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By European Space Agency
Week in images: 31 March - 04 April 2025
Discover our week through the lens
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By NASA
NASA astronaut Christopher Williams poses for a portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Chris Williams will embark on his first mission to the International Space Station, serving as a flight engineer and Expedition 74 crew member.
Williams will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft in November, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev. After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the trio will spend approximately eight months aboard the orbiting laboratory.
During his expedition, Williams will conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations that help prepare humans for future space missions and benefit humanity.
Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, Williams graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024. He began training for his first space station flight assignment immediately after completing initial astronaut candidate training.
Williams was born in New York City, and considers Potomac, Maryland, his hometown. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Stanford University in California and a doctorate in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where his research focused on astrophysics. Williams completed Medical Physics Residency training at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was working as a clinical physicist and researcher at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston when he was selected as an astronaut.
For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs 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 able to more fully focus its resources on deep space missions to the Moon and Mars.
Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Josh Finch / Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Chelsey Ballarte
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
chelsey.n.ballarte@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 03, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Humans in Space International Space Station (ISS) ISS Research Johnson Space Center View the full article
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By NASA
3 Min Read Lagniappe for April 2025
Explore the April 2025 issue, highlighting the NASA-sponsored FIRST Robotics competition, Space Flight Awareness honorees and more! Credits: NASA/Danny Nowlin Explore Lagniappe for April 2025 featuring:
NASA-Sponsored FIRST Robotics Welcomes Teams to Magnolia Regional NASA Leaders Visit Representatives Blood Moon in South Mississippi Gator Speaks
Gator SpeaksNASA/Stennis New beginnings feel a lot like the month of April. It is the heart of spring and the season that symbolizes growth and renewal.
April is the perfect time to break free from old routines and try something new.
If you have landed here in this website corner of our digital world, consider this your open invitation to continue ahead on the journey with NASA Stennis by following us on social media.
It is time to say goodbye to the Lagniappe publication as we know it, but do not worry. All of the great news about the center and its frontline activities still will be available, just in a new way – via our social media platforms! Gator wants you to feel more connected than ever as we continue to help power space dreams in south Mississippi. Moving forward, join NASA Stennis in our digital playground for even more of that extra-something special.
This playground is not limited to only fun, or making new friends, or learning new stuff.
Whether you are on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or X, there is a place, and space, for all of that and more.
As we close out the website edition of NASA Stennis Lagniappe, we turn the page and look forward to new possibilities ahead.
Let’s keep building one connection at a time because here at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site, it is more than just content.
It is where the NASA Stennis team will continue building on its proven expertise in all areas of work, and where you will have a front row seat to experience it unfold.
So, click the links below to become a NASA Stennis follower today. Then, invite your friends to become followers as well.
Facebook logo @NASAStennis @NASAStennis Instagram logo @NASAStennis > Back to Top
NASA Stennis Top News
NASA-Sponsored FIRST Robotics Welcomes Teams to Magnolia Regional
NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA serves as a lead sponsor, along with NASA Stennis employees and interns volunteering, for the third annual FIRST Robotics Magnolia Regional Competition on March 14. The event in Laurel, Mississippi, welcomed 37 teams from eight states (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee) and one team from Mexico. The FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics event joined NASA’s Robotics Alliance Project to combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in field games using industrial-sized robots.NASA/Danny Nowlin > Back to Top
Center Activities
NASA Leaders Visit Representatives
U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, center, greets NASA Stennis Deputy Director Christine Powell, right, and NASA Stennis Legislative Affairs Officer and Chief of Staff Troy Frisbie on March 4. Powell and Frisbie visited with Smith and other congressional members in conjunction with the recent NASA Artemis Suppliers Conference in Washington, D.C.NASA/Stennis U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi welcomes NASA Stennis Deputy Director Christine Powell and other guests on March 5. Powell visited Wicker in conjunction with the NASA Artemis Suppliers Conference in Washington, D.C.NASA/Stennis U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi, fourth from right, stands with acting NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Kelvin Manning, fifth from right; NASA Stennis Deputy Director Christine Powell, third from right; NASA Stennis Legislative Affairs Officer and Chief of Staff Troy Frisbie, far left; and several congressional staff members March 5. The NASA officials visited with Ezell and other congressional members in conjunction with the recent NASA Artemis Suppliers Conference in Washington, D.C.NASA/Stennis NASA Space Flight Awareness Program Recognizes Stennis Employees
NASA’s Stennis Space Center employees were recognized with Honoree Awards from NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program during a March 10 ceremony in Orlando, Florida, for outstanding support of human spaceflight.
Read More about Space Flight Awareness Honorees Blood Moon in South Mississippi
Images show the total lunar eclipse, known as a Blood Moon, over south Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 14. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.NASA/Rebecca Mataya Images show the total lunar eclipse, known as a Blood Moon, over south Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 14. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.NASA/Rebecca Mataya Images show the total lunar eclipse, known as a Blood Moon, over south Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 14. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.NASA/Rebecca Mataya Images show the total lunar eclipse, known as a Blood Moon, over south Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 14. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.NASA/Rebecca Mataya Images show the total lunar eclipse, known as a Blood Moon, over south Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 14. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.NASA/Rebecca Mataya Images show the total lunar eclipse, known as a Blood Moon, over south Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 14. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it appears red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.NASA/Rebecca Mataya Learn More About the Blood Moon U.S. Senator’s Staff Visit NASA Stennis
NASA’s Stennis Space Center hosts staff members of U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi on March 21 for a site visit. Pictured (left to right) are Kelly McCarthy, NASA Stennis partnership development lead; Troy Frisbie, NASA Stennis legislative affairs officer and chief of staff; Jason Richard, NASA Stennis propulsion business manager; Joe Schuyler, director of the NASA Stennis Engineering and Test Directorate; Emily Yetter, Wicker’s military legislative assistant; Dan Hillenbrand, Wicker’s legislative director; Terry Miller, U.S. Navy Fellow assigned to Wicker’s office; NASA Stennis Associate Director Rodney McKellip; Duane Armstrong, manager of the NASA Stennis Strategic Business Development Office; Drew Parks, Navy Senate liaison officer to Wicker’s office. The members representing the Mississippi senator’s staff toured NASA Stennis, including the Thad Cochran Test Stand, where NASA Stennis is preparing for future Artemis testing.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Hosts Leadership Class
Approximately 50 members of the Leadership Hancock Class of 2025 visit NASA Stennis on March 26 for a full-day tour that included meeting NASA Stennis leaders and seeing center facilities, such as the Thad Cochran Test Stand pictured in the background. Leadership Hancock is an annual program by the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce designed to identify and cultivate future community leaders.NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA Stennis Interns Tour Site
NASA student interns stand in the flame deflector at the Fred Haise Test Stand on March 7 during a NASA Stennis site tour. Interns include (left to right): Addison Mitchell (Pathways intern for Engineering and Test Directorate); Andrew Evans (Office of STEM Engagement intern for Autonomous Systems Lab); Mikayla Chandler (Office of STEM Engagement intern for ASTRO CAMP Community Partners); and Kristen Zack (Office of STEM Engagement intern for Autonomous Systems Lab). NASA Office of STEM Engagement paid internships allow high school and college-level students to contribute to agency projects under the guidance of a NASA mentor. The Pathways program offers current students and recent graduates paid internships that can be direct pipelines to full-time employment at NASA upon graduation.NASA/Danny Nowlin Rocket Test Group Visits NASA Stennis
NASA Stennis partnered with Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to host more than 100 members of the 57th Rocket Test Group on March 18-19.
The group toured the south Mississippi NASA center on March 19, learning how NASA Stennis operates as NASA’s primary, and America’s largest, rocket propulsion test site to serve the nation and commercial sector with its unique capabilities and expertise.
Read More about Rocket Test Groups Visit > Back to Top
NASA in the News
NASA’s Artemis II Orion Service Module Buttoned Up for Launch – NASA
Welcome Home! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Back on Earth After Science Mission – NASA
NASA Science Continues After Firefly’s First Moon Mission Concludes – NASA
NASA Artemis II Core Stage Goes Horizontal Ahead of Final Integration – NASA
> Back to Top
Employee Profile: Rebecca Mataya
Rebecca Mataya is a budget analyst at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. “Whether you are an engineer, analyst, lawyer, technician, communicator or innovator, there is a place for you here at NASA,” she said. “Every skill contributes to the greater mission of pushing the boundaries of exploration, discovery, and progress. If you have a passion, determination, and willingness to learn, NASA is a place where you can grow and leave a lasting impact on the future of space.”NASA/Stennis A career path can unfold in unexpected ways. Ask NASA’s Rebecca Mataya. The journey to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, was not planned but “meant to be,” she said.
Read More About Rebecca Mataya > Back to Top
Additional Resources
My Origin Story: NASA Engineers – Bradley Tyree Artemis II to the Moon: Launch to Splashdown (NASA Mission Animation)
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA’s SPHEREx, which will map millions of galaxies across the entire sky, captured one of its first exposures March 27. The observatory’s six detectors each captured one of these uncalibrated images, to which visible-light colors have been added to represent infrared wavelengths. SPHEREx’s complete field of view spans the top three images; the same area of the sky is also captured in the bottom three images. NASA/JPL-Caltech Processed with rainbow hues to represent a range of infrared wavelengths, the new pictures indicate the astrophysics space observatory is working as expected.
NASA’s SPHEREx (short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) has turned on its detectors for the first time in space. Initial images from the observatory, which launched March 11, confirm that all systems are working as expected.
Although the new images are uncalibrated and not yet ready to use for science, they give a tantalizing look at SPHEREx’s wide view of the sky. Each bright spot is a source of light, like a star or galaxy, and each image is expected to contain more than 100,000 detected sources.
There are six images in every SPHEREx exposure — one for each detector. The top three images show the same area of sky as the bottom three images. This is the observatory’s full field of view, a rectangular area about 20 times wider than the full Moon. When SPHEREx begins routine science operations in late April, it will take approximately 600 exposures every day.
Each image in this uncalibrated SPHEREx exposure contains about 100,000 light sources, including stars and galaxies. The two insets at right zoom in on sections of one image, showcasing the telescope’s ability to capture faint, distant galaxies. These sections are processed in grayscale rather than visible-light color for ease of viewing.NASA/JPL-Caltech “Our spacecraft has opened its eyes on the universe,” said Olivier Doré, SPHEREx project scientist at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, both in Southern California. “It’s performing just as it was designed to.”
The SPHEREx observatory detects infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. To make these first images, science team members assigned a visible color to every infrared wavelength captured by the observatory. Each of the six SPHEREx detectors has 17 unique wavelength bands, for a total of 102 hues in every six-image exposure.
Breaking down color this way can reveal the composition of an object or the distance to a galaxy. With that data, scientists can study topics ranging from the physics that governed the universe less than a second after its birth to the origins of water in our galaxy.
“This is the high point of spacecraft checkout; it’s the thing we wait for,” said Beth Fabinsky, SPHEREx deputy project manager at JPL. “There’s still work to do, but this is the big payoff. And wow! Just wow!”
During the past two weeks, scientists and engineers at JPL, which manages the mission for NASA, have executed a series of spacecraft checks that show all is well so far. In addition, SPHEREx’s detectors and other hardware have been cooling down to their final temperature of around minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 210 degrees Celsius). This is necessary because heat can overwhelm the telescope’s ability to detect infrared light, which is sometimes called heat radiation. The new images also show that the telescope is focused correctly. Focusing is done entirely before launch and cannot be adjusted in space.
“Based on the images we are seeing, we can now say that the instrument team nailed it,” said Jamie Bock, SPHEREx’s principal investigator at Caltech and JPL.
How It Works
Where telescopes like NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes were designed to target small areas of space in detail, SPHEREx is a survey telescope and takes a broad view. Combining its results with those of targeted telescopes will give scientists a more robust understanding of our universe.
The observatory will map the entire celestial sky four times during its two-year prime mission. Using a technique called spectroscopy, SPHEREx will collect the light from hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in more wavelengths any other all-sky survey telescope.
Track the real-time location of NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory using the agency’s 3D visualization tool, Eyes on the Solar System. When light enters SPHEREx’s telescope, it’s directed down two paths that each lead to a row of three detectors. The observatory’s detectors are like eyes, and set on top of them are color filters, which are like color-tinted glasses. While a standard color filter blocks all wavelengths but one, like yellow- or rose-tinted glasses, the SPHEREx filters are more like rainbow-tinted glasses: The wavelengths they block change gradually from the top of the filter to the bottom.
“I’m rendered speechless,” said Jim Fanson, SPHEREx project manager at JPL. “There was an incredible human effort to make this possible, and our engineering team did an amazing job getting us to this point.”
More About SPHEREx
The SPHEREx mission is managed by JPL for the agency’s Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace) built the telescope and the spacecraft bus. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data will be conducted by a team of scientists located at 10 institutions in the U.S., two in South Korea, and one in Taiwan. Caltech managed and integrated the instrument. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech. The mission’s principal investigator is based at Caltech with a joint JPL appointment. The SPHEREx dataset will be publicly available at the NASA-IPAC Infrared Science Archive. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
For more about SPHEREx, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/spherex/
News Media Contact
Calla Cofield
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-808-2469
calla.e.cofield@jpl.nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 01, 2025 Related Terms
SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe and Ices Explorer) Astrophysics Galaxies Origin & Evolution of the Universe The Search for Life The Universe Explore More
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