A team of engineers lifts the mast into place atop of NASA’s VIPER robotic Moon rover in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Helen Arase Vargas NASA’s VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover – now stands taller and more capable than ever. And that’s thanks to its mast. […]
Tag Archives | solar system
Citizen Scientists Invited to Collect Data for NASA During Eclipse
4 min read Citizen Scientists Invited to Collect Data for NASA During Eclipse Argentine students gather cloud observations and temperature data to upload through the GLOBE Eclipse tool during the eclipse that crossed South America on July 2, 2019. Pablo Cecchi On April 8, 2024, as the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, thousands […]
April’s Night Sky Notes: Participate in Eclipse Science
3 Min Read April’s Night Sky Notes: Participate in Eclipse Science An example of the Cloudspotting on Mars data representations, as annotated by an experienced participant. Credits: NASA / Zooniverse by Kat Troche of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific April is NASA’s Citizen Science Month, and there is no shortage of projects available. Here […]
What’s Up: March 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA
6 min read What’s Up: March 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA Download the Video WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Jupiter plows through the Pleiades on March 14, a chance to spot Mercury at month’s end along with a subtle lunar eclipse, and a comet worth keeping an eye on! March skywatching highlights: March 10 – New […]
NASA Names Finalists to Help Deal with Dust in Human Lander Challenge
NASA selected 12 finalist teams to compete in the next round of the Human Lander Challenge (HuLC) competition. In 2023, NASA invited undergraduate and graduate students from accredited colleges and universities in the United States to propose innovative solutions to manage the lunar dust a spacecraft stirs up when landing on the Moon. NASA’s Artemis […]
March-April 2024: The Next Full Moon is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon
29 Min Read March-April 2024: The Next Full Moon is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon A full moon rises over Utah. Credits: NASA/Bill Dunford The next full moon is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon; the Paschal Moon; Purim; the Holi Festival Moon; Madin Poya; the Pothole Moon; a Micromoon, […]
Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System
1 min read Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System The eight planets and dwarf planet Pluto. NASA Our solar system has eight planets, and five officially recognized dwarf planets . Which planet is biggest? Which is smallest? What is the order of the planets as we move out from the Sun? This is […]
NASA Awards Safety, Mission Assurance Engineering Contract
NASA has selected Science Applications International Corporation of Reston, Virginia, for safety and mission assurance support at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The Safety and Mission Assurance Engineering Contract III (SMAEC) is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with the ability to issue cost-plus-award-fee and fixed price task orders. […]
Meet the Two Women Leading Space Station Science
The International Space Station provides researchers access to the unique features of low Earth orbit: long-duration microgravity, exposure to space, and a one-of-a-kind perspective of our planet. These special attributes enable scientists to conduct innovative experiments that can’t be done anywhere else. Employees in the International Space Station Research Integration Office at NASA’s Johnson Space […]
Langley Celebrates Women’s History Month: The Langley ASIA-AQ Team
13 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In honor of Women’s History Month, we caught up with the ASIA-AQ team on the other side of the Earth and asked the women from Langley about their inspirations and challenges as scientists. The ASIA-AQ (Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality) mission […]
Unveiling the Sun: NASA’s Open Data Approach to Solar Eclipse Research
3 min read Unveiling the Sun: NASA’s Open Data Approach to Solar Eclipse Research A total solar eclipse is seen on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was […]
NASA’s Artemis IV: Building First Lunar Space Station
NASA and its partners are developing the foundational systems needed for long-term exploration at the Moon for the benefit of all with NASA’s Artemis campaign. Following the Artemis III mission that will land the first people near the Moon’s South Pole, astronauts on Artemis IV will live and work in humanity’s first lunar space station, […]
Langley Celebrates Women’s History Month: Melanie Grande
Melanie Grande is an aerospace engineer in the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate at NASA Langley Research Center. NASA/Ryan Hill Melanie Grande works in mission design and systems analysis at NASA’s Langley Research Center, where she has contributed to planning for human exploration of both the Moon and Mars. Starting in Langley’s Space Mission Analysis […]