NASA News for Weeks Ending May 13th and May 22nd of 2022

NASA News for Weeks Ending May 13th and May 22nd of 2022

• The Webb Telescope is closer to starting its mission of science …
• An historic look at the center of our galaxy …
• And the Crew-3 astronauts reflect on their mission …
• The next commercial crew test mission to the space station …
• Outlining the agency’s objectives for deep space exploration ….
• And covering the total lunar eclipse on Earth and from space …

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Webb Telescope in Final Phase of Instrument Setup

Our James Webb Space Telescope is in the phase of its mission known as science instrument commissioning. This involves about two months of extensive calibrations and the last group of required setup activities before the telescope begins science observations this summer. A recent test image Webb took of a region of the Large Magellanic Cloud was compared to an image our Spitzer Space Telescope previously captured of that same region. The comparison demonstrates the improved clarity with which Webb can see the infrared sky. This ability could yield more detailed views of the cosmos and unprecedented discoveries. For more information about the Webb mission, visit nasa.gov/webb.

NASA Telescopes Help Study Milky Way’s Black Hole

According to the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, this is the first image of the supermassive black hole, known as Sagittarius A *, located at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Event Horizon Telescope uses data from a worldwide network of telescopes. Observations from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NuSTAR, and Swift Observatory were used to help astronomers study Sagittarius A *.

Crew-3 Astronauts Discuss Mission After Returning to Earth

The astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission reflected on their recent stay aboard the International Space Station during a May 11 news conference. NASA’s Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, along with Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency, spent 175 days aboard the station conducting microgravity science research and technology demonstrations.

“It was just this awe-inspiring experience and incredible honor to represent the NASA team and family in that role, and also to have our relationships as a crew grow through that expeditionary living and really supporting each other so that we could get the most out of every single day in terms of accomplishing our mission.”—Kayla Barron, NASA Astronaut

Crew-3 splashed down May 6 off the coast of Florida in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Endurance” spacecraft.

NASA’s InSight Records Monster Quake on Mars

Our InSight lander on Mars has detected the largest quake ever observed on another planet. The estimated magnitude 5 quake occurred earlier this month, on May 4. The largest “Marsquake” previously recorded by InSight was an estimated magnitude 4.2 detected Aug. 25, 2021. A magnitude 5 quake is comparable to a medium-size quake on Earth but is close to the upper limit of what scientists hoped to see on Mars during InSight’s mission.

NASA-funded Study Grows Plants in Soil From the Moon

For the first time ever, researchers have grown the hardy and well-studied plant Arabidopsis thaliana in nutrient-poor lunar regolith samples collected during several Apollo Moon missions. The plant is a relative of mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussel sprouts. This NASA-funded study could help pave the way for future astronauts to someday grow more nutrient-rich plants on the Moon and elsewhere in deep space.

NASA Mission Finds Tonga Volcanic Eruption Effects Reached Space

Data from NASA’s ICON mission has helped researchers determine that effects from the volcanic eruption on the South Pacific island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai in January 2022, actually reached beyond Earth – into space. The data show that in the hours after the eruption, hurricane-speed winds and unusual electric currents formed in the ionosphere – Earth’s electrified upper atmospheric layer at the edge of space. ICON launched in 2019 to identify how Earth’s weather interacts with weather from space.

NASA Outlines Moon to Mars Objectives

On May 17, NASA released a draft set of high-level objectives identifying 50 points that fall under four overarching categories of exploration for future Artemis missions to return astronauts to the Moon in preparation for human exploration of Mars. The agency is asking U.S. industry, academia, international communities, and other stakeholders to provide input on these deep space exploration objectives. Learn more at nasa.gov/moontomars.

NASA Covers Total Lunar Eclipse

The latest episode of our NASA Science Live was all about the total lunar eclipse on the evening of May 15, overnight into May 16. It featured NASA experts and live views of the eclipse from around the world. Meanwhile, our Lucy spacecraft captured the imagery of the eclipse seen in this time-lapse when the traveling spacecraft was about 64 million miles from Earth. It shows Earth on the left and the Moon on the right, which can be seen disappearing into darkness as it passes through Earth’s shadow. The Lucy spacecraft is on its way to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.

InSight Still Hunting Marsquakes as Power Levels Diminish

Dust on the solar panels of our InSight Mars lander is causing the spacecraft to gradually lose power. As a result, the InSight team anticipates that the lander will become inoperative by the end of this year. InSight, which arrived at Mars in November 2018, has so far detected more than 1,300 marsquakes and collected information to help improve our understanding of the interiors of rocky planets, including Earth.

Ultracold Bubbles on Space Station Open New Paths for Quantum Research

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, the first-ever quantum physics facility aboard the International Space Station, has been used to shape atoms of gas cooled to nearly absolute zero – or about minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit – into extremely thin, hollow spheres. This is similar to how liquids behave in microgravity and can’t be duplicated on Earth. The accomplishment could lead to new kinds of experiments with a state of matter distinctly different from gases, liquids, solids, and plasmas, called a Bose-Einstein condensate or BEC. In a BEC, scientists can observe the quantum properties of atoms at a scale visible to the naked eye.

New Name for NASA’s Supersonic X-Plane Mission

Our research mission to enable supersonic air travel over land has been renamed Quesst. The name, which includes an extra “s” to represent “supersonic,” replaces the mission’s original name: The Low-Boom Flight Demonstration. Through Quesst, NASA plans to demonstrate that the X-59 research aircraft can fly faster than sound without generating the loud sonic booms supersonic aircraft typically produce.

For more on these and other stories, follow us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.