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Transcript/ScriptThe Week in Space (TV)
HEADLINE: NASA Makes History Launching First Indigenous Woman to Space
TEASER: U.S. space agency and Russian counterpart pledge continued cooperation
PUBLISHED AT: 10/6/2022 AT 3:20PM
BYLINE: Arash Arabasadi
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: AP/ NASA/ SPACEX/ NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/ A. BADER (LANCASTER UNIVERSITY)/ NASA/JPL-CALTECH
SCRIPT EDITORS:
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP/ NASA/ SPACEX/ NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/ A. BADER (LANCASTER UNIVERSITY)/ NASA/JPL-CALTECH
SCRIPT EDITORS: Bowman
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:58
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE:))
((INTRO)) [[ NASA makes history yet again. Plus, why a Mars rover’s doom may signal a new beginning, and a look back at a pioneering spacecraft’s suicide mission to Saturn. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.]]
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((NARRATOR))
We begin this week with a history-making launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was there, aboard a SpaceX Falcon (nine) rocket, that a multinational crew blasted off for the International Space Station.
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Anna Kikina became the first Russian cosmonaut in two decades to launch from American soil – and Russia’s first to hitch a ride with SpaceX.
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On the same flight, Marine Colonel Nicole Mann became the first Native American woman launched into orbit.
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The operation comes amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. But agency officials expressed optimism about continued collaboration in space, despite Russia’s publicly stated plans to build its own outpost.
[RADIO TRACK: Here are Sergei Krikalev of Roscosmos and NASA’s Joel Montalbano speaking at a NASA news conference as carried by the Associated Press.]
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((Sergei Krikalev, Roscosmos))
“We started to cooperate, as I said, many years ago – more than 40 years ago – and we will continue our cooperation as long as I can imagine.”
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((Joel Montalbano, NASA))
“As we extend (the) space station, get partner across the board agreement to extend past ’24 (2024)), we would also extend the agreement as our goal.”
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The crew also included NASA’s Josh Cassada and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.
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On the same day that it carried a crew to the ISS, SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink global broadband satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. After 52-satellites went into orbit, the Falcon (nine) booster landed on the deck of the drone ship affectionately named, “Of Course I Still Love You.”
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Meanwhile, in Kuwait, the team that designed the country’s first nanosatellite says it’s almost ready for launch. Kuwait Sat (one) is a small satellite designed to gather information on the country’s environment. The team says the device will monitor pollution in coastal areas and help with planning for urban expansion. If it passes standard checks, Kuwait Sat (one) will blast off aboard a SpaceX rocket by the end of the year.
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Also, this week, a rover that seemed destined for Mars until NASA had a change of heart may have a purpose, after all. The Sample Fetch Rover prototype – or SFR, for short – comes from aerospace giant, Airbus. NASA determined its Perseverance Rover could collect samples just fine, leaving the SFR with no mission on Mars. But designers say the SFR can be just as useful elsewhere. The teams behind the rover say the same skills learned in building it can transfer to collecting samples on the Moon, underground infrastructure projects on Earth, and yes, a future trip to Mars.
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Finally, it was this week in 1997 that NASA delighted its own Mission Control by successfully launching the Cassini spacecraft to Saturn.
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It wasn’t until 2004 that Cassini reached Saturn’s orbit where it spent 13-years exploring the ringed planet before plunging into the gas planet’s atmosphere in 2017.
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Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D.C.
Embargo DateOctober 5, 2022 21:19 EDT
Byline
VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
