point to Earth. While not blue in color, the third full Moon in a season with four full Moons is called a “Blue Moon.” Huntsville is known as the “Rocket City” because of its proximity to NASA Marshall, which manages vital propulsion systems and hardware, launch vehicles, engineering technologies, and cutting-edge science for the agency.

A supermoon rises over Huntsville, Alabama, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Aug. 19. Visible through Wednesday, Aug. 21, the full Moon is both a supermoon and a Blue Moon. Supermoons are the biggest and brightest full Moons of the year because the Moon is within 90% of its closest point to Earth. While not blue in color, the third full Moon in a season with four full Moons is called a “Blue Moon.” Huntsville is known as the “Rocket City” because of its proximity to NASA Marshall, which manages vital propulsion systems and hardware, launch vehicles, engineering technologies, and cutting-edge science for the agency.

A supermoon rises over Huntsville, Alabama, home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Aug. 19. Visible through Wednesday, Aug. 21, the full Moon is both a supermoon and a Blue Moon. Supermoons are the biggest and brightest full Moons of the year because the Moon is within 90% of its closest point to Earth. While not blue in color, the third full Moon in a season with four full Moons is called a “Blue Moon.” Huntsville is known as the “Rocket City” because of its proximity to NASA Marshall, which manages vital propulsion systems and hardware, launch vehicles, engineering technologies, and cutting-edge science for the agency.

The National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC), located in Huntsville, Alabama, is a laboratory for cutting-edge research in selected scientific and engineering disciplines. The major objectives of the NSSTC are to provide multiple fields of expertise coming together to solve solutions to science and technology problems, and gaining recognition as a world-class science research organization. The center, opened in August 2000, focuses on space science, Earth sciences, information technology, optics and energy technology, biotechnology and materials science, and supports NASA's mission of advancing and communicating scientific knowledge using the environment of space for research. In addition to providing basic and applied research, NSSTC, with its student participation, also fosters the next generation of scientists and engineers. NSSTC is a collaborated effort between NASA and the state of Alabama through the Space Science and Technology alliance, a group of six universities including the Universities of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH),Tuscaloosa (UA), and Birmingham (UAB); the University of South Alabama in Mobile (USA);Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AM) in Huntsville; and Auburn University (AU) in Auburn. Participating federal agencies include NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy. Industries involved include the Space Science Research Center, the Global Hydrology and Climate Center, the Information Technology Research Center, the Optics and Energy Technology Center, the Propulsion Research Center, the Biotechnology Research Center, and the Materials Science Research Center. This photo shows the completed center with the additional arnex (right of building) that added an additional 80,000 square feet (7,432 square meters) to the already existent NSSTC, nearly doubling the size of the core facility. At full capacity, the NSSTC tops 200,000 square feet (18,580 square meters) and houses approximately 550 employees.

The National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC), located in Huntsville, Alabama, is a laboratory for cutting-edge research in selected scientific and engineering disciplines. The major objectives of the NSSTC are to provide multiple fields of expertise coming together to solve solutions to science and technology problems, and gaining recognition as a world-class science research organization. The center, opened in August 2000, focuses on space science, Earth sciences, information technology, optics and energy technology, biotechnology and materials science, and supports NASA's mission of advancing and communicating scientific knowledge using the environment of space for research. In addition to providing basic and applied research, NSSTC, with its student participation, also fosters the next generation of scientists and engineers. NSSTC is a collaborated effort between NASA and the state of Alabama through the Space Science and Technology alliance, a group of six universities including the Universities of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH),Tuscaloosa (UA), and Birmingham (UAB); the University of South Alabama in Mobile (USA); Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AM) in Huntsville; and Auburn University (AU) in Auburn. Participating federal agencies include NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy. Industries involved include the Space Science Research Center, the Global Hydrology and Climate Center, the Information Technology Research Center, the Optics and Energy Technology Center, the Propulsion Research Center, the Biotechnology Research Center, and the Materials Science Research Center. An arnex, scheduled for completion by summer 2002, will add an additional 80,000 square feet (7,432 square meters) to NSSTC nearly doubling the size of the core facility. At full capacity, the completed NSSTC will top 200,000 square feet (18,580 square meters) and house approximately 550 employees.

Marshall Space Flight Center director Todd May welcomes attendees to the 10th annual Dr. Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium held at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama. The three-day symposium brought together experts for discussion panels on science, engineering and technology under the theme “Gateways in Space: Exploration, Security, and Commerce.”

Robert Wilson of the Solar/Solar terrestrial Studies team at the National Space Science and Technology Center, a joint research and collaborative think tank partnership of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and the Marshall Space Flight Center, adjusts his telescope which is set up as a viewing opportunity for MSFC employees prior to the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse event. The Huntsville area experienced 97 percent occultation, nearly a complete blocking out of the sun by the orbit of Earth's moon. The next opportunity to view a solar eclipse in the eastern and central United States will occur in April 2024.

RATANA MEEKHAM, AN ELECTRICAL INTEGRATION TECHNICIAN FOR QUALIS CORP. OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, HELPS TEST AVIONICS -- COMPLEX VEHICLE SYSTEMS ENABLING NAVIGATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER FUNCTIONS CRITICAL TO HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT -- FOR THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM PROGRAM AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA. HER WORK SUPPORTS THE NASA ENGINEERING & SCIENCE SERVICES AND SKILLS AUGMENTATION CONTRACT LED BY JACOBS ENGINEERING OF HUNTSVILLE. MEEKHAM WORKS FULL-TIME AT MARSHALL WHILE FINISHING HER ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE IN MACHINE TOOL TECHNOLOGY AT CALHOUN COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN DECATUR, ALABAMA. THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM, NASA’S NEXT HEAVY-LIFT LAUNCH VEHICLE, IS THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL ROCKET, SET TO FLY ITS FIRST UNCREWED LUNAR ORBITAL MISSION IN 2018. ITS FIRST.

RATANA MEEKHAM, AN ELECTRICAL INTEGRATION TECHNICIAN FOR QUALIS CORP. OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, HELPS TEST AVIONICS -- COMPLEX VEHICLE SYSTEMS ENABLING NAVIGATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND OTHER FUNCTIONS CRITICAL TO HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT -- FOR THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM PROGRAM AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA. HER WORK SUPPORTS THE NASA ENGINEERING & SCIENCE SERVICES AND SKILLS AUGMENTATION CONTRACT LED BY JACOBS ENGINEERING OF HUNTSVILLE. MEEKHAM WORKS FULL-TIME AT MARSHALL WHILE FINISHING HER ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE IN MACHINE TOOL TECHNOLOGY AT CALHOUN COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN DECATUR, ALABAMA. THE SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM, NASA’S NEXT HEAVY-LIFT LAUNCH VEHICLE, IS THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL ROCKET, SET TO FLY ITS FIRST UNCREWED LUNAR ORBITAL MISSION IN 2018. ITS FIRST.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center showcased it's various projects for the public in Huntsville, Alabama's Big Spring Park. Exhibits were displayed by all of the various directorates of the Center with employee volunteers explaining all aspects of their projects. Adding to the festivities was the attendance of retired NASA astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson. With a RS-25 engine in the background, NASA employees and volunteers demonstrate NASA technology at NASA in the Park.

THOMAS ZURBUCHEN, RIGHT, NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE, SPEAKS WITH DENNON CLARDY, LEFT, DEPUTY MANAGER OF THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY OFFICE AT NASA’S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, AND SHAWN MCINERY, AFTER HIS KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT THE MARCH 21 LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE MARSHALL ASSOCIATION. ZURBUCHEN, WHO ASSUMED HIS NEW ROLE IN OCTOBER 2016, ALSO TOURED KEY MARSHALL MANUFACTURING AND TEST FACILITIES. THE MARSHALL ASSOCIATION IS THE CENTER’S PROFESSIONAL, EMPLOYEE SERVICE ORGANIZATION.

Marshall Space Flight Center Deputy Director Paul McConnaughey, left, discusses advanced manufacturing capabilities with Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, second from left, Aug. 7 at the annual Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. The NASA exhibit, staffed by materials engineers Susan Barber, center, and Zack Jones, right, showcased some of the technologies, missions and hardware that will help enable humans to return to the Moon through the agency’s Artemis program.

The development of the electric space actuator represents an unusual case of space technology transfer wherein the product was commercialized before it was used for the intended space purpose. MOOG, which supplies the thrust vector control hydraulic actuators for the Space Shuttle and brake actuators for the Space Orbiter, initiated development of electric actuators for aerospace and industrial use in the early 1980s. NASA used the technology to develop an electric replacement for the Space Shuttle main engine TVC actuator. An electric actuator is used to take passengers on a realistic flight to Jupiter at the US Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

The flight demonstration unit of the next-generation 4-bed CO2 Scrubber (4BCO2) is targeted for launch aboard NG16 NET August 1, 2021. Once aboard the space station, this u nit will be mounted in a basic express rack. This four-bed technology is a mainstay for metabolic CO2 removal and crew life support. The new 4-Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber, developed, built, and tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is checked out by Kathi Lange, a Bastion Technologies contractor supporting the quality assurance group in Marshall’s Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, prior to its shipment to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia.

These photos show how teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling, which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant during future long-duration spaceflight missions. Test teams installed the propellant tank in Test Stand 300 at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaching the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system. The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos show how teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling, which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant during future long-duration spaceflight missions. Test teams installed the propellant tank in Test Stand 300 at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaching the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system. The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

These photos show how teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling, which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant during future long-duration spaceflight missions. Test teams installed the propellant tank in Test Stand 300 at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaching the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system. The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

Microbiologist Dr. Elena V. Pikuta, and Astrobiologist Richard Hoover culture extremophiles, microorganisms that can live in extreme environments, in the astrobiology laboratory at the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Alabama. The scientists recently discovered a new species of extremophiles, Spirochaeta Americana. The species was found in Northern California's Mono Lake, an alkaline, briny oxygen-limited lake in a closed volcanic crater that Hoover believes may offer new clues to help identify sites to research for potential life on Mars. Hoover is an astrobiologist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and Pikuta is a microbiologist with the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomy Research Laboratory at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The NSSTC is a partnership with MSFC, Alabama universities, industry, research institutes, and federal agencies.

THE GAS GENERATOR TO AN F-1 ENGINE, THE MOST POWERFUL ROCKET ENGINE EVER BUILT, IS TEST-FIRED AT NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, ON SEPT. 3. ALTHOUGH THE ENGINE WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT TO POWER THE SATURN V ROCKETS DURING AMERICA'S MISSIONS TO THE MOON, THIS TEST ARTICLE HAD NEW PARTS CREATED USING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, OR 3-D PRINTING, TO TEST THE VIABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY FOR BUILDING NEW ENGINE DESIGNS.

THE GAS GENERATOR TO AN F-1 ENGINE, THE MOST POWERFUL ROCKET ENGINE EVER BUILT, IS TEST-FIRED AT NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, ON SEPT. 3. ALTHOUGH THE ENGINE WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT TO POWER THE SATURN V ROCKETS DURING AMERICA'S MISSIONS TO THE MOON, THIS TEST ARTICLE HAD NEW PARTS CREATED USING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, OR 3-D PRINTING, TO TEST THE VIABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY FOR BUILDING NEW ENGINE DESIGNS.

THE GAS GENERATOR TO AN F-1 ENGINE, THE MOST POWERFUL ROCKET ENGINE EVER BUILT, IS TEST-FIRED AT NASA'S MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, ON SEPT. 3. ALTHOUGH THE ENGINE WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT TO POWER THE SATURN V ROCKETS DURING AMERICA'S MISSIONS TO THE MOON, THIS TEST ARTICLE HAD NEW PARTS CREATED USING ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, OR 3-D PRINTING, TO TEST THE VIABILITY OF THE TECHNOLOGY FOR BUILDING NEW ENGINE DESIGNS.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins presents highlights from Expedition 48/49, her mission to the International Space Station, to team members and Space Camp students from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, April 6 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. During her mission, Rubins became the first person to sequence DNA in space, researching technology development for deep-space exploration by humans, Earth and space science. She also conducted two spacewalks, in which she and NASA astronaut Jeff Williams installed an International Docking Adapter and performed maintenance of the station's external thermal control system and installed high-definition cameras.

These photos, taken in fall 2024, show how NASA engineers use the Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (Hi-TTeMP) laboratory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA engineers working in the HI-TTeMP lab not only design, set up, and run tests, they also provide insight and expertise in thermal engineering to assist NASA’s industry partners, such as SpaceX and other organizations, in validating concepts and models, or suggesting changes to designs. The lab is able to rapidly test and evaluate design updates or iterations. Engineering teams inside the lab are currently testing how well prototype insulation for SpaceX’s Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will insulate interior environments, including propellant storage tanks and the crew cabin. Starship HLS will land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III and Artemis IV.

A technology demonstration flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative could help mitigate radiation effects on computers in space. Radiation Tolerant Computer, or RadPC, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Developed by Montana State University in Bozeman, RadPC is designed designed to demonstrate computer recovery from faults caused by single-event effects of ionizing radiation. Investigations and demonstrations, such as RadPC, launched on CLPS flights will help NASA study Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis and pave the way for future crewed missions on the Moon. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads that will be carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

A technology demonstration flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative could help mitigate radiation effects on computers in space. Radiation Tolerant Computer, or RadPC, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Developed by Montana State University in Bozeman, RadPC is designed designed to demonstrate computer recovery from faults caused by single-event effects of ionizing radiation. Investigations and demonstrations, such as RadPC, launched on CLPS flights will help NASA study Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis and pave the way for future crewed missions on the Moon. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads that will be carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

These photos, taken in fall 2024, show how NASA engineers use the Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (Hi-TTeMP) laboratory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA engineers working in the HI-TTeMP lab not only design, set up, and run tests, they also provide insight and expertise in thermal engineering to assist NASA’s industry partners, such as SpaceX and other organizations, in validating concepts and models, or suggesting changes to designs. The lab is able to rapidly test and evaluate design updates or iterations. Engineering teams inside the lab are currently testing how well prototype insulation for SpaceX’s Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will insulate interior environments, including propellant storage tanks and the crew cabin. Starship HLS will land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III and Artemis IV.

These photos, taken in fall 2024, show how NASA engineers use the Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (Hi-TTeMP) laboratory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA engineers working in the HI-TTeMP lab not only design, set up, and run tests, they also provide insight and expertise in thermal engineering to assist NASA’s industry partners, such as SpaceX and other organizations, in validating concepts and models, or suggesting changes to designs. The lab is able to rapidly test and evaluate design updates or iterations. Engineering teams inside the lab are currently testing how well prototype insulation for SpaceX’s Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will insulate interior environments, including propellant storage tanks and the crew cabin. Starship HLS will land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III and Artemis IV.

These photos, taken in fall 2024, show how NASA engineers use the Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (Hi-TTeMP) laboratory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA engineers working in the HI-TTeMP lab not only design, set up, and run tests, they also provide insight and expertise in thermal engineering to assist NASA’s industry partners, such as SpaceX and other organizations, in validating concepts and models, or suggesting changes to designs. The lab is able to rapidly test and evaluate design updates or iterations. Engineering teams inside the lab are currently testing how well prototype insulation for SpaceX’s Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will insulate interior environments, including propellant storage tanks and the crew cabin. Starship HLS will land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III and Artemis IV.

These photos, taken in fall 2024, show how NASA engineers use the Hub for Innovative Thermal Technology Maturation and Prototyping (Hi-TTeMP) laboratory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA engineers working in the HI-TTeMP lab not only design, set up, and run tests, they also provide insight and expertise in thermal engineering to assist NASA’s industry partners, such as SpaceX and other organizations, in validating concepts and models, or suggesting changes to designs. The lab is able to rapidly test and evaluate design updates or iterations. Engineering teams inside the lab are currently testing how well prototype insulation for SpaceX’s Starship HLS (Human Landing System) will insulate interior environments, including propellant storage tanks and the crew cabin. Starship HLS will land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III and Artemis IV.

The grand opening of NASA’s new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies located at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, took place in July 2004. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory (PRL) serves as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of innovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility is the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, features a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility allows it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellant propulsion. An important area of emphasis is the development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and sets the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications.

A new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies is under construction at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory will serve as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of irnovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility will be the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The Laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, will feature a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility will allow it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellantless propulsion. An important area of emphasis will be development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and will set the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications.

The grand opening of NASA’s new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies located at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, took place in July 2004. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory (PRL) serves as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of innovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility is the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, features a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility allows it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellant propulsion. An important area of emphasis is the development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and sets the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications.

Aerospace industry representatives view actual and mock-up versions of 'X-Planes' intended to enhance access to space during a technical exposition on June 22, 2000 at Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. From left to right: NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, in service with NASA since 1959; a neutral-buoyancy model of the Boeing's X-37; the Boeing X-40A behind the MicroCraft X-43 mock-up; Orbital Science's X-34 and the modified Lockheed L-1011 airliner that was intended to launch the X-34. These X-vehicles are part of NASA's Access to Space plan intended to bring new technologies to bear in an effort to dramatically lower the cost of putting payloads in space, and near-space environments. The June 22, 2000 NASA Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Technology Exposition included presentations on the history, present, and future of NASA's RLV program. Special Sessions for industry representatives highlighted the X-37 project and its related technologies. The X-37 project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

Aerospace industry representatives view actual and mock-up versions of 'X-Planes' intended to enhance access to space during a technical exposition on June 22, 2000 at Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. From left to right: NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, in service with NASA since 1959; a neutral-buoyancy model of the Boeing's X-37; the Boeing X-40A behind the MicroCraft X-43 mock-up; Orbital Science's X-34 and the modified Lockheed L-1011 airliner that was intended to launch the X-34. These X-vehicles are part of NASA's Access to Space plan intended to bring new technologies to bear in an effort to dramatically lower the cost of putting payloads in space, and near-space environments. The June 22, 2000 NASA Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Technology Exposition included presentations on the history, present, and future of NASA's RLV program. Special Sessions for industry representatives highlighted the X-37 project and its related technologies. The X-37 project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

These photos show how teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling, which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant during future long-duration spaceflight missions. Test teams installed the propellant tank in Test Stand 300 at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaching the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system. The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities. For more information, contact NASA Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034.

The test of twin Linear Aerospike XRS-2200 engines, originally built for the X-33 program, was performed on August 6, 2001 at NASA's Sternis Space Center, Mississippi. The engines were fired for the planned 90 seconds and reached a planned maximum power of 85 percent. NASA's Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program , also known as the Space Launch Initiative (SLI), is making advances in propulsion technology with this third and final successful engine hot fire, designed to test electro-mechanical actuators. Information learned from this hot fire test series about new electro-mechanical actuator technology, which controls the flow of propellants in rocket engines, could provide key advancements for the propulsion systems for future spacecraft. The Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program, led by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is a technology development program designed to increase safety and reliability while reducing costs for space travel. The X-33 program was cancelled in March 2001.

Aerospace industry representatives view actual and mock-up versions of 'X-Planes' intended to enhance access to space during a technical exposition on June 22, 2000 at Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. From left to right: NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, in service with NASA from 1959 to 2004; a neutral-buoyancy model of the Boeing's X-37; the Boeing X-40A behind the MicroCraft X-43 mock-up; Orbital Science's X-34 and the modified Lockheed L-1011 airliner that was intended to launch the X-34. These X-vehicles are part of NASA's Access to Space plan intended to bring new technologies to bear in an effort to dramatically lower the cost of putting payloads in space, and near-space environments. The June 22, 2000 NASA Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Technology Exposition included presentations on the history, present, and future of NASA's RLV program. Special Sessions for industry representatives highlighted the X-37 project and its related technologies. The X-37 project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

Aerospace industry representatives view actual and mock-up versions of 'X-Planes' intended to enhance access to space during a technical exposition on June 22, 2000 at Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. From left to right: NASA's B-52 launch aircraft, in service with NASA from 1959 to 2004; a neutral-buoyancy model of the Boeing's X-37; the Boeing X-40A behind the MicroCraft X-43 mock-up; Orbital Science's X-34 and the modified Lockheed L-1011 airliner that was intended to launch the X-34. These X-vehicles are part of NASA's Access to Space plan intended to bring new technologies to bear in an effort to dramatically lower the cost of putting payloads in space, and near-space environments. The June 22, 2000 NASA Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Technology Exposition included presentations on the history, present, and future of NASA's RLV program. Special Sessions for industry representatives highlighted the X-37 project and its related technologies. The X-37 project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.

Lisa Watson-Morgan, center left, program manager of NASA’s Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, shows NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine equipment used to test seismic sensors on a lunar lander platform on a simulated lunar surface at the center Aug. 16, 2019. Bridenstine was joined by Representatives Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Representative Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee. Planetary scientists performed the experiment to learn how these waves travel through simulated regolith, which is material similar to the Moon’s surface. The experiment will help guide instrument deployment scenarios for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) Program, delivering small science and technology payloads for Artemis. That same day, Bridenstine announced Marshall will lead the agency’s Human Landing System Program. (NASA/Fred Deaton) For more information: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1

Dr. Weijia Zhou, director of the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, inspects the Advanced Astroculture(tm) plant growth unit before its first flight last spring. Coating technology is used inside the miniature plant greenhouse to remove ethylene, a chemical produced by plant leaves that can cause plants to mature too quickly. This same coating technology is used in a new anthrax-killing device. The Space Station experiment is managed by the Space Product Development Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. DuPont is partnering with NASA and the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to grow soybeans aboard the Space Station to find out if they have improved oil, protein, carbohydrates or secondary metabolites that could benefit farmers and consumers. Principal Investigators: Dr. Tom Corbin, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., a Dupont Company, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dr. Weijia Zhou, Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics (WCSAR), University of Wisconsin-Madison.

X-40A Free Flight #5. The unpowered X-40A, an 85 percent scale risk reduction version of the proposed X-37, proved the capability of an autonomous flight control and landing system in a series of glide flights at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A underwent a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

X-40A Free Flight #5. The unpowered X-40A, an 85 percent scale risk reduction version of the proposed X-37, proved the capability of an autonomous flight control and landing system in a series of glide flights at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A underwent a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

Wranglers steadied the X-40A at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, March 14, 2001, as the experimental craft was carried to 15,000 feet for an unpiloted glide flight. The unpiloted X-40 is a risk-reduction vehicle for the X-37, which is intended to be a reusable space vehicle. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A will undergo a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

The X-40A immediately after release from its harness suspended from a helicopter 15,000 feet above NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 14, 2001. The unpiloted X-40 is a risk-reduction vehicle for the X-37, which is intended to be a reusable space vehicle. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A will undergo a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

First flight at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center for the X-40A was a 74 second glide from 15,000 feet on March 14, 2001. The unpiloted X-40 is a risk-reduction vehicle for the X-37, which is intended to be a reusable space vehicle. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A will undergo a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

X-40A Free Flight #5. The unpowered X-40A, an 85 percent scale risk reduction version of the proposed X-37, proved the capability of an autonomous flight control and landing system in a series of glide flights at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A underwent a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

This photograph shows onlookers viewing displays within the Starship 2040 exhibit on display at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville, Alabama. Developed by the Space Transportation Directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the Starship 2040 exhibit is housed in a 48-ft (14.6-m) tractor and trailer rig, permitting it to travel around the Nation, demonstrating NASA's vision of what commercial spaceflight might be like 40 years from now. All the irnovations suggested aboard the exhibit (automated vehicle health monitoring systems, high-energy propulsion drive, navigational aids, and emergency and safety systems) are based on concepts and technologies now being studied at NASA Centers and partner institutions around the Nation. NASA is the Nation's premier agency for development of the space transportation system, including future-generation reusable launch vehicles. Such systems, the keys to a "real" Starship 2040, require revolutionary advances in critical aerospace technologies, from thermal, magnetic, chemical, and propellantless propulsion systems to new energy sources such as space solar power or antimatter propulsion. These and other advances are now being studied, developed, and tested at NASA field centers and partner institutions all over the Nation.

The first six flight ready James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments are prepped to begin final cryogenic testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. To read more go to: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-mirror-coating.html" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/webb-mirror-coati...</a> Credit: NASA/GSFC/Chris Gunn <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

This photograph shows Justin Varnadore, son of a Marshall TV employee, at the controls of one of the many displays within the Starship 2040 exhibit on display at Joe Davis Stadium in Huntsville, Alabama. Developed by the Space Transportation Directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the Starship 2040 exhibit is housed in a 48-ft (14.6-m) tractor and trailer rig, permitting it to travel around the Nation, demonstrating NASA's vision of what commercial spaceflight might be like 40 years from now. All the irnovations suggested aboard the exhibit (automated vehicle health monitoring systems, high-energy propulsion drive, navigational aids, and emergency and safety systems) are based on concepts and technologies now being studied at NASA Centers and partner institutions around the Nation. NASA is the Nation's premier agency for development of the space transportation system, including future-generation reusable launch vehicles. Such systems, the keys to a "real" Starship 2040, require revolutionary advances in critical aerospace technologies, from thermal, magnetic, chemical, and propellantless propulsion systems to new energy sources such as space solar power or antimatter propulsion. These and other advances are now being studied, developed, and tested at NASA field centers and partner institutions all over the Nation.

S92-39074 (6 May 1992) --- The centuries-old technology that built Christopher Columbus' three sailing ships passes within a half mile of the 20th-Century Space Shuttle Endeavour, in background, awaiting liftoff on Launch Pad 39B. The replicas of the Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta wind-powered ships, managed by the Spain '92 Foundation, are on a tour to ports around the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Endeavour is set to lift off on its maiden voyage, STS-49, on May 7, 1992. Video footage of the two types of exploration vessels will be used by NASA for a variety of productions, including the annual Von Braun Exploration forum sponsored by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, Alabama, in October, 1992. This year's theme is Exploration and the Evolution of Nations. 1992 is the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World.

Labs on chips are manufactured in many shapes and sizes and can be used for numerous applications, from medical tests to water quality monitoring to detecting the signatures of life on other planets. The eight holes on this chip are actually ports that can be filled with fluids or chemicals. Tiny valves control the chemical processes by mixing fluids that move in the tiny channels that look like lines, connecting the ports. Scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama designed this chip to grow biological crystals on the International Space Station. Through this research, they discovered that this technology is ideally suited for solving the challenges of the Vision for Space Exploration. For example, thousands of chips the size of dimes could be loaded on a Martian rover looking for biosignatures of past or present life. Other types of chips could be placed in handheld devices used to monitor microbes in water or to quickly conduct medical tests on astronauts. (NASA/MSFC/D.Stoffer)

CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. -- Dale Ketchum, director of the Space Research and Technology Institute, speaks to attendees of the National Space Club Florida Committee, or NSCFL, at the May 14 luncheon at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana was the featured speaker with a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2014 budget and Kennedy’s path forward. The NSCFL Committee is one of three regional committees including Huntsville, Ala. and Los Angeles, Calif. of the National Space Club in Washington, D.C. The NSCFL Committee promotes awareness through hosting monthly luncheons, sponsoring educational opportunities, recognizing significant achievement, and promoting aerospace leadership in a region heavily influenced by aerospace activities. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, are working with industry partners to develop a new generation of more cost-efficient space vehicles. Lightweight fuel tanks and components under development will be the critical elements in tomorrow's reusable launch vehicles and will tremendously curb the costs of getting to space. In this photo, Tom DeLay, a materials processes engineer for MSFC, uses a new graphite epoxy technology to create lightweight cryogenic fuel lines for futuristic reusable launch vehicles. He is wrapping a water-soluble mandrel, or mold, with a graphite fabric coated with an epoxy resin. Once wrapped, the pipe will be vacuum-bagged and autoclave-cured. The disposable mold will be removed to reveal a thin-walled fuel line. In addition to being much lighter and stronger than metal, this material won't expand or contract as much in the extreme temperatures encountered by launch vehicles.

A worker attaches covers for the nose pitot boom before removing the unpiloted X-40 from the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, following its successful free-flight on March 14, 2001. The unpiloted X-40 is a risk-reduction vehicle for the X-37, which is intended to be a reusable space vehicle. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala, manages the X-37 project. At Dryden, the X-40A will undergo a series of ground and air tests to reduce possible risks to the larger X-37, including drop tests from a helicopter to check guidance and navigation systems planned for use in the X-37. The X-37 is designed to demonstrate technologies in the orbital and reentry environments for next-generation reusable launch vehicles that will increase both safety and reliability, while reducing launch costs from $10,000 per pound to $1,000 per pound.

A knee brace that uses Space Shuttle propulsion technology has moved a step closer to being available to help knee injury and stroke patients and may possibly benefit patients with birth defects, spinal cord injuries, and post-polio conditions. After years of hard work, inventors at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, have turned over the final design and prototype to industry partners at Horton's Orthotic Lab in Little Rock, Arkansas for further clinical testing. The device, called the Selectively Lockable Knee Brace, may mean faster, less painful rehabilitation for patients by allowing the knee to move when weight is not on the heel. Devices currently on the market lock the knee in a rigid, straight-leg position, or allow continuous free motion. Pictured here is a knee brace prototype being tested and fitted at Horton's Orthotic Lab. The knee brace is just one example of how space technology is being used to improve the lives of people on Earth. NASA's MSFC inventors Michael Shadoan and Neill Myers are space propulsion engineers who use the same mechanisms and materials to build systems for rockets that they used to design and develop the knee brace.

A knee brace that uses Space Shuttle propulsion technology has moved a step closer to being available to help knee injury and stroke patients and may possibly benefit patients with birth defects, spinal cord injuries, and post-polio conditions. After years of hard work, inventors at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, have turned over the final design and prototype to industry partners at Horton's Orthotic Lab in Little Rock, Arkansas for further clinical testing. The device, called the Selectively Lockable Knee Brace, may mean faster, less painful rehabilitation for patients by allowing the knee to move when weight is not on the heel. Devices currently on the market lock the knee in a rigid, straight-leg position, or allow continuous free motion. The knee brace is just one example of how space technology is being used to improve the lives of people on Earth. NASA's MSFC inventors Michael Shadoan and Neill Myers are space propulsion engineers who use the same mechanisms and materials to build systems for rockets that they used to design and develop the knee brace.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, has begun a series of engine tests on the Reaction Control Engine developed by TRW Space and Electronics for NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI). SLI is a technology development effort aimed at improving the safety, reliability, and cost effectiveness of space travel for reusable launch vehicles. The engine in this photo, the first engine tested at MSFC that includes SLI technology, was tested for two seconds at a chamber pressure of 185 pounds per square inch absolute (psia). Propellants used were liquid oxygen as an oxidizer and liquid hydrogen as fuel. Designed to maneuver vehicles in orbit, the engine is used as an auxiliary propulsion system for docking, reentry, fine-pointing, and orbit transfer while the vehicle is in orbit. The Reaction Control Engine has two unique features. It uses nontoxic chemicals as propellants, which creates a safer environment with less maintenance and quicker turnaround time between missions, and it operates in dual thrust modes, combining two engine functions into one engine. The engine operates at both 25 and 1,000 pounds of force, reducing overall propulsion weight and allowing vehicles to easily maneuver in space. The force of low level thrust allows the vehicle to fine-point maneuver and dock, while the force of the high level thrust is used for reentry, orbital transfer, and course positioning.

A technology demonstration flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative could change how research teams collect and study soil and rock samples on other planetary bodies. Lunar PlanetVac, or LPV, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Developed by Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company of Altadena, California, LPV is designed to, essentially, operate as a vacuum cleaner with a pneumatic, compressed gas-powered sample acquisition and delivery system to efficiently collect and transfer lunar soil from the surface to other science instruments or sample return containers. Investigations and demonstrations, such as LPV, launched on CLPS flights will help NASA study Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis and pave the way for future crewed missions on the Moon. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads that will be carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

A technology demonstration flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative could change how research teams collect and study soil and rock samples on other planetary bodies. Lunar PlanetVac, or LPV, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Developed by Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company of Altadena, California, LPV is designed to, essentially, operate as a vacuum cleaner with a pneumatic, compressed gas-powered sample acquisition and delivery system to efficiently collect and transfer lunar soil from the surface to other science instruments or sample return containers. Investigations and demonstrations, such as LPV, launched on CLPS flights will help NASA study Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis and pave the way for future crewed missions on the Moon. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads that will be carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

A technology demonstration flying aboard the next delivery for NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative could change how research teams collect and study soil and rock samples on other planetary bodies. Lunar PlanetVac, or LPV, is one of 10 payloads set to be carried to the Moon by the Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander in 2025. Developed by Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company of Altadena, California, LPV is designed to, essentially, operate as a vacuum cleaner with a pneumatic, compressed gas-powered sample acquisition and delivery system to efficiently collect and transfer lunar soil from the surface to other science instruments or sample return containers. Investigations and demonstrations, such as LPV, launched on CLPS flights will help NASA study Earth’s nearest neighbor under Artemis and pave the way for future crewed missions on the Moon. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads that will be carried on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander.

The Glenn Research Center (GRC) Telescience Support Center (TSC) is a NASA telescience ground facility that provides the capability to execute ground support operations of on-orbit International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle payloads. This capability is provided with the coordination with the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC), the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Mission Control Center in Houston (MCC-H) and other remote ground control facilities. The concept of telescience is a result of NASA's vision to provide worldwide distributed ISS ground operations that will enable payload developers and scientists to control and monitor their on-board payloads from any location -- not necessarily a NASA site. This concept enhances the quality of scientific and technological data while decreasing operation costs of long-term support activities by providing ground operation services to a Principal Investigator and Engineering Team at their home site. The TSC acts as a hub in which users can either locate their operations staff within the walls of the TSC or request the TSC operation capabilities be extended to a location more convenient such as a university.

A new, world-class laboratory for research into future space transportation technologies is under construction at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL. The state-of-the-art Propulsion Research Laboratory will serve as a leading national resource for advanced space propulsion research. Its purpose is to conduct research that will lead to the creation and development of irnovative propulsion technologies for space exploration. The facility will be the epicenter of the effort to move the U.S. space program beyond the confines of conventional chemical propulsion into an era of greatly improved access to space and rapid transit throughout the solar system. The Laboratory is designed to accommodate researchers from across the United States, including scientists and engineers from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, universities, and industry. The facility, with 66,000 square feet of useable laboratory space, will feature a high degree of experimental capability. Its flexibility will allow it to address a broad range of propulsion technologies and concepts, such as plasma, electromagnetic, thermodynamic, and propellantless propulsion. An important area of emphasis will be development and utilization of advanced energy sources, including highly energetic chemical reactions, solar energy, and processes based on fission, fusion, and antimatter. The Propulsion Research Laboratory is vital for developing the advanced propulsion technologies needed to open up the space frontier, and will set the stage of research that could revolutionize space transportation for a broad range of applications. This photo depicts construction workers taking part in a tree topping ceremony as the the final height of the laboratory is framed. The ceremony is an old German custom of paying homage to the trees that gave their lives in preparation of the building site.

Two of KSC's X-34 technicians (far right), David Rowell and Roger Cartier, look at work being done on the modified A-1A at Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif. Since September, eight NASA engineering technicians from KSC's Engineering Prototype Lab have assisted Orbital Sciences Corporation and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in the complex process of converting the X-34 A-1 vehicle from captive carry status to unpowered flight status, the A-1A. The other KSC technicians are Kevin Boughner, Mike Dininny, Mike Lane, Jerry Moscoso, James Niehoff Jr. and Bryan Taylor. The X-34 is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip, and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The autonomously operated technology demonstrator will be air-launched from an L-1011 airplane and should be capable of flying eight times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet. The X-34 Project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

Helen Cole, the project manager for the Lab-on-a-Chip Applications Development program, and Lisa Monaco, the project scientist for the program, insert a lab on a chip into the Caliper 42 which is specialized equipment that controls processes on commercial chips to support development of lab-on-a-chip applications. The system has special microscopes and imaging systems, so scientists can process and study different types of fluid, chemical, and medical tests conducted on chips. For example, researchers have examined fluorescent bacteria as it flows through the chips' fluid channels or microfluidic capillaries. Researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, have been studying how the lab-on-a-chip technology can be used for microbial detection, water quality monitoring, and detecting biosignatures of past or present life on Mars. The Marshall Center team is also collaborating with scientists at other NASA centers and at universities to develop custom chip designs for not only space applications, but for many Earth applications, such as for detecting deadly microbes in heating and air systems. (NASA/MSFC/D.Stoffer)

The modified X-34, known as A-1A, rests in the background of the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., while an integrated team of KSC, Dryden Flight Research Center and Orbital Sciences Corporation engineers and technicians bring the X-34 A-1A vehicle closer to test flight readiness. Since September, eight NASA engineering technicians from KSC's Engineering Prototype Lab have assisted in the complex process of converting the X-34 A-1 vehicle from captive carry status to unpowered flight status, the A-1A. The X-34 is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip, and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The autonomously operated technology demonstrator will be air-launched from an L-1011 airplane and should be capable of flying eight times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet. The X-34 Project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

At Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif., KSC technician James Niehoff Jr. (left) helps attach the wing of the modified X-34, known as A-1A. Niehoff is one of eight NASA engineering technicians from KSC's Engineering Prototype Lab who have assisted Orbital Sciences Corporation and Dryden in the complex process of converting the X-34 A-1 vehicle from captive carry status to unpowered flight status, the A-1A. The other KSC technicians are Kevin Boughner, Roger Cartier, Mike Dininny, Mike Lane, Jerry Moscoso, David Rowell and Bryan Taylor. The X-34 is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip, and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The autonomously operated technology demonstrator will be air-launched from an L-1011 airplane and should be capable of flying eight times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet. The X-34 Project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

Dr. Lisa Monaco, Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC’s) project scientist for the Lab-on-a-Chip Applications Development (LOCAD) program, examines a lab on a chip. The small dots are actually ports where fluids and chemicals can be mixed or samples can be collected for testing. Tiny channels, only clearly visible under a microscope, form pathways between the ports. Many chemical and biological processes, previously conducted on large pieces of laboratory equipment, can now be performed on these small glass or plastic plates. Monaco and other researchers at MSFC in Huntsville, Alabama, are customizing the chips to be used for many space applications, such as monitoring microbes inside spacecraft and detecting life on other planets. The portable, handheld Lab-on-a Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) made its debut flight aboard Discovery during the STS-116 mission launched December 9, 2006. The system allowed crew members to monitor their environment for problematic contaminants such as yeast, mold, and even E.coli, and salmonella. Once LOCAD-PTS reached the International Space Station (ISS), the Marshall team continued to manage the experiment, monitoring the study from a console in the Payload Operations Center at MSFC. The results of these studies will help NASA researchers refine the technology for future Moon and Mars missions. (NASA/MSFC/D.Stoffer)

Using the Solar Vector Magnetograph, a solar observation facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), scientists from the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Alabama, are monitoring the explosive potential of magnetic areas of the Sun. This effort could someday lead to better prediction of severe space weather, a phenomenon that occurs when blasts of particles and magnetic fields from the Sun impact the magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble around the Earth. When massive solar explosions, known as coronal mass ejections, blast through the Sun's outer atmosphere and plow toward Earth at speeds of thousands of miles per second, the resulting effects can be harmful to communication satellites and astronauts outside the Earth's magnetosphere. Like severe weather on Earth, severe space weather can be costly. On the ground, the magnetic storm wrought by these solar particles can knock out electric power. The researchers from MSFC and NSSTC's solar physics group develop instruments for measuring magnetic fields on the Sun. With these instruments, the group studies the origin, structure, and evolution of the solar magnetic field and the impact it has on Earth's space environment. This photograph shows the Solar Vector Magnetograph and Dr. Mona Hagyard of MSFC, the director of the observatory who leads the development, operation and research program of the Solar Vector Magnetograph.

Using the Solar Vector Magnetograph, a solar observation facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), scientists from the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Alabama, are monitoring the explosive potential of magnetic areas of the Sun. This effort could someday lead to better prediction of severe space weather, a phenomenon that occurs when blasts of particles and magnetic fields from the Sun impact the magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble around the Earth. When massive solar explosions, known as coronal mass ejections, blast through the Sun's outer atmosphere and plow toward Earth at speeds of thousands of miles per second, the resulting effects can be harmful to communication satellites and astronauts outside the Earth's magnetosphere. Like severe weather on Earth, severe space weather can be costly. On the ground, magnetic storms wrought by these solar particles can knock out electric power. Photographed are a group of contributing researchers in front of the Solar Vector Magnetograph at MSFC. The researchers are part of NSSTC's solar physics group, which develops instruments for measuring magnetic fields on the Sun. With these instruments, the group studies the origin, structure, and evolution of the solar magnetic fields and the impact they have on Earth's space environment.

KSC technician David Rowell works on the wing of the modified X-34, known as A-1A, at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif. Looking on are Art Cape, with Dryden, and Mike Brainard, with Orbital Sciences Corporation. Rowell is one of eight NASA engineering technicians from KSC's Engineering Prototype Lab who have assisted Orbital and Dryden in the complex process of converting the X-34 A-1 vehicle from captive carry status to unpowered flight status, the A-1A. The other KSC technicians are Kevin Boughner, Roger Cartier, Mike Dininny, Mike Lane, Jerry Moscoso, James Niehoff Jr. and Bryan Taylor. The X-34 is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip, and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The autonomously operated technology demonstrator will be air-launched from an L-1011 airplane and should be capable of flying eight times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet. The X-34 Project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and university scientists from the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Alabama, are watching the Sun in an effort to better predict space weather - blasts of particles and magnetic fields from the Sun that impact the magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble around the Earth. Filled by charged particles trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, the spherical comet-shaped magnetosphere extends out 40,000 miles from Earth's surface in the sunward direction and more in other directions. This image illustrates the Sun-Earth cornection. When massive solar explosions, known as coronal mass ejections, blast through the Sun's outer atmosphere and plow toward Earth at speeds of thousands of miles per second, the resulting effects can be harmful to communication satellites and astronauts outside the Earth's magnetosphere. Like severe weather on Earth, severe space weather can be costly. On the ground, magnetic storms wrought by these solar particles can knock out electric power. By using the Solar Vector Magnetograph, a solar observation facility at MSFC, scientists are learning what signs to look for as indicators of potential severe space weather.

At Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif., KSC technician Bryan Taylor makes an adjustment on the modified X-34, known as A-1A. Taylor is one of eight NASA engineering technicians from KSC's Engineering Prototype Lab who have assisted Orbital Sciences Corporation and Dryden in the complex process of converting the X-34 A-1 vehicle from captive carry status to unpowered flight status, the A-1A. The other KSC technicians are Kevin Boughner, Roger Cartier, Mike Dininny, Mike Lane, Jerry Moscoso, James Niehoff Jr. and David Rowell. The X-34 is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip, and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The autonomously operated technology demonstrator will be air-launched from an L-1011 airplane and should be capable of flying eight times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet. The X-34 Project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

Six of the KSC workers who supported recent X-34 modifications pose in front of the modified A-1A vehicle at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. From left are Mike Lane, Roger Cartier, Dave Rowell, Mike Dininny, Bryan Taylor and James Niehoff Jr. Not shown are Kevin Boughner and Jerry Moscoso. Since September, the eight NASA engineering technicians from KSC's Engineering Prototype Lab have assisted Orbital Sciences Corporation and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in the complex process of converting the X-34 A-1 vehicle from captive carry status to unpowered flight status, known as A-1A. The X-34 is 58.3 feet long, 27.7 feet wide from wing tip to wing tip, and 11.5 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. The autonomously operated technology demonstrator will be air-launched from an L-1011 airplane and should be capable of flying eight times the speed of sound, reaching an altitude of 250,000 feet. The X-34 Project is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, Lead Technician Todd Reeves, with United Space Alliance, moves a bolt catcher into place between the Solid Rocket Booster and left and the External Tank at right.A bolt catcher is a vertical bolt mechanism at the forward end of the External Tank that attaches each booster to the tank. At approximately two minutes into launch, SRB separation begins when pyrotechnic devices fire to break the 25-inch, 62-pound steel bolts. One half of the bolt is caught in canister-like 'bolt catchers' located on the tank; the other half remains with the boosters. Discovery is flying with a modified bolt catcher, which was upgraded from a two-piece welded design to a one-piece, machine-made design as part of NASA's effort to return to safe, reliable spaceflight. Eliminating the weld makes a structurally stronger bolt catcher design. Though the bolt catcher is mounted on the External Tank, it is considered part of the Solid Rocket Booster element design. It is built by Summa Technologies, Inc. in Huntsville, Ala., insulated at Lockheed Martin’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and installed on the External Tank at KSC.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, Senior Technician Kevin Reagan, with United Space Alliance, prepares one of two bolt catchers for installation on orbiter Discovery’s External Tank. A bolt catcher is a vertical bolt mechanism at the forward end of the External Tank that attaches each booster to the tank. At approximately two minutes into launch, SRB separation begins when pyrotechnic devices fire to break the 25-inch, 62-pound steel bolts. One half of the bolt is caught in canister-like 'bolt catchers' located on the tank; the other half remains with the boosters. Discovery is flying with a modified bolt catcher, which was upgraded from a two-piece welded design to a one-piece, machine-made design as part of NASA's effort to return to safe, reliable spaceflight. Eliminating the weld makes a structurally stronger bolt catcher design. Though the bolt catcher is mounted on the External Tank, it is considered part of the Solid Rocket Booster element design. It is built by Summa Technologies, Inc. in Huntsville, Ala., insulated at Lockheed Martin’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and installed on the External Tank at KSC.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - These two bolt catchers are ready for installation on orbiter Discovery’s External Tank. A bolt catcher is a vertical bolt mechanism at the forward end of the External Tank that attaches each booster to the tank. At approximately two minutes into launch, SRB separation begins when pyrotechnic devices fire to break the 25-inch, 62-pound steel bolts. One half of the bolt is caught in canister-like 'bolt catchers' located on the tank; the other half remains with the boosters. Discovery is flying with a modified bolt catcher, which was upgraded from a two-piece welded design to a one-piece, machine-made design as part of NASA's effort to return to safe, reliable spaceflight. Eliminating the weld makes a structurally stronger bolt catcher design. Though the bolt catcher is mounted on the External Tank, it is considered part of the Solid Rocket Booster element design. It is built by Summa Technologies, Inc. in Huntsville, Ala., insulated at Lockheed Martin’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and installed on the External Tank at KSC.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, Lead Technician Todd Reeves, with United Space Alliance, attaches one of two bolt catchers on orbiter Discovery’s External Tank. A bolt catcher is a vertical bolt mechanism at the forward end of the External Tank that attaches each booster to the tank. At approximately two minutes into launch, SRB separation begins when pyrotechnic devices fire to break the 25-inch, 62-pound steel bolts. One half of the bolt is caught in canister-like 'bolt catchers' located on the tank; the other half remains with the boosters. Discovery is flying with a modified bolt catcher, which was upgraded from a two-piece welded design to a one-piece, machine-made design as part of NASA's effort to return to safe, reliable spaceflight. Eliminating the weld makes a structurally stronger bolt catcher design. Though the bolt catcher is mounted on the External Tank, it is considered part of the Solid Rocket Booster element design. It is built by Summa Technologies, Inc. in Huntsville, Ala., insulated at Lockheed Martin’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and installed on the External Tank at KSC.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers prepare these two bolt catchers for installation on orbiter Discovery’s External Tank. A bolt catcher is a vertical bolt mechanism at the forward end of the External Tank that attaches each booster to the tank. At approximately two minutes into launch, SRB separation begins when pyrotechnic devices fire to break the 25-inch, 62-pound steel bolts. One half of the bolt is caught in canister-like 'bolt catchers' located on the tank; the other half remains with the boosters. Discovery is flying with a modified bolt catcher, which was upgraded from a two-piece welded design to a one-piece, machine-made design as part of NASA's effort to return to safe, reliable spaceflight. Eliminating the weld makes a structurally stronger bolt catcher design. Though the bolt catcher is mounted on the External Tank, it is considered part of the Solid Rocket Booster element design. It is built by Summa Technologies, Inc. in Huntsville, Ala., insulated at Lockheed Martin’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and installed on the External Tank at KSC.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, twin communications-relay CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO) are prepared for installation on an Atlas V rocket. MarCO constitutes a technology demonstration being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena in California. They will launch in on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for laun

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, twin communications-relay CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO) are prepared for installation on an Atlas V rocket. MarCO constitutes a technology demonstration being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena in California. They will launch in on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for laun

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, twin communications-relay CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO) are prepared for installation on an Atlas V rocket. MarCO constitutes a technology demonstration being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena in California. They will launch in on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for laun

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, twin communications-relay CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO) are installed on an Atlas V rocket. MarCO constitutes a technology demonstration being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena in California. They will launch in on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, twin communications-relay CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO) are prepared for installation on an Atlas V rocket. MarCO constitutes a technology demonstration being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena in California. They will launch in on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for laun

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, twin communications-relay CubeSats, called Mars Cube One (MarCO) are prepared for installation on an Atlas V rocket. MarCO constitutes a technology demonstration being built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena in California. They will launch in on the same United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-the-shelf technologies. Many have been made by university students, and dozens have been launched into Earth orbit using extra payload mass available on launches of larger spacecraft. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for laun

A model of the new Aries I crew launch vehicle, for which NASA is designing, testing and evaluating hardware and related systems, is seen here on display at the Marshall Space Fight Center (MSFC), in Huntsville, Alabama. The Ares I crew launch vehicle is the rocket that will carry a new generation of space explorers into orbit. Under the goals of the Vision for Space Exploration, Ares I is a chief component of the cost-effective space transportation infrastructure being developed by NASA’s Constellation Program. These transportation systems will safely and reliably carry human explorers back to the moon, and then onward to Mars and other destinations in the solar system. The Ares I effort includes multiple project element teams at NASA centers and contract organizations around the nation, and is led by the Exploration Launch Projects Office at NASA’s MFSC. Together, these teams are developing vehicle hardware, evolving proven technologies, and testing components and systems. Their work builds on powerful, reliable space shuttle propulsion elements and nearly a half-century of NASA space flight experience and technological advances. Ares I is an inline, two-stage rocket configuration topped by the Crew Exploration Vehicle, its service module and a launch abort system. The launch vehicle’s first stage is a single, five-segment reusable solid rocket booster derived from the Space Shuttle Program’s reusable solid rocket motor that burns a specially formulated and shaped solid propellant called polybutadiene acrylonitrile (PBAN). The second or upper stage will be propelled by a J-2X main engine fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In addition to its primary mission of carrying crews of four to six astronauts to Earth orbit, the launch vehicle’s 25-ton payload capacity might be used for delivering cargo to space, bringing resources and supplies to the International Space Station or dropping payloads off in orbit for retrieval and transport to exploration teams on the moon. Crew transportation to the space station is planned to begin no later than 2014. The first lunar excursion is scheduled for the 2020 timeframe.

In this photograph, Vince Huegele of the Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) Space Optics Manufacturing Technology Center (SOMTC) inspects the coating on the mirrors for Starshine 3, a satellite that resembles a high-tech disco ball that was placed into Earth orbit. The sphere, which is covered by hundreds of quarter-sized mirrors that reflect sunlight to observers on the ground, helps students study the effects of solar activity on the Earth's atmosphere. Ed White Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama is among 500 schools worldwide whose students helped grind and polish mirrors for the Starshine 3 satellite as a part of the Starshine Project. The total of up to 1,500 mirrors will improve the sunlight flash rate and make the satellite more visible at twilight as it orbits the Earth. These mirrors have been coated with a scratch-resistant, anti-oxidizing layer of silicon dioxide by optical engineers and technicians at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah and MSFC. Starshine-3 was launched on an Athena I unmarned launch vehicle out of the Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska, on September 29, 2001. Starshine 3 is nearly 37 inches (1 meter) in diameter, weighs 200 pounds (91 kilograms), and carries 1500 mirrors that were polished by approximately 40,000 students in 1,000 schools in 30 countries. Three small, optically-reflective spherical Starshine student satellites have been designed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and built by an informal volunteer coalition of organizations and individuals in the U.S. and Canada. This coalition, called Project Starshine, is headquartered in Monument, Colorado.

An artist's rendering of the air-breathing, hypersonic X-43B, the third and largest of NASA's Hyper-X series flight demonstrators, which could fly later this decade. Revolutionizing the way we gain access to space is NASA's primary goal for the Hypersonic Investment Area, managed for NASA by the Advanced Space Transportation Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Hypersonic Investment area, which includes leading-edge partners in industry and academia, will support future generation reusable vehicles and improved access to space. These technology demonstrators, intended for flight testing by decade's end, are expected to yield a new generation of vehicles that routinely fly about 100,000 feet above Earth's surface and reach sustained speeds in excess of Mach 5 (3,750 mph), the point at which "supersonic" flight becomes "hypersonic" flight. The flight demonstrators, the Hyper-X series, will be powered by air-breathing rocket or turbine-based engines, and ram/scramjets. Air-breathing engines, known as combined-cycle systems, achieve their efficiency gains over rocket systems by getting their oxygen for combustion from the atmosphere, as opposed to a rocket that must carry its oxygen. Once a hypersonic vehicle has accelerated to more than twice the speed of sound, the turbine or rockets are turned off, and the engine relies solely on oxygen in the atmosphere to burn fuel. When the vehicle has accelerated to more than 10 to 15 times the speed of sound, the engine converts to a conventional rocket-powered system to propel the craft into orbit or sustain it to suborbital flight speed. NASA's series of hypersonic flight demonstrators includes three air-breathing vehicles: the X-43A, X-43B and X-43C.

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft sits in a clean room in August 2024 after undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. Now that those tests are done, the orbiter and its science instruments will go through flight system software tests that simulate key aspects of launch, maneuvers, and the science mission while in orbit around the Moon. This photo shows Lunar Trailblazer with a solar array deployed. The large silver grate attached to the spacecraft is the radiator for the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) instrument. HVM³ is one of two instruments that will be used by the mission to detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. This data will be key to our understanding of this crucial resource on the Moon for future exploration. The spacecraft is just 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed. The project is led by Principal Investigator Bethany Ehlmann of Caltech and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is also providing systems engineering, navigation, and mission assurance. Caltech manages JPL for the agency. Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, which provides opportunities for low-cost, high-risk science missions that are responsive to requirements for flexibility. These lower-cost missions serve as an ideal platform for technical and architecture innovation, contributing to NASA's science research and technology development objectives. SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. IPAC leads mission operations, including planning, scheduling, and sequencing all science and spacecraft activities. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26390

NASA image release January 6, 2010 Caption: Spicules on the sun, as observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. These bursts of gas jet off the surface of the sun at 150,000 miles per hour and contain gas that reaches temperatures over a million degrees. GREENBELT, Md. -- Observations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Japanese satellite Hinode show that some gas in the giant, fountain-like jets in the sun's atmosphere known as spicules can reach temperatures of millions of degrees. The finding offers a possible new framework for how the sun's high atmosphere gets so much hotter than the surface of the sun. What makes the high atmosphere, or corona, so hot – over a million degrees, compared to the sun surface's 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- remains a poorly understood aspect of the sun's complicated space weather system. That weather system can reach Earth, causing auroral lights and, if strong enough, disrupting Earth's communications and power systems. Understanding such phenomena, therefore, is an important step towards better protecting our satellites and power grids. &quot;The traditional view is that all the heating happens higher up in the corona,&quot; says Dean Pesnell, who is SDO's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. &quot;The suggestion in this paper is that cool gas is being ejected from the sun's surface in spicules and getting heated on its way to the corona.&quot; Spicules were first named in the 1940s, but were hard to study in detail until recently, says Bart De Pontieu of Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Palo Alto, Calif. who is the lead author on a paper on this subject in the January 7, 2011 issue of Science magazine. In visible light, spicules can be seen to send large masses of so-called plasma – the electromagnetic gas that surrounds the sun – up through the lower solar atmosphere or photosphere. The amount of material sent up is stunning, some 100 times as much as streams away from the sun in the solar wind towards the edges of the solar system. But nobody knew if they contained hot gas. &quot;Heating of spicules to the necessary hot temperatures has never been observed, so their role in coronal heating had been dismissed as unlikely,&quot; says De Pontieu. Now, De Pontieu's team -- which included researchers at Lockheed Martin, the High Altitude Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado and the University of Oslo, Norway -- was able to combine images from SDO and Hinode to produce a more complete picture of the gas inside these gigantic fountains. The scientists found that a large fraction of the gas is heated to a hundred thousand degrees, while a small fraction is heated to millions of degrees. Time-lapsed images show that this material spews up into the corona, with most falling back down towards the surface of the sun. However, the small fraction of the gas that is heated to millions of degrees does not immediately return to the surface. Given the large number of spicules on the Sun, and the amount of material in the spicules, the scientists believe that if even some of that super hot plasma stays aloft it would make a contribution to coronal heating. Astrophysicist Jonathan Cirtain, who is the U.S. project scientist for Hinode at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., says that incorporating such new information helps address an important question that reaches far beyond the sun. &quot;This breakthrough in our understanding of the mechanisms which transfer energy from the solar photosphere to the corona addresses one of the most compelling questions in stellar astrophysics: How is the atmosphere of a star heated?&quot; he says. &quot;This is a fantastic discovery, and demonstrates the muscle of the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, comprised of numerous instruments on multiple observatories.&quot; Hinode is the second mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program, the goal of which is to improve understanding of fundamental solar and space physics processes. The mission is led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The collaborative mission includes the U.S., the United Kingdom, Norway and Europe. NASA Marshall manages Hinode U.S. science operations and oversaw development of the scientific instrumentation provided for the mission by NASA, academia and industry. The Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center is the lead U.S. investigator for the Solar Optical Telescope on Hinode. SDO is the first mission in a NASA science program called Living With a Star, the goal of which is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society. NASA Goddard built, operates, and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. 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