Nanjing, China (SPX) May 19, 2023
Chinese astronomers have recently transformed our understanding of the spiral structure of the Milky Way. They determined that it is more like a common multiple-arm galaxy, rather than a special galaxy with four spiral arms extending from its inner parts to its outer parts. Largely speaking, there are three types of spiral galaxies in the universe. Grand-design spiral galaxies are characte

Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 19, 2023
To help learners of all ages understand how to safely observe the Oct. 14, 2023, annular solar eclipse and the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse, NASA has released a new set of resources for educators. My NASA Data, in collaboration with the NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT), has released a new set of resources for educators centered around solar eclipses. My NASA Da

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 19, 2023
The Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover recently collected 152 images while looking deep into Belva Crater, a large impact crater within the far larger Jezero Crater. Stitched into a dramatic mosaic, the results are not only eye-catching, but also provide the rover's science team some deep insights into the interior of Jezero. "Mars rover missions usually end up expl

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 19, 2023
Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023. As I'm writing this, it's about 8:30 pm on sol 3831 in Gale crater: ~16 hours after our SAM instrument ran its EGA experiment (which Abigail described so clearly in yesterday's blog!). While we were able to confirm the success of the Ubajara drill sample drop-off to SAM and the start of the EGA, our first communication with Earth after the EGA

Tucson AZ (SPX) May 19, 2023
Anyone can become an asteroid hunter thanks to a new program launched by astronomers at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. As part of the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, the scientists created an online portal that opens their mission - the discovery and identification of space rocks that regularly visit Earth's neighborhood - to the general public. While gazing up

Washington DC (UPI) May 18, 2023
SpaceX hopes to launch 22 satellites for a Starlink mission early Friday morning after previously suffering two delays. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the second-generation Starlink V2 Mini Internet satellites are scheduled to launch at 12:41 a.m. EDT from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the company said in a news release. If all goes well, the first stage booste

Washington DC (SPX) May 19, 2023
As NASA builds a blueprint for human exploration throughout the solar system for the benefit of humanity, efforts to advance the agency's Moon to Mars architecture concept development approach are underway. NASA will host a virtual webinar at 2 p.m. EDT, Monday, May 22, in which leaders from the agency's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate will discuss how U.S. commercial industr

Cape Canaveral (SPX) May 19, 2023
The first of two SpaceX missions planned to launch in less than seven hours took off early on Friday from Cape Canaveral, carrying 22 upgraded, new-generation Starlink broadband satellites. Weather conditions delayed the original launch time from 12:41 a.m. EDT (0421 UTC) to 2:19 a.m. EDT (0619 UTC). The Starlink mission launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral

London, UK (SPX) May 19, 2023
Inmarsat, a world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, has announced FreeWave Technologies - a leading Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider - as a Distribution Partner for its L-band satellite IoT services. The partnership, signed at this week's IoT Tech Expo in Santa Clara, California, will focus on the integration of Inmarsat's IsatData Pro (IDP) service in FreeWave'

Ithaca NY (SPX) May 19, 2023
Ursa Space Systems, a leader in satellite intelligence, and Umbra, a leader in advanced space radar technology, have jointly announced that they are partnering to bring advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) analytics to a global market through Ursa's suite of subscription and custom intelligence products. The two companies first teamed up to serve customers in late 2022 when Umbra initia