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To   : All
From : Roger Nelson
Date : Mon Sep 14 2015 10:17:38

This Week @ NASA, September 11, 2015
 
Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 45 crew - including new 
Commander Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, said goodbye to Gennady 
Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European 
Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency (Kazcosmos) as the 
trio climbed aboard their Soyuz spacecraft for the return trip to Earth. The 
Soyuz landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sept. 11 Eastern time, Sept. 12 in 
Kazakhstan -- closing out a 168-day mission for Padalka and an 8-day stay on 
the station for Mogensen and Aimbetov.
 
First Orion crew module segments welded
 
Engineers at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have welded 
together the first two segments of the next Orion crew module - bringing NASA a 
small step closer to sending astronauts to Mars. The primary structure of 
Orion's crew module is made of seven large aluminum pieces welded together 
using a state-of-the-art technique called friction-stir welding to produce an 
incredibly strong bond. This Orion will be launched on NASA's new Space Launch 
System (SLS) rocket on a combined flight test beyond the far side of the moon.
 
SLS Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter
 
At Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama panels for a test 
version of the Space Launch System's Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, or LVSA are 
being welded together. This key piece of hardware connects two major sections 
of the SLS -- the core stage and the upper stage. When test versions of all the 
rocket's parts are completed, engineers will move the 56-foot tall structure to 
a test stand to verify the integrity of the hardware.
 
New Ceres imagery
 
Images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft are giving scientists the closest-yet views 
of the gleaming bright spots from Occator crater on the dwarf planet Ceres. The 
images - a composite view made from two different shots, and virtual fly-around 
animations of the crater, including a topographic map, have about three times 
better resolution than the images from a previous Dawn orbit of Ceres in June.
 
New Horizons update
 
The expected year-long data download begun recently by NASA's New Horizons 
spacecraft, includes new high resolution images that reveal the diversity and 
complexity of the Pluto system. Some of the early imagery appears to feature 
possible dunes; ice flows that apparently oozed out of mountainous regions onto 
plains; ice lakes; and even networks of valleys that may have been carved by 
material flowing over Pluto's surface. The images downloaded so far have more 
than doubled the amount of Pluto's surface seen at resolutions as good as 440 
yards per pixel.
 
9/11 tribute
 
A memorial event for the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on New York's World Trade Center 
was held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
 
The event at the center's Fire Station 1, paid tribute to the 343 fire and 
rescue personnel who lost their lives during the attack. A piece of the World 
Trade Center also was also on display at the ceremony.
 
On that day, 14 years ago - astronaut Frank Culbertson - the only American off 
the planet at that time, captured footage of the aftermath from the 
International Space Station.
 
National Preparedness Month
 
September is National Preparedness Month . a perfect opportunity to take 
advantage of emergency training activities offered by your community or place 
of work. Some employees at NASA headquarters took a CPR class recently. The 
Emergency Management Teams at all NASA facilities encourage everyone to visit 
www.ready.gov to learn more about what to do at work and home to prepare for 
the unexpected.
 
And that's what's up this week @NASA .
 
For more on these and other stories follow us on social media and visit 
www.nasa.gov/twan.
 
 
Last Updated: Sep. 11, 2015
 
Editor: Sarah Loff
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

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 * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)

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