An update on development of a human lunar landing system … The final four sites selected for our first asteroid sample return mission … And our Parker Solar Probe prepares for another close encounter … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

NASA Selects Marshall to Lead Human Landing System Development

Our Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced on Aug. 16 that our Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the agency’s Human Landing System Program for human Artemis missions to the Moon.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine:
“A human landing system that will take the next man and the first woman to the South Pole of the Moon within five years.”

Working with U.S. industry, Marshall will lead the rapid development, integration, and crewed demonstration to carry astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon and the lunar Gateway. The announcement came the day after Bridenstine visited our Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where he saw progress on the core stage of our Space Launch System rocket that will power our Artemis 1 mission.

NASA Selects Final Four Site Candidates for Asteroid Sample Return Mission

The team for OSIRIS-REx, our first asteroid sample return mission, has selected four potential sites on asteroid Bennu from which to collect a sample. The four sites – all named for birds native to Egypt – have been evaluated thoroughly to ensure the spacecraft’s safety as it descends to, touches and collects a sample from the asteroid’s surface. The sites will be studied in further detail in order to select the final two sites – a primary and backup – in December.

One Year, 2 Trips Around the Sun for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

August 12 marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of our Parker Solar Probe on a mission to touch our Sun. In that time, the spacecraft has completed two close passes of our star and is speeding toward another close approach on Sept. 1. It carries four suites of scientific instruments that have already been used to collect a host of scientific data on the Sun. This information will help scientists unravel the physics behind the processes of the Sun.

NASA Robots Compete Underground in DARPA Challenge

Our Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a partner on a science and tech team using a fleet of specialized autonomous robots in a competition to find objects in mining tunnels under Pittsburgh. The competition is intended to develop technology for first responders and the military to map, navigate and search underground. But the technology could also lay the foundation for future NASA missions to caves, lava tubes and other subterranean places on other planets.

That’s what’s up this week @NASA …