Keeping an eye on Hurricane Dorian …
The next crew headed to the International Space Station …
And a better understanding of Sun-driven space weather … a few of the stories to tell you
about – This Week at NASA!
Cameras outside the International Space Station captured multiple views of Hurricane Dorian,
including this view from Sept. 1 as the massive storm sat over the northern Bahamas.
At the time the powerful Category 5 hurricane was producing the strongest winds in recorded
history for the northwestern Bahamas – with sustained winds of 180 miles per hour.
Our researchers estimate Dorian dumped more than 36 inches of rain in the area, which
contributed to catastrophic damage – including widespread flooding, as indicated by the light
blue color in this NASA flood map, made with data from a European satellite.
Although Dorian was not as strong a storm as it approached the U.S., NOAA’s National
Hurricane Center posted many warnings and watches as Dorian continued to move north
along the U.S. East Coast.
After Dorian passed Florida’s Space Coast, an aerial survey of our Kennedy Space Center
found that, overall the center fared well.
While no flight hardware was damaged, a shoreline restoration project along the coast did sustain
significant erosion.
The International Space Station’s next crew – including our Jessica Meir – geared
up for its upcoming launch with activities in Star City and Moscow, Russia.
Meir and her crewmates, Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and Spaceflight Participant Hazzaa
Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates will do their final training in Kazakhstan
before their launch to the station on September 25.
We have selected three proposals to conduct nine-month-long concept studies of missions
that could help us better understand the dynamic space weather system near Earth that is driven
by the Sun.
The studies could help us predict and mitigate the effects of space weather on spacecraft
and astronauts, which is very important for our Artemis program, which looks to safely
send the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024.
Researchers at our Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., successfully completed in-flight
testing of technology that will enable pilots of our X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft
to safely maneuver the skies without a forward-facing window.
The technology uses a forward-facing camera and image processing software to create an
augmented reality view of the pilot’s forward line-of-sight along with graphical flight
data overlays.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA …
For more on these and other stories follow us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.