The
plume
from
Russia’s
Soyuz
rocket,
launching
to
the
ISS
on
September
15,
2023.
Photo:
NASA/Bill
Ingalls
NASA
is
a
proud
boomer
that
loves
posting
a
good
photo
album.
The
space
agency
released
100
of
its
best
2023
photos
on
flickr,
which
go
through
the
exciting
highlights
of
the
previous
year.
From
asteroid
samples
landing
on
Earth
to
selecting
the
first
crew
of
astronauts
to
go
to
the
Moon
since
Apollo,
this
album
has
got
it
all
(and
maybe
a
little
bit
more
than
it
should).
These
images
were
all
taken
in
2023,
and
also
selected
by,
NASA’s
HQ
photo
team.
Gizmodo
picked
the
best
of
the
best
photos
to
help
you
relive
some
amazing
moments
in
spaceflight.
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
On
September
24,
2023,
NASA’s
OSIRIS-REx
spacecraft
dropped
off
a
sample
return
capsule
containing
rocky
bits
of
asteroid
Bennu.
The
capsule
landed
in
the
Utah
desert,
delivering
a
total
of
4.29
ounces
(121.6
grams)
of
material.
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
Once
on
Earth,
curation
teams
transported
the
samples
to
a
clean
room
for
processing.
NASA
struggled
to
open
a
round
sampler
head
at
the
end
of
an
articulated
arm
that
the
spacecraft
used
to
grab
the
sample
before
finally
cracking
it
open
on
January
10
of
this
year.
This
stellar
photo
shows
Russia’s
Soyuz
rocket
launching
with
Expedition
70
NASA
astronaut
Loral
O’Hara,
and
Roscosmos
cosmonauts
Oleg
Kononenko
and
Nikolai
Chub,
on
September
15,
2023.
NASA
astronaut
Frank
Rubio
and
Roscosmos
cosmonaut
Dmitri
Petelin
are
seen
here
minutes
after
landing
in
a
remote
area
near
the
town
of
Zhezkazgan,
Kazakhstan
inside
the
Soyuz
MS-23
spacecraft
on
September
27,
2023.
Rubio
logged
371
days
in
space
as
members
of
Expeditions
68-69
aboard
the
International
Space
Station
(ISS),
breaking
the
record
for
the
longest
single
spaceflight
by
a
U.S.
astronaut
in
history.
The
SpaceX
Dragon
Endeavour
spacecraft
is
seen
here
being
hoisted
on
board
the
recovery
ship
Megan
shortly
after
landing
in
the
Atlantic
Ocean
on
September
4,
2023,
carrying
NASA
astronauts
Stephen
Bowen
and
Warren
“Woody”
Hoburg,
UAE
(United
Arab
Emirates)
astronaut
Sultan
Alneyadi,
and
Roscosmos
cosmonaut
Andrey
Fedyaev.
The
space
agency
donated
this
aerial
prototype
of
the
Mars
Helicopter
to
the
Smithsonian
National
Air
and
Space
Museum’s
Steve
F.
Udvar-Hazy
Center.
Earlier
this
year,
Ingenuity
busted
its
blades
and
ended
its
mission
on
the
Red
Planet.
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
In
April
2023,
four
astronauts
were
selected
for
the
first
crewed
mission
to
the
Moon
in
more
than
50
years.
NASA
revealed
the
identities
of
the
four-person
crew
for
the
Artemis
2
mission:
NASA
astronauts
Victor
Glover,
who
will
serve
as
pilot
for
the
mission,
Christina
Koch,
Reid
Wiseman
as
mission
specialists,
and
Canadian
astronaut
Jeremy
Hansen
as
mission
commander.
Photo:
NASA/Aubrey
Gemignani
NASA’s
Psyche
mission
to
explore
a
metal
rich
asteroid
launched
on
board
a
SpaceX
Falcon
Heavy
rocket
on
October
13,
2023
from
NASA’s
Kennedy
Space
Center
in
Florida.
A
group
of
Amazonian
leaders
visited
NASA’s
Earth
Information
Center
on
November
17,
2023,
to
discuss
how
data
gathered
by
the
space
agency
can
be
used
to
help
protect
the
Amazon.
This
NASA
photo
shows
a
SpaceX
Falcon
9
rocket
with
the
company’s
Dragon
spacecraft
on
top
of
the
launch
pad
at
the
space
agency’s
Kennedy
Space
Center
in
Florida
before
the
launch
of
the
Crew-7
mission
on
August
26,
2023.
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
NASA
astronauts
Kjell
Lindgren,
Jessica
Watkins,
and
Robert
Hines
took
part
in
STEM
demonstrations
with
students
at
the
Martin
Luther
King
Jr
Memorial
Library
on
March
30,
2023.
Photo:
NASA/Bill
Ingalls)
This
photo
shows
Russia’s
Soyuz
rocket
after
being
rolled
out
by
train
to
the
launch
pad
at
the
Baikonur
Cosmodrome
in
Kazakhstan
on
September
12,
2023.
The
rocket
launched
Expedition
70
NASA
astronaut
Loral
O’Hara,
Roscosmos
cosmonauts
Oleg
Kononenko,
and
Nikolai
Chub
to
the
ISS.
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
NASA
astronaut
Alvin
Drew
poses
for
a
photo
with
an
adorable
astronaut-wannabe
during
the
White
House
Easter
Egg
Roll
on
April
10,
2023.
The
Russian
Search
and
Recovery
Forces’
All
Terrain
Vehicle
(ATV)
team
are
shown
here
while
preparing
for
the
landing
of
the
Expedition
69
astronauts
on
September
27,
2023.
NASA
astronauts
Kjell
Lindgren,
Jessica
Watkins,
and
Robert
Hines
looking
at
an
interactive
recreation
of
the
ISS
observatory
module,
called
Cupola,
at
the
Smithsonian’s
National
Air
and
Space
Museum
in
Washington.
Photo:
NASA/Aubrey
Gemignani
Students
are
shown
here
taking
part
in
a
Minecraft
Artemis
demonstration
during
Space
Education
Day
on
June
20,
2023,
at
the
Microsoft
Technology
Center
in
Arlington,
Virginia.
Photo:
NASA/Keegan
Barber
Thir
photo
shows
Lockheed
Martin
System
Safety
Engineer
Victoria
Thiem
and
On
Scene
Commander
of
Recovery
Stuart
Wylie
performing
preliminary
checks
on
the
sample
return
capsule
from
NASA’s
OSIRIS-REx
mission
shortly
after
it
landed
in
the
Utah
desert.
NASA’s
Artemis
2
crew
speaking
at
the
White
House
on
December
14,
2023.
NASA
Deputy
Administrator
Pam
Melroy,
NASA
associate
administrator
Bob
Cabana,
and
NASA
Administrator
Bill
Nelson
are
seen
here
speaking
with
the
2021
astronaut
candidate
class
at
the
Mary
W.
Jackson
NASA
Headquarters
building
in
Washington
on
October
18,
2023.
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