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We’re preparing for the launch of our first #Artemis mission to the Moon. Get a preview of the launch countdown and see how NASA’s Space Launch System will send NASA’s Orion Spacecraft to lunar orbit: https://go.nasa.gov/2NH0HAA

Beryllium, a hard, silvery metal long used in X-ray machines and spacecraft, is finding a new role in the quest to bring the power that drives the sun and stars to Earth. Beryllium is one of the two main materials used for the wall in ITER, a multinational fusion facility under construction in France to demonstrate the practicality of fusion power. Now, physicists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and General Atomics have concluded that injecting tiny beryllium pellets into ITER could help stabilize the plasma that fuels fusion reactions.

Experiments and computer simulations found that the injected granules help create conditions in the plasma that could trigger small eruptions called edge-localized modes (ELMs). If triggered frequently enough, the tiny ELMs prevent giant eruptions that could halt fusion reactions and damage the ITER facility.

Scientists around the world are seeking to replicate fusion on Earth for a virtually inexhaustible supply of power to generate electricity. The process involves plasma, a very hot soup of free-floating electrons and atomic nuclei, or ions. The merging of the nuclei releases a tremendous amount of energy.

From returning to the Moon to establishing outposts on Mars, NASA has the need for more power than ever before. Could nuclear fission be the solution they’ve been searching for?

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NASA puts a test rover through its paces in earthly California. Richard A Lovett reports.

This week:

🚀 A milestone for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft 🌑 A commercial lunar payload update 👩🏾‍🏫 More honors for a historic icon.

These are a few of the stories to tell you about on the latest episode of This Week at NASA:

Starhopper awaits its first truly flightworthy Raptor as CEO Elon Musk says SpaceX may have solved the technical bug delaying hop tests. (NASASpaceflight — bocachicagal, SpaceX)

Last week, the LightSail 2 officially made its first contact with Earth. The solar-powered spacecraft will be sailing around Earth’s orbit for the next year, all part of a mission to prove that solar sailing is a viable mode of space exploration.

If successful, the hope is that solar sailing could be used in other spacecraft going forward, something that could allow us to explore further in space at a lower cost than is currently possible.

There are other reasons to return to the moon, however. For many space enthusiasts, its exploration and exploitation is necessary if we are to make the next giant step in space: sending people to Mars. “That is the real goal for humanity,” says Parker. “However, getting humans there safely is going to be an incredibly difficult undertaking. We will have to learn first how to conquer the moon.”

As the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo landing approaches, a host of countries are undertaking lunar missions. What’s behind the new space race?

SpaceX’s Starship, the launch system designed to carry colonists to Mars, will likely have its maiden voyage in 2021, a company executive said.