9 Min Read Orbits and Kepler’s Laws An illustration of our solar system. Credits: NASA/JPL Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion The story of how we understand planetary motion could not be told if it were not for the work of a German mathematician named Johannes Kepler. Kepler’s three laws describe how planets orbit the [...]
Photo of the Day Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a grand design spiral galaxy. The large galaxy of over 100 billion stars has well-defined spiral arms, similar to our own Milky Way. One of the brightest members of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, M100, also known as NGC [...]
On May 4, 1989, space shuttle Atlantis took off on its third flight, STS-30, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Its five-person crew of Commander David M. Walker, Pilot Ronald J. Grabe, and Mission Specialists Mark C. Lee, Norman E. Thagard, and Mary L. Cleave flew a four-day mission that deployed the Magellan [...]
Astronomers have discovered enormous circular radio features of unknown origin around some galaxies. Now, new observations of one dubbed the Cloverleaf suggest it was created by clashing groups of galaxies. Studying these structures, collectively called ORCs (odd radio circles), in a different kind of light offered scientists a chance to probe everything from supersonic shock [...]
23 Min Read The Marshall Star for May 1, 2024 Marshall Prepares for Strategic Facilities Updates NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is getting ready for the next big step in the evolution of its main campus. Through a series of multi-year infrastructure projects, Marshall is optimizing its footprint to assure its place as a [...]
Smog over a deep mountain valley.Credit: NOAA NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected BAE Systems (formerly known as Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation) of Boulder, Colorado, to develop an instrument to monitor air quality and provide information about the impact of air pollutants on Earth for NOAA’s Geostationary [...]
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams participate in a virtual media engagement event from inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Photo credit: NASA NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams held a [...]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist’s depiction of ScienceCraft, which integrates the science instrument with the spacecraft by printing a quantum dot spectrometer directly on the solar sail to form a monolithic, lightweight structure.Mahmooda Sultana Mahmooda Sultana NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Missions to the outer solar system are [...]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist concept of novel approach proposed by a 2024 NIAC Phase II awardee for possible future missions depicting lunar surface with planet Earth on the horizon.Credit: Ethan Schaler Ethan Schaler NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory We want to build the first lunar railway system, which [...]
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Artist’s depiction of Radioisotope Thermoradiative Cell Power GeneratorStephen Polly Stephen Polly Rochester Institute of Technology In this project we will continue our Phase I efforts to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of a revolutionary power source for missions to the outer planets utilizing a [...]
