Watch live as Vice President Kamala Harris, chair of the National Space Council, discusses international partnerships to build a responsible and sustainable human presence in space in Washington on Dec. 20, 2023, and provides updates on long-term missions.
The National Space Council is the White House policy council responsible for ensuring the United States capitalizes on the rich opportunities presented by our nation’s space activities.
#NASA #WhiteHouse #Space
On Tuesday, Jan. 31 Vice President Kamala Harris awarded former NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. Hurley and Behnken received the award for bravery in NASA’s SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2 (Demo-2) to the International Space Station in 2020.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program began a new era of human spaceflight as American astronauts launched from American soil on an American rocket to the International Space Station. Behnken and Hurley flew on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, which lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket on May 30, 2020, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. This mission was the final flight test for SpaceX, validating the company’s crew transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and operational capabilities.
Once in orbit, Behnken and Hurley were welcomed aboard the ISS, and became members of the Expedition 63 crew. They performed tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew. Upon conclusion of the mission, the Crew Dragon autonomously undocked, re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and splashed down just off Florida’s Atlantic Coast. Demo-2 was the final step before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certified Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station, enabling NASA to continue important research and technology investigations onboard the station.
To learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program visit: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
Watch the full medal ceremony:
https://images.nasa.gov/details-Vice%20President%20Kamala%20Harris%20Awards%20Former%20NASA%20Astronauts%20Douglas%20Hurley%20and%20Robert%20Behnken%20the%20Congressional%20Space%20Medal%20of%20Honor
Credit: NASA
Vice President Kamala Harris recently spoke to astronaut Mark Vande Hei after he returned home from spending 355 days in space — the longest single spaceflight for a NASA astronaut.
Mark’s mission and research in space helps us better understand the effects of long-duration human spaceflight as we prepare for the Artemis missions to the Moon. As head of the National Space Council, VP Harris is working on our priorities in space, including building up America’s STEM workforce, addressing the climate crisis, and promoting rules and norms that govern space.
Learn more about Celestial Immunity, space station research that may help us treat diseases: https://go.nasa.gov/3END1kY
Credit: NASA
Video Producer: Jason Clemons
Video Editor: Ed Toma
The urgency of Earth science and climate studies took the spotlight Friday, Nov. 5, as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Alongside NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, the vice president received a firsthand look at how NASA studies climate change and provides crucial information to understand our planet’s changes and their impacts on our lives.
The vice president met with scientists and engineers to discuss:
• The first images captured by the Landsat 9 satellite, a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that launched in late September to monitor the Earth’s land surface.
• A new Earth science mission entitled Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) that will study the behavior of tropical storms and thunderstorms, including their impacts on weather and climate models.
• The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, which involves an instrument currently under construction at Goddard for a 2022 launch. PACE will extend and improve NASA’s record of satellite observations of global ocean biology, aerosols (tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere), and clouds.
• The GOES-R program, whose GOES-T satellite is scheduled to launch for NOAA in February 2022 to improve weather forecasts.
Learn more about NASA’s Earth science work at: https://climate.nasa.gov/
Video Producer: Rich Melnick
Video Editor: Mike Randazzo
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris placed a special phone call to Shannon Walker and Kate Rubins aboard the International Space Station to find out what it’s like to do science in space.
During the month of March, NASA celebrates and pays tribute to the many women who have played an essential role in shaping the history of the agency.
Learn more about Shannon Walker by visiting: https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/walker-shannon
Learn more about Kate Rubins by visiting:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kathleen-rubins
#WomensHistoryMonth #WomenAtNASA
Download link: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2021_0324_VPOTUS%20Women’s%20History_NO%20TEXT
Producer Credit: Sonnet Apple
Music: Universal Production Music/ “The Dream Within”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris placed a special phone call to space this week when she spoke with astronaut Victor Glover who is aboard the International Space Station.
Glover, a crew member of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, is the first African American astronaut to fly on a commercial spacecraft, and the first African American to fly a long-term mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. This is his first spaceflight since being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013.
Learn more about Glover by visiting https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/victor-j-glover/biography
Download Link: https://images.nasa.gov/details-Vice%20President%20Kamala%20Harris%20Calls%20NASA%20Astronaut%20Victor%20Glover
Producer Credit: Sonnet Apple
Music: “Say So”/Universal Production Music