Month: April 2024

NASA’s Juno probe captures amazing views of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io (video)

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The four biggest moons of Jupiter aren’t just blurry smudges in Galileo’s telescope anymore. The Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and Io back in 1610, which explains why they’re called the Galilean moons. We’ve learned a lot about these exotic bodies in the past 400 years thanks to ever-improving telescope views and close-up imagery snapped by voyaging spacecraft like NASA’s Juno Jupiter orbiter. Indeed, Juno recently conducted two close flybys of Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system, and data from the encounters is…

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Work Underway on Large Cargo Landers for NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions

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Early conceptual renderings of cargo variants of human lunar landing systems from NASA’s providers SpaceX, left, and Blue Origin, right. Both industry teams have been given authority to begin design work to provide large cargo landers capable of delivering up to 15 metric tons of cargo, such as a pressurized rover, to the Moon’s surface. SpaceX and Blue Origin Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency and its partners will send large pieces of equipment to the lunar surface to enable long-term scientific exploration of the Moon for the benefit of…

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NASA’s Artemis 3 astronauts will put a moonquake detector on lunar surface

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The Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) is one of the first three potential payloads NASA selected for the Artemis 3 mission, which will land humans on the moon in 2026 for the first time in more than 50 years. The compact, autonomous seismometer is designed to withstand the long, cold lunar night and operate during the day, continuously monitoring ground motion from moonquakes in the region around the lunar south pole, where Artemis 3 astronauts will land. LEMS is expected to operate on the lunar surface for at least three…

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Slovenia Signs Artemis Accords, Joins Pursuit of Safer Space

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Matevž Frangež, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy, Tourism, and Sport signs the Artemis Accords on behalf of Slovenia with NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, Ambassador Jamie L. Harpootlian, Rebecca Bresnik, Associate General Counsel for International and Space Law, and Slovenian Ambassador to the United States Iztok Mirošič standing behind. Credit: State Department NASA and Slovenia affirmed their cooperation in future space endeavors on Friday as Slovenia became the 39th country to sign the Artemis Accords. The signing certified Slovenia’s commitment to pursue safe and sustainable exploration of space for the benefit…

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NASA Data Helps Beavers Build Back Streams

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2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A beaver family nibbles on aspen branches just up Logan Canyon from Utah State University, in Spawn Creek, Utah. Credit: Sarah Koenigsberg Humans aren’t the only mammals working to mitigate the effects of climate change in the Western United States. People there are also enlisting the aid of nature’s most prolific engineers – beavers. Using NASA-provided grants, two open-source programs from Boise State University in Idaho and Utah State University in Logan are making it possible for ranchers, land…

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Ingenuity’s travels: New NASA video tracks Mars helicopter’s 72 flights

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NASA’s history-making Ingenuity helicopter covered a lot of ground on Mars over the past three years, as a new video shows. The video, which was released on Thursday (April 18) by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), shows where Ingenuity went on each of its 72 Red Planet sorties, linking each flight line together in an otherworldly Etch a Sketch creation. This work of art throws Ingenuity’s epic achievements into stark relief, showing the tough terrain the 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) chopper negotiated and the impressive distance it traveled — 10.5 miles…

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NASA, FAA Partner to Develop New Wildland Fire Technologies 

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Artist’s rendering of remotely piloted aircraft providing fire suppression, monitoring and communications capabilities during a wildland fire. NASA NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have established a research transition team to guide the development of wildland fire technology.  Wildland fires are occurring more frequently and at a larger scale than in past decades, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency responders will need a broader set of technologies to prevent, monitor, and fight these growing fires more effectively. Under this Wildland Fire Airspace Operations research transition team, NASA and…

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Join NASA in Celebrating Earth Day 2024 by Sharing a #GlobalSelfie

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NASA invites you — and everyone else on the planet — to take part in a worldwide celebration of Earth Day with the agency’s #GlobalSelfie event. While NASA satellites constantly look at Earth from space, on Earth Day we’re asking you to step outside and take a picture of yourself in your corner of the world. Then post it to social media using the hashtag #GlobalSelfie. Bonus points if your #GlobalSelfie features your favorite body of water! About 71% of our Blue Marble is covered by water, and that water…

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NASA Selects New Aircraft-Driven Studies of Earth and Climate Change

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Earth (ESD) Earth and Climate Explore Climate Change Science in Action Multimedia Data More For Researchers 5 min read NASA Selects New Aircraft-Driven Studies of Earth and Climate Change NASA has selected six new airborne missions that include domestic and international studies of fire-induced clouds, Arctic coastal change, air quality, landslide hazards, shrinking glaciers, and emissions from agricultural lands. NASA’s suite of airborne missions complement what scientists can see from orbit, measure from the ground, and simulate in computer models.   Funded through the agency’s Earth Venture program, the missions…

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