NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden was back on Capitol Hill during the week of March 13 for more Congressional hearings on the agency’s $19 billion Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal. On Tuesday, Bolden testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, and on Thursday, the administrator responded to questions from the House Science Subcommittee on Space. The budget proposed by President Obama will fund NASA initiatives to send American astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, expand our knowledge about our universe, and improve the quality of life on Earth, as well as the health of the planet itself. Also, New crew launches to ISS, More science on next ISS supply mission, NASA Women in Action, NASA radios on European Mars mission and more.

TRANSCRIPT

NASA budget hearings continue

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden was back on Capitol Hill during the week of March 13 for more Congressional hearings on the agency’s $19 billion dollar Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal. On Tuesday, Bolden testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, and on Thursday, the administrator responded to questions from the House Science Subcommittee on Space. The budget proposed by President Obama will fund NASA initiatives to send American astronauts to Mars in the 2030s, expand our knowledge about our universe, and improve the quality of life on Earth, as well as the health of the planet itself.

New crew launches to ISS

On March 18 Eastern time, a Soyuz spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, toward the International Space Station. Onboard — NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams and his Expedition 47/48 crewmates Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, both of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Following their six-hour trip to the orbiting laboratory, the trio was welcomed aboard by Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra of NASA and the other crew members already onboard. The six-month mission will see Williams set the American record for cumulative days in space, with 534 — surpassing the record set by Scott Kelly during Expedition 46. This is the third space station expedition for Williams, which also is a record.

More science on next ISS supply mission

NASA’s Spacecraft Fire Experiment, or Saffire-1 — is one of several science payloads scheduled to fly aboard Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft on its next resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Saffire experiment, developed at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, is designed to help researchers better understand how fire behaves aboard a spacecraft outside of Earth’s atmosphere. The mission also is scheduled to deliver the second generation of the 3-D printer currently being used on the ISS. The Orbital ATK CRS-6 mission is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on March 22 at 11:05 p.m. EDT.

NASA Women in Action

On March 16, NASA, in partnership with the White House Council on Women and Girls, celebrated Women’s History Month with a program at Goddard Space Flight Center called, “NASA Women in Action”. It focused on women making an impact in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. The event featured NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Lesa Roe, Ellen Stofan, the agency’s Chief Scientist, Johnson Space Center Director and former astronaut Ellen Ochoa, and guest speaker Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. Goddard’s Deputy Director for Technology and Research Investments, Christyl Johnson, served as the moderator.

NASA radios on European Mars mission

The European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 mission launched from Kazakhstan on March 14, with two NASA radios onboard that are designed to provide communication relay service for rovers and landers on Mars. Even though the spacecraft will take about seven months to reach Mars, the first in-flight test of the twin Electra ultra-high frequency (UHF) radios is scheduled to take place in about six weeks. NASA is on an ambitious journey to Mars that includes sending humans to the Red Planet – and international partnerships such as this will help strengthen and extend infrastructure in advance of those human missions.

Oceanography satellite’s first results

Jason-3, the U.S.-European oceanography satellite mission with NASA participation that launched in January, has produced its first complete science map of global sea surface height. The map, which includes data collected from the first 10 days of observations after the satellite reached its operational orbit, shows the state of the ongoing El Niño event that began early last year. Jason-3 will enable more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts, and help global weather and environmental agencies more accurately predict the strength of tropical cyclones.

And that’s what’s up this week @NASA.