NASA Weekly Update from the Administrator – August 3, 2020
Our agency’s relentless determination to open a new era of space exploration was front and center the last four days. We launched a next-generation Mars rover with a primary mission to search for past or present life. The stage adapter that will take American astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis program arrived at our facilities in Florida. And to top it all off, our astronauts safely landed the first commercial crew spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico. All of this and more, make this a huge moment for NASA!
- Top News: Yesterday, Aug. 2, astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken safely and successfully splashed down in their SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. This completes SpaceX’s test flight for our Commercial Crew Program and marks the beginning of a new era of human spaceflight!
- Next Up: This Friday, Aug. 7, I will address the International Space University alumni conference. This virtual event will gather students and space industry professionals from around the world to discuss the exciting exploration opportunities emerging through international and commercial partnership in the Artemis program.
- Shout Out: The Offices of the Administrator, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Chief Human Capital Officer, and Chief Information Officer have been working hard to respond to agency needs during the coronavirus pandemic and provide support for teleworking, and NASA’s newly added core value of Inclusion. This morning, all civil servants received an email from the NASA Shared Services Center to participate in a brief survey, which will be open until Friday, Aug. 7. Your feedback helps us prioritize resources and better address the needs of the NASA workforce and ourmission. Please take a few minutes to let us know how you are doing and provide us your personal insights. Responses to this survey are voluntary and remain confidential.
This past week was a monumental milestone for our agency. Space is hard enough, yet even in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic, our team successfully carried out our missions to launch the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, and launch and land the first commercially-built crew spacecraft.
Ad astra,
Jim Bridenstine
