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Here's some of the stories trending this

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week at NASA. During a September 16th

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news conference at Kennedy Space Center

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a major announcement by NASA

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administrator Charlie Bolden about the

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Commercial Crew program contract to

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secure transport for astronauts to and

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from the International Space Station

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effectively putting America back into

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the business of launching humans to

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space, ending our sole reliance on Russia

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by 2017. Boeing and SpaceX have each

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presented to us designs that will allow

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us to fly cruise to the International

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Space Station in just a few years.

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Turning over low Earth orbit

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transportation to private industry will

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also allow NASA to focus on an even more

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ambitious mission, that of sending humans

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to Mars. Following NASA certification the

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U.S. missions to the International Space

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Station will also allow the station's

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current crew of six to grow enabling

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more research to be conducted aboard the

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unique microgravity laboratory. SpaceX

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CRS-4 the fourth SpaceX cargo mission

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to the ISS under NASA's commercial

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resupply services contract was previewed

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during a series of press briefings at

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Kennedy Space Center. A planned September

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20th launch of the company's Falcon 9

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rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft from

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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will

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deliver more than 5,000 pounds of

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scientific experiments and supplies to

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the ISS, including an ISS earth science

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experiment and the station's first 3D

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printer. Astronaut Rick Mastracchio

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visited the headquarters of NASA

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commercial partner Orbital Sciences

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Corporation in Dulles Virginia on

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September 15. In addition to SpaceX,

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Orbital also conducts cargo missions to

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the ISS including the company's first in

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January while Mastracchio was a crew

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member aboard the orbiting laboratory.

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While at Orbital Mastracchio shared some

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imagery from his time on orbit with

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employees and thank them for their work

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during his mission.

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The next two crews scheduled for flights

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to the International Space Station are

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preparing for those missions at the

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Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the

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Expedition 41-42 crew including

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NASA's Barry “Butch” Wilmore is conducting

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final training for its scheduled launch

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to the station on September 25th Eastern

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Time. Meanwhile the follow-on crew

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headed to the ISS which features NASA

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astronaut Terry Virts previewed its

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mission during a news conference at

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Johnson Space Center. Expedition 42-43

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will launch to the station in late

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November. The September 21st arrival at

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Mars of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and

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Volatile Evolution or MAVEN spacecraft

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is a major mission milestone known as

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orbital insertion. Once situated into its

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planned elliptical orbit around the red

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planet, MAVEN the first spacecraft

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dedicated to exploring the upper

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atmosphere of Mars will begin a one-year

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primary mission to investigate how the

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loss of atmospheric gases impacted the

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Martian climate through time. The lander

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for the European Space Agency's Rosetta

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mission to Comet 67/P

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Churyumov-Gerasimenko now has a primary

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landing site. The lander named Philae,

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will target site J, an intriguing region

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on the comet that offers unique

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scientific potential and minimum risk to

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the lander compared to the other

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candidate sites. Phil is scheduled to

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land on November 11th to begin

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scientific study of the comet's nucleus.

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The mission is spearheaded by the

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European Space Agency with support and

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instruments provided by NASA. And that's

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what's up This Week @NASA. For more on