The liquid hydrogen tank that will be part of the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage is being prepared for the Artemis III mission at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Eventually, the tank will be connected to the engine section that will house the four RS-25 engines. Once the aft simulator is attached, the LH2 tank undergoes non-destructive evaluation, which will test weld strength and ensure the tank is structurally sound. The SLS core stage is made up of five unique elements: the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank, intertank, liquid hydrogen tank, and the engine section. The tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 432 degrees Fahrenheit and sits between the core stage’s intertank and engine section. The liquid hydrogen hardware, along with the liquid oxygen tank, will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to help launch the Artemis III mission to the Moon. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rocket’s massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, after making the four-mile journey to the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher as Crawler Transporter-2 (CT-2) climbs the ramp at Launch Pad 39B, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for Nov. 14 at 12:07 a.m. EST. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Technicians transported the assembled upper part of the Artemis II core stage to the final assembly area inside the factory at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. On Jan 10, the forward assembly, left was moved next to the Artemis II liquid hydrogen tank, which has been undergoing assembly. Next, Boeing, the lead core stage contractor, will join the forward assembly and the liquid hydrogen tank to complete most of the core stage for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will send the first crew on an Artemis mission. The core stage consists of five major structures that are built, outfitted, and then connected to form the final stage. The forward skirt, liquid oxygen and intertank were connected and tested to form the 66-foot forward assembly. After the forward assembly is joined with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank, only the engine section, the fifth piece of the stage, will need to be added to complete the Artemis II core stage. The core stage serves as the backbone of the rocket, supporting the weight of the payload, upper stage, and crew vehicle, as well as the thrust of its four RS-25 engines and two five-segment solid rocket boosters attached to the engine and intertank sections. On Artemis II, the SLS rocket will launch the Orion spacecraft and a crew, sending them into lunar orbit, in preparation for later Artemis missions that will enable the first woman and first person of color to land on the Moon.

Ambassador of France to the United States Philippe Etienne delivers remarks during an Artemis Accords signing ceremony Tuesday, June 7, 2022, prior to the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) 60th Anniversary event at the French Ambassador’s Residence in Washington. France is the twentieth country to sign the Artemis Accords, which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

iss067e009291 (April 9, 2022) --- The Full Quarter Moon is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.

Vice President and Program Manager, Webb, Northrop Grumman, Scott Willoughby, delivers remarks ahead of the release of the first images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The first full-color images and spectroscopic data from the James Webb Space Telescope, a partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), are a demonstration of the power of Webb as the telescope begins its science mission to unfold the infrared universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Taylor Mickal)

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The Soyuz MS-22 rocket is launched to the International Space Station with Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubio, Prokopyev, and Petelin will spend approximately six months on the orbital complex, returning to Earth in March 2023. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy delivers remarks during an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 mission, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, at the National Academies of Science in Washington. The three-astronaut crew of Apollo 17 - commander Eugene Cernan, lunar module pilot Harrison Schmitt, and command module pilot Ronald Evans, embarked on the last mission of the Apollo program to land humans on the Moon in December of 1972. Cernan and Schmitt spent three days on the lunar surface collecting samples and performing scientific experiments before lifting off from the Taurus-Littrow Valley on December 14, 1972. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T), is secured on the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Feb. 28, 2022. GOES-T will lift off atop the Atlas V from SLC-41 on March 1, 2022, at 4:38 p.m. GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series that will continue to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events that affect public safety. GOES-T will be renamed GOES-18 once it reaches geostationary orbit. GOES-18 will go into operational service as GOES West to provide critical data for the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean. The launch is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, America’s multi-user spaceport.

The Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission arrives at the hangar at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida on Sept. 23, 2022. The capsule arrived at the launch complex after making the short journey from its nearby processing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA astronauts Nicole Aunapu Mann, commander; Josh Cassada, pilot; and mission specialists Koichi Wakata, of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina will lift off aboard Endurance – on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket – from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than 12:46 p.m. EDT Monday, Oct. 3.

NASA's Juno mission captured this view of Jupiter's intriguing, icy moon Europa during a close pass on Sept. 29, 2022. The contrast has been enhanced to help scientists look for signs of eruptions along the limb and terminator – the dividing line between the day and night sides of the moon. None were identified. When processed this way, the image shows features on Europa's night side illuminated by sunlight reflected from Jupiter, also called Jupiter shine. Along the terminator, low-angle sunlight highlights topography on the moon's surface. At the time the image was taken, the Juno spacecraft was 945 miles (1,521 kilometers) from Europa. Citizen scientist Brian Swift processed the image from raw data from the spacecraft's JunoCam public engagement camera, brightening darker regions and enhancing the contrast. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25694

A technician inspects the first half of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing for NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida, on Feb. 7, 2022. The satellite will be secured inside the payload fairing, which will protect it during launch. GOES-T is scheduled to launch on March 1, 2022, atop the Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series that will continue to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events that affect public safety. The launch is being managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, America’s multi-user spaceport.

The Desert Research and Technology Studies (DesertRATS) is one of NASA’s analog missions to test hardware and operational scenarios in a remote environment with geographic similarities to the Moon and Mars. In October 2022, NASA evaluated rover design and operations, communications with the Mission Control Center and a Science Evaluation Room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. A key element of the DesertRATS analog is the pressurized rover, a capability that is planned for astronaut surface exploration at the Moon and Mars. NASA has a study agreement with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for development of the Artemis pressurized rover, and JAXA representatives joined NASA at DesertRATS.

This drill is a duplicate of the one aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. It was used in a test campaign at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to learn how crumbly rocks respond to the drill. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25050

NASA Associate Administrator for Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Steve Shih, provides closing remarks after a panel discussion with NASA's four female center directors: Dr. Marla Peréz-Davis of Glenn Research Center, Vanessa Wyche of Johnson Space Center, Janet Petro of Kennedy Space Center, and Jody Singer of Marshall Space Flight Center, during the "DirectHERS" - Launching Through the Glass Ceiling event, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) returns to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 on Aug. 11 after a productive month of science flights out of Christchurch International Airport in New Zealand.

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility move the engine section of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket for Artemis IV from the Vertical Assembly Building to Cell G for weld priming. This hardware is the first large piece manufactured for the Artemis IV mission and makes up the lowest portion of the 212-foot-tall core stage. When complete, the engine section will house the four RS-25 engines and include vital systems for mounting, controlling and delivering fuel from the propellant tanks to the rocket’s engines. Together with its four RS-25 engines and its twin solid rocket boosters, it will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume capability, and energy to speed missions through space, the SLS rocket, along with NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit, the Human Landing System, and Orion spacecraft, is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. No other rocket is capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

iss066e114415 (Jan. 6, 2022) --- NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Raja Chari replaces hardware inside the Combustion Integrated Rack that supports the ACME (Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments) study. ACME is a series of six independent studies of gaseous flames seeking to improve fuel efficiency, reduce pollution, and promote spacecraft fire prevention.

NASA James Webb Space Telescope Project Manager Bill Ochs, left, NASA James Webb Space Telescope Commissioning Manager John Durning, right and others from the operations team celebrate, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, after confirming that the observatory’s final primary mirror wing successfully extended and locked into place. With Webb’s 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror fully deployed, the infrared observatory has completed its unprecedented process of unfolding in space to prepare for science operations. The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and Mark Vande Hei participate in a meet and greet with NASA leadership, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, left, Robert Hines, second from left, Kjell Lindgren, second from right, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, right, are seen on a monitor in firing room four of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center as they walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building during a dress rehearsal in preparation for the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission, Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti are scheduled to launch on April 23 at 5:26 a.m. EDT, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

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PHOTO DATE: 10-09-22 LOCATION: Flagstaff, Arizona SUBJECT: Photographic coverage of JETTS3 engineering night run 4. Joint EVA Test Team (JETT) Field Testing - JETT 3 fully integrated mission scale test to ensure successful surface operations and technology development for Artemis III. PHOTOGRAPHER: BILL STAFFORD

art001e002594 (Dec. 5, 2022): The optical navigation camera mounted on the Orion spacecraft captured these views of the Moon’s surface. On flight day 20 of the Artemis I mission, the spacecraft made its second and final close approach to the Moon before its returned powered flyby burn. Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness under different lighting conditions as a way to help orient the spacecraft on future missions with crew.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V interstage adapter and aft stub adapter are hoisted up at the vertical integration facility at Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept. 29, 2022. The adapter will be moved into the integration facility and secured atop the ULA Atlas V in preparation for the launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2). JPSS-2 and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) secondary payload are scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from SLC-3. JPSS-2, which will be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will join a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 times a day and providing a full view of the entire globe twice daily. The NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, previously known as JPSS-1, are both already in orbit. Each satellite carries at least four advanced instruments to measure weather and climate conditions on Earth. LOFTID is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit.

art001e001822 (Nov. 28, 2022) On flight day 13 of the Artemis I mission, Orion captured this view of Earth and the Moon on either sides of one of the spacecraft’s four solar arrays.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis I flight test, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I mission is the first integrated flight test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and ground systems. SLS and Orion launched at 1:47 a.m. EST, from Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Artemis I Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson stands at her console in Firing Room 1 as Artemis teams conduct a launch simulation for the Artemis I mission inside the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 27, 2022. Artemis I will be the first integrated test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. During the flight, Orion will launch atop the most powerful rocket in the world and fly farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever flown, paving the way for human deep space exploration and demonstrating our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti onboard, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti launched at 3:52 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-5 mission, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission is the fifth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina are scheduled to launch at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 5 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA’s X-59 research aircraft moves from its construction site to the flight line – or the space between the hangar and the runway – at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, on June 16, 2023. This milestone kicks off a series of ground tests to ensure the X-59 is safe and ready to fly. The X-59 is designed to fly faster than Mach 1 while reducing the resulting sonic boom to a thump for people on the ground. NASA will evaluate this technology during flight tests as part of the agency’s Quesst mission, which helps enable commercial supersonic air travel over land. Lockheed Martin Photography By Garry Tice 1011 Lockheed Way, Palmdale, Ca. 93599 Event: Move to Run Stall 5 Date: 6/19/2023 Additional Info:

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) returns to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 on Aug. 11 after a productive month of science flights out of Christchurch International Airport in New Zealand.

On Nov. 29, 2021, NASA's Juno mission completed its 38th close flyby of Jupiter. As the spacecraft sped low over the giant planet's cloud tops, its JunoCam instrument captured this look at two of Jupiter's largest moons. In the foreground, hurricane-like spiral wind patterns called vortices can be seen spinning in the planet's north polar region. These powerful storms can be over 30 miles (50 kilometers) in height and hundreds of miles across. Below Jupiter's curving horizon, two Jovian moons make an appearance: Callisto (below) and Io (above). Juno will make close flybys of Io in December 2023 and February 2024, the first such close encounters with this intriguing moon in over two decades. Io is the most volcanic body in our solar system, and its eruptions leave a trail of material behind that both fills Jupiter's magnetosphere and creates a torus of gas and dust around Jupiter. During the flybys, Juno will study Io's volcanoes and geology, search for signs of a magma ocean, and investigate how Io interacts with Jupiter's giant magnetosphere. Citizen scientist Gerald Eichstädt used raw JunoCam data to make the original version of this image, and then another citizen scientist, Thomas Thomopoulos, further processed it, zooming in and making color enhancements. In this view, north is down. At the time the image was taken, Juno was about 8,700 miles (14,000 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops, at a latitude of about 69 degrees, traveling at a speed of about 123,000 mph (198,000 kilometers per hour) relative to the planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25019

A team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida assesses the Dust Concentration Monitor and the Millimeter Wave Doppler Radar inside a regolith bin at the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations (GMRO) lab at the spaceport’s Swamp Works on July 28, 2022, as part of Plume Surface Interaction (PSI) Instrumentation testing. The PSI Project is advancing both modeling and testing capabilities to understand exactly how rocket exhaust plumes affect a planetary landing site. This advanced modeling will help engineers evaluate the risks of various plumes on planetary surfaces, which will help them more accurately design landers for particular locations.

High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building is seen after NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard atop a mobile launcher in departed to begin its trip to Launch Complex 39B for the first time, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will undergo a wet dress rehearsal at Launch Complex 39B to verify systems and practice countdown procedures for the first launch. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky & Aubrey Gemignani )

iss066e128292 (Jan. 26, 2022) --- The city lights of Tabuk, a Saudi Arabian city near the border with Jordan, are pictured during an orbital nightime pass from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above.

NASA Deputy Administrator, Pam Melroy, left, poses for a photo with the Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy, Dr. Anna Christmann, Thursday, March 31, 2022, at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 10 carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. Liftoff was at 2:25 a.m. PDT. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the polar satellite series and is expected to capture data to improve weather forecasts, helping scientists predict and prepare for extreme weather events and climate change. After JPSS-2 safely reaches orbit, LOFTID will follow a re-entry trajectory from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive re-entry. LOFTID is a partnership with ULA and is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter, one of the company’s engineers who played a key role in developing the technology. LOFTID will demonstrate how the inflatable aeroshell, or heat shield, can slow down and survive re-entry in conditions relevant to many potential applications, whether landing humans on Mars, new missions to Venus and Titan, or returning heavier payloads and samples from low-Earth orbit.

On Nov. 27, 2022, Mauna Loa, Earth's largest active volcano, began erupting from the summit caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Scientists with the Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis project (ARIA), a collaboration between NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for the agency, analyzed synthetic aperture radar images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites operated by ESA (European Space Agency) to calculate a map of the Earth's ground movement as a result of the eruption. Using images acquired before and after the start of the eruption – Nov. 22 and Dec. 4, 2022, respectively – scientists produced this false-color map showing the amount of ground surface movement, or displacement, the eruption caused. In the map, surface displacements are seen as color contours, or "fringes," where each color cycle represents about 2.8 centimeters of surface motion. The direction of the ground movement (whether toward or away from the satellite) is indicated by the color cycle (from outer to inner direction). A positive (+) indication, meaning "ground moved towards satellite," has a color cycle of blue-green-yellow-orange-red. A negative (-) indication, meaning "ground moved away from the satellite," has a color cycle of red-orange-yellow-green-blue. The broader fringes are representative of deep source processes within the volcano. In this case, a broad tabular source of magma deflated and fed the eruption as magma or lava was being supplied, somewhat like a deflating balloon (only tabular in shape) that shrank because pressure was relieved. The dense fringes marked as "dike opening" are a signature of the ground rupturing (or opening) as the magma made its way towards the Earth's surface. Scientists use these maps to build detailed models of subsurface volcanic processes to better forecast and understand the impact of future volcanic activity. The Sentinel-1 data were provided by ESA. The image contains modified Copernicus 2022 data, processed by ESA and analyzed by NASA-JPL. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25525

NASA is preparing major pieces of the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage to be joined as part of assembling the core stage for the Artemis II mission that will send crews to lunar orbit. Crews will soon connect the forward assembly with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank in the final assembly area at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. When this process is completed, four of the five large structures that make up the core stage will be joined. The 66-foot forward assembly consists of the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank and the intertank, which were mated earlier. This forward assembly will be joined with the 130-foot liquid hydrogen tank, the largest part of the stage that holds more than 500,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant. To compete the Artemis II core stage, engineers will add the engine section, which is currently being outfitted and includes the main propulsion systems that connect to the four RS-25 engines, Together, with the SLS twin solid rocket boosters, the core stage will produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts, and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon. The SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft form the foundation for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. For more on the core stage: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/infographics/corestage101.html Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

The engine that will power NASA's quiet supersonic X-59 in flight is installed, marking a major milestone in the experimental aircraft's journey toward first flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility brings the vehicle close to the completion of its assembly.

The mobile launcher with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building’s High Bay 3 to Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. As part of the agency’s Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft is scheduled to liftoff on Monday, Aug. 29. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.

This video includes a seismogram and sonification of the signals recorded by NASA's InSight Mars lander, which detected an estimated magnitude 5 quake on May 4, 2022, the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Animation available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25281

Work Request Description: Photographic coverage of ASCAN 2021 Class Wilderness Survival Training at Ft. Rucker, Alabama

Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive at the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft shortly after it landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 66 crew members Mark Vande Hei of NASA, and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, Wednesday, March 30, 2022. Vande Hei and Dubrov are returning to Earth after logging 355 days in space as members of Expeditions 64-66 aboard the International Space Station. For Vande Hei, his mission is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history. Shkaplerov is returning after 176 days in space, serving as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 65 and commander of Expedition 66. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

iss067e375885 (Sept. 20, 2022) --- Hurricane Fiona is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 259 miles above the Atlantic Ocean north of Puerto Rico. In the foreground, the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship docked to the Prichal module is silhouetted above the storm.

Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are testing the spacesuit astronauts will wear in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on trips to deep space. On June 22, 2017, members of the Johnson team participated in a Vacuum Pressure Integrated Suit Test to verify enhancements to the suit will meet test and design standards for the Orion spacecraft. During this test, the suit is connected to life support systems and then air is removed from Johnson’s 11-foot thermal vacuum chamber to evaluate the performance of the suits in conditions similar to a spacecraft. The suit will contain all the necessary functions to support life and is being designed to enable spacewalks and sustain the crew in the unlikely event the spacecraft loses pressure. Part of Batch images transfer from Flickr.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks prior to meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson for an Earth Science briefing, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Administrator Nelson and Vice President Harris met with French President Emmanuel Macron to highlight space cooperation between the United States and France. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina is seated inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a countdown dress rehearsal on Oct. 2, 2022. Kikina, along with NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Nicole Aunapu Mann, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata will launch to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft is targeted for noon EDT on Oct. 5, 2022, from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A.

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans move the liquid hydrogen tank of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to Cell A for white light scans of the tank’s dimensions in preparation of multiple join activities throughout the manufacturing process. The flight hardware will be used for Artemis III, one of the first crewed Artemis missions. The liquid hydrogen tank holds 537,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen cooled to minus 432 degrees Fahrenheit and is the largest of the five elements that make up the rocket’s 212-foot-tall core stage. The liquid hydrogen tank is situated between the core stage’s intertank and engine section. The liquid hydrogen hardware, along with the liquid oxygen tank, will provide propellant to the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the core stage to produce more than two million pounds of thrust to launch NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. Together with its four RS-25 engines, the rocket’s massive 212-foot-tall core stage — the largest stage NASA has ever built — and its twin solid rocket boosters produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies beyond Earth’s orbit to the Moon and, ultimately, Mars. Offering more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through space, the SLS rocket, along with NASA’s Gateway in lunar orbit, the Human Landing System, and Orion spacecraft, is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration and the Artemis lunar program. No other rocket is capable of carrying astronauts in Orion around the Moon in a single mission.

A customized Tesla Model X vehicle is parked outside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 27, 2022. Crew-4 astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Samantha Cristoforetti will make their way to the vehicles, which will transport them to Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, powered by the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, is scheduled for today at 3:52 a.m. EDT from Pad 39A at Kennedy.

A science briefing for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) is held on Feb. 25, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Daniel Gall, Advanced Baseline Imager chief systems engineer, Space and Airborne Systems, L3 Harris Technologies, participates in the briefing. GOES-T is scheduled to lift off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 1, 2022, at 4:38 p.m. GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series that will continue to help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events that affect public safety. The launch is being managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, America’s multi-user spaceport.

Attendees visit the NASA Exhibit area during the 37th Space Symposium, Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Artemis Mission Development Manager Mike Sarafin, Artemis Mission Integration Manager Sheela Logan, and Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Development Tom Whitmeyer raise Artemis flags Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Saturn has long inspired astronomers, from Galileo’s first glimpse of its rings in 1610 to the last pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it descended toward the planet’s atmosphere in 2017. But after four centuries of observing Saturn with telescopes, robotic flybys and orbiters, what might it look like to visit in person and witness the jewel of the solar system rising above one of its many natural satellites? Here we imagine the scene. Gazing over the south pole of the small moon Enceladus, geysers burst forth from cracks in the ice, scattering sunlight and forming a luminous veil around Saturn. In the distance, the large moons Rhea (right) and Titan (left) make their rounds of the gas giant’s far side. These bodies were discovered in the 17th century by astronomers Giovanni Domenico Cassini and Christiaan Huygens – the namesakes of the Cassini-Huygens mission, which explored the Saturn system from 2004 to 2017. The wealth of data and imagery returned by Cassini-Huygens vastly improved our understanding of the ringed planet and paved the way for future exploration.

A transmission spectrum made from a single observation using Webb’s Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) reveals atmospheric characteristics of the hot gas giant exoplanet WASP-96 b. A transmission spectrum is made by comparing starlight filtered through a planet’s atmosphere as it moves across the star, to the unfiltered starlight detected when the planet is beside the star. Each of the 141 data points (white circles) on this graph represents the amount of a specific wavelength of light that is blocked by the planet and absorbed by its atmosphere. In this observation, the wavelengths detected by NIRISS range from 0.6 microns (red) to 2.8 microns (in the near-infrared). The amount of starlight blocked ranges from about 13,600 parts per million (1.36 percent) to 14,700 parts per million (1.47 percent). Researchers are able to detect and measure the abundances of key gases in a planet’s atmosphere based on the absorption pattern – the locations and heights of peaks on the graph: each gas has a characteristic set of wavelengths that it absorbs. The temperature of the atmosphere can be calculated based in part on the height of the peaks: a hotter planet has taller peaks. Other characteristics, like the presence of haze and clouds, can be inferred based on the overall shape of different portions of the spectrum. The gray lines extending above and below each data point are error bars that show the uncertainty of each measurement, or the reasonable range of actual possible values. For a single observation, the error on these measurements is remarkably small. The blue line is a best-fit model that takes into account the data, the known properties of WASP-96 b and its star (e.g., size, mass, temperature), and assumed characteristics of the atmosphere. Researchers can vary the parameters in the model – changing unknown characteristics like cloud height in the atmosphere and abundances of various gases – to get a better fit and further understand what the atmosphere is really like. The difference between the best-fit model shown here and the data simply reflects the additional work to be done in analyzing and interpreting the data and the planet. Although full analysis of the spectrum will take additional time, it is possible to draw a number of preliminary conclusions. The labeled peaks in the spectrum indicate the presence of water vapor. The height of the water peaks, which is less than expected based on previous observations, is evidence for the presence of clouds that suppress the water vapor features. The gradual downward slope of the left side of the spectrum (shorter wavelengths) is indicative of possible haze. The height of the peaks along with other characteristics of the spectrum is used to calculate an atmospheric temperature of about 1350°F (725°C). This is the most detailed infrared exoplanet transmission spectrum ever collected, the first transmission spectrum that includes wavelengths longer than 1.6 microns with such high resolution and accuracy, and the first to cover the entire wavelength range from 0.6 microns (visible red light) to 2.8 microns (near-infrared) in a single shot. The speed with which researchers have been able to make confident interpretations of the spectrum is further testament to the quality of the data. The observation was made using NIRISS’s Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy (SOSS) mode, which involves capturing the spectrum of a single bright object, like the star WASP-96, in a field of view. WASP-96 b is a hot gas giant exoplanet that orbits a Sun-like star roughly 1,150 light-years away, in the constellation Phoenix. The planet orbits extremely close to its star (less than 1/20th the distance between Earth and the Sun) and completes one orbit in less than 3½ Earth-days. The planet’s discovery, based on ground-based observations, was announced in 2014. The star, WASP-96, is somewhat older than the Sun, but is about the same size, mass, temperature, and color. The background illustration of WASP-96 b and its star is based on current understanding of the planet from both NIRISS spectroscopy and previous ground- and space-based observations. Webb has not captured a direct image of the planet or its atmosphere. NIRISS was contributed by the Canadian Space Agency. The instrument was designed and built by Honeywell in collaboration with the Université de Montréal and the National Research Council Canada.

From left, Koichi Wakata, of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, and NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada will fly aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission. The crew will lift off aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket – from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. This marks the fifth crew rotation mission of the company’s human space transportation system, and its sixth flight with astronauts, to the space station for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Work Request Description: Photographic coverage of ASCAN 2021 Class Wilderness Survival Training at Ft. Rucker, Alabama

Nuclear Emerging Technologies for Space, NETS 2022 Conference

Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina speaks to members of the news media during crew arrival for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 1, 2022. The astronauts will launch aboard the Crew Dragon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Oct. 5. Launch is targeted for noon EDT from Launch Complex 39A. Crew-5 is the fifth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station, and the sixth flight of Dragon with people as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Russian Orthodox Bishop Ignatii blesses the Soyuz rocket, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad in Kazakhstan. Expedition 68 astronaut Frank Rubio of NASA, and cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on Sept. 21. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls}

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronaut Shane Kimbrough speaks during a meeting with National Geographic leadership and staff Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at National Geographic Headquarters in Washington. Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet completed the second crew rotation mission to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 198 days aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of Expeditions 65 and 66. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Move crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans guide the Inter-Stage Simulator (ISS) to the Michoud deep water port on Monday, Sept. 19 in preparation for transportation by barge to the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Once it arrives at Stennis, the simulator will be lifted into the B2 Test Stand, where it holds the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS) in place and acts as a thrust takeout. ISS protects the lower portion of the EUS from environmental elements during its Green Run tests. The term “green” refers to the new hardware, and “run” refers to operation all the components together for the first time. During tanking and launch for its future mission, the lower portion is shrouded in a flight interstage. EUS is part of the SLS Block 1B configuration. The more powerful configuration of the SLS rocket will provide in-space propulsion to send astronauts in NASA’s Orion spacecraft and 40% more cargo mass on a precise trajectory to the Moon. Through the Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon to pave the way for a sustainable presence on the Moon and future missions beyond.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher as it rolls out to Launch Complex 39B for the first time, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I flight test, the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will undergo a wet dress rehearsal at Launch Complex 39B to verify systems and practice countdown procedures for the first launch. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Daniel Gerges, Technician, poses for a portrait in the Glenn Extreme Environments Rig, GEER Lab

Artist concept of the X-59 top view

Director of Glenn Research Center, Dr. Marla Peréz-Davis speaks on a panel with NASA's three other female center directors: Janet Petro of Kennedy Space Center, Vanessa Wyche of Johnson Space Center, and Jody Singer of Marshall Space Flight Center, moderated by NASA General Counsel, Sumara Thompson-King, left, during the "DirectHERS" - Launching Through the Glass Ceiling event, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

A field of sand dunes is visible on the floor of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. Orbit Number: 88046 Latitude: 26.5457 Longitude: 62.9214 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-20 00:25 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25117

A view from inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 9, 2022, as the mobile launcher, carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the entrance to the transfer aisle, following the successful launch of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I flight test on Nov. 16, 2022. The mobile launcher will stay inside the VAB and remain there for several weeks as teams get it ready for the Artemis II crewed mission. Following its stay in the VAB, it will go to the mobile launcher park site location at Kennedy where it will undergo emergency egress modifications and testing to support future Artemis missions.

NASA is performing a series of tests to evaluate how astronauts and ground crew involved in final preparations before Orion missions will quickly get out of the spacecraft if an emergency were to occur on the pad prior to launch. In the hours before astronauts launch to space in Orion from NASA’s modernized spaceport in Florida in on the agency’s Space Launch System rocket, they will cross the Crew Access Arm 300 feet above the ground and climb inside the crew module with the assistance of ground personnel trained to help them strap into their seats and take care of last-minute needs. The testing is helping engineers evaluate hardware designs and establish procedures that would be used to get astronauts and ground crew out of the capsule as quickly as possible. Flight and ground crew are required to get out of Orion within two minutes to protect for a variety of failure scenarios that do not require the launch abort system to be activated, such as crew incapacitation, fire or the presence of toxins in the cabin. This testing took place the week of Oct. 30, 2017 using the Orion mockup in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In this photo, engineers used fake smoke to imitate a scenario in which astronauts must exit the capsule when their vision is obscured. Markings on the ground indicate where the Crew Access Arm would be located and help guide the crew. This testing is a collaborative effort between the Orion and Ground Systems Development and Operations programs. Previous egress testing at Johnson and in the Gulf of Mexico has evaluated how crew will exit the spacecraft at the end of their missions..

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as teams configure systems for rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA made the decision to rollback based on the latest weather predictions associated with Hurricane Ian. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Artist concept of the X-59 top view (pointing up)

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronaut Shane Kimbrough speaks during a meeting with National Geographic leadership and staff Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at National Geographic Headquarters in Washington. Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide, and Pesquet completed the second crew rotation mission to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program and spent 198 days aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of Expeditions 65 and 66. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

A cormorant and a heron are seen in front of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, as the Artemis I launch teams load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants including liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as the launch countdown progresses at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. The launch director halted today’s launch attempt at approximately 8:30 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

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Today's VIS image shows a cross section of Coprates Chasma. In this region the chasma has two sections – a deep, flat floored canyon at the top of the image, and a shallower section in the lower part of the image. The sections are divided by a large ridge. The floor of the bottom canyon is covered by large landslide deposits. Coprates Chasma is one of the numerous canyons that make up Valles Marineris. The chasma stretches for 960 km (600 miles) from Melas Chasma to the west and Capri Chasma to the east. Orbit Number: 91988 Latitude: -12.6995 Longitude: 293.287 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-09-09 13:27 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25717

Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson participates in an Artemis I mission overview briefing inside the Press Site auditorium at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 3, 2022. Also participating in the briefing from various locations were NASA Administrator Bill Nelson; Associate Administrator for Technology, Policy, and Strategy Bhavya Lal; Mission Manager Mike Sarafin; Space Launch System (SLS) Program Manager John Honeycutt; and Orion Program Manager Howard Hu. The first in an increasingly complex series of missions, Artemis I will test the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system prior to crewed flights to the Moon. Through Artemis, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface, paving the way for long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone before venturing to Mars.

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows the rim of an unnamed crater on the floor of the much larger Schroeter Crater. These craters are located in Terra Sabaea. The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation. Orbit Number: 85900 Latitude: -2.28902 Longitude: 56.6146 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-04-26 07:31 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25098

Tim Walsh, director, NOAA’s JPSS Program Office, NOAA, participates in a prelaunch news conference for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 28, 2022. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the polar satellite series and is expected to capture data to improve weather forecasts, helping scientists predict and prepare for extreme weather events and climate change. JPSS-2 is scheduled to launch at 2:25 a.m. PDT Tuesday, Nov. 1, on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Launching with JPSS-2 is NASA’s LOFTID technology demonstration. After JPSS-2 safely reaches orbit, LOFTID will follow a re-entry trajectory from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive re-entry. LOFTID is a partnership with ULA and is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter, one of the company’s engineers who played a key role in developing the technology. LOFTID will demonstrate how the inflatable aeroshell, or heat shield, can slow down and survive re-entry in conditions relevant to many potential applications, whether landing humans on Mars, new missions to Venus and Titan, or returning heavier payloads and samples from low-Earth orbit.

Lightning is seen near Launch Pad 39B as weather moves through the area as preparations for launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft continue, Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29 at 8:33 a.m. ET. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

iss067e007920 (April 11, 2022) --- At bottom right, is the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship docked to the Prichal module, which is itself docked to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module attached to the Russian segment of the International Space Station. The orbiting lab was flying 261 miles above Romania at the time this photograph was taken.

The flight Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) is connected to flex lines and other alignment calibration hardware in a thermal vacuum chamber as it is prepared for thermal testing in a clean tent at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. OCI is a highly advanced optical spectrometer that will be used to measure properties of light over portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It will enable continuous measurement of light at finer wavelength resolution than previous NASA satellite sensors, extending key system ocean color data records for climate studies. OCI is PACE's (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) primary sensor built at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

iss068e026401 (Dec. 3, 2022) --- NASA astronauts (left to right) Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio pictured during a spacewalk installing a roll-out solar array, or iROSA, to the International Space Station's starboard truss structure. Once all six iROSAs are installed, the station’s power generation is expected to increase to a combined total of more than 250 kW, more than a 30% increase, benefiting space station research and operations.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams, pilot for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test (CFT), checks her spacesuit and helmet during a crew validation test inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 18, 2022. Williams, along with NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, CFT commander, and Mike Fincke, CFT backup spacecraft test pilot, with assistance from the Boeing team, successfully completed the validation test during which they suited up and tested out the pressurized crew module to ensure seat fit, suit functionality, cabin temperature, audio system, and day of launch operations. Boeing’s CFT is scheduled to launch in April 2023.

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks prior to meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson for an Earth Science briefing, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Administrator Nelson and Vice President Harris met with French President Emmanuel Macron to highlight space cooperation between the United States and France. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

A group of university students and mentors flew aboard NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s DC-8 aircraft to study air quality as part of NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP). Based at NASA’s Armstrong Building 703 in Palmdale, California, the DC-8 flew over the Central Valley to measure pollution and monitor air quality on Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

iss067e003783 (April 6, 2022) --- The Namib Desert is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of the African nation of Namibia.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Saturday, April 2, 2022, as the Artemis I launch team conducts the wet dress rehearsal test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I flight test, the wet dress rehearsal will run the Artemis I launch team through operations to load propellant, conduct a full launch countdown, demonstrate the ability to recycle the countdown clock, and drain the tanks to practice timelines and procedures for launch. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Ahead of NASA’s Artemis I launch, a flight of T-38 supersonic trainer aircraft from the Johnson Space Center Aircraft Operations Division flies in formation over the agency’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft on the pad at Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Aug. 23, 2022. Pilots and passengers of the five aircraft include NASA Research Pilot Chris Condon and NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman in the lead plane, followed by NASA astronaut candidate Nicole Ayers and NASA astronaut Christina Koch in the second plane, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan in the third plane, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba in the fourth plane, and NASA astronaut candidate Jack Hathaway and Josh Valcarcel, NASA photographer, in the chase plane. Artemis I is scheduled to launch at 8:33 a.m. EDT on Aug. 29, 2022. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Orion capsule atop, slowly makes its way along the crawlerway at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022/Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, NASA’s Moon rocket is venturing the 4.2 miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B ahead of the first flight test of the fully stacked and integrated SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, scheduled to liftoff on Monday, Aug. 29. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human presence to the Moon and beyond. The primary goal of Artemis I is to thoroughly test the integrated systems before crewed missions by launching Orion atop the SLS rocket, operating the spacecraft in a deep space environment, testing Orion’s heat shield, and recovering the crew module after reentry, descent, and splashdown. In later missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the surface of the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone on the way to Mars.

Electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOLs), like the one shown in this concept art, could be a crucial part of the next generation of air transportation. In order to create a viable market, designers will have to create a comfortable passenger experience. NASA's Advanced Air Mobility mission is researching ride quality to better understand how these aircraft should be designed.

NASA’s mobile launcher, carried atop the crawler-transporter 2, arrives at the entrance to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mobile launcher left launch pad 39B on Dec. 8, 2022, following the successful launch of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I flight test on Nov. 16, 2022 and returned to the VAB on Dec. 9, 2022. The mobile launcher stay inside the VAB as teams get it ready for the Artemis II crewed mission. Following its stay in the VAB, it will go to the mobile launcher park site location at Kennedy where it will undergo emergency egress modifications and testing to support future Artemis missions.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts, from left to right, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and Mark Vande Hei participate in an employee engagement event, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

iss067e124177 (June 15, 2022) --- The sun's rays burst above Earth's horizon as the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above Western Australia on the coast of Shark Bay.

World Food Prize President, Barbara Stinson gives remarks during an event at the U.S Department of State where it was announced that Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, was awarded the 2022 World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation, Thursday, May 5, 2022, at the Harry S. Truman Building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

iss067e043338 (May 12, 2022) --- ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti installs acrylic scratch panes on two windows inside the seven-windowed cupola, the International Space Station's "window to the world." The orbiting lab was flying 271 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of New Zealand at the time of this photograph.

While many regions of sand dunes on Mars are located on the floors of impact craters, dune fields can form in any region where sand can be trapped. In this case, the sand dunes have formed in a depression in the Nereidum Montes region north of Argyre Planitia. Orbit Number: 92006 Latitude: -43.7748 Longitude: 307.763 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-09-11 01:41 https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25718