1 00:00:07,629 --> 00:00:12,209 This Week at NASA! 2 00:00:12,209 --> 00:00:17,490 With skies overcast skies, the next space shuttle crew set down their T-38s at the Kennedy 3 00:00:17,490 --> 00:00:23,560 Space Center, eager to begin their launch dress rehearsal, or Terminal Countdown Demonstration 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:24,560 test. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,819 It’s great to be back. It feels like I’m coming home. 6 00:00:27,819 --> 00:00:33,050 During a question and answer session with the media, STS-130 Commander George Zamka, 7 00:00:33,050 --> 00:00:38,309 pilot and first time flyer Terry Virts, and Mission Specialists Bob Behnken, Nicholas 8 00:00:38,309 --> 00:00:44,860 Patrick, Kathryn Hire and Steve Robinson expressed excitement about their upcoming mission. 9 00:00:44,860 --> 00:00:51,320 This is a very special trip for us. It marks the transition for us from flight preparation 10 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:56,360 and training to the operation stage of our flight. We’re looking forward to flying 11 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:57,850 this flight, here, in just a few weeks. 12 00:00:57,850 --> 00:01:04,970 The rehearsal simulates the countdown to a launch. The crew and ground teams can familiarize 13 00:01:04,970 --> 00:01:15,189 themselves with their equipment and practice procedures in the event of an emergency. 14 00:01:15,189 --> 00:01:19,899 The crew will fly aboard space shuttle Endeavour bringing the Tranquility node and its cupola 15 00:01:19,899 --> 00:01:24,899 for installation on the International Space Station. The STS-130 mission is scheduled 16 00:01:24,899 --> 00:01:30,560 to liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, February 7, at 4:39 a.m. Eastern. 17 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:38,929 The scheduled launch of NASA’s new Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is drawing near. 18 00:01:38,929 --> 00:01:46,039 SDO is the solar variability mission; it is going to revolutionize our view of the sun. 19 00:01:46,039 --> 00:01:50,149 Its prelaunch briefing, conducted at NASA headquarters in Washington and the Kennedy 20 00:01:50,149 --> 00:01:56,090 Space Center, gave media a look at SDO’s unprecedented mission to study the sun and 21 00:01:56,090 --> 00:02:01,950 its dynamic behavior. SDO is designed to help us understand the Sun's influence on Earth 22 00:02:01,950 --> 00:02:08,310 and near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time 23 00:02:08,310 --> 00:02:11,240 and in many wavelengths simultaneously. 24 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:18,280 We know how much SOHO and other spacecraft have revolutionized solar physics. SDO has 25 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,390 been designed to take advantage of what we have learned from those missions, and I see 26 00:02:23,390 --> 00:02:29,620 this as a revolutionary mission and the data that SDO produces, in five to ten years we 27 00:02:29,620 --> 00:02:32,380 are going to be looking back and be amazed at what we learned from it. 28 00:02:32,380 --> 00:02:33,380 The Solar Dynamics Observatory is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape 29 00:02:33,380 --> 00:02:34,380 Canaveral Air Force Station on February 9, between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. eastern. SDO 30 00:02:34,380 --> 00:02:35,380 is the first Space Weather Research Network mission in NASA’s Living With A Star program. 31 00:02:35,380 --> 00:02:39,070 The next International Space Station crew briefed reporters on their upcoming mission. 32 00:02:39,070 --> 00:02:45,320 NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson was joined by Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skyorsov and 33 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,930 Mikhail Kornlenko to discuss their upcoming Expedition 23 mission. 34 00:02:49,930 --> 00:02:56,350 We have highlights of our mission mainly focusing around vehicle traffic. During our mission, 35 00:02:56,350 --> 00:03:03,170 we’ll see Progress, shuttles, and Soyuz. We will have both a U.S. stage EVA as well 36 00:03:03,170 --> 00:03:09,290 as a Russian stage EVA and a whole host of science experiments and ISS maintenance to 37 00:03:09,290 --> 00:03:10,310 perform. 38 00:03:10,310 --> 00:03:14,510 The trio of space travelers are scheduled to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft April 39 00:03:14,510 --> 00:03:18,030 2, then dock with the International Space Station two days later. 40 00:03:18,030 --> 00:03:22,230 I’d like to thank everyone for joining us this afternoon. 41 00:03:22,230 --> 00:03:28,350 Members of the STS-129 crew continued their whirlwind tour of NASA centers. Five members 42 00:03:28,350 --> 00:03:32,400 of the space shuttle Atlantis crew thanked employees at the Stennis Space Center for 43 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:37,990 their part in a safe STS-129 mission to the International Space Station in November. 44 00:03:37,990 --> 00:03:44,040 STS-129 was the last scheduled space shuttle crew rotation mission to or from the space 45 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:50,620 station, returning ISS crew member Nicole Stott to Earth on Nov. 27. The 11-day mission 46 00:03:50,620 --> 00:03:56,170 also delivered supplies and spare parts to the complex. 47 00:03:56,170 --> 00:04:02,060 The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity this week celebrates six years of exploration and 48 00:04:02,060 --> 00:04:07,370 research on the surface of the red planet. 49 00:04:07,370 --> 00:04:13,670 Opportunity landed on Mars on January 24, 2004 nearly a month after its twin Spirit 50 00:04:13,670 --> 00:04:18,760 landed on the other side of the planet. Spirit is currently stuck in a sand trap and its 51 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:24,340 prognosis for getting out is not good, although it will, in any event, continue providing 52 00:04:24,340 --> 00:04:30,660 observation data to scientists back on Earth. Opportunity, however, still chugs along, currently 53 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:37,530 on a seven-mile trek from Mars' Victoria crater to the Endeavour crater to continue its research. 54 00:04:37,530 --> 00:04:42,710 Both rovers have well exceeded expectations, surviving more than five-and-a-half years 55 00:04:42,710 --> 00:04:46,210 longer than their original 90 day missions. 56 00:04:46,210 --> 00:04:54,590 The most powerful camera aboard the NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars will soon be taking photo suggestions 57 00:04:54,590 --> 00:04:55,590 from the public. 58 00:04:55,590 --> 00:05:00,380 And what we’d like to do is have lots of eyes looking at lower resolution pictures 59 00:05:00,380 --> 00:05:04,780 figuring out what might be very interesting and the public can help us point to things 60 00:05:04,780 --> 00:05:10,090 that maybe somebody else has not noticed. So we can bring everybody along. We can pick 61 00:05:10,090 --> 00:05:14,940 places to get high resolution images. The public gets to play, and we get some cool 62 00:05:14,940 --> 00:05:15,940 pictures. 63 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:21,440 Since arriving at red planet in 2006, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, 64 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:28,460 or HiRISE, camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has recorded nearly 13,000 observations 65 00:05:28,460 --> 00:05:35,540 of the Martian terrain. Now, students, researchers and others can view Mars maps using a new 66 00:05:35,540 --> 00:05:41,070 online tool to see where images have been taken and suggest locations for new ones. 67 00:05:41,070 --> 00:05:48,400 To check out how you can nominate your Martian photo op, visit: www.nasa.gov/mro.