This Week at NASA: Commercial Crew, SMAP and More

During a Jan. 26 media briefing at the Johnson Space Center, Administrator Charlie Bolden, other NASA officials and representatives from Boeing and SpaceX discussed key development activities, test plans and objectives for developing safe, reliable and cost-effective spacecraft and systems that will launch astronauts to the International Space Station from the United States.
Under Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts for NASA’s Launch America initiative, the companies will conduct spacecraft systems testing followed by increasingly complex flight tests – before ultimately flying astronauts on orbital flights and eventually on operational missions to the station in the next few years. Also, Soil moisture mission update, ISSAC robot unveiled, Close asteroid flyby, Best images yet of Ceres and Day of Remembrance.