Hundreds of students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico launched amateur rockets near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, during the Agency’s 2023 Student Launch competition. Credit: NASA/Charles Beason NASA’s 2024 Student Launch challenge will bring students from colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, and informal education groups to launch amateur rockets [...]
6 Min Read NASA Next-Generation Solar Sail Boom Technology Ready for Launch An artist's concept of NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in orbit as the Sun crests Earth's horizon. Credits: NASA/Aero Animation/Ben Schweighart Sailing through space might sound like something out of science fiction, but the concept is no longer limited to [...]
Inside of the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an electrodynamic dust shield (EDS) is in view on Jan. 18, 2023. The dust shield is one of the payloads to fly aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Photo [...]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The DC-8 aircraft returned to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, California, on April 1, 2024, after completing its final mission supporting Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality (ASIA-AQ). The aircraft and crew were welcomed back with a celebratory [...]
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara is pictured inside the cupola aboard the International Space Station.Credit: NASA After spending six-and-a-half-months aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara will participate in a news conference at 10:45 a.m. EDT Monday, April 15, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The news conference will air live on [...]
Low Earth orbit, the focus of volume one of NASA’s Space Sustainability Strategy, is the most concentrated area for orbital debris. This computer-generated image showcases objects that are currently being tracked. Credits: NASA ODPO To address a rapidly changing space operating environment and ensure its preservation for generations to come, NASA released the first part of [...]
NASA/Keegan Barber On April 8, 2024, a NASA photographer captured the total solar eclipse in Dallas. A small part of North America, from Mexico’s Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, saw the total solar eclipse, while all North America and parts of Central America and Europe saw a partial solar eclipse. The [...]
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Astronaut Raja Chari explores Gateway in virtual reality at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Astronauts living aboard the Gateway lunar space station will be the first humans to make their home in deep space. To fine-tune the design of the next-generation science lab, solar-powered [...]
3 Min Read Making Ultra-fast Electron Measurements in Multiple Directions to Reveal the Secrets of the Aurora Photo of the aurora (taken in Greenland) that shows tall rays extending to high altitudes. These rays are caused by particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitating into the upper atmosphere from space. Credits: NASA-GSFC The energetic electrons [...]
1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Three Black Brant IX sounding rockets launched from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia April 8, 2024, during the solar eclipse. The rockets launched for the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) mission to study the disturbances in the electrified region of Earth’s atmosphere [...]
