ALT A top-down view of the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go-Sample-Acquisition-Mechanism (TAGSAM) head with the lid removed, revealing the remainder of the asteroid sample inside. The view resembles a chrome hubcap as seen upside down, with gray rocks and dust filling the outside of its circular frame. Credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold

ALT A person in a white lab coat and face mask holds up a small test tube filled with gray dust. The image is focused on the person's purple-gloved hand, holding the test tube between thumb and forefinger, with their head out-of-focus in the background. Credit: NASA/James Tralie

ALT This is a montage of images of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io, taken by New Horizons during the spacecraft's Jupiter flyby in early 2007. The left side of Jupiter is illuminated, while its other half is in shadows. Details of Jupiter's red stripes are visible, while its beige stripes take a bluish hue. To the right of Jupiter is its volcanic moon Io. The image shows a major eruption in progress on Io's night side, at the northern volcano Tvashtar. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Goddard Space Flight Center

ALT NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) sits outside a testing chamber after completing its thermal vacuum testing in the fall of 2024. Credit: NASA/David DeHoyos

ALT Illustration of the four PUNCH spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Earth is below and left of the satellites. There are some city lights visible on Earth. The Sun shines bright at upper right. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

ALT A Roscosmos Progress spacecraft, a white cylinder intersected by rectangular solar panels, docks to the International Space Station, which appears at the very bottom of the image. The background of the image is the darkness of space. Credit: NASA

ALT NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket is orange with white boosters. The trail of the rocket glows brightly against the blackness of the night sky. The launching rocket is centered between three lightning control towers and a water tower. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky