The first element of the spacecraft for Artemis
III …
A NASA astronaut assigned to a future Commercial
Crew flight …
And a strong storm seen from space … a few
of the stories to tell you about – This
Week at NASA!
The first piece of the Orion spacecraft’s
pressure vessel for our Artemis III mission
is at our Michoud Assembly Facility in New
Orleans.
It’s a window panel that will provide a
view for astronauts on the mission that will
land the first woman and next man on the Moon
in 2024.
Astronaut Jeanette Epps has been assigned
to the first operational crewed flight of
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, targeted for
launch to the International Space Station
in 2021.
She’ll join fellow NASA astronauts Suni
Williams and Josh Cassada (CASS-uh-duh) for
a planned six-month expedition aboard the
orbiting laboratory.
From inside the space station, astronaut Chris
Cassidy captured views of Hurricane Laura
in the Gulf of Mexico, while external cameras
also spotted the storm.
Laura made landfall in the U.S. in southern
Louisiana on Aug. 27 as a category 4 hurricane.
With NASA's Eyes on the Solar System, you
can follow – in real time – our Mars 2020
Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter
as they trek millions of miles over the next
six months to the Red Planet.
Find out how at eyes.nasa.gov.
According to new simulations, an observational
effect known as microlensing might help our
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope find numerous
rogue planets not tied to a host star, that
are freely drifting through our galaxy.
Studying these island worlds will help us
understand more about how planetary systems
form, evolve, and break apart.
Former astronaut Gerald “Jerry” Carr passed
away Aug. 26.
He commanded the last Skylab mission that
investigated the effects of long duration
spaceflight on the human body.
Later, his experience also influenced the
cockpit design of the space shuttle as well
as the importance of considering human factors
in spaceflight.
Jerry Carr was 88 years old.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA …
For more on these and other stories, follow
us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.
