On Feb. 25, International Space Station Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA continued rigging power and data cables during the second in a series of three spacewalks to prepare for installation of two new docking ports for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. The new docking adapters will begin arriving at the station later this year. During airlock repressurazation at the conclusion of the spacewalk, Virts reported seeing a small amount of water floating in his helmet. No water was reported during the EVA and the crew was never in any danger. The third and final spacewalk of the series is scheduled for no earlier than March 1. Also, Preview of magnetic mission, Earth is changing. We’re on it, Soil moisture satellite deploys antenna and Groundbreaking for commercial crew access tower.

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U.S. spacewalks continue on ISS

On Feb. 25, International Space Station Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA continued rigging power and data cables during the second in a series of three spacewalks to prepare for installation of two new docking ports for the future arrival of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. The new docking adapters will begin arriving at the station later this year. During airlock repressurazation at the conclusion of the spacewalk, Virts reported seeing a small amount of water floating in his helmet. No water was reported during the EVA and the crew was never in any danger. The third and final spacewalk of the series is scheduled for no earlier than March 1.

Preview of magnetic mission

NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission was previewed during a Feb. 25 news briefing at NASA headquarters. Scheduled for launch March 12 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, MMS’s four identical Earth-orbiting spacecraft will work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection – a universal process during which magnetic fields connect and disconnect – producing explosive energy that can accelerate particles up to nearly the speed of light.

Earth is changing. We’re on it.

During a Feb. 26 media teleconference, NASA provided status updates on the five NASA Earth Science missions launched over the past 12 months. The five additions to the agency’s fleet of Earth-observing spacecraft is the biggest one-year increase in more than a decade. The scientific data and imagery produced by the various missions include new views of global carbon dioxide, rain and snowfall, ocean winds, and aerosol particles in the atmosphere.

Soil moisture satellite deploys antenna

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, launched Jan. 31 from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, is the most recent of NASA’s five new Earth Science missions. Following a successful checkout phase, the satellite recently deployed its instrument boom and 20-foot-wide reflector antenna, a key milestone on its mission to provide global measurements of soil moisture – helping to improve our understanding of Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycles.

Groundbreaking for commercial crew access tower

Marking one of many steps it is taking to fly NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station, Boeing, along with United Launch Alliance recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the first new crew access structure to be built at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station since the 1960s. The new 200-foot-tall structure will be assembled over the next 18 months at Space Launch Complex 41 and service test pilots, support personnel and astronauts boarding the CST-100 spacecraft Boeing is developing to fly crews to and from the ISS.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.