1 00:00:00,429 --> 00:00:05,309 "Progress continues on work to prepare the Orion spacecraft for next year's flight test 2 00:00:07,879 --> 00:00:06,309 ..." 3 00:00:07,879 --> 00:00:13,330 "And the MAVEN spacecraft is on its way to Mars ... Those are some of the stories trending, 4 00:00:13,330 --> 00:00:15,680 This Week at NASA!" 5 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:20,700 The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral 6 00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:24,270 Air Force Station in Florida on a 10-month journey to Mars. 7 00:00:24,270 --> 00:00:28,360 MAVEN will take critical measurements of the Martian upper atmosphere to investigate how 8 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:34,860 loss of the atmosphere to space impacted the history of water on the planet's surface. 9 00:00:34,860 --> 00:00:39,390 November 20 marked the fifteenth anniversary of the launch of Zarya, the International 10 00:00:39,390 --> 00:00:41,250 Space Station's first module. 11 00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:44,040 The station's first crew arrived a couple of years later. 12 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,680 Since then, humans have continuously conducted research on technologies we'll need for future 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,860 missions to deep space. 14 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:56,489 During a public workshop at Houston's Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA examined some 15 00:00:56,489 --> 00:01:01,829 recently submitted ideas about how to respond to asteroid threats and identify, capture 16 00:01:01,829 --> 00:01:05,270 and relocate near-Earth asteroids for study. 17 00:01:05,270 --> 00:01:12,210 Some of the ideas will be considered as NASA refines future plans of its asteroid initiative. 18 00:01:12,210 --> 00:01:17,040 Flight controllers for NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission confirmed 19 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:22,080 that the LADEE spacecraft has begun the science phase of its mission -- analyzing lunar dust 20 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,920 particles while orbiting the moon -- to help better understand other planetary bodies in 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,320 the solar system. 22 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:33,890 NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and others checked out work underway at Kennedy Space 23 00:01:33,890 --> 00:01:38,600 Center to prepare the Orion spacecraft for its flight test next September. 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:44,150 Meanwhile, a successful separation test of Orion's protective fairing panels at Lockheed 25 00:01:44,150 --> 00:01:48,659 Martin ... and at Marshall Space Flight Center -- some special paint for the adapter that 26 00:01:48,659 --> 00:01:53,410 will connect Orion to a Delta IV rocket, will provide protection from electrical discharge 27 00:01:53,410 --> 00:01:58,610 during the flight test ... and the arrival of a device designed to repel hot gases away 28 00:01:58,610 --> 00:02:02,140 from Orion on its way to space. 29 00:02:02,140 --> 00:02:07,090 At Dryden Flight Research Center, an F/A-18 was used to test an autonomous flight control 30 00:02:07,090 --> 00:02:10,029 system for NASA's Space Launch System rocket. 31 00:02:10,029 --> 00:02:14,980 The autopilot system, known as the Adaptive Augmenting Controller, will enable the SLS 32 00:02:14,980 --> 00:02:20,569 to respond to post-launch environmental variations in winds or vehicle flexibility. 33 00:02:20,569 --> 00:02:24,769 The system should be ready for the rocket's 2017 flight test. 34 00:02:24,769 --> 00:02:29,780 NASA issued a final Request for Proposals for its new Commercial Crew Transportation 35 00:02:29,780 --> 00:02:31,269 Capability contract. 36 00:02:31,269 --> 00:02:36,519 CCTCap is meant to ensure commercial companies meet safety requirements for transporting 37 00:02:36,519 --> 00:02:40,340 NASA crews from U.S. soil to the International Space Station. 38 00:02:40,340 --> 00:02:45,439 The procurement phase is expected to include crewed demonstration missions to the ISS before 39 00:02:45,439 --> 00:02:48,079 2017. 40 00:02:48,079 --> 00:02:52,129 Among the group of satellites launched on an Air Force Minotaur I rocket from Wallops 41 00:02:52,129 --> 00:02:58,720 Flight Facility November 19 were NASA's PhoneSat2 and TJ-cubesat, the first ever space-bound 42 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,090 cubesat built by high school students. 43 00:03:01,090 --> 00:03:07,590 Students from Thomas Jefferson School of Science and Technology, near Washington, built TJ-cubesat. 44 00:03:07,590 --> 00:03:12,610 During a White House ceremony, late NASA astronaut Sally Ride was one of sixteen people awarded 45 00:03:12,610 --> 00:03:17,230 The Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the Nation's highest civilian honor. 46 00:03:17,230 --> 00:03:22,939 The first American woman in space, Ride also was a passionate advocate for education. 47 00:03:22,939 --> 00:03:25,040 And that's what's up ... This Week at NASA.