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By Amazing Space
BLOOD MOON TONIGHT! Total Lunar Eclipse September 7, 2025 + 5 Amazing Moon Features You Can See!
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By NASA
Explore This Section Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home This image was taken when Perseverance topped Soroya ridge. Using the Left Navigation Camera (Navcam), the image was acquired on Aug. 17, 2025 (Sol 1597) at the local mean solar time of 13:54:37. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Eleanor Moreland, Ph.D. Student Collaborator at Rice University
Perseverance has continued exploring beyond the rim of Jezero crater, spending time last week at Parnasset conducting a mini-campaign on aeolian bedforms. After wrapping up that work, three separate drives brought Perseverance further southeast to an outcrop named Soroya.
Soroya was first picked out from orbital images as a target of interest because, as can be seen in the above image, it appears as a much lighter color compared to the surroundings. In previous landscape images from the surface, Mars 2020 scientists have been able to pick out the light-toned Soryoa outcrop, and they noted it forms a ridge-like structure, protruding above the surface. Soroya was easily identifiable from rover images (below) as Perseverance approached since it indeed rises above the surrounding low-lying terrain.
The Perseverance rover acquired this image looking at Soroya using the onboard Left Navigation Camera (Navcam). This image was acquired on Aug. 15, 2025 (Sol 1595) at the local mean solar time of 16:34:53. NASA/JPL-Caltech From Parnasset to Soroya, the team planned a series of drives so that Perseverance would arrive at Soroya in a great workspace, and the plan was successful. As shown in the first image, we arrived at an area with flat, exposed bedrock – great for proximity science instruments.
The WATSON and SHERLOC ACI cameras plan to acquire many high-resolution images to investigate textures and surface features. For chemistry, SCAM LIBS and ZCAM multispectral activities will give important contextual data for the outcrop while PIXL will acquire a high-resolution chemical map scan of a dust-cleared part of the bedrock. While parked, MEDA will continue monitoring environmental conditions and ZCAM will image the surrounding terrain to inform the next drive location. Take a look at where Perseverance is now – where would you explore next?
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Last Updated Aug 27, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
ResilienX employees Angelo Niforatos, left, and Ryan Pleskach, right, overview the NASA safety tools integrated into the company’s commercial system, July 11, 2025, at the ResilienX Headquarters in Syracuse, New York. Credit: ResilienX A future with advanced air mobility aircraft populating the skies will require the U.S. to implement enhanced preflight planning that can mitigate potential risks well before takeoff – and NASA is working to develop the tools to make that happen.
Preflight planning is critical to ensuring safety in the complex, high-risk environments of the future airspace. Timely, predictive, and up-to-date risk assessment within a single platform makes it much easier for drone or air taxi operators to check flight plans for high-risk concerns.
NASA is working on tools to deliver those services, and in June, the agency and aviation safety company ResilienX Inc. demonstrated how these tools can be integrated into commercial systems.
During a series of tests conducted at ResilienX’s facility in Syracuse, New York, researchers used NASA services that allowed flight operators to submit flight plans prior to departure, obtain risk assessment results, and then decide whether to proceed with flights or change their flight plans and re-assess risks. Allowing operators to perform these tasks quickly reduces the safety risk to flight passengers as well as humans on the ground.
The three NASA-developed services are intended to assess unique risks associated with highly automated aircraft flying at low altitudes over cities.
The partnership was managed under a Phase III NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, which is an extension of prior work to assess weather-related risks. This collaboration is already leading to direct technology transfer of safety systems into ResilienX’s platform. The partnership is also intended to provide indirect benefits for ResilienX partners and customers, such as the U.S. Air Force and regional operators, helping to advance the overall safety of future airspace operations.
This work is led by NASA’s System-Wide Safety project under the Airspace Operations and Safety program in support of the agency’s Advanced Air Mobility mission. The mission seeks to deliver data, findings, and recommendations to guide the industry’s development of future air taxis and drones.
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Last Updated Aug 22, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactTeresa Whitingteresa.whiting@nasa.gov Related Terms
Armstrong Flight Research Center Advanced Air Mobility Aeronautics Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate Airspace Operations and Safety Program Drones & You Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business System-Wide Safety Explore More
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By NASA
4 Min Read La NASA revela los finalistas del concurso de diseño de la mascota lunar de Artemis II
Read this story in English here.
La NASA ya tiene 25 finalistas para el diseño del indicador de gravedad cero de Artemis II que volará con la tripulación de esta misión alrededor de la Luna y de regreso a la Tierra el próximo año.
Los astronautas Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover y Christina Koch de la NASA, y el astronauta de la CSA (Agencia Espacial Canadiense) Jeremy Hansen pronto seleccionarán uno de los diseños finalistas para que les acompañe dentro de la nave espacial Orion como su mascota lunar.
“El indicador de gravedad cero de Artemis II será especial para la tripulación”, dijo Reid Wiseman, comandante de Artemis II. “En una nave espacial llena de equipos y herramientas complejas que mantienen viva a la tripulación en el espacio profundo, el indicador es una forma amigable y útil de resaltar el elemento humano que es tan crítico para nuestra exploración del universo. Nuestra tripulación está entusiasmada con estos diseños provenientes de muchos lugares del mundo y esperamos con interés llevar al ganador con nosotros en este viaje”.
Un indicador de gravedad cero es un pequeño peluche que típicamente viaja con la tripulación para indicar visualmente el momento en que llegan al espacio. Durante los primeros ocho minutos después del despegue, la tripulación y el indicador, que estará situado cerca de ellos, seguirán siendo presionados contra sus asientos por la gravedad y la fuerza de la subida al espacio. Cuando se apaguen los motores principales de la etapa central del cohete Sistema de Lanzamiento Espacial (SLS, por sus siglas en inglés), se eliminarán las restricciones de la gravedad, pero la tripulación seguirá atada de manera segura a sus asientos: la capacidad de flotar de su indicador de gravedad cero será la evidencia de que han llegado al espacio.
Artemis II será la primera misión en la que el público haya participado en la creación de la mascota de la tripulación.
Estos diseños, con ideas que abarcan desde versiones lunares de criaturas terrestres hasta visiones creativas sobre la exploración y el descubrimiento, fueron seleccionados entre más de 2.600 propuestas procedentes de más de 50 países, e incluyen diseños de estudiantes desde primaria a secundaria. Los finalistas representan a 10 países, entre los que están Estados Unidos, Canadá, Colombia, Finlandia, Francia, Alemania, Japón, Perú, Singapur y Gales.
Mira aquí los diseños finalistas:
Lucas Ye | Mountain View, California“Rise” Kenan Ziyan | Canyon, Texas“Zappy Zebra” Royal School, SKIES Space Club | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada“Luna the Space Polar Bear” Garden County Schools | Oshkosh, Nebraska“Team GarCo” Richellea Quinn Wijaya | Singapore“Parsec – The Bird That Flew to the Moon” Anzhelika Iudakova | Finland“Big Steps of Little Octopus” Congressional School | Falls Church, Virginia“Astra-Jelly” Congressional School | Falls Church, Virginia“Harper, Chloe, and Mateo’s ZGI” Alexa Pacholyk | Madison, Connecticut“Artemis” Leila Fleury | Rancho Palos Verdes, California“Beeatrice” Oakville Trafalgar School | Oakville, Ontario, Canada“Lepus the Moon Rabbit” Avon High School | Avon, Connecticut“Sal the Salmon” Daniela Colina | Lima, Peru“Corey the Explorer” Caroline Goyer-Desrosiers | St. Eustache, Quebec, Canada“Flying Squirrel Ready for Its Take Off to Space!” Giulia Bona | Berlin, Germany“Art & the Giant” Tabitha Ramsey | Frederick, Maryland“Lunar Crust-acean” Gabriela Hadas | Plano, Texas“Celestial Griffin” Savon Blanchard | Pearland, Texas“Soluna Flier” Ayako Moriyama | Kyoto, Japan“MORU: A Cloud Aglow with Moonlight and Hope” Johanna Beck | McPherson, Kansas“Creation Mythos” Guillaume Truong | Toulouse, France“Space Mola-mola (aka Moon Fish) Plushie” Arianna Robins | Rockledge, Florida“Terra the Titanosaurus” Sandy Moya | Madrid, Colombia“MISI: Guardian of the Journey” Bekah Crowmer | Mooresville, Indiana“Mona the Moon Moth” Courtney John | Llanelli, Wales“Past, Present, Future” En marzo, la NASA anunció que buscaba propuestas de creadores de todo el mundo para el diseño de un indicador de gravedad cero que volaría a bordo de Artemis II, la primera misión tripulada de la campaña Artemis de la NASA. Se pidió a los creadores que presentaran ideas que representaran la importancia de Artemis, la misión, o la exploración y el descubrimiento, y que cumplieran con requisitos específicos de tamaño y materiales. La empresa de crowdsourcing (colaboración abierta) Freelancer sirvió como facilitadora del concurso en nombre de la NASA, a través del Laboratorio de Campeonatos de la NASA, el cual es gestionado por la Dirección de Misiones de Tecnología Espacial de la agencia.
Una vez que la tripulación haya seleccionado un diseño final, el Laboratorio de Mantas Térmicas de la NASA lo fabricará para el vuelo. El indicador estará amarrado dentro de Orion antes del lanzamiento.
La misión, que tendrá alrededor de 10 días de duración, es otro paso adelante hacia misiones en la superficie lunar y sirve como preparación para futuras misiones tripuladas a Marte de la agencia.
Mediante Artemis II, la NASA enviará astronautas a explorar la Luna para llevar a cabo descubrimientos científicos, obtener beneficios económicos y sentar las bases para las primeras misiones tripuladas a Marte.
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
The Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig simulates the intense cold of the lunar night, ranging from 40 Kelvin (K) to 125 K while maintaining a vacuum environment. This creates a tool by which scientists and engineers can test materials, electronics, and flight hardware for future Moon and Mars missions, characterizing their behaviors at these temperatures while also validating their ability to meet design requirements.
Cryogenic engineer Adam Rice tests the Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig to simulate the thermal-vacuum conditions of the lunar night on Thursday, May 22, 2025.NASA/Jef Janis Facility Overview
The Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig (LESTR) approaches the problem of creating a simulated lunar environment by departing from typical fluid immersion or jacketed-and-chilled chamber systems. It does this by using a cryocooler to reject heat and bring the test section to any point desired by the test engineer, as low as 40 K or as high as 125 K in a vacuum environment. By combining high vacuum and cryogenic temperatures, LESTR enables safe, accurate, and cost-effective testing of materials and hardware destined for the Moon and beyond. Its modular setup supports a wide range of components — from spacesuits to rover wheels to electronics — while laying the foundation for future Moon and Mars mission technologies.
Quick Facts
LESTR is a cryogenic mechanical test system built up within a conventional load frame with the goal of providing a tool to simulate the thermal-vacuum conditions of the lunar night to engineers tasked with creating the materials, tools, and machinery to succeed in NASA’s missions.
LESTR replicates extreme lunar night environments — including temperatures as low as 40 K and high vacuum (<5×10⁻⁷ Torr) — enabling true-to-space testing without liquid cryogens. Unlike traditional “wet” methods, LESTR uses a cryocooler and vacuum system to create an environment accurate to the lunar surface. From rover wheels to spacesuits to electronics, LESTR supports static and dynamic testing across a wide range of Moon and Mars mission hardware. With scalable architecture and precision thermal control, LESTR lays critical groundwork for advancing the technologies of NASA’s Artemis missions and beyond. Capabilities
Specifications
Temperature Range: 40 K to 125 K Load Capacity: ~10 kN Vacuum Level: <5×10⁻⁷ Torr Test Volume (Cold Box Dimensions): 7.5 by 9.5 by 11.5 inches Maximum Cycle Rate: 100 Hz Time to Vacuum:10⁻⁵ Torr in less than one hour 10⁻⁶ Torr in four hours Features
Dry cryogenic testing (no fluid cryogen immersion) “Dial-a-temperature” control for precise thermal conditions Integrated optical extensometer for strain imaging Digital image correlation and electrical feedthroughs support a variety of data collection methods Native support for high-duration cyclic testing Applications
Cryogenic Lifecycle Testing: fatigue, fracture, and durability assessments Low-Frequency Vibration Testing: electronics qualification for mobility systems Static Load Testing: material behavior characterization in lunar-like environments Suspension and Drivetrain Testing: shock absorbers, wheels, springs, and textiles Textiles Testing: evaluation of spacesuits and habitat fabrics Dynamic Load Testing: up to 10 kN linear capacity, 60 mm stroke Contact
Cryogenic and Mechanical Evaluation Lab Manager: Andrew Ring
216-433-9623
Andrew.J.Ring@nasa.gov
LESTR Technical Lead: Ariel Dimston
216-433-2893
Ariel.E.Dimston@nasa.gov
Using Our Facilities
NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland provides ground test facilities to industry, government, and academia. If you are considering testing in one of our facilities or would like further information about a specific facility or capability, please let us know.
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The Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig simulates the intense cold of the lunar night on Friday, June 6, 2025.NASA/Steven Logan The Lunar Environment Structural Test Rig uses a cryocooler to reject heat and bring the test section as low as 40 Kelvin in a vacuum environment on Thursday, May 22, 2025.NASA/Jef Janis Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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