NASA
Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science
2 min read
Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4159 (2024-04-18 13:24:29 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSEarth planning date: Friday, April 19, 2024
Curiosity has a three-sol weekend plan coming up as it makes progress along the edge of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. We have observations planned to investigate multiple bedrock targets with interesting rippled textures, dark-toned float, and the ridge. With two contact science targets, lots of targeted and untargeted remote observations, and a drive scheduled, Curiosity will have a busy three-sol plan ahead!
On the first sol of the plan, we have two contact science bedrock targets for MAHLI and APXS to analyze. MAHLI will image these targets up close, and APXS will acquire spectra from the targets for analysis of their elemental compositions. One of these bedrock targets (“Florence Lake”) is light-toned with laminations and will be brushed first to remove the dust on its surface. The other contact science target (“Mist Falls”) is a block of unbrushed, light-toned bedrock with a rippled texture. MAHLI also has a rotational stereo observation of “Castle Rock Spire” (a light-toned block of bedrock) and observations of the REMS UV sensor. In addition to bedrock observations by MAHLI and APXS, ChemCam has a LIBS observation of dark-toned float target “Silver Peak” on the first sol of this plan. ChemCam will also acquire long-distance RMIs of the rim of upper Gediz Vallis ridge and Fascination Turret to document stratigraphy. Mastcam will acquire mosaics to document exposed bedding, Kukenan butte, and Pinnacle Ridge.
Observations of Pinnacle Ridge by Mastcam will complement the ChemCam long-distance RMI observation of it on the second sol of the plan. This sol also has a ChemCam LIBS observation of “Needle Lake” to document different degrees of erosion of bedrock across laminations and a ChemCam passive dark test. Mastcam will image the two LIBS targets and will also acquire several mosaics of “Pahoa Island”, “Quail Flat”, and “The Nose” to document light-toned laminated bedrock, ripple structures, and characteristics of a dark float rock, respectively. On the second sol Curiosity will drive away. The third sol of the plan features untargeted remote observations, including ChemCam Passive Sky activities, dust devil observations, and Mastcam tau measurements.
Written by Abigail Knight, Graduate Student at Washington University
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NASA Astronaut to Inspire Artemis Generation in Boston
April 22, 2024
NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, along with representatives from NASA and the International Space Station National Laboratory, will visit Boston on Wednesday, April 24, and Thursday, April 25, as part of the agency’s Destination Station to highlight research opportunities aboard the station.
Destination Station was created to educate the public and engage prospective researchers about the benefits, capabilities, and opportunities to use the space station. The space station has been continuously inhabited for more than 23 years, enabling more than 5,000 researchers to conduct more than 3,500 innovative experiments in the areas of biology and biotechnology, human health, space and physical science, and technology.
Throughout the week, NASA and the ISS National Lab will meet with a variety of academic institutions, business incubators, and private-sector companies with ties to the Boston community. During the visits, Bowen will provide perspectives on living and working in space.
Media who wish interview Bowen during the outreach events in Boston, should contact Kara Slaughter at kara.c.slaughter@nasa.gov or 281-483-5111.
Bowen was the first submarine officer selected to be a NASA astronaut. He most recently served as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the station where he was part of a six-month research mission, Expedition 69. He is a veteran of three space shuttle flights to the station, including STS-126, STS-132, and STS-133. Bowen has logged a total of 227 days in space and conducted 10 extravehicular activities in his career. His 10 spacewalks make him one of five humans who have conducted that many spacewalks and he is third on the all-time list for most cumulative spacewalking time. Bowen and the crews of Expedition 68 and 69 conducted more than 200 science experiments including tissue chip research, bioprinting human cells and tissues in space, and studying antibodies in microgravity. Bowen is a Massachusetts native and earned his bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and his master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
Over the years, NASA’s Destination Station has led to research collaborations aboard the orbiting laboratory with a variety of academic and commercial companies. This visit also is a prelude to the 13th annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference at the Boston Marriott Copley Square from July 29 – Aug. 1, 2024.
Learn more about the International Space Station and its crews at:
Discover the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory at:
https://www.issnationallab.org
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Kara Slaughter
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
NASA Invites Media to Learn About New Tech Mission Powered by the Sun
A new NASA mission is testing a new way to navigate our solar system by hoisting its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight.
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is led by the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The microwave oven-sized CubeSat is scheduled to launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. The launch window opens at 3 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, April 23 (10 p.m. UTC). Successful deployment and operation of the solar sail’s lightweight composite booms will prove the capability and open the door to larger scale missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Once it arrives in its orbit, roughly 600 miles above Earth, the CubeSat will deploy a lightweight sunlight-powered composite solar sail system that measures more than 800 square feet. Much like a sailboat uses wind to traverse the ocean, the solar sail technology will use the pressure of sunlight to travel through space and perform a series of maneuvers to demonstrate orbit raising and lowering. Throughout the demonstration, the spacecraft may be visible to the naked eye in the night sky.
Media interested in scheduling an interview with one of the NASA Ames engineers involved with the development of the CubeSat should email the NASA Ames Office of Communications at arc-dl-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
A media resource reel including animated clips of the solar sail system is available here.
Get launch updates, breaking news, and images on the small satellites blog as well as NASA Ames’ Instagram, Facebook, and X.
For more information about NASA’s Ames Research Center, visit:
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Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, Calif.
650-604-4789
NASA Announces 30th Human Exploration Rover Challenge Winners
NASA announced the winners of the 30th Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) April 22, with Parish Episcopal School, from Dallas, winning first place in the high school division, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville, capturing the college/university title.
The annual engineering competition – one of NASA’s longest standing challenges – held its concluding event April 19 and April 20, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The complete list of 2024 award winners is provided below:
High School Division
- First Place: Parish Episcopal School, Dallas
- Second Place: Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology, Reno, Nevada
- Third Place: Escambia High School, Pensacola, Florida
College/University Division
- First Place: University of Alabama in Huntsville
- Second Place: Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Third Place: Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina
Ingenuity Award
- University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
Phoenix Award
- High School Division: East Central High School, Moss Point, Mississippi
- College/University Division: North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
Task Challenge Award
- High School Division: Erie High School, Erie, Colorado
- College/University Division: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota
Project Review Award
- High School Division: Parish Episcopal School, Dallas
- College/University Division: University of Alabama in Huntsville
Featherweight Award
- Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island
Safety Award
- High School Division: NPS International School, Singapore
- College/University Division: Instituto Especializado de Estudios Superiores Loyola, San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Crash and Burn Award
- KIET Group of Institutions, Delhi-NCR, India
Jeff Norris and Joe Sexton Memorial Pit Crew Award
- High School Division: Erie High School, Erie, Colorado
- College/University Division: Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina
Team Spirit Award
- Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Most Improved Performance Award
- High School Division: Jesco von Puttkamer School, Leipzig, Germany
- College/University Division: Universidad Católica Boliviana – San Pablo, La Paz, Bolivia
Social Media Award
- High School Division: Bledsoe County High School, Pikeville, Tennessee
- College/University Division: Universidad de Piura, Peru
STEM Engagement Award
- High School Division: Princess Margaret Secondary School, Surrey, British Columbia
- College/University Division: Trine University, Angola, Indiana
Artemis Educator Award
- Sadif Safarov from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
Rookie of the Year
- Kanakia International School, Mumbai, India
More than 600 students with 72 teams from around the world participated as HERC celebrated its 30th anniversary as a NASA competition. Participating teams represented 42 colleges and universities and 30 high schools from 24 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 13 other nations from around the world. Teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges, and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.
“This student design challenge encourages the next generation of scientists and engineers to engage in the design process by providing innovative concepts and unique perspectives,” said Vemitra Alexander, HERC activity lead for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall. “While celebrating the 30th anniversary of the challenge, HERC also continues NASA’s legacy of providing valuable experiences to students who may be responsible for planning future space missions including crewed missions to other worlds.”
HERC is one of NASA’s eight Artemis Student Challenges reflecting the goals of the Artemis program, which seeks to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon while establishing a long-term presence for science and exploration. NASA uses such challenges to encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
HERC is managed by NASA’s Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall. Since its inception in 1994, more than 15,000 students have participated in HERC – with many former students now working at NASA, or within the aerospace industry.
To learn more about HERC, please visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/home/index.html
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Gerelle Dodson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4637
gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov
Taylor Goodwin
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
taylor.goodwin@nasa.gov
NASA Nurtures Promising Tech Ideas from Small Businesses
New space technology ideas emerge every day from innovators across the country, and NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program on Monday selected more than 100 projects for funding. This program offers small businesses in the United States early-stage funding and support to advance the agency’s goals of exploring the unknown in air and space while returning benefits to Earth.
Specifically, NASA’s SBIR program awarded $93.5 million in Phase II contracts to bring 107 new ideas to life from 95 selected small businesses. Of these businesses, nearly 80% have less than 50 employees, and 21% are receiving their first Phase II award, valued at up to $850,000 each. Each small business was also eligible to apply for up to $50,000 in Technical and Business Assistance program funding to help find new market opportunities and shape their commercialization roadmap.
“We are thrilled to support this diverse set of companies as they work diligently to bring their technologies to market,” said Jenn Gustetic, director of Early Stage Innovation and Partnerships with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “Inclusive innovation is integral to mission success at NASA, and we’re excited to see that 29% of the awardees are from underrepresented groups, including 11% women-owned businesses.”
In Phase II, awardees will build on their success from the program’s first phase to bring their technologies closer to real-world use. The companies have 24 months to execute their plans, which focus on their technologies’ path to commercialization.
For example, NASA selected women-owned and first-time NASA Phase II awardee nou Systems, Inc. in Huntsville, Alabama, for its genetic testing instrument. While portable genetic sequencing already exists, field sequencing – that would allow DNA analysis anywhere on Earth or off planet – remains unfeasible as the preparation of the DNA Library remains an intensely manual process, needing a trained wet lab technician and several pieces of laboratory equipment. The Phase II technology takes advantage of several cross-enabling technologies, creating an instrument to automate the genetic sequencing process.
“Our program works directly with small businesses to forge innovative concepts and technologies that drive impact for NASA projects as well as a myriad of commercial endeavors,” said Jason L. Kessler, program executive for NASA’s SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program at NASA Headquarters. “This collaboration results in realized opportunities not only for NASA but all of humanity.”
This includes technologies aiming to reduce astronaut workload and improve robotic scientific endeavors on the Moon and Mars. PickNik Inc. based in Boulder, Colorado, will use its Phase II award to continue developing a hardware-agnostic platform for supervised autonomy that empowers humans to command a remote robot to complete complex tasks with minimal input, which could support the Artemis program. Outside of NASA, PickNik’s software product may be of interest to commercial space customers working on low Earth orbit destinations, in-space servicing, and more, as well as on Earth in areas like warehouse management, oil rig maintenance, and deep-sea exploration.
The NASA SBIR program is open to U.S. small businesses to develop an innovation or technology. The program is part of STMD and managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley.
To learn more about the NASA SBIR program, visit:
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Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
james.j.russell@nasa.gov
202-358-1600
Our Beautiful Water World
This Jan. 30, 2012 image of Earth was created from photographs taken by the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the Suomi NPP satellite. Many features of North America and the Western Hemisphere are particularly visible. The composite was created from the data collected during four orbits of the robotic satellite taken earlier in January 2012 and digitally projected onto the globe.
VIIRS collects visible and infrared imagery along with global observations of Earth’s land, atmosphere, cryosphere, and ocean, extending observational records collected by similar instruments aboard previously launched satellites, such as NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and NOAA’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).
Help us celebrate Earth Day by sharing a #GlobalSelfie.
Image Credit: NASA
‘Vast and Rich:’ Studying the Ocean With NASA Computer Simulations
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A tool developed at NASA’s Advanced Supercomputing division provides researchers with a global view of their ocean simulation in high resolution. In this part of the global visualization, the Gulf Stream features prominently. Surface water speeds are shown ranging from 0 meters per second (dark blue) to 1.25 meters (about 4 feet) per second (cyan). The video is running at one simulation day per second. The data used comes from the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) consortium. Credits: NASA/Bron Nelson, David Ellsworth“Every time I help with visualizing [ocean] simulation data, I learn about an entirely new area of ocean or climate research, and I’m reminded of how vast and rich this area of research is. And…the real magic happens at the intersection and interaction of simulated and observed data.
It is a great honor – and a thrill – to collaborate with devoted, world-class scientists doing such important, cutting-edge research and sometimes to even help them learn something new about their science.”
Dr. Nina McCurdy
Data visualization scientist with the NASA Advanced Supercomputing division at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley
This Earth Day, learn more about the work of Nina and other Ames researchers studying our planet: Celebrating Our Ocean World at NASA in Silicon Valley.
Why is Methane Seeping on Mars? NASA Scientists Have New Ideas
Maksym Bocharov
The most surprising revelation from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover — that methane is seeping from the surface of Gale Crater — has scientists scratching their heads.
Living creatures produce most of the methane on Earth. But scientists haven’t found convincing signs of current or ancient life on Mars, and thus didn’t expect to find methane there. Yet, the portable chemistry lab aboard Curiosity, known as SAM, or Sample Analysis at Mars, has continually sniffed out traces of the gas near the surface of Gale Crater, the only place on the surface of Mars where methane has been detected thus far. Its likely source, scientists assume, are geological mechanisms that involve water and rocks deep underground.
If that were the whole story, things would be easy. However, SAM has found that methane behaves in unexpected ways in Gale Crater. It appears at night and disappears during the day. It fluctuates seasonally, and sometimes spikes to levels 40 times higher than usual. Surprisingly, the methane also isn’t accumulating in the atmosphere: ESA’s (the European Space Agency) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, sent to Mars specifically to study the gas in the atmosphere, has detected no methane.
Why do some science instruments detect methane on the Red Planet while others don’t?
“It’s a story with a lot of plot twists,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads Curiosity’s mission.
Methane keeps Mars scientists busy with lab work and computer modeling projects that aim to explain why the gas behaves strangely and is detected only in Gale Crater. A NASA research group recently shared an interesting proposal.
Reporting in a March paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the group suggested that methane — no matter how it’s produced — could be sealed under solidified salt that might form in Martian regolith, which is “soil” made of broken rock and dust. When temperature rises during warmer seasons or times of day, weakening the seal, the methane could seep out.
Led by Alexander Pavlov, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the researchers suggest the gas also can erupt in puffs when seals crack under the pressure of, say, a rover the size of a small SUV driving over it. The team’s hypothesis may help explain why methane is detected only in Gale Crater, Pavlov said, given that’s it’s one of two places on Mars where a robot is roving and drilling the surface. (The other is Jezero Crater, where NASA’s Perseverance rover is working, though that rover doesn’t have a methane-detecting instrument.)
Pavlov traces the origin of this hypothesis to an unrelated experiment he led in 2017, which involved growing microorganisms in a simulated Martian permafrost (frozen soil) infused with salt, as much of Martian permafrost is.
Pavlov and his colleagues tested whether bacteria known as halophiles, which live in saltwater lakes and other salt-rich environments on Earth, could thrive in similar conditions on Mars.
The microbe-growing results proved inconclusive, he said, but the researchers noticed something unexpected: The top layer of soil formed a salt crust as salty ice sublimated, turning from a solid to a gas and leaving the salt behind.
Permafrost on Mars and Earth
“We didn’t think much of it at the moment,” Pavlov said, but he remembered the soil crust in 2019, when SAM’s tunable laser spectrometer detected a methane burst no one could explain.
“That’s when it clicked in my mind,” Pavlov said. And that’s when he and a team began testing the conditions that could form and crack hardened salt seals.
Pavlov’s team tested five samples of permafrost infused with varying concentrations of a salt called perchlorate that’s widespread on Mars. (There’s likely no permafrost in Gale Crater today, but the seals could have formed long ago when Gale was colder and icier.) The scientists exposed each sample to different temperatures and air pressure inside a Mars simulation chamber at NASA Goddard.
Periodically, Pavlov’s team injected neon, a methane analog, underneath the soil sample and measured the gas pressure below and above it. Higher pressure beneath the sample implied the gas was trapped. Ultimately, a seal formed under Mars-like conditions within three to 13 days only in samples with 5% to 10% perchlorate concentration.
This is a sample of mock Martian regolith, which is “soil” made of broken rock and dust. It’s one of five samples that scientists infused with varying concentrations of a salt called perchlorate that’s widespread on Mars. They exposed each sample to Mars-like conditions in the Mars simulation chamber at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The brittle clumps in the sample above show that a seal of salt did not form in this sample because the concentration of salt was too low. NASA/Alexander Pavlov This image is of another sample of mock Martian “soil” after it was removed from the Mars simulation chamber. The surface is sealed with a solid crust of salt. Alexander Pavlov and his team found that a seal formed after a sample spent three to 13 days under Mars-like conditions, and only if it had 5% to 10% perchlorate salt concentration. The color is lighter in the center where the sample was scratched with a metal pick. The light color indicates a drier soil underneath the top layer, which absorbed moisture from the air as soon as the sample was removed from the simulation chamber, turning brown. NASA/Alexander PavlovThat’s a much higher salt concentration than Curiosity has measured in Gale Crater. But regolith there is rich in a different type of salt minerals called sulfates, which Pavlov’s team wants to test next to see if they can also form seals.
Curiosity rover has arrived at a region believed to have formed as Mars’ climate was drying.
Improving our understanding of methane generation and destruction processes on Mars is a key recommendation from the 2022 NASA Planetary Mission Senior Review, and theoretical work like Pavlov’s is critical to this effort. However, scientists say they also need more consistent methane measurements.
SAM sniffs for methane only several times a year because it is otherwise busy doing its primary job of drilling samples from the surface and analyzing their chemical makeup.
In 2018, NASA announced that the Sample Analysis at Mars chemistry lab aboard the Curiosity Rover discovered ancient organic molecules that had been preserved in rocks for billions of years. Findings like this one help scientists understand the habitability of early Mars and pave the way for future missions to the Red Planet.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio
“Methane experiments are resource intensive, so we have to be very strategic when we decide to do them,” said Goddard’s Charles Malespin, principal investigator for SAM.
Yet, to test how often methane levels spike, for instance, would require a new generation of surface instruments that measure methane continuously from many locations across Mars, scientists say.
“Some of the methane work will have to be left to future surface spacecraft that are more focused on answering these specific questions,” Vasavada said.
By Lonnie Shekhtman
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
NASA Sets Coverage of Roscosmos Spacewalk Outside Space Station
NASA will provide live coverage, beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, April 25, as two Roscosmos cosmonauts conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. The spacewalk is expected to begin at 10:55 a.m. and could last up to seven hours.
NASA will stream the spacewalk on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Expedition 71 crewmates Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will venture outside the station’s Poisk airlock to complete the deployment of one panel on a synthetic radar system on the Nauka module.The two cosmonauts will also install equipment and experiments on the Poisk module to analyze the level of corrosion on station surfaces and modules.
The spacewalk will be the 270th in support of space station, and will be the seventh for Kononenko, who will wear the Orlan spacesuit with the red stripes, and the second for Chub, who will wear the spacesuit with the blue stripes.
Get breaking news, images, and features from the space station on the station blog, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
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Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Work Underway on Large Cargo Landers for NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions
Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency and its partners will send large pieces of equipment to the lunar surface to enable long-term scientific exploration of the Moon for the benefit of all. NASA’s human landing system providers, SpaceX and Blue Origin, are beginning development of lunar landers for large cargo deliveries to support these needs.
NASA has contracted SpaceX and Blue Origin to provide landing systems to take astronauts to the Moon’s surface from lunar orbit, beginning with Artemis III. The agency has asked the two companies to develop cargo versions of their human lunar landers as an option under their existing contracts. These cargo variants are expected to land approximately 26,000 – 33,000 pounds (12 to 15 metric tons) of payload on the lunar surface and be in service no earlier than the Artemis VII mission.
“It’s essential that NASA has the capability to land not just astronauts, but large pieces of equipment, such as pressurized rovers, on the Moon for maximum return on science and exploration activities,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, Human Landing System Program Manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Beginning this work now allows SpaceX and Blue Origin to leverage their respective human lander designs to provide cargo variants that NASA will need in the future.”
NASA expects the cargo versions of the companies’ landers to be modified versions of the human landing systems currently being developed for Artemis III, IV, and V. Modifications will include adjustments for payload interfaces and deployment mechanisms, and the cargo variants will not have human life support systems.
This initial work allows the companies to proceed with development for their cargo landers through a preliminary design review, the step that establishes the basis for proceeding with detailed design. SpaceX is conducting its work under the NextSTEP Appendix H contract, and Blue Origin is conducting its work under NextSTEP Appendix P. NASA officially exercised the options under those contracts in November 2023 to begin work on the large cargo landers.
With Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human missions to the Red Planet. Artemis requires the best of international space agencies, private industry, and academia to establish the infrastructure for long-term scientific research and exploration. NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, exploration ground systems, and Orion spacecraft, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits and rovers, and Gateway lunar space station are the agency’s foundation for human exploration deep space.
For more information about Artemis, visit:
Slovenia Signs Artemis Accords, Joins Pursuit of Safer Space
NASA and Slovenia affirmed their cooperation in future space endeavors on Friday as Slovenia became the 39th country to sign the Artemis Accords. The signing certified Slovenia’s commitment to pursue safe and sustainable exploration of space for the benefit of humanity and took place during a U.S.-Slovenia strategic dialogue in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Offices.
“NASA welcomes Slovenia to the Artemis Accords,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Today, the partnership between the United States and Slovenia crosses a new frontier. We live in a golden era of exploring the stars. That era will be written by nations that explore the cosmos openly, responsibly, and in peace.”
State Secretary Matevž Frangež of the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism, and Sport signed the Accords on behalf of Slovenia, with James O’Brien, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, participating in the signing event.
“Slovenia joins the principles, values, and rules on the peaceful use of space as a common good of humanity,” Frangež said.
Rebecca Bresnik, Associate General Counsel for International and Space Law, served as the senior NASA official at the ceremony, along with her husband, Randy Bresnik, who is a NASA astronaut of Slovenian descent.
“We are delighted to welcome Slovenia to the Artemis Accords family,” said Ambassador Jamie Harpootlian, the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia “We recognize Slovenia as a rising leader in space. We look forward to taking our collaborations with Slovenia on science, technology, and innovation to new frontiers.”
In 2020, the United States and seven other countries established the Artemis Accords to establish guidelines for the peaceful exploration and use of outer space. The Accords reinforce and implement key obligations in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. They also strengthen the commitment by the United States and signatory nations to the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices NASA and its partners support, including the public release of scientific data.
Learn more about the Artemis Accords at:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords
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Lauren Low
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
lauren.e.low@nasa.gov
