Announcing a New Mission to Saturn’s Largest Moon on This Week @NASA – June 28, 2019 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

NASA announces Dragonfly mission to explore Saturn's moon Titan for signs of life, astronauts Anne McClain, Oleg Kononenko, and David Saint-Jacques return from ISS, Apollo Mission Control Room restored to its original state.

Key Insights

• 🤘 NASA plans to send the Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan to study its chemistry and search for signs of life.
• ↩️ Astronaut Anne McClain, along with her crewmates, has returned to Earth after spending over six months on the International Space Station.
• 🏝️ The historic Apollo Mission Control Room has been restored to preserve its original appearance and honor the achievement of landing humans on the Moon.
• 🚀 NASA launched four payloads on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to test propellant, navigation methods, and study the space environment.
• 🧑‍🚀 The Artemis 1 mission will test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as NASA prepares to return astronauts to the Moon.
• 👳 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) capabilities were tested for future applications such as news gathering and package delivery in urban areas.
• 🫒 The restoration of the Apollo Mission Control Room began in 2017 after extensive planning and will be showcased in a live Apollo anniversary show.

Transcript

Announcing a new mission to Saturn’s largest Moon … Launching new missions and landing astronauts … on the same night! And … Restoring the glory to the Apollo Mission Control Room … … a few of the stories to tell you about – Just announced, our next destination in the solar system is Saturn’s icy moon Titan, a unique organic world similar to early ... Read More

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the purpose of the Dragonfly mission to Titan?

The Dragonfly mission aims to study the chemistry and processes on Saturn's moon Titan to better understand the potential for life and its similarities to early Earth. It will explore and sample various sites on Titan to search for the building blocks of life.

Q: When did astronaut Anne McClain return from the International Space Station?

Anne McClain, along with her crewmates Oleg Kononenko and David Saint-Jacques, returned to Earth on Monday night after spending more than six months in space. They landed in Kazakhstan aboard their Soyuz spacecraft.

Q: What payloads were launched on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket?

Four NASA payloads were launched on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. These payloads will test greener propellant, explore new navigation methods in space, study Earth's atmosphere to improve GPS, and investigate the harsh space environment.

Q: What is the significance of the restoration of the Apollo Mission Control Room?

The Apollo Mission Control Room at Johnson Space Center has been restored to its original Apollo 11-era appearance. This restoration honors the history of the room, where the first humans landed on the Moon, and serves as a reminder of NASA's future plans to return to the Moon.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• NASA's Dragonfly mission will launch in 2026 and arrive on Saturn's moon Titan in 2034 to study its chemistry and search for the building blocks of life.

• Astronaut Anne McClain, along with crewmates Kononenko and Saint-Jacques, have returned from the International Space Station after more than six months.

• The historic Apollo Mission Control Room at Johnson Space Center has been restored to its Apollo 11-era appearance, preserving its historical significance.