Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center invites the community to help celebrate the center’s 65th anniversary during a free public event noon to 5 p.m. CDT Saturday, July 19, at The Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama.
NASA Marshall, along with its partners and collaborators, will fill the amphitheater with space exhibits, music, food vendors, and hands-on activities for all ages. The summer celebration will mark 65 years of innovation and exploration, not only for Marshall, but for Huntsville and other North Alabama communities.
“Our success has been enabled by the continuous support we receive from Huntsville and the North Alabama communities, and this is an opportunity to thank community members and share some of our exciting mission activities,” Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA Marshall, said.
Some NASA astronauts from Expedition 72 who recently returned from missions aboard the ISS (International Space Station) will participate in the celebratory event. The Expedition 72 crew dedicated more than 1,000 combined hours to scientific research and technology demonstrations aboard the space station and crew members in attendance will share their experiences in space.
The official portrait of the International Space Station’s Expedition 72 crew. At the top (from left) are Roscosmos cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin, NASA astronaut and space station Commander Suni Williams, and NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer Butch Wilmore. In the middle row are Roscosmos cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer Don Pettit. In the bottom row are Roscosmos cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronaut and Flight Engineer Nick Hague. NASA/Bill Stafford and Robert Markowitz “Every day, our Marshall team works to advance human spaceflight and discovery, such as working with our astronauts on the space station.” Pelfrey said. “We are honored Expedition 72 crew members will join us to help commemorate our 65-year celebration.”
The anniversary event will also include remarks from Pelfrey, other special presentations, and fun for the whole family.
Learn more about this free community event at:
https://www.nasa.gov/marshall65
Lance D. Davis
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-640-9065
lance.d.davis@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 17, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
3 min read NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing
Article 2 hours ago 4 min read NASA Celebrates Employees Selected for Top Federal Award
Article 23 hours ago 3 min read NASA Announces Winners of 2025 Student Launch Competition
Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Earth (ESD) Earth Explore Explore Earth Home Air Quality Climate Change Freshwater Life on Earth Severe Storms Snow and Ice The Global Ocean Science at Work Earth Science at Work Technology and Innovation Powering Business Multimedia Image Collections Videos Data For Researchers About Us 1 min read
From Space to Soil: How NASA Sees Forests
NASA uses satellite lidar technology to study Earth’s forests, key carbon sinks. The GEDI mission maps forest height and biomass from the International Space Station, while ICESat-2 fills polar data gaps. Together, they enable a first-of-its-kind global biomass map, guiding smarter forest conservation and carbon tracking.
Original Video and Assets
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 17, 2025 Editor Earth Science Division Editorial Team Related Terms
Earth Greenhouse Gases Video Series Explore More
12 min read NASA’s Hurricane Science, Tech, Data Help American Communities
With hurricane season underway, NASA is gearing up to produce cutting-edge research to bolster the…
Article
5 days ago
1 min read Leaf Year: Seeing Plants in Hyperspectral Color
PACE now allows scientists to see three different pigments in vegetation, helping scientists pinpoint even…
Article
2 weeks ago
6 min read What NASA Is Learning from the Biggest Geomagnetic Storm in 20 Years
Article
1 month ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Earth
Your home. Our Mission. And the one planet that NASA studies more than any other.
Explore Earth Science
Earth Science in Action
NASA’s unique vantage point helps us inform solutions to enhance decision-making, improve livelihoods, and protect our planet.
Climate Change
NASA is a global leader in studying Earth’s changing climate.
View the full article
-
By NASA
Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro and Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, chair, Executive Board, DLR (German Aerospace Center, or Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt), signed an agreement June 16, 2025, to continue a partnership on space medicine research. With this agreement, DLR will provide new radiation sensors aboard the Orion spacecraft during NASA’s Artemis II mission. Scheduled for launch no later than April 2026, Artemis II will mark the first test flight with crew under Artemis.Credit: DLR While attending the Paris Air Show June 16, NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro signed an agreement with DLR (German Aerospace Center, or Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) to continue a partnership in space medicine research. This renewed collaboration builds on previous radiation mitigation efforts for human spaceflight. As NASA advances the Trump-Vance Administration’s goals for exploration on the Moon and Mars, minimizing exposure to space radiation is one of the key areas the agency is working to protect crew on long duration missions.
With this agreement, DLR will leverage its human spaceflight expertise and provide new radiation sensors aboard the Orion spacecraft during NASA’s Artemis II mission, building on previous work in this area during the Artemis I mission. Scheduled for launch no later than April 2026, Artemis II will mark the first test flight with crew under Artemis.
“In keeping with the historic agreements NASA has made with international partners as a part of Artemis, I am pleased to sign a new NASA-DLR joint agreement today, to enable radiation research aboard Artemis II,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “The German Aerospace Center has been a valuable partner in Artemis, having previously worked with NASA to test technology critical to our understanding of radiation on humans aboard an Orion spacecraft on Artemis I and providing a CubeSat as part of Artemis II. Following a productive meeting between President Trump and German Chancellor Merz earlier this month, I am excited to build upon our great partnership with Germany.”
During the Artemis II mission’s planned 10-day journey around the Moon and back, four of DLR’s newly developed M-42 extended (M-42 EXT) radiation detectors will be on board, contributing vital data to support astronaut safety. This next-generation device represents a new phase of research as NASA and DLR continue working together to safeguard human health in space.
Under the leadership of President Trump, America’s Artemis campaign has reignited NASA’s ambition, sparking international cooperation and cutting-edge innovation. The continued partnership with DLR and the deployment of their advanced M-42 EXT radiation detectors aboard Artemis II exemplifies how the Trump-Vance Administration is leading a Golden Era of Exploration and Innovation that puts American astronauts on the path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
“To develop effective protective measures against the impact of space radiation on the human body, comprehensive and coherent radiation measurements in open space are essential,” says Anke Pagels-Kerp, divisional board member for space at DLR. “At the end of 2022, Artemis I carried 12,000 passive and 16 active detectors inside the Helga and Zohar mannequins, which flew aboard the Orion spacecraft as part of DLR’s MARE project. These provided a valuable dataset – the first continuous radiation measurements ever recorded beyond low Earth orbit. We are now excited to take the next step together with NASA and send our upgraded radiation detectors around the Moon on the Artemis II mission.”
Through the Artemis campaign, the agency will establish a long-term presence on the Moon for scientific exploration with our commercial and international partners, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
For more information about Artemis, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
-end-
Bethany Stevens / Rachel Kraft
Headquarters
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gv / rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 17, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Artemis Artemis 2 NASA Headquarters View the full article
-
By NASA
by Dary Felix Garcia
NASA is preparing to make history by sending humans to the Moon’s South Pole. There, astronauts will conduct moonwalks for exploration, science experiments, and prepare humanity for the journey to Mars. Missions of this scale require extensive planning, especially when accounting for emergency scenarios such as a crew member becoming incapacitated.
To address this critical risk, the South Pole Safety Challenge invited the public to develop a compact, effective device capable of safely rescuing astronauts during emergency situations on the Moon’s surface. Given the harsh and unpredictable conditions of the lunar South Pole, the rescue system must be lightweight, easy to use, and able to transport an incapacitated crew member weighing approximately 755 lbs. (343 kg), representing the crew member and their suit, without the help of the lunar rover. It must also be capable of covering up to 1.24 miles (2 kilometers) across slopes as steep as 20 degrees.
“The initiative saved the government an estimated $1,000,000 and more than three years of work had the solutions been produced using in-house existing resources,” said Ryon Stewart, acting Program Manager of NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. “The effort demonstrated how crowdsourcing provides NASA with a wide diversity of innovative ideas and skills.”
The global challenge received 385 unique ideas from 61 countries. Five standout solutions received a share of the $45,000 prize purse. Each of the selected solutions demonstrated creativity, practicality, and direct relevance to NASA’s needs for future Moon missions.
The global challenge received 385 unique ideas from 61 countries. Five standout solutions received a share of the $45,000 prize purse. Each of the selected solutions demonstrated creativity, practicality, and direct relevance to NASA’s needs for future Moon missions.
First Place: VERTEX by Hugo Shelley – A self-deploying four-wheeled motorized stretcher that converts from a compact cylinder into a frame that securely encases an immobilized crew member for transport up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). Second Place: MoonWheel by Chamara Mahesh – A foldable manual trolley designed for challenging terrain and rapid deployment by an individual astronaut. Third Place: Portable Foldable Compact Emergency Stretcher by Sbarellati team – A foldable stretcher compatible with NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Activity spacesuit. Third Place: Advanced Surface Transport for Rescue (ASTRA) by Pierre-Alexandre Aubé – A collapsible three-wheeled device with a 1.2 mile (2 kilometer) range. Third Place: Getting Rick to Roll! by InventorParents – A rapidly deployable, tool-free design suited for functionality in low gravity settings. NASA is identifying how to integrate some features of the winning ideas into current and future mission designs. Most intriguing are the collapsible concepts of many of the designs that would save crucial mass and volume. Additionally, the submissions offered innovative wheel designs to enhance current concepts. NASA expects to incorporate some features into planning for surface operations of the Moon.
HeroX hosted the challenge on behalf of NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, managed the challenge. The program supports global public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
Find more opportunities at https://www.nasa.gov/get-involved/
View the full article
-
By NASA
NASA’s Worm logo is displayed in front of the agency’s headquarters in Washington.Credit: NASA Two NASA employees are being honored as part of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, also known as the Sammies, recognizing outstanding federal employees who are addressing many of our country’s greatest challenges.
Rich Burns of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and John Blevins of Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, were selected out of 350 nominees and are among 23 individuals and teams honored for their achievements as federal employees. They will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington on Tuesday, June 17, that also will be live streamed on the Sammies website. The honorees will be commended via videos and presenter remarks and receive medals for their achievements.
Named after the founder of the Partnership for Public Service, the 2025 Service to America Medals awards celebrate federal employees who provided critical public services and made outstanding contributions to the health, safety, and national security of our country.
“Rich and John exemplify the spirit of exploration and service that defines NASA and our nation’s civil servants,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “Their leadership, ingenuity, and dedication have not only advanced America’s space program but also inspired the next generation of innovators. We are proud to see their achievements recognized among the very best of federal service.”
Richard Burns, project manager for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and honoree of the 2025 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America MedalsCredit: NASA Burns was the project manager of the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission to collect a sample from an asteroid and oversaw operations from the developmental stage to the successful landing of the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule.
The mission launched on Sept. 18, 2016, and after a nearly four-year journey, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully collected a sample from the asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20, 2020, which returned to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023, providing scientists with 120 grams of pristine material to study, the largest amount ever collected from an asteroid. Working to solidify OSIRIS-REx as a success, Burns set up multiple partnerships and communicated frequently with scientists, large and small businesses, NASA centers, and others to ensure the mission’s vision was carried out though each phase.
During the mission, Burns had to handle unique challenges that required adapting to new situations. These included improving flight software to help the spacecraft avoid hazardous parts of Bennu’s rocky surface and working with NASA leaders to find a way to best protect the sample collected from Bennu after a large stone propped the collection canister open. Finally, when the sample was set to return to Earth, Burns worked extensively with NASA and military partners to prepare for the landing, focusing on the safety of the public along with the integrity of the sample to ensure the final part of the mission was a success.
Burns helped OSIRIS-REx exceed its objectives all while under the original budget, allowing NASA to share a portion of the sample with more than 80 research projects and make new discoveries about the possible origins of life on our planet. The spacecraft, now known as Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security – Apophis Explorer, is scheduled to rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis in 2029.
“It’s humbling to accept an award based on the achievements of the amazingly talented, dedicated, and innovative OSIRIS-REx team,” Burns said. “I consider myself privileged to be counted among a team of true explorers who let no obstacle stand in the way of discovery.”
John Blevins, chief engineer for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, stands inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida during the stacking of the Artemis I rocket ahead of its first test flight, which successfully launched from Kennedy on Nov. 16, 2022.Credit: NASA Blevins is the chief engineer for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and is responsible for the various technical decisions that need to be made to ensure each mission is successful. This included calculating structural needs, thermal analyses of the effects, and studies of vibrations, acoustics, propulsion integration, among other work.
Artemis I, the first test flight of the SLS rocket, successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022. In the time leading up to and during launch, Blevins led the team integrating the hardware for the mission working to address unexpected events while SLS was on the pad prior to launch. This included significant lightning storms and two hurricanes impacting Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Blevins built a working coalition of engineering teams across the agency that previously did not exist. His ability to forge strong relationships on the various teams across the agency allowed for the successful launch of Artemis I. He continues to lead the engineering team behind SLS as they prepare for Artemis II, the second flight of SLS and the first crewed lunar mission of the 21st century.
“This is a reflection on the hard work and dedication of the entire Artemis Team,” Blevins said. “I am working with an incredibly competent, dedicated team agencywide that goes above and beyond to promote the space exploration goals of our nation. I am honored to accept the award on their behalf.”
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 16, 2025 EditorTiernan P. DoyleContactTiernan P. Doyletiernan.doyle@nasa.govLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) Common Exploration Systems Development Division Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Goddard Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Apophis Explorer) Space Launch System (SLS) View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.