NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has successfully passed the center of curvature test at Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md. This important optical measurement of Webb’s fully assembled primary mirror was the final test held at Goddard before the telescope is shipped off for end-to-end cryogenic testing at Johnson Space Center in Houston. When that’s complete, the world’s most advanced observatory goes to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California, for final assembly and testing. Webb is targeted for launch in 2018 on a mission to help unravel some of the greatest mysteries of the universe. Also, Cassini Update, NASA Visits Midwest Company Helping Build Orion, Orion’s Launch Abort System Motor Tested, Wind Tunnel Tests Continue with SLS, and Community College Aerospace Scholars!
Tag: Goddard Space Flight Center
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Asteroid Redirect Mission Briefing on This Week @NASA – September 19, 2016
On Sept. 14, officials from the White House and NASA discussed the space agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) during a televised event at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. On the mission, which is targeted for launch in Dec. 2021, NASA plans to send a robotic spacecraft to an asteroid tens of millions of miles from Earth, capture a multi-ton boulder, and bring it to an orbit near the moon for future exploration by astronauts on a following mission aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. During the live discussion, John Holdren, assistant to President Obama for Science and Technology, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and ARM Program Director Michele Gates highlighted the mission’s scientific and technological benefits, how the mission will support NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, and how it will demonstrate technology relevant to defending Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids. Also, Astronaut Tim Kopra Visits DC Area, The Warmest August in 136 Years, and 2016 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Ties 2nd Lowest on Record!
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NASA Hispanic Heritage Month Employee Profile – Scarlin Hernandez – JWST Spacecraft Engineer (STScI)
Scarlin Hernandez is a Spacecraft Engineer for the James Webb Space Telescope at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD. She tests and verifies the ground systems that will be used to command and control the telescope once it’s in space. The telescope will be used to discover new planets and the first stars after the dark ages. The National Science Foundation awarded her a full college scholarship to the Capitol Technology University (CTU) in Laurel, MD. Scarlin completed a internship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and by the age of 20, she was part of the ground control system team for the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. In 2013, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, but she found her real niche in Astronautical Engineering. After graduation, Scarlin was the mission planning lead for the TRMM mission before transferring to work on the James Webb Space Telescope mission.
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White House, NASA Discuss Asteroid Redirect Mission
Officials from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and NASA held a live Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) discussion at the space agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. During the event on Wednesday, Sept. 14, OSTP’s Dr. John P. Holdren, NASA’s Administrator Charles Bolden and ARM Program Director Dr. Michele Gates, highlighted the mission’s scientific and technological benefits, how the mission will support NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, and how ARM will demonstrate technology relevant to defending Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids.
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A Story of Ozone-NASA TED Talk with Dr. Paul Newman
Dr. Paul Newman, chief scientist for atmospheric sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, discusses the ozone layer’s past, present and potential future.