The world’s most advanced space-based thermometer thrilled scientists when it first came online. The HOTSAT-1 satellite’s first images, released in early October, revealed in unprecedented detail how temperatures change on Earth‘s surface. The satellite’s camera was so sensitive it could even track trains from space from their thermal signatures. But now, only six months after its launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the experimental spacecraft is out of order. SatVu, HOTSAT-1’s maker and operator, announced on Friday, Dec. 15, that the spacecraft suffered an “anomaly, which is expected…
Read MoreMonth: December 2023
NASA SCoPE at AGU: Fueling Curiosity, Fostering Diversity
2 min read NASA SCoPE at AGU: Fueling Curiosity, Fostering Diversity In December 2023, approximately 24,000 scientists from around the world gathered together in San Francisco, California to attend the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. During this meeting, the NASA Science Activation team NASA Science Mission Directorate Community of Practice for Education (NASA SCoPE), facilitated key activities with the following goals: Broaden participation and representation of scientists attending the conference through travel grants. Provide science communications training to these early career scientists awarded travel grants. Provide opportunities for scientists…
Read MoreResearch Physical Scientist Tra-My Justine Richardson
“When I mentor students, their academic [talents] are a given. They’re very bright. They’re very smart. But I mentor them to teach them what they don’t learn in school: how to work with other people, how to seek help, and how to mature from a student to a professional. “[I teach them that] when you fail, it’s OK. Admit what you did wrong, be honest about it, and talk through it. Don’t hide it. Don’t avoid it. We will deal with it together. “That takes a lot of courage and…
Read More120th Anniversary of the First Powered, Controlled Flight
Library of Congress In this image from Dec. 17, 1903, Orville Wright makes the first powered, controlled flight on Earth as his brother Wilbur looks on. Orville Wright covered 120 feet in 12 seconds during the first flight of the day. The Wright brothers made four flights that day, each longer than the last. The aircraft, Flyer 1, was wrecked beyond repair after the fourth flight, but Orville took the wreckage home to Ohio and restored it. It went on display at the London Science Museum until 1948 when the…
Read MoreSierra Space’s Dream Chaser New Station Resupply Spacecraft for NASA
NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of NASA’s commercial resupply services. Sierra Space NASA and Sierra Space are making progress on the first flight of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft to the International Space Station. The uncrewed cargo spaceplane is planned to launch its demonstration mission in 2024 to the orbital complex as part of…
Read MoreNASA Geologist Paves the Way for Building on the Moon
5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) By Jessica Barnett For many at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, a love – be it for space, science, or something else – drew them to the career they’re in today. For geologist Jennifer Edmunson, there were multiple reasons. Her love for geology dates back to her childhood in Arizona, playing in the mud, fascinated by the green river rocks she would find and how they fit together. As she grew older, her love for astronomy…
Read MoreKennedy Space Center’s NASA Causeway Bridge Construction
In this aerial view, crews with Orion Marine Construction work to complete the westbound span of the Indian River Bridge, while daily traffic moves along the upgraded eastbound lanes of the bridge leading to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The bridge crosses the Indian River Lagoon and connects Kennedy and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to the mainland via State Road 405/NASA Causeway in nearby Titusville. The new high-rise bridge serves as the primary entrance and exit to the space center for employees…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 1st batch of ‘direct to cell’ Starlink satellites early Dec. 15
SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites early Friday morning (Dec. 15), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 21 Starlink craft is scheduled to launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday during a roughly 3.5-hour window that opens at 12:04 a.m. EST (0504 GMT; 9:04 p.m. on Dec. 14 local California time). And some of those satellites are trailblazers. “This launch will include the first six Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities that will enable mobile network operators…
Read MoreArmstrong Flight Research Center: A Year in Review
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) It was an abundant year of innovation, exploration, and inspiration for NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA Armstrong continues to demonstrate America’s leadership in aeronautics, Earth and space science, and aerospace technology. Our researchers, engineers, and mission support teams continually seek to revolutionize aviation, add to mankind’s knowledge of the universe, and contribute to the understanding and protection of Earth. The video above shows many of our achievements, below are a few special moments. The X-59…
Read MoreNASA: Una jugosa historia de tomates en la Estación Espacial Internacional
El cultivo de alimentos a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional es una de las muchas investigaciones que han alcanzado la madurez para las misiones de vuelos espaciales de larga duración a la Luna y Marte. El astronauta de la NASA Frank Rubio compartió recientemente una jugosa historia de dos tomates rebeldes, a los que había perdido el rastro accidentalmente mientras recogía la cosecha para el experimento Sistema de Prueba en Órbita de Raíces Expuestas (XROOTS, por sus siglas en inglés) que llevó a cabo durante su permanencia a bordo…
Read More