I am often asked about my favorite mission during my 6+ years at NASA, and I struggle with this question.

Should I talk about the historic achievement that has become reality called JWST, or the “SciFi made real” mission called Perseverance, with its flying companion Ingenuity? The rover is about to deposit a collection of carefully curated samples for return to Earth, the first time ever. Do I say the mission to touch the Sun, Parker Solar Probe, the first mission ever seen launched by the person it is named after? Or, DART, the mission speaking to everyone’s inner gamer, deliberately changing the orbit of a celestial object for the first time in history with a spectacular celestial crash…