A pioneering moon lander has beamed home its first photos from the final frontier. Intuitive Machines‘ robotic Odysseus spacecraft snapped a few selfies with Earth in the background shortly after its Feb. 15 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — and we can all check them out. “Intuitive Machines successfully transmitted its first IM-1 mission images to Earth on February 16, 2024. The images were captured shortly after separation from @SpaceX’s second stage on Intuitive Machines’ first journey to the moon under @NASA’s CLPS initiative,” the Houston-based company wrote Saturday…
Read MoreThis Week In Space podcast: Episode 98 — Inside NASA with Pam Melroy
On Episode 98 of This Week In Space, Tariq and Rod discuss what NASA’s up to with the agency’s Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. This week, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, who is also a former astronaut, commander of the space shuttle, and US Air Force test pilot, joins us for a very special episode. We discussed the recently announced delays to the Artemis lunar landing program, NASA’s long-term goals on the Moon, the overall trajectory of human spaceflight, Pam’s favorite memories of her time in space, and — perhaps our…
Read MoreUruguay signs Artemis Accords for responsible space exploration
Uruguay has joined the United States’ effort to establish widespread principles to guide space exploration. Uruguay’s foreign minister Omar Paganini signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the South American country during the annual U.S.-Uruguay bilateral inter-ministerial dialogue on Feb. 15 in Washington, D.C. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the signing ceremony for the agency. “NASA welcomes Uruguay as the newest member of the Artemis Accords family,” Nelson said in a NASA statement. “The United States and Uruguay share a commitment to democracy and peace, and now, we expand…
Read MoreDiscovery Alert: Glowing Cloud Points to a Cosmic Collision
3 min read Discovery Alert: Glowing Cloud Points to a Cosmic Collision This illustration depicts the aftermath of a collision between two giant exoplanets. What remains is a hot, molten planetary core and a swirling, glowing cloud of dust and debris. Mark A. Garlick The Discovery: A glowing cosmic cloud has revealed a cataclysmic collision. Key Facts: Even within our own solar system, scientists have seen evidence of giant, planetary collisions from long ago. Remaining clues like Uranus’ tilt and the existence of Earth’s moon point to times in our…
Read More30 Years Ago: Clementine Changes Our View of the Moon
In 1994, a joint NASA and Department of Defense (DOD) mission called Clementine dramatically changed our view of the Moon. As the first U.S. mission to the Moon in more than two decades, Clementine’s primary objectives involved technology demonstrations to test lightweight component and sensor performance. The lightweight sensors aboard the spacecraft returned 1.6 million digital images, providing the first global multispectral and topographic maps of the Moon. Data from a radar instrument indicated that large quantities of water ice may lie in permanently shadowed craters at lunar south pole,…
Read MoreNASA Administrator to Discuss Science with Crew Aboard Space Station
The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will discuss recent science research and technology demonstrations aboard the International Space Station at 10:35 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 21, with astronauts living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory. During the Earth-to-space call, leadership and the crew will discuss a tech experiment demonstrating the performance of a small robot remotely…
Read MoreWatch Russian Progress cargo ship arrive at the ISS early Feb. 17
Russia’s robotic Progress 87 cargo ship will arrive at the International Space Station early Saturday morning (Feb. 17), and you can watch the action live. Progress 87 launched toward the orbiting lab on Wednesday night (Feb. 14), riding a Soyuz rocket into the sky from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The freighter is scheduled to catch up to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday at 1:12 a.m. EST (0612 GMT). Watch the rendezvous live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency’s YouTube channel…
Read MoreSigning Our Names
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II mission received its latest makeover. Teams adhered the agency’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA (European Space Agency) insignia on the spacecraft’s crew module adapter on Sunday, Jan. 28, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA/Rad Sinyak NASA’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA’s (European Space Agency) insignia are painted on the Orion spacecraft’s crew module adapter in this image from Feb. 1, 2024. The adapter houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control, and includes…
Read MoreRocket Propellant Tanks for NASA’s Artemis III Mission Take Shape
All the major structures that will form the core stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the agency’s Artemis III mission are structurally complete. Technicians finished welding the 51-foot liquid oxygen tank structure, left, inside the Vertical Assembly Building at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Jan. 8. The liquid hydrogen tank, right, completed internal cleaning Nov. 14. NASA/Michael DeMocker As NASA works to develop all the systems needed to return astronauts to the Moon under its Artemis campaign for the benefit of all, the SLS (Space…
Read MoreISS astronauts show what it’s like to capture a spacecraft with a robotic arm (video)
Robot, meet spacecraft. A new video shows what it’s like to capture a visiting cargo ship at the International Space Station (ISS) — specifically, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus vehicle, which arrived Feb. 1 with vital supplies for the Expedition 70 crew. NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara worked together at the controls of the Canadarm2 robot arm, in the ISS wraparound Cupola window, to make the cosmic catch. Moghbeli posted the footage on X, formerly Twitter, on Feb. 13. Related: Private Cygnus cargo ship arrives at the ISS carrying…
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