NASA
NASA’s DC-8 Completes Final Mission, Set to Retire
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The DC-8 aircraft returned to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, on April 1, 2024, after completing its final mission supporting Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ). The aircraft and crew were welcomed back with a celebratory water salute by the U.S. Air Force Plant 42 Fire Department.NASA/Steve FreemanAfter 37 years of successful airborne science missions, NASA’s DC-8 aircraft completed its final mission and returned to the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, on April 1.
The DC-8 and crew were welcomed back with a celebratory water salute by the U.S Air Force Plant 42 Fire Department after completing an air quality study, the Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality, or ASIA-AQ mission. The aircraft is set to retire after concluding operations in May.
As the largest flying science laboratory in the world, the DC-8 has been used to support the agency’s Airborne Science mission since 1987. This unique aircraft was first acquired by NASA in 1985 and collected data for experiments in support of scientific projects serving the world’s scientific community – including scientists, researchers, and students from NASA and other federal, state, academic, and foreign institutions.
The DC-8 will continue its educational legacy as it retires to its new home at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho, where it will be used to train future aircraft technicians by providing real-world experience in the college’s Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program.
For more information about the DC-8 aircraft, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/armstrong/dc-8-aircraft/
Share Details Last Updated Apr 09, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 3 min read NASA Langley Team to Study Weather During Eclipse Using Uncrewed Vehicles Article 5 days ago 5 min read NASA Selects University Teams to Compete in 2024 RASC-AL Competition Article 5 days ago 1 min read NASA Noise Prediction Tool Supports Users in Air Taxi Industry Article 6 days ago Facebook logo @NASA@NASAArmstrong @NASA@NASAArmstrong Instagram logo @NASA@NASAArmstrong Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAArmstrong Flight Research Center
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NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara to Discuss Space Station Mission
After spending six-and-a-half-months aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara will participate in a news conference at 10:45 a.m. EDT Monday, April 15, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The news conference will air live 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.
Media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no later than 5 p.m. Friday, April 12, by calling 281-483-5111 or emailing: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.
Media wishing to participate virtually must contact the newsroom no later than two hours before the start of the event. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. Questions may also be submitted on social media by using #AskNASA.
O’Hara launched Sept. 15, 2023, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, and returned to Earth April 6 with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya launched with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson to the station aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft on March 23.
O’Hara completed 204 days in space, 3,264 orbits of the Earth, and 86.5 million miles during her first spaceflight. She witnessed the arrival of eight visiting spacecraft and the departure of seven visiting spacecraft, including both crewed and cargo missions. O’Hara also completed one spacewalk totaling six hours, 42 minutes.
While aboard the orbiting lab, O’Hara conducted dozens of science and technology activities to benefit future exploration in space and life back on Earth. O’Hara is among the first astronauts to participate in CIPHER, or the Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research program, an investigation that studies the psychological and physiological changes humans experience during spaceflight. Collecting data from astronauts on missions of different durations supports the development of ways to protect crew health on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars.
O’Hara conducted experiments bioprinting cardiac tissues in microgravity which could advance technology for creating replacement organs and tissues for transplant on Earth. She also studied the effects of microgravity on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind bone loss and support the development of ways to better protect crew members and people on Earth from its effects.
Get the latest NASA space station news, images, and features on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
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Joshua Finch / Julian Coltre / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov
New NASA Strategy Envisions Sustainable Future for Space Operations
To address a rapidly changing space operating environment and ensure its preservation for generations to come, NASA released the first part of its integrated Space Sustainability Strategy, on Tuesday advancing the agency’s role as a global leader on this crucial issue.
“The release of this strategy marks true progress for NASA on space sustainability,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Space is busy – and only getting busier. If we want to make sure that critical parts of space are preserved so that our children and grandchildren can continue to use them for the benefit of humanity, the time to act is now. NASA is making sure that we’re aligning our resources to support sustainable activity for us and for all.”
For decades, NASA has served as a proactive leader for responsible and sustainable space operations. Entities across the agency develop best practices, analytic tools, and technologies widely adopted by operators around the world. The new strategy seeks to integrate those efforts through a whole-of-agency approach – allowing NASA to focus its resources on the most pressing issues. To facilitate that integration, NASA will appoint a new director of space sustainability to coordinate activities across the agency.
Key aspects of our approach include providing global leadership in space sustainability, supporting equitable access to space, and ensuring NASA’s missions and operations enhance space sustainability.
Space environments currently are seeing the rapid emergence of commercial capabilities, many of them championed by NASA. These capabilities include increased low Earth orbit satellite activity and plans for the use of satellite constellations, autonomous spacecraft, and commercial space destinations. However, this increased activity also has generated challenges, such as an operating environment more crowded with spacecraft and increased debris. Understanding the risks and benefits associated with this growth is crucial for space sustainability.
Developed under the leadership of a crossagency advisory board, the space sustainability strategy focuses on advancements NASA can make toward measuring and assessing space sustainability in Earth orbit, identifying cost-effective ways to meet sustainability targets, incentivizing the adoption of sustainable practices through technology and policy development, and increasing efforts to share and receive information with the rest of the global space community.
NASA’s approach to space sustainability recognizes four operational domains: Earth, Earth orbit, the orbital area near and around the Moon known as cislunar space, and deep space, including other celestial bodies. The first volume of the strategy focuses on sustainability in Earth orbit. NASA plans to produce additional volumes focusing on the other domains.
Learn more about the Space Sustainability Strategy at:
https://www.nasa.gov/spacesustainability
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Amber Jacobson / Rob Margetta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov / robert.j.margetta@nasa.gov
Seeing Totality
Seeing Totality
On April 8, 2024, a NASA photographer captured the total solar eclipse in Dallas. A small part of North America, from Mexico’s Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, saw the total solar eclipse, while all North America and parts of Central America and Europe saw a partial solar eclipse. The next total solar eclipse that will travel across the lower 48 states from coast to coast is in 2045.
See more photos of the eclipse on Flickr.
Image Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
Through Astronaut Eyes, Virtual Reality Propels Gateway Forward
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Astronauts living aboard the Gateway lunar space station will be the first humans to make their home in deep space. To fine-tune the design of the next-generation science lab, solar-powered spaceship, and home-away-from home for international teams of astronauts, NASA calls on the likes of Raja Chari and Nicole Mann, experienced astronauts who know a thing or two about living and working on a space station.
Commanders of the SpaceX Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions to the International Space Station, respectively, Chari and Mann recently brought their long-duration mission experience to bear when they strapped into virtual reality (VR) headsets to tour Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon.
NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann exploring Gateway’s HALO module.During VR testing, astronauts engage in a variety of tasks that they expect to encounter in their day-to-day life on Gateway during real Artemis missions, including performing science experiments, retrieving supplies, and preparing warm meals. By combining VR models with real-world astronaut experience, NASA designers can make tweaks to Gateway’s interior design for a safer and comfier space station.
Gateway is poised to revolutionize deep space exploration at the Moon and beyond as a testbed for next-generation technology and new science to better understand the impact of space on humans. This space station is a critical component of the Artemis campaign to return humans to the lunar surface for scientific discovery and pave the way for the first human missions to Mars.
NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.Image credits: NASA/Bill Stafford/Josh Valcarcel
Making Ultra-fast Electron Measurements in Multiple Directions to Reveal the Secrets of the Aurora
The energetic electrons that drive the aurora borealis (the northern lights) have a rich and very dynamic structure that we currently do not fully understand. Much of what we know about these electrons comes from instruments that have fundamental limitations in their ability to sample multiple energies with high time resolution. To overcome these limitations, NASA is using an innovative approach to develop instrumentation that will enhance our measurement capabilities by more than an order of magnitude—revealing a wealth of new information about the amazing physics happening within the aurora.
Typical electron instruments rely on a technique called electrostatic deflection, which requires changing a voltage to select different energies of electrons to measure. These instruments have been flown on many different space missions and have provided almost all of the in-situ electron measurements made inside the aurora. They work great when observing on timescales of seconds or even down to around a tenth of a second, but they fundamentally cannot observe down to smaller (millisecond) timescales due to the time it takes to sweep through voltages.
Ground-based optical observations of the aurora have shown that there can be rapid spatial and temporal variations that are beyond the observing capabilities of traditional electron instruments. Therefore, members of the Geophysics Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center developed an instrument called the Acute Precipitating Electron Spectrometer (APES) that can measure electron precipitation within the aurora at a one millisecond cadence. APES uses a strong magnetic field inside the instrument to separate electrons with different energies onto different spatial regions of the detector. This method allows the instrument to measure the entire electron energy spectrum simultaneously at a very high rate (every 1 ms).
Team members Albert Risco Patino and Ellen Robertson assembling an electronics stack for an APES instrument to go on a sounding rocket.Image Credit: NASA GSFC Precipitating electron spectra measured inside the aurora at one millisecond time resolution using the APES instrument on the Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom Sensing-2 (VISIONS-2) sounding rocket flight. This entire plot covers a period of 300 milliseconds. The slanted red stripes in the middle of the figure are on the order of 10 milliseconds apart. Image credit: NASA GSFCIn the design of APES, one major trade-off had to be made. For the magnetic field geometry to work properly, the instrument can only observe in one direction. This concept works well if the goal is just to measure the precipitating (downgoing) electrons in the aurora that ultimately hit the atmosphere. However, we know that electrons in the aurora also move in other directions; in fact, these electrons contain a lot of information about other physical processes happening farther out in space.
To enable measurement of electrons in more than one direction, the Goddard team developed the APES-360 instrument concept. To create the APES-360 design, the team employed the same operating principles used in APES, but updated them to accommodate a multi-look direction geometry that covers a 360-degree field of view using 16 different sectors. The team had to overcome several technical challenges to develop the APES-360 concept. In particular, the electronics design had to accommodate many more anodes (charge detecting surfaces) and the associated circuitry in a small area.
The design of the mechanical assembly of the magnetic optics section for APES-360. The actual magnets are the orange rectangles near the middle. The entrance aperture is a gap between the green and red outer bands. Image credit: NASA GSFCThe APES-360 prototype that is currently being built will be tested and calibrated at Goddard and will fly on a sounding rocket into active aurora in the winter of 2025. This flight will provide real-life data from inside the aurora that will be used to validate the instrument performance and inform future design improvements.
Magnet assembly of prototype APES-360 instrument for simultaneously measuring electron spectra in 16 different directions. Image credit: NASA GSFCThe APES-360 instrument is being designed to fit into a CubeSat form factor so that it can be used on future CubeSat missions to study the aurora. The instrument could also ultimately be flown on larger orbital missions, as well.
PROJECT LEAD:Dr. Robert G Michell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS:Heliophysics, Geospace Physics Laboratory (GSFC Code 673) and H-TIDeS.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 09, 2024 Related TermsNASA Wallops Launches 3 Rockets During Eclipse in Virginia
1 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)Three Black Brant IX sounding rockets launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia April 8, 2024, during the solar eclipse. The rockets launched for the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) mission to study the disturbances in the electrified region of Earth’s atmosphere known as the ionosphere created when the Moon eclipses the Sun. The rockets launched before, during, and after peak local eclipse time on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Photo Credit: NASA/Garon Clark
NASA Shares Medical Expertise with New Space Station Partners
NASA is opening access to space for more people by working with private industry on the development of new commercial space stations for low Earth orbit where the agency’s astronauts could fly in the future.
New commercial space stations will be available to people beyond government or professional astronauts with years of specialized training and evaluation, so NASA is sharing its lessons learned from decades of human spaceflight experience, including more than 25 years of International Space Station operations, to help ensure future flights are as safe as possible for potential fliers.
“Since the majority of orbital human spaceflight programs have been owned and operated by governments, there are few industry best practices or established government regulations that inform maintaining the health and safety of humans during orbital spaceflight missions,” said Dr. Rahul Suresh, medical officer, Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. “NASA is keen to fill this void by sharing its practices to assist and inform nascent commercial spaceflight programs and to ensure they are prepared to host future agency crewed missions aboard their platforms.”
Dr. Rahul Suresh, NASA Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program medical officer, participates in a discussion during the medical operations meeting series. Topics of discussion included medical risk management, medical selection standards, medical system design, and more.NASA/David DeHoyosNASA recently hosted a meeting series at the agency’s Johnson’s Space Center in Houston to share a variety of medical standards, processes, best practices, along with providing access to subject matter experts. Commercial companies in attendance included Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Sierra Space, SpaceX, Vast, and Voyager Space. All companies are working with the agency through funded or unfunded agreements for commercial space station development.
During the meetings and overall development process, the agency is offering guidance for evaluation of potential spaceflight participants from selection and training to in-flight and post-flight support, which are crucial to a platform’s success.
People may be living and working the commercial destinations for different purposes and for different lengths of time. Commercial providers will need to ensure people are ready to fly their mission for the safety of the individual, other fliers, and the destination.
Astronaut selection, training Commercial Crew Program astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore prepares for Expedition 62 International Space Station spacewalk maintenance training at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston on Nov. 30, 2018.NASA/Robert MarkowitzNASA astronauts undergo a rigorous selection process and years of training prior to a mission. For example, the astronaut candidate selection process includes a behavioral health screening program implemented by qualified psychologists and psychiatrists through multiple evaluation methods including validated screen tests, structured interviews, and observation of operational simulations to ensure that the assessments provide a comprehensive measure of a candidate’s behavioral health.
These evaluations help identify important traits such as problem-solving, teamwork, leadership, self-regulation, resilience, and adaptability – traits that NASA has found are directly related to success during training and spaceflight. They also identify disqualifying psychiatric conditions.
NASA has already shared and implemented similar screening requirements, including psychiatric evaluations and psychological testing, for recent private astronaut missions. The agency has publicly released its astronaut medical selection standards that includes both physiological and psychological testing requirements with screening criteria to enable success of these future platforms and commercial missions.
In-flight and post-flight support View of Koichi Wakata, Expedition 38 flight engineer, exercising on the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device, in Node 3 on the International Space Station on Nov. 15, 2013.NASAAdditionally, spaceflight poses numerous risks to maintaining the health and performance of astronauts during their missions. For example, the microgravity environment in low Earth orbit can cause bones and muscles to weaken, elevated radiation increases the long-term risk of conditions such as cancer and cataracts, and even otherwise healthy astronauts can develop life-threatening medical conditions such as kidney stones.
NASA has gained a wealth of knowledge over the years on the impacts of space on the human body and has been able to employ countermeasures to prevent these issues and maintain astronaut performance to ensure mission success. For instance, astronauts aboard the station exercise about one hour per day and eat a will balanced nutritional diet to combat bone density and muscle mass losses.
Even with countermeasures in place, astronauts still experience some physiological changes during a mission. Therefore, once an astronaut crew returns to Earth, there is a period of post-flight reconditioning, which begins on landing day and lasts for about 45 days. This reconditioning program is designed to return astronauts to their pre-flight physical condition.
The complex medical operations that go into any spaceflight mission, starting with astronaut selection and training though post-flight support, are critical for commercial space station partners to understand.
“After the success of our payload operations meeting series hosted at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, earlier this year, this medical operations series is another great example of how we are providing immense value to our commercial low Earth orbit partners to ensure their success,” said Angela Hart, manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program. “By enabling companies to have unique access to NASA experts and data, we are actively supporting those build schedules to be ready for the retirement of the space station.”
NASA flight surgeon Dr. William Tarver delivers a presentation on post-launch medical support, mission readiness, and NASA’s health stabilization program. NASA/David DeHoyosNASA plans to continue providing best practices documents on its public website along with offering additional meeting series in the future to commercial partners to continue the sharing of knowledge to enable a successful commercial space ecosystem.
For more information about NASA’s commercial space strategy, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/
Keep Exploring Discover More TopicsLow Earth Orbit Economy
Commercial Destinations in Low Earth Orbit
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NASA’s Lola Fatoyinbo Receives Royal Geographical Society Prize
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) During a research trip to Fiji, Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo poses in a cluster of coastal mangroves, just one of the aspects of forested and coastal ecosystems that she studies.Courtesy of Dr. Lola FatoyinboDr. Lola Fatoyinbo, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, received the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society (RGS) Prize on April 8 in London. The prize, according to the RGS, recognizes “outstanding achievement by an individual in the pursuit and/or application of geographical research, with a particular emphasis on wildlife conservation and environmental research studies.”
The late and renowned conservationist Esmond Bradley Martin founded the annual prize via a bequest; Fatoyinbo is the second recipient. The Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society Prize recognizes outstanding achievement by individuals undertaking research into wildlife conservation and environmental studies, reflecting Esmond’s tireless work for the protection of wildlife and our natural environment. Fatoyinbo is part of the Biospheric Sciences Lab at NASA Goddard, where she develops and uses advanced remote sensing technologies and data to understand forested and coastal ecosystems. The lab also studies mathematical modeling and advanced analytical techniques that allows scientists to characterize and predict environmental changes due to natural and anthropogenic processes at local to global scales.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to receive this award,” Fatoyinbo said. “Being the recipient right after Dr. Paula Kahumbu, whose work and mission I admire, and in the name of Esmond Bradley Martin, is inspiring and humbling. This recognition also profoundly motivates me to continue producing the environmental data and knowledge that I believe will help protect life on our planet.”
Fatoyinbo has authored or co-authored 60 publications in scientific journals, and she has also partnered with organizations to help protect ecosystems and provide pathways for her research to inform policy decisions.
“In her work, Lola manages to accomplish something of an engineering-theoretical, ecology applications trifecta,” said Woody Turner, NASA’s program manager for ecological conservation, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “By using complex active remote sensing from radars and lidars, she tests cutting edge theories of how tropical and subtropical coastal systems function. But she does all that without losing sight of the practical applications of her team’s work for real people making real decisions in dynamic environments. That kind of synthesis is very difficult to achieve and arises only from an extremely curious individual. Lola brings it all together.”
Her work on airborne light detection and ranging, or lidar, and satellite imagery campaigns after Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, the impact of oil exploration in the Niger Delta, and studies of mangrove forests across the Americas, Africa, and Asia, have increased global understanding of some of Earth’s most critical systems and supported the voices of those that depend on them.
Fatoyinbo said she is also dedicated to training and mentoring the next generation of scientists looking to understand and help protect our home planet, starting with the junior researchers in her lab.
“Lola’s work exemplifies how geographical research has a real-world impact,” said Nigel Clifford, RGS president and chair of the awarding panel. “Her commitment to ensuring that scientific study influences policy shows true leadership in conservation and environmental research and makes her the perfect recipient for the Esmond B. Martin Royal Geographical Society Prize.”
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is the learned society and professional body for geography. Formed in 1830, their Royal Charter of 1859 is for the advancement of geographical science.
By Jake Richmond
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
60 Years Ago: Gemini 1 Flies a Successful Uncrewed Test Flight
On April 8, 1964, Gemini 1 successfully completed the first uncrewed test flight of the Gemini spacecraft and its Titan II booster. The three-orbit mission proved the structural integrity of the spacecraft and the launch vehicle, paving the way for a second uncrewed test flight and ultimately missions with astronauts. The primary goals of Project Gemini included proving the techniques required for the Apollo Program to fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. Of primary importance, Gemini demonstrated the rendezvous and docking techniques necessary to implement the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous method NASA chose for the Moon landing mission. Additionally, Gemini proved that astronauts could work outside their spacecraft during spacewalks and that spacecraft and astronauts could function for at least eight days, considered the minimum time for a roundtrip lunar mission.
Left: Cutaway diagram of the Gemini spacecraft. Middle: Workers at the McDonnell plant in St. Louis examine a Gemini spacecraft mockup. Right: Workers at Martin Marietta’s Baltimore facility test Gemini 1’s Titan II rocket.
Wedged between the pioneering Project Mercury and the historic Apollo missions to the Moon lies the less-heralded Project Gemini. The project’s 12 missions, two uncrewed test flights and 10 crewed missions, bridged the gap between Mercury that proved human spaceflight possible, and that Apollo could achieve President Kennedy’s goal. The Gemini missions flown between April 1964 and November 1966 demonstrated all the techniques required to make Apollo possible and gave astronauts the necessary training and flight experience while maturing the ground support infrastructure. The Gemini spacecraft grew out of studies for an upgraded Mercury capsule with an extended orbital life that could carry two astronauts and maneuver in space. On Dec. 7, 1961, NASA approved the development of the two-seat spacecraft, giving the contract to the McDonnell Corporation of St. Louis, the same company that built Mercury. To launch the spacecraft, NASA ordered the modification of the U.S. Air Force’s Titan II missile, built by the Martin Marietta Corporation in Baltimore. On Jan. 13, 1962, NASA officially named the project Gemini and established a formal Gemini Project Office later that month. But before any astronauts took flight aboard a Gemini spacecraft, it required thorough testing with a crew.
Left: The first stage of Gemini 1’s Titan II rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Pad 19. Middle left: Static test of the Titan II’s two stages. Middle right: Workers lift Gemini 1 to mate it with its Titan II rocket. Right: Workers lower Gemini 1 onto its Titan II rocket.
The agency approved the Gemini spacecraft design on March 31, 1962. The first spacecraft for the uncrewed Gemini 1 test mission arrived at Cape Canaveral on Oct. 4, 1963. In lieu of the two crew ejection seats, the spacecraft contained instrument pallets to monitor and record conditions during the mission. The Titan II rocket for Gemini 1 arrived at Cape Canaveral on Oct. 26 and three days later workers first stacked its two stages in a side-by-side configuration on Launch Pad 19 to prepare for the sequence compatibility test. That test, successfully carried out on Jan. 21, 1964, consisted of 30-second sequential static firings of the two stages. Following the test, workers vertically stacked the two stages and on March 5 mounted and mechanically mated the Gemini spacecraft to the second stage. Engineers completed a simulated countdown on April 2 and a simulated flight test on April 5, leading to the start of the countdown to launch on April 7.
Left: Liftoff of Gemini 1 from Launch Pad 19. Middle: Aerial view of Gemini 1 rising from Launch Pad 19. Right: Gemini 1 continues its ascent to space.
On April 8, 1964, at 11:00 a.m. EST, Gemini 1 lifted off from Launch Pad 19. The primary objectives of the mission included verifying the structural integrity of the Titan II launch vehicle and the Gemini spacecraft, and the ability of the rocket to place the spacecraft into the proper orbit. After five minutes and 37 seconds of powered flight, during which the expended first stage dropped away and the second stage completed the ascent, Gemini 1, still attached to the second stage, achieved orbit. The slightly higher than expected velocity imparted to the spacecraft resulted in placing it in an orbit 21 miles higher than expected, an anomaly not considered serious.
Left: The Mission Control Center (MCC) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Middle: In the MCC, Flight Directors Christopher C. Kraft, left, and John D. Hodge, monitor the Gemini 1 mission. Right: In the auditorium of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth introduces the Gemini 3 crew to the press.
In the Gemini Mission Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Flight Director Christopher C. Kraft led a team of flight controllers that monitored all aspects of the flight. The flight plan called for Gemini 1 to remain attached to its second stage for the duration of its mission that included only the first three orbits and ended about 4 hours 50 minutes after launch, with no plans to recover the spacecraft. The worldwide network continued to track Gemini 1 until it reentered the atmosphere on April 12, on its 64th orbit, over the southern Atlantic Ocean. Program managers declared the mission an unqualified success. The success of Gemini 1 led to optimism that NASA could carry out Gemini 2, a suborbital uncrewed test flight, in August 1964, followed by Gemini 3, the first crewed mission in November – the missions actually took place in January and March 1965, respectively. Riding on the optimism, on April 13, just five days after Gemini 1, in the newly open auditorium at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), now NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth introduced the Gemini 3 crew to the press. NASA assigned Mercury 4 veteran Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Group 2 astronaut John W. Young as the prime crew, with Mercury 8 veteran Walter M. Schirra and Group 2 astronaut Thomas P. Stafford serving as their backups.
Explore More 6 min read From NASA’s First Astronaut Class to Artemis II: The Importance of Military Jet Pilot Experience Article 8 hours ago 16 min read 40 Years Ago: STS-41C, the Solar Max Repair Mission Article 4 days ago 11 min read Eclipses Near and Far Article 5 days agoFrom NASA’s First Astronaut Class to Artemis II: The Importance of Military Jet Pilot Experience
6 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The original Mercury astronauts at the McDonnell Aircraft Corp. in May 1959. The astronauts are left to right: M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Walter M. “Wally” Schirra, Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton.NASA The Mercury 7On April 9, 1959, reporters and news media crammed into the ballroom of the Dolley Madison House in Washington—the location of NASA Headquarters at that time—to learn the names of the first American astronauts who came to be known as the Mercury 7. Public Information Director Walter Bonney kicked off the announcement by pointing to the seven men sitting on stage. “These are our astronaut volunteers,” he announced. “Take your pictures as you will, gentlemen.” One of those men on the dais, Deke Slayton, a test pilot from Edwards Air Force Base, recalled the pandemonium he witnessed. “I’ve never seen anything like it, before or since.” He described the event as, “a frenzy of light bulbs and questions…it was some kind of roar.” His colleague, Wally Schirra, a test pilot from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, called the media’s interest scary because he soon came to realize that their, “private lives were in jeopardy.”
I've never seen anything like it, before or since.Deke Slayton
Former NASA Astronaut
The first class of astronauts were all test pilots: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. The men, as the media reported, had similar backgrounds, education, and skills. Obvious connections also included their age and race: all were white men in their thirties. Every one of them was married, had children, and were Protestants. They even donned similar outfits that day: suits with white shirts and ties.
The seven Mercury astronauts pose around a boiler plate capsule. Counterclockwise from the top left they are Walter M. Schirra, John H. Glenn Jr., Donald K. Slayton, Virgil I. Grissom, Alan B. Shepard Jr., M. Scott Carpenter, and Gordon Cooper Jr.NASAThroughout the sixties, NASA considered jet pilot experience an important skill for anyone in the astronaut corps. Even when NASA selected two groups of scientist-astronauts, one in 1965 and another in 1967, they too learned to fly high-speed aircraft. Those without military jet pilot experience attended a year-long course that the Air Force called Undergraduate Pilot Training, and once they completed the program, they became military-qualified jet pilots.
Watch the story of the selection and training of the Mercury astronauts on NASA+ Adding Diversity to the Astronaut CorpsIn the summer of 1976, NASA announced the space agency would be accepting applications for the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts, and encouraged women and minorities to apply. Almost 20 years after that first astronaut announcement, NASA included six women and four minority astronaut candidates in the 1978 class. Of the 35 selected, 15 were named pilots and 20 were mission specialists (scientists who would perform experiments in space and spacewalks). All the pilot astronauts named had similar backgrounds to the Mercury 7. Like their predecessors, they were white male test pilots with backgrounds in aviation, engineering, and science with one unique distinction: Frederick D. Gregory, an African American research test pilot from the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia. It was not until 1990 that Eileen Collins, a graduate of U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, became NASA’s first female pilot astronaut. Unlike the earlier scientist-astronauts, the mission specialists selected in 1978 and later classes did not have the opportunity to become military qualified jet pilots. They were required, however, to fly a certain number of hours per month in the back seat of a T-38, a jet trainer the pilot astronauts use to maintain their flight proficiency.
The astronaut class of 1978 was NASA’s first new group of astronauts since 1969. This class was notable for many reasons, including having the first African-American and Asian-American astronauts, and the first women.NASAEven as NASA encouraged women and minorities to apply to be astronauts over the years, and more met the basic qualifications as they earned advanced degrees in engineering, medicine, and science, neither group was ever a majority of those selected as candidates. It was more than fifty years before women made up half of those selected in 2013; people of color have never been a majority of any class. Recent astronaut classes are more likely to reflect America’s diverse population, including the last group to be selected in 2021. This group, called the “Flies,” included several minority candidates and four women. (The class, which graduated in March 2024, also included two international astronauts from the United Arab Emirates, and all are now eligible for a flight assignment.) Flight experience continues to remain important, however. Of the ten Americans selected, four were test pilots. Another, Major Nichole Ayers, was a combat aviator from the United States Air Force.
NASA’s 2021 astronaut class graduated on Mar. 5, 2024. The 10 candidates, pictured here in an event at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are Nichole Ayers, Christopher Williams, Luke Delaney, Jessica Wittner, Anil Menon, Marcos Berríos, Jack Hathaway, Christina Birch, Deniz Burnham, and Andre Douglas. UAE Astronaut Candidates Nora AlMatrooshi and Mohammad AlMulla stand alongside them. NASA/Robert Markowitz The Artemis II CrewAlmost 64 years to the day after the Mercury 7 announcement, NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) revealed the names of the four astronauts assigned to the Artemis II mission. The flight will test and prove that the Orion spacecraft’s systems—including its life support, communication, and navigation systems—function as they were designed while a crew is aboard, ahead of future crewed missions to the Moon.
As NASA Administrator Bill Nelson introduced the crew, which included a woman, a person of color, and a Canadian national, he identified them as representatives of America’s creed: “E pluribus unum—out of many, one.” The four-member team included Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. (Half of this crew came from the 2013 astronaut class, which was equally weighted between men and women.) Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to circle the Moon since Apollo. NASA’s Artemis Generation represents a distinct shift from the sixties—when white men from the United States of America landed on the Moon—and hopes to inspire and engage the next generation by demonstrating that space is for everyone, no matter their race or gender. This crew exemplifies the global coalition NASA has built and its commitment to include international partners as well as commercial partners in this grand adventure.
NASA astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen were assigned to fly on the Artemis II mission to the Moon.NASALike many who came before them, three of the four astronauts assigned to this historic mission are military-qualified jet pilots. Wiseman and Glover were both test pilots; Hansen flew as a fighter pilot for the Canadian Air Force. Test pilots regularly assess how new vehicles perform and have experience evaluating experimental aircraft. Astronauts with backgrounds as test pilots have traditionally been among those selected to fly new spacecraft for the first time. They have a strong understanding of the systems that they are monitoring, which helps them to identify and gather the type of data the space agency is seeking from this flight. The safety of future Artemis crews depends on this information.
While the Astronaut Office might look different from how it did in 1959, the decision to select test pilots for the first class of astronauts continues to influence and shape ideas about who is best suited to be an astronaut and fly in space. They are accustomed to working in a fast-paced environment and thrive under pressure. Bob Gilruth, the father of human spaceflight, called the decision to select test pilots to fly on Project Mercury in 1959, “one of the best decisions in the program. It made it quite simple and logical to delegate flight control and command functions to the pilot,” of the spacecraft. The importance of that decision continues to endure today.
Share Details Last Updated Apr 05, 2024 Related Terms Explore More 5 min read NASA Names Astronauts to Next Moon Mission, First Crew Under Artemis Article 1 year ago 4 min read 45 Years Ago: NASA Selects 35 New Astronauts Article 1 year ago 7 min read 65 Years Ago: NASA Selects America’s First Astronauts Article 7 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASANASA History
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NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge
NASA selected nine finalists out of the 45 semifinalist student essays in the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. Contestants were challenged to explore how NASA has powered some of its most famous science missions and to dream up how their personal “super power” would energize their success on their own radioisotope-powered science mission.
The competition asked students to learn about NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), a type of “nuclear battery” that the agency uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in our solar system and beyond. As cities across the United States experience a total solar eclipse, we experience first hand a momentary glimpse into what life would be like without sunlight. This draws attention to how NASA can power missions at destinations that cannot rely on the energy of the Sun, such as deep craters on the Moon and deep space exploration. In 250 words or less, students wrote about a mission of their own enabled by these space power systems and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.
The Power to Explore Challenge offered students the opportunity to learn more about these reliable power systems, celebrate their own strengths, and interact with NASA’s diverse workforce. This year’s contest received 1,787 submitted entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico.
"The RPS Program is so impressed by the ideas and quality of writing that come forth from essays submitted to NASA’s Power to Explore ChallengeCarl Sandifer
Manager, Radioisotope Power Systems Program
“The RPS Program is so impressed by the ideas and quality of writing that come forth from essays submitted to NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge,” said Carl Sandifer, NASA’s manager for the Radioisotope Power Systems Program in Cleveland. “We would like to congratulate the finalists, and we look forward to welcoming the winners to NASA’s Glenn Research Center this summer.”
Entries were split into three categories: grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event that announced the semifinalists. Students learned about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and work together to explore.
Three national finalists in each grade category (nine finalists total) have been selected. In addition to receiving a NASA RPS prize pack, these participants will be invited to an exclusive virtual meeting with a NASA engineer or scientist to talk about their missions and have their space exploration questions answered. Winners will be announced on April 17.
Grades K-4- Katerine Leon, Long Beach, CA
- Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY
- Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, CT
- Aadya Karthik, Redmond, WA
- Andrew Tavares, Bridgewater, MA
- Sara Wang, Henderson, NV
- Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, NJ
- Madeline Male, Fairway, KS
- Kailey Thomas, Las Vegas, NV
About the Challenge
The challenge is funded by the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Kristin Jansen
NASA’s Glenn Research Center
NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara, Crewmates Return from Space Station
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara returned to Earth after a six-month research mission aboard the International Space Station on Saturday, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and Belarus spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya.
The trio departed the space station aboard the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 11:54 p.m. EDT on April 5, and made a safe, parachute-assisted landing at 3:17 a.m., April 6 (12:17 p.m. Kazakhstan time), southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
O’Hara launched Sept. 15, 2023, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who both will remain aboard the space station to complete a one-year mission. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya launched aboard Soyuz MS-25 on March 23 along with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, who will remain aboard the orbiting laboratory until this fall.
O’Hara spent a total of 204 days in space as part of her first spaceflight. Novitskiy has logged a total of 545 days in space across four spaceflights and Vasilevskaya has spent 14 days in space as part of her first spaceflight.
Supporting NASA’s Artemis campaign, O’Hara’s mission helped prepare for exploration of the Moon and build foundations for crewed missions to Mars. She completed approximately 3,264 orbits of the Earth and a journey of more than 86.5 million miles. O’Hara worked on scientific activities aboard the space station, including investigating heart health, cancer treatments, and space manufacturing techniques during her stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Following post-landing medical checks, the crew will return to the recovery staging city in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. O’Hara will then board a NASA plane bound for her return to the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
With the undocking of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft with O’Hara, Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya, Expedition 71 officially began aboard the station. NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Tracy C. Dyson, and Jeannette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko make up Expedition 71 and will remain on the orbiting laboratory until this fall.
Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook, ISS Instagram, and the space station blog.
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Joshua Finch / Julian Coltre / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
NASA Leadership Spotlights Space Sustainability at Space Symposium
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Associate Administrator Jim Free are scheduled to speak at the Space Foundation’s 39th Space Symposium from Tuesday, April 9 through Thursday, April 11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
During her keynote, “Responsible Exploration: Preserving the Cosmos for Tomorrow,” Melroy will discuss NASA’s integrated approach to foster the long-term sustainability of the space environment at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, April 9.
Additionally, Free will moderate a panel titled “Mission Success is a Team Sport at NASA,” at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. Panelists include:
- Kenneth Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Dr. Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Robert Gibbs, associate administrator, Mission Support Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development, NASA Headquarters
- Dr. Kurt Vogel, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
The agency will stream both panels on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.
NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Jessica Watkins also will be participating in activities during the week. NASA currently is accepting applications for new astronauts until Tuesday, April 16. Media interested in an interview opportunity with the astronauts should email Amber Jacobson and Stephanie Schierholz.
To register for the symposium, media must email the Space Foundation at media@spacefoundation.org. Members of the media who have registered for the symposium will have two opportunities to meet onsite with different NASA leaders:
- April 9 at 11:40 a.m. MDT: Pam Melroy and Charity Weeden, associate administrator, Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy
- April 11 at 9 a.m. MDT: Jim Free and Chris Hansen, deputy manager, Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility
A full agenda for this year’s Space Symposium is available online.
Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about NASA’s missions and projects on a variety of topics during brief talks with subject matter experts in the agency’s exhibit space.
NASA will provide photos and updates about its participation in the Space Symposium from its @NASAExhibit on X.
For more information about NASA, visit:
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Amber Jacobson / Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
240-298-1832 / 202-358-4997
amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov / stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov
NASA Langley Team to Study Weather During Eclipse Using Uncrewed Vehicles
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)A six-person team of researchers from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will travel to Fort Drum, N.Y., to study changes in the Sun’s radiation as it reaches Earth before, during, and after the total solar eclipse April 8.
Weather sensors similar to what is used on daily weather balloons by the National Weather Service will be added to a specially modified Alta X Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) and flown to a maximum altitude of nearly two miles, higher than the team has ever flown the UAS. The UAS will provide vertical modeling of temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and wind to test an alternative data collection to using traditional weather balloons in the troposphere. The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere where most types of clouds are found and where weather occurs.
Jake Revesz, electronic systems engineer, prepping the UAS for flight.NASA/Jen Fowler“UAS hold promise for rapid deployment into the lower troposphere with repeated measurements for higher temporal resolution at lower cost,” said Jennifer Fowler, principal investigator and mission commander, “Typically, atmospheric data collection from instruments on board aircraft is done using balloons as the platform that, once released, are not recovered. UAS allow for the opportunity to conduct repeated profiles since the radiosonde is recovered after each flight.”
‘Forcing events’ in weather are events that drive some type of sudden change. Examples of forcing events are volcanic eruptions, wildland fires, and solar eclipses. The predictability of an eclipse, compared to other forcing events, presents a perfect opportunity for scientists to study the impact on the planetary boundary layer, the lowest part of the troposphere, in a natural experiment. Experiments with weather balloons use instruments, called dropsondes, that collect data about the atmosphere as they float to earth. Radiosondes are dropsondes attached to aircraft.
“The configuration [of instruments] that we’re using, a radiosonde integrated with a 3D sonic anemometer, flown on a multi-rotor aircraft, to my knowledge, has never been done before,” explained Tyler Willhite, airborne sensor operator, “The radiosonde is designed for balloon launches. So, the fact that we’re flying it on a drone is very different. Low altitude sounding data is critical to fill knowledge gaps that currently exist in the atmospheric boundary layer. We also have the ability to have a large variety of data outputs that can be streamed in real-time. This is something that other weather payloads are somewhat limited in.”
NASA’s team will work closely with collaborators from the World Meteorological Organization, National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the University of Albany who will launch weather balloons to gather measurements during the same timeframe.
“During our eclipse mission we will also be participating in the World Meteorological Organization’s world-wide flight campaign. We will gather data in real-time throughout the eclipse and the days beforehand, send those to the WMO to input into their models for more updated and accurate forecast measurements,” said Willhite, “That is the main goal of all this data is to be inputted into models for more updated and accurate forecasts.”
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