Managers from across @NASA are gathered here at Kennedy Space Center to start the #Artemis I mission Flight Readiness Review (FRR).
The FRR will focus on the preparedness of the @NASA_SLS rocket, @NASA_Orion spacecraft, ground systems at Kennedy, flight operations at Johnson Space Center, and space communications and navigations networks to support the flight, and the certification of flight readiness.
📸: Joel Kowsky/ NASA
Artemis I Path to the Pad: The Spacecraft
Named after one of the largest constellations in the night Sky, Orion is the name given to the spacecraft that will carry the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon. But before we put astronauts on board, the spacecraft -powered by our Space Launch System rocket -will travel tens of thousands of miles on a flight test around the Moon. Watch as teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center prepare Orion for that journey, outfitting the spacecraft with its necessary components as it moves along its path to the pad.
Catch the full episode on YouTube tomorrow, Aug. 19
Credits:
Writer: Danielle Sempsrott
Editor: Francisco Martin
Producers: John Sackman, Michael Justice & Madison Tuttle
Music courtesy of Gothic Storm Music
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Through #Artemis, NASA will once again land humans on the Moon!
But before that can happen, we must first launch our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket—the most powerful rocket we've ever built—and Orion spacecraft on a flight test around the Moon. Join us as we document this moment in history and watch as we follow SLS and Orion on their path to the pad.
The first episode of this series will premiere on Aug. 12, 2022.
Writer: Danielle Sempsrott
Editor: Francisco Martin
Producers: John Sackman, Michael Justice & Madison Tuttle
Credit: NASA
Digging the Dirt 🤖
Seen here is the In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Pilot Excavator digging in the regolith bin during testing inside of Swamp Works here at Kennedy Space Center. The robot excavator, targeted to fly aboard a Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) flight in the next few years, will demonstrate excavation of up to 10 metric tons of regolith on the Moon. The ability to excavate regolith in such high quantities is a critical part of NASA’s plan to create sustainable infrastructure on the Moon.
🎥: NASA/Isaac Watson
♻️ Is it possible to recycle trash in space?
Researchers here at Kennedy are using OSCAR to test technology to convert trash generated during spaceflight into useful gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapor, and methane. Astronauts could potentially use these gases as supplies or vent them from the spacecraft during a mission to reduce the mass of the spacecraft. OSCAR and “trash-to-gas” is one of several potential solutions NASA is investigating to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste generated by astronauts for future missions as part of its logistics reduction and resource reutilization strategy.
Credit: Kim Shiflett
🤩 It’s the #OOTD 🤩
🗓#OTD in 1966, Astronauts John W. Young, command pilot, and Michael Collins, pilot, walked up the ramp at Pad 19 to enter the elevator which took them to the white room and the waiting Gemini-10 spacecraft.
Gemini 10 was the eighth crewed Earth-orbiting spacecraft of the Gemini series. The mission plan included a rendezvous with the Gemini 8 Agena target, two extravehicular activity (EVA) excursions, and the performance of 15 scientific, technological, and medical experiments.
📸Photo credit: NASA
Last Thursday at 8:44pm ET, the @spacex Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Launch Complex 39A to begin its journey to the @iss to deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, research, and the agency’s next investigation to monitor climate change, EMIT to the international crew.
Dragon is set to arrive at the orbiting lab this morning at 11:20am.
Live coverage of docking begins at 10:00am ET: www.nasa.gov/live
📸 Credit: SpaceX
🗓 #OTD in 1995, STS-71 Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at KSC’s Shuttle landing facility!
STS-71 marked several historic firsts in human spaceflight history: 100th U.S. human space launch conducted from Cape; first U.S. Space Shuttle-Russian Space Station Mir docking and joint on-orbit operations; largest spacecraft ever in orbit; and first on-orbit changeout of Shuttle crew.
After 9 days in space, Space Shuttle Atlantis made its way back to the Cape ending its journey on Runway 31.
STS-71 return crew: Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson, Charles J. Precourt, Ellen S. Baker, Bonnie J, Dunbar, Gregory J. Harbaugh, Norman E. Thagard, Cosmonaut Vladimir N. Dezhurov, Cosmonaut Gennady M. Strekalov
Credit: NASA
#DYK These fun facts about the American flag on the front of the Vehicle Assembly Building?
🌟 The flag is 209 feet high.
🌟 The flag is 110 feet wide.
🌟 Each star is 6 feet across.
🌟 Each strip is 9 feet wide.
The flag was first painted on the Vehicle Assembly Building in 1976. In 1998, NASA’s iconic “meatball” logo was added!
Credit: NASA
Cheers to 60 years 🚀🎉
Today marks our 60th anniversary! Leading the way from Mercury to Mars, America’s multi-user spaceport has played a vital role in our nation’s space program.
➡️ Swipe for ten memories from the past 60 years!
📸 Credit: NASA
🗓 #OTD in 2019, NASA’s mobile launcher (ML1) atop crawler-transporter 2 (CT2) made a solo trek to Launch Complex 39B.
ML1 reaches roughly 400 feet from the ground and is the platform that will provide the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft with power, communications, coolant, fuel, and stabilization prior to launch.
Right now, ML1 is at LC39B with SLS and Orion. At the end of this week, it will make the 4-mile trek back to the VAB to prepare for the #Artemis launch.
Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
“With each milestone and each test, we are another step closer to launch." Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, #Artemis launch director
@NASA has analyzed the data from the wet dress rehearsal conducted Monday, June 20, and determined the testing campaign is complete. The agency will roll the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy next week to prepare the rocket and spacecraft for launch.
Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
🗓🚀 #OTD in 1965, Gemini IV lifted off from Launch Complex 19 for the second crewed mission of the Gemini series. It carried James McDivitt and Edward White on a 4-day, 62-orbit flight from June 3 to June 7, 1965.
During Gemini IV, White became the first American to venture outside his spacecraft for what is officially known as an extravehicular activity, or EVA.
During the remainder of the four-day mission, McDivitt and White conducted 11 scientific experiments. One investigation involved spacecraft navigation using a sextant to measure their position using the stars. The objective was to investigate the feasibility of using this technique for lunar flights on the Apollo program. Another focused on photography with a 70-millimeter Hasselblad camera taking images of the weather and terrain on Earth.
Photo credit: @NASA
Crawler-transporter 2 is making moves!
Check out this time-lapse as it heads to the Vehicle Assembly Building to pick up @NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
On June 6, it’ll make the four-mile journey to Pad 39B to drop off the #Artemis I rocket for the next wet dress rehearsal attempt.
This #MemorialDay, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation.
This photo was taken on July 8, 2011, as space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Complex 39A to begin the final mission of @NASA’s Space Shuttle Program — STS-135.
Photo credit: NASA