A commercial mission returning cargo from the space station …
The first space station spacewalk of the year … And observing a massive volcanic eruption
from space … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft is slated to return to Earth from the International
Space Station loaded with more than 4,900 pounds of cargo, including supplies and an
array of microgravity scientific experiments. The Dragon’s return will cap off SpaceX’s 24th
Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA. On Jan. 19 two Russian cosmonauts ventured outside
the International Space Station to conduct the station’s first spacewalk of the year.
During the outing, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos performed work to prepare
the new Prichal docking module for future Russian visiting spacecraft. The first docking to Prichal
is targeted for March, with the arrival of three cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
Several Earth-observing satellites are helping scientists affiliated with NASA’s Disasters
programcollect and share data from the massive volcanic eruption that obliterated the small,
uninhabited South Pacific island known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai. Damage assessments are
ongoing, but preliminary reports indicate that populated communities in the island nation of
Tonga have taken heavy damage from volcanic ash and a tsunami caused by the eruption.
Engineers at our Stennis Space Center conducted the first RS-25 engine hot fire test of the
new year on Jan. 19. Four RS-25s will help power our Space Launch System or (SLS) rocket
on future deep-space missions, including this year’s uncrewed Artemis I mission around the Moon.
This was the second overall test in the current test series which began in mid-December.
Each test provides valuable data that can be used to help develop the engines.
The team assembling our X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft is making great
progress with the developmental X-plane. The crew successfully added the tail,
attached and tested out the positioning of the nose, performed a system check of the
ejection seat, and moved the X-59’s GE F414 engine to facilitate a 3D
engine scan. This scan helps engineers better understand the F414’s fit in the engine bay.
The X-59 is being built to conduct research aimed at reducing the loudness of sonic booms
that can occur during supersonic flight. That’s what’s up this week @NASA … For more
on these and other stories, follow us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.