With NASA’s pioneering Mars helicopter Ingenuity grounded forever after a hard landing, the time has come to mourn the first flying machine every to soar on another world and you can watch it live online today (Jan. 31). NASA will hold a free livestream at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) today to honor the achievements and legacy of Ingenuity, which ended its mission last week after suffering rotor damage during its 72nd flight on Jan. 18. The livestream will be webcast live on NASA’s YouTube channel and you can watch…
Read MoreWatch private Cygnus cargo ship arrive at the ISS early Feb. 1 (video)
Northrop Grumman’s robotic Cygnus spacecraft will arrive at the International Space Station early Thursday morning (Feb. 1), and you can watch the rendezvous live. The Cygnus launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday (Jan. 30), kicking off a 40-hour orbital chase. That chase will come to an end around 4:15 a.m. EST (0915 GMT) on Thursday, when NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli captures Cygnus using the International Space Station‘s (ISS) Canadarm2 robotic arm. You can watch the action live here at Space.com,…
Read MoreNASA Puts Next-Gen Exoplanet-Imaging Technology to the Test
6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) JPL scientist Vanessa Bailey stands behind the Nancy Grace Roman Coronagraph , which has been undergoing testing at JPL. About the size of a baby grand piano, the Coronagraph is designed to block starlight and allow scientists to see the faint light from planets outside our solar system. A cutting-edge tool to view planets outside our solar system has passed two key tests ahead of its launch as part of the agency’s Roman Space Telescope by 2027. The Coronagraph…
Read MoreWatch extremely rare ‘aurora curls’ ripple through the northern lights (video)
Astrophotographer Jeff Dai, captured a remarkably rare sight while watching the northern lights on Jan.16, above Kerid Crater, south Iceland. The rippling green aurora curls dancing overhead result from large waves traveling through Earth’s magnetic field, causing our magnetosphere to “ring like a bell”, according to Spaceweather.com. “Imagine that Earth’s magnetic field is like a guitar string,” Xing-Yu Li, a ULF wave expert at Peking University in Beijing, China, told Dai, as reported on Spaceweather.com. In this image, “we are seeing vibrations in that string.” Li estimates that their wavelength…
Read MoreNASA’s Fission Surface Power Project Energizes Lunar Exploration
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A concept image of NASA’s Fission Surface Power Project. Credit: NASA NASA is wrapping up the initial phase of its Fission Surface Power Project, which focused on developing concept designs for a small, electricity-generating nuclear fission reactor that could be used during a future demonstration on the Moon and to inform future designs for Mars. NASA awarded three $5 million contracts in 2022, tasking each commercial partner with developing an initial design that included the reactor; its power conversion, heat…
Read MoreHubble Observes a Galactic Distortion
1 min read Hubble Observes a Galactic Distortion The galaxy NGC 5427 shines in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. NASA, ESA, and R. Foley (University of California – Santa Cruz); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) The galaxy NGC 5427 shines in this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. It’s part of the galaxy pair Arp 271, and its companion NGC 5426 is located below this galaxy and outside of this image’s frame. However, the effects of the pair’s gravitational attraction is visible in the galactic distortion…
Read MoreNASA Releases STEM Toolkit for Advanced Air Mobility
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Students who pursue careers in these areas, among many others, could contribute to transforming aviation by developing and deploying Advanced Air Mobility solutions to the challenges of 21st century flight. NASA / Lillian Gipson NASA Aeronautics has released a new STEM toolkit focusing on Advanced Air Mobility for educators and students of all ages. The toolkit, comprised of numerous educational activities, is a free resource for anyone who is interested in learning more about the Advanced Air Mobility mission’s…
Read MoreNASA Science, Hardware on Northrop Grumman Mission En Route to Station
NASA science investigations and cargo aboard a Northrop Grumman resupply spacecraft are on the way to the International Space Station. Launch occurred at 12:07 p.m. EST Tuesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, on the NASA+ streaming service. Coverage also will air live on NASA Television and on the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including…
Read MoreInternational Space Station Welcomes Trio of Experiments Focused on Enhancing Life Beyond Earth
3 min read International Space Station Welcomes Trio of Experiments Focused on Enhancing Life Beyond Earth NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division is sending three physical sciences and space biology experiments and equipment to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th commercial resupply services mission. These experiments aim to pioneer scientific discovery, enable sustainable deep space exploration, and support transformative engineering. The launch is scheduled to take place no earlier than Tuesday, January 30, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Using Microbes to Improve Plant Growth in…
Read MoreEarth’s Atmospheric Glow
This high exposure photograph revealed Earth’s atmospheric glow against the backdrop of a starry sky in this image taken from the International Space Station on Jan. 21, 2024. At the time, the orbital lab was 258 miles above the Pacific Ocean northeast of Papua New Guinea. The Nauka science module and Prichal docking module are visible at left.
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