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NASA’s Perseverance Rover to Begin Long Climb Up Martian Crater Rim
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By NASA
On Jan. 9, 1990, space shuttle Columbia took off on its ninth flight, STS-32, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Its five-person crew of Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot James Wetherbee, and Mission Specialists Bonnie Dunbar, Marsha Ivins, and David Low flew a then record-breaking 11-day mission to deploy the Syncom IV-F5 communications satellite for the U.S. Navy and retrieve the Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF). Astronauts aboard a shuttle mission in 1984 deployed the LDEF and scientists eagerly awaited the return of their 57 experiments to study the effects of nearly six years exposure to the low Earth orbit environment. The crew also conducted several middeck experiments in biotechnology and materials processing and used an echocardiograph to study changes in their hearts.
The STS-32 crew of Mission Specialist Bonnie Dunbar, left, Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot James Wetherbee, and Mission Specialists Marsha Ivins and David Low. The STS-32 crew patch. The Long Duration Exposure Facility during its deployment on the STS-41C mission in 1984. In November 1988, NASA announced Brandenstein, Wetherbee, Dunbar, Ivins, and Low as the STS-32 crew for the flight then planned for November 1989. Brandenstein, from the Class of 1978, had flown twice before, as pilot on STS-8 in August-September 1983 and commander of STS-51G in June 1985. Dunbar, selected in 1980, had flown once before on STS-61A in October-November 1985. For Wetherbee, Ivins, and Low, all selected in 1984, STS-32 marked their first spaceflight. During the second day of their planned 10-day mission, the astronauts would deploy the Syncom IV-F5, also known as Leasat-5, communications satellite for the U.S. Navy. The main focus of the flight involved the retrieval of LDEF, deployed by the STS-41C crew in April 1984. The original plan had LDEF, containing 57 science and technology experiments, retrieved by the STS-51D crew in February 1985. Delays in the shuttle program first pushed the retrieval to STS-61I in September 1986, and then the Challenger accident delayed it to STS-32. The facility ended up staying in orbit nearly six years instead of the originally intended 10 months. The crew rounded out the mission by conducting a series of middeck science and medical experiments.
Space shuttle Columbia rolls out to its launch pad on a foggy morning. NASA scientist John Charles, at rear, trains astronauts David Low, left, and Bonnie Dunbar, supine, in the operation of a cardiovascular experiment. The STS-32 crew exits crew quarters for the ride to Launch Pad 39A. Columbia returned to KSC on Aug. 21, 1989, following STS-28’s landing at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, and workers towed it to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) the next day. They made 26 modifications to the orbiter, including the installation of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robotic arm, and a fifth set of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks to extend the vehicle’s duration in space. Rollover to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building took place on Nov. 16, where Columbia joined its External Tank and twin Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) on refurbished Mobile Launch Platform 3, last used in 1975. Rollout took place on Nov. 28 to Launch Pad 39A, newly refurbished since its previous launch in 1986.
On Dec. 1, engineers and the astronaut crew completed the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, a dress rehearsal for the planned Dec. 18 launch. Based on that date and the mission’s planned 10-day duration, the STS-32 crew would have spent Christmas in space, only the third American crew and the first space shuttle crew to do so. However, unfinished work on Pad 39A delayed the launch into January 1990. Trajectory specialists had estimated that due to orbital decay, LDEF would reenter the Earth’s atmosphere by March 1990, so a timely launch remained crucial for mission success. The countdown began on Jan. 4 for an expected Jan. 8 launch, with the crew arriving at KSC on Jan. 5.
Liftoff of space shuttle Columbia on STS-32. The deployment of the Syncom IV-F5 satellite. Syncom following deployment. Cloudy skies scrubbed the first launch attempt on Jan. 8. Liftoff took place the next day at 7:35 a.m. EST from Launch Pad 39A, with LDEF 1,500 miles ahead of Columbia. The powered ride to space took 8.5 minutes, placing Columbia into a 215-by-38-mile orbit. A burn of the two Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines 40 minutes later changed the orbit to the desired 222-by-180-mile altitude. The crew opened the shuttle’s payload bay doors and deployed its radiators. The major activities for the first day in space involved the checkout of the RMS and the first rendezvous maneuver in preparation for the LDEF grapple three days later. The astronauts also activated four of the middeck experiments. On the mission’s second day, Low deployed the 15,000-pound Syncom satellite, releasing it in a frisbee motion out of the payload bay. The satellite extended its antenna, stabilized itself, and 40 minutes after deployment, fired its engine for the first burn to send it to its geostationary orbit.
The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) during the rendezvous. STS-32 astronaut Bonnie Dunbar has grappled LDEF with the Remote Manipulator System. Dunbar lowers LDEF into the payload bay. Following the Syncom deploy, the crew turned its attention to the rendezvous with LDEF while also continuing the middeck experiments. On Flight Day 3, they completed three rendezvous burns as they steadily continued their approach to LDEF. Soon after awakening on Flight Day 4, the astronauts spotted LDEF appearing as a bright star. After the first of four rendezvous burns, Columbia’s radar locked onto the satellite. As they continued the approach, with three more burns carried out successfully, Dunbar activated the RMS in preparation for the upcoming grapple. Brandenstein took over manual control of Columbia for the final approach and parked the shuttle close enough to LDEF for Dunbar to reach out with the 50-foot arm and grapple the satellite. Brandenstein reported, “We have LDEF.”
For the next four hours, with Wetherbee flying the orbiter and Dunbar operating the arm, Ivins performed a comprehensive photo survey of LDEF, documenting the effects of nearly six years of space exposure on the various experiments. The survey completed, Dunbar slowly and carefully lowered LDEF into the payload bay, and five latches secured it in place for the ride back to Earth. With the two major goals of their mission completed, the astronauts settled down for the remainder of their 10-day mission conducting science experiments.
With astronaut David Low acting as an operator, astronaut Bonnie Dunbar serves as a subject for a cardiovascular experiment. Astronaut Marsha Ivins with several cameras testing the effects of spaceflight on different types of film. During the mission, the STS-32 crew conducted several middeck experiments. The Protein Crystal Growth experiment used vapor diffusion to grow 120 crystals of 24 different proteins, for study by scientists following their return to Earth. The Characterization of Neurospora Circadian Rhythm experiment studied whether spaceflight affected the daily cycles of pink bread mold. The Fluid Experiment Apparatus performed materials processing research in the microgravity environment. The astronauts used the American Flight Echocardiograph (AFE) to study changes in their hearts as a result of weightlessness. The crew used the large format IMAX camera to film scenes inside the cabin as well as through the windows, such as the capture of LDEF.
Astronaut Daniel Brandenstein holds an inflatable plastic cake given to him by his crew mates in honor of his birthday. The STS-32 crew poses in Columbia’s middeck. On Jan. 17, Brandenstein celebrated his 47th birthday, the fifth American astronaut to do so in space. His crew presented him with an inflatable plastic cake including candles while controllers in Mission Control passed on their birthday wishes as did his wife and teenage daughter. On the same day, NASA announced the selection of its 13th group of astronauts. Among them, engineer Ronald Sega, Dunbar’s husband, as well as the first female shuttle pilot, Eileen Collins, and the first Hispanic woman astronaut, Ellen Ochoa.
Columbia touches down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. At the welcome home ceremony at Ellington Field in Houston, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Aaron Cohen addresses the crowd as the STS-32 astronauts and their families listen. On Jan. 19, the astronauts awakened for their planned final day in space. However, due to fog at their landing site, Edwards AFB in California, Mission Control first informed them that they would have to spend an extra orbit in space, and finally decided to delay the landing by an entire day. With their experiments already packed, the crew spent a quiet day, looking at the Earth and using up what film still remained. As they slept that night, they passed the record for the longest space shuttle mission, set by STS-9 in 1983.
In preparation for reentry, the astronauts donned their orange spacesuits and closed the payload bay doors. A last-minute computer problem delayed reentry by one orbit, then Brandenstein and Wetherbee oriented Columbia into the deorbit attitude, with the OMS engines facing in the direction of travel. Over the Indian Ocean, they fired the two engines for 2 minutes 48 seconds to bring the spacecraft out of orbit. They reoriented the orbiter to fly with its heat shield exposed to the direction of flight as it encountered Earth’s atmosphere at 419,000 feet. The buildup of ionized gases caused by the heat of reentry prevented communications for about 15 minutes but provided the astronauts a great light show. After completing the Heading Alignment Circle turn, Brandenstein aligned Columbia with the runway, and Wetherbee lowered the landing gear. Columbia touched down and rolled to a stop, making the third night landing of the shuttle program and ending a 10-day 21-hour 1-minute flight, the longest shuttle flight up to that time, having completed 172 orbits of the Earth.
Other records set by the astronauts on this mission included Brandenstein as the new record holder for most time spent in space by a shuttle crew member – 24 days – and Dunbar accumulating the most time in space by a woman – 18 days – up to that time. Following eight hours of postflight medical testing, the astronauts boarded a jet bound for Houston’s Ellington Field, where they reunited with their families and took part in a welcome home ceremony led by Aaron Cohen, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Columbia returns to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Workers lift the Long Duration Exposure Facility from Columbia’s payload bay. Following postlanding inspections, workers placed Columbia, with LDEF still cradled in its payload bay, atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing-747, and the combination left Edwards on Jan. 25. Following a refueling stop at Monthan Davis AFB in Tucson, an overnight stay at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, and another refueling stop at Eglin AFB in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Columbia and LDEF arrived back at KSC on Jan. 26. The next day, workers towed Columbia to the OPF and on Jan. 30 lifted LDEF out of its payload bay, in preparation for the detailed study of the effects of nearly six years in space on the 57 experiments it carried. Meanwhile, workers began to prepare Columbia for its next flight, STS-35 in December 1990.
Enjoy the crew narrate a video of the STS-32 mission. Read Brandenstein‘s and Dunbar‘s recollections of the STS-32 mission in their oral histories with the JSC History Office. For an overview of the LDEF project, enjoy this video. For detailed information on the results of the LDEF experiments, follow this link.
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Mars: Perseverance (Mars 2020) Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read
A Rover Retrospective: Turning Trials to Triumphs in 2024
A look back at a few Mars 2020 mission highlights of 2024
Perseverance’s past year operating on the surface of Mars was filled with some of the mission’s highest highs, but also some of its greatest challenges. True to its name and its reputation as a mission that overcomes challenges, Perseverance and its team of scientists and engineers turned trials to triumphs in yet another outstanding year for the mission. There’s a lot to celebrate about Perseverance’s past year on Mars, but here are three of my top mission moments this year, in the order in which they happened.
1. SHERLOC’s cover opens
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover captured this image of its SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), showing the cover mechanism of SHERLOC’s Autofocus and Context Imager camera (ACI) in a nearly open configuration. The rover acquired this image using its Left Mastcam-Z camera — one of a pair of cameras located high on the rover’s mast — on March 3, 2024 (sol 1079, or Martian day 1,079 of the Mars 2020 mission), at the local mean solar time of 12:18:41. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU In early January the SHERLOC instrument’s cover mechanism stopped responding during a routine attempt to acquire data on a rock outcrop in the Margin unit. After six weeks of team diagnostics, the SHERLOC instrument was declared offline and many of us feared that the instrument had met its end. In early March, the team made significant progress in driving the cover to a more open position. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the SHERLOC cover moved unexpectedly to a nearly completely open position during a movement of the arm on sol 1077. I remember staring in wonder at the image of the cover (taken on sol 1079), feeling real optimism for the first time that SHERLOC could be recovered. The team spent the next few months developing a new plan for operating SHERLOC with its cover open, and the instrument was declared back online at the end of June.
2. A potential biosignature at Cheyava Falls
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of “leopard spots” on a rock nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” on July 18, 2024 — sol 1212. or the 1,212th Martian day of the mission. Running the length of the rock are large white calcium sulfate veins. Between those veins are bands of material whose reddish color suggests the presence of hematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its distinctive rusty hue. Scientists are particularly interested in the millimeter-size, irregularly shaped light patches on the central reddish band (from lower left to upper right of the image) that resemble leopard spots. Perseverance captured the image using a camera called WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), part of the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument suite located on the end of Perseverance’s robotic arm. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS No top list would be complete without Perseverance’s discovery in July 2024 of a potential biosignature in the form of sub-millimeter-scale “leopard spots” at an outcrop called Cheyava Falls. These features, which formed during chemical reactions within the rock, have dark rims and light cores and occur together with organic carbon. On Earth, these chemical reactions are often driven by or associated with microbes. Although we can’t say for sure that microbes were involved in the formation of the leopard spots at Cheyava Falls, this question can be answered when Perseverance’s samples are returned to Earth. In the meantime, this rock remains one of the most compelling rocks discovered on Mars.
3. Arrival at Witch Hazel Hill
NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image at the top of Witch Hazel Hill, of the South Arm and Minnie Hill outcrops. Perseverance used its Left Navigation Camera (Navcam) — which also aids in driving — located high on the rover’s mast. The rover captured the image on Dec. 16, 2024 (sol 1359, or Martian day 1,359 of the Mars 2020 mission), at the local mean solar time of 13:26:38. NASA/JPL-Caltech Closing out 2024 on a high note, in mid-December Perseverance arrived at the top of a sequence of rock exposed on the western edge of the Jezero crater rim called Witch Hazel Hill. These rocks pre-date the formation of Jezero crater and could be amongst the oldest rocks exposed on the surface of Mars. These rocks have the potential to tell us about a period of solar system history not well-preserved on our own planet Earth, and they may record important clues about the early history and habitability of Mars. Witch Hazel Hill first caught my attention during landing site selection several years ago, when we were debating the merits of landing Perseverance in Jezero versus sites outside the crater. At the time, this area seemed just out of reach for a Jezero-focused mission, so I’m thrilled that the rover is now exploring this site!
The Mars 2020 mission had its ups and downs and a fair share of surprises during 2024, but we are looking ahead to 2025 with excitement, as Perseverance continues to explore and sample the Jezero crater rim.
Written by Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 Deputy Project Scientist
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Last Updated Jan 08, 2025 Related Terms
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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 2 min read
Sols 4402-4415: Rover Decks and Sequence Calls for the Holidays
An image under the left-front wheel of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity shows a block that Curiosity drove over and possibly broke in half. The rover acquired this image using its Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) on sol 4396 — Martian day 4,396 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — on Dec. 18, 2024 at 06:03:35 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Earth planning date: Friday, Dec. 20, 2024
Welcome to the 2024 holiday plan for Curiosity! This year we’re spanning 14 sols to last us through the Earth new year. And this is my fourth year operating Mastcam during the holidays (throwback to 2023 Marsmas!). I already knew to expect a long day, so I got my lunch prepared — blew Mars a kiss in the pre-dawn sky — and headed to work at 0600 Pacific time to start planning prep. Luckily my team got a head start on Mastcam images by including a full 360-degree panorama, post-drive, last plan, so I just had to fill in some gaps and cover some buttes with our higher-resolution camera. In total we’re only planning about 438 images this holiday, which is a pretty light haul if you can believe it! We also didn’t pass SRAP to unstow the arm (again) today, which is a bummer for science but usually makes my job easier since Mastcam doesn’t have to worry about where the arm might be during our imaging. One instrument’s coal is another instrument’s present!
So we’re doing things a little funky this holiday. We’re planning science on the first, seventh, 13th, and 14th sols — with a drive and a soliday! The hardest part of this plan was keeping it all straight in our heads.
Without any contact science planned, MAHLI went on holiday early (actually, she’s been out all week!) and APXS only had to babysit an atmospheric integration, which doesn’t require any arm motion. ChemCam has three LIBS and four RMI mosaics planned, which is definitely more than usual. But actually, the highest sequence count for today goes to Mastcam! Our usual limit is around 20 sequences for complexity reasons, but today I delivered 34 total sequences. Of those 34 sequences, 10 are for tracking surface changes from wind, seven are for measuring the atmospheric opacity, three are ChemCam LIBS documentations, three are for documenting our location post-drive, two are large mosaics of Texoli and Wilkerson buttes, and two are for noctilucent cloud searching (our first attempts to find clouds this Martian winter!).
With any luck, we’ll start passing SRAP again in 2025 after another approximately 58-meter drive (about 190 feet). Until then, Earthlings — Merry Marsmas and Happy Earth New Year!
Written by Natalie Moore, Mission Operations Specialist at Malin Space Science Systems
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Perseverance Blasts Past the Top of Jezero Crater Rim
This SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaic shows part of the target “Duran,” observed on Sol 1357 near the top of Jezero crater’s rim. It was processed using a color-enhancing Gaussian stretch algorithm. NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP. I have always loved the mountains. Growing up on the flat plains of Midwestern USA, every summer I looked forward to spending a few days on alpine trails while on vacation. Climbing upward from the trailhead, the views changed constantly. After climbing a short distance, the best views were often had by looking back down on where we had started. As we climbed higher, views of the valleys below eventually became shrouded in haze. Near the top we got our last views of the region behind us; then it disappeared from view as we hiked over the pass and started down the other side. Approaching the summit held a special reward, as the regions beyond the pass slowly revealed themselves. Frequent stops to catch our breath during our ascent were used to check the map to identify the new peaks and other features that came into view. Sometimes the pass was an exciting gateway to a whole new area to explore.
This ever-changing landscape has been our constant companion over the last five months as Perseverance first climbed out of Neretva Vallis, then past “Dox Castle,” and “Pico Turquino.” We stopped at “Faraway Rock” on Sol 1282 to get a panorama of the crater floor. More recently, we could see many more peaks of the crater rim. As Perseverance crested the summit of “Lookout Hill,” half a mile (800 meters) above the traverse’s lowest point, we got our first views beyond the crater rim, out into the great unknown expanse of Mars’ Nili Planum, including the upper reaches of Neretva Vallis and the locations of two other candidate landing sites that were once considered for Perseverance. As the rover crested the summit, Mastcam-Z took a large panoramic mosaic, and team members are excitedly poring over the images, looking at all the new features. With Perseverance’s powerful cameras we can analyze small geological features such as boulders, fluvial bars, and dunes more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) distant, and major features like mountains up to 35 miles (60 kilometers) away. One of our team members excitedly exclaimed, “This is an epic moment in Mars exploration!”
While Curiosity has been climbing “Mount Sharp” for 10 years, and Spirit and Opportunity explored several smaller craters, no extraterrestrial rover has driven out of such a huge crater as Jezero to see a whole new “continent” ahead. We are particularly excited because it is potentially some of the most ancient surface on the Red Planet. Let’s go explore it!
Perseverance is now in Gros Morne quad, named for a beautiful Canadian national park in Newfoundland, and we will be naming our targets using locations and features in the national park. For the drive ahead, described in a video in a recent press release, our next destination is on the lower western edge of the Jezero crater rim at a region named “Witch Hazel Hill.”
Perseverance made more than 250 meters of progress over the weekend (about 820 feet) and is already at the upper part of Witch Hazel Hill, a location called “South Arm.” Much of the climb up the crater rim was on sandy material without many rocks to analyze. Witch Hazel Hill appears to have much more exposed rock, and the science team is excited about the opportunity for better views and analyses of the geology directly beneath our wheels.
Written by Roger C. Wiens, Principal Investigator of the SuperCam instrument, Purdue University
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov approaches the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above Ontario, Canada, near James Bay. NASA published a new report Thursday highlighting 17 agency mechanisms that have directly and indirectly supported the development and growth of the U.S. commercial space sector for the benefit of humanity.
The report, titled Enabling America on the Space Frontier: The Evolution of NASA’s Commercial Space Development Toolkit, is available on the agency’s website.
“This is the most extensive and comprehensive historical analysis produced by NASA on how it has contributed to commercial space development over the decades,” said Alex MacDonald, NASA chief economist. “These efforts have given NASA regular access to space with companies, such as SpaceX and Rocket Lab, modernizing our communications infrastructure, and even led to the first private lunar lander thanks to Intuitive Machines. With commercial space growth accelerating, this report can help agency leaders and stakeholders assess the numerous mechanisms that the agency uses to support this growth, both now and in the future.”
Throughout its history, NASA has supported the development of the commercial space sector, not only leading the way in areas such as satellite communications, launch, and remote sensing, but also developing new contract and operational models to encourage commercial participation and growth. In the last three decades, NASA has seen the results of these efforts with commercial partners able to contribute more to missions across NASA domains, and increasingly innovative agency-led efforts to engage, nurture, and integrate these capabilities. These capabilities support the agency’s mission needs, and have seen a dramatic rise in importance, according to the report.
NASA has nurtured technology, companies, people, and ideas in the commercial space sector, contributing to the U.S. and global economies, across four distinct periods in the agency’s history:
1915–1960: NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA’s pre-Apollo years. 1961–1980: Apollo era. 1981–2010: Space shuttle era. 2011–present: Post-shuttle commercial era. Each of these time periods are defined by dominant technologies, programs, or economic trends further detailed in the report.
Though some of these mechanisms are relatively recent, others have been used throughout the history of NASA and NACA, leading to some overlap. The 17 mechanisms are as follows:
Contracts and Partnership Agreements Research and Technology Development (R&TD) Dissemination of Research and Scientific Data Education and Workforce Development Workforce External Engagement and Mobility Technology Transfer Technical Support Enabling Infrastructure Launch Direct In-Space Support Standards and Regulatory Framework Support Public Engagement Industry Engagement Venture Capital Engagement Market Stimulation Funding Economic Analysis and Due Diligence Capabilities Narrative Encouragement NASA supports commercial space development in everything from spaceflight to supply chains. Small satellite capabilities have inspired a new generation of space start-ups, while new, smaller rockets, as well as new programs are just starting. Examples include CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services), commercial low Earth orbit destinations, human landing systems, commercial development of NASA spacesuits, and lunar terrain vehicles. The report also details many indirect ways the agency has contributed to the vibrance of commercial space, from economic analyses to student engagement.
The agency’s use of commercial capabilities has progressed from being the exception to the default method for many of its missions. The current post-shuttle era of NASA-supported commercial space development has seen a level of technical development comparable to the Apollo era’s Space Race. Deploying the 17 commercial space development mechanisms in the future are part of NASA’s mission to continue encouraging commercial space activities.
To learn more about NASA’s missions, please visit:
https//:www.nasa.gov
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Last Updated Dec 19, 2024 EditorBill Keeter Related Terms
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