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An update on development of a human lunar
landing system …

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The final four sites selected for our first
asteroid sample return mission …

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And our Parker Solar Probe prepares for another
close encounter … a few of the stories to

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tell you about – This Week at NASA!

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Our Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced
on Aug. 16 that our Marshall Space Flight

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Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the
agency’s Human Landing System Program for

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human Artemis missions to the Moon.

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“A human landing system that will take the
next man and the first woman to the South

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Pole of the Moon within five years.”

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Working with U.S. industry, Marshall will
lead the rapid development, integration, and

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crewed demonstration to carry astronauts to
and from the surface of the Moon and the lunar

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Gateway.

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The announcement came the day after Bridenstine
visited our Michoud Assembly Facility in New

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Orleans, where he saw progress on the core
stage of our Space Launch System rocket that

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will power our Artemis 1 mission.

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The team for OSIRIS-REx, our first asteroid
sample return mission, has selected four potential

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sites on asteroid Bennu from which to collect
a sample.

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The four sites – all named for birds native
to Egypt – have been evaluated thoroughly

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to ensure the spacecraft’s safety as it
descends to, touches and collects a sample

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from the asteroid’s surface.

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The sites will be studied in further detail
in order to select the final two sites – a

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primary and backup – in December.

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August 12 marked the one-year anniversary
of the launch of our Parker Solar Probe on

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a mission to touch our Sun.

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In that time, the spacecraft has completed
two close passes of our star and is speeding

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toward another close approach on Sept. 1.

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It carries four suites of scientific instruments
that have already been used to collect a host

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of scientific data on the Sun.

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This information will help scientists unravel
the physics behind the processes of the Sun.

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Our Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a partner
on a science and tech team using a fleet of

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specialized autonomous robots in a competition
to find objects in mining tunnels under Pittsburgh.

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The competition is intended to develop technology
for first responders and the military to map,

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navigate and search underground.

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But the technology could also lay the foundation
for future NASA missions to caves, lava tubes

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and other subterranean places on other planets.

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That’s what’s up this week @NASA …