NASA News – Week Ending March 31, 2023

This Week @NASA, March 31, 2023

• The Artemis II Moon rocket is coming together …
• A high honor for some space explorers …
• An intriguing find for the Webb Space Telescope …
• NASA astronauts share their space station experience …
• Our heavy-duty hauler crawls into the history books …
• And preparing for the return of some historic samples … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

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Artemis II Moon Rocket Coming Together

The core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for our Artemis II mission is coming together at our Michoud Assembly Facility. Teams recently added the engine section and will complete the stage by installing four RS-25 rocket engines. Artemis II will be the first Artemis flight around the Moon and back with astronauts.

Bill Anders, Webb Telescope Team Awarded Michael Collins Trophy

During a March 23 ceremony, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum awarded its Michael Collins Trophy for Lifetime Achievement and for Current Achievement to former NASA astronaut Bill Anders, and to the James Webb Space Telescope Team, respectively. Anders took the famous Earthrise photograph on the Apollo 8 Moon mission, and the recently deployed Webb telescope is already giving astronomers an increased understanding of the universe.

Webb Spots Swirling, Gritty Clouds on Remote Planet

The Webb Space Telescope has spotted a planet about 40 light-years from us with silicate cloud features in its swirling atmosphere. The telescope also detected water, methane, and carbon monoxide, as well as evidence of carbon dioxide. This is the largest number of molecules ever identified all at once on a planet outside our solar system.

Study Reveals Map of Water Near Moon’s South Pole

A new study using data from the recently retired SOFIA flying observatory has resulted in the first detailed, wide-area map of water distribution on the Moon. The study provides hints about how water may be moving across the lunar surface near the Moon’s South Pole — an important area of exploration for future Artemis missions.

Crew-4 Astronauts Make Post-Flight Visit to D.C. Area

During the week of March 27, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Robert Hines, and Kjell Lindgren visited the Washington, D.C. area to share the experience of their SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station. The visit included an employee event at NASA Headquarters, as well as an event at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library to help students learn about our Artemis missions to the Moon.

Crawling Into the History Books

The next time our Crawler Transporter 2, or CT-2 carries the mobile launcher and Artemis Moon rocket to the launch pad, the heavy-duty hauler will also carry the official Guinness World Records designation recently bestowed upon it as “the heaviest self-powered vehicle.” The CT-2 weighs about 6.65 million pounds – the equivalent of about 1,000 pickup trucks.

NASA Prepares for Historic Asteroid Sample Delivery

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx team is preparing for the spacecraft to return the sample material it collected from asteroid Bennu. The O-REx sample capsule is expected to touchdown in the Utah desert on Sept. 24 – becoming the first-ever U.S. mission to return an asteroid sample to Earth.

Dragonfly Could Reveal Chemistry That Leads to Life

Our Dragonfly mission, scheduled to launch to Saturn’s giant moon, Titan, in 2027, recently passed all the technical requirements and standards of its Preliminary Design Review. Dragonfly will study the chemistry at work on Titan – which could help us better understand the kinds of chemical steps that ultimately led to life here on Earth.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA … For more on these and other stories, follow us on the web at nasa.gov/twan.