THIS WEEK @NASA: New Crew At ISS, Curiosity Rover’s New Findings and NASA Celebrates 60 Years

By  //  June 9, 2018

ABOVE VIDEO: A new crew aboard the space station, Curiosity rover’s new science findings on Mars, and – Celebrating 60 years of NASA … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

New Crew Arrives at the Space Station

Our astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor arrived at the International Space Station on June 8 as part of its newest crew. Aunon-Chancellor, Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency launched two days earlier from Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, astronaut Scott Tingle, returned safely to Earth June 3 with crewmates Norishige Kanai of Japan, and Anton Shkaplerov of Russia. They spent 168 days living and working on the station.

Curiosity’s New Mars Science Results

Our Curiosity rover found organic molecules preserved in Mars’ harsh surface that suggests the planet could have supported ancient life. Although this is not evidence of life itself, it’s a good sign for future missions exploring the Red Planet’s surface and subsurface.

“Space, the Next Frontier”, Celebrating NASA’s 60th Anniversary

We kicked off our 60th birthday celebrations with concerts on June 1 and 2 by the National Symphony Orchestra Pops at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

The celebration featured performances by will.i.am, Grace Potter, the band Coheed and Cambria and others, as well as a poem from Star Trek actor John Cho and a new composition from Star Trek composer Michael Giacchino. An exhibit highlighted six decades of NASA achievements – including the Apollo Moon landings envisioned by late President John F. Kennedy. Our Administrator Jim Bridenstine discussed the agency’s planned return to the Moon.

NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine:
“We have a plan to send humans back to the Moon and then on to Mars. We have the most amazing rocket designers on the planet building the systems right now that are going to take humans farther into the solar system than ever before.”

Mars Ice Challenge

Teams of students from U.S. universities participated in the second Mars Ice Challenge, June 5-7. The goal is to demonstrate unique methods of extracting as much water as possible from simulated Martian subsurface ice. Future astronauts who visit distant worlds will need this kind of technology to take advantage of the resources at hand.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA …

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