December 12, 2024

This Week @NASA: Asteroid Sample Capsule Lands on Earth, Record Ride in Space, Artemis II Mission

The sample return pill from NASAs OSIRIS-REx objective is seen shortly after touching down in the desert on September 24, 2023, at the Department of Defenses Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was gathered from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
NASAs first asteroid sample return mission is back in the world …
A record trip in space for a NASA astronaut …
And NASAs Artemis II mission is making prelaunch progress …

A few of the stories to tell you about– This Week at NASA!

NASAs First Asteroid Sample Return Mission Lands
On September 24, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule– with samples of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu– made its historic return to Earth, marking completion of NASAs first asteroid sample return mission.
” And touchdown of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule!”
The next day, the sample return pill was flown to NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the sample product inside it will be cared for, saved, and shown researchers around the world.
Exploration 69 NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is assisted out of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft simply minutes after he Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, landed in a remote location near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. The trio are going back to Earth after logging 371 days in area as members of Expeditions 68-69 aboard the International Space Station. For Rubio, his objective is the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut in history. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Record-Setting NASA Astronaut Returns to Earth
The week saw another historical return from space– this one on September 27– by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio.
After investing a U.S. record-setting 371 days in space, Rubio landed securely in Kazakhstan, in addition to 2 crewmates.
” Rubios record trip comes to an end.”
Rubios extended mission offers scientists the opportunity to observe the results of long-duration spaceflight on people.
Engineers and service technicians from NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Boeing at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have actually set up all 4 RS-25 engines to the core phase for NASAs Space Launch System rocket that will help power the very first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon. The yellow core stage is seen in a horizontal position in the final assembly location at Michoud. The engines are organized at the bottom of the rocket phase in a square pattern, like legs on a table. Credit: NASA/Eric Bordelon
Artemis II Rocket and Crew Making Progress
Groups at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have structurally joined all 4 RS-25 engines onto the core phase of NASAs Artemis II Moon rocket.
Meanwhile, the Artemis II astronauts just recently completed the very first in a series of incorporated ground system checks at NASAs Kennedy Space Center.
The Artemis II flight test around the Moon and back is the firms very first crewed mission under Artemis.
This conceptual animation is an example of what you may expect to translucent accredited solar-viewing glasses or a portable solar filter during an annular solar eclipse, like the one happening over the United States on October 14, 2023. Annular eclipses are well-known for the “ring of fire” result that appears around the edge of the Moon. This occurs because the Moon is slightly further from Earth and appears too small to obstruct out the Sun completely. Credit: NASA
Previewing the October 14 “Ring of Fire” Annular Eclipse
On October 14, an annular solar eclipse will cross the U.S. from Oregon to Texas. An annular eclipse is also referred to as a “ring of fire” eclipse due to the fact that the Moon does not entirely shut out the Sun– however rather leaves an intense ring of Sun. Find out more about eclipses at solarsystem.nasa.gov/ eclipses.
Thats whats up today @NASA.

The sample return capsule from NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission is seen quickly after touching down in the desert on September 24, 2023, at the Department of Defenses Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was gathered from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Expedition 69 NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is helped out of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft simply minutes after he Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Engineers and service technicians from NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Boeing at NASAs Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have set up all 4 RS-25 engines to the core phase for NASAs Space Launch System rocket that will help power the first crewed Artemis objective to the Moon. Credit: NASA