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Comicpalooza, the largest annual pop culture festival in the southern United States, is home to thousands of comic book, science, anime, and gaming fanatics in Houston. Guests have the opportunity to celebrate their passions through a variety of entertainment, panels, and meet and greets.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center has participated in Comicpalooza’s festivities for the last decade, giving attendees the chance to interact with NASA experts and learn more about human space exploration and the agency’s mission.

Comicpalooza fans enjoyed compelling presentations and panel discussions at NASA's stage and exhibit booth.
Comicpalooza guests listen to a presentation by NASA astronaut Marcos Berríos at the agency’s exclusive booth and stage area.
NASA/Robert Markowitz

Over 52,000 fans attended this year’s Comicpalooza, held May 24-26 at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center. NASA shared with them the exhilarating future of the Artemis campaign that will take humans further in space exploration than ever before, plans for human exploration of the Moon and Mars, and showcased innovative spacesuits, lunar terrain vehicles, and spacewalk tools. Fans also had an opportunity to meet and take photos with NASA astronaut Marcos Berríos.

NASA astronaut Marcos Berrios holds a microphone while giving a presentation at Comicpalooza.
NASA astronaut Marcos Berríos talks about his journey to becoming an astronaut and experiences to date during a presentation at 2024 Comicpalooza.
NASA/Robert Markowitz

The NASA exhibit featured immersive experiences with the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program; Exploration Architecture, Integration, and Science Directorate; Human Health and Performance Directorate; and STEM engagement programs. These unique exhibits provided guests with insight into the exciting opportunities and discoveries ahead for human spaceflight. NASA’s presence at Comicpalooza also caught the attention of legendary Hollywood actor Christopher Lloyd, who met NASA officials and participated in a tour of Johnson Space Center after the event concluded.

A group of diverse men and women pose for a group photo in front of NASA's exhibit booth at Comicpalooza.
Johnson Space Center volunteers and NASA experts who led interactive exhibits and panel discussions as part of the agency’s presence at 2024 Comicpalooza.
NASA/Robert Markowitz

NASA’s exclusive Comicpalooza stage featured 13 unique panels and discussions from agency experts, programs, and Berríos. These panels included:

  • The Development of Lunar Base Camp: NASA scientists discussed how future robotic and human explorers will put in place infrastructure for a long-term sustainable presence on the Moon.
  • Driving on the Moon One Day: A discussion about the latest technology and partnerships that will develop the next mobility systems on the Moon.
  • Another One Bites the Dust: Lunar Dust, Hardware Damage, and Why It Matters on the Moon: Lunar dust mitigation engineers and scientists talked about some of the risks of working on the Moon, what happened during Apollo, and what they plan to do about hardware damage, which threatens their efforts to keep astronauts safe and ensure mission success.
  • Meet an Astronaut: NASA astronaut Marcos Berríos hosted a panel about his journey to becoming an astronaut, what he is doing at NASA during his training period, and what is next for him in the future. A Q&A session followed the presentation and guests had the opportunity to learn more about Marcos.
  • Why It’s Hard to get to Mars: A discussion on why it is so difficult to get to the “Red Planet” and what technologies and strategies NASA is developing to accomplish this goal.
  • Landing on the Moon: A panel onwhy landing on the Moon remains a challenge and what the future looks like for additional lunar landings and activities.
  • International Space Station Mimic: Engineers and educators talked about a 3D printed, robotic model that syncs to live telemetry streaming from the real International Space Station in real-time.
  • My NASA Story: An early career perspective on launching a career at Johnson Space Center. Panelists discussed how they got to where they are, and what their jobs look like on a daily basis.
  • Artemis Overview: An overview on the Artemis campaign and its future, which includes landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. Through the Artemis missions, NASA will use new technology to study the Moon in new and better ways and prepare for human missions to Mars.
  • Draw Artemis: A panel of experts hosted a “draw along” as they discussed humanity’s voyage back to the Moon, the key role art plays in exploration, and the otherworldly environment of the Moon’s South Pole.

NASA’s participation in Comicpalooza educates and excites the public about the agency’s mission and inspires people who want to be a part of space exploration in their own unique ways.

Enjoy more images of the NASA exhibit booth at Comicpalooza below.

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      The other instrument rides beneath the fuselage of the ER-2 aircraft. Called AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer), it’s helping guide geologists to critical minerals directly and indirectly, by spotting the types of rocks that often contain them. It’s joined by another instrument developed by NASA, the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER), which senses thermal infrared radiance. Both instruments provide finely detailed measurements of minerals that complement what EMIT sees on a broader scale.
      A crew of life support staff prepare pilot Dean Neeley for an ER-2 flight. A specialized suit – similar to an astronaut’s – allows the pilot to work, breathe, and eat at altitudes almost twice as high as a cruising passenger jet. NASA/Carla Thomas Old Mines, New Finds
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      Abandoned years before a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked the region in 1999, the mine is located on a lode of hectorite, a greasy, lithium-bearing clay. Geologists from USGS are taking a second look at legacy mines like Hector as demand for lithium rises, driven primarily by lithium-ion batteries. A typical battery pack in an electric vehicle uses about 17 pounds (eight kilograms) of the energy-dense metal.
      Australia and Chile lead worldwide production of lithium, which exceeded 180,000 tons in 2023. The third largest producer is China, which also hosts about 50% of global lithium refining capacity. Total U.S. production was around 1,000 tons, sourced entirely from a deposit in northern Nevada. Known reserves in the state are estimated to contain more than a million metric tons of lithium, according to data collected by the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology.
      Mine wastes are also potential sources of lithium, said Bernard Hubbard, a remote sensing geologist at USGS, and many other byproduct commodities that are considered critical today but were discarded by previous generations.
      “There are old copper and silver mines in the West that were abandoned long before anyone knew what lithium or rare earth element deposits were,” Hubbard said. “What has been a pollution source for communities could now be a resource.”
      Following a winter pause, high-altitude GEMx flights over the American West will resume in the spring of 2025, after which USGS will process the raw data and release the first mineral maps. Already, the project has collected enough data to start producing a complete hyperspectral map of California — the first of its kind.
      The value of these observations extends beyond identifying minerals. Scientists expect they’ll provide new insight into invasive plant species, waste from mines that can contaminate surrounding environments, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, and wildfires.
      “We are just beginning to scratch the surface in applying these measurements to help the nation’s economy, security, and health,” said Raymond Kokaly, USGS research geophysicist and lead of the GEMx survey.
      More About GEMx
      The GEMx research project will last four years and is funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (EarthMRI), through investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The initiative will capitalize on both the technology developed by NASA for spectroscopic imaging as well as the expertise in analyzing the datasets and extracting critical mineral information from them.
      Data collected by GEMx is available here.
      By Sally Younger
      NASA’s Earth Science News Team
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      When Orion travels back from deep space, its journey through Earth’s atmosphere generates intense temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit on parts of the spacecraft. The 16-foot diameter protective heat shield on the bottom of the capsule is designed to dissipate that heat and keep the crew inside safe. Orion’s heat shield is primarily composed of Avcoat, a material designed to wear away as it heats up.
      What abnormal behavior did you see on the Artemis I heat shield?
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      What did NASA’s find as the cause of the issue?
      Engineers determined that as Orion was returning from its uncrewed mission around the Moon, gases generated inside the heat shield’s ablative outer material called Avcoat were not able to vent and dissipate as expected. This allowed pressure to build up and horizontal cracking to occur near the surface of the charred layer, causing some charred material to break off in several locations.
      For Artemis II, engineers will limit how long Orion spends in the temperature range in which the Artemis I heat shield phenomenon occurred by modifying how far Orion can fly between when it enters Earth atmosphere and lands. Engineers already are assembling and integrating the Orion spacecraft for Artemis III based on lessons learned from Artemis I and implementing enhancements to how heat shields for crewed returns from lunar landing missions are manufactured to achieve uniformity and consistent permeability. A more detailed description is here.
      Why did NASA decide to use the current heat shield?
      Extensive data from the investigation has given engineers confidence the heat shield for Artemis II can be used to safely fly the mission’s crew around the Moon and back. NASA will modify the trajectory by shortening how far Orion can fly between when it enters Earth’s atmosphere and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. This will limit how long Orion spends in the temperature range in which the Artemis I heat shield phenomenon occurred. The heat shield for the test flight is already attached to Orion.
      When will Artemis II take place?
      The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew aboard the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft and will pave the way to land astronauts on the Moon on Artemis III. Artemis II builds on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission and will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on lunar missions. The 10-day flight will help to confirm all of the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the actual environment of deep space. The mission is targeted for April 2026.
      The updated timeline for the Artemis II flight is informed by technical issues engineers are troubleshooting including with an Orion battery issue and its environmental control system. The heat shield was installed in June 2023 and the root cause investigation took place in parallel to other assembly and testing activities to preserve as much schedule as possible.
      What are the astronauts doing during the mission delay?
      NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen will continue training for the mission. More intensive training will begin about six months before launch.
      About the Artemis Campaign
      What is Artemis?
      NASA is establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for scientific exploration and discovery with our commercial and international partners, learning how to live and work far from home, and preparing for future human exploration of Mars – we call this endeavor Artemis. Under Artemis, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and first international partner astronaut on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before.
      Why is NASA going back to the Moon?
      NASA is going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation. Artemis is a new approach to America’s space exploration efforts — it is the most technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do. What we learn from expanding scientific knowledge and developing new technologies will be applied to improve life on Earth. Samples from the lunar South Pole could tell us more about the formation of our planet and origins of our solar system. We are meeting this challenge by investing in American ingenuity and leadership to advance our understanding of the universe for the benefit of all.
      What makes Artemis different from Apollo?
      The Apollo Program successfully landed 12 men near the equator of the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s. Under Artemis, NASA is going to the lunar South Pole region, where no humans have ever set foot, in new ways with commercial and international partners. The agency is leading the largest international coalition in space to push humanity farther than ever before for the benefit of all, developing capabilities for astronauts to live and work on the Moon before our next giant leap – human exploration of Mars.
      What happens after Artemis II?
      Artemis III will build on the crewed Artemis II flight test, adding new capabilities with the human landing system and advanced spacesuits to send the first humans to explore the lunar South Pole region. Over the course of about 30 days a crew of four will launch atop the Space Launch System rocket in Orion and travel to a special lunar orbit where they will dock with SpaceX’s Starship human landing system. Two Artemis crew members will transfer from Orion to Starship and descend to the lunar surface. There, they will collect samples, perform science experiments, and observe the Moon’s environment before returning in Starship to Orion waiting in lunar orbit. The mission is planned for mid-2027.
      NASA is also working with SpaceX to further develop the company’s Starship lander requirements for Artemis IV. These requirements include landing more mass on the Moon and docking with the agency’s Gateway lunar space station for crew transfer. NASA will use Blue Origin’s human landing system for Artemis V.
      View the full article
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