NASA Weekly Update from the Administrator – Oct. 5, 2020
NASA Weekly Update – Oct. 5 , 2020
We have so much to look forward to this October! The Green Run tests on the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage are charging forward with the hot fire test early next month; the world will soon gather (virtually) for the annual International Astronautical Congress; our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will collect the agency’s first sample of an asteroid; NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission will launch at the end of the month, and so much more.
- Top News: After a great launch last week from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft, named after astronaut Kalpana Chawla, was captured and secured to the International Space Station early this morning. This spacecraft carries almost 8,000 pounds of scientific investigations, advanced technology and other cargo, including, a new toilet, virtual reality equipment to record spacewalks, cancer treatment experiments, and much more.
- Next Up: The James Webb Space Telescope successfully completed final environmental testing (acoustics and sine vibration), a series of tests that simulated the stresses and strains of launch. And now, the team will prepare Webb for its final deployments on Earth. This was a long anticipated milestone and a great moment for the team. Go James Webb! A feature on this milestone will be posted on www.nasa.gov/webb tomorrow.
- Shout Out: NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge concluded yesterday, and it was a huge success! This 9th annual hackathon invited designers, coders and programmers to use NASA, and partner space agency, data to tackle real-world problems. The Science Mission Directorate led this fantastic effort, which drew more than 26,000 participants from around the world. Thank you to everyone on the team who helped make this a great event.
The “worm” is going to the Moon with us! Recently, teams at Kennedy Space Center in Florida painted this great logo on the Artemis I booster rockets. It was also applied to the Orion spacecraft.
Ad astra,
Jim Bridenstine
