NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Nicole Mann is pictured in her Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or spacesuit, during her first spacewalk. She and fellow spacewalker Koichi Wakata (out of frame) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency installed a modification kit on the International Space Station’s starboard truss structure that will enable the future installation of the orbiting lab’s next roll-out solar array. Credit: NASA
Work to do outside the space station …
Honoring a pair of former astronauts …
And a milestone on Mars …
A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Spacewalk Positions the Space Station for More Power
On February 2, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata conducted a spacewalk to finish installing hardware needed for the International Space Station’s next roll-out solar arrays. The arrays – to be installed on a future spacewalk – are an upgrade to the station’s power system.
Former NASA astronauts Robert Behnken, left, and Douglas Hurley, right, are seen after being awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by Vice President Kamala Harris during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023 in Washington. Former astronauts Behnken and Hurley were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor for their bravery in NASA’s SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2 to the International Space Station in 2020, the first crewed flight as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Former Astronauts Receive Congressional Honor
On behalf of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris awarded former NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on January 31. In 2020, Hurley and Behnken became the first astronauts to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Perseverance’s Three Forks Sample Depot Selfie: NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with several of the 10 sample tubes it deposited at a sample depot it is creating within an area of Jezero Crater nicknamed “Three Forks.” Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Perseverance Completes Mars Sample Depot
On January 29, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover successfully deposited the last of 10 planned sample tubes onto the Martian surface – completing the first sample depot on another world. To learn about plans to return the samples to Earth for study one day visit mars.nasa.gov/msr.
NASA Spinoff 2023 Cover. Credit: NASA
NASA’s 2023 Spinoff Publication
The latest edition of NASA’s Spinoff publication features more than 40 companies that have used NASA technology, research, and funding for commercial products that benefit people around the globe. Spinoff 2023 is available to read and download at spinoff.nasa.gov.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA …
