Removing the barriers to deep space exploration, a commercial success for NASA's U.S. partners, and the latest mission to Mars seeks answers about its atmosphere. Those are some of the stories trending this week at NASA. The Maven spacecraft is the latest NASA probe designed to help piece together a complete picture of the red planets past. Maven's piece of the puzzle to understand what happened to Mars' upper atmosphere. Why did it go from a wetter, earth-like environment with a thicker atmosphere to where it is today, much more dry and thin atmosphere? Following its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Maven is scheduled to reach Mars in September 2014. Progress being made toward sending humans to deep space destinations was the topic of discussion. During a roundtable at Washington's New Zeeam featuring NASA's Bill Gerstinmayr. We're putting in place hardware and capabilities that will allow us to go do the Mars class mission. And a new panoramic mosaic image released at the event and taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, gives an idea of what humans might see if they were hanging out near Saturn. The nearly 405,000-mile sweeping view of the Saturnian system includes its moons and rings as well as earth, Venus, and Mars in the distance. The image is part of Cassini's recent wave at Saturn campaign. During a news briefing at NASA headquarters to discuss the success of SpaceX and orbital sciences, in the agency's commercial orbital transportation services or COTS program, administrative Charlie Bowden praised the companies for reestablishing reliable supply services to the ISS from US soil. The October demonstration mission to the space station by orbital sciences marked the end of COTS development. The first SpaceX trip to the station was in May 2012. It completed its part in the COTS program that same year. NASA welcomed members of the traditional and social media to Goddard Space Light Center to learn about the agency's next Earth Science satellite, the Global Prociputation Measurement Mission. GPM will provide next-generation observations of rain and snow around the world every three hours. Targeted for launch early next year, GPM is a joint effort between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. For the first time, NASA's Operation Ice Bridge is flying an Antarctica Research Campaign out of the National Science Foundation's McMurdole Station in Antarctica. Ice Bridge, which collects land and sea ice data, usually flies and Arctic emissions out of Punta Arena's Chile. Ames and Langley Research Centers are working with Boeing on a new technology application for the tail rudder section of a 757 aircraft. The technology features active air flow controls to enhance performance of the vertical tail, reduce drag and save fuel. And that's what's up this week at NASA. For more on these and other stories, follow us on social media and visit www.nasa.gov slash twang.