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Our Perseverance rover\h
takes up residence on Mars …

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The space station’s next\h
commercial resupply mission …

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And a new date for a commercial\h
crew test flight … a few of the\h\h

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stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

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“(Applause) Navigation has confirmed\h
that the parachute has deployed and\h\h

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we are seeing significant deceleration ...”

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On Feb. 18, our Mars 2020 Perseverance\h
rover mission safely touched down on Mars.

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“Touchdown confirmed! Perseverance is safely\h\h

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on the surface of Mars, ready to begin\h
seeking the signs of past life! (applause)”

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The rover landed in Jezero Crater, a region\h
targeted for the excellent opportunity it presents\h\h

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to accomplish the rover’s primary goal\h
of finding signs of past microbial life.\h\h

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Within minutes the rover’s first\h
images from Mars reached Earth,\h\h

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confirming Perseverance was A-okay. And even\h
more images followed, including amazing views\h\h

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of the rover’s descent captured by our Mars\h
Reconnaissance Orbiter, and stunning views\h\h

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from onboard the lander showing how descent\h
appeared from the rover’s point-of-view.

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“You have to somehow believe that you can\h
do it, or else you’d never try to put a car\h\h

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on the surface of Mars, right? It’s crazy.\h
But there really is no good way to describe\h\h

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that moment when it’s over and you hear\h
those words, ‘touchdown confirmed’.”

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This is the most advanced NASA rover to make\h
the nearly 300 million mile trip to Mars. It’s\h\h

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loaded with groundbreaking technology to help\h
pave the way for future human exploration of\h\h

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the Red Planet. This includes the ability to\h
collect and leave cached samples of Martian\h\h

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rock and regolith that a future mission, being\h
planned by NASA and the European Space Agency,\h\h

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could retrieve and bring back to Earth for study.

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“This mission is amazing on its own.\h
Science, technology, and caching samples\h\h

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to bring back to Earth, but it’s also part\h
of our bigger exploration plans, right?\h\h

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Which involve preparing for\h
eventual human missions to Mars.”

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While Perseverance works to characterize the\h
region’s geology and past climate, there are also\h\h

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plans for the Ingenuity experimental helicopter\h
to make the first controlled flight on another\h\h

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planet. Having a flying robotic explorer could\h
be a huge benefit for a human mission on Mars.

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“Being able to fly will enable us to\h
get to places that we cannot get to with\h\h

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rovers and astronauts, like sides of\h
steep cliffs, deep inside crevices;\h\h

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areas of high scientific interest.\h
It will be game-changing!”

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Perseverance will undergo several weeks of testing\h\h

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before it begins its two-year\h
science investigation of Mars.

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The Feb. 20 liftoff of Northrop Grumman’s Antares\h
rocket and Cygnus spacecraft from our Wallops\h\h

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Flight Facility marked the start of the company’s\h
15th resupply mission to the International Space\h\h

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Station for NASA. The Cygnus, named after\h
late NASA mathematician, Katherine Johnson,\h\h

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is loaded with about 8,000\h
pounds of scientific research,\h\h

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crew supplies, and hardware\h
for the station crew.

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An uncrewed Russian Progress supply ship arrived\h
at the space station early Wednesday after\h\h

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launching from Kazakhstan on Feb. 14 with just\h
over a ton of nitrogen, water and propellant.\h\h

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The Progress will be used to detach a\h
Russian docking module later this year\h\h

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to prepare for the arrival of a new\h
multipurpose laboratory module.

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NASA and Boeing are now targeting\h
no earlier than Friday, April 2,\h\h

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for the launch of Orbital Flight Test-2, or OFT-2,\h\h

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the company’s second uncrewed flight test of the\h
CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the International\h\h

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Space Station. OFT-2 is an end-to-end test to\h
prove the Starliner system is ready to begin\h\h

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flying astronauts to and from the space station\h
as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

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A lightweight robotic crane first designed,\h
built, and tested at our Langley Research\h\h

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Center more than a decade ago, is being upgraded\h
with a suite of quick-interchange tools – giving\h\h

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it Swiss Army knife-like capabilities that could\h
prove quite useful on future missions to the Moon.\h\h

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It can be used as a hoist or forklift to lift\h
payloads weighing as much as an elephant,\h\h

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or for jobs requiring a bit more\h
dexterity – such as scooping regolith,\h\h

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or welding. The technology is also scalable to fit\h
any sized lander, vehicle, or surface application.