It’s been another exciting week for space that included a fourth successful test flight for the Mars Helicopter, a SpaceX splashdown for Crew-1, and the delivery of the biggest rocket stage NASA has ever built. Learn more below!
Ingenuity Exceeds Expectations & Gets a New Mission
The Little Mars Helicopter That Could (aka Ingenuity) completed its fourth successful test flight this week. This $85 million dollar “flying Kleenex box” has continued to exceeded expectations, and passed its first few tests with flying colours.
Now that Ingenuity has proven that powered flight can happen on another planet, the helicopter has received a new 30-day operational mission – explore aerial scouting. This new mission will push Ingenuity’s limits, requiring it to not only fly faster and farther, but also make more precise maneuvers. Its reconnaissance could also be helpful to determining Percy the Rover’s course by taking photos of areas that are too rocky for the rover to safely travel to, as well as map the terrain. Flying certainly seems a more efficient method to visually explore the Jezero Crater rather than roving around on the rocky surface. Learn more about this new operational mission below!
The Artemis Rocket Hath Arrived
Oh baby, she’s a big one. This week, the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage arrived at the Kennedy Space Center, which will be used for the Artemis I mission. This 212-foot tall core stage is the largest rocket stage NASA has ever built, and will be integrated with the Orion Spacecraft, twin solid rocket boosters, and flight hardware to take humans back to the Moon. Learn more about the Artemis program here!
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Successful SpaceX Splashdown
The kitchen table on the International Space Station was pretty crowded this week, with 11 astronauts aboard, due to stacking weather delays. But, last night, the Crew-1 Dragon crew was finally able to return home and splashed down off the coast of Florida at 11:57pm PT. The four astronauts – Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi – had spent 6 months aboard the Space Station. This time, onlookers were herded away by the US Coast Guard, so it was mainly the recovery crews and a few dolphins that got to take in their nighttime arrival – the first for a US spacecraft since the 1968 Apollo missions.
SpaceX Crew-2 Settling In
With the arrival of SpaceX Crew-2 last week, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet has been providing some phenomenal views from his arrival, as well as spectacular views of our blue marble. This week, he captured some stunning images below of France and the Nile (below). I definitely recommend following him on Instagram for some awesome shots during his stay on the International Space Station!
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Stay tuned for more space news – including a supermoon and total lunar eclipse happening on May 26th!
