Previewing our Artemis I mission to the Moon ...
a new image from our James Webb Space Telescope ...
and an anniversary for one of our explorers on Mars ...
a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA.
We previewed our uncrewed Artemis
I mission to the Moon during a pair of briefings. On Aug.
3, agency officials at our NASA Headquarters and at other NASA centers
provided a big picture overview of the mission.
"Artemis I shows that we can do big things.
Tthings that unite people, things that benefit humanity.
Things like Apollo that inspire the world."
That was followed two days later with a deeper dive
into the mission's timeline and operations from our Johnson Space Center.
The agency is currently targeting no earlier than Monday, Aug.
29, for the launch of the Space Launch System rocket
to send the Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth.
Artemis I will take place over the course of about six weeks
to check out systems before astronauts fly aboard the spacecraft on Artemis II.
Our James Webb Space Telescope produced this new detailed
image of the Cartwheel Galaxy and two smaller galaxies.
The Cartwheel Galaxy, which is located about 500 million light years from us,
is a rare type of galaxy that astronomers call a "ring galaxy."
It is believed that the Cartwheel Galaxy used to be a normal spiral galaxy
like our Milky Way, before a collision with another galaxy
affected the Cartwheel Galaxy's shape and structure.
Our Curiosity rover is celebrating 10 years on Mars.
The rover landed on the Red Planet at 10:32 p.m.
Pacific Daylight Time on Aug. 5, 2012.
Since then, it has driven about 18 miles and climbed more than 2,000
feet while exploring Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp.
Most importantly, Curiosity determined
that liquid water and the chemical building blocks needed for life
were indeed present in this region of Mars for at least tens of millions of years.
The Curiosity team now plans to have the rover
spend the next few years exploring a new region, one thought to have formed
as water was drying out, leaving behind salty minerals called sulfates.
The launch of our SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space
Station is currently targeted for no earlier than Sept.
29 from our Kennedy Space Center.
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut
Anna Kikina discuss their upcoming mission during an Aug.
4 briefing in our Johnson Space Center.
"We are coming together as a human race.
And our mission on board the International Space Station
of developing this technology and research to benefit
all of humankind is really what brings us together."
This is NASA's fifth crew rotation flight to the space station with a U.S.
commercial spacecraft.
NASA is remembering
actor Nichelle Nichols, who passed away on July 30.
She broke new ground on "Star Trek" in her role as Lieutenant Uhura,
one of the first leading recurring black female characters on U.S. television.
Years later, NASA officials enlisted her help to recruit
the first women and minority astronauts for the Space Shuttle Program.
In a statement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson noted
that as we prepare to send the first woman and first person of color
to the Moon under Artemis, NASA is guided by the legacy of Nichelle Nichols.
That's what's up this week @NASA ...
For more on these and other stories, follow us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.