Teams Prepare Moon Rocket to Spacecraft Connector for Assembly
Teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center recently flipped the Orion stage adapter to prepare the adapter for the installation of its diaphragm.
The stage adapter connects the Orion spacecraft to the Space Launch System rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage, or ICPS. The diaphragm helps prevent highly flammable hydrogen gas, that could escape the rocket’s propellant tanks, from building up beneath Orion and its crew before and during launch.
Space Station Laser Communications Terminal Achieves First Link
NASA’s LCRD and the new space station technology experiment, ILLUMA-T, successfully exchanged data for the first time — marking ILLUMA-T’s first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system. Together, LCRD and ILLUMA-T completed NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system.
Laser communications uses infrared light rather than traditional radio waves to send and receive signals, which allows spacecraft to pack more data into each transmission.
Add Your Name To Fly on Europa Clipper Mission
The deadline to join NASA’s Europa Clipper mission’s “Message in a Bottle” campaign is 11:59 p.m.