1 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:08,670 This Week at NASA... 2 00:00:08,670 --> 00:00:12,960 "Touchdown confirmed, we're safe on Mars. 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:13,960 (applause)" 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:20,449 Celebration, when the Curiosity Rover safely found the surface of Mars on August 6, 2012 5 00:00:20,449 --> 00:00:25,290 ... and celebration this week on Capitol Hill as NASA and members of Congress mark the one 6 00:00:25,290 --> 00:00:30,140 year anniversary of the Martian landing and showcase the ways the rover is helping us 7 00:00:30,140 --> 00:00:35,590 get to know Mars. 8 00:00:35,590 --> 00:00:39,800 During another event to celebrate Curiosity at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:44,370 members of the Curiosity team presented White House officials with a replica of the plaque 10 00:00:44,370 --> 00:00:47,910 flown on the mission and signed by the President. 11 00:00:47,910 --> 00:00:51,760 Curiosity's landing ignited a new generation of excitement which grew even more when the 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,350 rover found evidence that Mars could've sustained life in the past. 13 00:00:56,350 --> 00:01:02,450 NASA and the rest of Earth looks forward to future finds on Mars from Curiosity and other 14 00:01:02,450 --> 00:01:04,190 missions. 15 00:01:04,190 --> 00:01:08,970 At Wallops Flight Facility, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and members of the NASA Advisory 16 00:01:08,970 --> 00:01:14,880 Council received a status report on two major launches scheduled from the Facility in September. 17 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:20,120 The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer or LADEE mission will launch September. 18 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,740 6 -- followed by the demo flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket and 19 00:01:24,740 --> 00:01:33,640 Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station in the September 14-19 timeframe. 20 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:38,710 NASA has completed the first step toward a mission to find and capture a near-Earth asteroid, 21 00:01:38,710 --> 00:01:42,920 redirect it to a stable lunar orbit and send humans to study it. 22 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:47,990 In preparation for fiscal year 2014, NASA managers held a mission formulation review 23 00:01:47,990 --> 00:01:53,730 to examine internal studies on concepts and alternatives for each phase of that mission. 24 00:01:53,730 --> 00:01:58,781 The agency also is evaluating about 400-plus responses from industry, universities, and 25 00:01:58,781 --> 00:02:05,189 the public to a recent request for information, or RFI put out by NASA for ideas on tackling 26 00:02:05,189 --> 00:02:07,450 the asteroid initiative. 27 00:02:07,450 --> 00:02:12,590 Managers plan to integrate the most highly-rated ideas into an asteroid mission baseline concept 28 00:02:12,590 --> 00:02:15,299 to further develop in 2014. 29 00:02:15,299 --> 00:02:20,689 The asteroid mission is one step in NASA's strategy to send humans to Mars in the 2030s. 30 00:02:20,689 --> 00:02:25,639 "So this is, this is Luca's Helmet." 31 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:30,310 Aboard the International Space Station Chris Cassidy pointed out where water entered crewmate 32 00:02:30,310 --> 00:02:34,099 Luca Parmitano's helmet during a July 16 spacewalk. 33 00:02:34,099 --> 00:02:40,640 "With water -- a mixture of water and air getting into this vent port, the water bubbles 34 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:44,669 started to build up behind his, behind this white plastic." 35 00:02:44,669 --> 00:02:49,700 NASA still is investigating where the water came from -- spacewalk specialists believe 36 00:02:49,700 --> 00:02:55,370 the problem is connected to the suit's Portable Life Support System backpack. 37 00:02:55,370 --> 00:03:00,510 KSC's Vehicle Assembly Building turned 50 recently. 38 00:03:00,510 --> 00:03:05,361 Most space fans have seen pictures of a space shuttle being stacked inside the VAB ... but 39 00:03:05,361 --> 00:03:10,520 this concept image is a possible glimpse into the future and what stacking of NASA's Space 40 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,090 Launch System rocket and Orion Spacecraft will look like. 41 00:03:14,090 --> 00:03:18,769 While that plan comes together, crane operators and technicians have been practicing lifting 42 00:03:18,769 --> 00:03:23,779 a full-size mock-up of Orion so they'll be ready when it's time for the real thing in 43 00:03:23,779 --> 00:03:27,739 2017. 44 00:03:27,739 --> 00:03:31,319 And a major milestone for building of the SLS. 45 00:03:31,319 --> 00:03:36,629 Passing the preliminary design review, or PDR means the current design of NASA's next 46 00:03:36,629 --> 00:03:43,519 heavy-lift launch vehicle meets system requirements with acceptable risk, cost and schedule constraints. 47 00:03:43,519 --> 00:03:47,379 Final details of the review will be presented to Administrator Bolden for permission to 48 00:03:47,379 --> 00:03:51,340 move on from design phase to production. 49 00:03:51,340 --> 00:03:58,040 Meanwhile, Bolden named planetary geologist Ellen Stofan the agency's chief scientist, 50 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:03,219 Stofan will be Bolden's principal advisor on the agency's science programs and science-related 51 00:04:03,219 --> 00:04:05,700 strategic planning and investments. 52 00:04:05,700 --> 00:04:08,829 Stofan begins her new role on Aug. 25. 53 00:04:08,829 --> 00:04:15,680 For over two decades, many exoplanets have been observed passing in front of their parent 54 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:16,970 stars. 55 00:04:16,970 --> 00:04:19,889 But not in X-ray vision -- until now! 56 00:04:19,889 --> 00:04:27,220 Thanks to the extraordinary alignment of planet HD 189733b and its parent star, 63 light-years 57 00:04:27,220 --> 00:04:33,030 from Earth, the Chandra X-ray Observatory was able to capture the first ever X-ray pictures 58 00:04:33,030 --> 00:04:36,000 of a planet eclipsing its sun. 59 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,600 The planet -- similar in size to Jupiter -- is more than 30 times closer to its parent star 60 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,780 than we are to our sun. 61 00:04:44,780 --> 00:04:49,820 NASA's Commercial Crew Program is preparing to enter its final phase of agency certification 62 00:04:49,820 --> 00:04:50,820 efforts. 63 00:04:50,820 --> 00:04:54,980 A Pre-Solicitation Conference was held at Kennedy Space Center to involve industry in 64 00:04:54,980 --> 00:04:59,410 the draft Request for Proposal or RFP process. 65 00:04:59,410 --> 00:05:04,070 The conference aimed to provide a greater understanding for all parties before the official 66 00:05:04,070 --> 00:05:06,190 RFP is released this fall. 67 00:05:06,190 --> 00:05:10,470 The Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract will include a commercial company 68 00:05:10,470 --> 00:05:14,790 completing at least one crewed flight test to the International Space Station. 69 00:05:14,790 --> 00:05:18,940 This is all part of the agency's work with U.S. companies to provide commercial spaceflights 70 00:05:18,940 --> 00:05:26,350 for NASA astronauts and others to low-Earth orbit, including the space station. 71 00:05:26,350 --> 00:05:30,450 Astronaut Mike Hopkins, who's headed to the International Space Station on September 25 72 00:05:30,450 --> 00:05:36,220 as a part of Expedition 37/38, gave kids at Johnson Space Center an idea what it's like 73 00:05:36,220 --> 00:05:38,350 to Train Like an Astronaut. 74 00:05:38,350 --> 00:05:43,330 The Train Like an Astronaut program teaches students physical activities that are a lot 75 00:05:43,330 --> 00:05:49,270 like exercises astronaut do in their actual workouts. 76 00:05:49,270 --> 00:05:54,840 High school interns with NASA's Independent Verification and Validation Program, or (IV&V) 77 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:59,240 shared their Summer experience working at the West Virginia facility during presentations 78 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:00,650 at NASA Headquarters. 79 00:06:00,650 --> 00:06:06,150 Established as a result of the Challenger accident IV&V focuses on agency safety and 80 00:06:06,150 --> 00:06:07,150 mission assurance. 81 00:06:07,150 --> 00:06:11,330 "We think we have a good program and hopefully you can say that there's something that you 82 00:06:11,330 --> 00:06:15,400 can take either back to high school or to college or wherever you're going." 83 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:24,450 For the past 20 years, the IV&V program has helped expose interns to STEM careers at NASA. 84 00:06:24,450 --> 00:06:29,010 Also at headquarters, NASA's DEVELOP Program held an end-of-summer open house to show off 85 00:06:29,010 --> 00:06:34,810 presentations and examples of work by students and young professionals in the program. 86 00:06:34,810 --> 00:06:40,650 DEVELOP lets participants use NASA Earth observations to address community concerns and public policy 87 00:06:40,650 --> 00:06:41,650 issues. 88 00:06:41,650 --> 00:06:48,010 For more information on NASA's DEVELOP Program, visit http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/. 89 00:06:48,010 --> 00:06:57,720 And August 5 is the date the late great Neil Armstrong was born 83 years ago in Wapakoneta, 90 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:58,720 Ohio. 91 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:04,840 The famed test pilot and NASA astronaut became the first person to walk on the moon in July 92 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:07,370 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. 93 00:07:07,370 --> 00:07:12,420 We lost Neil last August -- but what he did and the person he was continues to inspire 94 00:07:12,420 --> 00:07:15,960 and set the standard for those who've followed him. 95 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:25,610 "No one, no one -- but no one could've accepted the responsibility of his remarkable accomplishment 96 00:07:25,610 --> 00:07:32,830 with more dignity and more grace than Neil Armstrong." 97 00:07:32,830 --> 00:07:34,710 And that's This Week @NASA.