3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Equipped with state-of-the-art technology to test and evaluate communication, navigation, and surveillance systems NASA’s Pilatus PC-12 performs touch-and-go maneuvers over a runway at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California on Sept. 23, 2024. Researchers will use the data to understand Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) signal loss scenarios for air taxi flights in urban areas. To prepare for ADS-B test flights pilots and crew from NASA Armstrong and NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, ran a series of…
Read MoreCategory: Nasa
Nasa
Artist’s Concept of Gemini Spacecraft
NASA Two astronauts are seated inside the Gemini spacecraft in this artist’s concept made in January 1965. The Gemini program was an early NASA human spaceflight program designed to bridge the Mercury and Apollo programs. Its main goal was to test equipment and mission procedures in Earth orbit and to train astronauts and ground crew for future Apollo missions. The first two Gemini missions were uncrewed; crew members flew on the 10 following missions. See more photos and illustrations from the Gemini missions. Image credit: NASA
Read MoreChinese commercial Ceres-1 rocket launches 5 weather satellites to orbit (video)
A Chinese commercial space launch company is continuing its success with a small solid rocket ahead of a more ambitious launch later this year. The Ceres-1 four-stage solid propellant rocket lifted off at 5:11 a.m. EST on Jan. 20 (1011 GMT; or 8:11 p.m. local time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China. Galactic Energy, the Ceres-1 manufacturer and operator, announced in a statement that five satellites had been successfully inserted into preplanned orbits. Aboard the flight were four Yunyao-1 commercial meteorological satellites (satellites 37-40)…
Read MoreNASA Awards Logistics, Metrology Support Services Contract
Credit: NASA NASA has awarded a small business set-aside contract to Apache Innovations JV of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to provide logistics, and related support services to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The Glenn Logistics and Metrology (GLAM) contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a maximum potential value of approximately $72.3 million. The contract phase-in begins Monday, Feb. 17 and is followed by a two-year base period beginning April 1, a two-year option, a one-year option, and a potential extension of performance through Sept. 30, 2030. Under this contract, the…
Read MoreStrange ‘quasi-moon’ of Earth gets named Cardea, after goddess of door hinges
Until we live in a world based purely on sliding doors, door hinges will remain some of the most unsung heroes of our society. We’d still be able to saunter through door frames, sure, but nothing would so seamlessly connect the place we once were with the place we are going. On a metaphorical level, door hinges represent an intermediate state we use to move back and forth, and decide when to lock ourselves in the locations of here or there. It is thus only fitting for a goddess to…
Read MoreI am Artemis: Jon Carabello
Jon Carabello has spent his entire career at TURBOCAM, which produces 10 core stage main engine turbomachinery components for the RS-25 main engine on NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) heavy lift exploration rocket. Photo: TURBOCAM Jon Carabello did not begin his career journey with an eye on space, but when NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration campaign came calling, he was all in. Born, raised, and college-educated in New Hampshire, Carabello has spent his entire professional career at TURBOCAM – a turbomachinery development and manufacturing company – in the southeast corner of…
Read MoreAstrophotographer captures a ‘Great Dragon’ in the Pelican Nebula (photo)
Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical “Skyscapes” that connect both Earth and the night sky. The image features a dark region of space found between the Pelican Nebula and the Cygnus Wall, which are both part of the North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. This…
Read MoreEarth’s elusive ‘ignorosphere’ could shed new light on auroras
Japanese scientists have created the first-ever long-term dataset about Earth’s entire atmosphere, stretching all the way to space. They hope the project will help shed light on some little-explored processes taking place inside our planet’s gaseous shroud, including the magnificent northern lights. Some parts of Earth’s atmosphere are studied continuously in incredible detail. For example, millions of weather stations all around the world, hundreds of meteorological balloons and countless airplanes provide daily measurements of the entire troposphere, the atmosphere’s lowest region. The balloons also reach the lower part of the…
Read MoreFinland becomes 53rd country to join the Artemis Accords for moon exploration
The Artemis Accords has just gained its 53rd member nation, bolstering NASA’s efforts to establish peaceful and cooperative international space exploration. Finland joined NASA’s Artemis Accords on Jan. 21 through a signing ceremony that took place on the sidelines of the Winter Satellite Workshop 2025 in Espoo, Finland. The signing makes the Nordic country the latest to commit to the safe and responsible exploration of space that benefits humanity, according to a NASA statement. “Finland has been part of the space exploration community for decades with Finnish companies and research…
Read MoreNASA Marshall Invites Media to Local Day of Remembrance Event
1 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Marshall will hold a candle-lighting ceremony and wreath placement at 9:30 a.m. CST. The ceremony will include remarks from Larry Leopard, associate director, and Bill Hill, director of Marshall’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. NASA/ Krisdon Manecke NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, invites media to attend its observance of the agency’s Day of Remembrance at 9:30 a.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 23, in the lobby of Building 4221. Day of Remembrance honors the members of…
Read More