1 00:00:00,210 --> 00:00:02,470 A safe return to Earth from the space station … 2 00:00:02,470 --> 00:00:05,370 Greeting the astronauts of the next Commercial Crew flight … 3 00:00:05,370 --> 00:00:09,980 And an update on development of a human lunar landing system … a few of the stories to 4 00:00:09,980 --> 00:00:14,090 tell you about – This Week at NASA! 5 00:00:14,090 --> 00:00:19,739 On April 16, the International Space Station’s Expedition 64 crew, including our Kate Rubins, 6 00:00:19,739 --> 00:00:22,320 closed out its time on the station. 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,679 After saying farewell to those remaining onboard the orbital outpost, Rubins, Sergey Ryzhikov 8 00:00:27,679 --> 00:00:33,160 and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, both of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, climbed aboard their 9 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:36,250 Soyuz spacecraft and headed back to Earth. 10 00:00:36,250 --> 00:00:41,550 The trio touched down safely in Kazakhstan, on the morning of April 17, after spending 11 00:00:41,550 --> 00:00:47,609 185 days conducting research and maintenance aboard the space station. 12 00:00:47,609 --> 00:00:52,749 On April 16, the astronauts for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the space station arrived 13 00:00:52,749 --> 00:00:58,239 at our Kennedy Space Center for final prelaunch activities, ahead of their flight to the station. 14 00:00:58,239 --> 00:01:04,259 Crew-2 is currently targeted for launch April 22 from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. 15 00:01:04,259 --> 00:01:10,409 “We come in on the plane over here and we got to fly by the pad and see our rocket getting 16 00:01:10,409 --> 00:01:14,890 ready to go and that’s just an amazing feeling; I’ve gotten to do that before and really 17 00:01:14,890 --> 00:01:18,170 there’s nothing like it when you look out the window and see a spaceship getting prepared 18 00:01:18,170 --> 00:01:21,189 and realize that you’re going to be riding on it in a few days.” 19 00:01:21,189 --> 00:01:25,840 Crew-2 is the second crew rotation flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and the 20 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,560 first with two international partners. 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:33,619 The flight follows certification by NASA for regular flights to the space station as part 22 00:01:33,619 --> 00:01:35,950 of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. 23 00:01:35,950 --> 00:01:41,579 Also, on April 16, NASA picked SpaceX to develop its commercial human landing system for the 24 00:01:41,579 --> 00:01:43,289 Artemis program. 25 00:01:43,289 --> 00:01:47,550 Their design was one of three competing for a crewed demonstration mission to the lunar 26 00:01:47,550 --> 00:01:48,550 surface. 27 00:01:48,550 --> 00:01:53,210 This system will help NASA complete the final leg of its lunar journey and land the next 28 00:01:53,210 --> 00:01:55,899 two American astronauts on the Moon. 29 00:01:55,899 --> 00:02:00,880 Former NASA astronaut, Pam Melroy has been nominated by President Biden to serve as the 30 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,149 agency’s deputy administrator. 31 00:02:03,149 --> 00:02:05,939 The nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. 32 00:02:05,939 --> 00:02:10,420 In a statement released in response to the nomination, Acting NASA Administrator Steve 33 00:02:10,420 --> 00:02:16,190 Jurczyk said Melroy is a proven leader with a bold vision, who is driven by a desire to 34 00:02:16,190 --> 00:02:20,690 solve the biggest issues here on Earth, throughout the solar system, and beyond. 35 00:02:20,690 --> 00:02:25,670 A veteran of three spaceflights, and one of only two women to command a space shuttle, 36 00:02:25,670 --> 00:02:29,660 Melroy logged more than 38 days in space. 37 00:02:29,660 --> 00:02:34,720 Our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will use gravitational microlensing to find thousands 38 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,860 of new planets beyond our solar system. 39 00:02:37,860 --> 00:02:42,640 This quirk of gravity makes it possible to locate planets by observing how a planet’s 40 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:44,950 gravity distorts distant starlight. 41 00:02:44,950 --> 00:02:49,700 Turns out that because solitary small black holes, known as stellar-mass black holes, 42 00:02:49,700 --> 00:02:55,260 produce the same effects, the mission will also provide the best opportunity yet to definitively 43 00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:57,860 detect these black holes for the first time. 44 00:02:57,860 --> 00:03:03,860 The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is currently targeted for launch in the mid-2020s. 45 00:03:03,860 --> 00:03:09,660 April 12 marked the 40-year anniversary of STS-1, the first spaceflight of the nation’s 46 00:03:09,660 --> 00:03:11,200 Space Shuttle Program. 47 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,620 On that date in 1981, NASA astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen launched aboard space 48 00:03:16,620 --> 00:03:21,680 shuttle Columbia on a two-day test mission that began a new era of human spaceflight. 49 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:27,420 “It allowed us to fly a diverse group of people into space to become astronauts. 50 00:03:27,420 --> 00:03:30,960 We didn’t need just test pilots anymore. 51 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:38,370 So, it opened up the field of the astronauts in a much broader range than we’d ever had 52 00:03:38,370 --> 00:03:39,370 before.” 53 00:03:39,370 --> 00:03:43,820 STS-1 was NASA's first crewed mission since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. 54 00:03:43,820 --> 00:03:49,900 The launch also occurred 20 years to the day after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first 55 00:03:49,900 --> 00:03:53,360 human to orbit Earth on April 12, 1961.