In this week’s newsletter, experience what it would be like to fly toward a supermassive black hole, update your calendars for the launch of NASA’s Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test, and apply to be part of the GOES-U NASA Social event. Plus, more stories you might have missed.
THE UNIVERSE
Beyond the Brink
Ever wonder what happens when you fall into a black hole? Now, thanks to a new, immersive visualization produced on a NASA supercomputer, viewers can plunge into the event horizon, a black hole’s point of no return.
THE UNIVERSE
Hunting Primordial Black Holes
A group of scientists has predicted that NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could find a class of elusive “featherweight” black holes.
THE UNIVERSE
Cooler than Expected
Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. While 55 Cancri e is far too hot to be habitable, researchers think it could provide a unique window for studying interactions between atmospheres, surfaces, and interiors of rocky planets.
EARTH & CLIMATE
Improving Flood Prediction
Scientists and water managers have a new tool to predict flooding: freshwater data from the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite. The satellite provides a more comprehensive, 3D look at floods, measuring their height, width, and slope.
THE UNIVERSE
Breaking the Scaling Limits
A team of researchers has recently developed a superconducting camera that could be used to detect faint astronomical signals in a wide range of wavelengths—from the ultraviolet to the infrared. This ultralow-noise camera could be useful in the search for Earth-like planets outside of our solar system.
COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM
NASA’s Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is now targeted to launch no earlier than 6:16 p.m. EDT Friday, May 17, to the International Space Station.
Following a thorough data review completed on May 7, United Launch Alliance decided to replace a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage. The oscillating behavior of the valve during prelaunch operations ultimately resulted in mission teams calling a launch scrub on May 6.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain in quarantine at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida until the next launch opportunity. The duo will be the first to launch aboard Starliner to the Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
More NASA News
ASIAN-AMERICAN AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH
From the Archives
In the 1960s, Helen Ling became a supervisor for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s computing group, a team responsible for performing trajectory calculations. Throughout her time at the center, Ling developed software for the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), Magellan, TOPEX/Poseidon, and Mars Observer missions and retired in 1994.
Helen Ling was influential in the inclusion of women in STEM positions at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Ling encouraged women within the computing group to attend night school to obtain degrees that would allow them more professional opportunities within the center. A pioneer for women’s rights in the workplace, Ling was so admired in the computing group that those who worked under her lovingly referred to themselves as “Helen’s girls.” Many of “Helen’s girls” went on to become computer scientists and engineers within the center, thanks to the mentorship and guidance of Helen Ling.
EXPLORE AA&NHPI HISTORY AT NASA
Note: This is a NASA Publication. Formatted to fit this screen.
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So cool… I am into all this Did you read the latest… how they now think tbd Milky Way is in the middle of a cosmic void… and the exoplanet they found with the density of cotton candy? Unreal.
Actually yeah I did read about the news the Milky Way is in a void, but this is actually old news. The Milky Way, Andromeda, and Triangulum, plus a smattering of satellite galaxies comprise the Local Group, which because of the 3 galaxies spread by 2.7 and 2.5 million light years respectively seem to be in it’s own little cosmic void, but it’s an interpretation. You could say the Milky Way, and Andromeda and Triangulum each live in their own little local voids but when comprised together yield the void known as the Local Group. It’s just interpretation and a fact well known by those who are interested in the subject, like us. Thanks for the response!