Category: NASA

On December 12, NASA achieved a significant milestone in the development of its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft with the successful completion of its first maximum afterburner engine test. The test, conducted at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, marks a crucial step as the team prepares the X-59 for its inaugural flight.

The afterburner is a critical component in some jet engines, designed to provide additional thrust by igniting unburned fuel in the exhaust stream. For the X-59, the afterburner will be essential in helping the aircraft meet its supersonic speed targets while minimizing environmental and acoustic impacts. The test focused on running the X-59’s F414-GE-100 engine with the afterburner engaged, ensuring it operates safely within the required temperature and airflow limits for flight. The successful test also confirmed that the engine can function seamlessly in coordination with the aircraft’s other subsystems.

The concept of hybrid power, familiar in cars, may soon be soaring into the skies, driving a new era of jet airliners. NASA, in partnership with GE Aerospace, is developing a cutting-edge hybrid-electric jet engine that uses both traditional fuel and electric power to significantly reduce fuel consumption.

This advanced engine design incorporates electric components that assist the fuel-burning core. Electric motors generate power, which is then fed back into the engine, reducing the overall fuel needed to operate. By supplementing fuel combustion with electricity, this innovative approach has the potential to revolutionize air travel, making it more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Exploring Mars presents immense challenges due to the vast distance, radiation exposure, and extreme temperatures. Despite these obstacles, NASA is exploring the potential of using commercial services to support future Mars missions, aiming to reduce costs and boost innovation.

Steve Matousek, manager of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Mars Exploration Program advanced studies office, highlighted the complexity of this task at the Small Satellite Conference in Utah, stating, “We don’t yet know how to establish commercial services at Mars.” The agency is working to figure out how private companies could offer services like imagery, transportation, and communications to aid NASA’s scientific missions.

NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACSSS) has reached a significant milestone—its booms and sail are now fully deployed, harnessing the pressure of sunlight to propel the spacecraft through the solar system. Much like a test pilot navigating a new aircraft, NASA is currently testing how well the sail performs in space. The spacecraft was tumbling before deployment, and now engineers are working to bring it under control using solar sail power.

Solar sails operate by using the pressure exerted by sunlight to generate low levels of thrust. As photons strike the sail’s surface, they transfer momentum to the spacecraft, causing it to accelerate gradually. Though the thrust is minimal, it can accumulate over time, making solar sails an incredibly efficient method of propulsion for small spacecraft on long-duration missions. This technology first saw success in 2010 when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) deployed the IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun) solar sail.

NASA’s investment in a groundbreaking superalloy, GRX-810, designed to withstand the extreme temperatures and harsh conditions of air and spaceflight, is poised to yield significant commercial benefits. The agency is licensing this innovative material to four American companies, promising to boost the U.S. economy as a return on taxpayer investment.

GRX-810 is a 3D-printable high-temperature alloy that enhances the strength and durability of airplane and spacecraft components, enabling them to endure greater stress before failure. The co-exclusive licensing agreements will enable these companies to produce and market GRX-810 to manufacturers of aircraft and rocket equipment, as well as throughout the supply chain.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has achieved a remarkable milestone in space communication with its Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system. Launched on October 5, 2023, DSOC has demonstrated network speeds of 267 Mbps across the vast expanse between Earth and the sun.

The DSOC system was put to the test with NASA’s Psyche spacecraft on December 11, 2023, while en route to the asteroid of the same name for a mining mission. Currently, Psyche is reported to be “healthy and stable” as it journeys toward the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

NASA has greenlit its highly anticipated Dragonfly mission, set to embark on an exhilarating journey to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, with a price tag of $3.35 billion and a slated launch in July 2028.

Titan stands as a celestial anomaly, boasting a plethora of earthly features, including weather patterns and liquid bodies on its surface. With an atmosphere, rainfall, lakes, oceans, and geological formations, Titan presents a captivating blend of familiarity and strangeness, earning descriptions ranging from utopia to enigma due to its peculiar chemistry.

Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo missions accomplished what seemed like the impossible—landing a dozen astronauts on the moon. However, comparing those feats with our current endeavors, particularly NASA’s Artemis program, reveals a stark contrast in speed, complexity, and progress. Delving into the reasons behind this disparity reveals a complex interplay of financial constraints, political dynamics, and shifting priorities.

Financial considerations loom large in this discussion. The Apollo missions were undeniably successful but came at an exorbitant cost. At its zenith, NASA commanded a staggering 5% of the federal budget, with over half of that dedicated to Apollo. Adjusting for inflation, the Apollo program would tally over $260 billion in today’s currency. Including precursor programs like Gemini and robotic lunar missions, the figure balloons to over $280 billion.

An exclusive report from Reuters reveals a significant directive from the White House to NASA: the creation of a unified time standard for the moon and other celestial bodies. Published on April 2, 2024, the article highlights the United States’ initiative to establish an international standard as global interest in space exploration intensifies.

According to a memo obtained by Reuters, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) instructed NASA to collaborate with other U.S. government agencies to develop a plan for a Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) by the end of 2026. LTC aims to streamline operations on and around the moon, addressing potential communication and data transfer issues between lunar bases and Earth. Standardizing time will facilitate spacecraft coordination, satellite management, and enhance overall efficiency for space residents.

NASA has thrown its support behind CoFlow Jet’s groundbreaking project, MAGGIE (Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer), a solar-powered Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) designed for extensive exploration of Mars. MAGGIE is a crucial component of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, which aims to nurture and fund technological innovations, transforming them from conceptual studies into tangible products with potential commercial applications.

The heart of MAGGIE lies in CoFlow Jet’s advanced deflected slipstream technology, which strategically directs airflow to enhance the efficiency and performance of the solar-powered eVTOL. With NASA’s backing, the development of this aircraft is set to facilitate three distinct atmospheric and geophysical investigations, aligning with different timescales of the Dynamic Mars science theme.

NASA, in collaboration with Lonestar, a computing startup in Florida, and the Isle of Man, is preparing to send a payload to the Moon in February 2024. This payload will include “data cubes,” and the data stored within them will be verified on Earth using blockchain technology.

The primary objective is to utilize blockchain technology to conclusively and immutably verify future Moon landings, starting with NASA’s Artemis 3 mission in 2025. The Artemis mission’s second phase, Artemis 2, is scheduled for launch in November 2024. While Artemis 2 will involve a crewed mission orbiting the Moon before returning to Earth, Artemis 3 aims to land humans on the lunar surface once again. As part of numerous scientific missions during the Artemis expeditions, Lonestar and the Isle of Man are collaborating to develop long-term lunar storage systems powered by solar energy, requiring minimal additional infrastructure.

Scientists are eagerly awaiting an upcoming space launch that promises to shed light on the mysteries of spacetime warping. NASA, in collaboration with the Japanese Space Agency and support from the European Space Agency, is gearing up for the launch of the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). The mission is scheduled to take off from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8:26 p.m. EDT.

The XRISM mission is set to employ cutting-edge technology, including a microcalorimeter spectrometer known as Resolve. This instrument will play a pivotal role in measuring the temperature and temperature variations of celestial objects in deep space. However, to function effectively, Resolve must be cooled to an extraordinarily low temperature.