Written by Susanne P. Schwenzer, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, UK Earth planning date: Monday, July 7, 2025 A few planning sols ago, we spotted a small ridge in the landscape ahead of us. Ridges and structures that are prominently raised above the landscape are our main target along this part of […]
Author: Brian Evans
NASA Selects Instruments for Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle
NASA has selected three instruments to travel to the Moon, with two planned for integration onto an LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) and one for a future orbital opportunity. The LTV is part of NASA’s efforts to explore the lunar surface as part of the Artemis campaign and is the first crew-driven vehicle to operate on […]
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Inspects Cat’s Paw
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team released this image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula on July 10, 2025, in honor of the telescope’s third anniversary. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) revealed never-before-seen structural details and features: Massive young stars carve away at nearby gas and dust, while their bright starlight produces a bright nebulous glow represented in […]
NASA to Brief Media on New Mission to Study Earth’s Magnetic Shield
NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 17, to share information about the agency’s upcoming Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS, mission, which is targeted to launch no earlier than late July. The TRACERS mission is a pair of twin satellites that will study how Earth’s […]
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun
KEY POINTS On its record-breaking pass by the Sun late last year, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe captured stunning new images from within the Sun’s atmosphere. These newly released images — taken closer to the Sun than we’ve ever been before — are helping scientists better understand the Sun’s influence across the solar system, including events […]
Meet Mineral Mappers Flying NASA Tech Out West
NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have been mapping the planets since Apollo. One team is searching closer to home for minerals critical to national security and the economy. If not for the Joshua trees, the tan hills of Cuprite, Nevada, would resemble Mars. Scalded and chemically altered by water from deep underground, the rocks […]
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Team Installs Observatory’s Solar Panels
On June 14 and 16, technicians installed solar panels onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, one of the final steps in assembling the observatory. Collectively called the Solar Array Sun Shield, these panels will power and shade the observatory, enabling all the mission’s observations and helping keep the instruments cool. “At this point, the […]
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334). Focusing Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on a single “toe bean” within this active star-forming […]
NASA’s Webb Scratches Beyond Surface of Cat’s Paw for 3rd Anniversary
It’s the cat’s meow! To celebrate its third year of revealing stunning scenes of the cosmos in infrared light, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has “clawed” back the thick, dusty layers of a section within the Cat’s Paw Nebula (NGC 6334). Focusing Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) on a single “toe bean” within this active star-forming […]
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Team Installs Observatory’s Solar Panels
On June 14 and 16, technicians installed solar panels onto NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, one of the final steps in assembling the observatory. Collectively called the Solar Array Sun Shield, these panels will power and shade the observatory, enabling all the mission’s observations and helping keep the instruments cool. “At this point, the […]