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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Some career changes involve small shifts. But for one NASA engineering intern, the leap was much bigger –moving from under the hood of a car to helping air taxis take to the skies. Saré Culbertson spent more than a decade in the auto industry and had been working as a service manager in busy auto repair shops. Today, she supports NASA’s Air Mobility Pathfinders project as a flight operations engineer intern at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, through NASA’s Pathways program. “NASA has helped me see opportunities I didn’t even know existed Saré Culbertson NASA Intern “NASA has helped me see opportunities I didn’t even know existed,” she said. “I realized that being good at something isn’t enough – you have to be passionate about it too.” With a strong foundation in mechanical engineering – earning a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach, Antelope Valley Engineering Program – she graduated magna cum laude and delivered her class’s commencement speech. Culbertson also earned two associate’s degrees, one in engineering and one in fine arts. NASA Pathways intern Saré Culbertson, right, works with NASA operations engineer Jack Hayes at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on Nov. 7, 2024. They are verifying GPS and global navigation satellite system coordinates using Emlid Reach RS2+ receiver equipment, which supports surveying, mapping, and navigation in preparation for future air taxi test flight research.NASA/Genaro Vavuris Before making the switch to aeronautics, she worked at car dealerships and independent car repair facilities while in college. She also led quality control efforts to help a manufacturer meet international standards for quality. “I never thought land surveying would have anything to do with flying. But it’s a key part of supporting our research with GPS and navigation verification,” Culbertson said. “GPS measures exact positions by analyzing how long signals take to travel from satellites to ground receivers. In aviation testing, it helps improve safety by reducing signal errors and ensuring location data of the aircraft is accurate and reliable.” A musician since childhood, Culbertson has also performed in 21 states, playing everything from tuba to trumpet, and even appeared on HBO’s “Silicon Valley” with her tuba. She’s played in ska, punk, and reggae bands and now performs baritone in the Southern Sierra Pops Orchestra. Saré Culbertson, NASA Pathways intern at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, adjusts the Emlid Reach RS2+ receiver equipment that connects with GPS and global navigation satellite systems on Nov. 7, 2024, in preparation for future air taxi test flight research.NASA/Genaro Vavuris The NASA Pathways internship, she says, changed everything. Culbertson was recently accepted into the Master of Science in Flight Test Engineering program at the National Test Pilot School, where she will be specializing in fixed wing performance and flying qualities. Her advice for anyone starting out? “Listen more than you talk,” she said. “Don’t get so focused on the next promotion that you forget to be great at the job you have now.” During her internship, Culbertson is making meaningful contributions toward NASA’s Urban Air Mobility research. She collects location data for test landing sites as part of the first evaluation of an experimental commercial electric vertical takeoff landing aircraft, a significant milestone in the development of next generation aviation technologies. From fixing cars to helping air taxis become a reality, Saré Culbertson is proof that when passion meets persistence, the sky isn’t the limit – it’s just the beginning. Share Details Last Updated Jun 23, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactLaura Mitchelllaura.a.mitchell@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAir Mobility Pathfinders projectCareersInternshipsWhat We Do Explore More 3 min read NASA Air Taxi Passenger Comfort Studies Move Forward Article 3 days ago 2 min read NASA Aircraft to Make Low-Altitude Flights in Mid-Atlantic, California Article 3 days ago 4 min read NASA to Gather In-Flight Imagery of Commercial Test Capsule Re-Entry Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A collage of artist concepts highlighting the novel approaches proposed by the 2025 NIAC awardees for possible future missions. Through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, NASA nurtures visionary yet credible concepts that could one day “change the possible” in aerospace, while engaging America’s innovators and entrepreneurs as partners in the journey. These concepts span various disciplines and aim to advance capabilities such as finding resources on distant planets, making space travel safer and more efficient, and even providing benefits to life here on Earth. The NIAC portfolio of studies also includes several solutions and technologies that could help NASA achieve a future human presence on Mars. One concept at a time, NIAC is taking technology concepts from science fiction to reality. Breathing beyond Earth Astronauts have a limited supply of water and oxygen in space, which makes producing and maintaining these resources extremely valuable. One NIAC study investigates a system to separate oxygen and hydrogen gas bubbles in microgravity from water, without touching the water directly. Researchers found the concept can handle power changes, requires less clean water, works in a wide range of temperatures, and is more resistant to bacteria than existing oxygen generation systems for short-term crewed missions. These new developments could make it a great fit for a long trip to Mars. Newly selected for another phase of study, the team wants to understand how the system will perform over long periods in space and consider ways to simplify the system’s build. They plan to test a large version of the system in microgravity in hopes of proving how it may be a game changer for future missions. Detoxifying water on Mars Unlike water on Earth, Mars’ water is contaminated with toxic chemical compounds such as perchlorates and chlorates. These contaminants threaten human health even at tiny concentrations and can easily corrode hardware and equipment. Finding a way to remove contaminates from water will benefit future human explorers and prepare them to live on Mars long term. Researchers are creating a regenerative perchlorate reduction system that uses perchlorate reduction pathways from naturally occurring bacteria. Perchlorate is a compound comprised of oxygen and chlorine that is typically used for rocket propellant. These perchlorate reduction pathways can be engineered into a type of bacterium that is known for its remarkable resilience, even in the harsh conditions of space. The system would use these enzymes to cause the biochemical reduction of chlorate and perchlorate to chloride and oxygen, eliminating these toxic molecules from the water. With the technology to detoxify water on Mars, humans could thrive on the Red Planet with an abundant water supply. Tackling deep space radiation exposure Mitochondria are the small structures within cells often called the “powerhouse,” but what if they could also power human health in space? Chronic radiation exposure is among the many threats to long-term human stays in space, including time spent traveling to and from Mars. One NIAC study explores transplanting new, undamaged mitochondria to radiation-damaged cells and investigates cell responses to relevant radiation levels to simulate deep-space travel. Researchers propose using in vitro human cell models – complex 3D structures grown in a lab to mimic aspects of organs – to demonstrate how targeted mitochondria replacement therapy could regenerate cellular function after acute and long-term radiation exposure. While still in early stages, the research could help significantly reduce radiation risks for crewed missions to Mars and beyond. Here on Earth, the technology could also help treat a wide variety of age-related degenerative diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Suiting up for Mars Mars is no “walk in the park,” which is why specialized spacesuits are essential for future missions. Engineers propose using a digital template to generate custom, cost-effective, high-performance spacesuits. This spacesuit concept uses something called digital thread technology to protect crewmembers from the extreme Martian environment, while providing the mobility to perform daily Mars exploration endeavors, including scientific excursions. This now completed NIAC study focused on mapping key spacesuit components and current manufacturing technologies to digital components, identifying technology gaps, benchmarking required capabilities, and developing a conceptional digital thread model for future spacesuit development and operational support. This research could help astronauts suit up for Mars and beyond in a way like never before. Redefining what’s possible From studying Mars to researching black holes and monitoring the atmosphere of Venus, NIAC concepts help us push the boundaries of exploration. By collaborating with innovators and entrepreneurs, NASA advances concepts for future and current missions while energizing the space economy. If you have a visionary idea to share, you can apply to NIAC’s 2026 Phase I solicitation now until July 15. Facebook logo @NASATechnology @NASA_Technology Explore More 4 min read NASA Tech to Use Moonlight to Enhance Measurements from Space Article 3 days ago 3 min read NASA’s Lunar Rescue System Challenge Supports Astronaut Safety Article 6 days ago 2 min read Tuning a NASA Instrument: Calibrating MASTER Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System Share Details Last Updated Jun 23, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related TermsSpace Technology Mission DirectorateNASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) ProgramTechnology View the full article

NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 on June 20, at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Test teams fired the engine for almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time RS-25 engines fire during a launch of an SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon. NASA NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 on June 20, at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Test teams fired the engine for almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time RS-25 engines fire during a launch of an SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Artemis missions to the Moon. The Artemis campaign will explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all. Four RS-25 engines, built by contractor L3Harris Technologies (formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne), help power each SLS launch, producing up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust. During the test, operators also fired engine No. 20001 up to the 111% power level, the same amount of thrust needed to launch an SLS rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft, to orbit. The full-duration “hot fire” was the first test since NASA completed certification testing for new production RS-25 engines in 2024. All RS-25 engines are tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis. The test was conducted by a team of operators from NASA, L3Harris, and Syncom Space Services, prime contractor for site facilities and operations. Explore More NASA Stennis Images View the full article

5 Min Read Heather Cowardin Safeguards the Future of Space Exploration As branch chief of the Hypervelocity Impact and Orbital Debris Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Dr. Heather Cowardin leads a team tasked with a critical mission: characterizing and mitigating orbital debris—space junk that poses a growing risk to satellites, spacecraft, and human spaceflight. Long before Cowardin was a scientist safeguarding NASA’s mission, she was a young girl near Johnson dreaming of becoming an astronaut. “I remember driving down Space Center Boulevard with my mom and seeing people running on the trails,” she said. “I told her, ‘That will be me one day—I promise!’ And she always said, ‘I know, honey—I know you will.’” Official portrait of Heather Cowardin. NASA/James Blai I was committed to working at NASA—no matter what it took. Heather Cowardin Hypervelocity Impact and Orbital Debris Branch Chief Today, that childhood vision has evolved into a leadership role at the heart of NASA’s orbital debris research. Cowardin oversees an interdisciplinary team within the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, or ARES. She supports measurements, modeling, risk assessments, and mitigation strategies to ensure the efficiency of space operations. With more than two decades of experience, Cowardin brings expertise and unwavering dedication to one of the agency’s most vital safety initiatives. Her work focuses on characterizing Earth-orbiting objects using optical and near-infrared telescopic and laboratory data. She helped establish and lead the Optical Measurement Center, a specialized facility at Johnson that replicates space-like lighting conditions and telescope orientations to identify debris materials and shapes, and evaluate potential risk. Cowardin supports a range of research efforts, from ground-based and in-situ, or in position, observations to space-based experiments. She has contributed to more than 100 scientific publications and presentations and serves as co-lead on Materials International Space Station Experiment missions, which test the durability of materials on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory. She is also an active member of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee, an international forum with the goal of minimizing and mitigating the risks posed by space debris. Heather Cowardin, left, holds a spectrometer optical feed as she prepares to take a spectral measurement acquisition on the returned Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 radiator. It was inspected by the Orbital Debris Program Office team for micrometeoroid and orbital debris impacts at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in 2009, and later studied for space weathering effects on its painted surface. Her passion was fueled further by a mentor, Dr. James R. Benbrook, a University of Houston space physics professor and radar scientist supporting the Orbital Debris Program Office. “He was a hard-core Texas cowboy and a brilliant physicist,” she said. “He brought me on as a NASA fellow to study orbital debris using optical imaging. After that, I was committed to working at NASA—no matter what it took.” After completing her fellowship, Cowardin began graduate studies at the University of Houston while working full time. Within a year, she accepted a contract position at Johnson, where she helped develop the Optical Measurement Center and supported optical analyses of geosynchronous orbital debris. She soon advanced to optical lead, later serving as a contract project manager and section manager. Heather Cowardin inspects targets to study the shapes of orbital debris using the Optical Measurement Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. What we do at NASA takes new thinking, new skills, and hard work—but I believe the next generation will raise the bar and lead us beyond low Earth orbit. Heather Cowardin Hypervelocity Impact and Orbital Debris Branch Chief Building on her growing expertise, Cowardin became the laboratory and in-situ measurements lead for the Orbital Debris Program Office, a program within the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters. She led efforts to characterize debris and deliver direct measurement data to support orbital debris engineering models, such as NASA’s Orbital Debris Engineering Model and NASA’s Standard Satellite Breakup Model, while also overseeing major projects like DebriSat. Cowardin was selected as the Orbital Debris and Hypervelocity Integration portfolio scientist, where she facilitated collaboration within the Hypervelocity Impact and Orbital Debris Office—both internally and externally with stakeholders and customers. These efforts laid the foundation for her current role as branch chief. “I’ve really enjoyed reflecting on the path I’ve traveled and looking forward to the challenges and successes that lie ahead with this great team,” she said. One of Cowardin’s proudest accomplishments was earning her doctorate while working full time and in her final trimester of pregnancy. “Nothing speaks to multitasking and time management like that achievement,” Cowardin said. “I use that story to mentor others—it’s proof that you can do both. Now I’m a mom of two boys who inspire me every day. They are my motivation to work harder and show them that dedication and perseverance always pay off.” From left to right: Heather Cowardin, her youngest child Jamie, her husband Grady, and her oldest child Trystan. The family celebrates Jamie’s achievement of earning a black belt. Throughout her career, Cowardin said one lesson has remained constant: never underestimate yourself. “It’s easy to think, ‘I’m not ready,’ or ‘Someone else will ask the question,’” she said. “But speak up. Every role I’ve taken on felt like a leap, but I embraced it and each time I’ve learned and grown.” She has also learned the value of self-awareness. “It’s scary to ask for feedback, but it’s the best way to identify growth opportunities,” she said. “The next generation will build on today’s work. That’s why we must capture lessons learned and share them. It’s vital to safe and successful operations.” Heather Cowardin, fifth from left, stands with fellow NASA delegates at the 2024 Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee meeting hosted by the Indian Space Research Organisation in Bengaluru, India. The U.S. delegation included representatives from NASA, the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission. To the Artemis Generation, she hopes to pass on a sense of purpose. “Commitment to a mission leads to success,” she said. “Even if your contributions aren’t immediately visible, they matter. What we do at NASA takes new thinking, new skills, and hard work—but I believe the next generation will raise the bar and lead us beyond low Earth orbit.” When she is not watching over orbital debris, she is lacing up her running shoes. “I’ve completed five half-marathons and I’m training for the 2026 Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon in Nashville,” she said. “Running helps me decompress—and yes, I often role-play technical briefings or prep conference talks while I’m out on a jog. Makes for interesting moments when I pass people in the neighborhood!” About the AuthorSumer Loggins Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 LocationJohnson Space Center Related TermsScience & ResearchAstromaterialsJohnson Space CenterPeople of Johnson Explore More 5 min read Johnson’s Jason Foster Recognized for New Technology Reporting Record Article 1 week ago 3 min read NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing Article 6 days ago 5 min read Driven by a Dream: Farah Al Fulfulee’s Quest to Reach the Stars Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

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 4 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4577-4579: Watch the Skies NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image inside a trough in the boxwork terrain on Mars, using its Right Navigation Camera. Curiosity captured the image on June 20, 2025 — Sol 4575, or Martian day 4,575 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 00:30:12 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Deborah Padgett, OPGS Task Lead at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Earth planning date: Friday, June 20, 2025 During the plan covering Sols 4575-4576, Curiosity continued our investigation of mysterious boxwork structures on the shoulders of Mount Sharp. After a successful 56-meter drive (about 184 feet), Curiosity is now parked in a trough cutting through a highly fractured region covered by linear features thought to be evidence of groundwater flow in the distant past of Mars. With all six wheels firmly planted on solid ground, our rover is ready for contact science! Unfortunately, a repeat of the frost-detection experiment expected for the weekend plan is postponed for a few days due to a well-understood ChemCam issue. In the meantime, our atmospheric investigations have a chance to shine, as they received additional time to observe the Martian sky. In the early afternoon of Sol 4577, Curiosity’s navigation cameras will take a movie of the upper reaches of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp), hoping to see moving cloud shadows. This observation enables the team to calculate the altitude of clouds drifting over the peak. Next, Navcam will point straight up, to image cloud motion at the zenith and determine wind direction at their altitude. Mastcam will then do a series of small mosaics to study the rover workspace and features of the trough that Curiosity has entered. First is a 6×4 stereo mosaic of the workspace and the contact science targets “Copacabana” and “Copiapo.” The first target is a representative sample of the trough bedrock, and its name celebrates a town in Bolivia located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The second target is a section of lighter-toned material, which may be associated with stripes or “veins” filling the many crosscutting fractures in the local stones. These are the deposits potentially left by groundwater intrusion long ago. The name “Copiapo” honors a silver mining city in the extremely dry Atacama desert of northern Chile. A second 6×3 Mastcam stereo mosaic will look at active cracks in the trough. Two additional 5×1 Mastcam stereo mosaics target “Ardamarca,” a ridge parallel to the trough walls, and a cliff exposing layers of rock at the base of “Mishe Mokwa” butte. At our current location, all the Curiosity target names are taken from the Uyuni geologic quadrangle named after the otherworldly lake bed and ephemeral lake high on the Bolivian altiplano, but the Mishe Mokwa butte is back in the Altadena quad, named for a popular hiking trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. After this lengthy science block, Curiosity will deploy its arm, brush the dust from Copacabana with the DRT, then image both it and Copiapo with the MAHLI microscopic imager. Overnight, APXS will determine the composition of these two targets. Early in the morning of Sol 4578, Mastcam will take large 27×5 and 18×3 stereo mosaics of different parts of the trough, using morning light to highlight the terrain shadows. Later in the day, Navcam will do a 360 sky survey, determining phase function across the entire sky. A 25-meter drive (about 82 feet) will follow, and the post-drive imaging includes both a 360-degree Navcam panorama of our new location and an image of the ground under the rover with MARDI in the evening twilight. The next sol is all atmospheric science, with an extensive set of afternoon suprahorizon movies and a dust-devil survey for Navcam, as well as a Mastcam dust opacity observation. The final set of observations in this plan happens on the morning of Sol 4580 with more Navcam suprahorizon and zenith movies to observe clouds, a Navcam dust opacity measurement across Gale Crater, and a last Mastcam tau. On Monday, we expect to plan another drive and hope to return to the frost-detection experiment soon as we explore the boxwork canyons of Mars. For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4575-4576: Perfect Parking Spot Article 5 hours ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4573-4574: Welcome to the Uyuni Quad Article 2 days ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4570-4572: A Fond Farewell, With a Side of Frost Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

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 4575-4576: Perfect Parking Spot NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of interesting textures exposed in an outcrop at the base of the “Mishe Mokwa” butte, ahead of the rover, using its Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro Imager (RMI). Curiosity captured the image on June 13, 2025 — Sol 4569, or Martian day 4,569 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 17:53:55 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL Written by Lucy Thompson, APXS Collaborator and Senior Research Scientist at the University of New Brunswick Earth planning date: Wednesday, June 18, 2025 Not only did our drive execute perfectly, Curiosity ended up in one of the safest, most stable parking spots of the whole mission. We often come into the start of planning hoping that all the wheels are safely on the ground, but the terrain on Mars is not always very cooperative. As the APXS strategic planner I was really hoping that the rover was stable enough to unstow the arm and place APXS on a rock — which it was! We are acquiring APXS and ChemCam compositional analyses and accompanying Mastcam and MAHLI imaging of a brushed, flat, typical bedrock target, “Tarija.” This allows us to track the chemistry of the bedrock that hosts the potential boxwork features that we are driving towards. As well as composition, we continue to image the terrain around us to better understand the local and regional context. Mastcam will acquire mosaics of some linear ridges off to the north of our current location, as well as of a potential fracture fill just out in front of our current parking spot, “Laguna del Bayo.” ChemCam will image part of an interesting outcrop (“Mishe Mokwa”) that we have already observed (see the image associated with this blog). Thanks to the relatively benign terrain, the engineers have planned a 54-meter drive (about 177 feet) to our next location. After that drive (hopefully) executes successfully, we have a series of untargeted science observations. MARDI will image the terrain beneath the wheels and ChemCam will pick a rock target autonomously from our new workspace and analyze its chemistry. To track atmospheric and environmental fluctuations, we are acquiring a Mastcam tau to measure dust in the sky as well as a Navcam large dust-devil survey and suprahorizon movie. The plan is rounded, as always, with standard DAN, REMS, and RAD activities. For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4573-4574: Welcome to the Uyuni Quad Article 2 days ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4570-4572: A Fond Farewell, With a Side of Frost Article 6 days ago 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4568-4569: A Close Look at the Altadena Drill Hole and Tailings Article 7 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

4 Min Read NASA Tech to Use Moonlight to Enhance Measurements from Space NASA's Arcstone instrument will be the first mission exclusively dedicated to measuring moonlight, or lunar reflectance, from space as a way to calibrate and improve science data collected by Earth-viewing, in-orbit instruments. Credits: Blue Canyon Technologies NASA will soon launch a one-of-a-kind instrument, called Arcstone, to improve the quality of data from Earth-viewing sensors in orbit. In this technology demonstration, the mission will measure sunlight reflected from the Moon— a technique called lunar calibration. Such measurements of lunar spectral reflectance can ultimately be used to set a high-accuracy, universal standard for use across the international scientific community and commercial space industry. To ensure satellite and airborne sensors are working properly, researchers calibrate them by comparing the sensor measurements against a known standard measurement. Arcstone will be the first mission exclusively dedicated to measuring lunar reflectance from space as a way to calibrate and improve science data collected by Earth-viewing, in-orbit instruments. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This visualization demonstrates how Arcstone will operate while in orbit measuring lunar reflectance to establish a new calibration standard for future Earth-observing remote sensors. Arcstone’s satellite platform was manufactured by Blue Canyon Technologies. NASA/Tim Marvel/Blue Canyon Technologies “One of the most challenging tasks in remote sensing from space is achieving required instrument calibration accuracy on-orbit,” said Constantine Lukashin, principal investigator for the Arcstone mission and physical scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “The Moon is an excellent and available calibration source beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The light reflected off the Moon is extremely stable and measurable at a very high level of detail. Arcstone’s goal is to improve the accuracy of lunar calibration to increase the quality of spaceborne remote sensing data products for generations to come.” Across its planned six-month mission, Arcstone will use a spectrometer — a scientific instrument that measures and analyzes light by separating it into its constituent wavelengths, or spectrum — to measure lunar spectral reflectance. Expected to launch in late June as a rideshare on a small CubeSat, Arcstone will begin collecting data, a milestone called first light, approximately three weeks after reaching orbit. “The mission demonstrates a new, more cost-efficient instrument design, hardware performance, operations, and data processing to achieve high-accuracy reference measurements of lunar spectral reflectance,” said Lukashin. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Measuring the lunar reflectance at the necessary ranges of lunar phase angles and librations is required to build a highly accurate lunar reference. A satellite platform in space would provide this required sampling. Arcstone will use a spectrometer to demonstrate the ability to observe and establish a data record of lunar spectral reflectance throughout its librations and phases for other instruments to use the Moon to calibrate sensors.NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio Measurements of lunar reflectance taken from Earth’s surface can be affected by interference from the atmosphere, which can complicate calibration efforts. Researchers already use the Sun and Moon to calibrate spaceborne instruments, but not at a level of precision and agreement that could come from having a universal standard. Lukashin and colleagues want to increase calibration accuracy by getting above the atmosphere to measure reflected solar wavelengths in a way that provides a stable and universal calibration source. Another recent NASA mission, called the Airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance mission also used sensors mounted on high-altitude aircraft to improve lunar irradiance measurements from planes. There is not an internationally accepted standard (SI-traceable) calibration for lunar reflectance from space across the scientific community or the commercial space industry. “Dedicated radiometric characterization measurements of the Moon have never been acquired from a space-based platform,” said Thomas Stone, co-investigator for Arcstone and scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). “A high-accuracy, SI-traceable lunar calibration system enables several important capabilities for space-based Earth observing missions such as calibrating datasets against a common reference – the Moon, calibrating sensors on-orbit, and the ability to bridge gaps in past datasets.” The Arcstone spacecraft with solar panels installed as it is tested before being integrated for launch. Blue Canyon Technologies If the initial Arcstone technology demonstration is successful, a longer Arcstone mission could allow scientists to make the Moon the preferred reference standard for many other satellites. The new calibration standard could also be applied retroactively to previous Earth data records to improve their accuracy or fill in data gaps for data fields. It could also improve high-precision sensor performance on-orbit, which is critical for calibrating instruments that may be sensitive to degradation or hardware breakdown over time in space. “Earth observations from space play a critical role in monitoring the environmental health of our planet,” said Stone. “Lunar calibration is a robust and cost-effective way to achieve high accuracy and inter-consistency of Earth observation datasets, enabling more accurate assessments of Earth’s current state and more reliable predictions of future trends.” The Arcstone technology demonstration project is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office’s In-space Validation of Earth Science Technologies. Arcstone is led by NASA’s Langley Research Center in partnership with Colorado University Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, USGS,  NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Resonon Inc., Blue Canyon Technologies, and Quartus Engineering. For more information on NASA’s Arcstone mission visit: https://science.larc.nasa.gov/arcstone/about/ About the AuthorCharles G. HatfieldScience Public Affairs Officer, NASA Langley Research Center Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 LocationNASA Langley Research Center Related TermsScience-enabling TechnologyEarthEarth ScienceEarth Science DivisionEarth's MoonGeneralGoddard Space Flight CenterLangley Research CenterLunar ScienceScience InstrumentsScience Mission DirectorateSmall Satellite MissionsTechnology Explore More 3 min read NASA Measures Moonlight to Improve Earth Observations Article 2 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

On June 11, NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) captured photos of the site where the ispace Mission 2 SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon (RESILIENCE) lunar lander experienced a hard landing on June 5, 2025, UTC. RESILIENCE lunar lander impact site, as seen by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) on June 11, 2025. The lander created a dark smudge surrounded by a subtle bright halo.Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University. RESILIENCE was launched on Jan. 15 on a privately funded spacecraft. LRO’s right Narrow Angle Camera (one in a suite of cameras known as LROC) captured the images featured here from about 50 miles above the surface of Mare Frigoris, a volcanic region interspersed with large-scale faults known as wrinkle ridges. The dark smudge visible above the arrow in the photo formed as the vehicle impacted the surface, kicking up regolith — the rock and dust that make up Moon “soil.” The faint bright halo encircling the site resulted from low-angle regolith particles scouring the delicate surface. This animation shows the RESILIENCE site before and after the impact. In the image, north is up. Looking from west to east, or left to right, the area pictured covers 2 miles.Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University. LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities. More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website Media Contact Karen Fox / Molly Wasser Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov Lonnie Shekhtman NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. lonnie.shekhtman@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 EditorMadison OlsonContactMolly Wassermolly.l.wasser@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)Earth's Moon View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA employee Naomi Torres sits inside the air taxi passenger ride quality simulator at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, as the simulator moves during a study on Oct. 23, 2024. Research continues to better understand how humans may interact with these new types of aircraft.NASA/Steve Freeman NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility vision involves the skies above the U.S. filled with new types of aircraft, including air taxis. But making that vision a reality involves ensuring that people will actually want to ride these aircraft – which is why NASA has been working to evaluate comfort, to see what passengers will and won’t tolerate. NASA is conducting a series of studies to understand how air taxi motion, vibration, and other factors affect ride comfort. The agency will provide the data it gathers to industry and others to guide the design and operational practices for future air taxis. “The results of this study can guide air taxi companies to design aircraft that take off, land, and respond to winds and gusts in a way that is comfortable for the passengers,” said Curt Hanson, senior flight controls researcher for this project based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. “Passengers who enjoy their experience in an air taxi are more likely to become repeat riders, which will help the industry grow.” The air taxi comfort research team uses NASA Armstrong’s Ride Quality Laboratory as well as the Human Vibration Lab and Vertical Motion Simulator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley to study passenger response to ride quality, as well as how easily and precisely a pilot can control and maneuver aircraft. After pilots checked out the simulator setup, the research team conducted a study in October where NASA employees volunteered to participate as passengers to experience the virtual air taxi flights and then describe their comfort level to the researchers. Curt Hanson, senior flight controls researcher for the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, explains the study about to begin to NASA employee and test subject Naomi Torres on Oct. 23, 2024. Behind them is the air taxi passenger ride quality simulator in NASA Armstrong’s Ride Quality Laboratory. Studies continue to better understand passenger comfort for future air taxi rides.NASA/Steve Freeman Using this testing, the team produced an initial study that found a relationship between levels of sudden vertical motion and passenger discomfort. More data collection is needed to understand the combined effect of motion, vibration, and other factors on passenger comfort. “In the Vertical Motion Simulator, we can investigate how technology and aircraft design choices affect the handling qualities of the aircraft, generate data as pilots maneuver the air taxi models under realistic conditions, and then use this to further investigate passenger comfort in the Ride Quality and Human Vibration Labs,” said Carlos Malpica, senior rotorcraft flight dynamics researcher for this effort based at NASA Ames. This work is managed by the Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology project under NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program in support of NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility mission, which seeks to deliver data to guide the industry’s development of electric air taxis and drones.  Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactTeresa Whitingteresa.whiting@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsArmstrong Flight Research CenterAdvanced Air MobilityAdvanced Air Vehicles ProgramAeronauticsAmes Research CenterDrones & YouRevolutionary Vertical Lift Technology Explore More 2 min read NASA Aircraft to Make Low-Altitude Flights in Mid-Atlantic, California Article 4 hours ago 4 min read NASA to Gather In-Flight Imagery of Commercial Test Capsule Re-Entry Article 2 days ago 4 min read NASA Tech to Measure Heat, Strain in Hypersonic Flight Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

This full-disk image from NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite shows the Americas at the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere on June 21, 2012.NASA This full-disk image from NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite was captured at 7:45 a.m. EDT (11:45 UTC) and shows the Americas on June 21, 2012, the start of astronomical summer – in the Northern Hemisphere – that year. The first day of summer in 2025 is June 20; it is also the longest day of the year. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the shortest day of the year and the beginning of winter. Earth orbits at an angle, so the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun half of the year — this is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The other half of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, creating winter in the north and summer in the south. Solstices happen twice per year, at the points in Earth’s orbit where this tilt is most pronounced. Image credit: NASA View the full article

7 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In the summer 2025 issue of the NASA History Office’s News & Notes newsletter, examples of leadership and critical decision-making in NASA’s history form the unifying theme. Among the topics discussed are NASA’s Shuttle-Centaur program, assessing donations to the NASA Archives, how the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star catalyzed NASA’s exoplanet program, and Chief of the Medical Operations Office Charles A. Berry’s decisions surrounding crew health when planning the Project Gemini missions. Volume 42, Number 2 Summer 2025 Featured Articles From the Chief Historian By Brian Odom NASA’s is a history marked by critical decisions. From George Mueller’s 1963 decision for “all up” testing of the Saturn V rocket to Michael Griffin’s 2006 decision to launch a final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, the agency has continually met key inflection points with bold decisions. These choices, such as the decision to send a crewed Apollo 8 mission around the Moon in December 1968, stand at the center of the agency’s national legacy and promote confidence in times of crisis. Continue Reading Shuttle-Centaur: Loss of Launch Vehicle Redundancy Leads to Discord By Robert Arrighi “Although the Shuttle/Centaur decision was very difficult to make, it is the proper thing to do, and this is the time to do it.” With those words on June 19, 1986, NASA Administrator James Fletcher canceled the intensive effort to integrate the Centaur upper stage with the Space Shuttle to launch the Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft. The decision, which was tied to increased safety measures following the loss of Challenger several months earlier, brought to the forefront the 1970s decision to launch all U.S. payloads with the Space Shuttle. Continue Reading Lewis Director Andy Stofan speaks at the Shuttle-Centaur rollout ceremony on August 23, 1985 at General Dynamics’s San Diego headquarters. Galileo mission crew members Dave Walker, Rick Hauck, and John Fabian were among those on stage. NASA A View into NASA’s Response to the Apollo 1 Tragedy By Kate Mankowski On January 27, 1967, Mission AS-204 (later known as Apollo 1) was conducting a simulated countdown when a fire suddenly broke out in the spacecraft, claiming the lives of astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee. The disaster highlighted the risks that come with spaceflight and the work that still needed to be accomplished to meet President Kennedy’s challenge of going to the Moon before the end of the decade. With the complexity of the Apollo spacecraft, discerning the cause of the fire proved to be incredibly difficult. Continue Reading The Fight to Fund AgRISTARS By Brad Massey Robert MacDonald, the manager of NASA’s Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE), was not pleased in January 1978 after he read a draft copy of the U.S. General Accounting Office’s (GAO’s) “Crop Forecasting by Satellite: Progress and Problems” report. The draft’s authors argued that LACIE had not achieved its goals of accurately predicting harvest yields in the mid-1970s. Therefore, congressional leaders should “be aware of the disappointing performance of LACIE to date when considering the future direction of NASA’s Landsat program and the plans of the Department of Agriculture.” Continue Reading The Hubble Space Telescope: The Right Project at the Right Time By Jillian Rael This year, NASA commemorates 35 years of the Hubble Space Telescope’s study of the cosmos. From observations of never-before-seen phenomena within our solar system, to the discovery of distant galaxies, the confirmation of the existence of supermassive black holes, and precision measurements of the universe’s expansion, Hubble has made incredible contributions to science, technology, and even art. Yet, for all its contemporary popularity, the Hubble program initially struggled for congressional approval and consequential funding. For its part, NASA found new ways to compromise and cut costs, while Congress evaluated national priorities and NASA’s other space exploration endeavors against the long-range value of Hubble. Continue Reading Within the tempestuous Carina Nebula lies “Mystic Mountain.”NASA/ESA/M. Livio/Hubble 20th Anniversary Team Appraisal: The Science and Art of Assessing Donations to the NASA Archives By Alan Arellano The major functions of an archivist center include appraising, arranging, describing, preserving, and providing access to historical records and documents. While together these are pillars of archival science, they are more of an art than a science in their application, fundamentally necessitating skilled decision making. Throughout the NASA archives, staff members make these decisions day in and day out. Continue Reading Orbit Shift: How 50 Pegasi b Helped Pull NASA Toward the Stars in the 1990s By Lois Rosson On October 20, 1995, the New York Times reported the detection of a distant planet orbiting a Sun-like star. The star, catalogued as 51 Pegasi by John Flamsteed in the 18th century, was visible to the naked eye as part of the constellation Pegasus—and had wobbled on its axis just enough that two Swiss astronomers were able to deduce the presence of another object exerting its gravitational pull on the star’s rotation. The discovery was soon confirmed by other astronomers, and 51 Pegasi b was heralded as the first confirmed exoplanet orbiting a star similar to our own Sun. Continue Reading Detail from an infographic about 51 Pegasi b and the significance of its discovery.NASA Four, Eight, Fourteen Days: Charles A. Berry, Gemini, and the Critical Steps to Living and Working in Space By Jennifer Ross-Nazzal In 1963, critical decisions had to be made about NASA’s upcoming Gemini missions if the nation were to achieve President John F. Kennedy’s lunar goals. Known as the bridge to Apollo, Project Gemini was critical to landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade and returning him safely to Earth. The project would demonstrate that astronauts could rendezvous and dock their spacecraft to another space vehicle and give flight crews the opportunity to test the planned extravehicular capabilities in preparation for walking on the lunar surface on future Apollo flights. Perhaps most importantly, Gemini had to show that humans could live and work in space for long periods of time, a fiercely debated topic within and outside of the agency. Continue Reading Dr. Charles Berry prepares to check the blood pressure of James A. McDivitt, Command Pilot for the Gemini IV mission. McDivitt is on the tilt table at the Aero Medical Area, Merritt Island, FL, where he and Gemini IV pilot Edward H. White II underwent preflight physicals in preparation for their four-day spaceflight.NASA Imagining Space: The Life and Art of Robert McCall By Sandra Johnson As we walked into Bob McCall’s Arizona home, it quickly became obvious that two talented and creative people lived there. Tasked with interviewing one of the first artists to be invited to join the NASA Art Program, our oral history team quickly realized the session with McCall would include a unique perspective on NASA’s history. We traveled to Arizona in the spring of 2000 to capture interviews with some of the pioneers of spaceflight and had already talked to an eclectic group of subjects in their homes, including a flight controller for both Gemini and Apollo, an astronaut who had flown on both Skylab and Space Shuttle missions, a former NASA center director, and two former Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) who ferried airplanes during WWII. However, unlike most interviews, the setting itself provided a rare glimpse into the man and his inspiration. Continue Reading Inside the Archives: Biomedical Branch Files By Alejandra Lopez The Biomedical Branch Files (1966–2008) in the Johnson Space Center archives showcase the inner workings of a NASA office established to perform testing to provide a better understanding of the impacts of spaceflight on the human body. Ranging from memos and notes to documents and reports, this collection is an invaluable resource on the biomedical research done with NASA’s Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle, and Space Station projects. Files in the collection cover work done by groups within the branch such as the Toxicology, Microbiology, Clinical, and Biochemistry Laboratories. It also reveals the branch’s evolution and changes in its decision-making process over the years. Continue Reading Dr. Carolyn S. Huntoon, shown here in 1972, became the Biomedical Branch’s first chief in 1977.NASA Download the Summer 2025 Edition More Issues of NASA History News and Notes Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 EditorMichele Ostovar Related TermsNASA HistoryNewsletters Explore More 5 min read NASA History News and Notes–Spring 2025 Article 3 months ago 6 min read NASA History News and Notes – Winter 2024 Article 6 months ago 7 min read NASA History News and Notes – Fall 2024 Article 9 months ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics NASA History History Publications and Resources NASA Archives NASA Oral Histories View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) From Sunday, June 22 to Wednesday, July 2, two research aircraft will make a series of low-altitude atmospheric research flights near Philadelphia, Baltimore, and some Virginia cities, including Richmond, as well as over the Los Angeles Basin, Salton Sea, and Central Valley in California. NASA’s P-3 Orion aircraft, based out of the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, along with Dynamic Aviation’s King Air B200 aircraft, will fly over parts of the East and West coasts during the agency’s Student Airborne Research Program. The science flights will be conducted between June 22 and July 2, 2025. NASA/Garon Clark Pilots will operate the aircraft at altitudes lower than typical commercial flights, executing specialized maneuvers such as vertical spirals between 1,000 and 10,000 feet, circling above power plants, landfills, and urban areas. The flights will also include occasional missed approaches at local airports and low-altitude flybys along runways to collect air samples near the surface. The East Coast flights will be conducted between June 22 and Thursday, June 26 over Baltimore and near Philadelphia, as well as near the Virginia cities of Hampton, Hopewell, and Richmond. The California flights will occur from Sunday, June 29 to July 2. The flights, part of NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP), will involve the agency’s Airborne Science Program’s P-3 Orion aircraft (N426NA) and a King Air B200 aircraft (N46L) owned by Dynamic Aviation and contracted by NASA. The program is an eight-week summer internship program that provides undergraduate students with hands-on experience in every aspect of a scientific campaign. The P-3, operated out of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, is a four-engine turboprop aircraft outfitted with a six-instrument science payload to support a combined 40 hours of SARP science flights on each U.S. coast. The King Air B200 will fly at the same time as the P-3 but in an independent flight profile. Students will assist in the operation of the science instruments on the aircraft to collect atmospheric data. “The SARP flights have become mainstays of NASA’s Airborne Science Program, as they expose highly competitive STEM students to real-world data gathering within a dynamic flight environment,” said Brian Bernth, chief of flight operations at NASA Wallops. “Despite SARP being a learning experience for both the students and mentors alike, our P-3 is being flown and performing maneuvers in some of most complex and restricted airspace in the country,” said Bernth. “Tight coordination and crew resource management is needed to ensure that these flights are executed with precision but also safely.” For more information about Student Airborne Research Program, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/early-career-opportunities/student-airborne-research-program/ By Olivia Littleton NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 Related TermsAirborne ScienceAeronauticsWallops Flight Facility View the full article

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 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 Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities 3D Hubble Models Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary News Hubble News Social Media Media Resources More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 2 min read Hubble Studies Small but Mighty Galaxy This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the nearby galaxy NGC 4449. ESA/Hubble & NASA, E. Sabbi, D. Calzetti, A. Aloisi This portrait from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope puts the nearby galaxy NGC 4449 in the spotlight. The galaxy is situated just 12.5 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs). It is a member of the M94 galaxy group, which is near the Local Group of galaxies that the Milky Way is part of. NGC 4449 is a dwarf galaxy, which means that it is far smaller and contains fewer stars than the Milky Way. But don’t let its small size fool you — NGC 4449 packs a punch when it comes to making stars! This galaxy is currently forming new stars at a much faster rate than expected for its size, which makes it a starburst galaxy. Most starburst galaxies churn out stars mainly in their centers, but NGC 4449 is alight with brilliant young stars throughout. Researchers believe that this global burst of star formation came about because of NGC 4449’s interactions with its galactic neighbors. Because NGC 4449 is so close, it provides an excellent opportunity for Hubble to study how interactions between galaxies can influence the formation of new stars. Hubble released an image of NGC 4449 in 2007. This new version incorporates several additional wavelengths of light that Hubble collected for multiple observing programs. These programs encompass an incredible range of science, from a deep dive into NGC 4449’s star-formation history to the mapping of the brightest, hottest, and most massive stars in more than two dozen nearby galaxies. The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has also observed NGC 4449, revealing in intricate detail the galaxy’s tendrils of dusty gas, glowing from the intense starlight radiated by the flourishing young stars. Text Credit: ESA/Hubble Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD Share Details Last Updated Jun 20, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Irregular Galaxies The Universe Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble’s Galaxies Galaxy Details and Mergers Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge View the full article

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 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4573-4574: Welcome to the Uyuni Quad NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, looking southwest toward the distant large boxwork structures in the Uyuni quad, using its Left Navigation Camera on June 15, 2025 — Sol 4571, or Martian day 4,571 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 21:27:38 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center Earth planning date: Monday, June 16, 2025 Over the weekend Curiosity successfully wrapped up activities at the “Altadena” drill site and got back on the road. The approximately 48-meter drive (about 157 feet) was successful, and placed the rover in the next mapping quadrangle (informally referred to as a quad). As a reminder, the rover’s exploration area has been divided into 1.5 kilometer by 1.5 kilometer square quads, and each quad is named after a town of less than 100,000 people. As Curiosity explores features within a quad, we assign informal target names that correspond to geologic formations and features from that town on Earth. Uyuni, Bolivia, is the gateway city near the world’s largest salt flats (salars), and it seems like an appropriate name as Curiosity explores drier depositional environments higher in the Mount Sharp stratigraphy. The team is excited to use some new target names that will draw from Uyuni and surrounding areas, including the Atacama Desert in Chile, which hosts many Mars analog sites including eolian features, studies of life in extreme environments, and some of the world’s great observatories. A fitting theme for this next phase of exploration! As for today’s two-sol plan, we have a good balance of contact science, remote sensing, and another long drive. The team planned APXS and MAHLI on a nodular bedrock target named “Flamingo” to assess its chemistry and texture. In the targeted remote sensing block, the science team planned a Mastcam mosaic of “Los Patos” to characterize a depression which may be related to a small impact crater or boxwork structures, along with a Mastcam image of “La Lava” to investigate an interesting dark block. There are also several Mastcam mosaics of nearby troughs to assess active surface processes, and documentation images for ChemCam observations. The plan includes a ChemCam LIBS observation on a target named “Tacos” to assess the local bedrock, and a long-distance RMI mosaic to evaluate sedimentary structures at “Mishe Mokwa” butte. Then the rover will drive about 56 meters (about 184 feet) to the southwest, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for the next plan. On the second sol, Curiosity will complete a ChemCam calibration target activity, a Mastcam data management activity, and a few Navcam activities to monitor clouds and dust in the atmosphere. We’re looking forward to exploring more of Uyuni as we work our way toward the larger exposure of boxwork structures that lie ahead, and the clues they hold to ancient Mars conditions. For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4570-4572: A Fond Farewell, With a Side of Frost Article 4 days ago 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4568-4569: A Close Look at the Altadena Drill Hole and Tailings Article 5 days ago 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4566-4567: Drilling Success Article 7 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

NASA astronauts (left to right) Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers pose for a portrait together aboard the International Space Station. Moments earlier, Ayers finished trimming McClain’s hair using an electric razor with a suction hose attached that collects the loose hair to protect the station’s atmosphere.NASA Students from New York and Utah will hear from NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station as they answer prerecorded questions in two separate events. At 11:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, June 23, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain will answer questions submitted by students from P.S. 71 Forest Elementary School in Ridgewood, New York. Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m. Friday, June 20, to Regina Beshay at: rbeshay2@school.nyc.gov or 347-740-6165. At 11:05 a.m. on Friday, June 27, Ayers and McClain will answer questions submitted by students from Douglas Space and Science Foundation, Inc., in Layton, Utah. Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, to Sarah Merrill at: sarahmonique@gmail.com or 805-743-3341. Watch the 20-minute Earth-to-space calls on NASA STEM YouTube Channel. P.S. 71 Forest Elementary School will host kindergarten through fifth grade students. Douglas Space and Science Foundation will host participants from the Science, Technology, Achievement Research camp. Both events aim to inspire students to imagine a future in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers through ongoing collaborations, mentorship, and hands-on learning experiences. For nearly 25 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network. Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery. See videos of astronauts aboard the space station at: https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation -end- Gerelle Dodson Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov Sandra Jones Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsHumans in SpaceIn-flight Education DownlinksInternational Space Station (ISS)Johnson Space CenterNASA Headquarters View the full article

NASA/Charles Beason Two students guide their rover through an obstacle course in this April 11, 2025, image from the 2025 Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The annual engineering competition – one of NASA’s longest standing student challenges – is in its 31st year. This year’s competition challenged teams to design, build, and test a lunar rover powered by either human pilots or remote control. More than 500 students with 75 teams from around the world participated, representing 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools, and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 other nations. See the 2025 winners. Image credit: NASA/Charles Beason View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Library Scientific papers, industry forum presentations, and videos covering the concepts used in the digital information platform are available to the public. For those interested in a deeper understanding of the technical workings of DIP, please refer to these resources. Newsletters April 2025 December 2024 August 2024 June 2024 March 2024 November 2023 NASA Feature Stories NASA Partners With Airlines to Save Fuel, Reduce Flight Delays NASA Flight Rerouting Tool Curbs Delays, Emissions NASA Cloud-Based Platform Could Help Streamline, Improve Air Traffic NASA Machine Learning Air Traffic Software Saves Fuel Technical Papers View the Technical Papers Events View all the Events Fuser information from Airspace Technical Demonstration-2 industry day workshop Fuser Architecture Overview Video recordings of the presentations at the ATD-2 Industry Days Online Videos 2023 Jan 21 – AIAA LA LV NASA’s Digital Information Platform DIP to Accelerate NAS Transformation DIP Collaborative Digital Departure Reroute Overview Digital Information Platform Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago 2 min read DIP RFI Outbrief Session Article 12 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Aeronautics STEM Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Getty Images November 20, 2024 at 10:00 AM EST Digital Information Platform Virtual Workshop: A Virtual Workshop on Service Quality, Data Governance, Cybersecurity, and Interoperability June 28, 2023 at 10:00 AM EDT DIP Information Session: Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity (ACO) for Service Providers July 27, 2022 at 10:00 AM EDT DIP Announcement of Collaborative Opportunity (ACO) for Flight Operators February 23, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST DIP Workshop Series 3: DIP for Consumers January 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST DIP Workshop 2: DIP for Service Providers November 17, 2021 at 10:00 AM EST DIP Workshop Series 1: DIP Architecture and Data Integration Services August 18, 2021 at 10:00 AM EDT DIP RFI Outbrief Session April 14, 2021 at 11:00 AM EDT DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Digital Information Platform (DIP) DIP Library Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago 2 min read DIP RFI Outbrief Session Article 12 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Start April 14, 2021 at 11:00 AM EDTEnd April 14, 2021 at 1:00 PM EDT NASA’s Digital Information Platform (DIP) sub-project as part of Air Traffic Management -eXploration (ATM-X) project has recently released the Request for Information (RFI) to obtain information to define collaboration strategy and identify community needs and goals. As a follow-on activity, DIP hosted an online information session to provide the stakeholder community with background of DIP sub-project, example use cases, collaboration approach, and areas of potential contributions both from NASA and interested parties. The purpose of the information session was to help the community understand the scope of the sub-project and thus respond to the RFI in a meaningful way. Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Time: 11 am – 1 pm (Pacific Time) Agenda DIP Vision and Motivation Example Use Cases Collaboration Approach Demonstration Progression Information Requested RFI Instructions to Submit Question & Answer Resources Presentation slides Session Recording Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov) Digital Information Platform Digital Information Platform Events Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 2 min read DIP RFI Outbrief Session Article 12 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Start August 18, 2021 at 10:00 AM ESTEnd August 18, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST DIP RFI Outbrief Session NASA’s Digital Information Platform (DIP) sub-project as part of Air Traffic Management -eXploration (ATM-X) project has received responses to the Request for Information (RFI) from aviation community. As a follow-on activity, DIP is hosting an online information session to brief out to the community with the summary of RFI inputs as well as the latest updates on DIP sub-project planning. The purpose of this session is to share the valuable inputs from the RFI responses on data & service needs for airspace operations, recommended use cases for DIP collaborative demos, and potential data and technology services that can be provided by the DIP platform through NASA-industry collaboration. Interested parties are encouraged to register for the outbrief session by submitting the registration form shown below. The outbrief session will be organized by a series of presentation followed by a Q&A session, and will be available through MS Teams. Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Time: 10 am – 12 pm Pacific Agenda DIP Overview Partner Engagement Strategy Request for Information Responses Summary Demo Plan Overview Next Steps, Q&A Resources Presentation slides Session Recording Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov) Digital Information Platform Digital Information Platform Events Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA / DIP Start November 17, 2021 at 10:00 AM ESTEnd November 17, 2021 at 12:00 PM EST Workshop Series: What It’s About The Digital Information Platform (DIP) workshop series is intended to provide a deeper dive and a closer look at some of the core features being developed by the DIP sub-project under ATM-X. These workshops will give insight into DIP development, technology, and assumptions as well as providing a forum for engaging with the DIP team to pose questions and provide feedback on proposed designs. Engagement with the broader aviation community is a critical component to success of the DIP sub-project! There will be several workshops within this series spanning a variety of topics. Participants are encouraged to sign up for any workshop topics they feel they could contribute to or provide feedback on. Please keep an eye on the DIP homepage, under the upcoming events section, for future announcements of additional workshop topics! Workshop #1: DIP Architecture and Data Integration Services This workshop will cover DIP architecture and data integration services. Participants will get a look at how the DIP architecture is set-up as well as how data integration services are planned to be hosted on the platform. The DIP architecture review is intended to cover how DIP was envisioned and how DIP is being developed to address data needs across the industry. Participants will have a chance to provide feedback on the DIP architecture and gain insight into how one might interface with the DIP to send or receive data. The data integration services portion is intended to cover DIP’s technical approach to data integration. As an example implementation, there will be a first look at possible data fusion on the platform , including utilizing NASA’s Fuser, and tailoring for industry data consumers. Descriptions, at a high-level, of input to and output of the Fuser will also be discussed. Who Should Register? Participants interested in partnering with DIP and registering their service with the DIP platform are highly encouraged to attend this workshop. This is a unique opportunity for the aviation community to provide feedback and input on how this platform is structured to meet your needs. Data and service consumers as well as data and service providers are encouraged to attend this workshop to provide their feedback and input for DIP development. Participants looking to gain insight into upcoming DIP demonstrations or to learn more about DIP are encouraged to attend this workshop. Resources Presentation slides Session Recording Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov) Digital Information Platform Digital Information Platform Events Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Start January 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM ESTEnd January 12, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST Workshop Series: What It’s About The Digital Information Platform (DIP) workshop series intends to provide a deeper dive and a closer look at some of the core features being developed by the DIP sub-project under ATM-X. These workshops will give insight into DIP development, technology, and assumptions as well as providing a forum for engaging with the DIP team to pose questions and provide feedback on proposed designs. Engagement with the broader aviation community is a critical component to success of the DIP sub-project! There will be several workshops within this series spanning a variety of topics. Participants are encouraged to sign up for any workshop topics they feel they could contribute to or provide feedback on. Please keep an eye on the DIP homepage, under the upcoming events section, for future announcements of additional workshop topics! Workshop #2: DIP for Service Providers This workshop will cover topics related to Service Providers. Participants will get a look at how the DIP architecture supports the onboarding process as well as how NASA services are planned to be made available via the platform. The DIP for Service Providers is intended to cover how DIP was envisioned with regards to the following: Onboarding​ Announcement for Collaborative Opportunity, Space Act Agreements Interconnection Security Agreements & Authentication​ Catalog Service Capabilities​ Service Registration, Discovery & Try it now feature​ API Requirements, Service Specifications​ NASA Services and Access Points​ Machine Learning Services​ Data Access APIs​ Streaming Fuser Data​ S3 Bucket​ Data Requirements for Service Providers Who Should Register? Participants interested in partnering with DIP and registering their service with the DIP platform are highly encouraged to attend this workshop. This is a unique opportunity for the aviation community to provide feedback and input on how this platform is structured to meet your needs. Data and service consumers as well as data and service providers are encouraged to attend this workshop to provide their feedback and input for DIP development. Participants looking to gain insight into upcoming DIP demonstrations or to learn more about DIP are encouraged to attend this workshop. Agenda Onboarding​ Catalog Service Capabilities​ API Requirements, Service Specifications​ NASA Services and Access Points​ Data Requirements for Service Providers Resources Presentation slides Session Recording Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov) Digital Information Platform Digital Information Platform Events Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

4 Min Read NASA to Gather In-Flight Imagery of Commercial Test Capsule Re-Entry During the September 2023 daytime reentry of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule, the SCIFLI team captured visual data similar to what they're aiming to capture during Mission Possible. Credits: NASA/SCIFLI A NASA team specializing in collecting imagery-based engineering datasets from spacecraft during launch and reentry is supporting a European aerospace company’s upcoming mission to return a subscale demonstration capsule from space. NASA’s Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) team supports a broad range of mission needs across the agency, including Artemis, science missions like OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer), and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The SCIFLI team also supports other commercial space efforts, helping to develop and strengthen public-private partnerships as NASA works to advance exploration, further cooperation, and open space to more science, people, and opportunities. Later this month, SCIFLI intends to gather data on The Exploration Company’s Mission Possible capsule as it returns to Earth following the launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. One of the key instruments SCIFLI will employ is a spectrometer detects light radiating from the capsule’s surface, which researchers can use to determine the surface temperature of the spacecraft. Traditionally, much of this data comes from advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling of what happens when objects of various sizes, shapes, and materials enter different atmospheres, such as those on Earth, Mars, or Venus. “While very powerful, there is still some uncertainty in these Computational Fluid Dynamics models. Real-world measurements made by the SCIFLI team help NASA researchers refine their models, meaning better performance for sustained flight, higher safety margins for crew returning from the Moon or Mars, or landing more mass safely while exploring other planets,” said Carey Scott, SCIFLI capability lead at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. A rendering of a space capsule from The Exploration Company re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Image courtesy of The Exploration CompanyThe Exploration Company The SCIFLI team will be staged in Hawaii and will fly aboard an agency Gulfstream III aircraft during the re-entry of Mission Possible over the Pacific Ocean. “The data will provide The Exploration Company with a little bit of redundancy and a different perspective — a decoupled data package, if you will — from their onboard sensors,” said Scott. From the Gulfstream, SCIFLI will have the spectrometer and an ultra-high-definition telescope trained on Mission Possible. The observation may be challenging since the team will be tracking the capsule against the bright daytime sky. Researchers expect to be able to acquire the capsule shortly after entry interface, the point at roughly 200,000 feet, where the atmosphere becomes thick enough to begin interacting with a capsule, producing compressive effects such as heating, a shock layer, and the emission of photons, or light. Real-world measurements made by the SCIFLI team help NASA researchers refine their models, meaning better performance for sustained flight, higher safety margins for crew returning from the Moon or Mars, or landing more mass safely while exploring other planets. Carey Scott SCIFLI Capability Lead In addition to spectrometer data on Mission Possible’s thermal protection system, SCIFLI will capture imagery of the parachute system opening. First, a small drogue chute deploys to slow the capsule from supersonic to subsonic, followed by the deployment of a main parachute. Lastly, cloud-cover permitting, the team plans to image splashdown in the Pacific, which will help a recovery vessel reach the capsule as quickly as possible. If flying over the ocean and capturing imagery of a small capsule as it zips through the atmosphere during the day sounds difficult, it is. But this mission, like all SCIFLI’s assignments, has been carefully modeled, choreographed, and rehearsed in the months and weeks leading up to the mission. There will even be a full-dress rehearsal in the days just before launch. Not that there aren’t always a few anxious moments right as the entry interface is imminent and the team is looking out for its target. According to Scott, once the target is acquired, the SCIFLI team has its procedures nailed down to a — pardon the pun — science. “We rehearse, and we rehearse, and we rehearse until it’s almost memorized,” he said. Ari Haven, left, asset coodinator for SCIFLI’s support of Mission Possible, and Carey Scott, principal engineer for the mission, in front of the G-III aircraft the team will fly on. Credit: NASA/Carey ScottNASA/Carey Scott The Exploration Company, headquartered in Munich, Germany, and Bordeaux, France, enlisted NASA’s support through a reimbursable Space Act Agreement and will use SCIFLI data to advance future capsule designs. “Working with NASA on this mission has been a real highlight for our team. It shows what’s possible when people from different parts of the world come together with a shared goal,” said Najwa Naimy, chief program officer at The Exploration Company. “What the SCIFLI team is doing to spot and track our capsule in broad daylight, over the open ocean, is incredibly impressive. We’re learning from each other, building trust, and making real progress together.” NASA Langley is known for its expertise in engineering, characterizing, and developing spacecraft systems for entry, descent, and landing. The Gulfstream III aircraft is operated by the Flight Operations Directorate at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorJoe AtkinsonContactJoe Atkinsonjoseph.s.atkinson@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related TermsLangley Research CenterGeneralSpace Operations Mission Directorate Explore More 4 min read Career Exploration: Using Ingenuity and Innovation to Create ‘Memory Metals’ Article 20 hours ago 3 min read NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing Article 23 hours ago 2 min read NASA Seeks Commercial Feedback on Space Communication Solutions Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA / DIP Start February 23, 2022 at 10:00 AM EDTEnd February 23, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST Workshop Series: What It’s About The Digital Information Platform (DIP) workshop series intends to provide a deeper dive and a closer look at some of the core features being developed by the DIP sub-project under ATM-X. These workshops will give insight into DIP development, technology, and assumptions as well as providing a forum for engaging with the DIP team to pose questions and provide feedback on proposed designs. Engagement with the broader aviation community is a critical component to success of the DIP sub-project! There will be several workshops within this series spanning a variety of topics. Participants are encouraged to sign up for any workshop topics they feel they could contribute to or provide feedback on. Please keep an eye on the DIP homepage, under the upcoming events section, for future announcements of additional workshop topics! Workshop #3: DIP for Flight Operators and Consumers This workshop will cover topics related to Service Providers. Participants will get a look at how the DIP architecture supports the onboarding process as well as how NASA services are planned to be made available via the platform. The DIP for Service Providers is intended to cover how DIP was envisioned with regards to the following: Consumer Onboarding How to find and invoke services Showcase Demos Data integration services Data analytics using ML/AI technologies Progression of CDDR capabilities Performance Metrics Tech Dev Plan and Schedule updates Q/A Who Should Register? Participants interested in partnering with DIP and consuming services from the DIP platform are highly encouraged to attend this workshop. This is a unique opportunity for the aviation community to provide feedback and input on how this platform is structured to meet your needs. Data and service consumers as well as data and service providers are encouraged to attend this workshop to provide their feedback and input for DIP development. Participants looking to gain insight into upcoming DIP demonstrations or to learn more about DIP are encouraged to attend this workshop. Resources Presentation slides Session Recording Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov) Digital Information Platform Digital Information Platform Events Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA / DIP Start July 27, 2022 at 10:00 AM EDTEnd June 27, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST What It’s About? DIP is hosting an online session to provide detailed information on the CDDR service, scope of the collaborative opportunity, partner responsibilities and ACO response submission instructions. The intent is to share information for interested parties to make an informed decision to collaborate and successfully respond to the ACO. (For the details of the collaboration, please read the full Announcement on sam.gov website (ID: 80ARC022JAI-DIP)). The ACO is the first step to collaborate with NASA on this project. Flight Operators selected from the ACO process will contribute and benefit from the Sustainable Aviation (SA) demonstration to test and validate a cloud-based departure reroute service called Collaborative Digital Departure Reroute (CDDR) during FY22-24. CDDR has been shown to reduce fuel burn and emissions through reduced surface departure delays, which benefits re-routed flights as well as all other related departures in the operational area. Agenda Sustainable Aviation (SA) demonstrations overview​ DIP platform and digital services overview Expectations of partners ACO walkthrough and how to submit What to expect after an ACO is submitted Q/A Who Should Register? This information session is primarily designed to assist flight operators with the ACO process. While other aviation industry participants are not discouraged from attending this session, the focus will be on the flight operator portion of our audience. An additional ACO for service providers will be announced on a future date. Resources Presentation slides Session Recording Request materials via email (arc-dip-ext@mail.nasa.gov) Digital Information Platform Digital Information Platform Events Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASAes Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 1 min read Digital Information Platform Library Article 10 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Events Article 11 minutes ago 1 min read DIP Request for Information (RFI) Information Session Article 11 minutes ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans In Space Solar System Exploration Eyes on the Solar System Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Jun 18, 2025 EditorLillian GipsonContactJim Bankejim.banke@nasa.gov Related TermsDigital Information PlatformAir Traffic Management – Exploration View the full article