A new image from our James Webb Space Telescope… And an anniversary for one of our Mars explorers… some of the stories to tell you – This week at NASA! NASA previews Artemis I Moon mission We previewed our Artemis I mission to the Moon without a crew during a pair of briefings. On August 3, agency officials at NASA Headquarters and other NASA centers provided a “grand overview” of the mission. “Artemis I shows that we can do great things. Things that bring people together, things that benefit humanity. Things like Apollo that inspire the world.” — Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator This was followed two days later by a deeper dive into the mission’s schedule and operations from our Johnson Space Center. The agency is currently targeting no earlier than Monday, August 29, for the launch of the Space Launch System rocket to send the Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back to Earth. Artemis I will take place over the course of about six weeks to test systems before the astronauts fly aboard the Artemis II spacecraft. This image of Cartwheel and its companion galaxies is a composite from the Webb Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), revealing details that are difficult to see in the individual images alone. This galaxy was formed as a result of a high-speed collision that occurred about 400 million years ago. The Cartwheel consists of two rings, a bright inner ring and a colorful outer ring. Both rings extend outward from the center of the collision as shock waves. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team Webb captures new image of the Cartwheel galaxy NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope produced this new detailed image of the Cartwheel Galaxy and two smaller galaxies. The Cartwheel Galaxy, located about 500 million light-years from us, is a rare type of galaxy that astronomers call a “ring galaxy.” It is believed that the Cartwheel Galaxy was a normal spiral galaxy like our Milky Way before a collision with another galaxy affected the shape and structure of the Cartwheel Galaxy. Stay curious with NASA and celebrate the Curiosity Mars rover’s 10th anniversary on the Red Planet with a double-sided poster listing some of the intrepid explorer’s inspiring achievements. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech After 10 years on Mars, Curiosity Still Has Drive NASA’s Curiosity rover celebrates 10 years on Mars. The rover touched down on the Red Planet at 10:32 p.m. PDT on August 5, 2012. Since then, he has driven approximately 18 miles and climbed more than 2,000 feet exploring Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp. More importantly, Curiosity determined that liquid water and the chemical building blocks required for life have indeed existed in this region of Mars for at least tens of millions of years. The Curiosity team now plans to spend the rover over the next few years exploring a new region, one that is believed to have formed as water dried up, leaving behind salty minerals called sulfates. A collage of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 from left to right, top to bottom: NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina. Credit: NASA The next commercial crew launches to the Space Station The launch of our SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station is currently targeted for no earlier than September 29th from our Kennedy Space Center. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina discussed their upcoming mission during an Aug. 4 briefing at our Johnson Space Center. “We come together as a human race. And our mission on the International Space Station to develop this technology and research for the benefit of all humanity is really what brings us together.” — Nicole Mann, NASA astronaut This is NASA’s fifth crewed flight to the space station with a US commercial spacecraft. Actress Nichelle Nichols, who died on July 30, 2022, didn’t just break new ground on “Star Trek” by playing one of the first major recurring black female characters on American television. A decade after the show ended, she did the same for NASA, appearing in a promotional film aimed at recruiting women and people of color to apply to be astronauts, recounting a 2012 visit to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center . The next class of astronauts, commissioned in 1978, included Guy Bluford, the first black American in space, and Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. Credit: NASA NASA pays tribute to Nichelle Nichols NASA remembers actress Nichelle Nichols, who died on July 30. She broke new ground on “Star Trek” in her role as Lt. Uhura, one of the first leading recurring black women on US television. Years later, NASA officials sought her help to recruit the first women and minority astronauts for the Space Shuttle Program. In a statement, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson noted that as we prepare to send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon under Artemis, NASA is guided by the legacy of Nichelle Nichols. That’s what’s happening this week @NASA
