Written by Susanne P. Schwenzer, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, UK Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 The day started with a little celebration of NISAR, a new Earth observation satellite that made it successfully into orbit a few hours before our planning started. We joined in by saying “GO NISAR, […]...
Studying the glowing patterns of Earth’s surface helps us understand human activity, respond to disasters, and witness a changing world...
Professional learning experiences are integral to the enhancement of classroom instruction. Teachers, at the forefront of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) education, play a key role in the advancement of STEM learning ecosystems and citizen science. On June 24-25, 2025 – despite a major east coast heat wave – twenty-four educators from eight school […]...
The small satellite was to map lunar water, but operators lost contact with the spacecraft the day after launch and were unable to recover the mission. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer ended its mission to the Moon on July 31. Despite extensive efforts, mission operators were unable to establish two-way communications after losing contact with the spacecraft […]...
As NASA prepares for its second year-long Mars simulated mission, media are invited to visit the ground-based habitat where the mission will take place, on Friday, Aug. 22, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Scheduled to begin in October, four volunteer crew members will enter the agency’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog […]...
New capabilities allow the rover to do science with less energy from its batteries. Thirteen years since Curiosity landed on Mars, engineers are finding ways to make the NASA rover even more productive. The six-wheeled robot has been given more autonomy and the ability to multitask — improvements designed to make the most of Curiosity’s […]...
In this 30 second exposure photograph, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. The Perseids meteor shower, which peaks in mid-August, is considered the best of the year. With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long “wakes” […]...
The first crew slated to fly in NASA’s Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II mission around the Moon early next year entered their spacecraft for a multi-day training at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Crew donned their spacesuits July 31 and boarded Orion to train and experience some of the conditions they can […]...
Before astronauts venture around the Moon on Artemis II, the agency’s first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo, Mark Cavanaugh is helping make sure the Orion spacecraft is safe and space-ready for the journey ahead. As an Orion integration lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, he ensures the spacecraft’s critical systems— in […]...
As NASA and its partners prepare to send astronauts back to the Moon, we must address the potential dangers caused by space weather, which can damage spacecraft and cause physical harm to unprotected astronauts in space...