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Promoting science and technology education through spaceflight and weather balloons.

Shooting for the Stars: NASA Lights Up the Court at Toyota Center 

By |2024-11-20T12:08:00-05:00November 20th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

On Nov. 6, 2024, NASA Night brought cosmic excitement to the Toyota Center, where Johnson Space Center employees joined 16,208 fans who interacted with NASA as they watched the Houston Rockets claim victory over the San Antonio Spurs.  Energy soared as International Space Station Program Manager Dana Weigel stepped up to take the first shot.  [...]

NASA Ocean World Explorers Have to Swim Before They Can Fly

By |2024-11-20T12:00:00-05:00November 20th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A prototype of a robot designed to explore subsurface oceans of icy moons is reflected in the water’s surface during a pool test at Caltech in September. Conducted by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the testing showed the feasibility of a mission concept for a [...]

Making Mars’ Moons: Supercomputers Offer ‘Disruptive’ New Explanation

By |2024-11-20T11:04:00-05:00November 20th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

5 Min Read Making Mars’ Moons: Supercomputers Offer ‘Disruptive’ New Explanation A NASA study using a series of supercomputer simulations reveals a potential new solution to a longstanding Martian mystery: How did Mars get its moons? The first step, the findings say, may have involved the destruction of an asteroid.  The research team, led by Jacob [...]

NASA’s Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode

By |2024-11-20T10:00:00-05:00November 20th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

5 min read NASA’s Swift Reaches 20th Anniversary in Improved Pointing Mode After two decades in space, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is performing better than ever thanks to a new operational strategy implemented earlier this year. The spacecraft has made great scientific strides in the years since scientists dreamed up a new way to [...]

Gateway Tops Off

By |2024-11-20T09:46:00-05:00November 20th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

Technicians carefully install a piece of equipment to house Gateway’s xenon fuel tanks, part of its advanced electric propulsion system. Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element, which will make the lunar space station the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown, recently received the xenon and liquid fuel tanks for its journey to and around the [...]

About the Office of the Chief Knowledge Officer (OCKO)

By |2024-11-20T05:06:00-05:00November 20th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

The overarching purpose of the OCKO is to cultivate and sustain a learning culture at Goddard in support of mission success. We have instituted various processes and programs for lessons learned and critical knowledge identification, sharing, and application. The focus of the OCKO is to promote local learning practices that enhances domain-specific expertise within an [...]

From Houston to the Moon: Johnson’s Thermal Vacuum Chamber Tests Lunar Solar Technology 

By |2024-11-19T17:02:00-05:00November 19th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

Imagine designing technology that can survive on the Moon for up to a decade, providing a continuous energy supply. NASA selected three companies to develop such systems, aimed at providing a power source at the Moon’s South Pole for Artemis missions.  Three companies were awarded contracts in 2022 with plans to test their self-sustaining solar [...]

On This Day: Apollo 12 Lands on the Moon

By |2024-11-19T16:06:00-05:00November 19th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

NASA NASA astronaut Alan Bean steps off the lunar module ladder in this photo from Nov. 19, 1969, joining astronaut Charles Conrad Jr. on the Moon in the area called the Ocean of Storms. The two would then complete two spacewalks on the lunar surface, deploying science instruments, collecting geology samples, and inspecting the Surveyor [...]

NASA Plans to Assign Missions for Two Future Artemis Cargo Landers

By |2024-11-19T15:56:00-05:00November 19th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

Early conceptual renderings of cargo variants of human lunar landing systems from NASA’s providers SpaceX, left, and Blue Origin, right. The large cargo landers will have the capability to land approximately 26,000 to 33,000 pounds (12-15 metric tons) of large, heavy payload on the lunar surface. Credit: SpaceX/Blue Origin NASA, along with its industry and [...]

Northwestern University Takes Top Honors in BIG Idea Lunar Inflatables Challenge 

By |2024-11-19T13:44:00-05:00November 19th, 2024|Categories: NASA News|Tags: , , , , , |

Following eight months of intense research, design, and prototyping, six university teams presented their “Inflatable Systems for Lunar Operations” concepts to a panel of judges at NASA’s 2024 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge forum.  The challenge, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Office of STEM Engagement, seeks novel ideas from higher [...]

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