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NASA Invites Media to Attend Louisiana Space Day 2024
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, is one of the world’s largest manufacturing plants, with 43 acres under one roof and a port with deep-water access, permitting transportation of large space systems and hardware NASANASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, several aerospace companies, and GNO Inc. will host Louisiana Space Day 2024 at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, May 8.
Media are invited to attend and should contact Craig Betbeze at craig.c.betbeze@nasa.gov or 504-419-5333 by 2 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, May 7.
Area middle-school, high-school, and college students will participate in STEM activities, chat with NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, and hear from NASA leadership during an Artemis Generation panel discussion. The event also will include a reading of a Space Day resolution by Louisiana legislators with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Joseph Pelfrey, NASA Michoud Director Hansel Gill, and astronaut Cassada, highlighting Louisiana’s contributions to space exploration.
NASA Michoud, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance (ULA), Blue Origin, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LA STEM, partners for Stennis and Michoud, and selected Louisiana school robotics teams are among the exhibitors for Space Day 2024. GNO Inc. coordinated efforts with local schools to bring middle and high-school school students to participate.
Media opportunities for the day include:
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – STEM activities
Location: Capitol Rotunda
10 a.m. – Chat with NASA astronaut Josh Cassada, NASA Marshall Center Director Joseph Pelfrey, NASA Michoud Assembly Director Hansel Gill, and high school students
Location: Louisiana State Library
TBD – Resolution readings on the House and Senate Floors
11 a.m. – Artemis Generation Panel with college students. Panel participants are Chrystal Morgan, Boeing, as moderator, NASA Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey, and NASA Michoud Assembly Director Hansel Gill.
Location: Louisiana State Capitol
TBD – Louisiana Space Day 2024 Resolution reading by Louisiana Legislators with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Director Joseph Pelfrey and NASA Michoud Assembly Director Hansel Gill.
About the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility
For more than half a century, NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans has been “America’s Rocket Factory,” the nation’s premiere site for manufacturing and assembly of large-scale space structures and systems. Michoud is a NASA-owned facility, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
To learn more about programs and activities at NASA Michoud, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/michoud-assembly-facility/
Craig Betbeze
Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans
504-419-5333
craig.c.betbeze@nasa.gov
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Hubble Views a Galaxy with a Voracious Black Hole
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Hubble Views a Galaxy with a Voracious Black Hole This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 4951, located roughly 50 million light-years away from Earth.Bright, starry spiral arms surround an active galactic center in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy NGC 4951.
Located in the Virgo constellation, NGC 4951 is located roughly 50 million light-years away from Earth. It’s classified as a Seyfert galaxy, which means that it’s an extremely energetic type of galaxy with an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, Seyfert galaxies are unique from other sorts of AGNs because the galaxy itself can still be clearly seen – different types of AGNs are so bright that it’s nearly impossible to observe the actual galaxy that they reside within.
AGNs like NGC 4951 are powered by supermassive black holes. As matter whirls into the black hole, it generates radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, making the AGN shine brightly.
Hubble helped prove that supermassive black holes exist at the core of almost every galaxy in our universe. Before the telescope launched into low-Earth orbit in 1990, astronomers only theorized about their existence. The mission verified their existence by observing the undeniable effects of black holes, like jets of material ejecting from black holes and disks of gas and dust revolving around those black holes at very high speeds.
These observations of NGC 4951 were taken to provide valuable data for astronomers studying how galaxies evolve, with a particular focus on the star formation process. Hubble gathered this information, which is being combined with observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to support a JWST Treasury program. Treasury programs collect observations that focus on the potential to solve multiple scientific problems with a single, coherent dataset and enable a variety of compelling scientific investigations.
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Media Contact:
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
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China Creates a High-Resolution Atlas of the Moon
Multiple space agencies are looking to send crewed missions to the Moon’s southern polar region in this decade and the next. Moreover, they intend to create the infrastructure that will allow for a sustained human presence, exploration, and economic development. This requires that the local geography, resources, and potential hazards be scouted in advance and navigation strategies that do not rely on a Global Positioning System (GPS) developed. On Sunday, April 21st, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released the first complete high-definition geologic atlas of the Moon.
This 1:2.5 million scale geological set of maps provides basic geographical data for future lunar research and exploration. According to the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the volume includes data on 12,341 craters, 81 impact basins, 17 types of lithologies, 14 types of structures, and other geological information about the lunar surface. This data will be foundational to China’s efforts in selecting a site for their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) and could also prove useful for NASA planners as they select a location for the Artemis Base Camp.
Credit: CAS via Xinhua handoutOuyang Ziyuan and Liu Jianzhong, a research professor and senior researcher from the Institute of Geochemistry of the CAS (respectively), oversaw these efforts. Since 2012, they have led a team of over 100 scientists and cartographers from relevant research institutions. The team spent more than a decade compiling scientific exploration data obtained by the many orbiters, landers, and rovers that are part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (Chang’e), and other research about the origin and evolution of the Moon.
According to the CAS, the atlas includes an “upgraded lunar geological time scale” for “objectively” depicting the geological evolution of the Moon, including the lunar tectonics and volcanic activity that once took place. As a result, the volume could not only be significant in terms of lunar exploration and site selection. Still, it could also improve our understanding of the formation and evolution of Earth and the other terrestrial planets of the Solar System – Mercury, Venus, and Mars. As Jianzhong indicated in a CAS press release,
“The world has witnessed significant progress in the field of lunar exploration and scientific research over the past decades, which have greatly improved our understanding of the moon. However, the lunar geologic maps published during the Apollo era have not been changed for about half a century and are still being used for lunar geological research. With the improvements of lunar geologic studies, those old maps can no longer meet the needs of future scientific research and lunar exploration.”
Credit: CAS via Xinhua handoutJianzhong also claims that the atlas could help inform future sample collection on the Moon. This includes the Chang’e-6 mission (consisting of an orbiter and lander), which launched this past Friday (May 3rd). The orbiter element will reach the Moon in a few weeks, and the lander element is expected to touch down the far side of the Moon by early June. By 2026, it will be joined by the Chang’e-7 mission, consisting of an orbiter, lander, rover, and a mini-hopping probe. While Chang’e-6 will obtain lunar soil and rock samples, Chang’e-7 will investigate resources and obtain samples of water ice and volatiles.
According to Gregory Michael, a senior scientist from the Free University of Berlin, the release of this atlas represents the culmination of decades of work, and not just by Chinese scientists:
“This map, in particular, is the first on a global scale to utilize all of the post-Apollo era data. It builds on the achievements of the international community over the last decades, as well as on China’s own highly successful Chang’e program. It will be a starting point for every new question of lunar geology and become a primary resource for researchers studying lunar processes of all kinds.”
Aside from updating data on lunar features and geology, the new maps reportedly double the resolution of the Apollo-era maps. These maps were compiled by the US Geological Survey in the 1960s and 70s using data from the Apollo missions. Among them was a global map at the scale of 1:5,000,000, though other regional maps and those that showed the terrain near the Apollo landing sites were of higher resolution. Geological and geographical information on the Moon has advanced considerably since then, requiring updated maps that reflect the objective of returning to the Moon with the intent to stay.
Credit: CAS via Xinhua handoutIn addition to the Geologic Atlas of the Lunar Globe, the CAS also released a book called Map Quadrangles of the Geologic Atlas of the Moon. This document includes 30 sector diagrams that collectively form a visualization of the entire lunar surface. Both are available in Chinese and English, have been integrated into a digital platform called Digital Moon, and will eventually become available to the international research community.
Further Reading: CAS
The post China Creates a High-Resolution Atlas of the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.
