The historic test mission of a commercial crew spacecraft …
Acknowledging the leadership of our James Webb Space Telescope team …
And a small spaceship is preparing for a unique mission around the Moon … some of the stories to tell you: this week at NASA!
Boeing CST-100 Starliner Historical Test Mission
“Approaching the International Space Station …” – Commentator
On May 20, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft arrived on the International Space Station on the Orbital Flight Test-2 or OFT-2 mission for NASA’s commercial crew program.
“Soft catch confirmed.” – Mission Audio
“Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft completes its historic first berth at the International Space Station, opening a new access route for crews to the orbiting laboratory.”
The next day, another news for Starliner, thanks to the efforts of NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines.
“Okay, and it looks like the hatch is open in the Starliner. Bob Hines is the first astronaut to enter Starliner into orbit.”
The Starliner spent several days at the station, during which teams conducted a series of planned tests and the station crew transferred several hundred pounds of cargo and supplies. Starliner disengaged from the station on May 25 and returned to Earth later that day, landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. The OFT-2 mission was designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system to safely transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Greg Robinson, director of programs for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope at NASA headquarters, gives a brief interview to NASA Television as he and the launch team monitor the countdown to Webb’s launch on December 25. 2021 at the European spaceport of Kourou, French Guiana. Webb is a large infrared telescope with a primary mirror of 21.3 feet (6.5 meters). The observatory will study all phases of cosmic history, from our solar system to the most observable galaxies in the early universe. Credit: NASA / Bill Ingalls
The director of NASA’s Webb program named TIME100
Gregory Robinson, director of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Program, has been named to TIME100, the magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people and leaders. Robinson began his career at NASA in 1989 and joined the Webb team in 2018. In his current role, he oversees what will be the main space observatory for the next decade. The Webb Telescope will explore each phase of 13.5 billion years of cosmic history to help us understand our place in the universe.
CAPSTONE on the lunar north pole: After the arrival of the Moon, CAPSTONE will begin its 6-month primary mission. The mission will validate the characteristics of an almost rectilinear halo orbit demonstrating how to enter and operate in the orbit. Credit: NASA Illustration / Daniel Rutter
CAPSTONE CubeSat is preparing for the lunar flight
The Cislunar autonomous positioning system navigation and operations experiment, or CAPSTONE mission, aims to launch no earlier than June 6. It is a collaboration between NASA and industry that will use a CubeSat the size of a microwave oven to test a unique elliptical orbit around the Moon. , formally known as an almost rectilinear halo orbit. The mission will help reduce the risk for future spacecraft, including Gateway, an advanced location in orbit of the Moon for NASA’s Artemis program, validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this halo-shaped orbit. .
Diffractive solar sails, depicted in this conceptual illustration, could allow missions to hard-to-reach places, such as orbits on the Sun’s poles. Credit: MacKenzi Martin
NASA-backed solar sailing could take science to new heights
NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts or NIAC program selected a new solar sailing concept to develop into a demonstration mission. Solar candle, which uses a property of light called diffraction to make more efficient use of sunlight, could lead science to new destinations.
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter made a record 25th flight on April 8, 2022. The helicopter’s navigation camera captured its longest and fastest flight to date on the Red Planet. The helicopter covered 2,310 feet (704 meters) at a top speed of 12 mph (5.5 meters per second). Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
The Ingenuity Mars helicopter captures a video of a record flight
Our Ingenuity helicopter on Mars captured these black and white images during its 25th record flight. The flight, which took place on April 18, was also the longest and fastest flight of Ingenuity to date. The aircraft traveled more than 2,300 feet and reached a speed of 12 mph.
This is what happens this week @NASA …