Tag: Missions

NASA Science, Astrobotic Peregrine Mission One Concludes

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Cameras aboard Peregrine capture the American flag and the NASA insignia on one of the lander’s tanks to signify America’s return to the Moon. Credits: Astrobotic The first flight of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery service carrying agency science and technology, as well as other customer payloads intended for the Moon, has come to an end. After 10 days and 13 hours in space, Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One made a controlled re-entry on Earth over open water in the South Pacific at approximately 4:04 p.m. EST on Jan. 18. Astrobotic was…

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Hubble Views a Galactic Supernova Site

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2 min read Hubble Views a Galactic Supernova Site This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image is of the small galaxy known as UGC 5189A. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Filippenko This image features a relatively small galaxy known as UGC 5189A, which is located about 150 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. This galaxy was observed by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study a supernova explosion in 2010 known as SN 2010jl. This particular supernova is notable because it was an exceptionally luminous supernova event. In fact, over a period of three years,…

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Webb Shows Many Early Galaxies Looked Like Pool Noodles, Surfboards

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5 Min Read Webb Shows Many Early Galaxies Looked Like Pool Noodles, Surfboards Researchers are analyzing distant galaxies when the universe was only 600 million to 6 billion years old. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, Steve Finkelstein (UT Austin), Micaela Bagley (UT Austin), Rebecca Larson (UT Austin) Researchers analyzing images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have found that galaxies in the early universe are often flat and elongated, like surfboards and pool noodles – and are rarely round, like volleyballs or frisbees. “Roughly 50 to 80% of the galaxies we…

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NASA to Brief Media on Climate Mission to Study Ocean Life, Air

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NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission, seen here in an artist’s concept, is scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 6, 2024, to study Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate. NASA/Conceptual Image Laboratory NASA will host a media teleconference at 12 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 17, to discuss the upcoming launch and science objectives of the agency’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission. Once in orbit above Earth, the satellite will shed light on the impact of tiny things – microscopic life in water and microscopic particles in…

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Hubble Finds Weird Home of Farthest Fast Radio Burst

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5 min read Hubble Finds Weird Home of Farthest Fast Radio Burst A NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of the host galaxy of an exceptionally powerful fast radio burst, FRB 20220610A. Hubble’s sensitivity and sharpness reveals a compact group of multiple galaxies that may be in the process of merging. They existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old. FRB 20220610A was first detected on June 10, 2022, by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope…

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NASA Science Heads to Moon on First US Private Robotic Artemis Flight 

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As part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander launched on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Carrying NASA scientific instruments as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander launched on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket at 2:18 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Peregrine has about a 46-day journey to reach the lunar surface. Once on the…

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NASA, United Arab Emirates Announce Artemis Lunar Gateway Airlock

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NASA and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) have entered into an agreement for MBRSC to provide the Crew and Science Airlock module for the Gateway Space Station. As part of the agreement, NASA will fly a United Arab Emirates astronaut to Gateway on a future Artemis mission. Pictured is an artist’s concept of Gateway (left) and an artist’s concept of a government reference airlock (right). NASA NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced Sunday plans for the space centre…

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NASA Administrator, Leaders to Discuss Artemis Moon Mission Plans

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An illustration of a suited Artemis astronaut looking out of a Moon lander hatch across the lunar surface, the Lunar Terrain Vehicle and other surface elements. NASA will hold a media teleconference at 1:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 9, to provide an update on the agency’s lunar exploration plans for the benefit of all under Artemis. Audio of the briefing will stream live on NASA’s website. In addition to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, agency participants will include: NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission…

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NASA Sets Coverage for ULA, Astrobotic Artemis Robotic Moon Launch

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Ahead of launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is encapsulated in the payload fairing, or nose cone, of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket on Nov. 21, 2023, at Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch of Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One will carry NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon in early 2024 to study the lunar exosphere, thermal properties, and hydrogen abundance of the lunar regolith, magnetic fields, and the radiation environment of the lunar…

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A Look Through Time with NASA’s Lead Photographer for the James Webb Space Telescope

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2 Min Read A Look Through Time with NASA’s Lead Photographer for the James Webb Space Telescope This self portrait of Chris Gunn, standing in front of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope from inside the Goddard Space Flight Center cleanroom, was captured November 10, 2016. Credits: NASA/Chris Gunn Nearly two years ago in the early morning hours of Dec. 25, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope successfully took flight from the jungle-encircled ELA-3 launch complex at Europe’s Spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana. Following a successful deployment in space, and the precise…

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