This festive NASA Hubble Space Telescope image resembles a holiday wreath made of sparkling lights. The bright southern hemisphere star RS Puppis, at the center of the image, is swaddled in a gossamer cocoon of reflective dust illuminated by the glittering star. The super star is ten times more massive than the sun and 200…
NASA-Supported Payloads to Get Lift from Blue Origin
Before a NASA technology makes it to orbit or lands on another planet, researchers test – and retest – it in space-like conditions. These tests often take place on Earth, but some payloads take a trip to suborbital space for a few minutes of valuable microgravity testing. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket will venture into…
Four NASA Experiments Set to Launch on Virgin Galactic Spacecraft
A winged spacecraft will soon take off with four NASA-supported technology experiments onboard. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will separate from the WhiteKnightTwo twin-fuselage carrier aircraft and continue its rocket-powered test flight. The flight, scheduled for no earlier than Dec. 13, is Virgin Galactic’s first mission for NASA. The agency’s Flight Opportunities program helped the four experiments hitch a…
Breathing Easy with NASA’s Aerosol Monitoring Technology
NASA is hoping to use new aerosol monitoring technology to keep astronauts breathing easy. The agency, in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), selected Applied Particle Technology, LLC from St. Louis, Missouri, as the $100,000 grand-prize winner of its Earth and Space Air Prize Competition. Competing teams were asked to develop robust, durable, inexpensive, efficient,…
NASA’s Mars InSight Flexes Its Arm
New images from NASA’s Mars InSight lander show its robotic arm is ready to do some lifting. With a reach of nearly 6 feet (2 meters), the arm will be used to pick up science instruments from the lander’s deck, gently setting them on the Martian surface at Elysium Planitia, the lava plain where InSight…
TAGSAM Testing Complete: OSIRIS-REx Prepared to TAG an Asteroid
On Nov. 14, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft stretched out its robotic sampling arm for the first time in space. The arm, more formally known as the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), is key to the spacecraft achieving the primary goal of the mission: returning a sample from asteroid Bennu in 2023. As planned, engineers at Lockheed…
InSight Is Catching Rays on Mars
NASA’s InSight has sent signals to Earth indicating that its solar panels are open and collecting sunlight on the Martian surface. NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter relayed the signals, which were received on Earth at about 5:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. EST). Solar array deployment ensures the spacecraft can recharge its batteries each day. Odyssey also…
Kepler Telescope Bids ‘Goodnight’ with Final Commands
On the evening of Thursday, Nov. 15, NASA’s Kepler space telescope received its final set of commands to disconnect communications with Earth. The “goodnight” commands finalize the spacecraft’s transition into retirement, which began on Oct. 30 with NASA’s announcement that Kepler had run out of fuel and could no longer conduct science. Coincidentally, Kepler’s “goodnight”…
How NASA Will Know When InSight Touches Down
What’s the sound of a touchdown on Mars? If you’re at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it sounds like winning the Super Bowl: cheers, laughter and lots of hollering. But in the minutes before that, NASA’s InSight team will be monitoring the Mars lander’s radio signals using a variety of spacecraft—and even radio telescopes here on Earth—to suss out…
Toward Urban Air Mobility: Air Taxis with Side-by-Side Rotors
In this high-resolution visualization of NASA’s side-by-side, intermeshing rotor air taxi concept, researchers are working to understand complex rotor air flow interactions, simulated using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics methods. The video shows the vortex wake, colored according to pressure. Intermeshing rotors offer the advantage of being more compact while being more efficient in cruise than…
3D Printing, Virtual Reality, Simulated Stardust and More Headed to Orbiting Lab
The Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply flight 10 (CRS-10) is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in mid-November. The craft’s cargo includes several tons of crew supplies and science experiments ranging from 3D printing and recycling to simulating the creation of celestial bodies from stardust. Read more about some of the science NG CRS-10 delivers to…
Aboard the First Spacecraft to the Trojan Asteroids—NASA Ralph’s Next Adventure
Ralph, one of NASA’s most well-traveled space explorers, has voyaged far and accomplished much: on the New Horizons mission, Ralph obtained stunning flyby images of Jupiter and its moons; this was followed by a visit to Pluto where Ralph took the first high-definition pictures of the iconic minor planet. And, in 2021, Ralph journeys with…
Aboard The First Spacecraft to the Trojan Asteroids—NASA Ralph’s Next Adventure
Ralph, one of NASA’s most well-traveled space explorers, has voyaged far and accomplished much: on the New Horizons mission, Ralph obtained stunning flyby images of Jupiter and its moons; this was followed by a visit to Pluto where Ralph took the first high-definition pictures of the iconic minor planet. And, in 2021, Ralph journeys with…
NASA Looks to University Researchers for Innovative Space Tech Solutions
University-led research could transform the future of space exploration, from small spacecraft to “smart” systems for the Moon, Mars and beyond. NASA has selected 14 proposals for the study of innovative, early stage technologies that address high-priority needs of America’s space program. The universities will work on their proposed research and development projects for up to…
Aboard the First Spacecraft to the Trojan Asteroids: NASA Ralph’s Next Adventure
Ralph, one of NASA’s most well-traveled space explorers, has voyaged far and accomplished much: on the New Horizons mission, Ralph obtained stunning flyby images of Jupiter and its moons; this was followed by a visit to Pluto where Ralph took the first high-definition pictures of the iconic minor planet. And, in 2021, Ralph journeys with…
A New Hope: GEDI to Yield 3D Forest Carbon Map
A new NASA laser instrument set to launch to the International Space Station in December will help scientists create the first three-dimensional map of the world’s temperate and tropical forests. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation, or GEDI, is scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. From the station, GEDI’s advanced laser technology will reveal…
NASA Will Keep Trying to Contact Stalled Mars Rover Opportunity
NASA has changed its mind about how long it will continue to seek contact with an aging robotic vehicle that was blanketed in a dust storm on Mars back in June and has been stalled ever since. Now, the space agency plans to keep trying, rather than abandon efforts some time this month, as officials had said…
NASA Retires Kepler Space Telescope, Passes Planet-Hunting Torch
After nine years in deep space collecting data that indicate our sky to be filled with billions of hidden planets – more planets even than stars – NASA’s Kepler space telescope has run out of fuel needed for further science operations. NASA has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from…
Parker Solar Probe Breaks Record, Becomes Closest Spacecraft to Sun
Parker Solar Probe now holds the record for closest approach to the Sun by a human-made object. The spacecraft passed the current record of 26.55 million miles from the Sun’s surface on Oct. 29, 2018, at about 1:04 p.m. EDT, as calculated by the Parker Solar Probe team. The previous record for closest solar approach…
NASA Looking to Tiny Technology for Big Payoffs
NASA is advancing technology that could use large amounts of nanoscale materials to launch lighter rockets and spacecraft than ever before. The Super-lightweight Aerospace Composites (SAC) project seeks to scale up the manufacturing and use of high-strength carbon nanotube composite materials. Carbon nanotubes consist of carbon atoms chemically bound in the shape of cylinders that…
NASA’s First Image of Mars from a CubeSat
NASA’s MarCO mission was designed to find out if briefcase-sized spacecraft called CubeSats could survive the journey to deep space. Now, MarCO – which stands for Mars Cube One – has Mars in sight. One of the twin MarCO CubeSats snapped this image of Mars on Oct. 3 – the first image of the Red Planet ever…
Dellingr: The Little CubeSat That Could
Zipping through the sky 250 miles up is a shoebox-sized bundle of detectors and electronics named Dellingr. The namesake of the mythological Norse god of the dawn, Dellingr is among a new breed of spacecraft known as a CubeSat. These small satellites, measured in standardized 10-by-10-by-10 cubic centimeter units, weigh no more than a few…
NASA Calls for Instruments, Technologies for Delivery to the Moon
NASA has announced a call for Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payloads that will fly to the Moon on commercial lunar landers as early as next year or 2020. The agency is working with U.S. industry and international partners to expand human exploration from the Moon to Mars. It all starts with robotic missions on the…
Update on Opportunity Rover After Martian Dust Storm
Updated at 2:15 p.m. PDT on Oct. 11, 2018 One month since increasing their commanding frequency, engineers have yet to hear from NASA’s Opportunity rover. NASA hasn’t set any deadlines for the mission but will be briefed later this month on the progress and prospects for the recovery campaign being carried out at the agency’s Jet…
Mars Virtual Reality Software Wins NASA Award
A mixed-reality software that allows scientists and engineers to virtually walk on Mars recently received NASA’s 2018 Software of the Year Award. OnSight uses imagery from NASA’s Curiosity rover to create an immersive 3D terrain model, allowing users to wander the actual dunes and valleys explored by the robot. The goal of the software, a…