<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><div class=""><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto 2em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/slide3.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class=""></a></div><div class="dnd-legend-wrapper" style="font-size: 11px; box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="credits" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"></div><div class="link" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: inherit; background-attachment: inherit; background-origin: inherit; background-clip: inherit; background-color: inherit; background-size: inherit; padding: 0px;"><a href="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); background-position: 0px 0px;" class=""></a></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font size="4" class="">Next, we move into the <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;" class="">Proving Ground, </span>conducting a series of missions near the moon -- we call it "cislunar space" -- that will test the capabilities we will need to live and work at Mars. Astronauts on the space station are only hours away from Earth, but the proving ground is days away, a natural stepping stone to a Mars mission, which will be months away from home.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font size="4" class="">The first of these missions is set for November 2018, when NASA's powerful new rocket, the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/sls" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Space Launch System</a>, will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-ins-and-outs-of-nasa-s-first-launch-of-sls-and-orion" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1)</a>, will carry the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/orion" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Orion</a> spacecraft (without astronauts) thousands of miles beyond the moon during an approximately three week mission. Next up, astronauts will climb into Orion for a similar mission, traveling farther than humans have ever traveled before. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo8IkHM8fGE" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Watch Video: Exploration Mission-1</a>).</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font size="4" class="">Also in the 2020s, we'll send astronauts on a yearlong mission into this deep space proving ground, verifying habitation and testing our readiness for Mars.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><font size="4" class="">Another proving ground milestone is the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/arm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Asteroid Redirect Mission</a>. NASA will send a robotic spacecraft to capture an asteroid boulder and put it in a safe orbit around the moon. Astronauts on Orion will then explore the asteroid, returning to Earth with samples. This two-part mission will test both deep space spacewalking and sampling techniques and Solar Electric Propulsion, which we’ll need to send cargo as part of human missions to Mars. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoqfSYZufGY" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class="">Watch Video: Asteroid Redirect Mission</a>)</font></p><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><div class="title-bar" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2em 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Titillium Web', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="title-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 738.75px; padding: 0px;"><h1 class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.1; color: inherit; font-size: 2.2em;">Hubble Peers Into the Heart of the Milky Way Galaxy</h1></div></div><div class="feature-image-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px -2em 2em; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Titillium Web', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hubbleimage1p1611a1r.jpg" data-bindattr-938="938" class="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(42, 100, 150); outline: 0px; background-position: 0px 0px;"></a></div></div></div></body></html>