Our next Mars Rover gets closer to launch
…
A comet spotted from the space station…
And we’re ready to build a spacecraft to
explore a metal-rich asteroid …
a few of the stories to tell you about – This
Week at NASA!
On Tuesday, July 7, our Mars 2020 Perseverance
rover was lifted onto the top of the Atlas
V rocket that will send it towards the Red
Planet this summer.
Engineers have made physical and electrical
connections between the booster and the spacecraft
and are conducting the final tests before
launch.
Perseverance’s mission … search for signs
of ancient microbial life, study the planet's
climate and geology, and collect samples for
possible return to Earth.
This mission will help pave the way for human
exploration of Mars.
Meanwhile on the Martian surface, our Curiosity
Rover began a summer road trip of roughly
a mile of steep terrain to ascend Mount Sharp.
Curiosity will look for sulfates that usually
form around water as it evaporates.
They are a clue to how the climate and prospects
for life changed nearly 3 billion years ago.
Our Moon exploration technologies are getting
a boost from additional investments for small
businesses.
We’ve picked four American companies to
develop technologies ranging from communications
to improved driving on the lunar surface to
use of lunar resources.
These investments are part of our Artemis
program, which aims to land the first woman
and next man on the Moon in 2024.
Kathy Lueders, the new leader of our human
spaceflight efforts, got an up-close look
at the booster segments for our Space Launch
System or SLS rocket, during a recent visit
to our Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The boosters are being prepped for Artemis
I, when SLS will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft
around the Moon and back.
Astronauts aboard the International Space
Station spotted a comet previously discovered
by and named after our NEOWISE mission that
studies near-earth objects.
Comet NEOWISE will pass harmlessly at 64 million
miles from Earth while giving astronomers
the opportunity to learn more about its composition
and structure.
You can catch a glimpse of the glowing comet
in the evening sky shortly after sunset on
July 11th as it speeds away from the Sun.
Our Psyche mission to explore a metal-rich
asteroid has passed a crucial mission milestone.
The systems designed to do their job in deep
space are now ready to be built.
Psyche is planned to launch in 2022 and will
fly to its target in the main asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA …
For more on these and other stories, follow
us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.
