This Week at NASA: Asteroid Redirect Mission Briefing, Arctic Sea Ice and More

On Sept. 14, officials from the White House and NASA discussed the space agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) during a televised event at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
On the mission, which is targeted for launch in Dec. 2021, NASA plans to send a robotic spacecraft to an asteroid tens of millions of miles from Earth, capture a multi-ton boulder, and bring it to an orbit near the moon for future exploration by astronauts on a following mission aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. During the live discussion, John Holdren, assistant to President Obama for Science and Technology, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and ARM Program Director Michele Gates highlighted the mission’s scientific and technological benefits, how the mission will support NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s, and how it will demonstrate technology relevant to defending Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids. Also, Astronaut Tim Kopra Visits DC Area, Next Space Station Crew Prepares for Launch, The Warmest August in 136 Years, and 2016 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Ties 2nd Lowest on Record.