THE PATH TO MARS AND BEYOND

FROM:  NASA

NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s – goals outlined in the bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and in the U.S. National Space Policy, also issued in 2010.  A fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers already are on and around Mars, dramatically increasing our knowledge about the Red Planet and paving the way for future human explorers. The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover measured radiation on the way to Mars and is sending back radiation data from the surface. This data will help us plan how to protect the astronauts who will explore Mars. Future missions like the Mars 2020 rover, seeking signs of past life, also will demonstrate new technologies that could help astronauts survive on Mars.  Engineers and scientists around the country are working hard to develop the technologies astronauts will use to one day live and work on Mars, and safely return home from the next giant leap for humanity.  Illustration from Nasa.

Boeing Details Its Plans for CST-100 Assembly at Kennedy

THE ARM OF ATLANTIS MOVES DESTINY

FROM:  NASA 

On Feb. 10, 2001, the crews of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station successfully installed the U.S. Destiny Laboratory onto the station. In this photo, Destiny is moved by the shuttle's remote manipulator system (RMS) robot arm from its stowage position in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Astronaut Marsha Ivins began the work, using Atlantis' robotic arm to remove a station docking port, called Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA 2), to make room for Destiny. The adapter was removed from the station's Unity module and latched in a temporary position on the station's truss. Then, at 9:50 a.m. CST, astronauts Tom Jones and Bob Curbeam began a spacewalk that continued throughout the day, in tandem with Ivin's robotic arm work. Jones provided Ivins visual cues as she moved the adapter to its temporary position, and Curbeam removed protective launch covers and disconnected power and cooling cables between the Destiny lab and Atlantis. At 12:57 p.m., the lab was latched into position on the station, and soon a set of automatic bolts tightened to hold it permanently in place for years of space research. The lab added 3,800 cubic feet of volume to the station, increasing the onboard living space by 41 percent. The 2005 NASA Authorization Act designated the U.S segment of the space station as a national laboratory. As the nation's only national laboratory on-orbit, the space station National Lab will improve life on Earth, foster relationships among NASA, other federal entities, and the private sector, and advance science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education through utilization of the space station's unique capabilities as a permanent microgravity platform with exposure to the space environment.  Image Credit: NASA.

ScienceCasts: Solar Mini-Max

WHERE THE WATER MEETS THE LAND IN THE WESTERN SAHARA

FROM:  NASA 

On May 23, 2014, Expedition 40 Commander Steve Swanson posted this photograph -- taken from the International Space Station -- to Instagram. Swanson noted, “Western Sahara – the contrast between the sand and the water is spectacular from here.” Swanson uploaded the first image from space to Instagram on April 7. He began posting imagery to the social media site during his pre-flight training. › View Instagram imagery from the International Space Station The three Expedition 40 crew members aboard the International Space Station worked advanced science this week while awaiting a new trio, set to lift off on Wednesday, May 28. Soyuz Commander and cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European astronaut Alexander Gerst will launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1:57 a.m. May 29 Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Image Credit: NASA

'Hello, World': NASA OPALS' First Official Video Sent Via Laser

EXPEDITION 40 SOYUZ TMA-13M ROCKET LAUNCHES TO ISS

FROM:  NASA SOYUZ

The Soyuz TMA-13M rocket is launched with Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst, of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA in the early hours of Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Suraev, Gerst, and Wiseman will spend the next five and a half months aboard the International Space Station.  Image Credit-NASA-Joel Kowsky

SpaceX Unveils Dragon V2

Morpheus Completes Nighttime Flight Test

Expedition 40/41 Mission Overview

Welcome Aboard! New Crew Arrives on Space Station

HRP ForceShoe Evaluation

A CANYON GRANDER THAN THE GRAND CANYON

FROM:  NASA 

Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars:   Explanation: The largest canyon in the Solar System cuts a wide swath across the face of Mars. Named Valles Marineris, the grand valley extends over 3,000 kilometers long, spans as much as 600 kilometers across, and delves as much as 8 kilometers deep. By comparison, the Earth's Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA is 800 kilometers long, 30 kilometers across, and 1.8 kilometers deep. The origin of the Valles Marineris remains unknown, although a leading hypothesis holds that it started as a crack billions of years ago as the planet cooled. Several geologic processes have been identified in the canyon. The above mosaic was created from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s.  Image and story credit: Viking Project, USGS, NASA.

This Week at NASA

Space Station Live: Testing a New Spacesuit for an Asteroid Spacewalk