Vice President Pence swears in our new NASA Administrator …

A Hubble anniversary flythrough of a nebula …

And the smell in the clouds of one of our outermost planets – a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

Bridenstine Sworn in as NASA Administrator

NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine:
“I, James Bridenstine, do solemnly swear …”

Jim Bridenstine officially took office as the 13th administrator of NASA on April 23, after he was given the oath of office by Vice President Mike Pence at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence:
“Mission success depends on more than just resources alone. It requires leadership. You need clear, ambitious goals. That’s exactly the kind of leadership that you will have starting today with NASA’s new Administrator, Jim Bridenstine. [Applause.].”

The event also featured live greetings from our astronauts living and working in space.

NASA Astronaut, Scott Tingle:
“Congratulations on your selection to lead NASA as you report to duty. Mr. Vice President, Mr. Bridenstine – welcome onboard the International Space Station.”

NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine:
“NASA represents what is best about the United States of America. I will do my best to serve our storied agency to the utmost of my abilities as we reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind. Thank you so much.”

Hubble Anniversary Flythrough of Stellar Nursery

This virtual flythrough into the core of the Lagoon Nebula was made with imagery from our Hubble Space Telescope – in celebration of the telescope’s twenty-eighth anniversary in space. The Lagoon Nebula is a rich, star birth region in the constellation Sagittarius. It has a young star named Herschel 36 that is about 200,000 times brighter and 32 times more massive than our Sun.

What Uranus Cloud Tops Have in Common With Rotten Eggs

A long-standing mystery about the clouds on the planet Uranus has been solved. Researchers using the Gemini Observatory’s telescope in Hawaii gathered spectroscopic data that shows the planet’s cloud tops contain hydrogen sulfide – the odiferous gas that reeks of rotten eggs. Human visitors wouldn’t have to worry about the stench, though – exposure to the planet’s extremely frigid and volatile atmosphere would take its toll long before the smell.

NASA Mars Mission Tours California

The Mars InSight Roadshow is stopping at cities along the earthquake-prone California coast to explain how our InSight robotic lander will study Mars’ deep interior using seismology and other geophysical measurements. The launch from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, scheduled for May 5, will be the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast.

Altman, Jones Inducted into Hall of Fame

The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inducted its two newest members on April 21. Scott Altman, a veteran of four space shuttle flights – including STS-125 – the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, and Dr. Tom Jones, whose fourth and final space shuttle mission – STS-98 – delivered the Destiny Laboratory to the International Space Station – were both inducted during a ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida

That’s what’s up this week @NASA …