Author: Brian Evans

Curiosity Blog, Sols 4614-4615: Driving Along the Boxwork

Written by Conor Hayes, Graduate Student at York University Earth planning date: Monday, July 28, 2025 Today was a pretty straightforward day of planning. Our drive over the weekend completed successfully, and we quickly confirmed that we are parked in a stable position. Thus, we were able to unstow the rover’s arm to poke around […]

Spheres in the Sand

Written by Andrew Shumway, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Washington It is not common for a rover to spot nearly perfect spheres in the soil beneath its wheels. Over two decades ago, the Opportunity rover famously discovered spherules made of hematite (nicknamed “blueberries”) near its landing site in Meridiani Planum. More recently, the Perseverance […]

NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon

NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, $176.7 million to deliver two rovers and three scientific instruments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to explore more of the Moon than ever before. This delivery is the first time NASA will use […]

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Adam and Hirsa Present Research on the Ring-Sheared Drop

Researchers across Space Biology and Physical Sciences come together for a special presentation at the May PSI Users Group. The Ring-Sheared Drop (RSD) is a Microgravity Science Glovebox experiment that launched in July 2019 to the ISS to study shearing flow in the absence of solid walls. The major goals of this project were to […]

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NASA Drop Test Supports Safer Air Taxi Designs

As the aviation industry works to design air taxis and other new electric aircraft, there’s a growing need to understand how the materials behave. That’s why NASA is investigating potential air taxi materials and designs to best protect passengers in the event of a crash. On June 26, 2025, at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, researchers dropped […]

NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins, First to Sequence DNA in Space, Retires

NASA astronaut and microbiologist Kate Rubins retired Monday after 16 years with the agency. During her time with NASA, Rubins completed two long-duration missions aboard the International Space Station, logging 300 days in space and conducting four spacewalks. “I want to extend my sincere gratitude to Kate for her dedication to the advancement of human spaceflight,” […]

Curiosity Blog, Sols 4611-4613: Scenic Overlook

Written by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Earth planning date: Friday, July 25, 2025 A 23-meter drive (about 75 feet) brought Curiosity to today’s planned “look-about” spot. The highlight of the plan will be the 360-degree Mastcam panorama that will document the ridge-and-hollow topography of the boxwork-forming unit we’ve been […]