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Scientists want to send 6.7M sperm samples to the moon
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By NASA
NASA/Shawn Quinn On May 8, 2022, NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems’ Program Manager Shawn Quinn captured this crop of a full frame image of the Hadley–Apennine region of Earth’s Moon including the Apollo 15 landing site (very near the edge of the shadow of one of the lunar mountains in the area). Building upon the pioneers from the Apollo Program, Artemis crews will plan to verify capabilities for humans to explore deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface.
Read the Artemis blog for the latest mission updates.
Image credit: NASA/Shawn Quinn
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By NASA
This artist’s concept of Blue Ghost Mission 4 shows Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander and NASA payloads in the lunar South Pole Region, through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.Credit: Firefly Aerospace NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, $176.7 million to deliver two rovers and three scientific instruments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to explore more of the Moon than ever before.
This delivery is the first time NASA will use multiple rovers and a variety of stationary instruments, in a collaborative effort with the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and the University of Bern, to help us understand the chemical composition of the lunar South Pole region and discover the potential for using resources available in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.
“Through CLPS, NASA is embracing a new era of lunar exploration, with commercial companies leading the way,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These investigations will produce critical knowledge required for long-term sustainability and contribute to a deeper understanding of the lunar surface, allowing us to meet our scientific and exploration goals for the South Pole region of the Moon for the benefit of all.”
Under the new CLPS task order, Firefly is tasked with delivering end-to-end payload services to the lunar surface, with a period of performance from Tuesday to March 29, 2030. The company’s lunar lander is targeted to land at the Moon’s South Pole region in 2029.
This is Firefly’s fifth task order award and fourth lunar mission through CLPS. Firefly’s first delivery successfully landed on the Moon’s near side in March 2025 with 10 NASA payloads. The company’s second mission, targeting a launch in 2026, includes a lunar orbit drop-off of a satellite combined with a delivery to the lunar surface on the far side. Firefly’s third lunar mission will target landing in the Gruithuisen Domes on the near side of the Moon in 2028, delivering six experiments to study that enigmatic lunar volcanic terrain.
“As NASA sends both humans and robots to further explore the Moon, CLPS deliveries to the lunar South Pole region will provide a better understanding of the exploration environment, accelerating progress toward establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon, as well as eventual human missions to Mars,” said Adam Schlesinger, manager of the CLPS initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The rovers and instruments that are part of this newly awarded flight include:
MoonRanger is an autonomous microrover that will explore the lunar surface. MoonRanger will collect images and telemetry data while demonstrating autonomous capabilities for lunar polar exploration. Its onboard Neutron Spectrometer System instrument will study hydrogen-bearing volatiles and the composition of lunar regolith, or soil.
Lead development organizations: NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and Carnegie Mellon University and Astrobotic, both in Pittsburgh. Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies will use enhanced stereo imaging photogrammetry, active illumination, and ejecta impact detection sensors to capture the impact of the rocket exhaust plume on lunar regolith as the lander descends on the Moon’s surface. The high-resolution stereo images will help predict lunar regolith erosion and ejecta characteristics, as bigger, heavier spacecraft and hardware are delivered to the Moon near each other in the future.
Lead development organization: NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Laser Retroreflector Array is an array of eight retroreflectors on an aluminum support structure that enables precision laser ranging, a measurement of the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. The array is a passive optical instrument, which functions without power, and will serve as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come.
Lead development organization: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. A CSA Rover is designed to access and explore remote South Pole areas of interest, including permanently shadowed regions, and to survive at least one lunar night. The CSA rover has stereo cameras, a neutron spectrometer, two imagers (visible to near-infrared), a radiation micro-dosimeter, and a NASA-contributed thermal imaging radiometer developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory. These instruments will advance our understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the lunar surface, the geological history of the Moon, and potential resources such as water ice. It will also improve our understanding of the environmental challenges that await future astronauts and their life support systems.
Lead development organization: CSA. Laser Ionization Mass Spectrometer is a mass spectrometer that will analyze the element and isotope composition of lunar regolith. The instrument will utilize a Firefly-built robotic arm and Titanium shovel that will deploy to the lunar surface and support regolith excavation. The system will then funnel the sample into its collection unit and use a pulsed laser beam to identify differences in chemistry compared to samples studied in the past, like those collected during the Apollo program. Grain-by-grain analyses will provide a better understanding of the chemical complexity of the landing site and the surrounding area, offering insights into the evolution of the Moon.
Lead development organization: University of Bern in Switzerland. Through the CLPS initiative, NASA purchases lunar landing and surface operations services from American companies. The agency uses CLPS to send scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon, and to support human exploration beyond to Mars. By supporting a robust cadence of lunar deliveries, NASA will continue to enable a growing lunar economy while leveraging the entrepreneurial innovation of the commercial space industry.
To learn more about CLPS and Artemis, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
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Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jul 29, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Artemis Earth's Moon View the full article
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By NASA
The Moon photographed from the International Space Station, pictured in between exterior International Space Station hardware (Credit: NASA). NASA is seeking proposals from U.S. companies about innovative Moon and Mars proximity relay communication and navigation capabilities as the agency aims to use private industry satellite communications services for emerging missions.
On July 7, NASA issued a Request for Proposals, soliciting advanced industry concepts to establish high-bandwidth, high-reliability communications infrastructure between the lunar surface and an Earth-based operations control center, along with concepts that establish a critical communications relay on the Martian surface and transfer data between Mars and the Earth.
“These partnerships foster important advancements in communications and navigation,” said Greg Heckler, deputy program manager for capability development within NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program. “It allows our astronauts, our rovers, our spacecraft – all NASA missions – to expand humanity’s exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.”
NASA’s request directly supports the agency’s long-term vision of an interoperable space communication and navigation infrastructure that enables science, exploration, and economic development in space. NASA, as one of many customers, will establish a marketplace that supports cost-effective commercial services involving communication needs on and around the Moon and Mars.
Responses are due by 5 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Aug. 13.
NASA’s SCaN Program serves as the management office for the agency’s space communications and navigation. More than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on SCaN’s two networks, the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, to support astronauts aboard the International Space Station and future Artemis missions, monitor Earth’s weather, support lunar exploration, and uncover the solar system and beyond.
Learn more about NASA’s SCaN Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/scan
News Media Contact:
Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Uncategorized NASA SCoPE Summer Symposium… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
NASA SCoPE Summer Symposium Celebrates Early Career Scientists and Cross-Team Collaboration
From June 16–18, 2025, the NASA Science Mission Directorate Community of Practice for Education (SCoPE) Summer Symposium brought together a community of scientists, educators, and outreach professionals to celebrate and strengthen NASA’s commitment to developing its workforce and broadening participation in science.
NASA SCoPE is a NASA-funded initiative at Arizona State University that connects early career scientists with NASA Science Activation (SciAct) program teams to build capacity in science communication, community engagement, and educational outreach. Through targeted support like Seed Grants, Travel Grants, and Mission Liaison opportunities, SCoPE equips scientists with the skills and networks needed to meaningfully engage the public with NASA science.
Held in collaboration with key SciAct teams—including Infiniscope, Co-creating with Communities, NASA’s Community College Network, and NASA’s Universe of Learning—the 2025 symposium highlighted the incredible impact of SCoPE over the past four and a half years. The program has financially supported more than 100 early career scientists across a growing network of nearly 1,000 participants.
Over the course of the three-day event, 23 awardees of SCoPE Seed Grants, Travel Grants, and Mission Liaison Grants came together to share their work, connect across disciplines, and explore new avenues for collaboration. Twelve Seed Grant awardees presented their projects, illustrating the transformative power of partnerships with SciAct teams. Highlights included learning how to write for young audiences through mentorship from NASA eClips in support of the children’s book ‘Blai and Zorg Explore the Moon’, designed for elementary learners; a collaborative effort between ‘Lost City, Icy Worlds’ and OpenSpace that evolved into long-term networking and visualization opportunities; and an Antarctic research project that, through collaboration with the Ocean Community Engagement and Awareness using NASA Earth Observations and Science (OCEANOS) project and Infiniscope, both expanded training opportunities for expedition guides and brought polar science to Puerto Rican high school summer interns.
Beyond formal sessions, the symposium embraced community building through shared meals, informal networking, and hands-on experiences like a 3D planetarium show using OpenSpace software, a telescope demonstration with 30 high school students, and a screening of NASA’s Planetary Defenders documentary. Workshop topics addressed the real-world needs of early career professionals, including grant writing, logic model development, and communicating with the media.
Survey responses revealed that 95% of attendees left with a stronger sense of belonging to a community of scientists engaged in outreach. Participants reported making valuable new connections—with peers, mentors, and potential collaborators—and left inspired to try new approaches in their own work, from social media storytelling to designing outreach for hospital patients or other specialized audiences.
As one participant put it, “Seeing others so passionate about Science Communication inspired me to continue doing it in different ways… it feels like the start of a new wave.” Another attendee remarked, “I want to thank the entire team for SCoPE to even exist. It is an incredible team/program/resource and I can’t even imagine the amount of work, dedication and pure passion that has gone into this entire project over the years. Although I only found SCoPE very recently, I feel like it has been incredibly helpful in my scientific journey and I only wish I had learned of the program sooner. Thank you to the entire team for what was a truly educational and inspirational workshop, and the wonderful community that SCoPE has fostered.”
This successful event was made possible through the dedication of NASA SciAct collaborators and the leadership of SciAct Program Manager Lin Chambers, whose continued support of early career engagement through SCoPE has created a growing, connected community of science communicators. The SCoPE Summer Symposium exemplifies how cross-team collaboration and community-centered design can effectively amplify the reach of NASA science.
Learn more about how NASA’s Science Activation program connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/
SCoPE-funded scientists and collaborators gather at the 2025 SCoPE Summer Symposium to celebrate program success, share ideas, build partnerships, and advance science communication and education efforts across NASA’s Science Activation program. Share
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Last Updated Jul 15, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
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By NASA
This artist’s concept animation shows the orbital dynamics of KOI-134 system which, in 2025, a paper revealed to have two planets: KOI-134 b and KOI-134 c. NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC) The Planets
KOI-134 b and KOI-134 c
This artist’s concept shows the KOI-134 system which, in 2025, a paper revealed to have two planets: KOI-134 b and KOI-134 c. NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC) The Discovery
A new investigation into old Kepler data has revealed that a planetary system once thought to house zero planets actually has two planets which orbit their star in a unique style, like an old-fashioned merry-go-round.
Key Facts
The KOI-134 system contains two planets which orbit their star in a peculiar fashion on two different orbital planes, with one planet exhibiting significant variation in transit times. This is the first-discovered system of its kind.
Details
Over a decade ago, scientists used NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope to observe the KOI-134 system and thought that it might have a planet orbiting, but they deemed this planet candidate to be a false positive, because its transits (or passes in front of its star) were not lining up as expected. These transits were so abnormal that the planet was actually weeded out through an automated system as a false positive before it could be analyzed further.
However, NASA’s commitment to openly sharing scientific data means that researchers can constantly revisit old observations to make new discoveries. In this new study, researchers re-analyzed this Kepler data on KOI-134 and confirmed that not only is the “false positive” actually a real planet, but the system has two planets and some really interesting orbital dynamics!
First, the “false positive” planet, named KOI-134 b, was confirmed to be a warm Jupiter (or a warm planet of a similar size to Jupiter). Through this analysis, researchers uncovered that the reason this planet eluded confirmation previously is because it experiences what are called transit timing variations (TTVs), or small differences in a planet’s transit across its star that can make its transit “early” or “late” because the planet is being pushed or pulled by the gravity from another planet which was also revealed in this study. Researchers estimate that KOI-134 b transits across its star as much as 20 hours “late” or “early,” which is a significant variation. In fact, it was so significant that it’s the reason why the planet wasn’t confirmed in initial observations.
As these TTVs are caused by the gravitational interaction with another planet, this discovery also revealed a planetary sibling: KOI-134 c. Through studying this system in simulations that include these TTVs, the team found that KOI-134 c is a planet slightly smaller than Saturn and closer to its star than KOI-134 b.
This artist’s concept shows the KOI-134 system which, in 2025, a paper revealed to have two planets: KOI-134 b and KOI-134 c. NASA/JPL-Caltech/K. Miller (Caltech/IPAC) KOI-134 c previously eluded observation because it orbits on a tilted orbital plane, a different plane from KOI-134 b, and this tilted orbit prevents the planet from transiting its star. The two orbital planes of these planets are about 15 degrees different from one another, also known as a mutual inclination of 15 degrees, which is significant. Due to the gravitational push and pull between these two planets, their orbital planes also tilt back and forth.
Another interesting feature of this planetary system is something called resonance. These two planets have a 2 to 1 resonance, meaning within the same time that one planet completes one orbit, the other completes two orbits. In this case, KOI-134 b has an orbital period (the time it takes a planet to complete one orbit) of about 67 days, which is twice the orbital period of KOI-134 c, which orbits every 33-34 days.
Between the separate orbital planes tilting back and forth, the TTVs, and the resonance, the two planets orbit their star in a pattern that resembles two wooden ponies bobbing up and down as they circle around on an old-fashioned merry go round.
Fun Facts
While this system started as a false positive with Kepler, this re-analysis of the data reveals a vibrant system with two planets. In fact, this is the first-ever discovered compact, multiplanetary system that isn’t flat, has such a significant TTV, and experiences orbital planes tilting back and forth.
Also, most planetary systems do not have high mutual inclinations between close planet pairs. In addition to being a rarity, mutual inclinations like this are also not often measured because of challenges within the observation process. So, having measurements like this of a significant mutual inclination in a system, as well as measurements of resonance and TTVs, provides a clear picture of dynamics within a planetary system which we are not always able to see.
The Discoverers
A team of scientists led by Emma Nabbie of the University of Southern Queensland published a paper on June 27 on their discovery, “A high mutual inclination system around KOI-134 revealed by transit timing variations,” in the journal “Nature Astronomy.” The observations described in this paper and used in simulations in this paper were made by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and the paper included collaboration and contributions from institutions including the University of Geneva, University of La Laguna, Purple Mountain Observatory, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Southern Queensland, and NASA’s retired Kepler Space Telescope.
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