jsc2020e043815 (Sept. 10, 2020) --- A view of the Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiments (Saffire) V experiment hardware, loaded inside the Northrop Grumman(NG) Cygnus cargo vehicle for the 14th NG resupply mission to the International Space Station. Saffire is a series of experiments to investigate how fire spreads on a variety of combustible materials in the microgravity environment. The experiments are ignited in Cygnus cargo spacecraft after it departs the space station and before it reenters the Earth's atmosphere. Studying the development and growth of fire in a re-supply cargo vehicle eliminates the risk of exposure to humans in an occupied spacecraft. Understanding how fire behaves in microgravity, and how different materials propagate flames in space is immensely important for the development of future crew spacecraft.

RSP-01

jsc2021e004419 (10/27/2020) --- A pre-flight view of the RSP-01 Robot Arm Deployment. The RSP-01 satellite is a 1-Unit (1U) CubeSat that deploys during the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-16 (J-SSOD-16) micro-satellite deployment mission and is handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS). RSP-01 is developed by Rymansat Spaces and launches to the International Space Station aboard the NG-15 Cygnus Cargo Vehicle. Image Credit: Rymansat Spaces.

RSP-01

jsc2021e004418 (10/6/2020) --- A pre-flight view of the front side of the RSP-01 Flight Model. The RSP-01 satellite is a 1-Unit (1U) CubeSat that deploys during the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-16 (J-SSOD-16) micro-satellite deployment mission and is handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS). RSP-01 is developed by Rymansat Spaces and launches to the International Space Station aboard the NG-15 Cygnus Cargo Vehicle. Image Credit: Rymansat Spaces.

RSP-01

jsc2021e004417 (10/6/2020) --- A pre-flight view of the RSP-01 Flight Model. The RSP-01 satellite is a 1-Unit (1U) CubeSat that deploys during the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-16 (J-SSOD-16) micro-satellite deployment mission and is handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS). RSP-01 is developed by Rymansat Spaces and launches to the International Space Station aboard the NG-15 Cygnus Cargo Vehicle. Image Credit: Rymansat Spaces.

RSP-01

jsc2021e004420 (10/3/2020) --- A pre-flight view of the top of the RSP-01 Flight Model. The RSP-01 satellite is a 1-Unit (1U) CubeSat that deploys during the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer-16 (J-SSOD-16) micro-satellite deployment mission and is handled by the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS). RSP-01 is developed by Rymansat Spaces and launches to the International Space Station aboard the NG-15 Cygnus Cargo Vehicle. Image Credit: Rymansat Spaces.

jsc2024e043918

NASA Instrument Tracks Power Plant Methane Emissions

Atmospheric methane is a potent greenhouse gas and an important contributor to air quality. Future instruments on orbiting satellites can help improve our understanding of important methane emission sources. NASA conducts periodic methane studies using the next-generation Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS-NG) instrument. These studies are determining the locations and magnitudes of the largest methane emission sources across California, including those associated with landfills, refineries, dairies, wastewater treatment plants, oil and gas fields, power plants, and natural gas infrastructure. These three images show concentrations of methane in a natural gas plume relative to background air measured by AVIRIS-NG, overlaid on true-color land surface images (source: Google Earth). The aircraft was flying at an altitude of about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above ground level and the AVIRIS-NG image pixels are each about 10 feet (3 meters) across. The plume shape varies with changing emission rate, wind speed and direction. The methane plume originates from a compressor — circled in each image — at Valley Generating Station, a natural gas-fired power plant near Los Angeles. The color scale indicates the concentration of methane in each pixel relative to background methane concentrations in the surrounding atmosphere. The plume was initially detected by a single overflight in September 2017 but assumed at the time to be due to normal operations (intermittent venting). The plume was detected by AVIRIS-NG again on six flights in July-August 2020. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24019

iss063e010534

iss063e010534 (5/10/2020) --- A view from the Unity module aboard the International Space Station (ISS) of the Northrop Grumman NG-13 hatch. Attached to the hatch is the SlingShot small satellite deployer loaded with two CubeSats that will be deployed into Earth orbit after Cygnus departs the orbiting lab on May 11, 2020. The SEOPS-UbiquitiLink investigation furthers demonstrates the premise that small satellites/nano satellites can perform vital communications missions and provide valuable communications services. The SEOPS-WIDAR investigation demonstrates technologies that increase the utility of low-cost microsatellites, contributing to the increased commercialization of the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.

NASA’s SDO Watches Bursts of Solar Material

Solar material repeatedly bursts from the sun in this close-up captured on July 9-10, 2016, by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. The sun is composed of plasma, a gas in which the negative electrons move freely around the positive ions, forming a powerful mix of charged particles. Each burst of plasma licks out from the surface only to withdraw back into the active region – a dance commanded by complex magnetic forces above the sun. SDO captured this video in wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, which are typically invisible to our eyes. The imagery is colorized here in red for easy viewing. Credit: NASA/SDO/Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng

WFF-2021-053-004

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen as it is transported to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Friday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Northrop Grumman named the NG CRS-16 Cygnus spacecraft after NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka, in honor of his prominence as the first Asian American astronaut. The launch is scheduled for 5:56 p.m. EDT, Aug. 10, 2021. Photo Credit: NASA/Brian Bonsteel

WFF-2021-053-007

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen as it is transported to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, Friday, Aug. 10, 2021, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 16th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station will deliver about 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew. Northrop Grumman named the NG CRS-16 Cygnus spacecraft after NASA astronaut Ellison Onizuka, in honor of his prominence as the first Asian American astronaut. The launch is scheduled for 5:56 p.m. EDT, Aug. 10, 2021. Photo Credit: NASA/Brian Bonsteel