Montreal, Canada (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
NASA's Artemis program goal of establishing a human presence on the Earth's moon is closer than ever to becoming a reality within the next few decades. But today's starry-eyed dreamers are reckoning with the gritty reality of building a permanent base on an airless, dusty, radiation-blasted rock thousands of miles from home. How hard can it be? The answer, obviously, is very. But with a lo

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
From Jan. 11 to 15, 2025, a bright comet surged through images from the ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft. Called C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), the comet made its closest pass to the Sun, or perihelion, on Jan. 13, soaring a mere 8 million miles (or 9% of the average Earth-Sun distance) from our star. These views of comet ATLAS were captured by

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
NASA's Artemis program is spearheading efforts to return humans to the Moon, establish a sustainable lunar presence, and pave the way for crewed missions to Mars. As part of this initiative, engineers are tackling the challenge of lunar dust, a substance known for its sharp, abrasive particles that adhere to spacesuits and disrupt equipment functionality. Lunar dust emerged as a significan

Fairbanks AK (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
Three NASA sounding rockets are set to launch from Poker Flat Research Range as early as Tuesday to learn more about three types of aurora - black, flickering and fast-pulsating. The launch window is Jan. 21 through Feb. 5. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute owns Poker Flat, located at Mile 30 Steese Highway, and operates it under a contract with NASA's Wallops

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
Four compact spacecraft, designed and constructed by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), have arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for final preparations ahead of their upcoming launch. NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will share its ride to orbit with the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Ex

Washington DC (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
Researchers have used an aircraft to measure the wind speed on Mars, marking the first time this method has been used on another planet. This groundbreaking measurement was made possible by the Ingenuity helicopter, which was active for nearly three years and spent, cumulatively, more than two hours in flight on the Red Planet. In February 2021, Mars got two new inhabitants: the Perseveran

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
A critical component of NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission has begun a rigorous testing phase at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Known as the instrument enclosure, the structure spans 12 feet (3.7 meters) in length and is designed to safeguard the spacecraft's infrared telescope while efficiently dissipating heat during its operations in space. Built by NASA's Jet Propuls

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 23, 2025
The near-Earth object 2024 PT5, a small asteroid discovered in 2024, has been identified as likely originating from the Moon. Scientists believe it was ejected into space thousands of years ago following a significant impact event, offering valuable opportunities to study both asteroid dynamics and lunar geology. The asteroid, approximately 33 feet (10 meters) wide, was first observed on A

Image: A Tarantula’s outskirts

Image: Satellite ready for close-up