NASA Marshall Showcases Lander Testing Capabilities

On Aug. 16, 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the Human Landing System Program. Bridenstine was joined by Representatives Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Representative Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee. NASA will rapidly develop the lander for safely carrying the first woman and the next man to the Moon’s surface in 2024. The Artemis missions will start with launch by the world’s most powerful rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System, also managed by Marshall. Bridenstine made the announcement in front of the 149-foot-tall SLS liquid hydrogen structural test article, currently being tested to help ensure the structure can safely launch astronauts on the Artemis lunar missions. (NASA/Fred Deaton)

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

Photographer Fred Deaton
Album Artemis