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This Week at NASA…

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“Touchdown confirmed … we’re safe on
Mars … applause.”

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Following a daring plunge through the Martian
Atmosphere – billed as 7-minutes of Terror,

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The Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity
rover made a successful, on-target landing

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on the Red Planet in Gale Crater.

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Confirmation of the newest resident rover’s
safe touchdown reached the MSL flight team

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courtesy of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft which,
from its vantage point orbiting Mars, was

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able to directly communicate with Curiosity.

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In addition to NASA TV and nasa.gov, coverage
of Curiosity’s landing was available for

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public viewing at various locations – including
Times Square in New York City.

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“It’s a huge day for the nation, it’s
a huge day for all of our partners that have

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something on Curiosity and it’s a huge day
for the American people.

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As I told people as we went around earlier
tonight, everybody in the morning should be

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sticking their chests out, saying, ‘that’s
my rover on Mars’ because it belongs to

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all of us.”

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“For us being able to land something in
larger and larger measures with this capability

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will come the ability to land humans.”

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“Many new technologies had to work in perfect
succession and perfect synchronization for

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this to happen.

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It was an incredible performance by the Jet
Propulsion Lab, by NASA, by the teams around

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the country that had contributed to this and
indeed partners from around the world.”

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Curiosity is scheduled to conduct a two-year
mission to investigate the most intriguing

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places on Mars in an effort to determine if
microbial life is possible on the planet.

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We’ll have more on Curiosity’s landing
with public reaction from NASA Centers on

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the next edition of This Week At NASA.

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Engineers at the Johnson Space Center have
conducted a successful 70-second test firing

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of the Project Morpheus Lander.

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Morpheus is a vertical test bed vehicle demonstrating
new green propellant propulsion systems and

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ALHAT - Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance
Technology This final test at JSC had the

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vehicle tethered to a crane and included a
60-second hover test, with a 4-second ascent

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and a 6-second descent.

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The lander was later shipped to the Kennedy
Space Center, where it’s to undergo its

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first free-flight testing.

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An unpiloted Russian resupply ship, loaded
with almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies,

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linked up to the International Space Station
just six hours after its launch from the Baikonur

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Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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Additional engine firings early in its mission
were a test to expedite the Progress’ journey

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to the orbiting laboratory, which normally
takes about two days.

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After analysis by Russian engineers and managers,
the technique could be used to similarly shorten

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a Soyuz vehicle’s route to the station,
thereby improving crew comfort as well as

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extending the life of the return vehicle while
docked to the ISS.

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“You are Olympians – you’re the best
of the best.

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You are the ones who help us reach for new
heights.”

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Deputy Administrator Lori Garver led the 2012
NASA Honor Awards recognizing those in the

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agency whose outstanding efforts in the past
year have helped NASA reach new milestones.

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A new video spotlighting NASA’s Curiosity
Rover was featured during a performance of

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the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap
National Park for the Performing Arts, outside

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Washington, D.C.

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The video, from director Duncan Copp, was
accompanied by a musical selection from the

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late French composer Georges Bizet.

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The NSO was under the direction of conductor
Emil de Cou.

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NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden was on hand
for the performance.

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“This mission will not only help unlock
the mysteries of Mars, it’s a precursor

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to achieving President Obama’s goal of sending
humans to the Red Planet by the 2030’s.”

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The Curiosity visuals were a portion of NASA
imagery featured as part of Gustav Holst’s

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“The Planets”, the evening’s main program.

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The 2012 NASA headquarters Take Your Children
to Work Day gave younger NASA family members

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a peek inside the agency and its diversity
of people and professions.

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Hands-on activities also represented tasks
performed in some of the varied and exciting

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careers at NASA.

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This summer has also been a learning experience
at Headquarters for a group of high school

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students.

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Administrator Charlie Bolden spoke to participants
of the 2012 NASA Engineering Apprenticeship

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Program.

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NEAP targets high school sophomores, juniors
and seniors interested in science, technology,

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engineering and math, the STEM careers.

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Under the eight-week program, students work
on a project under the guidance of a volunteer

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mentor.

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NASA has hosted more than 200 students since
the program began in 1995.

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Many NEAP students have gone on to top colleges
and positions within NASA and other industry

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organizations.

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Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis came home
from space for the last time in 2011, touching

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down at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the
Kennedy Space Center.

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"Mission complete, Houston.

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After serving the world for over 30 years,
the space shuttle's earned its place in history,

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and it's come to a final stop."

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After each final landing, Kennedy's Landing
Operations Team used a temporary spray paint

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to note where the wheels stopped.

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But NASA wanted a long-lasting way to preserve
this part of shuttle history.

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Local artist Chad Stout, of C Spray Glass
Blasting, designed, manufactured and installed

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the markers.

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Wearing safety gear, he etched the final design
in "Absolute Black" granite, an extremely

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durable stone.

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The pavers are extra thick and weigh at least
100 pounds each, but he installed them by

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hand.

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All three pavers are aligned with the etchings
on the runway centerline... and, like the

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shuttles' legacy, will stand the test of time.

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NASA has donated a piece of space shuttle
history to the Coca-Cola Space Science Center

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at Columbus State University in Georgia.

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The science center has taken possession of
main engine nozzle number 5002 (5-thousand-two)

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from the Marshall Space Flight Center’s
Propulsion Research Development Lab.

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This particular nozzle has flown to space
numerous times on four different shuttles

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– including the STS-60 mission in February
1994.

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Commanding space shuttle Discovery for that
flight – then-astronaut Charlie Bolden – who

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is now, of course, NASA administrator.

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The NASA artifact will be displayed at the
Coca-Cola Science Center to inspire the next

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generation of scientists and engineers.

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Fifteen years ago on August 7, 1997, Space
Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space

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Center on STS-85.

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Her crew, Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Kent
Rominger, Mission Specialists Jan Davis, Bob

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Curbeam and Steve Robinson, and Payload Specialist
Bjarni Tryggvason (Bee-YARN’-knee TRIG’-vuh-son)

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of the Canadian Space Agency, worked with
a complement of payloads focused on “Mission

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to Planet Earth” objectives as well as the
then-upcoming assembly of the International

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Space Station.

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Among them, the Japanese Manipulator Flight
Development, MFD, to evaluate the robotic

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Small Fine Arm that later became part of the
Japanese Kibo Laboratory on the ISS.

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Discovery and crew returned to Earth 11 days
later– landing safely at KSC on

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August 19.

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Five years ago on August 8, 2007, Space Shuttle
Endeavour launched from KSC on STS-118 – the

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twenty-second shuttle flight to the International
Space Station.

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Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh,
and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio,

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Dave Williams of the Canadian Space Agency,
Barbara Morgan, Tracy Caldwell and Al Drew

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continued construction of the ISS by delivering
S-5, the station’s third starboard truss

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segment.

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The crew also replaced a defective gyroscope,
and installed an external storage platform.

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They closed out the mission 12 days later
when Endeavour touched down on the runway

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at KSC.

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And 
August 5th marks the one year anniversary

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of the launch of the Juno spacecraft atop
an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air

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Force Station in Florida.

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The launch marked the start of Juno’s five-year
journey to Jupiter to study the planet’s

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structure and decipher its history.

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And that’s This Week @NASA.

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