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.
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3 Min Read NASA’s Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link NASA’s ILLUMA-T payload at Goddard Space Flight Center fully tested and integrated prior to its delivery to Kennedy Space Center. Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system. NASA’s LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demon…
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6 Min Read NASA’s Webb Identifies Tiniest Free-Floating Brown Dwarf Webb Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera shows the central portion of the star cluster IC 348. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Luhman (Penn State University), and C. Alves de Oliveira (ESA) Brown dwarfs are objects that straddle the dividing line between stars and planets. They form like stars, growing dense enough to collapse under their own gravity, but they never become dense and hot enough to begin fusing hydrogen and turn into a star. At the low end…
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Here’s a look back at 2023’s most significant events at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida: JANUARY Day of Remembrance Marks 20th Anniversary of Columbia Tragedy NASA senior management and guests paid tribute to the crew members of space shuttle Columbia, as well as other astronauts who perished in the line of duty, during the agency’s Annual Day of Remembrance held at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. NASA’s Day of RemembranceNASA/Kim Shiflett JANUARY Facilities, Spacecraft Prepped for Artemis II Mission Teams with Exploration Ground Systems began upgrading and modifying facilities at Kennedy to support Artemis II, paving the way for hum…
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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could occasionally erupt through the ice crust as geysers. The science team calculated the amount of geyser activity on these exoplanets, the first time these estimates have been made. They identified two exoplanets sufficiently close where signs of these eruptions could be observed with telescopes. The search for life elsewhere in the Universe ty…
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This 360-degree mosaic from the “Airey Hill” location inside Jezero Crater was generated using 993 individual images taken by the Perseverance Mars rover’s Mastcam-Z from Nov. 3-6. The rover remained parked at Airey Hill for several weeks during solar conjunction.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Now at 1,000 days on Mars, the mission has traversed an ancient river and lake system, collecting valuable samples along the way. Marking its 1,000th Martian day on the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance rover recently completed its exploration of the ancient river delta that holds evidence of a lake that filled Jezero Crater billions of years ago. The six-wheeled scientist has to dat…
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s new view of Cassiopeia A (Cas A) in near-infrared light is giving astronomers hints at the dynamical processes occurring within the supernova remnant. Tiny clumps represented in bright pink and orange make up the supernova’s inner shell, and are comprised of sulfur, oxygen, argon, and neon from the star itself. A large, striated blob at the bottom right corner of the image, nicknamed Baby Cas A, is one of the few light echoes visible NIRCam’s field of view. In this image, red, green, and blue were assigned to Webb’s NIRCam data at 4.4, 3.56, and 1.62 microns (F444W, F356W, and F162M, respectively).NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, D. Milisavljevic…
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In 2023, as NASA pushed the limits of exploration for the benefit of humanity, the agency celebrated astronaut Frank Rubio becoming the first American astronaut to spend more than one year in space; delivered samples from an asteroid to Earth; sent a spacecraft to study a metal-rich asteroid for the first time; launched multiple initiatives to share climate data; advanced developments in sustainable aircraft; all while continuing preparations to send the first Artemis astronauts to the Moon. “This year, NASA continued to make the impossible, possible while sharing our story of discovery with the world,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We’ve launched missions tha…
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5 Min Read Seeing and Believing: 15 Years of Exoplanet Images Beta Pictoris is located about 60 light-years away toward the constellation of Pictor (the Painter’s Easel) and is one of the best-known examples of a star surrounded by a dusty debris disk. Earlier observations showed a warp of the disc, a secondary inclined disc and comets falling onto the star, all indirect, but tell-tale signs that strongly suggested the presence of a massive planet. Observations by ESO proved the presence of a planet around Beta Pictoris, and another planet was later discovered. To see the planets,…
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NASA 2023: Nothing is Beyond Our Reach
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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Some of the same properties of light and optics that make the sky blue and cause rainbows can also help scientists unlock mysteries about cloud formation and the effects of tiny particles in our air. NASA’s upcoming PACE mission will offer important insights on airborne particles of sea salt, smoke, human-made pollutants, and dust – collectively called aerosols – by observing how they interact with light. With PACE data, scientists will provide better answers to key questions such as how aerosols affect cloud formation or how ice clouds and liquid clouds differ. Understanding the nature …
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Three NASA-funded commercial space station partners are on track for the design and development of their orbital destinations and the transition of agency’s low Earth orbit needs from the International Space Station. “We are ending the year on a high note with multiple important milestones being completed by our partners,” said Angela Hart, manager of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. “Over the past few months, we have been able to dig into the details of the specific hardware and processes of these stations and are moving forward to multiple comprehensive design reviews next year.” Axiom Space A hatch of…
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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA engineers Josh Greiner, a native of Dothan, Alabama (left) and Peyton Pinson, a Madison, Mississippi native, stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, outside the building where they began as interns in 2016. Almost eight years later, the two are part of a team that leads engine tests for NASA and commercial companies at the nation’s premier rocket engine test site. NASA/Danny Nowlin The last Wednesday in November proved to be a full-circle moment for two engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Josh Greiner heard a familiar voice on the headset as he p…
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2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The official Expedition 69 crew portrait with (from left) flight engineers Frank Rubio from NASA, Dmitri Petelin from Roscosmos, Sultan Alneyadi from UAE (United Arab Emirates), Woody Hoburg from NASA, Stephen Bowen from NASA, Andrey Fedyaev from Roscosmos, and Commander Sergey Prokopyev from Roscosmos. NASA NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, and Woody Hoburg, as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi will visit the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama at 1 p.m. CST Thursday, Dec. 14, to discuss their recent missions to the Internationa…
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NASA’s Wildfire Climate Tech Challenge, part of the MSI Incubator initiative, seeks innovative solutions for wildfire prevention and climate technology. NASA invites students and employees of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to address the escalating issues caused by wildfires exacerbated by climate change. Successful participants will have the opportunity to join a startup incubator program and compete for a prize of $100,000. Additionally, this initiative offers a platform for participants to present their ideas to venture capitalists and NASA experts, furthering the development of technology in the fields of wildfire prevention and climate change, while promoting i…
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Commander Jeff Williams poses for a photo in the Quest Airlock (A/L) with all of his mission patches. The patches are, from left, STS-101, Soyuz TMA-8, Expedition 13, Soyuz TMA-16, Expedition 21, Expedition 22, Soyuz TMA-20M, Expedition 47, and Expedition 48.Credit NASA Dec. 11, 2023 RELEASE: J23-007 NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Army Col. Jeffrey Williams, who played a key role in the design, construction, and operation of the International Space Station, is retiring on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, after more than 27 years of service at the agency. The two-time station commander spent 534 cumulative days in space spanning four trips to the space station. He spe…
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“There’s this thing called the overview effect: Space has this effect on people that you could probably call almost spiritual. Everyone returns from spaceflight changed in one way or another. … They see the Earth from space, and that’s how they continue to see it after flight. “… The more people travel to space and have the experience of seeing the Earth, the less chance of wars and conflict and separation we have. Life becomes more hopeful. “I read [‘The Last Man on the Moon’] by Gene Cernan, and he was describing how he felt looking at the Earth from the surface of the Moon. I was like, ‘Yeah, there’s something there.’… I feel like we go to space not to learn mo…
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Call for Papers Date: August 13–14, 2024 Location: Washington, D.C. Jointly organized by the NASA History Office and the Earth Science Division, this workshop seeks to document the important contributions of airborne campaigns implemented on NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory. The workshop will be a combination of keynote talks, panel discussions, and roundtables. The intention is to publish an anthology of selected papers of key presentations. NASA’s DC-8 aircraft recently completed nearly four decades of service to NASA with its retirement in early 2024 following the completion of the ASIA-AQ campaign. The DC-8, which NASA acquired in 1985, was a wo…
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NASA/Sam Lott The elements of the super-heavy lift SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for NASA’s Artemis II mission are undergoing final preparations before shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for stacking and pre-launch activities in 2024. Teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently rotated the Orion stage adapter– a ring structure that connects NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) – in preparation for the installation of its diaphragm. The installation Nov. 30 marks one of the final steps for the adapter before it is readied for shipment to Kennedy via NASA’s Super Gupp…
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Unos técnicos trabajan en el procesamiento del observatorio de plancton, aerosoles, nubes y ecosistemas oceánicos (PACE, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NASA en una plataforma elevada del Centro de Operaciones Espaciales Astrotech, cerca del Centro Espacial Kennedy de la agencia en Florida, el lunes 4 de diciembre de 2023.NASA Read this release in English here. Ya está abierta la acreditación para los medios de comunicación para el próximo lanzamiento de la misión científica de observación de la Tierra PACE (acrónimo inglés para Plancton, Aerosoles, Nubes y Ecosistemas Oceánicos) de la NASA. La NASA y SpaceX planean poner en órbita PACE no antes del martes 6 de …
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Technicians work to process the NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory on an Aronson Tilt Table in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023.NASA Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. Media accreditation is open for the upcoming launch of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud ocean Ecosystem) Earth observing science mission. NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Feb. 6, for a Falcon 9 rocket to launch PACE to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Media accreditation application d…
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NASA In this image from Dec. 8, 1993, astronaut Kathryn C. Thornton works with equipment during a spacewalk. The spacewalk was part of an 11-day mission, Servicing Mission 1, to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Shortly after Hubble was launched in 1990, NASA discovered a flaw in the observatory’s primary mirror that affected the clarity of the telescope’s early images. Fortunately, Hubble’s design allowed astronauts to perform repairs, replace parts, and update its technology with new instruments while in orbit. Watch an exclusive interview with Thornton, where she shares a firsthand account of the groundbreaking mission, unveiling the challenges, triumphs, and t…
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NASA’s EMIT produced its first global maps of hematite, goethite, and kaolinite in Earth’s dry regions using data from the year ending November 2023. The mission collected billions of measurements of the three minerals and seven others that may affect climate when lofted into the air as dust storms.NASA/JPL-Caltech EMIT delivers first-of-a-kind maps of minerals in Earth’s dust-source areas, enabling scientists to model the fine particles’ role in climate change and more. NASA’s EMIT mission has created the first comprehensive maps of the world’s mineral dust-source regions, providing precise locations of 10 key minerals based on how they reflect and absorb light. Wh…
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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Monday that after more than 30 years of service, the agency’s Stennis Space Center Director Richard Gilbrech will retire on Saturday, Jan. 13. Stennis Deputy Director John Bailey will serve as acting center director after Gilbrech’s departure, and a permanent successor will be identified following a search and competition. Nelson also announced Chief of Staff Susie Perez Quinn will transition to a senior advisor role at the end of the year, and Bale Dalton will succeed her beginning Monday, Jan. 1. “Please join me in welcoming new leadership across NASA, who will continue leading our agency to unparalleled success,” sai…
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Clare Luckey, an engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, has been named one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 Class of 2024. The other NASA honoree is Katie Konans, audio and podcasting lead at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list is a selection of young, creative, and bold minds the magazine’s experts consider revolutionaries, changing the course of business and society. Forbes evaluated more than 20,000 nominees to decide on 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in each of 20 industries. Official portrait of Clare Luckey. Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel “To be honored with such an award …
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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In December 2022, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) mission observed the dramatic and unexpected “disappearance” of a stream of charged particles constantly emanating off the Sun, known as the solar wind. This was caused by a special type of solar event that was so powerful, it created a void in its wake as it traveled through the solar system. Learn about the “disappearance” of the solar wind at Mars that was witnessed by MAVEN – an event last seen nearly a quarter-century ago at Earth. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Download high-resolution video and …
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