This Week @NASA: SpaceX Crew-7 Mission, Artemis II Launch Simulation, Orion Recovery

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station on October 5, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA’s next space station crew rotation flight …

A launch day simulation for NASA’s upcoming Moon mission …

And visiting the splashdown recovery crew for Artemis II …

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

A Preview of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Mission

The members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station, including NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, previewed the mission during a July 25 news conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Crew-7 is targeted to launch no earlier than August 17. NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara also participated in the news conference. She will launch to the space station in September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A team of NASA and Jacobs engineers are on console for the first Artemis II launch simulation inside Firing Room 1 at the Launch Control Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2023. The team is rehearsing the steps to launch NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II crewed mission. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA Completes First Launch Simulation for Artemis II

The Artemis launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center recently conducted its first simulation for the Artemis II mission. As NASA prepares to send the mission’s crew of four astronauts around the Moon and bring them back safely, teams will participate in a wide range of simulations, or “sims,” as they are sometimes called, to ensure support personnel, software, ground systems, and other aspects of the mission are ready for the real thing.

From left (front to back), NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, pose inside the Vehicle Advanced Demonstrator for Emergency Recovery (VADR) during a tour of Naval Base San Diego on July 19, 2023. VADR is a replica of the Orion crew module that will carry the astronauts around the Moon on Artemis II. Credit: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Samoluk

Artemis II Crew Visits Orion Recovery Teams

The Artemis II astronauts visited Naval Base San Diego recently where teams were preparing for Underway Recovery Test-10, or URT-10. URT-10 is designed to ensure that NASA and Department of Defense personnel can safely recover the crew and the Orion spacecraft from the Pacific Ocean after the astronauts return from their trip around the Moon on Artemis II.

From 2022, attendees of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh visit the NASA Pavilion. NASA is returning to Oshkosh for this year’s event with a full slate of activities and exhibits. Credit: NASA / Andrew Carlsen

NASA at AirVenture Oshkosh 2023

NASA participated in the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture Oshkosh 2023 event with a host of activities, exhibits, demonstrations, and more. The event also featured special announcements from NASA leadership and industry partners about several key missions and projects. This included new exterior paint designs for the X-66A Sustainable Flight Demonstrator aircraft, and the hybrid electric aircraft being developed as part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA!