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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
From left, NASA astronauts, Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, who served as part of Expedition 71, will discuss their recent missions to the International Space Station during a visit to Marshall Space Flight Center on Jan. 29. NASA NASA will host four astronauts at 9 a.m. CDT Wednesday, Jan. 29, for a media opportunity at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson served as part of Expedition 71 and will discuss their recent missions to the International Space Station.
Dominick, Barratt, and Epps launched aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission in March 2024 and returned to Earth in October 2024 after spending nearly eight months aboard the orbiting complex. Dyson launched aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft also in March 2024 and returned in September 2024 after completing a six-month research mission aboard the space station.
Media are invited to attend the event and visit with the astronauts as they discuss their science missions aboard the microgravity laboratory and other mission highlights. Media interested in participating must confirm their attendance by 12 p.m., Monday, Jan. 27, to both Lance D. Davis – lance.d.davis@nasa.gov – and Joel Wallace – joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov – in Marshall’s Office of Communications.
Media must arrive by 8 a.m., Wednesday, to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center Gate 9 parking lot, located at the Interstate 565 interchange on Research Park Boulevard. The event will take place in the NASA Marshall Activities Building 4316. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate, so please allow extra time. All members of the media and drivers will need photo identification. Drivers will need proof of insurance if requested.
The Expedition 71 crew conducted hundreds of technology demonstrations and science experiments, including the bioprinting of human tissues. These higher-quality tissues printed in microgravity could help advance the production of organs and tissues for transplant and improve 3D printing of foods and medicines on future long-duration space missions. The crew also looked at neurological organoids, created with stem cells from patients to study neuroinflammation, a common feature of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The organoids provided a platform to study these diseases and their treatments and could help address how extended spaceflight affects the brain.
As part of Crew-8, Dominick served as commander, Barratt served as pilot, and Epps served as a mission specialist. Dyson launched aboard a Soyuz space as part of an international crew and served as a flight engineer on a six-month research mission. The expedition to the space station was the first spaceflight for Dominick, third for Barratt, first for Epps, and third for Dyson.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that enables research not possible on Earth. For more than 24 years, NASA has supported a continuous human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, through which astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including missions to the Moon under Artemis and, ultimately, human
Learn more about the International Space Station, its research, and its crew, at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
Lance D. Davis
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-640-9065
lance.d.davis@nasa.gov
Joel Wallace
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-786-0117
joel.w.wallace@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 24, 2025 EditorBeth Ridgeway Related Terms
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By NASA
Caption: As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Intuitive Machines’ second delivery to the Moon will carry NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations on their Nova-C class lunar lander. Credit: Intuitive Machines For the second time, Intuitive Machines will launch a lunar lander to deliver NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations to the Moon for the benefit of all. Media accreditation is open for the IM-2 launch, part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term presence on the Moon.
The Intuitive Machines Nova-C class lunar lander will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and carry NASA science, technology demonstrations, and other commercial payloads to Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole region. Liftoff is targeted for a multi-day launch window, which opens no earlier than late February, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at NASA Kennedy and are open to U.S. citizens and international media. U.S. media must apply by Wednesday, Feb. 12, and international media must apply by Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Media wishing to take part in person must apply for credentials at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Credentialed media will receive a confirmation email upon approval. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation or to request special logistical support, such as space for satellite trucks, tents, or electrical connections, please email by Wednesday, Feb. 12, to: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. 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 o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
Among the items on its lander, the IM-2 mission will deliver one of the first on-site, or in-situ, demonstrations of resource utilization on the Moon, using a drill and mass spectrometer to measure the volatiles content of subsurface materials. Other technology instruments on this delivery will demonstrate a robust surface communications system and deploy a propulsive drone mobility solution.
Launching as a rideshare alongside the IM-2 delivery NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft also will begin its journey to lunar orbit, where it will map the distribution of the different forms of water on the Moon.
A successful landing will help support the CLPS model for commercial payload deliveries to the lunar surface, as another step toward a sustainable lunar future. As a primary customer of CLPS, NASA is investing in lower-cost methods of Moon deliveries and is one of multiple customers for these flights.
NASA is working with several U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface through the agency’s CLPS initiative. This pool of companies may bid on task orders to deliver NASA payloads to the Moon. Contract awards cover end-to-end commercial payload delivery services, including payload integration, mission operations, launch from Earth, and landing on the surface of the Moon. These contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum value of $2.6 billion through 2028.
For more information about the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, see:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
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Alise Fisher / Jasmine Hopkins
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov
Natalia Riusech / Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
natalia.s.riusech@nasa.gov / nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov
Antonia Jaramillo
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 24, 2025 LocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
Missions Artemis Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) View the full article
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By NASA
Jason Dworkin, project scientist for OSIRIS-REx at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, views a portion of the asteroid Bennu sample in the center’s astrobiology lab under microscope in November 2023, shortly after it arrived from the curation team at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Credit: NASA/Molly Wasser NASA will brief media at 11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 29, to provide an update on science results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission, which delivered a sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth in September 2023.
Audio of the media call will stream live on the agency’s website.
Participants in the teleconference include:
Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington Danny Glavin, senior scientist for sample return, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist, NASA Goddard Tim McCoy, curator of meteorites, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Washington Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist, Natural History Museum, London Media interested in participating by phone must RSVP no later than two hours prior to the start of the call to: molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
After the teleconference, NASA Goddard will host a limited onsite media availability for reporters local to the greater Washington area. The availability will include opportunities to tour the center’s astrobiology lab, which contributed to the study of the Bennu sample. Interested reporters should request participation by Sunday, Jan. 26, to: rob.garner@nasa.gov.
Launched on Sept. 8, 2016, OSIRIS-REx was the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid in space. The spacecraft traveled to near-Earth asteroid Bennu and collected a sample of rocks and dust from the surface in 2020. It delivered the sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023.
To learn more about OSIRIS-REx, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jan 24, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) Asteroids Bennu Goddard Space Flight Center Johnson Space Center Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
4 Min Read NASA Space Tech’s Favorite Place to Travel in 2025: The Moon!
The first image from space of Firefly's Blue Ghost mission 1 lunar lander as it begins its 45-day transit period to the Moon. Credits: Firefly Aerospace NASA Space Technology has big travel plans for 2025, starting with a trip to the near side of the Moon!
Among ten groundbreaking NASA science and technology demonstrations, two technologies are on a ride to survey lunar regolith – also known as “Moon dust” – to better understand surface interactions with incoming lander spacecraft and payloads conducting experiments on the surface. These dust demonstrations and the data they’re designed to collect will help support future lunar missions.
Blue Ghost Mission 1 launched at 1:11 a.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company is targeting a lunar landing on Sunday, March 2.
The first image from space of Firefly’s Blue Ghost mission 1 lunar lander as it begins its 45-day transit period to the Moon. Firefly Aerospace NASA Space Technology on Blue Ghost Mission 1
NASA’s Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) will lift, transport, and remove particles using electric fields to repel and prevent hazardous lunar dust accumulation on surfaces. The agency’s Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) technology will use stereo imaging to capture the impact of rocket plumes on lunar regolith as the lander descends to the Moon’s surface, returning high-resolution images that will help in creating models to predict regolith erosion – an important task as bigger, heavier payloads are delivered to the Moon in close proximity to each other.
The EDS and SCALPSS technologies will be delivered to the Moon on Firefly’s first Blue Ghost mission, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. Its landing target is a 300-mile-wide basin located on the Moon’s near side, called Mare Crisium – a large, dark, basaltic plain that filled an ancient asteroid impact. First-of-their-kind experiments will deploy after landing to gather important data in a broad spectrum of areas including geophysical characteristics, global navigation, radiation tolerant computing, and the behavior of lunar regolith.
Replicating the Moon’s harsh environment on Earth is a significant challenge because of extreme temperatures, low gravity, radiation, and dusty surface. The CLPS initiative provides unprecedented access to the lunar surface, allowing us to demonstrate technologies in the exact conditions they were designed for. Missions like Blue Ghost Mission 1 are a true game changer for NASA technology advancement and demonstration.”
Michael Johansen
Flight Demonstrations Lead for NASA’s Game Changing Development program
Dust particles scatter during an experiment for the Electrodynamic Dust Shield in a laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA NASA’s Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies technology integrated on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander. Firefly Aerospace A complex wrinkle ridge in Mare Crisium at low Sun, seen in an image captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University Understanding regolith
The Moon’s dusty environment was one of the greatest challenges astronauts faced during Apollo Moon missions, posing hazards to lunar surface systems, space suits, habitats, and instrumentation. What was learned from those early missions – and from thousands of experiments conducted on Earth and in space since – is that successful surface missions require the ability to eliminate dust from all kinds of systems. Lunar landings, for example, cause lunar dust to disperse in all directions and collect on everything that lands there with it. This is one of the reasons such technologies are important to understand. The SCALPSS technology will study the dispersion of lunar dust, while EDS will demonstrate a solution to mitigate it.
Getting this new data on lunar regolith with be pivotal for our understanding of the lunar surface. We’ve long known that lunar dust is a huge challenge. The Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative has enabled us to initiate lunar dust mitigation efforts across the agency, working with industry and international partners. The lunar science, exploration, and technology communities are eager to have new quantitative data, and to prove laboratory experiments and develop technology solutions.”
Kristen John
Technical Integration Lead for NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII)
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[VIDEO] Dust on the lunar surface is a significant hazard for systems and astronauts living and working on the Moon. NASA space technologies are developing solutions to retire hurdles in this capability area. NASA Space Technology Dust mitigation technology has come a long way, but we still have a lot to learn to develop surface systems and infrastructure for more complex missions. LSII is actively engaged in this effort, working with the lunar community across sectors to expand knowledge and design new approaches for future technologies. Working alongside the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium, LSII has a unique opportunity to take a holistic look at dust’s role in the development of surface infrastructure with other key capability areas including in-situ resource utilization, surface power, and surviving the lunar night.
Learning from the the Moon benefits Mars science and exploration
Capabilities for minimizing dust interaction are as important for future missions on Mars as it is for missions on the Moon. Like the Moon, Mars is also covered with regolith, also called Martian dust or Martian soil, but the properties are different than lunar regolith, both in shape and mineralogy. The challenges Mars rovers have encountered with Martian regolith have provided great insight into the challenges we will face during lunar surface missions. Learning is interwoven and beneficial to future missions whether hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth, on the Moon, or millions, on Mars.
Scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, uses an adjustable sampling scoop to retrieve lunar samples during the second Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA). NASA NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover snagged two samples of regolith – broken rock and dust – on Dec. 2 and 6, 2022. This set of images, taken by the rover’s left navigation camera, shows Perseverance’s robotic arm over the two holes left after the samples were collected.NASA/JPL-Caltech Learn more from a planetary scientist about how science factors into lunar dust mitigation technologies:
LSIC Lunar Engineering 101 video series (Dust/Regolith module) Share
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Last Updated Jan 24, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Missions Artemis Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Earth's Moon Game Changing Development Program Kennedy Space Center Langley Research Center Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative NASA Headquarters Space Technology Mission Directorate Explore More
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Space Technology Mission Directorate
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Game Changing Development projects aim to advance space technologies, focusing on advancing capabilities for going to and living in space.
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)
The goal of the CLPS project is to enable rapid, frequent, and affordable access to the lunar surface by helping…
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By NASA
Engineers and technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program integrate the right forward center segment onto mobile launcher 1 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. The boosters will help support the remaining rocket components and the Orion spacecraft during final assembly of the Artemis II Moon rocket and provide more than 75 percent of the total SLS (Space Launch System) thrust during liftoff from NASA Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39BNASA/Kim Shiflett Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program continue stacking the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s twin solid rocket booster motor segments for the agency’s Artemis II mission, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Currently, six of the 10 segments are secured atop mobile launcher 1 with the right forward center segment as the latest addition. Teams will continue integrating the booster stack – the left center center segment adorned with the NASA “worm” insignia is the next segment to be integrated.
The right and left forward assemblies were brought to the VAB from the spaceport’s Booster Fabrication Facility on Jan. 14. The forward assemblies are comprised of three parts: the nose cone which serves as the aerodynamic fairing; a forward skirt, which house avionics; and the frustum which houses motors that separates the boosters from the SLS core stage during flight. The remaining booster segments will be transported from the Rotation, Processing, and Surge Facility to the VAB when engineers are ready to integrate them. The forward assemblies will be the last segments integrated to complete the booster configuration, ahead of integration with the core stage.
Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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