The historic Artemis I mission took flight in the early hours of Wednesday morning after months of anticipation. The milestone event kicked off a journey that will send an uncrewed spacecraft around the moon, paving the way for NASA to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.

The Orion spacecraft’s spectacular first views of Earth were shared more than nine hours into the journey, with the vehicle about 57,000 miles away from our planet on its way to the moon.

Read the full article on CNN.com.

Author Credit: By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN

Image Credit: CNN Business

NC Space Grant is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Team Experience and Competition Awards, which help undergraduate teams participate in competitions either sponsored or sanctioned by NASA or other STEM-related organizations. Competitions are in the fields of engineering, science, technology and/or mathematics (STEM), and complement the academic studies of the team members.

“These opportunities help students develop the skills and knowledge base, as well as build strong teamwork capabilities, necessary to succeed in STEM careers in the future,” says Sandra Canfield, assistant director of NC Space Grant.

Read the full article on the NC Space Grant Consortium website here.

Author Credit: Michelle Yu

Image Credit: UNC Charlotte

“NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) this week captured an image of the sun in ultraviolet light featuring three dark patches that look like a smiling face — a face that could signal a solar storm with problems for Earth.”

Read the full article and view a video of the Sun at npr.org.

Author Credit: Ashley Ahn

Image Credit: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an image of the sun “smiling” in 193 angstrom light on Oct. 26. NASA/GSFC/SDO

After 170 days in orbit, NASA astronauts  Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti safely splashed down Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, completing the agency’s fourth commercial crew mission to the International Space Station. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and astronauts.

Read the full article on nasa.gov here.

Author Credit: Monika Luabeya

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The crew members assigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission are in orbit following their launch to the International Space Station noon EDT Wednesday, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The international crew will serve as the agency’s fifth commercial crew rotation mission with SpaceX aboard the orbital laboratory.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon Endurance spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronauts Nicole Mann as mission commander, and Josh Cassada, pilot. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, also aboard the Dragon, will serve as mission specialists for their science expedition in microgravity aboard the space station.

Read the full article on NASA.gov here.

Author Credit:Gerelle Dodson

Image Credit:NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA is awarding more than $1 million to the Virginia Space Grant Consortium for the NASA Space Grant Plant the Moon Challenge project. The proposal is one of four awards made nationally through the NASA Space Grant KIDS funding opportunity which focuses on providing experiences for students to learn about NASA’s Artemis mission to return human explorers to the Moon and to Mars.

The Moon Challenge Project will significantly extend the reach of the Institute of Competition Science’s current international Plant the Moon Challenge in a six-state region that includes partnerships with the North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Florida and Puerto Rico Space Grant programs. Virginia Space Grant Consortium is serving as project lead.

Read the full article on “The College Today,” official news site of the College of Charleston.

Author Credit: The College Today Editor

Image Credit: South Carolina Space Grant Consortium | The College Today

The DART mission has been flying to its target since launching last year. On Monday night, it will connect.

An asteroid minding its own business not too far from Earth is about to get knocked about by a visitor from our planet.

On Monday, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, or DART, is set to collide with Dimorphos, a small asteroid that is the moon of a larger space rock, Didymos. While these two near-Earth objects pose no immediate threat to our world, NASA launched DART last year to test a technique that could one day be used for planetary defense. Here’s what you need to know about the mission.

Read the full article on The New York Times website.

Author Credit: Kenneth Chang

Image Credit: NASA/John Hopkins/APL

Artemis I Managers Wave Off Sept. 27 Launch, Preparing for Rollback

NASA is foregoing a launch opportunity Tuesday, Sept. 27, and preparing for rollback, while continuing to watch the weather forecast associated with Tropical Storm Ian. During a meeting Saturday morning, teams decided to stand down on preparing for the Tuesday launch date to allow them to configure systems for rolling back the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Engineers deferred a final decision about the roll to Sunday, Sept. 25, to allow for additional data gathering and analysis. If Artemis I managers elect to roll back, it would begin late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

Author Credit: Rachel Kraft

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Artemis 1 launch plans slip again.

PARIS — Days after NASA proposed to make its next attempt to launch the Artemis 1 mission on Sept. 23, the agency changed course and pushed back the launch.

At a Sept. 8 briefing, NASA said it was tentatively planning to fly the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft as soon as Sept. 23, with Sept. 27 as a backup launch date. That scheduled depended on completing and testing repairs to seals in liquid hydrogen lines that attach to the rocket’s core stage, as well as getting approval from the Eastern Range to extend the certification of the flight termination system (FTS) on SLS.

Author Credit: Jeff Foust

“If all goes according to plan, Artemis 1 will launch from Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida during a two-hour window that opens at 2:17 p.m. EDT (1817 GMT). You can watch it here at Space.com when the time comes, courtesy of NASA.”

Full article online here

Source: Space.com

 Growing up in the suburbs of Cairo and watching her father fix his car’s engine, little Tahani Amer discovered her unwavering passion for engineering.

Getting married at the age of 17 and still chasing her dreams with all the growing responsibility — even passing her first advanced calculus class with an “A” without being acquainted with English, this Muslim woman has been defying the odds since the second she stepped into the U.S. With her three simple yet empowering principles, Amer has become one of the leading Muslim women that are laying a solid foundation for many Muslim girls to unapologetically break into STEM and chase their dreams.

As we head into Muslim Women’s Day, we sat with Amer to talk about her journey as one of the Muslim women of NASA: how she got there, what inspired her to pursue her career path, and how she currently navigates her life as the Program Executive for the Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.

Muslim Girl: How did you end up working at NASA?

Tahani Amer: NASA is my dream job. I have been working at NASA for over 30 years. I started when I was an undergraduate at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. I collaborated with NASA during my senior research project. It was a great opportunity and an exciting experience to work with the best talent in the world to advance aeronautics and technology.

The Virginia Space Grant Consortium supported my entry into NASA programs by providing grants to excelling women engineers and scientists. I was the first woman to be selected for the program. After I successfully completed my project and graduated, I applied for a job at NASA.

Read the full news story on muslimgirl.com

Author Credit: Tasnim Broud | https://muslimgirl.com/ 

Image Credit: “Photo Courtesy of Tahani Amer” | “Tahani Amer / SWOT Satellite in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) cleanroom”