A sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range shortly after landing in the desert on September 24, 2023. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
NASAThe first asteroid sample return mission has returned to Earth…
A record-breaking ride into space for a NASA astronaut…
And NASA’s Artemis II mission is making preliminary progress.
Some stories to tell you – this week at NASA!
NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission lands
On September 24, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule — carrying rock and dust samples from the Bennu asteroid — made its historic return to Earth, marking the end of NASA’s first asteroid sample return mission.
“And the touchdown OSIRIS-REx Sample return capsule!”
The next day, the sample return capsule flew to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the sampled material will be maintained, stored and shared with scientists around the world.
Expedition 69 NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitry Betlin are assisted from the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft minutes after landing in a remote area near the city of Zheskaskan, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Sept. 2023. All three return to Earth after logging 371 days in space as members of Expeditions 68-69 aboard the International Space Station. For Rubio, his mission was the longest single spacewalk by an American astronaut in history. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Record-breaking NASA astronaut returns to Earth
The week saw another historic turn from space on September 27 by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio.
After a US record 371 days in space, Rubio landed safely in Kazakhstan with two crew members.
“Rubio’s record ride comes to an end.”
Rubio’s extended mission gives researchers the opportunity to observe the effects of long-duration space travel on humans.
Engineers and technicians from NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne and Boeing installed all four RS-25 engines at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans into the main stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. The yellow central standard is found in a horizontal position in the final assembly area at Michoud. The engines are arranged squarely like legs on a table at the bottom of the rocket stage. Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon
Artemis II rocket and crew progress
Crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans structurally attach four RS-25 engines to the center stage of NASA’s Artemis II moon rocket.
Meanwhile, the Artemis II astronauts recently completed the first of the Integrated Ground System Experiments at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Artemis II flight test was the agency’s first crewed mission under Artemis to orbit the Moon and back.
This conceptual animation is an example of what you can expect with certified sunglasses or a portable solar filter during the October 14, 2023 solar eclipse in the United States. A “ring of fire” effect that appears at the edge of the moon. This happens because the Moon is so far from Earth that it appears too small to completely block the Sun. Credit: NASA
A preview of the October 14 “Ring of Fire” annual eclipse
On October 14, an annual solar eclipse will cross the United States from Oregon to Texas. An annular eclipse is also called a “ring of fire” eclipse because the Moon doesn’t completely block the Sun — instead, it leaves a bright ring around the Sun. Learn more about eclipses at solarsystem.nasa.gov/eclipses.
That’s @NASA this week.
