OSIRIS-REx successfully returned its sample to Earth. On Sept. 24, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft delivered a sample of asteroid Bennu to Earth, completing its seven-year mission that spanned 7.1 billion kilometers (4.4 billion miles). The sample return capsule (pictured) landed in the Utah desert as planned on Sunday morning, containing roughly 250 grams (a half-pound) of material from the asteroid. Image credit: NASA/Keegan Barber.

Three astronauts have returned to Earth after a year in space. On Wednesday, a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts touched down on Earth after spending over a year in space. What should have been a 180-day mission turned into a 371-day stay after the Soyuz capsule they were meant to return home in was hit by a micrometeoroid or piece of orbital debris while docked to the International Space Station, losing all its coolant.

Earth’s magnetic field might be responsible for the Moon’s water. New research using data collected by India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter in 2008 and 2009 suggests that the Moon’s interaction with Earth’s magnetosphere — the area of space around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field — might affect the formation of water on the lunar surface. Further research into this is expected to take place as part of the internationally collaborative Artemis program.