1 00:00:00,630 --> 00:00:04,560 "Here's some of the stories trending This Week at NASA!" 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:09,070 NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden visited Marshall Space Flight Center to see work being 3 00:00:09,070 --> 00:00:14,490 done on the avionics and flight software for NASA's Space Launch System rocket. 4 00:00:14,490 --> 00:00:18,789 Marshall's System Integration Lab conducts flight simulations of the avionics system 5 00:00:18,789 --> 00:00:24,279 -- including hardware, software and operating systems -- that will guide the launch vehicle, 6 00:00:24,279 --> 00:00:28,899 to see how the SLS will perform during launch. 7 00:00:28,899 --> 00:00:33,300 There also was a media event at Marshall on March 11 to announce the signing of a newly 8 00:00:33,300 --> 00:00:37,980 expanded Space Act Agreement between NASA and Sierra Nevada Corporation. 9 00:00:37,980 --> 00:00:42,660 The new agreement calls for Marshall to provide technical expertise to the company as it plans 10 00:00:42,660 --> 00:00:46,890 for integration of science payloads on its Dream Chaser spacecraft. 11 00:00:46,890 --> 00:00:51,900 Teledyne Brown Engineering, which will work with SNC under a Teaming Agreement also participated 12 00:00:51,900 --> 00:00:54,060 in the event. 13 00:00:54,060 --> 00:00:58,470 Just hours after leaving the International Space Station, the Expedition 38 crew made 14 00:00:58,470 --> 00:01:04,420 a safe return to Earth -- touching down in Kazakhstan on March 10, Eastern Daylight Time. 15 00:01:04,420 --> 00:01:09,890 NASA's Mike Hopkins and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy spent 166 16 00:01:09,890 --> 00:01:11,719 days in space. 17 00:01:11,719 --> 00:01:17,869 Meanwhile, the Expedition 39/40 crew continues preparing for its upcoming trip to the ISS. 18 00:01:17,869 --> 00:01:24,399 NASA astronaut Steve Swanson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev traveled 19 00:01:24,399 --> 00:01:29,939 from Star City, Russia to Kazakhstan to complete training for their launch to the station later 20 00:01:29,939 --> 00:01:31,799 this month. 21 00:01:31,799 --> 00:01:36,369 Onboard the International Space Station, NASA's Rick Mastracchio and new station commander, 22 00:01:36,369 --> 00:01:42,490 Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency answered questions about life and research 23 00:01:42,490 --> 00:01:48,329 in space during a March 13 In-flight event with Administrator Bolden and about 100 students 24 00:01:48,329 --> 00:01:51,889 participating in the U.S. Senate Youth Program. 25 00:01:51,889 --> 00:01:56,969 Mastracchio, Wakata and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin are scheduled to remain onboard 26 00:01:56,969 --> 00:02:00,310 the station until mid-May. 27 00:02:00,310 --> 00:02:04,880 During an 83-second free flight test at Kennedy Space Center, the Morpheus prototype lander 28 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:11,470 rose to 580-feet -- higher than the Washington Monument and its highest altitude to date. 29 00:02:11,470 --> 00:02:18,730 Morpheus then flew 837 feet downrange at 30 mph -- both farther and faster than any previous 30 00:02:18,730 --> 00:02:23,650 test -- before descending and touching down about a foot from its target. 31 00:02:23,650 --> 00:02:28,280 Seven NASA centers are involved with Project Morpheus, which is testing NASA's automated 32 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:33,610 landing and hazard avoidance technology and an engine that uses "green" propellants. 33 00:02:33,610 --> 00:02:40,490 These capabilities could be used to deliver cargo to planetary surfaces on future missions. 34 00:02:40,490 --> 00:02:47,810 Citizen scientists who develop improved algorithms for identifying asteroids have a shot at 35-thousand 35 00:02:47,810 --> 00:02:53,540 dollars in prize money being offered through NASA's Asteroid Data Hunter series contest. 36 00:02:53,540 --> 00:02:59,570 The contest series, being conducted in partnership with Planetary Resources Inc. of Bellevue, 37 00:02:59,570 --> 00:03:02,270 Washington, starts on March 17. 38 00:03:02,270 --> 00:03:07,770 NASA's asteroid initiative seeks to enhance the agency's ongoing work to identify and 39 00:03:07,770 --> 00:03:14,000 characterize near-Earth objects for further scientific investigation. 40 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:19,290 At the South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas, NASA exhibits, panel discussions and 41 00:03:19,290 --> 00:03:25,860 presentations highlighted the agency's efforts to find answers to tough questions, such as: 42 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:27,720 Is there life on other planets? 43 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,780 And, are we smarter than the dinosaurs? 44 00:03:30,780 --> 00:03:36,250 There was also info about NASA Earth science missions, the soon-to-fly Orion spacecraft, 45 00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:41,150 the Space Launch System and the Asteroid Grand Challenge -- as well as a live question and 46 00:03:41,150 --> 00:03:45,760 answer session with the crew aboard the International Space Station. 47 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:51,400 A Women's History Month program at headquarters titled, "Involving Everyone in the Conversation." 48 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:57,180 featured presentations by Administrator Bolden and former NASA astronaut Sandy Magnus -- now 49 00:03:57,180 --> 00:04:01,900 executive director at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 50 00:04:01,900 --> 00:04:06,350 The program also included panel discussions about the relationships and challenges of 51 00:04:06,350 --> 00:04:12,470 workforce diversity and encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, 52 00:04:12,470 --> 00:04:14,510 engineering and math, or STEM. 53 00:04:14,510 --> 00:04:17,090 And that's what's up ... This Week at NASA.