Expedition 52-52 Launches to the Space Station on This Week @NASA – April 21, 2017

TL;DR

NASA astronauts arrive at the International Space Station, Cygnus cargo spacecraft delivers supplies, planet hunters named influential, evidence of water ice on Ceres, Mars rover Opportunity explores new location, NASA celebrates Earth Day.

Transcript

“Here’s some of the stories trending This Week at NASA!”   On April 20, Expedition 51-52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA and Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos launched to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. About six-hours later, the pair ... Read More

Key Insights

• 👨‍🚀 NASA astronauts and spacecraft continue to play crucial roles in space exploration and research.
• 👾 The International Space Station serves as a hub for scientific experiments and long-duration space missions.
• 👨‍🔬 The discoveries made by planet hunters highlight the significance of exoplanet research and the search for habitable worlds.
• 💦 The presence of water ice on Ceres suggests the possibility of subsurface water and potential for astrobiological investigations.
• 👶 Mars rover Opportunity's exploration of new locations provides valuable insights into the planet's past geological activities.
• 🥳 NASA's Earth Day celebrations aim to engage the public in understanding and taking care of our planet.
• 👾 Collaborations and achievements in space exploration involve international partnerships and scientific contributions from various institutions.

Questions & Answers

Q: Who are the two astronauts that recently arrived at the International Space Station, and how long will they stay?

Expedition 51-52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA and Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos. They will spend four and a half months conducting research aboard the station.

Q: What is the Cygnus cargo spacecraft delivering to the International Space Station, and how long will it stay there?

The Cygnus spacecraft is delivering over 7,600 pounds of supplies and scientific experiments. It is scheduled to spend the next three months at the station.

Q: Who are the three planet hunters named to Time Magazine's most influential people list, and what significant discoveries have they made?

Natalie Batalha of NASA's Kepler mission, Guillem Anglada-Escudé of the Queen Mary University of London, and Michaël Gillon of the University of Liège in Belgium. Batalha's mission discovered the first Earth-size planets beyond our solar system, Anglada-Escudé discovered an Earth-size planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, and Gillon announced the discovery of the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star.

Q: What new evidence suggests the presence of water ice on Ceres, and how does it shape the dwarf planet's landslides?

A study published in Nature Geoscience shows that Ceres is covered in landslides similar to those on Earth, indicating the presence of water ice in its structure. The ice may have played a role in shaping the variety of landslides observed.

Q: What is the next destination for NASA's Mars rover Opportunity, and what is the goal of its observations?

Opportunity is leaving "Cape Tribulation" and heading to "Perseverance Valley" on the crater rim. The rover team plans to observe the valley to determine the type of fluid activity that carved it billions of years ago, such as water, wind, or flowing debris lubricated by water.

Q: How did NASA celebrate Earth Day, and what activities were involved?

NASA celebrated Earth Day with live and online public activities. The event at Washington's Union Station included hands-on activities, presentations, displaying images of Earth on NASA's Hyperwall, discussions on the benefits of observing Earth from space, and autographs from former astronaut Scott Altman. NASA also invited the public to "adopt" a small part of Earth and promoted global environmental awareness.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Expedition 51-52 Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander launch to the International Space Station to conduct research.

• Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft delivers supplies and scientific experiments to the station.

• Three planet hunters, including a NASA scientist, are named to Time Magazine's most influential people list.

• New study shows evidence of water ice shaping landslides on the dwarf planet Ceres.

• Mars rover Opportunity leaves "Cape Tribulation" and heads to "Perseverance Valley" to investigate past fluid activity.

• NASA celebrates Earth Day with public activities, including hands-on activities, presentations, and promoting global environmental awareness.