Crew Dragon Launch Escape Demonstration
Critical Test for Future Astronaut Launches
NASA and SpaceX completed the final major flight test of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule this week. Later this year, Crew Dragon will take astronauts to the International Space Station . This will be the first launch of American astronauts from American soil since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011.
“This critical flight test puts us on the cusp of returning the capability to launch astronauts in American spacecraft on American rockets from American soil,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine . “We are thrilled with the progress NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is making and look forward to the next milestone for Crew Dragon.”
This Week in Space
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir enters the Quest airlock to complete a spacewalk after swapping batteries on the International Space Station that store and distribute solar power collected for the solar arrays.
Second Spacewalk of 2020 – NASA Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir completed a spacewalk to replace batteries on the outside of the International Space Station. Ground controllers verified the new batteries powered up successfully to provide an improved and more efficient power capacity for station operations. Upon completing their work, the two paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King on the federal holiday named after him.
Spitzer End of Mission – We're celebrating the legacy of one of our Great Observatories, the Spitzer Space Telescope , which studied the universe in infrared light for more than 16 years. The Spitzer mission will come to a close on Jan. 30. "The advances we make across many areas in astrophysics in the future will be because of Spitzer's extraordinary legacy,” said Paul Hertz, director of astrophysics at NASA Headquarters.
Name Our Mars 2020 Rover – Students submitted more 28,000 potential names for our next rover that will explore the Red Planet, and a panel of 4,700 judges narrowed those down to nine finalists . Vote for your favorite! The results of the poll will be considered in the final selection.
Meet Our Space Explorers – The term "astronaut" derives from the Greek words meaning "space sailor," and refers to all who have been launched as crew members aboard NASA spacecraft bound for orbit and beyond. Keep up with who’s who in space by downloading our 2020 Astronaut Poster .
People Spotlight
Meet Kenneth Harris II – Kenneth Harris II  volunteered at NASA Goddard’s Space Camp at age 16, became a NASA intern and at age 24 led the engineering team that integrated the James Webb Space Telescope’s main science instruments into the observatory. Forbes Magazine recently named him to its list of “30 under 30”, described as “young, creative and bold minds” the magazine considers to be revolutionaries.

“As engineers and scientists, it is my belief that we have the responsibility to make ourselves open to the unexpected,” said Harris. “Allowing our curiosity to fuel thoughtful questions and impactful research . . . will enable the next generation of explorers to go even further than us.”
Image Spotlight
School-aged children in a choir perform at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.
The Amidon-Bowen Elementary School choir performs at the MLK Day of Service, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020 , at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The featured speakers were astronaut Scott Altman and Janice Mathis, executive director of the National Council of Negro Women.

Image Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
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