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By European Space Agency
Image: This very high-resolution image captures the Egyptian city of Giza and its surrounding area, including the world-famous Giza Pyramid Complex. View the full article
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By European Space Agency
Each year, cutting-edge technologies developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for its complex missions and scientific discoveries find new life in applications used to benefit Earth and improve our daily lives.
From 9–13 April, ESA was guest of honour at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in Switzerland with more than 1000 inventions, which attracted 30 000 visitors from the public. ESA showcased its new technologies and applications that have been invented for space missions and patented for use in and outside the space arena.
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By NASA
Explore This Section Science Science Activation Exploring the Universe Through… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 3 min read
Exploring the Universe Through Sight, Touch, and Sound
For the first time in history, we can explore the universe through a rich blend of senses—seeing, touching, and hearing astronomical data—in ways that deepen our understanding of space. While three-dimensional (3D) models are essential tools for scientific discovery and analysis, their potential extends far beyond the lab.
Space can often feel distant and abstract, like watching a cosmic show unfold on a screen light-years away. But thanks to remarkable advances in technology, software, and science, we can now transform telescope data into detailed 3D models of objects millions or even billions of miles away. These models aren’t based on imagination—they are built from real data, using measurements of motion, light, and structure to recreate celestial phenomena in three dimensions.
What’s more, we can bring these digital models into the physical world through 3D printing. Using innovations in additive manufacturing, data becomes something you can hold in your hands. This is particularly powerful for children, individuals who are blind or have low vision, and anyone with a passion for lifelong learning. Now, anyone can quite literally grasp a piece of the universe.
These models also provide a compelling way to explore concepts like scale. While a 3D print might be just four inches wide, the object it represents could be tens of millions of billions of times larger—some are so vast that a million Earths could fit inside them. Holding a scaled version of something so massive creates a bridge between human experience and cosmic reality.
In addition to visualizing and physically interacting with the data, we can also listen to it. Through a process called sonification, telescope data is translated into sound, making information accessible and engaging in a whole new way. Just like translating a language, sonification conveys the essence of astronomical data through audio, allowing people to “hear” the universe.
To bring these powerful experiences to communities across the country, NASA’s Universe of Learning, in collaboration with the Library of Congress, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Space Telescope Science Institute, has created Mini Stars 3D Kits that explore key stages of stellar evolution. These kits have been distributed to Library of Congress state hubs across the United States to engage local learners through hands-on and multisensory discovery.
Each Mini Stars Kit includes:
Three 3D-printed models of objects within our own Milky Way galaxy: Pillars of Creation (M16/Eagle Nebula) – a stellar nursery where new stars are born Eta Carinae – a massive, unstable star system approaching the end of its life Crab Nebula – the aftermath of a supernova, featuring a dense neutron star at its core Audio files with data sonifications for each object—mathematical translations of telescope data into sound Descriptive text to guide users through each model’s scientific significance and sensory interpretation These kits empower people of all ages and abilities to explore the cosmos through touch and sound—turning scientific data into a deeply human experience. Experience your universe through touch and sound at: https://chandra.si.edu/tactile/ministar.html
Credits:
3D Prints Credit: NASA/CXC/ K. Arcand, A. Jubett, using software by Tactile Universe/N. Bonne & C. Krawczyk & Blender
Sonifications: Dr. Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Dr. Matt Russo, and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project)
3D Model: K. Arcand, R. Crawford, L. Hustak (STScI)
Photo of NASA’s Universe of Learning (UoL) 3D printed mini star kits sent to the Library of Congress state library hubs. The kits include 3D printed models of stars, sonifications, data converted into sound, and descriptive handouts available in both text and braille. Share
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Last Updated Apr 14, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
Science Activation 3D Resources Astrophysics Manufacturing, Materials, 3-D Printing The Universe Explore More
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By NASA
This long-duration photograph highlights the Roscosmos segment of the International Space Station with the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module. Star trails and Earth’s atmospheric glow also are pictured from the orbital outpost as it soared 258 miles above the Pacific Ocean.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Don Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, will depart the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft and return to Earth on Saturday, April 19.
Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. EDT, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan. Landing will occur on Pettit’s 70th birthday.
NASA’s live coverage of return and related activities will stream on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms.
A change of command ceremony also will stream on NASA platforms at 2:40 p.m. Friday, April 18. Ovchinin will handover station command to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi for Expedition 73, which begins at the time of undocking.
Spanning 220 days in space, Pettit and his crewmates will have orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft launched and docked to the station on Sept. 11, 2024.
This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, where he served as flight engineer for Expedition 71 and 72. He has a career total of 590 days in orbit. Ovchinin completed his fourth flight in space, totaling 595 days, and Vagner has earned an overall total of 416 days in space during two trips to the orbiting laboratory.
After returning to Earth, the three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.
NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to changed based on real-time operations):
Friday, April 18:
2:40 p.m. – Expedition 72/73 change of command ceremony begins on NASA+.
Saturday, April 19:
2 p.m. – Farewells and hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+.
2:25 p.m. – Hatch closing
5:30 p.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+.
5:57 p.m. – Undocking
8 p.m. – Coverage begins for deorbit burn, entry, and landing on NASA+.
8:26 p.m. – Deorbit burn
9:20 p.m. – Landing
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge, and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing more resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of Artemis in preparation for future human missions to Mars.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Claire O’Shea / Josh Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov / joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 14, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) View the full article
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By NASA
In an open challenge, NASA is seeking innovative business models that propose new approaches to solving complex Earth science problems using unconventional computing methods and is holding an informational webinar on Monday, April 28.
The agency’s Beyond the Algorithm Challenge, sponsored by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office, asks for proposals to more rapidly and accurately understand our home planet using transformative computing methods such as quantum computing, quantum machine learning, neuromorphic computing, in-memory computing, or other approaches.
The Beyond the Algorithm Challenge kicked off in March and consists of three phases. Participant submissions, which are due on July 25, will be evaluated based on creativity, technical feasibility, impact, business model evaluation, and presentation. Up to 10 finalists will be invited to present their ideas to a panel of judges at a live pitch event, and winners will a monetary prize.
For details about the challenge, interested participants can sign up for the informational webinar on Monday, April 28, here.
Using the vantage point of space, NASA’s observations of Earth increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future. The capabilities of NASA’s Earth Science Division include developing new technology, delivering actionable science, and providing environmental information to meet the increased demand for more sophisticated, more accurate, more trustworthy, and more actionable environmental information for decision-makers and policymakers.
For example, rapid flood analysis is one area that may benefit from computing advancements. Flood hazards affect personal safety and land use, directly affecting individual livelihoods, community property, and infrastructure development and resilience. Advanced flood analysis capability enables contributions to protect and serve impacted communities, making a tangible difference in areas such as disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience.
Advancements in computing capabilities show promise in overcoming processing power, efficiency, and performance limitations of conventional computing methods in addressing Earth science challenges like rapid flood analysis. Quantum computers offer a fundamentally different paradigm of computation and can solve certain classes of problems exponentially faster than their classical counterparts. Likewise, quantum machine learning offers the potential to reduce required training data or produce more accurate models. The emerging field of neuromorphic, or brain-inspired, computing holds significant promise for algorithm development optimized for high-speed, low power. And in-memory computing saves time and energy for data-heavy processes like artificial intelligence training.
Blue Clarity is hosting the Beyond the Algorithm Challenge on behalf of NASA. The NASA Tournament Lab, part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, manages the challenge. The program supports global public competitions and crowdsourcing as tools to advance NASA research and development and other mission needs.
For more information about the contest and a full list of rules and eligibility requirements, visit:
https://www.nasa-beyond-challenge.org
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