A milestone for NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA’s experimental supersonic airplane …
Stretching Orion’s wings before the next flight …
And technologies to help fight wildfires …
A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
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A Milestone for NASA’s Supersonic Quesst Mission
The experimental X-59 aircraft being built for NASA’s Quesst mission has been outfitted with its lower empennage, or tail assembly. Teams can now continue final wiring and system checkouts in preparation for integrated ground testing. The X-59 is designed to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic and produce just a quiet sonic thump, instead of a loud sonic boom.
Stretching Orion’s Wings Before Artemis II
Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center recently tested a solar array wing to make sure it extends correctly. Four of the solar arrays will be installed on the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission. Artemis II will be the first Artemis mission to carry astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth.
Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations
The ACERO project, led by NASA’s Ames Research Center, is using drones and advanced aviation technologies to improve wildfire fighting coordination and operations. ACERO’s airspace management technologies provide situational awareness to help responders avoid conflicts with aircraft operations. Having this situational awareness could also enable them to safely integrate drones into the firefighting effort.
Lucy Captures Early Views of Trojan Asteroids
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft recently captured its first look at four of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids the mission plans to visit. From more than 330 million miles away, the spacecraft spotted Eurybates, Polymele, Leucus, and Orus. The asteroids are just single points of light, but the team can still use the imaging data to prepare for the future up-close observations of Lucy’s targets.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA …
Source: SciTechDaily