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The Marshall Star for July 17, 2024

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The Marshall Star for July 17, 2024

The core stage of the Artemis Space Launch System being loaded on a covered barge. The stage is a large cylinder shape with the engines facing toward the camera on two yellow transporters that are guiding the stage into a covered grey container in the background. The body of the cylinder is mostly an orange color and white around the bottom. The four engines on the bottom are covered with red material.

NASA Ships Moon Rocket Stage Ahead of First Crewed Artemis Flight

NASA rolled out the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket’s core stage for the Artemis II test flight from its Michoud Assembly Facility on Tuesday for shipment to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. The rollout is key progress on the path to NASA’s first crewed mission to the Moon under the Artemis campaign.

Using highly specialized transporters, engineers maneuvered the giant core stage from inside Michoud to NASA’s Pegasus barge. The barge will ferry the stage more than 900 miles to Kennedy, where engineers will prepare it in the Vehicle Assembly Building for attachment to other rocket and Orion spacecraft elements.

The core stage of the Artemis Space Launch System being loaded on a covered barge. The stage is a large cylinder shape with the engines facing toward the camera on two yellow transporters that are guiding the stage into a covered grey container in the background. The body of the cylinder is mostly an orange color and white around the bottom. The four engines on the bottom are covered with red material.
Move teams with NASA and Boeing, the SLS core stage lead contractor, position the massive rocket stage for NASA’s SLS rocket on special transporters to strategically guide the flight hardware the 1.3-mile distance from the factory floor onto the agency’s Pegasus barge on July 16. The core stage will be ferried to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be integrated with other parts of the rocket that will power NASA’s Artemis II mission. Pegasus is maintained at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility.
Credit: NASA

“With Artemis, we’ve set our sights on doing something big and incredibly complex that will inspire a new generation, advance our scientific endeavors, and move U.S. competitiveness forward,” said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. “The SLS rocket is a key component of our efforts to develop a long-term presence at the Moon.”

Technicians moved the SLS rocket stage from inside Michoud on the 55th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969. The move of the rocket stage for Artemis marks the first time since the Apollo Program that a fully assembled Moon rocket stage for a crewed mission rolled out from Michoud.

The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility workforce and with other agency team members take a “family photo” with the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for Artemis II in the background on July 16 at Michoud. The core stage will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s SLS rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission.
The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility workforce and with other agency team members take a “family photo” with the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for Artemis II in the background on July 16 at Michoud. The core stage will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s SLS rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission.
NASA

The SLS rocket’s core stage is the largest NASA has ever produced. At 212 feet tall, it consists of five major elements, including two huge propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super-chilled liquid propellant to feed four RS-25 engines. During launch and flight, the stage will operate for just over eight minutes, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust to propel four astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft toward the Moon.

“The delivery of the SLS core stage for Artemis II to Kennedy Space Center signals a shift from manufacturing to launch readiness as teams continue to make progress on hardware for all major elements for future SLS rockets,” said John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. “We are motivated by the success of Artemis I and focused on working toward the first crewed flight under Artemis.”

Team members on July 16 move the first core stage that will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission. The move marked the first time a fully assembled Moon rocket stage for a crewed mission has rolled out from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans since the Apollo Program.
Team members on July 16 move the first core stage that will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission. The move marked the first time a fully assembled Moon rocket stage for a crewed mission has rolled out from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans since the Apollo Program.
NASA

After arrival at Kennedy, the stage will undergo additional outfitting inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. Engineers then will join it with the segments that form the rocket’s twin solid rocket boosters. Adapters for the Moon rocket that connect it to the Orion spacecraft will be shipped to Kennedy this fall, where the interim cryogenic propulsion stage is already. Engineers at Kennedy continue to prepare Orion and exploration ground systems for launch and flight.

All major structures for every SLS core stage are fully manufactured at Michoud. Inside the factory, core stages and future exploration upper stages for the next evolution of SLS, called the Block 1B configuration, currently are in various phases of production for Artemis III, IV, and V. Beginning with Artemis III, to better optimize space at Michoud, Boeing – the SLS core stage prime contractor – will use space at Kennedy for final assembly and outfitting activities.

Team members at Michoud Assembly Facility load the first core stage that will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission onto the Pegasus barge on July 16. The barge will ferry the core stage on a 900-mile journey from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to its Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Team members at Michoud Assembly Facility load the first core stage that will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission onto the Pegasus barge on July 16. The barge will ferry the core stage on a 900-mile journey from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to its Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA

Building, assembling, and transporting the SLS core stage is a collaborative effort for NASA, Boeing, and lead RS-25 engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company. All 10 NASA centers contribute to its development with more than 1,100 companies across the United States contributing to its production. 

NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

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NASA Barge Preparations for Artemis II Rocket Stage Delivery

Team members installed pedestals aboard NASA’s Pegasus barge to hold and secure the massive core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, preparing NASA barge crews for their first delivery to support the Artemis II test flight around the Moon. The barge ferried the core stage on a 900-mile journey from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility to its Kennedy Space Center.

Teams at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are preparing the agency’s Pegasus barge to carry the SLS rocket’s core stage from the agency’s rocket factory to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Team members at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility install pedestals aboard the Pegasus barge to hold and secure the massive core stage of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket ahead.
NASA/Eric Bordelon

The Pegasus crew began installing the pedestals July 10. The barge, which previously was used to ferry space shuttle external tanks, was modified and refurbished to compensate for the much larger and heavier core stage for the SLS rocket. Measuring 212 feet in length and 27.6 feet in diameter, the core stage is the largest rocket stage NASA has ever built and the longest item ever shipped by a NASA barge.

Pegasus now measures 310 feet in length and 50 feet in width, with three 200-kilowatt generators on board for power. Tugboats and towing vessels moved the barge and core stage from Michoud to Kennedy, where the core stage will be integrated with other elements of the rocket and prepared for launch. Pegasus is maintained at NASA Michoud.

NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the SLS Program and Michoud.

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Michoud Marks Artemis II Milestone with Employee Event Featuring NASA Astronaut Victor Glover

Moon to Mars Program Deputy Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, left, and NASA astronaut Victor Glover, right, speak to Michoud Assembly Facility team members on July 15 as part of a Space Flight Awareness event marking Artemis II’s core stage completion. The core stage was rolled out of Michoud’s rocket factory on July 16 for transportation to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where it will be integrated with the Orion spacecraft and the remaining components of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.

Moon to Mars Program Deputy Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya, left, and NASA astronaut Victor Glover, right, speak to Michoud Assembly Facility team members on July 15 as part of a Space Flight Awareness event marking Artemis II’s core stage completion. The core stage was rolled out of Michoud’s rocket factory on July 16 for transportation to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where it will be integrated with the Orion spacecraft and the remaining components of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. (NASA)

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Tawnya Laughinghouse Named Director of Marshall’s Materials and Processes Laboratory

Tawnya Plummer Laughinghouse has been named to the Senior Executive Service position of director of the Materials and Processes Laboratory in the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, effective July 7.

Tawnya Laughinghouse
Tawnya Plummer Laughinghouse has been named to the Senior Executive Service position of director of the Materials and Processes Laboratory in the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
NASA

The Materials and Processes Laboratory provides science, technology, and engineering support in materials, processes, and products for use in space vehicle applications, including related ground facilities, test articles and support equipment. As director, Laughinghouse will oversee a workforce of science and engineering experts, as well as several research and development efforts in world-class facilities, including the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing.

Laughinghouse has more than 20 years of experience at NASA holding various technical leadership, supervisory, and programmatic positions. Since October 2018, she has been manager of the Technology Demonstration Missions (TDM) Program for the Agency, managing the implementation of a diverse portfolio of advanced space technology projects led by NASA Centers and industry partners across the nation with a goal to rapidly develop, demonstrate, and infuse revolutionary, high-payoff technologies. Under her leadership, the program helped expand the boundaries of the aerospace enterprise with the launch of 10 advanced technologies to space between 2018 and 2024. In January 2017, she was competitively selected as deputy manager of the TDM Level 2 Program Office within Marshall’s Science and Technology Office.

In 2014, she was selected as a member of the NASA Mid-Level Leadership Program. During that time, she completed a detail at NASA Headquarters supporting an Office of Chief Engineer/Office of Chief Technologist joint study on NASA’s Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) Process.

Laughinghouse began her NASA career at Marshall in 2004 in the Materials and Processes Laboratory as lead materials engineer for the Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) Booster Separation Motor aft closure assembly. In this role, she also provided technical expertise in advanced materials for high temperature applications and thermal protection systems for solid and liquid rocket propulsion systems. Over the next 12 years, she served the lab in various capacities, including technical lead of the Ceramics & Ablatives team from 2010 to 2016, and developmental assignments such as assistant chief of the Space and Environmental Effects Branch, and chief of the Nonmetallic Materials Branch. Prior to joining Marshall, Laughinghouse spent six years in the U.S. manufacturing industry as a process chemist and product engineer.

Laughinghouse has been awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and a host of group achievement and external awards, including the distinguished Merit Award from the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College in 2021. She has been recognized extensively in the community for her advocacy for women in STEM and mentoring.

A federally certified senior/expert program and project manager, Laughinghouse is a graduate of several leadership programs, including the Office of Personnel Management Federal Executive Institute’s Leadership for a Democratic Society. She is a May 2024 graduate of Leadership Greater Huntsville’s Connect-26 Class.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Laughinghouse was raised in Huntsville and graduated salutatorian of her class at Sparkman High School in Toney, Alabama. After completing a NASA Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP) internship at Marshall, she applied for the NASA Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) dual-degree program and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Spelman College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively. She also holds a Master of Science in management (concentration in management of technology) from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

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Marshall Engineers Unveil Versatile, Low-cost Hybrid Engine Testbed

By Rick Smith

In June, engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center unveiled an innovative, 11-inch hybrid rocket motor testbed.

The new hybrid testbed, which features variable flow capability and a 20-second continuous burn duration, is designed to provide a low-cost, quick-turnaround solution for conducting hot-fire tests of advanced nozzles and other rocket engine hardware, composite materials, and propellants.

A pair of NASA engineers conduct checkout testing of a new hybrid rocket engine testbed, a long, blue, cylindrical facility for testing new government and industry rocket motor hardware, materials, and propellants at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Paul Dumbacher, right, lead test engineer for the Propulsion Test Branch at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, confers with Meredith Patterson, solid propulsion systems engineer, as they install the 11-inch hybrid rocket motor testbed into its cradle in Marshall’s East Test Stand.
NASA/Charles Beason

Solid rocket propulsion remains a competitive, reliable technology for various compact and heavy-lift rockets as well as in-space missions, offering low propulsion element mass, high energy density, resilience in extreme environments, and reliable performance.

“It’s time consuming and costly to put a new solid rocket motor through its paces – identifying how materials perform in extreme temperatures and under severe structural and dynamic loads,” said Benjamin Davis, branch chief of the Solid Propulsion and Pyrotechnic Devices Branch of Marshall’s Engineering Directorate. “In today’s fast-paced, competitive environment, we wanted to find a way to condense that schedule. The hybrid testbed offers an exciting, low-cost solution.”

Initiated in 2020, the project stemmed from NASA’s work to develop new composite materials, additively manufactured – or 3D-printed – nozzles, and other components with proven benefits across the spacefaring spectrum, from rockets to planetary landers.

After analyzing future industry requirements, and with feedback from NASA’s aerospace partners, the Marshall team recognized that their existing 24-inch rocket motor testbed – a subscale version of the Space Launch System booster – could prove too costly for small startups. Additionally, conventional, six-inch test motors limited flexible configuration and required multiple tests to achieve all customer goals. The team realized what industry needed most was an efficient, versatile third option.

“The 11-inch hybrid motor testbed offers the instrumentation, configurability, and cost-efficiency our government, industry, and academic partners need,” said Chloe Bower, subscale solid rocket motor manufacturing lead at Marshall. “It can accomplish multiple test objectives simultaneously – including different nozzle configurations, new instrumentation or internal insulation, and various propellants or flight environments.”

Three female NASA engineers conduct post-test analysis of disassembled, cylindrical components of a new, hybrid rocket motor testbed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
Assessing components of the 11-inch hybrid rocket motor testbed in the wake of successful testing are, from left, Chloe Bower, Marshall’s subscale solid rocket motor manufacturing lead; Jacobs manufacturing engineer Shelby Westrich; and Precious Mitchell, Marshall’s solid propulsion design lead.
NASA/Benjamin Davis

“That quicker pace can reduce test time from months to weeks or days,” said Precious Mitchell, solid propulsion design lead for the project.

Another feature of great interest is the on/off switch. “That’s one of the big advantages to a hybrid testbed,” Mitchell said. “With a solid propulsion system, once it’s ignited, it will burn until the fuel is spent. But because there’s no oxidizer in hybrid fuel, we can simply turn it off at any point if we see anomalies or need to fine-tune a test element, yielding more accurate test results that precisely meet customer needs.”

The team expects to deliver to NASA leadership final test data later this summer. For now, Davis congratulates the Marshall propulsion designers, analysts, chemists, materials engineers, safety personnel, and test engineers who collaborated on the new testbed.

“We’re not just supporting the aerospace industry in broad terms,” he said. “We’re also giving young NASA engineers a chance to get their hands dirty in a practical test environment solving problems. This work helps educate new generations who will carry on NASA’s mission in the decades to come.”

For nearly 65 years, Marshall teams have led development of the U.S. space program’s most powerful rocket engines and spacecraft, from the Apollo-era Saturn V rocket and the space shuttle to today’s cutting-edge propulsion systems, including NASA’s newest rocket, the Space Launch System. NASA technology testbeds designed and built by Marshall engineers and their partners have shaped the reliable technologies of spaceflight and continue to enable discovery, testing, and certification of advanced rocket engine materials and manufacturing techniques. 

Smith, an Aeyon/MTS employee, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.

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NASA Honors 25 Years of Chandra at July National Space Club Breakfast

NASA Ships Moon Rocket Stage Ahead of First Crewed Artemis Flight https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-ships-moon-rocket-stage-ahead-of-first-crewed-artemis-flight/ NASA Marshall Engineers Unveil Versatile, Low-cost Hybrid Engine Testbed https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/marshall/nasa-marshall-engineers-unveil-versatile-low-cost-hybrid-engine-testbed/ Take a Summer Cosmic Road Trip With NASA’s Chandra and Webb https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/take-a-summer-cosmic-road-trip-with-nasas-chandra-and-webb/ 55 Years Ago: Apollo 11’s One Small Step, One Giant Leap https://www.nasa.gov/history/55-years-ago-apollo-11s-one-small-step-one-giant-leap/ Two Years Since Webb’s First Images: Celebrating with the Penguin and the Egg Andrew Schnell, acting manager of the Chandra X-ray Observatory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, honored 25 years of the project’s mission success at National Space Club – Huntsville’s breakfast event on July 16.

Andrew Schnell, acting manager of the Chandra X-ray Observatory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, honored 25 years of the project’s mission success at National Space Club – Huntsville’s breakfast event on July 16.

Schnell provided insight into Chandra’s history – sharing photos and stories from the project’s initial development, launch, first light images, and some of the most iconic images captured by the telescope to date.

Chandra launched on STS-93 Shuttle Columbia July 23, 1999. Originally designed as a five-year mission, the telescope’s prolonged success is a testament to the agency’s engineering capabilities.

“One of the things that excites me about working with Chandra is that are we not only changing our understanding of the universe today, but the data we collect now may help answer questions astrophysicists haven’t even asked yet.” Schnell said. “One day, an astrophysicist – maybe one that hasn’t been born yet – will have a theory, and our data will be there to help them test that theory.” (Photo Credit: Face to Face Marketing)

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Take a Summer Cosmic Road Trip with NASA’s Chandra and Webb

It’s time to take a cosmic road trip using light as the highway and visit four stunning destinations across space. The vehicles for this space get-away are NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope.

The first stop on this tour is the closest, Rho Ophiuchi, at a distance of about 390 light-years from Earth. Rho Ophiuchi is a cloud complex filled with gas and stars of different sizes and ages. Being one of the closest star-forming regions, Rho Ophiuchi is a great place for astronomers to study stars. In this image, X-rays from Chandra are purple revealing infant stars that violently flare and produce X-rays. Infrared data from Webb are red, yellow, cyan, light blue and darker blue and provide views of the spectacular regions of gas and dust.

Rho Ophiuchi, a cloud complex filled with gas, and dotted with stars. The murky green and gold cloud resembles a ghostly head in profile, swooping down from the upper left, trailing tendrils of hair. Cutting across the bottom edge and lower righthand corner of the image is a long, narrow, brick red cloud which resembles the ember of a stick pulled from a fire. Several large white stars dot the image. Many are surrounded by glowing neon purple rings, and gleam with diffraction spikes.
The first stop on this tour is the closest, Rho Ophiuchi, at a distance of about 390 light-years from Earth.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/C. Canizares; IR: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/K. Pontoppidan; Image Processing: NASA/ESA/STScI/Alyssa Pagan, NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare and J. Major

The next destination is the Orion Nebula. Still located in the Milky Way galaxy, this region is a little bit farther from our home planet at about 1,500 light-years away. If you look just below the middle of the three stars that make up the “belt” in the constellation of Orion, you may be able to see this nebula through a small telescope. With Chandra and Webb, however, we get to see so much more. Chandra reveals young stars that glow brightly in X-rays, colored in red, green, and blue, while Webb shows the gas and dust in darker red that will help build the next generation of stars here.

chandrawebb3-m42.jpg?w=2048
The Orion Nebula.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/E.Fei

It’s time to leave our galaxy and visit another. Like the Milky Way, NGC 3627 is a spiral galaxy that we see at a slight angle. NGC 3627 is known as a “barred” spiral galaxy because of the rectangular shape of its central region. From our vantage point, we can also see two distinct spiral arms that appear as arcs. X-rays from Chandra in purple show evidence for a supermassive black hole in its center while Webb finds the dust, gas, and stars throughout the galaxy in red, green, and blue. This image also contains optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope in red, green, and blue.

The galaxy NGC 3627 appears pitched at an oblique angle, tilted from our upper left down to our lower right. Much of its face is angled toward us, making its spiral arms, composed of red and purple dots, easily identifiable. Several bright white dots ringed with neon purple speckle the galaxy. At the galaxy’s core, where the spiral arms converge, a large white and purple glow identified by Chandra provides evidence of a supermassive black hole.
Spiral galaxy NGC 3627.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESO/STScI, ESO/WFI; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/JWST; Image Processing:/NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major

Our final landing place on this trip is the farthest and the biggest. MACS J0416 is a galaxy cluster, which are among the largest objects in the Universe held together by gravity. Galaxy clusters like this can contain hundreds or even thousands of individual galaxies all immersed in massive amounts of superheated gas that Chandra can detect. In this view, Chandra’s X-rays in purple show this reservoir of hot gas while Hubble and Webb pick up the individual galaxies in red, green, and blue.

Here is the distant galaxy cluster known as MACS J0416. The blackness of space is packed with glowing dots and tiny shapes, in whites, purples, oranges, golds, and reds, each a distinct galaxy. Upon close inspection (and with a great deal of zooming in!) the spiraling arms of some of the seemingly tiny galaxies are revealed in this highly detailed image. Gently arched across the middle of the frame is a soft band of purple; a reservoir of superheated gas detected by Chandra.
ACS J0416 galaxy cluster.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/G. Ogrean et al.; Optical/Infrared: (Hubble) NASA/ESA/STScI; IR: (JWST) NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Jose M. Diego (IFCA), Jordan C. J. D’Silva (UWA), Anton M. Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan (University of Missouri)

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.

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      Science: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang (National Tsing Hua University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory teamed up to identify a new possible example of a rare class of black holes, identified by X-ray emission (in purple) in this image released on July 24, 2025. Called NGC 6099 HLX-1, this bright X-ray source seems to reside in a compact star cluster in a giant elliptical galaxy. These rare black holes are called intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) and weigh between a few hundred to a few 100,000 times the mass of our Sun.
      Learn more about IMBHs and what studying them can tell us about the universe.
      Image credit: Science: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang (National Tsing Hua University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
      View the full article
    • NASA
      Helio Highlights: July 2025
      By NASA
      Explore This Section Science Uncategorized Helio Highlights: July… Home Framework for Heliophysics Education About Helio Big Idea 1.1 Helio Big Idea 1.2 Helio Big Idea 1.3 Helio Big Idea 2.1 Helio Big Idea 2.2 Helio Big Idea 2.3 Helio Big Idea 3.1 Helio Big Idea 3.2 Helio Big Idea 3.3 Helio Missions Helio Topics Resource Database About NASA HEAT More Highlights Space Math   5 min read
      Helio Highlights: July 2025
      5 Min Read Helio Highlights: July 2025
      When astronauts return to the Moon, they will need to know what the Sun is doing in order to keep themselves safe and healthy. Credits:
      NASA A Trip to the Moon
      In July 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. Now, NASA and its international partners in the Artemis accords are working to send humans back there, this time to stay. The trip will be challenging, especially since space is a very uninviting place for humans! One unexpected source of danger will be the Sun.
      The Sun: Friend and Foe
      The energy the Sun provides allows life on Earth to thrive. But this energy can also be dangerous to us. This danger can be as simple as getting a sunburn if you are out in the sunlight for too long, or as complex as a geomagnetic storm causing chaos in our satellite network.
      This animation demonstrates a simulation by the MAGE model of Earth’s magnetosphere being hit by a geospace storm in May 2024, the strongest in nearly 20 years. Storms like this are caused by solar weather that could endanger astronauts en route to the Moon or active on its surface during future missions. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio and CGS Team Things get more complicated in space. On Earth, the atmosphere and magnetosphere protect us from most solar energy. But spacecraft and astronauts in space don’t have this protection. For astronauts on upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon, the Sun’s radiation could cause anything from ruined electronics to a greater long-term risk of cancer.
      The Real Risks
      On August 2, 1972, a massive solar storm began with the eruption of sunspot MR11976. One of the Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) it produced raced from the Sun to Earth in less than 15 hours. That’s a record that still stands today! This led to power grid fluctuations and caused havoc with spacecraft in flight. Recently declassified U.S. military records show that the storm caused sea mines off the Vietnamese coast to explode, as well.
      Importantly, the August 1972 solar storm happened in between the Apollo 16 and 17 missions to the Moon. Studies show that astronauts en route to the Moon, and especially astronauts on the surface, could have been badly sickened by the radiation that came with it. This threat remains real if a solar storm of similar severity were to occur during future Lunar missions.
      Watchful Protectors
      Organizations like NASA and NOAA keep an eye on the Sun, to forecast potential sources of danger. If a solar flare or Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is on the way, scientists should be able to spot the danger ahead of time so that steps can be taken to reduce the damage. For astronauts going to the Moon, this may be as simple as taking shelter in a special part of their spacecraft.
      An animated gif of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) erupting from the surface of the Sun in September 2024. If a CME like this was aimed at the Moon, the intense energy it carried could damage spacecraft electronics and even cause severe radiation sickness in astronauts. NOAA/NASA NOAA’s Space Weather Follow-On (SWFO) program sustains their space weather observations and measurements. NOAA’s CCOR-1 flew on the GOES-19 spacecraft and provides crucial near-real-time CME data. The CCOR-2 instrument will fly on SWFO-L1. Other missions include SOHO, a long-running collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, and HERMES, a NASA heliophysics instrument intended for the Lunar Gateway that will orbit the Moon.
      NASA’s Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office (M2M SWAO) also conducts real-time space weather assessments. These support new capabilities for understanding space weather impacts on NASA exploration activities, including on the Moon.
      The Moon as a Laboratory
      A big part of the reason we want to go back to the Moon is the amazing level of information we can learn about the history of the Solar System. “Any object in our solar system doesn’t just exist in isolation,” explains Prabal Saxena, a Research Space Scientist in the Planetary Geology, Geophysics & Geochemistry Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “It is constantly interacting with meteorites and meteors. That’s why you see a lot of the impact creators on the Moon. But it is also constantly interacting with the Sun.” This can come from the solar wind, CMEs, and other forms of solar energy hitting the Moon’s barren surface.
      Pictured is the Lunar Swirl Reiner Gamma, a geological feature on the surface of the moon. In areas that are magnetically protected, the ground stays relatively bright. Just outside of the shielded regions, radiation-induced chemical reactions darken the landscape, effectively “sunburning” the lunar surface. NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University Saxena points out that the Moon’s relative lack of a magnetosphere means that Lunar surface material effectively traps evidence of the past habits of the Sun. “A lot of the energetic particles that we would otherwise see deflected by Earth’s magnetosphere and atmosphere are impacting the surface of the Moon. So you can actually trace back what the history of the Sun might be.”
      He compares this to scientists taking ice cores to get a glimpse into Earth’s atmospheric history. With everything from evidence of the prehistoric solar atmosphere to information on how the Sun affects water on the lunar surface locked in rocks left largely untouched for millions of years, it is clear why NASA wants to go back and have another look around.
      Going Back
      But it is still important to keep an eye on the potential dangers to explorers both metallic and organic. In an interview, Lennard Fisk, former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications, described a conversation he had with Neil Armstrong. More than anything else during Apollo 11, Armstrong was afraid of a solar flare. He knew he could depend on his spacecraft and crewmates. But space weather was an uncontrollable variable.
      We had a different understanding of space weather in 1969. Space radiation, including the solar wind, was a new discovery back then. But research done in those early days helped make breakthroughs still paying off today, and we are building upon these discoveries with new missions that continue to advance our knowledge of the Sun and the rest of our solar system.
      Additional Resources
      Lesson Plans & Educator Guides
      NASA Helio Club
      Study Unit
      Six lessons created for a middle-school audience to introduce basic heliophysics concepts to learners.


      Space Weather Math
      Hands-on activities with embedded math problems that explore the causes and effects of space weather.


      “Solar Storms and You” Educator Guide
      A downloadable educator guide with a variety of activities on the science of solar storms for learners grades 5-8.


      Interactive Resources
      Magnetic Earth
      Interactive Resource
      An animation with information on Earth’s magnetic field and its role in creating northern lights, and an interactive activity allowing students to experiment with magnetism.


      Student HelioViewer:
      Solar Data Interactive
      A student-friendly interactive with accessible NASA data about the Sun and its features, including solar flares, magnetic fields, sunspots, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).


      Webinars & Slide Decks
      What is Space
      Weather Video
      This approximately 3-minute video summarizes space weather and explains its effects on the rest of the Solar System.


      Science Update: Space Weather on Our
      Approach to Solar Max
      A webinar about the solar storm on May 10th, 2024, which led to auroras being visible across North America.


      Astronaut Dr. John
      Phillips Discusses
      Space Radiation
      Dr. John Phillips, NASA astronaut and space plasma physicist, talks about his work and personal experience with space radiation on the Space Weather Living History podcast.


      Dr. Lennard Fisk
      Discusses Heliophysics History at NASA
      Former Associate Administrator Dr. Lennard Fisk recounts the evolution of the Heliophysics Division at NASA.


      View the full article

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