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By Space Force
U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague returned to Earth following a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, March 18, 2025.
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By NASA
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov land in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida on March 18, 2025. Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore returned from a long-duration science expedition aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 completed the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth at 5:57 p.m. EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and reunite with their families.
“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home. Through preparation, ingenuity, and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.”
Hague and Gorbunov lifted off at 1:17 p.m. Sept. 28, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The next day, they docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024, from Space Launch Complex 41 as part of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The duo arrived at the space station on June 6. In August, NASA announced the uncrewed return of Starliner to Earth and integrated Wilmore and Williams as part of the space station’s Expedition 71/72 for a return on Crew-9. The crew of four undocked at 1:05 a.m. Tuesday to begin the trip home.
Williams and Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth. Hague and Gorbunov traveled 72,553,920 miles during their mission, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits around Earth. The Crew-9 mission was the first spaceflight for Gorbunov. Hague has logged 374 days in space over his two missions, Williams has logged 608 days in space over her three flights, and Wilmore has logged 464 days in space over his three flights.
Throughout its mission, Crew-9 contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Williams conducted two spacewalks, joined by Wilmore for one and Hague for another, removing a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collecting samples from the station’s external surface for analysis, installing patches to cover damaged areas of light filters on an X-ray telescope, and more. Williams now holds the record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut, with 62 hours and 6 minutes outside of station, and is fourth on the all-time spacewalk duration list.
The American crew members conducted more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations between them, with over 900 hours of research. This research included investigations on plant growth and quality, as well as the potential of stem cell technology to address blood diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancers. They also tested lighting systems to help astronauts maintain circadian rhythms, loaded the first wooden satellite for deployment, and took samples from the space station’s exterior to study whether microorganisms can survive in space.
The Crew-9 mission was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. It also previously supported NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4, Axiom Mission 2, and Axiom Mission 3. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where teams will inspect the Dragon, analyze data on its performance, and begin processing for its next flight.
The Crew-9 flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and its return to Earth follows on the heels of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch, which docked to the station on March 16, beginning another long-duration science expedition.
The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station and low Earth orbit. The program provides additional research time and has increased opportunities for discovery aboard humanity’s microgravity testbed for exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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Amber Jacobson / Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Kenna Pell / Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kenna.m.pell@nasa.gov / sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
Steve Siceloff / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov / stephanie.n.plucinsky@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Mar 18, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space Expedition 72 International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research Space Operations Mission Directorate View the full article
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By NASA
After delivering ten NASA science and technology payloads to the near side of the Moon through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander captured this image of a sunset from the lunar surface. Credit: Firefly Aerospace After landing on the Moon with NASA science and technology demonstrations March 2, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 concluded its mission March 16. Analysis of data returned to Earth from the NASA instruments continues, benefitting future lunar missions.
As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander delivered 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the Mare Crisium basin on the near side of the Moon. During the mission, Blue Ghost captured several images and videos, including imaging a total solar eclipse and a sunset from the surface of the Moon. The mission lasted for about 14 days, or the equivalent of one lunar day, and multiple hours into the lunar night before coming to an end.
“Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 marks the longest surface duration commercial mission on the Moon to date, collecting extraordinary science data that will benefit humanity for decades to come,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With NASA’s CLPS initiative, American companies are now at the forefront of an emerging lunar economy that lights the way for the agency’s exploration goals on the Moon and beyond.”
All 10 NASA payloads successfully activated, collected data, and performed operations on the Moon. Throughout the mission, Blue Ghost transmitted 119 gigabytes of data back to Earth, including 51 gigabytes of science and technology data. In addition, all payloads were afforded additional opportunities to conduct science and gather more data for analysis, including during the eclipse and lunar sunset.
“Operating on the Moon is complex; carrying 10 payloads, more than has ever flown on a CLPS delivery before, makes the mission that much more impressive,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters. “Teams are eagerly analyzing their data, and we are extremely excited for the expected scientific findings that will be gained from this mission.”
Among other achievements, many of the NASA instruments performed first-of-their-kind science and technology demonstrations, including:
The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity is now the deepest robotic planetary subsurface thermal probe, drilling up to 3 feet and providing a first-of-its kind demonstration of robotic thermal measurements at varying depths. The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment acquired and tracked Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals, from satellite networks such as GPS and Galileo, for the first time enroute to and on the Moon’s surface. The LuGRE payload’s record-breaking success indicates that GNSS signals could complement other navigation methods and be used to support future Artemis missions. It also acts as a stepping stone to future navigation systems on Mars. The Radiation Tolerant Computer successfully operated in transit through Earth’s Van Allen belts, as well as on the lunar surface into the lunar night, verifying solutions to mitigate radiation effects on computers that could make future missions safer for equipment and more cost effective. The Electrodynamic Dust Shield successfully lifted and removed lunar soil, or regolith, from surfaces using electrodynamic forces, demonstrating a promising solution for dust mitigation on future lunar and interplanetary surface operations. The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder successfully deployed five sensors to study the Moon’s interior by measuring electric and magnetic fields. The instrument allows scientists to characterize the interior of the Moon to depths up to 700 miles, or more than half the distance to the Moon’s center. The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager captured a series of X-ray images to study the interaction of the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field, providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces surrounding Earth affect the planet. The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector successfully reflected and returned laser light from two Lunar Laser Ranging Observatories, returning measurements allowing scientists to precisely measure the Moon’s shape and distance from Earth, expanding our understanding of the Moon’s inner structure. The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies instrument captured about 9,000 images during the spacecraft’s lunar descent and touchdown on the Moon, providing insights into the effects engine plumes have on the surface. The payload also operated during the lunar sunset and into the lunar night. The Lunar PlanetVac was deployed on the lander’s surface access arm and successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil using pressurized nitrogen gas, demonstrating a low-cost, low-mass solution for future robotic sample collection. The Regolith Adherence Characterization instrument examined how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon’s environment, which can help test, improve, and protect spacecraft, spacesuits, and habitats from abrasive lunar dust or regolith. The data captured will benefit humanity in many ways, providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces may impact Earth. Establishing an improved awareness of the lunar environment ahead of future crewed missions will help plan for long-duration surface operations under Artemis.
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 and far side.
Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
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Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-617-4977
alise.m.fisher@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
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Last Updated Mar 18, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Artemis Blue Ghost (lander) Johnson Space Center Kennedy Space Center NASA Headquarters View the full article
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By NASA
Official portrait of NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free, taken on Nov. 22, 2024, at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free announced Wednesday his retirement, effective Saturday, Feb. 22. As associate administrator, Free has been the senior advisor to NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro and leads NASA’s 10 center directors, as well as the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He is the agency’s chief operating officer for more than 18,000 employees and oversaw an annual budget of more than $25 billion.
During his tenure as associate administrator since January 2024, NASA added nearly two dozen new signatories of the Artemis Accords, enabled the first Moon landing through the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative to deliver NASA science to the lunar surface, launched the Europa Clipper mission to study Jupiter’s icy ocean moon, and found molecules containing the ingredients for life in samples from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.
“Throughout his career, Jim has been the ultimate servant leader – always putting the mission and the people of NASA first,” said Petro. “A remarkable engineer and a decisive leader, he combines deep technical expertise with an unwavering commitment to this agency’s mission. Jim’s legacy is one of selfless service, steadfast leadership, and a belief in the power of people.”
Among the notable contributions to the nation during his NASA career, Free also championed a new path forward to return samples from Mars ahead of human missions to the Red Planet, supported the crews living and working aboard the International Space Station as they conduct hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, and engaged industry in new ways to secure a public/private partnership for NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission on the Moon.
“It has been an honor to serve NASA and walk alongside the workforce that tackles the most difficult engineering challenges, pursues new scientific knowledge in our universe and beyond, develops technologies for future exploration endeavors, all while prioritizing safety every day for people on the ground, in the air, and in space,” Free said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the NASA family and contribute to the agency’s mission for the benefit of humanity.”
During his more than three decades of service, Free has held several leadership roles at the agency. Before being named NASA associate administrator, Free served as associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, where he oversaw the successful Artemis I mission and the development of NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture, defining and managing the systems development for the agency’s Artemis missions and planning for NASA’s integrated deep space exploration approach.
Free began his NASA career in 1990 as an engineer, working on Tracking and Data Relay Satellites at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He later transferred to the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland and served in a variety of roles supporting the International Space Station and the development of the Orion spacecraft before transferring to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in 2008. Free returned to NASA Glenn in 2009 and was promoted to chief of the Space Flight Systems Directorate, where he oversaw the center’s space work. Free was named deputy center director in November 2010 and then served as center director from January 2013 until March 2016, when he was appointed to the NASA Headquarters position of deputy associate administrator for Technical [sic] in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
A native of Northeast Ohio, Free earned his bachelor’s degree in aeronautics from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his master’s degree in space systems engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
Free is the recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Significant Achievement Medal, and numerous other awards.
For more information about NASA, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov
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Kathryn Hambleton / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 19, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Leadership View the full article
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By NASA
5 min read
NASA CubeSat Finds New Radiation Belts After May 2024 Solar Storm
Key Points
The May 2024 solar storm created two new temporary belts of high-energy particles surrounding Earth. Such belts have been seen before, but the new ones were particularly long lasting, especially the new proton belt. The findings are particularly important for spacecraft launching into geostationary orbits, which can be damaged as they traverse the dangerous belts. The largest solar storm in two decades hit Earth in May 2024. For several days, wave after wave of high-energy charged particles from the Sun rocked the planet. Brilliant auroras engulfed the skies, and some GPS communications were temporarily disrupted.
With the help of a serendipitously resurrected small NASA satellite, scientists have discovered that this storm also created two new temporary belts of energetic particles encircling Earth. The findings are important to understanding how future solar storms could impact our technology.
The new belts formed between two others that permanently surround Earth called the Van Allen Belts. Shaped like concentric rings high above Earth’s equator, these permanent belts are composed of a mix of high-energy electrons and protons that are trapped in place by Earth’s magnetic field. The energetic particles in these belts can damage spacecraft and imperil astronauts who pass through them, so understanding their dynamics is key to safe spaceflight.
The May 2024 solar storm created two extra radiation belts, sandwiched between the two permanent Van Allen Belts. One of the new belts, shown in purple, included a population of protons, giving it a unique composition that hadn’t been seen before. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Kristen Perrin The discovery of the new belts, made possible by NASA’s Colorado Inner Radiation Belt Experiment (CIRBE) satellite and published Feb. 6, 2025, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, is particularly important for protecting spacecraft launching into geostationary orbits, since they travel through the Van Allen Belts several times before reaching their final orbit.
New Belts Amaze Scientists
Temporary belts have been detected in the aftermath of large solar storms before. But while previous belts have been composed mostly of electrons, the innermost of the two new belts also included energetic protons. This unique composition is likely due to the strength and composition of the solar storm.
“When we compared the data from before and after the storm, I said, ‘Wow, this is something really new,’” said the paper’s lead author Xinlin Li, a professor at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. “This is really stunning.”
The new belts also seem to have lasted much longer than previous belts. Whereas previous temporary belts lasted around four weeks, the new belt composed primary of electrons lasted more than three months. The other belt, that also includes protons, has lasted much longer than the electron belt because it is in a more stable region and is less prone to the physical processes that can knock the particles out of orbit. It is likely still there today.
“These are really high-energy electrons and protons that have found their way into Earth’s inner magnetic environment,” said David Sibeck, former mission scientist for NASA’s Van Allen Probes and research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who was not involved with the new study. “Some might stay in this place for a very long time.”
How long such belts stick around depends on passing solar storms. Large storms can provide the energy to knock particles in these belts out of their orbits and send them spiraling off into space or down to Earth. One such storm at the end of June significantly decreased the size of the new electron belt and another in August nearly erased the remainder of that electron belt, though a small population of high-energy electrons endured.
CubeSat Fortuitously Comes Back to Life to Make the Discovery
The new discovery was made by NASA’s CIRBE satellite, a CubeSat about the size of a shoebox that circled the planet’s magnetic poles in a low Earth orbit from April 2023 to October 2024. CIRBE housed an instrument called the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope integrated little experiment-2 (REPTile-2) — a miniaturized and upgraded version of an instrument that flew aboard NASA’s Van Allen Probes, which made the first discovery of a temporary electron belt in 2013.
The CIRBE CubeSat in the laboratory before launch. CIRBE was designed and built by LASP at the University of Colorado Boulder. Xinlin Li/LASP/CU Boulder After a year in space, the CubeSat experienced an anomaly and unexpectedly went quiet on April 15, 2024. The scientists were disappointed to miss the solar storm in May but were able to rely on other spacecraft to provide some preliminary data on the electron belt. Luckily, on June 15, the spacecraft sprang back to life and resumed taking measurements. The data provided high-resolution information that couldn’t be gleaned by any other instrument and allowed the scientists to understand the magnitude of the new belts.
“Once we resumed measurements, we were able to see the new electron belt, which wasn’t visible in the data from other spacecraft,” Li said.
Having the CubeSat in orbit to measure the effect of the solar storm has been bittersweet, Li said. While it provided the opportunity to measure the effects of such a large event, the storm also increased atmospheric drag on the CubeSat, which caused its orbit to decrease prematurely. As a result, the CubeSat deorbited in October 2024. However, the spacecraft’s data makes it all worth it.
“We are very proud that our very small CubeSat made such a discovery,” Li said.
CIRBE was designed and built by LASP at the University of Colorado Boulder and was launched through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). The mission is sponsored by NASA’s Heliophysics Flight Opportunities for Research & Technology (H-FORT) program.
By Mara Johnson-Groh
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Last Updated Feb 06, 2025 Related Terms
Heliophysics CubeSats Goddard Space Flight Center Heliophysics Division Ionosphere Space Weather The Sun Van Allen Probes Explore More
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