Tag: Space Technology Mission Directorate

NASA Sets Coverage for Intuitive Machines’ Next Commercial Moon Launch

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Caption: The Intuitive Machines lunar lander that will deliver NASA science and technology to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign is encapsulated in the fairing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: SpaceX Carrying NASA science and technology to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission is targeted to launch no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 26. The mission will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9…

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NASA’s Polar Ice Experiment Paves Way for Future Moon Missions 

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Artistic rendering of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander on the surface of the Moon. Credit: Intuitive Machines NASA’s Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) is preparing to explore the Moon’s subsurface and analyze where lunar resources may reside. The experiment’s two key instruments will demonstrate our ability to extract and analyze lunar soil to better understand the lunar environment and subsurface resources, paving the way for sustainable human exploration under the agency’s Artemis campaign for the benefit of all.  Its two instruments will work in tandem: The Regolith and Ice Drill…

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NASA’s Advancements in Space Continue Generating Products on Earth  

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The cover of Spinoff 2025, NASA’s annual publication that chronicles commercial products born from space technology, is a detailed view of the lunar surface captured by cameras on the Orion spacecraft on a close approach of the Moon during the Artemis I mission. Credit: NASA The latest edition of NASA’s Spinoff publication, which highlights the successful transfer of agency technology to the commercial sector, is now available online. For nearly 25 years, NASA has supported crew working in low Earth orbit to learn about the space environment and perform research…

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NASA Invites Media to Learn about Spacecraft Autonomous Tech Firsts

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NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley invites media to learn more about Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), a technology that allows individual spacecraft to make independent decisions while collaborating with each other to achieve common goals – without human input. The DSA team achieved multiple firsts during tests of such swarm technology as part of the agency’s project.  DSA develops software tools critical for future autonomous, distributed, and intelligent spacecraft that will need to interact with each other to achieve complex mission objectives. Testing onboard the agency’s Starling mission resulted…

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NASA Tests in Simulated Lunar Gravity to Prep Payloads for Moon

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket system on Feb. 4, 2025. During the flight test, the capsule at the top detached from the booster and spun at approximately 11 rpm to simulate lunar gravity for the NASA-supported payloads inside. Blue Origin The old saying — “Practice makes perfect!” — applies to the Moon too. On Tuesday, NASA gave 17 technologies, instruments, and experiments the chance to practice being on the Moon… without actually going there. Instead, it…

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NASA Demonstrates Software ‘Brains’ Shared Across Satellite Swarms  

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5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Jeremy Frank, left, and Caleb Adams, right, discuss software developed by NASA’s Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy project. The software runs on spacecraft computers, currently housed on a test rack at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, and depicts a spacecraft swarm virtually flying in lunar orbit to provide autonomous position navigation and timing services at the Moon. NASA/Brandon Torres Navarrete Talk amongst yourselves, get on the same page, and work together to get the job done! This “pep…

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NASA to Talk Science, Tech Aboard Next Intuitive Machines Moon Flight

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As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Intuitive Machines’ second delivery to the Moon will carry NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations on their Nova-C class lunar lander. Credit: Intuitive Machines NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 7, to discuss the agency’s science and technology flying aboard Intuitive Machines’ second flight to the Moon. The mission is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence.  Audio of the…

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NASA Space Tech’s Favorite Place to Travel in 2025: The Moon!

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4 Min Read NASA Space Tech’s Favorite Place to Travel in 2025: The Moon! The first image from space of Firefly's Blue Ghost mission 1 lunar lander as it begins its 45-day transit period to the Moon. Credits: Firefly Aerospace NASA Space Technology has big travel plans for 2025, starting with a trip to the near side of the Moon! Among ten groundbreaking NASA science and technology demonstrations, two technologies are on a ride to survey lunar regolith – also known as “Moon dust” – to better understand surface interactions…

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NASA Awards 2025 Innovative Technology Concept Studies

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A collage of artist concepts highlighting the novel approaches proposed by the 2025 NIAC awardees for possible future missions. Credit: NASA/Left to Right: Saurabh Vilekar, Marco Quadrelli, Selim Shahriar, Gyula Greschik, Martin Bermudez, Ryan Weed, Ben Hockman, Robert Hinshaw, Christine Gregg, Ryan Benson, Michael Hecht NASA selected 15 visionary ideas for its NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program which develops concepts to transform future missions for the benefit of all. Chosen from companies and institutions across the United States, the 2025 Phase I awardees represent a wide range of aerospace concepts.…

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NASA’s Spot the Station App Developed by and for the People 

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The Spot the Station app was developed in collaboration with the public through a series of crowdsourcing competitions. NASA With more than 25 years of operations, the International Space Station continues to symbolize discovery and cooperation for the benefit of humanity. Since 2012, observers have interacted with the space station through NASA’s Spot the Station website, a web browser-based tool that includes interactive maps for users to track the station and find viewpoints closest to their location.   A decade…

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