On June 10, NASA’s Terry Virts passed command of the International Space Station to Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency – marking the start of the Expedition 44 mission. The following day, Virts and Expedition 43 crewmates Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos climbed aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and headed back to Earth – landing safely in Kazakhstan and capping off 199 days in space. The remaining members of Expedition 44, including NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, are targeted for launch in late July. Also, Climate change projections , Second flight test of saucer-shaped vehicle, DAWN images bring Ceres to life, Heavy lift crane back in place, and more.

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Tour over — Expedition 43 returns home

On June 10, NASA’s Terry Virts passed command of the International Space Station to Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency – marking the start of the Expedition 44 mission. The following day, Virts and Expedition 43 crewmates Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos climbed aboard a Soyuz spacecraft and headed back to Earth – landing safely in Kazakhstan and capping off 199 days in space. The remaining members of Expedition 44, including NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, are targeted for launch in late July.

Climate change projections

NASA’s Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan discussed newly released, high-definition climate assessment data during the Climate Services for Resilient Development event hosted by the White House. The publicly available NASA data demonstrates how temperature and rainfall patterns worldwide may change through the year 2100 because of growing concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere. NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of Earth, improve lives, and help safeguard our future.

Second flight test of saucer-shaped vehicle

On June 8, NASA’s Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) completed its second flight test in Hawaii. After being carried to an altitude of about 120,000 feet by a balloon and then boosted to the edge of space by a rocket engine, the LDSD vehicle tested new developmental entry and descent technologies on its supersonic return to Earth. These technologies could help future spacecraft safely land larger payloads on the surface of Mars, and allow access to more of the planet’s surface by enabling landings at higher-altitude sites.

DAWN images bring Ceres to life

A new animation of the dwarf planet Ceres, created from images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft during its first orbital mapping mission, includes dramatic flyover views of the heavily cratered world. About 80 overlapping images were used to provide the three-dimensional detail in the animation. The vertical dimension has been exaggerated by a factor of two, and a star field has been added in the background.

Heavy lift crane back in place

The 175-ton bridge crane inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center was lifted back to its original position after being upgraded to support the lifting needs for future exploration vehicles on the journey to Mars, including NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The heavy-lift crane was used in the past to help stack the rocket for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon and to position space shuttles for loading onto the mobile launcher platform.

Jack King, “the voice of launch control” dies at 84 

Jack King commentary of Apollo 11 launch:
“Astronauts report it feels good, t-minus twenty-five seconds.”

NASA commentator John W. (Jack) King, the “voice of launch control” for virtually every human mission from Gemini 4 to Apollo 15, died on June 11. His July 16, 1969 commentary of the Apollo 11 launch was among his most memorable as millions around the world watched the liftoff of the historic mission.

Jack King commentary of Apollo 11 launch:
“Liftoff, we have a liftoff thirty-two minutes past the hour. Liftoff on Apollo 11.”

King was 84 years old.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.