{"id":771492,"date":"2023-11-08T19:20:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T23:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=771492"},"modified":"2023-11-08T19:20:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T23:20:51","slug":"astronaut-candidates-learn-about-nasa-ames-heat-shields-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=771492","title":{"rendered":"Astronaut Candidates Learn About NASA Ames, Heat Shields, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\">\n<div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-wide\">\n<div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\">\n<figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1503\" src=\"\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"object-position: 50% 15%;object-fit: cover\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\">\n<div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">NASA astronaut candidates visited the agency\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley to learn about the center\u2019s unique facilities and contributions to NASA missions, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. Pictured here at the Arc Jet Complex, where spacecraft thermal protection systems are tested, are the 10 members of NASA\u2019s current astronaut candidate class and two <em>United Arab Emirates astronauts who are training with NASA. From left: Nichole Ayers, Mohammad Almulla (UAE), Marcos Berr\u00edos, Nora Almatrooshi (UAE), Deniz Burnham, Anil Menon, Jack Hathaway, Christopher Williams, Jessica Wittner, Luke Delaney, Andre Douglas, and Christina Birch.<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/Dominic Hart<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p \/>\n<p>NASA\u2019s current class of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/astronauts\/astronaut-candidates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">astronaut candidates<\/a> toured the agency\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, including a stop at the Arc Jet Complex, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. In the arc jet facilities, Ames researchers test advanced materials that protect spacecraft from the extremely high temperatures of entering an atmosphere \u2013 whether Earth\u2019s, Mars\u2019, or another in our solar system.<\/p>\n<p>Among the candidates aiming to join America\u2019s astronaut corps are women and men who will potentially fly on future <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/specials\/artemis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Artemis<\/a> missions, performing science on the Moon and exploring the resources it holds. Work performed in the arc jet will help ensure all Artemis astronauts return home safely. For Artemis I, launched in November 2022, material used in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/orion-spacecraft\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Orion<\/a> crew module\u2019s heat shield was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/after-15-years-1000-tests-orions-heat-shield-ready-to-take-the-heat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">tested here at Ames<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The astronaut candidates \u2013 including former Ames intern <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/people\/nasa-astronaut-candidate-deniz-burnham\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Deniz Burnham<\/a> \u2013 also visited other Ames facilities, learning about their contributions to Artemis and more. These include wind tunnel testing and supercomputer simulations of the SLS (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/humans-in-space\/space-launch-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Space Launch System<\/a>) rocket; development of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astrobee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Astrobee<\/a> free-flying robots that could assist future astronauts on missions; space biosciences research that will help keep crew healthy; and flight simulations at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/aeronautics\/what-is-the-vertical-motion-simulator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Vertical Motion Simulator<\/a>, where NASA\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/content\/about-human-landing-systems-development\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">human landing system\u00a0<\/a>program partners analyzed and improved early lander concepts to deliver humans to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis missions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<br \/>\n Click here for original story, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/astronaut-candidates-learn-about-nasa-ames-heat-shields-and-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Astronaut Candidates Learn About NASA Ames, Heat Shields, and More<\/a>&#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<br \/>\n&#013;<br \/>\nSource: NASA Breaking News&#013;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA astronaut candidates visited the agency\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley to learn about the center\u2019s unique facilities and contributions to NASA missions, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. Pictured&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":615444,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-771492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-NASA"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=771492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/615444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=771492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=771492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=771492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}