NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.
6,248 topics in this forum
-
Watch SpaceX's 29th Cargo Launch to the International Space Station (Official NASA Broadcast)
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 483 views
2 min read True Blue: High-Power Propulsion for Gateway Credit: NASA/Jef Janis. The blue hue of the Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) is seen inside a vacuum chamber at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland during recent thruster qualification testing. This 12-kilowatt Hall thruster is the most powerful electric propulsion thruster in production, and it will be critical to future science and exploration missions at the Moon and beyond. The blue plume is a steady stream of ionized xenon gas ejected to produce low, highly efficient thrust. These electric propulsion systems accelerate spacecraft to extremely high speeds over time using only a…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 297 views
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, left, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Harm van de Wetering, director of the Netherlands Space Office, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the United States Birgitta Tazelaar, and Chiragh Parikh, executive secretary of the National Space Council, pose for a picture after the signing of the Artemis Accords, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, at the Dutch Ambassador’s Residence in Washington. Netherlands is the 31st country to sign the Artemis Accords, which establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky During a ceremony at the Dut…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 237 views
NASA+ is Coming Soon
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 707 views
19 Min Read The Marshall Star for November 1, 2023 NASA, AAS Talk Present, Future of Space Exploration During 3-Day Symposium By Jessica Barnett Hundreds of students, scientists, and other stakeholders recently gathered for a three-day symposium featuring some of the leading minds in space exploration and packed with updates and discussions about an array of space topics. Hundreds of students, scientists, and other stakeholders listen in person and online as NASA leaders discuss the Artemis missions during the 2023 von Braun Space Exploration Symposium held Oct. 25–27 at the U…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 431 views
9 min read Rita Owens: Keeper of NASA’s Digital Knowledge Data systems engineer Rita Owens helps Goddard curate, secure, and organize its wealth of scientific data. “It makes everyone’s job easier and more efficient and aligns with NASA’s goals – discovering and expanding knowledge for the benefit of humanity,” she said.Courtesy of Rita Owens Name: Rita Owens Formal Job Classification: Data Systems Engineer Organization: Data Steward, Data Stewardship and Governance Information, Data, & Analytics Services (IDAS) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) (Detailed to IDAS/OCIO from GSFC Code 565, Engineering and Technology Direc…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 472 views
2 min read New Patterns in Mars’s Clouds Revealed by Volunteers Volunteers found that clouds in Mars’s atmosphere cluster at certain latitudes and altitudes. White patches in this pair of plots shows where Cloudspotting participants spotted the most clouds (or “arch peaks” in the project lingo). Red labels highlight a few interesting regions: 1) where high-altitude Carbon Dioxide-ice clouds form; 2) water-ice clouds that show a different pattern between day and night; and 3) clouds that form in a cold region over the poles. Credit: Adapted from Slipski et al. (in press), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115777. The first journal article about clouds identi…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 491 views
8 min read Six Rules for Surviving in a Government Organization An interview of Dr. Paul Hertz, a senior leader in the Science Mission Directorate By: Anna Ladd McElhannon, Summer 2022 Intern, Office of the Chief Scientist Dr. Paul Hertz is a leader of NASA and had served as the Astrophysics Division Director since 2012 until 2022. Throughout his career, he remained a well‐respected and admired leader who accomplished things that an undergraduate physics student like me could only dream of. We met for the first time on a summer day full of sudden, fierce storms. On the way to a quiet meeting place (a video conference meeting, of course), the previously blue sky s…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 401 views
NASA / Jasmin Moghbeli While aboard the International Space Station on Oct. 26, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli captured the city lights of the northeastern United States and major urban areas including Long Island, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Washington, D.C. At the time of this photograph, the orbital lab was 262 miles above Maine. In 24 hours, the space station makes 16 orbits of Earth, traveling through 16 sunrises and sunsets. To find out where the ISS is and when you can see it in your area, check out the Spot the Station site. Image Credit: NASA/Jasmin Moghbeli View the full article
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 243 views
Tundra wetlands are shown in late spring at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Scientists are studying how fire and ice drive methane emissions in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, within which the refuge is located.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Methane ‘hot spots’ in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are more likely to be found where recent wildfires burned into the tundra, altering carbon emissions from the land. In Alaska’s largest river delta, tundra that has been scorched by wildfire is emitting more methane than the rest of the landscape long after the flames died, scientists have found. The potent greenhouse gas can originate from decomposing carbon stored…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 426 views
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule soars upward after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022, on the company’s 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:44 p.m. EDT. Dragon will deliver more than 5,800 pounds of cargo, including a variety of NASA investigations, to the space station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida. NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA and SpaceX are targeting 9:16 p.m. EST Tues…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 352 views
This map shows the size and shape of the ozone hole over the South Pole on September 21, 2023, the day of its maximum extent, as calculated by the NASA Ozone Watch team. Moderate ozone losses (orange) are visible amid widespread areas of more potent ozone losses (red).NASA Earth Observatory The 2023 Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size on Sept. 21, according to annual satellite and balloon-based measurements made by NASA and NOAA. At 10 million square miles, or 26 million square kilometers, the hole ranks as the 16th largest since 1979. During the peak of the ozone depletion season from Sept. 7 to Oct. 13, the hole this year averaged 8.9 million square mil…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 552 views
3 min read NASA’s Sandra Irish Wins 2023 Society of Women Engineers Award Sandra Irish, mechanical systems lead structures engineer for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, has been selected to receive the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Resnik Challenger Medal Award for her visionary contributions to the development, testing, transport, and launch of NASA’s premier space telescope since 2006. The medal was awarded during the World’s Largest Conference for Women in Engineering and Technology or WE23, which took place Oct. 26-28 in Los Angeles. Sandra Irish, lead structures engineer of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, was selected to receive the 2023 Soc…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 623 views
3 min read November’s Night Sky Notes: Spy the Seventh Planet, Uranus Look out, Saturn! The competition for the best ringed planet is getting larger. This new image of Uranus from NASA Webb displays a prominent ring system. Also in view: a white polar cap at the right side of the planet, and two bright spots likely connected to storm activity. How can the polar cap be on the right, and not the top or bottom? It’s because Uranus rotates at a nearly 90-degree angle from the plane of its orbit. This tilt makes Uranus appear to spin on its side. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Joseph DePasquale (STScI) by Liz Kruesi of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific You might be …
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 662 views
3 min read JPL Engineers Put Their Skills to the Test With Halloween Pumpkins A display at the annual pumpkin-carving contest at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory turns a white-painted squash into one of the large antennas of the agency’s Deep Space Network, which enables spacecraft at the Moon and beyond to communicate with Earth.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Using spray paint, power tools, and elaborate props, JPL engineers turn the pumpkins into elaborate displays that can pay tribute to – and poke fun at – popular culture and space exploration. Above, a pump…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 747 views
NASA astronaut Kayla Barron works inside the Life Science Glovebox conducting botany research.NASA As of spring 2023, NASA has invested greater than $60M in more than twenty In Space Production Applications (InSPA) awards to U.S. entities seeking to demonstrate the production of advanced materials and products on the International Space Station. These InSPA awards help the selected companies raise the technological readiness level of their products and move them to market, propelling U.S. industry toward the development of a sustainable, scalable, and profitable non-NASA demand for services and products manufactured in the microgravity environment of low-Earth orbit fo…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 314 views
NASA has awarded the Kennedy Operational and Institutional Support (KOIS) contract to Chiricahua-Logical Joint Venture of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to provide services at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. KOIS is an Indefinite-Delivery Indefinite-Quantity, Level of Effort contract that includes a one-month phase-in period beginning Nov. 1, 2023, followed by a 22-month base period and three 1-year option periods. The maximum total award value is not to exceed $20 million. The scope includes a broad range of operational and institutional support services including internal controls for property, logistics, American Sign Language interpreter, institutional…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 296 views
Although no ghouls or goblins or trick-or-treaters come knocking at the International Space Station’s front hatch, crew members aboard the orbiting facility still like to get in the Halloween spirit. Whether individually or as an entire crew, they dress up in sometimes spooky, sometimes scary, but always creative costumes, often designed from materials available aboard the space station. Please enjoy the following scenes from Halloweens past even as we anticipate the costumes of the future. Left: Wearing a black cape, Expedition 16 NASA astronaut Clayton C. Anderson channels his inner vampire for Halloween 2007. Image credit: courtesy Clayton C. Anderson. Middle: F…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 555 views
High quality production photos of Robonaut (R2) in Building 14 EMI chamber and R1/EMU photos in Building 32 – Robonaut Lab. Photo Date: June 1, 2010. Location: Building 14 – EMI Chamber/Building 32 – Robonaut Lab.NASA / Robert Markowitz & Bill Stafford NASA knows it takes a village to make commercial manufacturing in space a reality. NASA is collaborating with experts from industry, academia and other U.S. Government agencies on the technologies in play with the InSPA portfolio. By joining forces with these experts, NASA can better support its commercial partners, accelerating the transition from proof-of-concept demonstrations on the International Space Station to…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 564 views
NASA’s In Space Production Applications (InSPA) implementation strategy consists of a multi-phase award process to demonstrate proof-of-concept, advance to high production quality, and ultimately to achieve scalability on a commercial low Earth orbit (LEO) destination or platform. InSPA seeks to identify awardees who propose promising manufacturing efforts in microgravity that will invigorate markets on Earth. These InSPA awards help the selected companies raise the technological readiness level of their products and move them to market, propelling U.S. industry toward the development of a sustainable, scalable, and profitable non-NASA demand for services and products man…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 277 views
In microgravity, crystals grow more slowly, but the molecules have time to align more perfectly on the surface of the crystal, which returns much better research outcomes.NASA After four decades of microgravity research, NASA and the ISS National Lab have identified numerous applications that are within reach for NASA’s In Space Production Applications (InSPA) portfolio. Uniform crystals, semiconductors, specialized glass and optical fibers are just a few of the many advanced materials that can benefit from production in microgravity. Artificial retinas, drug delivery medical devices, as well as the production of pluripotent stem cells and bio inks are examples of how m…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 303 views
NASA supports In Space Production Applications (InSPA) awards to help the selected companies raise the technological readiness level of their products and move them to market, propelling U.S. industry toward the development of a sustainable, scalable, and profitable non-NASA demand for services and products in low-Earth orbit. These commercialization awards provide opportunities for NASA to reduce its future costs in LEO enabling deep-space missions farther from Earth, including the Moon and Mars. NASA is leading commercial LEO development efforts to stimulate non-NASA demand for commercially owned and operated orbital destinations from which NASA can purchase services as…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 671 views
5 min read NASA’s Webb Telescope Improves Simulation Software The James Webb Space Telescope captures a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in high-resolution near-infrared light. The James Webb Space Telescope truly explores the unknown, displaying stunning images of previously unseen corners of the universe only possible because of the telescope’s 21-foot segmented mirror that unfurled and assembled itself in space. Decades of testing went into the materials, design, and processes needed to develop the largest telescope in space. However, the whole project was too complex to test on the ground, at scale, at minus…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 386 views
This enhanced image of the Jovian moon Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the mission’s June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. Data from that pass has been used to detect the presence of salts and organics on Ganymede. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kalleheikki Kannisto (CC BY) This look at the complex surface of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede came from NASA’s Juno mission during a close pass in June 2021. At closest approach, the spacecraft came within just 650 miles (1,046 kilometers) of Ganymede’s surface.Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Thomas Thomop…
Last reply by NASA, -
- 0 replies
- 1.2k views
On Oct. 29, 1998, NASA astronaut John H. Glenn made history again when he returned to space aboard space shuttle Discovery’s STS-95 mission, nearly 37 years after becoming the first American in orbit during his February 1962 Friendship 7 mission. The seven-member STS-95 crew consisted of Commander Curtis L. Brown, Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialists Stephen K. Robinson, Dr. Scott E. Parazynski, and Pedro F. Duque of the European Space Agency, and Payload Specialists Dr. Chiaki Mukai of the National Space Development Agency of Japan, now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Glenn, who at age 77 became the oldest person to orbit the Earth, a record that stan…
Last reply by NASA,