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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the ramp at sunrise before ground tests at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, on July 18, 2025. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight and the aircraft is scheduled to make its first flight later this year.Lockheed Martin Corporation As we honor the legacy of aviation pioneers this National Aviation Day, NASA’s X-59 is preparing to push the boundaries of what’s possible in air travel. The quiet supersonic aircraft’s historic first flight is on the horizon, with final ground tests about to begin.
Following completion of low-speed taxi tests in July 2025 in Palmdale, California, medium- and high-speed taxi tests mark the final steps before the aircraft takes to the skies for the first time. The taxi tests will focus on how the aircraft handles at higher ground speeds, including braking, steering, stability, and sensor performance. The X-59 team will also assess how well the visibility systems work since the cockpit has no forward-facing window.
The X-59’s initial flight will kick off a first phase of flight testing focused on verifying the aircraft’s airworthiness and safety. The X-59 will reach speeds of approximately 240 mph at an altitude of about 12,000 feet. The roughly one-hour flight will depart from Palmdale and land at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
During the flight, the X-59 team will evaluate several critical systems, including engine performance, stabilization, instrumentation, autopilot, control systems, and air data performance. These checks will ensure the aircraft is ready for future flight tests, where it will fly faster and higher to evaluate performance and safety, ultimately leading to future phases of the mission.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight by reducing the loud sonic boom to a quieter “thump.” Proving the X-plane’s airworthiness is the first step on the path to gathering data in support of the mission. The flight data will help inform U.S. and international regulators as they consider new noise standards for supersonic commercial flight over land.
NASA test pilot Nils Larson lowers the canopy of the X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft during ground tests at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, on July 18, 2025. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight and the aircraft is scheduled to make its first flight later this year.Lockheed Martin Corporation Share
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactAmber Philman-Blair Related Terms
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By NASA
A collaboration between NASA and the small business Aloft Sensing produced a new compact radar system that will enable researchers to leverage High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) platforms to observe dynamic Earth systems. This new radar is small, provides highly sensitive measurements, and doesn’t require GPS for positioning; eventually, it could be used on vehicles in space.
HALE InSAR flies aboard a high-altitude balloon during a test-flight. This lightweight instrument will help researchers measure ground deformation and dynamic Earth systems. Credit: Aloft Sensing Long before a volcano erupts or a mountainous snowpack disappears, millimeter-scale changes in Earth’s surface indicate larger geologic processes are at work. But detecting those minute changes, which can serve as early warnings for impending disasters, is difficult.
With support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO ) a team of researchers from the small aerospace company Aloft Sensing is developing a compact radar instrument for observing Earth’s surface deformation, topography, and vegetation with unprecedented precision.
Their project, “HALE InSAR,” has demonstrated the feasibility of using high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) vehicles equipped with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to observe changes in surface deformation mere millimeters in size and terrain information with centimetric vertical accuracy.
“It’s a level of sensitivity that has eluded traditional radar sensors, without making them bulky and expensive,” said Lauren Wye, CEO of Aloft Sensing and principal investigator for HALE InSAR.
HALE vehicles are lightweight aircraft designed to stay airborne for extended periods of time, from weeks to months and even years. These vehicles can revisit a scene multiple times an hour, making them ideal for locating subtle changes in an area’s geologic environment.
InSAR, a remote sensing technique that compares multiple images of the same scene to detect changes in surface topography or determine structure, is also uniquely well-suited to locate these clues. But traditional InSAR instruments are typically too large to fly aboard HALE vehicles.
HALE InSAR is different. The instrument is compact enough for a variety of HALE vehicles, weighing less than 15 pounds (seven kilograms) and consuming fewer than 300 watts of power, about as much energy as it takes to power an electric bike.
HALE InSAR leverages previously-funded NASA technologies to make such detailed measurements from a small platform: a novel electronically steered antenna and advanced positioning algorithms embedded within an agile software-defined transceiver. These technologies were developed under ESTO’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP) and Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) Program, respectively.
“All of the design features that we’ve built into the instrument are starting to showcase themselves and highlight why this payload in particular is distinct from what other small radars might be looking to achieve,” said Wye.
One of those features is a flat phased array antenna, which gives users the ability to focus HALE InSAR’s radar beam without physically moving the instrument. Using a panel about the size of a tablet computer, operators can steer the beam electronically, eliminating the need for gimbles and other heavy components, which helps enable the instrument’s reduced size and weight.
A close up HALE InSAR fixed to a high-altitude airship. The flat planar antenna reduces the instruments mass and eliminates the need for gimbles and other heavy components. Credit: Aloft Sensing “SAR needs to look to the side. Our instrument can be mounted straight down, but look left and right on every other pulse such that we’re collecting a left-looking SAR image and a right-looking SAR image essentially simultaneously. It opens up opportunities for the most mass-constrained types of stratospheric vehicles,” said Wye.
Using advanced positioning algorithms, HALE InSAR also has the unique ability to locate itself without GPS, relying instead on feedback from its own radar signals to determine its position even more accurately. Brian Pollard, Chief Engineer at Aloft Sensing and co-investigator for HALE InSAR, explained that precise positioning is essential for creating high-resolution data about surface deformation and topography.
“SAR is like a long exposure camera, except with radio waves. Your exposure time could be a minute or two long, so you can imagine how much smearing goes on if you don’t know exactly where the radar is,” said Pollard.
Navigating without GPS also makes HALE InSAR ideal for field missions in austere environments where reliable GPS signals may be unavailable, increasing the instrument’s utility for national security applications and science missions in remote locations.
The Aloft Sensing team recently achieved several key milestones, validating their instrument aboard an airship at 65,000 feet as well as small stratospheric balloons. Next, they’ll test HALE InSAR aboard a fixed wing HALE aircraft. A future version of their instrument could even find its way into low Earth orbit on a small satellite.
Wye credits NASA support for helping her company turn a prototype into a proven instrument.
“This technology has been critically enabled by ESTO, and the benefit to science and civil applications is huge,” said Wye. “It also exemplifies the dual-use potential enabled by NASA-funded research. We are seeing significant military interest in this capability now that it is reaching maturity. As a small business, we need this hand-in-hand approach to be able to succeed.”
For more information about opportunities to work with NASA to develop new Earth observation technologies, visit esto.nasa.gov.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead: Dr. Lauren Wye, CEO, Aloft Sensing
Sponsoring Organization: NASA’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP)
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Last Updated Aug 19, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, April 21, 2025, on the company’s 32nd commercial resupply services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 4:15 a.m. EDT. SpaceX NASA and SpaceX are targeting 2:45 a.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 24, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This is the 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA.
Filled with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon will dock autonomously about 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, to the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module.
Watch agency launch and arrival coverage on NASA+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and more. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Dragon will deliver several experiments, including bone-forming stem cells for studying bone loss prevention and materials to 3D print medical implants that could advance treatments for nerve damage on Earth. Dragon also will deliver bioprinted liver tissue to study blood vessel development in microgravity and supplies to 3D print metal cubes in space. Research conducted aboard the space station advances future space exploration – including Artemis missions to the Moon and astronaut missions Mars – and provides multiple benefits to humanity.
In addition, Dragon will perform a reboost demonstration of station to maintain its current altitude. The hardware, located in the trunk of Dragon, contains an independent propellant system separate from the spacecraft to fuel two Draco engines using existing hardware and propellant system design. The boost kit will demonstrate the capability to help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude starting in September with a series of burns planned periodically throughout the fall of 2025. During NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission, the Dragon spacecraft performed its first demonstration of these capabilities on Nov. 8, 2024.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until December when it will depart and return to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Tuesday, Aug. 19:
1 p.m. – International Space Station National Laboratory Science Webinar with the following participants:
Heidi Parris, associate program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Research Office Michael Roberts, chief scientific officer, International Space Station National Laboratory James Yoo, assistant director, Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine Tony James, chief architect for science and space, Red Hat Abba Zubair, medical director and scientist, Mayo Clinic Arun Sharma, director, Center for Space Medicine Research, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Media who wish to participate must register for Zoom access no later than one hour before the start of the webinar.
The conference will stream live on the International Space Station National Lab’s website.
Friday, Aug. 22:
11:30 a.m. – Prelaunch media teleconference with the following participants:
Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program Heidi Parris, associate program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program Research Office Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX Media who wish to participate by phone must request dial-in information by 10 a.m. Aug. 22, by emailing NASA Kennedy Space Center’s newsroom at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
Audio of the media teleconference will stream live on the agency’s YouTube channel.
Sunday, Aug. 24
2:25 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
2:45 a.m. – Launch
Monday, Aug. 25:
6 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
7:30 a.m. – Docking
NASA website launch coverage
Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 2:25 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 24, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on our International Space Station blog for updates.
Attend Launch Virtually
Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch.
Watch, Engage on Social Media Let people know you’re watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:
X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASASocial, @Space_Station, @ISS_CASIS
Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab
Coverage en Espanol
Did you know NASA has a Spanish section called NASA en Espanol? Check out NASA en Espanol on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for additional mission coverage.
Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo o Messod Bendayan a: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov.
Learn more about the mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-spacex-crs-33/
-end-
Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Steven Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-876-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewskI@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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By NASA
5 Min Read NASA, Army National Guard Partner on Flight Training for Moon Landing
By Corinne Beckinger
When Artemis astronauts land on the Moon’s South Pole in a commercial human landing system, they will encounter a landscape pockmarked with deep craters, sloped connecting ridges, and harsh lighting conditions. The Moon’s lack of contrast, combined with its rolling terrain, will also pose a challenge, making it difficult for astronauts to overcome visual illusions on the lunar surface.
NASA astronaut Bob Hines (left) and Colorado Army National Guard HAATS instructor Ethan Jacobs practice landing procedures in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in April 2025. Depending on the season, the snowy or dusty conditions can cause visual obstruction. Lunar dust can cause similar visual impairment during future crewed missions. In the mountains of northern Colorado, NASA and the U.S. Army National Guard are using military helicopters to develop a foundational lunar landersimulated flight training course to help astronauts practice flight and landing procedures for the Moon.
For decades, military helicopter pilots have trained at the HAATS (High-Altitude Army National Guard Aviation Training Site) in Gypsum, Colorado. In 2021, NASA and the Colorado Army National Guard began working together to develop a course specifically for the next generation of lunar explorers.
That NASA-specific course is scheduled to be finalized in August 2025, marking an important milestone for Artemis crewed landings training efforts.
“NASA is using a three-pronged approach with motion-based simulation, in-flight lunar landing analog training, and in-flight lunar simulation to build out its foundational training for Artemis Moon landings,” said NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock, who helped coordinate the training program. “Helicopters at or above 10,000 feet are not really efficient in the thin air, forcing us into operating with very thin power margins similar to the Apollo astronauts having to manage energy and momentum to land safely. The operations along with the terrain at the HAATS course in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains provide a valuable, real-world opportunity for Artemis astronauts to practice flying and landing in conditions similar to maneuvering a lander in the lunar environment.”
NASA astronaut Raja Chari participates in the HAATS course in April 2025. Since 2021, 22 NASA astronauts and one ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut have participated and evaluated the course based on functionality and Artemis mission needs. NASA/Laura Kiker NASA astronaut Raja Chari participates in the HAATS course in April 2025. Since 2021, 22 NASA astronauts and one ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut have participated and evaluated the course based on functionality and Artemis mission needs. NASA/Corinne Beckinger NASA’s human landing systems that will safely transport astronauts to and from the Moon’s surface will be provided by SpaceX and Blue Origin.
NASA’s Artemis III mission will build on earlier test flights and add new capabilities, including SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System and advanced spacesuits, to send the first astronauts to explore the lunar South Pole and prepare humanity to go to Mars.
While each industry provider is responsible for training Artemis astronauts on its specific lander, NASA is establishing foundational training to help prepare astronauts for crewed flights.
Flight training opportunities like this are vital to mission success and crew safety.”
Doug Wheelock
NASA Astronaut
“Over the last few years, NASA and the Army National Guard have worked closely to evaluate training procedures and landing zone areas, incorporating accounts from Apollo astronauts,” Wheelock said. “During training flights at HAATS, astronauts can experience the visual illusions, cross-cockpit communication, and degraded visibility they may experience navigating to their landing zone near the lunar south pole. Flight training opportunities like this are vital to mission success and crew safety.”
Paired with trained instructors from the Army National Guard, astronauts fly to mountaintops and valleys in a range of aircraft, including LUH-72 Lakotas, CH-47 Chinooks, and UH-60 Black Hawks.
While one astronaut pilots the aircraft, an astronaut in the back charts the landing area, marking key landmarks, identifying potential hazards, and helping to track the flight path. Throughout the week-long course, the landing zones and situations become more challenging, allowing astronauts to experience team dynamics and practice communication skills they will need to land on the Moon.
“Our full-time Colorado Army National Guard pilots have thousands of flight hours navigating the Rocky Mountains at altitudes ranging from 6,500 to 14,200 feet, and we are reaching new heights by providing realistic and relevant training with NASA for Artemis,” said first sergeant Joshua Smith of the HAATS program. “Our Colorado Army National Guard pilots may not fly around the Moon, but we wear our motto, de monitbus ad astra — from the mountains to the stars — with pride.”
Fast Facts
On the Moon’s South Pole, the Sun is never more than 1.5 degrees above or below the horizon. With the Sun at such a low angle and with only a thin exosphere, shadows are stark, and astronauts may find it difficult to determine distances and heights.
The Moon’s atmosphere is extremely thin, with few particles, and is called an exosphere. The Moon’s exosphere is thin enough to glow in sunlight, which has been observed by spacecraft and some of the Apollo astronauts. The Moon’s surface is challenging to land on. There are inactive volcanoes, bounders, large basins, craters, and cracks in the Moon’s crust, caused by the Earth’s gravity tugging on the Moon. Moon dust can also obscure the view from the windows of a commercial human landing system, and affect sensors that relay important information, such as altitude and velocity, to astronauts. Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.
For more information about Artemis visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NuCLEUS, developed by Interstellar Lab, is an autonomous system that grows microgreens, vegetables, and more for astronauts to eat in space.Interstellar Lab NASA invests in technologies that have the potential to revolutionize space exploration, including the way astronauts live in space. Through the Deep Space Food Challenge, NASA, in partnership with CSA (Canadian Space Agency), sought novel food production systems that could provide long-duration human space exploration missions with safe, nutritious, and tasty food. Three winners selected last summer are now taking their technology to new heights – figuratively and literally – through commercial partnerships.
Interstellar Lab of Merritt Island, Florida, won the challenge’s $750,000 grand prize for its food production system NuCLEUS (Nutritional Closed-Loop Eco-Unit System), by demonstrating an autonomous operation growing microgreens, vegetables, and mushrooms, as well as sustaining insects for use in an astronaut’s diet. To address the requirements of the NASA challenge, NuCLEUS includes an irrigation system that sustains crop growth with minimal human intervention. This end-to-end system supplies fresh ingredients to support astronauts’ health and happiness, with an eye toward what the future of dining on deep space missions to Mars and the Moon may look like.
Since the close of the challenge, Interstellar Lab has partnered with aerospace company Vast to integrate a spinoff of NuCLEUS, called Eden 1.0, on Haven-1, a planned commercial space station. Eden 1.0 is a plant growth unit designed to conduct research on plants in a microgravity environment using functions directly stemming from NuCLEUS.
“The NASA Deep Space Food Challenge was a pivotal catalyst for Interstellar Lab, driving us to refine our NuCLEUS system and directly shaping the development of Eden 1.0, setting the stage for breakthroughs in plant growth research to sustain life both in space and on Earth,” said Barbara Belvisi, founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab.
Fuanyi Fobellah, one of the “Simunauts” from The Ohio State University who tested food production technologies as part of the Deep Space Food Challenge, removes a cooked omelet from the SATED appliance.NASA/Savannah Bullard Team SATED (Safe Appliance, Tidy, Efficient & Delicious) of Boulder, Colorado, earned a $250,000 second prize for its namesake appliance, which creates an artificial gravitational force that presses food ingredients against its heated inner surface for cooking. The technology was developed by Jim Sears, who entered the contest as a one-person team and has since founded the small business SATED Space LLC.
At the challenge finale event, the technology was introduced to the team of world-renowned chef and restaurant owner, José Andrés. The SATED technology is undergoing testing with the José Andrés Group, which could add to existing space food recipes that include lemon cake, pizza, and quiche. The SATED team also is exploring partnerships to expand the list of ingredients compatible with the appliance, such as synthetic cooking oils safe for space.
Delicious food was a top priority in the Deep Space Food Challenge. Sears noted the importance of food that is more than mere sustenance. “When extremely high performance is required, and the situations are demanding, tough, and lonely, the thing that pulls it all together and makes people operate at their best is eating fresh cooked food in community.”
Team Nolux won a $250,000 second-place prize for its Nolux food system that uses artificial photosynthesis to grow ingredients that could be used by astronauts in space.OSU/CFAES/Kenneth Chamberlain Team Nolux, formed from faculty members, graduate, and undergraduate students from the University of California, Riverside, also won a $250,000 second prize for its artificial photosynthesis system. The Nolux system – whose name means “no light” – grows plant and fungal-based foods in a dark chamber using acetate to chemically stimulate photosynthesis without light, a capability that could prove valuable in space with limited access to sunlight.
Some members of the Nolux team are now commercializing select aspects of the technology developed during the challenge. These efforts are being pursued through a newly incorporated company focused on refining the technology and exploring market applications.
A competition inspired by NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge will open this fall.
Stay tuned for more information: https://www.nasa.gov/prizes-challenges-and-crowdsourcing/centennial-challenges/
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