THIS WEEK @NASA: Exploring the Moon, Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor Record-Breaking Maneuver

By  //  June 15, 2019

Latest Happenings around NASA

ABOVE VIDEO: The latest about our Artemis program to explore the Moon, astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor shares her story with students and another record-breaking maneuver by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission spacecraft … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Town Hall with Administrator Bridenstine at Glenn Research Center

Administrator Bridenstine spoke about our Artemis program during a June 10 town hall at our Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Artemis missions will land the first American woman and the next American man on the Moon by 2024, by using innovative new technologies and systems – some of which are being developed at Glenn.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine:
“Glenn is going to be very instrumental in helping us achieve these goals for a sustainable lunar return and an eventual mission to Mars.”

Astronaut Auñón-Chancellor Makes Post-Flight Visit

Our Serena Auñón-Chancellor stopped by Excel Academy Public Charter School on June 10, as part of her post-flight visit to the Washington D.C. area. Auñón-Chancellor spent 197 days in space as a member of the International Space Station’s Expedition 56/57 crew, contributing to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. She returned to Earth in December 2018.

Cassini Reveals New Sculpting in Saturn Rings

Science continues to flow from our Cassini mission to Saturn, which wrapped up in 2017. A new paper published June 13 in Science describes findings from the spacecraft’s closet-ever observations of the planet’s main rings. The findings include fine details of features – textures and patterns – sculpted by tiny moons or masses embedded within the rings that interact with the particles around them. This raises questions about the interactions that shaped the planet’s rings.

OSIRIS-REx Breaks Another Orbit Record

On June 12, our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft performed another significant navigation maneuver—breaking its own world record for a spacecraft making the closest orbit of a planetary body. The maneuver began the mission’s new phase, known as Orbital B, and placed the spacecraft 680 meters — less than half a mile — above the surface of asteroid Bennu.

“Seeing 2020”: Watch NASA Build Its Next Mars Rover

A newly installed webcam, affectionately called “Seeing 2020,” offers the public a live, bird’s-eye view of construction and testing of our Mars 2020 rover at our Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Check out go.nasa.gov/seeing2020 for continuous live video of the rover taking shape before it launches next year on one of the most technologically challenging interplanetary missions ever designed.

Street Renaming Ceremony Honors Hidden Figures

On June 12, Administrator Bridenstine was joined by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, and author Margot Lee Shetterly at a ceremony to rename the street in front of our Headquarters in Washington – E Street SW – to “Hidden Figures Way.” The event honored Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who were featured in Shetterly’s book – and subsequent movie – Hidden Figures, as well as other women who have dedicated their lives to honorably serving our country, advancing equality, and contributing to the United States space program.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA

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