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NASA Invites Comment on Initial Plans for Mars Sample Return Program
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By NASA
3 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
When most people think of NASA, they picture rockets, astronauts, and the Moon. But behind the scenes, a group of inventors is quietly rewriting the rules of what’s possible — on Earth, in orbit, and beyond. Their groundbreaking inventions eventually become technology available for industry, helping to shape new products and services that improve life around the globe. For their contributions to NASA technology, we welcome four new inductees into the 2024-2025 NASA Inventors Hall of Fame
A robot for space and the workplace
Myron (Ron) Diftler led the team behind Robonaut 2 (R2), a humanoid robot developed with General Motors. The goal was to create a robot that could help humans both in space and on the factory floor. The R2 robot became the first humanoid robot in space aboard the International Space Station, and part of its technology was licensed for use on Earth, leading to a grip-strengthening robotic glove to help humans with strenuous, repetitive tasks. From factories to space exploration, Diftler’s work has real-world impact.
Some of the toughest electronic chips on and off Earth
Technology developed to one day explore the surface of Venus has to be tough enough to survive the planet where temperatures hit 860°F and the atmosphere is akin to battery acid. Philip Neudeck’s silicon carbide integrated circuits don’t just work — they ran for over 60 days in simulated Venus-like conditions. On Earth, these chips can boost efficiency in wireless communication systems, help make drilling for oil safer, and enable more practical electric vehicles.
From developing harder chip materials to unlocking new planetary missions, Neudeck is proving that the future of electronics isn’t just about speed — it’s about survival.
Hydrogen sensors that could go the distance on other worlds
Gary Hunter helped develop a hydrogen sensor so advanced it’s being considered for a future mission to Titan, Saturn’s icy moon. These and a range of other sensors he’s helped developed have applications that go beyond space exploration, such as factory floors here on Earth.
With new missions on the horizon and smarter sensors in development, Hunter is still pushing the boundaries of what NASA technology can do. Whether it’s Titan, the surface of Venus, or somewhere we haven’t dreamed of yet, this work could help shape the way to get there.
Advanced materials research to make travel safer
Advanced materials, such as foams and composites, are key to unlocking the next generation of manufacturing. From space exploration to industry, Erik Weiser spent years contributing his expertise to the development of polymers, ceramics, metals, nanomaterials, and more. He is named on more than 20 patents. During this time, he provided his foam expertise to the Space Shuttle Columbia accident investigation, the Shuttle Discovery Return-to-Flight Investigation and numerous teams geared toward improving the safety of the shuttle.
Today, Weiser serves as director of the Facilities and Real Estate Division at NASA Headquarters, overseeing the foundation of NASA’s missions. Whether it’s advancing research or optimizing real estate across the agency, he’s helping launch the future, one facility at a time.
Want to learn more about NASA’s game changing innovations? Visit the NASA Inventors Hall of Fame.
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Last Updated May 09, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Technicians move the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II test flight out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, May 3, 2025. NASA/Kim Shiflett Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the Moon next year on Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch.
At the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft elements. Recently they completed two key milestones – connecting the SLS upper stage with the rest of the assembled rocket and moving Orion from its assembly facility to be fueled for flight.
“We’re extremely focused on preparing for Artemis II, and the mission is nearly here,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars Program, who also will chair the mission management team during Artemis II. “This crewed test flight, which will send four humans around the Moon, will inform our future missions to the Moon and Mars.”
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program begin integrating the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS (Space Launch System) launch vehicle stage adapter on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA/Isaac Watson On May 1, technicians successfully attached the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS rocket elements already poised atop mobile launcher 1, including its twin solid rocket boosters and core stage, inside the spaceport’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This portion of the rocket produces 24,750 pounds of thrust for Orion after the rest of the rocket has completed its job. Teams soon will move into a series of integrated tests to ensure all the rocket’s elements are communicating with each other and the Launch Control Center as expected. The tests include verifying interfaces and ensuring SLS systems work properly with the ground systems.
Meanwhile, on May 3, Orion left its metaphorical nest, the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy, where it was assembled and underwent initial testing. There the crew module was outfitted with thousands of parts including critical life support systems for flight and integrated with the service module and crew module adapter. Its next stop on the road to the launch pad is the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, where it will be carefully fueled with propellants, high pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids the spacecraft and its crew need to maneuver in space and carry out the mission.
After fueling is complete, the four astronauts flying on the mission around the Moon and back over the course of approximately 10 days, will board the spacecraft in their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits to test all the equipment interfaces they will need to operate during the mission. This will mark the first time NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will board their actual spacecraft while wearing their spacesuits. After the crewed testing is complete, technicians will move Orion to Kennedy’s Launch Abort System Facility, where the critical escape system will be added. From there, Orion will move to the VAB to be integrated with the fully assembled rocket.
NASA also announced its second agreement with an international space agency to fly a CubeSat on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency’s Artemis campaign.
While engineers at Kennedy integrate and test hardware with their eyes on final preparations for the mission, teams responsible for launching and flying the mission have been busy preparing for a variety of scenarios they could face.
The launch team at Kennedy has completed more than 30 simulations across cryogenic propellant loading and terminal countdown scenarios. The crew has been taking part in simulations for mission scenarios, including with teams in mission control. In April, the crew and the flight control team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated liftoff through a planned manual piloting test together for the first time. The crew also recently conducted long-duration fit checks for their spacesuits and seats, practicing several operations while under various suit pressures.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch participates in a fit check April 18, 2025, in the spacesuit she will wear during Artemis II. NASA/Josh Valcarcel Teams are heading into a busy summer of mission preparations. While hardware checkouts and integration continue, in coming months the crew, flight controllers, and launch controllers will begin practicing their roles in the mission together as part of integrated simulations. In May, the crew will begin participating pre-launch operations and training for emergency scenarios during launch operations at Kennedy and observe a simulation by the launch control team of the terminal countdown portion of launch. In June, recovery teams will rehearse procedures they would use in the case of a pad or ascent abort off the coast of Florida, with launch and flight control teams supporting. The mission management team, responsible for reviewing mission status and risk assessments for issues that arise and making decisions about them, also will begin practicing their roles in simulations. Later this summer, the Orion stage adapter will arrive at the VAB from NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and stacked on top of the rocket.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (foreground) and Victor Glover participate in a simulation of their Artemis II entry profile on March 13, 2025.NASA/Bill Stafford 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.
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By NASA
4 Min Read NASA Expands SPHEREx Science Return Through Commercial Partnership
A sectional rendering of NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer). Credits: NASA NASA is partnering with commercial industry to expand our knowledge of Earth, our solar system, and beyond. Recently, NASA collaborated with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to support data transfer for the agency’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission to explore the origins of the universe.
“Not only is NASA moving toward commercialization, the agency is making technological advancements to existing systems and saving millions of dollars in the process — all while expanding human knowledge through science and exploration missions,” said Kevin Coggins, associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program.
To receive data from missions in space, NASA relies on the Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, a collection of antennas around the globe.
In preparation for the recently-launched SPHEREx observatory, NASA needed to upgrade an antenna on the world’s most remote continent: Antarctica.
Transmitted via NASA’s Near Space Network, this video shows SPHEREx scanning a region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The shifting colors represent different infrared wavelengths detected by the telescope’s two arrays. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s SCaN program took a novel approach by leveraging its established commercial partnership with KSAT. While upgraded KSAT antennas were added to the Near Space Network in 2023, SPHEREx required an additional Antarctic antenna that could link to online data storage.
To support SPHEREx’s polar orbit, KSAT upgraded its Troll, Antarctica antenna and incorporated their own cloud storage system. NASA then connected KSAT’s cloud to the NASA cloud, DAPHNE+ (Data Acquisition Process and Handling Environment).
As the Near Space Network’s operational cloud services system, DAPHNE+ enables science missions to transmit their data to the network for virtual file storage, processing, and management.
“By connecting the Troll antenna to DAPHNE+, we eliminated the need for large, undersea fiberoptic cables by virtually connecting private and government-owned cloud systems, reducing the project’s cost and complexity,” said Matt Vincent, the SPHEREx mission manager for the Near Space Network at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Each day, SPHEREx downlinks a portion of its 20 gigabits of science data through the Troll antenna, which transfers the files across KSAT’s network of relay satellites to the DAPHNE+ cloud. The cloud system combines and centralizes the data from each antenna, allowing access to all of SPHEREx’s health and science data in one convenient place.
The SPHEREx mission data is transmitted from space to the Troll Satellite Station, relayed through a network of satellites, and stored in the Near Space Network’s cloud system for easily-accessible analysis by scientists around the world.NASA/Dave Ryan With coverage throughout its orbit, SPHEREx transmits its 3D maps of the celestial sky, offering new insight into what happened a fraction of a second after the big bang.
“Missions like SPHEREx use the Near Space Network’s combination of commercial and government antennas,” explained Michael Skube, DAPHNE+ manager at NASA Goddard. “And that is the benefit of DAPHNE+ — it enables the network to pull different sources of information into one central location. The DAPHNE+ system treats government and commercial antennas as part of the same network.”
The partnership is mutually beneficial. NASA’s Near Space Network maintains a data connection with SPHEREx as it traverses both poles and KSAT benefits from its antennas’ integration into a robust global network – no new cables required.
“We were able to find a networking solution with KSAT that did not require us to put additional hardware in Antarctica,” said Vincent. “Now we are operating with the highest data rate we have ever downlinked from that location.”
The upgraded ground station antenna at Troll Satellite Station supports cloud-based space communications, enabling NASA’s Near Space Network to support scientific missions via a wireless cloud network.Kongsberg Satellite Services For NASA, its commercial partners, and other global space agencies, this expansion means more reliable space communications with fewer expenses.
Troll’s successful integration into the Near Space Network is a case study for future private and government partnerships. As SPHEREx measures the collective glow of over 450 million galaxies as far as 10 billion light-years away, SCaN continues to innovate how its discoveries safely return to Earth.
The SPHEREx mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the agency’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available at the NASA-IPAC Infrared Science Archive. Funding and oversight for DAPHNE+ and the Near Space Network come from the SCaN program office at NASA Headquarters and operate out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The Troll Satellite Station is owned and operated by Kongsberg Satellite Services and located in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.
About the Author
Korine Powers
Lead Writer and Communications StrategistKorine Powers, Ph.D. is a writer for NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office and covers emerging technologies, commercialization efforts, exploration activities, and more.
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Last Updated May 06, 2025 Related Terms
Communicating and Navigating with Missions Commercial Space Space Communications & Navigation Program SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe and Ices Explorer) View the full article
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 4 min read
Sols 4529-4531: Honeycombs and Waffles… on Mars!
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image of its current workspace, containing well-preserved polygonal shaped fractures, with waffle or honeycomb patterns. The rover acquired this image using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) on May 1, 2025 — Sol 4527, or Martian day 4,527 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 16:41:35 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick
Earth planning date: Friday, May 2, 2025
From our Wednesday stopping spot, the drive direction ahead (looking along the path we would follow in the Wednesday drive) appeared to be full of rough, gnarly material, which can be tricky targets for contact science instruments like APXS. However, coming into planning this morning, we found a workspace with amazingly well preserved polygonal shaped fractures, with raised ridges (about 1 centimeter, or about 0.39 inches, high), looking like a patchwork of honeycombs, or maybe a patch of waffles. We have spotted these before but usually not as well preserved and extensive as this — we can see these stretching away into the distance for 20-30 meters (about 66-98 feet), almost to the edge of the “boxwork” fracture structures at “Ghost Mountain” butte in this Navcam image. We are all counting down the drives to get to the boxwork structures — this will be such an exciting campaign to be part of.
As APXS operations planner today, I was really interested to see if we could get APXS close to one of the raised ridges, to determine what they are made of. The Rover Planners were able to get a paired set of targets — “Orosco Ridge” along a ridge and “Box Canyon” in the adjacent, flat center of the polygon. The ChemCam team is also interested (in truth, everyone on the team is interested!!) in the composition of the ridges. So ChemCam will use LIBS to measure both bedrock and ridge fill at “Kitchen Creek” on the first sol of the plan and “Storm Canyon” on the second sol.
The “problem” with a workspace like this is picking which images to take in our short time here, before we drive on the second sol. We could stay here for a week and still find things to look at in this workspace. After much discussion, it was decided that MAHLI should focus on a “dog’s eye” mosaic (“Valley of the Moon”) along the vertical face of the large block. We hope this will allow us to examine how the fractures interact with each other, and with the preexisting layering in the bedrock.
Mastcam will then focus on the two main blocks in the workspace in an 8×4 (4 rows of 8 images) Kitchen Creek mosaic, which also encompasses the LIBS target of the same name, and a single image on the Storm Canyon LIBS target. Three smaller mosaics at “Green Valley Falls” (3×1), “Lost Palms Canyon” (7×2) and “San Andreas Fault” (1×2) will examine the relationships between the polygonal features and other fractures in the workspace, close to the rover.
Further afield, ChemCam will turn the “LD RMI” (Long-Distance Remote Micro Imager) on “Texoli” butte (the large butte to the side of the rover, visible in this image from sol 4528). Both Mastcam and ChemCam will image the boxwork fracture system near Ghost Mountain — they are so close now, it’s just a few drives away! Any information we get now may be able to help us answer some of the questions we have on the origin and timing of the boxwork structures, especially when we can combine it with the in situ analysis we will be getting shortly! (Did I mention how excited we all are about this campaign?)With all the excitement today on the wild fracture structures, it could be easy to overlook Curiosity’s dataset of environmental and atmospheric data. For more than 12 years now, we have been collecting information on dust and argon levels in the atmosphere, water and chlorine levels in the subsurface, wind speeds, humidity, temperature, ultraviolet radiation, pressure, and capturing movies and images of dust devils. This weekend is no different, adding a full complement of activities from almost every team — Navcam, REMS, DAN, Mastcam, ChemCam, and APXS will all collect data for the environmental and atmospheric theme group (ENV) in this plan.
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Last Updated May 06, 2025 Related Terms
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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 2 min read
Searching for Spherules to Sample
Subsurface spherules: This image of the Hare Bay abrasion patch was acquired by the WATSON camera on Sol 1480 (April 19, 2025), showing dark-colored spherules set in a fine-grained light-toned matrix. These spherules appear to be smaller versions of similar structures that have been found in numerous rocks in the vicinity. Perseverance is currently working to collect a sample of these spherules to return to Earth. WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) is a close-range color camera that works with the rover’s SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals); both are located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Denise Buckner, Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Over the past few weeks, Perseverance has been investigating some curious spherules peppered across the “Witch Hazel Hill” region along the rim of Jezero crater. A striking cluster of the small bubble-shaped stones were first spotted by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Sol 1442 (March 11, 2025) at “Broom Point,” in a rock named “St. Pauls Bay.” A few sols later, a similar assemblage was discovered by the SuperCam instrument at the “Mattie Mitchell” outcrop near “Puncheon Rock.” As the rover continued along its traverse, spherules continued to appear. At the targets St. Pauls Bay and Mattie Mitchell, the spherules are densely packed and almost look like bunches of grapes. Elsewhere, similar smaller spherules were found intermixed with other grains within the rock. At a target called “Wreck Apple” at the “Sally’s Cove” outcrop, individual spherules were set in a matrix of coarse, dark grains. Even more of these circular features are embedded in finer-grained, layered bedrock at a nearby area called “Dennis Pond.”
Spherules at St. Pauls Bay: NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image, a striking cluster of spherules, on March 11, 2025 – Sol 1442, or Martian day 1,442 of the Mars 2020 mission – at the local mean solar time of 11:12:40. Perseverance used its Left Mastcam-Z camera; Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover’s mast. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Spherules at Wreck Apple: NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover found smaller spherules in a coarse-grained matrix. The rover captured this image using the WATSON camera on March 27, 2025 – Sol 1458, or Martian day 1,458 of the Mars 2020 mission – at the local mean solar time of 15:36:04. WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) is a close-range color camera located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. NASA/JPL-Caltech Although the team was intrigued by the spherule-rich layers at Sally’s Cove and Dennis Pond, these outcrops were challenging for the rover arm to access. After some searching to find an accessible target, the team decided to perform an abrasion at a neighboring outcrop, called “Pine Pond,” which contained an extension of the Dennis Pond layers. The team picked the target “Hare Bay” in hopes of finding spherules within a rock interior, and conducting proximity science observations with PIXL and SHERLOC to investigate their composition and internal structure. Images of the abrasion patch taken by WATSON show that Hare Bay contains light-toned medium-sized grains, with millimeter-sized spherules dotted throughout the rock! Leading hypotheses for the origin of these spherules include formation by volcanic activity or impact-related processes.
Having found an accessible spherule-bearing rock, the team is currently hard at work collecting a spherule-filled sample! Combined with the information already gathered by Mastcam-Z, SuperCam, PIXL, SHERLOC, and WATSON, future laboratory analyses could help solve the mystery of when, where, and how these spherules formed, which can in turn detangle the geological events that formed and transformed the surface of Mars over billions of years!
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Last Updated May 05, 2025 Related Terms
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