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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting.Josh Valcarcel A core component of Gateway, humanity’s first space station around the Moon, is now on American soil and one step closer to launch. In lunar orbit, Gateway will support NASA’s Artemis campaign to return humans to the Moon and chart a path of scientific discovery toward the first crewed missions to Mars.
Gateway’s first pressurized module and one of its two foundational elements, HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), arrived in Arizona on April 1. Fresh off a transatlantic journey from Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, the structure will undergo final outfitting at Northrop Grumman’s integration and test facility before being integrated with Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pair of modules will launch together on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting.NASA/Josh Valcarcel Gateway’s HALO will provide Artemis astronauts with space to live, work, conduct scientific research, and prepare for missions to the lunar surface. It will offer command and control, data handling, energy storage, electrical power distribution, thermal regulation, and communications and tracking via Lunar Link, a high-rate lunar communication system provided by ESA (European Space Agency). The module will include docking ports for visiting vehicles such as NASA’s Orion spacecraft, lunar landers, and logistics modules. It will also support both internal and external science payloads, enabling research and technology demonstrations in the harsh deep space environment.
Built with industry and international partners, Gateway will support sustained exploration of the Moon, serve as a platform for science and international collaboration, and act as a proving ground for the technologies and systems needed for future human missions to Mars.
Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting.NASA/Josh Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting.NASA/Josh Valcarcel At the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, technicians prepare Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) for transport. The module’s primary structure, fabricated by Thales Alenia Space, will travel to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, for final outfitting ahead of its launch to lunar orbit. Thales Alenia Space At the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, technicians prepare Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) for transport. The module’s primary structure, fabricated by Thales Alenia Space, will travel to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, for final outfitting ahead of its launch to lunar orbit. Thales Alenia Space At the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, technicians prepare Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) for transport. The module’s primary structure, fabricated by Thales Alenia Space, will travel to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert, Arizona, for final outfitting ahead of its launch to lunar orbit. Thales Alenia Space Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) departs Italy en route to Arizona, where it will undergo final outfitting at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert ahead of its launch to lunar orbit. The module’s primary structure was fabricated by Thales Alenia Space in Turin. Thales Alenia Space Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) departs Italy en route to Arizona, where it will undergo final outfitting at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert ahead of its launch to lunar orbit. The module’s primary structure was fabricated by Thales Alenia Space in Turin. Thales Alenia Space Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) departs Italy en route to Arizona, where it will undergo final outfitting at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert ahead of its launch to lunar orbit. The module’s primary structure was fabricated by Thales Alenia Space in Turin. Thales Alenia Space Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting. Josh Valcarcel – NASA – JSC Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting.Josh Valcarcel – NASA – JSC Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting. Josh Valcarcel – NASA – JSC Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting. Josh Valcarcel – NASA – JSC Gateway’s HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost) arrives in Mesa, Arizona, after traveling from Italy, where Thales Alenia Space fabricated its primary structure. Delivered by cargo aircraft to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, HALO will be transported to Northrop Grumman’s facility in Gilbert for final outfitting. Josh Valcarcel – NASA – JSC Download additional high-resolution images of HALO here.
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Last Updated Apr 04, 2025 ContactLaura RochonLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
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2 min read NASA Prepares Gateway Lunar Space Station for Journey to Moon
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By NASA
Explore HubbleHubble Home OverviewAbout Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & BenefitsHubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts ScienceHubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky ObservatoryHubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb TeamHubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts NewsHubble News Social Media Media Resources MultimediaMultimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts e-Books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Posters Hubble on the NASA App Glossary More35th Anniversary Online Activities 3 Min Read Hubble Spots Stellar Sculptors in Nearby Galaxy
This dazzling NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the young star cluster NGC 346. Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) As part of ESA/Hubble’s 35th anniversary celebrations, ESA is sharing a new image series revisiting stunning, previously released Hubble targets with the addition of the latest Hubble data and new processing techniques.
This new image showcases the dazzling young star cluster NGC 346. Although both the James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble have released images of NGC 346 previously, this image includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
This dazzling NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the young star cluster NGC 346. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble) NGC 346 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that lies 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium — what astronomers call metals — than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early universe.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, which are many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are sculpted by the luminous stars in the cluster.
Hubble’s exquisite sensitivity and resolution were instrumental in uncovering the secrets of NGC 346’s star formation. Using two sets of observations taken 11 years apart, researchers traced the motions of NGC 346’s stars, revealing them to be spiraling in toward the center of the cluster. This spiraling motion arises from a stream of gas from outside of the cluster that fuels star formation in the center of the turbulent cloud.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble within the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace, dispersing the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot, young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of this nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it — a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
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.
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NASA’s Hubble Finds Spiraling Stars, Providing Window into Early Universe
Young Stars Sculpt Gas with Powerful Outflows in the Small Magellanic Cloud
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Infant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
Hubble Captures Unique Ultraviolet View of a Spectacular Star Cluster
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Last Updated Apr 04, 2025 EditorAndrea GianopoulosLocationNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Contact Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
Bethany Downer
ESA/Hubble Chief Science Communications Officer
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By European Space Agency
Image: This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 210 000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud is less rich in elements heavier than helium — what astronomers call metals — than the Milky Way. This makes conditions in the galaxy similar to what existed in the early Universe.
Although several images of NGC 346 have been released previously, this view includes new data and is the first to combine Hubble observations made at infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths into an intricately detailed view of this vibrant star-forming factory.
NGC 346 is home to more than 2500 newborn stars. The cluster’s most massive stars, which are many times more massive than our Sun, blaze with an intense blue light in this image. The glowing pink nebula and snakelike dark clouds are the remnant of the birthplace of the stars in the cluster.
The inhabitants of this cluster are stellar sculptors, carving out a bubble from the nebula. NGC 346’s hot, massive stars produce intense radiation and fierce stellar winds that pummel the billowing gas of their birthplace and begin to disperse the surrounding nebula.
The nebula, named N66, is the brightest example of an H II (pronounced ‘H-two’) region in the Small Magellanic Cloud. H II regions are set aglow by ultraviolet light from hot young stars like those in NGC 346. The presence of the brilliant nebula indicates the young age of the star cluster, as an H II region shines only as long as the stars that power it — a mere few million years for the massive stars pictured here.
[Image description: A star cluster within a nebula. The background is filled with thin, pale blue clouds. Parts are thicker and pinker in colour. The cluster is made up of bright blue stars that illuminate the nebula around them. Large arcs of dense dust curve around, before and behind the clustered stars, pressed together by the stars’ radiation. Behind the clouds of the nebula can be seen large numbers of orange stars.]
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A Martian dust devil can be seen consuming its smaller friend in this short video made of images taken at the rim of Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on Jan. 25, 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI The six-wheeled explorer recently captured several Red Planet mini-twisters spinning on the rim of Jezero Crater.
A Martian dust devil can be seen consuming a smaller one in this short video made of images taken by a navigation camera aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. These swirling, sometimes towering columns of air and dust are common on Mars. The smaller dust devil’s demise was captured during an imaging experiment conducted by Perseverance’s science team to better understand the forces at play in the Martian atmosphere.
When the rover snapped these images from about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) away, the larger dust devil was approximately 210 feet (65 meters) wide, while the smaller, trailing dust devil was roughly 16 feet (5 meters) wide. Two other dust devils can also be seen in the background at left and center. Perseverance recorded the scene Jan. 25 as it explored the western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater at a location called “Witch Hazel Hill.”
“Convective vortices — aka dust devils — can be rather fiendish,” said Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area. If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker.”
While exploring the rim of Jezero Crater on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover captured new images of multiple dust devils in January 2025. These captivating phenomena have been documented for decades by the agency’s Red Planet robotic explorers. NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/INTA-CSIC/Space Science Institute/ISAE-Supaero/University of Arizona Science of Whirlwinds
Dust devils are formed by rising and rotating columns of warm air. Air near the planet’s surface becomes heated by contact with the warmer ground and rises through the denser, cooler air above. As other air moves along the surface to take the place of the rising warmer air, it begins to rotate. When the incoming air rises into the column, it picks up speed like a spinning ice skater bringing their arms closer to their body. The air rushing in also picks up dust, and a dust devil is born.
“Dust devils play a significant role in Martian weather patterns,” said Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Dust devil study is important because these phenomena indicate atmospheric conditions, such as prevailing wind directions and speed, and are responsible for about half the dust in the Martian atmosphere.”
NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter captured this Martian dust devil casting a shadow on Aug. 1, 1978. During the 15-second interval between the two images, the dust devil moved toward the northeast (toward the upper right) at a rate of about 59 feet (18 meters) per second. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Since landing in 2021, Perseverance has imaged whirlwinds on many occasions, including one on Sept. 27, 2021, where a swarm of dust devils danced across the floor of Jezero Crater and the rover used its SuperCam microphone to record the first sounds of a Martian dust devil.
NASA’s Viking orbiters, in the 1970s, were the first spacecraft to photograph Martian dust devils. Two decades later, the agency’s Pathfinder mission was the first to image one from the surface and even detected a dust devil passing over the lander. Twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity managed to capture their fair share of dusty whirlwinds. Curiosity, which is exploring a location called Mount Sharp in Gale Crater on the opposite side of the Red Planet as Perseverance, sees them as well.
Capturing a dust devil image or video with a spacecraft takes some luck. Scientists can’t predict when they’ll appear, so Perseverance routinely monitors in all directions for them. When scientists see them occur more frequently at a specific time of day or approach from a certain direction, they use that information to focus their monitoring to try to catch additional whirlwinds.
“If you feel bad for the little devil in our latest video, it may give you some solace to know the larger perpetrator most likely met its own end a few minutes later,” said Lemmon. “Dust devils on Mars only last about 10 minutes.”
More About Perseverance
A key objective of Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including caching samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet and as the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.
NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
For more about Perseverance:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance
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Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
5 Min Read NASA Langley’s Legacy of Landing
The first image of the Moon taken by the cameras on the Lunar Orbiter in 1966. Credits: NASA Landing safely on the surface of another planetary body, like the Moon or Mars, is one of the most important milestones of any given space mission. From the very beginning, NASA’s Langley Research Center has been at the heart of the entry, descent and landing (EDL) research that enables our exploration. Today, NASA Langley’s legacy of landing continues at the forefront of present day lunar missions and as NASA prepares for future travel to more distant worlds.
Project Mercury: 1958
Project Mercury was the United States’ first human-in-space program, led by NASA’s Space Task Group located at NASA Langley. There were five major programs of study and experimentation.
An airdrop study that helped us understand the characteristics of the Mercury capsule as it returned to Earth. A group of study focused on the escape systems, ultimately becoming known as the launch abort system. Exhaustive wind-tunnel studies of the blunt-nosed capsule design and its aerodynamic stability at various altitudes and speeds and angles of reentry, all with a focus on making the capsule safe and stable. A study on the problem of landing impact, resulting in the development of absorption systems that minimized the shock of impact to the capsule’s pilot. Studies into the use of drogue parachutes and their characteristics at high altitudes and speeds, ensuring that they would be able to stabilize and slow the capsule’s descent for a safe landing. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs. All of this research went on to inform the subsequent Gemini and Apollo programs.
Apollo Program: 1962
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy committed to putting Americans on the surface of the Moon and shortly after that historic declaration, NASA’s Apollo program was born. In the years that followed, the original team of NASA astronauts completed their basic training at NASA Langley’s Lunar Landing Research Facility (LLRF). When Apollo 11 successfully landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969, NASA Langley had played a pivotal role in the monumental success.
Lunar Orbiter: 1966
The Lunar Orbiter missions launched with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface and identifying potential landing sites ahead of the Apollo landings. From 1966 to 1967, the five successful Lunar Orbiter missions, led and managed by Langley Research Center, resulted in 99% of the moon photographed and a suitable site selected for the upcoming human landings.
Viking: 1976
After the success of Apollo, NASA set its sights further across the solar system to Mars. Two Viking missions aimed to successfully place landers on the Red Planet and capture high resolution images of the Martian surfaces, assisting in the search for life. Langley Research Center was chosen to lead this inaugural Mars mission and went on to play key roles in the missions to Mars that followed.
HIAD: 2009 – Present
Successful landings on Mars led to more ambitious dreams of landing larger payloads, including those that could support future human exploration. In order to land those payloads safely, a new style of heat shield would be needed. Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology was positioned as an answer to the payload problem, enabling missions to use inflatable heat shields to slow down and protect a payload as it enters a planet’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
IRVE – 2009-2012
Two successful Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiments (IRVE) proved the capability of inflatable heat shield technology and opened the door for larger iterations.
LOFTID – 2022
The Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) followed in the footsteps of its predecessor IRVE with a larger aeroshell that could be deployed to a scale much larger than the shroud. The 2022 successful test of this technology further proved the capability of HIAD technology.
MEDLI 1 and 2: 2012 & 2020
As a part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, NASA Langley’s Mars Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) was designed to gather data from the MSL entry vehicle’s heatshield during its entry and descent to the surface of Mars. MEDLI2 expanded on that groundbreaking data during the Mars 2020 mission which safely landed the Perseverance rover after successfully entering the planet’s arid atmosphere, and enabling improvements on the design for future entry systems.
Curiosity Rover
Curiosity was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars when it launched in 2011. Leading up the mission, Langley engineers performed millions of simulations of the entry, descent and landing phase — or the so-called “Seven Minutes of Terror” — that determines success or failure. Curiosity continues to look for signs that Mars once was – or still is – a habitable place for life as we know it.
CLPS: 2023 – Present
The Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative takes the Artemis mission further by working with commercial partners to advance the technology needed to return humans to the Moon and enable humanity to explore Mars.
NDL
Navigation Doppler Lidar (NDL) technology, developed at Langley Research Center, uses lasers to assist spacecraft in identifying safe locations to land. In 2024, NDL flew on the Intuitive Machines’ uncrewed Nova-C lander, with its laser instruments designed to measure velocity and altitude to within a few feet. While NASA planetary landers have traditionally relied on radar and used radio waves, NDL technology has proven more accurate and less heavy, both major benefits for cost and space savings as we continue to pursue planetary missions.
SCALPSS
Like Lunar Orbiter and the Viking missions before it, Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) set out to better understand the surface of another celestial body. These cameras affixed to the bottom of a lunar lander focus on the interaction between the lander’s rocket plumes and the lunar surface. The SCALPSS 1.1 instrument captured first-of-its-kind imagery as the engine plumes of Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander reached the Moon’s surface. These images will serve as key pieces of data as trips to the Moon increase in the coming years.
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Angelique Herring
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Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 EditorAngelique HerringContactJoseph Scott Atkinsonjoseph.s.atkinson@nasa.govLocationNASA Langley Research Center Related Terms
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