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An update on our Mars rovers …

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Continued progress for our Moon to Mars effort
…

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And a look back at Dawn – in its twilight
… a few of the stories to tell you about

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– This Week at NASA!

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The dust continues to settle on Mars from
the massive dust storm that has shrouded the

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Red Planet since at least late May and halted
operations for our Opportunity rover.

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Engineers at our Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena, California, are closely monitoring

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the nearly 15-year-old, solar-powered rover
for signs that it is receiving enough energy

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from the sun to automatically initiate recovery
procedures, if possible.

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Our Curiosity rover has produced a new panoramic
image on Mars.

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The panorama, taken on Aug. 9 while the rover
explored a region known as Vera Rubin Ridge,

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includes a view of Curiosity’s latest drill
hole, a view of the rover’s deck, and the

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fading dust storm in the skies over Gale Crater.

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A 360 degree version of the panorama is available
on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s YouTube

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site at youtube.com/nasajpl.

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The recent movement of our mobile launcher
atop crawler-transporter 2 at Kennedy Space

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Center, in Florida is yet another sign of
continued progress in the agency’s effort

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to send humans on missions to the Moon and
eventually to Mars.

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The 380-foot-tall mobile launcher, which was
recently modified for our Space Launch System

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or SLS rocket, is undergoing tests in preparation
for the first launch of SLS with our Orion

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spacecraft.

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On Sept. 6 engineers at our Stennis Space
Center, in Mississippi conducted a certification

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hot fire test of an RS-25 engine flight controller
unit.

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The flight controller will be used on a future
flight of the SLS rocket.

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It was also the latest evaluation of a 3D-printed
part that helps prevent forces that can cause

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the rocket to become unstable during flight.

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SLS will use four RS-25s to launch Orion on
missions to deep space destinations, including

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the Moon and Mars.

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Our Dawn spacecraft is expected to soon reach
the end of a mission that has helped scientists

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characterize our early solar system and the
processes that dominated its formation.

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During a Sept. 7 Science Chat at our Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, experts discussed the mission.

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Launched in 2007, Dawn is the only spacecraft
to orbit two deep-space destinations -- asteroid

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Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres.

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These celestial bodies are believed to have
formed early in the history of the solar system.

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“We helped two partners – namely Boeing
and SpaceX – develop capability to fly our

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astronauts into space.”

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During the latest episode of “Watch This
Space”, our administrator, Jim Bridenstine

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visits with our Suni Williams and Boeing astronaut
Chris Ferguson.

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Williams and Ferguson will each fly future
Commercial Crew missions to the space station

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aboard Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

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You can check out episodes of “Watch This
Space”, at nasa.gov/watchthisspace.

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That’s what’s up this week @NASA …