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Nuevos astronautas de Artemis se gradúan y la NASA hará la cobertura
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Swept Wing Flow Test model, known as SWiFT, with pressure sensitive paint applied, sports a pink glow under ultraviolet lights while tested during 2023 in a NASA wind tunnel at Langley Research Center in Virginia.NASA / Dave Bowman Many of us grew up using paint-by-number sets to create beautiful color pictures.
For years now, NASA engineers studying aircraft and rocket designs in wind tunnels have flipped that childhood pastime, using computers to generate images from “numbers-by-paint” – pressure sensitive paint (PSP), that is.
Now, advances in the use of high-speed cameras, supercomputers, and even more sensitive PSP have made this numbers-by-paint process 10,000 times faster while creating engineering visuals with 1,000 times higher resolution.
So, what’s the big difference exactly between the “old” capability in use at NASA for more than a decade and the “new?”
“The key is found by adding a single word in front of PSP, namely ‘unsteady’ pressure sensitive paint, or uPSP,” said E. Lara Lash, an aerospace engineer from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
With PSP, NASA researchers study the large-scale effects of relatively smooth air flowing over the wings and body of aircraft. Now with uPSP, they are able to see in finer detail what happens when more turbulent air is present – faster and better than ever before.
In some cases with the new capability, researchers can get their hands on the wind tunnel data they’re looking for within 20 minutes. That’s quick enough to allow engineers to adjust their testing in real time.
Usually, researchers record wind tunnel data and then take it back to their labs to decipher days or weeks later. If they find they need more data, it can take additional weeks or even months to wait in line for another turn in the wind tunnel.
“The result of these improvements provides a data product that is immediately useful to aerodynamic engineers, structural engineers, or engineers from other disciplines,” Lash said.
Robert Pearce, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics, who recently saw a demonstration of uPSP-generated data displayed at Ames, hailed the new tool as a national asset that will be available to researchers all over the country.
“It’s a unique NASA innovation that isn’t offered anywhere else,” Pearce said. “It will help us maintain NASA’s world leadership in wind tunnel capabilities.”
A technician sprays unsteady pressure sensitive paint onto the surface of a small model of the Space Launch System in preparation for testing in a NASA wind tunnel.NASA / Dave Bowman How it Works
With both PSP and uPSP, a unique paint is applied to scale models of aircraft or rockets, which are mounted in wind tunnels equipped with specific types of lights and cameras.
When illuminated during tests, the paint’s color brightness changes depending on the levels of pressure the model experiences as currents of air rush by. Darker shades mean higher pressure; lighter shades mean lower pressure.
Cameras capture the brightness intensity and a supercomputer turns that information into a set of numbers representing pressure values, which are made available to engineers to study and glean what truths they can about the vehicle design’s structural integrity.
“Aerodynamic forces can vibrate different parts of the vehicle to different degrees,” Lash said. “Vibrations could damage what the vehicle is carrying or can even lead to the vehicle tearing itself apart. The data we get through this process can help us prevent that.”
Traditionally, pressure readings are taken using sensors connected to little plastic tubes strung through a model’s interior and poking up through small holes in key places, such as along the surface of a wing or the fuselage.
Each point provides a single pressure reading. Engineers must use mathematical models to estimate the pressure values between the individual sensors.
With PSP, there is no need to estimate the numbers. Because the paint covers the entire model, its brightness as seen by the cameras reveals the pressure values over the whole surface.
A four-percent scale model of the Space Launch System rocket is tested in 2017 using unsteady Pressure Sensitive Paint inside the 11-foot by 11-foot Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.NASA / Dominic Hart Making it Better
The introduction, testing, and availability of uPSP is the result of a successful five-year-long effort, begun in 2019, in which researchers challenged themselves to significantly improve the PSP’s capability with its associated cameras and computers.
The NASA team’s desire was to develop and demonstrate a better process of acquiring, processing, and visualizing data using a properly equipped wind tunnel and supercomputer, then make the tool available at NASA wind tunnels across the country.
The focus during a capability challenge was on NASA’s Unitary Plan Facility’s 11-foot transonic wind tunnel, which the team connected to the nearby NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility, both located at Ames.
Inside the wind tunnel, a scale model of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket served as the primary test subject during the challenge period.
Now that the agency has completed its Artemis I uncrewed lunar flight test mission, researchers can match the flight-recorded data with the wind tunnel data to see how well reality and predictions compare.
With the capability challenge officially completed at the end of 2024, the uPSP team is planning to deploy it to other wind tunnels and engage with potential users with interests in aeronautics or spaceflight.
“This is a NASA capability that we have, not only for use within the agency, but one that we can offer industry, academia, and other government agencies to come in and do research using these new tools,” Lash said.
NASA’s Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities portfolio office, an organization managed under the agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, oversaw the development of the uPSP capability.
Watch this uPSP Video
About the Author
Jim Banke
Managing Editor/Senior WriterJim Banke is a veteran aviation and aerospace communicator with more than 40 years of experience as a writer, producer, consultant, and project manager based at Cape Canaveral, Florida. He is part of NASA Aeronautics' Strategic Communications Team and is Managing Editor for the Aeronautics topic on the NASA website.
Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More
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Last Updated Jul 03, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related Terms
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By NASA
Dwayne Lavigne works as a controls engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, where he supports NASA’s Artemis mission by programming specialized computers for engine testing.NASA/Danny Nowlin As a controls engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Dwayne Lavigne does not just fix problems – he helps put pieces together at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site.
“There are a lot of interesting problems to solve, and they are never the same,” Lavigne said. “Sometimes, it is like solving a very cool puzzle and can be pretty satisfying.”
Lavigne programs specialized computers called programmable logic controllers. They are extremely fast and reliable for automating precisely timed operations during rocket engine tests as NASA Stennis supports the agency’s Artemis missions to explore the Moon and build the foundation for the first crewed mission to Mars.
However, the system will not act unless certain parameters are met in the proper sequence. It can be a complex relationship. Sometimes, 20 or 30 things must be in the correct configuration to perform an operation, such as making a valve open or close, or turning a motor on or off.
The Picayune, Mississippi, native is responsible for establishing new signal paths between test hardware and the specialized computers.
He also develops the human machine interface for the controls. The interface is a screen graphic that test engineers use to interact with hardware.
Lavigne has worked with NASA for more than a decade. One of his proudest work moments came when he contributed to development of an automated test sequencing routine used during all RS-25 engine tests on the Fred Haise Test Stand.
“We’ve had many successful tests over the years, and each one is a point of pride,” he said.
When Lavigne works on the test stand, he works with the test hardware and interacts with technicians and engineers who perform different tasks than he does. It provides an appreciation for the group effort it takes to support NASA’s mission.
“The group of people I work with are driven to get the job done and get it done right,” he said.
In total, Lavigne has been part of the NASA Stennis federal city for 26 years. He initially worked as a contractor with the Naval Oceanographic Office as a data entry operator and with the Naval Research Laboratory as a software developer.
September marks 55 years since NASA Stennis became a federal city. NASA, and more than 50 companies, organizations, and agencies located onsite share in operating costs, which allows tenants to direct more of their funding to individual missions.
“Stennis has a talented workforce accomplishing many different tasks,” said Lavigne. “The three agencies I’ve worked with at NASA Stennis are all very focused on doing the job correctly and professionally. In all three agencies, people realize that lives could be at risk if mistakes are made or shortcuts are taken.”
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By NASA
Credit: NASA/Krystofer Kim Read this release in English here.
La NASA estrenó el martes el primer episodio de la tercera temporada de Universo curioso de la NASA, el único pódcast en español de la agencia.
Los episodios se centran en algunas de las principales misiones y temas de investigación de la NASA para 2025, llevando la maravilla de la exploración, la tecnología espacial y los descubrimientos científicos al público de habla hispana de todo el mundo.
“La ciencia de la NASA está literalmente en todas partes, y trasciende la geografía y los idiomas para ofrecer beneficios, en tiempo real, en la vida cotidiana de las personas de todo el mundo que utilizan nuestras innovaciones, datos y descubrimientos científicos alcanzados desde el punto de vista único del espacio”, dijo la doctora Nicky Fox, administradora asociada de la Dirección de Misiones Científicas, en la sede central de la NASA en Washington. “El pódcast Universo curioso de la NASA comparte los descubrimientos de la NASA con las comunidades de habla hispana de todo el mundo, inspirando a futuros exploradores a unirse a nuestro viaje mientras regresamos a la Luna y nos aventuramos hacia Marte en beneficio de toda la humanidad”.
Todos los meses se presentarán nuevos episodios hasta el final del año. El primer episodio, centrado en los objetivos científicos de la misión a la Luna Artemis II de la NASA, está disponible en:
https://go.nasa.gov/4l9lmbN
Universo curioso es presentado por Noelia González, especialista en comunicaciones en el Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA en Greenbelt, Maryland. Esta temporada tendrá al coanfitrión Andrés Almeida, escritor técnico y anfitrión del pódcast de la NASA Small Steps, Giant Leaps (Pasos pequeños, grandes saltos) en la sede central de la NASA. A lo largo de la temporada, los oyentes celebrarán el legado del telescopio espacial Hubble de la NASA, aprenderán sobre una próxima misión al Sol y explorarán la energía oscura y cómo la estudiará el futuro telescopio espacial Roman, entre otros temas.
Universo curioso de la NASA es una iniciativa conjunta de los programas de comunicaciones en español y audio de la agencia. La nueva temporada, así como los episodios anteriores, están disponibles en Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud y el sitio web de la NASA.
Escucha el pódcast y descarga materiales de arte relacionados en el sitio web:
https://ciencia.nasa.gov/universocurioso
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Last Updated Jul 01, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station train inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui.Credit: SpaceX Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA’s 11th rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts to the International Space Station for a science expedition. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission is targeted to launch in the late July/early August timeframe from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The mission includes NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, serving as commander; Mike Fincke, pilot; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, mission specialist. This is the first spaceflight for Cardman and Platonov, the fourth trip for Fincke, and the second for Yui, to the orbiting laboratory.
Media accreditation deadlines for the Crew-11 launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program are as follows:
International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 6. U.S. media and U.S. citizens representing international media organizations must apply by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, July 14. All accreditation requests must be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
NASA’s media accreditation policy is online. For questions about accreditation or special logistical requests, email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. Requests for space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections are due by Monday, July 14.
For other questions, please contact NASA Kennedy’s newsroom at: 321-867-2468.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371.
For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Steve Siceloff / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 01, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
2 Min Read NASA Announces Winners of 2025 Human Lander Challenge
NASA’s Human Lander Challenge marked its second year on June 26, awarding $18,000 in prize money to three university teams for their solutions for long-duration cryogenic, or super chilled, liquid storage and transfer systems for spaceflight.
Building on the crewed Artemis II flight test, NASA’s Artemis III mission will send astronauts to explore the lunar South Pole region with a human landing system and advanced spacesuits, preparing humanity to ultimately go to Mars. In-space propulsion systems that use cryogenic liquids as propellants must stay extremely cold to remain in a liquid state and are critical to mission success. The Artemis mission architecture will need these systems to function for several weeks or even months.
Students and advisors with the 12 finalist teams for the 2025 Human Lander Challenge competed in Huntsville, Alabama, near the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center between June 24-26. NASA/Charles Beason NASA announced Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott as the overall winner and recipient of the $10,000 top prize award. Old Dominion University won second place and a $5,000 award, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology in third place and a $3,000 award.
Before the winners were announced, 12 finalist teams selected in April gave their presentations to a panel of NASA and industry judges as part of the final competition in Huntsville. As part of the 2025 Human Lander Challenge, university teams developed systems-level solutions that could be used within the next 3-5 years for Artemis.
NASA selected Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott as the overall winner of NASA’s 2025 Human Lander Challenge Forum June 26. Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of NASA’s Human Landing System Program, presented the awards at the ceremony. NASA/Charles Beason “Today’s Golden Age of Innovation and Exploration students are tomorrow’s mission designers, systems engineers, and explorers,” said Juan Valenzuela, main propulsion systems and cryogenic fluid management subsystems lead for NASA’s Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The Human Lander Challenge concepts at this year’s forum demonstrate the ingenuity, passion, and determination NASA and industry need to help solve long-duration cryogenic storage challenges to advance human exploration to deep space.”
The challenge is sponsored by the agency’s Human Landing System Program within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and managed by the National Institute of Aerospace.
Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.
For more information about Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
News Media Contact
Corinne Beckinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jun 27, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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