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Our Artemis I spacecraft is delivered for
some critical testing …

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A big step for our Commercial Crew program
…

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And a possible connection between dust storms
and water loss on Mars … a few of the stories

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to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

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The Orion spacecraft for our Artemis I mission
arrived in Ohio on Nov. 24 aboard our Super

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Guppy aircraft.

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The spacecraft, which is comprised of the
Orion crew module and European-built service

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module, will be tested at our Plum Brook Station
in Sandusky, Ohio.

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The four-month test campaign will subject
Orion to extreme environmental conditions

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similar to what it will experience during
its three-week mission around the Moon and

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back to confirm all components and systems
work properly under in-space conditions.

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Our partner Boeing has moved its CST-100 Starliner
spacecraft to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral

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Air Force Station in Florida, in preparation
for its journey to the International Space

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Station on the company’s uncrewed Orbital
Flight Test.

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It’s part of our Commercial Crew Program,
which will again launch astronauts from American

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soil.

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The flight test, targeted for Dec. 17, will
test Starliner, the Atlas V rocket, ground

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systems, and in-orbit docking and landing
operations ahead of crewed missions that will

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carry astronauts to and from the space station.

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Data gathered by our fleet of spacecraft during
the 2018 global dust storm on Mars is helping

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shed new light on a phenomenon called "dust
towers," and their possible role in the disappearance

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of water from the Red Planet for billions
of years.

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According to two recently published scientific
papers, scientists think that water vapor

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on Mars gets trapped in these “dust towers,”
and is then carried upward – as if riding

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an elevator to space – where the water vapor
is then lost through the upper atmosphere.

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Dust towers are seen throughout the Martian
year, but appear to form in greater numbers

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during global storms.

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Towers that reach heights of about 50 miles,
as seen during the 2018 global dust storm,

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can spread out to about the size of the state
of Nevada.

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A new video series celebrates our 20th year
of continuous human presence living off our

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home planet.

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“Down to Earth” features NASA astronauts
discussing a shift in worldview as a result

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of their time in space aboard the International
Space Station.

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Since the Nov. 2, 2000 arrival of Bill Shepherd,
Sergei Krikalev, and Yuri Gidzenko -- the

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station’s first resident crew, there has
been a continuous stream of humans living

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and working aboard the orbital outpost.

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For more about the video series go to nasa.gov/station.

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Our current space station astronauts – Jessica
Meir, Christina Koch, and Andrew Morgan – recorded

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a Thanksgiving message to talk about what
they’re thankful for, and about some items

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on the menu for their Turkey Day dinner.

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“We’ve got vegetables, of course – green
beans and potatoes that we’ll warm up”

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“And of course, uh – smoked turkey in
a pouch.”

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“Cornbread dressing – this will be great.

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We can maybe stuff it inside the turkey just
to make it like a real stuffing.”

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“I want to know who’s going to carve the
turkey once it comes out of that pouch?”

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“We also have some mashed potatoes and corn,
so it looks like we have a lot of good options

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– it’s going to be quite a feast.”

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“Happy Thanksgiving!”

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That’s what’s up this week @NASA …