Space, NASA and Science News

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Far out: NASA space telescope’s 1st cosmic view goes deep

Our view of the universe just expanded: The first image from NASA’s new space telescope unveiled Monday is brimming with galaxies and offers the deepest look of the cosmos ever captured.

https://apnews.com/article/james-webb-telescope-first-photos-32c7cad1f6b277f871990d029bedba72?

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Section of destroyed shuttle Challenger found on ocean floor

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A large section of the destroyed space shuttle Challenger has been found buried in sand at the bottom of the Atlantic, more than three decades after the tragedy that killed a schoolteacher and six others.

https://apnews.com/article/challenger-space-shuttle-found-in-ocean-064e47171452894d6494f142fea26126

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NASA: Moon rocket endured hurricane, set for 1st test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s moon rocket needs only minor repairs after enduring a hurricane at the pad and is on track for its first test flight next week, a top official said Friday.

https://apnews.com/article/hurricanes-astronomy-space-launches-science-hurricane-nicole-2fe52d1beb74f884c7ee4b531b4b7d60

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NASA capsule on way to moon after launch by giant new rocket

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A space capsule hurtled toward the moon Wednesday for the first time in 50 years, following a thunderous launch of NASA’s mightiest rocket in a dress rehearsal for astronaut flights.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-moon-rocket-launch-d2a9f8802a1286c17ecf3ff61d5622cc?

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TO THE MOON

NASA launches maiden Artemis I mission from Florida; 28-day lunar orbit ushers in a new era in space travel

Emre Kelly

Florida Today USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

After several high-profile delays brought on by hardware and hurricanes, a towering rocket emblazoned with NASA logos blasted off from Florida on Wednesday, finally kicking off a monthlong mission to the moon that hearkens back to the Apollo days more than 50 years ago.

At 1:47 a.m. EST, the multibilliondollar Space Launch System's four main engines and two solid rocket boosters rumbled to life at Kennedy Space Center with a whopping 8.8 million pounds of thrust, making it the world's most powerful operational rocket. It marked SLS' first launch under the umbrella of NASA's Artemis program and third attempt overall.

Less than 20 minutes into flight, the Orion capsule secured atop the rocket began deploying its solar arrays, kicking off an uncrewed 26-day mission to lunar orbit. With help from the United Launch Alliancebuilt upper stage, Orion fired off toward the moon – known as the translunar injection – just after 3:30 a.m. EST.

“It is not by chance that you are here today,” Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, NASA's Artemis launch director, told a packed Launch Control Center after liftoff. “I want you to look around, look around at this team, and know that you have earned it. You have earned your place in the room, you have earned this moment, you have earned your place in history.”

“You are part of a first that doesn't come along very often – once in a career, maybe,” Blackwell-Thompson said. “But we are all part of something incredibly special: the first launch of Artemis. The first step in returning our country to the moon and on to Mars.”

Artemis I is NASA's first demonstration flight under the program and, if all goes well, will make room for a follow-up mission sometime before 2025. If schedules hold, Artemis II will include a similar flight profile to Wednesday's launch but also send astronauts in the Orion capsule. Artemis III will then attempt to put two people on the surface before 2030.

The countdown leading to the Space Coast's 50th launch of the year, however, was a story in and of itself.

A tense countdown at KSC

There was no shortage of opportunities to launch Artemis I.

Managers tried in August and September, but had to stand down due to hardware issues at pad 39B – namely the loading of liquid hydrogen into the rocket's massive, Boeing- built core stage. Just when NASA appeared to resolve the

See LAUNCH, Page 4A

Continued from Page 1A

problems, hurricanes Ian and Nicole barreled through Florida, first causing the agency to roll the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to avoid Ian, then suffering minor damages to some of the Orion capsule.

Nicole caused some caulk-like material to be stripped away from Orion and raised questions about whether or not more could become dislodged in flight and strike other portions of the rocket.

Officials said the soft, pliable material would not noticeably increase the loss-of-mission risk, which had previously been calculated at 1 in 125.

Going into the count Tuesday night, all appeared to be moving along smoothly until a small hydrogen leak was detected.

Though nearly fully fueled, SLS could not proceed with liftoff without some kind of repair to a hydrogen top-off line down near the base of the rocket.

Supercooled liquid hydrogen and oxygen are NASA's propellants of choice for SLS.

NASA opted to do something rarely seen in spaceflight: send technicians into a blast danger area, or BDA, to fix hardware just feet away from a pressurized vehicle capable of holding 733,000 gallons of energy-dense propellants. The three technicians, called the “red team,” moved in and tightened nuts around a hydrogen fill line and departed the pad without issue.

Without the red team – Trent Annis, Billy Cairns, and Chad Garrett – Artemis I would not have flown Wednesday.

“We were very focused on what was happening up there,” Annis, a cryogenic engineering technician, said during a post-launch interview on NASA TV. “The rocket's alive – it's creaking, making venting noises, it's pretty scary. My heart was pumping.”

Cairns, also a cryogenic technician, had been a red team crew member for 37 years before he was called into action for the first time Wednesday to help fix the leak. Both were overseen by Garrett, their safety engineer, and all are employed by ERC, part of Jacobs' Test and Operations Support Contract at KSC.

“We showed up today. As soon as we walked up those stairs, we were ready to rock and roll,” Annis said.

Once the leak was resolved, however, another issue popped up: Connectivity was lost with a critical radar tracking station deep into the countdown. That would have also led to a scrub since the station is part of a series of systems designed to destroy a rocket in the event of an emergency, also known as the flight termination system or FTS.

The issue at the Space Force-operated station was traced to networking hardware.

Once replaced and tested, mission managers eventually gave the “go” to proceed with launch at 1:47 a.m., or 43 minutes later than planned.

What's left for NASA

Over the next 26 days, the Lockheed Martin-built Orion capsule will have to perform a complicated series of maneuvers to enter lunar orbit, circle the moon, then depart before returning to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

By the fifth day, Orion should arrive in the area of the moon. The timeline includes:

h Days 6 to 9: Transit to a lunar orbit known as distant retrograde (DRO); closest approach, 60 miles, happens in this timeframe

h Days 10 to 15: Stay in DRO; break

Apollo 13's record for farthest capsule from Earth

h Days 16 to 19: Exit DRO

h Days 20 to 26: Return to Earth

h Day 26 (Dec. 11): Entry and splashdown in the Pacific After splashdown, teams will pluck the 16-foot-diameter spacecraft out of waters off the coast of California using a San Antonio-class Navy ship. That class of amphibious ship is ideal for capsule recovery since it includes a built-in dock and large helicopter landing deck. The latter will be especially important during future Artemis missions that include astronauts since they'll need to be flown back to land after splashdown.

The Artemis program is a serious – and seriously expensive – attempt at establishing a long-term foothold on the moon and, someday, Mars. According to NASA's own inspector general, the program could run as high as $93 billion through 2025, a staggering number for a program that's been delayed years and flown once so far. Each launch is projected to cost about $4.1 billion.

If everything goes according to plan, though, SLS and Orion will act as the architecture that makes those goals happen.

To keep Artemis on track and avoid cuts from Congress and taxpayers alike, almost everything has to go perfectly. And, in the case of flying with astronauts where lives are at risk, even more so.

Much of that risk comes down to the last phase of the mission when Orion, approaching Earth at some 25,000 mph, will need to survive a fiery re-entry. The heat shield has to hold.

“Space is hard and it's expensive,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told FLORIDA TODAY. “And as a result, there are risks we accept.”

“You can't simulate the burning of a heat shield in a laboratory. You have to go do it, especially when it's coming in and approaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit,” Nelson said.

If Artemis I goes according to plan, however, Nelson said the rest is obvious.

“We're going to the moon, then we're going to Mars. That's if everything's right. If everything's not right, then we'll fix it and we'll still go to the moon and Mars,” he said.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-2423715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.

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NASA's Artemis I Orion capsule set to break records on monthlong journey around the moon

'Rigorous mission'

Jamie Groh

Florida Today | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

NASA's Orion capsule is in the midst of an uncrewed journey to the moon and back that is expected to last the better part of a month. In that time Orion is set to achieve some truly impressive feats including breaking records and setting some new ones.

Orion will fly incredibly close to the moon's surface for a gravitational assist and fling itself into a new lunar orbit called a Distant Retrograde Orbit setting it up to become the furthest distance from Earth any human-rated spacecraft has ever achieved.

See ARTEMIS, Page 7A

“Artemis I is a true stress test of the Orion spacecraft in the deep space environment.”

Mike Sarafin

NASA's Artemis mission manager

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Orion will also travel faster and return to Earth hotter than any other spacecraft humans have ever traveled in.

At 1:47 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 16, Orion began its moon-bound mission atop NASA's massive 322-foot Space Launch System rocket as it launched for the very first time from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-B in Florida. Then the clock started ticking for the Artemis I mission.

Orion will be put through its paces and test many objectives for the duration of its Artemis I mission. This includes testing the heat shield during reentry.

Although uncrewed, the Artemis I Orion capsule is outfitted with a slew of experiments that will capture data about the experiences that future astronauts can expect while traversing space to reach our closest solar system neighbor.

“Artemis I is a true stress test of the Orion spacecraft in the deep space environment,” Mike Sarafin, NASA's Artemis Mission Manager said in a release. “Without crew aboard the first mission, (a Distant Retrograde Orbit) allows Orion to spend more time in deep space for a rigorous mission to ensure spacecraft systems, like guidance, navigation, communication, power, thermal control, and others are ready to keep astronauts safe on future crewed missions.”

Many of Orion's upcoming milestones will be significant and NASA will cover them live both online and on TV.

What's coming up for Orion

Mission Days 6-9, Monday, Nov. 21: After an outbound journey of about six days Orion will arrive at the moon. It will complete a powered fly-by maneuver and orbit close to the lunar surface coming within about 80 miles. There it will spend a few days completing checkouts and gathering data while orbiting the moon.

Mission Day 10, Friday, Nov. 25: Orion will perform an insertion burn that will utilize lunar gravity to fling into a new orbit called a Distant Retrograde Orbit. This specialized orbit will help propel Orion farther from Earth than any other human-rated spacecraft.

Mission Day 11, Saturday, Nov. 26: Orion will surpass the record set by NASA's Apollo 13 mission as the furthest distance a human-rated spacecraft has ever flown in deep space. The maximum distance of the Artemis I mission is expected to reach about 298,565 miles from Earth.

Mission Day 16, Thursday, Dec. 1: Orion will complete a maneuver to depart the Distant Retrograde Orbit.

Mission Day 20, Dec. 5: Orion will complete another powered fly-by maneuver positioning it on its second closest approach to the lunar surface. This will set up the spacecraft to begin its lunar orbit exit plan and chart its path back home for a splash landing on Earth.

Mission Day 26, Dec. 11: Orion will reenter the Earth's atmosphere, descend under a parachute canopy, and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Once crews collect the capsule aboard a U.S. Navy recovery ship it will mark the conclusion of the Artemis I mission.

Artemis I is just the first in a series of moon missions that NASA has planned over the next decade which includes landing the first woman and person of color on the moon.

Orion's next lunar journey, Artemis II, will be a crewed variant of the Artemis I demonstration mission and can be expected sometime in 2024. NASA hasn't yet decided on the astronauts who will crew the first human mission to the moon since 1972.

Artemis III which will involve a landing on the moon is slated to happen sometime before 2030.

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/ launchschedule.

Jamie Groh is a space reporter for Florida Today. You can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.

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NASA'S ORION TO MAKE LUNAR GRAVITY-ASSIST FLYBY TO HELP LAUNCH IT HOMEWARD

Readying to return

Jamie Groh

Florida Today USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA

NASA's Artemis I mission began the last leg of its deep-space journey Thursday when an Orion spacecraft departed lunar orbit, but the trip back to Earth isn't quite yet underway. It first has to swing by the moon again for a gravityassist maneuver early next week.

Thursday afternoon, the uncrewed spacecraft powered up its largest engine for a 105-second burn. The maneuver propelled Orion out of its distant retrograde orbit, or DRO, around the moon and committed it to a path back to Earth, skirting the lunar surface along the way.

“It's been a fantastic mission, but all great things must come to an end,” NASA spokesperson Dan Huot said during NASA's livestream of Thursday's burn.

Next, Orion will fire up its Orbital Maneuvering System engine once more on Monday for the powered return flyby, a burn similar to last week's powered outbound flyby.

The Orbital Maneuvering System engine is a repurposed piece of space shuttle hardware flying for the first time on Orion, having last flown during the STS-112 mission in October 2002. It joins over 30 other engines on Orion's powerhouse, a service module built by the European Space Agency.

Monday's powered flyby will again position Orion close to the surface at less than 80 miles like last week's maneuver that flung Orion into its distant retrograde lunar orbit. This time, however, it will harness the moon's gravity while aimed at Earth for its return trip home.

The return powered flyby will swing Orion past the Apollo 12 and 14 landing sites during daylight this time, but by the time Orion gets there, it will be positioned about 6,000 miles above the lunar surface. That's too far to capture any detailed photographs.

“We are absolutely going to be pointing cameras at that area. But these are essentially GoPro cameras and we're 6,000 miles away,” Zebulon Scoville, NASA flight director, told reporters on Wednesday.

“You can imagine being in Houston and pointing a GoPro in Paris and trying to see a Volkswagen bus there, you're not going to see it,” he said. “It'll be more of a tip of the hat and a historical nod to the past as we fly this spaceship to the future.”

All told, Orion has performed well so far and is expected to keep chugging along for the return leg of the Artemis I mission.

NASA's Chris Edelen, Orion vehicle integration deputy manager, told reporters Wednesday that “things have

See ORION, Page 5A

“It's been a fantastic mission, but all great things must come to an end.”

NASA spokesperson Dan Huot

Discussing the Artemis I mission during NASA's livestream on Thursday

Continued from Page 1A

been very smooth with the spacecraft.”

“If this is a new car you purchase, you're going to be very happy,” he said. “It's drama-free so far and exceeding expectations.”

After coasting back toward Earth for about six days, Orion will ditch the service module before re-entering the atmosphere on Dec. 11. It will then descend under a parachute canopy for a 12:42 p.m. EST splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, marking the end of Artemis I.

If all goes well, the splashdown will pave the way for NASA to execute a similar mission in the form of Artemis II. Though the mission profile looks similar to Artemis I, it will include astronauts. Then, Artemis III will aim to put two astronauts on the lunar surface before 2030.

Jamie Groh is a space reporter for

If all goes well, the splashdown will pave the way for NASA to execute a similar mission in the form of Artemis II. Though the mission profile looks similar to Artemis I, it will include astronauts. Then, Artemis III will aim to put two astronauts on the lunar surface before 2030.

Florida Today. You can contact her at JGroh@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlteredJamie.

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription.

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NASA Orion capsule safely blazes back from moon, aces test

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Orion capsule made a blisteringly fast return from the moon Sunday, parachuting into the Pacific off Mexico to conclude a test flight that should clear the way for astronauts on the next lunar flyby.

https://apnews.com/article/space-launches-science-mexico-national-aeronautics-and-administration-8e6487552c752a7a13afb458dc801018?

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Mars rover captures 1st sound of dust devil on red planet

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — What’s a dust devil sound like on Mars? A NASA rover by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed directly overhead, recording the racket.

https://apnews.com/article/science-oddities-8b26a14165106b27610727264043e8c6?

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Space telescope uncovers massive galaxies near cosmic dawn

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered what appear to be massive galaxies dating back to within 600 million years of the Big Bang, suggesting the early universe may have had a stellar fast-track that produced these “monsters.”

https://apnews.com/article/webb-space-telescope-galaxies-e806176f01487742e9973e99adb24418?

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Webb Space Telescope spots early galaxies hidden from Hubble

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Webb Space Telescope is finding bright, early galaxies that until now were hidden from view

https://apnews.com/article/astronomy-space-exploration-science-business-galaxies-83bed779651f9346b9efa55806f11dc0?

Neptune and rings shine in photos from new space telescope

https://apnews.com/article/astronomy-science-neptune-galaxies-ee9c12ffa7be4a35e54396134354a9be?

Baby stars, dancing galaxies: NASA shows new cosmic views

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A sparkling landscape of baby stars. A foamy blue and orange view of a dying star. Five galaxies in a cosmic dance. The splendors of the universe glowed in a new batch of images released Tuesday from NASA’s powerful new telescope.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-images-4660ce6bc1fa35ccf97357b19976eef3?

 

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Future NASA moonwalkers to sport sleeker spacesuits

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Moonwalking astronauts will have sleeker, more flexible spacesuits that come in different sizes when they step onto the lunar surface later this decade.

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-moon-spacesuits-astronauts-486bb5722c78c250348e2ab36f312bf6

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‘City killer’ asteroid to pass between Earth and moon’s orbits this weekend

On hearing the words “city killer” and “asteroid” in the same sentence, you’d be forgiven for thinking something bad is about to happen.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/world/city-killer-asteroid-intl-scli-scn/index.html?

A stunning lineup of five planets will decorate the night sky

Night sky lovers can typically spot a smattering of a few planets, but in late March, a stunning visual takes shape when five planets line up beneath the moon in a display sometimes called a planetary parade or alignment.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/world/planetary-alignment-night-sky-scn/index.html?

NASA Prepares for Historic Asteroid Sample Delivery on Sept. 24

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is cruising back to Earth with a sample it collected from the rocky surface of asteroid Bennu. When its sample capsule parachutes down into the Utah desert on Sept. 24, OSIRIS-REx will become the United States’ first-ever mission to return an asteroid sample to Earth.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-prepares-for-osiris-rex-historic-asteroid-sample-delivery-sept-24-2023

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Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky tonight

NEW YORK (AP) — Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout.

https://apnews.com/article/five-planets-align-night-sky-jupiter-mars-d0170eea9fee67680cf2f1bca68a4fcf?

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NASA Webb telescope captures star on cusp of death

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death.

https://apnews.com/article/webb-space-telescope-star-2d703565f9521f71dcbf11441d920f67?

Jupiter’s moon count jumps to 92, most in solar system

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92.

https://apnews.com/article/science-hawaii-chile-planets-c176ea4bbee4fda4e996884802e47141?

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Astronomers Discover Ultramassive Black Hole

The findings show that the black hole is more than 30 billion times the mass of the sun

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/astronomers-discover-ultramassive-black-hole/3195221/

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1st moon crew in 50 years includes woman, Black astronaut

NASA on Monday named the four astronauts who will fly around the moon late next year, including the first woman and the first African American assigned to a lunar mission.

https://apnews.com/article/astronauts-nasa-moon-crew-91ea388ce81ebbefbb80d24b0ddb79a2

[Dr. Shane]

Sounds like a repeat of Apollo 13 - at least the route they are taking.

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NASA’s Webb Scores Another Ringed World With New Image of Uranus

Following in the footsteps of the Neptune image released in 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken a stunning image of the solar system’s other ice giant, the planet Uranus. The new image features dramatic rings as well as bright features in the planet’s atmosphere. The Webb data demonstrates the observatory’s unprecedented sensitivity for the faintest dusty rings, which have only ever been imaged by two other facilities: the Voyager 2 spacecraft as it flew past the planet in 1986, and the Keck Observatory with advanced adaptive optics.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/nasa-s-webb-scores-another-ringed-world-with-new-image-of-uranus

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NASA discovers 'invisible monster' that weighs as much as 20-million suns

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has accidently discovered a possible runaway supermassive black hole that creates a trail of newborn stars. CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/04/07/nasa-hubble-telescope-black-hole-foreman-cprog-nc-vpx.cnn?

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Webb telescope captures ‘green monster’ inside a young supernova

The James Webb Space Telescope has spied colorful, never-before-seen details in one of the most well-observed remnants of an exploded star.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/11/world/webb-telescope-cassiopeia-a-supernova-scn/index.html?

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Astronomers capture 1st image of Milky Way’s huge black hole

WASHINGTON (AP) — The world’s first image of the chaotic supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy doesn’t portray a voracious cosmic destroyer but what astronomers Thursday called a “gentle giant” on a near-starvation diet.

https://apnews.com/article/black-hole-milky-way-image-e482ee7b773b1053bcb296bbd9abea16?

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SpaceX Cargo Dragon Splashes Down, Returning Science to Earth for NASA

SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down at 4:58 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 15, off the coast of Tampa, Florida, marking the return of the company’s 27th contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. The spacecraft carried approximately 4,300 pounds of valuable scientific experiments and other cargo back to Earth.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/04/15/spacex-cargo-dragon-splashes-down-returning-science-to-earth-for-nasa/?

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Saturn’s icy rings are probably heating its atmosphere, giving it an ultraviolet glow

The rings that make Saturn such a spectacle are probably heating its atmosphere and making it glow at ultraviolet wavelengths.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/saturn-icy-ring-heat-atmosphere-ultraviolet-glow?

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Rocket science: Alaska sky spiral caused by SpaceX fuel dump

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Northern lights enthusiasts got a surprise mixed in with the green bands of light dancing in the Alaska skies: A light baby blue spiral resembling a galaxy appeared amid the aurora for a few minutes.

https://apnews.com/article/alaska-sky-spiral-aurora-northern-lights-90e767058f328bb95bab62c3f5bed1cc?

Spellbinding polar night gets darker in warming Arctic

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (AP) — At 10:40 a.m. on a day in January, two powerful beams of light from the Svalbard governor’s boat pierced the complete darkness of the mountain-fringed fjord it was sailing. It was carrying the children’s choir from this remote village’s church to visit an even more isolated Arctic outpost.

https://apnews.com/article/weather-climate-and-environment-europe-longyearbyen-religion-380c8c17b910833fee2e04dcfbac10a7?

Save the date: One year until total solar eclipse sweeps US

NEW YORK (AP) — Dust off your eclipse glasses: It’s only a year until a total solar eclipse sweeps across North America.

https://apnews.com/article/where-to-see-2024-total-solar-eclipse-113061a08d63e579c698017312f7eea0?