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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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, April 21, 2025, on the company’s 32nd commercial resupply services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 4:15 a.m. EDT. SpaceX NASA and SpaceX are targeting 2:45 a.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 24, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This is the 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA. Filled with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 roc…
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Tess Caswell supports the International Space Station from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a capsule communicator, or capcom, as well as through the Extravehicular Activity Office. She is currently on rotation as the Artemis lead capcom, helping to develop training and processes for the Artemis campaign by leveraging her experience supporting the space station. She helps ensure that astronauts aboard the spacecraft receive the right information at the right time. This role involves a range of activities, from learning the language of the spacecraft and its onboard operations to participating in simulations to relay critical information to the crew, especia…
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Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 31 min read Summary of the 2025 GEDI Science Team Meeting Introduction The 2025 Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Science Team Meeting (STM) took place April 1–3, 2025 at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). Upwards of 60 participants attended in-person, while several others joined virtually by Zoom. The GEDI Mission and Competed Science Team members were in attendance along with the GEDI NASA program manager and variou…
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Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 21 min read A Decade of Global Water Cycle Monitoring: NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission Introduction The NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, launched in 2015, has over 10 years of global L-band radiometry observations. The low frequency [1.4 GHz frequency or 21 cm (8 in) wavelength] measurements provide information on the state of land surfaces in all weather conditions – regardless of solar illumination. A principal obj…
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Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 12 min read Summary of the 54th U.S.–Japan ASTER Science Team Meeting Introduction The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Science Team (ST) organized a three-day workshop that took place June 9–11, 2025, at the Japan Space System’s (JSS) offices in Tokyo, Japan. About 25 people from Japan and the United States participated during the in-person meeting – see Photo 1. U.S. participants included representative…
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Explore This Section Science For Educators Portable Planetarium takes… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 3 min read Portable Planetarium takes Thousands of Alaskan Students on a Cosmic Adventure Exploring the Cosmos and Inspiring Young Minds From January through June 2025, the Education Outreach Office at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (GI) continued its mission of bringing science to life by delivering the magic of its portable planetarium to communities across Alaska. This year, they reached over 1,807 students, educators, and pa…
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The 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA, scheduled to liftoff from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in late August, is heading to the International Space Station with an important investigation for the future of bone health. The experiment will test how microgravity affects bone-forming and bone-degrading cells and explore potential ways to prevent bone loss. This research could help protect astronauts on future long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, while also advancing treatments for millions of people on Earth who suffer from osteoporosis. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are derived from human bone marrow and stained with rap…
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5 Min Read NASA, Army National Guard Partner on Flight Training for Moon Landing By Corinne Beckinger When Artemis astronauts land on the Moon’s South Pole in a commercial human landing system, they will encounter a landscape pockmarked with deep craters, sloped connecting ridges, and harsh lighting conditions. The Moon’s lack of contrast, combined with its rolling terrain, will also pose a challenge, making it difficult for astronauts to overcome visual illusions on the lunar surface. NASA astronaut Bob Hines (left) and Colorado Army National Guard HAATS instructor Ethan Jacobs prac…
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NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, walk on the crew access arm of the mobile launcher in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. On Aug. 11 and 12, teams with the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems Program along with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, practiced launch day operations if launch occurs at night. They simulated putting their spacesuits on and driving to the launch pad as well as emergency procedures they would use in the unlike…
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Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, soars from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Aug. 4, 2024, for Northrop Grumman’s 21st Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA.Credit: SpaceX Media accreditation is open for the next launch to deliver NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft will launch to the orbital laboratory on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for NASA. The mission is known as NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23, or Northrop Grumman CRS-23. Liftoff is targeted for mid-September from Sp…
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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NuCLEUS, developed by Interstellar Lab, is an autonomous system that grows microgreens, vegetables, and more for astronauts to eat in space.Interstellar Lab NASA invests in technologies that have the potential to revolutionize space exploration, including the way astronauts live in space. Through the Deep Space Food Challenge, NASA, in partnership with CSA (Canadian Space Agency), sought novel food production systems that could provide long-duration human space exploration missions with safe, nutritious, and tasty food. Three winners selected last summer are now taking their technology to n…
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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4629-4630: Feeling Hollow NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of its workspace, including the small crescent-shaped rock named “Wedge Tailed Hillstar,” visible in the image just above the letters “SI” written…
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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) GRX-810 is a new metal alloy developed by NASA for 3D printing parts that can withstand the extreme temperatures of rocket engines, allowing affordable printing of high-heat parts.NASA Until now, additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, of engine components was limited by the lack of affordable metal alloys that could withstand the extreme temperatures of spaceflight. Expensive metal alloys were the only option for 3D printing engine parts until NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, developed the GRX-810 alloy. The primary metals in the GRX-810 alloy includ…
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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Human-rating is a critical certification process that validates the safety, reliability, and suitability of space systems—including orbiters, launch vehicles, rovers, spacesuits, habitats, and other crewed elements—for human use and interaction. This process ensures that systems are designed not only to protect human life but also to accommodate human needs and effectively integrate human capabilities. Human-rating requires that systems can tolerate failures, provide life-sustaining environments, and offer the crew sufficient control and situational awareness. NASA’s standards, s…
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The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission pose for a photo during a training session.Credit: SpaceX NASA astronauts Michael Finke and Zena Cardman will connect with students in Minnesota as they answer prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) questions aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space call will begin at 11 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 20, and will stream live on the agency’s Learn With NASA YouTube channel. Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 19, to Elizabeth Ross at: 952-838-1340 or elizabeth.ross@pacer.org. The PACER center will host this event in Bloomington for stu…
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On January 7, 2021, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins serviced samples for Bacterial Adhesion and Corrosion. This investigation looked at how spaceflight affects the formation of microbial biofilms and tested a silver-based disinfectant.NASA This November marks a quarter century of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station, which has served as a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including human missions to the Moon and Mars. To kick off the orbiting laboratory’s silver 25th anniversary countdown, here are a few silver-themed science investigations that have advanced research and space exploration. …
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NASA Former NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough is photographed as he left the airlock hatch during a spacewalk on Jan. 13, 2017. Kimbrough performed nine spacewalks during his three spaceflights. He retired in July 2022. Astronauts conduct spacewalks to perform maintenance on the space station, install new equipment, or deploy science experiments. These activities also inform future missions like the Artemis campaign and exploring Mars; through NASA’s Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program, the agency develops next-generation spacesuits, human-rated rovers (pressurized and unpressurized), and tools, along with all the necessary spacewalking support s…
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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA now is accepting proposals from student teams for a contest to design, build, and test rovers for Moon and Mars exploration through Sept. 15. Known as the Human Exploration Rover Challenge, student rovers should be capable of traversing a course while completing mission tasks. The challenge handbook has guidelines for remote-controlled and human-powered divisions. The cover of the HERC 2026 handbook, which is now available online. “Last year, we saw a lot of success with the debut of our remote-controlled division and the addition of middle school teams,” said Vemitra Alexander…
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Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered AI and Hubble Science Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts Multimedia Image…
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3 min read Summer Triangle Corner: Altair A map of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle. This asterism is made up of three stars: Vega in the Lyra constellation, Altair in the Aquila constellation, and Deneb in the Cygnus constellation. Stellarium Web Altair is the last stop on our trip around the Summer Triangle! The last star in the asterism to rise for Northern Hemisphere observers before summer begins, brilliant Altair is high overhead at sunset at the end of the season in September. Altair might be the most unusual of the three stars of the Triangle, due to its great speed: this star spins so rapidly that it appears “squished.” Altair is the brighte…
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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4627-4628: A Ridge Stop in the Boxworks NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this close-up view of the rock target “Bococo” at the intersection of several boxwork ridges, showing bright millimeter-scale nodules likely to…
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Credit: NASA As part of the agency’s initiative to return humanity to the Moon and eventually send the first astronaut – an American – to Mars, NASA is surveying industry for interest and feedback on a fission surface power system, through a Request for Information issued Thursday. Earlier this month, NASA declared its intent to put a nuclear reactor on the Moon by the mid-2030s to support lunar exploration, provide power generation on Mars, and strengthen national security in space. “Today’s call for industry input is an important step toward engaging the commercial space industry in powering the lunar economy and enabling future human exploration on Mars…
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A member of the space crop production team prepares materials for Veggie seed pillows inside the Space Systems Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA/Cory S Huston When the Crew-11 astronauts launched to the International Space Station on August 1, 2025, they carried with them another chapter in space farming: the latest VEG-03 experiments, complete with seed pillows ready for planting. Growing plants provides nutrition for astronauts, as well as psychological benefits that help maintain crew morale during missions. During VEG-03 MNO, astronauts will be able to choose what they want to grow from a seed library including Wasabi mustard greens, Red Ru…
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Dr. Steven “Steve” Platnick stepped down from his role at NASA on August 8, 2025, after more than three decades of public service. Steve began his career at NASA as a physical scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center in 2002. He moved to the Earth Science Division in 2009, where he has served in various senior management roles, including as the Earth Observing System (EOS) Senior Project Scientist. In this role, he led the EOS Project Science Office and continued periodic meetings of the EOS Project Scientists, initiated by Michael King during his tenure. Steve expanded these meetings to include representatives of non-EOS Earth observing missions and representatives from …
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NASA announced 10 winning teams for its latest TechLeap Prize — the Space Technology Payload Challenge — on June 26. The winners emerged from a record-breaking field of more than 200 applicants to earn cash prizes worth up to $500,000, if they have a flight-ready unit. Recipients may also have the opportunity to flight test their technologies. NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) division is supporting the emerging space economy through challenges like TechLeap. The projects receive funding through the Commercially Enabled Rapid Space Science (CERISS) initiative, which pairs government research goals with commercial innovation. Two awardees’ capabilities specif…
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