2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA research pilot Nils Larson and photographer Jim Ross complete aerobatic maneuvers in a NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California owned T-34C aircraft during a proficiency flight. NASA/Jim Ross Riding in the back seat of a car can be boring. Riding in the back [...]

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in orbit with the Sun behind.NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart A NASA mission testing a new way of navigating our solar system is ready to hoist its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. The Advanced Composite Solar [...]

The winners of NASA’s 2024 Power to Explore Student Challenge are: 9-year-old Raine Lin, left, 12-year-old Aadya Karthik, and 18-year-old Thomas Liu. Credit: NASA/Dave Lam NASA announced the winners on Wednesday of the third annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the power of radioisotopes for space [...]

For a media briefing in advance of Earth Day, NASA will share info about next steps for its Earth research program, as well as highlight our newest Earth-observing satellite PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem). This image from PACE shows two different communities of phytoplankton in the ocean off the coast of South Africa on [...]

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) This natural-color image of mountains of central Pennsylvania taken by Landsat 8 shows the colors of changing leaves and the unique topography of the region. Thanks to more than 50 years of planetary observation from low-Earth orbit, it’s possible to see natural changes and [...]

4 min read Astronauts To Patch Up NASA’s NICER Telescope NASA is planning to repair NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, during a spacewalk later this year. It will be the fourth science observatory in orbit serviced by astronauts. In May 2023, scientists discovered that NICER [...]

This photo shows the entire optics system for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. It consists of 10 mirrors, including the 7.9-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror seen at the base in this image, and is called the IOA (Imaging Optical Assembly). Engineers recently integrated and tested the IOA at L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York.Credit: NASA/Chris [...]

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Credit: NASA/Jordan Salkin This composite image shows the dazzling phases of the total solar eclipse, seen above the Flight Research Building at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on April 8, 2024. Glenn was the only NASA center in the eclipse path of totality, [...]

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, right, stands near the apex of a sand ripple in an image taken by Perseverance on Feb. 24, about five weeks after the rotorcraft’s final flight. Part of one of Ingenuity’s rotor blades lies on the surface about 49 feet (15 meters) west of helicopter (left of center in the image).NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS [...]

Deep space exploration requires a paradigm shift in astronaut medical support toward Earth-independent medical operations. Currently, astronauts rely on real-time communication with ground-based medical providers. However, as the distance from Earth increases, so do communication delays and disruptions. Deep space exploration crews will need to autonomously detect, diagnose, treat, and prevent medical conditions. One [...]