December 23, 2024

This Week @NASA: Historic Asteroid Sample Delivery, Dragonfly Mission to Saturn’s Moon Titan

This animation illustrates NASAs OSIRIS-REx collecting a sample on asteroid Bennu.
NASA astronauts share their area station experience …
NASAs durable hauler crawls into the history books …
And preparing for the return of some historic samples … a few of the stories to inform you about– Today at NASA!

Crew-4 Astronauts Make Post-Flight Visit to D.C. Area
Throughout the week of March 27, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Robert Hines, and Kjell Lindgren checked out the Washington, D.C. area to share the experience of their SpaceX Crew-4 objective to the International Space Station. The see consisted of a staff member occasion at NASA Headquarters, in addition to an event at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library to assist trainees find out about NASAs Artemis objectives to the Moon.
Guinness World Records officially designated NASAs Crawler Transporter 2 as the heaviest self-powered car, weighing roughly 6.65 million pounds– comparable to about 15 Statues of Liberty or 1,000 pickup trucks. During a March 29, 2023, ceremony at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Guinness World Records provided a certificate to teams with the Exploration Ground Systems Program and Kennedy leadership.
Crawling Into the History Books
The next time NASAs Crawler Transporter 2, or CT-2 brings the mobile launcher and Artemis Moon rocket to the launch pad, the sturdy hauler will also carry the official Guinness World Records designation recently bestowed upon it as “the heaviest self-powered lorry.” The CT-2 weighs about 6.65 million pounds– the equivalent of about 1,000 pickup.
This artists concept shows NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft coming down towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample of the asteroids surface area. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
NASA Prepares for Historic Asteroid Sample Delivery
NASAs OSIRIS-REx group is preparing for the spacecraft to return the sample material it collected from asteroid Bennu. The O-REx sample pill is expected to goal in the Utah desert on September 24– ending up being the first-ever U.S. objective to return an asteroid sample to Earth.
Dragonfly is a rotorcraft lander objective– part of NASAs New Frontiers Program– designed to take advantage of Titans environment to sample materials and determine surface area composition in different geologic settings. This innovative mission idea consists of the ability to check out varied locations to define the habitability of Titans environment, to investigate how far prebiotic chemistry has advanced, and even to look for chemical signatures that could suggest water-based and/or hydrocarbon-based life. Credit: Johns Hopkins APL
Dragonfly Could Reveal Chemistry That Leads to Life
NASAs Dragonfly objective, arranged to launch to Saturns giant moon, Titan, in 2027, just recently passed all the technical requirements and requirements of its Preliminary Design Review. Dragonfly will study the chemistry at work on Titan– which could assist us much better comprehend the type of chemical actions that ultimately caused life here in the world.
Thats whats up today @NASA

Throughout the week of March 27, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Robert Hines, and Kjell Lindgren checked out the Washington, D.C. location to share the experience of their SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station. Memorial Library to help trainees learn about NASAs Artemis missions to the Moon.
Guinness World Records officially designated NASAs Crawler Transporter 2 as the heaviest self-powered lorry, weighing roughly 6.65 million pounds– comparable to about 15 Statues of Liberty or 1,000 pickup trucks. Dragonfly is a rotorcraft lander objective– part of NASAs New Frontiers Program– designed to take advantage of Titans environment to sample products and determine surface structure in different geologic settings.