1 00:00:12,509 --> 00:00:16,930 This Week at NASA... 2 00:00:16,930 --> 00:00:21,980 Expedition 36 Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Luca Parmitano of the European 3 00:00:21,980 --> 00:00:27,689 Space Agency will venture outside the International Space Station twice in July on spacewalks 4 00:00:27,689 --> 00:00:32,720 to prepare for a new Russian module and perform additional installations on the station's 5 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:33,720 backbone. 6 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:39,720 The EVA's, scheduled for July 9 and July 16, were previewed for the media during a briefing 7 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:41,800 at the Johnson Space Center. 8 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:48,879 NASA TV coverage of the spacewalks will begin at 7 a.m. on both days. 9 00:00:48,879 --> 00:00:53,019 This time-lapse movie made from a sequence of images captured by NASA's Hubble Space 10 00:00:53,019 --> 00:00:59,200 Telescope shows comet ISON, speeding toward the sun at 48,000 miles per hour -- and resembling 11 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,920 a skyrocket from a fireworks show. 12 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:07,720 Happy Fourth of July -- from the Cosmos! 13 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,570 Ames Research Center recently co-hosted the 10th annual International Planetary Probe 14 00:01:12,570 --> 00:01:17,800 Workshop - or IPPW - at nearby San Jose State University. 15 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:23,080 The workshop included presentations related to planetary science, asteroids, comets and 16 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:29,530 moons, as well as a keynote address by NASA Ames Director of Engineering David Korsmeyer. 17 00:01:29,530 --> 00:01:34,600 Invited participants also had an opportunity to tour facilities at Ames and meet some of 18 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:40,300 the people developing new designs and solutions for planetary entry systems, while San Jose's 19 00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:45,170 Tech Museum of Innovation provided exhibits and displays for the general public featuring 20 00:01:45,170 --> 00:01:49,920 thermal protection materials and models of spacecraft. 21 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:56,070 Young scientists participating in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program discussed 22 00:01:56,070 --> 00:02:00,520 their work with recent experiments on the space shuttle and on the space station -- during 23 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:05,870 the 2013 SSEP National Conference -- at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum 24 00:02:05,870 --> 00:02:06,870 in Washington. 25 00:02:06,870 --> 00:02:12,030 "NASA is a shining example of reaching out through education and public outreach to get 26 00:02:12,030 --> 00:02:15,360 the next generation of scientists and engineers excited. 27 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,500 And here we're making use of commercial access to the International Space Station." 28 00:02:20,500 --> 00:02:26,680 Launched in June 2010, SSEP is a national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 29 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,680 education initiative that typically gives 300-plus students an opportunity to design 30 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:37,269 and propose real experiments to fly in low Earth orbit. 31 00:02:37,269 --> 00:02:44,749 A small wing section has been undergoing flight tests on an F-15B aircraft at NASA's Dryden 32 00:02:44,749 --> 00:02:46,499 Flight Research Center. 33 00:02:46,499 --> 00:02:50,879 The tests are designed to gauge the airfoil's ability to maintain smooth, laminar airflow 34 00:02:50,879 --> 00:02:53,080 at supersonic speeds. 35 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:58,209 Flown in partnership with Aerion Corporation, the tests could lead to refined airfoil designs 36 00:02:58,209 --> 00:03:03,049 that would increase aerodynamic efficiency while reducing fuel consumption of future 37 00:03:03,049 --> 00:03:07,749 supersonic aircraft. 38 00:03:07,749 --> 00:03:13,489 On July 7, 2003, Opportunity, the second of the two Mars Exploration Rovers, was launched 39 00:03:13,489 --> 00:03:19,400 from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta II rocket. 40 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:24,840 Opportunity landed on Mars on January 25, 2004 -- three weeks after its twin Spirit 41 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:26,860 touched down on the Red Planet. 42 00:03:26,860 --> 00:03:32,989 While Spirit became immobile in 2009 and ceased communications in 2010, Opportunity remains 43 00:03:32,989 --> 00:03:40,069 active and continues to gather scientific observations and report back to Earth. 44 00:03:40,069 --> 00:03:44,370 Two moons orbiting Pluto recently discovered with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope 45 00:03:44,370 --> 00:03:45,989 have new names. 46 00:03:45,989 --> 00:03:51,489 The moon formerly designated as P4 -- found in 2011 has been named Kerberos, while the 47 00:03:51,489 --> 00:03:57,189 new moniker of the former P5 -- a moon discovered in 2012 -- is Styx. 48 00:03:57,189 --> 00:04:02,400 Like the rest of Pluto's moons, the names are from characters associated with the mythological 49 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,529 god Pluto -- ruler of the underworld. 50 00:04:05,529 --> 00:04:10,419 Kerberos is the three-headed guard dog of the underworld, while Styx is the river that 51 00:04:10,419 --> 00:04:13,719 separates the underworld from the world of mortals. 52 00:04:13,719 --> 00:04:20,239 NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to visit Pluto and its moons in July 2015. 53 00:04:20,239 --> 00:04:21,530 And that's This Week @NASA.