3 min read Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn’t Be There Artist’s rendering of planet 8 Ursae Minoris b – also known as “Halla” – amid the field of debris after a violent merger of two stars. The planet might have survived the merger, but also might be an entirely new planet formed from the […]
NASA logo Credits: NASA NASA has selected four small explorer missions to conduct concept studies. These studies aim to expand knowledge of the dynamics of the Sun and related phenomena, such as coronal mass ejections, aurora, and solar wind to better understand the Sun-Earth connection. Any missions selected to move forward after the concept studies […]
1 min read Near-Earth Asteroids as of September 2023 September 2023 Near-Earth Asteroids: Planetary Defense by the Numbers – February 2023 Each month, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office releases a monthly update featuring the most recent figures on NASA’s planetary defense efforts, near-Earth object close approaches, and other timely facts about comets and asteroids that could pose an impact hazard with Earth. Here is the […]
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon capsule atop is raised to the vertical position on June 2, 2021, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for the company’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station. SpaceX Media accreditation is open for SpaceX’s […]
NASA logo Credit: NASA NASA has selected SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, and its Falcon 9 rocket to provide the launch service for the agency’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission, a pair of small satellites that will study space weather and how the Sun’s energy affects Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere TRACERS […]
5 min read To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse’s Shadow A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets during the 2023 annular eclipse in October to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere. On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular solar eclipse in the Americas will […]
5 min read To Study Atmosphere, NASA Rockets Will Fly into Oct. Eclipse’s Shadow On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular solar eclipse in the Americas will experience the Sun dimming to 10% its normal brightness, leaving only a bright “ring of fire” of sunlight as the Moon eclipses the Sun. Those in the […]
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the NASA Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) is highlighting the contributions made by Hispanic-owned businesses to NASA’s mission. Through collaborative efforts, Patriot Construction, Inc. has played a pivotal role in the enhancement and maintenance of NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. They have worked on the N244 […]
3 min read NASA’s New Horizons to Continue Exploring Outer Solar System NASA has announced an updated plan to continue New Horizons’ mission of exploration of the outer solar system. Beginning in fiscal year 2025, New Horizons will focus on gathering unique heliophysics data, which can be readily obtained during an extended, low-activity mode of […]
3 min read Two NASA Goddard Earth Scientists Receive AGU Awards The American Geophysical Union (AGU) announced this month that two Earth scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, were receiving medals from the organization. Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum was awarded a Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists, and Dr. John Bolten received […]
NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli works on microbe samples aboard the International Space Station. Studies newly funded by NASA’s Human Research Program aim to assess how astronauts adjust to spaceflight. Credit: NASA NASA is funding eight new studies aimed at better understanding how the human body reacts to spaceflight. These studies will be done on Earth […]
Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted a variety of scientific investigations during the week ending Sept. 29, 2023, including FLARE . This JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) investigation explores the flammability of materials in microgravity. Current tests of materials that are used in crewed spacecraft do not consider gravity, which significantly affects combustion […]
5 min read Life Encapsulated: Inside NASA’s Orion for Artemis II Moon Mission Artemis II crew members, shown inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, stand in front of their Orion crew module on Aug. 8, 2023. From left are: Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; […]