The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on Jan. 12, two days after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX’s fifth contracted resupply mission to the ISS includes delivery of more than two tons of supplies and experiments for the station’s crew. Also, One-year ISS mission previewed, Record global warmth in 2014, Successful RS-25 engine test and more.

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Dragon arrives at ISS

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on Jan. 12, two days after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX’s fifth contracted resupply mission to the ISS includes delivery of more than two tons of supplies and experiments for the station’s crew. For an overview of the newly delivered experiments – including the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System, or CATS, visit: www.nasa.gov/spacex.

One-year ISS mission previewed

A pair of briefings Jan. 15 at Johnson Space Center previewed the first yearlong mission to the ISS. On March 27, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency will launch to the station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Padalka will return to Earth in September, but Kelly and Kornienko will stay until March 2016 to investigate how the human body responds to longer durations in space – in support of the next generation of space exploration.

2014: Warmest year in modern record

2014 was Earth’s warmest year since 1880, according to an analysis of new surface temperature data by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the sole exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000, cementing a continued long-term warming of the planet – with an average rise in surface temperature of about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880. In an independent analysis of the raw data, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also found 2014 the warmest on record.

Successful RS-25 engine test

An RS-25 engine, which will be used to boost NASA’s Space Launch System rocket to deep space, recently completed its first successful test at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The 500-second hot fire test was the first for the former space shuttle main engine, since the end of shuttle engine testing in 2009. Four RS-25 engines will power SLS on future missions, including to an asteroid and Mars.

Cube Quest Challenge summit

A recent summit at Ames Research Center provided details for those interested in participating in NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge, which offers a total of $5 million for teams that design, build and deliver flight-qualified, small satellites capable of advanced operations near and beyond the moon. Winning designs could also fly on Exploration Mission-1, the first integrated flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.