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The impact of coronavirus to NASA’s missions
…

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Prelaunch training continues for the next
space station crew …

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And launch preparations for Orion … a few
of the stories to tell you about – This

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Week at NASA!

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As part of our continued response to the coronavirus
pandemic, a mandatory telework policy for

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non-essential employees remains in effect
to protect the health and safety of the NASA

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workforce.

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In a virtual “Ask the Administrator” session,
Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other senior

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officials responded to questions and concerns
employees have about the coronavirus situation.

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“Your agency – NASA is involved in providing
solution sets for the nation.

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And we will be more and more involved as days
go on because we do have an extremely talented,

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very bright workforce and a lot of capabilities
that can help.”

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“We really have tried to be proactive.

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Really look at conditions on the ground and
make decisions based on – not only the current

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conditions – but like you said, where things
are headed and be proactive and try to stay

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out ahead of this.”

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NASA leadership is assessing what can be done
remotely, work that will be paused, and mission-essential

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activities that must continue.

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Some of the mission-essential work identified
includes preparing the Perseverance rover

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and helicopter for our Mars 2020 mission,
limited work on the Orion spacecraft and the

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Space Launch System rocket for our Artemis
Program, construction of our X-59 quiet supersonic

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aircraft, keeping the agency’s supercomputing
and IT security resources online, and the

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continued support of all International Space
Station operations.

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The next crew headed to the International
Space Station, including our Chris Cassidy,

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wrapped up activities in Star City Russia,
then left for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

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to continue training for its April 9 launch.

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While mindful of the coronavirus situation,
the crew already follows a standardized routine

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that has always been in place to prevent illnesses
from being brought to the space station.

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“We’re traveling with a very small team.

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All of us have been in quarantine together,
everybody practicing the same health precautions,

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and we’ll do the exact same thing in Baikonur.”

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The Orion spacecraft for Artemis I returned
to our Kennedy Space Center in Florida after

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completing some rigorous environmental testing
at our Plum Brook Station in Ohio.

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The spacecraft will now undergo final preparations
for its launch on Artemis I.

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The uncrewed test flight is the first in a
series of increasingly complex missions to

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the Moon that will ultimately lead to human
exploration of Mars.

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Our Curiosity Mars rover snapped this selfie
recently, just before setting a record for

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the steepest terrain it has ever climbed.

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The climb up the "Greenheugh Pediment," a
broad sheet of rock that sits atop a hill,

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tilted the rover 31 degrees – the most it
has ever tilted on Mars.

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The 360-degree selfie was stitched together
from 86 images.

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In case you missed it, the newest edition
of NASA’s Spinoff publication is available.

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It features dozens of commercial technologies
developed or improved by the agency’s space

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program that now benefit people everywhere.

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Print and digital versions of the latest issue
of Spinoff are available at: spinoff.nasa.gov

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That’s what’s up this week @NASA …