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Our next Mars Rover gets closer to launch
…

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A comet spotted from the space station…

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And we’re ready to build a spacecraft to
explore a metal-rich asteroid …

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a few of the stories to tell you about – This
Week at NASA!

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On Tuesday, July 7, our Mars 2020 Perseverance
rover was lifted onto the top of the Atlas

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V rocket that will send it towards the Red
Planet this summer.

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Engineers have made physical and electrical
connections between the booster and the spacecraft

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and are conducting the final tests before
launch.

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Perseverance’s mission … search for signs
of ancient microbial life, study the planet's

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climate and geology, and collect samples for
possible return to Earth.

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This mission will help pave the way for human
exploration of Mars.

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Meanwhile on the Martian surface, our Curiosity
Rover began a summer road trip of roughly

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a mile of steep terrain to ascend Mount Sharp.

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Curiosity will look for sulfates that usually
form around water as it evaporates.

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They are a clue to how the climate and prospects
for life changed nearly 3 billion years ago.

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Our Moon exploration technologies are getting
a boost from additional investments for small

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businesses.

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We’ve picked four American companies to
develop technologies ranging from communications

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to improved driving on the lunar surface to
use of lunar resources.

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These investments are part of our Artemis
program, which aims to land the first woman

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and next man on the Moon in 2024.

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Kathy Lueders, the new leader of our human
spaceflight efforts, got an up-close look

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at the booster segments for our Space Launch
System or SLS rocket, during a recent visit

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to our Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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The boosters are being prepped for Artemis
I, when SLS will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft

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around the Moon and back.

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Astronauts aboard the International Space
Station spotted a comet previously discovered

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by and named after our NEOWISE mission that
studies near-earth objects.

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Comet NEOWISE will pass harmlessly at 64 million
miles from Earth while giving astronomers

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the opportunity to learn more about its composition
and structure.

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You can catch a glimpse of the glowing comet
in the evening sky shortly after sunset on

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July 11th as it speeds away from the Sun.

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Our Psyche mission to explore a metal-rich
asteroid has passed a crucial mission milestone.

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The systems designed to do their job in deep
space are now ready to be built.

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Psyche is planned to launch in 2022 and will
fly to its target in the main asteroid belt

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between Mars and Jupiter.

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That’s what’s up this week @NASA …