A New Crew Heads to the Space Station

A new crew heads to the space station. A major storm spotted from space. And a robotic spacecraft enabling human missions to the Moon.
A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! On Aug. 26, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched to the International Space Station on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission. The next day, the four-person crew, including NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, arrived at the orbital outpost and were welcomed aboard as part of the station’s Expedition 69 crew. They will spend about six months conducting research and technology demonstrations on the space station to benefit life on Earth and future Artemis human exploration missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.
External cameras on the space station captured views of major Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 30, not long after the storm made landfall near Keaton Beach, Florida as a Category 3 storm with winds of about 125 miles an hour. At the time, Idalia was moving north- northeast at about 18 miles an hour toward
the southeast United States. Prior to landfall, the system had reached Category 4 storm status with winds of about 130 miles an hour.
Data from our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or LRO was used during a recent training session to help familiarize the Artemis II astronauts with what they can expect to see from lunar orbit on their upcoming mission around the Moon. The training involved scientific visualizations to help them identify lunar landmarks, geological features, and areas of interest for future Artemis Moon landings. LRO has returned a treasure trove of scientific data during its fourteen years of observing the Moon. Aug. 30 marked the forty-year anniversary of NASA astronaut Guy Bluford becoming
the first African American to fly in space. He flew aboard space shuttle Challenger on the STS-8 mission – the first night launch and night landing of the space shuttle program. Bluford was a member of NASA’s 1978 astronaut class, which included the first African Americans, the first Asian American, and the first women astronauts.