The Artemis II Moon mission crew visits D.C. …
Another partner to land humans on the Moon …
And preparing to get to the heart of “cosmic matter” …
A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
The crew of Artemis II visits Washington, D.C.
The Artemis II astronauts were in the Washington, D.C. area. May 17-19 to discuss their upcoming mission to the Moon. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency met with members of Congress, Canadian Embassy officials and engaged in other activities. Artemis II will be the first mission to send astronauts to the Moon in more than 50 years.
Second Lunar Lander Partner Selected for Artemis
On May 19, NASA selected Blue Origin to develop a sustainable human landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission. The Human Landing System will ferry astronauts to and from the surface. Moon and Lunar Orbital Gateway as part of NASA’s plan to return to the Moon for science, discovery and inspiration. The agency worked with SpaceX to develop landers for the Artemis III and Artemis IV missions.
The heart of the main instrument of the Roman space telescope
The Focal Plane System, or FPS, at the heart of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was recently transferred to the Ball Space Company in Colorado to integrate with the telescope’s main instrument – a giant camera called the Wide Field Device. Roman, scheduled to launch in May 2027, will help unlock the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, search for exoplanets, and conduct other infrared investigations of the universe.
Webb Finds Water and Mystery in Rare Main Belt Comet
Researchers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to confirm water vapor around a comet in the main asteroid belt – a rare so-called main belt comet – for the first time. This finding indicates water ice from the ancient solar system can be preserved in that region of space, which is closer to the Sun than where most comets are typically located. Now, researchers will try to figure out why, unlike other comets, this one had no detectable carbon dioxide.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA!