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Official NASA portrait of Norman D. Knight. Credit: NASA NASA has selected Norman Knight as acting deputy director of Johnson Space Center. Knight currently serves as Director of Johnson’s Flight Operations Directorate (FOD), responsible for astronaut training and for overall planning, directing, managing, and implementing overall mission operations for NASA human spaceflight programs. This also includes management for all Johnson aircraft operations and aircrew training. Knight will serve in this dual deputy director and FOD director role for the near term. “It is an honor to accept my new role as acting deputy director for Johnson,” Knight said. “Human spaceflight is key to our agency’s mission and our Johnson team is unified in that goal. The successes we see every day are the evidence of that. It never ceases to amaze me what our team is capable of.” Knight began his career at the Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle mechanical systems flight controller, working 40 missions in this capacity. He progressed through management roles with increasing responsibility, and in 2000, he was selected as a flight director and worked in that capacity for numerous International Space Station expeditions and Space Shuttle missions. In 2009, he became the deputy chief of the Flight Director Office and participated in a NASA fellowship at Harvard Business School in general management. In 2012, Knight was selected as the chief of the Flight Director Office and then in 2018 as deputy director of the Flight Operations Directorate after serving a temporary assignment as the assistant administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. In 2021, Knight was selected as the director of FOD. “Norm has an accomplished career within the agency,” said Steven Koerner, Johnson acting director. “His leadership, expertise, and dedication to the mission will undoubtably drive our continued success.” Throughout his career, Knight has been recognized for outstanding technical achievements and leadership, receiving a Spaceflight Awareness Honoree award for STS-82. He also received several center and agency awards, including two Exceptional Achievement medals, multiple Johnson and agency group achievement awards, two Superior Accomplishment awards, an Outstanding Leadership medal, the Johnson Director’s Commendation award, and the Distinguished Service medal. Knight earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1990. View the full article

Explore This Section Webb News Latest News Latest Images Blog (offsite) Awards X (offsite – login reqd) Instagram (offsite – login reqd) Facebook (offsite- login reqd) Youtube (offsite) Overview About Who is James Webb? Fact Sheet Impacts+Benefits FAQ Science Overview and Goals Early Universe Galaxies Over Time Star Lifecycle Other Worlds Observatory Overview Launch Orbit Mirrors Sunshield Instrument: NIRCam Instrument: MIRI Instrument: NIRSpec Instrument: FGS/NIRISS Optical Telescope Element Backplane Spacecraft Bus Instrument Module Multimedia About Webb Images Images Videos What is Webb Observing? 3d Webb in 3d Solar System Podcasts Webb Image Sonifications Team International Team People Of Webb More For the Media For Scientists For Educators For Fun/Learning 6 Min Read NASA’s Webb Exposes Complex Atmosphere of Starless Super-Jupiter This artist’s concept shows what the isolated planetary-mass object SIMP 0136 could look like based on recent observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and previous observations from Hubble, Spitzer, and numerous ground-based telescopes. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and Joseph Olmsted (STScI) An international team of researchers has discovered that previously observed variations in brightness of a free-floating planetary-mass object known as SIMP 0136 must be the result of a complex combination of atmospheric factors, and cannot be explained by clouds alone. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to monitor a broad spectrum of infrared light emitted over two full rotation periods by SIMP 0136, the team was able to detect variations in cloud layers, temperature, and carbon chemistry that were previously hidden from view. The results provide crucial insight into the three-dimensional complexity of gas giant atmospheres within and beyond our solar system. Detailed characterization of objects like these is essential preparation for direct imaging of exoplanets, planets outside our solar system, with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2027. Rapidly Rotating, Free-Floating SIMP 0136 is a rapidly rotating, free-floating object roughly 13 times the mass of Jupiter, located in the Milky Way just 20 light-years from Earth. Although it is not classified as a gas giant exoplanet — it doesn’t orbit a star and may instead be a brown dwarf — SIMP 0136 is an ideal target for exo-meteorology: It is the brightest object of its kind in the northern sky. Because it is isolated, it can be observed with no fear of light contamination or variability caused by a host star. And its short rotation period of just 2.4 hours makes it possible to survey very efficiently. Prior to the Webb observations, SIMP 0136 had been studied extensively using ground-based observatories and NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. “We already knew that it varies in brightness, and we were confident that there are patchy cloud layers that rotate in and out of view and evolve over time,” explained Allison McCarthy, doctoral student at Boston University and lead author on a study published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. “We also thought there could be temperature variations, chemical reactions, and possibly some effects of auroral activity affecting the brightness, but we weren’t sure.” To figure it out, the team needed Webb’s ability to measure very precise changes in brightness over a broad range of wavelengths. Graphic A: Isolated Planetary-Mass Object SIMP 0136 (Artist’s Concept) This artist’s concept shows what the isolated planetary-mass object SIMP 0136 could look like based on recent observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and previous observations from Hubble, Spitzer, and numerous ground-based telescopes. Researchers used Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) to measure subtle changes in the brightness of infrared light as the object completed two 2.4-hour rotations. By analyzing the change in brightness of different wavelengths over time, they were able to detect variability in cloud cover at different depths, temperature variations in the upper atmosphere, and changes in carbon chemistry as different sides of the object rotated in and out of view. This illustration is based on Webb’s spectroscopic observations. Webb has not captured a direct image of the object. NASA, ESA, CSA, and Joseph Olmsted (STScI) Charting Thousands of Infrared Rainbows Using NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), Webb captured thousands of individual 0.6- to 5.3-micron spectra — one every 1.8 seconds over more than three hours as the object completed one full rotation. This was immediately followed by an observation with MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), which collected hundreds of spectroscopic measurements of 5- to 14-micron light — one every 19.2 seconds, over another rotation. The result was hundreds of detailed light curves, each showing the change in brightness of a very precise wavelength (color) as different sides of the object rotated into view. “To see the full spectrum of this object change over the course of minutes was incredible,” said principal investigator Johanna Vos, from Trinity College Dublin. “Until now, we only had a little slice of the near-infrared spectrum from Hubble, and a few brightness measurements from Spitzer.” The team noticed almost immediately that there were several distinct light-curve shapes. At any given time, some wavelengths were growing brighter, while others were becoming dimmer or not changing much at all. A number of different factors must be affecting the brightness variations. “Imagine watching Earth from far away. If you were to look at each color separately, you would see different patterns that tell you something about its surface and atmosphere, even if you couldn’t make out the individual features,” explained co-author Philip Muirhead, also from Boston University. “Blue would increase as oceans rotate into view. Changes in brown and green would tell you something about soil and vegetation.” Graphic B: Isolated Planetary-Mass Object SIMP 0136 (NIRSpec Light Curves) These light curves show the change in brightness of three different sets of wavelengths (colors) of near-infrared light coming from the isolated planetary-mass object SIMP 0136 as it rotated. The light was captured by Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph), which collected a total of 5,726 spectra — one every 1.8 seconds — over the course of about 3 hours on July 23, 2023. The variations in brightness are thought to be related to different atmospheric features — deep clouds composed of iron particles, higher clouds made of tiny grains of silicate minerals, and high-altitude hot and cold spots — rotating in and out of view. The diagram at the right illustrates the possible structure of SIMP 0136’s atmosphere, with the colored arrows representing the same wavelengths of light shown in the light curves. Thick arrows represent more (brighter) light; thin arrows represent less (dimmer) light. NASA, ESA, CSA, and Joseph Olmsted (STScI) Patchy Clouds, Hot Spots, and Carbon Chemistry To figure out what could be causing the variability on SIMP 0136, the team used atmospheric models to show where in the atmosphere each wavelength of light was originating. “Different wavelengths provide information about different depths in the atmosphere,” explained McCarthy. “We started to realize that the wavelengths that had the most similar light-curve shapes also probed the same depths, which reinforced this idea that they must be caused by the same mechanism.” One group of wavelengths, for example, originates deep in the atmosphere where there could be patchy clouds made of iron particles. A second group comes from higher clouds thought to be made of tiny grains of silicate minerals. The variations in both of these light curves are related to patchiness of the cloud layers. A third group of wavelengths originates at very high altitude, far above the clouds, and seems to track temperature. Bright “hot spots” could be related to auroras that were previously detected at radio wavelengths, or to upwelling of hot gas from deeper in the atmosphere. Some of the light curves cannot be explained by either clouds or temperature, but instead show variations related to atmospheric carbon chemistry. There could be pockets of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide rotating in and out of view, or chemical reactions causing the atmosphere to change over time. “We haven’t really figured out the chemistry part of the puzzle yet,” said Vos. “But these results are really exciting because they are showing us that the abundances of molecules like methane and carbon dioxide could change from place to place and over time. If we are looking at an exoplanet and can get only one measurement, we need to consider that it might not be representative of the entire planet.” This research was conducted as part of Webb’s General Observer Program 3548. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). Downloads Right click any image to save it or open a larger version in a new tab/window via the browser’s popup menu. View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute. View/Download the research results from The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Media Contacts Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.gov NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Margaret W. Carruthers – mcarruthers@stsci.edu Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Hannah Braun – hbraun@stsci.edu Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. Related Information More Webb News More Webb Images Webb Science Themes Webb Mission Page Learn more about brown dwarf discoveries Article: Spectroscopy 101 Related For Kids What is the Webb Telescope? SpacePlace for Kids En Español Ciencia de la NASA NASA en español Space Place para niños Keep Exploring Related Topics James Webb Space Telescope Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the… Universe Universe Stories Exoplanets View the full article

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) To celebrate the 110th anniversary of the organization that ultimately became NASA, the agency released a new collection of videos to highlight the history of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and the ways it transformed flight over four decades. A new video collection highlights the history and significance of NASA’s predecessor organization. Not long after the beginning of World War I, the United States Congress, concerned that America was lagging behind other countries, created a new committee to advance the nation’s flight technology development. On March 3, 1915, the NACA was founded “to supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight, with a view to their practical solution.” While the NACA began as a committee of only 12 leaders representing government, military, and industry, it rapidly expanded through World War II to develop America’s flight capabilities for defense and commercial uses. The organization became home to some of the nation’s best and brightest aeronautical engineers and world-class facilities, transforming into NASA at the dawn of the Space Age in 1958. The new video collection highlights some of NACA’s striking historic photography and celebrates this pioneering organization with a brief history of its formation, expansion, and groundbreaking aeronautics research at four centers across the United States — the current homes of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia, Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Related Links The NACA’s 110th Anniversary Feature E-book: NACA to NASA to Now: The Frontiers of Air and Space in the American Century E-book: A Wartime Necessity: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and Other National Aeronautical Research Organizations’ Efforts at Innovation During World War II Share Details Last Updated Mar 03, 2025 EditorMichele Ostovar Related TermsNASA HistoryAeronauticsAmes Research CenterArmstrong Flight Research CenterGlenn Research CenterLangley Research CenterNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Explore More 5 min read NASA’s Ames Research Center Celebrates 85 Years of Innovation Article 2 months ago 3 min read NASA Glenn Established in Cleveland in 1941 Article 1 year ago 9 min read From Biplanes to Supersonic Flight Article 10 years ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Aeronautics NASA History NACA Oral Histories View the full article

First image captured by Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, taken shortly after confirmation of a successful landing at Mare Crisium on the Moon’s near side. This is the second lunar delivery of NASA science and tech instruments as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.Credit: Firefly Aerospace Carrying a suite of NASA science and technology, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed at 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300-mile-wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side. The Blue Ghost lander is in an upright and stable configuration, and the successful Moon delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing. The 10 NASA science and technology instruments aboard the lander will operate on the lunar surface for approximately one lunar day, or about 14 Earth days. “This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “We have already learned many lessons – and the technological and science demonstrations onboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will improve our ability to not only discover more science, but to ensure the safety of our spacecraft instruments for future human exploration – both in the short term and long term.” Since launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 15, Blue Ghost traveled more than 2.8 million miles, downlinked more than 27 GB of data, and supported several science operations. This included signal tracking from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) at a record-breaking distance of 246,000 miles with the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment payload – showing NASA can use the same positioning systems on Earth when at the Moon. Science conducted during the journey also included radiation tolerant computing through the Van Allen Belts with the Radiation-Tolerant Computer System payload and measurements of magnetic field changes in space with the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder payload. “The science and technology we send to the Moon now helps prepare the way for future NASA exploration and long-term human presence to inspire the world for generations to come,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re sending these payloads by working with American companies – which supports a growing lunar economy.” During surface operations, the NASA instruments will test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data captured will benefit humanity by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth. Before payload operations conclude, teams will aim to capture imagery of the lunar sunset and how lunar dust reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions, a phenomenon first documented by former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following the lunar sunset, the lander will operate for several hours into the lunar night. “On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank NASA for entrusting Firefly as their lunar delivery provider,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Blue Ghost’s successful Moon landing has laid the groundwork for the future of commercial exploration across cislunar space. We’re now looking forward to more than 14 days of surface operations to unlock even more science data that will have a substantial impact on future missions to the Moon and Mars.” To date, five vendors have been awarded 11 lunar deliveries under CLPS and are sending more than 50 instruments to various locations on the Moon, including the lunar South Pole. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028. Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at: https://www.nasa.gov/clps -end- Amber Jacobson / Karen Fox Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov Natalia Riusech / Nilufar Ramji Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nataila.s.riusech@nasa.gov / nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov Antonia Jaramillo Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-501-8425 antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Mar 02, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsCommercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)ArtemisEarth's MoonScience & ResearchScience Mission Directorate View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read Smooshing for Science: A Flat-Out Success NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its SHERLOC WATSON camera, located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. The view is looking down at a flattened pile of tailings created by the coring of science target “Green Gardens,” so named because it contains serpentine, a mineral often green in color. The rover’s SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) uses cameras, spectrometers, and a laser to search for organics and minerals that have been altered by watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life; in addition to its black-and-white context camera, SHERLOC is assisted by WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering), a color camera for taking close-up images of rock grains and surface textures. Perseverance acquired this image on Feb. 20, 2025 — sol 1424, or Martian day 1,424 of the Mars 2020 mission — at the local mean solar time of 13:11:41. This photo was selected by public vote and featured as “Image of the Week” for Week 210 (Feb. 16-22, 2025) of the Perseverance rover mission on Mars. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Henry Manelski, Ph.D. student at Purdue University The Perseverance team is always looking for creative ways to use the tools we have on Mars to maximize the science we do. On the arm of the rover sits the SHERLOC instrument, which specializes in detecting organic compounds and is crucial in our search for signs of past microbial life. But finding these organics isn’t easy. The uppermost surface of most rocks Perseverance finds on Mars have been exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun and the long-term oxidative potential of the atmosphere, both of which have the potential to break down organic compounds. For this reason, obtaining SHERLOC measurements from a “fresh” rock face is ideal. Last week the rover cored a serpentine-rich rock aptly named “Green Gardens,” resulting in a fresh pile of drill tailings. To get this material ready for the SHERLOC instrument, which requires a smooth area to obtain a measurement, the science team did something for the first time on Mars: We smooshed it! Using the contact sensor of our sampling system, designed to indicate when our drill is touching a rock as it prepares to take a core, Perseverance pressed down into the tailings pile, compacting it into a flat, stable patch for SHERLOC to investigate. This unorthodox approach worked perfectly! The resulting SHERLOC spectral scan of these fresh tailings — which include serpentine, a mineral of key astrobiological interest — was a success. These flattened drill tailings are a great example of how a bit of out-of-the-box (or out-of-this-world!) thinking helps us maximize science on Mars. With this success behind us, the rover is rolling west toward the heart of “Witch Hazel Hill,” where more ancient rocks — and who knows what surprises — await! Share Details Last Updated Feb 28, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 4 min read Sols 4466-4468: Heading Into the Small Canyon Article 2 days ago 2 min read Sols 4464-4465: Making Good Progress Article 2 days ago 3 min read Sols 4461-4463: Salty Salton Sea? Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Compact Fire Infrared Radiance Spectral tracker, or C-FIRST, is managed an operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and supported by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office. Combining state-of-the-art imaging technology with a compact design, C-FIRST enables scientists to gather data about fires and their impacts on ecosystems with greater accuracy and speed than other instruments. C-FIRST was developed as a spaceborne instrument, and flew onboard NASA’s B200 aircraft in January 2025 to conduct an airborne test.NASA/JPL-Caltech The January wildfires in California devastated local habitats and communities. In an effort to better understand wildfire behavior, NASA scientists and engineers tried to learn from the events by testing new technology. The new instrument, the Compact Fire Infrared Radiance Spectral Tracker (c-FIRST), was tested when NASA’s B200 King Air aircraft flew over the wildfires in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, California. Based at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, the aircraft used the c-FIRST instrument to observe the impacts of the fires in near real-time. Due to its small size and ability to efficiently simulate a satellite-based mission, the B200 King Air is uniquely suited for testing c-FIRST. Managed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, c-FIRST gathers thermal infrared images in high-resolution and other data about the terrain to study the impacts of wildfires on ecology. In a single observation, c-FIRST can capture the full temperature range across a wide area of wildland fires – as well as the cool, unburned background – potentially increasing both the quantity and quality of science data produced. “Currently, no instrument is able to cover the entire range of attributes for fires present in the Earth system,” said Sarath Gunapala, principal investigator for c-FIRST at NASA JPL. “This leads to gaps in our understanding of how many fires occur, and of crucial characteristics like size and temperature.” For decades, the quality of infrared images has struggled to convey the nuances of high-temperature surfaces above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (550 degrees Celsius). Blurry resolution and light saturation of infrared images has inhibited scientists’ understanding of an extremely hot terrain, and thereby also inhibited wildfire research. Historically, images of extremely hot targets often lacked the detail scientists need to understand the range of a fire’s impacts on an ecosystem. NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, flew the B200 King Air in support of the Signals of Opportunity Synthetic Aperture Radar (SoOpSAR) campaign on Feb. 27, 2023.NASA/Steve Freeman To address this, NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office supported JPL’s development of the c-FIRST instrument, combining state-of-the-art imaging technology with a compact and efficient design. When c-FIRST was airborne, scientists could detect smoldering fires more accurately and quickly, while also gathering important information on active fires in near real-time. “These smoldering fires can flame up if the wind picks up again,” said Gunapala. “Therefore, the c-FIRST data set could provide very important information for firefighting agencies to fight fires more effectively.” For instance, c-FIRST data can help scientists estimate the likelihood of a fire spreading in a certain landscape, allowing officials to more effectively monitor smoldering fires and track how fires evolve. Furthermore, c-FIRST can collect detailed data that can enable scientists to understand how an ecosystem may recover from fire events. “The requirements of the c-FIRST instrument meet the flight profile of the King Air,” said KC Sujan, operations engineer for the B200 King Air. “The c-FIRST team wanted a quick integration, the flight speed in the range 130 and 140 knots on a level flight, communication and navigation systems, and the instruments power requirement that are perfectly fit for King Air’s capability.” By first testing the instrument onboard the B200 King Air, the c-FIRST team can evaluate its readiness for future satellite missions investigating wildfires. On a changing planet where wildfires are increasingly common, instruments like c-FIRST could provide data that can aid firefighting agencies to fight fires more effectively, and to understand the ecosystemic impacts of extreme weather events. Share Details Last Updated Feb 28, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactErica HeimLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related TermsEarth ScienceAirborne ScienceArmstrong Flight Research CenterB200Earth Science Technology OfficeEarth's AtmosphereGeneralJet Propulsion Laboratory Explore More 1 min read Commodity Classic Hyperwall Schedule NASA Science at Commodity Classic Hyperwall Schedule, March 2-4, 2025 Join NASA in the Exhibit… Article 1 day ago 5 min read Fourth Launch of NASA Instruments Planned for Near Moon’s South Pole Article 2 days ago 3 min read NASA Names Stephen Koerner as Acting Director of Johnson Space Center Article 3 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Earth Science Projects Division Aircraft Flown at Armstrong Science in the Air View the full article

Skywatching Science Skywatching What’s Up: March 2025… Skywatching Home What’s Up What to See Tonight Moon Guide Eclipses Meteor Showers More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ A Fast-Moving Planet and a Crimson Moon! Catch Mercury if you can, then stay up late for a total lunar eclipse, and learn the truth about the dark side of the Moon. Skywatching Highlights All Month – Planets Visibility: Mercury: Speedy Mercury is visible beneath Venus for the first week and a half of March, for about 30 minutes each evening, as sunset fades. Venus: Venus hangs low in the west after sunset early in the month, but quickly drops lower as the days pass. After mid-March, it’s difficult to observe in the glow of fading sunlight. Mars: Find Mars high in the east following sunset, then setting around 3 a.m. Jupiter: Visible high in the west after dark, and setting about 1 a.m. Daily Highlights: March 7-9 – Catch Mercury: Look for Mercury beginning about 30 minutes after sunset in the west, about 10 degrees above the horizon. March 13-14 – Total Lunar Eclipse: The Moon becomes a crimson orb over a couple of hours on March 13th and into the 14th, depending on your time zone. March 14 – Full moon March 29 – New moon: This is when the dark side of the Moon faces toward Earth. The new moon appears close to the Sun in the sky, so it’s essentially invisible from the surface (except during solar eclipses). Transcript What’s Up for March? A good time to catch Mercury, an eclipse approaches, and the dark side of the Moon. March Planet Viewing March begins with Venus still hanging out low in the west after sunset, but it quickly drops out of the sky – by mid-month it’s getting lost in the glare of sunset. Once it gets dark, you’ll find Jupiter and Mars high overhead, keeping you company through the evening. Mars sets a couple of hours after midnight this month, leaving the morning sky “planet free” for the first time in a year. Sky chart showing Venus and Mercury after sunset in early March. NASA/JPL-Caltech March also has the best opportunity this year for trying to spot fast-moving Mercury if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s only visible for a few weeks at a time every 3 to 4 months. This is because the speedy planet orbits the Sun in just 88 days, so it quickly shifts its position in the sky from day to day. It’s always visible either just after sunset or just before sunrise. On March 7th through 9th, look for Mercury beginning about 30 minutes after sunset in the west, about 10 degrees above the horizon. You’ll want to ensure your view isn’t blocked by trees, buildings, or other obstructions. Observing from a large, open field, or the shore of a lake or the seaside can be helpful. Spying Mercury isn’t always easy, but catching the fleet-footed planet is a worthy goal for any skywatcher. Total Lunar Eclipse This map shows where the Moon will be above the horizon during the March 13-14 total lunar eclipse. There’s a total lunar eclipse on the way this month, visible across the Americas. Lunar eclipses can be viewed from anywhere the Moon is above the horizon at the time. The show unfolds overnight on March 13th and into the 14th, depending on your time zone. Check the schedule for your area for precise timing. Now, during a total lunar eclipse, we watch as the Moon passes through Earth’s shadow. It first appears to have a bite taken out of one side, but as maximum eclipse nears, the Moon transforms into a deep crimson orb. That red color comes from the ring of all the sunsets and sunrises you’d see encircling our planet if you were an astronaut on the lunar surface right then. Afterward, the eclipse plays out in reverse, with the red color fading, and the dark bite shrinking, until the Moon looks like its usual self again. And here’s an interesting pattern: eclipses always arrive in pairs. A couple weeks before or after a total lunar eclipse, there’s always a solar eclipse. This time, it’s a partial solar eclipse that will be visible across Eastern Canada, Greenland, and Northern Europe. The Dark Side of the Moon The Moon has a dark side, but it may not be what you think. As it orbits around Earth each month, the Moon is also rotating (or spinning). So, while we always see the same face of the Moon, sunlight sweeps across the lunar surface every month as it rotates. This means there’s no permanently “dark” side. The Moon’s dark side faces Earth when the Moon passes between our planet and the Sun each month. This is the moment when the Moon is said to be “new,” as in a fresh start for its changing phases. The new moon is also located quite close the Sun in the sky, making it more or less invisible, unless there’s a solar eclipse. Nights around the new moon phase provide excellent opportunities for observing the sky – especially if you’re using a telescope or doing astrophotography. Without moonlight washing out the sky, you can better see faint stars, nebulas, the Milky Way, and distant galaxies. So next time someone mentions the “dark side of the Moon,” you’ll know there’s more to the story – and you might even discover some deep-sky treasures while the Moon takes its monthly break. The phases of the Moon for March 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech Above are the phases of the Moon for March. Stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at NASA Science. I’m Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Skywatching Planets Solar System Exploration Moons View the full article

NASA An apprentice at Langley Laboratory (now NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia) inspects wind tunnel components in this image from May 15, 1943. During World War II, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA, employed apprentices (which NASA has since transitioned into internships) to support meaningful jobs in data computing, testing, and mechanical work. Make your own mark on NASA history. Apply to the agency’s summer internships by 11:59 p.m. EST Feb. 28. Image credit: NASA View the full article

Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 1 min read Hubble Captures New View of Colorful Veil This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image a supernova remnant called the Veil Nebula. ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Sankrit Download this image In this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, Hubble once again lifts the veil on a famous — and frequently photographed — supernova remnant: the Veil Nebula. The remnant of a star roughly 20 times as massive as the Sun that exploded about 10,000 years ago, the Veil Nebula is situated about 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. Hubble images of this photogenic nebula were first taken in 1994 and 1997, and again in 2015. This view combines images taken in three different filters by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, highlighting emission from hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms. The image shows just a small fraction of the Veil Nebula; if you could see the entire nebula without the aid of a telescope, it would be as wide as six full Moons placed side-by-side. Although this image captures the Veil Nebula at a single point in time, it helps researchers understand how the supernova remnant evolves over decades. Combining this snapshot with Hubble observations from 1994 will reveal the motion of individual knots and filaments of gas over that span of time, enhancing our understanding of this stunning nebula. Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Explore More The Death Throes of Stars Homing in on Cosmic Explosions Media Contact: Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD Share Details Last Updated Feb 28, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Goddard Space Flight Center Nebulae Supernova Remnants Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Reshaping Our Cosmic View: Hubble Science Highlights Hubble’s Nebulae Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge View the full article

Project Manager – Goddard Space Flight Center Growing up near Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Jamie Dunn — now a project manager for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope — naturally became interested in planes. While he initially wanted to be a pilot, he chose aerospace engineering as a college major. “I originally had no plans to work in the space industry,” Jamie recalls. “I never imagined I’d be working at NASA.” While pursuing his degree at the University of Maryland, he heard about a cooperative education program at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He applied, was accepted, and has been at Goddard ever since. Jamie Dunn serves as a project manager for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The observatory is currently taking shape in the largest clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., seen behind Jamie in this photo.NASA/Chris Gunn “I started out as a thermal vacuum test engineer, first focusing on smaller stuff and then I worked my way up to doing more complicated tests,” he says. “Before getting into the co-op program, I didn’t even know that job existed.” Jamie worked at Goddard mostly part-time while going to school and the role transitioned to a full-time job upon graduation. He continued working as a test engineer for several years and then became his group’s section head — his first supervisory role. From there, Jamie became the integration and testing manager for the Wide Field Camera 3, which was flown on Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4. That role teed him up for subsequent positions with the James Webb Space Telescope’s ISIM (Integrated Science Instrument Module) — first as the integration and testing manager, then deputy project manager, and ultimately the manager. Jamie Dunn, pictured at left, gives a tour to Nicola Fox (center), the associate administrator for science, and Wanda Peters (at right), the associate administrator for programs.NASA/Jolearra Tshiteya “The thirteen years I was on ISIM were like thirty,” Jamie says. “It was a very complex role involving international partnerships, contractors, and in-house personnel. We overcame a lot of adversity over the years in completing our work, and I learned a tremendous amount to be applied to my career going forward.” Following his time with Webb, Jamie spent a couple of years working on GOES-R (the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites–R Series), initially as deputy project manager and then project manager. “The biggest change was that GOES is out-of-house, so none of the hardware was developed at Goddard,” Jamie says. “That’s a huge difference.” In 2018, Jamie joined the Roman team in his current position of project manager. “In project management, you’re there to keep the train on the tracks and get to the station on time,” he says. “I focus heavily on programmatics, working closely with mission systems and project science, whose primary focus is on technical performance and science return. And when you have a healthy balance between them all like we do, it turns out to be a very successful endeavor.” A couple of years into the role, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. “It’s hard to put a spacecraft together when you’re not allowed to come to work,” Jamie says. “It was difficult because no one had experienced anything like it before, so everyone was trying to figure it out as we went along. We really focused on the team dynamic, being mindful of personal circumstances while aggressively pushing to resume onsite.” Now, the Roman mission is within a couple years of launch. Jamie’s looking forward to seeing all the engineering work translate into mind-boggling images of space. Roman will usher in a new era of cosmic surveys, discovering billions of cosmic objects at a rate never before seen in astrophysics. “When we launch this thing, that’ll definitely be the highlight of my career,” he says. “It’s really an honor to work with such a brilliant and dedicated team. For much of his time at NASA, Jamie has balanced running a project with running a household, taking care of three sons with his wife. “There’s a surprising amount of overlap between the two, because at the end of the day, it all comes down to people,” he says. “A lot of the job is psychological; having good working relationships across the team is crucial for success. To others who are interested in pursuing a similar career, Jamie recommends avoiding the “rush to the top.” He says, “I think it’s very important to make sure you spend time along the way to learn your craft. There’s no substitute for experience, and there are a lot of people to listen to and learn from along the way. Then you’ll be better prepared when you do land the job you’re ultimately aiming for.” By Ashley Balzer NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center View the full article

Explore This Section Earth Home Earth Observer Home Editor’s Corner Feature Articles Meeting Summaries News Science in the News Calendars In Memoriam More Archives 3 min read Commodity Classic Hyperwall Schedule NASA Science at AMS Hyperwall Schedule, January 13-16, 2025 Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #401) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below. MONDAY, JANUARY 13 6:10 – 6:25 PM The Golden Age of Ocean Science: How NASA’s Newest Missions Advance the Study of Oceans in our Earth System Dr. Karen St. Germain 6:25 – 6:40 PM Integration of Vantage Points and Approaches for Earth System Science Dr. Jack Kaye 6:45 – 7:00 PM Helio Big Year Wind-Down and a Look Ahead Dr. Joseph Westlake 7:00 – 7:15 PM Chasing Snowstorms with Airplanes: An Overview of the IMPACTS Field Campaign John Yorks Lynn McMurdie 7:15 – 7:30 PM NASA Earth Action Empowering Health and Air Quality Communities Dr. John Haynes TUESDAY, JANUARY 14 10:00 – 10:15 AM Earthdata Applications Hannah Townley 10:15 – 10:30 AM Climate Adaptation Science Investigators (CASI): Enhancing Climate Resilience at NASA Cynthia Rosenzweig 10:30 – 10:45 AM From Orbit to Earth: Exploring the LEO Science Digest Jeremy Goldstein 12:00 – 12:15 PM Visualizaiton of the May 10-11 ‘Gannon’ Geospace Storm Michael Wiltberger 12:15 – 12:30 PM Explore Space Weather Through the Community Coordinated Modeling Center and OpenSpace Elana Resnick 12:30 – 12:45 PM Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG): US Government Agencies’ Source of NASA ESD-wide Earth Observations solutions Natasha Sadoff 12:45 – 1:00 PM Connecting Satellite Data to the One Health Approach Helena Chapman 1:00 – 1:15 PM A Bird’s-Eye View of Pollution in Asian Megacities Laura Judd 1:15 – 1:30 PM Space Weather at Mars Gina DiBraccio Jamie Favors 3:00 – 3:15 PM Open Science: Creating a Culture of Innovation and Collaboration Lauren Perkins 3:15 – 3:30 PM NASA’s Early Career Reseach Program Paving the Way Cynthia Hall Yaítza Luna-Cruz 3:30 – 3:45 PM SciX: Accelerating Discovery of NASA’s Science through Open Science and Domain Integration Anna Kelbert 6:15 – 6:30 PM Using NASA IMERG to Detect Extreme Rainfall Within Data Deserts Owen Kelley George Huffman 6:30 – 6:45 PM Satellite Remote Sensing of Aerosols Around the World Rob Levy 6:45 – 7:00 PM The Sun, Space Weather, and You Jim Spann Erin Lynch 7:00 – 7:15 PM Eyes on the Stars: The Building of a 21st-century Solar Observatory Ame Fox Dr. Elsayed Talaat 7:15 – 7:30 PM NASA ESTO: Launchpad for Novel Earth Science Technologies Michael Seablom WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15 10:00 – 10:15 AM Parker Solar Probe Outreach and the Power of Indigenous Thought Leaders Troy Cline 10:15 – 10:30 AM Forecasting Extreme Weather Events at Local Scales with NASA High-Resolution Models Gary Partyka 10:30 – 10:45 AM North American Land Data Assimilation System: Informing Water and Agricultural Management Applications with NASA Modeling and Remote Sensing Sujay Kumar 12:00 – 12:15 PM Life After Launch: A Snapshot of the First 9 Months of NASA’s PACE Mission Carina Poulin 12:15 – 12:30 PM Space Weather and the May 2024 Geomagnetic Storm Antti Pulkkinen 12:30 – 12:45 PM Geospace Dynamics Constellation: The Space Weather Rosetta Stone Dr. Katherine Garcia Gage 12:45 – 1:00 PM Monitoring Sea Level Change using ICESat-2 and other NASA EO Missions Aimee Neeley 1:00 – 1:15 PM Space Weather Center of Excellence CLEAR: All-CLEAR SEP Forecast Lulu Zhao 1:15 – 1:30 PM Harnessing the Power of NASA Earth Observations for a Resilient Water Future Stephanie Granger 3:00 – 3:15 PM From EARTHDATA to Action: Enabling Earth Science Data to Serve Society Jim O’Sullivan Yaitza Luna-Cruz 3:15 – 3:30 PM GMAO and GEOS Related Talk TBD Christine Bloecker 3:30 – 3:45 PM Live Heliophysics Kahoot! Quiz Bowl Jimmy Acevedo 3:45 – 4:00 PM Parker Solar Probe Nour Rawaf THURSDAY, JANUARY 16 10:00 – 10:15 AM Sounds of Space: Sonification with CDAWeb Alex Young 10:30 – 10:45 AM Developing the Future of Microwave Sounding Data: Benefits and Opportunities Ed Kim Share Details Last Updated Feb 27, 2025 Related Terms Earth Science View the full article

NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, Bohdan Wesely, right, and Eli Hiss, left, complete a fit check of the two halves of a space capsule that will study the clouds of Venus for signs of life. Led by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, and their partners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Rocket Lab’s Venus mission will be the first private mission to the planet. NASA’s role is to help the commercial space endeavor succeed by providing expertise in thermal protection of small spacecraft. Invented at Ames, NASA’s Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) – the brown, textured material covering the bottom of the capsule in this photo – is a woven heat shield designed to protect spacecraft from temperatures up to 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The probe will deploy from Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft bus, taking measurements as it descends through the planet’s atmosphere. Teams at Ames work with private companies, like Rocket Lab, to turn NASA materials into solutions such as the heat shield tailor-made for this spacecraft destined for Venus, supporting growth of the new space economy. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, supported development of the heat shield for Rocket Lab’s Venus mission. View the full article

Live Video from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream)

Live High-Definition Views from the International Space Station (Official NASA Stream)

NASA/Cory S Huston A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander (IM-2) soars upward after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. The lander is set to land on the Moon on March 6. The NASA science and technology demonstrations aboard the lander will, once on the Moon, gather data to support future human missions. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, which launched as a rideshare with the IM-2 mission, also began its journey to lunar orbit, where it will map the distribution of the different forms of water on the Moon. Image credit: NASA/Cory S Huston View the full article

Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More 35th Anniversary Online Activities 5 Min Read NASA’s Hubble Provides Bird’s-Eye View of Andromeda Galaxy’s Ecosystem A view of the distribution of known satellite galaxies orbiting the large Andromeda galaxy (M31), located 2.5 million light-years away. Credits: NASA, ESA, Alessandro Savino (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Akira Fujii DSS2 Located 2.5 million light-years away, the majestic Andromeda galaxy appears to the naked eye as a faint, spindle-shaped object roughly the angular size of the full Moon. What backyard observers don’t see is a swarm of nearly three dozen small satellite galaxies circling the Andromeda galaxy, like bees around a hive. These satellite galaxies represent a rambunctious galactic “ecosystem” that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is studying in unprecedented detail. This ambitious Hubble Treasury Program used observations from more than a whopping 1,000 Hubble orbits. Hubble’s optical stability, clarity, and efficiency made this ambitious survey possible. This work included building a precise 3D mapping of all the dwarf galaxies buzzing around Andromeda and reconstructing how efficiently they formed new stars over the nearly 14 billion years of the universe’s lifetime. This is a wide-angle view of the distribution of known satellite galaxies orbiting the large Andromeda galaxy (M31), located 2.5 million light-years away. The Hubble Space Telescope was used to study the entire population of 36 mini-galaxies circled in yellow. Andromeda is the bright spindle-shaped object at image center. All the dwarf galaxies seem to be confined to a plane, all orbiting in the same direction. The wide view is from ground-based photography. Hubble’s optical stability, clarity, and efficiency made this ambitious survey possible. Hubble close up snapshots of four dwarf galaxies are on image right. The most prominent dwarf galaxy is M32 (NGC 221), a compact ellipsoidal galaxy that might be the remnant core of a larger galaxy that collided with Andromeda a few billion years ago. NASA, ESA, Alessandro Savino (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Akira Fujii DSS2 In the study published in The Astrophysical Journal, Hubble reveals a markedly different ecosystem from the smaller number of satellite galaxies that circle our Milky Way. This offers forensic clues as to how our Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda have evolved differently over billions of years. Our Milky Way has been relatively placid. But it looks like Andromeda has had a more dynamic history, which was probably affected by a major merger with another big galaxy a few billion years ago. This encounter, and the fact that Andromeda is as much as twice as massive as our Milky Way, could explain its plentiful and diverse dwarf galaxy population. Surveying the Milky Way’s entire satellite system in such a comprehensive way is very challenging because we are embedded inside our galaxy. Nor can it be accomplished for other large galaxies because they are too far away to study the small satellite galaxies in much detail. The nearest galaxy of comparable mass to the Milky Way beyond Andromeda is M81, at nearly 12 million light-years. This bird’s-eye view of Andromeda’s satellite system allows us to decipher what drives the evolution of these small galaxies. “We see that the duration for which the satellites can continue forming new stars really depends on how massive they are and on how close they are to the Andromeda galaxy,” said lead author Alessandro Savino of the University of California at Berkeley. “It is a clear indication of how small-galaxy growth is disturbed by the influence of a massive galaxy like Andromeda.” “Everything scattered in the Andromeda system is very asymmetric and perturbed. It does appear that something significant happened not too long ago,” said principal investigator Daniel Weisz of the University of California at Berkeley. “There’s always a tendency to use what we understand in our own galaxy to extrapolate more generally to the other galaxies in the universe. There’s always been concerns about whether what we are learning in the Milky Way applies more broadly to other galaxies. Or is there more diversity among external galaxies? Do they have similar properties? Our work has shown that low-mass galaxies in other ecosystems have followed different evolutionary paths than what we know from the Milky Way satellite galaxies.” For example, half of the Andromeda satellite galaxies all seem to be confined to a plane, all orbiting in the same direction. “That’s weird. It was actually a total surprise to find the satellites in that configuration and we still don’t fully understand why they appear that way,” said Weisz. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This animation begins with a view of the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. We zoom through a scattering of foreground stars and enter the inky blackness of intergalactic space. We cross 2.5 million light-years to reach the Andromeda system, consisting of 36 dwarf satellite galaxies orbiting the giant spindle-shaped Andromeda galaxy at image center. An ambitious survey by the Hubble Space Telescope was made to plot the galaxy locations in three-dimensional space. In this video we circle around a model of the Andromeda system based on real Hubble observational data. NASA, ESA, Christian Nieves (STScI), Alessandro Savino (UC Berkeley); Acknowledgment: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI), Robert Gendler The brightest companion galaxy to Andromeda is Messier 32 (M32). This is a compact ellipsoidal galaxy that might just be the remnant core of a larger galaxy that collided with Andromeda a few billion years ago. After being gravitationally stripped of gas and some stars, it continued along its orbit. Galaxy M32 contains older stars, but there is evidence it had a flurry of star formation a few billion years ago. In addition to M32, there seems to be a unique population of dwarf galaxies in Andromeda not seen in the Milky Way. They formed most of their stars very early on, but then they didn’t stop. They kept forming stars out of a reservoir of gas at a very low rate for a much longer time. “Star formation really continued to much later times, which is not at all what you would expect for these dwarf galaxies,” continued Savino. “This doesn’t appear in computer simulations. No one knows what to make of that so far.” “We do find that there is a lot of diversity that needs to be explained in the Andromeda satellite system,” added Weisz. “The way things come together matters a lot in understanding this galaxy’s history.” Hubble is providing the first set of imaging where astronomers measure the motions of the dwarf galaxies. In another five years Hubble or NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will be able to get the second set of observations, allowing astronomers to do a dynamical reconstruction for all 36 of the dwarf galaxies, which will help astronomers to rewind the motions of the entire Andromeda ecosystem billions of years into the past. The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for over three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA. Explore More NASA’s Hubble Traces Hidden History of Andromeda Galaxy Hubble’s High-Definition Panoramic View of the Andromeda Galaxy Explore the Night Sky: Messier 31 Hubble’s Galaxies Facebook logo @NASAHubble @NASAHubble Instagram logo @NASAHubble Media Contact: Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland Science Contact: Alessandro Savino University of California, Berkeley, California Share Details Last Updated Feb 27, 2025 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Hubble Space Telescope Andromeda Galaxy Astrophysics Astrophysics Division Galaxies Goddard Space Flight Center Spiral Galaxies Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From Hubble Hubble Space Telescope Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe. Galaxy Details and Mergers Reshaping Our Cosmic View: Hubble Science Highlights Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge View the full article

2 min read NASA Selects Participating Scientists to Join Lucy Asteroid Mission NASA has selected eight participating scientists to join its Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are remnants of our early solar system trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the planet Jupiter. The first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. NASA’s Lucy in the L4 Trojans Participating Scientist Program supports scientists to carry out new investigations that address outstanding questions related to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids as part of the Lucy mission. Launched in 2021, the Lucy spacecraft is currently on its way to the L4 Trojan swarm, which leads Jupiter in its orbit around the Sun. This is the first selection of Lucy participating scientists, who will become mission science team members for the four major asteroid encounters that the Lucy spacecraft will have in the L4 swarm in 2027 and 2028, and who will remain on the team for subsequent scientific analysis until 2030. The newly selected participating scientists are: Harrison Agrusa, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in Nice, France Benjamin Byron, University of Central Florida in Orlando Emily Costello, University of Hawaii, Honolulu Masatoshi Hirabayashi, Georgia Tech Research Corporation [TSS1] in Atlanta Fiona Nichols-Fleming, Smithsonian Institution in Washington Norbert Schorghofer, Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona Jennifer Scully, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California Anne Verbiscer, University of Virginia, Charlottesville Lucy’s principal investigator, Hal Levison, is based out of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of Southwest Research Institute, headquartered in San Antonio. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, built and operates the spacecraft. Lucy is the 13th mission in NASA’s Discovery Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Discovery Program for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. For more information on NASA’s Lucy mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/lucy Facebook logo @NASA @NASA Instagram logo @NASA Linkedin logo @NASA Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA The Lucy Spacecraft Planetary Science Asteroids Solar System View the full article

Creating a golden streak in the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander (IM-2) and NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer soars upward after liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:16 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Feb. 26. The IM-2 launch, which is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, is carrying NASA technology and science demonstrations, and other commercial payloads to Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau to advance our understanding of the Moon and planetary processes, while paving the way for future crewed missions. (Credit: NASA) The next set of NASA science and technology demonstrations is on its way to the lunar surface, where they will gather data about Earth’s nearest neighbor and help pave the way for American astronauts to explore the Moon and beyond, for the benefit of all. Carrying NASA instruments as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission launched at 7:16 p.m. EST, Feb. 26, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander is scheduled to touch down on Thursday, March 6, in Mons Mouton, a plateau in the Moon’s South Pole. “With each CLPS mission, the United States is leading the way in expanding our reach and refining our capabilities, turning what was once dreams into reality,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “These science and technology demonstrations are more than payloads – they represent the foundation for future explorers who will live and work on the Moon. By partnering with American industry, we are driving innovation, strengthening our leadership in space, and preparing for sending humans farther into the solar system, including Mars.” Intuitive Machines’ NOVA-C lunar lander captures a selfie with Earth in the background shortly after separation. Credit: Intuitive Machines Once on the Moon, the NASA CLPS investigations will aim to measure the potential presence of volatiles or gases from lunar soil – one of the first on-site demonstrations of resource use on the Moon. In addition, a passive Laser Retroreflector Array on the top deck of the lander will bounce laser light back at any future orbiting or incoming spacecraft to give them a permanent reference point on the lunar surface. Other technology instruments on this delivery will demonstrate a robust surface communications system and deploy a propulsive drone designed to hop across the lunar surface. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, which launched as a rideshare with the IM-2 mission, also began its journey to lunar orbit, where it will map the distribution of the different forms of water on the Moon. Lunar Trailblazer will discover where the Moon’s water is, what form it is in, and how it changes over time. Observations gathered during its two-year prime mission will contribute to the understanding of water cycles on airless bodies throughout the solar system while also supporting future human and robotic missions to the Moon by identifying where water is located. NASA’s Artemis campaign includes conducting more science to better understand planetary processes and evolution, to search for evidence of water and other resources, and support long-term, sustainable human exploration. The NASA science and technology instruments that launched aboard the IM-2 mission are: Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1): This experiment will explore the Moon’s subsurface and analyze where lunar resources may reside. The experiment’s two key instruments will demonstrate the ability to extract and analyze lunar soil to detect volatile chemical compounds that turn into gas. The two instruments will work in tandem: The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrains will drill into the Moon’s surface to collect samples, while the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations will analyze these samples to determine the gas composition released across the sampling depth. The PRIME-1 technology will provide valuable data to better understand the Moon’s surface and how to work with and on it. Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA): This collection of eight retroreflectors will enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. The LRA is a passive optical instrument and will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come. Micro Nova Hopper: Funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate Tipping Point initiative, Intuitive Machines’ Micro Nova hopper, Grace, is designed to enable high-resolution surveying of the lunar surface under its flight path. This autonomous propulsive drone aims to deploy to the surface and hop into a nearby crater to survey the lunar surface and send science data back to the lander. It’s designed to hop in and out of a permanently shadowed region, providing a first look into undiscovered regions that may provide critical information to sustain a human presence on the Moon. Nokia Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS): Also developed with funding from NASA’s Tipping Point initiative, Nokia’s LSCS 4G/LTE communications system will demonstrate cellular communications between the Intuitive Machines lander, a Lunar Outpost rover, and the Micro Nova hopper. Engineered to transmit high-definition video, command-and-control messages, and sensor and telemetry data, the LSCS aims to demonstrate an ultra-compact advanced communication solution for future infrastructure on the Moon and beyond. Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at: https://www.nasa.gov/clps -end- Karen Fox / Jasmine Hopkins Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 / 321-432-4624 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / jasmine.s.hopkins@nasa.gov Natalia Riusech / Nilufar Ramji Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nataila.s.riusech@nasa.gov / nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov Antonia Jaramillo Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-501-8425 antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 27, 2025 LocationJohnson Space Center Related TermsCommercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)ArtemisMissions View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 4 min read Sols 4466-4468: Heading Into the Small Canyon NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity produced this image from its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. This image is a combination of two MAHLI images, merged on the rover on Feb. 25, 2025 — sol 4464, or Martian day 4,464 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 22:36:53 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Written by Susanne Schwenzer, Planetary Geologist at The Open University Earth planning date: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 The fine detail of the image above reminds us once again that geoscience — on Mars and on Earth — is an observational science. If you look at the image for a few moments, you will see that there are different areas made of different textures. You will also observe that some features appear to be more resistant to weathering than others, and as a consequence stand out from the surface or the rims of the block. Sedimentologists will study this and many other images in fine detail and compare them to similar images we have acquired along the most recent drive path. From that they put together a reconstruction of the environment billions of years in the past: Was it water or wind that laid down those rocks, and what happened next? Many of the knobbly textures might be from water-rock interaction that happened after the initial deposition of the material. We will see; the jury is out on what these details tell us, and we are looking closely at all those beautiful images and then will turn to the chemistry data to understand even more about those rocks. In the caption of the image above it says “merged” images. This is an imaging process that happens aboard the rover — it takes two (or more) images of the same location on the same target, acquired at different focus positions, and merges them so a wider range of the rock is in focus. This is especially valuable on textures that have a high relief, such as the above shown example. The rover is quite clever, isn’t it? In today’s plan MAHLI does not have such an elaborate task, but instead it is documenting the rock that the APXS instrument is measuring. The team decided that it is time for APXS to measure the regular bedrock again, because we are driving out of an area that is darker on the orbital image and into a lighter area. If you want, you can follow our progress on that orbital image. (But I am sure many of the regular readers of this blog know that!) That bedrock target was named “Trippet Ranch.” ChemCam investigates the target “San Ysidro Trail,” which is a grayish-looking vein. As someone interested in water-rock interactions for my research, I always love plans that have the surrounding rock (the APXS target in this case) and the alteration features in the same location. This allows us to tease out which of the chemical components of the rock might have moved upon contact with water, and which ones have not. As we are driving through very interesting terrain, with walls exposed on the mesas — especially Gould mesa — and lots of textures in the blocks around us, there are many Mastcam mosaics in today’s plan! The mosaics on “Lytle Creek,” “Round Valley,” “Heaton Flat,” “Los Liones,” and the single image on “Mount Pinos” all document this variety of structures, and another mosaic looks right at our workspace. It did not get a nice name as it is part of a series with a more descriptive name all called “trough.” We often do this to keep things together in logical order when it comes to imaging series. The long-distance RMIs in today’s plan are another example of this, as they are just called “Gould,” followed by the sol number they will be taken on — that’s 4466 — and a and b to distinguish the two from each other. Gould Mesa, the target of both of them, exposes many different structures and textures, and looking at such walls — geologists call them outcrops — lets us read the rock record like a history book! And it will get even better in the next few weeks as we are heading into a small canyon and will have walls on both sides. Lots of science to come in the next few downlinks, and lots of science on the ground already! I’d better get back to thinking about some of the data we have received recently, while the rover is busy exploring the ever-changing geology and mineralogy on the flanks of Mount Sharp. Share Details Last Updated Feb 26, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 2 min read Sols 4464-4465: Making Good Progress Article 5 hours ago 3 min read Sols 4461-4463: Salty Salton Sea? Article 1 day ago 2 min read Gardens on Mars? No, Just Rocks! Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

Portrait of John Boyd, whose contributions to NASA spanned more than 70 years.Credit: NASA John Boyd, known to many as Jack and whose career spanned more than seven decades in a multitude of roles across NASA as well as its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), died Feb. 20. He was 99. Born in 1925, and raised in Danville, Virginia, he was a long-time resident of Saratoga, California. Boyd is being remembered by many across the agency, including Dr. Eugene Tu, director, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, where Boyd spent most of his career. “Jack brought an energy, optimism, and team-based approach to solving some of the greatest technological challenges humanity has ever faced, which remains part of our culture to this day,” said Tu. “There are few careers as wide-ranging and impactful as Jack’s.” In 1947, Boyd began his career at the then-called Ames Aeronautical Laboratory in Moffett Field, California, as an aeronautical engineer working to design and test various wing shapes using the center’s 1-by-3-foot supersonic wind tunnel. Boyd continued conducting research in wind tunnels, testing designs that led to dramatic increases in the efficiency of the supersonic B-58 bomber, as well as the F-102 and F-106 fighters. In 1958, just before Ames became part of a newly established NASA, Boyd recalled thinking, “Maybe someday we’ll go out into the far blue yonder, and if we do, what are we going to fly? How are we going to bring it back into the atmosphere safely?” He and a team of engineers turned their attention to studying the dynamics of high-speed projectiles in hypervelocity ranges, filled with different mixtures of gases to mimic the atmospheres of Mars and Venus, in preparation for sending spacecraft out into space and safely back again or to the surface of other worlds. By the mid-60s, Boyd was promoted into leadership and tapped to become deputy director for Aeronautics and Flight Systems at NASA Ames. In the late 1960s, as America was redefining its space exploration goals and sending humans to the Moon, Boyd served as the center’s lead to assist NASA Headquarters in Washington consolidate and create new research programs. In 1979, Boyd served as the deputy director at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (now known as NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California, and prepared the center for its role as a landing site for the space shuttle. He briefly returned to Ames before heading to NASA Headquarters to be associate administrator for management under James M. Beggs. Boyd left government service in 1985, taking a position as chancellor for research and an adjunct professor of aerodynamics, engineering, and the history of spaceflight for the University of Texas System. Boyd returned to NASA and California’s Silicon Valley in 1993,inspiring students through educational outreach initiatives, and serving as the senior advisor to the director, senior advisor for history, and the center ombudsman until his retirement in 2020. Boyd credits his interest in airplanes to a cousin who was a paratrooper and gave him a ride in a biplane in the 1940s. In 1943, he enrolled and became the first in his family to earn a degree with a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. He was a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Award, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Award, the NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal, the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Army Command Medal, and the NASA Headquarters History Award. He also was a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Sloan Fellow at Stanford University. “The agency and the nation thank and honor Jack as a member of the NASA family and the highest exemplar of a public servant who believed investing in others is the greatest contribution one can make,” added Tu. “He will be deeply missed.” For more information about NASA Ames, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/ames -end- Cheryl Warner Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov Rachel Hoover Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley 650-604-4789 rachel.hoover@nasa.gov Share Details Last Updated Feb 26, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsAmes Research CenterAeronauticsArmstrong Flight Research CenterNASA HeadquartersNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) View the full article

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign. SpaceX Sending instruments to the Moon supports a growing lunar economy on and off Earth, and the next flight of NASA science and technology is only days away. NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative is a lunar delivery service that sends NASA science and technology instruments to various geographic locations on the Moon using American companies. These rapid, cost-effective commercial lunar missions at a cadence of about two per year improve our understanding of the lunar environment in advance of future crewed missions to the Moon as part of the agency’s broader Artemis campaign. Of the 11 active CLPS contracts, there have been three CLPS launches to date: Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One, which collected data in transit but experienced an anomaly that prevented it from landing on the Moon; Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission, which landed, tipped over, and operated on the lunar surface; and Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One that is currently enroute and scheduled to land in early March 2025. The CLPS contract awards cover end-to-end commercial payload delivery services, including payload integration, launch from Earth, landing on the surface of the Moon, and mission operations. NASA’s fourth CLPS flight is from Intuitive Machines with their IM-2 mission. The IM-2 mission is carrying NASA science and technology instruments to Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau just outside of 5 degrees of the South Pole of the Moon, closer to the pole than any preceding lunar mission. Scheduled to launch no earlier than Wednesday and land approximately eight days later, Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named Athena, will carry three NASA instruments to the lunar South Pole region – the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) suite and the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA). The PRIME-1 suite consists of two instruments, the TRIDENT drill (The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) and MSolo (Mass Spectrometer observing lunar operations), which will work together to extricate lunar soil samples, known as regolith, from the subsurface and analyze their composition to further understand the lunar environment and gain insight on potential resources that can be extracted for future examination. The meter-long TRIDENT drill is designed to extract lunar regolith, up to about three feet below the surface. It will also measure soil temperature at varying depths below the surface, which will help to verify existing lunar thermal models that are used for ice stability calculations and resource mapping. By drilling into the lunar regolith, information is gathered to help answer questions about the lunar regolith geotechnical properties, such as soil strength, both at the surface and in the subsurface that will help inform Artemis infrastructure objectives. The data will be beneficial when designing future systems for on-site resource utilization that will use local resources to create everything from landing pads to rocket fuel. The lead development organization for TRIDENT is Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin Company. The MSOLO instrument is a mass spectrometer capable of identifying and quantifying volatiles (or gasses that easily evaporate) found at or beneath the lunar surface, including– if it’s present in the regolith within the drill’s reach – water and oxygen, brought to the surface by the TRIDENT drill. This instrument can also detect any gases that emanate from the lander, drilling process, and other payloads conducting operations on the surface. Using MSolo to study the volatile gases found on the Moon can help us understand how the lander’s presence might alter the local environment. The lead development organization is INFICON of Syracuse, New York, in partnership with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s LRA is a collection of eight retroreflectors that enable precision laser ranging, which is a measurement of the distance between the orbiting or landing spacecraft to the reflector on the lander. The LRA instrument is passive, meaning it does not power on. It will function as a permanent location marker on the Moon for decades to come, similar to its predecessors. The lead development organization is NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In addition to the CLPS instruments, two technology demonstrations aboard IM-2 were developed through NASA’s Tipping Point opportunity. These are collaborations with the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and industry that support development of commercial space capabilities and benefit future NASA missions. Intuitive Machines developed a small hopping robot, Grace, named after Grace Hopper, computer scientist and mathematician. Grace will deploy as a secondary payload from the lander and enable high-resolution imaging and science surveying of the lunar surface, including permanently shadowed craters around the landing site. Grace is designed to bypass obstacles such as steep inclines, boulders, and craters to cover a lot of terrain while moving quickly, which is a valuable capability to support future missions on the Moon and other planets, including Mars. Nokia will test a Lunar Surface Communications System that employs the same cellular technology here on Earth. Reconceptualized by Nokia Bell Labs to meet the unique requirements of a lunar mission, this tipping point technology aims to demonstrate proximity communications between the lander, a Lunar Outpost rover, and the hopper. Launching as a rideshare alongside the IM-2 mission, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft also will begin its journey to lunar orbit where it will map the distribution of water – and other forms of water – on the Moon. Future CLPS flights will continue to send payloads to the near side, far side, and South Pole regions of the Moon where investigations and exploration are informed by each area’s unique characteristics. With a pool of 13 American companies under CLPS, including a portfolio of 11 lunar deliveries by five vendors sending more than 50 individual science and technology instruments to lunar orbit and the surface of the Moon, NASA continues to advance long-term exploration of the Moon, and beyond to Mars.   View the full article

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read Sols 4464-4465: Making Good Progress NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) on Feb. 23, 2025 — sol 4462, or Martian day 4,462 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 21:43:37 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center Earth planning date: Monday, Feb. 24, 2025 Over the weekend Curiosity drove about 48 meters (about 157 feet) to the southwest, continuing to march along on our traverse past Texoli butte and Gould Mesa. I was on shift as the LTP today, and it was great to see the good drive progress, interesting workspace, and exciting stratigraphy that lies ahead. Today’s two-sol plan includes contact science and a drive on the first sol, followed by untargeted remote sensing on the second sol. The Geology theme group got straight to work evaluating contact science targets, and decided on a nodular block named “Matilija Poppy” for APXS and MAHLI observations. Then the team turned their attention to the remote sensing activities. There are a variety of interesting rock textures near the rover, so the team spent some time planning Mastcam imaging and ChemCam LIBS activities to assess the diversity. Some blocks have polygonal fractures with raised ridges, while other blocks are more nodular or well-laminated. In addition to looking at the bedrock, Mastcam will document local troughs in the loose sand between blocks, to understand more recent surface processes. The team planned a ChemCam LIBS observation on one of the polygonal fractures at a target named “East Fork” and two long-distance ChemCam RMI mosaics of Gould Mesa to assess the distant stratigraphy. Then Curiosity will drive about 30 meters (about 98 feet) further to the south, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for Wednesday’s plan. On the second sol Curiosity will take an autonomously selected ChemCam target, along with multiple environmental monitoring observations to search for dust devils, monitor atmospheric dust, and evaluate clouds. It was a pretty smooth day of planning, and it’s always nice to see how the team works together to accomplish a lot of great science. Looking forward to continuing to make great progress as we start climbing uphill again! Share Details Last Updated Feb 26, 2025 Related Terms Blogs Explore More 3 min read Sols 4461-4463: Salty Salton Sea? Article 21 hours ago 2 min read Gardens on Mars? No, Just Rocks! Article 4 days ago 2 min read Sols 4458-4460: Winter Schminter Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited… All Mars Resources Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,… Rover Basics Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a… Mars Exploration: Science Goals The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four… View the full article

NASA/Don Pettit NASA astronaut Don Pettit used a camera with low light and long duration settings to capture this Jan. 29, 2025, image of the Milky Way appearing beyond Earth’s horizon. At the time, the International Space Station was orbiting 265 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile just before sunrise. Pettit is part of the Expedition 72 crew, along with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Nick Hague. The orbital residents are exploring a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth including pharmaceutical manufacturing, advanced life support systems, genetic sequencing in microgravity, and more. Read the Space Station blog to follow their activities. Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit View the full article

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Sunlight gleams off NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer as the dishwasher-size spacecraft orbits the Moon in this artist’s concept. The mission will discover where the Moon’s water is, what form it is in, and how it changes over time, producing the best-yet maps of water on the lunar surface.Lockheed Martin Space The small satellite mission will map the Moon to help scientists better understand where its water is, what form it’s in, how much is there, and how it changes over time. Launching no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 26, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer will help resolve an enduring mystery: Where is the Moon’s water? After sharing a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 launch — part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative — the small satellite will take several months to arrive in lunar orbit. Here are six things to know about the mission. 1. Lunar Trailblazer will produce high-resolution maps of water on the lunar surface. One of the biggest lunar discoveries in recent decades is that the Moon’s surface has quantities of water, but little about its nature is known. To investigate, Lunar Trailblazer will decipher where the water is, what form it is in, how much is there, and how it changes over time. The small satellite will produce the best-yet maps of water on the lunar surface. Observations gathered during the two-year prime mission will also contribute to the understanding of water cycles on airless bodies throughout the solar system. 2. The small satellite will use two state-of-the-art science instruments. Key to achieving these goals are the spacecraft’s two science instruments: the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) infrared spectrometer and the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) infrared multispectral imager. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provided the HVM3 instrument, while LTM was built by the University of Oxford and funded by the UK Space Agency. HVM3 will detect and map the spectral fingerprints, or wavelengths of reflected sunlight, of minerals and the different forms of water on the lunar surface. The LTM instrument will map the minerals and thermal properties of the same landscape. Together they will create a picture of the abundance, location, and form of water while also tracking how its distribution changes over time and temperature. Fueled and attached to an adaptor used for secondary payloads, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is seen at SpaceX’s payload processing facility within NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early February 2025. The small satellite is riding along on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 launch.SpaceX 3. Lunar Trailblazer will take a long and winding road to the Moon. Weighing only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measuring 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed, Lunar Trailblazer is about the size of a dishwasher and relies on a relatively small propulsion system. To make the spacecraft’s four-to-seven-month trip to the Moon (depending on the launch date) as efficient as possible, the mission’s design and navigation team has planned a looping trajectory that will use the gravity of the Sun, Earth, and Moon to guide Lunar Trailblazer to its final science orbit — a technique called low-energy transfer. 4. The spacecraft will peer into the darkest parts of the Moon’s South Pole. Lunar Trailblazer’s science orbit positions it to peer into the craters at the Moon’s South Pole using the HVM3 instrument. What makes these craters so intriguing is that they harbor cold traps that may not have seen direct sunlight for billions of years, which means they’re a potential hideout for frozen water. The HVM3 spectrometer is designed to use faint reflected light from the walls of craters to see the floor of even permanently shadowed regions. If Lunar Trailblazer finds significant quantities of ice at the base of the craters, those locations could be pinpointed as a resource for future lunar explorers. 5. Lunar Trailblazer is a high-risk, low-cost mission. Lunar Trailblazer was a 2019 selection of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), which provides opportunities for low-cost science spacecraft to ride-share with selected primary missions. To maintain a lower overall cost, SIMPLEx missions have a higher risk posture and lighter requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance allows NASA to enable science missions that could not otherwise be done. 6. Future missions will benefit from Lunar Trailblazer’s data. Mapping the Moon’s water supports future human and robotic lunar missions. With knowledge from Lunar Trailblazer of where water is located, astronauts could process lunar ice to create water for human use, breathable oxygen, or fuel. And they could conduct science by sampling the ice for later study to determine the water’s origins. More About Lunar Trailblazer Lunar Trailblazer is led by Principal Investigator Bethany Ehlmann of Caltech in Pasadena, California. Caltech also leads the mission’s science investigation, and Caltech’s IPAC leads mission operations, which includes planning, scheduling, and sequencing of all spacecraft activities. NASA JPL manages Lunar Trailblazer and provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM3 instrument, and mission design and navigation. JPL is managed by Caltech for NASA. Lockheed Martin Space provided the spacecraft, integrated the flight system, and supports operations under contract with Caltech. The University of Oxford developed and provided the LTM instrument, funded by the UK Space Agency. Lunar Trailblazer, part of NASA’s Lunar Discovery Exploration Program, is managed by NASA’s Planetary Mission Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. News Media Contact Karen Fox / Molly Wasser NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov Ian J. O’Neill Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-2649 ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov Isabel Swafford Caltech IPAC 626-216-4257 iswafford@ipac.caltech.edu 2025-027 Share Details Last Updated Feb 26, 2025 Related TermsLunar TrailblazerCommercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)Earth's MoonLunar Science Explore More 1 min read Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 Mission Article 1 day ago 2 min read NASA Prepares Gateway Lunar Space Station for Journey to Moon Assembly is underway for Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element, the module that will power the… Article 1 day ago 4 min read Five Facts About NASA’s Moon Bound Technology Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System View the full article

3 min read NASA Open Data Turns Science Into Art Guests enjoy Beyond the Light, a digital art experience featuring open NASA data, at ARTECHOUSE in Washington, D.C. on September 19, 2023. NASA/Wade Sisler An art display powered by NASA science data topped the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, CA throughout December 2024. Nightly visitors enjoyed “Synchronicity,” a 20-minute-long video art piece by Greg Niemeyer, which used a year’s worth of open data from NASA satellites and other sources to bring the rhythms of the Bay Area to life. Data for “Synchronicity” included atmospheric data from NASA and NOAA’s GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites), vegetation health data from NASA’s Landsat program, and the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet wavelengths as captured by the NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) satellite SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory). Chelle Gentemann, the program scientist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, advised Niemeyer on incorporating data into the piece. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Greg Niemeyer’s “Synchronicity” was displayed on Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, CA, in December 2024. A recording of the piece on the tower’s display and the original animation are shown here. The video art piece was created using open NASA data, as well as buoy data from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Greg Niemeyer/Emma Strebel “Artists have a lot to contribute to science,” Gentemann said. “Not only can they play a part in the actual scientific process, looking at things in a different way that will lead to new questions, but they’re also critical for getting more people involved in science.” NASA’s history of engaging with artists goes back to the 1962 launch of the NASA Art Program, which partnered with artists in bringing the agency’s achievements to a broader audience and telling the story of NASA in a different and unexpected way. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, and Annie Leibovitz created works inspired by NASA missions. The Art Program was relaunched in September 2024 with a pair of murals evoking the awe of space exploration for the Artemis Generation. The inaugural murals for the relaunched NASA Art Program appear side-by-side at 350 Hudson Street, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in New York City. The murals, titled “To the Moon, and Back,” were created by New York-based artist team Geraluz and WERC and use geometrical patterns to invite deeper reflection on the exploration, creativity, and connection with the cosmos. NASA/Joel Kowsky The use of NASA data in art pieces emerged a few decades after the NASA Art Program first launched. Several in-house agency programs, such as NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, create stunning animated works from science data. In the realm of audio, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory runs the Universe of Sound project to convert astronomy data into “sonifications” for the public’s listening pleasure. Collaborations with external artists help bring NASA data to an even broader audience. NASA’s commitment to open science – making it as easy as possible for the public to access science data – greatly reduces the obstacles for creatives looking to fuse their art with cutting-edge science. Michelle Thaller, assistant director for science communication at Goddard, presents the “Pillars of Creation” in the Eagle nebula to the ARTECHOUSE team during a brainstorming session at Goddard. The left image is a view from the Hubble Space Telescope, and the right view is from the Webb telescope. NASA/Wade Sisler Another recent blend of NASA data and art came when digital art gallery ARTECHOUSE created “Beyond the Light,” a 26-minute immersive video experience featuring publicly available images from the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope. The experience has been running at various ARTECHOUSE locations since September 2023. The massive potential for art to incorporate science data promises to fuel even more of these collaborations between NASA and artists in the future. “One of the integral values of open science is providing opportunities for more people to participate in science,” Gentemann said. “I think that by getting the public interested in how this art is done, they also are starting to play with scientific data, maybe for the first time. In that way, art has the power to create new scientists.” Learn more about open science at NASA at https://science.nasa.gov/open-science. By Lauren Leese Web Content Strategist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer Share Details Last Updated Feb 26, 2025 Related Terms Open Science Explore More 4 min read NASA Open Science Reveals Sounds of Space Article 2 months ago 4 min read NASA AI, Open Science Advance Disaster Research and Recovery Article 3 months ago 4 min read Pioneer of Change: America Reyes Wang Makes NASA Space Biology More Open Article 5 months ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Artificial Intelligence for Science NASA is creating artificial intelligence tools to help researchers use NASA’s science data more effectively. Open Science at NASA NASA’s commitment to open science fuels groundbreaking research while maximizing transparency, innovation, and collaboration. Mars Perseverance Rover The Mars Perseverance rover is the first leg the Mars Sample Return Campaign’s interplanetary relay team. Its job is to… Parker Solar Probe On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona… View the full article