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By NASA
NASA/Christopher LC Clark The parachute of the Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy, or EPIC, test experiment deploys following an air launch from an Alta X drone on June 4, 2025, at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA researchers are developing technology to make supersonic parachutes safer and more reliable for delivering instruments and payloads to Mars.
The flight tests were a first step toward filling gaps in computer models to improve supersonic parachutes. This work could also open the door to future partnerships, including with the aerospace and auto racing industries.
Image Credit: NASA/Christopher LC Clark
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By NASA
NASA A Titan-Centaur rocket carrying the Viking 1 spacecraft launches from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Aug. 20, 1975. Viking 1 touched down on the red planet on July 20, 1976, becoming the first truly successful landing on Mars. Viking 1 was the first of a pair of complex deep space probes that were designed to reach Mars and to collect evidence on the possibility on life on Mars.
NASA’s exploration of Mars continues, with rovers exploring the planet’s surface and spacecraft studying from orbit. The agency’s Artemis missions will also lay the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Learn more about Viking 1 and see the first photo it took upon landing.
Image credit: NASA
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By NASA
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/.
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By NASA
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
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Last Updated Aug 11, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
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By NASA
Technicians at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida conduct illumination testing on Friday, July 18, 2025, by flashing a bright light that simulates the Sun into the two-panel solar array that will help power the agency’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) observatory on its upcoming journey to a destination about one million miles away from Earth Lagrange Point 1.Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA invites media to view the agency’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) spacecraft and two other missions — the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On–Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) observatory, which will launch along with IMAP as rideshares.
Media will have the opportunity to photograph the three spacecraft and speak with subject matter experts representing all three missions. The event will take place on Thursday, Aug. 28, at the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Confirmed media will receive additional details after registering.
To participate in the event, media must RSVP by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19, by submitting their request online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov.
The IMAP mission will study the heliosphere, a vast magnetic bubble created by the Sun that protects our solar system from radiation incoming from interstellar space. Carruthers will use its ultraviolet cameras to monitor how material from the Sun impacts the outermost part of Earth’s atmosphere. The SWFO-L1 mission will observe solar eruptions, and monitor incoming space weather 24/7, providing early warnings and validating forecasts that protect vital communication and navigation infrastructure, economic interests, and national security, both on Earth and in space.
NASA is targeting no earlier than September for the launch of these three missions on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online. For questions about accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
Facility Access
Due to spacecraft cleanliness requirements, this invitation is open to a limited number of media with no more than two individuals per media organization. This event is open to U.S. citizens who possess a valid government-issued photo identification and proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate.
Media attending this event must comply with cleanroom guidelines. This includes wearing specific cleanroom garments; avoiding cologne, cosmetics, and high-heeled shoes; cleaning camera equipment under the supervision or assistance of contamination control specialists; and placing all electronics in airplane mode in the designated areas near the spacecraft. NASA will provide detailed guidance to approved media.
Observatories Information
The three observatories are preparing to launch to Lagrange point 1, which lies about a million miles from Earth toward the Sun. There, they will orbit this gravitational balance point, holding a steady position between Earth and the Sun. NASA’s IMAP will use its 10 instruments to map the heliosphere’s edge and reveal how the Sun accelerates charged particles, filling in essential puzzle pieces to understand the space weather environment across the solar system. The mission’s varied instruments also will provide near real-time space weather data to scientists on Earth.
The Carruthers observatory will image the glow of ultraviolet light emitted by the uppermost parts of Earth’s atmosphere — called the geocorona — to help researchers understand how our planet’s atmosphere is shaped by conditions in space. NOAA’s SWFO-L1 will use its suite of instruments to sample the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field, while its onboard coronagraph will detect coronal mass ejections and other solar events. Together, these real-time observations of space weather enable precautionary actions to protect satellites, power grids, aviation, and communication and navigation technology.
Learn more about NASA’s IMAP at:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/imap/
-end-
Abbey Interrante
Headquarters, Washington
301-201-0124
abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov
Sarah Frazier
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
202-853-7191
sarah.frazier@nasa.gov
Leejay Lockhart
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Aug 08, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
NASA Headquarters Carruthers Geocorona Observatory (GLIDE) Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Heliophysics Division IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe) Kennedy Space Center Space Weather The Sun View the full article
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