Nearly Five Years After Launch, Juno Reaches Jupiter

NASA's Juno planetary probe, enclosed in its payload fairing, launches atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
NASA’s Juno planetary probe, enclosed in its payload fairing, launches atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Photo credit: NASA/Kenny Allen

The sun rises over Space Launch Complex 41 prior to liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas rocket carrying NASA's Juno spacecraft.NASA’s Juno spacecraft is arriving at its destination with fanfare and fireworks.

As Americans celebrate Independence Day, Juno will slip into orbit around Jupiter. The solar-powered, 4-ton probe launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Aug. 5, 2011.

In August 2007, a team led by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center selected an Atlas V 551 rocket for the task of launching Juno. After four more years of mission integration and analysis, Juno was lofted into space with a nearly perfect ascent. At that point the Juno team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. took over control of the mission, deploying the spacecraft’s huge solar arrays and beginning a thorough checkout of all its systems and instruments to make sure all was well at the start of the long journey.

In the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center in Florida, twin sections of the Atlas payload fairing are moved closer to the Juno spacecraft during work to enclose the spacecraft for launch.Now five years and some 1.75 billion miles later, Juno will enter into an orbit around Jupiter that gradually will get closer and closer to the planet during its mission lifetime. At about 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the Fourth of July, the spacecraft will fly within 2,900 miles of the cloud tops of Jupiter. It will conduct a 35-minute burn of its main engine, slowing by about 1,200 mph so it can enter the polar orbit of our solar system’s largest planet.

“I’m sure it will be a tense 35 minutes on July Fourth during the main engine firing necessary to slow Juno down enough to achieve orbit around Jupiter,” said John Calvert, Juno’s mission manager for the Launch Services Program (LSP) at Kennedy Space Center. “We are all excited to finally start revealing the mysteries of the origins and evolution of Jupiter.”

Juno’s goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter, look for a solid planetary core, map magnetic fields, measure water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe auroras.

For the latest status and information on Juno’s arrival at Jupiter, visit the mission’s website at https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main.

Photo credits: NASA/Kenny Allen (top and middle) and NASA/Kim Shiflett (bottom)

OSIRIS-REx Goes for a Spin

A spin test being performed on the OSIRIS-REx inside the PHSF.OSIRIS-REx being moved from spin test stand to separate test stand for further processing insidethe PHSF.In the image above, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft rotates on a spin table during a weight and center of gravity test May 24 inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. An overhead crane carefully returned the spacecraft to its work stand May 26 (right) to continue prelaunch processing.

OSIRIS-REx, stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security – Regolith Explorer. The spacecraft will travel to an asteroid, Bennu, retrieve a sample and return it to Earth. Liftoff is targeted for Sept. 8 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Photos by NASA/Kim Shiflett (above) and NASA/Frank Michaux (right)

Mobile Launch Umbilicals and Support Fact Sheet

Cropped screen capture of fact sheet including title, first paragraph and graphic of launcher and rocketNASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will be assembled, processed and transported to the launch pad on a mobile launcher featuring a tower equipped with umbilicals connecting power, communications, fuel and other commodities to the vehicle.

For more information on the Mobile Launcher umbilicals and support systems, download the fact sheet at:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ml_umbilicals20160523.pdf

Newly Installed VAB Platform H will Provide Access to SLS Booster Segments

Workers inside the VAB prepare for installation of Platform H North inside High Bay 3The Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida reached a new level of preparation for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Platform H North was installed Tuesday in the iconic facility’s High Bay 3; its corresponding half, Platform H South, will be lowered into place today.

Platform H will allow technicians and engineers to reach the booster for mating of the forward/center segment to the center/center segment, as well as cable routing and booster closeouts.

It is the third of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s journey to Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Fact Sheet Highlights New VAB Work Platforms for SLS

Artist's concept depicting work platforms inside VAB High Bay 3New work platforms being installed in Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building will provide access for testing and processing NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The rocket will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) from Launch Pad 39B at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SLS will be capable of launching crewed missions to deep space destinations, including the journey to Mars.

A new fact sheet provides details about these giant steel platforms and how they will accommodate the most powerful rocket in the world. Read more at
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/vab_platforms_20160524.pdf

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Begins Prelaunch Processing Ahead of Asteroid Mission

NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is revealed after its protective cover is removed inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Tucked into a shipping container, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is unloaded from an Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday evening aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft.

OSIRIS-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security – Regolith Explorer. This will be the first U.S. mission to sample an asteroid, retrieve at least two ounces of surface material and return it to Earth for study. The asteroid, Bennu, may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.

Tucked inside a shipping container, the spacecraft traveled from Lockheed Martin’s facility near Denver, Colorado to Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility. It was carefully offloaded from the aircraft and transported to the spaceport’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to begin processing for its upcoming launch, targeted for Sept. 8 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Photo credits: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis (top) and NASA/Bill White (right)

Robotic Mining Competition to Put Excavators to the Test

A participant in NASA's 7th annual Robotic Mining Competition uncrates a robotic excavator as his team prepares for practice runs and competition.Teams of undergraduate and graduate students from throughout the nation have gathered at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida to demonstrate their excavator robots during the 2016 Robotic Mining Competition. In the photo above, a participant uncrates his team’s robot to prepare for practice runs and competition.

The RMC is set up for college students to design and build a mining robot that can travel over a simulated Martian surface, excavate regolith — or Mars dirt — and deposit as much of it as possible into a bin, all within 10 minutes. Team members may control their bots remotely from a trailer where their only line of sight is via a computer screen, or completely autonomously, with their programming skills put to the test as their robot handles the mission on its own. The competition focuses on technologies necessary to extract consumables such as oxygen and water to support human life and provide methane fuel to spacecraft.

Visit the Robotic Mining Competition website for more information on the competitors, sponsors and event schedule (subject to change).

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Booster, Fairing Arrival Kick off Processing for JPSS Launch

Delta II JPSS-1 booster offload and hoist onto the transport fixture at Bldg. 836 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Delta II JPSS-1 booster offload and hoist onto the transport fixture at Bldg. 836 at Vandenburg Air Force Base, California.Preparations are under way for the 2017 launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft. The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket booster and protective payload fairing arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in early April.

The booster was uncrated from its shipping container April 4 (above) in Vandenberg’s Building 836 and placed onto a transporter (right) for the drive to Space Launch Complex 2 on April 5. The two halves of the payload fairing arrived April 6 (below).

The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is the United States’ next-generation polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system. JPSS is a collaborative program between NOAA and NASA.

Photo credits: NASA/Randy Beaudoin (above, right) and NASA/Joshua Seybert (below)

Delta II JPSS-1 fairing arrives and is offloaded at Bldg. 836, located at Vandenburg Air Force Base, California.

Refurbishing the Flame Trench

A construction worker with J.P. Donovan of Rockledge, Florida, installs new heat-resistant bricks around one of the overpressure water system pipes on the north side of the flame trench at Launch Pad 39BA construction worker with J.P. Donovan of Rockledge, Florida, installs new heat-resistant bricks around one of the overpressure water system pipes on the north side of the flame trench at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Pad B flame trench is being refurbished to support the launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program at Kennedy is helping transform the space center into a multi-user spaceport and prepare for Exploration Mission 1, deep-space missions, and the journey to Mars. For more information about GSDO, visit https://www.nasa.gov/groundsystems. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Kennedy Space Center Celebrates Earth Day

From its perch high up in a pine tree at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, a bald eagle keeps a watchful eye on its large nest
From its perch high up in a pine tree at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, a bald eagle keeps a watchful eye on its large nest, called an aerie.

Kennedy Space Center marked the 46th annual Earth Day on April 21-22 with a celebration designed to spread awareness of our planet’s needs – and to share innovations that can contribute to sustainable living both at work and at home.

A black swallowtail butterfly enjoys a snack from a blooming lantana plantThis year’s Earth Day expo showcased demonstrations and products by exhibitors from across the country in order to get people thinking about changes they can make in order to preserve our planet and its limited resources. The event kicked off in Kennedy’s Space Station Processing Facility on Thursday, then moved to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Friday, allowing both employees and visitors to learn and benefit from the array of available activities.

More than a dozen electric cars were on display from a variety of automakers. Some were available for test drives, and many participants took advantage of the opportunity to try out the vehicles. Several exhibitors shared technologies and tips for saving energy and water in the workplace, the home and throughout the community through water treatment, recycling and lighting controls, among others.

Florida’s natural environment also played a starring role, with wildlife and conservation specialists such as the Brevard Zoo and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on hand to discuss methods to safeguard wildlife, preserve natural resources, and protect Florida waters. Master gardeners and pollinator specialists offered their expertise and answered questions, and native butterflies were released throughout the day at the visitor complex on Friday.