This Week @NASA: Odysseus Lunar Lander Touches Down on the Moon, Crew-8 Enters Quarantine

Credit: Intuitive Machines

A commercial lander touches down on the Moon…

Discussing the science on the space station…

And preparing for the next space station crew rotation mission…

A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

US Robotic Commercial Mission Lands on Moon

On February 22, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander touched down near the South Pole of the Moon – marking the first lunar landing as part of NASA’s CLPS initiative and Artemis campaign.

Intuitive Machines is one of several U.S. companies NASA is working with to deliver science experiments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface to help the agency explore the Moon in advance of Artemis astronaut missions to the lunar surface, and ultimately crewed missions to Mars.

Live from aboard the International Space Station, astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission talk with Senator Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, and Dr. Lisa Carnell, director of NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division, about some of the groundbreaking research and technology demonstrations aboard the orbiting laboratory. Credit: NASA

NASA Administrator Discusses Science With Space Station Crew

During an Earth-to-space call on February 21, NASA leadership talked with the crew aboard the International Space Station about scientific research and technology demonstrations taking place on the orbiting laboratory.

This included research that could improve our understanding of what leads to age-related bone loss in humans, and a small robot that can be remotely controlled from Earth to perform surgical procedures in space.

Learn more about science on the space station at nasa.gov/station.

Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 from right to left, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; participate in the Crew Equipment Interface Test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Credit: SpaceX

Crew-8 Enters Quarantine for Mission to Space Station

The members of NASA’s upcoming SpaceX Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station entered quarantine recently – one of the last major milestones before heading to Florida for final prelaunch activities.

The crew, including NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, will perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance during their stay aboard the space station Launch is currently targeted for no earlier than March 1 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

All the major structures that will form the core stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis III mission are structurally complete. Technicians finished welding the 51-foot liquid oxygen tank structure, left, inside the Vertical Assembly Building at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans on January 8. The liquid hydrogen tank, right, completed internal cleaning on November 14. Credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

Artemis III Rocket’s Propellant Tanks Take Shape

All the major structures that will form the core stage of the Space Launch System, or SLS rocket for NASA’s Artemis III mission are structurally complete.

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility recently finished welding the 51-foot liquid oxygen tank structure. The mega rocket’s other giant propellant tank – the liquid hydrogen tank – is also a fully welded structure. Both tanks will be a part of the rocket used for the first of the Artemis missions planning to land astronauts on the Moon’s surface near the lunar South Pole.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA.