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NASA Honor Award recipients are shown with their award plaques, alongside NASA Stennis Space Center Director John Bailey and Deputy Director Christine Powell, following the ceremony at NASA Stennis on Aug. 13. Pictured (left to right) is Andrew Bracey, Briou Bourgeois, Jared Grover, Robert Simmers, Robert Williams, Richard Wear, Tom Stanley, Alison Dardar, Marvin Horne, Cary Tolman, Tim Pierce, Rebecca Mataya, Bailey, Powell, Gina Ladner, and Brittany Bouche. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Space Center Director John Bailey speaks to employees during the NASA Honor Awards ceremony at NASA Stennis on Aug. 13. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Space Center Director John Bailey and Deputy Director Christine Powell presented NASA Honor Awards to employees during an onsite ceremony Aug. 13. One NASA Stennis employee received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal. The medal is awarded to government employees for notable leadership accomplishments that have significantly influenced the NASA mission. Marvin Horne of Fulton, Maryland, received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for his work in the Office of Procurement that has resulted in significant cost savings for the agency. Among his accomplishments, Horne designed, implemented, and led an integrated contract management office between NASA Stennis, NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The office transformed facility services from independent models to a shared model. The innovative solution was the first joint contract management office at NASA Stennis comprised of procurement, finance, and technical personnel designed to implement effective and efficient business processes. Horne currently serves as the NASA acting administrator for procurement. Three NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal. The medal is awarded to government employees for sustained performance that embodies multiple contributions to NASA projects, programs, or initiatives. Jared Grover of Diamondhead, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions to the success of the NASA Stennis E Test Complex through his dedication and technical expertise. As a NASA mechanical operations engineer, he has led various testing and facility preparation efforts, worked with challenging propellants, and trained new personnel. His work has supported numerous NASA and commercial aerospace projects Grover is also active in community outreach, promoting NASA’s mission and inspiring future engineers. Tim Pierce of Long Beach, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal following 26 years with NASA and 41 years working at NASA Stennis as a contractor and civil servant in the Center Operations Directorate. Through Pierce’s contributions, NASA Stennis became a leader in drafting agreements with external agencies, streamlining administrative procedures, and enhancing partnerships. In one notable instance, he led efforts to collaborate with county officials on a sewer treatment project that will save costs and optimize underused infrastructure. Pierce retired from NASA in January 2025. Barry Robinson of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in absentia for service to the nation’s space program and achievement across multiple propulsion test programs and projects. Robinson joined NASA in 1994 and worked on the space shuttle main engine test project, eventually becoming a test operations consultant. Over the years, Robinson held various roles, including chief of the NASA Stennis Mechanical Engineering Branch and project manager for projects supporting NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Robinson retired from NASA in December 2024. One NASA Stennis employee received NASA’s Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal. The medal is awarded to both government and non-government individuals for exceptional engineering contributions toward achievement of NASA’s mission. Richard Wear of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal for his contributions to the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. Wear serves as the subject matter expert in thermal and fluid systems analysis. In that role, he has greatly contributed to facilitating the use of liquid natural gas propellant in testing onsite, including by developing a Cryogenics in Propulsion Testing training course to support future test projects and programs. His contributions have significantly enhanced NASA’s support for commercial partners at NASA Stennis. Eight NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal. This medal is awarded to any government employee for a significant specific achievement or substantial improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which contributes to the mission of NASA. Leslie Anderson of Picayune, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in absentia for leadership and customer service as the lead accountant in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at NASA Stennis. Anderson has successfully managed critical financial activities with technical expertise, project management, and strong customer service skills. Her efforts help maintain federal partnerships worth approximately $70 million annually and contribute to the success of NASA Stennis, demonstrating NASA’s core values of integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion. Alison Dardar of Diamondhead, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for innovation in improving financial and technical processes associated with the $1 billion-plus consolidated operations and maintenance contract for NASA Stennis and NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. As senior budget analyst in the NASA Stennis Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Dardar led in identifying and addressing key reporting and accounting issues related to the contract. Her innovations resulted in a 55% improvement in cost reporting accuracy and $20 million in savings to the contract. Gina Ladner of Diamondhead, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for management, problem solving, and leadership during a year-long detail as chief of the NASA Stennis Facilities Services Division. During the year, Ladner led the division team through numerous changes and tackled unexpected challenges, including a severe weather event that featured confirmed tornados onsite and a contractor work stoppage activity, to ensure ongoing site operations. She also led in numerous infrastructure investments, including repairs to roadways, fire systems, and communications equipment. Rebecca Mataya of Carriere, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for service as a budget analyst in the NASA Stennis Office of the Chief Financial Officer in improving processes and operations. As an analyst on the procurement development team for a new operations, services, and infrastructure contract, Mataya identified creative methods to increase cost savings and maximize facility projects. She also has helped secure over $408 million for facility improvements, enhancing water systems, power generation, and more. Tom Stanley of Biloxi, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for contributions to improve NASA’s technology transfer process. As the NASA Stennis technology transfer officer, he developed a tool to standardize and automate evaluation of software usage agreements, reducing costs by 10 times and evaluation time by 75%. The changes led to record numbers of agreements awarded. Stanley also created a tool for contract closeouts, which has contributed to cost savings for the agency. Cary Tolman of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for work in the NASA Office of the General Counsel. Beyond her role as procurement attorney, Tolman established a software and management audit review team to provide consistent and timely legal advice on software licenses and terms. Tolman’s work has helped NASA save $85 million and simplified legal support for software issues while reducing cybersecurity and financial risk. Casey Wheeler of Gulfport, Mississippi, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for leadership and innovation in replacing the high pressure water industrial water system that supports crucial testing facilities at NASA Stennis. As project manager in the NASA Stennis Center Operations Directorate, Wheeler showcased his planning and coordination skills by completing the complex project without delaying rocket engine testing. His work restored the system to full design pressure in an area that directly supports NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket through RS-25 engine testing, and other critical projects. Dale Woolridge of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in absentia for contributions as project manager in the NASA Stennis Center Operations Directorate. Woolridge successfully led multiple construction projects, completing them on time and within budget. One notable project was the refurbishment of the miter gates at NASA Stennis’ navigational lock, which supports NASA’s rocket engine testing operations. The team completed the refurbishment ahead of schedule and within budget, ensuring minimal disruption to NASA operations. Four NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Early Career Achievement Medal. The medal is awarded to government employees for unusual and significant performance during the first 10 years of an individual’s career in support of the agency. Briou Bourgeois of Pass Christian, Mississippi, received the NASA Early Career Achievement for his contributions in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. Bourgeois joined NASA in 2017 and has worked on various projects, including the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage Green Run test series and RS-25 engine testing for Artemis missions. Bourgeois played a key role in modifying the liquid oxygen tanking process during the SLS core stage series. He has since become test director in the NASA Stennis E Test Complex and a leader in commercial test projects at NASA Stennis. Brandon Ladner of Poplarville, Mississippi, received the NASA Early Career Achievement Medal for contributions to the Exploration Upper Stage Test Project on the Thad Cochran Test Stand at NASA Stennis. As the NASA lead mechanical design engineer for the project, Ladner has significantly contributed to the design and build-up of the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand in preparation for Green Run testing of the new SLS (Space Launch System) upper stage. He has led in completion of numerous large design packages and provided valuable engineering oversight to improve construction schedule. Robert Simmers of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Early Career Achievement for his expertise and versatility since joining NASA in 2015 as a member of the NASA Stennis Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate team. He serves as the safety point of contact for the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2). In that role, he supported all operations during Green Run testing of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) core stage. Simmers also has supported safety audits at various NASA centers. In 2020, he became the NASA Stennis explosive safety officer responsible for explosive safety and compliance. Robert Williams of Gulfport, Mississippi, received the NASA Early Career Achievement for his work in the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate. Williams has worked with NASA for eight years, serving as a lead mechanical design engineer for several commercial test projects. Williams is recognized as a subject matter expert in structural systems and has contributed to various NASA Stennis projects, providing technical and modeling expertise. Two NASA Stennis employees received NASA’s Silver Achievement Medal. The medal is awarded to any government or non-government employee for a stellar achievement that supports one or more of NASA’s core values, when it is deemed to be extraordinarily important and appropriate to recognize such achievement in a timely and personalized manner. Brittany Bouche of Slidell, Louisiana, received the NASA Silver Achievement Medal for contributions in the NASA Stennis Center Operations Directorate. Bouche has held multiple key roles in the Facilities Services Division, including acting deputy, maintenance and operations lead, and project manager for several construction projects. She has successfully led various design and construction projects, completing them on time and within budget. These include a $9.1 million sewage system and treatment repair project, successfully completed with minimal service impact. Andrew Bracey of Picayune, Mississippi, received the NASA Silver Achievement Medal for contributions as a NASA electrical design engineer at NASA Stennis. He has provided critical design support for work related to Green Run testing of the new SLS (Space Launch System) exploration upper stage. Bracey also has been crucial to the NASA Stennis vision of supporting commercial aerospace testing, leading preliminary design reviews for multiple projects onsite. Read More on Stennis Space Center Share Details Last Updated Aug 14, 2025 EditorNASA Stennis CommunicationsContactC. Lacy Thompsoncalvin.l.thompson@nasa.gov / (228) 688-3333LocationStennis Space Center Related TermsStennis Space Center Explore More 6 min read A Defining Era: NASA Stennis and Space Shuttle Main Engine Testing Article 3 months ago 4 min read NASA Stennis Releases First Open-Source Software Article 3 months ago 5 min read NASA Stennis Software is Built for Future Growth Article 3 months ago View the full article

NASA has demonstrated a breakthrough in 3D-printable high-temperature materials that could lead to stronger, more durable parts for airplanes and spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin NASA’s Inventions and Contributions Board (ICB) has awarded Commercial Invention of the Year to NASA Glenn Research Center’s GRX-810: A 3D Printable Alloy Designed for Extreme Environments. NASA Alloy GRX–810, an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy, can endure temperatures over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. It is more malleable and can survive more than 1,000 times longer than existing state-of-the-art alloys. This new alloy can be used to build aerospace parts for high-temperature applications, like those inside aircraft and rocket engines, because ODS alloys can withstand harsher conditions before reaching their breaking point. The NASA Glenn team of inventors includes Dr. Timothy Smith (co-lead), Dr. Christopher Kantzos (co-lead), Robert Carter, and Dr. Michael Kulis. Four American companies have been granted co-exclusive licenses to produce and market GRX-810 material. All four have replicated NASA Glenn’s patented process and are selling fully coated materials. This benefits the United States economy as a return on investment of taxpayer dollars. For more information on this technology, visit 3D Printed Alloy and New Material Built to Withstand Extreme Conditions. The NASA insignia is 3D printed using the GRX-810 superalloy. Video Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin Additionally, the ICB selected NASA Glenn’s High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN) project for an honorable mention in the Software of the Year category. HDTN is a protocol suite that extends terrestrial internet principles to the space environment, creating a high-speed data transfer path for spacecraft and different communication systems. It is an optimized version of the DTN standard for high-rate radio frequency and optical links.  The ICB reviews and recommends awards for significant scientific and technical contributions to the agency’s aeronautical and space activities. These awards recognize technologies that not only advance NASA’s mission but also benefit the public through commercialization. Return to Newsletter Explore More 2 min read NASA Glenn Shoots for the Stars During WNBA All-Star Weekend Article 1 day ago 3 min read NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Design and Certification Article 2 weeks ago 3 min read NASA Rehearses How to Measure X-59’s Noise Levels Article 3 weeks ago View the full article

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Research Aircraft for electric Vertical takeoff and landing Enabling techNologies Subscale Wind Tunnel and Flight Test undergoes a free flight test on the City Environment Range Testing for Autonomous Integrated Navigation range at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on April 22, 2025.NASA/Rob Lorkiewicz Flying the friendly skies may one day include time-saving trips in air taxis to get from point A to point B – and NASA researchers are currently working to make that future a reality. They are using wind tunnel and flight tests to gather data on an electric Vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) scaled-down small aircraft that resembles an air taxi that aircraft manufacturers can use for their own designs. As air taxis take to the skies, engineers need real-world data on air taxi designs to better understand flight dynamics and design better flight control systems. These systems help stabilize and guide the motion of an aircraft while in flight, making sure it flies safely in various conditions. Currently, most companies developing air taxis keep the information about how their aircraft behaves internal, so NASA is using this small aircraft to produce public, non-proprietary data available to all. “NASA’s ability to perform high-risk flight research for increasingly automated and autonomous aircraft is really important,” said Siena Whiteside, who leads the Research Aircraft for eVTOL Enabling techNologies (RAVEN) project. “As we investigate these types of vehicles, we need to be able push the aircraft to its limits and understand what happens when an unforeseen event occurs…” For example, Whiteside said, “…when a motor stops working. NASA is willing to take that risk and publish the data so that everyone can benefit from it.” Researchers Jody Miller, left, and Brayden Chamberlain, right, stand by a crane that is used for tethered flight testing of the Research Aircraft for electric Vertical takeoff and landing Enabling techNologies Subscale Wind Tunnel and Flight Test at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on Oct. 18, 2024.NASA/Ben Simmons Testing Air Taxi Tech By using a smaller version of a full-sized aircraft called the RAVEN Subscale Wind Tunnel and Flight Test (RAVEN SWFT) vehicle, NASA is able to conduct its tests in a fast and cost-effective manner. The small aircraft weighs 38 pounds with a wingspan of six feet and has 24 independently moving components. Each component, called a “control effector,” can move during flight to change the aircraft’s motion – making it an ideal aircraft for advanced flight controls and autonomous flight research. The testing is ongoing at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Researchers first used the center’s 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel in 2024 and have since moved on to flight testing the small aircraft, piloting it remotely from the ground. During initial flight tests, the aircraft flew while tied to a tether. Now, the team performs free flights. Lessons learned from the aircraft’s behavior in the wind tunnel helped to reduce risks during flight tests. In the wind tunnel, researchers performed tests that closely mirror the motion of real flight. While the scale aircraft was in motion, researchers collected information about its flight characteristics, greatly accelerating the time from design to flight. The team also could refine the aircraft’s computer control code in real time and upload software changes to it in under 5 minutes, saving them weeks and increasing the amount of data collected. Researchers Ben Simmons, left, and Greg Howland, right, upload software changes in real time to the Research Aircraft for electric Vertical takeoff and landing Enabling techNologies Subscale Wind Tunnel and Flight Test at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia on Aug. 8, 2024, during testing in the 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel.NASA/David C. Bowman Partners in Research NASA developed the custom flight controls software for RAVEN SWFT using tools from the company MathWorks. NASA and MathWorks are partners under a Space Act Agreement to accelerate the design and testing of flight control approaches on RAVEN SWFT, which can apply to future novel aircraft. The work has allowed NASA’s researchers to develop new methods to reduce the time for an aircraft to achieve its first flight and become a finished product. RAVEN SWFT serves as a steppingstone to support the development of a potential larger, 1,000 pound-class RAVEN aircraft that will resemble an air taxi. This larger RAVEN aircraft is being designed in collaboration with Georgia Institute of Technology and also would serve as an acoustical research tool, helping engineers understand the noise air taxi-like aircraft create. The larger aircraft would allow NASA to continue to collect data and share it openly. By performing flight research and making its data publicly available, NASA aims to advance U.S. leadership in technology development for safe, quiet, and affordable advanced air mobility operations. Watch this Air Taxi Tests Video Facebook logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Instagram logo @NASA@NASAaero@NASA_es Linkedin logo @NASA Explore More 4 min read NASA Seeks Moon and Mars Innovations Through University Challenge Article 14 hours ago 3 min read NASA Uses Wind Tunnel to Test Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft Wing Article 7 days ago 3 min read Three NASA Langley Employees Win Prestigious Silver Snoopy Awards Article 7 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Artemis Aeronautics STEM Explore NASA’s History Share Details Last Updated Aug 13, 2025 EditorJim BankeContactDiana Fitzgeralddiana.r.fitzgerald@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related TermsAeronauticsAdvanced Air MobilityAeronautics Research Mission DirectorateDrones & YouFlight Demos CapabilitiesIntegrated Aviation Systems ProgramLangley Research CenterNASA AircraftTransformational Tools TechnologiesTransformative Aeronautics Concepts Program View the full article

Credit: NASA U.S. Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy joined President Donald J. Trump at the White House Wednesday for the historic signing of the Executive Order (EO), “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry.” “People think the Department of Transportation (DOT) is just planes, trains, and automobiles – but we have a critical role to play in unlocking the final frontier. By slashing red tape tying up spaceport construction, streamlining launch licenses so they can occur at scale, and creating high-level space positions in government, we can unleash the next wave of innovation. At NASA, this means continuing to work with commercial space companies and improving our spaceports’ ability to launch,” said Duffy. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we will enable American space competitiveness and superiority for decades to come. I look forward to leveraging my dual role at DOT and NASA to make this dream a reality.” The EO will enable a competitive launch marketplace and substantially increase commercial space launch cadence and novel space activities by 2030. “The FAA strongly supports President Trump’s Executive Order to make sure the U.S. leads the growing space economy and continues to lead the world in space transportation and innovation,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “This order safely removes regulatory barriers so that U.S. companies can dominate commercial space activities.” Executive Order highlights: The “Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry” EO will help to: Streamline commercial license and permit approvals for United States-based operators. This includes eliminating regulatory barriers and expediting environmental reviews for commercial launches and reentries. Cut unnecessary red tape to make it easier to build new spaceports in the U.S. where more commercial space operations will be launched from. To ensure this Next Generation Spaceport Infrastructure, duplicate review process will be eliminated, and environmental reviews will be expedited. Promote new space activities like in-space manufacturing and orbital refueling through a streamlined framework. Expediting and streamlining authorization for this Novel Space Activity is essential to American space competitiveness and superiority. Establish a new position in the Office of the Secretary with the responsibility of advising the Secretary of Transportation on fostering innovation and deregulation in the commercial space industry. The FAA’s associate administrator for Commercial Space Transportation also will be a senior executive non-career employee, and the Office of Space Commerce will be elevated into the Office of the Commerce Secretary. Mitigate the risk of the United States losing its competitive edge in the commercial space industry by dismantling regulatory barriers that prevent rapid innovation and expansion. For more information about the EO, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/3J8fMZ5 -end- Bethany Stevens Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Aug 13, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsNASA HeadquartersCommercial SpaceThe Future of Commercial Space View the full article

National Institute of Aerospace NASA is calling on the next generation of collegiate innovators to imagine bold new concepts l pushing the boundaries of human exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond through the 2026 NASA Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition. The RASC-AL challenge fuels innovation for aerospace systems concepts, analogs, and technology prototyping by bridging gaps through university engagement with NASA and industry. The competition is seeking U.S.-based undergraduate and graduate-level teams and their faculty advisors to develop new concepts to improve our ability to operate on the Moon and Mars. This year’s themes range from developing systems and technologies to support exploration of the lunar surface, to enhancing humanity’s ability to operate and return data from the surface of Mars. Award: $112,000 in total prizes Open Date: August 13, 2025 Close Date: February 23, 2026 For more information, visit:  https://rascal.nianet.org/ View the full article

National Institute of Aerospace NASA is calling on the next generation of collegiate innovators to imagine bold new concepts l pushing the boundaries of human exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond through the agency’s 2026 NASA Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition. The RASC-AL challenge fuels innovation for aerospace systems concepts, analogs, and technology prototyping by bridging gaps through university engagement with NASA and industry. The competition is seeking U.S.-based undergraduate and graduate-level teams and their faculty advisors to develop new concepts to improve our ability to operate on the Moon and Mars. This year’s themes range from developing systems and technologies to support exploration of the lunar surface, to enhancing humanity’s ability to operate and return data from the surface of Mars. “This competition is a unique opportunity for university students to play a role in the future of space innovation,” said Dan Mazanek, assistant branch head of NASA’s Exploration Space Mission Analysis Branch at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia. “The RASC-AL challenge fuels creativity and empowers students to explore what’s possible. We’re excited for another year of RASC-AL and fresh ideas coming our way.” Interested and eligible teams are invited to propose groundbreaking solutions and systems approaches that redefine how humans live and explore in deep space with relation to one of the following themes: Communications, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Architectures for Mars Surface Operations Lunar Surface Power and Power Management and Distribution Architectures Lunar Sample Return Concept Lunar Technology Demonstrations Leveraging Common Infrastructure Teams should express their intent to participate by submitting a non-binding notice of intent by Monday Oct. 13. Teams who submit a notice will be invited to a question-and-answer session with NASA subject matter experts on Monday Oct. 27. The proposals, due Monday Feb. 23, 2026, are required to be seven-to-nine pages with an accompanying two-to-three-minute video. Proposals should demonstrate innovative solutions with original engineering and analysis in response to one of the four 2026 RASC-AL themes. Each team’s response should address novel and robust technologies, capabilities, and operational models that support expanding human’s ability to thrive beyond Earth. Based on review of the team proposal and video submissions, in March, up to 14 teams will be selected to advance to the final phase of the competition – writing a technical paper, creating a technical poster, and presenting their concepts to a panel of NASA and industry experts in a competitive design review at the 2026 RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida, beginning Monday June 1, 2026. “The RASC-AL challenge enables students to think like NASA engineers—and in doing so, they often become the engineers who will carry NASA forward,” said Dr. Christopher Jones, RASC-AL program sponsor and Chief Technologist for the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley. “The concepts they develop for this year’s competition will help inform our future strategies.” Each finalist team will receive a $7,000 stipend to facilitate their full participation in the 2026 RASC-AL competition, and the top two overall winning teams will each be awarded an additional $7,000 cash prize as well as an invitation to attend and present their concept at an aerospace conference later in 2026. The 2026 NASA RASC-AL competition is administered by the National Institute of Aerospace on behalf of NASA. The RASC-AL competition is sponsored by the agency’s Strategy and Architecture Office in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), and the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in STMD, manages the challenge. For more information about the RASC-AL competition, including eligibility and submission guidelines, visit: https://rascal.nianet.org/. View the full article

Dr. Compton J. Tucker – a senior researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) – joins 149 newly elected members to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) – see Photo. NAS is one of the highest honors in American science. Compton gave a virtual presentation at GSFC on July 21, 2025, in which he showed highlights from his 50 years of research and reflected on the honor of being selected as an NAS fellow. He admitted that he was surprised upon learning of his election in April 2025 – despite his prestigious career. Photo 1. Compton Tucker uses satellites to address global environmental challenges. Photo credit: Colorado State University In some ways this award brings Compton’s career full circle. He first came to GSFC as a NAS postdoc in 1975 after having earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree at Colorado State University (CSU) in 1969. He followed with his Master’s of Science degree and Ph.D. from CSU’s College of Forestry in 1973 and 1975 respectively. Two years later, he joined NASA as a civil servant. After a prestigious 48 years of public service, Compton has decided to retire in March 2025. Compton is a well-known pioneer in the field of satellite-based environmental analysis, using data from various U.S. Geological Survey–NASA Landsat missions and from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument, the prototype of which launched aboard the Television Infrared Observation Satellite–N (TIROS-N) in 1978, with launches continuing on NOAA and European polar orbiting satellites throughout the next 40 years. The last two AVHRR instruments, which launched on the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites’ (EUMETSAT) Meteorological Operational satellites (METOP–B and -C) in 2012 and 2018 respectively, are still operational today. Photo 2. Earth scientist Compton Tucker, who has studied remote sensing of vegetation at NASA Goddard for 50 years, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Photo credit: Compton Tucker In his GSFC presentation, Compton described how, in the course of doing their research, he and his colleague(s) realized the original plans for AVHRR resulted in Channel 1 and 2 overlapping one another. In short, he explained that his input helped persuade NOAA management to change the design for Channel 1 of AVHRR – beginning with NOAA-7. It is fair to say that this change had a lasting impact, with 16 more AVHRR instruments (with slight modifications over time) launched over the next four decades. Compton’s research has focused on global photosynthesis on land (e.g., grass-dominated savannas), determined land cover (i.e., forest fragmentation, deforestation, and forest condition), monitored droughts and food security, and evaluated ecologically coupled disease outbreaks. From 2005 to 2010, he was the co-chair of two Interagency Working Groups for Observations and Land Use and Land Cover Change. Compton was active in NASA’s Space Archaeology Program, participating in ground-based radar and magnetic surveys in Turkey, particularly at Troy, the Granicus River Valley, and Gordion. Over the course of his 50-year career, he has authored or co-authored more than 400 scholarly articles that have appeared in scientific journals – and in his presentation he hinted that more might be in store after retirement. Compton has received numerous scientific awards and honors. He was elected to a fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2009 and to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2015. He received the Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service (2017), the Vega Medal from the Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography (2014), the Galathea Medal from the Royal Danish Geographical Society (2004), the William T. Pecora Award from the U.S. Geological Survey (1997), the Michael Collins Trophy for Current Achievement from the National Air and Space Museum (1993), the Henry Shaw Medal from the Missouri Botanical Garden (1992), and the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal from NASA (1987). Compton enjoyed sharing his knowledge with the next generation of scientists. He served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland (1994–2024) and a consulting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (2005–2024). Congratulations to Compton on earning this prestigious – and well-earned – recognition from NAS. Best wishes to him in whatever is next on his journey. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and – with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine – provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. View the full article

NASA/Bill White An alligator moves through a brackish waterway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this May 8, 2017, photo. The center shares space with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles call NASA Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home. The refuge is also home to over 1,000 known plant species. Image credit: NASA/Bill White View the full article

Science Launching on NASA's SpaceX 33rd Cargo Resupply Mission to the Space Station

Explore Hubble Science Hubble Space Telescope NASA’s Hubble Uncovers Rare… Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered AI and Hubble Science Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts Multimedia 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 5 min read NASA’s Hubble Uncovers Rare White Dwarf Merger Remnant This is an illustration of a white dwarf star merging into a red giant star. A bow shock forms as the dwarf plunges through the star’s outer atmosphere. The passage strips down the white dwarf’s outer layers, exposing an interior carbon core. Artwork: NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI) An international team of astronomers has discovered a cosmic rarity: an ultra-massive white dwarf star resulting from a white dwarf merging with another star, rather than through the evolution of a single star. This discovery, made by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope’s sensitive ultraviolet observations, suggests these rare white dwarfs may be more common than previously suspected. “It’s a discovery that underlines things may be different from what they appear to us at first glance,” said the principal investigator of the Hubble program, Boris Gaensicke, of the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. “Until now, this appeared as a normal white dwarf, but Hubble’s ultraviolet vision revealed that it had a very different history from what we would have guessed.” A white dwarf is a dense object with the same diameter as Earth, and represents the end state for stars that are not massive enough to explode as core-collapse supernovae. Our Sun will become a white dwarf in about 5 billion years. In theory, a white dwarf can have a mass of up to 1.4 times that of the Sun, but white dwarfs heavier than the Sun are rare. These objects, which astronomers call ultra-massive white dwarfs, can form either through the evolution of a single massive star or through the merger of a white dwarf with another star, such as a binary companion. This new discovery, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, marks the first time that a white dwarf born from colliding stars has been identified by its ultraviolet spectrum. Prior to this study, six white dwarf merger products were discovered via carbon lines in their visible-light spectra. All seven of these are part of a larger group that were found to be bluer than expected for their masses and ages from a study with ESA’s Gaia mission in 2019, with the evidence of mergers providing new insights into their formation history. Astronomers used Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph to investigate a white dwarf called WD 0525+526. Located 128 light-years away, it is 20% more massive than the Sun. In visible light, the spectrum of WD 0525+526’s atmosphere resembled that of a typical white dwarf. However, Hubble’s ultraviolet spectrum revealed something unusual: evidence of carbon in the white dwarf’s atmosphere. White dwarfs that form through the evolution of a single star have atmospheres composed of hydrogen and helium. The core of the white dwarf is typically composed mostly of carbon and oxygen or oxygen and neon, but a thick atmosphere usually prevents these elements from appearing in the white dwarf’s spectrum. When carbon appears in the spectrum of a white dwarf, it can signal a more violent origin than the typical single-star scenario: the collision of two white dwarfs, or of a white dwarf and a subgiant star. Such a collision can burn away the hydrogen and helium atmospheres of the colliding stars, leaving behind a scant layer of hydrogen and helium around the merger remnant that allows carbon from the white dwarf’s core to float upward, where it can be detected. WD 0525+526 is remarkable even within the small group of white dwarfs known to be the product of merging stars. With a temperature of almost 21,000 kelvins (37,000 degrees Fahrenheit) and a mass of 1.2 solar masses, WD 0525+526 is hotter and more massive than the other white dwarfs in this group. WD 0525+526’s extreme temperature posed something of a mystery for the team. For cooler white dwarfs, such as the six previously discovered merger products, a process called convection can mix carbon into the thin hydrogen-helium atmosphere. WD 0525+526 is too hot for convection to take place, however. Instead, the team determined a more subtle process called semi-convection brings a small amount of carbon up into WD 0525+526’s atmosphere. WD 0525+526 has the smallest amount of atmospheric carbon of any white dwarf known to result from a merger, about 100,000 times less than other merger remnants. The high temperature and low carbon abundance mean that identifying this white dwarf as the product of a merger would have been impossible without Hubble’s sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Spectral lines from elements heavier than helium, like carbon, become fainter at visible wavelengths for hotter white dwarfs, but these spectral signals remain bright in the ultraviolet, where Hubble is uniquely positioned to spot them. “Hubble’s Cosmic Origins Spectrograph is the only instrument that can obtain the superb quality ultraviolet spectroscopy that was required to detect the carbon in the atmosphere of this white dwarf,” said study lead Snehalata Sahu from the University of Warwick. Because WD 0525+526’s origin was revealed only once astronomers glimpsed its ultraviolet spectrum, it’s likely that other seemingly “normal” white dwarfs are actually the result of cosmic collisions — a possibility the team is excited to explore in the future. “We would like to extend our research on this topic by exploring how common carbon white dwarfs are among similar white dwarfs, and how many stellar mergers are hiding among the normal white dwarf family,” said study co-leader Antoine Bedrad from the University of Warwick. “That will be an important contribution to our understanding of white dwarf binaries, and the pathways to supernova explosions.” The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA. To learn more about Hubble, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/hubble Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Related Images & Videos White Dwarf Merger Illustration This is an illustration of a white dwarf star merging into a red giant star. A bow shock forms as the dwarf plunges through the star’s outer atmosphere. The passage strips down the white dwarf’s outer layers, exposing an interior carbon core. Explore More Spectroscopy Studying light in detail allows astronomers to uncover the very nature of the objects that emit, absorb, or reflect light. Hubble Directly Measures Mass of Lone White Dwarf Astronomers using Hubble have for the first time directly measured the mass of a single, isolated white dwarf. Dead Star Caught Ripping Up Planetary System Astronomers have observed a white dwarf star that is consuming both rocky-metallic and icy material, the ingredients of planets. Water-rich Planetary Building Blocks Found Around White Dwarf Astronomers using Hubble found the building blocks of solid planets that are capable of having substantial amounts of water. Share Details Last Updated Aug 13, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact Media Claire Andreoli NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland claire.andreoli@nasa.gov Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute Baltimore, Maryland Bethany Downer ESA/Hubble Garching, Germany Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Stars The Universe White Dwarfs Related Links and Documents Science Paper: A hot white dwarf merger remnant revealed by an ultraviolet detection of carbon, PDF (23.45 MB) 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 Science Highlights Hubble Images Hubble News View the full article

Research traveling to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s SpaceX 33rd commercial resupply mission includes testing 3D bioprinting of an implantable medical device, observing behavior of engineered liver tissues, examining microgravity’s effects on bone-forming cells, and additional 3D printing of metal in space. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the orbiting laboratory in late August. For nearly 25 years, the International Space Station has provided research capabilities used by scientists from over 110 countries to conduct more than 4,000 groundbreaking experiments in microgravity. Research conducted aboard the space station advances future space exploration – including missions to the Moon and Mars – and provides multiple benefits to humanity. Read more about some of the latest investigations headed to the orbiting lab. Better nerve bridge Eight implantable nerve devices printed on the space station.Auxilium Biotechnologies Scientists are creating an implantable device in microgravity that could support nerve regrowth after injuries. The device is created through bioprinting, a type of 3D printing that uses living cells or proteins as raw materials. Traumatic injuries can leave a gap between nerves, and existing treatments have limited ability to restore nerve function and may result in impaired physical function. A bioprinted device to bridge the nerve gap could accelerate recovery and preserve function. “On this mission, we plan to print up to 18 of the implants and anticipate using them in preclinical studies on the ground in 2026 and 2027,” said Jacob Koffler, principal investigator at Auxilium Biotechnologies Inc in San Diego. Tissues bioprinted in microgravity may be higher quality than those made on Earth and results could support future manufacturing of medical devices in space for crew members on space missions and patients on Earth. Bioprinted tissues with blood vessels A researcher holds vascularized tissue bioprinted on the ground for study in space.The Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine Researchers plan to bioprint liver tissue containing blood vessels on the ground and examine how the tissue develops in microgravity. Results could help support the eventual production of entire functional organs for transplantation on Earth. A previous mission tested whether this type of bioprinted liver tissue survived and functioned in space, according to James Yoo, principal investigator at the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem. This round could show whether microgravity improves development of the bioprinted tissue. “We are especially keen on accelerating the development of vascular networks in the tissue,” Yoo said. Vascular networks produce the blood vessels needed to keep these tissues functional and healthy. Blocking bone loss A microscopic image of stem cells derived from human bone marrow stained with red dye.Mayo Clinic A study of bone-forming stem cells in microgravity could provide insight into the basic mechanisms of the bone loss astronauts experience during space flight. Researchers identified a protein in the body called IL-6 that can send signals to stem cells to promote either bone formation or bone loss. This work evaluates whether blocking IL-6 signals could reduce bone loss during spaceflight. “If we are successful, the compound also can be evaluated for the treatment of conditions associated with bone loss on Earth, such as osteoporosis and certain types of cancers,” said Abba Zubair, principal investigator at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Space printing goes metal Metal specimens printed on the ground for ESA’s Metal 3D Printer investigation.Airbus Defence and Space SAS As mission duration and distance from Earth increase, resupply becomes harder. Additive manufacturing or 3D printing could be used to make parts and dedicated tools on demand, enhancing mission autonomy. Research on the space station has made great strides in 3D printing with plastic, but it is not suitable for all uses. The ESA (European Space Agency) Metal 3D Printer investigation builds on recent successful printing of the first metal parts in space. “We’ll print several small cubes using different strategies to help determine the optimal approach for metal printers in space,” said Rob Postema, ESA technical officer. Quality of the space-printed items will be compared against reference prints made on the ground. This investigation is a continuation of ESA’s efforts to develop in-space manufacturing and materials recycling capabilities. The ESA investigation team includes Airbus Defence and Space SAS and the User Support Centre CADMOS in France. Download high-resolution photos and videos of the research mentioned in this article. Learn more about the research aboard the International Space Station at: www.nasa.gov/iss-science Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Latest News from Space Station Research Space Station Research and Technology Tools and Information Space Station Research Results Station Benefits for Humanity View the full article

Explore Webb Webb News Latest News Latest Images Webb’s Blog Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Deployment Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Webb’s First Images Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 6 Min Read Webb Narrows Atmospheric Possibilities for Earth-sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d This artist’s concept depicts planet TRAPPIST-1 d passing in front of its turbulent star, with other members of the closely packed system shown in the background. Full illustration and caption show below. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) The exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d intrigues astronomers looking for possibly habitable worlds beyond our solar system because it is similar in size to Earth, rocky, and resides in an area around its star where liquid water on its surface is theoretically possible. But according to a new study using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, it does not have an Earth-like atmosphere. “Ultimately, we want to know if something like the environment we enjoy on Earth can exist elsewhere, and under what conditions. While NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is giving us the ability to explore this question in Earth-sized planets for the first time, at this point we can rule out TRAPPIST-1 d from a list of potential Earth twins or cousins,” said Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb of the University of Chicago and Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (IREx) at Université de Montréal, lead author of the study published in The Astrophysical Journal. Planet TRAPPIST-1 d The TRAPPIST-1 system is located 40 light-years away and was revealed as the record-holder for most Earth-sized rocky planets around a single star in 2017, thanks to data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope and other observatories. Due to that star being a dim, relatively cold red dwarf, the “habitable zone” or “Goldilocks zone” – where the planet’s temperature may be just right, such that liquid surface water is possible – lies much closer to the star than in our solar system. TRAPPIST-1 d, the third planet from the red dwarf star, lies on the cusp of that temperate zone, yet its distance to its star is only 2 percent of Earth’s distance from the Sun. TRAPPIST-1 d completes an entire orbit around its star, its year, in only four Earth days. Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument did not detect molecules from TRAPPIST-1 d that are common in Earth’s atmosphere, like water, methane, or carbon dioxide. However, Piaulet-Ghorayeb outlined several possibilities for the exoplanet that remain open for follow-up study. “There are a few potential reasons why we don’t detect an atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1 d. It could have an extremely thin atmosphere that is difficult to detect, somewhat like Mars. Alternatively, it could have very thick, high-altitude clouds that are blocking our detection of specific atmospheric signatures — something more like Venus. Or, it could be a barren rock, with no atmosphere at all,” Piaulet-Ghorayeb said. Image: TRAPPIST-1 d (Artist’s Concept) This artist’s concept depicts planet TRAPPIST-1 d passing in front of its turbulent star, with other members of the closely packed system shown in the background. The TRAPPIST-1 system is intriguing to scientists for a few reasons. Not only does the system have seven Earth-sized rocky worlds, but its star is a red dwarf, the most common type of star in the Milky Way galaxy. If an Earth-sized world can maintain an atmosphere here, and thus have the potential for liquid surface water, the chance of finding similar worlds throughout the galaxy is much higher. In studying the TRAPPIST-1 planets, scientists are determining the best methods for separating starlight from potential atmospheric signatures in data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The star TRAPPIST-1’s variability, with frequent flares, provides a challenging testing ground for these methods. NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) The Star TRAPPIST-1 No matter what the case may be for TRAPPIST-1 d, it’s tough being a planet in orbit around a red dwarf star. TRAPPIST-1, the host star of the system, is known to be volatile, often releasing flares of high-energy radiation with the potential to strip off the atmospheres of its small planets, especially those orbiting most closely. Nevertheless, scientists are motivated to seek signs of atmospheres on the TRAPPIST-1 planets because red dwarf stars are the most common stars in our galaxy. If planets can hold on to an atmosphere here, under waves of harsh stellar radiation, they could, as the saying goes, make it anywhere. “Webb’s sensitive infrared instruments are allowing us to delve into the atmospheres of these smaller, colder planets for the first time,” said Björn Benneke of IREx at Université de Montréal, a co-author of the study. “We’re really just getting started using Webb to look for atmospheres on Earth-sized planets, and to define the line between planets that can hold onto an atmosphere, and those that cannot.” The Outer TRAPPIST-1 Planets Webb observations of the outer TRAPPIST-1 planets are ongoing, which hold both potential and peril. On the one hand, Benneke said, planets e, f, g, and h may have better chances of having atmospheres because they are further away from the energetic eruptions of their host star. However, their distance and colder environment will make atmospheric signatures more difficult to detect, even with Webb’s infrared instruments. “All hope is not lost for atmospheres around the TRAPPIST-1 planets,” Piaulet-Ghorayeb said. “While we didn’t find a big, bold atmospheric signature at planet d, there is still potential for the outer planets to be holding onto a lot of water and other atmospheric components.” “As NASA leads the way in searching for life outside our solar system, one of the most important avenues we can pursue is understanding which planets retain their atmospheres, and why,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has pushed our capabilities for studying exoplanet atmospheres further than ever before, beyond extreme worlds to some rocky planets – allowing us to begin confirming theories about the kind of planets that may be potentially habitable. This important groundwork will position our next missions, like NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, to answer a universal question: Are we alone?” The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). To learn more about Webb, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/webb Downloads Click any image to open a larger version. View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute. Media Contacts Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Hannah Braun – hbraun@stsci.edu Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Related Information Read more about the TRAPPIST-1 system Read more about changing views on the “habitable zone” Webb Blog: Reconnaissance of Potentially Habitable Worlds with NASA’s Webb Video: How to Study Exoplanets Video: How do we learn about a planet’s Atmosphere? Learn more about exoplanets Read more about studying TRAPPIST-1 c with Webb Read more about studying TRAPPIST-1 b with Webb More Webb News More Webb Images Webb Science Themes Webb Mission Page Related For Kids What is the Webb Telescope? SpacePlace for Kids En Español Ciencia de la NASA NASA en español Space Place para niños Keep Exploring Related Topics James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… Exoplanets Stars Universe Share Details Last Updated Aug 13, 2025 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Astrophysics Exoplanets Goddard Space Flight Center Red Dwarfs Science & Research Stars Studying Exoplanets The Universe View the full article

NASA Glenn Research Center High School Engineering Institute participants, left to right: Evan Ricchetti, Edan Liahovetsky, and Doris Chen, prepare to add weights to their rover to test the effectiveness of their wheel grouser designs on Friday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis This summer, NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland hosted the NASA Glenn High School Engineering Institute, a free, work-based learning experience designed to prepare rising high school juniors and seniors for careers in the aerospace workforce. “The institute immerses students in NASA’s work, providing essential career readiness tools for future science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-focused academic and professional pursuits,” said Jerry Voltz of NASA Glenn’s Office of STEM Engagement. Throughout the five-day sessions (offered three separate weeks in July), students used authentic NASA mission content and collaborated with Glenn’s technical experts. They gained a deeper understanding of the engineering design process, developed practical engineering solutions to real-world challenges, and tested prototypes to address key mission areas such as: Acoustic dampening: How can we reduce noise pollution from jet engines? Power management and distribution: How can we develop a smart power system for future space stations? Simulated lunar operations: Can we invent tires that don’t use air? NASA Glenn Research Center High School Engineering Institute participants, left to right: Adriana Pudloski, Anadavel Sakthi, Aditya Rohatgi, and Alexa Apshago, make modifications to the control system program for their rover on Friday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis Voltz said he hoped students left the program with three key takeaways: a deeper curiosity and excitement for STEM careers, firsthand insight into how cutting-edge technology developed in Cleveland contributes to NASA’s most prominent missions, and most importantly, a feeling of empowerment gained from engaging with some of NASA’s brightest minds in the field. Return to Newsletter View the full article

Astronaut Victor Glover interacts with an Orion spacecraft simulator during NASA’s “All-Star Shoot for the Stars” event at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on Saturday, July 18, 2025. Credit: NASA/Zach Lucas From astronauts to athletes, researchers to referees, and communicators to coaches, NASA is much like basketball – we all train to reach the top of our game. Staff from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland drove home this point during the “All-Star Shoot for the Stars” event at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, July 17-19. As part of WNBA All-Star Game activities, this event highlighted NASA technology while illuminating the intersection of sports and STEM. The event offered a captivating look into space exploration, thanks to the combined efforts of NASA and museum staff. Highlights included a detailed Orion exhibit, a new spacesuit display featuring five full-scale spacesuits, and virtual reality demonstrations. Visitors also had the chance to enjoy an interactive spacesuit app and a unique cosmic selfie station. On Friday, July 18, 2025, visitors at NASA’s “All-Star Shoot for the Stars” event at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis look at a new spacesuit display featuring five full-scale spacesuits. Credit: NASA/Christopher Richards The event was made even more memorable by Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover, who connected with visitors and posed for photos. WNBA legend Tamika Catchings also made a special appearance, inspiring attendees with a message to “aim high!” “All Star Weekend presented an excellent opportunity to share NASA’s mission with the Indianapolis community and people across the Midwest who were in town for the game,” said Jan Wittry, Glenn’s news chief. “I saw children’s faces light up as they interacted with the exhibits and talked to NASA experts, sparking a curiosity among our potential future STEM workforce.” Return to Newsletter View the full article

While on tour at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Monday, June 23, 2025, University Student Design Challenge winners from The Ohio State University stop to hear engineer Nancy Hall, center, discuss different parts of a sealed vessel used in research and development activities focused on nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis A student team from The Ohio State University secured first place in NASA Glenn Research Center’s 2025-2026 University Student Design Challenge for their innovative design aimed at managing fluids in space. The team will develop a working prototype as part of their senior capstone project during the upcoming academic year. On June 23, the team visited NASA Glenn in Cleveland to present their winning designs to center leadership and tour the Zero Gravity Research Facility, where their design could undergo future testing. The challenge encourages college students to develop innovative approaches to NASA mission needs, featuring both aeronautics and space-themed projects. University Student Design Challenge winners from The Ohio State University gather at the top of the Zero Gravity Drop Tower at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on Monday, June 23, 2025. Credit: NASA/Jef Janis NASA Glenn engineers Nancy Hall and John McQuillan served as student mentors and technical advisors for the USDC SPACE I design challenge. To learn more, explore NASA’s STEM opportunities. Return to Newsletter 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 4624-4626: A Busy Weekend at the Boxwork NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image of the three intersecting ridges in front of it this weekend that make a sort of “peace sign” shape. Curiosity acquired the image using its Left Navigation Camera on Aug. 8, 2025 — Sol 4623, or Martian day 4,623 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 06:20:38 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 8, 2025 We continue to progress through the boxwork structures, arriving today at the “peace sign” ridges we were aiming for in our last drive. We’re spending the first two sols of the weekend at this location, learning everything we can about the boxwork ridges all around us. Then we’re driving further along and spending our third sol at our next location doing a bit more untargeted science. Our first sol includes three contact science targets, “Palmira,” “Casicasi,” and “Bococo,” which both MAHLI and APXS will be checking out nice and close. ChemCam is also using its LIBS laser to check out Bococo, and taking a mosaic of some more distant boxwork ridges. Not to be left out, Mastcam is taking a mosaic of the intersecting peace-sign-shaped ridges, which have been given the name “Ayopaya,” as well as another mosaic of the edge of one of the nearby ridges. The environmental science group (ENV) is also taking a dust-devil movie and a surpahorizon cloud movie. On our second sol, ChemCam has another LIBS observation of “Britania.” Mastcam has some more mosaics, today looking back at our wheel tracks to see what we might have turned up on our drive, as well as out to the more distant ridges. We also have another cloud movie coinciding with imaging from above by the CaSSIS camera on board the Trace Gas Orbiter, trying to spot the same clouds from above and below. After our drive Curiosity gets to take a nice long snooze before waking up early for our typical weekend morning ENV block, which includes three different cloud observations (it’s still the cloudy season, after all!) and two observations to look at dust in the crater and in the sky above. Later on this sol ChemCam will use AEGIS to autonomously pick a LIBS target, we’ll have a 360-degree survey to try to catch dust devils. Finally, we’re setting our sights back on the clouds, using cloud shadows on Mount Sharp to estimate cloud altitudes. Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team? Visit Mission Updates Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments? Visit the Science Instruments page NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share Details Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 2 min read Linking Local Lithologies to a Larger Landscape Article 5 days ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4622-4623: Kicking Off (Earth) Year 14 With an Investigation of Veins Article 6 days ago 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4618-4619: The Boxwork Structures Continue to Call to Us Article 1 week 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 Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Written by Michael Allen An international team of astronomers using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), has challenged our understanding of what happens to matter in the direct vicinity of a black hole. With IXPE, astronomers can study incoming X-rays and measure the polarization, a property of light that describes the direction of its electric field. The polarization degree is a measurement of how aligned those vibrations are to each other. Scientists can use a black hole’s polarization degree to determine the location of the corona – a region of extremely hot, magnetized plasma that surrounds a black hole – and how it generates X-rays. This illustration of material swirling around a black hole highlights a particular feature, called the “corona,” that shines brightly in X-ray light. In this depiction, the corona can be seen as a purple haze floating above the underlying accretion disk, and extending slightly inside of its inner edge. The material within the inner accretion disk is incredibly hot and would glow with a blinding blue-white light, but here has been reduced in brightness to make the corona stand out with better contrast. Its purple color is purely illustrative, standing in for the X-ray glow that would not be obvious in visible light. The warp in the disk is a realistic representation of how the black hole’s immense gravity acts like an optical lens, distorting our view of the flat disk that encircles it. NASA/Caltech-IPAC/Robert Hurt In April, astronomers used IXPE to measure a 9.1% polarization degree for black hole IGR J17091-3624, much higher than they expected based on theoretical models. “The black hole IGR J17091-3624 is an extraordinary source which dims and brightens with the likeness of a heartbeat, and NASA’s IXPE allowed us to measure this unique source in a brand-new way.” said Melissa Ewing, the lead of the study based at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. In X-ray binary systems, an extremely dense object, like a black hole, pulls matter from a nearby source, most often a neighboring star. This matter can begin to swirl around, flattening into a rotating structure known as an accretion disc. The corona, which lies in the inner region of this accretion disc, can reach extreme temperatures up to 1.8 billion degrees Fahrenheit and radiate very luminous X-rays. These ultra-hot coronas are responsible for some of the brightest X-ray sources in the sky. Despite how bright the corona is in IGRJ17091-364, at some 28,000 light-years from Earth, it remains far too small and distant for astronomers to capture an image of it. “Typically, a high polarization degree corresponds with a very edge-on view of the corona. The corona would have to be perfectly shaped and viewed at just the right angle to achieve such a measurement,” said Giorgio Matt, professor at the University of Roma Tre in Italy and a co-author on this paper. “The dimming pattern has yet to be explained by scientists and could hold the keys to understanding this category of black holes.” The stellar companion of this black hole isn’t bright enough for astronomers to directly estimate the system’s viewing angle, but the unusual changes in brightness observed by IXPE suggest that the edge of the accretion disk was directly facing Earth. The researchers explored different avenues to explain the high polarization degree. In one model, astronomers included a “wind” of matter lifted from the accretion disc and launched away from the system, a rarely seen phenomenon. If X-rays from the corona were to meet this matter on their way to IXPE, Compton scattering would occur, leading to these measurements. Fast Facts Polarization measurements from IXPE carry information about the orientation and alignment of emitted X-ray light waves. The high the degree of polarization, the more the X-ray waves are traveling in sync. Most polarization in the corona come from a process known as Compton scattering, where light from the accretion disc bounces off the hot plasma of the corona, gaining energy and aligning to vibrate in the same direction. “These winds are one of the most critical missing pieces to understand the growth of all types of black holes,” said Maxime Parra, who led the observation and works on this topic at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan. “Astronomers could expect future observations to yield even more surprising polarization degree measurements.” Another model assumed the plasma in the corona could exhibit a very fast outflow. If the plasma were to be streaming outwards at speeds as high as 20% the speed of light, or roughly 124 million miles per hour, relativistic effects could boost the observed polarization. In both cases, the simulations could recreate the observed polarization without a very specific edge-on view. Researchers will continue to model and test their predictions to better understand the high polarization degree for future research efforts. More about IXPE IXPE, which continues to provide unprecedented data enabling groundbreaking discoveries about celestial objects across the universe, is a joint NASA and Italian Space Agency mission with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. IXPE is led by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder. Learn more about IXPE’s ongoing mission here: https://www.nasa.gov/ixpe Share Details Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayContactCorinne Edmistoncorinne.m.edmiston@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsIXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer)Marshall AstrophysicsMarshall Science Research & ProjectsMarshall Space Flight Center Explore More 6 min read NASA’s Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a… Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read Stay Cool: NASA Tests Innovative Technique for Super Cold Fuel Storage Article 4 weeks ago 4 min read NASA’s IXPE Imager Reveals Mysteries of Rare Pulsar Article 4 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Chandra Space Telescope IXPE News Black Holes Black Holes Black holes are among the most mysterious cosmic objects, much studied but not fully understood. These objects aren’t… Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a space observatory built to discover the secrets of some of the most… View the full article

Explore This Section Earth Earth Observer Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam Announcements More Archives Conference Schedules Style Guide 19 min read A Tapestry of Tales: 10th Anniversary Reflections from NASA’s OCO-2 Mission When woven together, the tapestry of experiences of staff and scientists provide the complete picture of OCO-2. Breathe in… Breathe out. This simple rhythm sets the foundation of life on Earth – and it’s a pattern that a NASA satellite has been watching from space for over a decade. On July 2, 2024, NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) celebrated 10 years since its launch. Built by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/JPL), OCO-2 is now viewed as the gold standard for carbon dioxide (CO2) measurements from space and has quietly become a powerful driver of technological, ecological and even economic progress – including providing unexpected insights into plant health, crop-yield forecasting, drought early warning systems, and forest and rangeland management. While the mission can point to many scientific achievements – some of which will be highlighted in the pages that follow – these accomplishments have occurred in the context of a larger human story. Scientists from around the world have come together to bring the important data from this satellite to the broader community, making OCO-2 the success that it is today. This article provides readers an introduction to several transformative characters in this carbon story. The text peers behind the scenes to reveal the circuitous path that scientists and engineers must navigate to take a brilliant scientific concept and turn it into flight hardware that can be launched into space to make beneficial observations. The article depicts milestones that mark the mission’s successes, but also the failures, dead ends, long nights, and discouragements that make up the complexity of any science story. 2003: The First OCO Science Team Meeting Measuring CO2 from space: Great idea but can it really be done? When the idea for OCO was first proposed, it wasn’t universally embraced. At the time, more than a few experts scoffed at the idea that CO2 could be measured from space. Unlike nitrogen and oxygen, which are the dominant components of Earth’s atmosphere, CO2 is a trace gas, often no more than a few hundred parts per million. Miniscule, elusive, and nomadic, these measurements, though challenging, are crucial because of the important role CO2 plays in global climate. In April 2003, a handful of hopeful scientists gathered at the California Institute for Technology (Caltech) for the first OCO Science Team meeting. To mark the occasion, they took a break during the meetings and lined up for a group photo – see Photo 1. Upon returning to work, they took up the arduous task of determining how to measure CO2 from space with a satellite and instrument hardware that simply did not exist. OCO-2 was developed as part of NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder program, which supports small, low-cost missions that can still provide tremendous value for high-impact goals. The satellite carries a high-resolution spectrometer that collects data in three, narrow spectral bands. These spectral bands follow a divide and conquer strategy – two measure the clear “fingerprint” that CO2 leaves when it absorbs sunlight, and one takes the same measurement for oxygen (O2). The satellite is able to estimate CO2 concentrations by comparing the CO2 and O2 measurements. Photo 1. A photo of participants during the original OCO Science Team meeting in 2003 at the California Institute of Technology. Photo credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory OCO-2 2014: A Night at Vandenberg Air Force Base – To Launch or Not to Launch A Mother and daughter await the midnight launch. On a warm July evening in 2014, Vivienne Payne [JPL—current OCO-2 Project Scientist] would normally have tucked her four-year-old daughter into bed. But this night was special. They were lined up in a crowd waiting for a bus to take them to Vandenberg Air Force Base (now Space Force Base) in California. The group huddled in the chill night air awaiting the launch of the OCO satellite into the cosmos. Shortly after midnight, hundreds of guests spread blankets across the gravelly ground to make their wait more comfortable. The air was charged with excitement. The participants waited quietly, murmuring to one another while the soft slosh of the Pacific Ocean offered a steady pendulum counting down to the impending launch. Like most people there that night, Vivienne felt upbeat and excited, but she also understood the gravity of the moment – a lot was riding on this launch. While Vivienne had not been part of OCO since inception – having joined the project in 2012 – she knew OCO’s story. The first launch in 2009 ended in failure – when a faulty launch vehicle doomed the first OCO to a watery grave just moments after launch. In the aftermath, the OCO community were left in limbo, unsure if the project would survive. All was not lost. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) had successfully launched the Greenhouse-gas Observing satellite (GOSAT or IBUKI, Japanese for “breath”) that same year. This launch gave the OCO team an opportunity to test and refine their methods and algorithms using data from GOSAT. As the gravel poked through the thick flannel blankets, Vivienne shifted uncomfortably waiting for the interminable countdown to reach its conclusion – and then everything stopped. A technical issue was detected, triggering a command to abort the launch. Vivienne tried to explain to her disappointed daughter that this was simply how things went with space work. Sometimes you put in 1000 work-years of labor, get up in the middle of the night, and sit on uneven ground just to have everything stopped, unceremoniously. Fortunately, the problem was quickly resolved, and the launch was rescheduled for the very next night. The participants returned to the staging site – rinse and repeat. This time Vivienne’s daughter was decidedly more sluggish. At 3:00 AM PDT, OCO-2 launched flawlessly into space. Unfortunately, a layer of fog obscured the spectators’ view. While it could not be seen, the resounding boom of the rocket taking off could be heard for miles. For Vivienne, the sonic boom shocked the ears and rumbled through the bodies of the assembled crowd, who erupted in cheers. Having invested a lot of her time in the OCO project during the past two years, she was thrilled to see a successful launch. As they returned to their hotel, Vivienne’s daughter remained unimpressed. “Mummy, let’s not do that again,” she said as she splayed out on the hotel bed and soon fell fast asleep. 2014: OCO-2 Joins A Larger Earth Observing Story Leading to surprising new insights about how we see plants – and fires. When OCO-2 launched in 2014, it joined a tightly coordinated group of Earth-observing satellites known as the Afternoon Constellation (or the “A-Train”) – see Figure 1. Flying in formation, the satellites could combine their observations to unlock more than any one mission could reveal on its own. Around the same time, scientists discovered that OCO-2 could do more than measure CO2 – it could also detect signs of plant health. Figure 1. As of January 2024, the international Afternoon Constellation (“A-Train”) has two missions remaining: OCO-2 and GCOM-W. While Aqua and Aura continue to collect science data, the satellites have both slowly drifted out of the constellation – and will soon be decommissioned. CALIPSO ended its scientific mission on August 1, 2023. CloudSat radar operations ceased on December 20, 2023. Figure credit: NASA This discovery opened the possibilities for many different people, including Madeleine Festin, a former wildland firefighter in Montana, to work with OCO-2 data through an internship sponsored by the DEVELOP program, under the Earth Action element (formerly known as Applied Sciences) of NASA’s Earth Science Division. When she was on the ground battling fires, Madeleine faced the harsh reality that fire prediction is notoriously difficult. In the field, she might be surrounded by smoke with just 20 ft (6 m) of visibility and red flames tearing through dry brush. Through her internship, she’s continued to tackle fires – just from a very different vantage point. OCO-2 can detect the faint glow given off by plants during photosynthesis. This glow, called solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), offers a fast, sensitive indicator of plant health – see Figure 2. While other satellite-based tools, such as soil moisture or vegetation indices often detect stress only after damage has already occurred, SIF values drop the moment photosynthesis slows down – even if the plant still looks green. These data open the door to new applications: monitoring crop performance, identifying flood-damaged areas, and tracking drought before it sparks wildfires. That’s exactly how Madeleine is now using the data. Madeleine’s team, a collaboration between OCO-2 scientists and the U.S. Forest Service, is working to update fire-risk models – some of which were developed in the 1980s – by incorporating SIF data. “It’s fulfilling to know that you’re helping people,” Madeleine says. “And it’s nice to see science and firefighting work align.” What makes the data even more powerful is OCO-2’s synergy with its A-Train counterpart, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’S Aqua platform. MODIS contributes land-cover information that, when paired with OCO-2’s SIF measurements, creates a detailed, global dataset of plant photosynthesis far beyond what either satellite could produce on its own. This example is a perfect synergistic pairing of measurements the A-Train has made possible. This information gives Madeleine and her team a better foundation for improving fire prediction tools. “When firefighting, I used to hear about all these fire indices and metrics, and never knew what they meant,” Madeleine says. “Now, I’m learning the science behind it. And it’s interesting to think about how to get that information to firefighters on the ground, without overburdening them. What do they really need to know, and how can we deliver it in a way that helps?” Figure 2. OCO-2 can measure plant health and photosynthesis from space. Puente Hills in eastern Los Angeles County, CA was once one of the largest landfills in the United States. The landfill has since been closed and its surface replanted to resemble a natural hill rising above the surrounding densely populated neighborhoods. These two images show how solar induced fluorescence (SIF), or “plant glow,” measured from OCO-2 and OCO-3 can be used to study urban greenery. The satellite image of the landfill and surrounding area [left] is followed by the SIF data overlay [right]. It is possible to compare the photosynthetic activity in the reclaimed landfill to nearby green spaces, as well as the plant health in the surrounding neighborhoods. Figure credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory OCO-2, OCO-3 2016: Trekking to the Desert to Calibrate OCO-2 A technologist tramps around in the desert for instrument calibration. Carol Bruegge [OCO-2—Technologist] had been to the Nevada desert so many times that she knew the way by heart. After skirting the Sequoia Forest and stopping for the night just past the Nevada border, she led a caravan of scientists along Highway 6 to mile marker 100, turning right onto a dirt road between two fence posts. Traveling 10 mi (16.5 km) down the road, a cloud of dust raised up from the car tires before the vehicle came to a stop at their destination – a patch of spindly instruments hammered into the barren desert floor. A big plaque marked the spot with the NASA logo and the words, “Satellite Test Site.” Standing under vast blue sky, Carol felt like she’d come home. Over the past few years, Carol had grown accustomed to leading these summer expeditions to Railroad Valley, NV. Often the team from JPL is joined by guests from Japan and other international colleagues representing various satellite missions – see Photo 2. Photo 2. Group photo at Railroad Valley, NV during a summer field campaign. Carol Bruegge [OCO-2—Technologist, fifth from left] joins JPL members and guests from Japan working on the Greenhouse-gas Observing satellite. The group included [left to right] Hirokazu Yamamoto, Atsushi Yasuda, Hideaki Nakajima, Kei Shiomi, Thomas Pongetti, Bruegge, Dejian Fu, Junko Fukuchi, Makoto Saito, and Rio Kajiura. Photo credit: Tom Pongetti Carol knew that a successful field campaign required that they protect the instruments from the thick corrosive salt on the ground. Then the work could begin. The team hiked through the desert, collecting data that would ensure that OCO-2 could continue to provide high-quality data. As they hiked, the team carried hand-held spectrometers and measured the reflection of sunlight off Earth’s surface – timed precisely to match the moment the satellite passes overhead. By comparing the satellite’s readings with the ground-based measurements, the team can check the accuracy of the satellite readings. Reflection is one ingredient used in calculating the concentration of CO2 in the overlying air. This remote location in Nevada wasn’t chosen by accident. In this part of the desert, the ground is perfectly flat, free of plants, and surrounded by ground littered with salt. This smooth, bare surface means no bumps and textures could disrupt the signal. For satellite calibration, it doesn’t get better than this. 2018: A Contentious Meeting in Noordwijk, Netherlands Sparks A Revolution Could OCO-2 data be used to construct a nation-by-nation CO2 budget? David Crisp [JPL emeritus—original OCO Principal Investigator and former OCO Science Team Leader] was tired. He didn’t know if it was jet lag or a reflection of the 16- to 18-hour workdays that had persisted for weeks. This particular week had started with a 10-hour flight from Los Angeles to the Netherlands. Now, he was standing in front of carbon scientists who had gathered from around the world. “We need to put together a team that will be brave enough to make a CO2 budget, nation-by-nation,” David said. His statement was met with thoughtful silence. Neither the data nor the models were ready. The consensus in the room was that the proposed venture may not work. David was magnanimous toward his critics, but he persisted with his idea. Despite the rocky start, David met with representatives in charge of creating national emission inventories. He could see exasperation on their faces – running ragged, short-staffed, and trying to tally up every single barrel of oil and bushel of coal burned within their country’s boundaries. Even more challenging was tallying other tasks, such as deforestation and agricultural practices. David firmly believed that if OCO-2 could provide independent estimates from space as promised, it would provide the on-the-ground “carbon accountants” a reliable comparison – see Figure 3. “We might have a satellite that can help,” Dave told them. Although David has since retired, his perseverance is now bearing fruit. What began as a hypothetical solution is now much closer to reality. OCO-2’s high-precision measurements can now detect CO2 linked not just to countries, but large cities, industrial zones, and even individual power plants – all while researchers continue perfecting efforts to identify contributions from specific city sectors. OCO-2 provides a valuable, independent reference that nations can use to track the progress of their emission inventories. Researchers have created an entire OCO-2-sourced database of CO2 estimates by country, available through the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center. Figure 3. A map of the net emissions and removals of carbon dioxide (CO2) for 2015–2020 using estimates informed by OCO-2. Green depressions represent countries that remove more CO2 than emitted. Tan or red ridges represent countries with higher CO2 emissions than removed. Figure credit: NASA Science Data Visualization Studio 2019: Another OCO Takes flight – This Time to The International Space Station Using “spare parts” to get more details about plant health and the carbon cycle. After completing OCO-2, enough spare parts remained to construct a sister mission — OCO-3, which launched in 2019 to continue the work of measuring CO2 in the atmosphere from the International Space Station (ISS). The satellite’s unique orbit gives it a new vantage point. While OCO-2 continues to orbit Earth in a near-polar path, OCO-3 travels aboard the ISS in a lower, shifting orbit that allows it to study different areas of Earth’s surface at different times of day. OCO-3 also features a special scanning mode, called the snapshot area mapping (SAM) that lets scientists zoom in on areas of interest (e.g., cities or volcanoes) to study carbon emissions and vegetation in greater detail. Together, OCO-2 and OCO-3 provide complementary perspectives on Earth’s carbon cycle and plant health at space and time resolutions that have not been possible from space before. 2021: LA During a Pandemic Is a Far Cry from Finland A data scientist foregoes saunas and berry-picking to make the dream of OCO-2 a reality. Otto Lamminpää [JPL—Data Scientist] opened the picture his sister had texted him. His family looked back with wide smiles, holding buckets overflowing with scarlet berries and framed by the velvety firs of Finland. It had been almost two years since he’d seen them in person. He’d moved to Los Angeles to work at JPL on the OCO-2 and OCO-3 mission just as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the planet – see Photo 3. Photo 3. Otto Lamminpää and Amy Braveman [both from JPL] in Finland. Photo credit: Otto Lamminpää Otto had never gone a week without seeing his family or skipped a berry-hunting party in the forests of his native Finland. With the forced distance, he placed himself in his home forests in his mind. He used this memory to marvel at the capacity of the vast forests to “breathe in” CO2 and convert it into trunks, branches, and roots through photosynthesis. With the COVID-19-imposed travel restrictions, Otto wasn’t sure how long he’d have to wait to go back home. But whenever that homecoming occurred, Otto knew that a piece of OCO-2 would be waiting for him. North of the Arctic Circle in Sodankylä, a cluster of Earth instruments nestled in a snowy meadow include a field station that is part of the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) of Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS). These stations act as OCO-2 and OCO-3’s “ground crew.” As the satellites orbit Earth, the FTS simultaneously measures direct solar spectra in the near-infrared spectral region, which allows for retrieval of column-averaged CO2 concentrations, as well as other key atmospheric constituents, over the snowy meadow. Back in the lab, Otto, along with other OCO-2 and OCO-3 scientists, compare the data collected at the field station to the satellite data. This feature was detailed in The Earth Observer article, titled “Integrating Carbon from the Ground Up: TCCON Turns Ten,” was published July–August 2014, Volume 26 issue 4, pp. 13–17). Figure 4. Global map of the ground stations, also known as the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). The red dots mark the active ground observation stations to validate OCO-2 and OCO-3 data. Figure credit: NASA-JPL/OCO-2 The station in Finland is one of about 30 similar TCCON sites scattered across the world, located in a variety of settings, from isolated tropical islands to the Pacific rim of Asia – see Figure 4. The stations in the far north play an especially valuable role since satellites often struggle to accurately measure CO2 over snow-covered ground. Therefore, reliable measurements from the ground stations become crucial to adjust and improve the satellite data. Validation efforts such as the one described here are crucial to satellite observations. Comparisons between OCO-2 and TCCON show agreement is good, with a less than 1 ppm difference. It’s an impressive level of accuracy for a satellite orbiting more than 435 mi (700 km) away in polar orbit. The “ground truth” data collected at these field sites help to ensure that the satellite is accurately measuring “Earth’s breathing.” For Otto, not just his family, but OCO-2 and OCO-3 itself was calling him home. As the pandemic began to ease, he returned to Finland to pick berries, jump in the sauna every night, and follow it up with snow angels. The homecoming was also coordinated with a trip past the Arctic Circle to the TCCON field station. The mission was part of him. Wherever he was, OCO-2 and OCO-3 would be there, too. 2023: The Annual Science Team Meeting Continues Tracking changes in soil moisture during a colorful fall day. Saswati Das [JPL—Postdoctoral Fellow] had missed the magnificent display of fall colors in deciduous forests of the East Coast of the United States. She’d seen nothing of the sort since moving to Los Angeles in 2022 to work on OCO-2. Before that, she’d been working on her Ph.D. at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), where the surrounding mountain peaks, meadows, and forests burned and sparked with crimson and gold in the autumn – see Photo 4. Now she was in another mountain town, Boulder, CO, to attend the OCO science team meeting. The aspens glittered like golden lanterns as her gang carpooled up the Flatiron Range to the science institute at Table Mesa. Photo 4. Saswati Das takes a break from her Ph.D studies at nearby Virginia Tech (located in Blacksburg, VA) to enjoy the famous fall colors in the mountains of West Virginia. Photo credit: Saswati Das The research presented that week spanned a variety of topics. OCO-2 was being used to develop early drought forecasts. Because of its ability to detect the SIF “glow” that results from plant photosynthesis, OCO-2 can hint at flash droughts as early as three months before environmental decay unfold. By pairing OCO-2 data from other satellites, such as soil moisture data from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, scientists have opened a new window into drought forecasts and how water supply affects plant growth. Surprises about our planet have also emerged. The tropical rainforests, long nicknamed the “lungs” of our planet, don’t always inhale and store carbon. At times, this region can exhale CO2, such as during the 2015–2016 El Niño. That period saw large tropical forests temporarily transform into net carbon sources – see Figure 5. The driver for this shift varied by region. The Amazon rainforest was driven by drought. Central Africa was driven by unusually high temperatures. Indonesia was driven by widespread fires. Figure 5. The 2015–2016 El Niño increased the net carbon dioxide released by Earth’s tropical regions into the atmosphere. Figure credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech Data from OCO-2 and OCO-3 have also been used to study emissions from both cities and large power plants. This approach offers a new way to track changing emissions over time – without needing to continuously measure them on the ground. In addition, scientists are combining the satellite data with wind models and urban maps to trace CO2 to its sources (e.g., factories, ships, and roadways), helping to disentangle emissions from overlapping city sectors. These methods have been used to isolate industrial emissions in places, such as Europe, China, as well as over cities, such as Los Angeles, Paris, and Seoul. It has also revealed pandemic-era drops in traffic-related CO2 and increases in CO2 tied to shipping backlogs at the port. Two representatives from the World Bank shared how they used data from OCO-2 to demonstrate that building subway systems in cities can lower emissions. The goal is to eventually use these tools to evaluate local strategies (e.g., bike lanes and public transit) to reduce local carbon footprints. When massive wildfires blazed through Australian forests and bushland in 2019, researchers used OCO-2 data to study the unfolding crisis. OCO-2 captured the increase in atmospheric CO2, and scientists used this data to refine estimates of how these events contribute to the global carbon budget. As her mind wandered from the rich research she’d been immersed in for the past hour, Saswati spied Otto Lamminpää across the aisle in the wood-paneled auditorium. She thought back to the forests she loved on the East Coast, and the forests in Finland where Otto had grown up. OCO-2 was telling a story about the role that forests play in absorbing carbon and how this has changed over time. 2025 and Beyond The Tapestry Continues to Expand… In many ways, OCO-2 has had a long and unexpected journey. So has Hannah Murphy, another DEVELOP intern who will be starting a Master’s degree at Hunter College in New York in Fall 2025. She’s studied art and worked as a set designer in Los Angeles. She never pictured herself working with satellite data, but then she saw how visual it could be. The glowing, evocative images of Earth from space spoke to her artistic heart. Now, Hannah works on SIF data as a 2025 NASA DEVELOP intern with the OCO-2 team, developing tools for wildfire risks. This project in particular hits close to home for Hannah, because she lived through the wildfires that tore through Los Angeles in January 2025. Although she remained safe, she knew several people who lost their homes, and the air was unsafe to breathe for weeks. Just a few short months later, Hannah began studying the data from OCO-2. She is now part of the new generation of researchers that will take the mission’s remote sensing data and pave the way for implementing the findings to benefit society. Hannah understands, on a personal level, how closely our lives are linked to Earth systems that satellites, such as OCO-2 and OCO-3, study from space. OCO-2 (and OCO-3) are built to study CO2 and plant health, but its impact goes deeper to the connections that tie our atmosphere, ecosystems, and lives together. That work continues to the new generation of scientists – one breath at a time. Mejs Hasan NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory mejs.hasan@jpl.nasa.gov Alan Ward NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Global Science & Technology Inc. alan.b.ward@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 Related Terms Earth Science View the full article

Left: Gigantic Jet Event from the International Space Station, taken by NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers. (Credit: Ayers) Right: Sprite event appearing over a lightning strike, seen from space. This photo was taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station during Expedition 44. Credit: NASA astronauts on board Expedition 44 Did you see that gorgeous photo NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers took on July 3, 2025? Originally thought to be a sprite, Ayers confirmed catching an even rarer form of a Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) — a gigantic jet. “Nichole Ayers caught a rare and spectacular form of a TLE from the International Space Station — a gigantic jet,” said Dr. Burcu Kosar, Principal Investigator of the Spritacular project.  Gigantic jets are a powerful type of electrical discharge that extends from the top of a thunderstorm into the upper atmosphere. They are typically observed by chance — often spotted by airline passengers or captured unintentionally by ground-based cameras aimed at other phenomena. Gigantic jets appear when the turbulent conditions at towering thunderstorm tops allow for lightning to escape the thunderstorm, propagating upwards toward space. They create an electrical bridge between the tops of the clouds (~20 km) and the upper atmosphere (~100 km), depositing a significant amount of electrical charge. Sprites, on the other hand, are one of the most commonly observed types of TLEs — brief, colorful flashes of light that occur high above thunderstorms in the mesosphere, around 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface. Unlike gigantic jets, which burst upward directly from thundercloud tops, sprites form independently, much higher in the atmosphere, following powerful lightning strikes. They usually appear as a reddish glow with intricate shapes resembling jellyfish, columns, or carrots and can span tens of kilometers across. Sprites may also be accompanied or preceded by other TLEs, such as Halos and ELVEs (Emissions of Light and Very Low Frequency perturbations due to Electromagnetic Pulse Sources), making them part of a larger and visually spectacular suite of high-altitude electrical activity. The world of Transient Luminous Events is a hidden zoo of atmospheric activity playing out above the storms. Have you captured an image of a jet, sprite, or other type of TLE? Submit your photos to Spritacular.org to help scientists study these fascinating night sky phenomena!  Facebook logo @nasascience @nasascience Instagram logo @nasascience Linkedin logo @nasascience Share Details Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 Related Terms Citizen Science Heliophysics Explore More 1 min read Snapshot Wisconsin Celebrates 10 Years and 100 Million Photos Collected! The Snapshot Wisconsin project recently collected their 100 millionth trail camera photo! What’s more, this… Article 6 days ago 4 min read STEM Educators Are Bringing Hands-On NASA Science into Virginia Classrooms Article 1 week ago 2 min read Radio JOVE Volunteers Tune In to the Sun’s Low Notes Article 3 weeks ago View the full article

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a portion of the Tarantula Nebula.ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures incredible details in the dusty clouds of a star-forming factory called the Tarantula Nebula. Most of the nebulae Hubble images are in our galaxy, but this nebula is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy located about 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. The Large Magellanic Cloud is the largest of the dozens of small satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. The Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest star-forming region, not just in the Large Magellanic Cloud, but in the entire group of nearby galaxies to which the Milky Way belongs. The Tarantula Nebula is home to the most massive stars known, some roughly 200 times as massive as our Sun. This image is very close to a rare type of star called a Wolf–Rayet star. Wolf–Rayet stars are massive stars that have lost their outer shell of hydrogen and are extremely hot and luminous, powering dense and furious stellar winds. This nebula is a frequent target for Hubble, whose multiwavelength capabilities are critical for capturing sculptural details in the nebula’s dusty clouds. The data used to create this image come from an observing program called Scylla, named for a multi-headed sea monster from Greek mythology. The Scylla program was designed to complement another Hubble observing program called ULLYSES (Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards). ULLYSES targets massive young stars in the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, while Scylla investigates the structures of gas and dust that surround these stars. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Murray View the full article

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be a discovery machine, thanks to its wide field of view and resulting torrent of data. Scheduled to launch no later than May 2027, with the team working toward launch as early as fall 2026, its near-infrared Wide Field Instrument will capture an area 200 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s infrared camera, and with the same image sharpness and sensitivity. Roman will devote about 75% of its science observing time over its five-year primary mission to conducting three core community surveys that were defined collaboratively by the scientific community. One of those surveys will scour the skies for things that pop, flash, and otherwise change, like exploding stars and colliding neutron stars. These two images, taken one year apart by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, show how the supernova designated SN 2018gv faded over time. The High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will spot thousands of supernovae, including a specific type that can be used to measure the expansion history of the universe.Credit: NASA, ESA, Martin Kornmesser (ESA), Mahdi Zamani (ESA/Hubble), Adam G. Riess (STScI, JHU), SH0ES Team Called the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey, this program will peer outside of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy (i.e., high galactic latitudes) to study objects that change over time. The survey’s main goal is to detect tens of thousands of a particular type of exploding star known as type Ia supernovae. These supernovae can be used to study how the universe has expanded over time. “Roman is designed to find tens of thousands of type Ia supernovae out to greater distances than ever before,” said Masao Sako of the University of Pennsylvania, who served as co-chair of the committee that defined the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey. “Using them, we can measure the expansion history of the universe, which depends on the amount of dark matter and dark energy. Ultimately, we hope to understand more about the nature of dark energy.” Probing Dark Energy Type Ia supernovae are useful as cosmological probes because astronomers know their intrinsic luminosity, or how bright they inherently are, at their peak. By comparing this with their observed brightness, scientists can determine how far away they are. Roman will also be able to measure how quickly they appear to be moving away from us. By tracking how fast they’re receding at different distances, scientists will trace cosmic expansion over time. Only Roman will be able to find the faintest and most distant supernovae that illuminate early cosmic epochs. It will complement ground-based telescopes like the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which are limited by absorption from Earth’s atmosphere, among other effects. Rubin’s greatest strength will be in finding supernovae that happened within the past 5 billion years. Roman will expand that collection to much earlier times in the universe’s history, about 3 billion years after the big bang, or as much as 11 billion years in the past. This would more than double the measured timeline of the universe’s expansion history. Recently, the Dark Energy Survey found hints that dark energy may be weakening over time, rather than being a constant force of expansion. Roman’s investigations will be critical for testing this possibility. Seeking Exotic Phenomena To detect transient objects, whose brightness changes over time, Roman must revisit the same fields at regular intervals. The High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey will devote a total of 180 days of observing time to these observations spread over a five-year period. Most will occur over a span of two years in the middle of the mission, revisiting the same fields once every five days, with an additional 15 days of observations early in the mission to establish a baseline. This infographic describes the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey that will be conducted by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The survey’s main component will cover over 18 square degrees — a region of sky as large as 90 full moons — and see supernovae that occurred up to about 8 billion years ago.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center “To find things that change, we use a technique called image subtraction,” Sako said. “You take an image, and you subtract out an image of the same piece of sky that was taken much earlier — as early as possible in the mission. So you remove everything that’s static, and you’re left with things that are new.” The survey will also include an extended component that will revisit some of the observing fields approximately every 120 days to look for objects that change over long timescales. This will help to detect the most distant transients that existed as long ago as one billion years after the big bang. Those objects vary more slowly due to time dilation caused by the universe’s expansion. “You really benefit from taking observations over the entire five-year duration of the mission,” said Brad Cenko of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the other co-chair of the survey committee. “It allows you to capture these very rare, very distant events that are really hard to get at any other way but that tell us a lot about the conditions in the early universe.” This extended component will collect data on some of the most energetic and longest-lasting transients, such as tidal disruption events — when a supermassive black hole shreds a star — or predicted but as-yet unseen events known as pair-instability supernovae, where a massive star explodes without leaving behind a neutron star or black hole. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This sonification that uses simulated data from NASA’s OpenUniverse project shows the variety of explosive events that will be detected by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and its High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey. Different sounds represent different types of events, as shown in the key at right. A single kilonova seen about 12 seconds into the video is represented with a cannon shot. The sonification sweeps backward in time to greater distances from Earth, and the pitch of the instrument gets lower as you move outward. (Cosmological redshift has been converted to a light travel time expressed in billions of years.) Credit: Sonification: Martha Irene Saladino (STScI), Christopher Britt (STScI); Visualization: Frank Summers (STScI); Designer: NASA, STScI, Leah Hustak (STScI) Survey Details The High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey will be split into two imaging “tiers” — a wide tier that covers more area and a deep tier that will focus on a smaller area for a longer time to detect fainter objects. The wide tier, totaling a bit more than 18 square degrees, will target objects within the past 7 billion years, or half the universe’s history. The deep tier, covering an area of 6.5 square degrees, will reach fainter objects that existed as much as 10 billion years ago. The observations will take place in two areas, one in the northern sky and one in the southern sky. There will also be a spectroscopic component to this survey, which will be limited to the southern sky. “We have a partnership with the ground-based Subaru Observatory, which will do spectroscopic follow-up of the northern sky, while Roman will do spectroscopy in the southern sky. With spectroscopy, we can confidently tell what type of supernovae we’re seeing,” said Cenko. Together with Roman’s other two core community surveys, the High-Latitude Wide-Area Survey and the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey will help map the universe with a clarity and to a depth never achieved before. Download the sonification here. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is managed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, with participation by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California; Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California; the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore; and a science team comprising scientists from various research institutions. The primary industrial partners are BAE Systems, Inc. in Boulder, Colorado; L3Harris Technologies in Melbourne, Florida; and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in Thousand Oaks, California. By Christine Pulliam Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Share Details Last Updated Aug 12, 2025 EditorAshley BalzerLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related TermsNancy Grace Roman Space TelescopeDark EnergyNeutron StarsStarsSupernovaeThe Universe Explore More 6 min read NASA’s Roman Mission Shares Detailed Plans to Scour Skies Article 4 months ago 6 min read Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights Article 2 years ago 7 min read One Survey by NASA’s Roman Could Unveil 100,000 Cosmic Explosions Article 4 weeks ago View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Artemis II Orion stage adapter, built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA Media are invited to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, at 2 p.m. CDT Thursday, Aug. 14 to view the final piece of space flight hardware for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the Artemis II mission before it is delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All other elements of the SLS rocket for Artemis II are stacked on mobile launcher 1 in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy. Artemis II, NASA’s first mission with crew aboard the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, is currently scheduled for a 10-day trip around the Moon no later than April 2026. The Orion stage adapter, built by NASA Marshall, connects the SLS rocket’s interim cryogenic propulsion stage to NASA’s Orion spacecraft. The small ring structure is the topmost portion of the SLS rocket. The adapter will also carry small payloads, called CubeSats, to deep space. Media will have the opportunity to capture images and video and speak to subject matter experts. Along with viewing the adapter for Artemis II, media will be able to see the Orion stage adapter for the Artemis III mission, the first lunar landing at the Moon’s South Pole. This event is open to U.S. media, who must confirm their attendance by 12 p.m. CDT Wednesday, Aug. 13, with Jonathan Deal in Marshall’s Office of Communications at jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov. Media must also report by 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug.14 to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center Gate 9 parking lot, located at the Interstate 565 interchange at Research Park Boulevard, to be escorted to the event. Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. For more on SLS, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system Jonathan Deal Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256.631.9126 jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Aug 11, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related TermsSpace Launch System (SLS)Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More 6 min read NASA’s Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a… Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read Stay Cool: NASA Tests Innovative Technique for Super Cold Fuel Storage Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read NASA’s IXPE Imager Reveals Mysteries of Rare Pulsar Article 4 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

Credit: NASA NASA has selected KBR Wyle Services, LLC of Fulton, Maryland, to provide services to the Human Health and Performance Directorate at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which focuses on astronaut health, occupational health, and research that could help mitigate health risks for future human spaceflight missions. The Human Health and Performance Contract 2 is a follow-on single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that begins its five-year period of performance on Nov. 1, with two possible option periods that could extend it through 2035. The total estimated value of the base period plus the optional periods is $3.6 billion. Leidos, Inc. of Reston, Virginia, is a subcontractor. The contract will acquire support services for several programs, primarily at NASA Johnson. This includes the Human Research Program, International Space Station Program, Commercial Crew Program, Artemis campaign, and more. Services include ensuring crew health, safety, and performance; providing occupational health services; and conducting research into mitigating risks to the health, safety, and performance of future spaceflight crews. The Human Health and Performance Directorate leads the global spaceflight community in protecting astronaut health and enabling human mission performance. Its vision focuses on humans living, working, and thriving in space, on the Moon and on to Mars, and its mission is to lead the global spaceflight community in protecting astronaut health and enabling human mission performance. For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov –end– Tiernan Doyle Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 tiernan.doyle@nasa.gov Victoria Segovia Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 victoria.segovia@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Aug 11, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsJohnson Space CenterHuman Health and PerformanceNASA Centers & Facilities View the full article

This artist’s concept shows NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory orbiting above Earth.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (KBRwyle) To drive the development of key space-based capabilities for the United States, NASA is exploring an opportunity to demonstrate technology to raise a spacecraft’s orbit to a higher altitude. Two American companies – Cambrian Works of Reston, Virginia, and Katalyst Space Technologies of Flagstaff, Arizona – will develop concept design studies for a possible orbit boost for the agency’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. Since its launch in 2004, NASA’s Swift mission has led the agency’s fleet of space telescopes in investigating changes in the high-energy universe. The spacecraft’s low Earth orbit has been decaying gradually, which happens to most satellites over time. Because of recent increases in the Sun’s activity, however, Swift is experiencing additional atmospheric drag, speeding up its orbital decay. This lowering orbit presents an opportunity for NASA to advance a U.S. industry capability, while potentially extending the science lifetime of the Swift mission. The concept studies will help determine whether extending Swift’s critical scientific capabilities would be more cost-effective than replacing those capabilities with a new observatory. “NASA Science is committed to leveraging commercial technologies to find innovative, cost-effective ways to open new capabilities for the future of the American space sector,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “To maintain Swift’s role in our portfolio, NASA Science is uniquely positioned to conduct a rare in-space technology demonstration to raise the satellite’s orbit and solidify American leadership in spacecraft servicing.” The concept studies are being developed under Phase III awards through NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, managed by the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, to American small businesses from a pool of existing participants. This approach allows NASA to rapidly explore affordable possibilities to boost Swift on a shorter development timeline than would otherwise be possible, given the rapid rate at which Swift’s orbit is decaying. At this time NASA does not have plans for an orbit boost mission and could still allow the spacecraft to reenter Earth’s atmosphere, as many satellites do at the end of their lifetimes. NASA is studying a potential Swift boost to support innovation in the American space industry, while gaining a better understanding of the available options, the technical feasibility, and the risks involved. NASA will also work with Starfish Space of Seattle, Washington, to analyze the potential of performing a Swift boost using an asset under development on an existing Phase III SBIR award. Starfish is currently developing the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) demonstration for NASA, with the primary objective of inspecting multiple U.S.-owned defunct satellites in low Earth orbit. “Our SBIR portfolio exists for circumstances like this – where investments in America’s space industry provide NASA and our partners an opportunity to develop mutually beneficial capabilities,” said Clayton Turner, associate administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. “Whether we choose to implement the technologies in this circumstance, understanding how to boost a spacecraft’s orbit could prove valuable for future applications.” Swift was designed to observe gamma-ray bursts, the universe’s most powerful explosions, and provide information for other NASA and partner telescopes to follow up on these events. Its fast and flexible observations have been instrumental in advancing how scientists study transient events to understand how the universe works. For more than two decades, Swift has led NASA’s missions in providing new insights on these events, together broadening our understanding of everything from exploding stars, stellar flares, and eruptions in active galaxies, to comets and asteroids in our own solar system and high-energy lightning events on Earth. As neutron stars collide, some of the debris blasts away in particle jets moving at nearly the speed of light, producing a brief burst of gamma rays.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab “Over its extremely productive lifetime, Swift has been a key player in NASA’s network of space telescopes – directing our fleet to ensure we keep a watchful eye on changes in the universe, both far off and close to home,” said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director, Astrophysics Division, NASA Headquarters. “Now, this long-lived science mission is presenting us with a new opportunity: partnering with U.S. industry to rapidly explore efficient, state-of-the-art solutions that could extend Swift’s transformative work and advance private spacecraft servicing.” Cambrian and Katalyst have each been awarded $150,000 under Phase III SBIR contracts for concept design studies. The NASA SBIR program is part of America’s Seed Fund, the nation’s largest source of early-stage, non-dilutive funding for innovative technologies. Through this program, entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses with less than 500 employees can receive funding and non-monetary support to build, mature, and commercialize their technologies, advancing NASA missions and helping solve important problems facing our country. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Swift mission in collaboration with Penn State, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia. Other partners include the UK Space Agency, University of Leicester and Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the United Kingdom, Brera Observatory in Italy, and the Italian Space Agency. To learn more about the Swift mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/swift -end- Alise Fisher / Jasmine Hopkins Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2546 / 321-432-4624 alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov View the full article

3 Min Read Space Station Cell Studies Cells grown aboard the International Space Station. Credits: University of Connecticut Science in Space August 2025 Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things, from single-celled bacteria to plants and animals containing vast numbers of them. Cells have adapted for a wide variety of settings and functions. Nerve cells in humans and animals, for example, have long, thin extensions that rapidly transmit signals, while rigid, blocky cells support the structure of plants. Cell biology is the study of cell structure, function, and behavior. For humans, scientists in this field explore the mechanisms of diseases from bone loss to cancer and work on developing treatments. Cell-based experiments on The International Space Station help identify how spaceflight affects people and other living systems, with applications for future space exploration and life on Earth. JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa prepares to examine cells for Cell Gravisensing in the JAXA Confocal Microscope (COSMIC).NASA Recent experiments have revealed that individual animal cells react to the effects of gravity, but how they do so is largely unknown. Cell Gravisensing, an investigation from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), examines the molecular mechanism behind the ability of cells to sense gravity. Results could support development of drugs to treat muscle atrophy and osteoporosis in space and on Earth. Cardiovascular cells Microscopic view of cells from the lining of blood vessels cultured for the STaARS BioScience-3 experiment. University of Florida In microgravity, some astronauts experience changes in their cardiovascular system, including reduced blood volume and diminished cardiac output. An earlier investigation, STaARS Bioscience-3, examined the mechanisms behind these changes at the cellular and genetic level. The research revealed that, after only three days of spaceflight, there were changes in the expression of more than 11,000 genes in blood vessel cells that could alter their functions. The results laid the groundwork for additional research into cell response to spaceflight that could help protect the health of crew members on future missions and people with cardiovascular diseases on Earth. Neural cells STaARS BioScience-4 examined microgravity’s effects on neural stem cells that give rise to central nervous system cells. Researchers found changes in production and consumption of energy and increased breakdown of cellular components in these cells, responses that likely enhance adaptation to microgravity. The finding also highlights the importance of providing astronauts with sufficient energy for cognitive and physiological function on future missions. Fish cells A preflight image of samples and sample chambers for the Fish Scales investigation. Mitchell/Prange Goldfish scales have many of the same proteins, minerals, and cell types as the bones of mammals. The JAXA Fish Scales investigation analyzed goldfish scales exposed to three times Earth’s gravity, simulated microgravity, and microgravity on orbit. Researchers determined that goldfish scales can be used as a model to help them understand how human bones respond to spaceflight. Mouse cells Research with model organisms like rodents has relevance to humans in space and makes significant contributions to understanding human aging, disease, and the effects of microgravity on biological and physical processes. JAXA’s Stem Cells studied how spaceflight affected the DNA and chromosomes of embryonic mouse stem cells, and their ability to develop into adult mice after return to Earth. Researchers analyzed unaltered cells and cells given a mutation to increase responsiveness to radiation. They found no chromosomal differences between the unaltered space-flown cells and ground controls, but the mutated cells had more DNA abnormalities. The work could enhance the understanding of radiation effects on human cancer and improve risk assessment for long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA astronauts Drew Morgan and Christina Koch work on rodent research hardware. NASA Another study used tissue samples from RR-1, which are available through NASA’s GeneLab open data repository. Analysis showed that the heart can adapt to the stress of spaceflight in just 30 days. The researchers observed genetic changes suggesting that this adaptation may facilitate survival in space and could have applications in treating heart disease in space and on Earth. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Humans In Space Latest News from Space Station Research Space Station Research and Technology Tools and Information Space Station Research Results View the full article