Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
NASA Invites Media to SpaceX’s 33rd Resupply Launch to Space Station
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
View of the NASA Glenn Research Center hangar from the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport runway during a testing flight on Thursday, June 13, 2024. The Operations and Integration Building sits to the hangar’s right.Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian Hanna NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is seeking proposals for the use of its historic aircraft hangar, along with a parking lot, tarmac, and a small neighboring office building. Proposals are due by 1 p.m. EDT on Nov. 28.
The hangar, formally known as the Flight Research Building, is available for lease by signing a National Historic Preservation Act agreement for a 10-year base period and two optional five-year extensions.
NASA first announced plans to lease the Flight Research Building and other facilities in May 2024 under the government’s Enhanced Use Lease authority. These lease agreements allow space, aeronautics, and other related industries to use agency land and facilities, reducing NASA’s maintenance costs while fostering strategic partnerships that spur innovation.
“Glenn is making great progress as we modernize our Cleveland and Sandusky campuses to support NASA’s future missions,” said Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, Glenn’s center director. “Through Enhanced Use Leases, we’re ensuring full use of land and facilities while preserving an iconic, historic building and creating regional economic opportunities.”
The property available for lease includes up to 6.7 acres of land, which contains the heated aircraft hangar, Operations and Integration Building, parking lot, and tarmac. The hangar is 160 feet by 280 feet, and the Operations and Integration Building is 5,947 square feet. Proceeds from this lease will be used to maintain Glenn facilities and infrastructure.
Visible from Brookpark Road and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Glenn’s hangar was the first building completed after the center was established in 1941. It has sheltered many unique aircraft used to perform vital research. From studying ice accumulation on aircraft wings to the first use of laser communications to stream 4K video from an aircraft to the International Space Station, Glenn flight research has contributed to aviation safety, atmospheric studies, and cutting-edge technology development.
Interested parties should contact both Carlos Flores at carlos.a.flores-1@nasa.gov and Diana Munro at diana.c.munro@nasa.gov to sign up for a walk-through from Monday, Sept. 8, to Friday, Sept. 12, or the week of Oct. 6.
For a 360-degree virtual tour of the Flight Research Building, visit:
https://www3.nasa.gov/specials/hangar360/
-end-
Jan Wittry
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
216-433-5466
jan.m.wittry-1@nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 31, 2025 Related Terms
Doing Business with NASA Glenn Research Center Media Resources Explore More
3 min read NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Design and Certification
Article 3 days ago 3 min read NASA Rehearses How to Measure X-59’s Noise Levels
Article 6 days ago 4 min read NASA Tests 5G-Based Aviation Network to Boost Air Taxi Connectivity
Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA has released a new proposal opportunity for industry to tap into agency know-how, resources, and expertise. The Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO), managed by the Space Technology Mission Directorate, enables valuable collaboration without financial exchanges between NASA and industry partners. Instead, companies leverage NASA subject matter experts, facilities, software, and hardware to accelerate their technologies and prepare them for future commercial and government use.
On Wednesday, NASA issued a standing ACO announcement for partnership proposals which will be available for five years and will serve as the umbrella opportunity for topic-specific appendix releases. NASA intends to issue appendices every six to 12 months to address evolving space technology needs. The 2025 ACO appendix is open for proposals until Sept. 24.
NASA will host an informational webinar about the opportunity and appendix at 2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 6. Interested proposers are encouraged to submit questions which will be answered during the webinar and will be available online after the webinar.
NASA teaming with industry isn’t new – decades of partnerships have resulted in ambitious missions that benefit all of humanity. But in recent years, NASA has also played a key role as a technology enabler, providing one-of-a-kind tools, resources, and infrastructure to help commercial aerospace companies achieve their goals.
Since 2015, NASA has collaborated with industry on approximately 80 ACO projects. Here are some ways the collaborations have advanced space technology:
Lunar lander systems
Blue Origin and NASA worked together on several ACOs to mature the company’s lunar lander design. NASA provided technical reports and assessments and conducted tests at multiple centers to help Blue Origin advance a stacked fuel cell system for a lander’s primary power source. Other Blue Origin ACO projects evaluated high-temperature engine materials and advanced a landing navigation and guidance system.
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lander is delivering NASA science and technology to the Moon through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. In 2023, NASA selected Blue Origin as a Human Landing System provider to develop its Blue Moon MK2 lander for future crewed lunar exploration.
Artist concept of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lander.Blue Origin Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) lander is delivering NASA science and technology to the Moon through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. In 2023, NASA selected Blue Origin as a Human Landing System provider to develop its Blue Moon MK2 lander for future crewed lunar exploration.
Cryogenic fluid transfer
Throughout a year-long ACO, NASA and SpaceX engineers worked together to perform in-depth computational fluid analysis of proposed propellant transfer methods between two SpaceX Starship spacecraft in low-Earth orbit. The SpaceX-specific analysis utilized Starship flight data and data from previous NASA research and development to identify potential risks and help mitigate them during the early stages of commercial development. NASA also provided inputs as SpaceX developed an initial concept of operations for its orbital propellant transfer missions.
Artist’s concept of Starship propellant transfer in space.SpaceX SpaceX used the ACO analyses to inform the design of its Starship Human Landing System, which NASA selected in 2021 to put the first Artemis astronauts on the Moon.
Autonomous spacecraft navigation solution
Advanced Space and NASA partnered to advance the company’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System – software that allows lunar spacecraft to determine their location without relying exclusively on tracking from Earth.
Dylan Schmidt, CAPSTONE assembly integration and test lead, installs solar panels onto the CAPSTONE spacecraft at Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., in Irvine, California.NASA/Dominic Hart The CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) spacecraft launched to the Moon in 2022 and continues to operate and collect critical data to refine the software. Under the ACO, Advanced Space was able to use NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to conduct crosslink experiments with CAPSTONE, helping mature the navigation solution for future missions. The mission’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System technology was initially supported through the NASA Small Business Innovation Research program.
Multi-purpose laser sensing system
Sensuron and NASA matured a miniature, rugged fiber optic sensing system capable of taking thermal and shape measurements for multiple applications. Throughout the ACO, Sensuron benefitted from NASA’s expertise in fiber optics and electrical, mechanical, and system testing engineering to design, fabricate, and “shake and bake” its prototype laser.
NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center’s FOSS, Fiber Optic Sensing System, recently supported tests of a system designed to turn oxygen into liquid oxygen, a component of rocket fuel. Patrick Chan, electronics engineer, and NASA Armstrong’s FOSS portfolio project manager, shows fiber like that used in the testing.NASA/Genaro Vavuris Space missions could use the technology to monitor cryogenic propellant levels and determine a fuel tank’s structural integrity throughout an extended mission. The laser technology also has medical applications on Earth, which ultimately resulted in the Sensuron spinoff company, The Shape Sensing Company.
Flexible lunar tires
In 2023, Venturi Astrolab began work with NASA under an ACO to test its flexible lunar tire design. The company tapped into testing capabilities unique to NASA, including heat transfer to cold lunar soil, traction, and life testing. The data validated the performance of tire prototypes, helping ready the design to support future NASA missions.
In 2024, NASA selected three companies, including Venturi Astrolab, to advance capabilities for a lunar terrain vehicle that astronauts could use to travel around the lunar surface, conducting scientific research on the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars.
Venturi Lab designed and developed a durable, robust, and hyper-deformable lunar wheel.Venturi Lab The Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) is one of many ways NASA enables commercial industry to develop, build, own, and eventually operate space systems. To learn more about these technology projects and more, visit: https://techport.nasa.gov/.
Facebook logo @NASATechnology @NASA_Technology Explore More
2 min read NASA Seeks Industry Concepts on Moon, Mars Communications
Article 1 week ago 1 min read USBR Seal Team Fix Challenge
Article 1 week ago 4 min read NASA Tests New Heat Source Fuel for Deep Space Exploration
Article 1 week ago Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 30, 2025 EditorLoura Hall Related Terms
Space Technology Mission Directorate Communicating and Navigating with Missions Small Spacecraft Technology Program Space Communications Technology Technology Technology Transfer & Spinoffs View the full article
-
By NASA
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 a.m. IST), July 30, 2025.Credit: ISRO Carrying an advanced radar system that will produce a dynamic, three-dimensional view of Earth in unprecedented detail, the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite has launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Jointly developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and a critical part of the United States – India civil-space cooperation highlighted by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi earlier this year, the satellite can detect the movement of land and ice surfaces down to the centimeter. The mission will help protect communities by providing unique, actionable information to decision-makers in a diverse range of areas, including disaster response, infrastructure monitoring, and agricultural management.
The satellite lifted off aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:10 p.m. IST), Wednesday, July 30. The ISRO ground controllers began communicating with NISAR about 20 minutes after launch, at just after 8:29 a.m. EDT, and confirmed it is operating as expected.
“Congratulations to the entire NISAR mission team on a successful launch that spanned across multiple time zones and continents in the first-ever partnership between NASA and ISRO on a mission of this sheer magnitude,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Where moments are most critical, NISAR’s data will help ensure the health and safety of those impacted on Earth, as well as the infrastructure that supports them, for the benefit of all.”
From 464 miles (747 kilometers) above Earth, NISAR will use two advanced radar instruments to track changes in Earth’s forests and wetland ecosystems, monitor deformation and motion of the planet’s frozen surfaces, and detect the movement of Earth’s crust down to fractions of an inch — a key measurement in understanding how the land surface moves before, during, and after earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.
“ISRO’s GSLV has precisely injected NISAR satellite into the intended orbit, 747 kilometers. I am happy to inform that this is GSLV’s first mission to Sun-synchronous polar orbit. With this successful launch, we are at the threshold of fulfilling the immense scientific potential NASA and ISRO envisioned for the NISAR mission more than 10 years ago,” said ISRO Chairman V Narayanan. “The powerful capability of this radar mission will help us study Earth’s dynamic land and ice surfaces in greater detail than ever before.”
The mission’s two radars will monitor nearly all the planet’s land- and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days, including areas of the polar Southern Hemisphere rarely covered by other Earth-observing radar satellites. The data NISAR collects also can help researchers assess how forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, and permafrost change over time.
“Observations from NISAR will provide new knowledge and tangible benefits for communities both in the U.S. and around the world,” said Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science division at NASA Headquarters. “This launch marks the beginning of a new way of seeing the surface of our planet so that we can understand and foresee natural disasters and other changes in our Earth system that affect lives and property.”
The NISAR satellite is the first free-flying space mission to feature two radar instruments — an L-band system and an S-band system. Each system is sensitive to features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes. The L-band radar excels at measuring soil moisture, forest biomass, and motion of land and ice surfaces, while S-band radar excels at monitoring agriculture, grassland ecosystems, and infrastructure movement.
Together, the radar instruments will enhance all of the satellite’s observations, making NISAR more capable than previous synthetic aperture radar missions. Unlike optical sensors, NISAR will be able to “see” through clouds, making it possible to monitor the surface during storms, as well as in darkness and light.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provided the L-band radar, and ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad developed the S-band radar. The NISAR mission marks the first time the two agencies have co-developed hardware for an Earth-observing mission.
“We’re proud of the international team behind this remarkable satellite. The mission’s measurements will be global but its applications deeply local, as people everywhere will use its data to plan for a resilient future,” said Dave Gallagher, director, NASA JPL, which manages the U.S. portion of the mission for NASA. “At its core is synthetic aperture radar, a technology pioneered at NASA JPL that enables us to study Earth night and day, through all kinds of weather.”
Including L-band and S-band radars on one satellite is an evolution in SAR airborne and space-based missions that, for NASA, started in 1978 with the launch of Seasat. In 2012, ISRO began launching SAR missions starting with Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), followed by RISAT-1A in 2022, to support a wide range of applications in India.
In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will begin a roughly 90-day commissioning phase during which it will deploy its 39-foot (12-meter) radar antenna reflector. This reflector will direct and receive microwave signals from the two radars. By interpreting the differences between the two, researchers can discern characteristics about the surface below. As NISAR passes over the same locations twice every 12 days, scientists can evaluate how those characteristics have changed over time to reveal new insights about Earth’s dynamic surfaces.
The NISAR mission is an equal collaboration between NASA and ISRO. Managed for the agency by Caltech, NASA JPL leads the U.S. component of the project and is providing the mission’s L-band SAR. NASA also is providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem.
Space Applications Centre Ahmedabad, ISRO’s lead center for payload development, is providing the mission’s S-band SAR instrument and is responsible for its calibration, data processing, and development of science algorithms to address the scientific goals of the mission. U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, which leads the ISRO components of the mission, is providing the spacecraft bus. The launch vehicle is from ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, launch services are through ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre, and satellite operations are by ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network. National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad is responsible for S-band data reception, operational products generation, and dissemination.
To learn more about NISAR, visit:
https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov
-end-
Karen Fox / Elizabeth Vlock
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov
Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 30, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) Earth Science Earth Science Division Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Headquarters Science Mission Directorate View the full article
-
By NASA
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 5 Min Read NASA’s Webb Traces Details of Complex Planetary Nebula
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s view of planetary nebula NGC 6072 in the near-infrared shows a complex scene of multiple outflows expanding out at different angles from a dying star at the center of the scene. In this image, the red areas represent cool molecular gas, for example, molecular hydrogen. Full image below. Credits:
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI Since their discovery in the late 1700s, astronomers have learned that planetary nebulae, or the expanding shell of glowing gas expelled by a low-intermediate mass star late in its life, can come in all shapes and sizes. Most planetary nebula present as circular, elliptical, or bi-polar, but some stray from the norm, as seen in new high-resolution images of planetary nebulae by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Webb’s newest look at planetary nebula NGC 6072 in the near- and mid-infrared shows what may appear as a very messy scene resembling splattered paint. However, the unusual, asymmetrical appearance hints at more complicated mechanisms underway, as the star central to the scene approaches the very final stages of its life and expels shells of material, losing up to 80 percent of its mass. Astronomers are using Webb to study planetary nebulae to learn more about the full life cycle of stars and how they impact their surrounding environments.
Image A: NGC 6072 (NIRCam Image)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s view of planetary nebula NGC 6072 in the near-infrared shows a complex scene of multiple outflows expanding out at different angles from a dying star at the center of the scene. In this image, the red areas represent cool molecular gas, for example, molecular hydrogen. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI First, taking a look at the image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), it’s readily apparent that this nebula is multi-polar. This means there are several different elliptical outflows jetting out either way from the center, one from 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock, another from 1 o’clock to 7 o’clock, and possibly a third from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. The outflows may compress material as they go, resulting in a disk seen perpendicular to it.
Astronomers say this is evidence that there are likely at least two stars at the center of this scene. Specifically, a companion star is interacting with an aging star that had already begun to shed some of its outer layers of gas and dust.
The central region of the planetary nebula glows from the hot stellar core, seen as a light blue hue in near-infrared light. The dark orange material, which is made up of gas and dust, follows pockets or open areas that appear dark blue. This clumpiness could be created when dense molecular clouds formed while being shielded from hot radiation from the central star. There could also be a time element at play. Over thousands of years, inner fast winds could be ploughing through the halo cast off from the main star when it first started to lose mass.
Image B: NGC 6072 (MIRI Image)
The mid-infrared view of planetary nebula NGC 6072 from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope show expanding circular shells around the outflows from the dying central star. In this image, the blue represents cool molecular gas seen in red in the image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) due to color mapping. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI The longer wavelengths captured by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) are highlighting dust, revealing the star researchers suspect could be central to this scene. It appears as a small pinkish-whitish dot in this image.
Webb’s look in the mid-infrared wavelengths also reveals concentric rings expanding from the central region, the most obvious circling just past the edges of the lobes.
This may be additional evidence of a secondary star at the center of the scene hidden from our view. The secondary star, as it circles repeatedly around the original star, could have carved out rings of material in a bullseye pattern as the main star was expelling mass during an earlier stage of its life.
The rings may also hint at some kind of pulsation that resulted in gas or dust being expelled uniformly in all directions separated by say, thousands of years.
The red areas in NIRCam and blue areas in MIRI both trace cool molecular gas (likely molecular hydrogen) while central regions trace hot ionized gas.
As the star at the center of a planetary nebula cools and fades, the nebula will gradually dissipate into the interstellar medium — contributing enriched material that helps form new stars and planetary systems, now containing those heavier elements.
Webb’s imaging of NGC 6072 opens the door to studying how the planetary nebulae with more complex shapes contribute to this process.
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
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
View more Webb planetary nebula images
Learn more about planetary nebula
Interactive: Explore the Helix Nebula planetary nebula
Watch ViewSpace videos about planetary nebulas
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…
Stars
Stars Stories
Universe
Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 30, 2025 Editor Marty McCoy Contact Laura Betz laura.e.betz@nasa.gov Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center Astrophysics James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Nebulae Planetary Nebulae Science & Research Stars The Universe White Dwarfs View the full article
-
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.